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Healing magic was known to be one of the more…difficult forms of magic, and had been since the first magic user discovered their powers. Fire, earth, water…while those could be difficult, the living creatures of the world never had an easy time performing even the smallest acts of healing. You had to be acutely aware of the injury, and not use too much or too little energy to do so. It drained the user, nearly rivaling the injured subject as much as they had initially been before the magic was cast.
You learned this in numerous of your classes at Night Raven College, note even hardly bothering to take the notes on it. You couldn’t use even the simplest forms of magic, since being brought here a year ago. Many things have happened since then. Made friends, learned more about magic than you’d ever even considered before. Each student you encountered knew of your lack of magical abilities, but you never let it get in the way of your studies.
Magic had absolutely fascinated you, though you had never anticipated being able to use it. The first time you used healing magic, you were just as surprised as Grim was. He had slipped in the dorms, scraping his knee. At first, he wouldn’t let you near it. But after a firm scolding on how you just wanted to help, and a closer look…your hand glowed, a white light emanating from it. Within seconds it had fully healed.
You and Grim shared a wide eyed expression, before laughing and celebrating together. At the time, neither of you thought much would come of it. But the longer you spent around the other students, the more it became apparent you weren’t just some magicless student anymore, and many openly displayed pride and excitement for you at the new discovery. You could still remember the dormwardens reactions like it was yesterday.
Riddle:
It was approaching a celebration in Heartslabyul, and many students from other dorms were assisting as well…albeit reluctantly. Everyone knew Riddle was a tyrant of sorts, but he could be understanding and knew when to give respect when it was due. You were rushing around, helping set up with a smile on your face. The celebrations here were always fun once they began, tea and all kinds of delicious treats, most made by Trey of course.
A quick slip up and you’d scraped your finger while cutting off the thorns of the roses. You hadn’t noticed Riddle observing, but as he opened his mouth to scold you for your carelessness, you performed the quickest magic spell he’d seen. Not only was it quick and efficient, you didn’t even seem to notice you’d done it. Sure you nodded in acknowledgement, but a healing spell, even without an incantation? It was practically unheard of.
Riddle rushed forward, taking your hand in his as he held it up close to his face to observe where the former injury was. His eyes were wide, jaw slightly agape. The only sign of any injury was the slight dried blood around your finger. He cleared his throat, standing up and questioned you as if you’d done something wrong. With a twinge of respect coated by disbelief in his tone, he leaned closer and narrowed his eyes at you.
“How did you do that? Was it a trick of the light? How long have you been able to see magic?” As he went to continue, you waved your hands in front of yourself sheepishly.
“Uh…so a couple weeks ago I was able to heal Grim’s leg when he’d scraped it.” You let out a near nervous laugh at the intense questioning from the dormwarden. “I haven’t had much practice with it yet, this is only the third time I’ve done anything with healing magic.” Your eyes widened as Riddle’s did, confused by the incredulous stare he was giving you.
“YOU?! YOU managed to perform effortless healing magic after only a couple times?” He nearly screamed, baffled by how you could go from being completely unable to use magic at all to performing healing magic overnight. And you didn’t even seem to care much! “Why aren’t you proud? Do you even have any idea how many students here can’t perform healing spells AT ALL?!”
You shrunk in on yourself, and seemed to look almost embarrassed at his lecturing. He seemed to note this, and sighed as he looked at you with a hesitant glare. “Look…it’s a difficult magic to perform for even the strongest mages. It’s no small feat, okay? You need to hone it. It could be more useful than you could even dream of. Just…” He crossed his arms, huffing. “Be careful who you show it to. It could make you a target of some of the scoundrels of the school. I suggest talking to Crowley.”
With one final huff, he walked away, leaving you with far more questions than you ever got the chance to vocalize.
Leona:
The next time you used healing magic, it followed Leona’s overblot. It certainly wasn’t expected from anyone, and you nearly had to drag the injured Leona to the side of the arena. Everyone was worried, not only because of the danger surrounding an overblot, but because Leona had gotten injured in the fight. It was to be expected, there wasn’t a safe way to bring him back down to Earth. He growled, protesting any help.
You could tell he was inwardly beating himself up over the whole situation, and hated the attention of you, Jack, and Ruggie surrounding him. You swatted his hand away when he tried to pry your hand away from his injured abdomen. Ruggie in particular was trying to snap at him, but paused when you held up your hand to silence him.
