A week passed in a blink.
lisa, ard with a small pouch of suns her father had managed to save, marched into the old man's shop, humming a little song.
The shopkeeper looked up as she entered, his eyebrows raising in recognition.
"Ah, the young inventor returns!" he exclaid, a hint of mirth in his voice. "Have you co to share any new groundbreaking discoveries with ?"
lisa snorted, shaking her head.
"Not this ti, sir. I'm here on a different mission today."
She leaned on the counter, fixing the man with a serious gaze.
"I need spells. The good stuff, no nightlight stuff. I'm talking fireballs, lightning bolts, anything like that!"
The old man chuckled, stroking his beard.
"Ambitious, eh? Well, I might have a few scrolls that could help you out. Let just-"
The tinkling of the shop's bell interrupted him.
A new custor arrived.
lisa glanced over her shoulder, and her jaw nearly hit the floor.
[Wow...]
She blushed.
Standing in the doorway was a radiant young woman, likely in her early 20s, with light orange hair tied into two braids. Her eyes were a srizing shade of green, slightly darker than Isabella's but no less striking.
[Holy shit, she's gorgeous!] lisa thought, her heart skipping a beat. [But... A human? What's she doing here?]
But it wasn't just the woman's beauty that caught lisa's attention. It was her outfit, a practical set of leather armor and trousers that hugged her curves in all the right places.
[Dressed for travel. Probably not planning on staying for too long.]
lisa shook her head then.
[Focus, lisa! You're here for spells, not sexy adventurers!... Yet.]
But even as she turned back to the shopkeeper, she couldn't help but steal glances at the woman.
[I wonder what her deal is. Is she a rcenary? A treasure hunter? Surely, this world has to have those types of people.]
That was all it took for lisa's imagination to run wild.
[Man, once I'm a sorceress, this is exactly the kind of woman I want to run around with, getting into trouble and having adventures together...]
She sighed dreamily, montarily lost in her fantasies.
[Ahh... Late nights by the campfire, sharing stories and secrets... tongue kissing under the stars~]
"Ahem."
The shopkeeper's pointed cough snapped lisa back to reality.
"Your spells, young lady?"
lisa blushed, realizing she'd been caught staring.
"Right, yes, spells! That's what I'm here for, yes."
She laughed nervously.
lisa turned to the shopkeeper, trying to ignore the gorgeous woman's presence.
"So, where are those, uh, scrolls you ntioned?"
The old man pointed to a corner of the shop, his eyes twinkling with amusent.
"Third shelf from the bottom, on the left. Take your ti, I'm sure you'll find sothing suitable for your... needs."
lisa nodded, making her way over to the shelf.
As she rummaged through the scrolls, she couldn't help but feel the weight of the woman's gaze on her back.
She tried to focus on the scrolls, but the sound of the woman's voice drifted over, causing her ears to perk up.
"The Black Road is still inaccessible?"
"Sa as ever, I'm afraid," the woman replied. "Been that way since I left Syux."
[Syux? I saw that na in dad's books. Isn't that the human nation? What's she doing all the way out here?]
"And, with any luck, it'll be that way once you head back, Javir," the old man said.
[Javir,] lisa said. [Odd na. Maybe common in this world, though.]
"I'd be plenty shocked, since that's not happening anyti soon."
"Eh, give it another two weeks. They'll be begging to have you back in no ti."
"Sohow, I doubt that."
lisa's hand landed on a scroll labeled "Ice Storm," and her eyes widened with excitent.
[Ohhhh this sounds perfect! Flashy, powerful!]
She grabbed the scroll, turning to head back to the counter. But as she approached, Javir's voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Forgive my curiosity, little one, but why is a nim buying a spell scroll? Your kind can't use magic."
[Hehe, she makes an incorrect statent so confidently. How adorable,] lisa thought feeling pretty smug.
Before she could say anything, though, the old man answered for her.
"Ah, but young lisa here is a special case! She's discovered a way for nim to cast spells, though she's keeping the details close to her chest."
Javir's eyebrows shot up, and she turned to lisa with a look of impressed surprise.
"What?"
That was probably the most confused "what?" she'd ever heard. It wasn't even loud but so damn genuine.
"I did," lisa said, proudly.
Javir just looked at her for a mont.
"Is that so? How in the world did you manage that?"
lisa grinned, trying to look mysterious and alluring.
"It's a secret," she said, tapping the side of her nose. "But, if you want to see..."
Using a small amount of her stockpiled Essence wouldn't hurt, right?
First, she raised her hands, showing she wasn't using a rune. Then, she drew her Essence (charged through hugs and kisses as per usual) and slowly began drawing the spellsign for Illuminate.
She'd figured out what happened a week ago after more experintation, which was why she was going so slowly now.
A misfire.
At first glance, the magic in this world seed very simple. Say a few words, move your hand around in a predetermined pattern, and boom! Magic.
But, no. One thing complicated the matter, and that was misfiring.
If you drew the spell wrong, or spoke the words incorrectly, then not only would you not cast the spell, but twice the Essence that you would have used to cast it will be spent.
What really made this so punishing was just how unforgiving magic could be when it ca to what constituted "making a mistake".
Speak one syllable with the wrong tone? Misfire.
Draw one, single line incorrectly? Misfire.
And, if lisa's assumption was right, there were probably other reasons why the streets weren't crawling with mages with a magic system so, at first glance, simple. But, misfiring was a pretty big demotivator on its own.
With that in mind, lisa had been practicing the ones she knew very intensely, and she made sure to draw the spellsign in the air very slowly right now.
[This, this, and... Speak the words... Voila!]
The spell activated.
Javir pulled back.
"You... You did it," she said softly.
"I did, didn't I?"
[Nailed it! Co on, I'm the coolest 9-year-old you've ever seen, admit it!]
"So, yeah," lisa said. "I can do that."
And, with that, she resud her business and went to buy the scroll.
But as lisa reached for her coin purse, Javir spoke again, her words sending a jolt of shock through lisa's system.
"Say, if you're looking to learn more about magic, I could show you a thing or two."
lisa did a double-take.
"What?"
Javir leaned over lisa's shoulder, looking at the scroll she was about to buy.
"Ice Storm. Perfectly reliable ability. I've cast it many tis myself. How about it?" She asked. "Shall I tutor you?"
lisa couldn't comprehend what was happening.
[... Is she serious? Did she just offer to teach ? Like, one-on-one, private lessons? Seriously?]
She tried to play it cool, but her voice ca out as a squeaky ss.
"R-Really? You'd do that? For ?"
Javir shrugged with a little smile.
"Why not? Or, do you already have a teacher?"
"N-No, I don't."
"So, what do you say?" Javir squatted, placing herself at eye level with lisa. "Want to learn a thing or two?"
lisa's heart soared.
[This is it! This is my chance to learn from a real mage! I- Has my luck turned around? Am I becoming a protagonist!?]
She nodded vigorously, practically bouncing with excitent.
"Yes! Yes, I'd love that! When can we start? Where should we go? Do I need to pack anything? Oh, I should probably tell my parents, they might worry if I just disappear, but I'm sure they'll understand, this is a once-in-a-lifeti opportunity and-"
Javir laughed, holding up her hands to stem the tide of lisa's babbling.
"Whoa, slow down there, kid! One step at a ti. Let's start with introductions and go from there, okay?"
lisa blushed, realizing she'd gotten ahead of herself.
"Right, sorry. I'm lisa. lisa Blackfla. And I'm ready to learn everything you have to teach !"
She stuck out her hand, grinning from ear to ear.
Javir did the sa.
"I'm Javir of House Folden. It's a pleasure."
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