As the carriage made its way over the grasslands of the outskirts of Rellea, Rin lowered her gaze from the sky. She glanced to the side just as a fiery strand of red hair peaked out from the edge of the carriage. 

‘Hm?’

Then a set of big, round eyes appeared. They rose to the sky, tracing over the clouds before following a line downwards and resting on Rin. 

“What’s up?” Rin asked. 

She slightly tilted her head to the side, wondering just what Emma was doing. 

“C-could you...” The girl glanced away before muttering. “Help me up?” 

After staring at Emma for another second, Rin shook her head as a sigh escaped her lips. Reaching over, she grasped the mage’s hand and pulled the girl atop the carriage with ease. Making space for Emma, Rin shifted to the side, laying on her back as her gaze once again returned to the sky. 

“Thanks...” Emma mumbled and averted her eyes from Rin’s figure. 

To Rin, the girl seemed somewhat off. A little less than ten minutes had passed, and Emma was still staring down at her fingers with a meek look in her eyes. It was like a completely different person from the bright and bubbly persona she carried when they had first met at the cider stand. 

Although Rin knew that the cause was her assessment just an hour prior. Her performance, to be frank, must’ve somehow scared the girl into respecting her. And now atop the carriage, it was painfully obvious that the girl wanted to ask something. Yet she didn’t, and that was what started to annoy Rin. 

“Hey,” Rin leered her head to the side, “If you’ve got a question just ask?” 

Perhaps her tone came off a little imposing as the girl released a startled yelp and jumped slightly. 

“How did you know?” Emma asked, her voice a quiet mutter. 

“Why wouldn’t I know?” Rin scoffed. “Take a look at yourself. You're twiddling your thumbs; you’re shivering from the wind even though you’re a fire mage. What you look like is a caged bird just waiting to be set free.” 

“C-caged bird?” Emma’s eyes widened. 

“You don’t think I can feel your eyes flicking on to me every five seconds?” Rin said with a sigh. “Tell me what you want.” 

“W-well... after watching you... I didn’t know you were so strong, and I was just wondering if you could teach me how to use my spells better,” Emma said sheepishly. 

“Use your spells better, eh?” Rin repeated, lifting herself into a seated position. “Show me.” 

As Rin could imagine, the fire mage would most likely struggle to manipulate her mana and apply it to her skills. After all, it was considered the most difficult thing about being a mage. 

“Well? What are you waiting for?” Rin asked. “Don't you want to learn? Show me what you got.” 

Emma looked at the white-haired girl, confusion evident in her eyes before she quickly recovered. She summoned a staff, the weapon made from light, springy wood and raised it into the air before casting a final glance at the ice mage. 

“Go on,” Rin whispered and gestured with a hand. 

The air surrounding the staff shimmered with heat as Emma mouthed a silent incantation. Gradually, a magic circle materialized, emanating with a dull light before releasing a flaming bolt over the grasses and leaving the ends singed. 

“How was it?” Emma asked with an expectant look. 

‘Is she proud of that...?’ Rin thought, deadpan. 

“Slow. Your mana needs to move quicker," Rin said, her tone level, almost bored. “Now go again.” 

Her hypothesis had been right about the girl’s mana manipulation. The girl had supplied her mana into the spell far too slowly and caused the power output to wane. If they were in a one-on-one fight, Rin had all the time in the world to seize the victory. 

Emma’s cheeks reddened, but not a word was said as she awkwardly raised her staff once more. Again, the same thing happened. The air shimmered, the incantation was uttered, and the magic circle appeared to send out a bolt of fire. But nothing changed in the spell, it was still far too slow. 

“Again,” Rin said. 

The cider brewer gritted her teeth and another spell was unleashed, flame blasting into the horizon as Rin released yet again another sigh. 

“Emma, give me your staff,” Rin said, holding a hand out. 

The girl looked up with confusion and a bit of reluctance before Rin reached over and jerked it out of her grasp. “Did I stutter?” 

[Cedar Staff – lvl 35 (Common Grade)]

Magic Power: 150-300

Wisdom: + 50 when equipped

‘Garbage,’ Rin thought and channeled her mana into the item, but... she didn’t even receive the slightest of a response. ‘Ah, I can’t even use it...’

