Soon after Kevin dropped into his meditative trance, Sandy returned, looking a little disgruntled.

“No idea what you thought would happen,” she grumbled, sitting down across the table from me, “So, any better ideas than to think really hard and try making something happen?”

“A few ideas, yes,” I nodded, looking at the young woman, “As you can see, your companion has taken the first step on his path. We shall try to facilitate your own path, just the same,” I told her, gesturing towards the basin of Ice, still holding the conjured water.

“What am I looking at?” she asked, the frown on her face deepening.

“He conjured the water. It will fade, likely over the course of a day unless it is actively maintained, but it will work just like regular water until then. It will quench one’s thirst, it could be used to wash up or launder clothes. Unlimited, fresh water, though I’m not certain about mineral content, I would assume it to be similar to distilled water. But I don’t actually know, not being a water user myself,” I explained and it took her only a moment to realise just how big that was. For now, they had water, thanks to a few tanks and some raided supermarkets but that wouldn’t last, not forever. But with Kevin, they had access to fresh water, as much as he could conjure. Just that would turn Kevin into a very important person, far above his previous self as just another boy.

“Could I do that, too?” she asked, looking a lot more enthusiastic than she had moments before.

“Conjure Water? Possibly, I’m not certain about the limits of your Nature-affinity. But from what I’ve heard, it mostly deals with plants and the natural cycle of things, as in growing and dying. If I were to summarise the core concepts of it, I would think they would be to Grow and to Wither. The cycle of life and all that,” I explained, a little amused that she was suddenly an attentive student. Maybe the idea of unlimited showers had managed to crack her ‘disinterested teen’ facade.

“And if we were to put it into perspective, he is able to conjure water for the community. Long-term, you can easily be just as important, thanks to an ability to grow crops without the need for fertiliser, pesticide or similar chemicals that won’t be easy to get. Probably even at a pace that will only be described as magical. And that is only one of the aspects of your affinity, I could imagine you being able to heal or help out in combat by conjuring plants to bind your foes or maybe use poison in some fashion. You have an incredibly useful and powerful ability if you have the will, imagination and tenacity to walk the Arcane Path to the end,” I added, noticing a thoughtful expression on her face.

“Would I have to fight?” she asked and suddenly, she didn’t look like the mix of disdainful teenager and young, prideful woman any longer. No, she simply looked like a frightened girl, making me drop my previous estimation of her age by a few years. Not to the young age she looked at that moment, but from something around twenty-three to somewhere around seventeen.

“Have to? Maybe, but I don’t think so. But you’ll have to ask yourself, do you want to. The people here, or anyone who knows and understands your affinity would happily take you and put you into a comfortable position if you manage to learn how to grow crops, especially if you can do it quickly. But it would be a cage, a nice, secure cage with wonderful golden bars, but a cage nonetheless. You will have to consider whether or not you want to live in a cage. Liberty compared to security, it is a trade-off you will have to decide on for yourself,” I told her, trying to give her perspective without influencing her. It should be her decision, she would have to live with it, maybe for the rest of her life.

“I think I know what you mean,” she nodded, though I had no idea what she was thinking. Maybe she had no idea either, I had given her quite a bit to consider, even if all of it was theoretical and for the future. It wouldn’t matter one bit, if she didn’t manage to take the first step.

“Now, magic,” I grinned, bringing things back on track. Reaching out, I simply placed a hand above the basin of water, channelling a bit of Astral Power to freeze some of the conjured water. It was more difficult than expected, but well within my abilities, making me wonder if the increased difficulty was due to the purity of the water or because it was created from another’s Astral Power, or maybe a combination of the two. Not that it truly mattered and I doubted that Sandy would be able to notice the difference, making it wholly irrelevant for now. But I had easily managed to create a small block of Ice, pulling it from the water with my magic and letting it float between us.

“Compared to runes, what Kevin used just now, pure magic is less precise. It relies on you and your will, not on formulae or symbols. That makes it more flexible,” I pushed some more Astral Power into the floating Ice, shaping it from a roughly cubical block into a thin, almost needle-like Icicle, similar to those I would use for combat. “But the lack of an external focus means you need to provide said focus. Otherwise, you will either vent Astral Power into the environment without achieving anything or the result of your efforts will differ from your intentions.”

I paused, giving her a moment to consider my words. I had a feeling that the pure magical skills would be more difficult to teach but I wanted to give her another chance, before going to plan B or C. If she managed on her own, she would become a better spellcaster in the long run.

“Why don’t you get a potted plant, maybe I can give you a bit more guidance,” I suggested, stopping myself from suggesting to head outside. For about three more hours, that would be a pretty bad idea, unless I made sure the exit was in the shade.

She looked at me for a moment before scurrying off. While she was gone, I considered how to best demonstrate Nature Magic without having any knowledge or affinity for it but I decided that a showing of Blood Magic, trying to heal a plant would hopefully be a good enough example, with Death Magic providing the withering aspect.

Otherwise, I would try and drag her into the Astral River, too, to get her into touch with her Astral Power, with the last option being to cut into her palm and use Blood Magic to pull out a sliver of her power, the pain would likely be enough to show her where to look for her power. It might also put her off magic altogether, so I kept the Blood Magic as a last-ditch attempt.

It didn’t take long for her to return and by that point, Kevin had come back out of his meditation and had taken a glance at the slightly lowered level of water in the basin, before looking at me with a confused expression when he noticed the Ice floating there. I had just waved him off and told him to try manipulating it, before focusing on my other pupil.

She had simply sat down, putting the plant on the table between us, waiting for me to act. Just like I was waiting for her to make an attempt, curious how things would play out.

When she didn’t move, I decided to give her a push and put a hand on the plant, carefully channelling a bit of Death Magic. I had to control myself to keep from wincing, Death was not a pleasant element to channel, but it worked, the leaf I had touched immediately looked as if it was about to wither.

“Now, heal your plant. Otherwise, it will soon die,” I challenged her, noticing how wide her eyes went. Out of interest, I activated my Magical Sight, curious if she would manage.

For a moment, she simply stared, first at me, then at the plant. If I was correct, she needed to truly will the action, not just think about it. Motivation was key and if I had managed to give her that motivation with my display, I was happy about it.

Finally, as the seconds dragged on and the bit of Death Magic was already starting to fade, I could see some Astral Power focus in her hand, before getting pushed into the plant and quickly replacing the vitality my Death Magic had consumed.

“Well done,” I complimented her, keeping my face controlled, despite the angry look on her face. I wasn’t certain what sort of expression I should make anyway, on one hand, she was glaring at me, on the other hand, I had gained some EXP for some reason. Curious and something to be investigated, but for later. Now, I had to make sure to make her keep going, so she would be able to call on her magic whenever she wanted.