“To start with, I’m going to ask for some information from you with regards to your current levels. We can do this without you telling me, but it will be more difficult. If you don’t want to answer, just say.”

Well, the reason I didn’t need her to actually answer is because I already knew the information, but it was better to let them think that I wasn’t going to pry into things. A person’s status is their life. Knowing another person’s status makes it that much easier to defeat them.

There’s a saying from the ancient Chinese strategist Sun Zhu, that goes something like this. ‘Know your enemy, and know yourself, and you can win a thousand battles.’ That knowing is even more important where a persons abilities can be quantified.

Numbers aren’t everything, though. Even if someone’s stats are higher, if that person doesn’t know how to properly utilize them, they can be defeated. In fact, knowing one’s own stats can easily lead to overconfidence.

I started asking questions that would have helped me make a training plan, had I not already had one created.

Isabelle looked to Jane, asking silently for advice.

Some of the questions were answered truthfully, others contained lies in an attempt to protect the child, and the most sensitive were not answered.

Hearing the answers, I played at pondering what I received, then started teaching.

I started with purification. It was one of the easiest and most versatile spell in the Holy Magic arsenal. It was a cleaning spell, but what it cleaned could be changed to an amazing degree. At a beginner’s level it was it was only able to sweep dust and dirt away. Once the caster was able to gain the mana control skill, one Isabelle currently lacked, it became possible to slowly increase it’s effects.

Instead of simply moving debris around, it could wipe it from existence. It could also be used to target specific things, allowing better cleansing. Not just on surface objects, but getting into things, destroying poison, disease, even curses. It could turn the worst, most poisonous water into the cleanest, purest water outside of holy water.

In order for her to learn how to cast spells, I had to start from the beginning of how to cast spells at all. She’d had an aptitude for magic, but for some reason had not been able to do so until she’d awakened her magic the hard way, in order to survive.

Her family could have had her forcefully awakened, but there were risks to doing so including crippling her in one way or another, or even killing her, so it was something that shouldn’t be used lightly.

Or maybe they didn’t know how to do so on this world. I hadn’t looked into it, having other stuff I needed to look into, and the guild’s library being sparse on books about magic. It was something the Mage’s Guild liked to keep control of.

Even now, she wasn’t fully magically awakened, having one more attribute that she could use, once the unlock conditions were found, bringing the total to three, which was uncommon, even if the first two were light and holy magic.

Those two always went together, since holy was for the most part an advanced version of light magic. Experience in it would advance the light magic skill as well, which is why we were jumping on the holy magic train, even though it was much harder than light magic. The results would be worth it.

In order to get her to understand how to move her own magic, I had to circulate my own through her. Jane wasn’t too happy with this, since I needed to touch her to do so, and the fact that doing so tended to be considered a very intimate act usually done only with one’s family or a teacher of the same gender.

I started off small, just the merest trickle of power, barely enough to create a ball of light, then increasing it until she was able to detect it. Her mana detection would get better as she learned, hopefully awakening the skill within her. It wasn’t an innate skill, but those with magic abilities had an easier time doing so as their mana control increased.

During this time we set sail, and a while thereafter a crewman came to inform us that we could come onto deck now if we desired. With the size of the cabins, it was likely ordinary passengers would jump on that, getting out into the open air rather than staying in such a cramped location longer than they needed to.

We didn’t. Not yet. Until she learned how to control her mana to the degree I wanted her to reach, I didn’t want to interrupt the training. I had experience teaching beginners, having taught hundreds, usually in groups, since we’d had to utilize every resource in order to survive, and those who lacked power tended to die without even beginning to tap their potential.

We stayed like that till evening, me circulating power through her, and her tracing it’s path and locating her core, trying to touch it and gain control of it.

As dinner time came, we ended the lesson for the day. Since this was difficult for beginners, it left Isabella covered in sweat, so I cast purification on her, erasing all of the filth that covered her, including anything harmful to her, internal and external. That it ended up clearing up her pores and improving her complexion was intended to spur her to spare no effort to learn how to use it. I cast it on the guards as well, since she couldn’t easily see her own face, even with a hand mirror.

Yep. Motivated her quite nicely.

But we couldn’t just train night and day. The body needed to be exercised as well, and both mind and body required sustenance.

Plus, she’d been getting distracted by the growling of her stomach, so even if we’d continued, there’d have been no progress.

We went to the galley for dinner. I hadn’t been expecting much, but it was better than I’d expected. Fresh grilled fish, seafood soup, crusty bread, and salad. The salad was fresh, which was to be expected at the start of a voyage. They’d have wanted good food for as long as it would last to supplement the preserved food and what could be caught during the voyage.

