"You're doing it wrong!"
"Ow! Don't kick me!? Look at Linnie, he's doing it even worse than I am!" Liora shouted.
Why are they so loud? I'm trying to concentrate...!
Alwyn had us sitting in a circle around the campfire. We were 'meditating.' It was supposedly a training technique so we could tap into our mana pool more easily, but even though Alwyn said it required complete focus, he kept bothering us.
Apparently, once we were able to adequately sense mana, learning spells would become 'easy.' In fact, according to Alwyn, we would be able to cast simple spells like magic bullets and levitation without even learning them.
"I don't feel anything."
"Me neither..."
They're all idiots... I really am the most gifted, aren't I?
I felt it. The warm mana swirling inside me, influencing the cooler mana that filled the air. Realistically, it was not because I was more talented, but because I had more experience. Twice before I'd managed to visualize mana. Not to mention my immense pool.
Liora, however...
"I give up. I'm hungry!"
She rolled over to Aliza, who was currently stirring the pot.
"Really? You want some stew?" she asked, passing the ladle.
Liora sniffed it, immediately gagging. "Yuck! What did you put in this?"
"Stop overreacting, it's just a normal meat stew with some added potions for good health."
"I think I'll just go back to meditating..."
"Pssst, Lin. Psssst. Psssst!" Prince whispered in my ear.
"What is it?"
I still hadn't gotten used to the Prince traveling with us. It'd been about a week since we left Corvailles, and though I felt a little bad for thinking this, I couldn't help but feel like he was an outsider. He just didn't seem like a wizard...
Does he even have a mana pool? Or did his father just pay Alwyn off to support his fantasy? Oh, man, I'm being pretty mean right now.
"You got any tips? You seem to be doing it right."
"I don't know... when you feel it you feel it. If you even feel a little mana, then stick to it, and you'll feel it more. Errr... I think."
"Lin! You're an idiot!" Alwyn shouted, kicking me square in the face.
"What's the matter with you? I'm the only one that even feels anything! What're you kicking me for!?"
"Because you're not only doing it wrong, but you're poisoning the others' minds too!"
"What's the right way then?!"
He sighed. "You four are hopeless... when my teacher taught me meditation, I got it first try. You should just feel it. Especially in this forest filled to the brim with mana. You—"
Snores interrupted his speech. Both Liora and Mari had fallen asleep. In fact, Mari had been asleep nearly the entire time. We had all thought she was just in deep meditation.
"Oh, sleeping, are we?"
After dinner, we started to get ready for bed. The sun had set and we were tired from a day of torture.
"What are you four doing?" Alwyn asked.
"Huh? We're setting up our sleeping sacks, why?"
"Sleeping sacks? For what?"
"To sleep?"
"That's strange, it seemed like you guys got plenty of sleep earlier."
"So... what? You want us to continue meditating through the night!?"
"No, of course not. You won't sleep ever again unless you can cast magic bullet. That goes for all of you! Good luck!"
He gave a thumbs up and returned to his sleeping sack.
"...Goodnight, guys," Mari yawned, crawling into her sack.
"I wouldn't do that if I was you," Liora said.
All of a sudden, a torrent of water fell on Mari. She jumped up in surprise with a yelp.
"What the hell was that!?" she asked.
"No way, it's my first time seeing something like this in person...!" Prince said.
"What? What is it?"
"It's definitely a magic curse! Wow, to think he'd curse us to make us learn... is this how the tower teaches?"
Definitely not!
"It's deranged..." I muttered. I was soaked shortly after. "I didn't even lay down!?"
"No badmouthing your teacher, either!" Alwyn shouted from his sack.
Psychopath...
I was a little disappointed that he put us up to this task. Mostly because he hadn't taken me out for 'special lessons' since before Corvailles. I wondered if he forgot about them.
Then again, I was enjoying finally sleeping again. The lessons were only possible in the first place because they were in the dead of night.
"Fine, I need to cast a magic bullet? I'll cast a magic bullet."
Mari grabbed her sword and pointed it into the sky. The tip glowed blue, and a glowing shard of mana shot into the sky.
The water soon fell on her again.
"What's the problem now!? I did it, didn't I!?"
"No cheating! The others don't have a medium, so why would I let you use one?"
"Rrrgh...! I'm not a witch, I don't need to cast a magic bullet!" She threw her sword to the ground.
Water didn't even pour on her that time. Instead, she disappeared. I was pretty sure Alwyn had used some sort of wind magic to push her away, but it was so fast that it seemed instant.
