"Is this truly it?" I ask, with doubt evident in my voice. "We have not taken a wrong turn somewhere?"

"I'm afraid that it is" Charlotte says, giving me a complicated expression. She doesn't seem to be too happy about where we are. In front of us is a huge wooden door, similar to most doors in the castle. The one thing different about it? There's a large note nailed to the door with wide, red saying; Do not enter unless you want to die a VERY painful, slow death. Thank you. What kind of person sets up this kind of note on the door? Is it another weirdo?

"Should I knock?" I ask, pointing towards the door.

"No, there's no need to" Charlotte says while sighing, looking really tired. "And don't worry about the note, she just doesn't like to be... "disturbed". Just, just follow me, I have done this before, I can handle this". I nod, wondering what is going to happen. Charlotte opens the door and we head inside.

The room is surprisingly dark, with the only light source being a yellow crystal in the ceiling, giving of a dim light. It takes a while for my eyes to get used to the darkness. The walls are covered with bookshelves and the floors are flooded with papers. There's a wooden desk standing in the corner of the room, overflowed by even more notes and books and in the end of the room there's a... bed? Wait, what?

Charlotte walks towards the bed, with me following her, and when we are close enough I notice the shape of a person lying underneath a pink blanket. Only a pair feet are sticking out from underneath it. Carefully Charlotte proceed to nudge the person underneath.

"Lady Tyrmiel, it's time to wake up" she says with a low and sweet voice. The person, Tyrmiel, starts to move and small groan can be heard.

"Five minutes moooore" a hoarse voice says. Charlotte sighs.

"Tyra, get up" she says, abandoning her formal way of speaking. "You have things to do".

"Like whaaaaat?"

"Maybe, oh I don't know, teach the young lady that arrived awhile ago?" Charlotte comments, crossing her arms.

"Good try but I am supposed to start doing that on Tuesday and it's only Monday sooooo..."

"Tyra, it's Tuesday, you just slept the entire Monday away"

"... Really?"

"Really."

"... OH CRAP!" Tyra shouts and suddenly my vision is covered by a pink inferno, namely a blanket. How soft. It smells like cinnamon too. Babbit, who is sitting on my shoulder, almost falls off when the blanket hits me. He lets out a cute pyuun and have to pet him in order to reassure him that everything's alright. At least I hope it is. Now what's going on? I can hear how things are tossed across the room and Charlotte sighing beside me.

"Charlotte, HELP ME! I need to get dressed and, and I need to clean my room!" Tyra exclaims, sounding slightly panicked.

"Tyra..." Charlotte says with a calming voice, trying to calm Tyra down. It does not work.

"Please help me Charlotte, I promise to wake up on time next time!"

"Tyra".

"Ahhhh, what's she going to think of me??? This is so embarrassing!"

"TYRA!"

"What?????"

"She's already here" she says before pulling of the blanket covering my face. Ah, the room is brighter now. Wow, it looks so much messier than it was just a few moments ago. And in the middle of the chaos stands a girl dressed in a way to big purple pajamas. She looks about 20 years old, with skin the same color as sugar that's just about to melt and with dark circles under her green eyes. She's got raven curly, black hair, ending right above her shoulders. She looks exactly just like a human, exceeeeept for those black goat horns of course.

"Lady Tyrmiel, this is lady Ruth, lady Ruth this is Lady Tyrmiel" Charlotte says, returning to her initial politeness, with just a tiny bit of sarcasm. "She is the one who will be teaching you magic theory". Ah, I was wondering what it was going to be all about. Magic theory huh? Sounds interesting. But with her? Well, don't judge a book by its cover. Let's get to know her first. I will start by introducing myself.

"Hello" I say, bowing slightly, "just as Charlotte said, my name is Ruth. It's a pleasure to meet you". I end my introduction with a smile, as I always do. Good first impressions are crucial after all.

"Oh, uhm, hello" Tyra mumbles and returns my bow, rather clumsily if I am to be honest. "My name is Tyrmiel but everyone calls me Tyra so, uhm, you can call me that too... If you want to of course!"

Silence. None of us says anything. I expected her to have something more to say after all... Well, this is awkward. Luckily Charlotte comes to the rescue.

"Well then Tyra, how about me and lady Ruth wait outside while you... change attire?"

"Oh?" Tyra exclaims before looking down on her body. "OH!" she says in a louder voice, her face turning red. She seems to have forgotten she still had her pajama on. I, feeling bad for her, decide to follow Charlottes advice and exit the door with Charlotte closing the door after us.

Ten minutes pass before the door opens once again, with a weak voice emerging from behind it.

"You, you can come in now..." Tyra says.

"Well then" Charlotte say, clapping her hands together, "I will leave the two of you for now but I will come back in... about an hour. After that I will bring lady Ruth to the dining hall in order to have lunch. See you soon". Charlotte then walks away without looking back, leaving me standing alone in the hallway. With nothing else to do I head inside the room once again.

It's clean. All the papers are gone and the desk is empty. Is this some kind of skill? Another kind of teleportation skill, similar to that one Orethon used. No, wait, I can see everything hidden under her bed. Ah, the old "If they can't see it it's not there-technique", how many times I have used it myself. Well for now I will just ignore it. Sitting behind the now clean desk is Tyra, glancing at me nervously. Her hair is now neatly tied up in a bun and she's wearing a big pair of round glasses. She is no longer wearing that purple pajama, instead it's been replaced by a red blouse and a black skirt, ending right above her ankles. She looks really cute.

"Uhum, lady Ruth, if you may..?" she says and points towards a chair on the opposite side of the desk. I couldn't even see it earlier because of the mess. I take my seat and sit as straight as I can. Seeing this Tyra clears her throat.

