"Academy teaches a lot about the history of mages, especially those who wrote recognized grimoires," Celly told him with a smile.

Somehow, the words of the half-elf reminded him of the friend he had that was currently studying in a mage academy.

"Academy, huh?" He remarked.

"You have a friend that recently got into an academy, right? Honestly, I always thought you'd end up entering one," Celly asked.

He nodded, "Melisande—she had a lot of potential when we traveled together. I bet she's kicking butt out there. For me, I prefer being self-taught. I think at this point, it'd be a pain in the ass trying to be lectured."

A laugh was shared between the two of them at the thought of him in an academy at present time. It was a leisurely way to study magic, sitting together and going over what they read.

"I'm interested in this 'Flow of Between' spell. It sounds versatile enough," he said, putting his hand to his chin.

"Why don't you try practicing it?" Celly suggested.

He was quick to hop to his feet, stretching his arms and legs after sitting for some time as he smiled, "Let's see if I can get it down."

It seemed the archmage was interested in watching him practice magic—especially the unique aquatic magecraft created by a legend like Lars Gravona.

'The magecraft that Lars Gravona developed is known to all be of a much higher difficulty to learn than others. Lars didn't care to make the magic he developed easily accessible; he sought perfection. I want to see how you do, Emilio,' Celly thought.

Rather than taking the grimoire with him as he stood there in the open field behind the house, he only quickly memorized the pages that went over the desired spell. It was partly not to be intrusive on the silver-haired girl, but partly to challenge his own mind.

'A spell that affects allies and enemies differently. This can't be something done in the moment—I have to make sure my own mindset is right or the spell can fail disastrously,' he thought.

As he stood there in the lush field of emerald grass, closing his eyes and steadying his breathing, Celly watched curiously.

When it came to stepping into the right mindset for a new spell, having to embody the essence of it and manifest its nature through his own perception, everything around the mage played a factor. The intensity of the wind, the temperature of it, which direction it came from; how it felt against his skin, the transmutation of that sensation into the abstraction of water itself.

'The growth of a mage is not linear. It'd be closer to say the growth of a mage is not linear for one's that possess true potential and a deep understanding of the art,' Celly thought, 'Most importantly, this growth becomes exponential once a mage understands the theory of magecraft as an extension of themself; knowing it like a formula, this understanding allows for spells to be learned easier than the last. Emilio, you're at the level of an archmage, undoubtedly. Maybe you were already at that level."historical

The ease of acquiring and understanding new spells through experience was showcased as Emilio already conjured the unique manifestation of water founded by Lars' grimoire.

'Come forth.."Flow of Between",' he invoked.

It was a curling veil of aqua that possessed a translucent, silver complexion.

"Phew.." He slowly exhaled.

Opening his eyes again, he looked at the oddly-colored water he had brought into existence through the transmutation of his own mana.

Celly kept quiet, knowing the sort of focus needed to maintain a spell such as this, especially one of such conflicting teachings.

'He's completed the first step of it..That was quick,' Celly thought.

Though the second half of the spell was definitely the "hard part", and unquestionably the segment of it that was dangerous when it came to practicing it. Emilio guided the silver water in front of him as it flowed like a disembodied wave, subtly contorted by the passing breeze.

'It automatically changes its reaction in accordance to what I perceive as an ally and an enemy. Right now..I have to imagine that bush is an enemy; it's not just about telling myself that. I need to believe it myself,' he thought.

Focusing on the small, unassuming bush that was a half-dozen meters in front of him, he exhaled slowly, closing his eyes as he remembered where the piece of nature was. In place of the harmless bush, he instead imagined it as something else—a source of anger that could ignite his heart with fiery emotion.

There was no shortage of fuel for that fire; but for a single moment as he called upon those memories that resurfaced daily, at times hourly, he found his catalyst:

'...Dread..' He recalled.

