worried her much more than she had let on. Different to her clueless brother and Rose, her not so intelligent cousin, she did not fancy the public opinion that the people from the
Eastern Continent
were just "barbarians". If the war had really been instigated by the
Eastern Continent
, then there were a lot of reasons to be wary of them.
The
why
and
how
of the matter was still an unknown factor, and if there was one thing that she absolutely abhorred in the whole world, it was the unknown. Even Suzanne, her all-powerful aunt, was far more worried than she'd let on. Otherwise, there was no way she would have arrived in such a hurry, already resolved to resort to fight and hurt her 'Sweetie' so as to hasten his awakening.
"Okay, first of all..." Lily's tone was somber as she collected her thoughts. Now wasn't the time for thinking about the war. She had to focus on the task at hand. Raymond, as a half-awakened warrior, knew how to partially manifest mana. However, to completely manifest magic out of one's body was not that easy, and it was only the initial step for casting spells. Though there were cases where many awakened had learned to do it on the first try, she was not expecting the same from Raymond.
Considering how Raymond had trained for combat, the wind element would have been more suitable with his style of fighting. He fought with a long sword while focusing on speed and techniques rather than power or explosiveness. While employing the same style was still an option, it was not the optimum choice for an earth awakened.
"It's difficult, so don't be in a hurry!" Lily warned. She still remembered the countless days spent to both perfect her techniques and optimize them. She had worked extremely hard to figure out how to be efficient with mana use. Her mana pool was a lot smaller, and unlike Rose, she couldn't keep up with the consumption if she tried to solve everything with brute force.
"I know, I know," Raymond waved off. "How hard can it be!?"
Lily heard him scoff as he followed her to the cave. She could tell that his confidence was at an all-time high after succeeding in awakening his attribute, and the euphoria of it would take a while to pass.
***
(Part 2)
Raymond was sprawled out on his back. He was huffing in exhaustion. All his limbs felt devoid of any strength; his magic pool felt drained and shaken.
This... is... so... hard,
he thought with frustration.
"Match the chant," Lily instructed in the same tone that she had been maintaining for the last hour.
Raymond had been trying to match the rhythm of his magic with the chant for the past hour with no success. The chant was easy, and he had memorized it in a jiff, but to match his magic rhythm with the chant was proving to be quite the ordeal. He did not expect it would be this difficult. He despaired at the thought of memorizing much longer and harder chants and matching their rhythm.
To cast a spell, an awakened had to circulate their mana through their mana channels in a specific frequency before manifesting it outside of their bodies. The chant was there because it helped and supplemented the process. If an awakened individual matched the rhythm of the chant with their mana, it would be the same as harmonizing it with the frequency. It was a complex process, and the awakened had to learn to make proper use of their mana channels. Mana control, those who were proficient in it, had a much easier time. Practice could help them figure out a lot of things, though there was also a factor of getting a feel for it on their own.
Generally speaking, a more complicated and complex chant indicated a higher-level spell. This, in turn, ensured more power would be obtained by the awakened. Though it was rare, an accomplished awakened could cast a spell without needing to outwardly chant.
"One more time!" Raymond picked himself from off the ground. He got his breathing under control as his magic was circulating through his body towards his hands, in its original frequency, and he muttered the chant.
"
Petra Vlastos"
Slowly, Raymond changed the frequency of his mana to match the rhythm of the chant. He was completely focused this time; his narrowed eyes stared at a patch on the ground not more than a few meters away. Suddenly, a large rock shot out of his extended hand and hit the ground with force. The rock, the size of a large melon, made a loud noise as it crashed on the surface. It was embedded on the hard surface, making a very small crater around it, with half of it under the ground and invisible to the eyes.
"Yes!"
"Good," Lily said in an impressed tone.
"What's next? I think I can do this now! What's next? New spell?" Raymond guessed that she was a bit surprised by the size of the rock, but it was to be expected, and he didn't pay much mind to it. His mana pool was larger compared to hers, and as a result, he could channel more of it through his wider magic circuits for the same kind of chants.
...
"You can learn other spells by yourself. I want to teach you something else," Lily commented as she ignored the expectant look on Raymond's face, even though he tried to make it hard for her to turn him down easily.
"You can do it later," she added and walked towards a much rockier surface. Gradually, the ground around her started to change and became plainer, smoother. She stared in his stunned eyes and said resolutely, "this! I want to teach you this!"
Lily was confident that if he could do it one time, he would be able to do it the next time as well. There was nothing especially difficult about learning different spells, just the chants would change which he could memorize and practice by himself. She was much more interested in teaching him how to manipulate the terrain by using his magic.
The earth element, though lacking in destructive power due to the large amount of magic needed to manifest it outside the body, had one major advantage which could be exploited. On the battlefield, if one could affect the terrain, it would lead to a major imbalance in the respective powers of the two sides. Since most battles were fought on land, with only a small portion of those over the seas, the earth element was overwhelming in its effectiveness. The only problem was that, usually, only the awakened with a large mana pool could make use of it.
"The first thing you should remember is never to leave the ground. It affects your mana recovery!" Lily knew that he liked to push off with his feet before his all-out attacks, but that would have to change now that he was an earth attribute awakened warrior.
"What? I don't leave..." Raymond smiled a little guiltily.
"Second, you can't use your sword anymore." There was a mysterious glint in her eyes when she said it, and as usual, it went unnoticed by her twin brother.
"Why?" Raymond hurriedly added, "I am not doubting you or anything... and of course, I will listen to you. It's just that..."
Lily was a little bit surprised by his patient reaction. She expected him to jump up and down in protest when she told him not to use his sword anymore, and that's why she had made a display of power beforehand, a kind of convincing tactic.
She welcomed this change in behavior, as she always thought he was a bit too enthusiastic most of the time. If he was ever to become a king, it would have been a problem.
Nodding, she explained, "you have awakened the earth element. This means you have to be efficient with your magic, and fighting with a sword is not efficient."
...
"So, that's why..."
A look of understanding came upon Raymond's face. Lily only ever used gauntlets and no other weapons. He had always wondered about that. It was hard for him to imagine her fighting, and she made a point to never display it to him, very much different to Rose, who always liked to show off. He was a little miffed about not being able to use his sword anymore, but it was not enough to dampen his mood.
"Is it- I mean, how?" His eyebrows pointed towards the magically manipulated ground.
"Yes. You should be able to do the same."
Raymond's eyes flashed in joy. He was waiting for this. The earlier scene, when Lily crushed a boulder to dust, was still etched in his mind. And now this... this amazing thing she'd just showed him, he couldn't wait to do it himself. Though it was hard, he tried to keep his excitement in check, and patiently listened to her explanation.
"You have to use nature's mana. Remember how you awakened? It's the same." Lily sighed, as she saw his clueless face, and continued, "earlier, when you shot that rock, you used your own mana for it, right? This time, don't. You have to use your mana as a medium to direct nature's mana, and the combination of the two would then alter the terrain."