The tickets included two meals a day, breakfast and dinner. Lunch wasn’t something commoners always had, especially not laborers. It tended to be more of a snack, some dried meat or fruit.

I hadn’t stopped for lunch today since Jane hadn’t mentioned anything. This made me think their group didn’t have much in the way of supplies, not that it had occurred to me till now. I might stop long enough to feed the kid tomorrow. She’d concentrate better when she isn’t hungry.

We met the other passengers, but there was nothing of interest about them. The first mate on the other hand, he looked uncomfortable when my gaze landed on him. Hopefully he was just remembering my warning, and hadn’t done anything to make him feel guilty. Or he’d regret it.

After dinner, we returned to the cabin. Jane stayed with us, while the other one switched off. We kept up the practice till Isabella was able to get the smallest response from her mana, then I sent her off to bed with the guard, leaving me and Jane alone.

“Hey, stand up for a bit.”

Uncertain why I told her to do so, she still obeyed. The pair of mattresses disappeared, leaving an empty wooden bunk. I could see the suspicion in her eyes, but ignored it and purified the bunk, making sure there was nothing to dirty the mattress I plopped into the empty space. It wasn’t as nice as the one on my bed, but it was better than those dirty things. Plus, they’d be useful for Isabella to practice on when she learned to intentionally use her magic.

“Thank you, but why didn’t you do that earlier? And is there a chance you have another one for the young lady?”

“You’re welcome. These are the only ones that would fit.”

“Then could I ask that you let her use this one instead of me?”

“You want her to sleep in here?” Her face darkened. “I’m joking. If that’s what you want, then fine, but you’re getting the dirty mattresses.”

“I’ve slept in worse situations.”

We went to the room Isabella was in and I placed the mattress down for her, doubling up the mattresses for her roommate.

Back in our room, Jane and I prepared ourselves for bed. Although I say that, it was essentially just getting down to regular clothes, no armor, with the weapons placed close to hand. There was no way she’d have wanted to leave herself vulnerable in the same room as a man, even if she had pajamas to change into. I had plenty, but I doubted she’d have accepted.

I was comfortable enough after just loosening my belt and removing my boots. The look on Jane’s face when I was loosening my belt was slightly amusing, more so when I redid it a couple holes later and climbed into bed. Her relieved face made me laugh.

“I promised not to try anything. I’ll only lay with those who are willing, and that I know and like. None of those apply to you, so you are safe.”

When I’d first gotten summoned, I’d been a pathetic middle-aged virgin, no experience, and so nervous I couldn’t even make the first move. While that had changed, I didn’t have casual physical relations. Only if there was mutual affection did anything happen.

Jane relaxed, if only a little. I was still scary to her, I knew that, even if she did her best to hide it.

“You want the light off? Or should I leave it on?”

“There’s no sense in wasting candles.”

Or so she said, but there was a note of tension in her voice.

“Do you recall having to change the candle at all today?”

She thought, then looked at the candle on the wall between us. It was as long as it had been when first lit.

“Huh? It’s not melted at all?”

“It’s a bit of a trick when using fire magic. The spell is called eternal flame, even if it’s a bit of a misnomer. It’ll stay lit only if supplied enough mana. There’s actually a tiny barrier under the flame preventing the heat from melting the candle. I had to crank back the power a lot, since it’s normally intended for fireplaces. Not great as a light source, but enough to get by.”

“Then could you…”

“Yeah, I’ll leave it on. It’s got enough energy to last half a day right now, so I’ll top it up in the morning.”

“Thank you.”

---

I slept well that night. Jane, not so much. From the bags under her eyes, she got little to no sleep. I bet she’s never actually been on a real expedition. You tend to learn to sleep in any circumstance, or you die from lack of sleep.

We had breakfast, then returned to my room for another day of lessons. I ordered Jane away to sleep. Her fading complexion was proving to make Isabella worried for her, and thus make training that much harder.

I don’t know if she’d practiced last night, or if it was just that she found the knack, but she started circulating the mana through her body fairly easily. The best mages learned to keep this up at all times. Not only did circulating mana increase body strength, it kept the circulating power available, while allowing the core to regenerate, leaving the mage able to use just a bit more power than their core capacity, though the difference grew as the body grew used to the circulation.

It also helped with many health issues, often healing hidden wounds, as well as making exercise more efficient.

Since she’d reached the point where she could direct her mana, I started having her gather it in her palm. It never lasted long, but each time was a little better than the last. At mid-day a sound of chirping filled the cabin, and I had her take a break.

“Lunch time. Eat some of this.”

I put a plate of sandwiches on the bed between Isabella and I.

“Wait! Let me test it for poison.”

Morgan interrupted us. Reaching for the sandwiches.

