Lord of Charm

"Yes, Lady Lena. I understand."

Satisfied, Lena left Mira's room and went to continue working on her plan. Soon after, a similar conversation took place with the second woman on the list. She also agreed after being reminded she probably won't ever reach the mage phase, and her life span wouldn't be damaged.

As for the third, she had lost everything. Her husband already left the city and moved somewhere else with all their money and their 2 children who were too young to understand what was going on. She knew he would poison their mind against her, saying she abandoned them or something similar.

Just like Lena expected, with a promise of revenge and bringing back the kids, she was willing to sacrifice her abilities although she still had a good chance to become a True Mage within 40-50 years.

The average of 20 years, after all, was the average of the talented nobility who had an abundance of resources and time to practice. Satisfied with the results, Lena instructed the jail manager to prepare a clean, comfortable room with a large bed and a shower, give her the key to it and let Mira live in it for now.

She wanted to be able to lead Gale there directly, so he won't get a bad name for his actions. Undoubtedly, his actions might be interpreted as abusing weak women to satisfy his lust. When all was done and prepared, she went back home and instructed the guards' captain to find the people she has promised to find.

The next day Lena and Gale ate breakfast together, and Gale decided to ask a few questions for clearance.

"Lena, what turns a magician into one? What happens that makes one rank up to the stage of a magician?"

"As you know, the difference is their control over mana. According to my understanding of the ranks, I'd say it's about getting recognition from the mana, or maybe from the world itself. You could explain it by saying that a Novice magician still doesn't have full recognition, but the world decided to give him a chance to prove himself.

A True magician was recognized by the world as worthy and is given the ability to affect mana, while it sounds like he has control over it, it is not true. It's more like he can request the mana to do things and the mana will do them.

As he can only ask for "favors", the mana starts rejecting them after he makes too many requests, which is also known as being out of mana. The higher the stage of the magician, the more requests the mana will accept from him.

As for Mages, you could say they are like friends with the mana, the mana will be much more agreeable with them, doing what they ask for with better motivation, thus bringing forth more power, more accuracy, and more efficiency. Mana agrees to more requests from mages both in quantity and quality, meaning it would let them cast greater spells that require a higher level of maneuver of the mana.

I believe that a Magus gets to command the mana, which would make everything faster than simply asking for cooperation, and it would allow the Magus to use it endlessly. However, since I'm not one yet, I can't know for sure."

"I see. Then it would make sense if my powers would let me connect with the mana, but learning how to use this connection would still be up to me. But according to your explanation, I don't understand why magicians are better in some elements than they are in others, isn't all magic derived from mana regardless of the element? If it only depends on their connection with the mana, there shouldn't be a difference."

"My analogy isn't perfect as it is hard to clearly explain an abstract concept like mana with words and analogies. While mana is indeed one, at the same time it isn't. It's separated into different types that each boosts another element, somewhat like a white light that contains all the other colors.

Magicians mostly have a higher affinity with a certain type of mana, and not with the general mana. As you already know, my affinity is higher with fire and wind, but I also have a good affinity, albeit weaker, with the other elements."

Gale understood her, it meant that even if he could advance easily by sex, he'd still have to spend time mastering the spells. He believed he could get all mana types simply by getting laid, but it'd take more time to master the spells. There was no doubt, it'd still be much faster than anyone else, probably even faster than Lena.

He planned to raise his ranks slowly and practice spells, otherwise, wouldn't it be embarrassing if he lost to a True Magician when he was a True Mage only because he was busy chasing skirts all day without practicing any spells?

"Although it sounds like everyone has the same recognition by the world, thus making all magicians of the same rank, it also isn't true. There are multiple factors in one's strength compared to his peers of the same stage.

For example, the world might see more potential in someone, letting them be stronger in the magician phase, and this might derive from a better understanding of mana while in the Novice Magician stage, ranking up at a younger age and more."

They finished breakfast and Gale had no plans for the day, as he knew Lena plans to take him to the local jail.

"I see, thank you. Are we going now to jail?"

"Aren't you too excited about it, little brother? Shouldn't your morning boner calm down by now?"

"I- I didn't mean it this way, I just didn't know when you want us to go! And everything is calm, thank you for your concern."

Gale replied with a hint of bitterness in his voice. Lena was a good sister, but she enjoys teasing him a bit too much.

"Haha, I'm joking. Don't worry, we can go now."

They went together to the jail, and Lena led him straight to the room she "booked" the day before.

"How come you have the key to this room, and why are you taking me here?"

He asked suspiciously, did she do something yesterday?

"I instructed the manager to keep this room clean for me. Since we will bring women here, I didn't want it to be connected to you, or you might get a bad name."

"Oh, that's considerate of you, thanks."

Lena opened the door, and as Gale looked around his eyes were met by the sight of an average-looking middle-aged woman sitting on a large bed, wearing only her underwear. Mira, who knew what to expect, wanted to do her best to seduce the man coming and didn't want to wear a prison uniform in fear it would make him dismiss her, making her lose her only chance in saving her son.

"Hello, My Lord. I'm Mira, at your service."

She said as she looked down. She was not bashful, only scared of the young man's fetishes that would cripple her in the future. She was ready for the suffering and pain that will probably accompany this session.

"Hello Mira, you can use my name. I'm Gale."

Gale, who still didn't have his first time, was quite nervous himself. They just stood and looked at each for a few moments.

"Do you already know the deal and the risk of losing all your connection to magic?"

"I do, Lord Gale."

"Are you still willing? Why?"

Mira looked hesitantly at Lena, who narrowed her eyes in a silent threat. Mira understood what she should do – hide some of the truth.

"I have something urgent I must do, and for that, I need to go out of prison, yet I still have to serve a decade here."

"What is so urgent? Maybe I can help."

"It's ok, it's personal and it doesn't worth your attention, Lord Gale."

"AHM, you guys can go straight to business."

Lena's voice startled them both. Mira and Gale both looked at her with blank faces, was she planning on watching them doing the deed? Mira was sure the two of them were siblings just by seeing the obvious resemblance to each other. Were they both perverts? Gale's worries were quite similar, why the hell she wanted to watch them?

"Umm, Lena, are you planning on watching us?"

He asked carefully.

"Of course, we don't know much about the way your powers work, therefore, I must be here to supervise everything in case something goes wrong."

"I'd feel very uncomfortable doing it with you here."

Gale gave her a glaring hint to leave. However, it didn't seem to convince her.

"Your life is more important than your feelings."

"I refuse to do it with you here."

"FINE, I will wait outside the door. Just make sure to scream if something happens."

Lena was unsatisfied, she was pretty worried about Gale and didn't really care about his privacy.

"Ok, I will SHOUT if something happens."

Gale emphasized the word 'shout'. Why should he scream, was he a girl? She should phrase her words more carefully next to other people!