Chapter 42

Chapter 42: The fifth Hero teaches control

“You don’t understand. A sigil mage emits sigil magic from their body without any resistance to attack. The opposite of Glyph mages who have offensive, defensive, elemental resistance and buff spells without getting hurt.”

“Frost Sigil would freeze the water and moisture, Air Sigil would manipulate the mana in the air, Fire Sigil would collect the nearby mana and compress until the fire is born, and Earth would harden the skin, hair, and flesh like a rock.”

Ester explained in great detail as her mother was a Sigil Mage. These were a few warnings she told the young Ester while she had curiously asked her mother why she never used spells, unlike her Scribe Mage father.

“Fire and Ice magic would hurt both the user and its target. A severe burn or frostbite is the result of the two dangerous opposing elements.”

“Earth and Air are opposite to each other as well. One is calm while the other is gentile or violent at will. One protects the body too much by hardening the skin tissue. The other would riddle the body with cuts inside and outside the body. Luck depends on if you lose a limb or get away scot-free.”

Ester then ended the long explanation while she began crying again, “This is a curse. A one time chance to use magic and suffer in pain. I can’t let Vincent heal me every time I practice or help.”

[Hmm... you say this, but if you think about it, the class should have killed you, yet you are still alive. I never saw frostbites on your body. If you are unintentionally using Frost Sigil, then something might be happening to your body.]

.....

“Don’t lie to me... are you suggesting I’m not gravely hurt because of my Frost Sigil?” Ester skeptically asked while wiping her tears. Then continued, “You’re not going to say that I have become resistant to my magic like the three legends did?”

[What do you mean by the three legends? All I know is that you are about to die not from being cold or from the fever, but from overusing your mana and your body can’t handle the strain anymore.]

Ester kept quiet while she stared at Kazumi in doubt. Her urgent condition wasn’t because of freezing to death, instead, from overusing mana.

“My mother told me how there were three Sigil Mages who achieved the ability to resist and nullify the pain or effects of their spells.”

“The first was a test subject of a kingdom I don’t know where. That person rampaged for a few months until their death. The person became crazy from the tests.”

“The second was the King of the Berlucia Kingdom, who recently died. He became so strong that he ended up marrying a princess and became a king. However, there were rumors of how he spent all the fortune of his mysterious murdered family to purchase magical items to survive.”

“The third is the same as the first. A small kingdom tried to recreate a Sigil Mage to become powerful and compete against the King of Berlucia. However, even after success. Their kingdom was wiped from the face of the world in mere months, and the land became his.”

Ester explained how the Sigil Mage, who became a King, had the power that no one could oppose. It felt a bit ridiculous to gain such an impossible to acquire power that easily, and in ten days after meeting Vincent.

[You said the King bought priceless treasures, right? Then you ate the same. The Great Wolf meat, the Great Yok Boar meat, ten Sage Apples who I think might be hard to acquire and one Golden Acorn that I estimate as a priceless treasure from its effects.]

“Are you saying I can help everyone and not be in the way?” Ester finally raised a light smile as a faint ray of hope dawned on her. She didn’t want to get abandoned for being useless.

[Vincent and Lupa took great care of you in your time in need. The retainer bond might have given you this power. Or the blood from your Sigil Mage mother. Or you might have been lucky enough to form a resistance to your magic.]

[Ester, why not try to control your violent mana and absorb all of it. Sometimes the gusts of mana are hurting me, but you seem unfazed. Maybe this is the sign of the resistance building up in your frail body.]

“Thank you, Kazumi. Please teach me how to control my power.” Ester now had a face full of determination and eyes brimming with energy. She was ready to fight for a chance to survive and become stronger.

[Let sensei teach you the wondrous world of cultivation. Please repeat after me.]

Kazumi started teaching Ester a meditation pose like in the many cultivation stories she saw from memories in her Photographic Memory storage.

Ester felt a bit weird by such a simple pose but kept silent, no matter how strange this all seemed to her, the green wisp can give her the chance to survive.

Ester sat down, crossed her legs, and rested her hands on her knees. As per sensei Kazumi’s instruction, she started breathing in and out, each breath lasting longer than the other.

The progress was slow, but per every few breaths, the raging mana began calming while slowly collecting and circling Ester. As if she was the sun and the mana its stars.

Kazumi could feel the gusts of wind gradually wane while her wisp body barely wobbled anymore. A problem was solving itself, but another arose.

The raging mana collected around Ester, but now it needed to be absorbed, or it would once again run rampant in her Soul Domain fiercer than before.

