Elina and I haven’t spoken on the subject any more since that night. I’ve never been good with dealing with feelings, and ignoring them has always worked for me in the past. However, I do want to understand the situation better in the future. If nothing else because I cannot believe that Romy really wants her sister to feel like this. Clearly, it’s been eating Elina up inside for years, and I have to think that if Romy didn’t have Mark and myself, it’d be destroying her too. Now that I think about it...as soon as Mark left, Romy changed completely. Perhaps her mental foundation isn’t as firm as I thought. I need to know more...there’s no way Romy, whose always been so kind-hearted to me, a kid who isn’t even biologically related to her, is okay with her sister hating her.

After six months, I haven’t made any progress on Elina and Romy’s situation, but I have made a great deal of progress on the final trial coming at the end of the year. My daily routine begins with Elina warming up with me now. Afterwards, she brings me to the secret waterfall, deep outside the Rainstopper Headquarters. There, I conduct my own training which I don’t allow even Elina to watch. Of course, if she does decide to break her word, there’s nothing I can do to stop her. It’s strange. Despite her terrible scars, and poorly healed body, I get a similar feeling emanating from her as when Romy begins to get angry. I distinctly remember on of the female elders, the brunette one with billowy wild hair, Seane, calling Elina a cripple. The way she did it was disdainful, as if Elina was only capable of relying on Romy’s influence. And the Healer herself moves with such care, as if afraid her body will fall apart.

And yet...

It happened while we were sparring. I used one of the things I’ve been working on. No one in the Rainstopper Sect knows that I can use silent magic yet, on account of the great lengths I took to hide it during the first two Trials. However, yesterday, I decided to start using it in my fights with her, truly use it, not just mouth the words to cover my lack of chanting, and I think it surprised her. It seemed like she was going to get hit. However...then she just...bent like water. More fluid than a dancer, in a way that I’ve only seen Romy move before. For a second, I almost saw Romy’s face when her possum mask turned my way. And then it was over and I got tapped on my chin by Elina’s dagger. Maybe it means nothing. Afterwards, she started being careful again. But for just that one second...

Shaking my head, I continue theory-crafting in my head while listening to the gushing sound of the waterfall pounding down from above. After six months of daily work, the noise has become oddly comforting, and I sigh, wondering how everyone I’ve been away from is doing. However after a moment, I duck my head into the bubbly cold water curtain and wash away the distractions. Time is tight. I can worry about other things later. Now...the storm...if I can just think about the storm...

...

...

...

[Frozen Wind of My Soul, Come Forth-

As I’m about to test the concept I’ve been working on again, I suddenly shiver. Immediately, I reach into the future, sensing just a sliver of something wrong. Glancing around, the forest remains peacefully quiet, but the calming noises recede as my pounding heart overrides everything. I can sense it. Something or someone else is here.

I’m not entirely sure how I know, perhaps just the teensiest bit of sound which doesn’t belong to the waterfall has alerted me, or maybe there was some motion, or even a burst of killing intent. However, I can feel that I’m not alone. However, though I pull as much as the future as I can, I’m unable to figure out who or what is watching me. After several moments, when nothing happens, I can only sigh. They’re gone...but they’ll be back.

It’s a little worrying. Elina keeps an eye on my general location for my safety, but she has other obligations and isn’t always watching. At first, I assumed that I was just nervous, however, after consulting with her, I’m sure of it. All the times I’ve felt strange have lined up with one of her absences. I discussed this with Elina, and she’s promised to keep an even closer watch so the frequency of the incidents has drastically decreased. However, I’m definitely not always alone here.

[Frozen Wind of My Soul, Come Forth-Chill]

[Stormy Breeze of My Loneliness, Gather Forth-Gust]

*Kacha Kacha Kacha*

As I let loose another chant, a freezing gust of wind comes out of my hands, expanding in all directions. Most noticeably, the cascading sheets of water in front of me, momentarily bend inwards as the waterfall is blown back to the cliffside. The next moment, the torrential water freezes, a column of ice traveling up from the base. A quarter of the way up, it breaks as the cold energy dissipates. As I take a step forwards on the slipper rocks, ice crunches beneath my feet. The spell not only freezes everything in front of me, but also on the sides and below. However...behind me is still vulnerable. I need more...it needs to be everywhere. With Janus’s speed, I may not be able to keep him in front of me.

