My eyes slowly opened. I could feel I was laying on something soft. No, not the sacks but something that hugged my body that made my mind refuse to get up from such a comforting feeling.

Through blurred vision I could see giant green eyes staring down at me. I lifted my head quickly.

“Ow!” the high pitched voice said.

I rubbed my forehead as the headbutt gave me quite the sting of pain. I turned around to see the girl doing the same.

“Sorry.” I said sleepily, standing up from the giant bed.

“Just… hurry up and come down.” she said, walking out of the room.

I could hear her cursing as she walked away from the door. I let a grin take over, then scanned the room.

It was small with a desk beside the door along with a chair, and this bed. There was a spacious part of the room which was just annoyingly empty except for my purble bag beside the wall.

Why couldn’t they put something there to fill the awkward space? Sigh, I guess I can’t complain now that I finally found a place to sleep.

I looked at the wand box set on the desk. Debating whether to take it with me or not. Did the lady want me to rest so she could fight me in a fair duel?

Grabbing the box and purple bag on my way out, I walked through the hallway and down two flights of stairs into the entrance room. I found the girl in a black and blue uniform with a ruffled skirt sweeping the floor between tables

“You are rested right?” she said without looking up from what she was doing.

“Yes… thank you. I am new to the… city and have not found my way around yet.”

She looked up at me with an eyebrow raised, “A witch who has never been to the capital of the Emerald Kingdom is either a spy of the Skyward Kingdom, a rebel from the forsaken realm, a demon, or a liar.”

When I opened my mouth to respond, she looked back down and continued sweeping.

“Fortunately for you, I care for neither of those reasons. As long as you are able to pay your piece, I will not mind if you were the Demon King itself.”

“I hope you do not question the genuinity of my words. Choose to believe me or not, I tell no lies. So rest your nerves, because I am not part of any army or group except from my own family.” I said straight.

I wasn't about to let my integrity be doubted.

I took a light breath and lifted up my bag. Rummaging through it for a few moments, I pulled out a few pieces of gold.

From her reaction, I could see she was one of those people who will always listen to money.

“How much per night and… for the damages.”

“Who carries that amount of gold?! Showing it so willingly like that. It’s two gold a night.” she said, walking up to grab the pouch and finger out two coins.

“Take the amount for the damages as well.”

“No need, I have other plans for how you can repay me. Make sure you come back here when the sun starts to set.” She said ominously, letting out a sly grin.

I hesitantly nodded my head and proceeded to walk towards the door.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Lila.” she responded, again not looking up from her sweeping

***

I walked along the road towards the palace until the space in front of me distorted, making me jump back in shock. Vintra appeared in its place, wearing some leather padding on her arms and legs along with a helmet.

“Your training will start now.” she said, putting a hand to my shoulder.

“Wait wha-”

My vision hazed and could feel my stomach churning. Moments later I found myself doubled back on the floor, puking onto the ground from the nauseating feeling.

“Vintra!” I yelled, wiping my mouth with my sleeve and looked up to her.

We were no longer in the city, at least not anywhere with buildings. We stood on an open plain with a chilly breeze blowing the grass. The air smelled fresh compared to the scents of the inner city.

“You have your wand I assume? Take it out and let us begin your practice.” Vintra said, creating some space between us.

I got myself onto my feet and felt the blood rush to my head after moving so fast. Now getting a good look at her, she had a large sword sheathed at her waist, My eyes lingered on it until I came to my senses, looking up at Vintra.

“I have my wand.” I finally managed to say. “But, I think this may be defective. Yesterday it was out of control.”

Vintra walked over to me with the straightest of postures, grabbing the box from my hand and taking out the wand. She examined it for a few seconds before aiming it at a large tree stump.

She flicked her arm and a bolt of lightning struck the stump, causing it to catch on fire.

“There doesn’t seem to be an issue. Now then, we will begin the practice.” she said.

Once she handed me the wand, the tip started to glow a hot red and soon fireballs shot out in succession just like last night. I held my arm to try and control it, but it was no use, my wand had a mind of its own. Maybe if I think about something cold, the fire will stop.

I closed my eyes and imagined a waterfall. When I opened my eyes, a large torrent of water was shooting out of my wand like a mini typhoon.

What the fuck!

The large tree stump suddenly got uprooted and flew back with the flow of my water.

“Vintra! For the love of god, help me!” I yelled, turning to my right to see Vintra with her arms crossed and a… smile on her face?! “Why are you smiling?!”

She walked over to me and slapped on the back of my hand, making me drop the wand. The torrent of water began to cease, until only the tip was left soaked on the ground.

I felt exhausted. I dropped onto the ground and sprawled my limbs, looking up to the clouds passing by. I took deep breaths to get the maximum amount of oxygen into my lungs because it felt like the wind was knocked out of me.

Vintra walked over to me, looking down at my tired body.

“Your magic prowess is impressive, for a child. However, it is potential and I will not let all our hard work to summon you be a complete and utter waste.” she said, still with that same smile.

I wonder if she knew she had such a contagious smile?

“The first expression I see of you and it has me breathing for life on the ground. I do not know if it was worth it.” I huffed, not able to move any part of my body. “Why am I so tired?”

Vintra put a hand over my body and a green circle appeared, rotating until flashing a light. I flexed my fingers and lifted up my arm, feeling like I just woke up from a ten hour sleep.

“Because your mana is not in your control yet.” she said, her smile dropping back to straight lips.

“Mana?”

She sighed. “Mana, a flow of energy to which allows you to use magic. Quite frankly, you have the mana control of a toddler. Except you are more dangerous considering you have a larger pool of mana. What you just did is release all your mana haphazardly into that wand and in turn, those spells. It will take a while, but I will make sure your skills show the fullest value.”

I propped myself up to my feet and patted my behind from the dirt.

“First you compare me to a child, and now you tell me I have the control of one.” I said sulkingly. “Also, you’re telling me that whirlpool and fireballs were of my own making?”

I looked down at my wand below, bending down to reach for it. The wand shot up and to my side, landing into the grasps of Vintra,

“I only refilled your mana partially, if you exhaust your mana so much, you will reach a quick death.” Vintra stated, placing the wand back in the box and handing it to me.=

I looked at the box then glanced once more at the sword on Vintra’s waist. Vintra must have caught on because she swiftly brought her sword out and held the blade towards me, just an inch away from my cheek.

Ummm hello? What happened?