"[Shadow Territory]"
A black sphere manifested in front of Lloyd, starting to grow larger. That technique called [Shadow Territory] wasn't simply creating darkness, it was something much more terrifying.
Light disappeared, but also temperature decreased, and sound stopped transmitting.
That territory was designed to block the sense of sight and hearing, besides cooling its interior enormously.
It was a technique that used antithesis to reverse certain properties of the environment, such as the transmission of light, heat and sound.
One might think it was more useful to directly deny the sense, for example sight-blindness.
However, that wouldn't work against swordsmen, or warriors in general. They developed something called Touki, an invisible protection that allowed them to stop or defend themselves from any phenomenon to a certain extent.
Directly affecting a person's body wasn't that useful in these cases.
There were many ways to block it, since mages could also use a pseudo-touki, where they used their magical power to prevent the enemy's from entering their body.
It was better to create external phenomena.
"I see you control it well, keep it up, the greater your familiarity with magic, the easier it will be to learn," the professor commented, patting Lloyd on the shoulder.
"I'm aware of that," the boy replied seriously, canceling his spell.
About a month had passed since Magnus had arrived at the mansion.
In that time, Lloyd's control over his ability had improved considerably, though he was still stuck with spells.
"How's Calypso doing?" the boy asked.
She'd managed to visualize her magical power recently, though she was still learning to control it.
Joan had also tried to visualize his magical power, however Magnus told him to abandon the idea of using magic, his magical power was too small.
The instructor recommended he go another path; he should exercise.
Touki activates naturally when someone breaks their physical limits, and for that, one must train hard.
"It's complicated, her magical power is very unstable, in fact it's very likely she's suffered an overflow before," the professor replied.
Lloyd crossed his arms. Calypso seemed reluctant to the idea of learning magic at first.
Though she ended up obeying.
But now, the blond was getting an idea of why she didn't like magic.
A magical power overflow occurs when an individual's magic is released due to the accumulation of strong emotions.
It's like a pressure bomb, that ends up exploding.
"I understand, maybe it'll be complicated then," the boy commented.
Though it only happens when someone has a lot of magical power, that's why it's less common to see.
"Truth is, I think you should talk to her. I've noticed, but it seems she represses herself, as if she's afraid of something," the professor commented.
"You think so? Well, I'll try to see what I can do."
The young man approached the girl, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She was with her hand extended, and eyes closed, her brow furrowed with effort.
"Hey. How's it going?"
"Huh?" She startled, coming out of her state of concentration.
Her eyes settled on his shoulder, doing so, she moved away, as if she didn't like him touching her.
It wasn't the first time, for some reason she'd started distancing herself from him lately, though Lloyd hadn't given it much importance.
"What do you need master?" she said, with her usual expressionless tone.
The boy sighed.
"Calypso. Is there any reason you're afraid to do magic?"
He'd deduced it, or at least had an idea of what was happening.
Normally Calypso didn't refuse any request he made, it was strange she'd resisted participating in classes.
Her attitude had also become weird, but when Magnus mentioned the overflow, Lloyd concluded something had probably happened.
If in the past Calypso had had an overflow, it was very likely she felt fear that phenomenon would repeat.
"I... I don't know," she said.
Even she didn't know, since he'd talked to her about it, Calypso felt she shouldn't.
Her instinct alerted her, she felt unease, but didn't know the reason.
"I see, that's fine, I'll grant you the honor of helping you," the boy affirmed, crossing his arms with a firm gaze. "First, breathe deeply, and forget everything around you."
Calypso obeyed, breathing deeply. Lloyd didn't continue until he was sure she was concentrated.
"Now, feel the energy and direct it toward your fingertips," he ordered.
The boy observed Calypso, she'd already followed those steps before, however, Lloyd needed to observe.
And he saw it, how her body trembled slightly and shrank.
"Don't be afraid Calypso, let the energy out," he continued, this time with a softer tone.
The girl calmed down, it seemed to be working; however, her body became paralyzed.
"Calypso?" the boy approached the young woman, putting his hand on her shoulder.
However, upon feeling his touch, she moved away, looking at Lloyd with fear.
"D-don't come closer..." she said with a trembling voice. "Don't come near me!" she shouted, then ran out of the room, leaving Lloyd confused.
What had happened to her?