Magic lesson goes wrong

It's been two weeks since Ash's intrusion in Ingrid's house. Things went smoothly as Ash proved to be efficient in his job. Just like it was agreed, Ingrid also did her part. Each day she would find the time to teach him general knowledge. This was also a way to help him regain his memories.

His amnesia didn't fade but learning new things proved to be entertaining for him. History, geography, mathematics, politics. For two weeks Ingrid taught the young kid about everything she could. Luckily he was literate, which meant that she could skip teaching him how to write and read.

Two weeks was a short period of time, but Ash was like a sponge and everything that Ingrid taught him he would remember. Seeing the speed at which her "servant" was learning she decided that their next lesson would be on magic.

Iris, was a world where magic ruled. Those in power had the resources and the abilities to claim the position they had. This is the reason why, although nobles were less in number than common people, they always held the reins. Each of them were powerhouses, or had powerhouses associated to them. Ingrid did not know who Ash was, but she was very familiar with this world's way and, unconsciously, she was afraid that something would happen to him.

His face was the depiction of what a prince would look like but, seeing the humble suit (for an actual noble) he was wearing two weeks ago, and the lack of jewels that those in power usually wore, she couldn't help but deduce he was a commoner. His eyes, that had feline pupils resembling beast folks, made her think that maybe he was a mixed child from a human and a beast folk. "Hybrids", were how people referred to the offspring of a relationship between two different races. This act was termed as "indecent", since it was viewed as tainting one's blood.

Ingrid was against that mindset, she had alienated from the elven society for a similar reason. Elves were the proudest of the bunch and she couldn't deal with their hypocrisy. All of these things just strengthened her decision to teach him magic as soon as possible. He might be a commoner, and a hybrid if that wasn't enough.

This kid needed strength right now. She won't always be with him to protect him after all. Unknowingly to Ash, Ingrid was starting to feel affection towards him. She began to see him as a cute little brother who would do the house chores and feed her delicious food. The red head had siblings, but she never liked them in the first place so this was a first for her.

.....

After this morning "misunderstanding" with Ingrid, Ash went to do his servant duties. He washed the clothes by the river, sweep the dusty floor by the hut, cooked , etc. All in all it wasn't as bad as he thought initially. Sure, he had a lot to do, but he was getting to learn many things which he found fascinating.

Ingrid taught him all the basic knowledge he needed so today she would introduce him to magic. With the help of Eve he had a grasp of what magic was, but listening and seeing are two different things, specially when it comes to such a practical concept as magic. Sure, there was a heavy theory behind it, but at the end of the day magic manifestation had a practical utility mainly. He was getting excited for this reason. Magic was new to him (like everything really) and he couldn't wait to learn how to use it.

Ash had finished cooking and was sitting by the table along with a blushing Ingrid as they dug into the food. She looked like a cold lady in Ash's eyes at first, at least that's what she portrayed to him. But, this image was thrown out of the window after living with her for two weeks.

She was clumsy.

Apart from watering the plants, which wasn't a tough task anyways, she could do almost nothing in the house. Hunting and fishing were her main jobs. This was unexpected to Ash as he viewed her as a dependable beauty. The beauty part was just a factual fact , no question about it. But, in the chore's department... she was pretty useless.

She had admitted to him that up until now she had only survived by eating fruits and overcooked unseasoned meat and fish. Cleaning was too troublesome so she didn't bother with it.

Today, Ash cooked a fried fish with some spices he got from the forest's peripheries. It wasn't anything special but she seemed to like it... like always.

Every time he cooked Ingrid would appear out of nowhere and sit with a serious face on the table, sometimes even standing and walking around Ash to get a smell on the food. She would get so fidgety and impatient that Ash couldn't help but feel like a father cooking for his daughter. A weird feeling indeed.

And just like usual there she was, devouring a fish like it was some kind of otherworldly delicacy with a smile of amusement, differing from her usually serious expression . Ash also appreciated his own cooking but he didn't think it was all that good. In all honesty, he was sure that with the right ingredients he would make way better food than what he had cooked so far.

Once they finished eating and Ash got to clean the dishes, he changed and went outside. His white attire from the ceremony day had cuts and blood stains all over it, but instead of throwing it out he decided to keep it in a drawer. He didn't know who gave it to him but he didn't want to get rid of something that might be important.

