Naito gave her some privacy and left the room for a few minutes. Once she was ready, they rode back to Zart's place so that Naito could grab a bunch of his magic books. They then rode to a small woodland where no one would see them.
"Alright," Naito said as they got off the bike, "This will do."
Kayla took off the backpack they stuffed with books and sat in the grass. "Where will we start?"
"The very basics. Let's see..." he dumped the tomes out of the backpack and opened up one titled "The Grimoire". "Do you know what a Grimoire is?"
Kayla shook her head.
"I want you to read this then." He handed her the tome.
"T-The entire thing?!" she looked at him like he was a madman.
Naito chuckled. "No, silly. Just read bits and pieces when you get the chance. I'll summarize what you need to know." He cleared his throat and sat in front of her.
She placed her hands on her knees, ready to listen.
"A Grimoire is, basically, your book of spells. It's a wizards most powerful asset, but at the same time, our greatest weakness. It contains seventy percent of our magical energy, or mana, so when we are near it, our magic becomes much stronger. The Grimoire contains your entire history—all of your family members, including ancestors, and all of the spells they knew. Whenever you learn a spell, it's recorded in your Grimoire. It's essentially your own personal wizard diary and history book. Every wizard is born with a Grimoire inside their soul. When we are born, a magical ritual is performed to retract it. Now, what makes it a weakness? Since it contains seventy percent of your mana, if it's destroyed, you will be greatly weakened, permanently. Not only that, but you will become incapable of using any magic that was recorded in your Grimoire, nor any that are naturally recorded in it after you learn them; you'll only be able to use the very basic spells. Put short, if your Grimoire is destroyed, you are essentially no longer a wizard."
"So, even I have one?" Kayla asked, but quickly clasped her hands over her mouth. "Sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt!"
"It's fine, ask any questions you have. And yes, all wizards have one."
"How do I know where it is?"
"I don't know. Unfortunately, I don't even know where my own is. My father has mine and my sisters' hidden somewhere known only to him, to protect them from being destroyed. We'd be far more powerful keeping them near, but sometimes it's better to be safe than sorry."
"Then, I've had this ritual performed on me at birth too. And if I find my Grimoire, I'll learn who my family were?"
"Correct. I have no clue how you would find it though; it could be anywhere," he said. When she didn't ask any further questions, he continued, "The Grimoire is very hard to destroy. There aren't many known substances capable of destroying it, but Basilisk venom, Unicorn horns, and Pegasus flames are three known methods. This is how Maeru was able to conquer Drazil in the war; they studied wizards until they discovered this weakness and a method to exploit it, then sent in troops to hunt down and destroy as many Grimoires as possible."
"They sure don't teach that in history class."
"I learned this from my father. He was one of the war's survivors," he said, "Now, moving on. There are four main types of magic—Universal. These are spells that can be learned and used by any wizard, regardless of their Elemental-Sign. Exclusive: These are spells that can only be used by their respective Elemental-Sign. Heredity: These are spells exclusive to specific bloodlines. And last, but certainly least...Basic. These are simple, easy to learn and use spells that even regular people can be taught."
"So, regular people really are capable of magic?"
"Correct, but only Basic spells that do not record in the Grimoire," he waited for her to ask any further questions, but she didn't have any. "Regarding the Exclusive spells, I seem to be an oddity." He flicked his wrist, sending a blade of ice spiraling through the air. "Technically speaking, I am an Aquamancer. Yet, I am incapable of using the Aquamancer Exclusive spells. Instead, I seem to be a Cyromancer; I am capable of using ice magic instead."
"But there is no such thing as an Ice-Sign," Kayla mentioned.
"Exactly. Perhaps it is an unknown subgroup of Aquamancer?" Naito slapped his forehead, "I almost forgot something important! When a wizard reaches the age of one-hundred, their Grimoire expands even further, opening the pathway to far more advanced magic. This is when a wizard becomes a High Mage. Zart, for example, is a High Mage."
