Yesterday, on my way home, I was so worried I couldn\u2019t even take my usual nap on the carriage. After talking with Keith, though, I felt so relieved that I slept like a baby until Anne came to wake me up. After getting out of bed and into the hallway, I saw Keith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGood morning, Keith! Thank you for yesterday,\u201d I said, walking toward him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, Big Sister, good morning,\u201d he replied, but, when he turned around to face me, I noticed two big dark circles under his eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKeith, what\u2019s wrong?! Did you stay up all night because of what I told you last night?!\u201d Maybe talking about my fears made him worried too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, don\u2019t worry. I was awake till morning, yes, but it had nothing to do with you,\u201d he assured me, shaking his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was relieved that at least it wasn\u2019t my fault, but this didn\u2019t change the fact that he\u2019d been up all night. \u201cBut you still had something that worried you so much that you couldn\u2019t sleep, right? When you let me vent to you yesterday, that helped a lot, so I\u2019ll do the same with you! I can\u2019t do much more than listen to you, but I\u2019ll do my best.\u201d I proudly beat my fist against my chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHmm… I\u2019m not worried about anything though. Actually, I couldn\u2019t sleep because of how happy I was. So, really, I\u2019m fine.\u201d He giggled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh, kind of like a kid on the day before a school trip?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat made you so happy?\u201d I asked, curious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIsn\u2019t it about time you go to work? You\u2019d better hurry up, or you\u2019ll be late.\u201d Keith ignored my question as he pushed me toward the entrance. \u201cSee you later, Big Sister,\u201d he added, leaving me no time to speak before he closed the door behind me with a terribly sensual smile on his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seeing Keith show an expression so sexy that you\u2019d think he belonged to an M-rated game\u2014and seeing it first thing in the morning, no less\u2014left me totally confused. He must have been very<\/em> happy. Thankfully, I had built enough of a resistance to handsome guys doing handsome things that, halfway through the carriage trip to the Ministry, I finally got my cool back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I can\u2019t space out like this! I have to concentrate! I\u2019m going to learn Dark Magic today!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Unable to focus, I thought of Keith again. He wasn\u2019t the playboy type, but he was just as attractive as all the other romanceable options in Fortune Lover<\/em>. In the past few years, in particular, he had bloomed into a man so attractive as to remind me of Nicol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I can\u2019t have Alluring Count Number 2 living in my house. I\u2019ll have to tell Keith to tone the sexy down a bit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I eventually reached the Ministry, got off the carriage, thanked the coachman, and headed to the Magical Tool Laboratory office. As soon as I opened the door, Larna greeted me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGood morning, Lady Katarina. I reserved the same room as yesterday for you. Go and learn to your heart\u2019s content!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I noticed that she had something around her ankle. A better look revealed that it was a chain with its other end connected to her desk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What exactly is this…?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExcuse me, Miss Larna… What is that on your ankle?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, this? It\u2019s made of a special metal that\u2019s very strong but also very light, so that it doesn\u2019t interfere with my work. We\u2019d built it for Nathan, but today, since Raphael isn\u2019t here, they put it on me so that I don\u2019t get away and leave them with all the work! Ha ha ha!\u201d she replied with a hearty laugh, although to me it sounded like no laughing matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I could understand why they\u2019d want to put a chain on Nathan, as he had the incredible ability of getting lost within seconds, causing everyone in the department lots of trouble. But Larna? The department\u2019s director? The other employees had so little trust in her that, despite the chain, I could see them occasionally taking their eyes off their desks to check on their boss. They really had it hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGive this document to Larna, and this one over here too. As for this one…\u201d Raphael was giving orders left and right. Today, instead of working in the office as usual, he would be teaching me Dark Magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was the department\u2019s vice-director, but I thought that nobody would complain about having him as the director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will be leaving now. Let me know if you need me for anything,\u201d he concluded, before turning around to approach me. \u201cShall we go?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes!\u201d I replied, and we headed to the room that Larna had arranged for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a while since we last met like this, Lady Katarina,\u201d Raphael told me while we were walking together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, quite a while…\u201d I said, noticing the woman passing by and staring in awe at Raphael\u2019s calm, handsome smile. Speaking of handsome, Raphael, with his red hair and gray eyes, was a secret romanceable character in FL1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He had to be in disguise most of the time, but even his fake, not-as-flashy appearance didn\u2019t change the fact that he was very popular within the Ministry, mainly because of his calm and understanding personality and his skill with work. He, too, sometimes showed hints of sexiness in his facial expressions that made the girls around him swoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In general though, he was so busy with work that he always looked tired, and he was mostly hidden behind stacks of documents anyway. Maybe life at the Ministry was easier for him than it was back at the academy, where he was ridiculously popular. After he left the academy because of the incident he was involved in, we somehow ended up working together, but he had so much to do (mostly because of Larna) that I could never spend time with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doing something together after so long makes me feel like I\u2019m back at the academy,<\/em> I happily thought to myself. He also used to help me study back there, where he was the kind and reliable student council president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy the way,\u201d I spoke up, \u201csince today you\u2019re the teacher and I\u2019m the student, you don\u2019t need to call me \u2018Lady.