The sun peeked through the window, hitting Tessa in the face. Waking up with a grumble, she rubbed her eyes. Stretching for a moment before scratching her hair. Looking about the room, she noticed a package was where the books were with a note atop it. Tessa reached over and opened it.

This is your new armor. Didn’t have the time to forge a new set for you myself, but got the best set available through a contact of mine. Wear it at all times while on missions and it’ll help keep you alive.

Hei is waiting for you in Redbrick Park. Head there after you wake up.

- T.

Shifting her lower body to have her feet hit the floor at roughly the same time, Tessa slowly got out of bed and unwrapped her gift. It was a brand new set of riveted chainmail with padded cloth underneath. Her previous robes had also been incorporated slightly as a kind of tabard atop everything. Putting it on was easy enough, but it was heavier than she was used to. It clinked and tinked with every movement she made, but she felt protected. Or at least felt somewhat sturdier from the weight distributed across her body.

Not what I’m used to, but now I know where my old clothes went.

Wondering how she appeared with it on, Tessa found a hand mirror in the room and took a look at herself. Immediately, she noticed that Unity Academy’s insignias were gone. The symbol for Aeon remained emblazoned on the cloth over the chainmail’s chest and back, but Unity Academy’s marks on her shoulders now had some other symbol. It looked like a circle made from a broken chain and six inside.

I guess that’s to mark me as their student?

With her new armor on, she then looked for her staff but couldn’t find it anywhere in the room. It wasn’t anywhere from under the bed to hidden in a closet.

Maybe I dropped it before I was taken here?

Losing her staff saddened Tessa. It was a gift from the Academy to mark her graduation. It wasn’t any more useful when compared to other staves, but it was a representation of her accomplishment.

Hopefully, I can find it.

Letting out a depressed sigh, she took in a deep breath and prepared herself for the lesson ahead of her.

Redbrick Park, was it? Time to get moving.

Turning to the infirmary’s door, she put her hand on the door’s knob and left to find the park. Quickly navigating, with a bit of direction from GC, she made her way through the Adventurers’ Guild and out the back entrance. To Tessa’s surprise, this side of the building was rather plain in contrast to the dark and dreary way she entered the building.

Sunlight warmed her as fresh air hit her in the face. People walked to and fro in the street while grass, flowers, homes, and other expected parts of a city bordered the cobblestone road. It reminded her of how was when she was there and she couldn’t help but feel a bit homesick. But the feeling faded away as quickly as it had appeared.

Now to find the park.

Tessa pulled out a piece of paper with some basic directions on it from GC. However, it didn’t help that Tessa wasn’t familiar with the different street names. Thankfully, the guards she approached for directions were much more helpful. But along the way, she noticed that her body didn’t hurt anymore. She still felt stiff and sluggish, but otherwise fine.

I wonder…

She poked where the injury was, and a brief shock of pain ran across her body. Immediately regretting her decision, she nearly cursed through grit teeth at her own stupidity.

“Yep. Still hurts.”

Thankfully, the pain quickly subsided. At least Tessa now knew she’d be able to walk around, as Torgrak predicted.

Continuing down the road and around the occasional corner, she arrived at the edge of Redbrick Park. Though it looked more like a miniature forest than anything else. There was a thicket of trees and bushes, along with freshly grown grass all over the ground. The only thing dividing the park into sections was the red clay brick walkway that lead further in.

The name is a bit more literal than I expected.

Birds chirped here and there in the trees as she entered. A squirrel even giving her a funny look, cocking its head and staring at her for a brief moment before scurrying up into the branches of a tree. Tessa wandered about before coming to a clearing surrounded by benches and a birdbath in the center.

“Good morning, child.”

Quickly whirling around to the voice, she faced Hei. He was in a more casual attire. His armor and cloak replaced with a purple button-up shirt, straight black slacks, and a pair of ballroom dance shoes. Though the shirt had its top most buttons undone while the collar barely hid a kiss mark.

Odd attire for training…

Hei stood up from his seat and tossed a piece of fruit to her. Yet his movements didn’t allow for a single fold of his clothes to make even the slightest rustle.

“A bit of breakfast before we begin.”

Taking out a piece of fruit for himself, he quickly bit into and ate it before her. Tessa stared at Hei, stunned for a moment, taking a moment to process things.