“Hold on!” You commanded, “I need to focus.” A huff, and you closed your eyes, opening them as you felt the magic swelling through your body, channeling it to your hands as you held them above Leona’s injuries. Everyone seemed completely shocked, especially Leona. Within only a couple seconds, his wounds were closing up. A few moments after, his injuries were all completely healed, as if they’d never been there in the first place.
Silence surrounded you, but you didn’t pay it any mind. You clapped your hands together, sighing happily. “It’s okay now. I couldn’t just leave you there. You feel okay?” You stood, holding out a hand to him. Everyone was shocked when Leona even extended your hand to take yours as you helped him stand.
“Since when did you get the ability to use magic?” He said, a rumbling noise in his chest almost akin to a soft growl. With a raised eyebrow, he gazed at you skeptically. “And are YOU feeling okay after that?” There was a slight glimmer of concern in his tone, nearly completely hidden by caution and faux irritation.
“Huh?” You tilted your head at him. “Yeah? I’m fine. It’s no big deal.” You grinned at him, clearly just happy he wasn’t hurting anymore. He was a friend in your eyes, and even if the magic injured you, it wouldn’t matter in the slightest because you were able to help him.
He scoffed, “It is a big deal though. Not many people can use that much healing magic and even be conscious.” He let out a soft growl at you, before turning to the side and walking away, but not before looking back to make one final comment. “I’ll come to you if I’m injured again, if you think you can handle it.” He smirked over his shoulder, covering up any further emotions of vulnerability and going back to his carefree attitude.
And to you? That was enough.
Azul:
It had been a while since you’d used your healing magic, and the opportunity arose a few weeks later. You hadn’t really practiced it, without a good means of doing so. It annoyed you briefly, but the irritation was always settled quickly. If you could only use it when someone was injured, maybe it was for the best you didn’t get to practice it much.
That thought was running through your mind as you went to the cafe in Octavinelle. You had taken a seat, Jade bringing your order to your table. You exchanged basic formalities, not engaging in much conversation due to the busy day they were having. It was a weekend, so many students were showing up for their day off in hopes of a good drink and snack to celebrate.
Because of how busy it was, Floyd was complaining constantly. Jade was lecturing him between orders, but at one point he had bumped into Jade, a cup flying through the air and shattering at the feet of another student. Jade rushed over, taking a look at the ankle injury with concern. Floyd grumbled, saying he was going to get Azul to discuss the incident.
Seeing the cut and slowly swelling injury, you rushed over. Jade smiles at you with his eyes twitching in irritation at his brother’s mistake. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t appear to be detrimental. Should heal within a week or two.” He went to comfort the student, but you knelt and held the ankle in your hand.
Jade was about to stop you when your hands started glowing dully. You hadn’t noticed Azul standing behind you, observing with wide eyes. Jade looked equally as surprised as the injury healed before their very eyes. Azul’s jaw dropped at the sight, impatiently waiting until you finished to grab your arm and lift you until you were standing before him.
“W-when did you learn to do that?!” He practically yelled. “You did it so effortlessly, we need to talk. NOW!” He demanded, dragging you into his office. He nudged you into the seat and sat across from you.
“But seriously, that was…” He cleared his throat, trying to find an appropriate word for what he was feeling without stroking your ego. “Impressive.” He spoke. “Would you like to work for me? Your skills could be valuable to the business.” It was clear he had an ulterior motive, wanting to study your skills in a feeble attempt to be able to recreate the magic.
“O-Oh! I’m alright. Uh…I gotta go.” You rushed out the words, scrambling for the door. It felt odd to be the center of attention when you didn’t feel like what you did was all that special. And you’d be a fool not to know Azul was always yearning to make deals that may help the subjects of the contracts benefit temporarily, but really only aided him in the long run. It was definitely for the best you got out of there.
“Wait! Let’s make a deal!” He called, holding out his hand as you scurried out of the room. You heard him groan, disappointed he wouldn’t be able to use your magic to his own advantage.
You didn’t plan to come back for a while. He could be stubborn, and you definitely didn’t wanna be his makeshift test subject when it came to your magic. Maybe someday, but you wouldn’t if you could help it. The cafe would move on just fine without you there, and sighed as you went back to your dorm.
