Returning to the Library seemed far more important now, and Jake was beginning to maximize his time within its white walls. He felt lighter on his feet and far more ready to learn and practice. Because now, practicing would only make him better. Before- practicing here in the Library was all to pave the way towards freedom, towards a future of avoiding the village and seeking out all that his father had told him in stories. Now that he had his Auntie’s approval and Elder Juul had given him the gift from his mother, Jake only felt it right to respond to their expectations by doing his best.

That’s why now, practicing magic was more important than ever. Though, there was always a limit. His mana pool wasn’t infinite and he could only spend so much time training his ability to spell cast. He needed to split his time between cultivating, spellcasting, and reading. It was one thing to be good at a few things- but to be strong, he needed to be good at all of it.

After talking with Yir, Jake learned that the Library was actually organized in a very specific way, and if he wanted to truly learn- he would need to understand how Magic was organized as well. So, she gave him another book. Unlike what had been given to him so far, it wasn’t a Fundamentals or Introductory book. Actually, it was a Guild book. Yir didn’t explain what a Guild was or why it was important, and instead just told him to read it. Apparently, the concept of “Guilds” was a bit out of reach right now, but within it would better explain the different individuals he would come across in his travels.

The Guild Book covered a range of topics. Well, not really topics, but it seemed to cover ‘jobs’, or ‘classes’. The Guild defined a ‘job’ as a category that an Adventurer belonged to. The Job would provide someone an idea of what the Adventurer could do and what kind of skills they would have. There was a long list of Jobs, but they were each organized into the main five classes; Fighter, Thief, Mage, Rangers, and Tank.

Fighters were individuals skilled at close combat. They tended to be light on their feet but could also wear lighter pieces of armor to help with protection. They rarely allowed themselves to be bogged down by clunky weapons or gear, choosing equipment with more mobility and functionality.

Rogues had a range of tasks that they were expected to accomplish. Wearing generally only clothes and extremely light gear, they tended to perform tasks like spying, stealing, scouting, and other shady things that would provide the team with information. It was certainly a class Jake had no interest in. The boy didn’t plan to utilize underhanded tricks to win his fights.

Rangers tended to handle any task at range and also helped with hunting, survival necessities, and dealing with animals. They were usually more in tune with nature than the others, making them very versatile in the wild.

Tanks were just that- heavy, clunky, strong members of the team with the sole task of being a mobile wall. They sucked up damage and would maintain the attention of the targeted foe, or foes. They weren’t expected to do much else, but theuy weren’t to be trifled with. While they were generally slow and didn’t do much other than defend- their offensive capabilities could finish off most enemies with a single, heavy blow.

Under the Mage category, Jake found exactly what he had learned so far. Mages were individuals with strong control of their inner mana. They could cast a variety of spells depending on their Elemental Affinity, or Affinities, and could perform a plethora of tasks depending on which Elements they had control over. Most Mages were adept at only one Element. Stronger Mages were good at two. Those who could use more than two elements were even more special but were very rare.

Beyond the chapter on Jobs and Classes, Jake fell into what felt like a bit of trouble. Not only were there a bunch of different skills and tasks, but an adventurer’s ability was also defined by their Rank or a Letter Identifier. Every Adventurer had a rank, and their rank was defined by how good they were with their skills. For the other classes, judging their rank tended to be done by performing Assessment Quests. These Quests were like tasks given by the Guild to see how capable they were. Depending on the result, an adventurer could be given a higher or lower rank. The adventurer’s rank could also be defined by their success. The more Quests/Requests completed, the more inclined the Guild was to increase their rank as they proved to be a capable individual.

For Mages, it seemed ranking up was both easier in one sense, but also more difficult. For Mages- all you had to do was use an Assessor slab. The Assessor slabs could be used for more than just testing affinities, but also for mana power, strength within the affinity, and to also judge one’s progress. But the easiest test was the spell test. The stronger a mage’s spells were, the higher their rank. Spells had limitations on them; minimum requirements that needed to be achieved first before they could be used successfully. Mages who were strong with a certain element could perform stronger spells. By practicing, cultivating, and researching- Mages could increase their mana prowess and slowly build-up to the more powerful spells.

