[A Fractured Song] - Chapter 5 - Fantasy, Isekai (Portal Fantasy), Adventure
Edana was beside herself with glee. In fact, she was very nearly about to jump up and down in joy. Only her desire to be professional and not interrupt her student restrained her.
Her newest student was incredible. Most couldn’t lift a rock on their first try. It was just hard for people to imagine that rocks could fly when they had never seen such a thing happen. Edana’s long years of teaching had taught her that most could imagine the rock flying, but most beginner magi forgot to actually make the rock lighter.
She briefly speculated that perhaps it was the fact she was an Otherworlder, as they had significantly more magical potential than the average human. Or maybe her student was just that imaginative, but they’d rushed through the basic exercises so quickly that Edana had to give her student a harder one.
For once, Frances seemed to have trouble splitting the rock. Her brown eyes were narrowed at the rock and she was singing a low note. Her voice was a bit raspy, but the sound was filled with redolent force and the rock shook, wrenched, and split into a hundred pieces.
“That was amazing—” Edana’s breath caught in her throat as Frances wobbled. She stood there for a tantalizing second, before falling forwards, eyes rolling back.
Pointing her staff at the girl, Edana yelled a high note and just managed to catch the girl before her head hit the ground. A few strides and she was by her student’s side. Grabbing Frances with her hands, Edana sat her down. She touched her cheek.
Immediately she flinched back at how cold the girl’s olive skin felt. The color seemed to have drained from her face and she shivered in her arms. All telltale signs of magical exhaustion.
The question that rebounded in Edana’s mind was how had her student managed to push herself to this point? Most would feel tired enough to complain, or whine, or say something. Shaking her head, Edana placed her hand on her student’s forehead, closed her eyes, and began to sing. She poured her magic into her student, and felt the warmth return to her skin.
Opening her eyes, she found Frances blinking blearily.
“Wha—what happened?” Frances asked, sitting up.
Edana used her staff to lever herself up, looking down on her student. “You nearly drained yourself of magic,” she said sharply. She opened her mouth to continue, but paused.
Her student had immediately flinched at her tone, and looked as if she was trying to make herself disappear. Her shoulders were hunched over, back curled, and she was looking with Edana with wide eyes. If she had hair longer than her pixie cut, she would have disappeared behind it.
In short, she looked terrified.
“Frances, I’m not angry at you,” said Edana.
Her student glanced up at her for a brief moment, eyes wide, but she didn’t say anything.
“I was worried because you fainted. You used that much magic.” She crouched down, eyes narrowed on her student. “Did you not feel yourself getting more tired as you cast, and that your throat was getting drier?”
Frances nodded, hesitantly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her student swallowed, and croaked out, “‘was trying to do my best. Sorry.”
Edana blinked at how hoarse Frances’s voice was. It sounded like sandpaper scraping together.
Then she registered what she said and stared at her student, who seemed to shrink under her gaze.
Do her best? She was trying to do her best by draining— oh. Wait, what? Does she not care about how she felt? Why…
Pushing the many questions she had to the back of her head, the mage gave her student a hand, and helped her up. She then handed Frances one of the two flasks of water she brought with them.
“Next time, Frances, tell me if you feel uncomfortable or tired. Mages do not have infinite magical energy. Performing spells drains the magic in us and puts an immense strain on our bodies. It’s why compared to non-magically gifted people, we need to eat a lot more.”
Frances nodded and continued to stand, looking up at her. Edana stared back, before suddenly realizing what her student was asking for.
“You can drink if you need to, Frances. Or if you need to go to the washroom. All you have to do is let me know.”
Another nod, and Frances quickly unstoppered the flask and drank greedily, whilst her teacher watched her with narrowed eyes.
[hr]
After a short bath, for Edana was quite obsessive about cleanliness, they’d cooked dinner. Frances had again, wordlessly offered her help and with her help, Edana had finished the fried chicken, vegetables, and baked potatoes in record time.
Edana watched her student from the corner of her eye. On such a small table, her eyes sometimes met with Frances, but instead of looking away awkwardly, the girl had stiffened, but just ate on.
It was as if she was used to being stared at.
The mage took another bite of the chicken they’d fried. “So you often cook at home, Frances?”
The girl paused, and looked up to Edana. “Yes, Master.”
“Is it a hobby of yours? From what I could tell from the other Otherworlders, cooking is not something children do at home unless they find it enjoyable,” Edana said, eyes fixed on Frances’s expression.
As she’d noticed several times today, Frances’s breath seemed to catch in her throat. Her shoulders drew closer to her body, as if she was steadying herself, and her expression seemed to form a kind of blank mask.