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

Taking a bite of the fruit, it was oddly satisfying for how small it was. It was not much bigger than her fist and tasted tropical and sweet. Though her tongue burned a bit after eating the whole thing.

With the fruits eaten, Hei began walking to the center of the clearing and Tessa followed curiously. Once there, he spun around on his heel. Taking a relaxed pose with one hand on his hip.

“Tell me. How much do you know about casting spells and miracles?”

Remembering Torgrak’s way of asking questions, she was uncertain of how to answer.

“May I ask what you mean specifically?”

Hei asked, “Well, you must know what the elements are, correct?”

Tessa answered, “Yes. There are the four base elements: fire, air, earth, and water. Then there are the dualities: light and darkness. As well as the composite elements: lightning, ice, nature, metal, force, and null.”

Hei smirked, seemingly glad about something, but Tessa couldn’t tell for sure. With how comfortable it looked upon his face, she wondered if Hei ever did more than smirk. Hei continued his questions.

“And what of their properties?”

Tessa replied, “Fire is the most destructive of the base elements, making it the most powerful. Air is the fastest, allowing spells and miracles of its type to be cast the quickest. Water is flexible and able to alter itself to affect multiple targets with the least amount of strain on the caster. Earth is resilient and sturdy, allowing it the most stability during use at the cost of speed.”

“Correct. What of the dualities?”

“Light holds the greatest ability to empower and enhance others’ abilities, allowing the caster to bestow their strengths upon others. While darkness does the opposite by weakening its victims or draining them of their abilities.”

“All textbook answers, not bad. Though, how well do you understand force and null?'“

“Force is raw elemental energy, and thus doesn’t hold any strengths or weaknesses. Null, however, I… know little about. It was only ever mentioned in passing, nor demonstrated to me, so I don’t understand it very well. Information on null spells and miracles was also sparse at best.”

“That is as I expected. Null-type spells and miracles are quite rare.”

“May I ask what a null-type spell or miracle is?”

“Of course. Null is a generalized element. It’s used to describe a spell or miracle that doesn’t fall into any other category. I assume you may have heard of such things in stories or tales before?”

Tessa’s face scrunched slightly. She remembered one spell she’d heard of. Though she wondered if it was one that was even possible.

“Well. I don’t know if it would count, but I think I remember reading about something like a ‘time stopping miracle’ in a book. Would such a thing count?”

“It would.”

“Does that mean there are spells and miracles that can affect time?”

Hei shrugged, “Can’t say for certain, but it would be considered a null-type. Other examples would be things like telekinesis or gravity-affecting spells.”

“I see… Will I ever encounter such things?”

Hei chuckled, “Soon? No. But given you want to be a Hero, the chances increase with time.”

Tessa grew slightly concerned. The idea that she might end up fighting an opponent who has such an overwhelming advantage frightened her slightly.

“Is there a way to counter such abilities?”

“Yes.”

“Really?!”

“All spells and miracles have basic weaknesses that you must learn to identify and exploit. If you can do that, no mage or miracle worker will ever overwhelm you.”

“Okay… What are the weaknesses, then?”

“Do you know what spell components are?”

“Aren’t those necessary ingredients to cast a spell?”

“Yes, but also no. Spells and miracles must use at least one of three basic components to be cast: the somatic, the verbal, and or the material.”

“How are those weaknesses?”

“Let’s start with the one you mentioned. The material component. Barring tools like arcane focuses, there are spells that require specific ingredients to be cast, correct?”

“Yes, but I still don’t follow.”

Hei rolled his eyes. Then, bending down, he picked up a leaf and held it up between his index finger and thumb.

“Let’s assume that I am going to cast a spell that requires this leaf. And in this scenario, you want to prevent that from happening. Knowing that I require this leaf, how could you prevent me from casting the spell?”

“I don’t…”

Tessa immediately stopped her words dead in their tracks. The wheels in her head starting to turn.

Tessa blurted out, “I could burn it!”

Her quick change from confusion to an answer surprised Hei.

“Correct.”

Suddenly, a phantasmal clapping surrounded the two. Tessa looked around her, wondering where it was coming from. Was the forest somehow alive and congratulating her? Hei didn’t seem to flinch, so maybe it was all just in her head.

