After an unknown amount of time, Alex stirred as he lay on his bed in his room after being knocked out from his battle with Luna from before. As his consciousness rose to the surface, he slowly opened his eyes and looked blearly up at the ceiling, his mind was a little sluggish from the knockout attack. It took him a few seconds to finally get a grasp of his surroundings and have his mind sharpen its focus to realise where he was.

“I’m in my room,” he muttered and sighed tiredly.

He slowly pushed himself to sit upright on his bed, which was when he saw a woman sleeping with her head on the edge of his bed. It was Lucia, and she was sleeping silently with the only sound coming from each breath that she inhaled and exhaled.

“Miss?” He asked, looking surprised. “What’s she doing here? For that matter, what happened to me?”

Alex was feeling dumbfounded as he could not immediately remember what had caused for him to be lying in his bed. He closed his eyes and tried remembering the events that had unfolded that morning, starting from the brief exchange of words he shared with Luna before beginning their match. However, his memory apparently flashed out when he had been reading his spell when his childhood friend took him by surprise in reaching him within seconds.

“Oh…!” He said, opening his eyes wide in amazement, understanding immediately what had happened. “She beat me,” he said, a smile forming on his face at the thought of not being able to remember being defeated.

“H-Huh?”

Due to his sudden exclamation, Lucia stirred from her sleep and looking lopsidedly up at him before recognising who it was. With a snap, she sat upright in her chair and looked mightily relieved for some reason.

“I’m glad you’re up!” She said to him, smiling as if a huge burden was lifted from her.

“So, I did lose, miss?” He asked for confirmation from her.

She looked up at him, her happiness quickly being replaced by sadness as she replied, “Yes. You lost… just like you predicted.”

This made him chuckle and think back to what had caused her to say that.

It all started in the magic training that Lucia was taking Alex through in the evening as a last chance to prepare himself. She had made a personal request to Alex to have her train him as a final measure, to which he agreed and let Luna go off to play with the neighbouring kids instead.

It was during the middle of his training that Alex thought of something and asked his teacher, “Miss, do you think dad was right in wanting me to train my body? You know… just in the case, for some unexpected reason, I was unable to use the spells to fight back or defend myself?”

His question made her blink in surprise and made her put on a thinking pose, tapping her forefinger against her chin.

“Yes. I must admit that he’s probably right when you put it that way,” his teacher responded, admitting with a nod of her head. “After all, the lifeline of a magician is strong, so long as he maintains enough energy and is capable of using spells to ward off attacks. However, when you’re running low on energy, then… yes… you’ll find yourself in a situation like your dad was stressing about.”

“I see,” he said, looking down at his hand with a sad smile on his face after hearing her opinion. “So, dad was right after all, but that means… that I’m weak as I am right now.”

“Cheer up!” His teacher said brightly, grinning broadly at him. “You’ve gotten a lot stronger in your hold using magic that I’m very impressed. I don’t think I had been able to come this far in such a short time if I have to compare my progress to yours, Alex.”

Her student chuckled, knowing that she was doing her best to reassure him and fill him with courage. However, a part of him was telling him something else, and it caused him to raise another question to her.

“Probably,” Alex responded, nodding his head in understanding, “but, that brings me to question whether I can win or not.” He looked up at her and said, “I don’t think I can win against her.”

“Of course, you can win! No problem at all!” She replied automatically, looking amazed by him asking her like that. “Don’t be so negative, Alex. You’ve got to be firm in whatever you’re doing!”

He looked at the posture she put on to indicate what she believed was firmness, conveying that she was trying too hard to sound convincing, which made him ask, “Do you honestly believe that, miss?”

His question stumped her, and she looked down at him in surprise, startled to find that he was staring at her with an expression as if he could see right through her. This made her finally give up the brave front and wear a depressed expression on her face before shaking her head silently in reply.

“So, I was right,” he replied, smiling at the drastic change in his teacher’s mood. He sighed and said with a smile on his face, “I’m only guessing this but maybe I’ll get defeated in a manner that will knock me out and even might injure my head in some way.”

