Initiation into the Magical Arts

Luna found herself surrounded by endless darkness, in a place where she could see nothing but the ice-covered ground.

Her body, however, seemed to emit a faint light, making it possible to see only a few palms of distance around her.

Her body trembled, it was the first time in her life that she had experienced this strange and uncomfortable sensation.

Not knowing how to deal with the cold, she tried to rub her own body in an attempt to warm it up, but her hands were as cold as the ground she was standing on.

While trying to warm her body, she tried to walk through the darkness hoping to find something, anything that could help her understand where she was.

It was then that, in the distance, she saw an orange light.

Running, she approached this light and noticed a weak fire. Then, she knelt next to it and started heating her body with the warm fire.

Her joy was short-lived, however, when she noticed a humanoid figure, winged and completely black approaching right in front of her.

As if afraid of that form, the fire went out and left the princess in the darkness again.

However, despite the darkness, that figure was so dark that its form was visible even amid the absolute black that was that place, such was the depth of the shadow of its body and skeletal wings of death, as if the night had taken on a physical body and was slowly approaching Luna.

Scared, she got up and ran away from that form.

However, even though she ran as fast as she could, that figure grew larger and larger, and a cold wave made Luna's movements slower and slower.

Eventually, she tripped and fell. When she turned around, she realized that the figure was as big as a mountain. Its wings were enormous and seemed capable of embracing the whole world and covering it in its absolute shadow.

An immense hand approached her and aimed to grab her. The creature whispered something all the time as it approached.

"Quantus tremor est futurus. Quando judex est venturus. Cuncta Stricte discussurus."

Its voice seemed to come from everywhere, and it had a bizarrely high-pitched and whispered tone.

"Leave me alone!"

The creature's hand was about to touch her when a fire appeared between them and drove away the darkness.

The creature hesitated for a while, but soon continued its advance.

However, the flame of the fire became stronger and stronger, illuminating the surroundings completely and banishing that being from existence.

And that's how Luna woke up.

Opening her eyes, she found herself staring at a wooden ceiling.

Not knowing where she was, she turned her face and saw Sariel sitting in a chair right next to her. A small white sphere surrounded by a rainbow floated in his hand. Then, he threw that light on the floor, which bounced on the floor, hit the wall and returned to his hand, without making any sound.

He continued this cycle for several moments, as if playing with a ball, this ball being made of pure light that should not be flexible.

"Sariel..." the princess whispered.

The traveler turned his face to the princess and smiled, and his light sphere disappeared.

"Well, the sleeping princess has awakened."

Luna sat up on the bed."

"What happened?"

"You were hit with a Conjuration magic and were unconscious for two days."

"Oh..." The princess rubbed her eyes and stretched a little, when she finally realized something." TWO DAYS?

"That's right."

The princess touched her own shoulder and noticed that there was nothing, not even a scar there.

"Magic really is incredible..." she sighed.

"Yes, but it was a pain to heal you, it took a few minutes."

"But last time you healed me in just a few seconds..."

"That's because you were injured with Conjuration."

"What's the difference?"

"Conjuration is a particularly dangerous element, so you should stay away from Aegreon. Only the worst is reserved for those close to him."

Luna was silent for a while, when her stomach growled audibly.

"Ah..." Feeling embarrassed, she hugged her own belly with both arms as if trying to hide the sound of her stomach.

"Haha! Well, you slept for two days, no wonder you're hungry."

"Hm" the princess murmured, still embarrassed.

"Well, I'll go get something for you to eat, I'll be right back." Sariel got up.

"Wait!"

The traveler turned around.

"What is it?"

"There's something I need to tell you, get closer, please."

Hearing this, the traveler approached and sat back down in the chair.

"Yes?"

"Closer..." the princess murmured.

"Alright, alright..." The traveler got even closer.

Luna, realizing that Sariel was close enough, leaned towards his ear to whisper something.

Then, her face changed trajectory, and her soft lips touched his cheek.

The contact lasted only a single second, but it was enough to startle the traveler, who backed away at the sudden act and looked at Luna with a surprised expression.

"Thank you for saving me again." Luna smiled purely. "Unfortunately, this is the only way I have to thank you... I know it's not enough, but..."

"It's enough." Sariel smiled back. "But remember to thank Raymond as well, you'd be dead if it weren't for him."

"I will!"

Then, the traveler left the room. A few seconds passed and Raymond entered the room with a worried expression.

