Episode 16: The Court Mages' daughter

Shizuka breathed in and prepared herself. Taro was confused as to what was she was about to say that could be that serious

Shizuka: alright, I’m ready

Taro: (could this be.. a confession? no, it doesn’t make sense)

Shizuka:: after I woke up, I realized I had been crying, and fortunately, Ari was there for me, I think I would have panicked a little otherwise.

Taro: (I’m honestly grateful for that, after the fight they had, it’s nice seeing them actually trust and support each other)

Shizuka: the dream would have me spacing out a lot, just like last time when we fell to the pond, kinda like how you seem to be today, thought! I could be mistaken, didn't mean to tell you how you feel!, you just looked a little down today

Taro: (she’s not wrong, perhaps that dream had a bigger impact on me than I thought)

Shizuka: when you—--

Ari: Shizuka!, brute!, what are you doing here?

Shizuka stopped in her tracks upon hearing Ari

Shizuka: oh!, Ari, goo’mornin’ hehe, how did you know we were here?

Ari: I saw you coming here, I got curious

Shizuka: oh, we were just talking about guild matters

Ari: guild matters?

Shizuka: yeah, we didn’t have time yesterday to talk about what happened after we lost to the big bad old geezer, so we were just going through it again

Taro: (hmm, I wonder if that’s really it)

Ari: I see, well, don’t you think it’s better to discuss those things at the guild?, the drills are about to start

Shizuka: Oh, is it that late already?, we should get going then, we’ll continue the topic another time Taro, sorry for um, for beating around the bush for so long (I really should have just said it haaaa)

Taro: (I think I needed to clear my head a little anyway) it ok Shizuka, it help uh, relax

they all headed back to the guild office

Guild master: you’re all here early, thank you for your diligence. Shizuka and Taro will go to the mana combat lecture, Nagye and Sidra, come with me, Ari, go with Chone, he’ll tell you what's the plan for today

all the friends got split again. Nagye was already dreading the activities that were about to take place

guild master: today you’ll conduct 2 exercises. First, you will wear this gray cloth and you’ll conduct your patrol with the assumption that there have been threat reports. As soon as you encounter an enemy, you must escape, return here, and report what you saw.

it was just as Nagye feared, there would be enemies this time

Sidra: may the goddess help us

guild master: useful descriptions include type of threat, their numbers, weapons or equipment, if they use any mana technique, and other details you may consider relevant, any questions, Nagye?

Nagye: m-me?!, n-no

guild master: very well then. due to your advanced mana control, you will be the team leader from this point in time until stated otherwise. You have to make the decisions on when to fight or retreat, and you are responsible for your team, you must not leave anyone behind. For now it's just Sidra, but teams will increase in size as the drills get more advanced, any questions?

Nagye: n-no but… umm, I don’t think I—

guild master: you don't think you can be the leader?, power is nobility, nobility is responsibility, and you have a great power, legacy of your parents, I hope you understand that and keep it in mind. If there are no other questions, you may start the exercise at my signal

Nagye: (my parents’ legacy?, I really don’t think so…)

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Nagye reminisced on her core memories

she was a child, focused on a crystal ball on a table, her arms were extended, palms facing towards it, trying to send her mana to activate it, she was sweating, panting, desperate, but to no avail

Nagye’s father: Perhaps she’s sick?, like a problem in one of her organs that prevents her from focusing her mana

Nagye’s mother: I guess that must be it, because it doesn’t make sense that the daughter of two court mages can't use mana

little Nagye couldn’t help but cry in frustration

Nagye’s father: don’t worry Nagye, its fine, even if you can’t cast mana, we’ll protect you

Nagye tried reading all the books she could, practiced daily, her parents tried to teach her and even hired private tutors twice, then 3 medics, nobody could help unlock the mana of the court mages’ daughter

time had passed, she was growing up without mana, afraid to go out of her house, her parents had to travel to the capital one at a time while the other stayed at home, both to care for Nagye, and to continue their investigations on mana control,

seasons passed without Nagye realizing it. she was suddenly taller, older, puberty started to morph her body, and eventually, she could take care of herself and the house while both parents were called to the capital

While alone, she made great strides in understanding mana and many other topics, her parents always had a lot of books in the house library, and they always sent more books of all sorts of genres from the capital for Nagye to keep reading. she eventually managed to awaken her mana thanks to a method she read in a book, finally, a great victory in her life, but no one to show it to

when Nagye’s parents returned to pick stuff up, she excitedly tried to show them her progress

but nothing happened, her nervousness, excitement, expectations, it all got in the way of her concentration and she couldn’t perform.

The cycle of Nagye practicing alone, then failing to perform in front of her parents repeated a few more times, until she finally made it. She managed to show them her proudest development yet, she had made a bird out of paper and string, and managed to make it move like a living thing

Nagye’s father: oh, very nice, I guess nobody really can be without mana forever huh?, good job

Nagye’s mother: aw, where did you learn that?, Was it in the paper folding book I sent?

By then, her parents had long come to terms with the fact that their daughter would not be able to use mana. Nagye’s breakthrough was too little, too late. though their reactions were encouraging and gentle, to Nagye, they stung like a hot metal, branding her with a shameful mark

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Nagye: (I am not my parent’s legacy, I'm a failure…)

Sidra: Nagye? are you ready? the signal is up, shall we proceed?

Nagye: ah!, yes, s-sorry

the girls advanced as instructed, but Nagye’s nervousness prevented her from walking more silently, she was stepping on a lot of branches and crunchy leaves

Nagye: s-sorry, at this rate, they’re go-gonna find us

Sidra: then may the goddess give us a fast stride

Nagye: p-perhaps… if I use my bird, we can see the enemies before they find us

Sidra: wonderful idea, may it be done

Nagye sent her bird flying, and the surroundings were clear, except for Ari, hiding beneath the grass, wearing the black cloth, 2 maces, 1 long, 1 short. further ahead, she saw someone else, 2 instructors, 1 with a shield and a spear, the other one with 2 long maces. then she saw the guild secretary, preparing his ambush on an unsuspecting team, there was more, but Nagye was startled by Sidra

Sidra: Excuse me, are you ok? you seem to be sweating a lot

Nagye: ah! umm, y-yeah, I’m— they’re a lot, there’s a lot of them

Sidra: You saw them all?

Nagye: y-yeah, their weapons too

Sidra: goddess gracious, that was fast. We have technically not encountered them face to face though, should we continue or return?

Nagye remembered the guild master’s words, “You have to make the decisions on when to fight or retreat, and you are responsible for your team”

Nagye: umm, le-lets go back

they calmly walked back to the starting point, the guild master was still there directing the other teams

guild master: do you have any questions?, the road is the other way, just like we practiced yesterday

Nagye: n-no umm, we…

Sidra: Nagye has found all the enemies and their weapons, that's why we have returned

guild master: what?, but you seem unscathed, you barely walked in, are you being truthful?

Nagye: y-yes! I s-saw them all

she proceeded to list them all, their armaments, and locations

guild master: everything is correct, you really did indeed find everyone, as expected of the court mages’ daughter, you may take a break before the next drill starts, excellently done

the other teams were murmuring impressed about such feat, and started to plan how to avoid all the enemies

Sidra: blessed be the sight of such success

Nagye: (I don’t like this, too much attention, I’m not who you think I am, I’m not my parent’s legacy, I’m their failure…)