Master and Pupil Part 1

“First, we need to get you need a staff.” Elfrida announced as she rummaged through the mess atop her desk. “A staff? Why?” Mahannana questioned. The two were in a small office at the top of the Great Library. Old scrolls, books and tools were piled everywhere. The room was overstuffed to the point of chaos. 

Elfrida had insisted on teaching her alone and Mr. Aqua’s trust had convinced her mother it was okay. Good. Mahannana could just imagine Selena breathing down her neck and questioning the safety of everything Elfrida said or did. ‘I know she wants to protect me, but...what right does she have to act like she knows better than an expert on the subject? I love mama, but sometimes it feels like she thinks I’m made of glass, and the slightest amount of stress or change will break me. I know every kid says they’re stronger than adults think they are, but I am. I don’t think I’m invincible or that mama is stupid, but just because things can be hard for me doesn’t mean I’ll never survive any sort of pressure and shouldn’t ever challenge myself. I’m gonna show her!'

“The two main ways of using magic are potions and spells. For a mage, a staff is essential to concentrating and focusing your power to cast spells. Were there stories about magicians in your world, at the very least?” Mahannana nodded in the affirmative. “Good!” Elfrida launched into a lecture while continuing her hunt. “The idea of magic isn’t completely foreign to you. A staff itself isn’t particularly special but, since you have the image in your head of spellcasting with a staff or wand from your worlds’ stories, it will make it easier to do magic. The key to successful magic is visualization. You need to visualize what you want to happen and how it should happen. Even if ‘wave stick at person and they are instantly healed’ is a very simplistic way to go about it, if it makes sense to you, then the spells you cast will effective and you’ll have a stronger mana output.”

“Basically, I need to know what I want to do and have confidence in how I do it, right? There’s laws, logic, and formulas to it that you’ll teach me later, but the most important thing is that I believe that my personal magecraft style can work and be effective. That’s what I’m understanding you are saying.” Mahannana summarized. “Yes, exactly!” Elfrida exclaimed, dumping out a drawer. “Where is that darn...? Sorry, I’m trying to find my mana gauging crystal. You’re correct. There are spells and recipes, but they can vary slightly depending on the individual and what their skillset is. Magic is a very flexible, evolving science.”

‘So, there are rules but not rules? Reminds me of the creation of languages more than laws of science, but... Magic is magic. It makes sense to me. I'm more worried that I'm even capable of doing magic. I didn’t grow up in an environment where magic was normal. Even if my physical body fits into this world now, does that automatically make it capable of doing magic?’

"Hey, Elf-Chan?” Mahannana asked. Elfrida gasped loudly and dropped the globe she was holding with a loud crash. Before the girl could blink, Elfrida had teleported herself across the room and was in her face. With a look of blazing anger, she squeezed Mahannana's wrist. “Don’t you ever call me that. You hear me? Never say that word!” 

“Elf?” Madoka asked. Elfrida’s grip tightened. “That. You don’t say that word or talk about those creatures. Not in this world. Not ever. Not everyone will be as kind about it as I'm being" Mahannana let out a whimper. The instant change in the librarian’s attitude scared her. “E-Elfrida-Chan, you’re hurting me. I’m sorry I upset you but please let go. I won’t say the E-word again, I promise.” Elfrida looked at the marks her nails had left on Mahannana’s skin.

“Oh no! I’m sorry!” The dwarf suddenly became teary and flustered as she jumped away. “I didn’t mean to hurt you! I shouldn’t have done that! Of course you wouldn’t know-.” Mahannana rubbed her wrist and smiled. “It’s fine, Elfrida-Chan. I’m used to people getting upset with me for the things I say. I’m not upset. So, I’m going to get a staff now?” She steered the conversation back in the opposite direction.

‘Now that I think about it, you could play as any sort of creature imaginable-except an elf.’ Mahannana recalled. ‘I forgot about it, but it seemed odd at the time that Night World Odyssey didn’t let you play as one of the most basic fantasy creatures. Actually, I don’t think elves were even mentioned in the game. I wonder what this world’s deal with them is? I’ll ask mama if she read anything about them during her research. With this reaction, it seems like the topic is so taboo that I’d never get any answers asking people directly.’

“Ma-Chan? Your mother calls you that, so is it okay for me use that nickname? Your name is pretty, but it’s a mouthful.” Elfrida asked. “Of course!” Mahannana answered happily, glad that the dwarf had moved on. 'I like this name so much better! It’s pretty and it fits into this world.’

“Found it!” Elfrida announced triumphantly, holding up a large lavender rock that reminded Mahannana of a salt lamp. With a sweep of her arm, Elfrida knocked her junk onto the floor, clearing the large desk. Pulling out a fancy golden stand, she carefully set the rock on it. The dwarf rested her hand on the rock and whispered words in an unknown language, causing the stone to glow florescent purple.

 “What’s that going to do?” Mahannana asked, approaching the desk. “This is a mana gauging crystal. It’s an assessment tool that will show your level of mana and what types of magic you’re best suited to. It doesn’t mean you can’t learn other kinds, but it’s a baseline to explore your specific talents. All you’ll have to do is touch it and the crystal will do the rest.”

