"How much longer do I have to maintain this magic?" I thought to myself.
Keeping the magic steady for as long as Luna asks me to is not that difficult once I get used to it. The problem is keeping my mind focus as this method requires staying still on one spot with eyes closed while heavily depending on 'Presence Detection' which I'm not used to doing. To keep my mind from wandering with this monotonous task, I'm humming a song in my head that also acts as my focus point.
"That's enough for today."
My eyes blink a few times when Luna's voice breaks my concentration, simultaneously discontinuing the flow of mana that sustains the light covering the circular area. The bright light swiftly diminishes and the tension on my legs finally loosen. Unfortunately, it causes me to stagger a few steps backwards as my legs wobble. Weird. This feels like the time I cast body enhancement magic onto myself, but the after-effect is mild. Is it because I'm making a conscious effort of controlling advanced-level magic that it drains my energy consumption rather than letting it flow freely similarly with 'Serenity' spell? Something like restraining an intangible substance and compressing it into a precise shape. When I think of it like that then it's understandable that action would burn up a lot of energy yet at the same time, it reduces the mana consumption rate.
Luna catches my slumping body from hitting the ground and speaks with a soft and calming voice. "Slowly. You will feel light-headed the first few times, eventually, it'll get better the more you practice."
Apart from momentarily losing my sense of balance, abruptly opening my eyes to the brightness before it completely vanishes is a careless move. Note to self, always make sure there's a pair of sunglasses with me for situations like this. Pretty sure there's one in the inventory amongst the many items Selene gave me. I close my eyes again and reopen them when I feel a touch above my eyes and a familiar warm sensation of someone's magic flow through me. My cleared-up line of sight naturally goes towards those tired yet keen pair of silver-coloured eyes. This is the second time for me witnessing Luna using magic properly. First is when purifying black mana leakage with light magic during the tainted monkey monster incident and now, she's checking the state of my body similarly to how Maya does it with recovery magic. Remembering what Lord Sol says about Luna, "rare dual magic wielder". At first, it doesn't make sense to me. A dual magic wielder is certainly not uncommon amongst elves who are essentially born with either or both water and wind attributes.
I get it now. Maya did say anyone can attain potion brewing skill under the guidance of a healer or anyone with the knowledge of medicinal herbs and with luck, they could use simple magic to heal minor wounds but it doesn't necessarily mean they have recovery magic. What's more, those who wield recovery magic, as well as light and darkness magic, are not as common as the four elements yet they are not sparse either that people would complain over the lack of personnel and talented individuals in the medicinal profession. And defying that statistic is the twin brother bestowed with three strong elemental attributes while the sister is born with healing magical properties and then, there's me. A single existence who's suddenly transported from a different world by the grace of the goddess. If this isn't my new reality, sounds like a plot of the gathering of powerful individuals in preparation for a much larger and unforeseen phenomenon. Inwardly shaking my head to dismiss these complicated thoughts and sigh deeply.
"How did I do?" I enquire after Luna removes her hand from my forehead.
There's a moment of pause which I don't think strangely of while anticipating Luna's assessment.
"You excel flawlessly on your first try. Time consumption in magic execution is short and quick for starters. With more practice, you will be able to apply Area Magic instantaneously." Luna positively comments.
"Even faster than now?" I ask.
Roy approaches closer to the centre of the area where we are and responds to my question. "It's meaningless if a mage can perform chant-less magic if they can't reduce casting time when enemy attacks."
"Oh." I only give a lukewarm response.
Stealth, speed, strength. Those are the three key points Roy repetitively put importance during combat lessons. I sometimes forget Roy whom the elf rangers call the ultimate battle-maniac mercenary, does consider strategic manoeuvres in a fight. Might be why the junior rangers couldn't ignore every time he points out their mistakes during group sparring. He doesn't even bother to train them one-on-one because in his words, 'this is far more thrilling'.
"Faster does not mean sloppy," says Luna. "Remember Iris, hastily casting unsteady magic is careless behaviour and will only be met with an adverse reaction."
"I'll remember it," I promise.
The specialised magic lesson resume after I drink a bottle of restorative potion. This time alternating between casting 'Area Purification' and 'Area Heal' while minding the speed of magic execution and increasing the efficiency. Without going too much into the working of Area Magic, simply put, not only it requires a massive sum of mana but it also tests the mage's ability to effectively balance and control mana. All I'm doing here is visualising myself as the focal point and the ground I'm standing on is the calm, steady water and the moment a spell is executed is when a fallen petal causes the surface of the water to ripple steadily to the edges. In contrast, if it's a stone that plops into the water then the outcome is unsuccessful.
