The scent of fresh water washed over me as I came to my senses, heat crackling over my body. Amanda’s hand pressed against my chest to stop me from falling and its push mingled with pain my attunement had caused. The elemental symbols within my body had transformed into meat grinders as they fought for dominance, but the impact of their battle subsided quickly. Amanda looked up at me, worried, and behind her Roxxy was waving her arms in celebration.

"You did it!” She crowed.

“I did it.” I gave her a weak wave in response. “And my body didn't explode.”

"We wouldn't have let it.” Amanda pulled her hand away, giving me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

A smile flitted over her lips as she gave me space. I breathed deeply and took stock of the situation. Water floated in the air, and I could feel Roxxy’s connection to it. She was directing it over me, allowing the magic and I to stay in contact while I still held onto the sensation of attunement.

I could feel something softer underneath the water. The liquid hadn’t changed, but my interpretation of it had. Sitting beside it gave me the sensation of standing beside the lakes of the wild, and the cleanest ponds.

This was what it felt like to be one with water.

Thoughts in the air flowed through me, resonating with my very being, and I accepted them without judgment or issue. The only issue was the pain still crawling through my veins and chest.

“I know it hurts, but you need to keep your focus on that feeling.” Roxxy’s voice washed over me. "We're not done yet.”

My body disagreed with her, and the pain threatened to break my concentration, but I held on. Roxxy had my best interests at heart. I broke away from the pain and focused on the element of just attuned to.

Thoughts rushed through me, not all of them my own. I focused on the ones that belonged to Roxxy, her mind shining like a beacon to guide me through the torrent of emotions and concepts. I followed her guidance, and my mind was once again swept into the tides of mana.

Good. Play. Free. Andross, what do you feel?

The last question had been sent to me by Roxxy. I focused on it and listened to the magic around me. It was tough. The earth and metal elements were stoic. They kept to themselves and only marched onwards at my prompting.

Water was quick, and its thoughts flowed in a constant stream. They were more fluid than I was used to. Water slipped and flowed through the air freely. One moment the element would be in front of me, and the next it was across the room. There was no stopping it, and unlike the earth and metal it didn't want to rest and relax. It was perfectly content moving everywhere at every moment.

"I can feel their freedom.” My heart and mind followed their movements and I smiled. “It's nice.”

There was no reason for me to chain down the element. My friend could move where it wanted, and I would move with them. When it was necessary, they would come to my aid.

My eyes opened and I looked across the room. I was sitting at the end of a sofa, and two pairs of eyes were watching me carefully. Roxxy had settled back onto the other side with Amanda. She had been sitting in meditation, her blonde hair flowing over her shoulders as water shimmered across her eyes like a veil. Then it dispersed and I could see the curiosity burning in her eyes. She wanted to know how I felt, and what had changed.

“I didn't unlock [Water Manipulation].” I said.

“Of course not.” Roxxy leaned forward and poked the stream of water in front of me, causing the liquid to ripple. “Think of it like building up a friendship. It takes time. You've already passed the biggest hurdle, but you'll still need to work a bit harder for the skill.”

"A little hard work never stopped me." I nodded. “Besides, I've got a good teacher.”

"If you’d be willing to tell that to my dad, I'm sure he'd give me that new texting regent I've been bugging him for.” Roxxy beamed. She wasn't being serious. Maybe.

A stream of water washed over my hand, and I gazed at it fondly. With every twitch of my finger the water moved alongside it. However, it was only following my movements. It wasn't listening to my requests. Not yet.

I hadn't received [Earth Manipulation] straight away either. For some reason I’d thought I would receive the skill immediately, but I wasn't worried. I could feel the connection between myself and water existed, and it was stronger than it had ever been. There was nothing to worry about.

Just in case, I decided to double check my attunement.

My eyes closed and my mind fell deep into meditation. Beyond my thoughts and emotions lay another layer of my being. A blank space that could be moulded and shaped at whim.

It was my mindscape. A representation of my mind that I could enter and exit at will.

In the middle of my mindscape lay three symbols. Earth, metal, and water. Floating between them was my mask, the regent undisturbed by the waves of power emanating from the symbols.

The water symbol was different from the others. It was transparent, and constantly flowing. Its waves of power ebbed and flowed like the tides. They started off as a trickle, but I could feel them growing stronger by the moment. Now that it didn't have to fight against my earth and metal symbols it was finding itself at home in my mind, and it radiated calm.

"Hello there." I spoke.

It twinkled in response, and unrepentant joy welled through my heart. The water element had settled where it belonged, and it was letting me know that.

