“We can work on your foundations.” Solus used her breathing technique, Sky Blessing to check on Kamila’s condition and how much the impurities in her body had shifted.
“The good thing about Spirit Magic is that it contains all elements. Everything you learn about it can be applied to elemental magic.”
“Good to know.” Kamila nodded. “Do you think I can learn Light Mastery while we are at it?”
“Holograms? Sure. It’s too early for constructs, though. Also, we have to ask Nalrond’s permission first. We promised him not to share his tribe’s legacy.” Solus said.
“I’m in no rush. It can wait. How much can you teach me?” Kamila asked.
“In a day? Depends on your talent, unless you mean based on your core. In that case, the best you can do is cast the weakest among tier two spells. Not going to lie. Like my mother used to say, orange is a fart.” Solus smiled at the memory of Menadion’s ranking for mana crystals.
“Let’s start from tier zero, then. Teach me like Lith did for the kids.” Kamila smiled at the memory as well.
“Speaking of that, why are you asking me and not Lith?”
“Because I want to surprise him and because he’d make a mission out of it. I want slow-paced magic lessons, not an improvised boot camp.” Kamila projected via a mind link the image of a Lith with a stern expression.
“Train like your life depends on it because one day it might!” He said to a panting Kamila who failed to conjure the elements because short on mana.
“Gods, that’s him down to a t.” Solus burst into a belly laugh while Kamila snorted.
“We’ll see if you still find it funny when he’ll work you to the bone to lose weight.” She poked at Solus’ belly, making her hilarity disappear.
“He must never know about this conversation. I’m working on it, but at my own pace. If Lith gets involved with my diet, it would become a grind.” Solus suddenly empathized with Kamila’s situation.
“My problem exactly.” She nodded. “Now, what about those lessons? There’s not much time before Lith wakes up.”
“Sure thing. Just one question. Do you want the spoon-fed method or Faluel’s?” A quick mind link explained to Kamila the difference between the two.
One would give the student a step-by-step explanation of the rules of magic, asking her questions that would be quickly followed by the most common wrong answers and then by the correct one.
The other, instead, would just teach her the basics and entrust her to find the correct answer by trial and error and deep thinking.
“Spoon-feeding sounds right to me.” Kamila replied. “I don’t want to become a great mage or work in any field of research. I just want to learn enough to train my core and follow my daughter wherever she goes.”
“Sweet! I’ve never used this method. I’m curious to see how you’ll turn out.” Solus established a mind link and started to revise with Kamila the contents of Silverwing’s book, the Basics of Magic.
After each chapter, Solus would conjure the corresponding element and Kamila would mirror Solus to the best of her abilities. Solus further improved Silverwing’s methods by applying Lith’s school of magic.
She divided the elements into three branches. Equilibrium (air and water), Creation (light and earth), and Destruction (fire and darkness), teaching them in this order just like Lith had done with the kids.
Kamila already had excellent foundations thanks to Jirni’s lessons and her constant training as a Constable. People with a weak mana core like her focused on finesse rather than raw strength so she had a great degree of mana control already.
Solus’ lesson went smoothly, deepening Kamila’s understanding of every element before moving on to Spirit Magic that encompassed them all.
“I swear on my Mom, you make no sense.” Solus said while checking Kamila’s hair for the umpteenth time. “Even though you have Awakened, you have no streak. Which means you are like Lith and nothing like Friya. You have no affinities.
“Then how come you can manipulate the elements with such ease?”
“I don’t know.” Kamila shrugged. “You are the teacher so it’s up to you to explain to me stuff.”
She sucked hard at air magic yet was amazing at water.
In the same way, Kamila struggled with earth and had an easy time with light. To make things even more absurd, she mastered fire and darkness like they were second nature to her even though they were supposed to be the hardest to control.
The elements of destruction didn’t just answer her commands, they danced in her palms, shaping themselves however she wanted.
“Wild guess, can it be the baby?” Kamila pointed at her womb. “Back when Salaark used Blood Imprint on the family, I got covered in red-veined black feathers.”
? “Daughter of a Dragon!” Solus pointed her finger at Kamila, her tone angry. “Of course it’s because of the baby. She isn’t like Lith who was reborn fully human until the blue core. Her Divine Beast side is perfect so she has elemental affinities.
“Now I understand what Protector and Nalrond meant when they said that their innate elements feel like a part of their own body.”
“Makes sense, unlike your anger.” Kamila tilted her head in confusion.
“Because no one I know, or at least I remember of, ever had such an easy time mastering four frigging elements! By the way, why four? They are supposed to be two.” Solus pouted in envy.
“Another wild guess. Void Magic.” Kamila tormented her lower lip while in deep thought.
“How do you even know about that?” Solus asked in frustration.
“Because Lith often speaks about his work and I try to learn and understand everything I can to keep the conversation going. We both get interested in what the other does or with nothing in common, we’d get bored.
“In my case, he’d rather spend more time with you than with me.” Kamila said with a snort, that made Solus’ anger take several steps back.
“Definitely Void Magic.” Solus nodded. “You are on a roll, sister. This is very interesting. It proves that if Emperor Beasts and Fae are taught Void Magic, they can use it to partially extend their affinities to the complementary element.”
She was eager to change the topic and resume the lesson.
After over three hours of relentless practice, Kamila was covered in sweat. Her breath was labored and every inch of her body ached from the mana flow. She also had learned how to conjure simple holograms like a rock or a piece of blank paper.
Spoon-feeding knowledge allowed her to learn at a fast pace and thanks to the mind link, hours-long explanations and demonstrations were condensed into a few minutes.
“So much for a gentle pace.” Kamila drank water in-between wheezes and felt hungrier than ever. “I might as well have asked Lith.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to work you so hard.” Solus conjured a tonic and a full roasted chicken from her pocket dimension. “I just wanted to make the best of the time we had before the mind link caused you mana poisoning.
“I am as surprised as you are that it didn’t happen. At all.”
