II
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Arc II Chapter 10
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13th of Anima Lunar 753 AAC
The night had passed and morning arrived. The sun return, as the golden days of dawn filled the land with life. Bathing in the sunlight, Aurora yawned and stretched her arms, while enjoying her wonderful new morning. Because every day was a good day. Because every morning was a good morning.
Her little nap refreshed her mind, reinvigorated her senses. Her fatigue had disappeared, and her soul was adjusting to her new body. Her soul was synchronising with her mana, but progress was slow. Mana synchronisation was a delicate, time consuming process. It took time for her soul to stabilise in order to access the full spectrum of her powers. As it turned out, reincarnation was a fickle affair. Not only was she reborn, but she also crossed the physical boundaries of time and space. Both took a toll on her capabilities, with the metaphysical half of her existence suffering considerable damage. Her reincarnation nearly sundered, nearly fragmented her soul, with multiple fractures now threatening its cohesion and weakening her magic. Mending them would require a substantial amount of time and effort. Time she didn't have, and effort she couldn't spare, but those were problems for the future. Her priority now was to survive, and to enjoy the beautiful morning after a night of intranquil dreams. Memories of the distant past paid her a visit. Memories of pain and sorrow, of emotions deeply etched into her psyche.
Aurora greeted her cute doll with a smile. “Good morning, Aurora. A wonderful day, isn't it?” Her doll agreed.
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Residing on Arwing's lap together with her doll, Aurora dangled her feet in the air and took in the surrounding scenery. As their journey continued, their cart travelled along the trail, crossing the ancient forest.
Abandoning the safety of Arwing's comfortable lap, Aurora jumped down the cart and made her way to Iris, the least grumpy member of the adventurer party. While the man named Lambert and company kept their guard up, Iris's open nature proved a reliable source of information. The chatty mage provided her with useful intelligence, even sharing her fire magic with her, which Aurora approved of. They both appeared to cherish fire and magic. Two things they had in common.
“La~. La~. La~. La ~.” Aurora strolled along the dusty trail in search of her newest friend. Her hands tugged at Iris' clothes, her wide robe proving an ideal victim. “Sister Iris~. Sister Iris~. Sister Iris~.”
“Yes, little one?” A beam adorned Iris' face. Her heart squealed. The girl was adorable with her clear round eyes and her cute snub nose, a cuddly doll.
Aurora poked her most recent friend. “Sister Iris, can you pleashe show me your magic again ? I want to see your flame!” Her eyes sparkled, moved by childish glee.
“Of course, little one.” Iris giggled in delight, unable to resist her pleas, and infected by the girl's enthusiasm.
“Yay.” Aurora bounced in joy. “Fire~. Fire~. Fire~.”
“Watch and learn.” Channelling and calling forth her mana, Iris manifested her magic. A blazing flame appeared, floating on her palm.
“Aah.” Aurora marvelled at the cute little flame, inspecting it from all sides in a supreme display of theatrical skill.
Iris giggled in response, amused by the girl's familiar reaction. The girl reminded her of the children in the city. Always entertained by the creations of magic, their curiosity knew no boundaries. Her little magic tricks never ceased to amaze the masses of curious children. “It seems that you like fire?”
Aurora nodded vigorously, clenching her fists with determination. “I do. I love fire~. Fire is beautiful~.” After all, fire was her element.
“That's wonderful~.” Iris didn't bother to hide her shared enthusiasm. “People say that fire is a destructive, uncontrollable, and dangerous element, but don't listen to these ignorant naysayers. These fools have no idea what they are talking about. They simply don't understand the flickering, crackling, blazing beauty of fire.”
“...” Aurora mustered a weak smile before merely nodding. Her friend was ... a peculiar person. No doubt, she suffered from her fair share of pyromaniac tendencies on her own, but still ... Iris was peculiar. Her doll agreed.
Her hands tugged at Iris' sleeves again. “Sister Iris, I have an important question.”
“Yes, sunshine?”
“You told me you are a fire mage.” Aurora tilted her head.
“Correct.”
“And that's why you are able to cast fire magic.”
“Correct.”
Aurora and her doll exchanged meaningful looks. “Sister Iris, can I also become a mage like you?” Her big round eyes sparkled
Iris' smile faltered, confronted a question she had been asked countless times before. It hurt her heart to shatter the girl's juvenile dreams, but reality was harsh. Magic was a rare gift, a privilege, not a right. “... that's a complicated topic. It depends.”
“... on what?” Aurora and her doll tilted their heads in confusion.
“...” Iris fell silent. “Tell me, are you familiar with the fundamentals of magic? Are you versed in this ancient and noble art?”
“Not that I know of.” Aurora shook her head. Technically speaking, it wasn't even a lie. She wasn't familiar with the magic ... of this world.
“Have you perchance ever heard about mana?”
“Mana~?” Aurora feigned ignorance, her eyes blinking in confusion. The word piqued her curiosity. It sounded familiar. Unfortunately, she was a cute and innocent girl. Little girls didn't know about magic. They didn't know about the basic principles of magic theory and their practical application.
“Thought so, but don't worry, few people do. Listen, magic is an arduous path. The secrets of sorcery are not a matter of choice and wanting, but a matter of destiny. The sad truth is that you are either born with magic, or not. Magic is a rare gift, a talent bestowed upon the few chosen, not upon the many. Years of training, effort, and dedication are required to master the arts of magic. Sweat, blood, and tears are needed to rise to the heights of the arcane arts and beyond. ”
Aurora fell into despair, hugging her doll. Her voice weakened. A cloud of gloom was hovering over her head, with her dreams deflating.“So you are saying that I will never be a mage ...”
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To deceive others, you must first deceive yourself.
Good job, Assu!! More about the world, yay!
And more about other characters ^^. I wonder if Iris and Arwing would get long, too? Through Aurora's meddling? And also why she chose Iris to talk to, and now Arwing?
Is Arwing less gullible? Or was there a specific way in which Aurora surmised that Iris's weakness was in cute children and wanted to abuse this?
I wonder why mc is so interested in their magic.... I'm guessing so she can learn more about the power system and its weaknesses.... Know your enemy and all that...
Or maybe she's looking for a better way to control her fire... But she completely obliterated a "elite" squad so her magic technique is probably already amazing hmmm
As Iris is a mage, she is a much appreciated source for her to gather information about the state of magic in this world, so she can calculate further steps and how to play her cards.
Learning magic would give her a convenient excuse for her abilities, for one. And it's not because she's already powerful that she can't want to become even more so, for two.
@Dradel
That too.
so it's both of what I said then.... Blending in/knowing the power structure and possibly improving what she's already got
@Snoodle_Booper
Exactly. No reason to show your hand prematurely before getting a good overview.