Realizing he had nowhere to stay, Rion sprinted after Lie, catching up to her.
"What's wrong?" Lie asked, confused.
"I don't have anywhere to stay, so I figured I'd just get a room wherever you're staying," Rion said between breaths.
Lie simply laughed. "Oh, if that's the case, by all means."
The two walked side by side until they reached the inn. After exchanging one final goodnight, Lie headed up to her room while Rion approached the innkeeper to secure a room for the night.
"Two bronze coins," the innkeeper said.
Rion fished them out of his pocket, received his key, and entered his room. Taking a seat at the small wooden desk, he flipped on the lantern and pulled a book from his coat—the same one he'd been reading earlier in the library.
He had checked it out before leaving with Lie, he continued flipping through the pages, absorbing more and more about magic. However, there was little information on the procedure he'd be undergoing tomorrow—Magic Assisting.
After about an hour or two of reading, his eyelids grew heavy. He climbed into bed, and for the first time—at least from what he could remember—he fell into a deep sleep.
---
The morning sun crept through the window as Rion groggily rolled out of bed. He stretched, slipped on his shoes, and left his room.
The inn's breakfast was nearly over by the time he got downstairs—a clear sign that he had overslept. He quickly grabbed a meal and ate before heading out.
He made his way to the meeting spot—the tree he had woken up under just yesterday. When he arrived, he saw Lie already there, an excited look on her face.
"Morning. Sorry I'm late," Rion said.
Lie shook her head. "No, you're just on time. Shall we begin?"
"Yeah, sure," Rion replied.
"Great! In that case... stand over there for me, please."
Lie pointed a short distance away. Without question, Rion followed her instructions, putting some space between them.
Once in position, he spoke up. "Hey, Lie… before we do this, can I ask what exactly this entails?" His voice carried a hint of nervousness.
"Well, it's pretty simple. All I have to do is fire a blast of pure magic directly at you," Lie explained casually.
"Pure?" Rion's mind flashed back to what he'd read in the book last night. It had mentioned that pure magic was magic in its rawest form—untouched, unshaped by any spell or element.
"Oh! I actually read about that!" he said.
"Great!" Lie grinned. Her staff was already raised, a ball of glowing energy forming at its tip.
"One last question, though." Rion asked.
"Shoot."
"Will this… hurt?"
Lie went silent for a moment. Then, she answered honestly. "Yeah, it will. The most successful Magic Assists tend to hurt, but, you know… not too much. I'll try to keep it in that range."
Rion swallowed hard. "I-I see. In that case… good luck, Lie!"
"Thank you, Rion!"
At that moment, the ball of magic at her staff's tip finished forming. A surge of energy pulsed in the air.
"ALL RIGHT—HERE IT COMES!"
Rion tightly shut his eyes and braced himself for what was about to happen.
(And thus Rion's adventure continues…)