What? Why am I Suddenly an Undead Hottie?

Tick. Whoosh..dadada. Tick. Whoosh…dadada

I looked at my hand as I repeatedly summoned and then extinguished orbs of dark energy on my palm.

Ever since we'd gotten out of the dungeon I'd been using my spare time to play around with elementary magic. With Rivi and Rufi by my side, practicing actual combat magic felt a little redundant, but I was still fascinated by the practice of magic, and, moreover, I really wanted to be able to do it on my own without the system's help.

Tick. Whoosh I frowned at the dark orb as I summoned it once again. I was starting to get a feel for the strange cold sensations that ran through me whenever I used dark magic, but I still couldn't figure out how to make my body do it without calling on the system for guidance.

It felt like magic was some kind of sixth sense that I'd never learned how to use, and even though the system technically gave me the ability to use it, I had absolutely no control over it. Even the pillow fight spell I'd learned from Rivi, was something that the system had given me after I'd spent a while both experiencing it, and trying to replicate it.

From that I realized that the system could probably help with spell creation too if I really wanted it too, but that wasn't what really mattered to me. If magic was a sixth sense I'd never used, or a forgotten muscle I'd never exercised, I wanted to learn how to use it. I wanted it to be my own in the same way my hearing or my ability to walk was my own, but it didn't seem like that was something that could be achieved in a short span of time.

dadada The orb dissipated on my palm, and I went to summon another one. I'd chosen dark magic to practice because it seemed simple enough and it had been the first magic I'd gotten when I was summoned to this world, so I figured I might have a bit of affinity or something for it.

This time, though, instead of using the system's guidance I tried to replicate the cold feeling I'd felt before, and the way that it had flowed through my body. But compared to the smooth and precise movements of the system, my methods were clumsy and unpracticed, and instead of flowing out into my palm like it was supposed to, dark energy leaked from my arms like slimy goo, dripping down onto the road we were walking on.

"Ugh," I sighed, wiping the sludgy energy off my arm.

"Still practicing?" Rivi came and peered over my shoulder.

"Y-yeah," I felt the tips of my ears go red as she got close to me. I really don't know what I was thinking earlier. I'm so glad she stopped me before we got too far, but even just thinking of the things I did do, was enough to make want to throw myself off a cliff in embarrassment.

Thankfully Rivi didn't seem to mind too much, and we'd been mostly walking along in amiable silence for the better part of the day.

"Do you want any help? I know it can be pretty challenging to waken your magic after years of never having used it. It's why most mages start their kids pretty young."

"Is there anything you can really help with?" I asked, somewhat disheartenedly. "I mean the system already kinda gives me the right answers with the pre-programmed spells. So all that's really left to do is practice, right?"

"Yeah," Rivi shrugged. "I suppose you're right, but some theoretical knowledge sometimes helps as well. So if you have any questions about what exactly you're doing, feel free to ask."

"Hmm," I put a finger to my chin, looking down at where I was walking while I thought about it. "Ok, well, when I use a spell with the system I feel a kind of strange sensation or energy coursing through me in particular patterns. I kinda assumed that that was mana flowing through some kind of special mana veins to create a particular effect, which we call spells, am I right?"

Rivi's eyes widened. "You figured all that out just from that?"

I shrugged, a little embarrassed.

"Yeah," She continued. "Those are your mana veins. Think about it like…" She paused, searching for the right words. "You have a soul, right? And that soul, despite being what makes you, you is completely intangible. So how does it interact with your body? That's what mana veins are for. They flow through your body connecting your spiritual soul to your physical body."

I blinked. "That…uh, sounds complicated."

Rivi laughed, "Not really, it's just some fancy terminology to talk about what you were already describing. You're right, though, mana flows through your veins, and the pattern and rhythm of the flow is what determines what spell is being cast. The first step of any spell is converting the unaffiliated mana from your soul into the element of your choosing, and then you circulate that mana in correspondence to the spell you want to cast.

"It seems like you already have that first step down, so the next is really just all about practice. Having dark energy slough off your arm like that means you both failed to keep the energy maintained until it reached your palm, and you messed up the rhythm of the pulse deforming what should be a destructive orb into more of an ineffective sludge.

"Hmm, Why don't you try focusing on just one of the two problems at a time, instead of worrying about both?"

"Mm," I nodded appreciatively. "That…actually sounds like a good idea, I'll try that." I started converting the mana in my core to start the spell again. "So you're saying I let the energy dissipate before it reaches the palm." I started the pulse again, this time focusing on the arm that had the leakage as I tried to imagine the energy flowing cleanly through into my palms.

"Ah!" I felt a searing pain in my other arm, and turned to realize the arm that didn't have any problems last time was now burning in dark flame. "Sh*t, sh*t!" I waved the arm, trying to get it to go out, only for Rivi to wave her hand over it, extinguishing it immediately.

"Looks like you focused a little too much on your other arm." Rivi giggled. "Are you sure you want to keep practicing with dark magic? It's kind of dangerous when it goes awry."

I looked at the half-burnt skin of my forearm with a scowl, then sighed. "You might be right…"