“Also, generally speaking, only nobles can use magic, but my blood runs through you, Yuffie, so you might be able to use it.”
She knew her mother was originally a noble from somewhere and had eloped with her father, a commoner, before settling in this village. She couldn’t take in anything her mother was saying as the woman squirmed and recounted their lovey-dovey, romantic history.
What she should have done was focus on the anomaly of why a girl like her could use attack magic. But she didn’t think about that. For Yuffie, her number one goal was to become a Saint. She had worked hard for seven years, yet it had all been in vain.
Her mind went blank as the truth hit her.
“Stop right there, young lady. Where do you think you’re going? It’s almost time for dinner.”
She no longer heard her mother’s words. Yuffie stumbled out of the house and headed for the forest when she cut the pad of her index finger on a sharp rock nearby.
“Owww…”
Although she grimaced in pain, she had already decided what to do. She slowly placed her other palm on the bright red, bleeding wound and visualized it healing. She had been able to perform spells such as fire and water on the first try. A faint hope existed that she could perform healing magic too, but…
“Huh… No…”
Nothing happened. Only the silence of the forest filled the air. If she had to say, her palm was glowing faintly. Except the light was nothing like the sparkle that occurred when she cast an attack spell.
So, Yuffie prayed for a while. She focused on the image of healing so much that her head started to tingle. Unfortunately, the wound didn’t close. She tried and tried until it was completely dark, but in the end, the cut didn’t heal.
“Maybe I just haven’t practiced enough.”
Starting the next day, Yuffie cloistered herself in the mountains again, where she would cut her finger and try to cast healing magic on it. Over and over again. A year of trial and error followed.
“I can’t…do this anymore…” She sprawled out on the forest floor. Sweat covered her forehead. “It’s impossible for me, huh…”
She thought back on her achievements over the past year. While a wound would normally take several days to heal, for her, it only took an hour. So she could use healing magic to some extent. But the Saint regenerated an arm in just a few seconds.
Recovery magic also consumed an abnormal amount of mana. She could cast attack magic several times in a row, but using healing magic once took a huge amount of her power—it was incredibly inefficient.
“I guess…I don’t have the talent for it,” Yuffie muttered, shoulders slumped in defeat. Right now, she was far from being a user of healing magic. The figure of the Saint she had admired was nowhere to be seen.
One day, when she’d stopped caring about being able to use offensive magic.
“Ouch.”
“Are you okay, Mom?”
She cast healing magic on her mother, who had cut her finger with a knife. As usual, it took about an hour.
“I’m sorry it took so long to heal…”
Next to a dejected Yuffie, her mother stared blankly at her completely healed fingertip. Then, her eyes suddenly widened, and she exclaimed, “Yuffie, you can use healing magic!”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I can… Sort of…” When Yuffie nodded, her mother’s smile grew—a smile she had never seen before.
“Darling! Yuffie can use healing magic!” she called out excitedly.
“What?!” Her father rushed over to them. He then cut his own palm with the knife and demanded a demonstration. “Now, try using it on me.”
The pressure made her feel nervous, but just like she’d done with her mother, Yuffie spent an hour healing the wound on her father’s hand.
“That’s amazing, Yuffie!” he exclaimed excitedly.
“Isn’t it, dear?! It takes her a little bit of time, but it’s still healing magic!”
Her mother practically danced with joy.
“Um… Um… Ummm…?” Yuffie was more confused than happy by how well they were taking this.
“Hey, honey, how about we enroll Yuffie in the Academy of Magic?”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea.”
“What’s that…?” Yuffie asked, puzzled.
“It’s a school in the royal capital specializing in magic,” her mother explained. “A lot of students from all over the Kingdom go there to study healing magic, just like you.”
“A lot…”
Yuffie didn’t like change. That was a fundamental part of her personality. If something was delicious, she wanted to eat it every day; she went to bed at the same time every night. But she was intrigued by what her mother said about the Academy of Magic.
If I go there, I can learn healing magic…
Maybe she could understand why she’d hit a wall in her magical training. Perhaps she’d be able to use even more powerful healing magic than now. And then, she would possibly have a chance of becoming the Saint…
I might even be able to make friends…!
Yuffie’s eyes lit up, and she quickly decided to enroll in the Academy.
Things moved quickly from there. Later, someone claiming to be an employee of the Academy of Magic came to their house and watched her demonstrate magic. The qualifications for enrollment were the ability to use healing magic above a certain level and the will to master it.
As usual, it took an hour to heal a small wound, but Yuffie’s application was approved on the spot, and she received an invitation to the Academy. Needless to say, her parents were ecstatic.
“Maybe she really can become the Saint, honey!”
“No ‘maybe’ about it, darling! After all, she’s our Yuffie!”
Both her mother and father doted on her.
Long story short, this was how Yuffie received admission to the Academy of Magic.
In the end, though, Yuffie never told her parents that she could use offensive magic—she just couldn’t find the right opportunity. That said, she never saw any value in attack magic in the first place, so she didn’t think it was worth mentioning.
Yuffie had enrolled in the Academy without realizing how rare and abnormal it was in this world for a girl to be able to use offensive magic.
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