“If I wanted her dead, there are easier ways than wasting food.”

Still, I didn’t stop her, and she gave a nod after taking a bite and waiting a moment. Isabella obediently waited for that nod before digging in. I hadn’t waited, and had taken a sandwich as soon as I’d set the plate down, nomming on it.

“Oi, don’t stop your circulation. Keep it going until it becomes unconscious.”

At first, Isabella had kept it going, but after being distracted by the food, she’d let it stop. She paused mid-bite and focused, getting it going again.

The guards eyed the food enviously, but didn’t say anything, so they didn’t get any, beyond the one that Morgan had eaten to confirm a lack of poison. Don’t ask and you shall not receive.

It wasn’t till the next day that Isabella was able to stabilize her magic externally, allowing us to move on to the casting stage. Standing behind her, I put my hands over hers and sent the magic through them to purify a small piece of the ship’s bedding, letting her feel how it went.

Then I had her try.

It took another day for her to make it work, leaving us halfway through the voyage by the time she’d cast her first spell. Not bad. Not when she’s learning one of the hardest attributes to handle. I made her keep casting it till she ran out, let her rest, then start again.

Sure it was a little spartan, but my training had been worse since my life was on the line. Hers was threatened, but only if she didn’t know how to control herself from instinctive casting.

I coached her another two days, letting her memorize the feel of the spell and improve how well she could handle it, then decided to see if we could unlock her other attribute.

Pulling out a bucket, I filled it with water. I also set out a rock and a brazier filled with wood, not yet lit.

“So you know how to move your mana, both inside and outside. Try reaching out with it like a pair of hands to scoop up some water.”

She tilted her head, uncertain why I told her to do so, but obeyed. Using mana sight, I watched her try to reach a tendril of mana from her hands to the bucket. Nothing happened.

“You need to put more power into it. The further you are reaching, the more power you need to use to keep your tendril intact. Sit on the floor next to the bucket if you need to to shorten the distance. Or stay on the bed. Up to you. It’ll be easier on the floor, but if you can do it without moving, that means you’re making better progress.”

She stayed where she was. Good. She had a pretty large mana pool, so she had the power to do a lot, she just needed practice to get used to using it and lowering the waste. Beginners always had poor efficiency. Only time and practice would make them better.

She tried again and again. Eventually interacting with the water with her mana. She couldn’t scoop it up, but she at least made it move.

“Oh!”

“Got the water attribute unlocked? Good, water is a great attribute for holy magic users. Lets us make holy water anywhere. Now hold this and see if you can push your mana into it. Lets see if you’ve got earth as well.”

A determined look crossed her face as she tried and failed. After an hour, I took the rock away and lit the brazier, without using mana. If I’d used it it would have made it harder for her mana to interact with the remains of my own interfering.

“You can probably guess what I want you to do, but I’ll say it anyway. Use mana to try and control the flames. Lets see if you can unlock the fire attribute.”

I gave it another hour, before dowsing the flames.

“So, of the ones we could test, water was the only one to be unlocked. That doesn’t mean you might not be able to learn them, or air, which I didn’t have you try since it’s better to do that where there’s a breeze, it just means they probably aren’t innate attributes. Innate ones are those you can learn easily after learning mana control, and are often shown as hidden skills until unlocked. Ones that are not innate take a lot more to try and use, and are often never possible. You can keep trying when you have time, or try to find someone you can trust with a high level appraisal to see if there are any others.”

“Yes, teacher.”

She’d taken to calling me that on the second day. And the bodyguards also began relaxing as Isabella began making progress.

“Teacher? Can I ask a question?”

“You just did, but go ahead, and ask me another.”

She giggled.

“You know a lot, and have helped me without asking for anything. Why?”

“Maybe I’m planning on asking for a huge reward from your family when we get to Merrow, or kidnapping you and using you as a pawn for my own plans.”

I put a big smile on my face, but she just giggled more.

“Maybe the first one, but I don’t think you seem like the type to kidnap people.”

“Well, I don’t like doing it, but I’ve had to do it, but not without good reasons. Really, I’d hate to see someone as young as you dragged into things against your will. Children like you should be able to live a peaceful life.”

Her face took on a slight pout.

“I’m not a child. I’m twelve.”

“You’re not an adult, so you are still a child. Embrace it, live your life. Take chances, make mistakes, get messy. Because once you grow up, you’ll never be able to be a child again, and you don’t want to miss out.”

She saw something in my eyes, a shadow of the pain from my own squandered youth, and reached her hand out to me.

“Thank you for helping me, saving me. I’ll try to heed your words, teacher.”

“Good girl. Now unless you’re fed up with me, shall I teach you something new?”

“Yeah!”

I started teaching her more.