"He's that old?"
"Yes. He's another survivor of the war." Naito took a swig from the water bottle he brought with him. All that talking had him parched. "Now, let me tell you a bit about mana. It is, as I said earlier, your magical energy. It comes from three main sources: your Grimoire, your wand, and your mind. Your mind contains the thirty percent of your mana that isn't held by the Grimoire, and your wand expands it. Different wands expand it by different amounts, it depends on the quality. There are other conditions that can affect your mana as well. Pyromancers, such as you, naturally have higher mana than the other Elemental-Signs."
"Do the other Elemental-Signs have exclusive advantages as well?"
"Good question!" Naito rose a finger, "Yes, they do! Aquamancers heal, as well as restore mana, much faster. Aeromancers are super quick. And Gaiamancers...they have both super endurance, and super strength. You've gotten a glimpse of how stupidly strong Cosena is, haven't you?"
"Y-Yeah..." Kayla fidgeted.
"Speaking of which, something weird happened between you and her the other day, didn't it?" he asked.
"She made me assure her I wouldn't speak a word of it..."
"That only makes me so much more curious."
"It's kind of embarrassing, but..." she bit her lower lip and avoided his eye contact, "I didn't know there was anyone in the bathroom, and when I went in there, I sort of...saw her completely naked..."
Naito fell over laughing. No wonder Cosena had looked so mortified!
"D-don't tell her I told you that! She'd kill me, or even worse!"
Naito clutched his gut, still lost in laughter. "I won't," he wiped a tear that fell from laughing so hard once he settled down.
"Her body though...wow. Is she even human? Like, all her assets were like, boom! Boom! And boom! And her muscles..." she furiously shook her head. "N-not that I'm into women are anything like that! Oh, why are we talking about this..." she sighed softly, "Can we just continue with the lesson now?"
Naito let out the last of his laughs. "Okay, back to work. Going back to mana, it can also be expanded if we are in a month of your Elemental-Sign. It's an Earth-Sign month right now, so Gaiamancers like Cosena and Zento have their mana increased. Earth is the opposite of Air, so Aeromancers have theirs reduced. If it is the month of your specific Zodiac Sign, this boost is increased even further. Have you ever felt special while the moon was out?" he asked.
"Yeah, every night actually. It's hard to explain, but I get this tingly sort of feeling. I've gotten used to it by now though."
"Every wizard feels this. Under the light of the moon, our mana is expanded, and recovers much faster than in the day," he explained. "Now, I'm sure you're smart enough to know this already, but spells each consume different amounts of mana. Since wands are a way to expand our mana regardless of the time of day or month, a wizard should typically always have their wand. So, what do you think our next task is?"
"To learn more about wands?"
"Well, yes, but I was actually going to say that we're going to make you a wand."
Kayla rocked on her knees. "Really? We can do that?"
Naito opened the book "Wandsmithing 101" "I've never made one before, so it won't be anything impressive." He flipped through the pages. "But we can still do something. A wand can be made from any wooden or metal surface. Any of the branches around here will do. The challenge is that it needs to be coated in some type of magical property."
"Such as?"
He stood. "The fur of a mythical creature will do. I did a little research before we came here. It's said that you can find black shuck fur by the river here."
Kayla fidgeted. "B-Black shuck? Aren't those the ghostly black dogs with a hypnotizing glare? They hypnotize their prey and drag them their homes..."
"They are nocturnal and rarely show themselves to humans though, don't worry. Come on, let's hunt for some shuck fur!"
"If you say so..." With hesitation, Kayla stood and followed him.
Down by the river, they found piles of shaggy black strings. Naito picked some up. It felt wet and slimy and looked more like cotton that had just been dipped in paint than fur. "Fascinating...this fur is just as the books describe it!"
"I can't believe you're holding that with your bare hands..." Kayla scratched her arms, constantly looking over her shoulders.
