The Basics of Magic.

Everything fell silent as if we were both too afraid to move or say anything more. Then, out of nowhere, Catherine wrapped an arm around my head, bringing it to her chest. "Just keep fighting a little longer. I know it'll all pay off soon…"

I pushed myself away. "Ugh, what's with you people all of a sudden? Mara was one thing but now you're being weird too."

She let go, gently rubbing her knuckles on my head. "HA, it sounds like you don't have a clue what any of us are thinking if you really think we're acting strange."

I shooed her hand away, "Yeah well you're probably right about that. I mean, I honestly don't even know why I'm still in my parent's room. Shouldn't I be back on my own now that I'm awake? I mean, I'm not even sick."

She snickered. "You noticed that did you? Well, that one's a secret."

Generally speaking, it made sense to keep me there when I was sick, the room had its own private bathroom, and a fireplace to regulate the temperature. I wasn't sick though. I didn't have a fever. Furthermore, being there meant that I would probably see Mara more often than I wanted to.

At least for a while, I just wanted to be alone. A feeling that seemed to continuously return as soon as I interacted with anyone.

With nothing else to do though, I caved rather quickly, reaching over to the nightstand and reading the cover again. "Omni Prismire." 'Sounds Latin. I wonder what it means.'

Noticing my eyes wander to the large tome, she lifted it above the bed and dropped it down onto the mattress next to me. "You should stay in bed. Here, I'll move it for you."

She lifted it up into the air, dropping it right next to me. As it hit the bed the frame shook, and the mattress bounced, making me feel as though I were about to take flight.

I tensed up. my whole body stung with a tinge of pain. It was sharp, and pierced through every blood vessel, only reminding me how pointless it was to try and learn magic in my current state.

I thought the whole point of magic was that it was mysterious, there's this much knowledge packed into the basics of it?'

"I'll leave you to it then." She smiled, walking away. Most people hated being handed the textbook and told to teach themselves, but I liked it better this way. I didn't need to listen to an hour-long lecture when I could read the material in a quarter of the time, memorize it in a third, and use it practically in half.

Of course… I was made fun of for being smart, but my sister Suzuki was made fun of for being good at sports. I just figured people would find a reason no matter what, so it never bothered me.

'Those memories feel so old now… I wonder if the school I'll go to in this world will be similar.'

Not wanting to live in the past, I repositioned myself so that it would be easier to move the pages, flipping open the cover and reading the first line of text.

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[This is a compendium of every known kind of magic as of the year 777 Age of Fallen Hammers: After the fall of the third Demon lord.

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Down below those words were several massive flow charts containing every feasible classification of magic. I could have spent hours sorting through the charts alone, but instead, I thought it would be better to just move on, and come back to them later as reference material.

Continuing to Turn the pages, I finally reached a point where it seemed my education would begin to mean something.

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At the most fundamental level, there are three kinds of magic. 

Divine acts, also known as miracles, where the caster relies on their complete trust in a higher power, and that power is granted to them.

Natural magic is magic that is conceived through the use of one's manna and their will.

Finally, Dark magic, rather than relying on one's manna, or spiritual worthiness, is brought forth from the soul and heart of a being.

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I quickly glanced over the summary of each. From what I understood, divine magic was more like channeling the power of a guardian deity. In that regard you would think I would be able to use it, being the messenger of Agis… Unfortunately, it seemed a bit more complicated than that.

To use divine magic, I would need to be able to connect myself with him through my own spiritual power which, apparently, required practicing religion and doing things like sacrifices, offerings, and prayer.

In other words, even though our connection was strong, my religious belief in him was weak, and my spiritual power was underdeveloped.

Thus, It was a big waste of time that might someday give me the ability to ask someone for help. My own personal feeling on that aside, To be honest… He didn't seem very god-like to me. If he couldn't even help me without me having to dedicate my life praying to him, what good was he as a deity? 

'He's more like a good friend than someone I would ever worship. Even if he has otherworldly powers, as far as I was concerned so do my siblings with their freakish strength, it isn't anything to write home about.'

I rolled over on my back, letting out a deep sigh. Thinking about him brought a smile to my face, but the thought of him being a god almost made me laugh. Even if he was hundreds of years old he acted like a boy, not like a wise deity with the power over life and death.

"Tired already? You haven't been reading for very long."

Airsidh's familiar gentle voice reached out from across the room, intertwining with the chirping of birds.

"Airsidh?" I knew it was his voice, but something seemed off. It wasn't coming from the doorway.

'How would he know how long I've been reading?' I sat up, looking around the room for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. 'Am I going crazy?'

"Yes, it's me."

Hearing his voice again, my eyes snapped right to where he was. To my surprise, he was sitting on the window sill, a small bird resting on his shoulder as he stayed completely motionless like a gargoyle.

"How did you get up there? I never saw you come in."

"I jumped." His face was soft, it wasn't the same as it had been in the past. There was more life to it, like he was actually there with me in that moment, and not trying his best to detach from reality.

After a short pause, I realized he didn't see anything weird about it. "We're on the second floor…"

"I know." He kicked his feet inside and leaned against the frame, still unable to grasp why I was so surprised.

'Considering the bow he shoots… Maybe I shouldn't be surprised… No, he must have been lying, I'm sure he climbed up. I stared at him intently, his expression remaining unchanged. 'There's no way though, he isn't the type to lie or tease me like that.'

"You're really strange you know that."

He shooed away the cute little bird. "Better than being boring I suppose."

 "How long have you been up there?"

He lifted a finger to his chin. "Since about the time you opened the book. You seemed very invested, I didn't want to interrupt."

"Airsidh…"

"Yes?"

"That's… really creepy."

His face sank slightly, but it was so stiff I could hardly tell. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Seeing the dull sadness in his eyes made it hard to be mad, not that I ever was in the first place. "It's fine, but did you want to talk? Sorry, I don't think it's a good idea for me to do archery for a while. Catherine said I'm not even allowed to leave this bed, so…"

He shook his head. "No that's not it. I wanted… Well, actually there are a few reasons for me being here."

'Maybe he just wanted to see how I was doing?' I furrowed my brow. 'No… I need to be more realistic than that. So then why is he here? And why through the window?'

"Really I'm just hiding from Lu."

'I was right after all… It seems, recently I started hoping more, does that mean I'm becoming desperate now that I know what the others have been keeping from me about my father?'

I felt my brow furrow with annoyance. "Can't you do that somewhere else? Your other sister is trying to rest, you know."

He lifted his finger to his mouth for me to be quiet and I quickly shut up. Giving myself some time to think. 'I shouldn't have snapped at him like that just because I'm upset with myself…'

He raised a hand in the air like a lightbulb had just turned on in his mind and began walking towards me. "Right, that was another reason. I brought you a honey biscuit. You seemed to like them before."

The annoyance I had instantly vanished. 'So he was thinking about me? Was he trying to cheer me up?'

How drastically my mood seemed to be shifting worried me more than a little, but I didn't mind so long as it ended on a good note.

He checked his pockets and eventually pulled out an empty plate with only crumbs on it. "I guess, they're all gone…"

'Did he… eat them on the way here?' 

He chuckled nervously. "Please don't cry, I'll go and get you some right now."

I raised my hand to stop him, but before I could he was already gone. 'Did I really look that sad?'