Time passed, by the time the sun leaned west, the air had turned warm and heavy
Loran sat under the shade with Auel took a nap under the shade of the tree, while the girls kept on training, again and again, but nothing worked
Eventually Loran stood up, picked up his cane and walked toward the girls
"So" He asked "any progress?"
Laura lowered her head, letting out a small sigh "Nope, still can't use magic?"
Erin tightened her grip on her staff
"I-I'm sorry…" Erin apologized "I didn't help at all"
Loran chuckled softly "It's fine, I've already tried to teach her magic for a long time but the results hasn't changed"
He paused, thinking
"Why don't we call it a day? I'll try to think of something else that might help us train tomorrow"
Loran turned slightly "And wake him up, so we can head back"
"Y-yes" Erin rushed toward Auel and woke him up
They returned to the city and parted ways
The next day, they met up again and went to the same place
Auel went to sleep under the shade while the girls and Loran trained
Laura kept trying to cast spells
A faint frustration crept into her voice
"Fireball"
But nothing happened
"Erin… you said that you learned magic without knowing Gaia, right?
Erin hesitated "Y-yes…"
"So why don't you teach me the same way. Maybe that's the answer" Laura suggested
"I-I don't really know how to explain it… I just followed what my parents told" Erin's fingers fidgeted around her staff
"Memorized the incantation and use it. And I can do it in the first try"
She forced a small smile
Laura frowned slightly "That won't help"
A brief silence followed
"Hmm… Are you using holy magic?" Laura asked
"Holy magic?"
"I don't think so, for someone to be able to use holy magic, they have to get baptized in the cathedral" Loran explained
"And the magic that they use is not the same as the one that magic caster usually uses"
"They are specializing in taking care of the demon"
"Specializing in demon, you mean their magic is effective in care of demon?" Laura asked
"Yes, sorta. The reason is some demons are strong enough to handle normal magic, that's why the cathedral create this kind of magic to take care of them"
Laura glanced at him "But you are interested in magic right, but I've never saw you use this holy magic, why?"
"To be honest, I'm interested in holy magic. But for someone to be able to get baptized by the cathedral, they have to worship their god. And I can't do that because I worship Gaia"
"That's kinda restrictive" Laura muttered
The she brightened slightly "Wait, what about that third method you mentioned before? Maybe I can use magic by using that method"
Loran paused
"I think you misunderstood something"
"The third method that I've been saying is not about learning magic, but unlocking a hidden potential"
Laura blinked "What do you mean?"
"It's actually a ritual allows someone to use god magic"
"G-god magic?" Erin gripped his staff tightly "What kind of magic is it?"
"It's a magic that normal human can't understand, like it's way more powerful than normal magic even holy magic"
"What do you mean more powerful?" Laura asked
Loran raised one of his hands forward "For example fire magic can be used to shoot fireballs right"
The girls nodded
"And maybe ground magic can be used to create a wall or even golem, but god magic can do something like"
"Hmm…" Loran thought for a second "Summoning an Angel"
"An angel?" Laura whispered and Erin's eyes flickered
"Yes, someone who can use God magic can summon an Angel. And someone even said the Angel is strong enough to beat a whole army of demons"
"A whole army? Alone?" Laura amazed "H-hang on if this magic is really powerful, can you use this magic?"
"Nope, it's almost impossible for someone to use god magic"
"W-why?" Erin asked
"Yeah why?" Laura continued "I mean you can summon an Angle who beat a whole army alone, this means if the demon lord really get revived human can beat it right?"
"It's more complicated than you think, first there barely any record about this magic, even the full incantation never been found"
"And the second thing is, you can die just by using this magic"
"D-die" Erin froze and her grip tightened further
Loran's tone remained steady "Yes, if someone ever use this magic their body will be covered in some kind of weird marks"
"This mark will stab, burn, and pierce the body and eventually the caster collapse"
"The caster collapsed?" Erin lowered her gaze
"H-hang on, you said that there is barely any record about this magic right? But how come there are people who die from using this magic?" Laura asked
"I'm not quite sure, but there are some groups who really interested in this kind of magic, they are having experiment just to be able to use it"
"And I've heard that dead bodies were found with a weird mark covering their bodies, and those bodies are wearing the same necklace, so people assume that this people came from that group who obsessed with god magic"
"Hmm… that's weird, this kind of magic is so powerful it alone can defeat demon easily, but why does someone using this magic could get killed?"
