Chapter 18: Chill

The next training day after her adventure with the giant Hiln, Melia was surprised to see Reddel reading a newspaper while waiting for her.

"Oh dear, is it that time already?" He looked up from the perfectly smooth pages; the front-page headline read "MELIA DEFEATS TWIXL". "Sorry, but there's quite the interesting article in there about your exploits the other day."

"I see." Melia hadn't bothered to find out how the public saw the incident. She expected it to be just like the Bunnit extermination: a short boost of popularity that would fade away quickly enough.

"Some of these quotes are very telling," he continued. "The people are pretty impressed that you decided to jump into a situation way out of your league, yet managed to hold your own before help arrived."

Melia didn't react; for once the media got it right.

"And that leads into today." Reddel folded up the newspaper into a tiny parcel before stashing it into his vest. "At the request of Prince Kallian, it's time for a formal introduction to chain attacks."

Oh yes, Brother did say he was going to do something about that.

"The Chain Attack is one of the most powerful techniques that can be taught. Concurrently, it is one of the most difficult to master, as its proper execution relies very heavily on the degree of teamwork that can be mustered. Indeed, attempting to use a chain attack with a team of uncoordinated fighters often results in no more effectiveness than simply acting independently. In order to initiate a chain attack, all of its participants must be engaged and motivated in the battle, with enough focus and gusto and team spirit to feel like anything is possible. This is an extremely difficult mental state to practice, especially alone, and to our knowledge outright impossible to artificially synthesise. So for today we shall have to make do with theory, and not practice."

Melia nodded. She was okay with this; she didn't like the high-pressure situation of being a link in a battle chain, and to be perfectly honest, she figured the chances of a similar situation ever recurring were next to zero.

Reddel began iterating over the important aspects of chain attack theory. It was quite long-winded, but none of it was superfluous: the necessity of immediate action, the optimality of three users, the effects of the chain field on the seven different categories of arts. Most of it was common sense, or something she had read about in the past few years, but there was the occasional surprising factoid. Most notably, her Spear Break would probably function as a damage art in a chain instead of a break art, only switching to its intended type once properly executed.

"There remains one last thing to mention, and it involves the very reason we are here today. When properly executed, one's talent art - the signature move that defines one's character - acts as a sort of wildcard, a link between any other two categories of arts. Normally, having a talent art ready for a chain attack must be crafted and prepared well in advance for this purpose. But in your case, where your talent art happens to be your primary ability, you can link your partners' arts together with little effort. It is an incredibly versatile ability that is unheard of to my knowledge, so I expect you to exploit it to its full potential."

Melia continued nodding, mostly paying attention but also zoning out somewhat. She learned much better when reading as opposed to when listening.

"That's all that we can do on chain attacks for now. If the opportunity ever arises in a future mock battle, you should jump at the chance to practise it. However, it will not be possible to force the situation; it must arise organically." A pause. "Now, with an additional reason to push past that roadblock, how about practicing that Spear Break."

The nodding stopped, replaced by a straight face. Uggggh.

Melia was sauntering back to her chambers, rather exhausted from the day's work.

Starting two weeks ago, she had finally been assigned imperial duties. Specifically, she would stand alongside her father as he conducted business on Mondays and Fridays, offering opinions and advice when necessary, instead of Kallian doing so on most days. It started out as a nice change of pace but almost immediately became tiresome, having to listen to dozens of issues a day that held no interest to her, yet required her full attention in case she was asked something about it. She supposed it was only fair that she help reduce Kallian's workload now that they were both equally trained in imperial matters, but it meant she had to wake up earlier and wear her headdress the entire day, an unpleasant combination.

Opening the door to her chambers, she immediately spotted something unusual: a letter was sitting on the floor, having been inserted through the mail slot earlier in the day.

Melia was intrigued. Aside from the yearly care packages from her fanclub, which she went to pick up from the palace mailroom herself, she had never received mail from the outside world before.

Once she had replaced her headdress on the shelf, she returned to her desk to fetch a letter opener and extract the paper from the envelope. Stamped on the header was the logo of Ike's, the fast food chain.