“Though you could also knock it out of my hand or steal it before I have the chance to use it.”

“I see…”

“Let’s discuss the verbal component next. To start with, how often do you let out a chant or some kind of phrase before casting a spell?”

Tessa thought to herself for a moment before realizing that it was a considerably regular occurrence.

“It isn’t something I noticed until now, but it is something I do often. But may I ask a question?”

“Of course.”

“This isn’t something I’ve wondered about before, but what is the purpose of the verbal component?”

Hei’s smirk turned from a smirk to a grin at her question.

“You’re starting to catch on, I see. The verbal component is mostly a means of helping your imagination shape the spell you wish to create. As an example, the spell fireball is fairly self-explanatory, correct?”

“Yes. It is a ball of fire.”

“And because of its simplicity, your mind can quickly put the pieces together and cast the spell with relative ease. However, if it were a more abstract spell or miracle, your mind could get confused and cast it incorrectly, if at all. If you were to cast a miracle with only the word ‘sanctuary’, how many questions would pop into mind?”

Tessa gave it some thought for a moment. At first, she imagined a kind of dome of light, but quickly paused as she wondered what the purpose of the sanctuary would be. And the more she thought about it, the more the idea began branching off into other ideas.

Tessa responded, “More than I would like.”

“And thus is why long chants exist as a verbal component. With that said, I assume you understand how to take advantage of this weakness?”

Tessa thought to herself and believed the answer was likely just as simple as the last. Yet she couldn’t figure out a straight answer this time around. She felt a bit embarrassed at how she couldn’t come up with an answer after having figured out the last one.

“I… don’t know how I would.”

Hei’s grin slowly changed back to a smirk, but continued into more of a straight line bordering on a slight frown.

“That’s disappointing, but not unexpected. The most common means of exploiting a verbal chant is force.”

“‘Force’? Like a shove or punch?”

“Exactly. There aren’t many who can maintain focus after a punch to the face, let alone other methods of physical harm.”

“Are there any… less lethal methods?”

“There are. One method is overwhelming the caster’s ability to focus or concentrate, such as with a deafening noise. You could also cut out their tongue. Or cast something like silence.”

Tessa shivered at the thought of harming someone so brutally, or even having something like that done to her. However, she was glad that there’s a spell that seems capable of handling the matter quickly and perhaps peacefully. But her brow furrowed while trying to remember if the spell Hei mentioned existed.

“What is silence?”

Hei mumbled, “Right. They made it into a null spell…”

Tessa raised an eyebrow, wondering what he said. Hei’s words were too quiet to hear, but she wondered if it was of any importance. Hei quickly moved on from the topic.

“Forget about it for now. All that matters is that you understand how to interrupt the verbal component, understood?”

Tessa found Hei’s dismiss of the topic unexpected, but had a feeling he would not elaborate further.

“Uh, yes.”

“Let’s move on to the last component, the somatic. Do you know what it is?”

“Uh…”

Tessa wasn’t sure how to answer. She didn’t know what “somatic” meant, but tried to use what she’d just learned to take an educated guess. The material component was straightforward, while the verbal component was something she had done but never realized its importance.

Tessa thought, Maybe it’s something similar to the latter? What’s something I do but never took notice of before?

She tried to remember all the time she’d spent practicing her miracles, both when alone and with professors.

Is it… the gestures? I remember how every time there was a practical lesson, we always had to take a kind of position or such. Is it that?

Tessa guessed, “Is it a gesture?”

Hei’s smirk returned.

“Close, but not entirely. The somatic component is, mostly, a two-part requirement.”

Tessa felt a little giddy at how she wasn’t far from the mark. Her eyes gleaming a bit.

“So, if gestures are only half, what’s the other piece?”

“Vision.”

“‘Vision’?”

“You wouldn’t blindly shoot an arrow or throw a knife if you could help it, would you?”

“No, not particularly.”

“So, would you do the same with your miracles?”

“Oh.”

The gears in Tessa’s head began moving again.

“Ohhhhh. I understand now. Though, how can you interrupt either of these? Excluding… permanent damage.”

“Of the two, gestures are the more difficult to deal with. In most cases, spells and miracles have fairly simple movements. Such as pointing at a target or kneeling in prayer. However, there are some spells that require specific movements of the fingers, hands, or body.”

