281: Learned The First Spell

Learned The First Spell

Understanding Rosetta's intentions, Oriana was shocked. She had only barely completed the form of the defense shield, much less stabilized it, but this witch planned to attack her as is?!  0

This teacher sure won't miss the chance to torment her student!

Oriana braced to protect herself from the attack. Knowing Rosetta, the woman would not go easy on her. Her intuition was warning her that to test her shield, the incoming spell would be more painful than Rosetta's 'tiny' punishment from earlier.

Smash!

Crash!

It was akin to being hit by a sledgehammer. The attack was so heavy, it sent Oriana sprawled on the ground and the shield she made shattered like fragile glass, disappearing at the moment of contact. However, the attack also dissipated into the air, as if its force was calculated to match the exact strength of the shield. 

It made Oriana realize how strong the control of her teacher was, and she was truly nothing in front of her.

Rosetta scowled at her.

"I didn't even use a basic spell and only sent my energy out, but your shield could not withstand it. Other beginners' shields should have at least been able to bear at least three attacks, but yours is gone in just the first one."

"I apolo—" 

"Do you plan to bring shame to me as your teacher? This is how you will repay me? Do you plan on making me think over whether I shall continue teaching you? You are so stupid, you are not even comparable to a young warlock? Don't you know that for our kind, males are born with weaker magic? Yet you are even worse than warlocks? Are you not useless? 

"Good-for-nothing trash!"

Oriana stood up from the ground with her head lowered. It was frustrating, but she had no excuse to say. She had read from the book that witches would start their apprenticeship before they reach a decade old, some even starting as early as five. 

Was the minimum standard to withstand up to three attacks? If even young witches could manifest shields stronger than her on their first try, was she truly untalented? 

Getting over from the shock her body felt from the attack, Oriana let out a shaky breath.

'It is fine. I only need to advance at my own pace and learn from my mistakes.'

Oriana understood Rosetta wouldn't stop only at one attack. Rosetta would probably torment her and play with her for fun. She briefly closed her eyes to calm the agitated energy inside her. 

"Please let me try again, Teacher," she said with a determined gaze.

Without saying a word, Rosetta deliberately raised her hand once more to attack and Oriana was quick to form her second shield. 

Smash!

Crash!

Once again, Oriana's shield was broken and she was thrown back in a sorry state. This was repeated, twice, thrice…

Her groans of pain and the fluctuations of magic did not leak out of that isolation barrier Rosetta casted over the meadow. Rosetta continued to attack her, only stopping after exhausting Oriana. 

The young witch was kneeling on the ground, breathless and covered in sweat. 

Rosetta chuckled. "You intend to protect yourself by learning magic, but you can't even protect yourself from a casual flick of my finger?

For the last half an hour, Rosetta did not even send out a magic attack. She merely reinforced her finger with magic, yet the result was still as disastrous, causing Oriana's confidence to plummet. 

Oriana had been mocked by her teacher for so long, her ears had grown callouses. Instead of listening to her taunts, she instead focused on gathering the last of her strength.

"...if you have to protect someone important to you, with the useless witch by their side, they are better off dead instead of trusting you."

Oriana heard those last words and her patience snapped. She would never let those people be harmed. 

She stood up with a glare. "Let's try again."

Though her shields would always break after a single attack, Oriana would always adjust and polish her shield, creating a stronger shield with each of her try. 

Learning from her mistakes, improving with each attempt. 

It was a brutal but effective way to learn.

"Are you challenging me, Oriana?" Rosetta asked with a smirk. 

"Yes, I am. Let's try."

"I won't hold back then."

Oriana chanted the spell and another black shield was formed in front of her, looking no different from her earlier shields. When Rosetta attacked this time, she did not send a casual flick nor that formless energy projectile.

Crackle!

It was as if black lightning surrounded her fingers. It was the same spell she 'punished' Oriana with earlier, but visibly stronger. 

There was a change in Oriana's eyes, her hazel eyes turning darker as more magic was poured into the shield. 

Zap!

This time, Rosetta's attack could not break Oriana's shield but could only manage to shake her. It forced her to take a few steps back, but the shield was intact. 

The smirk on Rosetta's lips widened and Oriana could not understand if she was mocking her or there was something else behind that smirk. 

The black-haired witch continued with her second attack and the shield Oriana created didn't break. Instead, Oriana continued to pour more power to the shield, strengthening it to the greatest extent.

Rosetta stopped. As she observed the shield for a moment, she gave a satisfactory nod. It shocked Oriana to think what that was. Was that an acknowledgement?

"Let's try for the last time. If your shield can withstand this attack, then today's lesson is completed."

Black lightning once more crackled around Rosetta's fingers. This time, she slowly recited the chant of the spell, as if to give Oriana ample time to prepare herself.

Zap!

There was a strange collision of powers this time. There was no explosion, but the entire meadow inside that isolation barrier shook as if there was an earthquake. 

However, the two witches remained unfazed in their places, as if they were not affected by it. 

Rosetta walked towards Oriana and appreciatively looked at her and her intact shield. 

"You have learned to form a basic shield. If you master it, a perfect basic shield should be able to withstand more than five attacks of that level."

It was the closest thing to a praise that she received from Rosetta.

Oriana cracked a smile. She could finally relax and then made her shield disappear. She realized she could form a shield without even chanting a spell now. It materialized with but a thought.

She didn't realize when exactly she had stopped chanting spells, maybe during those fast attacks from her teacher where she didn't have time to chant a spell. She could only respond out of instinct to protect herself. 

'She, she did it to make me learn it faster. She was deliberately tormenting me to push me beyond my limit, stirring my emotions and making me desperate to cast that shield.'

Oriana had complicated thoughts about her teacher's brutal but impressive manner of instruction. It was similar to teaching a child to swim by throwing him directly to a river. Either you learn or you drown.

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