What would happen if the voice that only you could hear suddenly stopped sounding?
If the voice that always told you what was right, that gave you the correct answers, ceased to reach your ears?
If the voice that revealed knowledge unknown to others, that taught you the difference between right and wrong—a voice that was both friend, older sister, and family—stopped resonating in your mind, what would you do?
What would become of you if that voice, which you had come to rely on so heavily, simply faded away?
“Tia….”
The answer is: you’d be rendered utterly incapable of action.
To Encia, Tia’s voice was the voice that provided all the answers. It answered every question, shared secrets others didn’t know, and seemed to hold within it the entirety of the world’s knowledge.
That was Tia.
But now, Tia’s voice had gone silent.
Encia was alone.
Like a young child who doesn’t know what to do, Encia curled up in a dark room, doing nothing but sit in despair.
Had time continued to pass this way, she might have wasted away in that dark room without eating or drinking anything. Her powerful magical power would have prolonged her suffering, but even she couldn’t escape the limits of being human.
Then, something caught Encia’s eye.
Piles of papyrus bound with string, countless inkpots, and pens. Items Tia had instructed her to buy—”Do we really need this much?” Encia had asked Tia at the time, but Tia had said yes, predicting they’d need them.
Did Tia foresee this from the start? Did she plan to leave Encia behind?
Encia felt something rising in her chest, like a sob threatening to burst forth.
“Fine. If this is what Tia wants… I’ll do it.”
Encia straightened her hunched body, slowly sat down at her desk, and picked up a pen.
Everything Tia had taught her, everything imprinted in her mind—she would write it all down, creating books.
As Tia had hoped. As the world had hoped.
—
“Step one… learning how to feel the magic within your body?”
“Hmm. This is considered the most basic foundation in any mage’s study.”
The girl with glasses pondered deeply.
“I already know this though?”
“You might, but normally people can’t sense the magic inside their own bodies.”
The sleepy girl muttered softly.
“Whether you aim to become a mage or a knight, or unless some external factor makes you aware of it, most people never notice.”
“I… hmm. Is it because of the training my dad gave me?”
“That’s probably it. Your uncle wanted you to become a knight.”
“But I want to be a mage!”
The sleepy girl shook her head slightly at the bespectacled girl’s declaration.
“The talent you possess and the dream you chase are completely different things. That won’t be easy.”
“So what?! No matter what anyone says, I’m going to be a mage!!”
“Well, dreams are dreams because they can be aimed for no matter where they lie, whether they come true or not.”
“Enough with the pessimistic talk! So, is this part good to skip?”
“Since you already understand magic… well, the way knights and mages use magic is completely different. Just read through it for now.”
At that, the girl with glasses nodded slightly and began reading.
“To feel magic by blocking out the five senses while meditating… maintaining focus while relaxing your body… hmm… since I can already feel the magic inside me, I’ll skim through this quickly…”
“If you’ve recognized your magic, the next step is learning how to control it.”
“Training to move magic within your body as you wish? Isn’t this similar to a knight’s method?”
“Probably because the knight’s magic usage originated from this book.”
The sleepy girl’s words made the girl with glasses widen her eyes.
“There’s no better method than this book when it comes to handling magic. The difference between knights and mages lies in… the fact that knights only activate magic in their physical forms and weapons. Oh, and the location where they store magic differs too.”
“Do knights store magic around their lower abdomen?”
“Mages store it near their hearts.”
“Why is there such a difference?”
The sleepy girl nodded slightly before answering.
“Honestly, it’s not a big deal. Probably just a matter of efficiency?”
“Efficiency?”
“Mages use blood vessels to channel magic. They gather the magic circulating in their bodies into their hearts for storage. Knights, on the other hand, concentrate magic in their lower abdomen… an area that has little to do with internal organs or magic.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Even so, knights create pathways to distribute magic throughout their bodies from that spot, digging paths where none existed.”
The sleepy girl’s explanation made the girl with glasses tilt her head in confusion.
“Why don’t knights use blood like mages do?”
“Hmm… I don’t exactly know why it turned out this way. Maybe it’s the difference between mages, who choose efficient methods, and knights, who stubbornly stick to their ways despite inefficiency?”
“Hmph… are knights really that dense?”
“Perhaps. But once a knight fully completes their magical pathways, they can manipulate magic faster than mages, albeit only within their bodies.”
“Wow… knights do have their advantages after all.”
“If they didn’t, they would’ve been obsolete long ago. Anyway, let’s move on.”
Afterward, the girl with glasses wasted quite a bit of time trying—and failing—to properly grasp how to move magic outside her body, but that was a minor issue.
—
Encia double-checked the writings she had penned.
She thought she had included everything Tia had taught her, but was it enough?
“Tia… is this okay?”
Anxiety crept into her voice, but no reply came.
Tia did not respond.
This lack of response filled Encia with all-too-familiar unease.
Tia had always been there, guiding her.
Guiding her path, her strength, her knowledge…
Everything came from Tia.
And now, Encia was no more than a puppet unable to move on its own.
“Tia…”
But she couldn’t just stop. She had to finish what Tia had asked of her. She had to complete the books.
Encia re-read her work. Was it sufficient? Would others understand it? Could she teach others like Tia had?
She didn’t know. There were no answers, because Tia wasn’t there to provide them.
So…
“I guess I’ll just have to try…”
Encia forced herself to muster the courage buried deep within her heart.
To confirm these writings, she had to teach someone else. Someone young, like she had been, with abundant magical power.
With unsteady steps, Encia left her home.
—
When the weather mage Encia ended her long seclusion and resumed her activities, it became a significant topic among Procyon’s mages.
Though many theories circulated about her hiatus, Encia remained silent, leaving the mages to speculate.
Her first act upon reappearing was to seek an apprentice.
An apprentice to inherit the magic of the weather mage.
The news spread like wildfire, shocking not only Procyon but everywhere the message reached.
Countless mages sought her out, pleading to become her apprentice.
Yet, none were chosen.
Some coveted her magic, others respected her purely, but none met her criteria.
“Why?! I pride myself on being among the top talents in Procyon!”
“You’re too old. No.”
“Too old?! You’re rejecting me because of age?! How young do you expect your apprentice to be?!”
The young man’s protest fell on deaf ears. Encia shook her head. She sought someone roughly the same age she had been when learning from Tia—around ten years old, brimming with magical potential.
No one fit the bill.
“Anyway, no. Too old.”
As yet another disappointed applicant walked away, Encia sighed.
She needed to test her writings, but all these unnecessary distractions were getting tiresome.
If only Tia were here, she’d give a clear answer. Encia sighed again, feeling endlessly frustrated.
“Excuse me.”
Someone approached her.
“I am a messenger from the Romanian royal court. We’ve come with a request for the weather mage.”
“Romanian royal court?”
Encia merely tilted her head at the finely dressed man before her.
