"So why exactly are we here?"
Agne asked as he, Emilia, and Place walked into a small clearing in the forest.
The other three had been driven away by Emilia, who claimed that she and Agne needed to catch up with Place.
Which was true, it had been a few months since they had seen each other, but he had the feeling that that wasn't the main reason.
"He gained mana." Emilia explained.
Agne wasn't sure what expression was on his face, but it wasn't a calm one.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"
"You heard me clearly the first time. Somehow, he gained mana."
Agne looked over at Place, who nodded with a smile on his face.
"Congratulations?"
"Thank you."
"I..." Agne shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure how to react."
"Don't worry about it." Place grinned as he gestured to Emilia.
"Emils offered to help me in getting used to it."
"Get used to it? How long have you had mana?"
"This morning."
"How?
"Don't worry about it."
...
"Alright, what have you done with it?"
Emilia broke the silence.
"I just moved it around a bit, I haven't attempted any alteration, I haven't even used it to activate any items."
"Well then," Emilia gestured around. "Time to try."
Place hummed and nodded in response.
He lifted his arm and pointed a finger to the sky.
"I must admit," He stared at his outstretched index finger, held in front of his face. "I find myself... nervous, and afraid."
"That is natural," Agne assured him. "You are exploring new territory for you, and something you have never had before."
"Get it over with, you know delaying it will do you no good."
Emilia was much more straightforward with her words.
Place took in a deep breath.
"Right."
He concentrated on the small, wispy, form of mana inside of him, and pulled it through his abdomen and into his arm and out the tip of his finger.
"There you go."
Emilia grunted with approval as a thin, vapoury, black substance emerged.
"On to the next step."
"Come on, you can do it."
Agne was all but dancing with excitement as he cheered Place on.
"The next step." Place muttered as he recalled the information he had read about and heard from his siblings' tutors.
'Imagination, and will.'
The black mana condensed above his finger tip, and a moment later, a small flame was floating above it.
"I did it." He murmured softly.
"You did." Agne agreed, while Emilia just watched silently.
"I did it." Something built up in his chest, and he let out a shuddering breath.
"After all these years..." The flame disappeared as his eyes began to water.
"I have magic." A tear ran down his cheek.
"I have magic."
Since his birth, he had been looked down upon as inferior, as a stain upon his family's image. Servants, guests, friends, even just walking down a street where he was known got him looks of pity.
All because of something he had no control over.
Almost two decades of distance, pity, and anger at something he couldn't change.
Another tear fell down his cheek as he stared at his finger.
A profound sense of relief washed over him.
A few moments passed as a few more tears flowed down his face.
He clenched his fist and brought it to his face as he let out a shuddering breath.
He wiped away his tears and looked up.
The two with him had maintained silence as he had been overcome with emotion, knowing that he was going through a major change in his life.
"Thank you." He gave them a slight bow. These two had been the only two who hadn't taken pity on him because of his lack of mana.
"No need for all that. We're friends, aren't we?" Agne had a wide grin on his face as he strode forward and put a hand on his shoulder.
"What he said." Emilia leaned with her back against a tree.
"Anyway, you back in control?"
"I am."
"Shall we get on with it then?" Emilia pushed herself off the tree and walked forward.
"Reinforcement." Place said aloud.
"Yes."
"Let's get started."
***
Half an hour later, the three of them walked out of the forest and onto one of the academy's paved paths.
Place was clutching his arm as he walked, and Agne was lecturing Emilia as the two of them followed behind him.
"I know that experience is the best teacher, but you have to go easy on the first time for anything!"
"I didn't hit that hard!"
"Really now? Then tell me, how exactly did you break his arm?"
"It's not my fault his reinforcement faltered!"
"Are you even listening to what I'm saying?"
Place tuned their argument out, he was thinking about something different, something that even a broken arm couldn't distract him from.
'I can use magic!'
The pain was there, but that pain from magic practice, so for Place, it was a welcome pain.
That was the reason he was walking with a grin with a broken arm.
He doubted he would have minded even if all four of his limbs were broken.
He was truly, just that happy.