"I was born into a wealthy family" Loran began "By the time I was five, I had already shown some signs of using magic"
"My parents were overjoyed and they called a lot of magic instructors to farther improve my magic"
"I improved quickly… fast enough to enter the magic academy in Kouzlo, the best magic academy. They even said that I was a genius" He smiled faintly
"I loved learning new magic, that's why I started to experimenting magic and collecting books about magic"
His expression didn't change, but his voice softened
"Until an accident took my sight"
"W-what kind of accident?" Erin asked carefully
"So, in one of the books I read, there was a section about something called light magic"
"Light magic?"
"Yes, it something like this"
Loran lifted one of his hands and started casting an incantation
"Light sword"
A soft yellow glow gathered in his palm, slowly stretching outward, forming the shape of a blade
"W-wow" Erin whispered in amaze
"I don't know if I'm creating a sword right now" Loran said lightly "But maybe something like this"
Loran then released the blade, the light slowly faded and continued on the story
"Well, this kind of magic is really interesting, the idea of manipulating light and turning it into something tangible"
"I kept pushing this magic ever further, again and again, trying to achieve the limit of this magic"
"Until one day I lost control" His tone remained steady "the light became too bright… it blinds my eyes and became the last thing I ever saw"
Silence settled in the room
"And now here I am" Loran said with a small laugh "A man who obsessed with magic… but can't even read a book anymore"
"Sorry to hear that" Erin said softly
"It's fine" Loran replied "It's wasn't your fault that made me blind"
"Even now, I still experimenting magic by own"
"Then one day, I saw Laura also showed some interest in magic"
His head turned slightly toward the door
"She asked me to teach her about magic. But I'm not a magic instructor"
"I don't know how to explain anything her, that's why I asked you to help me teach Laura"
He faced them again "So… what do you think?"
Erin hesitated "I-I don't know about it… but I think I can try"
"Great" Loran smiled "I'll talk with Laura myself. So, are you two free tomorrow?"
Erin didn't know what to answer and looked at Auel
"We haven't taken any quest right now, so I think we are free tomorrow"
"Well, let's meet up tomorrow"
"Y-Yes, thank you for the meal too"
As they stood up to leave, Loran called out "Hey you forgot the book"
Loran gave the book that he asked Erin to take
"B-But are you sure you gave it for free?"
"It's fine" Loran kept insist
"T-Thank you" Erin took the book
"By the way don't rush it" Loran added
"H-huh?"
"Teaching someone isn't the same as learning, so If you try to force it, both of you will only get frustrated"
Erin tightened her grip on the book "O-Okay"
"Good. See you tomorrow"
They stepped outside, the door closed quietly behind them
The street was calmer now, the market noise fading in the distance.
Erin held the book close to her chest.
"Auel… Do you think I can teach her magic?" Erin asked
Auel walked beside her, hands in his pockets
"I don't know, but just trust yourself, I mean you understand magic in your own way"
"Even if you couldn't teach her, you can ask Loran anything right" He continued "He came from a wealthy family and went to the best magic academy, so it's going to be fine"
"Y-yeah… I hope so"
They walked in silence for a while
When they reached the crossroads
"I'll see you tomorrow" Auel said
"Y-Yes"
They went their separate ways
The next morning Auel went to Loran house, he saw Erin already there waiting in front of the door
Erin noticed him "Good morning"
Auel just nodded "What are you doing outside?"
"I already talked with Loran, and he asked me to wait outside while he prepares"
Not long after, the door opened, Loran stepped out with Laura beside him
"Good morning"
"G-good morning"
"So" Loran said "Where shall we train today?"
"There is a place where we used to train, we just have to went south of the city gate"
"There is a big tree so we can rest a bit if needed" Auel suggested
"Hmm… Sound great, let's go"
The four of them walked together to the place where Auel and Erin first practiced
Erin noticed a book that Loran had on his hand
"Is that… a magic book?"
"Yes, my instructor asked me to read this book back when I'm still in academy"
"So, I think to bring this book along so you can take it as a reference to teach Laura too" He added lightly
"I don't particularly like how the book explains about magic, but it might still help you. So you can always ask me if you confused about anything in this book, I'll try to explain it by my own way"
"Y-yes, thank you"
They finally arrived at the practice place, Erin and Laura started the lesson and stood facing each other
"Y-your name is Laura, right?" Erin asked "So how much do you know about magic?"
