Vylt: The New Dawn

Chapter 22: A Glimpse of the Past

"Did you bring what I requested?" my teacher asked as Alex, Sylvia and I arrived at the dimly lit table she was standing by.

"Excuse me." The vampire said, reaching under Sylvia's wheelchair to retrieve the cylinder we hid in there. "Hope it's sufficient. It wasn't easy to smuggle that one out."

"Yes, this should be plenty," Belaury eagerly received and examined the hard plastic container. She then twisted the lid open, staring at the contents briefly before pulling one of the tiny crystals out and popping it in her mouth. A smile drew on her face as she put the lid back in place. "Yes, this is the good stuff. I can't remember the last time I used sea salt to season our meals. Or any type of salt, for that matter. I like the jar's material. Durable."

It was already my fourth day as her apprentice. We had brought some snacks to enjoy while she gave her lesson the previous night, and when she tasted them, she made it very clear how much she missed the condiment. When Alex offered to get her some, she was delighted.

"Does that mean I get to be more than a listener now?" he asked, hopeful.

Belaury placed the container on the table and lit up an oil lamp. She then turned to look at him with a toothy grin. "No, but I appreciate the effort, Ruby Eyes."

Alex frowned and crossed his arms in response.

I gave my teacher a pleading look, to which she rolled her eyes. "Fine. You'll get some attention for one class, but not tonight. And only once Nora doesn't require it. Deal?"

"Fair enough," he replied, shrugging. "Why the mud buckets?"

"I said not tonight, leech! Tonight you're still a listener."

He snorted, but otherwise stayed quiet.

I smirked at him and parroted the question.

She chuckled and took a seat. "Well, it has to do with what we discussed at the end of yesterday's class. You asked me why water magic can't manipulate liquids in general. Do you remember the answer?"

That was, in fact, another question Alex made. He was interested in the possibility of using water magic to 'manipulate the blood of his enemies'. Just like today, however, she refused to respond to him; only giving us an answer when I asked for him. She seemed to enjoy teasing the poor guy.

I nodded. "You said it was the same reason we can't drink oil and expect it to quench our thirst. It has to do with its composition."

"Good," she said, smiling. "Now, here's where it gets interesting. Water normally has other stuff in it. Minerals, for example. What do you think happens to those when we manipulate it?"

I thought for a moment. "If we can only move water, does that mean those are left behind?"

"To answer that, I had Vik bring these."

She stood up and dragged the three wooden buckets from under the table for us to see. Taking a closer look at them, they all had muddy water, but its concentration was different from each other.

"Here's your practical task for today," Belaury said, standing next to the buckets. "You're going to close your eyes and draw the same amount of water from each bucket. You'll go from left to right. Each time you do, you're going to open your eyes, look at what you gathered and drop it before you go to the next one. Understood?"

"Yes!"

She took a seat and crossed her arms. "You may start."

I walked to the first bucket and looked at it. It was mostly brown water. Kneeling, I closed my eyes and stretched my arm so my hand hovered over the liquid. I let the mana flow and began pulling the water out until I felt a sphere the size of an egg floating over my open palm. I opened my eyes and stared at it. To my surprise, the ball wasn't crystalline. The dirt had been dragged along with it.