I learned so much thanks to you

When Angelica heard she was going to be taught magic by one of the prestigious individuals in the Rex family, she was expecting some hands-on training, akin to learning martial arts alongside a partner.
She didn't expect it to feel like going back to school.

There were 28 days left until Angelica had to face the arch ghoul, and Alexander had claimed he needed to teach her magic from the ground up. She had to go back to the basics and learn the craft as if she was just starting out, but can a method like that really promote such fast growth? Only one way to find out.

Directly across the street from the adventurer's guild building was a library, a two-story abode filled with hundreds of thousands of pieces of literature for nearly any subject that could be thought of. After borrowing a select few books Alexander brought Angelica to a small room near the back of the building, a room that was pure white all over the walls and ceiling except for a chalkboard on one wall. Angelica was forced to sit at a desk while Alexander wrote instructions on the chalkboard...

"I really am back at school," Angelica groaned.

"This is the sort of environment I was first taught in," Alexander replied. "Does this not work for you?"

"Let's just say I wasn't the best student." Angelica shuddered just remembering it. "Oh, but my school uniform was really cute, maybe it'd be fun to wear it again!"

"Class is in session, you can change clothes afterwards."

"But I'm bored Teach, I want to do practical lessons already."

"But how can magic bore you?" Alexander's eyes sparkled as he spoke. "It's through magic that humans can make the impossible possible! It's through magic that the past becomes the future!"

"Not everyone is like you Teach. I became an adventurer to fight monsters and help people, not fire off some spells. Most spellcasters tend to be nerds anyways."

"I... see?" If fighting monsters was one of her motivations, why wasn't she all that great at it? The question came up in Alexander's mind, but he decided against asking it. "Well, that's the first thing we'll have to address in this lesson. Your view of magic is way too restrictive."

"Restrictive? Isn't magic just waving your fingers, chanting, and making fireballs and stuff appear?"

"Is that your answer to the question on the board?"

"Huh?"
Angelica looked at the board. Indeed, the question "What is MAGIC?" had been written in chalk quite boldly.
"Yeah, I guess my answer is something like that."

"Again, that's far too restrictive." Alexander shook his head. "Think wider."

"How would you define magic then?"

"It's simple. Magic is simply the manipulation of mana. As long as you are moving or changing mana, you are using magic, understand?"

"I don't think I really get it."

"Then let's start from there. What is mana?"

"It's that energy that's in the air that we use for magic, right?"

"Again, far too limited." Alexander sighed. "Mana is the energy that powers life itself. Mana is in the air, in the ground, in the water, in the trees, in every creature and thing around us. Without mana within your body you can't breathe, your heart can't beat, you can't even think. Mana is what stops our bodies from breaking down and decomposing on the spot."

"I guess it's a bit more complicated than I thought," Angelica admitted. "But how does that help me learn magic?"

"Everything mana is capable of, so is magic. Everything you see in nature is something that can be recreated, enhanced, and reversed with magic. Mana is the closest thing to a god in this world, and magic can allow you to do anything."

"Huh?" It was easy to see Alexander's love of magic and the arcane in the way he spoke. That said, that love wasn't rubbing off on Angelica so easily. "So like, what are the limits to magic then?"

"That's the fun part, no one knows. To know the limits of magic is to know the limits of science and human knowledge."

"Uh-huh."

"Anyways..." Alexander ignored his student's current boredom. "By shaping and expelling this mana, usually with the assistance of chanting, mere mana is able to transform into spells. Let me show a simple example."
Alexander held a finger up to the air, and a small orb of blue flame lit up on top of it.
"Try making something like this."

"Okay." Angelica couldn't completely remember the chant needed for a fireball, but if she could remember most of it she could probably substitute whatever sounded okay and still make do, right?

The resulting fireball exploded in her face, setting her desk on fire.

"What's the difference between your fireball and mine?"

"The fact that mine is burning my desk down!?"

Angelica was about to run out and grab some water, but Alexander snapped his fingers and extinguished the flames with magic rather quickly.

"Other than the damage being caused," Alexander said. "What is the difference between your fireball and mine?"

"I guess it's smaller and not explosive and a different color and all."

"Exactly. Don't let anyone tell you there is only one way to do a fireball spell or a wind spell or wormhole spell or anything! As long as you know the basic theory behind it you can customize nearly any spell into anything you need."

"I see," Angelica said, nodding with interest.

"And as long as you are familiar with mana and how it works you'll be able to make it move and bend and shine in whatever way you imagine."