When I opened my eyes again the room had fallen into silence.

Then I opened my mouth.

“Heck yeah!” I yelled. My cry reverberated across the room and Amanda dropped her book in surprise.

I didn't hold back my emotions. I laughed with joy. Both at her expression and my newfound magic. I’d finally attuned to the water element.

For others, they had done this when they were children. Magic was no different from the mundane to them. But it was different for me.

When I was young this would only have happened in a dream. Back on Earth I'd run around my house with a Harry Potter wand in my hand, trying to cast spells. Now I could wriggle a finger and do the same, but a spell would actually be cast.

The thought of it brought a smile to my face.

"Yeah!” Roxxy cheered alongside me. “We’re kicking attunement butt!”

"Congratulations." Amanda smiled. “We’ll have to practice in the arena sometime.”

"Don’t complain when I put out your fire.” I replied.

“I'd like to see you try.” Amanda’s hair flared, flames dripping from her strands and onto the edges of her smiling lips.

Then a pair of sparkling blue eyes entered my vision

“—And speaking of the arena, do you know what happens now?" Roxxy asked. She leaned forward toward me with a twinkle in her gaze.

I paused. “Training?”

“Training!” Roxxy beamed. "Also, I've got to give you some of the basic tips. Just the normal stuff, so that you don't accidentally hurt yourself or start stressing when you don't need to.”

She motioned with her finger and the water in the room gathered toward her pocket, forming a whirlpool as it drained into her inventory. I hadn’t realised how much water she had brought out for my attunement. Amanda's entire library had been flooded, but none of the books or shelves had been damaged.

Roxxy had mastered her control over water, and with my [Mana Sense] I could see the delicate touch she applied to her work. Her connection with the water element was leagues above my own.

Bye, fun. Play again.

The water mana sparkled at me as it disappeared and I waved goodbye to it, but she left behind a few drops. There was always water mana in the air, and I could hear it clearer than ever before. It wasn't shinier, or louder. There was a connection between us that let us sense each other’s presence wherever we were.

"You can call me your teacher now.” Roxxy stroked her chin. Then she laughed and shook her head. “I also accept payments and salaries.”

"Well, it's not a stretch to give you something for your time.” I said. “I wouldn't have been able to attune without your help.”

Her physical presence had helped just as much as her guidance over the past few months.

"Flattery and bribes will get you everywhere.” Roxxy wagged her finger at me. "But for now, you're going to have to make a tough choice.”

"Oh?" I stared at her.

Roxxy’s demeanor turned serious. “You can hold the mana of two elements inside your body now.” She said, “But your mana pool hasn't doubled in size. That means you have to make a choice about how much mana of each element you want to hold at one time. You’ll either have to slow down your practice of both elements or focus on just one at a time.”

Roxxy’s words sunk in, and I caught Amanda smiling behind her. She shot me a knowing look. Then she quickly hid it.

What Roxxy was saying was true. A magician couldn't cast spells unless they held the appropriate elemental mana within their mana pool. A fire magician required fire mana to cast spells and a water magician required water mana to cast spells.

I didn't need either.

My divine mana worked differently. It could transform itself into any type of mana for spells. Roxxy didn't know about my Mark yet. I intended to tell her, but for now she was operating under the assumption that I was an ordinary magician.

"That's something I need to work on." I didn't give away my thoughts. “Learning and practicing water manipulation is going to be one of my biggest priorities.”

“Heck yeah it is.” Roxxy motioned with her hand and a stream of water spooled in front of her. “Not to mention the job opportunities it opens up for you.”

“Jobs?” I asked. “Do you mean water purifying?” I knew that was Roxxy’s dream job, or so she'd told me.

A spark of curiosity flared up inside me. I hadn't considered what other jobs water magicians took. I was already working on inscriptions part time with Zodiac and building houses with the church.

Both had increased my skill levels and expanded my knowledge by leaps and bounds.

"You're thinking too small. Water purifying is relaxing, but that's for lazy people like me.” Roxxy shook her head. “You have the earth element to work with, and [Earth Creation] too. Even a metal attunement.”

She tilted her head and her eyebrows furrowed in concentration

“If you’re aiming for the top job then can become an island creator—”

“—become an island creator.”

Amanda and Roxxy spoke at the same time, their voices overlapping in the air. They looked at each other and broke out into smiles.

"An island creator?” I frowned. “The name seems pretty self-explanatory. How does it work?”

