Start of a new lesson

After the initial introductions were out of the way, Rose and Avery both left fairly quickly. There was so much to do in so little time after all, not to mention that both wanted to take advantage of the couple hours of rest the Archduchess offered them.

Once they had left, Dahlia and Valentina were left alone with an unconscious Bessie on an adjacent bed. The atmosphere was loving and comfortable, but also a little sombre. Finally breaking the silence, Dahlia looked up at the woman holding her in their arms.

"Is this really going to be alright? I feel like I don't know enough of what's happening and it's making me anxious. I can't even help you properly at this stage so I can't help but feel like a burden."

Of course this elicited a sigh. Valentina was clearly stressed and needed all the help she could get, but she despised the idea that Dahlia's sense of worth was being affected by all this. She stroked the girl's hair and held her close.

"I can't remain honest and say that I think that this was the last of it. There are still too many unknowns, but I suspect things will get worse before they get better. That hardly matters though. We'll overcome whatever is thrown at us, so you don't need to stress so much. I understand you want to help, but some of the enemies we had in the city were… dangerous. If they have equaliser pills as well, then currently an encounter with the enemy would be lethal."

She could see Dahlia furrowed her brows in frustration, so the vampiress just kept petting and stroking her hair to soothe her. There wasn't much else she could do.

"What I said earlier was genuine. Get better with magic and fighting so that you can defend yourself at the very least, and in your free time help with paperwork. You might need to hold off on working in the gardens after all seeing as, until you have some other things sorted, I suspect you're going to be very busy."

Dahlia chuckled a bit, and the Archduchess was pleased to find it wasn't a derisive laugh, but a genuine one. There was a flicker of anticipation in those hazel eyes that made Valentina's heart tug with affection. She couldn't help but start pecking and kissing her, even as Dahlia began to speak up, now with a smile on her face.

"I'm going to start quickly then. I think my arm will need a bit more time to heal for proper training, but I'll see what I can do and get the ball rolling. I'll do everything I can to make you a little less stressed, does that sound ok?"

After that, she leaned back and met the Archduchess' kisses. The moment was soft and it was clear neither wanted to separate, but there were also some very pressing matters to attend to. For both of them it felt like they were embracing their love even as a guillotine hung over their throats. Separating, Valentina looked at the girl and heat was practically radiating from her eyes. She wanted so much more, but holding back was necessary.

"Alright, if you're going to give it your all then I'd be a bitch if I complained. I'll be cheering for you the whole way so that we can work together on equal footing as soon as possible. For now, I'm going to be dealing with a lot of reports and logistics, but I suspect some more important information will be put together soon. I'll let you decide if you join in on those meetings or if your time is better spent elsewhere."

She began to loosen her hold and separate a bit, sighing the whole time.

"I… really don't want to separate from you. Not in the slightest. But things need to get done and I have far too many people relying on me. I suspect I might be pulling an all-nighter, so you likely won't see neither head nor tail of me until at least tomorrow. So, Dahlia, please take care of yourself. I love you."

Dahlia's eyes widened at that and she looked at Valentina, staring deep into those crimson eyes to try and find any falsehood but… no, she was genuine. Those eyes looked more honest and loving than she could even imagine and that's when it all felt real.

Affection was one thing. Maybe she considered herself favoured as well. But love? Real, honest, genuine love? No matter how many times she tried to convince herself, it always felt like a fantasy. That it was mostly one sided and the vampiress didn't feel the same way. But…

Dahlia leaned into her, pulling her tight and taking in the pleasant warth that comes from another. She took a few deep breaths and found comfort in the soft scent of her partner as well. If they were going to be separated, she wanted to recharge her Valentina battery and this seemed like the way to do it. Finally, she kissed her softly and looked deep into her eyes, trying to repay the honest emotions she had just received.

"I love you too. So much. More than I probably should. You take care of yourself and I'll do the same, alright?"

They shared the moment a little longer, but finally Valentina got up and had to leave. Dahlia wasn't far behind but she took a moment to retrieve her maid. It was actually at the archduchess' request so that she could keep a reliable guard with her, but she had been so hesitant to wake Bessie from her sleep. Eventually the instructions won out and Dahlia gently led the half awake maid out of her bed and down the hall to the office she'd be working in, only for Bessie to fall asleep on a couch in the corner almost instantly.