Then she looked up and smiled. “Yes, Master. I quite like to cook. Also, my parents are often quite busy, so I want to help them out.”
Now if this was the first time Edana had noticed this, she would have said, “That is very nice of you, Frances.”
But she’d seen this smile several times over the past few days. Especially today, whenever she’d asked questions about her family or home life. Being a veteran of Erisdalian court life and many mischievous students, Edana could now see that it was practiced.
Just what was her student trying to hide?
“Frances,” Edana began and paused in thought. “After we do the dishes, the rest of the night is free for you to practice what we learnt today, or just relax.”
“Yes, Master,” said Frances. Edana nodded and went back to eating.
She wanted to test something.
[hr]
As Edana expected, while she sat in her house’s library and began to read a book, her student picked a rock outside and began to practice in view of her teacher.
This time, she regularly sipped from a cup of water, but she continued to move the stone around. She didn’t even pause for nearly an hour.
Edana did notice however, how Frances’s eyes flicked to the stacked bookshelves of the library and the many many books on them.
“You know you can also relax, Frances,” said Edana in a gentle tone
“Oh, thank you, Master.” She set the stone down and glanced at the books. “May I read your books, Master?”
Edana nodded. “You’re just not allowed to touch, or read the books on that shelf,” she said, pointing at a slightly taller shelf.
Her student didn’t ask why she wasn’t allowed to read those books, or even question why those books on that shelf had only symbols on the spines instead of normal letters, but bobbed her head and practically ran down the shelves, reading the spines of the books. That is until she stopped, frowning.
“You are always free to ask me questions, Frances,” said Edana.
Like a turtle coming out of its shell, Frances shyly turned to look at her. “Um, Master, how am I able to understand these books?”
“Good question. The Summoning System imports all summoned heroes with knowledge of the human languages in Duranon. You should be able to pick a book and read it.”
“But there are words I don’t understand,”
“Think of it as actively translating your understanding of your world’s languages with Duranon’s.”
“So how would I learn new words?”
The question hadn’t occurred to the mage and so she looked up to the ceiling, deep in thought. “I’m not sure. Try reading any of the books here first, and then ask me if you come across words you don’t know.”
Frances nodded and grabbed a very heavy tome. Edana noted that it was The First Kings and Queens of Erisdale, a semi-mythological retelling of her country’s history. Her student didn’t seem bothered by the weight of the book. She hefted it to the corner of the library, next to the forbidden shelf, ignoring the other sofa-chair and couch. She then plopped herself between the shelves, in the corner, and sat the book on her lap.
Edana blinked, but her student seemed comfortable, and so she simply left her to read.
Once in a while, she’d quietly, and politely, ask for the meaning of a word, and Edana would tell her. It seemed that whatever the Summoner System did, Frances learnt the meaning of new words the same as any other child.
Eventually, the hour grew late and Edana yawned, stretching out.
“Right, I think it’s time for bed…” Edana glanced at the corner and chuckled.
Her student was sleeping, head buried in the book. It must have been extremely uncomfortable, but she must have been exhausted. It was the first day she had used magic extensively, so it did make sense.
Quietly, so she didn’t wake the girl, Edana hummed a tune, slotting the book into the appropriate shelf, and lifting her student out of the corner. Continuing to hum, the mage levered herself up and paused, though, she kept humming, levitating in front of her as she went up the stairs and placed Frances in her bed.
Letting out a sigh, Edana ended her spell. She was about to start tucking her student in, when a thought occurred to her that made her frown.
Frances was thirteen. Yet, in her younger years, as a caretaker of the White Order’s young, she’d carried many sleepy students to their beds. Frances did not seem to weigh like a normal thirteen-year-old.
Frowning, Edana gently wrapped her hand around the girl’s upper arm, and her eyes immediately narrowed. Frances’s arm was thin, in fact, it was in some ways, bony.
The mage took a step back, scratching her nose. She’d thought that Frances’s clothes had been simply ill-fitting, like many of the other Otherworlders’ new clothes. But she was beginning to realize that they fit ill because she didn’t seem well-fed.
That fit into why Frances had fainted when using her magic. If she was ill-fed before she arrived, she wouldn’t have the endurance to use magic for prolonged periods, especially if it was her first day. However, Edana found it bizarre that her student seemed so thin, when compared to the other Otherworlders’, some of whom seemed obese.
Adding that mystery to the many that seemed to surround her student, Edana made a note to herself to make some bigger meals, before blowing out the candle, and walking to her room.
“There’s something afoot here,” Edana muttered to herself.
AN: This was a fun little chapter from best-mentor-Edana's POV. I hope you all enjoyed. As always, feel free to ask questions in the comments
Posted Mar 25, 2020, 8:13 PM UTC · edited