Vylt: The New Dawn

Chapter 21: The Apprentice

Contrary to what I expected from her, Belaury's attitude towards me was nothing but friendly since the moment she concluded I was blessed. For example, she had no issues accommodating to my newfound semi-nocturnal tendencies. Instead, she considered it rather convenient.

"Fewer humans around," she said.

Because of that, my lessons were appointed to start late in the afternoon, with some of them probably ending well into the night. Anna was concerned about this arrangement at first. It was mostly regarding the suspicion this sudden change would generate back at the centre. Explaining my new sleeping habits to them wasn't the problem, of course. The troubling part was giving an actual reason for me to be outside after dark when I still had plenty of time to practise during the day.

Alex ended up being the simplest solution to our problems. With him wanting to go back to his now preferred nocturnal lifestyle and his interest in my magic, we had a good cover. Except for some weekends, because of my family, I could use my time under the sun to focus on my flight training, whilst the sunset meant it was time for our magic sessions. In a sense it would be true. There was one small problem, however.

Belaury rejected the idea of having two people around for her class.

My teacher reminded us that she would only take one student, and that the fact I had a blessing pretty much eliminated that possibility for everyone else. According to her, not only was it a great honour to do so in the past, but my potential to learn from her was greater.

Still, she understood we needed Alex for the plan to work, so she let him spectate her lessons as long as he remained quiet. This also applied to Sylvia, whom I also managed to get into our group. She didn't have any interest in using magic, nor was she ready to learn. All she wanted was to keep me company, so Belaury had no reason to refuse her like she did with Allison, who was still struggling with the basics.

The giantess was assigned to Viken instead, who would teach her and Rex in the mornings. Unfortunately for Anna, this schedule left little to no time for her to improve her own magic, so she had to wait until we no longer needed the boat for my own training. Lily, on the other hand, still feared going outside. She was clearly getting better, but it wasn't something she wanted to do daily, yet. Additionally, summer break was just a few days away from ending, and Dr. Blake did promise to tutor her himself. Considering how busy he was, I wondered how he would do it, though.

Belaury's first lesson began right after we finished planning our new routine. Since it was still early and we barely knew each other, she took the opportunity to pull me away from the group with the intention of getting acquainted with her new apprentice in private. The rest remained with Viken, most likely talking some more about the past.

Once we were far enough from them, my teacher made me gather a tiny ball of water from the lake and hold it until I felt my body's warning. She sat on the floor next to me and watched silently whilst I did it. It didn't take more than five minutes for me to reach my limit.

"I'm starting to feel a bit dizzy," I told her, dropping the water back into the lake. "What's the purpose of this? Wouldn't it be better to save my energy?"

"There's a procedure we must follow," she replied. "Knowing your current mana pool is crucial for me to properly instruct you."

"Was it good?"

"No, it was awful, even if we take your previous demonstration into account." Seeing my disappointment, she smiled wryly. "Don't worry too much. I'm used to elven standards, after all. It's only logical that not every race will be the same." She paused for a moment, then asked, "Did you use magic at any point before our meeting today?"