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The coldness soon changed to searing hot pain. She had closed her eyes tightly, trying to fight it. She felt like she would break any moment. Her hands tried to pry his hands away but weak with pain, he was able to brush them away. "Please..." she pleaded.

"Relax. It will be over soon," he assured her. His right hand was over her chest, where her heart was. The pain seemed to last forever. Just when she thought she was dying, a ribbon of coolness washed over her body. The heat subsided and the pain disappeared. Her body was covered with a cold sweat.

Catching her breath, she watched him let her go with a calm smile. "What... What did you do?" she asked.

"I've fixed your magic core. You can now pull more magic in. It's strange that it was closed off though," he explained. "It's amazing you can still use magic and feed energy to your magical beast."

"You... You weren't trying to take my beast away?" she stuttered, in shock.

His eyebrows furrowed in a frown. "No one can take a magical beast away once a contract is made. Only you and your beast can do that."

She clutched her chest tightly. Her heart had pounded so hard but with his words, it was slowly calming down. He stood up to brush the dirt off his clothes. Anne realized she was on the ground. How long had it taken? Her eyes went towards the open doors of the barn. There was still sunlight out, hinting it was still morning.

"Now that we have that out of the way, we can start your training. How much do you know of spells?" he asked, his voice interrupting her thoughts.

"I... I only know the basic chants."

Kieran was frowning again. "You do your spells by chants?" he asked. "That's not right."

He seemed to always surprise her. "Aren't most spells done by chanting?"

"A normal person uses chants to do basic spells. They can only do basic spells. However, a contracted person doesn't need chants. They have the ability to pull magic out pertaining to what type of beast they are contracted with. Did you recently just get a magical beast?"

She hesitated before nodding in confirmation. His eyes narrowed at her, noticing the hesitation. "Listen, if you don't trust me, say it now. I have no need for someone who won't listen to my commands."

Annie stood up, her hands curling into fists. "I understand." She took a deep breath to calm her heavy beating heart. "When I woke up, I only had my beast. I don't know anything about them besides what my beast tells me."

He cupped his chin, pondering over her words. "You really don't remember anything."

It was a statement. He didn't seem to believe her words earlier. Her eyes lowered to the ground. "I do know that I can fight. My beast told me some magic to use. It was easier with the chants," she explained.

"Chants are a means to focus. It makes sense your beast would tell you to use that. If you don't give enough energy to your beast, they won't grow and be a source of energy for you."