Chapter 79 - Sympathy and Comfort

Her emotions that had surged up slowly calmed down. She looked up at Rhema.

‘Rhema had the same agony in a similar state of mind as me. That probably is why Rhema’s sister said those words.’

“Is your sister not here anymore? Just like my brother?”

“She was an ordinary person. She died a very long time ago.”

He suddenly felt very close. Generally, he had the sense of strangeness with him as if he was standing on the outside of the fence, but she did not feel that at all.

“When you lost your sister, did you cry, too? I cried my eyes out when my brother was gone.”

“I am not sure. I don’t remember it since it’s been too long.”

“Did you grieve a lot?”

“I probably did.”

“You probably did? Weren’t you close to each other?”

“I’m not sure about that either.”

“You must’ve been close for sure. Look at you, still remembering what she said like this.”

“…I see. We probably were.”

Rhema’s face was dry as if he was not sad at all. Nonetheless, Azriel was confident that he must have grieved very much. She leaned her cheek on his hand which was wrapping her face.

“You must’ve been comforted by those words, Rhema.”

Rhema felt her temperature through the hand that was touching her face. From the tip of his hand, warmth was spread. He felt tingly as if it suddenly became warm from the cold. He replied with a blank face.

“Yes. It seemed like I was comforted by them— So, I also wanted to deliver it to you.”

“…Thank you.”

“Did it help?”

“Yes.” She smiled slightly. She thought that it was a good thing that she decided to learn magic. “I should study magic harder. I can’t let my brother’s mana go to waste.”

Rhema looked down at Azriel with his narrowed eyes and took off his hand. Then he pulled the sleeve of his robe and wiped the tears left around her eyes.

“I’m glad that you are not crying anymore.”

It was a gentle voice with a tender touch. She felt like he was trying to treat her like a child, and as she felt embarrassed to realize that she had sobbed before him as her head became clear, she blushed.

“I, I’m alright now. By the way, how do you make a spirit? Is this the center of the castle?”

“Yes. This fountain is the center of the castle. Stand on this side,” Rhema let her change the subject.

Azriel stood where Rhema was standing before he stepped aside for her. Water was falling from a sculpture of a chubby baby angel with a trumpet to the marble fountain.

“Open your dragon eye.”

“Okay.”

She was able to see the mana making up the castle when she closed her eyes and opened again. 

“Azriel, do you remember what ‘composition mana’ is?”

She learned it when she was little. She nodded and answered. 

“It is the basic building block of the world. Without composition mana, every living and nonliving thing will turn into dirt since it is the mana that composes all things. Everyone owns composition mana even if they are not naturally born with mana. Wizards do not use composition mana but surplus mana that they are born with.”

“Perfect. You really do not forget what you saw once.”

As she spoke, Azriel recalled the Colt Castle that turned into dirt. Azriel asked, turning her head toward Rhema.

“Is the magic you used to destroy the Colt Castle also related to composition mana?”

“Correct. As a matter of fact, I did not use magic. I just dominated composition mana.”

“What? I thought we are not able to use composition mana.”

“In principle, yes.”

In principle, composition mana was not something people could utilize. 

‘He said that the more we use dragon eye magic, the more we’d go against the principle of the world. Is that why he could use composition mana, too?’

Without explaining more, Rhema pointed at the fountain.

“Azriel, pay attention to the flow of composition mana that makes up this castle, centered around this fountain.”

She took a close look around the fountain. She had already learned how to distinguish the stars filling up the surroundings before. She paid attention to the mana making up the castle instead of the natural mana in the air. Soon, she realized what Rhema was asking.

“Composition mana is flowing around that area. Is that why this is the center of this place?” 

“You are right. Once you find the center, the rest is very simple. You just need to keep pouring mana until you hit the critical point. Try to pour it slowly. Otherwise, it will crush from the impact.” 

“How can you tell if you’ve hit the critical point?”

“As soon as you hit it, a spirit will be born, so you won’t have to distinguish it separately. Just be careful not to crush it.”

“Okay, I will try.”

She slowly poured her mana into the stars that were composing the center. She started out as if she was adding a drop of mana, then two and three drops, and increased the amount of mana slowly. Her mana started to fill the castle, and golden stars were placed among taupe and beige stars. The castle gradually changed to a castle of gold. 

‘It really takes a tremendous amount of mana.’

Finally, the pool of mana passed the threshold after pouring mana for a while. All of sudden, a ball of light spurt from the fountain right in front of Azriel. 

“…!”

It was a lump of light about the size of a fingernail. As it had received Azriel’s mana, it glowed in gold.

“You succeeded on your first try, Azriel. This is the original form of a spirit.”

“Wow—”

She reached out to the ball of light as if she was possessed. The ball of light was bobbing up and down above her hand. 

“It will eventually become a full spirit on its own even as time goes by, but I recommend that you complete it to have it submitted to you and work for you.”

“What should I do then?”

“Cover that light with your mana to fixate its form and recite your spell.”

“Okay,” Azeriel tied up the ball of lights and whispered the incarnation. “Esthera.”