I knelt beside Erica, her breathing shallow but steady. The memory of her kindness on that rainy day surfaced in my mind, a strange warmth amidst the cold calculus of our survival. I had brought this team together for my own ends, but that didn't mean they were mere pawns. A dead asset is a useless one.
"Erica, don't push yourself anymore," I said, my voice softer than I intended.
Her eyes fluttered open, locking onto mine. They weren't hazy or confused; they burned with a startling intensity. "I have to," she whispered, the words filled with unshakeable conviction.
I was stunned. This was not the shy, hesitant girl who hid in the back of our classroom. This was someone forged anew by desperation. Perhaps she truly wanted to go back home, or perhaps she, like me, had found a reason to fight in this brutal new world. I offered her my hand. She took it, her grip surprisingly firm, and I helped her to her feet.
"Fine," I said. "Then let's try a different way. I'll help you."
I looked around at the others. They were all trying to command their power from the outside, like shouting at a stubborn mule. In all the novels I had ever read about magic and alternate worlds, that was the first mistake. The power wasn't a tool you picked up; it was a part of you that you had to awaken. They had tried meditation and physical force. They had missed the most crucial step.
"Erica," I began, turning my full attention to her. "Forget everything you just did. Close your eyes."
She obeyed without question.
"Listen to my voice. Think of your body not as flesh and bone, but as a vessel. Somewhere inside you, there is a pool of energy, of mana. I want you to find it. Picture it in your heart, a warm, liquid light. Don't try to force it. Just... see it. Feel it flowing from your heart through your entire body, like blood in your veins."
I watched her face intently. Her brow, once furrowed with strain, began to relax. Her breathing deepened, becoming slow and rhythmic.
"You can see it now, can't you?" I said, keeping my voice low and steady. "You can feel it. It's a part of you. Now, gently guide it. Don't command it, just guide it. Channel that warmth from your heart, down your arms, and into your palms."
A few seconds of tense silence passed. Then, a soft, ethereal light began to glow from her hands. It wasn't fire; it was a swirling nebula of faint, orange-gold energy, beautiful and untamed. The other team members stopped what they were doing, their eyes wide with awe.
"Perfect," I breathed, a genuine smile touching my lips for the first time since we arrived here. "It's working. That is your mana. That is your power."
Erica opened her eyes and gasped at the sight of the glowing energy cradled in her hands.
"Now for the final step," I said, my voice regaining its sharpness. "Focus. Change the form of that mana. Don't think about heat or destruction. Just imagine a flame. Picture a simple candle flame in your hands. Give the energy that shape."
She nodded, her gaze fixed on the light. The swirling energy began to writhe and coalesce. A tiny spark flickered to life, then another. A small, stable flame, no bigger than her thumb, suddenly bloomed in her palm. It was steady, controlled, and intensely real.
A wave of pure, unadulterated joy washed over her face. "I... I did it," she whispered.
But her concentration wavered in that moment of triumph. The connection between her mind and the mana snapped. The small, controlled flame erupted. It roared into a massive, writhing pillar of fire, sucking the air from around us and bathing the grove in a terrifying, violent light. It was completely out of her control.
"Release it!" I panicked, grabbing her arm. "Let go of the mana!"
"I can't!" she cried, her face a mask of fear as the heat scorched her skin. The fireball pulsed, growing larger, threatening to ignite the entire forest. The rest of the team scrambled backward, shielding their faces.
With a final, desperate scream, Erica threw her hands forward. A massive orb of fire launched from her palms, tearing through the air and slamming into the rock face across the stream. The impact was deafening. Rock shattered and melted, sending steam and debris hissing into the night. The light from the blast was as bright as the midday sun.
When it faded, Erica was on her knees, panting, her hands trembling. Her right hand was raw and red, bruised by the uncontrolled release of power. I rushed to her side.
"Are you okay?" I asked, my own heart pounding in my chest.
She looked up at me, not with fear or pain, but with the brightest, most radiant smile I had ever seen. Tears of joy streamed down her cheeks, mingling with the sweat and grime.
"Okay?" she laughed, a sound of pure exhilaration. "I was never this fine in my entire life! I did it, Dante! I really did it!"
Her happiness was infectious. A cheer went up from the rest of the team. The fear was replaced by a surge of hope. It was possible. The path was real.
For the next several hours, the grove became our classroom. Using the method I had outlined, and with Erica now adding her own firsthand experience, we helped the others.
"Don't think of it as cold," Erica explained to Masha, who was struggling. "Think of it as... stillness. Find the part of your energy that is calm and quiet." Minutes later, a beautiful, intricate frost pattern spread from Masha's fingertips onto a leaf.
I worked with Jin, telling him to channel his mana not into his hands, but into his sword. "The blade is an extension of your arm. Let the energy flow into the steel." His sword soon hummed with a faint, sharp light, feeling weightless in his grasp.
One by one, they found their spark. Edgar successfully Appraised a flower, its stats and properties flooding his mind. Neil placed a hand on an ancient-looking stone and felt its history. Juno sketched Talia's face and saw a flicker of her determined aura on his paper. By the time the twin moons began to dip towards the horizon, our team was transformed. The air was filled with the soft glow of their controlled abilities—a testament to their success. We weren't just a group of lost students anymore. We were armed. We were ready.