The Guildmaster’s hand dropped from the door and rested on her hip as she sighed again. She has known Leo and Wendel since they were in the academy, but they still haven’t grown up really. Honestly! She herself wasn’t much older than them-- being the youngest guildmaster in history --and yet she felt like their mother.

Finally, moving on to the task at hand, she spoke to Aria.

“Aria.. right?” she asked.

She looks pretty cute, when she grows up and matures she’ll definitely be someone that both men and women would gawk at. But that’s not the important thing here.

The little girl who seemed no older than 7 nodded curiously and waited for her to continue.

“As you already learned earlier, I’m the Guildmaster, leader of the Adventurer’s Guild here. I’m sure you have many questions and I’d be happy to answer them. But first, you have a pretty decent amount of matom, don’t you?”

For a child, the amount of matom she has is phenomenal! Surely Wendel or Leo must have noticed? If not I’m going to have to discipline those dolts for slacking.

“Do you know how to use magic? Like casting spells for example?”

Aria seemed to think as she tilted her head and closed her eyes before shaking her head no.

Odd. Does that mean she simply has that much latent power? The potential! I can’t let this splendid opportunity escape me, simply sending her to the orphanage to rot is such a waste. She would definitely grow into a legendary S-rank adventurer or... maybe even an Empress? It’s almost destinal. This is no ordinary girl for sure. My guts are screaming in excitement… my heart is racing!

A pleasured expression unconsciously formed on her face before Aria brought her back to reality

“Umm,” said Aria as she looked at the Guildmaster with a weird look.

“Ahem. In that case… Would you like to learn how to?”

Aria’s eyes lit up as she said this which she translated as a ‘yes’.

“Hmm, alright, I’ll teach you at least the basics to get you accustomed to it later. But first…”

The Guildmaster walked over to Aria and picked her up easily before placing her down on the large mahogany desk. She gently grabbed one of her arms and lifted it up, examining it and softly pressing different areas, before doing the same to the other arm, and finally her legs. It must’ve felt relaxing as Aria’s eyelids drooped a bit before she was lifted up onto her feet. Then the Guildmaster moved her dress to examine her torso. She did the same thing she did to the arms and legs but to her torso, feeling different parts of it and pressing or squeezing lightly as if feeling her body’s shape and muscles before examining her back in a similar fashion. Aria shivered as a tingle went up her spine.

After this process Aria just stared at her questioningly, confused, as she let go of Aria’s dress and sat her back down.

In-Incredible… Her body is perfectly toned despite her age. There’s a layer of baby fat still of course, but it’s still obvious how well-built her body is. This is simply superb. Not only is she going to be an incredible mage, but she’ll be just as good of a fighter. Maybe even more so thanks to how much matom she’ll have. It’s destiny, it’s fate! Maybe I should adopt her?

“You’re so perfect,” whispered the Guildmaster. “Ah, I said that out loud. Nevermind that, I said I would take you to the orphanage, but now I just can’t. You know what, instead I’ll let you stay with me for now. I’ll take care of you.”

The Guildmaster smiled warmly at Aria who stared back surprised.

“You’ll get to see Wendel and Leo more often this way anyways, isn’t that good?”

“Mhm!” Aria nodded in agreement.

Man~. I don’t know what she sees in those two goons. Ahh if only I was the one to rescue her… Oh well, what’s done is done. Anyways..

“Now, I said I would answer your questions didn’t I? Ask away!”

Aria thought for a moment before asking her first question.

“What is matom?”

“Ah, right, I guess I should start from there for your magic training as well.”

The Guildmaster folded her arms and had her eyes close before a large amount of pressure suddenly exerted itself around her surroundings.

This much should be okay...

Aria winced at the nearly unbearable pressure and shivered as her skin crawled in fear. Her eyes reflected that fear as she looked around the Guildmaster. Then, as quickly as it appeared, the pressure disappeared.

“Wh-What was that?” asked Aria.

“That was my magical aura, or just ‘aura’,” explained the Guildmaster. “Aura is the matom that seeps out from your body. It surrounds you like a barrier or bubble that protects you from the abundance of natural matom that exists everywhere on this planet. If one didn’t have any matom at all, they would die to matom poisoning where their body is vulnerable to the matom that exists around them in their environment. Since every living being contains matom, the world is obviously filled with matom as well. Once the matom separates from your aura and breaks off-- which it can't unless you overflow your aura.. but that's a whole 'nother topic --it melds into the environment’s matom converting it into a neutral state which is the ‘natural matom’ or ‘environmental matom’. Matom generally isn’t visible, but it can be sensed or perceived in different ways. That said, the environment’s matom is oddly completely invisible. No one knows why yet, that’s just how it is. There are theories regarding it: maybe it is repelled by a living being’s matom causing it to seep into the ground or other objects until it is attracted to a being that lacks aura? Or maybe by entering a neutral state it winds up unreactive to outside interference? No one knows. Regardless, what I just did is exert my aura outwards. If you want to, you can focus that pressure towards someone or something with varying effects like ‘fear’ depending on your intent. Also, matom is what lets you create things with your imagination. Well, your imagination is an important part of it, but the key point to know is that your matom reflects your will. Though your imagination can alter it a bit and shape it to what you want. Chanting Spells are the easiest form of that, with an image of the spell in mind and the name to identify it, it becomes easy to cast into reality. The words you chant in a Chanting Spell is basically declaring your intent to your will while also bringing about an image to go with the chant. This allows easier casting. However, skilled mages exist that don't need to chant. Anyways, I can go more in-depth but that’s the basic spiel you really need to learn about magic. The rest you can learn in the academy. Anything else?”

“Mmm,” hummed Aria. She leaned back for a moment to process the information.