To judge a Mage’s rank, Guilds could simply ask a Mage to perform a variety of spells within their element. Once the Mage came across a certain level of spell that they could not perform- then the rank prior would be their given rank. Due to this, most Mages never progressed beyond Adept Rank. While most could tip their toes into the rank above, knowing only one spell didn’t fully allow for the next rank to be achieved.

“This is kind of confusing…” Jake mumbled. It seemed that even though a Mage could know and be able to cast a few spells of the next rank, it didn’t immediately allow the Mage to break into it. The Mage would not only have to show prowess into the next rank, but knowledge, understanding, and mana control of the next rank. Being able to cast the spell showed the Mage at least had the mana pool to fire off the spell- but if it were to be a fluke, a “one-time-cast”, or something else, then the Mage could not be declared to fall into that rank. It needed to be definitive.

What made things worse was that those with a higher rank were given more and more limitations on what was required to rank up. After achieving rank C, breaking into the upper echelons was almost impossible for those without time, patience, and talent. Just earning the C rank in its own right seemed to be the ultimate goal, as every rank after it seemed impossible to achieve. Unless Jake planned to live a very, very long life- reaching anything beyond C would be a waste of time. Especially if he wanted to try and become strong in a range of elements.

“Maybe one day,” Jake mused as he closed the book. Apparently, a Guild Ranking was important. He didn’t know a whole lot about Guilds or anything in the book, but it would prove useful to know later. Whenever he decided to travel and finally leave his village, he would come across such topics at some point. For now, he needed to focus only on what he could do. So far he had practiced Wind and Water magic. Now, he wanted to test his Fire magic.

He traded the Guild book for one on beginner-level spells and walked into the attached room. He returned to the pedestal and was greeted by the pungent smell of the leftover water he had abandoned. The sight of it made him grimace. He’d forgotten about the fact that the time inside of the Library was different from the time outside of it. The once pretty blue liquid was now a gross green, and it smelled a lot different. He didn’t want to even touch it, but he would have to get rid of it somehow before training. And as he thought of how to dispose of the water, he came up with a solution that would also help him practice. What better way to make water disappear than to burn it?

He flicked to the chapter on fire magic and briefly read over its contents. As he had learned before, Ignarus was the elemental identifier for fire. Thus, he held out his hand and mumbled the word-

“Ignarus…” His mana coiled into his fingertips and a hefty amount leaked out into the air. It swirled, then sparked. Fire appeared in the center of his palm and the kindling light flickered just out of his touch. His hand felt hot, but it didn’t burn to be so close to the open flame. As if his body was one with the fire- all he felt was its warmth.

Jake smirked at the result of just the single word. Indeed, it was a true sign of progress. His range of elemental affinity made his mana truly feel malleable. He felt comfortable with the element and while it drew more than the other two, it wasn’t a significant amount. Nor did it feel like it was any more difficult to call it forth.

Comfortable with the result, he held out his palm and then sent out the remaining activators for the spell. The flame in his hand exploded and spun into a ball. Light spread onto the walls and the water sparkled in its green glory. He pushed with just a bit of force, and let the fireball dump into the water. The water sizzled and splattered into a mist. However, not much was displaced. Expected- the fireball was quite small. While the pool of water spanned the entire gap.

“Time for some real fire…” Jake smirked and held out both hands. Steadily, he called forth the flames and shot them into the water. He wasn’t able to spit them out rapidly, but he juggled from one hand to the other. Left, right. Left, right. Steady and careful, with a focus on his mana- Jake formed one after another until he no longer had to speak the ignition word. It took longer than with the other two elements, however.

Fire was truly what the books described. The requirement for the initial spark called for a little extra mana than the others elements. He needed to separate a small drop of mana and that drop became the fuel for the spark. After the spark was lit, then he could pour more mana into the fire to feed it. If he wanted to be faster and more efficient- he needed to be quicker with the spark. Or maybe he could change the way he ignited the fire?