“What?!” Lucia exclaimed, looking thoroughly taken aback by his prediction. “Don’t make such predictions, Alex! They may actually come true!”

“I made it because I feel that’s what will happen tomorrow,” he replied with a smile. “I suppose you didn’t see her training completely because you had to use the bathroom, but I watched her, miss, and I was shocked.”

“She punched a hole through the tree,” she replied, this time making him look at her in surprise.

“You also watched?” He asked, looking amazed, but she shook her head in disagreement.

“No, but after I came out to do a bit of magic training of my own, I noticed the hole. If it had been Sam, I would’ve guessed that the hole might’ve been bigger, but the fact that it was small made me think it was definitely done by Luna.” She shook her head in disbelief and said, “I never guessed she’d become so strong in just five days!”

Her assessment of Luna made Alex laugh and tell her while trying to control his laughter.

“Um, miss, I don’t think she got that strong in five days. I think she’s been getting stronger ever since the time I began my magic lessons with you, but we never got to see her show off her strength until today, and I think dad had done that just to test how strong she had become after so many months.”

His teacher looked amazed by his assessment on Luna that she felt made more sense than hers, which she had done out of bewilderment rather than with any logic. This made her feel a sense of loss that she had never experienced before, a loss that came from knowing that she could have done more if she had tried harder.

“If I had more time, I could’ve taught you to be quicker in your chant,” she lamented, finally putting the doubts in her heart out in the open for her student to see. She clenched her fists and said, “I really wish I didn’t get carried away with my stupidity without stopping to think about where I was going wrong!”

Alex watched his teacher blaming herself for the slow progression he had in his magic training. This made him feel he should console her somehow, and the only thought that came him to his mind surprised his teacher completely.

“Miss, can you kneel down for a bit?” He requested her softly.

“Yeah? Why?” She asked him, doing as he told her and kneeling to match his height.

It was then that she became speechless from the surprise she felt when he patted her on the head gently. As she looked into his face, she was amazed to see him showing her a gentle smile that somehow felt soothing for her.

“It’s completely alright, miss. It’s not your fault,” he said to her, causing her to widen her eyes even further. “Whatever happens, it was predestined to happen. That’s what I believe, but the rest is in our hands to perform. I think this is my chance of experiencing something new and learn something from it. Who knows? Maybe, I’ll become a better magician after whatever I might experience from this battle with Luna.”

There was a moment of pause, where his teacher looked at him silently in amazement before muttering, “But, Alex… I let you down.”

To that, he grinned at her in an attempt to imitate her normal manner of speaking by saying, “Cheer up, miss! What’s the big loss that we’ll face from losing? A change in my schedule, right? That’s all, isn’t it?” Then, as an afterthought, he added with a laugh, “It’s not the end of the world, right?”

To his joke, her smile resurfaced on her face and shook her head at him in agreement.

“See? I like you more when you’re smiling and are energetic, miss,” he said to her, causing her to stare at him with an incredulous look on her face.

“Alex,” she began, looking dubiously at him, “you’re far too young to be saying that to me.” As he chuckled at her statement, she went on to say, “Enough about me, what about Luna? I think you should address those words to her because she’s been stressing a lot recently about her decision to fight you, or surrender and shame Sam.”

He nodded at her statement and said, “Yes. She feels exactly like you described, miss,” but his grin broadened when he went on to say, “but I’m confident I can make her relax. You said it yourself that she loves me. This means that, as her beloved childhood friend, she’ll listen to what I have to say, right?” As his teacher slowly nodded in agreement with a mild surprise on her face, he smiled sweetly and said, “In that case, I’ll be able to make her relax and fight me without holding back.”

“Without holding back?” Lucia asked, looking amazed by hearing the statement her student made. “Are you sure you can handle her strength?”

To that, he spread his arms out and shrugged his shoulders while saying, “The worst case scenario that I imagine will happen from this is that I’ll be knocked out with a serious head injury. I mean, that’s what I think will happen when you consider Luna’s straightforward character.”

Lucia blinked twice in surprise at the confidence of her student and asked him, “You’re fully prepared to fight her tomorrow even though you’re so expecting to lose?”