"Mage apprentices often made the same mistake of casting any type of Area Magic spell without spreading the magic within the affected area properly. In the end, they only wasted the effort and time it took them to conjure all the mana they had and failed miserably," says Luna. "You can't simply assume it works similarly as to throwing an arrow of purification spell towards the intended target, or in the case of Area Magic, a cluster of people within the fixed extensive range."
"Isn't it obvious though?" I tilt my head slightly in confusion.
Luna shares the reason. "Not many realise the mistake until it is being pointed out to them."
"It's a common trait amongst young mages with heads filled with arrogance when they mistakenly believe they are closer to reaching the peak of magic that they cannot fathom even the simplest blunder."
Roy clicks his tongue after saying that with a hint of annoyance.
"You only have yourself to blame when you continue to respond to their taunts with brute force," Luna retorts to his comment.
The corner of his lip slightly twitch and Roy defends himself, albeit unconvincingly towards the elf. "I've grown mature since then."
Okay... moving on
Luna and Roy thoroughly observe my performance from the corner and each time they throw comments about how I could improve before casting another spell. Towards the end, I manage to shorten the time by a few minuscules of seconds which is rather impressive. With that, Luna ends today's lesson when the sun is already high up in the sky. I drag myself to the sit at a stone bench at one corner of the area where Bane is joining me and take out three packed hearty sandwiches from storage and distribute them amongst Luna, Roy and myself. In case anyone is wondering, the elf guard has not moved from his spot the whole time.
While enjoying a belated lunch, Luna discusses with me about using this circular area for practising casting light and recovery-type Area Magic under her supervision and it also serves as an observation concerning the behaviours of monsters and magical beasts that were once under the influence of black mana and their reaction with my unique mana presence before advancing with directly casting magic towards living beings who are yet to be completely recovered.
Beep. Beep.
A faint beeping sound is coming from Luna.
Luna stops eating her half-eaten sandwich and carefully takes out an item from her inner chest pocket. The item placed in between her thumb and index finger is a marble-sized crystal orb wrapped safely with a wire dangling from a long, thin silver chain necklace.
"Excuse me."
Luna moves away to respond to the beeping sound.
"What's that?" I curiously ask.
Roy explains after eating the last bite of his sandwich. "That's a communication magi device. It works the same as a regular communication crystal orb, but the range is limited because of the small size."
"I've never seen the rangers use them before."
"What use would that be for them? They are constantly moving around the forest. Communication magi device that size is only useful in places with restricted access like this rehabilitation centre."
I nod along, agreeing with his words while chewing on my sandwich.
So, it works similarly like emergency pagers that doctors use when working in hospitals. Luna returns while I ponder more about the communication magi device since it's related to one of the numbers of the ongoing projects I'm currently working on.
"Is the situation unchanging?" Roy questions Luna.
Luna answer with a faint smile. "Fortunately, several keepers sighted several visible reappearances."
Roy asks further. "And the rest?"
Luna shakes her head in dismay. "We can't force them to come out of hiding when they are being cautious. It won't end well for both sides."
Luna also shares her growing concern over the possible repercussion regarding the monsters and magical beasts' evasiveness if it prolongs even after we leave today and should it repeat every time we, specifically me and Bane visits, then it could hinder with their rehabilitation.
I interject their conversation, feeling guilty. "Somehow this feels like it's my fault."
"It's not your fault, Iris." Luna immediately responds. "The monsters here have suffered traumatising incidents; they were attacked by tainted monsters and their homes destroyed by black mana. Anyone who fled and survived is haunted by those nightmares. We can't blame them for becoming sensitive to beings emitting strong presences."
The only response I could say is, "That sounds tough."
"We are doing everything we can to provide a safer environment until they are ready to face the outside world."
Since this is somewhat my fault and Luna looks very troubled about it, I propose a solution. "In that case, can I try something? It'll be troublesome for you and the keepers if the current situation continues, right?"
Before Luna could open her mouth to speak, Roy gets straight to the point. "What are you planning to do?"
He knows me so well.
Jumping up on my two feet after filling my empty stomach, I answer with a refreshing smile. "I'm going to give them 'Serenity'."