Kapitel 41: Arc 2, Chapter 19: When Met with Failure

"Throw it over," Hotaru put her palm out. Jotou did as such and the apple lost the spell effect mid-throw. "As I thought. Spark doesn't truly have a range; it seems like you need to be touching the object," Hotaru caught it.

"Throw it to me!" Asobi reached her hand up. Hotaru tossed the apple over, hitting her right on top of her head.

Hotaru flinched, "Sorry!"

"It's okay!" she picked up the apple and bit into it, "Mm, shocky!"

"So, I need to be touching it," Jotou repeated.

"Not only that, spark is based on your concentration. As long as you concentrated, that apple should still be under the spell no matter where it went," Hotaru added.

"I was definitely still concentrating," Jotou checked her hand which was still sparking arcs of electricity in between her fingers. "Did I cast the spell wrong?"

Hotaru checked the book, "No. These books and scrolls are just guidelines. Each person casts differently; I struggle a bit to cast at range, but it seems that you're physically unable to do it.

Not to worry, the more you learn and use, you'll figure out how to shape your spells based on you."

"Then you can make your own spells!" Asobi threw fireworks in the air, barely visible in the daylight.

"That's a whole other endeavour. Asobi's just gifted…"

"Now, offensive spells?" Jotou queried to Hotaru.

"Correct," Hotaru shut the book she held, "I already had one in mind," she grabbed the notes she had and handed one of them to Jotou.

"Zap?" Jotou read, "Creative name there… Let's out a desired amount of lightning energy in a quick jolt… intermediate…"

"Don't give me that."

"I wasn't complaining," Jotou quickly defended.

"It's purely an offensive spell, that releases electricity. If anything, it's thundering strike, but easier to learn.

Who knows? If you keep using it and empowering it, it might even become a grandmaster spell, substituting thundering strike completely," Hotaru shrugged.

"Uh huh, you're definitely not trying to coerce me there…"

She picked up another apple, "Try zap, then try it on this apple."

"What do you have against apples?" Fumeko spoke.

"What do you have against boiling tea?"

Jotou closed her eyes. 'I won't force it. This should be easy, just, zap.' Jotou put the blade down and followed the instructions Hotaru wrote on the paper.

She brought her hands close together, not touching. 'Lightning, let's do this. We have a lot to learn and so many things to face.' "Zap!" sparks fizzled at her fingertips.

"PFT!" Within nanoseconds, a jolt of lightning zapped in between her hands—a yellow flash. "AHA! I did it!"

"Zap!" she did it again, the flash sparking in front of her eyes, "Zap," the fizzling sound was oh-so satisfying to hear. The mana flowing through gave her goosebumps, compared to from when they were blocked.

"Jotou! Jotou! Apple!" Asobi hopped up.

"Right!" Jotou smiled, facing Hotaru. Knowing she was prepared, the redhead threw the apple in the air. "Zap!" the sparks left maybe a few …centimeters from her palm.

"Thud…" The apple fell onto the ground, "Oh come on!" Jotou groaned. "Zap!" the lightning left her fingers, dissipating again before it made any significant distance.

Hotaru picked it up from the ground, "I thought so," she threw the apple once more.

Jotou caught it; she examined it and rotating it in her grasp, "Zap," between her fingers it fizzled and popped! Smoke emanated from the burnt apple.

"Can I try it!?" Asobi ran over and Jotou handed it to her. "Mmm. Charred!"

"Yeah, I could tell…"

"Well, I think we know your affinity. The fact that your thundering strike does that much without fully killing you and the ease of you picking up that spell…

Your main affinity is close range offensive magic and you also have a slight affinity towards self-support magic," Hotaru diagnosed.

"I can buff myself and have melee attacks…? You mean, I can't shoot lightning bolts?" Jotou sighed, "Still, that's pretty cool."

"Selfish~ Selfish~ Jotou's so selfish~" Fumeko hummed, bobbing her head.

"You; heat," Hotaru's head twisted.

Fumeko huffed and stood up, "I'm so done with this heat thing! It's clearly not working! Give me an actual shadow spell!"

"Meko, it's better to at least get a feel for it," Hotaru calmly explained.

"Oh yeah? What was your first spell?"

"Heat."

"Liar," Fumeko folded her arms.

"Prove it."

"Come on!!!" Fumeko stomped the ground.

Hotaru let out a sigh, "Fine, my first spell was heal; it was on accident."

"Your first spell was an expert level and you want me to cast heat as my first ever spell!?"

"First of all, heal is an intermediate spell. I've used it and put enough effort into it, to make it an expert level. With all of Jotou's injuries-"

"Hey…"

"-I think I'm moving on to master level healing. The fact that you don't know that, is exactly why you should be taking it slow.

Second, there isn't some special seal to be broken for your first spell, it's trivial.

Third, you said yourself you've tried other spells, but that's before you even knew where your affinity was.

Now, if you tried to cast a shadow spell, how will I know if that is or isn't your affinity? You might've failed to cast it like heat and we'd be none the wiser."

"The only magic I tried were stupid ones; not heat, but this is a stupid one too."