Maybe you’d show him your magic again, but hopefully not anytime soon.
Kalim:
Kalim…didn’t even really need you to show him your magic for him to believe it. After talking with him for a while in Scarabia, he clapped his hands and bounced excitedly. “I knew you had magic inside you somewhere! There’s no way you wouldn’t have been brought here without any!” He patted your shoulder, ushering you to sit beside him on the lavish and comfortable seats.
Jamil was glaring from the corner. He scolded Kalim, “You can’t just believe anything he tells you. You’re too trusting.” He scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest and sitting across from you as he glared at you. He leaned back in his seat and continued. “Just what all have you done with your magic.” He was clearly skeptical, but his eyes widened only slightly when you mentioned the few times you’d used it.
While you recounted them, Kalim leaned closer as he beamed at you, enthralled by your admissions. “Woah! That’s awesome! And super impressive!” He bounced in his seat, seeming like a small child excited to hear of their fantasy stories their parents would tell them before bed.
Kalim was still glaring, but you could see an almost overlooked glimmer of respect forming in his eyes. “Kalim, it’s more impressive than you seem to think. IF he’s being honest, he’s within the 1% of the population capable of honing and using healing magic. It’s extremely rare, and highly sought after in the magic world.” He leaned back in his chair, but allowed you to talk of the feelings of the healing magic. How you didn’t feel drained, or even fatigued in the slightest as you used it.
Kalim confidently proclaimed, “But I had five servants capable of using it!” He was clearly unaware of how rare it was, and it made Jamil grumble in annoyance.
“That’s because you’re privileged.” His following words were only just barely loud enough for you to hear and went over Kalim’s head. “Spoiled brat.” But it was quickly covered up by him waving his hand dismissively. “Regardless, I don’t think anyone from our dorm has that ability. It could be useful during training regiments. Would you mind displaying your skills if one of our students got injured?”
He seemed to be talking business, still not fully believing you, and instead wanted you to display that you were capable of using healing magic. Jamil seemed like he WANTED to believe you. His reluctance showed his skepticism, but he knew you well enough by now that he knew you could be an extremely honest person when the time came. When you nodded, he did the same.
“Alright. We have some stuff to prepare for the dorm meeting tonight. You’re welcome to help us set up.” He stood, Kalim whining, wanting to continue the conversation. But after a moment they both got to work and you headed back to your own dorm.
Besides, it was always far too warm for you in Scarabia.
Vil:
When you went to visit Pomfiore, you weren’t expecting to see Vil in an even more irritated looking state than usual. He looked annoyed more than anything, rubbing his neck as he worked out the knots that had been slowly getting worse. When he saw you though, he resumed his usual posh appearance.
Vil cleared his throat and addressed you. “Hello. What brings you to Pomfiore today?” He clasped his hands in front of him, still subtly trying to work out the knots in his neck. “I’m quite busy today, I don’t have time for any additional things you came to seek help for. Unless…you were intending on asking for fashion advice.” He lightly scoffed, “It is something you need to look into. You don’t style anything. I understand uniforms are mandatory, but you make no attempts at looking your best every day.”
You tilted your head, letting out a carefree laugh. “I just came to check up on you. Rook mentioned you’d been feeling worse for wear after your flight lessons.” Concern was laced in your voice, mixed with mild amusement as he tried to play off his obvious uncomfortability.
Vil’s eyes widened slightly as you expressed your care, before narrowing them and grumbling under his breath. “He needs to stop telling people my personal matters.” He crossed his arms over his chest and turned his nose up at you. “It’s nothing to concern yourself with. I can handle my wellness on my own.”
You scrunched your nose, “I just wanted to see how you’re doing. Let me look, please?” Overwhelmingly demanding undertones laced your voice, and you didn’t even wait for an answer. You approached him, moving to his side and glancing at where the sore muscles were. “No bruises…” You muttered, thinking briefly that your healing magic may not help if it wasn’t technically a formal injury.
Despite your wondering, you held out a hand. Vil nearly slapped your hand away when he saw the white glow flowing from your hand to his neck. You both stood in silence, as you focused on the areas where the sore muscles were. You wondered if it even worked, but Vil’s mouth was slightly open in shock as he massaged the area softly.
