Don't Play with Fire (Remastered)

[Kyrielle's POV]

We headed out of the school.

"Kyrielle, did you know that to hire a tutor we need to make a request to the adventurer guild? This action is called a 'quest'."

"A quest?"

"Yes. We adventurers accept quests that was made by the people in need of assistance, or the government. It's like public service to finish up quests most of the time."

"Ohh... But how does mom know all of this?"

"How you said? Well, mom and daddy used to be adventurers. We are in the same team, and we still are haha..."

"Hehe, you are blushing!"

"Eh?... Well I still have a bit of a crush with your father.... But regardless it's all in the past, what's important now is to find you a tutor. Mom'll carry you, you must be tired from walking all this distance."

"Yay!"

Mom held me up with her arms.

"Urgh... You're heavy, Kyrie. You are a big girl now, sooner or later mom won't be able to hold you anymore."

"Mmm."

"Let's go." With me in her arms, mom started walking in the streets further into the city.

"How nostalgic... " Mom talked.

"Mmn?"

"You see, mom and dad used to be adventurers in a party. We often went out of cities to the outskirts full of monsters in order to fulfill requests and help out however we can. It's not an easy job, but it's our passion, to say the least."

"Uh huh. Is it fun?"

"Obviously! We get to travel to lots of places and meet tons of people, and this is besides the fact that you help out other people with their needs.... We are doing God's work technically speaking."

"Mmm."

"We usually accept quite a few quests every time we heads out of the city, we can finish them all while we are out of the city and then come back. After the jobs are finished we will head back in town and go to the guild. We often walked down this exact street every time we headed back, which is ironic because I'm carrying my girl on this road now as well."

"I bet you have quite a few stories to share as well."

"Yes. Mom is a healer, and dad is the vanguard, our leader Zett is the ranger, but other than us the rest of the members are usually not long lasting as they either perish away or leave the party mid way. Of course, our party disbanded when Zett died.... But that is another story for another day."

As mom said that, her face looked down in a melancholic expression.

Her leader's death must have been a huge blow to her... It's enough to make both her and dad retire after all.

"Mom..."

"Well that was nearly 7 years ago now, and his death is not entirely a bad thing as well. That incident made me and Thomas rethink our life, which got us married and have you kids, Kyrie and Marie, Kyrielle and Marielle. That is nota bad thing at all."

"...Mmn!"

"We have arrived. This is the adventurer's guild, mom's former work place."

"Oh!"

The adventurer building itself wasn't particularly fancy, it's just a big wooden building with 3 stories... But I could tell that this building has been around for a really long time now because the building while rather well-maintained, is full of scars and marks from withering in age.

"Mom has an old friend to talk to as well, let's go in."

We walked inside the building where there is a big lobby with tables for adventurers to gather at. Right in the middle of the lobby is a big counter where foods and drinks are served.

But on the opposite side of the lobby is a reception area with countless stalls and receptionist.

Mom immediately headed towards the reception area where there are 4 stalls each with a staff working behind it. One of the staff saw mom, and immediately waved at her.

"You showed up!"

"Hey Lily, it's been a while."

"Since I haven't seen you for such a long time I thought you had moved out with your husband already. It's been 4 years, how have you been? And how's your kid?"

"I'm working as an alchemist, as usual. And here's my girl!" Mom said that as she turned around and picked me up again.

"Hm... Hmm?" She stared at me with her intense gaze... I felt a bit nervous again, her line of sight is a bit too much for me to bear.

"H-hello..."

"Hmm, now I see. Her face has a lot of Thomas in her but everything else just screams you except her eyes. You're cute, little girl, here do you want a candy?"

"No." I had one already back at the school.

"Oh... Hahaha, it seems that she doesn't like me huh?"

"Well, you are creepy." Said mom, without a hint of remorse.

"Creepy?!.... "

"Yep. Just like when I told you that I got engaged I heard that you said "this bitch!" under your breath in a whisper thinking that I wouldn't hear it."

"Come on that was almost 7 years ago now! Besides, I was jealous of you at the time, so let it pass, I'm sorry!"

"Oh, 'was' is it?"

"Hehe, you catch on quick. I got married as well!"

"That's great but... why you didn't invite me to the wedding?!"

"I don't know where you lived! Besides, you never showed up here after you retired so how else could I have contacted you?"

"That's... That's true. I was just so busy with taking care of my child and the shop that I never even thought about it."

"Sigh, that's the life we retail workers suffers from.... So what are you here for? Don't tell me you are gonna become an adventurer again."

"No way! It's for this girl actually. I want to hire a magic tutor for her."

