Vylt: The New Dawn

Chapter 27: A Certain Point of View

"Do you have any news regarding the ingredients we discussed yesterday?" Belaury asked as I continued filling the bucket with ice.

Keeping my eyes on the task, I nodded. I didn't want to lose focus. Realising she was waiting for an actual reply, I elaborated. "Anna, gave us permission to access the pantry tonight. She says everything should be there."

"How is Sylvia doing? Is it really that bad?"

Her attempts at conversation weren't welcome. They were too distracting. I was doing very well so far, so messing up when I was close to being done was not an option for me. I couldn't help frowning because of it. I paused to answer.

"I didn't tell you to stop, Nora." Although brief, I saw the corners of her mouth rise.

"You are doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

She openly laughed in response. "I am. I didn't think you'd get the hang of it so quickly, so I'm trying to increase the difficulty. Consider it an additional part of your training. You won't always have the luxury of using your magic in peace, so it's good that you get used to it this early."

My shoulders slumped. I sighed, knowing it was true, regardless of how annoying it was. "That makes sense, I guess."

"Of course it does. Now, get back to work and answer my questions."

My eyes went back to the spheres, and I gave her the reply she wanted as I continued. "She seems to be better now. I never got to see the worst of it, but everyone else says it was really bad."

"I see. It's good that she's feeling better. Let's hope it stays that way, but it will be best if she has Vik's potion at hand, just in case. What about your benefactor? Any news on that?"

I shook my head subtly. "Didn't answer at all yesterday. The last thing it told me was that it needed more mana. It also asked me to keep training like this."

Belaury brought a hand to her chin and hummed. "It's the first time I hear about a spirit requiring mana at all."

"Is this an impostor, then? Oh, no... What if it's listening to this?"

She laughed. "Not necessarily. And don't worry, I doubt the spirit would be offended by you being cautious. It probably expected as much when it chose you. Now that I think about it, there could be a reason behind this revelation. If you remember what I told you days ago, back when my ancestors first learned of the existence of the gods and spirits, they lived surrounded by naturally occurring mana.

"It was also around that time when spirits were most active in communication. They never stopped talking, but after migrating to the main continent, cases of blessed individuals that never heard the voice of their benefactor became common. There is a possibility that the blessed individuals who could still hear them knew about it and chose not to reveal it. Maybe it was the spirits who thought it wasn't worth mentioning at all. While mana was no longer present in the air, there were still plenty of magic users they could obtain it from. I wouldn't worry about it, if I were you. Even if it turns out to be your imagination, it can't harm you."

Contrary to my teacher's expectations, I managed to clear the first challenge on my second day of training. I could tell she was pleased behind that curtain of disappointment she showed after her unsuccessful attempts at making me fail.

The class ended with Belaury taking back the pebble and throwing the ice balls back to the lake, just like she did the day before. Surprisingly, Alex never spoke during the class. I didn't know if it was because he truly had no questions or he actually listened to what Belaury said, but it was the first time she didn't even glare at him as we got ready to head back.