Salutations, Your Highness Princess Melia:

We are sending this letter to extend a request to you. Should you be displeased with receiving this unsolicited message, we apologise, and will not attempt to include you in any future endeavours.

As you may be aware, a few years prior, we enlisted the aid of His Highness Prince Kallian in a seasonal television advertisement campaign, which was quite well-received. This year, we are looking to build on this success via the juxtaposition of the previous advertisement with a new one that initially looks the same, but diverges midway through. It is with this goal in mind that we humbly ask if you would be so kind as to participate.

Should you wish to pursue this opportunity to further improve your public image, please reply to this letter as soon as possible so we can establish a meeting to discuss things in full. We await your prompt response.

Respectfully,

Werle Sodernaught, Marketing Manager

Melia didn't know what to think. From what she could tell, the letter basically boiled down to "please be in our commercial", and being on television outside news broadcasts was something she'd never even imagined. The only form of media she ever paid attention to was books; she didn't care about television, and could probably count the number of films she had ever shown interest in on one hand.

Kallian, on the other hand, was very much in the public eye media-wise; he'd been a guest celebrity on several reality shows, and had lent his voice to at least three animated children's productions. She was aware he had appeared in advertisements, but not this particular one, and had never seen any of them anyway.

What am I going to do with this request? She read the letter over again. The desired end result does seem amusing, but...given that I must wear my headdress in public, am I at all suitable to be an actress? If the original advertisement was popular, won't replacing Brother with me make it less popular by definition?

Perhaps I should seek Brother's opinion. Melia replaced the letter into the envelope and started trying to think of where Kallian could be; usually it was him seeking her out for some reason or other, not the other way around. Luckily, she knew his personal ether signature extremely well, allowing her to mentally probe likely rooms in the palace until she could sense it in his chambers. It was a process that took a few minutes, but it was still faster than aimlessly wandering around the halls.

Now with a target, she started moving along at a brisk walk. The royal family's chambers were all highly separated from each other to minimise the chances of a single catastrophe affecting more than one of them, though this of course meant that it was a pain to get from one to another.

As usual, the door was open when she arrived; Kallian only closed it during the night, and otherwise allowed anyone free entry at any time. She peeked inside to see that Kallian was sitting at his desk, mulling over a chessboard.

Looks like he's busy, I'll come back-

"Ah, Melia." He didn't need to look up or turn around to sense who was there. "You may enter, I'll be just a moment."

Melia did as she was told, carefully stepping inside the room and nervously sitting in the guest chair. She didn't come to Kallian's room much. Part of it was because of the way it had the same underlying structure as her room, but with different contents and colours, causing an uncomfortable "familiar yet unfamiliar" sensation; another reason was simply that she rarely had any reason to.

She could see what Kallian was doing now - he had set up a position from the chess column in the newspaper, and was trying to solve the puzzle. Melia knew the basics of chess, but had no real interest in a game of such massive complexity that took hours to play.

After about a minute, Kallian muttered something to himself and moved one of the light-coloured ministers to the edge of the board. From there he started a sequence of moves that culminated in a champion attacking both dark consorts at once. This seemed to solve the problem, as he proceeded to flip to the next page of the paper, check something, and nod in satisfaction.

He then turned to Melia. "Now, what is it you wished to ask?"

"I received a piece of mail today and do not know what to make of it. I would like your advice." She held out the letter, which Kallian took and began to read.

A smile quickly appeared on his face, which only got bigger as he finished reading it. "Indeed! This is a prime opportunity for you to boost your public image. I wholeheartedly recommend that you participate."

Melia expected a more subdued "perhaps" or "if you feel like it", not unreserved support. "Are...are you sure?"

"Certainly. A leader must build the support of their people so that they have it before they need it. For better or for worse, you have been somewhat of a recluse up until now, only appearing in the public eye on rare occasions after undertaking a grand task. Now that you have outgrown the mandatory seclusion of your childhood, perhaps it is time you start trying to shed that label."

"But...but the logistics do not-"

"They would not have contacted you if they had any doubt over their ability to film an advertisement with a masked royal actress. I expect they would have spent several days considering the issue before they made their decision."

