The Burden of Sorcery

David stood in the Heinhard Estate speaking with Dieter Heinhard, Zelda's grandfather and a former Supreme General of Fredendore.

“How is she coming along, David?” Dieter asked.

“Something about her feels off to me,” David replied. “She has a decent amount of mana, but it behaves strangely. Almost like it's rejecting Sorcery.”

“Rejecting Sorcery?” Dieter asked, looking at him.

“Her mana control is great, don't get me wrong. It's actually one of the things she excels at. The problem is her conjuring. It's almost as if her mana is completely working against her whenever she tries to conjure fire.”

David paused.

“I've been teaching for seventeen years now, but I've never seen anything like this.”

Dieter was slightly startled by his words.

“You don't say.”

He looked toward the training grounds.

Could it be that Zelda is something else entirely?

The thought stayed with him.

Dieter pondered what David had told him for the rest of the day.

That evening, he stood by the windows of the estate.

Flashes of fire could be seen outside.

Dieter watched as his granddaughter continued training.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Every attempt ended the same way.

She failed to burn the mannequins.

Sometimes she collapsed from exhaustion. Sometimes she simply stood there, frustrated, before trying again.

But she never stopped.

Dieter watched silently.

How many times is she going to get back up?

A few days later, Dieter approached the training grounds.

Zelda was training alone.

He stood at a distance and watched her for a while.

Zelda raised her hand and attempted to conjure fire.

The flames appeared.

She tried to direct them toward the training mannequins.

Once again, the flames sliced through them instead of burning them.

Zelda clenched her fists.

She prepared to try again.

Then she suddenly stopped.

She could feel someone watching her.

Zelda slowly turned around.

Dieter stood there.

He wasn't saying anything.

He simply stared at her with a concerned expression on his face.

“Grandfather?”

“You're working really hard to master your Sorcery, I see.”

Dieter stepped forward, approaching his granddaughter.

Suddenly, he released his mana.

The entire training area grew warm.

A gust of hot wind swept through the grounds, sending Zelda's hair flying. She struggled to keep herself from being pushed back, gripping the ground with her hands as Dieter's mana washed over her.

Dieter raised his right hand.

Flames flickered across his palm.

“Release all your mana and let it burn within you. Then imagine the fire in your hand burning.”

He extended his hand toward the mannequins.

The flames erupted from his palm and engulfed the training mannequins.

Within seconds, they were completely consumed.

Dieter allowed the flames to disappear.

“Sorcery is all about imagination and mana control,” he explained. “Your mana has to be dense enough to conjure what you imagine.”

He looked at Zelda.

“Now you try it.”

Zelda nodded.

She released her mana.

But unlike Dieter's, Zelda's mana didn't feel like a warm pressure.

It felt like fire.

The air around her seemed to sting.

Dieter felt it immediately.

His eyes widened.

Zelda tried to conjure the flames and direct them toward the mannequins.

Nothing changed.

The flames once again sliced through them instead of burning them.

Zelda collapsed onto the ground, exhausted.

Dieter stood completely still.

His eyes remained wide.

“How did I not recognize this?”

He looked at Zelda.

Then at the mannequins.

Then back at Zelda.

Dieter quickly walked away and returned moments later with a tree branch in his hand.

He handed it to her.

“Try something for me.”

Zelda looked at the branch.

“What?”

“Let your mana flow into the stick.”

Zelda looked confused.

“Then imagine the stick being on fire.”

She stared at him.

“And try slashing the mannequins with it.”

Zelda hesitated.

But she did as her grandfather instructed.

She focused her mana.

It flowed from her body and into the branch.

The wood suddenly caught fire.

Zelda's eyes widened.

She swung the branch.

A wave of flames shot from it and slashed through the mannequins.

The mannequins burst into flames.

Zelda stared at them in disbelief.

She had done it.

She had finally burned them.

But all of her mana had been poured into the branch.

Her body could no longer keep up.

Zelda collapsed onto the ground.

“What just happened?”

She stared at the burning remains of the mannequins.

“I burned them... but why?”