Chapter Twenty-Nine — The Water Within
Mavis's group stood waiting as the previous ten students finished their defensive demonstrations. Apparently, defense magic took longer—students had to cast a shield or barrier, and then the instructor tested it.
Which meant attacked it.
Mavis watched in horror as one boy proudly summoned a stone wall the height of his chest—only for the instructor to walk up and punch a hole clean through it with a glowing fist.
The wall crumbled like stale bread.
"That's… unnecessary," Mavis whispered.
Alya nodded grimly. "Fides instructors do that. They're big on 'practical stress-testing.' And intimidation."
Mavis made a face. "Intimidation is working."
The next student cast a weak earth dome—shattered instantly by a low-level fire spell.
The boy shrieked. The crowd winced. The instructors scribbled notes, unimpressed.
Everyone—literally everyone—chose stone walls. Sometimes thicker, sometimes taller, but always stone.
Even Alya.
Mavis frowned. Why stone? It takes forever to cast and only protects one direction.
She was about to mutter to Alya about how she didn't even know earth magic anyway when—
"Mavis Van Buqeat!"
The instructor's voice snapped her thoughts in half.
Her stomach lurched.
She stepped forward, feeling the weight of the crowd's eyes. Jerry tightened around her neck.
The instructor raised a brow. "You can go now."
She didn't move.
Inside, she was spiraling.
Outside, she looked uninterested, maybe bored—expression flat, posture straight.
The instructor frowned. "…You can start now."
Still nothing.
Mavis's panic spiked. Mana jittered in her chest like a frightened animal. Her heartbeat climbed into her throat.
Do something. Anything.
Mana pulled.
Then it pushed.
Then it surged—violently.
Her body glowed.
A soft light at first—then brighter, pulsing under her skin like her veins were channels for liquid moonlight.
Gasps erupted in the crowd.
"She's gathering a lot of mana—"
"That's so much—how is she—?"
"Is she casting a high-tier spell? At her age?"
"She's glowing—literally glowing—"
Alya bit her knuckle, tail frozen behind her.
Mavis didn't hear any of it.
Her mana convulsed. Rushed upward. Swirled downward. Collected in her core then exploded outward—
Her knees buckled.
Her fingers shook.
Her chest tightened. She felt like she would burst, like her entire body was expanding around a tide too large to contain.
Then she exploded.
Not physically—but magically.
A soundless pop rippled through the air.
Water exploded from her body in a perfect ring, forming a circular barrier around her—suspended, still, swirling like a miniature whirlpool.
Clear.
Cold.
Alive.
The crowd whispered.
"Is that—"
"A water barrier? How? That's advanced—"
"It's stable—look at it—"
"No, it isn't—she looks like she's drowning—"
Mavis blinked.
Water dripped down her lashes.
Her vision—blurred. Distorted. Blue.
She wiped her eyes.
No. She wasn't crying.
That was water.
Actual water.
Everywhere.
On her left—water.
On her right—water.
Behind her—water.
Above—water.
She was encased.
Her hands shot forward, trying to part it, but the water stayed. Thick. Heavy. Unyielding.
Panic clamped around her lungs.
What if she drowned?
She tried to dispel the magic—nothing happened.
She tried again.
Still nothing.
She was trapped.
Her throat tightened as she instinctively held her breath.
Seconds passed.
Her chest burned.
Breathe.
She needed to breathe.
But it was water.
No—no—she couldn't—
Her body took over.
She gasped.
Water flooded her lungs.
She flinched—waiting for the burn.
For the suffocation.
For the terror.
But—
It didn't come.
The water tasted cold. Clean. Sharp. Like melted snow.
She breathed out.
More bubbles.
She inhaled again.
Her lungs filled.
Her heart slowed.
Her panic dissolved.
Her body relaxed.
She… could breathe.
She inhaled deeper this time, letting the water flow through her, warming her ribs from the inside.
Her pulse steadied.
Her limbs loosened.
Her vision sharpened, as if the distortion of the water grew clearer, more familiar.
The barrier was no longer a trap.
It felt like… home.
Voices outside were muffled—distant echoes distorted by the water. But she heard nothing but the slow, steady beat of her heart and the hum of the magic swirling around her.
Jerry's voice echoed faintly through their bond:
"You idiot… "
Mavis didn't know how this was possible.
All she knew was—
She was breathing underwater.
Naturally.
Effortlessly.
Like she had always been meant to.
And somewhere—just beyond the barrier—she heard gasps, shouts, instructors scrambling, Alya shrieking, students whispering in awe or fear.
But inside the ring, surrounded by shimmering blue water, lungs steady and heartbeat calm—
Mavis felt something she had never felt before:
A sense of belonging.
A sense of truth.
As if the water recognized her.
And she, instinctively, recognized it back.