I suppose that is true. Melia grinded her teeth a bit. This was turning into a prime example of "don't ask questions you don't want answered".

Kallian raised a finger as if he had suddenly realised something. "I believe I have a copy of the version of the advertisement I assisted with. Give me a moment." He then disappeared into the closet and began rummaging around what sounded like an extensive group of filing cabinets. After about twenty seconds, he reappeared holding a small holoscreen. "Here, have a look."

Melia took hold of the screen and pressed the play button.

Hot summer day. A bunch of people are sitting out on the patio of an Ike's. Everyone is dressed lightly and sweating like mad.

The shot cuts to focus on two of them, a young man and woman, both in their eighties. On the table in front of them is a pair of sandwiches and drinks.

"Man, it's a hot one today," says the guy. "Good thing they've got Cool Lemonade."

"Too right," says the girl. "I don't know how it could get any hotter." She takes a sip.

An approaching person's shadow crawls over the table, followed by him speaking.

"Beg pardon, fellows, ..." The shot cuts to the new arrival's torso and pans up to the face, revealing it to be Kallian. He appears equally uncomfortable in the heat. "...but could I partake in a bit of your drink?"

The guy seems a bit stunned, in a "why is he here" sense. The girl is clearly star-struck (and perhaps a bit lovestruck) and eagerly offers her cup. "O-o-of course, Y-your H-highness."

"Thank you." Kallian pops the lid off the cup and takes a long gulp. Now clearly refreshed, he replaces it on the table half-empty. "My gratitude is yours, madam."

The girl is completely aflutter, unable to sit still. The guy is a mix of impressed and jealous.

Distant fixed shot of Kallian walking down the street. Voiceover begins as relevant graphics appear onscreen. "Cool Lemonade. Everyone loves it. Just 8G this summer. Half price if it's 30 or hotter out. Ike's; Prepared Ourselves."

The screen went blank as the playback finished.

"As you can see," Kallian said, "the entire scene is quite simple. It took no more than four or five takes to film, and no longer than half an hour. It should pose no challenge for you at all."

Melia was struck with the all-too familiar feeling of being led into doing something she had no interest in - Kallian would almost certainly find a way to make her go even if she refused at the moment, given that he did provide reasonable advantages to doing so - and had to put a lot of effort into not releasing a disappointed sigh. "Very well, Brother. I shall compose a reply in the affirmative posthaste."

Kallian chuckled. "You don't have to call me "brother", you know. I do have a name. It's only seven letters."

"You know very well that mother would not approve of that."

"Mother is..." He paused for a moment, checking for footsteps in the hall. "Mother is a bit of a toff. I approve of any action that rustles her in minor, inconsequential ways."

Melia was significantly less comfortable with even slightly upsetting Yumea, who was probably the person in daily life she was the most fearful of. "You say that, yet I do not recall any case where you have done so yourself."

He smirked. "That's the trick, you see. Subtlety is the key. Schedule testing of certain ether compounds so that putrid fumes fill the lab just as she attempts to visit. Order enough snacks during the day so that when the forks are distributed for dinner, the very slightly bent one is placed at her seat. Stumble into a pillar on a lower floor at just the right angle so that the resonance of the impact causes her toothbrush to fall off its rack. There are endless possibilities."

How about you focus your intellect into finding some wives instead of irritating your mother, and as a result souring her daily mood towards me and others? "That's all very impressive, but also quite a waste of effort."

Kallian casually flipped one of dark's captured pawns into the air and caught it with his other hand. "Everyone needs a hobby."

Melia was somewhat unnerved by Kallian's carefree attitude and decided that she didn't need to stay any longer. "If you say so. Thank you for your input." She then turned to leave.

"You are welcome, sister."

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrgh. She didn't understand why him calling her "sister" bugged her so much. It was probably because he used "Melia" the vast majority of the time; it was as if he was mocking her for her own choice of words.

She looked back at the letter as she walked back to her room. It was typed, so her reply would have to be likewise. I suppose it will do me good to send a real letter into the real world, instead of just the mock-ups done while learning to write letters.