“No, that would add another step.” He mumbled. There was the idea of possibly snapping his fingers, clapping, or flicking his wrist- but it all slowed the process. At its core, the fire ignition strictly required that mana droplet. Even so, with that knowledge, Jake began to try multi-tasking. He held out his right hand and while he fed one fireball, he worked on that mana droplet in his left hand. Then, after firing the ball in his right, he immediately went to work on the new droplet.

It increased his speed and made the initial creation more steady, but something about it felt unstable. By trying to make multiple fireballs at once, Jake felt his mana flow ebb. There was a slight disruption the longer he went on and he only felt more uncomfortable as he pushed himself. Rather than push the issue, he stopped his fireball creation and stared down at the results of his efforts. A lot of the water had been sizzled away and the remaining amount was definitely less than it was before. Much of the green had also been burnt away, but the blue was left murky and dark.

The concern on his mind though didn’t pertain to the decent dent he had put into the water level. No, he was worried about that strange sensation he had felt tug on his mana flow. It was a sharp feeling, one that filled his stomach with a bit of dread. Conjuring up more fire balls after that feeling only made it worse, as if his body was trying to warn him. Not so much to stop him, as he could still cast, but the mana flow felt as if it was having trouble handling the stress of his rapid casting.

“Was that the feeling of an impending explosion…?” He questioned the feeling and while it hadn’t resulted in anything catastrophic or dangerous, it had served to make him cautious about going further. It was almost as if his mana was about to crack.

Rather than test his luck, Jake waited until his magic had recovered from that tense state before continuing with his casting practice again. He steadied his breathing and tried to focus on his mana as he began to fill the air with fire once more. He wanted to increase the volume of the spell to its absolute limit, to see what he could really push himself to create. However, his mana reserves ran empty and he felt the disruption inside of him return. Catching himself, Jake fired off the ball and quickly stopped his casting before he let it develop into anything worse. The large fireball smashed into the water, filling the air with hot steam.

Sweat soaked his clothes and dripped from his forehead both from the strain and the heat lingering in the room. He felt lightheaded, it was hard to focus, and his body felt cold beneath his skin. His hands were coated with a thick layer of sweat that he couldn’t quite get rid of. He felt disgusting. He could still sense his mana, but it was weak and it would take a lot of effort to bring it forth into a spell. Whenever he did, it felt as if a tense string was being tugged on inside of him.

Jake decided it was best to stop entirely and stepped off the platform. Warning signs flared in his mind as he remembered the two dangers of spellcasting- poison and explosion. The book hadn’t specified what actually caused an explosion. It only stated that a “loss of control” would bring about the violent result. If he continued to push the issue, he had a feeling he might experience such a thing firsthand. That wasn’t quite something he wanted.

“Yir!” Jake shouted, quickly making his way out of the practice room and into the main building. She had scolded him before for his yelling, but he had a legitimate reason to call for her this time.

The fairy didn’t answer his first call, but a second shout earned a response. From above, a book was slung like a rock towards his face. Jake spotted the incoming shadow and moved out of the way. It impacted the ground with a harsh smack and the top of the spine dug into the floor. Jake’s eyes widened and he swallowed a mouthful of fear. Had he not moved, that would’ve been his head. That book would have split his head open.

“I’ve warned you about shouting, child.”

Jake whirled around to see Yir standing on the railing behind him, her arms crossed. She wasn’t as happy to see him as he was to see her.

“Yir, have you ever experienced a mana explosion?” He asked his question upfront, both to get away from the fact she could have murdered him and hoping to get a direct answer. Instead, the first thing he got was a zap to the nose. Jake recoiled as his nose went numb. He grabbed at his face again, groaning from the annoying sensation. Yir shook her head as she watched him.

“No, but I have seen it happen. And it’s not good.” She said as she sat down on the railing, crossing her legs as she made herself comfortable. “Why do you ask?”

“I think it almost happened to me,” Jake spoke in a congested tone, his voice almost squeaking as it came out of his mouth. “I was using fire magic, a lot of it, and my body started to feel weird. Really weird. Like my mana was going to snap or something.”

