Chapter 89 - Practice, practice, practice
Scarlett knitted her forehead as she compressed the two fire spheres in front of her further and further, trying to focus on, and grasp, the strands of mana that made the magic up. It was like trying to clasp a piece of clay in your hands. Forming and shaping it was as easy as clenching your fist, but trying to separate the clay into its different constituting parts was as good as impossible. Or at least it felt like it was.
After a while, she finally succeeded in grabbing hold of a handful of ‘strands’. She pulled at them gently. Immediately, they slipped out of her grasp. All the other strands came loose along with them, like a bundle of rubber bands. The fire whose strands she had pulled dissipated into nothingness, leaving her with only one sphere left. She let it disappear as well, picking up a small towel from her lap to wipe away the sweat from her temple.
This was hard.
It was only recently she’d realized that her magic was more complex than she had originally thought. It wasn't simply just a clump of mana moving according to her will, but rather an immense gathering of tinier strands working together in ways she didn’t quite understand. Her upgrade to [Greater Mana Control] might have been part of what helped her notice this. She didn’t have any skill to see the mana per se, so the vague connection she had to her magic was the only way to gauge these things, and mana control appeared to be the only skill that affected that weird sense.
[Mana: 843/4575]
She would have to recharge the [Depraved Solitude’s Choker] again soon. Though it would probably be best if she rested for half an hour first. She had recharged the necklace twice today, and it was already stretching the limits of what could be considered ‘comfortable’. Her arms and legs were starting to feel like spaghetti, and she would be lying limp on the ground if it weren’t for the chair she was in. And this was with her taking things slow.
She wasn’t looking forward to how she would be feeling later today.
Taking some time to regain her breath, she turned to look at the porch beside her. The raven-haired woman sitting there hadn’t moved an inch, gaze affixed on the book on her lap for the past two hours Scarlett had been spending practicing her magic. At times she’d glanced up, watching the kids who had been playing on the village square earlier, but she didn’t seem to care much about Scarlett.
Right now, things weren’t looking that promising.
This whole tutelage thing was Scarlett’s own idea and not something you did in the game. As such, she had no idea if it would work. Still, there wasn’t much else for her to do here at the moment, and she felt like it was the best alternative. Considering the woman didn’t seem to think she was strong enough, it wasn’t likely she’d be able to unlock any of the ‘quests’ that were related to this questline.
But that was exactly why she had to make the best use of her time here, while she could.
After resting for a while, she returned to her training.