Chapter 25 Aptitude

In the central area of Shisayama, Azi and Shizu arrived at the village barracks. According to Kajima, all thaumaturges are currently stationed at the barracks due to the increasing monster attacks and number of wounded.

While apothecaries were the healers of the army, the Thaumaturges were the specialist when it came to the manipulation of magical energies which could aid the body in natural healing or be used to unleash elemental might upon their foes.

Azi posed a question to Shizu, as he began searching around with his eyes.

"Shizu? Do you know of a thaumaturge by the name of Touma? Kajima said that he could help me with my idea on how to fix your katana."

"Yes. He should be somewhere around here in the village barracks, give me a second I think he should be around here."

Shizu began to scan the area with her eyes to find Touma amongst the surroundings. The village barracks consisted of numerous 2 story wooden buildings that had a few clearings to allow the soldiers to gather for training and free time.

Focusing her attention on one of the men sitting at a table playing cards, she noticed that what set the man out from the rest was how he did not carry a sword, spear, or bow but instead carried a staff with metal ringlets decorating its circular head.

Recognizing the shape of the staff, Shizu patted Azi's shoulder to get his attention.

"There he is, come with me."

Leading Azi over, Shizu walked over to the thaumaturge she suspected was Touma and called out to the men.

"Hey! Is one of you named Touma?"

The man with the staff perked up at her call and turned to face her with a bit of surprise on his face.

"Yes umm. That would be me Lady Shizu, what can I do for you?"

"My new apprentice needs your help. Would you please hear him out?"

At her words the soldiers were also surprised by how Shizu had finally accepted someone to be her apprentice.

In the past, many soldiers attempted to request to become her apprentice but they were all denied by her as she did not find them worthy or interesting enough to take under her wing.

With a bit of trepidation in his voice, Touma righted himself before congratulating her. "C-congratulations. Please, tell me about him Lady Shizu."

"No, he will introduce himself."

Motioning to the young man who was standing at her side, Touma looked over at him with a look of confusion. He did not believe that the short young man holding her hand was her apprentice but was instead some lost village boy.

Shizu responded to Touma's look of confusion with a sharp glare which caused him to swallow a breath to keep his comments to himself.

In order to better talk with Azi, Touma slouched a bit to get down to his eye level.

Like all the people Azi had met, Touma was quite tall as he stood at a little over 2 meters which was a massive gap when compared with Azi's height of 5 feet.

"What can I help you with young man?"

"I'm currently trying to learn a bit of thaumaturge for a project. I learned from Shizu that I may have an aptitude so could you give me an aptitude test and tell me a bit about rune crafting and engraving?"

A bit surprised by the informal manner of speech Azi had when addressing Lady Shizu, Touma kept it from showing and answered in a resolute manner.

"Alright, let's start then. Here, hold this."

Grabbing his staff and extending the head of it to Azi, he continued to explain the process.

"You will first need to put your hand on the crystal that is located here." He then pointed his finger at the white stone on the staff's head. "Try to focus your intent on it and I'll handle the rest."

"I understand."

'Let's hope I get a good aptitude or else this might complicate my plans.'

With that thought in mind, Azi reached his hand out and touched the crystal on Touma's staff. In the next few moments, the blue glow of Azi's veins started to spread down his arm and began creeping into the crystal. The odd sight of the glowing blue lines on Azi's arms befuddled Touma as he identified it as reinforcement magic but its glow was much brighter than the normal instances.

Before Touma could ask a question concerning his piqued interest, he noticed that the crystal began to glow blue, then red, and then settled on colorless.

This got Touma's attention and he decided to ask his question at a later date. He then interpreted the aptitude test which he deduced meant that Azi had a triple aptitude of water, fire, and colorless which was considered rare. Majority of the population of Yamato did not have aptitudes but all had magic energy.

On average 1 in 100 people have a magic aptitude, while 1 in 10,000 people have two magic aptitudes. Those with three or more were 1 in a million and were considered potential geniuses in the field of thaumaturgy.