\u2019\u201d Even though he was my superior at work, he always spoke very politely to me, but having him do the same today would feel too weird.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He looked surprised at first, but then he smiled and told me, \u201cOkay then, Katarina.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n No wonder he was so popular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am going to explain the basics of Dark Magic to you, but I also made some notes so that you can refer to them after we\u2019re done,\u201d he continued, handing me some papers covered in his beautiful handwriting clearly detailing all that one would need to study the topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raphael was born to be a teacher! What a difference from yesterday\u2019s swishes and whooshes…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThank you, Mister Raphael!\u201d I rejoiced, deciding that he was worthy of being addressed like a real teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think that\u2019s going overboard…\u201d he muttered, looking bitterly amused. Judging from his reaction, I thought that I\u2019d better cut the \u2018Mister.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, my first proper Dark Magic lesson finally started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow, let me explain,\u201d Raphael began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At first, he explained about the most basic stuff, like how one obtains Dark Magic powers, which was something I already knew. One had to sacrifice a human life and perform a ritual with some sort of magic circle. Remembering Raphael\u2019s tragic story about that very ritual made me sad, but he went on explaining completely unfazed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat we know about how to obtain Dark Magic powers, we have learned from investigating the Dieke mansion and Sora\u2019s case. You\u2019re the first person who did it by finding a Dark Familiar instead. So, please understand that you may not be able to use your powers in the same way as Sora and I,\u201d he cautioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course indeed. Even Larna had told me the same thing before. I didn\u2019t know how it happened in the game\u2019s actual plot, but in my case I had stumbled upon Dark Magic without meaning to do it, and certainly hadn\u2019t performed any ritual. I just met the Dark Familiar (Pochi) who belonged to Sarah, a mysterious woman who wielded Dark Magic, and he started living in my shadow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGood. Now I am going to tell you how I actually used Dark Magic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes!\u201d I answered, and he looked at me with a pleased smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow do you normally use your powers, Katarina?\u201d he asked me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou mean Earth Magic? I just go ziiip<\/em>, and then kind of kaplow<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wait, this is the same useless explanation I gave yesterday… A list of sounds.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Raphael, however, didn\u2019t get mad at me at all. \u201cI see… And do you feel like you are doing that with your body? Or is it a tool or something?\u201d he inquired. Larna and Sora had asked me nothing of the sort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019d never really thought about it before, but… \u201cI think it\u2019s my body.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s good,\u201d he replied, relieved. \u201cThat is how I do it too. I consider magic powers like extra limbs. Some of the teachers at the academy also used similar comparisons, saying that using magic is not much different from moving your body. I believe that this holds true for most people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was impressed by how much intelligent students were able to learn from lessons at the academy. I mostly just nodded along and forgot anything I was told within minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut, when I use Dark Magic,\u201d Raphael continued, \u201cit\u2019s a bit different. It\u2019s like using my hands and feet to control a tool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow so?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cImagine using a pen to write, or scissors to cut paper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh…\u201d I gasped, in awe at how much clearer his explanation was than everything I had heard on the previous day. That\u2019s Raphael for you…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou cannot use Dark Magic as you would your other powers. I try to concentrate on an imaginary tool, thinking of using it to cast my spells. In my case, specifically, it was a lantern. Try to do the same,\u201d he instructed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Given that my current level of understanding was \u201cConcentrate it in your hand, like buzzzz<\/em>, and then let it go like whoosh,<\/em>\u201d I really needed this practical advice. The way that Raphael had put it was clear and easy to understand, if a bit surprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDoes it need to be any specific tool?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot necessarily. But it must be something that you feel could help you cast Dark Magic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy is yours a lantern anyway?\u201d I asked him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHmm, no reason in particular.\u201d I could tell from his expression that he didn\u2019t want to talk about it, and I didn\u2019t investigate any further. I had heard part of his story directly from him, but I was sure that there were a lot of terrible things about it that I didn\u2019t know about. It was incredible that he still had the strength to smile like that while talking about Dark Magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I wish I was half as incredible as him… I guess I have to start with learning how to use Dark Magic. But what kind of tool should I use? In my old world, the first thing you\u2019d think of when talking about magic tools would be a flying broom, but that doesn\u2019t really apply in this world.