"All right, I will start with the most simple of simple magic details." Alix stated. She was standing in front of Cas and Eric preparing to explain magic to them.
"You both at least know what it is we use to preform magic, right?" Both Eric and Cas nodded. "Even we're not that stupid! We use mana." Eric exclaimed. Alix nodded at the boy.
"Of course. Now, do you know where mana comes from?" Cas and Eric stared confused. "It comes from the air. Right?" Alix sighed. "No. It does not just fall from the sky. It has a source that it directly comes from.
That source being..." Alix grabbed a book from behind her and flipped through a few pages. She stopped on a certain page and turned the book so that the boys could see the pages that she was looking at.
It was a picture with 8 figures on it. "...the gods. Mana is the energy of the gods raining down upon us." Cas nodded in understanding. Eric, on the other hand, seemed to have gotten even more confused. "Wait, if mana comes from then why is it down here with us? Do they not need it or something?"
"Mana is the lifeforce of the gods. As they perform even minor actions they expel the energy and it falls from their domain to us in a weaker form that we then make use of for whatever we need it for." Eric nodded slowly, clearly still a bit confused.
"We can use and collect this mana by making use of Lis. The energy that the gods gifted us mortals." Cas raised his hand. "Mistress, it is my understanding that the gods created all mortals in their image." the boy asked.
"That is correct." Alix answered.
"Then, why do we not have mana within us? If they made us in their image why would they go through such a round about method of letting us use mana instead of just making it flow within us like it flows within them?"
"Are you a god?" Alix asked curtly. Cas shook his head. "That is why. We were made in their image but we are not their equals. The gods are older than our very world itself so they likely overcame various challenges to even have the ability to hold this potent energy source within themselves.
It has been theorized that the reason that they gave us blood and Lis instead of mana was because they refused to allow mere beings that they created use the energy directly from themselves to live." Cas and Eric nodded along.
"In fact, some people have expanded upon that theory by saying that the reason that mana is so deadly to us is because the gods made us in a way that it was almost directly poison for us." Eric's eyes widened. "Wait, poison?! Poison how?" Eric looked like he was going to fly into a full blown panic.
"As in, if our skin makes direct contact with mana or we take in too much of it into our bodies we will experience an extreme sickness that would lead to our eventual death." Alix explained calmly. Eric, however, was freaking out.
"We've been living our entire lives with such a dangerous thing just floating around us. Those petty ass gods! They made us just so we could slowly died! If I ever got the chance I would-" Alix hit Eric on top of his head. "Calm down. We have Lis remember? Lis makes it so that mana is never in direct contact with us and can't enter our systems." Eric rubbed his head in pain and nodded. "Okay."
Alix shook her head. "I think that will be enough for today. It's not like I can actually teach either of you magic." Cas tilted his head. "Why not? You said that since I couldn't use Magecraft I should try to find a different type of magic to use." Alix nodded acknowledging that she had in fact said that.
"Then why not just teach me your magic? It seems pretty interesting and since you already use it you should be able to-"
"Sorcery can not be directly passed down." Alix cut off the boy. "Why not?"
"Sorcery makes use of the spellcaster's direct Lis Signature. Due to that, each sorcerer must come up with their own methods and processes for creating spells. The most that they can share are knowledge on catalysts and theories in general. And I doubt that you want to spend hours and hours listening to me talk to you about magic theory." Cas frowned.
"I would be fine with that though." Alix looked at the boy inquisitively. "Are you sure? Once you commit you will not be able to change paths even if you find a better type of magic for yourself. That is the plight of a spellcaster. They can never change paths." Even after hearing the girl's warning Cas nodded confidently. "I would never lie to you, Mistress." Alix stared at the boy for a few seconds longer before sighing.
"Okay. We start tomorrow then. Just you and me." Cas smiled brightly. Though, with his face it looked quite strange and made Eric shiver a bit. "Dude, you have such a weird face."
