Dawn came too early, announced by Roland's boot nudging Elena's shoulder.
"Up."
Elena groaned, pulling her blanket tighter. "It's still dark..."
"It's dawn. Light's coming. Move." Another nudge, less gentle. "Enemies don't wait for you to finish breakfast. Neither does the forest."
She sat up reluctantly, hair a mess, eyes barely open. The fire had burned down to embers. The air was cold enough to see her breath.
Roland was already moving, rekindling the fire with a casual application of mana. Flames leapt up obediently.
"That's cheating," Elena mumbled, rubbing her eyes.
"That's efficiency. But you won't be doing it that way." He handed her a water skin. "Drink. Wake up. We start in ten minutes."
Elena drank, the cold water shocking her more awake. Around them, the forest was transitioning from night sounds to day sounds – different birds calling, different insects humming. The stream burbled constantly in the background.
By the time ten minutes passed, she was more or less functional. Roland had laid out a small pile of materials: dry tinder, kindling, some larger sticks.
"First lesson," he said, pointing at the pile. "Start a fire. Now you don't do [Flame Touch], and no shortcuts either. Stick with raw mana manipulation please."
Elena blinked at him. "But I know [Flame Touch]. Why not just—"
"Because [Flame Touch] is a crutch. It's a pre-packaged spell that does the work for you. What happens if your control fails? What happens if you need fire in a situation where that specific spell doesn't work?"
He crouched by the materials.
"You need to understand fire fundamentally, not just know a spell that makes it."
He picked up a piece of tinder.
"Fire needs three things: heat, fuel, and oxygen. Take away any one and fire doesn't exist. Magic doesn't create fire from nothing – it creates the conditions where fire can exist."
Elena knelt across from him, studying the tinder pile.
"So I'm not... making fire with mana?"
"No. You're using mana to generate enough heat to ignite the fuel in the presence of oxygen." He set the tinder down. "The mana is just the ignition source. The fire itself comes from the material burning."
It sounded simple when he explained it. Elena reached out, focusing her mana into her palm, trying to generate heat without forming it into [Flame Touch].
Her hand got warm. The tinder didn't.
"You're heating yourself, not the target," Roland observed. "The mana needs to leave your body, transfer into the tinder, excite the molecules until they reach ignition temperature."
"Molecules?"
"Tiny pieces of matter. Everything's made of them. Magic can make them vibrate faster, which generates heat." He waved off her confused expression. "Don't worry about the theory. Just feel it. Your mana needs to go into the tinder, not stay in your hand."
Elena tried again. This time she pushed her mana outward, into the tinder.
It got slightly warm. Not enough to ignite.
"More concentrated," Roland instructed. "You're spreading the heat too thin. Focus it to a single point. Like... like debugging code. Find the exact line that needs changing, not the whole program."
She tried to focus more precisely. Her mana gathered at a single point on the tinder.
Smoke appeared. A tiny wisp, barely visible.
"There!" Roland said. "That's the beginning. More heat, same spot. Don't let up."
Elena maintained her focus, pouring more mana into that single point. The smoke increased. The tinder began to glow red at the edges.
Then her concentration wavered, and the glow died.
"Damn it!"
"Again."
She tried again. And again. And again.
Each time she got close but couldn't quite push it over the edge into actual flame. The tinder smoked, glowed, even charred slightly – but wouldn't ignite.
An hour passed. Then two.
Elena's frustration mounted with each failure. Her mana reserves were depleting from the constant, focused effort. Sweat beaded on her forehead despite the cool morning air.
"This is impossible," she muttered after the fifteenth attempt.
"It's not. You're just trying to force it." Roland picked up a fresh piece of tinder. "Watch."
He held it in one hand, his other hand hovering above. His mana was barely visible, just a faint shimmer in the air. But the tinder began to smoke immediately, then a small flame burst to life.
He extinguished it casually.
"See? Not force. Precision. You're throwing power at the problem. I'm applying exactly the right amount of heat to exactly the right spot for exactly the right duration."
"How do I know what the right amount is?"
"Practice. Trial and error. Feedback." He handed her another piece of tinder. "Try again. But this time, start with less mana. Build up gradually. Feel for the response."
Elena took a deep breath, centering herself. Less mana. Gradual build-up. Feel the response.
She focused again, this time being more gentle with her approach. Her mana flowed into the tinder slowly, carefully. The material began to warm.