"Are you crazy? She's only a child!"

"She can cast Fused Magic."

"...What?"

"Yes, this girl can cast fused magic. Also she can cast fire spells without chanting, show her Kyrie!"

"Aye!" Ember.

I snapped my finger and a small ember instantly fired up on top.

"That's impressive! What's your age?"

"I'm 3 years old!"

"No way... just 3?"

"Mmm!" I proudly nodded my head.

"Katherine... Your daughter's a genius... My son is still sucking on a bottle of milk at this age, while yours is already learning magic. How does it feel to have such a talented girl?"

"Proud, obviously!"

"As expected huh... Anyway, your request is for a magic tutor right? What's the requirement?"

"Master ranked or above."

"I see... And your offer?"

"5 silvers, and more to come on further negotiations."

"That's a very generous offer, I bet a lot of mages are going to take you up on that.... I'll get the paperwork done for you, for now let's go grab a drink!"

"Is that fine? Don't you have work to do?"

"Well, there's not a lot of adventurers right now. It's fine, I'm the manager."

"Alright then. But I'll go light, since I can't very well get drunk while carrying this bad girl can I?"

"...." This woman is seriously going to a drinking party in the afternoon?...

_______________

(3 days later...)

'Cha chank.' The door to our shop was opened, and an old man walks inside.

Mom welcomes him into our shop as usual. "Welcome in, would you like to purch-"

"Are you perhaps the one who requested for a magic tutor?" Asked the old man as he showed a poster on his hand. That is the same poster than mom's friend wrote for us.

"Wha- Uh um, that's right."

"My name is Gondur Vanelis. I am the master ranked mage who has accepted the quest."

"I see. I am Katherine Buffet, your client."

"So, are you going to be my pupil?" Mom shook her head in response.

"No, you would be teaching this little girl. She's Kyrielle, my daughter."

"Oh, a young one? How old are you, little miss?"

"3!"

"3? Miss, are you sure that this girl can cast magic?"

"I can." I said as I snapped my fingers and generated a small ember on top of my hand.

"Hmm.. Chantless casting... Are you really 3?"

"Yes!"

"You must be kidding me... A child the age of 3 can cast chantless magic?... What has this world come to?"

"But I can only do it with fire magic. With any other magic I'll still have to chant normally."

"Oh? Interesting... An affinity for fire spells. You are definitely worth teaching, I'll accept you as my pupil."

"Yay!"

"Please don't get too excited you two, what about the payment? Shall we discuss it now?" Mom asked out in worry.

"Don't be in such a hurry, that can wait. For now, I'm rather interested at seeing what this girl can do... Are you ready to show me that?"

"Yes."

"You lack energy!"

"Y-yes! " I shouted out.

"Good. Miss, can I take her to the school? It'll be important to work in a safe environment to avoid injuring anyone."

"Very well..... Just don't come back too late, I'm busy attending the shop so you'll have to take her back here."

"Alright. Come with me, girl."

"Mmm! Bye mom!"

"Take care, Kyrie. Don't wander off without this uncle's permission."

______________

Together with this old man, I made my way to the school once again.

______________

(School's training yard)

"So little girl, I heard that you can cast magic already despite your age. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"I see, then I'll be able to settle with just a simple explanation of magic. Listen here-"

Gondur, my new tutor started to explain to me everything about magic.... I didn't paid much attention to him because it was just things that I already knew and is very boring.

________________

(Skip this if you aren't interested)

Basically, there's 4 magic class. Elemental magic, Miracle magic, Illusion magic and Enchanting magic.

Elemental magic is the simplest but also the strongest class of magic.

Miracles take little to no mana to use, as it is said that these miracles are granted by the gods.

Illusion magic consumes the most mana, and is borderline useless unless you are creative.

Enchanting magic copies the crest of all the other magic into objects to create magic items.

__________

"-and that is all the explanation."

"Zzz...."

"....Kyrielle Buffet!"

"Eh?!"

"Sigh... I'm not even sure you understand any magical theories... Read this."

"Huh?"

"A mage is not just judged on their skills, but their knowledge of magical theories as well."

He handed a big and heavy book to me... I sat down on the floor of the school's training ground, and flipped open the book.

"Read the elemental magic section. If there is any theories that you can't understand, just tell me."

"Okay...." Let's do this then.

_________________

There are four basic theories.

The first theory is Visualization of magic... It's the theory that all magic can be controlled by imagination alone, and the better that someone can visualize a magic the better they are at it. It was said that chantless casting is the actual form of casting magic, and that the act of chanting itself is to actually help visualize a spell that you'd normally not be able to imagine.