"I see, I see," Angelica said, nodding with interest. Maybe magic was more interesting than she thought.

"And that's why I got these." Alexander set down books on top of the burnt remains of the desk. "A Study of Mana's States and Properties. Magical Techniques 101. A History of Arcane Studies. Magical Physics. Before you cast a single spell you are going to study up on mana and all of its properties!"

"I see... HUH!!?" And suddenly all of Angelica's interest went down the drain.

And thus began the first day of Angelica's intense study. For hours she spent the entire day hunched and slouched over at the desk, cramming as much knowledge of the book and its material into her head as possible.

And once the sun began to set it was time to quiz Angelica on what she had learned. Alexander handed her a test paper with a hundred questions, interrogating her diligently on the contents of the books she read.
And once it finished...

"Impressive, you only managed to get four of these questions right." Alexander's voice was devoid of all emotion. "Where are you having trouble?"

Angelica looked at him like it should be obvious.
"Everything."

"Maybe if we go through the books again-"

"Look..." Angelica sighed. "I don't think this is going to work. There's a reason I became an adventurer instead of continuing school, because this is just not going to work. And I only have like twenty something days left to learn magic, if I do things like this it'd take a hundred days."

"It worked for me though-"

"You're a magic nerd! You start beaming with joy every time you talk about magic! I'm not into magic like that. I'm not into reading or taking tests or any of that, and... well..."

"I understand." Alexander bowed for a moment, almost robotically. "I shall change the course material to fit your needs. Is that okay?"

But Angelica was fast asleep, too knocked out to hear a thing.

***The Next Day***

There were now 27 days left until the fight with the arch ghoul. Angelica was supposed to be heading straight to the library to study mana and improve her abilities in her eventual battle to save her friends.
But the thought of it was just a bit bothersome, so she dragged her feet the entire way.

"Hello, hello, heya!!" But as Angelica mumbled and grumbled to herself a tall pink-haired girl tackled her from behind. "How are things going my sweet Angel!?"

"Sugar!? Hey hey hi!!!" Angelica jumped up and hi-fived her old friend with a smile, as if her previous frustration had disappeared. "What's up?"

"Girl, I just had to ask, have ya seen Cyan anywhere?" Sugar sighed. "Like, he's not in the guild building, or at his place, or like anywhere!"

"I last saw him around two days ago, you know, when we were both getting healed. You were there."

"Yeah, but yesterday he was all grumbling and mad 'bout what happened then, and now he's like gone or something. Our party was planning to enter a dungeon today too and he's already late!"

"So he can't get that day off his mind either." Truthfully Angelica couldn't stop thinking about what happened that day, and the feats of magic that Alexander showed off still awed her. It was too bad trying to learn it was such a hard task. "If I see him I'll let you know."

"Thankies! Also, why ya walking so slow? Something bothering ya?"

"Well..." How could she even explain?

"Ah, is this 'bout the dungeon thing you and your party went through!? I mean I'm sorry I can't do a thing but-"

"No no, don't worry about that anymore! I already found someone to help me with that!"

"Really?"

"You sound like you never believed my story in the first place."

"...I did." Her eyes were on completely different time zones.

"Now you sound more suspicious!"

"So who'd ya get to help ya? Who's gullible-" Sugar loudly cleared her throat. "Who's strong enough to help you?"

"I met this guy named Alex and-"
Should she say anymore? The question made Angelica stop and think. Alexander was part of the Rex family, a name Sugar definitely knew, but was it okay to reveal that fact? Considering that he used to be living on the streets she couldn't imagine he had the best relationship with his family. There was also the fact that Alexander's lessons were meant to be a secret, so maybe it'd be better not to hint at that.
That did make her curious though. Why were Alexander and his family estranged like this?

"There you are!" Before Angelica's silence could get awkward she was greeted by Alexander appearing from behind. "You left too early, I thought we were going to walk together."

"I don't remember anything about that," Angelica said.

"Well I've completely redeveloped the training regimen you're going through, so instead of the library we're headed behind the guild today."

"Sure then... Sugar?"
Angelica froze once she saw Sugar's face. Her normal kind emerald eyes had intensified, like the eyes of a predator looking down a dangerous prey.

"Angel dear, come here for a bit." Angelica didn't have the chance to object, getting dragged quite the distance away from Alexander. "Who the hell is that!?"

"He's the Alex I was about to tell you about, what's up?"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME HE WAS SO HOT!?" Sugar was drooling so much she had a waterfall in her mouth, and one could swear hearts were coming from her eyes.