She added more heat. Gradually. The tinder started smoking.
More heat. The smoke thickened. A red glow appeared.
More heat. The glow spread, intensified—
Flame.
A tiny, fragile flame, barely larger than a candle's, flickering uncertainly on the tinder.
But flame.
Elena gasped, afraid to breathe too hard and extinguish it. The tiny fire danced, holding on, fed by the burning tinder.
"Don't stop," Roland said quietly. "Add kindling. Carefully."
With trembling hands, Elena added a small stick to the flame. It caught, the fire growing slightly.
Another stick. The fire strengthened, becoming stable.
Within a minute, she had a proper small fire burning in front of her.
She looked up at Roland, her face split by a huge grin.
"I did it! I actually—"
"You did," Roland confirmed, and there was approval in his voice. "Took you long enough."
But he was almost smiling too.
Elena stared at the fire she'd created – not with a spell, not with a technique someone had taught her, but with raw understanding of what fire actually was and how to create it.
This felt different from every spell she'd cast at the academy. More fundamental. More real.
"This is what magic is supposed to feel like," she said softly.
"Yeah," Roland agreed. "Actual understanding, not just memorized formulas. Remember this feeling. This is the difference between knowing a spell and knowing magic."
They let the fire burn down while Elena recovered her mana. Roland produced some dried fruit and hard cheese for a late breakfast.
"How long did it take you to learn that?" Elena asked between bites.
Roland chewed thoughtfully. "To learn fire ignition specifically? Few hours. To really understand it? Years. You'll keep discovering new layers the more you practice."
"Years," Elena repeated, slightly daunted.
"Don't think about years. Think about now. Today you learned something real. Tomorrow you'll learn something else. Eventually it adds up." He finished his food, standing. "Now we move to water."
***
The afternoon lesson took place at the stream.
Roland had Elena practice [Water Purification] again, but in a more demanding context. Not a small sample in a controlled environment, but actual stream water with sediment, bacteria, and dissolved minerals.
"Make it drinkable," he instructed, handing her an empty water skin.
Elena knelt by the stream, gathering water in her hands. She focused her mana, trying to purify it the way she'd learned at the manor.
The water cleared slightly but was still cloudy.
"Not good enough," Roland said. "You'd get sick drinking that."
She tried again, pushing more mana into the purification process. This time the water cleared more, but Roland still shook his head.
"Better, but your mana efficiency is terrible. You're using three times the energy needed because you're not targeting the right contaminants."
"How do I know which contaminants—"
"Feel them. Your mana can sense impurities if you let it. Stop trying to purify everything at once. Identify, then eliminate. Systematic."
Elena closed her eyes, trying to sense rather than just push. Her mana extended into the water, and for the first time, she actually felt the complexity of it – not just "dirty water" but layers of different substances that shouldn't be there.
She focused on the largest particles first, breaking them down. Then smaller ones. Then the microscopic level where bacteria lived.
When she opened her eyes, the water in her hands was crystal clear.
"Better," Roland acknowledged. "Now do it ten more times until it becomes automatic."
She did, each iteration becoming slightly faster and more efficient.
But Roland noticed something during the practice.
"Your fire ignition this morning was cleaner than your water purification now," he observed. "Same concept – using mana to affect matter – but your fire work is noticeably more stable."
Elena paused, water dripping from her hands. "Is it?"
"Yeah. Watch." He had her create fire from tinder again, then purify water. The difference was clear – her fire magic flowed smoothly, naturally, while her water purification required conscious effort to maintain.
"Your mana resonates with fire naturally," Roland said. "It wants to burn. You're fighting your own nature trying to be well-rounded."
"The academy said all mages should be proficient in multiple elements," Elena protested. "That specializing too early limits your options."
Roland snorted. "The academy says a lot of stupid things. Tell me, did being 'well-rounded' help you when your spells kept failing?"
She had no answer to that.
"Specialization isn't limiting. It's focusing. It's playing to your strengths instead of wasting energy trying to patch weaknesses that don't matter." He pointed at the stream. "You'll always be able to purify water in an emergency. But you'll never be a water mage. Your soul's made of fire."
Elena looked at her hands, thinking about how naturally the flames had responded to her this morning compared to every other type of magic she'd attempted.
"So I should... only learn fire magic?"