The second theory is the Theory of Mana. All actions require an energy source, the same can be said for magic. Mana is the energy source of magic, and ALL magic requires mana, there is no exception.

The third theory is the Alteration of Spells. All magic is in it's base form, just the element itself. All fire magic starts from Ember. All Ice magic starts with Freezing Point (forces liquid to become ice). All Earth magic starts from Sand Pile (Generates a pile of sand). This rule applies to all magic, and every single spell is in reality just altered versions of these base spells.

The final theory is the theory of Fused Magic. By combining two or more spells together you can create different effects. Water spells boosts Ice spell. Combining Wind spell into Fire spells generate even more extreme flames.... There are countless other combinations of magic waiting to be discovered even to this day.

________________

"Teacher. I know all of these four basic theories. "

"Good, but I want to see you prove your understanding of these theories.... The first theory is the Visualization of spells. Even if you can chant out loud, you will still fail to cast any magic if you can't visualize a spell. Show me that you can do so by casting a spell."

"Okay. Oh Lord of the light, bring forth warm and light upon this one, Ember."

'Fwuom....' A small finger was generated after the blue crest in front of my hands dissipates.

"I see that you are familiar with casting spells already, a gift that most childs your age never have... I've heard from your mother that you can do fire magic chantless as well. Show me."

"And... There!" I snapped my finger and imagined a fire going on top of my hand while pumping mana to my hands. A blue crest forms again, and a small fire lighted on top of my finger.

"Fantastic, chantless casting at your age.... You'll be a great fire mage with training."

"Thank you."

"Up next, the second is the Theory of Mana. Do you know what Mana is?"

"Mana is an invisible energy source that is present within every thing, including our own bodies. It is used to fuel all spells, no matter the type, an almost omnipotent energy source."

"Good, but you missed one more point."

"Hmm?"

"...Its that Mana is tied to the soul. We have no way of knowing what or where is our 'soul', but Mana is bound to our souls for some reason. The body loses all Reserve Mana when it dies, and even though parents and childrens shares the same blood, the size of their Reserve Mana differs largely. This is the point that you missed."

"Oh.... I see..."

"But fret not, your understanding of the second theory passed. Up next is the third, the Alteration of spells. Explain to me what is the alteration of spells."

"The alteration of spells is that all spells has the same base form, no matter how advanced they are. And that no matter what spells they are, it can be altered to achieve an entirely new effect and this creating a different spell altogether."

"That is correct, so long as you can visualize the spell changing from it's base form, then it is entirely possible to create that spell. Final theory, Fused Magic."

"Oh! Let me-"

"It is a bit too difficult for a child to do... Just explaining it to me will suffice."

"But Sir Gondur, I could in fact do Fused magic."

"....You can?!"

"Yep!"

"I see... Show me."

"Gladly! He who sours the skies, drive away this one's enemy...."

Then I cast an ember simultaneously as I cast the Wind Gush...

"...Wind Gush, Combustion!"

'Bwuom!' A large cloud of flames erupted from my hand as I blew air into the ember. This is combustion, a dangerous close ranged fire spell.

"That is.... really impressive. Your affinity for fire magic is very good, and your Magic Control is really well. Have you been practising for a while already?"

"Mmn! I practise my fire magic at home!"

Right as I said it, the old man looked at me dead in eye with an extremely serious face. "You what?!..."

"Umm..."

"Sigh...." He crouched down right in front of me to look at me directly in the eye.

".....Never, ever, in whatever circumstances, practise fire magic without my supervision. Got it?"

"Oh.... Got it." Why is he so serious all of a sudden?...

"Don't blame me for acting so tense all of a sudden but... Do you know of the Klada Fire Storm in 14 AT?"

"No...."

"It was a fire disaster in this city caused by a teenager practising fire magic at home... It burned down half the city, killed thousands of people and caused almost 5000 gold coins in damage. NEVER do that, understand? It is both illegal and dangerous."

"I understand..." Holy shit that actually sounds extremely dangerous! If I accidentally burn down the entire city then I don't know what I'll do....

"Hmm. You are a good kid, as you can listen to warnings and is reasonable. If only my grandson is like that...."

"Thank you!"

"Anyway, you have an extremely high affinity with fire magic, a talent that not a lot of people have. I promise that as a Master ranked mage, I'll teach you all I can to help you hone your talents and become a great mage in the future."

"Yay!"

"I will accept you as my apprentice. Welcome to my teaching, young Buffet."

"Mmm! I'm happy to be accepted by you!"

And thus begun my near daily magic practise with Gondur....

(Chapter end)