"Amazing." Praised Touma. "You seem to have an aptitude for water, fire, and colorless. Water is usually used for healing, fire is used for offense, and colorless has some utility if you are able to master it."

"How does one master their aptitudes?"

"Mastering your aptitudes requires a lot of time and repetition. There is a method of cultivation and meditation, but it's not recommended for people with multiple aptitudes due to how this method is time consuming and only benefits one aptitude at a time.

This was an old practice, but the most modern way to master them is to repeatedly convert magical energies into the corresponding aptitude and then back into magical energies. Do this every day and your control on your aptitudes will improve and your mastery will increase. Here, let me show you how."

After letting go of the staff, Azi stood back and watched Touma. A couple moments passed as Touma focused his mind and gathered his internal magical energy into his staff. A solid red glow emitted from the palms of his hands and it traveled up the staff which then produced a small ball of flame at its tip. The flame then turned to red motes of light and dispersed into the air.

Satisfied with the demonstration, Touma turned to Azi with a proud smile.

"This is one way to practice with those with a fire aptitude. Imagine a flame, create it through your intent, and then let it dissipate slowly."

At this point, Azi's eyes were sparkling in amazement from the fantastical sight of fire appearing out of nowhere. He then held out his hand out with his palm up and began trying to emulate the same phenomenon.

Touma smiled wryly at Azi's attempt and thought that he was too eager. There was no way that he could use magic without a staff as it took a year of practice to do such a feat. Touma knew that he could do so since he was a graduate from the thaumaturgic department of Yamato's academy.

"It's not easy to start using magical energies from the start, you have ... to ... train... for...a…year?"

With his words beginning to falter at the end of his statement, Touma witnessed a surprising sight. The veins in Azi's outstretched hand and arm began to glow a bright blue for a few moments but then turned into a crimson red.

Azi had a grimace on his face as the feeling in his arm felt unfamiliar and uncomfortably hot.

Pushing through, Azi then tried to imagine a small flame for the next few minutes and successfully got a flame the size of a matchstick forming in the palm of his hand. Azi sighed in disappointment as he was expecting to produce a flame as large as Touma's, but Touma was nonetheless quite impressed.

"Incredible! Now try to think of the flame going out or dispersing!"

Per Touma's advice, Azi then thought of the flame being extinguished by water, but this did not cause the flame to disperse. He tried multiple times but they had no effect. He then thought about one of his fractured memories of a game he once played.

In it, the protagonist was able to absorb his own magical energies back into himself to enhance himself. With this in mind, Azi closed his eyes and attempted to imagine the flame becoming one with his arm as an attempt to have it disperse the magical energies back into himself.

He thought that if the flame was made from his energy he could just recycle it back into himself. He was not expecting a miraculous result but was instead just trying to get the flame to go out.

A few moments passed and then the flame began to look as if it was slowly dissipating, yet the flame's dissipation was different from Touma's as it did not escape into the air but instead started to enter Azi's arm.

After the last red mote disappeared into his arm, a few moments passed with complete silence as everyone held their breath in anticipation of what would happen next.

*Fwoosh*

This silence was then broken by many cheers and awes of wonder.

Azi, whose eyes were closed in his focused attempt, opened them as he was startled by everyone's sudden cheering. Seeing that everyone's attention was drawn to his arm he looked to his outstretched hand and saw that his arm was on fire.

Azi's first thought was to panic since the sight of his arm on fire was disconcerting but he noticed that he felt only a small heat rather than the sensation of burning. He then looked to Touma with a bit of concern in his voice.

"Ummm, what do I do?"

Breaking out of his own surprise, Touma asked with a somewhat slack jawed tone. "Are you in any pain?"

"No, it just feels warm, but how do I get rid of it?"

