Ep.20 Ms. Vera Part 6

Maya Pov

"Hold it, Maya!" Ms. Vera's stern command cut through the air as I struggled to maintain the massive fireball hovering in front of my palm. The sphere of flames pulsed and writhed like a living thing, its edges crackling with barely contained energy. Sweat trickled down my temples, both from exertion and from the intense heat.

"I-I'm trying," I managed through gritted teeth, my voice trembling as much as the unstable fire I fought to control. The flames flickered and swelled, threatening to burst free of my wavering control. Finally, my concentration shattered like glass, and the fireball began to explode outward—only to vanish as Ms. Vera made a sharp gesture, dispersing it into harmless sparks.

I collapsed onto the grass, my legs giving out beneath me. We'd been at this for hours, and I still couldn't maintain control. The morning's cool air had long since given way to afternoon heat, though I could hardly tell the difference through the lingering warmth of my failed attempts.

"Child, your mind flutters too much," Ms. Vera lectured, though her tone held more patience than disappointment. "When dealing with magic, your mind must focus solely on the spell. Nothing else can exist in that moment."

"I'm trying," I whined, frustration bleeding into my voice. The words came out more petulant than I intended, making me sound like the child I was trying so hard not to be anymore.

"Stand back up, girl." Ms. Vera's voice brooked no argument. "Try again. Breathe and empty your mind, thinking of nothing except the shape you wish the fireball to maintain."

Pushing myself to my feet, I caught movement from the corner of my eye. Rowan stood several yards away, deep in concentration as rocks and leaves orbited around him in a perfect circle, each item keeping precise distance from the others. His control was immaculate, his face serene with focus. My heart sank. Wasn't I supposed to be the prodigy?

"Don't mind him, girl," Ms. Vera interjected, as if reading my thoughts. "This will be a much more difficult task for you than it is for him due to your unbelievably explosive and large mana pool. Like trying to guide a river compared to a stream."

I nodded, forcing my attention back to the task at hand. Holding out my palm, I took a deep breath and released a red aura, generating a flame no larger than a copper coin.

"Now make it bigger, child," Ms. Vera ordered.

Breathing steadily, I fed more power into the flame, watching it grow slowly but surely until—

"Now stop," Ms. Vera commanded. "Control that flame. Make it neither bigger nor smaller until I say otherwise."

I closed my eyes, focusing entirely on the sensation of the fire.

"Feel the heat, Maya. Feel it and control it."

The heat was impossible to ignore, making my skin prickle and burn, but I remained motionless, concentrating on maintaining the flame's size.

"Good job, Maya. Just a little longer..."

Her words seemed to come from far away as I poured all my attention into the task. But then the heat against my cheek triggered memories I'd been trying to suppress—the orphanage engulfed in flames, Ms. Clementine's screams, my own helplessness as everything I loved burned around me...

The fireball began to shake violently.

"Control, Maya!" Ms. Vera's warning barely registered through the roaring in my ears.

Anger surged through me—not at the wolf, but at myself. I'd spent my whole life being told how strong I was, how powerful a mage I would become. Yet when it mattered most, I might as well have been powerless. The flame grew increasingly unstable, feeding off my turbulent emotions—

"MAYA, FOCUS!"

A familiar voice cut through my spiral of dark thoughts, anchoring me back to reality. I gasped, barely managing to rein in the wildly fluctuating fireball before it could explode.

"Time," Ms. Vera called out, a proud smile gracing her weathered features.

I released the spell and collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily. A gentle hand came to rest on my shoulder.

"Good job, Maya." It was Kai—the source of the voice that had pulled me back. The same scared, feeble boy I'd met three years ago, who couldn't remember his own past. Now he stood beside me as one of the two people I held most dear, one of the two reasons I was out here training at all.

His hands were small but calloused from sword practice as he helped me to my feet. I had to get stronger, not just for myself, but for them. For all of us.

Ms. Vera approached, her eyes twinkling with approval. "I think that's enough practice for today. Come inside, all of you. Food and rest are just as important as training."

As we walked back to the cabin, I noticed Kai's practice sword at his hip and the determined set of his shoulders. We were all finding our own paths to strength. His might be through steel while mine was through flame, but the goal was the same:

Never again would we be helpless. Never again would we watch our world burn.

This time, we would be ready.