"Not much, Loran just taught me the basic of magic. He told me some incantation and asked me to try casting it, but it doesn't work"
"Can you show me how you do it"
Laura nodded and raised one hand; she started casting the incantation
"Fireball"
But nothing happened
"See, I don't know what happens. Every time I tried, nothing ever happens"
Erin thought for a moment
"Maybe you need something that can help the flow of your mana, try using my magic staff while casting the magic"
Erin gave Laura her magic staff
"I don't know if it's going to work, because Loran have tried the same thing"
She rose the staff and tried to cast magic again
"Fireball"
But still, nothing happened
"See" Laura gave back the staff to Erin
Erin frowned "How about we look at the book, there must be something that might help"
Erin opened the book that Loran gave her carefully
"Do you really think that book going to have the answer?" Laura asked
"I don't know, but your brother said that this book might have the answer"
"My brother?"
Erin blinked "Yes, Loran is your brother, right? I mean you two have similar name"
"No, we don't even blood related"
"What?"
"When I was little… my parent abandoned me in an alley near the city market"
Erin just froze
"And then Loran found me and took me in his home, he even gave me a new name so I could forget about my past"
"I'm sorry to hear that"
"It's fine, I don't really care about my past anymore, since Loran care about me so much"
While Erin and Laura talked about their story and looked through the book, Auel and Loran sat under the tree
"Are you really blind?" Auel asked
"What do you mean?"
"Yesterday, somehow you know that Erin forgot to bring the book that you gave her"
"Oh… I just listened to the voice that she made I just heard that she didn't took the book with her. It's nothing much" Loran explained
"Also, Loran… That's not your real name, right?"
"Why do you think so?"
"You said that you came from a wealthy family, but you introduce yourself with Loran, a single name without a family name"
"And also, even if you family doesn't have it, you should get your title form the academy, right?"
Loran let out a quiet laugh
"You are not totally wrong, when I lost my sight, everything changed. Everyone in my family got panicked at first and did every to heal my eye"
He adjusted his posture slightly before continuing
"Asking every doctor and geniuses, but none of them could do anything to restore my vision"
"Even the academy needs to step in just to bring back my sight"
"But as you can see" He paused "Nothing worked"
"After a long time of tried everything, they came to a conclusion that it is hopeless" Loran continued "To them, I was no longer the genius they once praise. Just a broken prodigy. A diamond buried in mud"
His tone was calm, almost detached
"They stopped looking at me the same way. The academy lost interest. My family did too."
"And you didn't care?" Auel asked.
"To be honest, no. I don't really care much about fame, because I care is magic"
"As long as I can experimenting magic, I don't really care about what happen about my body and I continued in my experiment even further"
His grip on the cane tightened slightly
"Until one day, I walked into an alley and found a little girl, threw away by their family, alone, nobody to rely on"
"Then I asked her to stayed with me" He continued "And I gave her a new name so she could forget about her past"
"I never saw her face, but in my mind, I always thought that she is my own sister"
"And then you taught her magic?" Auel asked
"One day she saw me experimenting with my magic and she started to show interest. From there on, I taught her about magic…or at least I tried"
He let out a quiet breath
"But nothing is working. No matter what I did, she couldn't use it"
"But don't want her to stop, I want her to be able to use magic"
"I always think about magic, experimenting it, finding an even stronger magic, and thinking about nothing else, like… I only think about… me"
"But then I realize that everything that I have going to be useless if it ends on me"
"Then I was thinking that Laura was not there to be my sister, but as someone who going to continue my legacy, as a new me, someone who can use my magic and tell the world about it"
"That's why I'm going to do everything so she can use magic"
Auel crossed his arms slightly "But aren't you pushing her too hard? Making her… a new you?"
"Yes, I used to think about it, that I'm pushing her too hard and said to her to stop learning magic, and find her own path"
Loran paused "But she said that she will never stop"
On the other side, Laura also told the same things to Erin
"Why?" Erin asked Laura "Aren't that too hard for you"
"Because whenever I saw him using his light magic, I felt… warmth" Laura looked slightly toward Loran
"That's why I want to learn how to use magic, so I can tell to world how to use it to and feel the same thing that I felt"
"I even tried to use magic by myself in my room without Loran knowing. I want to be Loran's successors"