Restart Again: Volume 2 by Adam Scott (best adventure books to read .TXT) 📗

My mind buzzed with too many thoughts at once; extreme pride in my student, stunned disbelief, and a burning curiosity to break down exactly what happened were chief among them. Lacking the wherewithal to respond appropriately, I let out a loud bout of unstoppable laughter and pulled Lia into a tight embrace. As I caught my breath enough to speak, I nodded into her shoulder. “Yeah...yeah, you did it, Lia.”

She giggled as she hugged me back, and we both soon devolved to a cackling mess in response to the unbelievable events that had transpired. “I said...I said maybe you,” I gasped as I rocked back between howls of laughter, “maybe you could figure it out. And you!...” My sentence broke down into a wheeze, and I slapped my knee for emphasis.

“And I just...did it!” Lia hooted, tears streaming down her face. “Just, first try! Did it right there!” She pulled me in and cackled into my chest as she shook her head back and forth. My cheeks hurt from smiling and my vision blurred with tears as I desperately tried to regain my composure.

After a long period of heavy panting and intermittent chuckles that threatened to throw us back into chaos, I held enough self control to speak clearly again. “Lia, that really was incredible. With all my time spent studying mana, I never once managed to do what you did here today.” I placed a firm hand on her shoulder. “You should feel extremely proud of yourself.”

A large smile spread across her face as she accepted my praise. “Thanks, Lux. I’m not sure exactly what I did, it just sort of...felt right?” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, that’s not very helpful for you. I’m still so new to magic, I don’t know why it worked for me and not for you.”

I smiled. “If I had to guess, it’s precisely because you’re new to magic. Once I taught you the basics of controlling mana, you were ready to learn anything and everything I could teach you. It’s probably why you picked up Detection so quickly as well; you didn’t have any bad habits or preconceived notions of how things should work.” I tapped my chest lightly. “I, on the other hand, spent years using only certain magics in very specific ways. I most likely developed a lot of bad habits and ideas that are holding me back.”

“If you’re feeling up to it, I’d love to watch you do it again and attempt to talk through the process,” I asked. “It’s far too valuable of a skill for me to pass up, now that I know it exists.”

Lia nodded vigorously. “Of course! I need to make sure it wasn’t a fluke.” We both settled down into comfortable positions and renewed our meditation. When I scanned out with my mana, I sensed immediately that something had changed inside of her. The usual warm glow of amber energy was underscored by a system of rich yellow pathways, all of which branched from her core outwards to her extremities. The new structures sparkled with an energy that looked entirely foreign to me.

As she channeled her mana in the usual gentle waves, the newly formed pathways it followed lit up in response. It only took her a single incantation of “Lesser Agility” for the spell to take effect; As soon as the words left her lips the golden energy flared to life, and the enhancement traced its usual green glow around her figure. Once the activation was complete, the pathways faded back to their dull yellow resting state, and her mana depleted as it normally had before.

I shook my head, unable to grasp the new mechanisms I was witnessing. “Lia, do you feel any different now?” I scratched the back of my head in confusion. “Something about your energy looks...changed. In a way that I’ve never seen before.”

Lia shook her head. “No, not really. When I tried to use the mana, there was maybe a...different sort of tingling in my arms and legs, if that makes any sense? Everything felt normal before that.” She tilted her head to the side and frowned. “I guess...it’s hard to describe. It’s like I suffused my whole body with mana, like you would a sword. Except I wasn’t specifically trying to do that, and I don’t think I’m casting magic from my skin. Maybe it was my bones? It sort of...worked on its own, that first time.”

My thoughts began to drift as Lia continued to explain the new feeling as best she could. Is it...her mana channels? I’ve always known they existed as a concept, but I didn’t think they had a physical form. Wouldn’t literal channels for mana have been discovered in every autopsy ever performed, if that were the case? Did she physically manifest them? I scowled in disappointment at being stumped by a new ability for the first time since training with Brusch in Alderea.

I realized too late that Lia had asked me a question. “I’m sorry, what?” The words were overly harsh for the situation, but she didn’t seem to notice.

“Do you want to watch me again?” she repeated patiently. Gesturing to the wagon around us, she continued with a kind smile. “It’s not like we’re in a rush. I don’t mind repeating it as many times as you need.”

“Thank you, Lia,” I said, returning her smile apologetically. “Unfortunately, I don’t know if watching you is going to give me any more insight. I’m stuck in the aggravating position of needing to know how something feels to understand it, but I can’t feel it without understanding it first. You know what I mean, right?”

“Definitely! I know how frustrating that is.” Lia leaned forward and put a hand on my arm. “I’m sorry that I can’t explain it very well. I wish I could give you the feeling somehow, exactly as I feel it.”

“It’s alright. You’ve already been such a big help. And don’t forget, you just developed a