The image of that haunting, malignant figure made his blood boil quite easily when remembering the pain it put both his friends and him through; the life it took and the dreams it crushed.

As he opened his eyes once more and sent the controlled wave of silver aqua towards the bush, it was easy for him; that malice towards the inanimate object was turned into genuine hatred in that moment.

"Flow of Between."

As the unique water made contact with the bush, it wrapped around every piece of the foliage, stretching every drop of liquid across every twig and leaf, consuming it swiftly. It wasn't a corrosive property it presented, but more seemed to consume it directly.

Breathing out, Emilio found a few droplets of sweat sliding down his cheek as he looked towards the result of his first test of the spell, witnessing a small patch of soil where the bush once was.

"You used it perfectly," Celly remarked with a smile, "That was fantastic."

"That was just one half of it. The problem is using it with the intent to heal–if I get that wrong..It could be bad," he noted.

"Still, you've made great progress already. I'm sure you'll nail it down soon enough," Celly told him.

"Yeah, you're right," he nodded, holding a smile.

Once he latched onto a new spell, he didn't stop practicing it until he was one-hundred percent sure he had it locked down. That being said, he spent the rest of the day training with it, all while Celly willingly and happily watched while studying the grimoire.

Treyna stepped out to give them fresh lemonade and sandwiches, which were cheerfully gobbled up by the both as learning and practicing magic was a tiring effort to partake in.

"Thanks, this is wonderful," Celly smiled brightly up at Treyna.

The golden-haired woman smiled, looking over at Emilio, who in the near distance was sipping lemonade without taking a break from conjuring magic, "He's a hard worker. Even though he came back home to take a rest for himself, he hasn't stopped training. Not for a single day. Sometimes I wonder..what is he pushing himself so hard for? I used to be an adventurer myself so I can tell, and it's not just my bias as his mother: Emilio is strong. At his current state, I doubt there's much that could give him trouble anymore."

Celly looked towards Emilio as well, smiling before she responded to Treyna, "I can only speak from what I know, but..I believe what drives Emilio is finding out what exists 'beyond this'."

"Beyond this?" Treyna looked over at the half-elf.

"What I mean is..Emilio is driven by what lies beyond his current limits, whether it's the limits of his body, magic, or knowledge. That's something I've heard is what makes for a great adventurer–somebody who is always striving for what's beyond their current reach. They're never satisfied with where they're at, always seeking tomorrow," Celly explained.

"I see," Treyna smiled, "That makes sense. He used to tell me when he was younger that he wanted to "see the world for everything it had to offer"--so, I believe what you said aligns with that."

"Mhm," Celly nodded happily.

–

Over the course of the next couple weeks, they continued studying together and exchanging their own insight on magecraft–helping one another advance their own mastery in the world of magic together. The two found solace in one another's expertise, able to learn as peers rather than as teacher-and-student.

"Nnngh..Huuuu..! Ah, I've got nothin'!"

Holding a weird pose with his legs buckled and one hand forward and the other over his head, the country-born shielder attempted to manifest magic, straining himself as he sweated, but made no fruitful advances.

"It was a nice try.." Celly chuckled, trying to provide some assurance.

Emilio stood there with his arms folded over his chest, "You totally look constipated, man."

Everett huffed, "Hey, this is tough, ya know?! I've never had fancy-smancy books to learn from!"

On that day, Everett had insisted on trying to learn a spell or two to expand his defensive arsenal, though it proved to be a difficult task even with Celly and Emilio working together.

"Water Blaaaaast!"

Yelling out like some sort of sunday morning cartoon superhero, the burly shielder spewed little more than a single droplet from his fingertip, falling down onto the grass of the lush field by the Dragonheart residence.

"Two-out-of-ten," Emilio stoically judged.

"Err, nice try..?" Celly awkwardly tried to reassure the man.

It was definitely a long, strenuous exercise trying to get the man who thought corn was a common currency in Yullim to understand the nuance and depth of magecraft.