"I don't know, but people said that this magic actually can only be used by the god. And somehow human saw it and tried to use it too" Loran explained
"But the gods were angry and they make some rule that if humans ever use this kind of magic their body will get tormented and finally dead"
"But yeah, it's just a myth. I don't know if it's real or not, I'm not interested in a magic who can instantly kill me in a single used"
Laura sighed "Well… I thought that the third method will be the answer"
Loran chuckled "No, the reason I never told anything about this method is I don't even know anything about that ritual"
"So, let's start the train, I brought another book that might help us"
The three of them kept training from the book that Loran brought
Week almost passed, still nothing, even with Loran's help nothing worked, no matter what they tried
"Hey, we've been trying for almost a week, but nothing seems to work" Laura said
"Hmm… You're right. Let's cancel the quest, shall we?" Loran said
"W-wait, but there must be a way right" Erin said "I mean if we tried something else maybe we can find a way for Laura to use magic, right?"
"But I don't know other things for someone to be able to use magic" Loran said
"B-But we've trained for almost a week- "
"It's fine" Laura said with a smile "We've tried enough, and also It's fun trained together with you, at least I learned something from the time we spent"
Loran nodded
"That's right, and this doesn't mean the end, you can come to our house if you have something in your mind that might help Laura" Loran said
"Or you can come just to read my books"
Erin still sad that she couldn't complete the quest
"Here take this" Loran hand her some silver coins
"W-wait, but I don't deserve-"
"Just take it"
Erin took it, and they went back to the city and went separated ways
Aul glance at her
"You look gloomy"
"O-of course, it's because I can't finish the quest. I failed to teach Laura to use magic"
"I-I feels like I'm useless"
"Why you think like that? Loran had tried a lot of things to teach Laura, right. So, you're failing here is nothing for you to be sad for"
"Even a smart guy who went into the best academy in the world can't taught her magic, so I think it's not fully your fault"
"There must be something that make her couldn't use Laura's magic"
"So, cheer up, you can't let a single failure stops you from growing"
"Y-yes"
They went to their own ways back home
Auel stepped into his room, closed the door
In a split second his felt pain in his chest
His body folded, his breath hitched
A sharp pain stabbed through his chest
Once… Twice…
He grasped his chest
His stomach twisted violently
His vision blurred, not from pain… from himself
He forced himself up, stumbling forward
Each step felt heavier, unsteady
He reached the bathroom, dropped to his knees and then he threw up
His shoulders trembles, his breathing stayed broken, uneven
"Damn it"
On the other side, Loran and Laura was walking through the market
"Hey Loran, what if I become a librarian?"
"Librarian?" Loran tilted his head
"I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to use magic in the future, so if been trying to think about ways to let people know about the magic you've been create"
"And I'm not as smart as you so I don't think going to the academy is not the best choice, that's why I was thinking of being a librarian"
"So I think that we place your book and research there, and I can slightly tell people about your magic too"
"Hmm… that's sound great. I'll try to support you then"
"Thank you"
They both walk through the market and then Loran stopped in front of the market alley
"Hey Laura, you can go straight home I'll buy us some food"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah"
Laura then went straight home, leaving Loran in front of the alley
The Loran step inside the alley
Dark, narrow, quite
Loran tapped his cane on the ground
Then a noise was heard
"I already told you to give us the money, so where is it" Sound of a man
Then a small voice trembled followed
"…P-please… that's all I have…I'm sorry"
"You think you can lie to us"
The two big men started hitting the little boy
"Hey can you guys stop it and go away" Loran said
Those big men turned around
Stood in front of them, a man with a cane
"What did you say?"
They walked towards Loran
"I said stop it and go away"
One of them irritated and took Loran's collar, Loran dropped his cane
Laughter echoed in the narrow space
"Hey blind man, know your place"
"Yeah, who do you think you are, some kind of hero?"
They laughed and kept mocked him
"How many times do I need to say it?"
"No. What are going to do-"
Slowly Loran opened his eyes
For a brief moment the alley felt… deeper
Those men froze in their place looking straight into Loran's eyes
His eyes no longer dull, they shimmered
A deep, endless dark blue, like the night sky stretched far beyond sight
Tiny light scattered within them, stars, countless distant stars
And at the center of each eye, a quite white crescent moon
"I said begone"
The laughter stopped, silence
No footsteps, no breath, no sound
Loran closed his eyes
He bent down, picked up his can, and tapped it lightly against the ground
He walked forward
"Hey kid is you alright" he said gently
The boy slowly lifted his head, trembling
In front of him stood a blind man with eyes closed, reaching out his hand
"It's fine, everything going to be fine, those thugs already gone"