Chapter 129: Rituals and the Beginning of Training
"So, Ruby, please..."
I nodded toward the pentagram, and she entered it with visible anxiety.
"...your task is simply to stand there."
"And what? What's that drawing on the floor?"
Yang eyed the drawing warily, but her mother's calm presence kept her from causing trouble.
"It's a pentagram that should help determine how developed Ruby's magical gift is. Now, it's clear that it's most likely entirely undeveloped, but if it's at least at the level of an eleven-year-old child... that will allow us to put a wand in her hands and begin training."
"Hey! Maybe I'm stronger!"
"Ruby, although magic develops on its own, it does so very slowly, and the main development comes from constant training. So of course it may be slightly more developed, but not by much..."
I shook my head.
"...so in any case, you will have to put a great deal of effort into mastering new abilities."
"That's easy for me!"
She grinned.
"Yes, yes..."
Weiss nodded mockingly.
"...should I remind you that you always whine when you need to do homework?"
"Hey!"
Outrage rang in Ruby's voice.
"Stand in the center!"
I snapped at Ruby, and she froze in place, although she had clearly intended to leave the pentagram and pounce on her friend.
"As for laziness, the training contract will include physical punishments, such as flogging with a switch soaked in a special potion."
"What?!"
All the girls were indignant.
"And why are you so indignant? Study well, and you will never feel it. But if you slack off, that punishment will quickly teach you to study."
"Isn't that too much?"
Blake looked at me with a slight frown.
"No..."
I shook my head.
…it's motivation. Motivation to study hard. Believe me, I caught it a couple of times as a child, and I gave it my all so I'd never have to experience anything like it again.
"Hmm... it really is an effective method..."
Weiss grimaced slightly, and her friends looked at her in confusion.
"Weiss, you..."
"Yes, my tutors used similar methods to encourage learning, and Draco is right. Once you experience it yourself, you'll do everything you can to avoid those educational and disciplinary procedures again."
The girls fell silent, and I finally nodded in satisfaction.
"Well, your magical ability is at the level of a twelve-year-old, so you'll pick up first- and second-year spells quickly. With some effort, you can handle third- and fourth-year spells too, since the curriculum was recently simplified."
"Is that good or bad? Will I be able to cast spells like you?"
"You will..."
I nodded.
"...but not immediately. At best, you'll start attempting to fight with spells by the start of next school year. But it won't be very effective. In another year or so, though, you can reach a certain level, if you don't get lazy."
"Hurrah!"
"You may come out..."
I gestured for Blake to enter the pentagram, and she, after giving me a suspicious look, complied with my request.
"So, let's see how things stand with you..."
The girls chatted quietly among themselves while I continued checking them, and I frowned more and more with each passing minute.
"Why are you frowning?"
Yang looked at me with hidden concern.
"Listen, can I speak about this in front of them?"
Ignoring Yang, I looked at Blake.
"Hey! Don't ignore us!"
"Yes..."
Blake slowly nodded, closing her eyes and flattening her ears against her head.
"...secrets nearly destroyed our friendship and team once. I don't want a repeat."
"All right..."
I shrugged.
You have several rib fractures, and fractures in your right arm and leg. Though they're old, they didn't heal quite correctly. Do they ache when the weather changes?
"No... they throb..."
"Blake grimaced slightly."
"Uh-huh... the lungs. They were clearly injured and never fully healed, along with some old muscle injuries..."
"I took out my wand and waved it, summoning a scroll and a fountain pen, which immediately began writing down everything I said."
"And what is all this supposed to mean? There are no Huntsmen without injuries."
"Yang said it with slight pride, hiding her concern for her partner behind it."
"It means that for the next week, your friend will be drinking potions that taste extremely vile."
"Why?"
"Well..."
"I shrugged."
"...if she wants to get rid of the pain and regain her mobility, she will have to undergo the painless procedure of bone removal, after which she will drink a nasty potion that will grow new bones to replace the old ones."
"All the girls looked at me in shock."
"Um..."
"Don't worry, I had to undergo treatment like this too, so your friend will be good as new."
"Um... and what about magic?"
"Blake asked the question in an embarrassed voice."
"Magic is at the level of thirteen or fourteen, so you will be able to begin studying."
"So at your level?"
"Yang looked at me with a challenge in her eyes."