Currently he was wearing a red T-shirt which didn't fit him quite well as Ingrid bought it without knowing his sizes. Black shorts and a pair of shoes of the same colour. Everything, except for the shoes was a little oversized for him but he didn't look bad at all. His colourless shoulder length hair in addition to his sharp golden eyes with animalistic pupils were hard to hide, so even the ugliest clothes would look good on him.

[" Is it uncomfortable , Master?"]

Eve knew the T-shirt was a "little" big for him so she asked.

" Nah, nothing to bother about. I will grow eventually so this is fine."

[ "Hopefully. As it is now Master's body is too weak ".]

" You don't have to say it, I know."

Ash was chatting with Eve via his thoughts as he walked down the flowery hill. A single tree stood by the side which added a sense of solitude and beauty to the scenery. Ash couldn't remember anything about his past but he was convinced that this place was one of the most beautiful places he had ever been to.

" Took you long enough, Ash."

Under the lonely tree stood Ingrid. Her waist length blood red hair waved in unison with the flowers and the falling leaves. Her cold expression portrayed an emotionless person, yet her green emerald eyes were full of sentiment.

Ash always felt lost when looking at her. In the few weeks they got to live together he figured she wasn't actually cold. She just wasn't good at expressing herself. Her impatience during lunch and dinner time, the sloppiness when trying to help Ash do the dishes. She was clearly an adult, but for some instances she behaved like an innocent kid. He knew he could spend a life with her and he wouldn't get tired of seeing her randomness. Being with her was a spectacle to enjoy each time.

Sometimes she would even try to make jokes, which seemed out of her character at first. Maybe she did it to ease Ash a little since she believed he was secretly depressed due to his memory loss. Ash never found them funny but after seeing how she at least tried he couldn't help but change his impressions regarding her personality.

They were in a master/servant relationship, yet , it didn't feel like she treated him like a servant at all. Ash was a "Master" himself, but his servant behaved like a spoiled brat most of the time so at some point he started to think that maybe that was how it was supposed to be. Little did he know , that in Iris, servant was another word for "slave". Families who were in debt or people with small crimes would be given the opportunity to "serve" nobles in exchange of helping them out of jail. It isn't necessary to say how tough of a job this was since there were all kind of nobles out there who could only see commoners as their plaything. Female servants specially had it worse .

Though he was unaware of this reality and thought it was normal for them to be like this, he still appreciated the fact that not only was she angelically beautiful but also a kind-hearted woman in the inside. Someone who would open her door to a lost kid like him.

" I was changing my clothes Ingri-... I mean , master. The butler outfit would only get in the way."

Ingrid insisted for him (forced him) to wear a butler suit, as she considered it "appropriate" for the job.

" But it looks so good on you, you should've kept it on." Ingrid said with a frown.

["She's right Master"] Eve agreed with an annoyed voice.

" So what is today's lesson, master ?" Ash changed the topic with a fake smile, hoping she would forget the outfit for now. It looked good on him but he couldn't help but cringe when wearing it, so he preferred not to.

" Don't think I will let it slide so easily, we'll talk about this later." Ingrid said while crossing her arms under her bosoms. She looked annoyed for some reason. Well, she had her priorities straight and Ash's butler outfit was one of them.

"... Why me?" Ash sighed internally.

" Anyways, as you know today I will be teaching you about magic. We will start from the very basics. Ranks."

" Ranks?" Ash was very expectant about this. Eve had told him about it before after he asked her about his attributes, but for some reason she didn't give it importance, as if it didn't matter to her. He found this to be quite annoying as he still did not understand them quite well. Specially the information regarding his affinities and talents.

" Yes, we magis have a ranking system , each rank representing a level of magical mastery and mana capacity." She sat down on the grass, her black dress barely covering her provocative tights as she extended her legs on the flowery hill. Pointing at her side she indicated for Ash to sit next to her.

Ash had master the act of holding back by now. Sleeping in the same bed with her for two weeks was hard but he had to endure his primitive instincts. He was a child so he had to act like one , if not she would be suspicious of him.

" I'm so tired of this kid's body... Damn you body thief !!!" He cursed internally to his non existent nemesis.

Once sitting next to her Ingrid continued with her lesson.

" As you might be able to tell, magical mastery it's basically the level of skilfulness you posses when handling mana and manifesting your magic. This aspect depends mostly on experience so we will focus on the other aspect today, mana capacity."

Ash nodded, signalling that he was following so far.

" What do you think mana capacity is?" She asked .

" Based on the name alone I would say it is the amount of mana a person has..." Ash guessed, cursing Eve for not telling him about all of this and himself for not being able to spank her like he wished.

