Caveat

"Do you know why I love magic?" Amelia had asked Michael before she told him of the soul bind spell.

Michael would have just said no, but her eyes sparkled with anticipation as she posed the question, he decided to actually think on the answer. Why would it be that someone loved magic? He thought back to all the webtoons he had watched that were based around magic. 'It makes things easier? it's cool? power?' He considered her for a few seconds...

"Power?"

She was slightly taken aback by his answer. Did she really come off as a power hungry maniac?

"I suppose I appear so. However, that is not it." she said and the depths of her eyes were tainted by a deep sense of admiration and... love?

"Possibilities." she sighed and shifted her gaze to the blue skies where birds cut across lazily. "Magic is like a bottomless treasure chest. It keeps improving, keeps growing. Do you know when I was young, Flight spells were not that common, I mean now, almost any mage can cast a flight spell but back then, only a few mages could. Not because some group monopolized the spell, no. It was because the spell weave was too complex for just any mage to master.

Simple spells like lighting a candle require very little mana, and consequently very little genius. But the flight spell that was available then was mana intensive and its complex weave could not be memorized by just any one. Yet, despite this caveat, the spell is widely used because a single mage studied the spell weave mastered it's whole weave, broke it down and simplified it adding extra runes to make it even more versatile."

Michael was intrigued by the tale. Yet he failed to see the point; wasn't she supposed to be giving him the soul bind spell. The two things didn't seem to connect at all.

"You still don't see it, do you? Spells are a lot like people. If you take your time and understand every inch of a spells weave, you can change it. You can merge two spells, three spells, four, however many you want, to birth something entirely new. I believe one day, magi will only need one spell that can be repurposed on the spot to be anything." she spoke the infatuation in her voice akin to that of a teenager talking about her first love.

"This is the reason I devoted my life to magic, becoming a mage unparalleled by anyone of her era." she said with a smug tone, her voice oozing self-confidence.

Her dream was lofty and to a non-mage like Michael, it was only so fascinating. He did not understand the first thing about magic, up until before he died, magic was merely a concept of fantasy. His mind was still grappling with his new reality. Yet he could not deny her enthusiasm, the possibilities did seem endless.

Still, what did any of that have to do with the soul bind spell? Did she really take the time to talk about her love for magic just to induct him into a mages life? Was this a recruitment speech?

"The soul bind spell is one such spell. It's complex weave makes it so not any mage can cast it and it's mana requirements add to the constraints. You however, are lucky that you stumbled upon me. I remember the spells weave rune for rune and can help with the genius part of the problem, as for mana... that is all on you. As you are now, you can't even light a candle."

That was a disheartening revelation. So what? She hadn't said that it would not work, she just said it would take him time before he could cast it.

***

Staring into the distance, Amelia's voice reached his ears breaking him out of reverie; she was done.

Michael turned to face her as she organized the sheets of parchment joy and satisfaction painted all over her face.

"First things first, lets see how much time you'll need to learn this weave." she said as she walked over to him and placed her hand on his chest.

The memory of his encounter with that thing in the void was clearer now than before. With it came a weariness of people touching him non-consensually, so he flinched, pulling away from her hand.

"stay calm, this will only take a few seconds."

And it was so, a few seconds passed, then a minute, then two and Michael's apprehension turned into curiosity and anticipation. What was she trying to find out? What was she even doing? he wanted to interrupt her; curiosity burning at him, but he maintained calm waiting for her to finish whatever she was doing.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she locked eyes with Michael for a few seconds, a look of worry etched on her face which disappeared a second later.

"What?"

She sighed and dropped her arm.

"You can't cast"

Michael heard the words before their meaning struck. Their weight heavy on his hope filled heart. It wasn't the feeling of loosing something you once possessed but that of loosing something you coveted. Admittedly, the prospect of him gaining a prowess in magic had gotten to his head. Only for that very future to be crashed before it bloomed. He couldn't cast? how did she mean, wasn't that a default skill for anyone in the Nether. Then realization slowly settled in.

He was not of this world, at least he didn't consider himself of this world; wasn't it unreasonable to assume he would be able to use something alien to him such as magic. He almost heard his heart break at the news.

"That is a caveat I did not precedent" she spoke with a heavy sigh before dropping herself on the log, eyes staring into the waterfall in deep thought.

Michael felt strangely disheartened.

What did this mean then, for their arrangement. The silver lining in his cloud of despair begun to tarnish.

'This is what hoping gets me I guess. Oh well, there's always another option. I just have to find it' He thought, refusing to give in to the feeling of helplessness that was slowly flooding his mind. The only problem was his other option was not one he wished to cash in just yet. He still harbored resentment and rage towards the man.

"what then?" he asked Amelia wishing she at least had a way around this wrench in their plans.

"Well the main issue is not that you are unable to cast so much as you are not in tune with mana at all. To put it simply, mages are people touched by mana, you are not a mage. You haven't a shred of mana in you. Depressing really.

Luckily, you are not hopeless; you still are an emissary, If you can awaken that power then that should fix the mana issue I believe."

Michael felt his heart flood with a sensation he could not explaining. All was not lost, there was still a chance. His stomach knotted and heart wrenched as the vile flavor of hope touched his being. It was futile to fight against it, he really was hopeful.

"Ok. How do we awaken my powers?" He asked attempting and failing to suppress the hope in his voice.

"The option you were thinking of... yeah."