To Free Verus?
Light filtered through the open archway.
We stepped outside.
A gentle warmth brushing against my skin in contrast to the cool interior we'd left behind.
The transition was quiet. No doors slammed.
No sudden gusts.
The soft sound of our footsteps.
We passed beneath the overhanging stairway that had led us into the room before.
The garden stretched out in front of us.
Like… a forgotten sanctuary.
Neatly kept, but not overly manicured.
Nature still had a voice here.
Ivy crept along the stone walls like it was meant to be there. Flowering bushes swayed lazily.
Somewhere off to the side a chime sang once.
Then fell silent.
At the center of it all, a fountain stood.
Water spilled from the lips of a carved figure.
I didn't recognize the person the stone was sculpted into. something celestial, or maybe just old.
Perhaps divine.
The sunlight kissed the ripples.
It cast shards of light across the cobblestone paths..
There was something in the air.
Not a scent, not a sound. A feeling.
Like the way your body senses static before a storm.
A subtle prickling along the arms. It wasn't discomforting, but it was there. Present. Real.
I slowed, glancing around, trying to place it.
Alteria came to a stop ahead of me, her gaze turning back with a small tilt of the head.
"You feel that?"
I frowned.
"Feel what?"
"The energy."
She stepped closer to the fountain, lifting her hand just above the water's surface.
"Magic. It's abundant in this part of the castle. That's why we're out here."
Her eyes flicked up to mine.
"To test your mana affinity."
I blinked at her, unsure if I'd heard the words right.
"Mana… what?"
She laughed softly, and it wasn't condescending.
More amused. Like she was expecting that answer.
"Mana,"
She repeated,
"The force within us. Within everything, really. Some people are born with it. Others grow into it. Some never awaken theirs at all."
I stood still, absorbing that.
Even if it didn't make immediate sense.
It sounded like a fairytale explanation.
Until she proved it wasn't.
Alteria extended her hand slowly.
Her fingers relaxed.
The movement was graceful, fluid.
Not rehearsed but familiar, like muscle memory.
And the water moved.
It stirred first, gently, as if waking from a nap.
Then, with an invisible tug, it rose in a ribbon,
Swirling around her wrist like a stream of silk.
The sunlight caught in it.
It cast dappled glows across her skin.
No strings. No tricks.
My breath caught.
My eyes locked onto the dancing water as it looped higher, coiling like it had a mind of its own.
Then suddenly, a flutter of wings.
A bird dipped down far too close,.
Alteria flinched.
The water collapsed all at once. Splashing against her front, soaking the lower hem of her dress.
She gave a small yelp and stepped back.
She looked down at the damage.
Her expression tightened.
Lips pressing together as she gripped the fabric, twisting it to wring out the excess. Her hair usually so organized clung slightly to her cheek.
"I—I didn't mean to mess that up,"
She muttered, more to herself than to me.
I couldn't help it. I laughed. A real one.
Not a polite chuckle, but something lighter.
Freer than I expected from myself.
It spilled out before I could stop it.
She glanced up, brows raised.
"I wasn't laughing at you," I said quickly. "It just… it reminded me of something."
And it had.
A flicker. Brief, but vivid.
I could see a different fountain, a different garden.
My arms smaller, my legs kicking water.
A warm voice calling my name, hers?
The sound of my own laughter, but not mine.
Distant.
The image blurred.
The memory threatened to dissolve as it had come.
But it lingered just long enough to leave a mark.
My smile faltered.
Shifting to something quieter, more thoughtful.
Silence. Familiar to me.
Alteria watched me.
I shook it off best I could.
I thought she was watching the past with my gaze.
Then she straightened.
She brushed her dress with finality.
She sighed. She dropped her knees down into the grass, uncaring in method.
The dress was already damaged until next wash.
"We're going to be working on finding out what your type of mana is," she said.
Her voice was calmer now.
And somehow, those words felt heavier than before.
Like they meant more than I could understand.
I took a step back.
I let my eyes wander across the garden.
Now that I was really looking, I saw them.
Markings.
Faint symbols drawn into the dirt, arranged in patterns that circled around the fountain.
Some were large.
Overlapping like ripples on water.
Others are small and intricate.
Tucked between blades of grass.
Their dark ink had splattered beyond the lines in some places, like whoever had drawn them had done so in a hurry. Or frustration.
