Crippled was a harsh word to use really, but Selene knew, calling it anything else would have been an insult to her status as a mage.
In a nutshell, her condition was pain.
If she had to explain it properly,
She felt pain every time she passed a threshold in her usage of mana.
And it wasn't the usual kind of throbbing pain one would expect from over exertion of the mana core. No. It was pain so raw, so searing that there were times when Selene had slipped into week long comas from not being able to bear it.
Selene could remember multiple instances where she had forgotten to hold back, and had been rendered utterly useless by the plain coming from her sternum.
It was a cruel fate really, for this to happen to such a gifted child.
Her parents and mentor had tried everything they could, used every kind of remedy they could find, they had even had a court mage peer into her mana core, to see what was the problem.
Yet, nothing had shown up.
Until now.
Selene wasn't really sure about what to do with herself now. Now that she knew.
Now that she had figured out what had been holding her back all this time, she could confidently focus on the one thing that would help her take the next step.
Flawed healing huh...
She pondered on how her mana core could have sustained an injury without even herself knowing. And for such a mystical organ to have healed 'wrong', it was quite the confusing situation.
"I will look for any information I can find, you should look for more details inside your mana core. Anything could be of great help."
Her master pushed the book towards her.
"Take this, and inform if you find anything else. I'm afraid our meeting will have to continue later, the envoys from Myrvale are here" She looked at her pager, which was glowing red, indicating that she was being summoned. "It will take some time for the council to be over."
Selene nodded, and struggled to stand up.
After managing to gain balance once more and properly standing up, she took the book in her hands and walked towards the door.
Melissa opened it for her, and right as she was about to step out.
"Take this."
Selene turned around, only to see a vial of glass filled to the brim with a thick blue liquid floating right in front of her face.
"Its a vial of healing potion. Don't tell your father I gave it you" Cyr picked up her quill again and started scribbling on a piece paper, not looking at Selene.
Selene gave her the best bow she could manage, which looked more like a nod since her back was in agony, and stepped outside.
The pain had immediately started subsiding after drinking the potion. She didn't even need to lean on Melissa to walk on now, which was a bonus since Selene felt like the moment she showed even a inch of weakness she would dragged right back into her bed.
They walked for a long while, Selene in the front and Melissa just behind by her side, watching over her master like a trained hawk.
After getting back to her room, she dismissed melissa, and went inside for a change of clothes.
She looked around her room, taking in the familiarity of it. And breathing in the comfortable air rid of the pressure of being a noble.
She had missed her room really, she liked spending her time in here. It was a safe space were most the worries plaguing her mind to could to take a moment to breathe, it was a place where she could actually relax instead of putting up a strong facade of a strong noble lady.
She washed herself first, then changed into a blue frilly gown. It was a comfortable outfit, not really meant for anything other than to be worn inside the safety of one's own home.
She fixed her hair, reapplied her make up, then took a moment to just sit... and think about all she had learned so far.
firstly, she had learned what the problem with her mana core was.
She closed her eyes and nodded to herself.
"Secondly, I now know how to proceed..."
"And another bonus was the combat experience..."
Somewhere along the way she had started mumbling to herself, and had eventually ended up losing track of time.
The sun was setting on the horizon when a knock on her door startled Selene out of her trance.
"Yes?"
"You have been summoned by the Duke."