Liviana stopped pacing across the room and rang the bell to call a maid. Her bed was a mess after the beating sessions with her pillow. When the maid arrived, Liviana just silently pointed at her bed and left the room. Her lessons wouldn't begin for another two hours, so she didn't have anything to do.

After aimlessly walking through the mansion for half an hour, she decided to go to the library and read something. The library was about average in size, not big but not small either. Most of the books were uninteresting for Liviana. They were about tactic, strategy, monsters, and other stuff that Liviana wasn't interested in. Normally she would have searched for one of the few romance novels that were hidden here and there, but today her gaze wandered the shelves in search of other books.

Finally finding what she was searching for, Liviana climbed the steps of the library ladder. Her hands reached out to the book titled 'The Basics of Magic'. It was quite thick and seemed to have been read a lot of times. For a moment she wondered why she had found it here in the combat-oriented part of the library. Pressing the heavy volume against her chest, she climbed down and walked over to a desk in the corner. Excited, Liviana opened the book and began to read.

'The first step in learning magic is to feel mana. Mana is the fuel of all magic and is everywhere. Some regions however are richer on mana than others. It is recommended to train in a mana-rich environment, especially for students who have a hard time sensing mana. 

Another method to make it easier to feel mana would be to have a magician cast a spell and try to feel the mana of the spell. This method is more effective if the attribute of the spell matches the attributes of the student. A student with fire-affinity, for example, would have an easier time feeling the mana of fire-attribute spells than a student without fire-affinity. The degree of the affinity is important as well. The higher the affinity with an attribute, the easier it is to feel mana of the same attribute.'

Liviana skimmed through the next few pages of the book. They were filled with illustrations and detailed descriptions of training methods. She wouldn't need those for now, because she had already decided that she wouldn't start learning magic today. From what she had read she concluded that it was pretty much impossible to learn magic by herself. She needed a teacher, but she had time to kill, and it didn't hurt to read more about magic.

'Attributes define the characteristics of magic. They heavily influence how a magician uses his magic in combat. Why mention combat of all things? Is this the reason why it was in the combat-oriented part of the library? The Affinity with an attribute is divided into ten ranks. These ranks tell how much affinity a person has with an attribute. A rank V fire attribute user has a stronger affinity with fire than a rank III fire attribute user. A person can only have ten ranks in total. For example, a rank V fire attribute user who is also a rank V wind attribute user. In reality, at least one rank is lost because of small affinities with unknown or useless attributes. 

One can think of these ranks in percentages. A rank V water attribute user has a 50% affinity to the water attribute. A rank I water attribute user has a 10% affinity to the water attribute. So, what happens to affinities that are below 10%? They are mostly useless and excluded from the ranking system. If a person has two attributes that he has 5% affinity with, then his total rank is IX instead of X. There are countless unknown or useless attributes. Most people only have a total rank of V or VI. How boring. I want to know how to use magic or at least what it can do.'

She skipped a few pages until she found what she was looking for: An explanation of the fire attribute.

'The fire attribute is one of the attributes that are most suited for combat. It excels in mid to long range combat. One downside of the attribute is the potential to harm the caster. Because of this potential, it is ill-suited for melee range spells. At this distance, the spell might harm the caster as much as the target. A good mana control might lessen the chance of self-harm at this range, but the potential is still there. Why is this book so focused on combat? And how did Mother make the fire flowers without harming herself?

Unlike normal fire, the fire attribute cannot be extinguished by conventional means. Just like the water attribute, the fire attribute does not conjure fire but gives the mana some of the properties of fire. That means that you cannot conjure water to drink it? Would that not mean that water magic quite useless? Here is a list of all known properties that the fire attribute can infuse into mana and their effect. Note that the transition between ranks is fluid and not exactly as shown. 

The properties that can be used when having an affinity of rank IX or X are unknown, because there has never been a person to have such a high affinity to fire.'

Liviana flicked through the next few pages. They were filled with similar tables. For a moment, she considered looking at them but a quick glance at the clock told her that it was nearly time for her lessons. She put the book on its place on the shelf and made her way to her lessons.

***

Today her lessons were about the Vaymoure family, its history and its traditions. Liviana suspected that her governess, Mrs. Lennins, heard what had happened during breakfast and chose this subject on purpose.

During these lessons, she learned that her family was more important than she thought. The first Emperor had rewarded the Vaymoure family for their support and loyalty with the Marquessate of Verrondyl, which they had conquered in the Founding War. The marquessate was a prosperous region and held major importance for the Empire as a whole. The only downside of the region were the monsters. To deal with them, the marquessate had its own order of knights and a standing army. The Vaymoure family was by far the family with the greatest military potential. 