"You'll be touching it all the time once we make your wand."
"Oh god..."
Naito picked up as he much as figured they'd need. He then washed it carefully in the river. As he did, there was a rustle in a batch of leaves.
Kayla scampered behind Naito and grabbed his arm. "Something's over there..."
Naito looked. The leaves rustled more, but what emerged was just a skunk. "You're not scared of a little skunk, are you?"
Kayla let out a relieved sigh. But then her eyes flickered. "Wait...skunk?!"
They both looked at each other. Then, without wasting another second, ran back to where they left the bike.
"That was close..."
"Yeah..." Kayla wrapped her arms around herself. "That could've gone bad." For whatever reason, that made her blush a little.
"Well, now that we've got the shuck fur, time to make that wand!" Naito took a bottle of glue out of the backpack. "Pick a branch, whichever you like best."
"Will it make a difference?"
"Not really, but it'd be best for you to pick one you'll be comfortable with."
"Alright." Kayla picked up and stroked several before settling with one of the smaller ones, about seven inches in length. "This one." She handed it to him.
"Good, good. Now then," he slid one of the books towards her, "Read this as I get to work on this wand."
"Is there anything in particular you want me to find in here?" she asked.
"Your Animal Spirit."
"Come again?"
"Your Animal Spirit. Everyone has one, it's one of the universal basic spells. To know what yours is, you need to put together a bunch of different information about yourself such as your birth date, zodiac sign, and much more. Find what animal corresponds to you. Once your wand is ready, you'll be summoning your Animal Spirit," he stated.
Kayla groaned. "I don't think I want a ghost following me around..."
"They are not ghosts! And I assure you, they are very friendly and loyal to you. They are something like guardian angels, really."
"If you insist, teacher," she lay on her stomach in the grass and got to reading.
Naito smirked. It felt good, her calling him her teacher. He spent a good amount of time carefully sticking the fur to the branch. Once it was fully covered with the fur, he let the glue dry for nearly an hour, being sure not to disrupt Kayla's reading. Then, once he decided it was dry enough, he said, "Ta-da! It's finished!"
She looked up. "Is that...really a wand?"
He scratched the back of his head. "Not impressed, are you?"
"It's not that, it's just..."
"Don't worry, I'm not impressed either. I am no wandsmith, and I've only done the bare minimum. This is honestly nothing more than a toy, but it'll do for now. Once you're ready to tell everyone the truth, we can get you a professionally made wand, like mine," he twirled his around. "Did you figure out what your Animal Spirit is?"
"Yes, but...it's something lame."
"C'mon, don't be like that! What is it?"
Kayla looked away as if expecting him to laugh. "...A rabbit."
"That's not lame at all! I love rabbits, they are cute and cool!"
She looked back at him with a smile. "You think so?"
"Mhm. Now, let's finally do some magic!" he handed her the wand. "Follow my words and motions. The most important thing to remember is that magic is all mental. You need to clearly imagine the rabbit in your mind." He twirled his wand around slowly enough for her to follow, then pointed it at the ground and chanted, "Animal Spirit—Wolf!" And Shadow emerged from his wand.
"Animal Spirit—Rabbit!" She chanted. A translucent vapor shot out of her wand and shaped itself into the form of a rabbit.
Naito gasped. He didn't think she'd be able to do it on her first try.
Kayla's eyes widened and her lips parted. She jumped and squealed. "I-I did it! Naito, did you see me? I did it! I used magic!!!"
"I saw! That was impressive, excellent job!" He patted her shoulder.
She stumbled back and nearly fell, but he caught her.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"My head hurts a little."
"That happens when we start to run low on mana, since it is essentially mental energy. The lower your mana drops, the greater the headache. Maybe we should've started with something that doesn't consume so much..." he said as he let go of her.
"No, I'm happy with this," She crawled over to her Animal Spirit, which sat still, observing her. "Hey, little guy," she whispered.