Melia could feel the heat rolling out of the set the instant the door opened. Good grief, it's even hotter than it looked in Brother's version.

The set was very simple - only the patio and tables actually existed, with a group of holoscreens projecting the surrounding landscape inwards. A huge spotlight dominated the ceiling, flooding the room with massive amounts of light and heat. About a dozen crewmembers milled about, while the two "main character" actors and their sandwiches were already sitting at the target table.

"Ah, Lady Melia, you're right on time." The director, a stocky man named Meerlo Url, looked up from a checklist to welcome her. "And this is...?"

"I am Aizel, Lady Melia's guard of the day."

"Good, good." Url clicked his pen a few times. "We're pretty much ready to start shooting, unless you have any objections, Lady Melia."

"I do not." What else was she supposed to say? All the details had already been ironed out when she met with the director a week ago. Only the two main actors would be present, as the only shot with the rest of the crowd was the introductory one that could simply be reused. She had no set lines, but was to keep the timing and feel of the scene as close to the original as possible. The hovercams would trace the exact same paths through the air, meaning that unless she flubbed something or one of the other actors blanked, only one take would be necessary. It couldn't really be any simpler.

"Excellent." The director pointed to a translucent red line on the floor. "There's your path through the shot. I'll give you this hand motion to start moving." He made a quick and definitive point forwards. "Are you ready, Your Highness?"

"I am." Melia uncomfortably rubbed her hands across her hips, trying to reduce their sweatiness. The advanced metamaterials used in modern clothing normally did a good job at spreading sweat out so it could evaporate more efficiently, but they were simply being outpaced by the immense heat. And of course, there was no such technology being used inside her hotbox of a headdress.

Url nodded and spoke into his pen, which amplified his voice. "Okay places everyone. Let's get this done."

The crewmembers hustled to their respective locations. One of them extracted two cups of Cool Lemonade from a fridge and placed them on the table in front of the actors, who sat up and cleared their throats.

Melia nervously shuffled to the head of the red line as Aizel backed off to the side. Even though the interaction was staged, it was still pretty much the first time she'd have to speak to one or two citizens as the princess without backup standing right beside her. It was a much different feel than the one time she addressed her fanclub as a whole, mostly because it was being recorded for broadcast.

"We all ready?" With no indication to the contrary, Url motioned to an assistant, who pressed a button on a device to play four beeps. Once the fourth beep sounded, the cameras lit up and the scene began.

"Man, it's a hot one today. Good thing they've got Cool Lemonade."

Melia was impressed at how similar the delivery was to the original, but she didn't get much time to think about it before she saw Url point her forward. Not wanting to mess up and force a restart, she moved forward at what seemed like a reasonable walking pace.

"Too right."

As Melia crossed through the background holoscreens, the illusion of being outside came into full force. It was very realistic, with the fake sun positioned exactly where the giant spotlight was, and the buildings in the distance parallaxing with her movement. The cameras were also no longer visible, which was a relief - she wasn't sure how she could otherwise avoid having them subconsciously disturb her gaze.

"I don't know how it could get any hotter."

All right, approach the table so my shadow climbs up it without myself coming close enough to be visible. She crept closer until she reached the stop in the line on the floor, her shadow having just barely reached the table's edge. Wait, why...oh, Brother is tall enough for his shadow to reach that far. She halted where the line told her to, as opposed to coming closer to bring her shadow up. I hope that isn't considered a failed take.

Wait I have to say something now. Er... "Excuse me. Would either of you be all right with sharing your drink?" That was bad. Not nearly as respectful as Brother's-

"O-of course, Y-your Highness." The guy responded this time, as opposed to the girl had to Kallian. In addition, both of them seemed equally bemused and impressed at her appearance, as if they did not know beforehand who they were expecting.

"Thank you." A bit addled by how things were going slightly different than expected, Melia carefully took the offered cup and brought it up to her face. It did indeed smell refreshing. Now what did Brother do here? He removed the lid and drank from the rim with an exaggerated tilting motion. I can't do that, but perhaps can achieve similar. She took the as-yet unused straw and fed it under the chin of her mask, pulling and bending it around until she could grab it with her teeth. From there, she started drinking with the same exaggerated head tilt that Kallian had done.

