Once Ariel received the full story from Seraphina, she was understandably shocked.
"I never knew the whole Demon Lord thing was such a big deal. The adventurers here rarely talk about it except when someone from Aurenthal passes by. Most of us here never knew the full story. To think we were so close to having it spread to the entire kingdom rather than just Aurenthal or the Royal Academy. And you're all heroes who saved the kingdom!?"
"Well, not all of us," Bastion interjected. "Most of us just watched from the sidelines."
"All of us," Seraphina insisted before turning to Bastion. "If that's really what you think, maybe I should tell Aurelia to confiscate the magic crystals you were rewarded, since you claim you just watched from the sidelines."
Bastion rushed over in a hurry and took Seraphina into his arms. "Now, now, wifey. Let's not be hasty. You know my money is your money too, right? If she took my money away, it would be the same as giving up your own money."
Lilia chuckled at the side, watching Bastion and Seraphina's antics. The pair were always strange whenever they dropped their typical noble demeanor and slipped into skits like this with each other. Back at the academy, it had been Seraphina being excessively horny. Now she'd mellowed out somewhat and transitioned into playing the wife, though since she was the actual wife, maybe she wasn't really playing at all.
"I'm still a bit freaked out that heroes come from another world," Ariel mumbled.
"I know, right?" Lilia remarked. "I still can't wrap my mind around it, since they're both nobles at the top of the food chain. I always thought nobles acted much like they do."
"I know nobles, and I can honestly say they are nothing like them. These two are very strange in comparison, although they do have the social etiquette down perfectly."
After a bit of back and forth, Seraphina finally asked about the topic Ariel had really come for. "So, you probably want to learn Wind Magic, right?"
"Yes, please," Ariel answered immediately with a wide smile.
"Come on then, I'll show you how it's done."
The group headed down to the training grounds, where Seraphina, dressed in a breezy red sundress, guided Ariel, who was clad in her worn-out white leather armor, to the center.
"I want you to close your eyes and imagine the wind as you see it," Seraphina instructed softly. "What do you see?"
"A clear blue sky on a pleasant day with a light breeze tugging at the hem of my skirt, playing with my hair, and caressing my cheeks," Ariel answered with a small smile.
"Perfect. Now, hold out your hand, send mana to your palm, and imagine it being caressed by the wind."
Ariel followed as instructed and, to her surprise, felt a breeze stir in the palm of her hand. It was light, gentle, almost caring. Her heart skipped at the sensation.
"Now, open your eyes."
Ariel opened her eyes and saw nothing in her hand, but she could still feel the wind caressing her skin. The dissonance between what she had expected and what she saw caused her to lose focus and disperse the gathered mana.
"That's okay. It's your first time," Seraphina reassured.
"I had it," Ariel said quickly. "I knew I had it in my hands, but it slipped away."
"You did have it, but you were expecting to see the flow of the elements, which is why you missed it. It was there in the palm of your hands, you just didn't see it."
"But I've seen mages use wind attacks before. Theirs usually had the color green or white when they were particularly powerful."
"Quite simply, you aren't there yet. Unless you reach Wind Magic level 3 and have about 100 mana to play with, you'll hardly be able to truly manipulate it freely and for so long. You need to start with baby steps."
"It took me years to produce anything more than a breeze," Bastion added from the side. "You have more mana to practice with, so it shouldn't take you long to bring it up to a satisfactory level. You just need diligence and patience."
"I still won't be able to get it to level 5, right?" Ariel asked sadly.
"At Rank 1? You will if you keep practicing."
"How long?"
"Decades, since you don't have the innate talent for it. I even stopped training my other elements until I have the free time for it."
"Same with me. I have talent for Fire and Wind, but I've trained my Water magic the most just to keep up, and it's still lagging behind. Don't worry, though. Just keep practicing and you'll eventually get there. Since you're only focusing on one element, it shouldn't take you too long."
Ariel took their word for it and kept practicing. With only 40 mana, she was spent after a few minutes, so Lilia set up a small runic circle to collect mana and enhance her regeneration. Ariel also accepted a few mana potions from Seraphina to speed up the process and save as much time as possible. By the end of the day, her effort paid off as she had acquired Wind Magic level 1.
A month later, she pushed it to level 2. Now she could produce more than a simple breeze and actually generate thrust, the same trick Bastion once used in combination with Fire Magic to dodge quickly without relying on the skill. Since it consumed mana rather than stamina, it had been useful back when he was still weak. Now, with his surplus of stamina, he hardly ever used it.
"Okay! I'm ready!" Ariel shouted.
"Go ahead," Bastion replied.
Ariel tucked her wings in and made herself as small as possible before sprinting at full speed. With her high strength and dexterity, she blitzed down the runway before leaping with all her might. She rose a few meters into the air, then spread her wings wide, catching the wind.
She soared upward until her momentum faltered, then banked right to catch the air beneath her wings. She managed to glide, though with visible difficulty given her lack of experience.
"I'm flying!" she shouted with glee, until she noticed she was quickly losing speed. "Oh no."
"Use your Wind Magic!" Seraphina called from below.
"Right, Wind Magic!"
Ariel imagined the wind carrying her wings, lifting her higher into the air, but the generated wind was merely a breeze, far too weak to give her the lift she needed. She started losing altitude and her composure until finally she simply started falling.
"Kyaaa!" she screamed as she plummeted to the ground, head first.
Bastion dashed to where she was about to land and leapt, catching her in a bridal carry mid-fall.
Ariel subconsciously wrapped her wings around them, making herself small out of embarrassment from their intimate contact.
Bastion smiled at her as they landed with a heavy thud before saying, "Did you forget you would survive the fall?"
Ariel's face turned beet red. She had indeed forgotten she could have easily landed, even with the awkward position. All she needed to do was use her arms as springs to absorb the impact, which would have caused barely any damage. She had survived being knocked away by a troll, so she could certainly survive a regular fall.
"Thank you," she whispered as he set her down.
"Anytime," he replied with his signature smile.
Ariel's heart fluttered, her face still burning as she tried to shake off the warmth in her chest. She forced herself to focus and tried again, this time with a different plan.
Meanwhile, Bastion returned to Seraphina's side.
"I'd nearly forgotten how devastating that smile of yours was," Seraphina commented with a wry grin. "Poor girl must be smitten."
"That was the plan, wasn't it?" Bastion replied.
"Now you just sound like you're one-sidedly taking advantage of her."
"She deserves love after what she's been through."
"And only you can provide it?"
"It would take all of us," Bastion said with a light smile.
Seraphina let out a groan. "Damn, you got me. You win this round."
Bastion chuckled and turned his gaze back to Ariel, watching her take to the sky.
Her new plan was to generate thrust like Bastion had taught her. She imagined a small door on her back, right between the base of her wings. She filled it with mana and shoved the door open, letting a burst of wind magic explode out.
The sudden thrust pushed her forward, allowing her to gain speed and catch lift on her wings, enabling her to continue her flight. She was no longer just gliding, she was flying.
It took another few months of practice before she was finally able to fly freely. What once took all her effort to maintain now felt natural. Each morning she would circle the castle and touch every spire. Out in the forest, she was able to weave between trees and even shoot her hand cannons at targets mid-dive.
The improvement was drastic, but she had hit a plateau. Between her low mana and low output, she couldn't go much faster. She concluded that she was finished with training for now until her Wind Magic reached level 3.
This meant the group was finally ready to hunt some basilisks in the swamps of the Great Forest.
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