Chapter 41: Surging Spirit: Girls' Resolute Pursuit

Rewinding...

3 Days Before (Since Ryu's Absence):

Third-Person POV- Shouko:

"Again, little Shouko," Jibril said in a gentle, but firm tone at her unfocused spell failure.

"Y-yes!" She shouted a bit too loudly. 

The young girl with fluffy wings shivered anxiously but closed her eyes all the same- throwing away any sort of distraction and willing her wings to cease the quivering- as the image of the flowing river came back. She bites her lip, struggling to swim with the fast-moving current in her mind. She doesn't fight it and as she breathes out she lets the energy flow unimpeded with her metaphorical body floating along while she directs her mind to build the road ahead of the river. Directing and Guiding, not Controlling.

A flash of light warms her up as she feels the soft glow radiate out of her body. She then opens her eyes, carefully looking at the target before her and letting the chant manifest in her mind until she utters the name of the spell holding it in place all the while. "Divine Bolt," she whispers. 

The soft glow on her rushes to her outstretched hands forms a ball of energy with a zig-zag tail behind it and shoots forward. The holy energy blasts the target to pieces and then explodes in a burst of sparkling lights. "I did it... I d-did it!" 

She turns to Jibril hurriedly and she smiles at me with a prideful grin. "Of course, you did, if I wasn't sure you would understand then I wouldn't have started training you," Her face scowls as she continues. "Now you asked me for a favor and I do understand where you are coming from, but her impatience is not helping..." She said with an annoyed tongue click as she turned to the one she was speaking about.

Shouko looks over at Saki, who is currently practicing some fairy spells but she is vibrating in place, chanting too fast or skipping it and then failing at guiding her mana to do what she wishes. 

"Why... w-why isn't it working? Maybe I got to cut off more of the chant, no no, inserting as much passion into can also manifest it into existence, I saw it clearly happen the first time!" She shouts and mutters to herself. She appears far more jittery than normal and Shouko sees how she stares at the door or the open field at the far end of the room in sadness. 

Shouko struggled to stop herself from doing the same, and though her eyes peeked, she didn't turn and resolutely stared at Saki. 

"Saki," another girl speaks up softly, "I know you're anxious, we all are, but being distracted when Jibril-san took some time to teach you is no good. Remember it will take a while, big spells won't appear right away like Ryu-kun's, be patient." 

Saki bites her lip in frustration. "I know, Akeno-san, b-but it's hard, not knowing where he is or knowing if h-he's okay or not..."

Akeno smiles, peeking at Jibril, who nods her head once. "He's going to be okay, knowing my hero he's just taking a nap after working so hard, let's work hard together so we can surprise him with our growth!"

Saki shudders, but a twinkle lights up in her eyes as Akeno's positivity and energy reinvigorate her. "Y-you're right! This is not the time to mope! Magic is a process, but I wonder why it's so hard for us and not Ryu-kun..."

Jibril sighs dramatically, catching the attention of the four girls- one of which was muttering to herself about magic formulas and whatnot- as well as the other two occupants who appear to be hidden some steps away from her. "Now I know you all understand that you must feel the mana, you all have an abundance of it, we went over how you must imagine it coursing through you. And how you must hold that image well, for Ryu, he is literally bursting through the seams with mana, he commands it to be done through force, and his will is pure and fierce," She eyes them making sure they're listening. "He is a dragon, and though he does not have access to a Dragon Heart yet, he does have a core that pumps mana throughout his body, he is a being of pure all-encompassing Mana," she finishes with a grin. 

"But what about you Jibril-san?" Shouko asks, curious. 

"Hm hm, I thought you'd never ask! My Spirit Circuits make it a breeze, they are attuned to the Dragon Veins in the human world and because they are an intricate part of my being magic comes naturally to me as well," she answers puffing out her chest with a smug smile. 

Saki grumbles, "That's totally not fair, you two are a bunch of cheaters... ugh, b-but I can't say anything because I'm a literal fairy now with a powerful sacred gear..."

"My mana pathways are not properly attuned to my magic, so maybe if I manually create some circuits like Jibril-san's I can have it flow through with ease... no but something like Ryu-kun's mana core is also highly efficient... I would have to condense mana and compress it and hold it in place until it's formed near my heart though... Might need a catalyst to make it happen and the only one who would probably be able to help me is not here... I could also do both... but that would also present a whole lot of problems... hehehe... this is so fun..." A girl with mismatched reddish pink hair on one side and light blue on the other mutters to herself cryptically as she cackles gleefully.

"Ayaka appears to be making great progress, I am quite astonished a native human took to my lessons so swiftly and thoroughly," Jibril says aloud, mostly to herself. 

Akeno replies unconsciously. "It's a bit creepy, but her combined spells do pack a punch..."

