Freya had changed from her pajama-dress into black crimson, red flared sleeves long dress for magic training session. Laguna, as a maid, had helped her out in the process of changing. In truth, she didn't need the help but that was the maid's job and she couldn't possibly refuse her as that would be almost the same as firing her.

The estate where she lived was humongous. Laguna was kind enough to lead the way for her and as they walked, they had a small conversation about who the teacher was. Freya was able to ask the question without drawing suspicion. Instead of asking 'who's my teacher?' she asked to Laguna: 'How great is my teacher?' It sounded off and rather random, but it draws less suspicions. Laguna raised an eyebrow when hearing the inquiry; she dismissed it as another one of Freya's whim, just like how she asked her to read a book in the morning before breakfast. She answered it with great detail.

Elaine Soreille was the name of her magic teacher. Her age was 19 and she was only three years older than Freya. She was famous for being the youngest ever member to join the Mage Council: a group which consists of 10 of the best and strongest magicians in the country. Elaine was 15 when she joined and was a role model to young mages as they all wish to be like her. Her achievement for the position was the result of her talent and hard work. The reason as to why such a great mage would want to work as a teacher was because of the deal Freya's father had made with Elaine. The agreement they made was that he would lend the library he owned for Elaine in return that she became his daughter's personal teacher, to which she comply. From the sound of it, Freya thought that her father was an influental man, capable of contacting an important person and owns a collection of books which was able to tempt the mage.

The walk ended soon enough and Freya saw a beautiful open ground stretching before her. It was an open-field of grass with some flowers and trees. The greeneries smelled fresh and the atmosphere was comfortable. In the middle of that field was a woman. She wore a black broad pointy hat, her hair was azure blue, and she carried with her a large finely crafted stick with a white gemstone at the end. In front of her was a flying small dragon, the size of a cat, made of water. Freya stood still, amazed by what she saw. She didn't ask for her name, but Freya knew; that the person standing there was surely Elaine Soreille.

Weaving her large stick left and right, she played with the dragon made of water. Freya didn't know magic, but she knew that the small dragon must had been made of one. The details in its shape and its movement were strikingly real and perfectly natural, just like a normal creature with will. Freya wanted to see more of it, she stepped slightly forward; however, Elaine caught on her presence by the corner of her eye, breaking her own concentration. The water dragon could then not retain its shape and became a splash of water dropping into the soil. Elaine was panicking when she noticed that Freya and Laguna were standing there watching her.

'Um. . . Since when have you both been here?'

'We just arrived Miss Elaine.' Laguna said with a perfect smile. 'Your creation was like a piece of art if I have a say to such matter.'

Upon closer inspection, Elaine had a natural curve on her mouth which made it seem as if he had a smug look on her face. However, putting aside that slight imperfection, her face was soft and her eyes were full of kindness. If Freya was to guess Elaine's motive for being a mage, it most likely started because she had a noble cause; protecting someone perhaps.

'I see. So I didn't make you wait? If so then all is good then. I sometimes forgot about everything when immersed in magic and that's a bad habit I can't rid of.'

'It is fine.' Freya remarked.

'As usual then Miss Elaine.' Laguna bowed politely. 'I entrust milady Freya to you.' She then left after she said that and walked the path from where they came from.

'Let's start today's session shall we?' Elaine was rather excited.

'Can we review the basics of magic?' Freya asked. It would be bad if they suddenly start learning about magic as Freya had not an inch of a clue on how to use magic. She was getting a hang on structuring her questions to gain information as much information as possible without drawing too much suspicion. However, Elaine was eyeing at her intensely after Freya asked that question.

'Freya. . . It can't be. . .' Was the cat out of the bag? So soon? That would explain why she was a member of the mage council though. 'You're trying to improve your magic by reviewing the basics aren't you?' She was jumping in joy. 'Yes, yes, I too did it once. Sometimes to achieve greater heights you need to make sure you have the proper foundation for it, that is a fact. What made you suddenly interested in magic though? Ah, no matter! What's important is that now you're interested in magic and I can't let that spark die.' In a sense, Freya made the wrong move. When she heard that Elaine was a hard worker, she thought that it was because she was dedicated to be the best of magicians. At this point however, Freya felt that Elaine was just wholly passionate about magic.

'Okay, so first and foremost,' she was really thrilled to explain magic, 'magic is divided into three categories: Elemental Magic, Special Magic, and Bloodline Magic. Elemental Magic, as the name suggest, is a magic related to the basic elements: fire, wind, thunder, earth, water, and darkness.' She then weaved her large wand, pointing it at one of the tree in that open grass field. The white gemstone at the end of the stick glowed red in color and a blast of hot fire appeared from thin air. The blast was so strong that Freya could feel the shockwave blowing away her hair. She then noticed that the tree had ceased to exist and nothing was left of it. The fire left a trail of burnt grass and the tree was nowhere in sight anymore. Couldn't she just make a small ball of fire to prove a point? Freya felt that that was too much for a demonstration. She could've just made one of those water dragon again instead of destroying the tree. It made Freya think that Elaine might be lacking some common sense. Nevertheless.

'What about light magic?' It was safe to assume that there should be light when darkness exist, those two co-exist afterall.

'That falls under Special Magic, we'll get to that, I promise. Under Elemental Magic is Formulae Magic. It is considered as Elemental Magic since you need it to cast the formula. You can do it with special ink if you can't do Elemental Magic though, but you need to know the formula. Formulae magic can be used for many things. I'll give you a nice example. Can you pick up that stone over there please?' Freya picked up the stone the size of her hand and held it on her palm.

