Riwenne and her friends have a new problem to deal with now that Riwenne’s new weapon is so powerful. She doesn’t want to accidentally cause damage while she’s learning how to handle it. But where can she train safely?
Training Problems
We had a new problem on our hands.
Training with the soul staff was even harder now that the weapon was completed. The moment that I started holding it, its power started to fill me, and the strength quickly grew overwhelming. When I tried to use the smallest amount of magic, extra magic leaked out of me and caused unexpected side effects.
The first day, my hair grew three feet longer just after holding the staff for a few minutes. I’d changed it back to my natural pink, but it kept turning silvery white from the staff. My hair had been cut short months ago and had barely grown out to my shoulders, but now it draped past my waist like an enormous cape flowing down my back. It was heavy and hard to manage.
The next day, I grew three inches taller—the same height as Nexita and almost as tall as Kyra! My body had a few other embarrassing changes, too, in strategic areas that made it so none of my old clothes fit.
“I’m sixteen,” I groaned to Kyra as she helped me magically adjust my wardrobe. “Isn’t it a little late for me to get a sudden growth spurt like this?”
She winked at me in the mirror. “You’re turning into a woman. A very beautiful, strong, and smart woman.”
I smoothed another streak of silver out of my hair. “It’s unnatural, though. I feel like I’m turning into a lesser version of the moon goddess. Maybe some people would find that flattering, but I just want to look like myself.”
She put her hand on my cheek. “You always look like a goddess to me.”
It sounded like something out of a cheesy romance novel—my favorite. I haven’t even been able to read a novel for fun in months, maybe over a year. My heart swelled as she drew me into a kiss. Maybe the changes in my appearance weren’t so bad if she liked them.
I kept trying to practice with the staff without using magic at all, but on the third day, as I blocked an attack from Yanis’s super speed, I accidentally released a burst of magic that put a dent in the wall of a nearby shop. And when I tried to use magic to repair it, a whole new building rose up out of the ground—right in the middle of the street.
I put the staff away quickly and held up my hands. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to do that! Let me fix it.” Without the staff, it was much easier to control my magic, and I smoothed all the bricks and stones back the way they should be.
Mano sighed and shook his head. “We shouldn’t be practicing in the city at all. Let’s find somewhere abandoned so there’s no chance of hurting innocent bystanders.”