“How did you manage that?” His voice was quiet, his usual composure giving way to traces of awe as he spoke. After he realized he had dropped his usual demeanor, he cleared his throat once more and looked at you with narrowed eyes.
“I’ve been able to use healing magic for a while. I don’t think I’m super good at it or anything, but I wanted to try and help out.” You gave him a genuine smile and made a quick thumbs-up motion. It was hard to hide how sheepish you were feeling. You liked Vil as a person, but he could be overwhelming and intimidating, so you were worried he’d snap at you for even helping him without his consent.
He let out a deep breath, still looking reluctant to speak as he tried to find the right words to say. “I feel better. It seems you’re full of surprises, aren’t you?” Trying to act nonchalant, he looked at you with a small amount of respect in his expression. “I’m all healed.” He groaned softly, hating to say the words as he tried to be in control of the situation. “Epel seems to get injured often. He could use your help from time to time. You’re…welcome to visit whenever you’d like.”
You grinned, knowing this was his makeshift way of saying thank you. He seemed nearly nervous over your magic abilities, and you took it he hadn’t seen many people who could use healing magic in the slightest. It was refreshing to hear the subtle praise from him, whispering a soft, “you’re welcome,” as you left when he rushed to get back to his duties. Most of which were organizing the makeup closet, throwing out anything expired.
He could be intimidating, but he was still a good person. You’d be more than happy to help out any of your friends if they needed it, including Vil himself.
Idia:
It was always difficult to spend time with Idia, seeing as he hid in his room at any chance he got. You were slowly building a friendship with him. You learned that if you wanted to hang out with him, he doesn’t mind you chilling in his room as long as you don't talk to him. It was somewhat like body doubling, as you’d study on his bed while he worked or played games on his handheld gaming device.
Today was one of those days. He seemed intent on taking it apart and putting it back together with modded chips to do who knows what in the game he was playing. You never really understood the concept of modifying games into a different version, but he seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. You weren’t about to question it, and focused on the homework assignment you planned to finish today.
You heard him yelp before grumbling annoyances under his breath. It makes you distracted from your work as you let out a quiet, “hey…are you okay?” You sat up straighter on the bed, looking over at what he was doing. He was cradling his hand to his chest, and he snapped his head at you with a glare.
You stood from the bed, walking over to him as if approaching a startled animal. He was certainly glaring like one. “It’s okay, let me see.” You let out in a soft murmur as he clutched his hand even closer to his chest. It was clear he got injured, and you wanted to heal him if at all possible.
He huffed, trying to act like he wasn’t bothered as he extended his hand to let you see. It looked like he got shocked by the technology he was working on. “I was just being dumb. It’s not a big deal. Just forgot to unplug the power source first.”
You gave him a reassuring smile, cradling the back of his hand to get a better look at the injury. Without hesitation, your hand glowed as the injury disappeared right before his eyes. After it was completely healed, you looked up to him to see the most shocked expression you’d ever seen on his face. Eyes wide, jaw dropped, the whole deal.
“H-How did you do that?!” He asked, loud enough that it made you jolt. His hand shook as he held it closer to his face to look at where the injury was only a few moments ago. He turned it, bending his finger as if testing if it was just some trick, maybe even a slight of hand trick somehow.
You shrugged, “I still don’t really know how it works. It just kind of happens when I think about someone I care about being injured.” He didn’t seem to accept that answer in the slightest, and instead narrowed his eyes and leaned closer to you with extreme skepticism on his face.
“Yeah right...people you care about? You can’t just care about anybody. Why would you even bother with healing other people? Some students are rivals, you might even WANT them injured to get ahead of them.” He scoffed before leaning back, reclining in his desk chair as usual.
You shook your head, answering earnestly. “I wouldn’t want anyone injured. I never had magic before, and now it seems like healing magic is all I can do.” You let out a soft chuckle. “What’s the point of having healing magic at all if I don’t use it to help people? That’s what it’s all about.”
He looked surprised by your answer, before scoffing and waving his hand dismissively. “Yeah, whatever. You’re a real sappy…mage, you know?” He sniffed, not looking at you as he spoke.