"No... I trained a great deal, and I believe I already mentioned the anomaly in my development, so my magical development is now roughly at the level of an eighteen- to twenty-year-old. Though it doesn't really help me in fights with Summer. Her combat experience and experience in using Aura are far more important."
"I looked thoughtfully at Blake and gestured for her to leave the pentagram, after which I handed her the scroll."
"I think Summer will take you to the local hospital. There aren't many high-class specialists there yet, of course, but ordinary Healers can handle this. And yes, have them conduct a deeper examination, since this pentagram isn't intended for scanning the body."
"Blake nodded, and I looked questioningly first at Yang, then at Weiss, and raised one eyebrow, as if asking who would be next."
"Well, I'll go next, then..."
"Weiss entered the pentagram, and after checking her, I frowned slightly."
"Well, you have magic, but it is rather weak, so before training, you will have to go through certain rituals."
"And what rituals are those?"
She looked at me with slight distrust.
"Well, if your friends agree, you'll go through the rituals together. They'll redirect their magic into you, sort of inflating you like a balloon, and then the magic will flow out of you, and they'll inflate you again."
"But we don't know how..."
Blake looked at me in confusion.
"What if Weiss bursts?"
Ruby looked at her friend in fear.
"I'll answer in reverse order. She won't burst. That's what the rituals are for: to prevent negative consequences. As for skill, you just need to sit in the pentagrams. The ritual will handle everything else."
"Then I agree!"
"Can I learn magic that way?"
Summer looked at me with interest, and I had to shake my head sadly.
"There's a minimum threshold. Your magic level can be raised from where it is to the minimum necessary for using a wand."
"Well, all right..."
She shrugged.
"Yang?"
I looked at the girl, who shrugged and stepped into the pentagram, and I quickly examined her.
"Well, you also need a little treatment. There are issues with the bones in your wrists. In short, you need treatment. As for magic, yours is slightly better than Weiss's, so it would be best to bring you up to the magical norm first, and then the three of you can pull her up."
"Well, if you say that will be better..."
Summer shrugged.
"...then that is what we will do."
I looked at Yang, whose entire demeanor screamed that she was here only for the girls and Summer. All I could do was sigh. It seemed she had clung too tightly to her sense of justice. While the other girls were open to the idea that norms and customs might differ elsewhere, she...
Still, what did it matter to me...
"Is that everything for today?"
Summer looked at me with a silent question, and I nodded. After that, the girls left my house with her, heading straight to the hospital.
*** Several Hours Later. ***
"Hello..."
No one answered, so I tried again.
"...come on, we don't know each other that well yet, of course, but I hope I've shown you that I don't bite..."
Again, silence was my only answer.
"...am I that frightening, or do I stink?"
"No..."
I flinched and turned, watching as Blake emerged from the shadows. As she approached, I caught the faint scent of medicine and saw that one of her arms was bandaged.
"Did you run away from the hospital?"
"Yes... I don't like hospitals."
I sighed.
"That's not very good... Healers are very strict about prescribed regimens, you know, and next time they might prescribe preventive enemas."
"Ahem... I did not know that..."
"Well, perhaps if you return to the ward before sunrise, you can blame your brief absence on your heightened sense of smell from your animal traits. Say the smell of potions was too much, so you had to leave, but you came back in the morning because you knew the treatment wasn't finished."
"I... yes... maybe I'll do that..."
Blake seemed a bit tense.
"Is something worrying you?"
"How?"
"Hm?"
I gave her a questioning look.
"What do you mean?"
"How did you find me? I thought I was hidden well enough..."
She spoke quietly, but I heard the concern in her voice, so I knew I shouldn't make light of her question.
"Well..."
I scratched my nose.
"...to be precise, I didn't notice you; I noticed Ruby..."
Rose petals drifted to us on a gentle breeze, and Ruby vanished.
"Her?"
A faint smile appeared on my lips.
"So I gave myself away?"
"Well... in a way, yes."
I nodded slowly, a slight smile on my lips, watching as she approached me and sat down nearby.
"I see..."
"How do you like our world?"
"Strange... unfamiliar..."
She shook her head.
"...your customs are very strange..."
"Are you talking about what you saw recently?"
"Yes... for us, it is strange, but... we will manage. We'll get used to it. Just don't be offended by us, especially Yang. She is not bad, just too emotional..."
"It's easy not to be offended by strangers and to forgive them. But if you get closer and she keeps behaving that way..."
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