"Because you'd get like this and conversation would be impossible."

"Is my hair okay!? I should've applied make-up!" But Sugar didn't listen, focusing on her reflection in a puddle of water.

Would Sugar be saying this if she saw how Alexander looked just a few days ago? Maybe not, Sugar had shown the same behavior for some men she'd consider rancid, but the current look probably helped. Instead of the rags he wore on the streets Angelica bought him a rather professional outfit, with a plain white button up shirt and black pants that made him look more like he'd be in the office than fighting. You'd think someone from a family like his would have nicer clothes, but it was just another marker in the mystery of Alexander's family life.

Also, if Sugar learned Angelica gave him his clothes, the jealousy would probably be the death of them both.

"I'll just get along with what I was doing before. Bye bye bye!" Angelica waved and left before Sugar could even notice.

And before she realized it, the same Angelica who was dragging her feet towards that day's training had been running straight towards it and had arrived right behind the guild in an instant.

"Since you've arrived let's begin," Alexander said with a yawn. "I spent all night figuring out a new regimen and-"

"YOUR EYES!" Angelica jumped back once she saw them. "You look like you haven't slept in years!"

With a snap of his fingers Alexander conjured up some reflective glass in front of his face, and there he could see what she meant. There were so many dark circles around his eyes it looked like the area had begun caving in on itself.
"Oh, I guess my spell wore off." With another snap of his fingers he placed a red sigil down on the back of his hand, making all signs of his exhaustion disappear. He looked just as well rested as ever, maybe even more. "I must have misjudged how long I needed that."

"Huh, so you can use magic to give yourself more energy?"

"Magic can't give you more energy, only produce an effect similar to it."

"So you still need sleep?"

"..."

"..."

"Anyways..." Alexander ignored her. "While I was originally planning to get to this later, it's probably best we train your mana capacity as soon as possible."

"Mana capacity?"

"While there are some exceptions most spells use mana from within the body to function, which replenishes over time. Use too many spells too quickly however and your body could have dangerously low mana. Do you remember what happens when you have too little mana?"

"Um..." Was this in one of the books Angelica was supposed to read? Not like she could remember a thing anyways, so maybe she should just guess. "Without mana... you die?"

Actually that sounded stupid, maybe she shouldn't have guessed.

"Correct!" To her surprise however Alexander applauded. "Like I said yesterday mana is life energy, and the less of it you have the more trouble your body will have doing anything! Breathing and heartbeats will slow, your muscles will atrophy, and you'll even have trouble thinking. Continue pushing yourself otherwise and your body will cease functioning completely. If it were possible for you to keep using magic by then, you'd start actively dissolving yourself with each spell."

"Oh." Angelica was starting to wish she never was correct. No, even if she was wrong, she'd probably still have to hear about something so disgusting.

"That's why it's important for any spellcaster to hold as much mana within their body as possible, and that's what your training here is for. Training mana capacity is like increasing stamina or strength. You just need to exercise it every day in order to make it grow."

"I think I get it," Angelica said. "Does that mean today I'm using spells?"

"The exact spell doesn't matter, just continue firing it off until your body starts feeling faint from a lack of mana."

"Sure..."
If only she remembered a single spell.

Angelica's head felt like it had been erased. She had just used a fireball spell the day before (or at least a rough approximation of one), yet no detail of the chant was coming to mind. It wasn't like she had memorized many other spells, or any other spells in that regard aside from a few essential ones for any adventurer. And would repeating such spells over and over really help her?

But finally, after straining her brain way too hard, she finally started to think of something! Some part of the chant had finally come to her! As for the rest of it, maybe she could just substitute it with whatever sounded right...

The result was a blue explosion that turned the field into scorched ash.

"Keep repeating that spell," Alexander said, covering himself in a golden force field with magic. "I'll teach you about chants."

"This kind of spell is okay!?" Angelica sighed before repeating her chant.

"Chants are like DNA. They are the instructions that dictate how the mana channels in your body will shape the magic it produces. Of course you can learn to cast spells without chanting, but that requires years of muscle memory with those very spells of your choice. The first segment of the chant is known as the formation segment, and it-"
Angelica couldn't hear the rest over the explosions of her spell going off over and over.

It only took until noon for Angelica to finally tire herself out. She fell to her back atop what used to be grass, barely able to lift her lungs.

Alexander lifted a paper to her head. "Quiz time."

"I still have to do a quiz?"

"How else will I know how much you retained?"

