Chapter 71 - Perspective

As they left the classroom with Theo as the leader, Lily couldn't help but notice a lot of eyes staring at them as they walked. As soon as they spotted the pair, they either gasped or stared at them as if she'd sprouted a second head.

As Lily wondered why everyone was behaving so peculiarly, Theo spoke, "Umm… Are you going to wear that cloak the entire time? Does it not run out?"

Lily looked down at herself and noticed she was still wrapped up in her Nebula Veil—the answer right before her eyes.

"Oh. I completely forgot," Lily blushed sheepishly. "I've been trying to practice keeping it up, so sometimes it feels rather natural. Although I'd rather not have all these eyes on me."

Lily dismissed the spell, allowing the cape to dissolve like fading mist and stars winking out.

"That's a shame, but I suppose it might garner some negative attention or envy from others," Theo reasoned.

"Yeah, I'm already quite the little freak show, being a Lagia with magic and the rumors spreading about Tim and me," Lily sighed.

"Ah, sorry, that must really suck," Theo apologized. "Well, if it makes any difference, my training spot is pretty isolated, so you don't need to worry about any prying eyes."

Lily nodded, and they continued their journey.

Following Theo, Lily was led outside to a secluded area still within the orphanage grounds, but definitely an area she hadn't explored before.

The sun hasn't negatively affected me as much since I gained my Mana Core; it's a shame that I haven't spent more time outside unless I count the rituals and monsters. Speaking of which, I should consider another nighttime run now that Arakil is portable; we can try to see if he can gather anything from the monsters!

"This is the spot," Theo said, gesturing to a relatively smooth, flat area without any grass growing.

"Why did the instructor send you so far away to practice?" Lily asked curiously.

"Well, my bloodline is some cave or mountain bear, and it gave me strengthened earth magic," Theo explained. "My control was pretty poor to begin with, so he wanted me to be far away from anyone in case I hurt them by accident."

"Oh… Was it bad?" Lily couldn't help but ask. Her only experience with regular magic was Rose's, and she had practically been born controlling fire with ease.

Theo nodded, "When I would gather rocks, they would sometimes randomly explode into shrapnel. It took me quite a long time to keep them intact when I pulled it from the ground."

Lily tilted her head to the side, pondering what he said, "You have to pull earth from the ground? Can you not form it directly out of Mana?"

"Eventually, I'll be able to!" Theo replied, scratching his cheek. "But for now, I can only manipulate existing earth and rock. Hopefully, when I go to Tresnia, they will teach me!"

Lily gasped, "You've already been accepted to a magic academy?"

Theo nodded, looking somewhat proud, "Yes! I was really worried they wouldn't want me, but I managed to get in. They are the best academy for anyone wanting a trade job in the magic industry. I want to become a stone shaper!"

"You're going to make statues?" Lily asked. "That sounds pretty fun."

"Maybe? It's the title for anyone who builds magically with stone and earth," Theo explained. "I want to build houses, walls, stuff like that. I don't really think I have the artistic talent for sculptures and stuff, so maybe I'll just get to do the odd fancy-looking pillar."

"Hey, you never know!" Lily said encouragingly. "If they are the top academy for magic jobs, then I'm sure they'll teach you some tricks of the trade."

"We'll have to see," Theo said with a nervous chuckle. "Do you know what academy you're shooting for?"

"Regarth!" Lily answered with zero hesitation.

Theo seemed a little surprised, "Isn't that the famous one with the dungeon? Like for adventurers and stuff."

"Yes, I want to become an adventurer with Rose," Lily said proudly.

"Aren't you scared of getting hurt?" Theo asked. "I don't think I could ever do anything like that. I'm a bit of a coward, so I'm glad getting into construction is an option for me."

"That's a shame, I think you'd make a great adventurer," Lily replied.

"Because of my size?" Theo chuckled. "It was suggested. I did get an offer to Kalway, but I turned them down."

Lily gasped and put her hand to her mouth. "Sorry, that was a bit mean of me. I'm used to being on the opposite end of the size assumptions."

Theo shrugged, "No problem. I made similar assumptions about you. I thought a small girl like you would've wanted to be an alchemist or maybe an enchanter and stay safe indoors."

"Ha! You sound just like Miss Camilla, my mentor. She wants me to take over the alchemy business," Lily giggled. "But I've got my heart set on being an adventurer with Rose, and so Regarth is my goal. I'm hoping Richardus can have me ready for the exam."

"The instructor said you had an ancient bloodline; I'm sure you'll get automatically accepted," Theo responded, trying to sound optimistic.

"I don't want to just get in because of that; I want to earn it," Lily replied. "If I don't earn it myself, then everyone will think I'm just there as a spectacle."

Theo seemed to struggle to understand Lily's feelings on the matter, and an awkward silence formed between them.

"So, what kind of training do you do here?" Lily asked, changing the subject.

Theo sighed with relief, "I'll show you!"

He took a breath and began muttering something under his breath. When Lily listened in, she noticed it wasn't a magical chant but something akin to words of self-encouragement.

Theo then held out one arm low and began to slowly raise it. As Theo's arm rose, so did a section of the ground in front of him, and out came a small pillar of stone.

"Woah, I've not really seen earth magic before; that was impressive!" Lily responded.

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Of course, she had witnessed the platform of stone Arakil had made and carved, but that was from an archmage, not a fellow orphan.

"Thanks!" Theo replied, genuinely happy at the praise. "It took me so long to learn to do that, but I kept practicing and practicing."