“O-okay.” Madoka said, gulping. Now that the moment of truth had arrived, she was nervous. ‘What if I can’t do magic? Or my mana is crappy? I want to be able to help people the way I could in the game, so what will happen if I have even lower magical abilities than the humans in this world? Mama will tell me I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up and it will be boring if I can’t do anything in this world...'

"Ma-Chan, it’s not going to bite!” Elfrida giggled. “Don’t worry, even if your mana levels are in the gutter, you’ll still have something I can work with! Everyone in this world is capable of using it. There’s never been a human with a complete inability to use it in our recorded history.”

“But...I’m not from this world. Even if I look like I can fit in, I’m still an outsider.” Mahannana worried. “What if I am the one exception?” Elfrida bounced over and took her hand. “That’s stupid talk! You became the mage you dreamed of being when you were playing a game! Of course, a mage will be able to use magic! Besides, do you take me for a joke? Mana is something that needs to be worked and strengthened, just like your mind gets stronger when you study or your muscles get stronger when you train. It’s something you gotta work with and grow, not something that you either have, or you don’t!” Elfrida clenched her free hand with a look of proud determination. “If your mana is crappy, that just means we have to work harder! This is the first time in ages that someone is willing to learn from me, so you will be my student and get trained whether you like it or not! You’re not allowed to escape.”

Mahannana giggled, slightly concerned. ‘Oh wow, she’s scary when she’s possessive...!’ But Elfrida’s confidence in her was reassuring. If one of the most ancient, wisest scholars around had no doubts about her ability to wield magic despite coming from another world, then Mahannana had no reason to fear her body being incompatible with this new world. ‘I guess me being considered "defective" back home isn’t going to automatically doom me to also being less capable here.’ She let go of the small woman’s hand and approached the desk. “You got this, Ma-Chan!” Elfrida encouraged, clenching her tiny fists in excitement.

Mahannana let her hand hover above the crystal and took a deep breath. “Welp, here goes nothing!” She slapped her palm down onto the rock. Despite its glow, it felt cold. After a moment, its color changed, becoming a mixture of bright teal and orange.

“It looks like you have a strong affinity for both healing and offensive combat. That’s unique! Normally, an affinity for healing correlates with an affinity for defensive magic. And those are some intense colors, so it looks like you’ll be excellent at both healing people and kicking their butts!” Elfrida clapped happily. The revelation that her skill set was not only like what it had been in Night World Odessey but unique to her eased Mahannana’s anxiety. Having her own way of doing things was considered a good thing, and she could at least do something with magic.

‘Maybe things will be different in this world.’ She thought. ‘I know what I want to do, and people are willing to support me , even if the way I do things is different. It’s not like how school was back home. Mama is probably just overreacting everything is so new and different to her. It’s probably a lot like how I felt every time I was expected to go out to school and succeed in a world that made zero sense to me. She liked gaming with me, but it was always way more of my thing than hers. And I’d also be freaking out if I was trapped in a wolf’s body, so I can’t blame her. I wish she’d just support what I want to do here and keep more of her feelings to herself unless necessary, but I’m sure she’ll come around eventually. She’ll understand once she deals with her own issues.’

While she was lost in her thoughts, the crystal suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree. Mahayana couldn’t see the rock itself through the glow emanating off it. “Ah bright light!” She covered her eyes and, once her hand left it, the crystal faded back to its original pale color. “Okay, soooo what does that mean?” She turned to Elfrida, who was frozen as if her soul had left her body. “Umm, Elfrida-Chan? You good?”

“Th-that...” Elfrida stuttered. ‘Oh no...is that bad? Does that mean that my potential is weak?’ “That’s amazing!” A Stunned Mahannana could practically see the stars in the dwarf’s eyes. “W-what?”

“That means you have a high level of mana and it’s strong, too! I don’t think I’ve ever seen such strong potential right out of the gate without training before!” Mahannana blushed. “R-really? You promise you’re not overplaying it?” Elfrida squeezed both of the girl’s hands in hers as she bounced up and down.

“Of course I’m not lying! This is the greatest thing to happen to me in the last few centuries! Oh my gosh this is going to be so much fun! I’ll finally have someone to share the books on...oh, but even if you’re a fast learner as well as gifted, it’ll still be a while until you’re ready for that...but still! I’ll be able to show you so much stuff I didn’t get to show the others!” The librarian suddenly let go and dove into a pile of junk. “Now I just need to find the correct summoning parchment so we can summon a staff for you and then we can get started with the real fun! The faster we get started, the faster we’ll be done with the stupid basics! Ugh, where would I have put that scroll?”

As her new teacher turned the office upside down in her zeal, Mahannana couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear. ‘Oh, this is definitely going to be fun! I can’t wait to see what sort of ancient books of knowledge she’s rambling about! This is an upgrade from how awful school was at home! Take that, stupid teachers! Someone thinks I’m a prodigy, not a problem to be solved!’