'Inspect the stone, it is ordinary correct?' Elaine asked. Freya analysed the stone carefully and it was totally normal. 'If I were to use Formulae Magic. . .' Characters which Freya could not read appeared from thin air and circled the stone. When the characters stick to the surface of the stone, it became absurdly heavy. Freya quickly let go of the stone and next thing she knew it plumetted straight into the ground. 'I could make it heavier.' She said with an innocent smile, despite the fact that she almost crushed her own student's hand had she not let go. If anything, Freya was lucky her feet was not directly under the stone when it fell, else she would need to get a prosthetic leg perhaps. Looking at the teacher's merry expression, clearly she was lacking common sense. 'Blacksmiths would often use Formulae Magic to enhance weapons. That effect to add weight is just scratching the surface of Formulae Magic. Is it clear so far?'

'Absolutely.' Freya truly wished to finish the magic review as soon as possible; who knows what kind of terribly dangerous examples the mage might show next.

'The next thing on the list is Special Magic.' She continued. 'It is practically advanced form of Elemental Magic. Special Magic differs from person to person and it is usually influenced heavily by their personality and or characteristics. Special Magic is either developed from the mastery of Elemental Magic, setting up costs, or if one is born with it.'

'Care to give examples? A simple one.' Freya didn't want to witness a tree disappear or risking the possibility of her hands getting crushed. So, before she even made a demonstration on her own, Freya gave her a restriction.

'But a simple one wouldn't do as good for an example though?' She sulked.

'Please. As for now, I think simple examples will suit me best.'

'Okay. . .' She said after a slight pause, seemingly disappointed. She then weaved the wand, the gemstone glowed greenish blue and an ice cube was made in the air. 'This is an example of Special Magic due to mastery of Elemental Magic. The ice is created from the combination of water and wind. I can also combine wind and thunder to create sound. Or even lava by combining fire, water, and earth.'

Freya didn't want to see lava appear; so she immediately skipped the topic by asking: 'What about that setting up cost thing?'

'Ah, I don't really recommend it. Basically you can create Special Magic by putting up a sacrifice or setting up a condition for the activation of that Magic. Say, shortening half of your remaining life to boost your magic by four times. Or even not being able to use magic ever again to unleash some sort of final move. Or not being able to use magic on a female. Anything goes. Restrictions can make magic stronger, but it makes your magic situational and allows weakness to be created. That is why I stick to the Elemental Magic mastery rather than setting up costs.'

So, theoritically speaking from the explanation which Elaine gave, Freya could set up a cost for her magic such as not moving from her standing initial position while casting magic to boost its performance. However, after that, if she casts magic while moving then the effectiveness decrease? It somehow sounded suitable for her personality. 'What about the last?'

'Some people are born with Special Magic. Like you and your light healing magic. Light magic is categorized as Special Magic as no one is able to figure out how to use it like Elemental Magic, and history only so far recorded light magic user as being born with it. Usually people categorize your kind as a 'hero'; as light is very effective against darkness. People who are born with Special Magic could usually use magic as easily as breathing. Again, you can develop Special Magic through the mastery of Elemental Magic. However, there are some cases where individuals develop Unique Special Magic when they face a life changing situation or when they are being pushed to surpass their own limit. It didn't happen to me though.'

'Can you explain more about my magic?' Freya didn't quite get it. If light magic is so precious since it is rare, then why would the original Freya used Inconvenient Suicide Magic? It doesn't make any sense.

'You're born with light healing magic. You can heal people's fatal wound and that's what makes you valuable. I mean look at the knights and magicians around the estate who are there to protect you. Though, because of that Special Magic, you can't use Elemental Magic and have a weak body. Special Magic almost always comes with a cost after all. If anything, only Unique Special Magic and Bloodline Magic are considered as category which doesn't come with a cost other than Elemental Magic. Those are the strongest type.'

'Bloodline Magic?'

'Magic passed from parents through blood. The child will have similar abilities just like their parents; if not better. This is usually seen in Royalties.'

'I see.' Basically unimportant as she could never achieve it.

'Now that we have revised it,' Elaine was getting more energetic than before, 'let's put it to practice!'

'What are the ways to use magic?' Freya couldn't possibly start without knowing that.

'Right, that's also basics. There are 3 ways to execute magic: imagination; where you put a clear image on your mind on how the magic will be, chanting; where you recite formulaes you created to use the magic, and using both. I use both since it is the best and most people in the Magician's Council think likewise.'

'So, any magic is possible so long as I have the imagination?'

'With great sacrifices and restrictions, yes.' So not all was possible.

'So, say that I can use that fire blast like you did. I can fire it countless times so long as my imagination is up for it?'

'No. The amount by which you can fire it depends on your mana.'

'Mana?'

'Shortened form of MAgic stamiNA. It's like stamina used to exercise but only for magic. Everyone has mana and they can convert it into magic.'

'What if I don't convert it to magic?'

'You mean using pure mana instead of converting it?'

'Yes. Like say perhaps, coating myself with mana to protect myself? I can surely imagine that.'

'I wouldn't advise it. It is way better if you use magic to protect yourself as mana manipulation is less efficient and had been proven to be weaker than magic. Mana manipulation is never a thing.'

'I mean, I can't use elemental magic right? So a form of protection is surely better than nothing?'

'No!' She said sternly. 'The risk of mana manipulation is comparatively higher than magic when you fail. People mostly die in the process of mana manipulation. That is why such method is not popular and will never be. Don't you ever dare copy that mythical swordsman from the past.'

'Mythical swordsman?'

'I rather not fill your head with unimportant facts. Shall we train magic then?' She seemed reluctant to discuss about it. Freya could only assume that the mythical swordsman used mana manipulation. That was why Elaine said 'most people die trying mana manipulation'.