Wheels scraped against the floorboards, the blades all clanging as it moved. Jotou pushed the rack of second-hand swords out the door, blocking the exit.
"You're gonna have to push that till the back," Hotaru told through the gap above.
Jotou sighed. 'Why does every sword I use end up breaking?' She pushed it out the- "THumP! ClAng!" -door...
The withering white flowers and grass were trampled by tal. Jotou groaned to the sky whilst a brunette slipped past, quickly making her way to the back of the house.
"So help would be nice!" Jotou exclaid before Fuko got out of earshot. "Asobi!? Can you help with this?"
The magician appeared out the door and peered to the fallen blades, "Are we burying the swords? Silly Jotou, they're swords, they don't need funerals!" Asobi shook her head with a smile.
"Just help pick them up..."
Fuko made her way to the back—the open plane of grass stretched out till Kria Park in the near distance, trees scarcely to their side.
"Woah! Are these all for to learn shadow magic!?" Fuko gawked to the dozens upon dozens of open books, with notes pinned to bookmark the pages.
Hotaru held her fists to her waist, "What? No, yours are over there," she pointed to about five books, closed and stacked to the side.
"These are all for Jotou. You're going to be learning heat," the teapot kept to that side made more sense now.
Fuko's eyes lost all lustre, "Heat...? All the magic in the world and a shadow affinity to learn heat?"
The mass of bouncing swords clattered up the grass to the back of the house, pushed by the other two.
Hotaru glared, "If you can learn heat quickly, we can do sothing else. You don't have to master it, you can even forget it afterwards, it doesn't matter.
It's just to give you a warm up. As much as you think I'm great at magic, I'm only great at my magic. I've yet to actually pinpoint what yours and Jotou's affinities actually are; we only know what your magic is based on.
With that information, I can then get a better set of spells for you to learn; unless you do want to be a bleeding ss with shattered bones?"
"Ai, ai, ai, I get it! Can we stop bringing it up?" Jotou set the rack up, a training dummy she stuck into the ground like a scarecrow.
"Fine, but a cool spell later?" Fuko bargained.
"That's the entire point- Jotou? You didn't put it on an even surface," Hotaru noticed to the side of her; the rack of swords began to roll back to the front of the house.
"Asobi!" Jotou chased the fleeing rack.
Asobi had moved over, playing with butterflies made from her wand, "Huh?" the rack rolling right past her face.
_
She felt a calming tingle in the back of her mind, the tea being sipped down her throat. Jotou sat across from Hotaru; Asobi tried to catch actual butterflies near so of the closer trees.
"Feeling ready?" Hotaru's tail swished, so fruits sitting by her side.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Jotou set the cup down, the tea actually tasting good this ti, "Take it away senpai."
Hotaru's ears pricked as she tilted her head, "What did you call ?"
"Uh," Jotou winced an eye close, "It just ans ntor, different language, sorry... You said that I need to know exactly what my affinity is, right?"
Hotaru smiled, "No need to apologize, I like learning about your world; and yes. You've already casted a few spells successfully, so, from there we can figure out what the major one is."
Hotaru pulled out the scrolls they got from the shop and flipped open so pages, "Spark is an enchantnt spell, but also a support spell.
You imbue lightning into sothing, like yourself and the things you hold, and create a soft field around yourself. That just ans you can take a few more punches than normal;"
She opened up another book, "and you can also cast Thundering Strike; which is purely an offensive spell," she shrugged.
"Oh?" Jotou made a connection, "That's why Thundering Strike always injures ? It's not my affinity to cast it."
"Wait, no," Hotaru shook her head, "You casted it successfully, your body was just not ready for that high of a spell."
"Then... I have two affinities?" Jotou ca to the conclusion.
Hotaru closed the book, "It doesn't work like that. Don't think of it as a lock. An affinity is more like... a sponge, that absorbs types of magic from the elent you're aligned with.
Like, my rejuvenate spell is a pure support spell. My 'main' affinity is healing, but I can also cast support spells to a lesser degree.
If soone had a support affinity aligned with water, their rejuvenate would be much more effective than mine even if I do master the spell to a tee.
Out of the current spells you've casted, you can either cast enchantnt or support magic and can definitely cast offensive magic. But we still need to narrow it down further."
"So, what affinity does heat pinpoint?" Fuko leered over her own shoulder. Her hands were still pointed towards another teapot—the spell still not working.
"You don't talk till you can boil the water in that," Hotaru ordered.
She was responded to with a grumble, "At this point the Sun will heat it before I do," or the light morning breeze brushing past her hair might cool it too quickly...
"How do we narrow it down further? I assu through trial and error?"