"My first spell was light! Now Hotaru says it's become an expert level!" Asobi shined the white light on her wand, nearly beating the dawn light coming down.

"See? That's only my guess, but if she can do it and if heat's such a stupid spell, it should be easy to do, right?" Hotaru smiled.

Fumeko stared for a while… "I hope this grass has fleas," she had the final word before sitting back down and putting her hands to the pot.

"Jotou, try the spell on the dangerous enemy!" a spotlight shined on top of the training dummy Jotou stuck into the ground.

"Do I have permission teacher?" Jotou glanced over.

"Hm, I was planning that anyway; senpai will allow it," Hotaru agreed.

"Please don't say it like that," Jotou hid her face, walking over to the dummy.

"Don't take it too far!"

"Slice him in half!"

"Heat… heat… heat… this teapot's about to break… heat…"

'May not be what I expected; but having magic itself is exciting enough. I really should call myself lucky… Am I lucky if I died…? Don't think about that now dumbass.' Jotou shook her head.

She held her sword tight, feeling the mana flow through and around, "Zap!" Jotou casted and swung, the tip of the blade sparkled into a—"zip…"—upon impact…

"BOOM! BLAST!" Fireworks launched around Jotou. "She's amazing! The crowd can't settle down!" Asobi screamed.

"That was… great Jotou! I'm so proud of you!" Hotaru's smile wriggled alongside her mild clap.

"That was pathetic," Fumeko mocked.

"What the hell happened?" Jotou readied another swing, "Zap!" sparks flew from the blade against the straw construct. She furrowed her brows; that was barely what happened to the apple.

"Zap!" "Zap!" "ZAP!" Jotou gripped the blade with both her hands, continuously abusing the training dummy with light sparks of electricity.

"Why!" "Slash!" "Isn't!" "Smack!" "This!" "Thud!" "WORKING!?" Jotou kept at it, no longer even saying the spell, but the spell was being casted nonetheless.

"Look at her go!" Asobi cheered.

"Jotou…" Hotaru called out.

'You're struggling to break a test dummy!? Are you kidding me!? How are you supposed to defeat that giant velatos huh!?' The sparks gained more vigour, flashing brighter as her thoughts ran.

"It's okay, you'll get better Jotou, don't stress yourself," Hotaru could see Jotou get angrier and angrier with each smack and slash. However, Hotaru was taken aback for a moment…

'Are you really that pathetic? Thundering Blade; nothing more than a joke. What will people see when they see you struggling like this, huh? Should've just bent over and went to college, right!?'

Within her conflict of thoughts, she heard Hotaru's advice… The blade sputtered with electricity. 'I'll prove them wrong; I'll show you I can do it!'

"Zap!" Jotou announced, before…

"…crackle, ZAP!" The fizzing sound subsided in an instant, the dummy was charred at the waist and fell aside. Only when it hit the ground did both pieces spark on fire—the straw sizzling.

Her fingers constricted around the hilt of her blade, having sliced her opponent. Jotou's breath, heavy, "I, did it? I did it," she stood up, facing her achievement.

Hotaru stared in bewilderment. "Wooo!!! Go Jotou!!!" Asobi cheered from the side, the word 'Jotou' flying all around in holographic images.

Jotou walked back, "Well… that was something," her frustration became a smile. 'Ha, I showed you. I win this time.'

Hotaru tilted her head, tail wagging curiously. "I, I'm gonna go put that out before it becomes a problem," she pointed, walking past Jotou to the flaming straw.

"Great… I'm the only failure now…" Fumeko moaned, slumping on the ground.

Noticing the brunette's sigh, Jotou strode over. She knelt down, "Hey, if I can do it of all people," Jotou smiled. Fumeko looked to her, frowning.

"Keep going, okay?" Jotou took Fumeko's hand; it instantly made her scowl fade. "Let the mana flow through you and believe in yourself.

You're not a failure; not yet. You only fail if you give up now," her blonde strands fell like a curtain to Fumeko's view, "Feel the teapot heating; clear your thoughts for now, understand?"

Fumeko silently nodded, letting her hand be guided. "Good. I like logic as much as you, but I like magic a lot too. Let the doubts go for just a second and do it.

You're magical, whether you like it or not. You're safe to fail as long as you keep going. It can't get any worse, right?" Jotou sprinkled in a little logic.

Fumeko's mouth was slightly agape, "Okay," she whispered, the tiniest hint of a smile.

"Jotou?" Hotaru called, having put out the minor flame.

Fumeko broke from Jotou's eyes… it felt like hours.

"Yeah?" Jotou stood up, "I feel great; invigorated. Should I try Thundering Strike?" she jested.

"No," Hotaru shook her head, "A word?" her head tilted to the house.

"Oh, sure," Jotou's smile shrunk.

"Asobi, make sure Fumeko stays out of trouble," Hotaru said whilst walking with Jotou to the front.

Too distracted to comment back, Fumeko blinked at the pot, "I can do this."

Asobi examined the damp straw, giving it a slight kick, "Don't worry! I'll watch over the rascal!" she waved.