He nodded and said with determination, “My loss is secondary, but first, I want to give it my all! That’s my number one priority, miss!”

His teacher became amazed by the amount of his determination and said, “Alright!

And so, the two of them resumed their training together to improve his magic control. Back in the present, when he thought back to his discussion with his teacher, he smiled and looked towards her while closing his eyes with satisfaction.

“I’m satisfied with my loss, miss,” he told her. “I didn’t contradict my expectations, but… this raises a heavy doubt in my ability to use magic.” He looked at his hands and grew serious as he stated, “I was slow. Really, really slow.”

For a few seconds, the two of them remained silent while they were thinking about what he said before Lucia spoke up first with a response to it.

“I think it’s about time you start learning to use the whole words instead of those impractical chants.”

“Whole words?” He asked, looking sideways at her. “Is it like saying Fireball and a ball of fire meateralised in your hand, and Waterball to conjure a ball of water that acts in a similar way? Do you mean that kind of magic execution?”

“Yes.” She nodded, and held her hand out in front of her. “Fireball!”

The moment she said, there was a spark above her palm before a ball of fire meateralised to hover in mid-air. Alex stared at it with interest as the ball of fire flickered in her hand before she closed it and caused the magic to diminish into nothing.

“It’s as easy as that and quick too!” She told him brightly, a broad grin worn on her face.

“Yes. It is quick,” he began slowly, nodding in acceptance, but he still did not smile, “but it’s still slow.”

Lucia could not believe her ears and exclaimed, “Slow?! Are you kidding me?! Alex! That form of magic execution is the most quickest magic execution anyone with enough training can pull of and it’s far quicker than performing those impractical chants!”

“I’m not disagreeing with you, miss,” he said to clarify his stand on this matter, “but there are drawbacks in it, and I see two of them,” and he hold up two fingers to indicate to her.

“Drawbacks?” She asked him, sounding bewildered. “Using simple words to execute your magic… has drawbacks?”

“Yes,” he replied with a nod of his head. By lifting one finger, he explained, “Number one is that I have to say the whole words correctly for it to work, and let’s not forget about it’s uses at home. I’m talking about fighting an opponent and the pressure you’d be in to try and defeat them. Stumble in your pronouncement and the whole spell either fails or does something strange.”

“You’ve got a point there, Alex,” she admitted, nodding in understanding, “but the spells are guided by the Spirits of Life based on what we want to happen with a particular spell. They wouldn’t necessarily get confused if your words don’t match what you’re intending it to happen… I think,” she finished doubtfully.

Alex had to concede the point because what she said made sense, making him say, “Okay, miss, but the second one is a real drawback.” As his teacher looked at him intently, he sighed and said, “Announcement.”

“Announcement?” She asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement. “I don’t understand.”

“I’m basically giving away what I’m going to do, miss!” He said to her in a sharp voice that startled her. “I’m literally giving the enemy a piece of written paper with my spell and what I’m going to do with it! I mean, are people really stupid to not realise what you use Fireball for?”

Lucia looked at him in astonishment before saying, “Pft,” and burst into laughter, causing her student to look at her with an expression of confusion on his face.

It took her a moment to calm down and speak while controlling her laughter, “Alex, with the argument you made, I can only suggest that learning Voiceless Incantation is the only way to go. Good luck learning it though because It’s practically impossible for magicians to use magic without even saying anything! Not even the strongest mage from the council knows Voiceless Incantation! Also, using magic without saying anything…? Seriously…? Where’s the fun in that?”

As she finished in exasperation, he looked at her and asked, “I didn't mean that, miss. I can imagine the great difficulty I have to experience in order to master Voiceless Incantation considering this… strongest mage you just mentioned. No…! It’s more practical if I can shorten the words even more.”

His teacher looked at him in amazement and asked, “Shorten them even more? You mean like using the single word?”

She could not believe what her student was thinking, but she had no idea of how far his thoughts were headed towards. After she declared her opinion, he slowly shook his head while looking as if he was deep in thought. Then, he slowly held up his forefinger before stating to her in a clear voice.

“No. Not the single word. What I want… is the single letter.”