Thinking, I take some time and adjust. By the time all the ice that has formed around me melts, I have a new idea. Little by little...I’m going to get this right. Before I started training magic on my own, I wasn’t entirely sure I’d be able to find a solution. The issue is that Rainstopper Assassins or just assassins in general are just too damn good at closing distances. Physically, the power of Qi seems to be almost tactically superior to mana in one on one fights. As a matter of fact, after consulting with Elina, it seems that in most kingdom’s armies, mages are not considered warriors. Generally, they’re assigned a powerful group of bodyguards and focus on large area attacks. It’s the ability to rain down destruction from afar, as well as create barricades and other highly useful tools, which gives truly powerful battle mages their status in society, not their individual prowess in single combat. Basically...in this world without advanced weaponry, I’m pretty much a walking piece of artillery. Not that there aren’t exceptions to this rule like adventurers and mages who don’t want to be a part of high society. But unless you have some reason to defend yourself personally, why bother training when you can join some king’s court and enjoy status and prestige equivalent to an entire squadron of troops?

*Kacha Kacha Kacha*

*Kacha Kacha Kacha*

*Kacha Kacha Kacha*

Every iteration of the spell I work on grows more and more powerful. And the biggest surprise to me at least, is that after so much hard work, my ability to cast spells without tiring has drastically increased. I think it’s a combination of my concentration getting better which allows me to target the inner workings of the world and manipulate the molecules more efficiently, as well as just an increase of raw power. Previously, at pretty much every point in my life since my childhood with Mephis, I’ve been careful to conserve a decent amount of mana for emergencies. During the Trials, while traveling with Perideen, hell, even when I was protected by Romy, I was always worried about being ambushed by her at night, and kept some spare reserves. However, with Elina protecting me, I’ve been allowed to let loose. And that’s had some interesting results. I’m not sure how much more mana I have...it’s not a 1:1 conversion. But it has to be a lot. Which is good, because this idea won’t work otherwise.

Going over to the waterfall, which has now been completely frozen solid from bottom to top, I tap the surface. Instantly, a biting chill enters my fingertip, so strong that I have to recoil away.

“OW!” A patch of skin from my finger is left behind on the face of the frozen waterfall. Laughing to myself while sucking on the bloody wound, I smile painfully. “Well...at least I know it works.” One of the things I’ve been interested in is increasing the power of my spells. Not just in terms of size, but also intensity. In the past, I’ve noticed that simply adding mana to Chill, usually just creates more ice crystals. Or as another example, when I pour my heart into using Burn, the fire grows bigger. However, just increasing the number of crystals, or the size of the fire, is ineffective against people with Qi. What I need is attacks of a higher quality. A Chill so cold it can even stop Perideen, or Elina. Or a Burn so hot that it melts through them.

For the longest time, I had no idea how to do achieve this. Every attempt failed. However, I remembered that night when Lissandrei’s ghostly form took over Glacia. Her spell, which I can replicate, but not at a speed fast enough to be practical in close combat, was powerful enough to break through even Gatoa’s defenses. That got me thinking on why. Was it just because she was using higher level magic? Or was it something else?

Eventually, I found out the answer. It took months of testing, but I finally understood exactly what the deal was. See, Glacia’s approach had always been that practicing a spell could make it stronger. However, she approached magic through the traditional paradigm of mages which fought as part of an army. That is to say, the goal was to create a spell that could affect large areas, and wreak havoc on untold numbers of enemies, especially when combined with spells from multiple mages working together. Increasing the potency or intensity of the spell was of lesser concern and generally just happened over time and repeated use. However, I discovered that there was another way.

You see, generally, when I cast, I chant the words, or think them while envisioning the result I want. However, it is possible to go deeper than that. If you understand the concepts behind how ice or fire forms, the bonds between molecules which change between cold and hot, and focus on almost tightening their relationship, it’s possible to make fire hotter and ice colder. The only issue is...the increased mana usage is intense. It seems at a certain point, making something hotter or colder gets exponentially harder. And it takes a ton of focus or you just end up with a failed spell.

The reward though...is this!

Gazing up at the frozen waterfall which has finally begun to melt, almost a full ten seconds after my cast, I grin gleefully. Behind me, there’s a gust of air, and I realize that Elina has arrived. For another couple silent breaths, we both just stand there, admiring my handiwork until finally, the bonds between the water molecules accelerate again and running water from further upstream breaks through. As the whole thing cracks apart and shatters back into motion, I turn back to face my latest teacher.

“That’s...really something.” She whispers, and I can tell even through the mask that she’s impressed. “How did you...?”

“Practice. A lot of practice. And good teachers.” Is my response. Laughing lightly in the wind, I feel the waterfall’s cold spray begin to touch my face again as the last of the spell disappears. “I think I’m ready. Can you help me?”

“Ready?” Elina asks, her eyes still fixed on the cliffs over my shoulder, “Help you with what?”

“I’m looking for a storm.”