<\/em> Hmm, what about a wand? That sounds pretty magical.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I visualized a shiny, sparkling wand with a star on the tip, like the ones that anime heroines used, but then I realized that it looked way out of place. We were talking about Dark Magic here, with my Dark Familiar being a black dog who was able to turn into a huge wolf. What I needed was a black, creepy wand, like the one a villain would use. Instead of the star, it needed a skull on the tip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOkay! I got it!\u201d I announced after visualizing the new dark wand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVery good. Now try to think of it as if it were right in front of your eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll right,\u201d I agreed, imagining the wand, in all its details, in front of my eyes. Suddenly, I heard a whoosh <\/em>noise and something, too dark to distinguish, jumped out of my shadow and right into my hand. \u201cH-Huh?!\u201d I looked to my hand, and there it was: the wand I was thinking about, skull and all. \u201cI-Is this…real?\u201d I mumbled to myself, and noticed that Raphael, too, was staring at my hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWh-What…?!\u201d he asked, before going speechless. After a while, he asked, \u201cIs this the tool you were thinking about?\u201d looking dead serious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I nodded, still shocked, and he put a hand to his forehead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou have a Dark Familiar, and that makes you different from us other Dark Magic users… I knew that much. But this… This I didn\u2019t expect. The tool you imagined has actually materialized,\u201d he continued, without for a second taking his eyes off the wand. \u201cI wonder if I can touch it too…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGo ahead,\u201d I offered, handing it over to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt seems that I can. But why? What is this even made of?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Feeling a bit less nervous now that I didn\u2019t have the wand in my hands anymore, I looked at it again. Between the skull, the color, and its general appearance, it looked very scary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ugh, I knew it. I should have gone with the cute one. This is going to make me look even more like a villainess!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThank you,\u201d Raphael said, giving the wand back to me. \u201cI would like to learn more about it. Will you help me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I nodded again. I remembered being told the same thing about Pochi\u2014when dealing with mysterious stuff, it was important to learn as much as possible about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raphael gave me a series of instructions, like trying to materialize other objects or to make the wand disappear. I found out that the skull wand was the only thing I could materialize, maybe because its image had been burned into my mind. However, I could put it back into my shadow and take it out at will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI see. You can take it out of your shadow and put it back in as many times as you want, but you cannot produce any other object. I\u2019ll have to report to Miss Larna…\u201d Raphael mused as he took notes. \u201cYour powers are really different from ours,\u201d he added, looking slightly worried, \u201cso you should be careful. Do you feel all right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After making a new discovery like this, Larna would have started going forward with experiments and tests without worrying about anything, but Raphael was coolheaded enough to remain calm. This was another reason why most people\u2014including me\u2014liked him and always relied on him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes! No problem at all,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m glad.\u201d His face showed that he meant it. \u201cNow we can try to see whether this tool allows you to use Dark Magic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSure. But…how?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dark Magic was used to control people\u2019s minds. Even if the wand enabled me to do it, I didn\u2019t want<\/em> to do something that scary. I nervously clenched a fist in front of my chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t worry. I won\u2019t have you control people or anything like that,\u201d Raphael assured me, guessing what I was thinking. \u201cThat\u2019s not something to be done lightly anyway.\u201d His kind smile relieved me of my fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat do I have to do then?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDark Magic can do more than control people. It can also summon darkness,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou literally create darkness in front of your eyes. Since we can see it, it\u2019s easy to tell whether you succeeded, and since I\u2019ve tried it myself, I know that it\u2019s safe. It\u2019s perfect for training your powers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! It\u2019s like Dark Magic for dummies!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMore or less, yes,\u201d Raphael giggled. \u201cSo, do you want to try?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes!\u201d I firmly grasped the wand and visualized my magic coming out of it. \u201cCome forth, Darkness!\u201d I shouted, flicking my wrist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I waited. \u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Weird. Nothing\u2019s happening. Let\u2019s try again.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCome forth, Darkness!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nope. Nothing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t working…\u201d I told Raphael in disappointment. He thought for a bit before speaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMaybe you should try to visualize the darkness itself,\u201d he suggested. Once again, his instructions were clear and easy to understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Got it\u2014I have to visualize darkness. What does darkness look like? Like black paint?