With a frown, Rin placed the item to the side as she looked up at Emma’s face. 

“Do you know what your problem is?” Rin asked, the intensity of her gaze seemingly drilling holes. 

Emma shook her head, eyes cast downward to avoid the girl’s piercing stare. 

“You're compensating your lack of control with the staff,” Rin pointed out, her voice softening. “Try again, but this time only use your mana.” 

“How?” 

“What do you mean how? Are you a fire mage or are you a staff mage?” Rin asked with a tilt of her head. 

“I-I'm a fire mage,” Emma muttered as Rin stifled a laugh. 

“Alright, fire mage,” Rin tapped the back of the girl’s shoulder with a grin. “Let’s see it then.” 

There were some suppressed snickers from within the carriage, probably from the two carefree men, which made Emma blush deeply. 

Yet she immediately shook her head, a scowl blemishing her pale skin as she raised an arm into the air. Rin noted that it was the exact movement her doppelganger had done as the faint beginnings of a magic circle appeared. Slowly, the conduit grew larger as Emma’s arm started to tremble, her face scrunching up with concentration as she struggled to maintain the magical construct. 

However, just as the magic circle peaked in intensity, it flickered once, then dissipated into the winds. 

“Damn it!” 

Rin could see the frustration in the girl’s eyes, the clenched fists and slanted brows. It was clear to her that the girl had failed, but regardless of everything, Rin wore a smile on her lips. 

“Congrats.” 

“I know... I mes—hah?” Emma paused, looking up at Rin with surprise. “B-but I failed... what do you mean congrats?” 

“I mean congrats in the same way that you are no longer a caged bird,” Rin said, lifting a hand. “Watch.” 

Immediately, a wave of pressure pulsed through the air as Rin imbued mana to her arm. The surroundings brimmed with cold, frost building in the air as condensation was seen before their lips. Then, a magic circle appeared—no, not just one, but seven constructs flowed into existence almost instantly and hovered above their heads. 

Emma released a gasp, her eyes torn between focusing on the girl and the circles until the constructs started to rotate. Choosing to look at the circles, she struggled to keep her eyes open as she was forced to squint, the ethereal glow of the magic only increasing in intensity. Until suddenly, the circles froze, the runes blinding white as seven bullets of ice were shot out with a bang. 

They were faster, stronger and far more advanced than whatever Emma had produced. The girl had already seen it once in the assessment. But facing it like this—Emma stared at Rin, and knew that the sheer complexity had only reinforced the thought that the ice mage wasn’t what she really seemed. 

“Who are you?” Emma muttered, more to herself than to the girl. 

“I’m me,” Rin said flatly. “Now do it.” 

“B-but you already saw that I can’t...” Emma said dejectedly. 

Rin raised a palm to her forehead. “Weren’t you watching?” 

“I was b—” 

“Here, give me your hand." 

Not giving the girl a chance to react, Rin grabbed Emma’s arm and pulled it to her side as the latter let out a yelp. 

“Wh—” 

“Don’t talk, just feel,” Rin said. 

She slowly channeled her mana into Emma’s arm. Her ice element conflicting with the girl’s natural constitution of fire as Emma released a shiver. 

“It’s cold...” she muttered. 

“I know,” Rin replied and strengthened the flow, taking command of the girl’s mana. “Feel that?” 

Emma gasped and mustered a slow nod. The power she felt coursing through her veins was pure and untainted. It travelled through her body, circulating in her arm before coming to a stop in her hand. 

“Now, use my mana and activate your spell,” Rin said. “Don’t be sc—” 

Rin was cut off as a sucking pressure began to pull at the link she held with the girl. Their conflicting elements clashing against one another as Rin started to feel a slight burning feeling in her core. Ignoring it, she guided their conjoined energies into existence as a magic circle appeared into the air. But this time, it wasn’t dull. Rather it shone with a brilliant red light while its edges were surrounded by a pale bluish white hue. 

Emma released a shaky laugh, “I’m doing it! I’m doing it Rin!” 

“Yeah... yeah...” Rin said with a grimace, “Now, activate it.” 