"I would've thought a bloodline would have made it easier," Lily commented. "Rose could snap her fingers and make a flame dance."

"Unfortunately, not everyone can be a prodigy like that," Theo answered, sounding slightly bitter. "If I don't concentrate, the rock will come out broken and shattered. It's like my magic wants to break and destroy rather than build."

His magic wants to destroy? That's interesting. I wonder if Rose's magic wanted her to burn everything to a crisp?

"Sorry, I didn't know," Lily eventually replied.

"It's okay…" he replied, clearly not entirely over it.

Lily sighed but then thought of a great analogy that might rectify things, "That's sort of why I don't want to just get into a magic school automatically. I want to earn it so people don't make the wrong presumptions about me."

"Huh… I guess I didn't consider that," Theo replied. "So, did you also have to try hard to control your stars?"

"Control isn't my issue; it's quantity or capacity," she answered. "When I first got my magic, I could barely make a tiny little star, and it took me a lot of effort to get that number up and make them look slightly less pathetic."

To demonstrate, Lily cast the Starlight spell and, thanks to her control, produced a star that closely resembled how it looked when she first obtained it. Then, she added an additional star, each growing larger and brighter in sequence.

At the end of the demonstration, Theo laughed while rubbing the back of his head, "We're really in opposite situations in more ways than one. Well, you're welcome to come here and practice, and if you want some help, maybe I can provide it."

Lily pondered the suggestion briefly before nodding, "I don't suppose you could make targets for me out of stone?"

"Targets?" Theo repeated.

He hummed in thought before nodding as if he'd come up with an idea. He then extended and raised his hand, creating a vaguely person-shaped stone pillar.

"Something like this?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's perfect!" Lily replied happily.

"What do you want targets for, if you don't mind me asking?"

"So I have another spell," Lily began explaining. "It's an attack spell, the one I used to beat Tim. I've been unable to really practice it anywhere as it's not exactly safe, and I don't want to destroy my room or trees, so I thought maybe some rock targets would work."

Theo laughed, "I can definitely say you do not want to practice in your room! I nearly destroyed my entire floor and was in so much trouble! But if you want some stone targets, I can make them."

"Thank you, Theo!" Lily said excitedly.

"No problem. I'm super curious to see what you used against Tim."

"Honestly, you might laugh," Lily answered. "It's a bit of a strange-looking spell."

"That's even better, in my opinion!" Theo chuckled. "If that cocky bastard got beaten by something silly, then he got what he deserved!"

"Okay, I'll show you, but you might want to get behind me," Lily replied.

Theo nodded and quickly left behind the stone target he made. Lily took a breath and first cast her Nebula Veil, ensuring it enshrouded her and was large enough to be extended in case some shrapnel came their way.

Better safe than sorry. If any rocks blow this way, I'll use my cloak to make a bit of a wall so nothing hits Theo.

Then Lily raised her hand and began a very short chant to cast the Starcluster spell. In the heat of the moment against Tim, she had cast it wordlessly, but thanks to her lack of suitable practice, she had yet to reproduce those results.

I really need to go hunting again.

She didn't want to go overboard with the spell and suitably limited it to no more than two stars. Randomness was still a significant factor, and while Lily didn't want to get a zero-star result, she was equally worried about getting something crazy, like a four—or five-star result.

Her spell was complete; a single star apparated and was flung from the palm of her hand on a direct course to the stone target. Theo made a surprised noise as it crashed into the stone and burst into a starry coating. The rock sparkled brightly, and cracks showed on it.

"Wow, that was exciting!" Theo responded. "I have to admit I didn't expect that at all. I can see why you thought I might laugh; it's a bit comical in its appearance."

Lily sighed, "It is, but it's effective. I'm a little sad it didn't break the target in one hit."

"That is reinforced stone," Theo informed her. "I could have pulled up just normal rock, but I thought you wanted a target to take a few hits."

"Oh… That makes me feel a bit better," Lily replied.

"So this is what beat Tim, huh?" Theo asked, scratching his head. "I would've thought he'd be a bit tougher; I heard he was killing monsters."

"Well, this spell is a bit special in that regard," Lily answered. "The spell is extra effective against anything coated in the stardust. So if I shoot two stars, the second one gets a big boost!"

"That sounds so cool!" Theo responded with surprising vigor. "You've got to show me that!"

Lily nodded and began casting the spell again. This time, she ensured the upper limit was one star, as she was concerned about what two stars would do to the already damaged target, which was also marked with stardust.

The spell was complete, and it looked like luck was on her side. A single star was shot out again before it crashed with the statue. The rock burst apart in a glimmering cascade of stardust that danced through the air like confetti on festival days before fading to nothingness

"Crap!" Theo cursed in surprise.

Lily was already on it as her cloak extended to blanket them, but her caution seemed unneeded as no shrapnel reached them.

"You okay?" Lily asked.

"Okay? I'm better than okay; that was amazing !" Theo cheered.

Lily let out a relieved breath, "I'm glad. That was a little bigger than I was expecting."

"I can make more. Can you do it again?" Theo asked with a glint of excitement in his eye. "I want to see what happens if two stars come out at once. Wow, this is some amazing magic!"

Lily opened her mouth to reply, but someone else beat her to the punch.

"Amazing is one way to describe it," Richardus's stern voice interrupted.

Lily and Theo turned to face the teacher, both having no idea when he had made his appearance.

"Dangerous would be the other," Richardus finished.

Lily and Theo gulped. However, Lily noticed that Richardus didn't appear to be that angry, so she hoped he could be reasoned with.