Lesson One
I walked briskly to my manor, arriving to see Violet and Atlas bubbling over with excitement as they sang, "Gonna learn magic~ Gonna learn magic~"
I couldn't help but grin at their pure desire to learn magic.
"Hello, Violet, Atlas." I entered the room as I spoke. "Are you prepared to learn magic?"
"Yes!" Both kids responded with stars in their eyes.
"Where are thy notebooks?" I asked, causing them to remember they needed to write things down.
Atlas suddenly jumped up, climbed over the back of the sofa they sat upon and declared, "I'll get it!"
By the time he returned, Seventh had enough time to deliver ice-cold mango nectar to the table that sat in front of the sofa.
"Here's yours." Atlas said breathlessly, clearly having sprinted the whole way.
"Thank you, Atlas!" Violet flashed him an adorable grin.
Seeing Atlas had forgotten quills and ink, Seventh left and returned with both items.
"Thank you uncle Seventh~" Violet graciously received her quill and ink bottle.
"Thank you!" Atlas echoed Violet as he took the items and opened his notebook in preparation for writing.
"Forgetting anything?" I teased.
Both children shook their heads.
"Good." I smiled. "Let us begin."
They simultaneously dipped their quills into their ink bottles and prepared to write.
"To activate a spell, one requires two things.
"First, one must have sufficient mana to activate the spell. Without enough mana, the spell will either fail, resulting in needless mana expenditure, or backfire, which may cause anything from mana sickness to organ failure.
"Before I continue, both of thee must understand this: magic can be dangerous, and I value thy lives. Until I permiss, I expect thee to only practice magic in front of me. I do not wish to lose my children."
"I understand, mommy." Violet nodded seriously, taking my words to heart.
"Okay." Atlas grinned.
Violet wasn't who I was worried about regarding trying magic on her own, despite her enthusiasm for it.
She was always aware of my warnings and would heed them well.
It was Atlas that concerned me.
I pushed aside my misgivings and continued the lesson.
"Second, one must possess a way to focus the mana. Without a way to focus the mana, it will simply disperse into nothingness, resulting in a failed spell; however, failure to focus is preferred over failure to activate. While failure to activate will result in backlash, failure to focus will simply result in dispersal.
"Focusing mana is done in two ways. Focusing with a Foci, or an item that allows manipulation of mana flow, or through the body by using one's own Mana Veins to control it."
I paused, allowing them to write without worry of falling behind.
"Mommy, why does not having enough mana cause backlash but not controlling doesn't?" Violet asked after she finished writing.
"Think about a spell like thy glass of juice." I said, pointing at her nearly empty glass of juice that sat in front of her. "The mana is thy juice and the spell is the glass. The glass would begin upside-down. One would try and fill the glass so the spell could activate, correct?"
"Why can't you make the glass turn right-side-up?" Violet asked.
"Because that is the nature of magic." I answered. "If the glass is not filled, the spell cannot activate, emptying the glass. Where would the mana go if it couldn't disperse because of the spell?"
"Down?" Atlas suggested uncertainly.
"Indeed." I nodded. "And in this case, 'down' would be back into the caster."
"Why is that bad?" Violet cocked her head.
"Blood flows one way, correct?" I answered her question with another.
"It does?" Atlas interjected, looking surprised. "It doesn't just slosh around inside you like juice?"
"It does not 'slosh around inside you like juice.' Instead, thy heart directs it in a constant cycle. Mana Veins are no different. They must flow one way and do not have protection against mana flowing backwards like thy heart does for blood." I said, projecting a human heart above my palm and pointed to an area between the left and right ventricles. "This is the semilunar valve, which prevents blood from flowing backwards in a human heart. Thy Mana Veins do not connect to a heart, or even a core of any kind. Mana, in the human body, circulates clockwise.
"If a spell cannot activate, the mana flows back into the body and forces the mana to go counterclockwise, which can have severe consequences."
"Mommy, does your heart have a sem-semmy lunar valve?" Violet asked.
"I possess a heart, yes." I smiled. "However, strictly speaking, I am dead. My heart does not beat."
"I don't want mommy to be dead!" Violet exclaimed. "How can you come back to life?"
"Unfortunately, I cannot come back to life." I patted her head gently. "I seem plenty alive, though, do I not?"
"Are you so pale because your heart won't beat?" Violet asked, grabbing the hand I patted her with, keeping it oh her head.
"That is part of it." I ruffled her hair slightly as I spoke.
"I will make your heart beat again." She said very seriously, as though she were a doctor telling a patient she was going to cure them of a disease.
"Thank you, my precious daughter." I felt touched by the concern she showed for me.
"What's the other part of why you're so pale, then?" Atlas broke into our moment of mother-daughter bonding time, but I didn't mind that.
"Sunlight irritates my skin. I have not basked in sunlight since I was born."
"How old are you?" Atlas asked, showing some signs of concern.
"It is rude to ask a lady their age." I teasingly scolded him. "I am 7,483 years old."
"D-do I have to start calling you grandma?" He asked seriously.
I saw Seventh show an expression of shock that rapidly morphed into silent laughter that shook his entire body.
"No, Atlas." My mouth twitched with a smile.
"Why is mommy so old?" Violet asked innocently.
"Because I haven't died yet." I slipped back into teacher mode as I spoke, pulling my hand from Violet's head and stepping back in front of the table.
"Will I live that long?" Violet wondered. "I wonder if life would get boring."
I couldn't bring myself to answer that Violet would almost certainly die before me.