She didn't actually expect the lemonade to taste any better than "fine", but was pleasantly surprised. Maybe it was just the fact that the cooling effect was a welcome relief from the insane heat. For a moment she forgot she was filming an advertisement. But once the pulled-out straw could no longer reach the remaining half of the drink, she came back to reality.

"Your generosity is commendable and much appreciated." Melia placed the half-empty cup back on the table, glancing down to confirm that she was supposed to turn left. That sounded all right I suppose. She stood for long enough to garner a reaction - the guy was a little flustered but also in awe, while the girl was swooning a bit. With the interaction complete, she turned and began walking away, following the line on the floor until she passed through the holoscreens again and was back in the real world.

A loud beep emitted from the assistant's timing device, signalling the end of the take. Everyone started preparing to do the shot over again.

"Woah guys, woah, wooooooaaaah." Url held up his hands. "Don't be so hasty. We mighta struck gold here first try." He motioned to someone who was holding a collection of screens and started looking through the various camera angles along with a few other people.

Melia cautiously started walking around the edge of the holoscreens back to where she started, expecting to have to do everything over again.

After a few minutes, Url finished his review of the footage. "Yep this is the money shot, it'd be hard to improve on it." He then realised something. "But as perfect as this is, the boss is gonna flip if we only have one take to show him. Let's do a second just to be safe."

The crew nodded in reluctant agreement and went back to their positions.

Here we go again. Melia placed herself where she needed to be. At least I should be able to simply repeat myself instead of having to come up with something from scratch again.

The second take went just as smoothly as the first, though it inevitably ended up slightly different - while Melia played her part more confidently, the other actors' reactions to her appearance were not quite as genuine.

Once he was finished looking over both takes, Url was satisfied. "All right people, that's a wrap." He turned to Melia. "Lady Melia, your performance was impeccable. Once again, thank you for taking time out of your schedule to make this vision a reality."

"You, er..." Melia noticed that, now that their jobs were finished, the entire crew and actors were gathering around her to try and get a handshake or similar. "You are welcome."

From there, she had to wait for everyone to greet her one by one, thanking her individually and excited to have now met both the prince and the princess. By the time everyone had done so, the room's temperature was back to normal levels, having vented all of the excess heat into the air outside.

"We shall send you the final version of the spot for your approval before we air it," Url said. "Once again, thank you."

Melia nodded and figured it was time to leave. She turned to the exit, where Aizel had been standing motionless the entire time.

That was not all that bad, all things considered. I'm not sure if I'd ever want to do similar again - this was perhaps the simplest acting could possibly be, and it was still quite nerve-wracking. I suppose it depends on the public reaction...I don't expect much positive feedback.

At it turned out, the public reaction to Melia appearing in an advertisement was indeed surprisingly positive. When the commercial first aired at the beginning of June, mixed in with the more common Kallian version, she found herself reading several letters from surprised citizens that ranged from "Oh, so you're coming out of your shell a bit?" to "I didn't realise you were capable of having fun!" to even "So you're actually a real person?". As the months advanced and the two variations of the ad became equally common, the sentiment began to turn from "I'm surprised" to "you should do this more often".

She expected that the reaction from the rest of the imperial family would be moderately enthused at best, but this was also incorrect. While Yumea was predictably dismissive of the whole thing, Sorean seemed extremely impressed that the princess had finally stepped out into the real world to assist others of her own free will, and Kallian had a foolish grin on his face for the rest of the day the first time the commercial aired.

Other marketers picked up on the princess's unexpected entry into media and began throwing their hats into the ring for her approval; by the end of August she had received requests to promote what seemed like half the products sold in Alcamoth. She rejected the vast majority of them immediately - she felt like it wasn't a royal's place to choose favourites in the commercial sector. She did however pick out a few that piqued her interest - a bookstore, a tennis club, and a bank - and replied that she may be willing to work with them in the future, if they were to create a more concrete idea than just "we're thinking of something, want to participate?". No response was provided from any of them. She suspected they just wanted to get her endorsement before their competitors did, without actually having anything planned yet.

Overall, being part of a successful marketing campaign seemed to do quite a bit for her public reputation. While on an anonymous excursion in September, about two weeks after the ad's run, she could feel that hating on the princess was no longer the cool thing to do in public. It was much more lasting an effect than any of her one-off accomplishments were. In fact, she started becoming legitimately curious as to how it would feel to simply don her mask and walk amongst the people.

So, one day in the middle of October, Melia finally stepped through the palace's main entrance with Damil in tow and began traversing Alcamoth with the goal of simply buying a book.

It could not have been a more different experience than being undercover as a citizen. While anonymous, she would constantly feel like she was being silently belittled or threatened by most people for her half-blood nature, squished under a constant judging gaze and being given a minimal amount of respect at best. But now that it was no longer acceptable to rag on the princess in public, she didn't know what to do with the comparatively immense amount of respect and admiration being thrown towards her. People no longer got out of her way simply out of obligation, the hushed conversations that sprung up in her wake were more awed than haughty, and she had to almost force the clerk at the bookstore to take her money instead of just letting her walk away without paying.

Once it was all over and she returned to her chambers, she felt conflicted. The sensation of being respected and appreciated was almost addicting, but also alien and quite uncomfortable. The paranoid part of her mind was also telling her this was all just a front, that people still disliked her just as much behind closed doors - but if so, did it really matter? It wasn't exactly her job to be popular, anyway, it was to be a reasonable backup for Kallian...but it would still be nice, right?

Eventually she came to the conclusion that she should begin getting used to this new method of public interaction, starting infrequently and building up to "I'll go outside whenever I feel like it", just like Kallian would. Hopefully, the public reaction would simmer down a bit once they got used to her being amongst them - still respectful, but not out of surprise.

COMBAT TRAINING EVALUATION

29 March Sorean 16

Evaluator: Keldon, James

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Name: Antiqua, Melia

Gender: F

Race: High Entia father, Homs mother

D.o.B: 22 February Entirmina 232 (age 84)

Height: 156cm

Weight: 47.6kg

Specialisation: Ether staff

STATISTICS

Note: Each value is scored on the related Eryth Combat Scale.

Physical Strength: 83 Improvement is slow but steady.

Ether Attenuation: 182 There is not much more that can be said on Melia's most outstanding attribute.

Agility: 37 Of note here is that Melia seems to perform equally well regardless of her style of footwear (i.e. flat heels versus high heels), which is certainly an advantage for someone in her position.

Resilience: 1055 Melia has finally reached the thousands plateau in this statistic, which is somewhat of a relief.

Overall Combat Level: 13 Likely as a result of her experience with the unique Hiln a year ago, Melia's overall progress over the past year has taken somewhat of a leap forward.

ARTS

Elemental Discharge: A+ Burst aura now activates after between 10 and 13 discharges. It appears that when Melia is discharging dissimilar elementals in quick succession, she bursts faster, a fascinating curiosity.

Summon Bolt: A+ Summoning time is a constant 1 second.

Summon Flare: A+ Summoning time is a constant 1 second.

Summon Aqua: A+ Summoning time is a constant 1 second.

Summon Wind: A Summoning time varies between 3 and 4 seconds.

Summon Earth: A- Summoning time varies between 5 and 8 seconds.

Burst End: A The defensive drop of this art now measures approximately 8% for physical attacks and 15% for ether attacks, and leaves about 7 discharges worth of burst aura left over.

Hypnotise: A Casting time varies between 3 to 4 seconds, and is always successful.

Shadow Stitch: A Casting time is a constant 2 seconds and ensnares targets for a total of 15 seconds.

Healing Gift: A Casting time is a constant 3 seconds, with a perfectly consistent amount of vitality extraction.

Reflection: A+ Casting time is almost instant and produces a total of twelve panels, tying a mythical record.

Power Effect: B Casting time is a constant 3 seconds and produces 10 seconds of effect followed by 70 seconds of recharge.

Spear Break: F No further comment.

Overall Arts Grade: A- Melia is well on her way to passing this program with straight A's in every ether art; even the single blemish on her record cannot drag her grade below top honours.