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRaphael… What does darkness look like?\u201d I asked, and he stared at me in surprise before giggling to himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, right, you wouldn\u2019t know,\u201d he said, still laughing. Seeing a handsome man laughing like that made me blush for some reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHmm… Would something like black paint work?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot quite. Try to think of, let\u2019s see… What about a dark, starless night?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOkay!\u201d I answered, positive that I could visualize something so easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A dark night, without any stars, moon, or lamps. Pitch black. It\u2019s too dark to even sneak into the kitchen to grab a few cookies… Good. I got it. This is the image I need.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCome forth, Darkness!\u201d I shouted once again, flailing the wand around. \u201cOh…?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In front of me, where there used to be nothing, there was now a floating dark dot, smaller than a grape. It was so tiny that I thought I just had something stuck in my eyes, but, even after rubbing on them, the dot remained there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is it a bug then?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I tried getting closer, but the dot didn\u2019t move, and upon closer inspection it didn\u2019t look like a bug at all. Just a dark, featureless circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIs this…Dark Magic?\u201d I mumbled, confused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMost likely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was expecting the whole room to turn dark or something… This is a bit underwhelming.\u201d What was even the point of summoning this itsy bitsy piece of darkness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHmm…\u201d Raphael pondered the matter, looking particularly distressed. \u201cWhen I tried it, the whole room did<\/em> turn dark…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It took a moment for this to sink in. \u201cDoes this mean that my powers are lousy?! Not only the Earth Magic ones, but the Dark Magic ones too?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a very sad realization that, after finally finding a new spell that wasn\u2019t Dirt Bump,<\/em> what I\u2019d got was Dark Bump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is your first time trying it out, so it\u2019s no surprise that you aren\u2019t good at it yet. But you can even materialize a physical object out of thin air, so I\u2019m sure that with some practice your spells will become very powerful in no time.\u201d Raphael tried to soften the blow, but…<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo was it this small the first time you tried it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He just smiled awkwardly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I might have been dense, but not that<\/em> dense. I knew he probably made the whole room go dark on his first try. If only I had his talent… However, I understood how important practice was. After years of training, my Dirt Bump had grown a bit too. Thankfully, Raphael was also good at motivating people: he praised me for being able to summon darkness on my first day (even though it was tiny) and convinced me to keep trying so that I could learn to do it even better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m going to train <\/em>so hard and become<\/em> so good! <\/em>I promised myself, and so my Dark Magic training finally began for real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s gotten late, so we will stop here for today,\u201d Raphael declared, and I was surprised to notice just how long we\u2019d been in the room. My schedule said that I had to learn Dark Magic in the morning, and then, in the afternoon, go back to deciphering the Dark Covenant. The higher-ups wanted me to juggle both of these tasks at the same time, and I assumed that they didn\u2019t want Raphael, who was already busy, to have these lessons take up his whole day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOkay. Thank you!\u201d I said, grateful at how he had not only taught me how to use my first Dark Magic spell, but also praised me\u2014despite the very poor results\u2014making me feel very good about myself. He was an awesome teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While we were getting ready to leave, Larna rushed into the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow\u2019d it go? Did you manage to use it? Dark Magic, I mean!\u201d She was out of breath from running here, and had anticipation written all over her face. Poor Larna couldn\u2019t help it; she just liked magic that much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes. Katarina is a very good learner, and she has already been able to successfully cast a spell,\u201d Raphael, in all of his kindness, answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s all because you\u2019re such a good teacher,\u201d I corrected him, but he humbly refused the compliment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI knew it,\u201d Larna crowed. Despite having done nothing to help, she looked very proud of herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow show me this new spell of yours, would you?\u201d she demanded. She was trying to make it sound like an important order from a superior, but her expression made it clear that she had just asked me out of curiosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf course,\u201d I replied, starting to visualize the skull wand in my mind and finding it in my hand moments later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat is this?!\u201d she screamed, jumping toward me to take a closer look at the wand. Her enthusiasm made me recoil a little bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was going to report this to you later…\u201d Raphael chimed in, and he went on to explain our findings from that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Larna, more excited than I had ever seen her before, was bombarding us with questions: \u201cCan other people touch it too?!\u201d \u201cHow does it work?!\u201d and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thankfully, the always reliable Raphael was there to answer her, because I wouldn\u2019t have been able to keep up with the ridiculous speed of Larna\u2019s questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hearing Raphael\u2019s explanation and examining the wand had mostly satisfied Larna\u2019s curiosity. \u201cNow show me some magic,\u201d she insisted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCome forth, Darkness!