"Umu. To be honest, if it weren't for the severity of what's at large, I would rather teach you this step as soon as possible. It is not only the most crucial one, but it is the only step to temper your Mana and unlock your Mana Core. Only until that happens can we progress your actual training. You simply lack the means to produce it right now, making you unable to use any incantations. You likely know what this method is already from those memories of yours.", Roselia said, shrugging her shoulders while she explained the situation to me.
"The what now?", Aurelia asked again, not following along one bit.
"Didn't I tell you to keep your mouth shut, girly? Keep quiet and let the adult speak. I wouldn't mind spanking you myself.", Roselia retorted again. Remembering the earlier pressure, I saw Aurelia quickly close her mouth. Doesn't she hold the title of Demon of Thors right now at the academy?
Some thoughts flashed through my head before realizing what Roselia was referring to.
"It's 'Meditate', isn't it?", I decided to ask.
"Bingo. Once one begins the Meditation, they tune into their surroundings, and become one with nature. Reach enough proficiency at it, you'll even begin to feel the flow of the many Spirit Veins that rest beneath us. From that point onward, tampering your Mana will be child's play.", Roselia explained. "And as for the logic behind what Mana and Magic actually are, we can go over those details later. I'm not going to spend a single lesson in hopes you'd understand it right away. Or rather, it looks like you're up to something quite interesting now, aren't you boy? I might as well play my part while we're here.", Roselia continued, drawing my attention again.
"You just want to tag along to what we're about to do, isn't that right, Master?", I replied, sighing. "Don't you have others waiting for you back at the village?"
"Well there is Emma, and as much as I want to introduce her to you, we need to make sure you're absolutely ready to entire my village first.", Roselia answered, causing me to nod my head.
"Right. A Witch can't exactly enter a Witch's home without being a Witch first. Totally makes sense.", I replied.
"Umu. Something like that anyways. Most of the time it falls upon me whether they are allowed to enter. I am the village's leader, after all.", Roselia answered back.
"Now just wait a dang minute. I cannot follow you two once so ever. What is this talk about Magic? Stuff like that only exists in fairy tales!", Aurelia exclaimed. I could see a mixture of emotions on her face, and it was somewhat funny to see this side of her. In the games, you'd just see her stern look most of the time, even going as far as issuing orders to others. Much like Father. After all, Aurelia here does wind up becoming the Principal of Thor's Branch Campus where Rean eventually winds up as an Instructor at.
"Don't make me say it again, girl. Remain quiet and do as you're told. It will be up to your own will if you can learn something from this experience. If you can grasp onto just even a sliver of what is presently being discussed, you will soar to even greater heights.", Roselia explained, still slightly annoyed by Aurelia's back-and-forth. She didn't immediately say anything to Roselia's words. I could see all of her emotions wipe away, and only curiosity remained. She even raised her eyebrows.
But she didn't say anything, and kept quiet this time. If she truly was going to learn something from our exchange, then so be it. It wasn't hard to see that Roselia and I were a Teacher-Student pair. We were giving off similar vibes to her times spent learning under Matteus Vander and Victor Arseid. I don't know if the latter has happened already, or if it's going to. She's already starting to address him as "Master", implying that Victor has already accepted Aurelia as a student of the Arseid Style. Aurelia said nothing more, and instead, she perked her ears up, and remained attentive, treating this as an actual lesson.
It was surprising to see such a shift so suddenly, but she isn't the Demon of Thors for no reason. She's the topmost student academically during her study there, and this proves it.
Roselia nodded her head seeing this change in Aurelia, and approached me. Or in particular, my back. She placed one of her hands on it. Aurelia remained attentive, and saw Roselia unleash a bluish glow around her body. Her eyes turned wide seeing this, but she knew to remain quiet. A moment of silence passed like this before I heard Roselia speak at me. It was as if she was speaking directly inside my head, very much like before. It's a weird feeling, as I'm mostly used to hearing the Gamer Notifications sound off inside my head like this.
"Can you hear me, Naoto?", Roselia's voice questioned. She entered my mind directly. The two of us began exchanging conversation like this while remaining quiet on the outside.
"Loud and clear, Rose.", I answered. I do remember that Roselia said it was fine for me to address her as Rose when we were "alone" in situations like this. Either physically, or spiritually. In this case, it's the latter.
"Umu. The connection has been established. Good. It has happened once already, so it's easier to do the second time. I shall teach you the proper steps to meditate. Are you ready?", Roselia asked.
"Yes."
"Then let us begin. Listen to the sound of my breathing, and focus on what you feel happens inside of you. Once you have grasped onto that feeling, do not let it go.", Roselia said.
Hearing that, I inwardly nodded at her. She really seems adamant on teaching me Magic, but before we can even dive into such a realm, there are steps to do before that. And it looks like Meditation is the very first one. From there, she called it...a Mana Core?
I turned still and quiet, not even letting a single loose thought escape my head. I could feel a certain rhythmic breathing escape from Roselia's mouth behind me, and she began to meditate. Sure enough, it didn't take me to follow suit. I felt a certain warmth I hadn't felt before in either of my two lives start to swell up inside me.
This warmth...
It's the so-called Mana, isn't it? Something you can't explain, but once you notice its existence, you realize it's been there all along. Only places like Zemuria have access to Magic. It was practically nonexistent in my previous life, since I hailed from Planet Earth. Excitement grew in my eyes, but I knew I couldn't let that distract me. And in response to that, I heard a single notification sound off inside my head, signaling that this Meditation worked.
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has acquired a new Skill, [Meditate]].