When Liviana left her lessons after two hours of listening to Mrs. Lennins and writing down a seemingly endless number of dates and historical events, she was glad to have a break. She had one hour until lunch and she spend that hour with reading 'The Basics of Magic' in the library. 

***

After lunch with her family, Liviana decided to ask to get a magic teacher. She rarely asked her parents for something and wasn't sure how her mother would react to that request, so she was nervous. 

"Mother?"

Her father and brother had already left to resume her brother's training, therefore, with the exception of some servants, she was alone with her mother. 

"What is it, Livia?" Her mother answered with a startled look on her face.

"I want to learn magic." Liviana stated her request.

"Come, let us go to the drawing room. How about a cup of tea and talk about getting you a magic teacher?" Her mother said with a warm look on her face. 

"Of course."

"You do not have to be so formal, Livia. I know that you take etiquette seriously and I think that etiquette is important too, but you do not have to be so distant to your family. You are only five and you act more mature than your father."

In her past life she was often scolded for being too friendly or disrespectful towards her mother, the Queen. Being now told that she was being too distant towards her family caused a mixture of feelings. 

'A noble should not act this way. It is acceptable for a child, but I am not really a child, am I? Maybe it is a cultural difference. I am in another world after all, although it is easy to forget that... Should I even still listen to what my mother told me in my past life? Does it still apply? A child is supposed to respect and listen to their parents but... Should I listen to my mother of my past life or my mother of this life?'

While Liviana thought about all this, the pair of mother and daughter arrived at the drawing room. Her mother motioned her personal maid to prepare tea and sat down. Biscuits were placed in front of them. Soon the tea was ready and poured into their cups. 

"So, you wish to learn about magic..." Her mother resumed their earlier conversation after taking a sip of tea. "Livia, why do you want to learn magic?"

"... I think that magic is fascinating and beautiful... and I read a book about magic."

She couldn't really say that she wanted to learn magic since she was about one year old. She wanted to learn magic since she had seen her mother's fire flowers. Most people wouldn't remember what happened when they were a one-year-old. Liviana only remembered because she was reincarnated.

"Oh, so you already read about it. Which book did you read?" Her mother asked. She was genuinely curious. Magic was her speciality.

"I read the first few chapters of 'The Basics of Magic'."

"Ah, 'The Basics of Magic' is a classic. You said you read the first few chapters?"

Liviana nodded.

"Then you already know that you have to be able to feel mana before you can learn magic, right? And you also know that there are two methods to make it easier for someone to feel magic, right?" Her mother took another sip of tea and continued. "One viable method would be to try and feel the mana of spells. The option of meditating in a mana-rich environment is not viable because we already are in a mana-rich environment. That method only works because you feel the difference between those two environments. We could try the opposite and have you meditate in a mana-poor environment and then meditate in a mana-rich environment... We will try that method if everything else doesn't work. But first..."

Her mother took a last sip of tea and held out her hand. A flame appeared on her palm. Its shape shifted into that of a lily. The lily grew and it changed its shape into a tree. Liviana's gaze was fixed on the spectacle. She was fascinated by the fiery mana that shifted from one form to another. Looking at the spectacle raised a question. 

"But I can already see the mana. Isn't that the same as feeling it?"

Her mother chuckled and explained.

"Everyone can see mana. Sensing it is something entirely different. It's like feeling something in the air. It's like a sixth sense for mana." The flaming tree on the palm of her hand changed its form back into a lily again. "Now, concentrate on the flower. If you have a strong affinity to the fire attribute, then you should be able to feel it. If you don't then we can always try the other attributes." 

Liviana did as she was told and concentrated on the magic flower. Its beauty still captivated her. The fiery wisps of mana that twirled around the stem of the lily. The stem that flowed into the petals of fire. It was beautiful beyond words. A raging inferno that was kept in an elegant and calm shape. Liviana could feel something. It wasn't really tangible. She just felt that it was there, right in front of her.

"I think I can feel it. Mother, could you stop the spell?"

A soon as the flower vanished, she couldn't sense it anymore. Liviana couldn't suppress the grin that began to spread across her face.

"Do it again but only after I closed my eyes." In her excitement, she assumed a commanding tone. 

With her eyes closed, Liviana waited for that feeling to reappear... There it was again, but she couldn't pinpoint the location. It took her nearly a minute to understand that it wasn't her mother's spell that she could feel. After another two minutes, she finally understood what she felt and where it came from. It was the mana inside her body.

MaeBeGay

Thank you for reading. 

Here is a drawing of the five-year-old Liviana: