Stepping out of the door, having just finished the boring general studies with Miss Yvonne, I made my way to where my recent teacher Yuna should have been. She was a truly happy soul, with a desire for knowledge that was almost unparalleled. Even if she could be quite eccentric sometimes, getting lost in her own words and thoughts as she lost her orientation. I hope she isn’t bumbling around in the garden again. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Father had told me that she didn’t want to teach me at first, not wanting to be responsible for a little kid learning magic. Only after seeing the big chunk of gold coins did she fold. Apparently, she needed the money for her experiments. What kind of experimenting does she do anyways? I wondered.

Either way, it had been half a year now that I finally gained my magic teacher. I had spent my time as usual, mostly with training and learning new ways to use my magic.

I walked past the training grounds and saw sis training hard with Reinhardt, giving her best as usual. A smile made its way on my face at that. As I walked on, a maid carrying supplies greeted me, bowing deeply. I nodded back a greeting. Ever since I had gained father's favor, everyone had been treating me with a lot of respect, even my stepmother and stepbrother had stopped antagonizing me. They wouldn't dare to incur his wrath.

Thinking of stepmother, she had been very busy lately with her pregnancy. She was six months in by now if I remembered right. I would have loved a little sister, but with her as the mother the chances that we would get along are close to zero. A frown made its way on my face. Forget it.

Coming up on the room Yuna should have been in, I heard a loud cry and crashing from it. Surprised, I picked up speed, running to the door and opening it. "Yuna!" I yelled out, "Are you okay?" I stopped my sentence, my expression turning confused as I took in the sight. My teacher Yuna, with her face on the ground, between the table and sofa. Her legs dangling in the air as her skirt flowed down, flashing her blue and white striped panties.

Realizing the compromising situation that she was in, she quickly tried to stand back up and regain her decency, just to trip and flash me again. Third time’s the charm, and she managed to get up. I quickly blocked my sight with my hand as she stood up, knowing what would come next.

"Did you see?" she asked in a loud, flustered voice. I stopped blocking my sight. What greeted my eyes was a cute woman in her early twenties wearing a green dress.

As the blush reached all the way to her half-elf ears, I put on a confused expression and tilted my head, "See what, Master Yuna?" I questioned innocently, doing my best at holding the laugh.

She gulped as she stared at me for a moment. I took her stare unblinkingly. "N-Nevermind," she stuttered. Taking a deep breath and bowing, "Greetings young lady, are you ready for the lesson?" she asked with fake calmness.

I couldn’t hold it anymore and laughed at her display. She made a surprised expression that turned into a pout at the realization. She balled her fists and stomped, "Stop laughing!"

I laughed even harder at seeing that. "Sorry, I'm so sorry, Yuna. I just couldn't hold it anymore," I chuckled. "Speaking like that really doesn't fit you, you know."

She pouted a bit longer at that, ending it with a sigh. Her shoulders slumped “I know, it doesn’t. All of this,” she threw her arms around “noble etiquette, teaching, it really doesn’t fit me.” She ended in a disheartened tone.

Ah, I might have went to far. “That’s not true Yuna,” I tried to placate her, “If it wasn’t for you, who would tell me all about your magical stories of using magic?” I smiled, “I still remember the story about the flowers.” I smirked, wiggling my eyebrows.

She gasped, “you wouldn’t!”.

I started my story in a playful tone, “There was once a young maiden filled with passion for magic, learning a spell too make flowers bloom in an instant,”

she started chasing me, voicing her discontent as we played a game of tag, “NOoOoOo!”

“But the spell just wouldn’t work, frustrated, she went to bed early.” I continued. Yuna started playing unfairly as she used enhancement magic to catch me. We both fell to the ground, her on top of me as she held my wrists, “only to wake up the next day, filled in a room of flowers,” I gave her a smirk, “even in places the sun doesn’t reach”.

Her blush from earlier returned, “Yooouuuu!” she glowered at me in embarrassment. “You want to play dirty, huh,” she shot me a sinister smirk. Oh Oh. “Then prepare for punishment!” she shouted as she started tickling me mercilessly.

I wiggled at her attacks, “Aaah, HA HA HA,” tearing up at her relentless actions, “Stooooop, I’m sorry Yuna!” I pleaded with her.