[Good, good. Now you need to absorb the mana you controlled and collected. Think yourself as an empty cup that needed to be filled by the mana surrounding you. Try to absorb the mana inside you with this idea in mind.]

Ester tried her best, but controlling the mana was already too much for her. She also felt pain all around her body, as if covered in wounds. Soon, Kazumi gazed in surprise at the divine looking Ester.

Every breath Ester took, a hint of mana entered her mouth as if she was inhaling the green, red, and golden mana. Kazumi kept quiet while with Mana Sense, she noticed mana entering in Ester’s body, leaving a faint cold white shine on her body.

[Time is slow here, so don’t worry if you feel like it’s taking too long. One minute in here is one second in the living world. Don’t worry about speed; control is more important.]

Ester nodded with her eyes closed. She felt more at ease with these words of comfort. An hour in the Soul Domain is one minute in the living world. A day here is twenty-four minutes, enough time to control the mana and not worry about her flesh and bone body.

Many days passed in the Soul Domain. Kazumi kept supporting Ester all the time. The wisp body lived on mana, but as it could live on Ester’s raging mana, the problem was gone.

“I can barely feel my body hurting from mana anymore, but my forehead feels strange. It’s like a brain freeze from eating snow but feels different at the same time.” Ester said while explaining the new feeling she is feeling.

Kazumi felt a bit sad by these words. Ester seemed to have lived a harsher life then she thought.

Kazumi shook her wisp body to focus on the situation at hand. Soon, with Mana Sense, she noticed a fantastic opportunity. The collected mana waves were being absorbed into her forehead with greater speed than from inhaling.

[Hmmm... Try to imagine a scene where there is an immovable door. You are that door, and the Mana is Vincent. He is knocking to enter, but only you can open the door. Will you leave him outside and miss the chance of happiness, or will you accept him?]

Kazumi had a way with words when it involved romantically teasing someone. As if she had an agenda of her own. Soon, a pair of blushed cheeks lit, and the soul heart raced at this idea. However, she felt like Kazumi was right.

‘After deciding to follow Vincent and start a new life, will I be left alone again?... No, Kazumi might be lying to me. Vincent has always treated me kindly. But... is he interested in a washboard like me?’

Ester got stuck in deep thought while influencing the Mana absorption rate by becoming much slower and harder to absorb. Kazumi noticed she might have messed up with her explanation and decided to change the subject.

[Ahem... Imagine if I wanted to enter. Knock knock.]

[Could you open the door for me, it’s windy outside, and I need shelter. Please find the key and open the door for me.]

[Search closer to open the door. The key is in your hands.]

Kazumi decided roleplay was the best option to help Ester imagine the scene better. Maybe this push could help Ester understand better and grasp control.

However, she was understood differently. The key was a figurative object Kazumi invented, but Ester thought it was the heirloom short sword in her hands.

Without hesitation or a speck of doubt from the resolve to heal, Ester followed Kazumi’s words to the letter. With a firm grip, she raised the sword and shoved it in her forehead. Mysteriously, the end of the sword didn’t exit from the opposite side.

Halfway, the sword slipped from her grip at high speed as it entered in her forehead. The sword got sucked in, and when the last of the hilt entered in her forehead, Ester felt a sudden pain.

Suddenly, her crimson eyes shone red, and a dreamlike vision appeared before her. Ester could see herself raise her hand. A moment later, a blue, glowing circle riddled with symbols floated above her hand. From her hand, exited smoke because of the coldness produced by his sigil.

“I understand now! I know a spell called Frost Sigil.” Ester said. Then a burst of cold air pushed Kazumi back while the waves of green, red, and gold mana changed their color to frosty blue.

As if Ester was the center of all things, the mana obeyed its master and flowed directly in her forehead.

Ester contorted her face from the coldness and pain, but this was nothing if no more pain would follow. She wanted to live the life the sly green wisp mentioned. A life with others, accepted by others and can offer her help.

[You’re doing it, girl! Haha. I can’t believe it worked!]

[When you awakened a class, you didn’t learn the spell from your inability to control mana. Or, more specifically, you might have gained mana after you awakened into Sigil Mage class.]

[You might have tried to check if you could grow stronger like Lupa. But you have unintentionally activated an unlearned version of Frost Sigil with uncontrolled mana. That’s why you didn’t have a sigil hovering above your hands. But that’s just a theory.]

Many hours later, Ester absorbed all the raging mana inside her Soul Domain. She stood up slowly and lifted her hands. As her eyes shone red, a pair of glowing blue Frost Sigils appeared above her hands.