"I didn't take Ayaka-san for a magic enthusiast, b-but she does seem to be enjoying herself though shouldn't we s-stop whatever dangerous thing she's planning..." Saki says worriedly, turning to Shouko.

Shouko notices her stare, turns to Saki, and then back to Ayaka, and quickly shakes her head. "I don't want to disturb her, she's having fun launching those spells..." She said with a bit of mana infused into her voice rattling both Akeno and Saki, but Ayaka remained unperturbed. 

Though Shouko said the powered words unconsciously, she was able to feel how many people it affected and it came up with two additional presences. She turned this way and that way, but didn't detect them anywhere. The two who were hidden away shuddered at the way the girl, Shouko, tried to find them, but more so because of the mana-empowered words that went through them. They looked at one another, awed by the display of strength that these girls seemed to have, and the way the girl was able to pierce through Jibril's magic. The one who took part in their rescue. They were still astonished at the display of power she showed at the beginning of this training. Determination built up steadily within their hearts. They knew they needed it if they were to repay the young boy's kindness, so they gave the training before them all their attention. 

"Well, ladies get back to it! Ayaka will most likely learn better with a mock battle, but I'll set that aside for later. Saki make sure you maintain the image in your mind and keep practicing your output and input. Akeno starts will smaller spells to combine your fire and lightning, like I showed you. And Shouko, let's take it from the top," Jibril said firmly. 

The girls leaped into action, Shouko eyes them for a bit, but at Jibrils's prompting shuts her eyes and reimagines herself floating down the metaphorical river. The waves smother her, but she remains resolute as she continues guiding the river to where she needs it. The vast amounts of mana within her don't compare with Ryu's but she cannot force it to obey her will, it might listen when she uses her sacred gear, but that is not an option right now. They warned her it was far too early to begin training with it, they may have unlocked it but they are still adjusting to the power. She knows she uses it unconsciously sometimes, at least that's what they told her, but they reassured her it would cause no problems. The waves crash into her sending her sprawling, so she banishes the useless thoughts and recenters herself. 

Peace comes to her mind. The warmth from the mana within her soothes her anxiety and worries, reigniting the promise she made to herself. No longer would she remain helpless. And as if in response to her desire, the raging waters of the metaphorical river ceased rampaging, becoming a gently flowing stream. Her brows furrowed and though she didn't notice, Jibril was nodding her head in satisfaction. It shouldn't have been possible, but Shouko could now slightly control the water instead of only the direction in which she wanted the ricer to flow. 

A sense of fulfillment filled her and renewed vigor soon followed as the river that was softly glowing in a sky blue color took on a more golden hue. A sense of serenity filled her taking note of the sparks of energy that began lighting up the metaphorical sky above her. Outside her body, she began to glow as little sparks of light danced around her. Shouko cheerfully maneuvered through the space within her moving at rapid speeds together with the golden mana. No longer did she need to build the road, the golden mana listened attentively and made the road for her. The golden mana sped through hundreds of passageways within her body, reinvigorating the exhaustion of the prior training and she unconsciously released a sigh of contentment. 

Words of countless spells come to her, remembering the way to enunciate them, the way to pause, the way to pronounce, everything that Jibril taught her. Dozens of images popped into existence as she traveled with the mana, she cycled to them until she found one she liked. Though Jibril failed to mention where this exact space was located, Shouko miraculously was able to use her Soul Space to the fullest. 

A bright smile and cheerful laughter echoed throughout the training area and as Shouko opened her eyes, taking an eye at the farthest target, already having finished the chant she yelled out, "Divine Retribution!"

Power flew from her body and manifested itself as a huge magic circle above the intended target. Clouds formed and crackled with potent lightning and holy mana. The sound was defeating, but the power much more so, as it gathered into one point and a massive lightning bolt came down and disintegrated the target. Electrical sparks swam around the ground effecting the whole area in a danger zone as smoke billowed out from the target. 

Shouko's brilliant smile was a sight to see and the proud face of Jibril only made her happier as she swayed from side to side having exhausted a bit over half her mana reserves to manifest the mid-tier spell. 

"I got you. What a splendid spell, I see you were able to take the reigns over your mana, emotions hold more power than you think in this world. I'm sure you'll use it wonderfully in the upcoming trials you are about to partake in with the others," Jibril said with an excited grin. "But let's have those two catch up first. Ayaka appears to have the pure force of will as well so no need to worry about her, she just gets side-tracked."

Shouko heard it all and though her vision was blurry and her mind was muddled, she was in her element. Her smile gave her the strength to stay standing, and though she knew Jbirl was holding her, she remained steadfast. She was proud of what she achieved. She took hold of power and manifested it into a devastating attack! She did it. No longer did she need to fear anything. No, that's wrong, she will always feel fear, but she will no longer be helpless. Grim determination blossomed once again in her heart.