MOCK BATTLE ANALYSIS

Melia's ability to strategise and synergise with her teammates remains a bit below par, but her flawless execution more than makes up for it. She has yet to find an opportunity to activate a chain attack.

April began with stormy weather and a pleasant surprise.

"It is time for you to learn the sixth and final elemental - ice."

Melia was excited to finally have the full complement of elementals at her disposal, and awaited the explanation.

Reddel continued. "Like that of earth, the ice elemental is solid and defensive, though against ether attacks instead of physical ones. I foresee you having little issue with summoning it - it is much like an earth elemental, only much colder, and with a hint of water as well."

Melia began the process immediately, mentally combining the safe and sound feeling of earth with the still-vivid memory of the frigid healing device on her arm. It was a bit of a trial-and-error process; a few times she had to adjust the comparative strength of the two feelings when she felt she was getting too close to just summoning an earth. After about two and a half minutes, a lump of ice appeared in her staff.

She began mentally removing it from the staff to hang it over her head in success, but something was immediately amiss - it moved incredibly slowly, at less than a tenth of the speed of her other elementals. She strained her mind and still couldn't get it to move any faster.

"How come...wait." She interrupted her own question, searched a few memories, and almost immediately came to the correct answer. "Of course, how could I forget. Due to its extreme cold, ice elementals are equally extremely difficult to reposition." It was a peculiarity that was immediately apparent to anyone who had ever seen an ice elemental, yet it had completely slipped her mind.

"Indeed," Reddel nodded. "Practice will help, but only to a point; ice elementals cannot move faster than a fifth of the speed of other elementals once they are removed from the staff. As a result, it is futile to attempt discharging them directly at enemies; anything that can perceive danger will be able to avoid it with minimal effort. Instead, you must discharge it around yourself, producing a wave of cold energy that damages anything too close."

Melia followed the logic but didn't like the implications: she would certainly have to put herself at risk when learning to burst the ice around herself without causing any self-damage.

Reddel seemed to have anticipated her thoughts. "As you might imagine, this makes it dangerous to practise if you have yet to master the technique. So, to start with, you should discharge the ice at a safe distance. Learn to position the blind spot of the elemental directly downwards, which should be apparent when successful by a ring of crystals forming on the ground instead of a solid disc."

She looked up at the elemental's spinning form; the shard had a completely irregular shape. "How do I know where the blind spot is?"

"It is generally the face that is flattest and closest to the centre of mass. Of course, as every specimen is unique, it is going to take quite some time to get a feel for where this is for each one. But once you get it, it'll be very difficult to forget. Like riding a bike."

Melia was never allowed to even touch a bicycle, but she did understand the phrase. She started the process of moving her ice elemental away, watching as it tumbled and trundled through the air. Once she felt it was over twice the safe distance away, she spun it so that it seemed upright and commanded it to detonate. Shards of ice flew in every direction as a wave of crystals erupted from the floor, forming the shape of a crescent moon - the blind spot was off to a side instead of perfectly centred.

"Not bad," Reddel commented. "Incidentally, your small frame is quite the advantage when it comes to ice discharging; it increases the available margin for error."

She started the process of summoning a new elemental. Her next question was why ices had a blind spot in the first place, but she dimly recalled seeing something about it in a book somewhere - something to do with their irregular shape. She decided to go back and look it up again later.

Over the next hour of training, Melia discharged just over two dozen ice elementals, with varying degrees of blind spot accuracy - she never quite reached a perfect doughnut shape, but the very centre was always a safe zone. She could tell it might be a couple of months before she'd even think of placing herself inside. But that being said, she was still considering ways to utilise ices in battle, such as positioning them as traps to control enemies' movements. It wouldn't be all that effective, but would certainly be unexpected.

As she was about to leave, she realised she had a question. "Mr. Reddel? Once I have mastered the summoning of ice elementals, what comes next?"

"Ah yes, we're nearing the end, aren't we," he nodded. "Well, this is the final mandatory art of your program; the only other art left to learn is optional. While I am sure you are up to the challenge, now is not the time to come to a decision on it."

"Very well. I look forward to it."