\u201d I chanted, using the wand to make the tiny dark dot appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHuh?\u201d Larna looked at the dot, confused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raphael\u2019s compliments had almost made me forget a very important fact: my powers were terribly weak. I couldn\u2019t blame Larna for her reaction, since mine had been exactly the same. She even started rubbing her eyes and walking closer to the dot just as I had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ugh, she must be so disappointed…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHahahaha! This is great! Dark Magic can summon such a thing out of nowhere! Interesting,\u201d she chortled, before starting another round of rapid-fire questions: \u201cIs it okay to touch it?\u201d \u201cHow does that materialize?\u201d and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was very relieved to see that she didn\u2019t look the least bit disappointed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phew. Now all I have to do is give my best and practice this. And after lunch, I also have to work on the covenant…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n\n\n\n I, Raphael Wolt, was tasked with teaching Katarina Claes how to use Dark Magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I already knew that she had been told to study it, but who could have expected that I would be chosen as her teacher? Well… Me. I thought that it was likely to happen, since the person currently in charge of doing so was Sora, who, despite his great talent, wasn\u2019t exactly the best at passing on his knowledge to others. He learned by feel rather than through logic and reason, which is why, when asked to explain something, he usually resorted to gestures and sound effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe he was too talented for his own good: he immediately succeeded at anything he tried without thinking about it, making it impossible for him to relay his learning process. This was also true of Larna, my superior…and of most other people in my department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, Katarina wasn\u2019t the logical reasoning type either, so I thought that there was a chance that things would work out. They did not. What took me by surprise was that it only took one day for everyone involved to admit their failure. I wasn\u2019t sure whether to commend how resolute they were in realizing their mistake or reprimand them for how quick they were in giving up. Either way, I was told that teaching Katarina was now my responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Giving her lessons wasn\u2019t a problem for me, and if anything I was glad that I could spend some time with her after so long. What was a problem was the amount of work weighing on my shoulders. This was mostly the fault of the department head, Larna. She was incredibly talented, and she always covered for her subordinates\u2019 mistakes. However, once something caught her attention, she had the tendency to focus on that and forget about her work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the Ministry took me in after the incident I was involved in a few years ago, Larna was the only one who accepted me, inviting me to her department, instead of treating me like an outcast. I tried my best to repay her with my hard work, and I was eventually promoted, upon my colleagues\u2019 recommendations, to vice-director of the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I didn\u2019t want to disappoint those who had recommended me for that position, and I started working even harder to make up for Larna\u2019s absenteeism. People eventually started joking about me being the real department director\u2014and some newcomers even genuinely mistook me for it\u2014and before I knew it I was in charge of most everything going on in the Magical Tool Laboratory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Given this situation, I could hardly ever afford to leave the office. While I was teaching Katarina, Larna would need to take my place (which was actually hers to begin with) overseeing the department. She was sorely disappointed about being unable to see Dark Magic being taught, something that she was very interested in, but I eventually convinced her by promising a detailed report. Just in case, before giving out some final instructions to the other employees, I literally chained her to her desk. Once everything was prepared, Katarina and I made for the room that had been set up for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Katarina was once a schoolmate of mine, and when I found out that she would be working in the same department as I do, I was overjoyed. I had feared that, after confessing my crimes and my false identity, I would never be able to see her again. Luckily, fate proved me wrong. I was too busy to actually talk to her, but just knowing that we were sharing an office made me happy. As much as I tried to hide it, this rare occasion to actually interact with her had me particularly excited, even though it was just for work. I had to be careful not to break into a silly smile, and when Katarina declared that, for today, I did not need to call her \u201cLady,\u201d that is exactly what I ended up doing. We had not yet started and I was barely keeping myself together already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once we reached the room, I handed her my notes and started explaining some basic concepts, even though I assumed she already knew them. A few years ago, I would have never been able to speak so calmly about the process involved in obtaining Dark Magic powers. What happened to me when I was still a child had traumatized me. It was Katarina who, by reaching out to me, made my wounds start to heal. Things had slowly improved to the point where now those past events didn\u2019t bother me anymore, nor did those terrible nightmares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I told her that her powers were likely different from either mine or Sora\u2019s, and then I explained how Dark Magic is exerted through an imaginary tool rather than from one\u2019s body. I told her to visualize a tool, and when asked for an example, I told her what mine was: a lantern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Confused, she asked me why I thought of a lantern. Indeed, lanterns didn\u2019t elicit any image of magic. For