"I believe that is considered rude, Eric." Cas said now no longer smiling. "Chill, man! I was just joking!" Cas' eyes slitted slightly as his gaze was trained on Eric making the boy feel uncomfortable. "Um, Mama Wolf? A little help?"
"Alright, I need to interject at this point." The three students turned to the voice of Professor Inengway.
They were still in his office after all.
The man looked at the three students. "Firstly, Alix you did a great job explaining magic to these two. You even covered topics like theories and the poisonous aspect of mana to mortals. That isn't something that people normally learn in school. Where did you learn it?"
"My father taught it to me." Winston nodded. "I see. Your father must be a practiced spellcaster to have taught you about topics such as these. Where is he now? I think meeting him would be a great benefit." Alix shrugged.
"He's dead." Inengway flinched at the girl's words. "Aah, I see. I apologize for bringing up what might be a sore subject." The man cursed himself inwardly. He had heard the rumors that Alix's mother was some sort of martial fighter but had never heard anything of the girl's father. He should have assumed that he was no longer living. Though, to the man's surprise, Alix seemed pretty comfortable with the topic of her father's death.
'Still, it would be best if we changed topics.' Inengway cleared his throat and turned to the two boys. "Why do you two address Alix the way that you do?" The two boys were, like usual, confused. They simultaneously asked, "What do you mean?"
"Cas calls her Mistress and Eric calls her, and I quote, 'Mama Wolf.' I just want to know why. I would guess that it was some sort of stipulation for receiving her teachings but you two call her two different things."
"The Mistress is my benefactor and I would find it highly disrespectful to call her by any other name." Cas said resolutely. Inengway nodded slowly at the boy's strange commitment and turned his gaze to his nephew.
"Oh, well she calls us pups so I thought if she calls us pups then she must be a wolf. And the way that she is taking care of us she must be the Mama Wolf. Bringing forth the nickname, Mama Wolf." Eric spoke causally like he had given a simple nickname to a friend. Inengway then turned to Alix and proposed a question.
"Are you comfortable with them calling you these names? I mean they clearly started calling you this after you started interacting with them so I feel it only be right for them to stop if you feel uncomfortable with the names."
"It doesn't matter." Inengway sat with a concerned look frozen on his face before seemingly having understood something and continuing. "Alix, I understand that you might feel uncomfortable talking about your feelings on this subject and might be a bit reluctant to tell them no but you have to stand your ground in situations like this."
"No, I am telling you that I don't care what they call me." Winston was taken aback. "Why not? I mean those are quite unusual names to call a girl of your age."
"Why would I care what Holiday and the Mind Slave call me?"
Holiday and Mind Slave?
"You mean Cas and Eric right?" Alix nodded. "That is what I said. Mind Slave and Eric Holiday."
"My last name is Holland." Eric corrected.
"That is what I said Holiday."
"No that's not-" Winston held up his hand while shaking his head. Eric stood down.
With that, the little training and tutoring session for the day came to an end. Everyone returned back to their respective homes.
These training sessions would continue and be followed up with solo sessions between Cas and Alix going over magic theory and sorcery concepts.
A month would pass like this. Alix would come to school like any other day with a fish in her arms. She was still stumped on how she had managed to trace her Omnia Nexus in the air but she did feel as though she was getting closer.
She walked through the school's halls towards Inengway's office to place Mo there for the day. However, something was different on this day. Eyes were locked onto her. Now, people occasionally focusing on her was nothing new but this time something was different.
The eyes were filled with contempt. Like they were looking at a vile monster instead of a fellow student. Alix didn't care much for how people viewed her and continued on her way. The gazes seemed to follow her wherever she went and every once in a while she could swear that she heard the phrase, 'traitor' from some of the students.
She eventually made it the Inengway's office and set Mo down.
"Was it just me or were ya gettin' a lot of hostile intent from those kids out there?" Mo questioned. "No, I felt it too."
"What do ya think that was about?"
"Doesn't matter." Alix walked out of the room without even a hint of fear. This left Mo bubbling with concern for the girl's wellbeing.
"I hope that it's nothin'."