Tessa drew an assumption, “And if someone were to learn what those specific movements are, they could intervene and interrupt the casting. Correct?”

“Yes. Though such specific movements are rarely required of most spells or miracles, so it’s unlikely you’ll have to concern yourself with it too often. It is also much easier if you focus on an opponent’s ability to see than their hand movements. What are some methods you believe are possible?”

Tessa put a hand to her chin as she thought. The first thing that came to mind, reluctantly, was to do something similar to Hei’s suggestion of cutting out the tongue; destroying the eyes. But Hei had also mentioned other methods that were a less than lethal attack on the senses, or the use of a spell.

“You could… blindfold them? Or maybe use a bright light to blind them for a moment?”

“Those are methods that can work. You could also throw sand or dirt in their eyes, or hide behind a physical object to prevent them from seeing you. Spells are also an option, such as darkness or blind, and can be a more lasting effect.”

Tessa lightly nodded, somewhat understanding what Hei meant.

“I see. But does restricting a person’s ability to see really affect the casting of spells so much? Even if it isn’t the best idea, couldn’t they still cast the spell and potentially hit you?”

“In some situations, yes. However, when on missions, both you and the target are rarely in single combat situations. Which means you could end up hitting your allies with a damaging spell, or hit an enemy with an empowering one.”

Tessa’s eyes drifted to the ground as she processed Hei’s lesson.

“There are also spells and miracles that require seeing your target to cast them. Unfortunately, there’s no easy way of determining whether or not it’s a necessary requirement.”

Tessa's brow dropped in confusion.

“If it can’t always prevent the spell from being cast, is it worth the effort to blind them in the first place?”

Hei chuckled, “Always. If your opponent can’t see you, even if only for a moment, that gives you the opportunity to strike without them knowing what you’re doing. This also applies to melee combat, but we’ll get to that later.”

His lesson seemed sensible, and fairly easy for her to digest. This information came across as surprisingly useful. Not only for defending herself, but to also know what her own weaknesses are. Excitedly, Tessa nodded and wondered what she’d learn next.

“Understood, mist-… Hei. But I have one question.”

“Yes?”

“If something prevented or interrupted any of these required components, what would happen if someone forcibly cast the spell anyway?”

Hei’s smirk grew back into a grin.

“An excellent question, child. The answer is that one of a few things could happen. The spell could fail and fizzle out, resulting in nothing happening. It could also misfire and hit an undesired target. Said someone could even end up casting a different spell by accident. But worst of all, it may implode first before exploding in the caster's face.”

“May I ask another question?”

“Of course.”

“Does interrupting or preventing certain components allow you to predict how the spell will fail?”

“Another great question. It is possible to predict the result, to a degree. Preventing any of the components will cause the spell to fail and fizzle. However, this also depends on two other factors. The first is how powerful of the spell is when interrupted. The second is if the caster wants to force it regardless of restraints or interruptions.”

Tessa tried to assume connections between what she’d learned.

“So, the more powerful a spell, the greater risk it has when interrupted to misfire or self-destruct?”

“Correct. And the risk increases further when forced. Though that is a given. We’ll cover this more when we begin combat training. But for now…”

Hei clapped his hands together, closing the topic at hand.

“Let’s move on from the lecture and into actual training.”

“What will we be doing?”

“Nothing too complex. Mostly a basic means of condensing and tempering your ability to be a conduit for your miracles.”

“A… ‘conduit’? What’s that?”

Hei spoke under his breath, “That’s a surprise. Guess her vocabulary isn’t as extensive as expected.”

“Did you say something…?”

“Think of it like a gemstone put on display in a jeweler’s shop. Your god’s energy is like the spotlight put underneath the gemstone to display its brilliance. And the brighter and more brilliant the stone shines, the more it reflects your ability to output more of their power.”

“I think I follow…”

“What I’ll be doing is giving you the tools to refine said proverbial gemstone.”

The analogy now made sense to her.

“Oh… okay. So, what’s the first step?”

“First is this…”

Hei put his left hand into his pants’ pocket and took out a small orb. Inside it, a small tornado spun wildly. Winds whipping about inside. Tessa stared at it in wonder, admiring its magical beauty.

“What is it?”

“An affinity tester.”