" That's partially true, but not it." She said with a faint smile.

" ...What is it then?" Apart from that he couldn't really think of anything else so he wondered what the right answer was.

" A very long time ago, it was proven that magis don't actually posses mana. If we did then we would have it since birth. So, mana capacity is the amount of mana, which naturally exist in nature, that a magi can hold in their mana core." She explained.

" So ... we borrow it ?" Ash asked in realization.

" Correct, I don't know if borrowing would be the appropriate term but that's the idea. We can't produce mana, but we can collect it , store it and use it as if it is ours in the form of magic. The more capacity your core has the more mana can be absorbed. Since mana enters a magi's mana core naturally when refilling it some people tend to misinterpret this fact."

" Oh, I see. In other words we depend on the mana around us to use magic, which in essence is the same mana that is present in our core." Ash concluded.

"That's right." Standing, Ingrid moved in front of Ash who was still sitting on the same spot.

s" There are 9 known ranks in total. Each of these ranks have qualities and characteristics that differ from the other. The order, from lower to higher goes: Low ,Mid ,High , Advanced ,Expert ,Master , Supreme Master ,Legendary and Mythical. As a magi moves up in rank their cores start to change. A new magi like you would be ranked as a Low Rank magi, whose core is at the Black Stage. The Mid Rank magis possess cores at the Dark Red Stage , and so it goes on.

Hunters have also a ranking system which is simpler as it only involves levels ( As in : Level 1, Level 2 and so on). But, since it makes thing easier, the Hunter Association and the Magis Union made a general ranking, which works for both sides. This ranking starts from F and finishes at SSS."

Ash nodded in understanding.

For a couple of minutes Ingrid went on and on about many things that Ash wanted to know. He had to admit it, although Eve could show a quantified record of his attributes and be decent at explaining sometimes ( when she felt like it) the red head was way better at teaching than her. Not only did he learn new things but he also managed to fill up some gaps from the concepts that Eve explained to him but he couldn't really grasp completely.

Although he wanted to spank her for misbehaving and being lazy he still couldn't help but feel grateful to have Eve. She was a bad teacher but a good servant when it came to worrying about him and making sure he was aware of his surroundings. In the last few days, when he was doing his servant jobs in the forest, she would always detect magical beasts in the vicinities. If it wasn't for her he could've come face to face with danger in several occasions. So, even though she wasn't as good as Ingrid in this department and ... quite spoiled, he came to accept her as an ally.

After an hour had passed Ingrid came to a stop. She swung her right hand, which had a simple looking ring on her middle finger. And an orb looking sphere appeared in front of her, which she carefully held with both hands.

" Now, let us see your talents and affinity my little butler". Ingrid said with a smirk. She seemed quite amused with this.

" Sure." Ash responded with a sigh as he stood up in front of his master.

He had seen her use her spatial ring before so he wasn't surprised in the slightest when she magically made an orb appear out of nowhere.

They had discussed about checking his talents and affinity before, so now that the introduction on magi knowledge had concluded she needed to check his attributes to have a general idea of how to train him.

Eve warned him that he shouldn't carelessly show his attributes to anyone as it could interfere when confronting an opponent, but since Ingrid proved to be trustful she was fine with it. She also said something along the lines: ' Is not like you are strong right now anyways so it should be fine', so he thought that maybe it was normal to have so many affinities and high talents meaning that he was an average magi.

He had to admit that at first he was quite hesitant though. He believed that his title 'Chosen One' meant that he was a chosen hero or something, meaning that his attributes where overpowered. He wouldn't want anyone to know them if that was the case. If he was meant to save the world, secrecy would be necessary.

Lacking any hesitation Ash extended his hands towards the orb. As he was instructed by Ingrid he applied a little bit of mana through his hand to the orb, and then...

"BOOM"

An explosion of light surrounded the hill they were standing on. It blinded not only him but Ingrid who thought they were being attacked by a high ranked light magic user. She didn't take the chance and rushed to Ash hugging him from the front as they fell on the grass.

Ingrid then casted a barrier of spines that surrounded the two of them in a five meters radio and stayed like that for a few seconds . After noticing that no other attack was occurring and that she couldn't feel anyone apart from her and Ash in that hill, she undid her spell. The light had died down already and she was quite confused as to where that light explosion had came from. Then, she recalled that the explosion sound was too close when she heard it and that it happened right after Ash touched the orb.

"Mafteh I cahnd breah ..."

