It had been a few days since Amelia Hoshizora had agreed to move in with Seris. Seris had been true to her word. The day after Amelia had gotten settled in, Seris began with the basics.
"The key is to master visualization first. You can have all the mana in the world but if you can't visualize what you want your spell to do, then it's useless."
"Yeah I've always struggled with that. I have a hard time picturing what I want on a blank movie screen."
"What's a movie screen?"
"Uh… nevermind."
Seris had taught her a more effective way to visualize her intended results by starting small.
"Light this candle, stare at the flame for thirty seconds. Then snuff it out. Try to recreate the image of that candle burning in your mind. If you can successfully do that we can move onto harder subjects."
After a couple days of practice, Amelia was already starting to show improvement with this basic skill. She was slowly growing more confident with herself too and proud of her mentor. Feelings she had never really experienced before.
Today though, their relatively peaceful practice sessions were interrupted by a knock on the door.
Seris opened it after peering through the peep hole where she saw a familiar man waiting patiently.
"Are you stalking me again? Not flattering you know," Seris teased as she opened the apartment door.
The man blushed before averting his gaze out of embarrassment.
"My apologies for that initial encounter between us. I was just following orders."
Seris shrugged and invited him in.
Amelia had entered the living room to investigate the source of the sudden noise that intruded upon her studying. Her eyes widened when she saw the man standing next to Seris. His short military hair cut and stocky, soldier like build were immediately recognizable.
"Oh, Mr. Caldas. Is something wrong?"
Amelia's voice held a note of caution, as if she was expecting him to grab her by the arm and drag her back to the temple. The thought alone set her teeth on edge.
"You can just call me Orion and no, nothing's wrong. I'm just here on temple business."
Amelia's body relaxed visibly, something that hadn't escaped Seris's notice.
"What business is that?" Seris asked with her arms folded across her chest in a relaxed stance. She was wracking her brain trying to figure out why Orion had shown up on her doorstep. Had she missed something?
"I'm to be your temple liaison. I'll be accompanying you until the Temple Head can figure out who you are and what to do with you."
Seris's eyes narrowed at that final part of his sentence. She had nothing against the Temple Head, Talos Myron, who had made it perfectly clear that he didn't believe a word of her story. In fact, there was a modicum of respect there since she saw that Talos, despite his friendly and warm exterior, was also calculating with eyes that didn't miss much. Good traits for a leader.
"I'm not actually working with or for the temple."
"I know, but if you decided to intervene in any demonic incursions I would be there to assist you to the best of my abilities. Also, if you need anything from the temple I am to help facilitate that."
Seris thought back to the conversation she had with Talos a few days ago. This was the person he had mentioned that would be familiar to her. Apparently, Talos was sharper than she initially thought.
"Okay, well welcome aboard I guess."
Orion glanced curiously at Amelia. He seemed to debate on whether to ask the question that was currently bothering him. After a few seconds he made a decision;
"If I may, why is Miss Hoshizora here?"
Orion knew of her although he had little past interactions with her. He was often busy on the front lines fighting, consequently he spent very little time at the temple. What little he did know of her wasn't very positive. She apparently had a reputation for being a lower class healer.
"That's my new apprentice. She lives with me and studies under me."
Orion looked shocked while Amelia gave an embarrassed smile before looking away. Despite Orion not knowing much about her, she knew plenty about him. He was considered one of the most loyal and one of the strongest combat sorcerers in the temple as well as the global order.
"But she's a member of the temple, her training is conducted-"
"By people who are clueless."
Orion looked deeply offended by Seris's casual dismissal of their current magical instructors. Who was this woman to so brazenly disparage the Temple of the Badger? His face became a dark shade of red as his indignation rose.
"This is not proper, temple policies dictate-"
"I could care less."
Amelia stayed silent, watching the exchange between two people whom she regarded as her betters.
Seris was privately enjoying this exchange. Having observed several different sorcerers in action along with the poor training Amelia had received left her with the strong impression that the current temple, as well as the order, had grown too weak. She blamed the alleged higher ups for the state of things. They had allowed the order to descend to such a rock bottom that it practically begged for a demonic invasion.
Seris felt nothing but contempt for the authority figures that Orion clearly cared deeply about.
Orion was shaking in anger, his loyalty and pride demanded a response.
"Does Master Talos know of your views?"
"Probably, he seems like a smart cookie afterall."
Amelia saw the twitching of Orion's hands as his discipline was being tested. She thought it best to finally intervene before Seris launched him out of the apartment window.
"How about we stop bickering and just work together? This arguing is pointless."
Seris gave an appreciative smirk with a twinkle in her eyes. Orion slowly nodded, seemingly brought back to reality by the interjection of her wisdom.
He took several deep, slow breaths to calm himself.
"I apologize. That was unprofessional of me."
Seris waved a dismissive hand before saying, "now that we know where each other stands, what's for dinner?"
Amelia shook her head. Privately she was wondering what in the world the Temple Head had been thinking of when he paired these two together. The loyal soldier with the unknown variable that couldn't be controlled.