"No clue, this is the first time I'm seeing this kind of phenomenon. I learned about it in books, but this kind of magic was never used due to how impractical the technique was. Usually the red motes would disappear, but it seems you have absorbed the magical energies into your body. This is an impressive feat on your part but I have no idea on how to solve this issue."

Azi sighed and tried to think on how he could fix the current situation as he could not just walk around the village with his arm bathed in fire. 'It feels like my arm is tensed up, maybe if I try that I can get it to relax?'

"Do you have a practice target or something I can punch? I think it will disperse if I exert it out of my body."

"Yeah, I can make one for you."

Touma then focused for a few moments as his hands grasped his staff in what looked like a prayer, then he tapped it on the ground three times. Each tap emitted a green glow and in response a small lump of earth of 1 meter by 1 meter by 1 meter rose up in front of Azi.

"Alright, everyone. Get back just to be safe."

At Azi's warning, everyone around him took some distance away as they kept their attention on him in anticipation of what he would do next.

Taking up a martial art stance on instinct, with his left foot out front and right foot behind and slightly to his right side. He then made both of his hands into fists with his left outstretched in front of him and the other at his waist. The flame on his right arm surprisingly did not burn his clothes but it did emit a small amount of heat.

Azi then focused his mind and imagined the energy and flame in his right arm bursting out when he would punch. Solidifying that image in his mind, he then struck out with a straight punch with his right fist.

*Bang* *Crack* *Boom*

Connecting with the lump of solid earth with a bang it then caused the front face of the lump of earth to crack as his right fist began to dig into it. After a few cracking sounds, a boom resounded out from inside the lump of solid earth.

Slight amounts of red flames began to burst out from the cracks and the lump of earth soon crumbled from the inside out.

Now broken into small fragments scattered on the ground, the soldiers then began to holler and cheer at Azi for the entertaining display. Azi looked to his right arm and he found that it was no longer bathed in fire. Noticing that Touma was coming to his side he apologized for making a mess but was cut off before getting a word in.

Instead Touma shouted in exuberance as his eyes sparkled a bit. Azi began to think that this guy was really interested in thaumaturgy. He also remembered how Kajima told him that this Touma character was a researcher and a bit of a nerd when it came to all things thaumaturgy.

Azi began to realize what Kajima meant as Touma began to talk his ear off.

"Impressive! Not only do you have a natural talent for manipulating magical energies, but you also seem receptive to them! Say, would you like to be my apprentice as well?"

Taken off guard by Touma's compliment and request that came in a rush, Azi scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as Touma continued to persuade him with offers. Putting a hand up to pause Touma from his rushing words, Azi had to turn him down.

"Thank you for the compliment Touma, but no thanks. I already have two teachers so a third would make it difficult to manage my time."

Slumping in disappointment, Touma was patted on the back by Shizu to comfort his broken ambition. While she was doing that, she turned her attention to Azi with a satisfied smile.

"So Azi? Is there anything else you need to ask or should we get going?"

"No, I think I have what I need for now. Touma? While I can't be your apprentice, could I come meet you again to talk about rune crafting and engraving sometime in the future?"

Perking up at the chance to meet again, Touma quickly jumped at the opportunity. Still speaking rapidly, Touma rummaged through his bag.

"Sure thing, here! Take this location talisman. Just pour magic energy into this and it will guide you to where I am, but the range is limited so if it doesn't work then that means I had to leave the village for an assignment."

Azi accepted the talisman from Touma as he explained its use. Now looking at Shizu, he posed a suggestion.

"While we are here Shizu, is there anything you need to do at the barracks?"

"No, I'll handle it later as it's not that pressing."

"Alright then. Let's head to the next destination."

Shizu nodded to Azi in affirmation and the two began walking out of the barracks hand in hand. This made all the soldiers, including Touma, become somewhat stunned again. Everyone knew of Shizu's alias as the Man Killer and could not believe that she was holding the hand of a young man.

Even though they initially thought Azi was likely younger than 16 due to his outward appearance, their assumptions crumbled when they saw him use magic.