Yir’s expression hardened. She stuck out two fingers and Jake felt something pierce his chest. It didn’t hurt, but it felt uncomfortable. Wherever her fingers moved, the poking followed. Why did she have to use weird methods to check his mana?

“Did you feel a tension in your magic?” She asked. The discomfort moved from his chest to his abdomen as she lowered her fingers. Jake nodded. Her fingers remained extended for only a few more seconds before the hot feeling went away. She sighed and shook her head.

“Your mana flow isn’t damaged but it’s under pressure. I’m going to watch you for a little bit. No funny business, okay?” Yir stood up onto the railing and brushed off her skirt, smoothing it out as she stepped off into the air. Jake eyed her warily for a moment, a bit confused. She had told him she wouldn’t get involved with his training directly, and here she was. About to do just that.

“Don’t you have work to do, though?” He asked, motioning to the rest of the Library. Yir huffed and folded her arms over her chest.

“If I left now, I have a feeling you’d run off in there and do something stupid. So, I’m going to watch you and make sure you don’t. At least until I think you’ll be safe.” Yir flicked her finger and the books she had brought with her all neatly stacked themselves on top of a nearby table. Likely for her to grab later on.

“Okay, I guess.” Jake shrugged and made his way back into the practice room. Yir followed behind him, her wings carrying her quietly into the small space. She created a pillar from the floor, raising it up so she could sit in the corner of the room at his back from a safe distance. Jake felt a bit uncomfortable with someone watching him practice, but it was also a bit reassuring. Now that Yir was here, he felt a lot safer dealing with the potential problem.

Jake took in a few deep breaths and then focused on his mana. It had replenished slightly within him during his break, giving him just a bit to control and toy with. He wanted to continue practicing with fire magic but he doubted he had enough mana to fire off a bunch of spells again. Instead, he would try to tinker with one or two at a time. With a limited mana pool, he would put more effort into each spell individually. This way, with each cast spell his body would hopefully make enough for another.

He held up his hand and closed his eyes. Keeping his breathing steady, Jake eased the mana into his palm before splitting off a small droplet to use for the ignition. It cut free and the fire ball bloomed at his fingertips. Next, Jake pulled a small amount to increase the size of the ball. It filled his palm and coiled into a smooth sphere. With only one sphere to put all of his attention on, Jake was able to put more effort into creating a more stable fire ball. He fed it more mana and increased its size slightly. Then, he fired it into the water. It hit with a brilliant splatter and created a large cloud of steam.

Jake huffed from the effort, feeling the weight of the singular spell on his body. He then called forth another bit of mana. He felt the tension resurface as he gathered the power into his palm and stopped, waiting as his body replenished what had been lost. He kept the mana gathered there in his hand, both to ensure he could cast again and to coax his body to continue to replenish his flow.

“Easy now…” Yir muttered behind him. Jake nodded and waited until the tension lessened. He created the droplet and ignited the spell. With a close focus on his mana flow, Jake slowly fed the fire ball until it was a proper size. Again, he smoothed the edges to make the sphere and then fired it into the water. Once more, steam rose from the water basin. Jake was beginning to understand the danger now, but he also had memorized just how much mana it would take for one ball of fire. If he stuck to that amount, he guessed that he would be safe.

“How are you creating these, Jake?” Yir popped up to his side, spooking him a bit from her silent movement.

“I’m using a three-step process. First, I take a drop of mana to make the base. Then, I feed mana into the flame to make it bigger. Last, I put mana behind it and push it in the direction I want.” With no mana to show her the process, Jake did his best to use his mouth. The Fairy seemed to understand it as she nodded briefly before she fluttered over to his hand.

“One more time,” She said, her eyes narrowing as she looked at his palm. Jake obliged and went through his steps. He gathered mana into his hand, waited for the tension to ease, and then pulled more mana into the staged portion to match the necessary amount for the spell. He then cut the drop, ignited the flame, fed it the prepared amount of mana, and then fired it. Yir huffed and moved behind him after watching him.

“Try channeling it. One steady flow of mana into the fire until you have what you want. All one smooth process.”