“Okay!” 

Rin felt the burn in her core intensify as the magic circle above their heads blazed in strength. 

“Incinerate!” Emma screamed. 

And then, it ignited. Flames danced in the air as a destructive orb of fire was unleashed into the skies with a deafening roar. The subsequent explosion was like fireworks, but Rin couldn’t enjoy the sight as she immediately retracted her mana from Emma’s arm. 

It wasn’t because of the pain, that was bearable, but because of the fusing of their elements—if left alone it could lead to an elemental conflux within the girl. Or in other words, a massive explosion. 

‘Not doing that again,’ Rin released a deep breath and looked at her status. 

MP: 27,276/100,000

Just channeling her own mana through another person’s body was a challenge in itself. But trying to do just that with opposing elements was something even Rin struggled to do. As proof of the massive amount of mana leveraged to achieve the feat. 

“Remember that feeling.” 

Those were Rin’s final words to the girl as she laid back on the roof of the carriage, once again looking up at the vast expanse of the sky. 

**** 

“I did it!” 

Hearing the shrill note, Rin glanced to the side. The girl was panting heavily as beads of sweat dripped down from her nose, yet betraying all of that was a wide smile that crested her pale face. 

“Rin, did you see?! I did it!” Emma exclaimed. 

Her form shivered from excitement as motes of flames drifted around her body. Rin’s gaze lingered on one that was especially bright before the winds stole it away from her sight. 

“Yes... I saw,” Rin said with a sigh. 

Looking back, it had taken the girl nearly an hour to achieve something barely passable by her standards. Although in the end, Rin had to admit that the girl had accomplished something impressive. 

Emma didn’t know, but the way that the ice mage had shown her how to manipulate mana was not with a conventional method. 

The normal and most commonly used way to supply mana from the core to activate skills was through the assistance of the system. And for now, it was alright, but Rin knew that it wouldn’t hold up past the triple digit levels. 

Thus, she had created a little something she called the ‘Arcane Sequence,’ an extremely volatile but rapid system to gain strength. The reason it was so, was because the way it channeled mana through the body sacrificed stability for more power and velocity. To generate such a force, she would have to rapidly compress and ignite her mana, resulting in an uncountable number of miniature explosions that would release said energy. 

However, an obvious factor or maybe even flaw was that the process generated an unholy amount of heat. Which contributed as one of the reasons why Rin appreciated the fact that she had been reborn into the body of an ice mage. The heat that had coursed through her body during her battle against the infernal wyrm would have been fatal had she not distributed a portion of her ice to keep herself from overheating. Otherwise, the strain placed on her body would burn her from the inside up. 

But that was only the easy part. The other aspect, which Rin considered to be harder was to actually put the volatile energy into application. Just to scrape it out of the body and keep it intact required an extremely precise concentration, but achieving the task while in the middle of a battle, that... that was hard. 

For Rin, it was something that she performed by default, her mind’s connection with the body already accustomed to what her limits would be. While for the young fire mage, it was a completely different story, and that was why Rin did not admonish the girl further. The fact that Emma had already shown herself capable of utilizing a very small portion of the arcane sequence, demonstrating to Rin that it was enough. Now, all that was left to do was hone the girl’s strengths through practice. 

“Who turned off the lights?!” A voice suddenly came from within the carriage along with a thump then followed with raucous laughter. 

Rin looked up, their surroundings had indeed darkened as they had just left the plains of the city and entered the woods; a place she had only seen on the outer edges of her map. 

The road grew bumpy as several minutes passed before they found themselves travelling over dirt and stone. The horses, however, didn’t protest as the warrior whipped away at their backs, spurring them forward as the carriage continued to traverse at a steady pace. 

The air carried an ominous wind, while glints of red peered at them under the shades of the forestry. It remained like that as Emma snuggled into Rin, her skitterish eyes darting around the trees before finding solace in the cold embrace of the older girl's arms. 

Until finally, they were liberated as the carriage entered a small clearing in the woods. Emma glanced nervously at the tall trees surrounding the dark grass, while Rin had her gaze elsewhere. The dungeon entrance. 

“We’re here.”