"Well then, as Charlotte said earlier, I am the one who will be teaching you magic theory and spells in general". Compared to before she seems much more calm. That's good. "But before we do I want to know some things about you. For example, how much you know and your magic affinity. Is that alright?"

"Yeah, of course" I answer before starting to think of my answers. "Well, as for my knowledge of magic it's all on a pretty basic level. I know how to gather and control mana to a certain degree and I had the opportunity to listen to some lectures but not anything more I'm afraid".

"How about previous mentors? No one taught you anything?" she asks me while scribbling something down on a paper

"Well, there's two I can think of. The first one told me my affinity, which is Astral, he also taught me some basic things such as concentrating my mana. The other one taught me spells linked to fire".

"Anyone else?" Tyra asks, rising her eyebrow.

"Uhmmm... Oh yeah! A bear once taught me Earth Armor and Minor Physical Buff!". I will never forget you Spada-sama!

"A bear... I see..." Tyra mumbles. "Well then, if you have as little knowledge as you claim then I suppose I should start with the basics. When you have mastered that we will advance to more complex exercises". Tyra opens a drawer and picks up a thick book that she slides over the desk and towards me. "This is the text book you will be reading for the time being. I want you to dedicate at least one hour of your free time each day to read it. Now, unless you've got any questions then shall we start?"

"Ah, ok" I respond, still shocked by the size of the book. Can I even lift it? I don't think I'm strong enough... A sudden loud sound brings me back to reality. Tyra have dropped another book on the desk, this one a little bit smaller.

"Today's lesson will be all about incantations and the things necessary for them. I assume you don't know what incantations are?". I shake my head in confirmation. Tyra continues. "Incantations are an alternative way of casting spells but are more powerful than voiceless spell-casting since they use the power of elementals . Do you know what elementals are?"

" It's spirits that are connected to a certain element, like fire or water, right?" I say. I have heard of them before, mainly from games and light novels.

"That's right, lady Ruth, well done" Tyra exclaims, giving me a small smile before continuing. "Now, incantations call upon elementals that can lend you their powers in exchange of your mana. But the elemental can refuse to help you if they do not deem you as worthy. That's why there's a few people that can use them and most that can only one elemental helping them. Having multiple elementals aid you are considered very rare".

"Tyra, I can summon a specter, how is that different from an elemental other than not having an affinity?" I ask.

"Elementals and specters are very similar in many ways but the main differences is the level of strength and sentience. Specters have a low level of self awareness and they are weaker that elementals" she says, ending with her adjusting her glasses.

Hmm, well it does seem to be accurate. The specter I summoned at Ozlem felt very... robotic. Like Rowan when he was just made and before I named him. No personality nor emotions whatsoever.

"How does one create a bond with an elemental?".

"First, you need to shut of the outside so that you are alone with only your own thoughts. Then you need to have the desire to bond with an elemental. This acts as a sort of beacon, leading elementals towards you. After that you need to gather a significant amount of mana as an offering for the elemental choosing you. The more mana the likelier is it that the elemental agrees with you and if it does then it will teach you the words to summon it with. Well,that's the simple way of describing it but it's actually more to that than what I just said. Elementals don't just choose anyone, in fact, they can be quite picky. If they don't like your personality, taste of your mana or even appearance they will deny you".

"Can you summon an Elemental?" I ask. Hearing my question Tyra smiles once again.

"As a matter of fact, I can" she says with pride in her voice. "Would you like to see?"

"You bet!" I exclaim. Tyra snickers before taking a deep breath. The light in the room dims and I can feel how energy starts building up inside Tyra. She spreads her arms and starts to speak.

"Oh Spirit of the Wind, hear my call, thy I desire your service. I call you upon you, Sonas!"

Suddenly a strong breeze fills the room, causing the papers under Tyras bed to fly out. Then, above Tyra, a green light appears. The light takes on the shape of a humanoid and after a few second more prominent features starts to appear. Long, flowing hair, a petite nose, slim wrists, a feminine figure and light green eyes.

"For what have you called me young one?" the elemental asks. It's voice sounds like leaves rustling in the wind.

"Thank you for coming Sonas" Tyra says while bowing her head slightly. "I summoned you in order to show my new student, lady Ruth, how to summon an elemental. I'm sorry for summoning you for this small reason but I will repay you with plenty of mana for your service".

"I forgive you, for thy reason is plausible" Sonas says before turning towards me. "Introduce yourself, student of Tyrmiel, for I desire to more". Ah, she probably wants to see if I am worthy of being Tyras student. Hmm, this elemental seems to be very polite and value manners. I need to do my best to impress her, for Tyras sake. I jump of my chair and bow towards Sonas.

"My name is Ruth, oh Sona, spirit of the wind" I say, directing my head up so that our eyes meet. "It's my pleasure to make your acquaintance". From the corner of my eye I can see Tyra putting her hands together, smiling. Sona appears to be quite charmed as well because she is reacting the same way.

"Oh my, how polite. Tyrmiel, this apprentice of yours, value her".

"I will Sonas, I promise" Tyra answers.

"Good" Sona says. " Now then, it's time for me to bid farewell. Until next time". Her body starts to disappear until there's nothing left. The light in the room returns and Tyra breathes out.

"You did good, lady Ruth" she says and claps her hands together. "I am happy that she approves of you. Now, there are two types of incantations. The first one is what I showed you, the incantation to summon the elemental itself. The other one allows you to use the elementals power to enhance your spells. I will now go into the theory of incantations and elementals. I suggest you take notes since I will be talking for about an hour. Ask questions whenever there is something you don't understand or if it gets too complicated for you". Tyra adjust her glasses before glancing at me with a challenging look in her eyes. "Are you ready, lady Ruth?"

I smile wryly while staring into her eyes.

"Oh I was born ready".