Panting at her relentless attacks, I stared daggers at Yuna. She went on for minutes! I couldn’t even fight back, she’s way stronger than me! She didn't meet my eyes as she whistled away. I sighed, “Fine, we’re even now.” I crossed my arms.

She chuckled, “Look how the tables have turned,” she said smugly, “But yes, we’re even now.” She smirked. I felt like almost popping a vein at that smirk. “Alright, enough playing around for now,” her smirk changed to a small smile, “I wouldn’t want rumors to start that you’re not studying properly. Are you ready?”

I composed myself, and gave a nod.

As the rays of the sun came through the window, creating a warm and cozy atmosphere, I sat in my comfortable chair, the padding compressing as I focused on Yuna. She looked at me seriously, switching into her teacher persona.

“Today I’m going to show you a skill, that not many magicians will ever learn in their lifetime,” she started, “It’s the process of casting two separate spells at the same time, and a requirement for using the even more difficult skill, 'combination magic'. Dual casting, that is what we call it."

“Here,” she held both her hands out, “I’ll show you with some beginner magic.” She said. As she held both her hands out, she conjured a small ball of air in her right hand, the air pooling above her hand, forming a calm whirlwind. On her left hand, she created a small ball of flickering flame, it was tilted toward the right hand as the whirlwind influenced it.

“Imagine,” she said, “The mana from your well flowing, separating into two smooth rivers. One river leads to your left hand as you will it to pool in the surrounding air in your palm, compressing it and controlling it,” she took a deep breath, “the second river flows to your right hand, forming a small fire.”

I watched in awe as she controled the two elements effortlessly, the fire and wind dancing harmoniously in her hands. “The next step would be combination magic, in this specific case, we would use the wind in order to enhance the fire. Combination magic can lead to very high level spells, such as a saint level fire tornado, that the principal of the academy once casted to devastate a best horde.” I gulped at the power he must hold.

Yuna continued, “Or perhaps you can cast an enhancement spell to enhance your agility, all while creating an elemental burst to attack from range. You would be able to fight from range while being prepared for a physical confrontation at all times.”

She continued to demonstrate different combinations of spells, and I was amazed at the different effects that could be achieved. It was like watching a magical performance, and I was in awe of Yuna’s mastery. The possibilities seemed endless.

“At the same time, it is not wise to combine every element. Imagine combining an earth spell with lightning for example. It would simply be foolish to do so. The lightning would lose all of it’s power due to coming into contact with the earth. Leading to a miserable result.”
I nod at that. The current would just get grounded and lose any power it might have had, leading to a waste of mana.

Smiling at my focused expression, “But before you imagine yourself combining all kinds of elements,” she said with mirth, “You have to learn how to dual cast. It will definitely not be easy, it took me a long time to learn it,” The corners of her mouth curved down, “but for a genius like you, it should be a cakewalk.” I grimaced, feeling the pressure now.

“So, should I try it out now?” I asked her.

She put her finger on her cheek, contemplating, “Hmm, why not? It’s better you do it now, rather than going behind my back.” She smiled knowingly.

With a strained smile, I ignored her remark. I held both of my hands out, just like she had shown me. I felt the mana in my well, pulling on it. It came out slowly, according to my will. I tried splitting the flow of mana for the first time, I imagined cutting the flow through the middle, creating two flowing rivers of even strength. Surprisingly, it worked perfectly. All good so far.

I directed one of the rivers towards my left hand effortlessly, having done it many times before. But when I directed the second river to my right hand, the flow of the other river lost power. As if reading my mind, “you need to flow both pieces of the split mana simultaneously, concentrating on both rivers at the same time." Listening to my teacher, I tried again and again. This is difficult, I thought to myself.

After many tries, I finally managed to do it. Now for the spells. As I imagined the wind forming in my left hand, once again the flow of the right hand broke. After more failed attempts, i slumped my shoulders, looking towards Yuna for help. She smiled helplessly, “It’ll take time and practice, this is not a skill that many can boast about you know. Just keep at it, trying to control the flow of mana in your private time. I’m sure we will be able to get you to dual cast spells soon.” She finished consolingly.

Taking her words to heart, I set a new goal for myself.

Yuna