Ash's distorted voice made her look down. There she realized she was still hugging the kid while lying on top of him in the grass. He was shorter than her by quite a few centimetres so his head was right between her big breasts. In a normal situation he would be delighted by this but the suffocation was starting to turn him blue.

Noticing they were safe she let go of Ash who took a few minutes to catch his breath.

" Aah... M-master ... w-what .. aah ... was that... for?..." He managed to ask her after gaining his bearings back.

" I thought we were being attacked so I defended you. But now that I think about it maybe the explosion was due to some malfunctioning of the orb". She said while looking around, making sure no one was there one last time.

" You call that defending me?! I almost died from suffocation you mad woman !!" Ash cursed her internally.

He then remember the softness he felt before the suffocation and calmed down. She was trying to protect him so it can't be helped, right?

Ash stood back up and the orb Ingrid was talking about came to his view. Apparently it fell when she jumped him. It wasn't broken or anything.

" You mean that orb?" Ash said while pointing at the orb on the ground that was next to her master.

Looking down Ingrid saw the orb, to which her surprise was intact, and she kneeled to pick it up.

" If it did not break then wha..." It looked like she was about to say something but she froze on the spot when looking at the orb. Ash would've thought that time had stopped if it wasn't for the fact that the flowers around them kept dancing along the wind and the leaves from the tree where still visibly moving , with some of them falling sometimes.

" Master, is everything ok? " He asked.

[ "Did you squeeze her boobs again or something ? She looks conflicted now".] Eve spoke after a while of being "absent" as she got bored from the lesson earlier. She was making a disgusted face which Ash couldn't see, yet he knew she was making it.

" Who are you taking me for you stupid servant! I'm innocent this time, she clearly jumped me just now!". He said through their link.

This morning incident, although he wasn't awake, you could blame it on him as it was indeed his hand that went for her breast. But this time, he was an innocent man!

[ " You could say that, but just now I saw the grin in your face when you stood up. That's a pervert's grin you know?"] Eve kept insisting on the matter and Ash was fuming from impotence. He wanted to spank her so bad.

" You said you have a physical body somewhere right?"

[ " Y-yes ... so what ?"] Eve was starting to sweat a little as she noticed the way he asked this question.

" Nothing important, I was just making sure I could punish you some day for being such a spoiled servant." He said with an amused tone that sent shivers down Eve's spine, who jumped out of the chair she was sitting on in the white space. Panic was clear in her face.

[" D-dear Master I-i was kidding just now ...p-please f-forgive me this time..."] She knew she screwed up.

While the comedic duo kept arguing, Ingrid started moving again. She looked up and her eyes met with Ash's. He noticed this and decided to leave the topic about punishing Eve for later.

" Master?"

She did not reply to Ash's question and kept looking at him. Her expressionless face made it hard for him to discern what she was thinking about. He decided to walk to her to see if she was fine but, before he could move a second step she took a step back, adapting a fighting stance right after.

" What are you?" She said coldly, there was no trace of empathy in her voice.

" W-what? It's me master, Ash." He was a starting to feel nervous since his master was being weird. She seemed to be wary of his identity like when they first met. The difference was that now she was acting more coldly and aggressively than before. He could even feel some pressure coming from her that made him feel heavy on his knees.

" I will ask you again. WHAT ARE YOU?!"

*BOOM*

"!!!"

Pressure many times stronger than before was released from her and before Ash knew it he was kneeling in front of her. Panic was taking over him at this point and he was freaking out.

["MASTER GET OUT OF THERE. NOW!"]

"I-i can't m-move Eve."

Eve was freaking out for a different reason than Ash. She wasn't scared of her master dying. That wasn't an option in the first place. What scared her more than anything was that if her master regained his original memories again, after the breaking of another sub seal, she would most likely get spanked. Just thinking about it made her shiver in fear.

" W-what d-do you m-mean? ...I-it's m-me..." Ash was fighting the pressure back but it was worthless.

" These attributes can't belong to anyone in Iris. Which can only mean that you are not from this world. I will ask again, what are you?"

Taking a closer look, although it was faint, Ash could notice an expression on her face, an expression he had never seen her make before. It was sadness.

" M-master... a-are you f-fine?..."

That question took her by surprise. She could see the worry on Ash's face, as if he was concerned of her wellbeing. He was clearly weaker than her and she could easily kill him. Yet, he was worrying about her?

She shook her head and regained her determination before declaring:

" If you don't want to speak, I will make you then."