"No. Learn enough utility magic to survive. But don't pretend you're ever going to be as good at water or earth or air as you'll be at fire. That's wasted effort." He crossed his arms. "The academy wants to produce generic mages who can do everything adequately. I'm trying to produce a specialist who can do one thing excellently. Guess which one's more valuable?"
It went against everything Elena had been taught. But it also made sense in a way the academy's approach never had.
"How do I know if fire is really my element? What if I'm wrong?"
"Kid, I watched you set tinder on fire this morning after two hours of practice. Most students take days. Your fire mana is so strong I can feel it from here." He tapped his chest. "Trust your instincts. Your mana knows what it is even if your brain's confused."
Elena sat back on her heels, processing this.
A fire mage. Not a generalist, not a well-rounded academy graduate. A specialist.
It felt simultaneously terrifying and right.
***
Evening came with the satisfaction of practical accomplishment.
Roland had Elena cook their dinner – not with a campfire he'd started, but with her own controlled [Flame Touch] applied to the cooking pot.
She had to maintain precise heat for an extended period while also preparing the food. Multitasking that would have been impossible for her a week ago.
But now, with better control and growing confidence in her fire affinity, she managed it. The stew didn't burn. The heat stayed consistent. The food actually cooked properly.
When they ate, sitting by the fire as the forest darkened around them, the meal tasted better because she'd made it with her own magic.
"This is what magic is supposed to be," Roland said, echoing her words from the morning. "Useful. Practical. Not flashy demonstrations or theoretical exercises, but actual application that keeps you alive and fed."
Elena stirred her stew, thinking about her time at the academy. The elaborate spell demonstrations. The competitions to see who could create the most impressive magical effects. The constant pressure to prove yourself through power and spectacle.
None of it had felt like this.
"The academy's going to seem very different when I go back," she said quietly.
"Good. You'll see through the bullshit now." Roland finished his portion, setting the bowl aside. "They'll try to tell you that practical magic is beneath you. That real mages study theory and grand works. Don't listen."
"What if they're right? What if I'm wasting my potential—"
"Your potential is to not die in a ditch because you starved after casting too many 'impressive' spells and exhausting yourself." He poked the fire with a stick, sending sparks up. "Grand mages built on foundations of practical skill. You can't skip to advanced without mastering basics. That's like trying to run a program without writing the core functions first."
Elena smiled slightly. "You always come back to that metaphor."
"Because it works. Magic is just... reality programming. Same principles apply."
They sat in comfortable silence, the fire crackling between them. Above, stars were appearing through gaps in the canopy. Night sounds were building – crickets, distant owl calls, the rustle of nocturnal creatures beginning their hunting.
Elena felt simultaneously exhausted and energized. Her body was tired from a full day of intensive practice. Her mana reserves were depleted from constant use. But her mind felt clearer than it had in months.
This was real training. Real progress. Real magic.
Not performance. Not theory. Not trying to meet someone else's expectations.
Just her, fire, and the fundamental understanding of how they connected.
"Roland-sensei?"
"Mm?"
"Thank you. For this. For..." She gestured vaguely at the forest, the fire, the day's lessons. "For teaching me what magic actually is."
Roland was quiet for a moment, staring into the flames.
"Don't thank me yet. We've still got two more days, and tomorrow's going to be harder."
"What are we learning tomorrow?"
"Combat applications. Because understanding fire is good, but you need to know how to use it when something's trying to kill you."
Elena's excitement was tempered by nervousness. Combat training in the wilderness felt very different from controlled exercises in the manor yard.
But she was ready.
Or at least, she thought she was.
"Get some sleep," Roland said, banking the fire. "You'll need your strength tomorrow."
Elena settled into her bedroll, the sounds of the forest washing over her. She expected to lie awake worrying about tomorrow's training.
Instead, she fell asleep almost immediately, her dreams filled with flames that danced to her command, responding to her will as naturally as breathing.
Across the fire, Roland sat watch for the first part of the night, his senses extended into the darkness. Nothing threatening nearby – yet. But tomorrow they'd be making noise, using obvious magic, drawing attention.
Tomorrow would test whether Elena's new confidence could hold up under actual pressure.
He hoped it could.
Because if it couldn't, they'd find out the hard way.
And in the wilderness, the hard way tended to involve teeth and claws and blood.
"Sleep well, kid," he murmured to the fire. "Enjoy peace while it lasts."
Then he settled in to wait for his own rest, whenever that might come.