A day passed in a blur of effort.
Somehow, impossibly, the girl had completed five of his initiation tasks. Baswara monitored via the wandering crystal, his initial academic delight quickly curdling into something between awe and strong professional offense.
Task 1 was to fold an origami crane behind her back, without visual aid, using only ambient mana. A brutal test of fine control and spatial awareness. She'd completed it in half a day, the paper bird settling onto her windowsill at the dorm with a perfect crease.
Task 2 was to knit a scarf made of solidified mana strings, behind her back, and highlight it in a visible red hue. He'd expected this to take days. The sustained creation and color-manipulation of pure mana was advanced Vision Mage work.
She'd finished it faster than the crane. Her explanation, when prodded, was simple. "It was a repetitive and pattern-heavy task." As if that explained the sheer, willful shaping and dyeing of intangible energy!