"I don't know the exact details, but I think the main thing is that the water manipulation skill helps you stop the underwater currents from blowing away the island foundations as you lay them. It also helps you navigate and see underwater.” Roxxy’s eyes shone. “If you unlock the proper skills, you could complete the entire project within days or weeks. All you'd have to do is stay underwater for a while and spit out rocks.”

She paused as the idea started to take hold in my mind. I had a lot of mana. Enough to create a small mountain without running out. If I did want to earn money in a small amount of time, then that sounded like the perfect opportunity.

“Do island creators get a lot of money?” I asked.

"You could make your own island out of the gold coins you'd be paid in.” Amanda’s hair flared into flames as she spoke. "Governments, companies, and even individuals would pay a large sum to gain a new foothold in the ocean. It's one thing to rip out an entire section of land to dump it into water, it's another to have it created for them without loss of resources or having to pay extra.”

"It's not the only choice you have, but it's one of the best.” Roxxy added.

"Honestly, anything that makes good money quickly sounds perfect for me." I smiled. “There's just one problem. I don't know how to swim.”

The two girls stared at me, and I held out my hands helplessly, letting a tendril of earth flow over them. I weaved it into the vague shape of a house with a single tree in the front yard.

My house.

“I was born in a landlocked city.” I shrugged off their stares. “I never got the chance to learn.”

It was the same situation back on Earth. I'd never bothered to learn how to swim, even if my old city had pools I could visit. After all, the ocean was a few hours’ drive away at minimum. I never really bothered with lakes either.

“I’m not afraid of water. Or of falling into its depths. But that doesn’t mean I can dive into the ocean and start forming an island.” I said.

“A water magician that can't swim.” Roxxy’s eyes glazed over. “That's like being an earth magician that's allergic to dirt.”

"Or a fire magician that's afraid of flames.” Amanda added.

"Okay, okay. I get it.” I held my hands up in defeat. “Won't swimming come naturally to me now that I’m attuned with water?”

I didn’t have issues being underground now that I could control the earth around me. Even when I was entombed from all angles, I didn't feel the slightest bit claustrophobic. Now that I was attuned with water, I’d assumed the same thing would happen to me. I wouldn't be afraid of drowning, or diving into water in general.

After all, the elements were my friends. They wouldn't harm me.

"It doesn't mean you don't have to learn how to swim.” Roxxy shook her head. “You don't use your earth manipulation to walk. Not if you want to use it for anything else at the same time.”

I groaned. There was always a limit to how much of an element I could manipulate. If I was focusing on moving myself by manipulating the water around me, I wouldn't be able to do anything else, making it functionally useless. Especially if I wanted to use it to fight or build anything.

"Don't worry!” Roxxy beamed. “I’ll teach you personally. I guarantee no more than two drownings per session.”

Amanda and I shot each other a look. Then I turned back to Roxxy.

"Sure." I said. “As long as we make it no drownings per session”

"You drive a hard bargain, Mr Silver.” Roxxy said. “But I agree to your terms.”

The rest of the afternoon passed by quickly, especially since most of it had already been taken up by my attunement. I would have to ask Gerial later if he had any ideas or theories about how I could use this to my advantage for surviving my ascension, but Roxxy answered most of my basic questions, including possibly jobs I could do for some side cash.

Lake diverter, lake creator, oasis manager, and sewage treatment magician. Most of the highest paying jobs were in frontier cities, where the water was never guaranteed to be safe to drink.

The list of jobs that water magicians were being asked to do was extensive and most were supplemented by my ability to manipulate earth and metal. My combination of elements was rare, but my high mana reserves were more important. By myself I could do the job of five different magicians without running out of mana.

“There's not a lot of jobs involving the ocean.” I pointed out.

I knew there had to be some form of sea-faring job market out there in the world. Roxxy’s father, his family, and Zodiac made part of their money attracting fish to fishermen’s nets.

“Only if you're part of a heavily guarded expedition crew, like the ones Zodiac and Athena put together.” Roxxy said. “Otherwise, don't even think about it. At least island creators are so heavily protected that they’re not at high risk of being eaten alive. Even then it's not a guarantee.”

A chill went down my spine. It wasn't the words she spoke, but the way she said them that got to me. She wasn't making a joke. She was stating a fact.

I wondered if that was the reason my parents had rarely spoken to me about the ocean.

“Onto happier things!” Roxxy clapped her hands together, breaking me out of my thoughts. “Like how the next few days are going to play out if we want to unlock the [Water Manipulation] skill.”

I leaned forward and soaked in every word that she spoke. Even Amanda was sucked in, becoming animated as we discussed my plans until the excursion. My new objectives for the month quickly became clearer.