"Where did she go!?" Liora gasped.
"Forget about her. She's not a witch, so she isn't my apprentice. She can find her way back to Corvailles."
"Aren't these woods infested with wild beasts? She didn't even take her sword..." Prince shuddered.
"Ahhh, that's right. I guess she'll have to fend them off with her fists. Or a magic bullet."
"Either go over there with them or stop talking! You're so loud, I'm trying to sleep!" Aliza shouted.
"Ow! Stop! I'm going to sleep now, seriously!"
Prince, Liora, and I all sat down on our sleeping sacks in the meditating position. I felt the mana swirling once again, but I couldn't grab it. I tried to think back to the feeling of flying a broom. It was the same spot I used to maneuver the enchantment.
But how do I move it without the enchantment? How am I supposed to turn this into a magic bullet...?
Only once before had I cast a spell instinctively and without a chant. It was when I killed that boy, back in my hometown. It was a simple, weak expulsion of heat. It could barely be called a spell. But the same went for magic bullet, didn't it?
Maaaaaagiiiiiic... BUUUUULLLLEEEEEET!!!!!!!
"Wow! how are you doing that Linnie!?" Liora clapped.
I opened my eyes and a sputtering of blue sparks was firing from my fingertips.
Ehhh, that's not right...
"Wow, I got it!"
We both looked at Prince in disbelief.
"Magic bullet! Magic bullet! Magic bullet!"
He kept firing tiny, slow, pathetic blue bullets. I wanted to burst into laughter right there.
"Prince won first place, he can go to sleep!" Alwyn shouted.
What!? That counts!? I didn't even know he could cast magic!
"I. Said. Shut. Up! Die!"
"Ghhhk—AGRUAAH! I'm trying to teach!"
"You had all day to teach! It's nighttime!"
There's no way that counts... those couldn't hurt a fly!
"Euughhh... I can't figure it out! Linnie, help!"
"How am I supposed to help!? I can't even do it myself!"
And this idiot prince is already snoring!
Liora and I sat there for easily another hour without progress. That was, until Liora's magic bullet exploded into the trees and created an artificial clearing.
"What was that...?"
"Linnie, look! I figured it out! Magic bullet!"
Another gargantuan glowing bullet exploded into the forest.
No way I'm the last...! Magic bullet! Magic bullet! Magic bullet!
Liora started to snore, and even Alwyn was asleep. I wondered if I was actually cursed, or if now that I was the only one awake, I could just lay down. I ended up, again, soaked.
This is hopeless... not that I even need to sleep.
I got up and started walking circles around the camp, trying to clear my head.
Magic bullet! MAGIC BULLET!
"Uuuaaaahhhhhh! Uuuuuuaaaaahhh!"
What is that?!
I spun around. The strange noises were coming from the direction of the clearing Liora had made.
Did Liora disturb a wild beast or something? A ghost!?
I didn't believe in ghosts, but in the pitch black darkness of the night, anything seems possible. I slowly crept towards the clearing. You may be wondering: "Why? Why would you do that?"
I'm a hero, and I had to defend my camp.
In the darkness, I could barely make out a figure. It was moving strangely, like an injured bug, and had large antlers protruding from its head.
"Uuuaaaahhh... You! I'll kill you!"
The figure appeared in front of me in a blink, and in the moment of extreme stress, I shouted into the night: "MAAAAGIIIIC BULLLLEEEEET!!!!! AHHHHH!"
I felt mana accumulate and rush to my arms, and a large magic bullet materialized in my hands. Unfortunately, though, the figure grabbed ahold of my wrists and forced them upwards, sending the magic bullet into the sky.
"What are you doing?" Mari hissed.
"Mari? Is that you?"
"Obviously!"
Now that I got a better look at her, she looked rough. Sticks were tangled in her hair and she was covered in dirt and mud.
"What happened to you?"
"What do you think!? I'm going to sleep," she stormed off.
"No, you're just gonna get drenched again—"
She turned around and sent a small magic bullet at my forehead.
Wow... I really was the last. So... lame...
I decided to cast magic bullet over and over again until the sun rose so I would be the best at it when morning came.
"Alwyn, we're working on magic bullet again, right?" I asked, excited to show off my perfected magic bullet.
"What? No, that was just an exercise to get used to using mana," he laughed. "It's far too inefficient a spell, completely useless in practice."
Aw...