Hikaru walked down the corridor. They were leaving tomorrow, and Hikaru was still having trouble with her new spell. While she had consulted the gift from her goddess, and it helped somewhat she wanted more help. Someone to give her an insight into her new spell, her magic. Amy would have been nice, but she could not trust her yet. Thankfully her goddess had told her about someone that could offer her those insights. It was that person she was looking for now. Actually, she had asked someone about her and was following their directions. Heading to a part of the temple where this Ilia that the goddess mentioned liked to hang out.

She still wasn’t sure what she was going to say, or if going to this girl was a good idea. Her goddess seemed to think she was trustworthy though. That said something, but she knew even gods weren’t infallible. What happened with Amy was proof of that. Although she was still in the dark about what exactly Amy’s punishment was. The goddess was still being tightlipped about that. Her mind had imagined several possibilities, but the most amusing and ironic idea for her is if the goddess had ensured that she got pregnant too. A part of her was really hoping that was the punishment. It would serve her right.

Before she knew it, she had reached the door she was looking for. A small study at the back of the temple. For a moment she hesitated outside the door, but Hikaru eventually knocked on it gently. There was no reply at first, but after a moment the door was opened. In the doorway stood a young woman. She was a little taller than Hikaru was, and her figure was full. The woman had a decent chest, that her loose green robes did little to hide. The robes wrapped tightly around her chest, but flowed loosely down her frame, ending just past her knees. She had a cute face, and Hikaru liked the way her green hair framed her face.

The girl frowned in a manner that Hikaru found very cute, and asked, “Can I help you?”

Hikaru was silent for a moment, before replying, “my goddess said you have similar affinities to me and could help me with my magic.”

The girl looked her over, and sighed, “I guess. Any reason your regular teacher can’t help you?”

Hikaru wasn’t sure if she should reply. Although something must have shown on her face as Ilia spoke, “I see something happened and you don’t trust her anymore. I won’t pry. Come in and we can talk. I’ll see if I can help you though. It would help if I knew what exactly you were having trouble with.”

Hikaru had thought about that and had brought her materials. She accepted the invitation and entered the room. It was a cozy room with a couple of padded chairs, a small table, and a few bookshelves. There was also a small plain door on the back wall. Ilia pointed out an empty seat, and took a different chair. Hikaru pulled out the book she had been studying and a copy of the spell she was working on. Nervously she handed them over.

Ilia opened the book, and gave it a quick look over, before saying, “Don’t be so nervous. I am not going to steal these. Couldn’t even if I wanted to. This book was clearly bound to your soul. It’s a good source though, insightful really. The author really knew the subject. It’s not easy finding good sources like this.”

She set the book aside, glanced over at the spell, then turned back to her. “I assume you are trying to master this spell. It’s a bit different but quite similar to a basic spell I know. I think I can help you, but first I need to see you try and cast the spell. There is a practice room in the back.”

Hikaru had basically just sat down but understood the need. Getting up, she made for the door and was followed by Illia. The practice room was just that, a small stone room with a couple of target dummies and enchanted walls. Hikaru took up a spot, and focused on a target. Taking a breath to center herself first, she began to chant. She had already memorized the chant, and studied the book extensively. As she chanted spell formula flashed through her mind, but rather than a strong ray, all she managed was a weak fizzle and a brief flash when the chant finished.

Ilia sighed, “I see. You have the basics down, but you really do need help. Let me show you how to actually cast that spell.”

Ilia walked up, and then repeated her chant and spell. However, instead of a fizzle and flash, a strong ray of light shot from her palm and bore a hole straight through her target. “I can see those minor changes in the spell form increased the efficiency of the spell. Anyway, where you went wrong is just about everywhere.  Why don’t we start with the chant.

“As any spellcaster, be they a priestess or a witch, the chant is a crutch, a useful focusing tool, but for new spells it is still important. The chant you have is good, but you aren’t really using it right. Focus on the imagery it evokes, and don’t rush. That’s part of where you messed up, you tried to rush the spell. You can’t do that. Now try your chant again, but take it more slowly.”

Hikaru turned back to the targets. Already she had a sinking feeling that this was going to take awhile. A feeling that would turn out to be right, as she spent the next few hours in a grueling training session. One that pushed her to her magical limits.