Gaining early access to the holy land through battles was my number one priority, followed by leveling my skills and training my water magic. I also had to learn more about the Church of the Crijik, though I didn't tell Roxxy that out loud. Now that I'd attuned to water, my tasks were starting to pile on.

It was a little overwhelming.

Expression deep. Stressed. Relax in home. Celebrate new attunement.

A voice cascaded through my ears, melodic and succinct. I looked up and heard the flapping of wings as something landed on my arm.

Agni.

The phoenix perched happily on my shoulder, her flames illuminating the room around me. Gold was nowhere to be seen, but I suspected the puffer had found his home in the kitchens.

"I am relaxed, even if I don't seem like it." I shot her a smile. “I've got more to celebrate today than to be stressed about.”

She tittered in an expression I'd come to associate with laughter. I'd been able to communicate with Agni ever since I'd gained my [Spirit Communication] ability with my new class. However, it had taken a lot of conversations before I could understand her chirps. Learning a new language wasn't easy.

She chirped up a storm in response and I caught bits and pieces of it. I wondered how much she could see and feel while not in the room with us. If she was like Amanda, she shouldn't have been able to sense the water mana in the air or the water attunement within me. But somehow, she still knew before I'd told her a thing.

Water. Congratulations. Use it to fight?

"Hopefully. Fighting with water magic means I can do two tasks at once by leveling my skills and gaining points for my ranking.” I said. “And it lets me get a little bit of tension out of my body. The first match really boosted my confidence.”

Andross. Strong.

Agni chirped in amusement.

I agreed with her, but only partially. I probably wouldn't have agreed at all before the last match. It wasn't just humility. With so much of my time dedicated to training, I barely got to see the fruits of my labour. Amanda and William were used to fighting me by now and seeing them counter every one of my moves was starting to weigh me down. Beating Hassin brought a breath of fresh air to my motivation. It was nice to know that my abilities could be used to win a real fight against my peers.

"Are you ready for the next one?” I poked her feathers teasingly.

Agni hopped onto my head without hesitation, a bright glow emanating from her position. She was setting my hair on fire, but I felt nothing. No heat, no pain, and no weight. I couldn't even see Agni. She’d melted into my hair as naturally as a wig.

“She's found a second home.” Amanda chuckled. “Just make sure she doesn't accidentally burn anything off.”

“I'd trust her to make it stylish. Agni is the best hairdresser I've ever had.” I gave the bird a thumbs up. I wasn't sure if she could see it.

[Spirit Communication(II) has reached level 4]

A grin spread across my face, not going unnoticed by the others in the room.

"You're getting addicted to the battles. I like it.” Amanda’s eyes sparkled. “When’s your next match?”

“Tomorrow at lunch.”

I ran my fingers through the flames that covered my hair.

“After this fight is done, it's full throttle for the rest of the month.”

****

"My, my. You’re full of confidence, Mr Crijik.” Kyle's voice rang out in my ears. "I’ll warn you now, I've picked out a tough opponent for you. But you'll get plenty of points if you win.”

"That's music to my ears." I replied.

Unlike yesterday, I'd skipped the front desk staff and met directly with Kyle. We were walking straight into one of the sub arenas. The observer wore a loose teal robe today, and I could see a faint sheen of sweat. He looked like he'd come straight from a duel.

My hair was aflame as Agni ignited it in waves. I wasn't sure if she could see in that form, but from our short conversations she'd seemed content. She even let out a small puff of flames above me that bloomed into a fireball.

"I told your opponent that you were an earth magician.” Kyle glanced at my hair. “Is she going to be angry at me?”

"I'll only be using earth magic today.” I kept my answer vague. “Besides, that's more than I know about her.”

It had only been a day since I’d attuned to water. I wasn't ready to use it yet in a fight. And I was hoping to unlock [Water Manipulation] within the next few days with Roxxy’s help.

Kyle clicked his fingers and a piece of paper appeared. He handed it to me and I gazed at it carefully, raising it a bit higher than necessary just in case Agni wanted to take a look.

"Okay, maybe this will be harder than I thought." The contents of the card surprised me. "I didn't even know we had someone like this at the academy.”

I'd been given a rough outline of my opponent’s abilities through my texting regent, but the dossier in front of me was much more in-depth with its information.

"Points and rankings have been fluctuating wildly on an hourly basis. I thought you could both use a challenge." Kyle raised an eyebrow at me. “I hope she’s not too tough for you?”

"I'm giving it a shot." I took a final glance at the card.

Cagni Grave: 64 points. Rank 76.

Lightning and connection magician.