Basics of Magic (Part 2)

But still, even though they have instincts in magic, this body, Estelia, was still born in this world. Therefore, this body was naturally linked to magic and mana. This didn't mean I would give up.

How stupid do you think giving up at first try? I'll be the biggest idiot in the world if I did.

"Vernon, any tips you can give me?"

"Tips…" he looked at the floor as he pondered. "Magic of nobles is different from us of common birth. Yours are more grander, thus when exerting magic, it may differ from commoners, whether it be by strength or method. However, the general concept of it should be the same."

He smiled faintly as he continued.

"Mana is like your own limb, your will is what it will follow. Command it to move, will it to show its power."

Magic is illogical, so does its methods. Unlike science that required mathematics and calculations, as well as process and so on, magic was vague and unexplainable. Therefore, magic was in a league of its own.

However, without a logical method, this would be harder for me. Or, I am the weird one here for being unable to do something like this.

But this tip from him was quite good.

"I see. Thank you."

When push comes to shove, I'll bullshit my way through. And how would I do that? No idea!

"I'll keep your words in mind."

I returned to my seat and stared at the book placed upon the table.

Hmmmm…. Alright… Mana is my own limb, you are under my command, thy shall move as I wish. If one disobeys, thy shall fall into penance…

Hehe — I tried speaking to it. I don't know if it would help, but hey, didn't I say I'll bullshit my way through it?

And, this place where I was, was not precisely a good place to train. I prefer an open space, a peaceful one, quiet. Sure the place was quiet, but this was not it.

Looked around and saw a space in this large lobby. It was by the wide windows. That looked like a good place!

I rose up from my seat and immediately headed over there. The windows were made of glass with gold and silver frames. This place may be more luxurious than my room. And damn the glass installed here was impressive.

Glass was not exactly easy to come by and by no means cheap compared to my old world. But given how old this library was, I imagine this place being renovated many times already. I don't intend to think of the cost.

But come on, we are rich though!

I was fairly rich myself back in my old world. But if I say rich, I don't mean a millionaire, I barely reached that. We agents were given, you could say salaries, but not that much. In addition, we were also given some payment when we finished a job. But of course a lot of it was given to the organization.

It was no big deal however, I mean, I don't even have much to spend the money on. We mostly use it for daily necessities. We assassins bound by the chains of the organization cannot bask in luxury and leisure.

But we didn't think much of it even though we see countless people living a comfortable wealthy life. We were raised strictly to follow orders and kill. That was our purpose.

That said, now that I have tasted freedom, I was starting to love it. It made me ask, why did I have to live in such a way? But such a question can never be answered.

And… I can hardly imagine how my life would be if everything happened otherwise.

Besides, I met my fellow assassins, raised in the same organization. Ones who were my friends, all that lived, and died.

The handsome and often bothersome man. The adorable junior girl, I wondered how she was doing. Then, the damn rude ass introvert, this one was strange since I cannot fathom why he ended up that way.

And, my first team. The pissy girl who always had an angry look on her face. The playful guy who likes to tease people so much. Then the woman who swears a lot, and even though I was cold towards them, she was the one who would always speak to me despite it all.

How nostalgic.

Very nostalgic.

And too bad, I died at a young age of twenty.

I opened the window and the sweet sunny breeze blew to my face, sending my platinum hair aflutter. My beautiful crimson eyes stared at the wonderful view for a moment before I stepped away.

Now then…

How should I do this?

I closed my eyes, trying to imitate what was called a meditation. Trying to feel anything. Imagining and willing, ordering any mystical element that might be out there. The fresh air from the outside greatly helped in giving me a peace of mind.

Then a short while later, not much changed.

"Hm."

Perhaps extending my hand? I tried it.

"Um, Abracadabra."

I imagined mana would be exerted from my extended hand. But, of course it did not work.

"...Fuck—" I uttered quietly in vexation.

I immediately shut my mouth. Wew, thankfully I said that quietly that I doubt anyone heard it. If anyone heard it from a pure and innocent lady like me, I don't know how they would react.

You know what, maybe I need to read about casting spells first.

I went and got the book and returned to the spot.

I came upon the Spells section. The first one I saw was a defensive spell of some sorts. A quick casting spell and quite efficient.

With its simplicity, one can easily learn it. It was called "Palm Shield", there was even an illustration of a person extending his hand and from his palm was a semicircle, must be the barrier.

Judging from the way I see it, this must be the same barrier I saw from the knights mock battle.

I read how to cast it. It says, shape your mana to take form, imagine it and will it, the more mana you pour into it, the stronger it will be.

I narrowed my eyes.

I then closed the book with frustration.

Ah, progress is going to be slower than I expected.

I placed the book onto a nearby table and returned to my "training."

Dammit, if only Estelia's memories would help me.

I began to feel as though something was coursing through my veins, and when I say feel, I mean I was imagining that I was feeling it. So yeah, nothing changed.

I also tried other things, and of course, a lot of time began to pass.

***

It has been a couple of hours. During all this time, I was still trying to let out some mana. I even did some stretching and short exercises, I might have looked a bit weird in the eyes of others if there were people watching me.

I have been doing all the instructions given in the book, as well as tips given by Vernon.

It was a bit mentally exhausting at most. Sometimes, you just wish that your efforts result in something. I mean, everyone must know how terrible and bitter it is when your efforts are brought to waste.

I know I don't want to waste my time.

As for what this had to do with everything at the moment, it definitely had something to do with it. I was becoming slightly irritated. There were no significant changes.

There must be something I'm doing wrong.

But, I couldn't determine what it would be. In this case, I will definitely need a personal trainer or something like that. Vernon might do, but according to what I have learned about the type of magic I'm learning, or was it battle style, it was different from a direct fighter.

Therefore, things might go different if I was taught by Vernon who was a physical fighter. That said however, I was stuck at the beginning.

So, it should be fine?

Well that aside, I've been feeling a bit strange for some reason. Like something… how do I explain this… itchy? Not on my skin however, but from the inside. It happened all of a sudden during my solo training.

I don't know, maybe I hit the spot or something. But that didn't amount to much. Even so, this must only need time.

I decided to stop for the time being and return to reading my book. But I couldn't help but feel frustrated.

Sitting by the table beside the window, I heaved a sigh as I read the book with my hand on my cheek.

There were incredibly interesting spells. No, wait, I might actually be interested in all of them. I mean, knowing such things to exist, who wouldn't be interested especially if the concept of magic was new.

Just think of the potential of magic.

Power.

It has power.

If you have strong magic, you could easily kill a number of people. Magic was a tool of destruction and annihilation.

That was how I was starting to see magic as.

It was thrilling to imagine using it.

But of course, I first need to solve the current problem to reach that power.

"Estelia, dear?"

A woman's voice called out to me out of the blue. It was a familiar voice.