Alteria moved through the space carefully.
She stepped over the seals with practiced ease.
Examining, smearing some spots over others.
The hem of her dress was damp from earlier, slightly dirt-stained from kneeling.
She stopped at the fountain and dipped her hand into the cool water, letting it cleanse away the black residue that clung to her fingertips.
The ink bled away slowly.
It curled like smoke in the water before vanishing.
She wiped her hand clean on the edge of her sash and then turned to face me, her expression composed again.
"Don't step inside the outer ring," she said, her tone more instructional now. "Each symbol has a purpose. I'd rather not redraw them."
I nodded, taking cautious steps closer but keeping outside the circle.
"What are they for?" I asked, eyeing the shapes. Some looked familiar. Or maybe they just felt familiar.
"They're anchor points," she replied. "For resonance. They help me trace how your mana reacts when placed under different frequencies."
"Frequencies?"
She smiled faintly. "You'll see."
Then she raised both hands.
Not dramatically. This wasn't a theatrical gesture.
It was calm, thoughtful, like striking a tuning fork.
The air shifted again. The hair on my arms stood up.
The ink on the ground began to glow, faintly at first.
Lines pulsed.
Spreading outward from the seals in small waves.
Like veins awakening under the skin of the earth.
The fountain behind her responded too.
The water trembled slightly.
Stirred not by wind but by something deeper.
"Step into the center," she instructed.
I hesitated. My foot hovered at the edge of the smallest circle, the one at the heart of it all.
If any nerves or doubt wanted to make their way now, it's too late. I stepped forward.
It didn't take another second.
The moment my foot crossed into the circle.
Iit hit me.
A jolt. Not just through my skin, but through bone.
My entire skeleton trembled like something deep inside was being… rearranged.
No, not rearranged. Rewritten. As if every part of me was being reminded it existed.
The sensation wasn't cold. It wasn't sharp. It was heat. Raw, blinding heat. My chest ignited first.
A fire without flame.
My breath caught. I clenched my fists, instinctively trying to steady myself, but it was useless.
My knees threatened to give way.
Every muscle felt like it was pulsing, tensing, responding to a force I couldn't see.
This wasn't normal.
This wasn't anything.
What is this?
Magic?
The word surfaced, uninvited but perfectly timed.
If this was magic, it wasn't gentle.
It wasn't soft whispers or floating sparkles like the stories promised. This was something primal.
Loud in its silence. Heavy in its hunger.
It crawled across my bones like it was testing them.
Playing with them.
Trying to see where I'd break.
"Pull it out," Alteria's voice rang through the haze.
Steady, clear.
I looked up.
She stood at the edge of the circle, her eyes locked on mine, focused. Calm, but watched me carefully.
She knew exactly what I was feeling.
"Whatever pain you're feeling. Push it outward. Don't hold it. Don't fight it. Let it take shape."
Take shape?
I gritted my teeth, jaw clenched tight.
The pain swelled.
My chest pounded like something inside was trying to escape. Every breath hurt like I was swallowing heat, swallowing fire.
I tried.
I pushed, imagining the pain leaving my body, forcing it down my arms, out through my fingers. But nothing happened.
The heat only grew.
I gasped. My vision blurred. I dropped to one knee, hand bracing the stone beneath me.
The markings around the circle pulsed brighter in rhythm with my heartbeat. Faster, faster, faster.
I couldn't hold it anymore.
A cough tore from my throat.
Sharp, violent. and with it came something else.
Fire.
It burst from my mouth in a wave, uncontained, licking the air with searing heat.
I stumbled backward, eyes wide, hand instinctively rising to cover my mouth.
My skin buzzed, no, vibrated.
With a heat that didn't hurt anymore. It throbbed at my fingertips.
Then a flicker.
Small.
A tongue of flame, dancing in the center of my palm.
I stared at it. Trembling.
The circle dimmed. The vibrations stopped.
Silence returned.
[Ping!]
[ affinity: fire (primordial)
mana capacity: 15/100 (unrefined)
control: 5% (volatile)
warning: "untamed flames risk backlash." ]
Alteria stepped closer, her eyes not wide with fear. But wonder. Like she'd seen this before.
Like she'd been waiting for it.
"Your affinity is… fire." She spoke, voice even but filled with awe… yet worry.