Magic was something only adults could use as the magic channels in a person are only able to produce magical phenomena after they are fully developed at the age of 16 and had an aptitude.

This was why the empire legally set the age of an adult to be 16 as any person at that age and above could learn to circulate magic through their bodies to help improve their overall health. With it, they could also pursue careers such as thaumaturgy or even become mercenaries if they had enough internal magic energy to fuel more potent reinforcement magic.

From this encounter, a rumor about Azi's talent, his apprenticeship with Shizu, and the assumed relationship he had with Shizu would start to spread amongst the soldiers of Kujyuri.

*****

As Touma saw Shizu and Azi off with a wave, one of the soldiers walked up to Touma's side with a questioning gaze on the departing pair.

"So that is Shizu's apprentice? They are quite close. I wonder what kind of relationship they have?"

"I would recommend you be careful of who you say that in front of. If Lady Shizu hears you saying such implicating words, your manhood would be promptly removed."

The soldier flinched a bit at his words as Touma's deadpan look made it apparent that it wasn't a joke. Looking closer, the soldier noticed that Touma looked a bit shaken as his hands were somewhat trembling in what he could identify as excitement since the soldier was somewhat close with Touma.

"What's wrong? Was there anything interesting about that kid's magic?"

"Yes, That "kid" is well." Touma took a moment to think on how he would describe what he witnessed but felt that no amount of words would justify what he saw so he opted to say something simple. "He is not normal."

"How so?"

Sighing, Touma thought on where to start.

"First off, he was able to reabsorb magic energy and that isn't normal. Usually when magic energy takes physical form and then converted back into magic energy, these energies are usually dispersed not reabsorbed. Reabsorbing is possible but is incredibly painful and is an ineffective technique when it comes to spell conjuring as the conversion of external magical energies into internal magical energies is low."

Touma then paused and looked at the veins on his hand. "But that boy was able to absorb so much of it and was not in any pain. This is evident as the boy was also able to break the construct I made using the energies he absorbed."

'Your construct was made out of dirt, of course it would break.' Is what the soldier wanted to say but Touma cut in.

"The construct I made was created from compressing the dirt into a material that was as hard as low-grade steel. I made it to show the boy how earth magic would work, but it was mind-numbing to see him break it with a single punch." Untensing his arm to stop his trembling, Touma turned to the surprised soldier.

"We should keep an eye on the boy, he seems interesting which makes sense as he is Shizu's apprentice."

"You got that right, Lady Shizu always seemed bored these last few months so it's good to see that something has piqued her interest."

"Agreed, but I hope that boy survives her training, if not, it will be a shame to lose such a talent."

The soldier and Touma then spent the next few moments sharing a dry laugh as they shivered at the thought of the future trials that awaited Azi. While talking, Touma could not get his mind off another hypothesis he had about Azi.

'His magic energy is different from any I have seen. His capacity is a little larger than mine but even still, his channels seem…. Alive? What the heck kind of past does he have and who is he?'

In the distance, Shizu suddenly sneezed which caught Azi off guard. Wiping her nose clean with a handkerchief she had on hand she wondered if she should get a coat but thought that she had already gotten used to the cold.

Feeling as if this seemed right to say, Azi muttered to himself.

"I wonder who might be talking about you."

Overhearing this strange phrase, Shizu gave Azi a questioning look.

"And what does that mean?"

"Oh nothing. Just thought it fit the situation."

Giving him a questioning look, Shizu thought to ask again but had to suddenly catch up to Azi as he had found something interesting to look at.

Seeing the twinkle in Azi's eyes, Shizu thought that they seemed similar to Touma when he talked about Thaumaturgy and made the connection.

'Those two are going to have a field day the next time they meet. I better keep my eye on them since Ozen's putting a lot of effort behind these two young men.'

(Thank you for continuing to read this series. More will come and I hope to see your comments in the future.)

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