"You assu right," Hotaru took notes she had written herself; neat in her penmanship. "Sparkglow is a pure enchantnt spell that makes things give light; it's interdiate so, not too hard," she opened up a book and showed it to Jotou.
Jotou read the spell. 'Lightning coalescing around an object to make it glow brightly.' Ready, she stood up, grabbing one of the many swords.
"Ooo! Spell ti already!?" Asobi rushed over, letting a blue butterfly escape from her palms.
Jotou held her sword up. "Rember, take it slow and don't force it. You've casted a few lightning spells now, so you know the best thing that gives you control over your spells," Hotaru hoped at least.
Jotou took a breath and closed her eyes, the eyes of her companions all taking glances. "Sparkglow," sothing went wrong, no sothing's not wrong.
She said the words, but her body felt stiff... 'What's going on?' She felt a sudden; 'What's this... buzz?' Her eyes tightened and tightened. Sothing in the back of her mind, like her spine was being blocked.
"Jotou?" Hotaru's voice called her out of it before the blonde gritted her teeth.
Jotou opened her eyes, the odd sensation akin to being coiled around by a snake, disappearing as she did. The sword remained as dull as when it was taken from the rack.
Hotaru got up, "It didn't work?" she narrowed her eyes.
"I- It felt like a buzz... it, it never felt like that before, it was always more of a, tingle I guess; I don't know how to explain it," Jotou moved her limbs like an awakened statue.
Hotaru walked with haste towards her, checking her arm imdiately, feeling her face and shoulders. "What are you doing?" Fuko leered.
"I get what you an, but you're okay?" Hotaru checked.
Jotou nodded, "Yeah, just felt a little, off."
Hotaru exhaled, "That buzz is what many mages try to push past and cast spells they're not supposed to. It ans you can't cast that type of spell. Don't try again."
"I can't cast enchantnt magic then..."
"That doesn't make sense! Look at her, she's so enchanting! How can you not use enchantnt magic?" Asobi lied on the grass with her legs swinging behind her, head held by her hands.
Jotou's face reddened slightly.
"What that ans, is that she can cast support magic and offensive magic, which is what we need if we're ever to properly face a velatos," Hotaru brushed aside.
Fuko turned her leer to the teapot, her hands getting tired. Her nose scrunched more and more.
"What do I do now?" Jotou steadied.
"Luckily, the tea prevented that mana-block from turning into an injury. Let's see how good you can get with your support magic, then we try your offensive magic," Hotaru scheduled.
The redhead picked up an apple, "Spark imbues lightning energy from mana. This ans you can give others so support too," she placed the apple on the ground a few tres away, "Cast spark on it."
"From here?"
Hotaru nodded to Jotou.
"Okay..." Jotou reached her left hand out. 'Co on magic, work.' "Spark," she, didn't cast? 'That... feeling again, ugh!' She tried to shake off.
'Co on, work, I know I can cast you. Just spark the apple!' Try as she might, not even a shimr of shock appeared. 'Fine, how about a book?' Jotou changed her focus, brows knitting together.
The book only flipped pages by the wind. She could feel the buzz. 'Co on!' The result remained the sa. 'Why isn't it working!? AH!' "GAH!"
"Jotou?" Asobi squeaked.
"Jotou!" Hotaru rushed over.
"Pins and needles, pins and needles," her arm fell limp, losing control.
"I told you not to push it!" water went around her arm, soothing through... Her fingers one by one could shift, allowing the blood to flow proper again.
"Idiot," Fuko comnted.
"I've casted spark so many tis, even for fun sotis, why didn't it work?" the blonde knitted her brows.
"There's a reason obviously but," Hotaru looked her in the eyes, the fur on her tail spiking up, "Don't. Push. It."
Jotou stepped back. She gulped feeling her heart stop for a second to the fangs that glared three simple words. "Sorry..." 'You can beat her in a fight Jotou... I'll, I'll get back at her for this...'
Hotaru sighed, "You should be fine to continue; as long as you don't pull sothing stupid like that again."
"I won't," Jotou submitted—for now at least.
"Good," she went and grabbed the apple, "I might have a theory. Try spark on your sword."
Jotou looked back and forth, the sword and her. 'Easier to listen for now.' She heeded, "Spark," the sword in her grasp lit up with fizzles of electricity and so did her other hand, "Oh now it works," she rolled her eyes.
"Dispel it," Hotaru threw the apple over. Jotou lost concentration on the spell and caught the fruit. "Try sparking the apple now," she told, "And don't push it!"
"Yeah, yeah," she looked at the bright red, taking a deep breath. "Spark," she attempted, her eyes closed; that slight tingle. When she opened them, the apple was coalescing with electricity, "What in the world?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)