From Real to Realm

“Why are we in a private training hall?” Val asked as the doors shut behind them.

It reminded her of the one where she took her ranking test. There were scorch marks, gashes, and other forms of damage across the floor and walls. A handful of training dummies were pushed together in the corner as well.

How did he get permission to use this room?

To her knowledge, these rooms were used for official guild reasons or if a chapter requested to use them. Not just anyone could walk in and use it whenever they wanted to.

Aleksander turned around at the far end of the room, his arms crossed. “Go stand to the side out of the way.”

It was obvious he was talking to Lynesia. It was even more obvious that being ordered around was bothering her.

“Hey,” Val said, gently grabbing her hand. “I’ll be okay. Just keep an eye out. If he does anything we don’t like, we leave, okay?”

Lynesia squeezed her hand. “Be careful, okay? I want to trust him because Theoden chose him, but he’s so…”

“He’s an asshole,” Val said, chuckling.

“Yeah, he is.”

Val watched as Lynesia walked over to a bench along the wall. Once she was sitting down, she refocused on Aleksander.

“You know how to use magic, right?”

Val shook her head. “Not really. I’ve only used the runes around our apartment and my parents’ house. Didn’t expect to have to use magic in the future.”

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Your dear Guild Master left out that crucial bit of information.” He shook his head, rolling his eyes. “Close your eyes.”

She tilted her head. “I don’t see how—“

“Stop asking fucking questions. Either do what I tell you, or you can kiss my ass goodbye.”

“You’re such a fucking dick,” Val said, rolling her eyes.

She was hesitant to take her eyes off of him. However, Lynesia was with her and could use her barriers if need be. How they would compare to someone like Aleksander was an unknown, but at the very least, she wasn’t alone.

Slowly, she closed her eyes. “Now what?”

Aleksander watched her for a few seconds. “Focus inward. You need to find the core of your magical power. There’s no one trick to find it. For some people, it’s intuition; for others, it takes work to learn how to find it.”

“What do I do if I find it?”

“What else?” he asked. “Throw an attack at me.”

“I don’t have any techniques for magic, though.”

He sighed again. “That doesn’t fucking matter. Anyone with aptitude for magic can gather enough for even the most basic attacks.” He uncrossed his arms. “What did their little ‘test’ show you?”

Val almost opened her eyes, but didn’t. “What did Theoden tell you?”

He laughed. “You’re a suspicious little shit. He told me you could potentially use all four elements, but had some golden threading mixed in with everything.”

Val nodded. “Seems he told you everything.”

“Which one did you want to use?”

“Wind,” she said without hesitation.

He crossed his arms again. “Then find it and hit me.”

She took a deep breath to calm herself. Focusing inward, she ignored all ambient noises while searching for the core he mentioned. Val didn’t know what she was looking for, or what to expect when she did find it.

This isn’t working.

Seconds stretched on as she kept her eyes closed. Neither Lynesia nor Aleksander made a peep. This reminded her of what meditation might be like. Being so still, so calm, didn’t feel right to her. She was so used to doing something that she was becoming restless.

“It’s not working,” she said, fingers flexing.

Aleksander didn’t say anything.

Just as she was about to open her eyes, she saw something. It reminded her of looking at a light buried beneath the water. It was faint, as if resting at the bottom of a pond. She did her best to will her mind toward it. Slowly, the light grew brighter as she moved closer to it. Floating in front of her vision was a multicolored orb of energy. However, woven into the surface were the same golden threads from her affinity test. Her core was just as restless as she felt while staring at it. 

“Latch on, then use it.”

Val reached for the orb in her vision. This was translated to her actual body as she reached forward into the air.

Wind, wind. I want to use wind!

As soon as she latched onto the power, she felt a surge. It started as a dull ache in her chest, then spread down her arm and gathered into her fist. Her eyes shot open at the same time she opened her hand.

Whoooosh.

The wolf’s cowl was blown off Aleksander’s head as the cape snapped back. A dummy in the corner was knocked over as the room funneled her wind magic around the curved walls. Lynesia instinctively shielded her face as her hair whipped back and forth.

Val looked down at her hand, smiling.

“You were able to use your magic without my help, good.”

The dull ache was still lingering in her chest, but it wasn’t getting worse.

“What about Stone? Want to try using it?” he asked. “I don’t trust their ‘test’. I want to see for myself you can use every element.”

“I don’t know how easily I can, but I’ll try.” She closed her eyes.

“Don’t do that,” he said. “Try summoning it without closing your eyes.”

Val shook her head in disbelief. “But you just told me—“

“That was for your first time,” he snapped. “You have to call upon your magic with instinct when you’re fighting. You can’t expect your party to hold off the dungeon while you go fucking about in your mind.”

“Could be less of an asshole about it,” she said.

Aleksander readied himself. “You know what it feels like to grab onto your power. Now try doing it instantly with stone magic.”

Val got into a stance that made sense for her.

Instantly use stone magic?

Using foggy memories from her past life, she stepped forward. At the same time, she brought her hands from her sides up into the air. She imagined large stone columns rising from the ground, throwing Aleksander into the air. However, nothing happened.

He laughed. “What the fuck was that?”

Val’s jaw tensed as she glared at him.

The surge of power wasn’t there like it was when she used her wind magic. She didn’t feel it running down her arms and gathering in her fists. It was confusing.

“Maybe it’s too early for her to be capable of using it instinctively?” Lynesia asked from the side of the room.

Aleksander clicked his tongue. “I’m the teacher here. I’ll decide what she can or can’t do.”

Val glared harder as she felt something welling up inside of her.

“Quit being such a fucking asshole!” she yelled, throwing her fist forward.

In that instant, she felt a surge from her chest. It didn’t happen slowly this time. Within a second, it flowed from her chest, down her arm, and was released from her closed fist.

Fwoom.

A decent-sized ball of flame slammed against the wall behind Aleksander, scorching the surface.

He was turned sideways from dodging the sudden attack. After taking a few seconds to study the scorched wall, he turned back to her.

“Seems your emotions play a big part in using your magic.”

The ache in her chest was more intense now. It wasn’t unbearable, but it was beginning to bother her.

“That wasn’t half bad for your first attempt with fire magic,” he said, crossing his arms again. “Your affinity for stone magic is stronger, though. You should focus on either wind or stone first.”

Bump, bump.

Val gritted her teeth.

Aleksander’s smirk faded as his gaze sharpened. His nonchalant attitude shifted as he started walking toward her.

Bump, bump.

“Fuck.”

Val fell to one knee as the ache continued to bloom in her chest.

The sound of heavy footfalls grew closer.

“Val!”

Lynesia slid along the ground as she got close to Val. She immediately held her up.

“What’s wrong?!”

Bump, bump.

“What did you do?!” she demanded.

Aleksander knelt in front of Val, placing a hand in the middle of her chest.

“Fix her! Do something!”

He shook his head. “I don’t think this is something I’m capable of fixing.”

The room was spinning for Val. It was hard enough just focusing on their words. Her legs felt like jelly, and her arms weighed her down. It reminded her of when she first came to this world. She felt useless. Weak.

“W—what do I d—do?” she asked.

Aleksander sighed. “Nothing. You rest.”

The room flipped as consciousness left her. The last thing she heard was a whispered question from the man.

“What god has touched you?”

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!