"Luna! Thank goodness you're okay!"

"Yes, thanks to you and Sariel."

"How are you feeling?"

Luna was silent for a while, which worried Raymond a little, but she soon replied.

"Hungry..."

Upon hearing that, the bodyguard's worried expression disappeared and turned into a smile.

"Pff, hahaha!"

The bodyguard's laughter was full of relief and joy.

Luna was surprised to hear Raymond's laughter. It was the first time in months that she had heard him laugh, but it seemed different this time, as she had never heard him laugh so relaxed and vividly.

"Ah... Forgive me, Luna. I couldn't help but laugh after hearing this, right after you were unconscious for so long." Raymond was composing himself with difficulty, speaking between laughs.

"It's okay, come closer, please. I need to reward you."

"That's not necessary, just seeing you well is enough."

At this moment, Sariel returned to the room with two plates of food and a glass of juice floating around him. Then, he sat down near the bed and made the objects float in front of the princess.

"Here's your lunch, eat as much as you want."

"Thank you."

The princess took one of the plates that floated in front of her face and began to eat. As she didn't eat anything of animal origin, she had to settle for another vegetable soup, although this time it was thousands of times more appetizing compared to the one she had eaten at the Fordurn inn.

While they were eating, both Sariel and Raymond watched her, when the traveler suggested something that surprised them both.

"Luna, what do you think about learning to use magic?"

"What?!" They both exclaimed in unison.

"You're an angel, so your ability with magic is naturally superior to any ordinary human. If you learn to use magic, you won't have to depend on others to protect you, and situations like the one in the invasion won't happen again."

"But Luna has never shown any elemental trace! His Majesty has already used an Alteration stone to measure her magical power, and he couldn't identify anything," Raymond explained.

"Impossible, she definitely has the Ice element, since she is immune to cold."

"It must just be a coincidence..." Luna commented. "Aren't angels different?"

"Yes, Luna has so little magical power that it's not even detectable."

"From what I've noticed about Fordurn, magic is something you're pretty behind on, and from what I know Geoffrey isn't able to use magic either, but she definitely has a considerable amount of magical power."

"How do you know that?"

Upon hearing this, the traveler glared at the bodyguard with a look that almost seemed to ask 'are you serious?'.

Raymond received this look without understanding the reason for it, wondering if he had asked something stupid and ridiculously obvious.

"To be completely immune to cold, you need to have a considerable amount of the Ice element, and she definitely has this element as we can see by her brooch."

Luna looked at her own brooch, which continued to glow light blue, as if a blizzard were trapped inside it.

"Besides, have you noticed how much her hair has grown in the last two days?"

Raymond looked closely at the princess's silver hair and realized that it had indeed grown more than it should for a normal person.

"Indeed... Such rapid growth indicates a relatively high magical power... but why can't we feel it?"

"Not practicing magic can leave your magical power in a state of rest, which can be a bit misleading when detecting your power," the traveler explained. "If she practices magic, she will certainly surpass any ordinary practitioner."

After that, Luna and Raymond remained silent and thoughtful, when the princess decided to speak.

"Can I really learn magic?"

"Absolutely."

"Then I want to try!"

"Very well, Raymond and I will teach you then, right?" Sariel looked at the bodyguard.

"As long as she doesn't do anything dangerous, I agree."

"So it's settled, I'll start teaching you today, but first you should finish eating."

"Okay."

Then the princess focused on eating her meal.

During this time, Aegreon appeared to check on her condition and soon left the room, announcing that they would leave as soon as she felt ready.

While regaining her strength, the princess learned that, despite the great attack, few people died thanks to the courage of Raymond and Shiina, and the speed with which Sariel and Aegreon defeated the necromancer.

A few minutes later, Luna got up and stretched a little before leaving accompanied by Raymond and Sariel.

The group left without delay, while all the villagers said goodbye and watched them leave.

*****

By nightfall, the group had already reached a forest, and they set up a camp to sleep.

However, Sariel, Raymond and Luna had other plans.

The three of them walked a little further and found a clearing, where they sat down and began to explain how magic works.

"Alright, there's a lot to explain, so I'll summarize as best I can," Sariel said.

"Magic is the energy that composes and is present in everything in the universe, whether living or inanimate.

"Besides angels, humans, and dragons, few living beings are developed enough to manipulate the magic within themselves, which is why most animals are unable to channel this power, despite possessing this energy and being made of it."