“Why do we need to test my affinity? I already know what it is.”

Hei’s left eyebrow immediately shot up. Tessa, however, was unquestioningly confident in what she believed herself to be.

She confidently said, “I’m a light-type!”

Hei’s eyebrow lowered back to its normal position, but his eyes half-closed.

“You are a light-type?”

“Yes! When I was of age, the priests in Solis had every child’s elemental affinity tested. Some kids were fire-type, some were air-type. A couple were water or earth-type. And I was one of the few ones blessed with the light-type.”

A brief silence fell between the two before Hei broke it.

“Right. Well, if you are a light-type, then this orb should shine as brightly as your faith in your god.”

However, Tessa was fervent in saying that she was a light-type and continued to deny picking up the orb.

“But that’s unnecessary,” Tessa said with an unflinching smile, “I’m a light-type. The priest who performed the examination stated it himself while my parents and I were in the chapel. No follower of Aeon would lie about something so important.”

Hei’s face became obviously annoyed at Tessa’s blissful dismissal of the topic at hand.

“Very well then.”

He turned his back to Tessa, then threw the small orb over his shoulder.

“Catch.”

Tessa, believing the orb to be of great value, scrambled to catch the orb. But the moment it fell into her hands, it let out a vivid pinkish, purply glow. The tornados present when Hei held it now turned into a densely packed cube of raw arcane energy, slowly spinning on one of its corners.

Turning back to face her, Hei’s face was unsurprised.

“A light-type, was it?”

Tessa gave a chuckle and denied the results before her.

“Yes, I am. My apologies, but maybe your tester is malfunctioning. Maybe when you threw it, I damaged it when I caught it?”

Hei was silent for a moment. He looks at Tessa, then at the orb, and finally back at her. Taking it out of her hands, he addressed her.

“Yes. The orb must be the one malfunctioning here.”

Returning the tester to his pocket, he huffed and muttered something about “indoctrinated fools” and “burning down the church”. His right hand pressed against his forehead and dragged down hard before taking a breath in and moving on.

“Well then. Let’s get to training. To do this, I’d like you to take a comfortable sitting position.”

Tessa did as Hei asked of her. Sitting with her legs crossed and her hands resting on her knees.

“Okay… what next? Will I be meditating?”

Hei replied dismissively, “No, nothing so relaxing. I want you to conjure an orb of light.”

“That seems… simple enough. Very well.”

Tessa wasn’t sure of what Hei was going to have her do, but he had to know what he was doing. Right?

Maybe this is just a test and I’ll move on to something more difficult when he realizes how proficient I am in using the light! Torgrak showed himself to be much more intelligent than he appeared to be. So Hei must be the same. Perhaps I’ll learn a new miracle or some kind of special trick about light-type miracles I didn’t know before!

Hei started walking towards a fruit tree as Tessa held the orb of light in her hands.

“Okay… what next?”

“Maintain the orb.”

“Is… that it?”

Hei picked another of the fruits he’d eaten just moments before and moved to lounge on the nearest bench.

“That’s it.”

His response caught Tessa off-guard.

“This seems a bit too simple. Is there no kind of special technique or such I can do to improve myself?”

Taking a seat on a bench before taking a bite of the fruit.

“Right now, your connection with the light element is unstable and unfocused. While you may have practiced your miracles more than others, you were never taught a means of improving the connection between yourself and your god. So that’s what we’re going to be doing today.”

“Okay… that sounds easy enough. How long do I have to maintain it?”

Hei then took out a small mechanical device from his pocket. Twisting the knob on the front all the way to the number “10”, he set it down on the ground and relaxed on the bench.

“Until this thing makes a loud and jarring noise. If you can maintain it the entire time, you will have completed this part of your training.”

“And… how long is that going to take?”

“Don’t worry about that and just focus. Because every time you fail to maintain the orb, I’ll be resetting it.”

“Is this all we’re doing today?”

“Yes. Now let’s see you make use of your god given affinity in action.”

Tessa couldn’t help but feel like she was being looked down on, or that this wasn’t really a lesson and instead just a test. She was convinced that Hei was more competent than he appeared, and that he needed to see what she was capable of before moving to the more incredible things.

Staring at the floating orb of light before her, she was determined to pass this test with flying colors.

This shouldn’t be too hard.