Jake clenched his teeth and nodded. Up until now, he had been cutting his mana into pieces and using the individual pieces to feed the spells. Doing it all at once seemed a bit much. He also felt like it might be more dangerous to do. But, he would try.

He took in a deep breath and waited for the tension in his body to fade. With the mana spread across his body it was hard to judge if there was enough. Even so, he did as told. All at once, all three steps. He pushed the mana into his palm. Quickly, he thought of the trigger, thought of the enlargement, and then he thought of firing the ball. However, the result was just a puff. The fire appeared at his fingertips only in a gasp. The rest of the mana dissipated into the air, wasted. It dissolved before forming anything remotely close to a sphere.

“Try it again. Quicker.” Yir coaxed him along from just over his shoulder. Jake nodded and took in another breath. He waited for his mana to replenish, and then tried again. Once more, he tried to cast his spell. All at once, like a flowing river, he pushed the mana out of his fingertips. Focusing on controlling its shape and pace, Jake gathered the mana around the ignited fire that appeared. The mana burned to life and flared between his fingers. It wasn’t a sphere, though, and Jake quickly cut the connection as his mana continued to feed into the flame. The fire was snuffed out once it lost its fuel.

“You need to be quick, Jake. Push the mana into the spell and control it,” Yir snipped at him. Jake frowned and nodded.

Quicker, she said, but going too fast felt unnatural and he didn’t feel as in control over the process. It was as if his mana was rushing out of his body. At least when he used pieces of mana he could control how much each piece was. Like this, he could only control the cut-off. There had to be a trick to it, something he wasn’t seeing.

With more mana, Jake tried again. He ignited a flame in his finger and the mana rushed to converge on it. He rotated his hand upside down to keep from his palm being burned and watched as the fire raged in his hand. With no stop to his mana, the flame burned brightly and began to increase in size. Jake’s eyes widened as he felt the tension in his chest all of a sudden and then threw the fire into the water. The flame dissolved before impact and filled the room with hot air rather than steam.

“Jake,” Yir spoke softly just off to his left. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Focus on the ball. Coil the mana around the flame, just like you were doing before. Focus on the shape and then when it’s ready, close the flow. When you’re ready to throw, that’s when you reopen the flow and toss it away.” This time, Yir’s guidance was more in-depth. With her more descriptive instruction, he could better visualize what she was asking for. This was no different than him chopping up his mana. All Yir was doing was having him remove the initial step of the mana droplet. Jake just needed to maintain control of his mana flow all at once, rather than rely on cutting his mana into pieces.

Understanding this, Jake tried again. He opened his palm and filled it with mana. He pushed it through his fingertips, ignited the flame, and quickly coiled his mana around it. The flame flared to life, expanding greatly in front of him as he fed it with power. When he was satisfied, Jake cut off the flow and used his fingers to control the fire within them. The fire stabilized and his mana flow did as well. The uncontrolled sensation had faded. Slowly, he brought the heat under his control and guided it into the shape of a ball, a sphere. Yir gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder and Jake rotated his hand. Like every other spell, he put some mana at its back and fired it away from him. It shot off into the water, blowing a cloud of steam into the air.

“Good, now that you’ve done it, stop for the day and rest your mana.” Yir pulled her hand away and moved back.

“I think I can do a few more,” Jake said as he looked at his hand. Yir looked back towards him, her eyes stern.

“More? Your mana is at its limit, boy. You can’t do any more,” the Fairy crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at the back of Jake’s head. He stared at his hand, and then down at the water. Sure, he was at his limit mana wise. But he was in control now. He was able to stabilize the spell and he could control his flow. As long as he maintained that control, he assumed that he would be fine.

“It’ll be fine, Yir. I can control it.” Jake coiled the mana into his hand again as he noticed he had enough. He held it out ahead of himself and readied himself for the spell. Seeing this, Yir turned around quickly and moved towards him.

“Jake, your mana won’t be able to handle the strain if you keep pushing-!” As she moved to stop him, Jake triggered the spell anyways. It lit as expected and he went through his process, cinching off the flow and then manipulating the flame in his palm.

“See? It’s fine.” Jake looked at Yir to his left, showing her that he had control of the spell. The Fairy glared at him and shook her head.