'Oh well, that's better than nothing. Now then…'

She quickly ran out of the office to a different nearby bedroom and came back with a couple of potted plants in her arms. A few servants saw her in passing and, despite their amused confusion, no one tried to stop her. After a couple minutes, Dahlia found herself back in the office and with her pet plants Kitty and Mr. Lilly accompanying her.

"Right, so I guess now is the time to start. I've gathered you all here today for a very important reason. We've gotta figure out how my magic works!!!"

She looked at the two plants and nodded in satisfaction. Sometimes you've just got to return to your roots, and for her that was talking to plants. In her imagination, the little round shrub seemed confused. She would often talk to Kitty, but more about general life things, not about magic. Meanwhile, she could imagine Mr. Lilly was already sweating bullets due to the new lecture.

Taking a deep breath, Dahlia began to organise her thoughts. There was no reason to stall this any longer than she already had. Especially after what had happened that morning, the idea of waiting any longer to get her magic figured out went from feeling lazy, to straight up irresponsible.

"Alright, and thus starts our meeting. So, since we last spoke, quite a lot has happened. It's fair to say that I have my entire schema figured out. Well, I'll continue learning things about it as I use it, but the creative process is complete. Now we're moving onto more pragmatic things."

Whipping out a file folder and pulling out some sheets of paper, Dahlia began scribbling on them with excessive enthusiasm. There was a part of her that wanted to put on a show for her precious plants, though anyone who might have seen her at the moment would think she had lost her mind.

"In no particular order, we've got step 1: figure out how the heck to manipulate my mana without using huge bursts of it all at once. Step two: figure out the limitations and flexibility of my channelling based casting. Step 3: the same as step two, but for the constructive portion of my schema instead. And finally step 4: domains and named spells. Now then, where do we start…"

She glanced over at the minotaur-kin sleeping on the couch and saw the maid's little cow ears twitching.

'I should probably calm down at least a little… but now that I think about it, I don't want to disturb Bessie. Combine that with us being indoors and I think I might have to keep things theoretical. That, or any magic I use can't risk being destructive, so… For now we'll restrict things to step 1 and step 4, the rest will have to wait for when I'm in the training ground.'

Looking down at the notes she had just started, she shoved two of the pages away and was left with two others.

"Alright, so let's work backwards. We'll start with theory and then end with something a little more practical. When we're looking at step 4, what we're actually looking at are some of the greatest extents of what magic can accomplish. Both domains and named spells can be completed by any type of caster, but the rule of thumb is that channelling is better suited to domains, while constructive magic is suited towards named casting."

She glanced over at the round shrub and gave it a couple consolatory pats.

"It's ok Kitty, you're just here for moral support. You don't need to understand. That guy on the other hand… Mr. Lilly, I expect you to be the model student!"

It almost seemed like the plant wilted a little at that, but who could really say.

"So my schema is comprised of both constructive and channelling attributes which means it's suited for domains and named spells. And although everything that I've done so far is mostly channelling based because I was just letting the mana flow naturally, I'm actually more geared towards constructivism if anything."

She began to sketch some diagrams out, showing a rough version of her tattoos. Instead of stopping once they were finished though, she then took a different fountain pen and began highlighting certain regions of the geometric patterns.

"This isn't going to make sense on a detailed level. It took me ages to understand this myself, but these regions that I highlighted serve a double purpose. The geometry itself helps shape my mana conduits, or my magical organs. This larger geometry can then have subsections in it which can be used to channel the manna in easily repeatable patterns. This is where named spells become relevant. Each of these highlighted patterns can correspond to a different named group and it will help me form them easier when the time comes.

The reason not all spells are named is because they don't need to be. Standard spells are cast with a fairly simple flow of magic. Innate spellcasting allows for greater complexity if it would be related to bloodline, while constructive casting allows for higher complexity if some form of pre-made structure is used. Naming basically takes things a step further."

She scratched her head and absentmindedly pet her shrub as she tried to think of how best to explain things.

"Hmm, so earlier on, we saw Bessie use one of her named spells. When she cast it, it came in two parts. I think hers was 'Abyssal Embrace: Charybdis' Dismemberment'. The names typically are created very similarly to how a schema specifier is made and they act as mnemonics. There's one major difference though and that's that they are tightly connected to your innate abilities.