Angelica tried to lift her hand, did her best to reach out to the sheet in front of her, tried her hardest to reach to the sky, but couldn't make it. Not like she'd want to do another quiz anyways.

"I don't think I can do I test."

"I understand." Alexander put the paper away. "I'll wait for you to regain your energy."

"I don't think I can do a test ever," Angelica wheezed. "I used to be in general school, the sort of place you go when you want a normal job like a merchant or a politician. Do you know just how many tests I was forced to do!? How many hours I'd be stuck in a white room, not allowed to move until everyone else had finished their exam? I don't want to be stuck in a room, marking papers over and over until I die, I want to be free! I want to see the light! I see a light right now! I see it getting brighter! Am I dying!?"

"You are not dying. Your brain is just out of tune thanks to the lack of mana, which may cause hallucinations and a slight change in personality."

"The lights are coming down, are those angels? But I don't want to die here! Tell the angels I don't want to die here!"

"You're not going to die, don't worry."
Alexander had heard mana deprivation changed personality, but this was his first time witnessing it from this perspective. He last experienced this many years ago, when he was just a young boy being trained to be the Rex family's newest spellcaster.

And with that experience he knew a lack of mana couldn't change memories, so there was a good chance what Angelica said reflected her real feelings on the matter of training. It looked like giving her more tests would be a bad idea, like it'd only make her feel worse and worse.
But that was the only form of teaching Alexander knew.

Sitting in a room and taking tests about mana's basic properties, not allowed to even step out for the bathroom until he got all 100 questions correct.
Forced to rapid-fire cast spells for hours and hours on end to increase capacity, not allowed a single break even if he could barely keep his eyes open.

The training he had been giving Angelica was merely a milder version of what he already knew, but if that wasn't going to work for her then what would?

He looked back down at her, her mouth incredibly wide as she snored like a storm arrived. It was hard to imagine getting any more training done today, so he lifted her up and brought her home to bed.

The sun set then began to rise again before Angelica got up. It was now 26 days until the battle with the arch ghoul, and she didn't feel any bit more prepared than before.

Angelica sat outside in the rising sun, wondering just what she should do next. She thought back to the past two days, tried her best to remember everything she had learned, but all of it came back blank in her mind.

And Alexander was clearly working so hard too. He was staying up so late, working on this so much, yet somehow Angelica couldn't remember a thing. Maybe the problem wasn't with Alexander's teaching, maybe the problem was with her. Was she doing all she could here?

There was one thing she could remember from yesterday's training though. Increasing mana capacity is like increasing stamina, and as long as she did it over and over again, each and every day, she'd improve somewhat.

And right now that was all she could do.

The area behind the guild building was still a burnt mess, but it was still the best place to practice. She could barely remember the chant for a fireball, but maybe if she replaced a bit with what sounded right...

Just like the day before the result was a big blue explosion. At least she remembered yesterday's chant.

Wait, wasn't Alexander saying something just yesterday about how chants work? He was explaining each part of a chant and everything, but it was a bit hard to hear it all over her repeated explosive spellcasting. What would happen if she changed the first syllable?

What followed was less an explosion and moreso an inferno. Blue flames spun around in a tornado, scorching and smoldering through every surface they touched. Once the spell began to fade all that was left was Angelica in the center, her palms burnt black.

"COOL!!!" Angelica nearly jumped in the air with joy. Why didn't she see spellcasters do this sort of cool stuff? All she ever saw were beams and orbs and other supportive spells, which were cool the first time she saw them but got old really quick. Swirls of flame like this though, this could never get old!

Though seeing how burnt her hands were, maybe it just wasn't practical to do this.

That said, if that little flip of a syllable changed an explosion into an inferno, how could she turn it back into a fireball? Sounded like some experimenting was in order!

As the sun continued its rise and the creatures awoke from their slumber more and more explosions of various types resounded behind the guild. The color changed from blue to green to gold to white to red. It grew so hot it nearly atomized the forest for a moment, then grew so cold it froze the ground below. The shape changed. The size changed. Sometimes sparks of light like fireworks came out of the explosions. It was like Angelica's own personal light show, and she was the one and only star.

"There you are!" Alexander found her hours later, Angelica lying face down in a pile of ashes. "What happened to you!?"

"It's fun!" Angelica chuckled like she was on drugs. "Magic is so much fun!"

"Again, what happened?"

