I Have Time On My Side!

As she sat and looked at him, Emily couldn't stop thinking,

'Why is Nolan being so kind to me…?'

It was a question that gnawed at her insides, but she didn't dare ask it aloud.

There was something about him, a kind of calm and security that made her feel protected, but at the same time, that very feeling made her doubt whether she deserved it.

Despite everything, she decided to move forward and enjoy the opportunity that had been given to her.

After they finished eating, Nolan stood up calmly, and she followed as he collected the empty plates.

Without wasting time, he began explaining the basic concepts of wind magic.

The idea of manipulating the flow of air using mana wasn't easy to grasp at first, but Nolan had a surprising ability to explain it clearly and concisely.

Emily was amazed at how easy it was to follow his words.

"Wind is unpredictable," Nolan said as he walked around the room, "but if you can understand how it flows, you can control it. The important thing is to feel the mana flowing within you, as if it were an extension of your body, and direct it to guide the air."

Emily nodded as he spoke, absorbing every word as if it were vital.

As the hours passed, she realized that not only did she understand what Nolan was saying, but she was processing it at an astonishing speed.

Instructions that would normally take days or weeks to grasp seemed simple to her, especially when Nolan introduced some mathematical calculations to optimize mana usage.

"Are you good at math?" Nolan asked, surprised by how quickly Emily solved some problems regarding the amount of mana needed for a basic spell.

Emily, a bit embarrassed, replied modestly,

"My grandfather always taught me to calculate quickly, so I wouldn't make mistakes when selling at the market…"

Nolan nodded, impressed.

"That will help you a lot in magic. Managing mana flow requires precision, and if you can calculate the exact amounts, you'll be much more efficient."

The hours flew by without Emily noticing.

She was so focused on learning and absorbing the information that time seemed to disappear.

Nolan, on his part, was surprised at how quickly they were progressing.

He hadn't expected Emily to learn so well and so fast.

Finally, after a long session of explanations and theoretical exercises, Nolan decided it was time for Emily to try using magic for the first time.

"Alright," he said as he stood up and extended a hand toward the center of the room. "We've made a lot of progress. Why don't you try using magic now?"

Emily looked at him, swallowing audibly.

"Do you really think I can do it?" she asked, her nerves evident in every word. Despite how well she had done so far, the idea of performing magic in front of Nolan terrified her.

Nolan looked at her with a calmness that reassured her.

"Of course you can. And if you fail, that's okay. It's part of the process. You try again until you get it right."

Though his words were meant to be comforting, Emily felt her heart pounding wildly.

She didn't want to disappoint him, not after everything he had done for her.

So, taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and began to concentrate.

As Nolan had taught her, she tried to feel the flow of air around her while carefully channeling her mana.

Everything was going well, or so she thought.

She could feel the air around her beginning to move, faster and faster, forming a small sphere in front of her.

However, maintaining control proved to be much more difficult than she had anticipated.

Suddenly, the sphere began to tremble and, before she could do anything to stop it, it burst in a small but powerful shockwave.

Both of them were pushed back. Emily fell onto her back with a soft thud, but as she felt the impact, her mind was focused on only one thing:

Nolan.

She quickly sat up, her heart in her throat.

"Nolan! Are you okay?" she exclaimed, her voice trembling with worry.

Nolan, who had also fallen to the floor, was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling.

But to Emily's surprise, instead of complaining, he began to laugh.

It was a soft laugh, but genuine.

He laughed with such sincerity that she didn't know how to react.

Had he gone mad?

Had he lost his mind?

"Nolan?" she asked again, her voice wavering between concern and confusion.

Still laughing, he slowly got up, dusting off his clothes.

"I didn't expect teaching magic to be this fun," he said with a broad smile, still chuckling.

Emily, completely bewildered, felt a wave of nervousness run through her body.

"I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to… I didn't mean to mess up like that…" Emily began apologizing repeatedly, almost without taking a breath between sentences, her hands visibly trembling.

Nolan raised a hand, signaling her to calm down.

"Relax, relax," he said, still laughing. "It's okay, Emily. Everyone fails on their first try. In fact, you did better than I expected!"

Emily, frozen for a moment, looked at Nolan with a mixture of surprise and internal indignation.

'Then why didn't you tell me before!?' Emily screamed internally, frustrated by the lack of warning.

But at the same time, Nolan's laughter began to calm her nerves.

His warm and carefree gaze made her feel that, despite the disaster that had just occurred, everything was fine.

He wasn't judging her, he wasn't looking at her with disappointment.

On the contrary, he seemed genuinely entertained and pleased with her progress.

After a few seconds, Emily finally sighed, trying to relax a little.

Though she was still trembling, the fact that Nolan wasn't angry was comforting.

"Well…" Nolan said, taking a seat again, "now that you've had your first experience with magic, we can keep practicing until you master it."

Emily looked at him, still surprised by how relaxed he was.

"Do you really… plan to keep teaching me?"

"Of course," Nolan replied without hesitation, "you have talent, Emily. You just need more practice, that's all."

And although Emily still felt a bit unsure, she couldn't help but smile.

Maybe, after all, this day hadn't been as disastrous as she thought.