Bloodlines or aspects will subconsciously direct you towards certain structures or themes. That's where the first half of the name comes from. In Bessie's case, the name 'Abyssal Embrace' likely wasn't something she came up with, but rather showed up in her mind during meditation (or in her case likely a dream). That first half of the name then details a specific subsection of their magic's scope. Then the second part of the name is created by the caster in which they determine how to best use that focussed subsection."

Dahlia took a moment to think and the urge to scream into her hands was very tempting. The issue with stuff like this is that it could feel complicated but at the same time arbitrary. The most convenient way to describe it was something like 'schema within a schema' but that wasn't fully true. It was more like focussed sections of magic that were particularly compatible with the caster.

Once these particularly compatible subsections made themselves known, they then became far more malleable. It was the difference between having premixed paints, or needing to mix them once they were already on the canvas. Sure, you might be able to do something similar, but there will be fundamental issues and it will be unwieldy. If the paint is premixed, then the process will feel far more natural and errors that might otherwise appear will be gone.

With named spells, the first name is a 'premixed paint' equivalent of how to shape one's mana. Meanwhile, the second name is the instructions of how to paint with that unique colour. There's just one added problem.

"There's an elephant in the room, and I think it needs to be addressed. Now, you're silly little plants and you don't comprehend the real world. You're probably saying, 'well if named spells are so cool, then why doesn't everyone use them all the time? Why did Bessie wait till the end when the enemy was already basically dead?' Well you poor naive pieces of foliage, you have to understand that your actions have consequences!"

Dahlia paused in the middle of her tirade to check to see if she somehow hurt the inanimate objects' feelings. Calling them pieces of foliage felt mean somehow… Seeing they were ok, she quickly moved forward.

"Named spells may be incredibly potent, but they come at a cost. They compress and condense mana to inordinate degrees incredibly quickly. Those with low to moderate mana proficiencies have to be particularly careful, or else they'll drain themselves and fall into a coma from mana exhaustion. Named spells basically make it so huge reserves can be used instantly in order to achieve great effects. But those not suited to this could suffer immensely."

She raised her eyebrow in surprise and gave an approving nod toward the flowering plant.

"Yes, very good! I'm actually an example of the ideal named spell caster. People like me who have both a constructive schema as well as high mana proficiency are incredibly well suited to named spells. It means that, though named spells can lack flexibility at times, I have the potential to create repeated and very potent effects with my casting. I still have plenty to learn, but out of everything, this is likely where most of my magic potential lies."

Looking down at the paper where she planned to make notes, there were a whole bunch of empty spaces or question marks that she had left behind as she was speaking to her plants. The truth was, there was a big issue still and it was that someone didn't just choose when to start naming.

Similar to creating a schema where you weren't able to actually finalise anything until you knew your aspect, in this case, she needed to meditate, concentrate, ponder… and basically do any other verb that meant think. Only after she was in tune with her magic would the first names start to become clear and only then would she be able to finally take advantage of her naming magic.

For now, she was left with ideas. Future spells she would need to use might have a different origin, but she would still need to create spells that could help in various situations. Some of these could be done with weaker non-named magic. Stuff like creating darkness, using basic tree growth, or eventually using her space magic to reorient things. Plenty could be done with basic magic, no names needed.

But she had plans. Ohhhhh boy did she have plans. Images flickered in her mind's eye. What would it take to grow plants inside of people? Could it be done with weak magic or are names needed? If she could manipulate emotions, to what degree was it possible? Could she confuse and scare people enough to attack allies? What about creating large scale forests as attacks? What about traps?

Thoughts like these and more were regularly going through her head and, for those like Bessie and Valentina who knew her as a sweet and gentle girl, some of the cruelty in her ideas might have even unsettled them. Ever since the realisation that she'd happily grow a tree inside someone's armour if it meant she could protect her love, Dahlia had begun to accept that cruelty was not something to shy away from; at least when it came to protecting those she held dear.

While the two potted plants couldn't read it, if anyone peeked over Dahlia's shoulder at that moment, they'd be greeted with a cluster of concepts that she wished to pursue, and far too many seemed morally dubious. Nonetheless, they also had something else in common and that was efficacy.

Smiling down at her work, Dahlia triumphantly flipped the paper over to its backside and began a new sketch.

"Right, so naming is a tough nut to crack, but we'll figure something out. What I can actually start working on immediately, despite it being considered high level, is domain creation. So… how about we move onto that next?"