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Two Months Later
Helice spent the next two months studying magical principles, but since she didn't know much, she could only make speculations based on what was recorded within the first scrolls.
According to the scrolls, there are actually particles floating in the air, coursing through every being and everything. The magi community called them Aether particles; they were actually the raw form of planar energies. They appeared in the background of everyday existence. The first step to becoming an acolyte and following the path of a magus was to sense these particles.
Another thing she learned was that in the magi community, there was something called aptitudes. Amis didn't detail this in the scroll, but a good aptitude, enough willpower, and an optimal mind were required to sense the Aether.
Over the last three months, Helice had tried everything she could come up with, including yoga and other forms of meditation techniques she could think of, with limited success. This meant her aptitude wasn't that great, but she wasn't the least bit discouraged. She didn't just meditate and try to sense the Aether; she also went through the dark adept Saresian's notes and used them to formulate her own theories whenever she could, all the while helping Amis with the farm.
And like this, two months passed. During this time, the Red Bandit group had naturally shown up to collect their shipment. Thankfully, Amis had been working extra hard, so everything went without a hitch.
However, two days ago, something happened. While she was meditating, she had her eyes closed at the time, but when she opened them, for a split second, there were actually dark particles floating in the air. They appeared for a brief moment before disappearing, but for that moment, Helice felt a knot loosen in her mind. After sensing it once, it became very easy to do it again. Although it took a few hours, she was able to enter the state of mind she had attained when she sensed the particles.
After two days of practice, she could now enter and exit the state at will. Helice exhaled. After fulfilling the second step, which was directing the particles into the Mind Sea or psychic sea, she then picked up the crystal plaque and concentrated her mind on it. After a few moments, a row of characters naturally appeared on its surface: [PSYCHIC SCALE: 3.9].
After two months of constant practice, she had managed to increase her psychic scale by point nine. Although she didn't know if this was normal, she guessed it was very slow, since other acolytes might have other principles or runes to study.
"I should probably use this psychic scalar less; it might be running on some kind of power and could run out someday," she thought. The psychic scalar was what she had decided to call the crystal plaque. She had decided to use it only when she thought she might have made a big leap in her psychic scale. It might be running on some kind of power source, and who knew when it might run out? She wasn't willing to bet that whatever power it used could replenish itself.
The psychic scalar was incredibly important if she was to become a Rank 1 acolyte on her own. She couldn't have it dying on her now, at least until she found a way to make contact with a larger magi community.
Another thing she noticed was that her headaches had disappeared since her psychic scale had risen to this point. Plus, studying magical principles seemed to drain her mentally; this was due to the profundity of their nature.
Given that she could now manipulate the Aether, or rather could now guide them to her psychic sea, she was ready for her first mind rune. If the scrolls were to be believed, these runes would help quell the effects of studying magical principles.
She first visualized the rune before she began carving it in her psychic sea. The psychic sea was what a person from the 21st century would call the subconscious. Of course, the only difference was that not only did the people of this world manage to prove its existence, but they could also actually travel there, to the subconscious plane within their mind.
It was like a vast canvas, empty, and she could write on it. Helice imagined a giant pen, and the Aether particles in the air immediately rushed into her psychic sea. After continuous practice, this step had become very easy.
She began inscribing the first rune, named "Clear Mind." To her surprise, it was much more difficult than she had thought. After mere seconds, she was completely exhausted, so much so that she had actually collapsed to the ground.
At that moment, Amis entered, only to be met with a sight that had become rare in the last two months. Helice's headaches had grown less frequent; in fact, this was the first incident in the last two months.
Amis was hoping Helice was back on her feet so she could help him more with the farm, but it would seem it was his mistake for getting his hopes up for no reason. Amis picked her up like a princess before bringing her to rest.
By that time, night was fast approaching. After two more hours, she woke up, took a few moments to freshen up, wore a new set of clothes, and then joined Amis for supper. This routine would quickly become the norm between them.
Amis quickly noticed her becoming more and more distant, but there was nothing he could do. That night, Helice didn't bother sleeping. Even with Amis lying next to her, seemingly fast asleep, Helice was actually preoccupied with carving the Clear Mind rune.
She collapsed multiple times during the night, only to wake up and continue. Though the "Clear Mind" rune was clearly the easiest among the five runes, it seemed to be taking forever to complete.
It took her almost an entire week to complete the "Clear Mind" rune. During this time, Amis had almost been scared to death. If it weren't for her constant reminders that she was fine, he would have taken her to the Golden Wheat Village physician.
However, things quickly returned to normal just as he was about to drag her to the physician. In fact, things had become amazing in the weeks that followed.
Amis seemed to be getting more than he bargained for; in fact, it almost seemed too good to be true. But Amis didn't complain too much. While it couldn't be said that he loved Helice deeply, she was still his companion, the woman he had chosen to spend the rest of his life with. It wasn't out of love, but the fact that she was there when there was no one else.