"Magic Time!"
Leon stepped into the backyard, his hair still damp from his bath. He cracked his knuckles and clenched his fists, eager to begin.
He'd spent the entire night training, just as he always did. However, now that he finally had the chance to learn magic, a new excitement washed over him.
I'm probably gonna end up all sweaty and filthy again. Not sure why I even bothered taking a bath...
The maids had stopped guarding him while he bathed. He'd earned some of Queen Lycynthia's trust and no longer needed to be watched every second.
Then again, baths are about the only chance I get to relax. A man's gotta take what he can.
Most of the girls were already in the garden.
Rika and Valeria sat on the same bench where Leon had learned Bloodless.
Valeria sat normally, leaning against the backrest with her legs crossed. Beside her, Rika sat upside down, her knees hooked over the back of the bench as she hugged her ponytail, her head hanging just above the ground.
This time, however, Leon had a bigger audience.
A picnic blanket had been spread out in front of the bench, covered with books. Seated upon it were Celestine, Tsukihi, and Cersei.
Tsukihi bounced from book to book with boundless energy, picking one up only to set it down moments later. Cersei, who had spent nearly every spare moment asking Tsukihi questions about magic, was starting to grow annoyed by her chaotic personality.
Meanwhile, Celestine sat with her knees drawn to her chest, leaning back on her hands. Calm and elegant as ever, she simply watched the two with quiet amusement.
"Hey! I'm here and ready to learn magic!"
A round of greetings and smiles welcomed Leon as he joined them. The exceptions were Rika, who did her best to remain completely expressionless, and Cersei, who wore her usual cranky look whenever he was around.
"You do realize you still don't have mana, right?"
"A zero doesn't mean none. You told me that yourself, Cersei. Besides, I'm able to use Bloodless without any Chi."
"You're not casting anything! You're pulling from nothing and failing to cast, which should normally be lethal."
"But with a zero, I can't draw on anything the way a normal caster can. So I'm pretty sure this is closer to me learning a vampire's blood arts than failing to cast."
"Blood arts are a racial skill, not a type of magic!"
"Oh! Oh! Pick me! Pick me!"
Tsukihi interrupted the two, her hand raised high as she eagerly volunteered to explain.
"I think it has to do with how vampires were created. The Dragon, Demiurge and Demon races were made by the First Demon King. So technically, Celestine and I are artificial races too."
"Hey, I'm human. I'm only temporarily a Succubus until we find a way to change me back."
Tsukihi gave a small nod to Celestine, apologizing for the mistake, before continuing.
"Right. Sorry. However, none of the races created by the First Demon King are considered artificial. Their racial skills are truly unique. Vampires are different because they were created by a Lich. It's like the traditional magic system, but their Blood Arts function differently. Every Blood Art is basically a first-level spell."
Valeria chimed in.
"Yeah, Tsukihi is mostly right, I guess.. But, Blood Arts are more than that! The amount of blood you put into the skill affects its power, unlike incantations. They also have different minimum blood requirements depending on the ability."
Leon looked between the two girls, slightly confused. They spoke about history and knowledge so casually that it reminded him just how large his own knowledge gap was.
Still, the parts that related to magic were starting to make some sense to him.
So I'm failing to cast a racial skill-spell...?
"Hey, going back to spell levels. Incantations are the verses you say before the spell name, right? The number of verses determines the level? And since Blood Arts are all one incantation, they're all first level?"
"Yeah."
"Uh-huh!"
So how is this going to work for Mana?
He looked toward Tsukihi.
"Your Memory Consumption racial skill doesn't use any sort of incantation like Blood Arts do?"
"Nope. Hence why Kitsunes aren't considered artificially made."
I don't have a Mana attribute, so I can't even cast a Mana based spell. Do I try to fail at using her Memory Consumption? But how would I even start?
"What's wrong, Farm boy? You're not even going to try yelling in the middle of the garden like last time?"
Rika repeated the same words she'd used when Leon was trying to learn Bloodless. The teasing tone was there, but Leon knew better. For all her bratty and tsundere attitude, it was her way of encouraging him to stop overthinking.
"Yeah, you're right. I should probably start changing up."
Leon stood up straight and stretched his back.
"Whether I learn magic, or how to fail at each attribute, right now it's Magic Time!"
Aside from the still cranky Cersei, the girls responded with a round of eye rolls and small smiles.
Leon walked over to his training spot, the blood from his nightly training already gone.
"Alright, Tsukihi, how does your Memory Consumption work?"
"I don't really say or do anything. When I press my forehead against yours, it feels almost like I can play your memories in my mind."
"Hmmm... play my memories in my mind?"
Leon focused and began to go backward through his memories, similar to how he felt whenever Tsukihi ate his memories.
Nothing happened.
"Huh... I was hoping something would've happened."
"Really, Farm boy!?"