me, however, when I first realized I had Dark Magic powers and I thought of how to use them, that was the first thing that came to mind. When I was dragged into that dark room against my will, the only source of light showing me my surroundings was a single lantern. I associated that sight with Dark Magic itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But I didn\u2019t want to tell her that, so I tried to dodge the question. She seemed to understand, and didn\u2019t press further. Katarina could give off the impression of acting without ever thinking, but she knew which topics to avoid in order not to make someone sad. She also immediately noticed when the people around her were in need, and she quickly offered them help. I was one of the many that she had saved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I watched Katarina think of a tool, I thought that such a bleak, grim concept as Dark Magic did not fit her. At the same time, I believed that she had the power to take the bleakness and grimness out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll right,\u201d she announced after deciding on a tool, and, incredibly, something jumped out of her shadow and into her hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a black stick with a poor rendition of a skull on its tip. Katarina mumbled to herself, surprised by what had happened, but I was even more shocked. Words failed me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What in the world did I just witness?! <\/em>I thought, but I quickly realized that the strange object must have been the tool that Katarina imagined. When asked if that was indeed the case, she nodded at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She somehow managed to materialize an object out of nothing…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This was all too unexpected. I nervously looked at the stick in her hand. It was peculiar in its shape, but it was clearly visible and seemingly complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I voiced my question of whether someone other than her would be able to touch the object, she handed it to me. I slowly reached for it, asking myself whether it would disappear as soon as I touched it. It didn\u2019t disappear or break, and it felt exactly like one would have expected it to. It had nothing out of the ordinary, except maybe for the fact that, despite looking like it was made out of wood, it was weirdly light. I tried examining it more closely, but my confusion remained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I will need help from another department to investigate this further.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I thanked Katarina, who seemed to have recovered from her own shock, and gave her back the tool, telling her that I wanted to learn more about it. We experimented for a while and found out that she could not materialize any other objects, but that she could hide this one back in her shadow. After writing as much in my notes, I asked her whether she felt well\u2014we did not have much data on Dark Magic, and it was imperative to pay attention to the health of those wielding it. This went double for Katarina, who often put in a lot of effort without any care for how it could affect her. Thankfully, she told me that she was all right, and she did not look tired or sick in any way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I suggested that she try casting an actual spell, and her face suddenly turned dark as she asked what kind of spell that would be. I could tell what she was thinking. Someone as kind as her was obviously opposed to controlling people\u2019s minds, which was what Dark Magic was mainly known for. I reassured her that we would not be doing that, and her frown quickly changed into a smile. Relieved, I explained that all we would do is summon darkness, listing the reasons why this was ideal for our purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh! It\u2019s like Dark Magic for dummies!\u201d she blurted out. I could not help but laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She looked full of energy as she summoned forth darkness, practically screaming, but her spell did absolutely nothing. She tried a few times with no improvement, and finally looked at me as if to seek help. Then she asked me something surprising: \u201cWhat does darkness look like?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was stunned by how ridiculous, yet so befitting of her, that question was. While I was still laughing, she asked me if imagining black paint would work, making it even funnier for me. I gave her a more applicable example, namely that of a starless night. She seemed to finally understand, took the tool in her hand, and flicked it while shouting her summons once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why is she flicking that stick anyway? Is it like an orchestra conductor\u2019s baton?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A tiny orb of darkness appeared in front of a very confused Katarina. She looked at it and asked me whether that was indeed Dark Magic; it probably was, even though it was very different from when I tried to use that spell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was expecting the whole room to turn dark or something… This is a bit underwhelming,\u201d she lamented, and I had to agree, as I was anticipating a much larger orb of darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I wouldn\u2019t have blamed her for thinking that this spell was completely useless, but to convince her otherwise, I told her that I had used it to do exactly that: make the whole room turn dark. This seemed to shock her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDoes this mean that my powers are lousy?! Not only the Earth Magic ones, but the Dark Magic ones too?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Realizing that I had made a terrible mistake, I nervously tried to fix what I could by telling her that she just needed practice to improve. That wasn\u2019t a lie either\u2014Dark Magic powers could be made stronger through training.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday, on my way home, I was so worried I couldn\u2019t even take my usual nap on the carriage. After talking with Keith, though, I felt so relieved that I slept like a baby until Anne came to wake me up. After getting out of bed and into the hallway, I saw Keith. \u201cGood morning, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tak-berkategori"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3660,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3659\/revisions\/3660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}