Despite the rude tone, you smiled wide. You hadn’t even thought about it much, but some other students had called you a mage too. Before, you were just the new guy. The boring one, and even the powerless one. But things had changed now that you’re able to use magic…it made your heart swell to be called a mage by Idia. It showed he was more welcoming.
You weren’t an outcast anymore. And you’d keep using your healing magic, helping anyone you can with the powers you’d only recently discovered. Whatever happened, you’d get better. Stronger, and maybe one day you’ll be able to help all of the people you cared about. You didn’t want them injured at all, but knowing you could finally do something to help…
That was more than enough.
Malleus:
Malleus had called you to his dorm. It wasn’t often he reached out to anyone, even you so this was a surprise you weren’t prepared for. He shut himself away pretty often, and while you’d talked several times before, this was completely unexpected. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, you could just hope for the best and pray that there wasn’t something seriously wrong.
You showed up as he asked, and you sat across from him as he tilted his head at you quizzically. “So…I’ve heard you’ve been performing healing magic. That’s no small feat. Would you mind a demonstration?” He spoke matter of factly, but you could hear the teasing undertones in his words. It was clear he believed you were capable, but wanted to mess with you as much as he could.
His request had you tilting your head as well. “How do I demonstrate if no one is hurt?” You furrowed your brow, wondering what was going on in that head of his. “I’ve only done it a few times, but I don’t know how to show it if someone wasn’t injured.” You murmured quietly.
He gave a small smile, calculating your reactions to your own magical abilities. “Here, I’ll show you.” He reached out his hand, closing his eyes in concentration and emanating the same white glow you saw each time you used your magic. “Focus on the feeling, not the magic itself.” He huffed, taking a deep breath. “If you think about healing, it may trigger the response.” He opened his eyes, looking at you as the magic flowed and spun around his hand.
His instructions weren’t very clear, making it difficult to process. But you might as well give it a shot. You turned your palm up, following his example as you closed your eyes and tried to focus on the feeling. You could feel the magic surging through you, and opened your eyes to see a sphere in your palm. It was perfectly circular, even and completely solid. Surrounding it was wisps of white magic, making designs in the air as it swirled.
Looking up at Malleus, you could see a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead, before he dissipated his own magic with a quick motion of closing his fist. Despite his magic stopping, yours seemed to flow effortlessly. You looked between him and your own palm. Wondering if you’d done it right, you asked, “Uh…like this?” Before feeling another small surge of power as the sphere began spinning in your palm, almost with a mind of its own.
He looked impressed, a smile on his face as he nodded. “Exactly like that.” His smile turned into a smirk, respect coating his expression. “I’ve never seen healing magic as smooth and powerful as yours. Not in the entirety of my long existence.” He seemed to be proud, impressed by your display.
You tried to mimic his method of ceasing the flow of the magic, closing your palm around the sphere until the glowing stopped. “Is it really that strong?” You asked, noting his heavy breathing as he tried and failed to conceal his exhaustion. “Are you…okay?” You asked, concerned as he seemed to struggle to catch his breath for several moments.
“It is. Stronger than any I’ve seen. There have been mages who can create a physical form out of their magic, but it’s temperamental. The shape changes, swaying until the mage can’t maintain it anymore.” He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest as he finally managed to regain some semblance of composure.
“You don’t even appear to be fatigued, worn down or anything of the sort. It’s immeasurably impressive. You haven’t had the ability to use it for long at all, and somehow have surpassed what any mentor could teach you.” His pride seeped into his words, a small smirk on his face. “Keep using that method I showed you. It will slowly help you understand the process and show you how far you’ve come.” He stood, escorting you out.
Once you’d left, Lilia stepped out of the shadows with a chuckle. He turned to Malleus and spoke teasingly. “He’s better than you at that, and I’m certain of that.” He nudged Malleus’ shoulder. “You’re worn out entirely. You need to rest before you do much else. Can’t risk you passing out.” Another chuckle and he started to walk out. “Be more careful next time.” He waved to Malleus as he left. “He may end up being a stronger mage than you one day. Better watch out for that one.”
Despite the teasing and truth in Lilia’s words, Malleus smiled. In a way, he hoped it was the truth. You were a good friend in his eyes, and he couldn’t wait to see you change and grow, honing your abilities and becoming as strong as you possibly could be. One thing he was certain of…
You’ll become a force to be reckoned with one day.