"Dragons?! They really exist?"

"Yes, they are creatures that came from the world of angels with them, but they have no biological relationship with them."

"I see..."

"Where was I? Oh, yes..." Sariel continued. "There are two main ways to use magic. The first method is the simplest and consists of channeling one's own power within oneself, condensing it and externalizing it."

To illustrate this, Raymond raised his hand and strands of violet electricity covered it.

"If I touch someone with my hand like this, they will receive a severe shock and will not be able to get rid of it, unless they have a high magical power or of the same element as mine."

"Since this method involves using one's own power, the one who is externalizing the magic is not affected by it."

"However, anyone else can be affected by it, since, even if two people have the same element, it is as if each person possessed an insignificantly different version of the same element, similar to roses, which can have various different colors even though they are the same plant.

"The second method, on the other hand, involves manipulating ambient magic.

"Since everything is composed of magic, the air is impregnated with magical power, which makes it possible to use it. Using magic through this method is superior in power, but inferior in speed to the first, as the person would be using a power that is not their own.

"An example of this would be by using the power of the Fire element of an active volcano and causing an explosion of several kilometers in diameter.

"There is still a third method that involves doing both at the same time, but this is something complex that only very powerful people are able to do."

"I understand, and how do I externalize my magic?" Luna asked.

"Have you ever touched snow before?"

"Yes, I even made a snowman with my father before." She smiled, remembering that. "It was fun..."

"That helps, but it would be better if you had already felt cold..."

"Well, I kind of felt cold while I was having a nightmare..." She remembered the shadow that tried to swallow her in her nightmare.

"Then try to remember that cold and focus on the palm of your hand. Try to imagine this cold as a river flowing from all your body to your hand. Then, try to shape it into a sphere and mold it like a snowball."

"Okay!"

Excited, the princess remembered the intense cold of her nightmare and imagined it transferring to the palm of her right hand. At first, she felt like she was doing something wrong and silly, but she persisted.

After a few seconds, she felt a slightly cold wave pass through her body and head towards her hand.

Despite this, she did not tremble, that cold was not an inconvenience, on the contrary, it was comfortable.

Feeling that she was doing it right, she imagined this cold transforming into a sphere and transforming it into snow.

Looking at her hand anxiously, she noticed a small white particle appearing in her palm, which gradually grew to the size of an ant.

However, halfway through, she felt a sting in her mind, the flow of her magic destabilized, which made her lose concentration and fail to complete the magic, which dissipated in the air.

"What happened?" Luna asked confused.

"Don't worry, it's normal to have difficulty using your first magic, try again," Sariel advised.

"Okay."

Luna tried the same thing but failed again when the snowball reached the same size.

Encouraged by Sariel and Raymond, she tried three more times, always resulting in a failure in the exact same way, with her magic flow suddenly becoming unstable and a sharp headache taking her attention away.

"It's no use..." she sighed as she touched her own forehead, which ached more and more.

"Maybe she really doesn't have as much power as I said," Raymond reinforced.

Upon hearing this, Sariel pointed his hand with the palm open towards Luna. An ice spike the size of a dagger emerged from it and flew towards her, hitting her in the arm.

When it hit her, the stake broke instantly. Luna was not hurt, and only felt as if they had thrown a paper ball at her.

Raymond was so surprised by the sudden action that he didn't even have time to protect her. He didn't feel any ill intent coming from Sariel, as if he really didn't want to hurt her, but even so it irritated him.

"What do you think you're doing?!" He immediately got up, instinctively standing in front of Luna.

"Did you feel anything, Luna?" The traveler ignored Raymond.

"Nothing..." she replied with some surprise at the sudden 'attack'.

The traveler looked at the bodyguard.

"See? She resisted my magic, which means she has more than enough magic to conjure a stake three times the size of mine. There must be some other problem... What do you feel when your magic fails, Luna?"

"I feel like the 'cold' flows becomes weak, and I feel a sting in my mind..."

Sariel remained thoughtful for a moment.

"Well, it's getting late, we better sleep," Raymond commented. "We can continue tomorrow."

"You're right..." The traveler had a thoughtful expression.

They both returned to the camp and slept.

While lying down, Luna looked at her own hand while remaining thoughtful. She wondered if she didn't have talent and was just giving Sariel and Raymond trouble, who were trying hard to teach her.

Eventually, however, she ended up sleeping a night without dreams or nightmares.