"Hmph. So, this is the one I serve now?" asked the rabbit in a somewhat haughty tone.
"Serve? No, uh...I just want you and I to be friends."
The rabbit turned its back on her.
Kayla looked to Naito. "I don't think it likes me..."
"What a bad attitude!" Shadow barked.
"Shadow, you were like that too at first." Naito said.
"I most certainly was not!"
"Don't worry," Naito assured her, "It'll get used to you over time. So, do you want to finish for the day? We wouldn't want to drain your mana too much."
"Can't I learn at least one more spell first?" she pleaded.
"I guess one more couldn't hurt."
For the next few hours, Naito had her read through more of Zart's books, then tried to teach her Belisvin; the Invisibility spell. It proved to be a greater challenge to her than the Animal Spirit spell. The farthest she was able to get with it was making her body transparent. He didn't expect her to learn it one day, he certainly hadn't. Her headache started to get worse, so they called it a day.
Over the next few days, Naito spent a few hours teaching Kayla before she left for work, and then continued when she got home. She improved tremendously from where she started. When she first tried to create fire, she burnt her hand. Now, she could warm up her entire body, heat up a cup of noodles in her bare hand, and even juggle tiny fireballs. She even mastered Belisvin, and her Animal Spirit warmed up to her too. Still, she wasn't capable of anything impressive. Cheap party tricks at best. But going from hardly knowing a thing about magic, to where she was now, with an Aquamancer as her teacher; that was excellent progress. They now sat roasting marshmallows over a campfire that Kayla made with her magic.
"Delicious!" Naito plopped his tenth marshmallow into his mouth.
Kayla giggled. "You sure do like marshmallows."
"Doesn't everyone?"
"My mom sure did..." she stared into the fire, the flames dancing in her eyes. "This reminds me of when she and I used to go camping."
"You went on real camping trips? Alsen and I used to pretend to camp all the time! What was it like?"
"It was fun. We'd fish, take pictures of the wildlife, count the stars, sing campfire songs..." she sighed, "But I ruined all of that fun."
Naito dropped the marshmallow he was about to wolf down. "Ruined? How?"
Kayla stared at her hands. "My magic...it exploded in our tent one night. That was the last time we ever went camping."
"Oh...I'm sorry for asking."
"Don't be sorry," she said. "Say, do you have fun memories with your family?"
"Fun memories?" Naito's mind flashed back to when he and his sisters were locked in their room. He remembered the times he and Alsen would play pretend. But then he remembered his father ripping their beds apart. He remembered the day he got his skateboard. But then he remembered his father beating him half to death.
Naito doubled over.
"Huh? Are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine..." Why was he remembering all that bad stuff? They may not have exactly had the greatest lives in the castle, but they were no longer caged birds. No, they were eagles taking flight and creating new memories. He recalled the pillow fight he and Alsen had in Woteon. He recalled the stargazing they did on the boat. He recalled their trip to the mall just the other day. He smiled, looking up at the sky. "Yeah, we have a lot of fun memories, and Cosena's surprise party will be another."
"I'm glad to hear that," she said. "You know, life's been hard on me ever since my mother fell into her coma, but you've really helped me create new fun memories."
"There's no need to be so modest," he said.
"I mean it. For that, I just want to say thank you." She got up and walked up to him.
"Your welcome..." he scratched the back of his neck.
With misty eyes and a serene smile, she leaned in close to him. Naito's heart thumped in his chest and his body tingled. Why was she so close? He was used to Alsen invading his personal space, but this felt different.
"One day, I'll return the favor," she pulled away from him. Arms folded behind her back, she started to walk back. "Come on, let's go home."
"What was that about...?"
Naito got up and followed Kayla, but right as she sat on her bike, she vanished from sight.
Auhtor's Note: How do you think I did building up the relationship between these two? I feel like I may have rushed it a little, but let me know down below! And, don't forget to press that star button up above! Please and thank you :)