Well, that was a lot of information, and… would a seven year old even understand anything I just explained anyways? Guess I'll summarize it.

“Ah, well to simplify it:

Matom makes magic. Aura is the matom that seeps out from your body forming a bubble around you to protect you from natural matom. It has other applications as well. Every living being has matom. A simple way for us to utilize matom into magic is to use 'Chanting Spells' or magic commonly used with a certain word and image. This makes it easier for people to cast those spells as they don't have to create it purely by their will which can be different from their intentions.

Once you get good enough with it, chantless spellcasting will be as easy as breathing."

She held her hand out and a small flame danced around her palm.

"However, it still isn’t easy by any means to learn in the first place. Everyone can imagine something, but turning it into reality through matom is the hard part, and the only way to do that is to ‘feel’ it. It’s kind of hard to explain, really. But you’ll get it once you get to that point. Anything else?”

Aria nodded in understanding before asking another question with a tilt of her head.

“What are adventurers?”

“Adventurers? Hmm.. well first of all, it’s what Leo and Wendel are. I’m sure they told you something. How much did they tell you so far?”

“They fight monsters.”

“Ah.. alright then. Adventurers are registered in the Adventurer’s Guild which, despite its name, is basically a large ‘help’ organization to people in need. We generally provide various types of aid to those that live in the kingdom the guild is in. That said, if the kingdom is large enough, it can have multiple guilds to cover different areas of the kingdom. Uroth, our kingdom, has 3 guilds. The Capital Guild, Northern Guild, and Southern Guild. Normal citizens of the kingdom can make requests to the Guilds in order to receive aid. Making a request obviously costs money but the request could practically be for anything. For example, low-level requests are frequently labor requests that ask for help with simple things like gathering certain herbs and whatnot. Mid to high level requests are usually monster hunting requests like the one Leo and Wendel were doing when they ran into you. Of course, every adventurer yearns for the opportunity to explore and be real adventurers. New adventurers have this passion and join the Adventurer’s Guild in hopes of doing so. It’s just that in this day and age with civilization thriving, there are less and less places to be found or explored on their continent. The only other option would be to cross the supposedly endless ocean, beyond the safe-point-- where people fish--, but many were too afraid and the few who have attempted it returned barely alive or were never seen again. The ones who returned barely alive were so traumatized by the experience that any body of water aside from cups of water would frighten them beyond comprehension. Thus, it was deemed too risky for the rest of us as the fear of the unknown terrors are too great.”

Aria looked at the ground thoughtfully. The ocean… it’s something she has never seen, obviously, after having been born only a couple days ago. But she knew what it was.

“Are you interested in it? I used to have an interest in it, but there’s simply not enough information about it and the ocean-dwelling terrors. Plus after becoming Guildmaster I’m busy enough as it is. A suicidal operation to explore the seas just isn’t enticing enough for me.”

“Interesting,” said Aria.

“The ocean?”

Aria nodded.

Well, to each their own.

“Maybe once you get strong enough, we could sail out together,” said the Guildmaster.

Aria only smiled happily in response.

“Ah, I just noticed this now but… Aria, where did you acquire your dress?”

“My dress?”

“Mhm, it’s made of magic isn’t it?”

Aria fiddled with the hems of her dress.

"I almost didn't notice as it's the same as your aura but, you made that dress didn't you?"

Aria nodded. "Is it pretty?"

Huh?

"Heh, of course it is. How did you make it? Do you know how to sew clothes and imbue it with magic?"

To the Guildmaster's surprise, Aria shook her head.

"Only magic."

Amazing.. she only used magic to create it? How did she… Creation magic...? But that's--! If that’s true… Hmm.

“Impressive!”

Aria smiled after the Guildmaster complimented her.

“Umm Guildmaster..,” said Aria. Her expression gave off a hint of confusion.

“Yes Aria?”

“Leo and Wendel always call you Guildmaster, is that your name?” she asked.

Ahh so cute.

“Well, you can call me Master if you want,” replied the Guildmaster.

Oops, I said that without thinking. Oh well, it’s not like she’ll actually call me--

“Master... then?” said Aria.

Ohmygodsthisis… dangerous.. No! Keep it together. You’re a guildmaster!

“W-Well that’s fine, you can call me whatever you’d like. Ah! But I almost forgot. Make sure you don’t tell anyone that you can make things, like your dress, with magic okay?”

“Huh?”

“Absolutely do NOT tell anyone no matter what. Not even Leo or Wendel okay? It’s… you used creation magic right? Creation magic is… a really rare magic that you should keep secret. It's dangerous to let others know of this. So trust me and never share this fact okay!?"

"G-Got it!"

“Alright. For now, this will do. If you have any more questions ask me at a later time because… well, I unfortunately have to get back to work. Tons of paperwork await me.”

She sighed as she said so, her posture slumping ever so slightly but remaining dignified.

“In the meantime, as a first step or a sort of introduction to the basics of magic..,” said the Guildmaster. She walked towards one side of the room where a large bookshelf presented itself and ran her finger across the many books in search of a particular one about magic.

“Aha! Here it is.”

She pulled out a peculiar but modest looking book that read MAGIC Volume 1: Introduction to Rudimentary Magics.

“Well.. it might be hard for you to understand the contents of the book. I don’t expect you to get it right away. So if you have any questions, just ask me okay?”

She walked over to Aria and held the book out for Aria, who carefully took it with both hands.

"See how far you can get with this book and we'll continue tomorrow. When you leave, take the first door to the right. That room is… well, supposedly my room, but I rarely use it so feel free to make yourself at home."

Aria quickly nodded. "Thank you! I'll try my best!" With a light bow-- she saw the receptionist do it --she dismissed herself from the Guildmaster's office.

What a good girl…