“This is why I don’t get involved with kids,” Yir huffed. She turned away and started for the door. Jake watched her for a bit and frowned as she left. When he looked down at the fireball in his hands, Jake tensed his jaw. He leveled his hand out in front of him.

He wanted to become an adventurer, and he was going to utilize as much time as he could achieving that goal. By practicing his magic one spell at a time, he was feeling the control come more easily to his fingers. His mana was stressed and at its limit. By keeping it on that edge, Jake would need to maintain his focus. One slip, and the whole thing would go up in his face.

He triggered the spell, releasing the fireball into the water. He kept his arm extended and began to draw on his mana again. It answered, rising to his palm for another iteration of the spell. He waited until there was enough, and then triggered the spell. The fireball formed in front of him and he steadied it. Then, once stable, he fired it off. His mana waned inside of him. Slow, steady, focused. He cast fireball after fireball. His mana toiled beneath the strain and he could feel it getting more difficult to cast as he went on.

“Last spell,” he muttered. He had enough focus and enough energy for one more. Then, he would return to his books and read instead.

Jake waited for the available mana inside of himself to reach the sufficient level, and then he called it forth. However, what he wasn’t prepared for was for the spell to sputter. Just like it had before, the fireball ignited briefly, his mana flow twitched, and he felt the staged mana cough and disperse into the air. Jake stared at his hand, but the feeling inside of him told him that the amount of mana lost was minimal. He still had enough for another spell.

“I’ll try again,” he huffed. Taking in another long breath, he steadied his mind and stared at his hand. He pushed the mana out and ignited the flame. Once more, it sparked and sputtered. More mana was lost this time and the flame blinked brightly. Jake clenched his teeth, annoyed by the second failure. He looked over his shoulder to see if Yir was there, but she wasn’t. She’d likely grown tired of dealing with him and had left.

Without her to assist him, he wasn’t sure if his mana flow was at its limit or not. He still had enough mana to cast the spell and the tension in him wasn’t as bad as before. So, why were the spells not working?

“One more time,” he grumbled. He was committed to the final spell and wanted to get one last repetition out of his mana. He waited until his mana had replenished and gathered it properly into his hand. He checked the amount of mana, ensured it was enough, and then tensed his hand. When the spell was ready, he pushed it out.

The ignition piece of the spell didn’t trigger right away, though. Jake’s tense hand cramped and he flinched. The boy figured it wouldn’t be much of an error and activated the fireball anyways. The mistake began apparent immediately, as did the reason why the prior two spells hadn’t worked. His mana was depleted. The mana he was using now wasn’t dense or stable- it was fresh, volatile, and hadn’t been properly processed by his body. His body was producing mana simply to fulfill the need of his casting. By forcing the spell, Jake was literally playing with fire.

As he triggered the spell, the volatile mana blitzed through the process of the spell. The mana in his hand had poured outwards, loose in the air in front of him and still connected to the mana inside of him. When he ignited the fuel, the mana exploded both on the outside, and the inside. Jake didn’t have any time to react or even feel it. He saw the spark, then his entire world went black as heat rushed over his face.

He knew what happened, he knew the mistake he’d made. And he had a feeling he wasn’t going to like the result of his immaturity. He should have listened to Yir. He should have listened to the warnings in his head. He should have been patient. Becoming an adventurer wasn’t going to happen overnight, but here he was- forcing the issue.

Now, Jake found himself floating in limbo. The world around him was black and he couldn’t feel anything. He couldn’t see, couldn’t taste. He couldn’t even breathe. There was no feeling in his body except for a raging heat, but it wasn’t burning him. It was warm, hot, like a fever. But that was all. No pain, no twisting or stabbing. No strange tension on his muscles. Just warmth.

Jake groaned as he tried to open his mouth and he felt a throbbing pain in his head. He tried to blink, but something wasn’t letting him. He could perform the action and willed the muscles to move, but his vision didn’t change. He likely was unconscious, so the fact that the world was dark made sense. Thinking that, he accepted his fate and lay there. Quite, unmoving, waiting for the white walls of the Library to come back…

The problem? They didn’t. Jake continued to lay in the darkness for a long, long time. Was he dead? Was this the afterlife…?

