The five of them (yes, including the cat) sat in a circle. After they'd all calmed down, and Alwyn dragged the slave trader's bodies into the nearby bushes, they had an important meeting.
See, Alwyn had noticed something very peculiar about the girl. Yes, even more peculiar than her fangs, pointed ears, and golden blood.
The mana surrounding her was immense. Something he'd only seen a few times before. Even Linnie, who wasn't particularly adept at perceiving mana in the air, was able to feel it.
"It reminds me of... me," Alwyn finally said, breaking the silence.
"What?" Aliza asked.
The girl patiently rocked back and forth on her bum, a smile on her face and seemingly not a care in the world. Linnie, on the other hand, was cautiously watching her every move.
"I know you can't see it, but, it's how the mana in the air gathers around her. It like me."
"You don't mean to say...?"
"Yes, it seems this Siaryn girl has, at least, some latent potential."
Alwyn was careful to phrase it in a very vague manner. Even so, it was obvious what he meant. The heaviness in the word 'some' was clear enough that even a blockhead like Linnie could decipher its meaning.
There was a monster, one perhaps even more remarkable than Alwyn himself, sitting there in that circle with them.
Linnie narrowed his eyes with suspicion. He spoke:
"So let's test her, then. Aliza packed like, her entire shop's remaining inventory. You must've brought a mana stone or two, right?"
"Yeah, I did, actually. Good idea."
Alwyn handed his hat to her, and she dug around, looking for the stone. Once she found it, she pulled it out slowly, using two hands. It was large, much larger than the one Linnie had used to test the depth of his talent.
"Does the size mean anything?" Linnie whispered.
"Not really. The larger it is, the more mana it can store. Even so, no one but Alwyn could shatter even a pebble-sized stone, so there's no need to worry. This one's just big because it was in storage and I never got around to processing it."
She dropped it on the ground in the middle of the circle. She nodded at Alwyn, and he cleared his throat.
"Hey, girl, pay attention," he said, snapping his fingers in front of her.
She blinked, snapping out of whatever daydream she was having.
"What's up? Something about mana and stuff? You guys are wizards, right? All that gets totally lost on me, sorry!"
"Yeah, we are. Well, most of us, anyway," he said, stifling a laugh. "Ahem, anyway, we need you to place your hands on this stone and resonate mana into it. You think you can do that?"
"Uh, sure I do!" she grinned, following his instructions.
They all watched with bated breath as she closed her eyes and grunted, gripping the stone tightly. After a few minutes, it became clear she had no idea what she was doing.
"Linnie, can you show her how to do it?"
"What? Why me? Can't one of you do it?"
"I don't want Aliza using her mana core, it's dangerous. And I... well, it'll be good practice for you, regardless. You've never resonated mana into another person before, it's a good skill to have in your hat."
"Fine," he huffed, gesturing for the girl's hand. "H-hold my hand."
"Me-ow~!"
This cute scene had Aliza and Alwyn covering their giggles with their hands. From an outsider's perspective, it may have seemed like Linnie was being bashful. That was not the case.
The boy had no concept of romance, and was genuinely annoyed that he had to touch the girl who ate his very flesh only a short while earlier.
She grabbed his hand, giggling as she intertwined their fingers.
"Hey, watch it!" Linnie yelped in surprise. "Tch, stupid. Memorize how this feels, alright? I won't do it again."
He closed his eyes, focusing on transferring the mana not into a fireball, but through his hands and into her body.
"Ouch, it burns!" she yelped, yanking her hand away.
"Sorry..."
"See, this is why I didn't want him learning fire magic before he could even make basic mana conjurations! Now he associates mana with heat. This'll be a pain to fix—" Alwyn whispered.
"Shut up already, damn," Aliza groaned. "Always, 'why did you teach him this, why did you teach him that', just watch! He's more talented than you think, okay?"
'I hope.' Aliza thought. She blinked. 'Hey, why the hell am I hoping he proves Alwyn wrong? I don't care if that bastard hates me or not, damn!'
"Pfft, don't worry about it. I know he's talented. I made him my apprentice, after all."
Alwyn had managed to somehow smugly forgive someone. That is truly a marvel.
Linnie focused on removing the heat from his mana, calming the imaginary particles in his head. It seemed to work, since the girl's hand relaxed.
"Kind of chilly now," she giggled.
'Yeah, keep complaining, please,' Linnie thought, rolling his eyes.
Linnie made sure to circulate his mana all the way to her core, stirring her's inside. When he got there, though, his eyes went wide. He gulped, releasing his hand and coughing.
'What was that? That couldn't have been her core, could it? That makes mine look like a lake... no, a pond, compared to her—well, her ocean!'
"Ahem. It's done," he smirked, trying to mask his surprise. "You think you can do it yourself, now?"
"Sure!"
She placed her hands on the stone once again, repeating the process.
"Hrrmph!"
. . . .
'Nothing's happening...' they all thought.
After some time waiting, Linnie repeated the process. It appeared that she was a little... slow, when it came to manipulating mana. Even with another wizard activating and stirring her core for her, she couldn't manage it first try.
"I'm gonna do it for real this time, don't worry guys!"
She gave a thumbs-up before placing her palms on the stone for a final time. Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, and her hands shook. She bit her lip, and, to their—delightful—surprise, the stone started to shimmer.
It glowed red, then orange, then yellow. She gritted her teeth, and the stone flickered for a second, skipping past the rest of the colors and going straight to white.
'Ah. That didn't happen when I did this,' Linnie thought with a frown.
Alwyn's eyes shone, and a wide grin stretched across his face, while Aliza let out a disbelieving laugh as she bit her thumb's nail.
A high-pitched sound resonated through the air, and the stone started vibrating—hovering slightly off the ground.
The white glow grew brighter and brighter, blindingly bright, and the sound went up in pitch by the second until it was nearly inaudible. They all slapped their hands over their ears (yes, including the cat) and winced, awaiting the inevitable.
Cracks didn't even have time to form as the stone exploded into millions of fragments, falling from the air as a cloud of dust.
It was quiet, and the bright light was gone, leaving everyone's eyes darkened from the burn-in of the glow.
'I am completely and utterly screwed, aren't I?' Linnie wondered, shakily bringing his hand to his forehead.
He nearly passed out right then and there. Of course, he didn't, and instead fell flat on his back, staring up at the sky.