"Look what I can do now!" Angelica weakly lifted her arm and chanted, and an orb of flames was spat out of her hand. The color was a perfectly normal orange. The size was rather small, no bigger than a fist. Besides the weird curve it made as it flew it was clearly a perfectly normal fireball. "I can finally make one!"

"You're too low on mana, you shouldn't use any spells!"

"Hey..." Angelica giggled like there was nothing unfunny in existence. "Do you know what else I managed to make with this spell? I created like a fire tornado and some fireworks are a fire pony! It was so pretty! Aren't the stars pretty right now?"

"There are no stars it's still morning."

"Hey, is this why you like magic so much? Who knew one spell could turn into so much just by changing the words? Yesterday I thought this would all be so boring, but today it was so much fun! Is this what magic is like to you?"

"Is it?" At that moment Alexander realized he didn't exactly know why he liked magic so much. To ask that was like asking why the sky was blue, it just felt like something that would always be true.

"I mean you're always talking about how it's full of possibilities and everything. Even the angel on your shoulder agrees with me."

"What are you even seeing right now?"

Alexander sighed. Leaving Angelica in such a state would probably be more trouble than it was worth.

"One more lesson," Alexander said, lifting Angelica's hair off her brow and pressing his forehead into hers. "While most don't make use of it due to its inefficiency, there is a way to transfer mana from one person to another."

"Is it something dirty?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Just keep your head near mine like this."

Alexander chanted, and Angelica could feel a warmth traveling from him to her. It felt like their hearts had connected, like they were living in a world where only they existed.

Angelica's mental clarity returned so fast it was like an on switch was flipped in her brain. Her brain went from lucid dreaming to wide awake in an instant, nearly disorienting her.

Alexander went through the opposite, his eyes widening as he fell down to the ashes below.

"That was kind of embarrassing." Angelica blushed just thinking about it. "Please don't remember it."

Alexander stayed silent.

"That said, I finally managed to make a fireball! Isn't that great!?"

Alexander stayed silent.

"Hey, say something."

Angelica poked him a bit, to which he curled up and held his arms over his head like he was being attacked.

"No..." He said it weakly, like he was sleep talking. "Don't hurt me..."

"I guess even you get like this without mana." Angelica continued to poke him. "What are you seeing right now?"

"Please don't..." Tears were creeping down his eyes. "Mother, don't do it, don't do it. I didn't tell anyone, I swear. Don't hurt me."

"I see." Angelica couldn't even respond. How was she supposed to interpret this?

When you lacked mana your personality changed, and your eyes started to see things that weren't there. Did it also change memories? If not, what sort of situation could he be in to say something like this? Or maybe his family was always like that.

Wasn't this the perfect time to ask him? Surely if she asked now she'd get to know just what his family was like, and answer all of her questions.

But could she really do that seeing him like this? Some things came first.

"Don't worry, don't worry." She held Alexander like she was cradling a baby. "There's nothing to worry about. She's not real."

"Are you sure?" His voice was quiet like a mouse. "But she looks real."

"That's just illusion magic! You're under the effects of illusion magic right now!"

"There's no way you can use illusion magic."

"So you don't lose your memories when you're like this," Angelica groaned. "There was a secret spy in the bushes that used illusion magic on you and ran off."

"I see." Good thing he was gullible in this state. "But it's still scary."

"Is your mom scary?"

Alexander only nodded.

"I see. Then instead of paying attention to her, look at my magic instead."

Angelica raised her hand up in the air and chanted, launching a purple fireball high into the sky. It burst into an explosion of color, red and blue and purple fireballs raining down like a fireworks show.

"Pretty..." Alexander was in awe.

"I know!" Angelica grinned. "I want to learn about more pretty spells like this, more cool spells and more weird spells. Even if some of it will involve reading and writing and acting like I'm in class, I still want to learn magic with you. So please teach me all you know!"

"Did I make it seem like I'd stop teaching you?"

"No." Angelica chuckled. "I just wanted to say it."

"Well I'm happy to continue teaching you."

"Then let's celebrate!" More and more fireballs erupted from Angelica's hand, bursting and exploding into a multi-colored fireworks show. It was like a rainbow raining down on them, a show of light more dazzling than the stars, a display that could make someone forget about life itself.

The light show continued until afternoon, ending as Angelica ran out of magic.

"Look at all of these lights Alex." Angelica giggled and pointed at nothing. "It's my magic! My magic is doing something amazing!"

"You're seeing things!" Tears rolled out of Alexander's eyes. "The ninjas used their magic on you too! You're seeing things!"

And so their afternoon was spent in this burnt field, their minds in disarray.