Just as he thought of that, the heat in his body began to shift. It changed from raw heat to little needles stabbing into his bones, his muscles, his skin. All over that tingling pain coated him. He let out a raspy groan and curled his fingers into fists. He couldn’t see, but he could feel that pain steadily get worse. The numbness and heat both faded away, replaced by the sheering pain through his limbs. He wobbled and shook, his body wiggling as he tried to fight off the hurt.

“...still!” A faint voice broke through the dark, but Jake barely heard it. He continued his struggle, trying to free himself from whatever was binding him in place.

“...ay still!” The voice was louder, closer- familiar. …Yir?

“Y-Yir…!” He gasped, his throat dry and cracked. His lips felt torn open and his throat was as dry as the desert air. His mouth didn’t have a single drop of saliva within it and his tongue felt scalded. He tried a few times to call for her again but he used up his ability to speak with that gasp.

“Stay still, Jake. Stay still.” The world was still dark, but Yir’s voice was now much closer. He could hear her, feel her. He didn’t know where she was but he felt at ease knowing she was nearby. He wheezed through his lips, trying to speak, trying to call for her. Nothing came out except the huff of air and a faint vibration of his throat.

“Stop trying to talk, Jake. It’s okay. I’m here,” she spoke softly to reassure him. His eyes were drying out and he tried to blink to get them moist, but something was wrong. Something felt off. As he blinked, the blackness around him only partially shifted, and his eyes weren’t fully moistened by the motion. He whimpered, the dryness starting to hurt. “Relax, Jake. I’m doing what I can.”

What she can? What was she doing?

Jake tried to swallow, tried to blink. He tried to do things he thought should be easy and normal, but his body felt off. He blinked a few more times and the black veil over his vision started to give way. The black started to turn gray, and then color and the area around him began to come into view. The whole time he struggled with his sight, he tried to breathe more easily and continued trying to speak. Yir assured him over and over to just lay silent, but he had to tell her. He had to tell her something wasn’t right.

He finally was able to make out more of the room and that’s when he noticed where he was. Jake was on his back, staring up towards the ceiling of the practice room. Yir was floating just off to his right, floating in the air. Her hands were extended outwards, generating a green bubble that separated the two of them. Jake also noticed that when he blinked, only a portion of his view was blocked off by his eyelids. His right eye was only half covered, and his left eye’s pupil was never covered at all. He didn’t need to see to know parts of his eyelids were missing.

That revelation confirmed what he thought had happened- a mana explosion. That knowledge coaxed him to evaluate the rest of himself, and Jake lifted his head to look towards the rest of his body. Yir, who was so focused on the rest of him, didn’t notice the movement in time. Her eyes widened in fright as she looked at him.

“No! Don’t look!”

It was too late, he already saw everything. Jake lifted his head off the ground just enough to look down at the trashed, mangled mess of his body. His skin was charred and melted away, the underlying flesh exposed and similarly burned. Blood oozed in thick pools from deep gouges and wounds. His clothes had either been burned away or melted into his body and fused with his flesh. His sandals were one with his feet, completely melted together. Bone was exposed in several places where the meat was thin and where the flesh had sloughed off. His left arm was gone up to the elbow, with bone and black flesh jutting out from the surviving nub.

Seeing the result of his error, Jake now understood why the air felt so hot and why everything hurt so badly. He lowered his head back to the ground and whimpered as he stared up at Yir. She was frowning now. One of her hands drifted towards the direction of his face and a small light appeared at her fingertips.

“I’m going to fix you, Jake… Okay? Just stay still and rest. Don’t fight it.” She whispered as softly and gently as she could. Jake faintly moved his head as his eyelids felt heavy. They rolled closed, as much as they could. He could still see through them for the most part. Even so, the vision beyond the eyelids became blurry before the white walls finally all went black again.

This time, there was no pain awaiting him. The ball of light in Yir’s hand fell towards his face and split into two. The two balls plunged through his eyes and he fell into a deep, quiet sleep.