Under the Oak Tree



Chapter 70: Chapter 70

Maxi remained skeptical, but she followed Ruth out of the castle. After surveying the area, Ruth chose a spot that had been cleared of snow. Using a large twig, he drew something on the ground. Maxi hesitantly approached to inspect the drawing. It turned out to be the basic magic rune she had been studying the day before.

“I am going to activate this rune, which I assume you’ve already memorized.” Ruth retraced the lines of the rune using the twig. “I shall circulate the mana starting here and through this route. Here, I shall divert the flow of mana to your mana pathway. The mana will travel from the palm of your hand to your core, then back out again. It will then return to the rune, completing its circuit. In other words, you’ll become part of the magic rune!”

Maxi rolled her eyes at his strange explanation.

“And that’s s-safe?”

“Your mana pathway should have developed enough to handle it. This is an expedient solution, but I am certain it will prove effective in helping you learn how to manipulate mana.”

Maxi was wary; after all, this was the man who had handed her impossible equations and expected her to solve them without trouble. But she was also tired of practicing with the magic stone in vain. She nodded.

Ruth held out his hands with a self-assured smile, his palms facing up.

“Hold out your hands like this.”

“L-Like this?”

When Maxi hesitantly stretched out her palms, Ruth positioned his hands a span above hers. She blinked her eyes, trying to anticipate his next move. Slowly, she felt heat flow down from his palms. She flinched in surprise.

“You must focus. I’m in the midst of creating an artificial flow of mana. You must remember this feeling.”

“I-I understand.”

Hearing his serious tone, Maxi began to concentrate on the tingling heat streaming down onto her hands.

Her hands felt as though they were immersed in warm, flowing water. She became absorbed in the gentle palpitations. After some time had passed, she felt an invisible thread pierce her skin and enter her body. She shuddered.

“You must stay focused.”

Breaking into a cold sweat, Maxi focused her attention on the flow of the mana. The delicate thread slithered its way up her forearm and passed through her elbow and armpit before shrouding her heart and leaving through her other arm. It then began to trace the complex design of the rune. If mana could be conceived of as finely woven fabric, magic was a loose thread. In short, performing magic was like removing strands of thread from a piece of fabric, winding them around inside one’s body, and weaving them into a new pattern.

Maxi finally understood Ruth’s repeated explanations. She stared at her palms in awe as magic swirled inside her hands at high speed. Soon, the magic began to radiate an intense heat before emitting a thin ray of light.

“They say that the first thing God created was light.” Ruth smiled as he looked at the light, which was fainter than the glow of a firefly. “Remember. This rune is the foundation for all magic runes.”

“My hands f-feel hot, and I feel o-out of breath.”

“We’ve got a problem if that was enough to exhaust you. Mages circulate mana at double this speed when they perform advanced magic.”

Maxi nodded, gasping for air. She had begun to understand why Ruth always looked so weary after using magic.

“Now, I shall slowly remove my hands. Try to keep the mana circulating without losing speed.”

Ruth moved his hands away. Maxi momentarily found herself at a loss for what to do. She tried to steer the mana to follow the lines of the rune.

She was able to sustain the speed for a few moments, but the current soon became erratic. The heat that had collected in her hand began to slip through her fingers like sand. She tried desperately to hold on, but the last few rays of light faded away. Her shoulders slumped in disappointment.

“Don’t be so disheartened. You did well for your first try.”

“R-Really?”

“Have you ever heard me give empty compliments? If you had done poorly, I would have told you as much.”

Maxi did not doubt that he would have. She smiled wryly, amused that she had found solace in his insolence. Ruth smiled back and rolled up his sleeves theatrically.

“Now then, shall we have another go? You’ll begin to grasp the process after repeating it a few times.”

“A-All right.”

Maxi tried her best to harness the mana according to Ruth’s instructions. After seven attempts, she was able to sustain a faint ray of light on her own for about a minute. Elated, she turned to show Ruth. He clapped his hands.

She was somewhat embarrassed to have shown such pride in the presence of a great sorcerer, but she could not suppress her euphoria. Though she the light she had generated was too faint to illuminate even a single room, her heart swelled as if she had managed to recreate the moon.

“Once you’ve grown accustomed to controlling mana, I’ll teach you healing magic. But until then, please keep practicing with this basic rune. It should help you accumulate mana inside your body.”

“I-I don’t think I can d-do it on my own.”

“No harm in trying. I’ll gladly assist if you find that you’re unable to.”

Ruth rubbed his reddened nose. It was only then that Maxi realized they had been outside for quite some time. She had been so engrossed in her task that she hadn’t noticed the cold.

“Let us go inside now. My nose has been running for a while now.”

“Sh-Shall we go to the k-kitchen for a warm bowl of soup?”

“Excellent idea, my lady. I’ve hardly had anything to eat all day. I’m practically dying of hunger.”

Ruth wrapped his robe tightly around his body and strode toward the great hall. Maxi followed, smiling to herself. She was shivering, but her steps felt as light as a feather.

***

Following Ruth’s instructions, Maxi diligently practiced magic. He had to guide her two more times in the beginning, but after that, she was able to create light on her own. The more she practiced, the brighter the light grew. Soon, she was producing enough light to rival a candle.

Though she was progressing at a snail’s pace, she was unmistakably improving. In her delight at being able to accumulate mana, she overexerted herself in one of her sessions and collapsed onto the bed before sundown.

The incident exasperated Riftan. The very next day, he threatened to rescind permission for her to study magic if she continued to wear herself out.

After that, Maxi practiced in moderation. She spent her afternoons studying runes in the library, and after a late lunch, she gave instructions to the servants and wrote in her daily log. Then, she practiced magic in her room until Riftan returned in the evening. Though repeating the same busy schedule every day was exhausting, she pressed on.

Riftan was busy preparing weapons and training soldiers to deal with the monsters migrating to Anatolium. Each day, two dozen carrier pigeons carrying news from all across the continent flew in and out of his study, and the knights and sentries trained in freezing conditions until sunset. In such times, Maxi did not want to be the only person living at ease.

Fighting off sleep, she tried to memorize the complex magic rune in the book in front of her. Ruth, who had been quietly observing her, made a suggestion.

“Why don’t we practice what you’ve learned?”

“P-Practice?”

“You have yet to use magic on another person. It’s worth a try now that you’re more or less familiar with the healing rune.”

“B-But my control is s-still unstable. W-What if something g-goes wrong?”

“Even if you fail, you won’t cause any physical harm. Repeated practice is key to developing precision and speed.”

Maxi nodded. As a matter of fact, she had been wanting to try casting a real spell.

“B-But who should I p-practice on?”

“Mentors usually create a small wound on their body for the pupil to heal, but I’m not particularly fond of feeling pain.” Ruth rose from his seat and wrapped his robe around himself tightly. “Fortunately, Calypse Castle is full of men just begging to get hurt. Shall we head outside?”

Realizing that the sorcerer intended to go to the training grounds, Maxi grew tense. Riftan still did not approve of her learning magic, and he remained doubtful as to whether she had any potential. If he were to see her fail, he would only assume that his suspicions had been confirmed. Seeing her face cloud over with worry, Ruth quickly reassured her.

“Sir Riftan is training the squires today. He won’t be at the knights’ training grounds.”

Maxi was taken aback when she realized that he had read her thoughts. When they rose from their seats, Ludis, who had been sewing next to the brazier, promptly picked up her cloak. Maxi dissuaded her from following them, explaining that they were only going to the training grounds, then followed Ruth out of the library and down the stairs.

When she stepped outside the castle, she was momentarily blinded by the sun.