She slumped tiredly into a padded chair, and Ilia settled into another. Ilia was silent for a moment, and then said, “I can see why your goddess has taken an interest in you. You aren’t ready to channel her power, but you have great potential.”

“I do?”

Ilia nodded, “Yes, you do. You are very strong in your affinities, and it seems to me that magic is your true calling. We have only been at this for about four hours, and you can already cast that spell. Given where you were at, most would have taken a few weeks even without my guidance to reach that point. Still, you do have a ways to go before you can claim to have mastered the spell. Mostly, I suggest practice. Later when you are ready, we can work on contracting the chant.”

Hikaru knew what she meant. A spell was not considered mastered, if you were unable to cast it chantlessly. Now, this spell was fairly simple, with a short chant. Hikaru felt she could master it without too much difficulty. A contracted chant might not be needed. Besides, there was not much room to contract the chant. Especially given that her chant was Ray of Light come forth and strike thy foe. Now there certainly was room to contract the chant and a few possible variations, but it wasn’t the most cumbersome chant she had seen. Higher ranked spells had longer, more difficult chants. She had seen a few priestesses practicing higher spells, and some of those chants could get fairly long. The longest chant she had heard, had taken the priestess casting the spell nearly ten minutes to get through it, although the spell was certainly impressive. Not that she could use it with the full chant. Hikaru certainly did not want to fight someone who had mastered that particular spell. A swarm of tracking blue bolts of light that follow the target, and then slam into it repeatedly like something out of a certain science fiction was certainly scary. It was also very effective, but it was also a spell in the Dragon tier of magic. Not that she needed to be told why. It was rather obvious once you had seen the spell in action. 

It would be a long time before she was at that level, but she hoped to be one day. It may take years, but she would never get there without study and practice. Speaking of practice, there was something she needed to tell Ilia. “Thanks for the suggestion, and I agree I do need practice. Although I am not sure how often I will be able to come by for lessons. My goddess wants me to help purify a few zones of corrupted mana. We are leaving tomorrow morning, and I am not sure when we will be back.”

Illia leaned forward, “Corrupted mana? That sounds interesting. I would love to tag along, but unfortunately I have other obligations. When you do get back, please come see me. I would enjoy hearing about your adventure.”

“You would like to hear about it?”

She nodded, “Oh, yes. I don’t get out nearly as much as I would like. Having three daughters to care for will do that. Especially after daddy up and disappeared.” She sighed, “my husband was a traveling merchant, and I enjoyed hearing about the places he traveled to. He was supposed to be back in town three months ago. He never came back, and I have no idea what happened to his trade caravan.”

Hikaru was not sure what to say, but after a moment’s silence, she responded, “I’ll keep an eye out for you then. Just tell me what to look for. It can’t be easy not knowing what happened to a family member.”

She looked away for a moment, and then in a quiet voice, “No it is not. I don’t even know what to tell my daughters, and I know they are worried. He has never been gone this long, before. I just pray to the gods that he is alright and that no monsters have gotten him.”

Hikaru wanted to say that she was sure that he was, but could not. She didn’t know the man nor the circumstances. Instead, she said nothing. The mood passed before long, and soon Ilia relayed a few details to her. The number of wagons in his caravan, the heraldry of his guards, and what he looked like. Sure the dragon clans were known to move their villages seasonally, but trading towns like this one stayed put year round. Traveling merchants made a living traveling to the villages and trading towns. She gave Hikaru a list of villages and towns he normally visited and a map with their locations. In the case of the villages, it marked them by season. All of this would prove useful if she found a lead. Although she wasn’t going to go out of her way to look for the man. Regardless she did hope she could find the man. Preferably alive and well.

Not long after that, the two said their goodbyes. Then Hikaru left the study and Ilia behind. She had a few things to do before rejoining with her party. Her mind however was already drifting back to her problems with Amy. Although now that Ruri knew what was going on, she was keeping the naughty half-elf in line. It certainly made her life easier in a number of ways, but she still wanted an honest apology from her. A part of her hoped that her goddess’s punishment would bring that about. It was a lesson that Amy sorely needed though, and Ruri was certainly trying to teach her. It was just going to take time, but this was one of those things that it was hard to be patient about.