Paths of Creation

"When will Bell wake up?" Hestia asked, biting her nails.

A day had passed since they returned to the surface. Yara had already woken up, but Bell was still unconscious. Since then, Hestia hadn't left his side.

Akasha was sitting not far from Hestia, staring into nothingness when he heard her question.

"Soon, he should wake up soon," Akasha said with confidence in his voice. "Have you checked his status?"

Hestia shook her head. She had been too worried about what happened in the dungeon and Bell's condition to even think about checking his status.

"It didn't cross my mind with everything that happened. I haven't even checked Yara's status," she said, scratching her cheek in embarrassment.

Akasha wasn't surprised and nodded. "You should do it after Bell wakes up. Check mine too," he said, his eyes shifting to Bell, who was beginning to stir.

"It seems it will be sooner than expected."

Hestia blinked in confusion and looked at Bell, who had opened his eyes. She lunged at him, hugging him tightly as she began to cry, snot magically dripping from her nose, leaving Akasha somewhat stunned.

"How troublesome," Akasha sighed before standing up and leaving the church. As he stepped outside, he found Yara training her magic.

Akasha approached, watching her every move. 'Pointless,' he thought as he observed her. 'Completely pointless.'

"You're doing it all wrong. You won't achieve anything if you keep training like that," Akasha declared, startling Yara, who had been concentrating.

Yara looked at Akasha with anger on her face, which quickly turned to anxiety and then to pleading. "Akasha, teach meee. I want to do what I did in the dungeon," Yara said, looking at him with stars in her eyes.

"That was... amazing! But I don't know how I did it. I don't even know what it was," she said, sitting on the ground, her voice showing exhaustion and longing for the magic she had used, which had drained all her mental energy.

Akasha looked at her for a moment and nodded. "Fine, I'll teach you how to use your magic more efficiently, but only the basics. It will be up to you to figure out how to use it."

Yara nodded happily and stood in front of Akasha like a soldier. "As you command, my lord!" she declared with a firm voice, trying to hold back her laughter.

Akasha shook his head and clapped his hands, causing the space between him and Yara to ripple like water. Yara stared in amazement, trying to understand how he had done it.

"Hit me," Akasha said, placing his hands behind his back.

Yara blinked in confusion. "Why do you want me to hit you?"

Akasha looked at her as if she were an idiot. "Just do it and stop asking so many questions. Or I'll leave you to learn on your own," he replied indifferently.

Yara shrugged and clenched her fist before throwing a punch at Akasha's face. Her fist touched the rippling space and disappeared, failing to hit Akasha.

Just as she was about to ask a question, she felt a tickling sensation on her back. Slowly turning her head, Yara saw a hand on her back—it was her own hand, emerging from her back.

Seeing that Yara's face had turned pale, Akasha snapped his fingers, returning the space to normal.

"What you see is called spatial displacement, a way to use spatial magic. The principle is simple: create two points in space and connect them. When the enemy passes through point one, they appear at point two."

"Now, tell me, what is space to you?" Akasha asked.

Yara blinked at Akasha's question and didn't know what to say for a while. After several minutes, she sighed resignedly and avoided Akasha's eyes.

"I... I don't know. I lived in a village in an isolated place all my life until now. My parents taught me to read and write, but nothing else," Yara said, her voice becoming less embarrassed.

"They told me that nothing else mattered to be an adventurer, that strength was everything," Yara declared, looking directly into Akasha's eyes. "So no, I don't know what space is. I only heard my parents say it was a very rare magic."

"That's why you were happy when Hestia discovered your status," Akasha stated, making Yara nod.

Silence fell between them, only the morning birdsong could be heard, until Akasha decided to break it.

"Your parents were wrong to say that strength is everything, so I'll have to teach you about that and your magic," he declared, a smile on his face that warmed Yara's cheeks.

'How beautiful,' Yara thought before recomposing herself. 'No, no. He's not beautiful.'

---

"Space, in simple terms, is the place where everything exists. It's what separates one object from another, but it's also the medium that allows those objects to interact. Imagine space as a blank canvas: everything you see, touch, and feel exists on that canvas."

Akasha began explaining space to Yara while she took notes in a notebook he had given her. Akasha smiled as he saw her paying attention.

Akasha pulled out a piece of paper from his robe and placed it in front of him. "An example of what you can do with spatial magic is this."

"Imagine space as a sheet of paper. If you want to go from one end to the other, you'd normally have to travel the entire distance, right?"

Yara nodded, watching the paper Akasha held.

"But what if you fold the paper so that both ends touch?" Akasha folded the paper, making the two corners meet. "Now, instead of traveling the entire distance, you only have to take a single step. That's what I did with spatial displacement: I folded space so that your fist moved from one point to another without crossing the distance in between."

Yara stared at the paper in awe, unable to imagine something like that could be done. "So... space can be folded like paper?"

"Exactly. You've grasped the essence of spatial magic," Akasha said with a smile. "Think of space as something malleable, something you can shape as you please," he said, finishing his explanation.

Yara nodded seriously as she closed the notebook. "I'll put what you told me to the test. I'm sure I can do it," she declared with fervor in her voice.

Akasha nodded, and as he was walking into the church, Yara stopped him by touching his shoulder.

"Hey, Akasha, if something like space is so difficult, how was I able to create that spatial shield?" Yara asked, confused.

Akasha smiled and shook his head. "I don't know either, but it's safe to say you didn't do it consciously. It was probably your will to save Bell from death," he explained while ruffling her hair, making Yara swat his hand away with a funny snort.

"Come on, Bell is awake. Let's see how he's doing, and then we'll go eat at the Hostess of Fertility," Akasha said in his indifferent voice, taking Yara's hand and leading her inside.

Yara didn't say anything as Akasha led her. Staring at the hand that held her wrist, her cheeks visibly turned red before she coughed and calmed down.

"Sure, sure. Let's go see that hero boy."

---

Bell was sitting on the couch while Hestia scolded him for half an hour. He could only look at Akasha with pleading eyes as the latter pretended not to notice.

"Seriously, Bell, one day I'll die of a heart attack because of you," Hestia finished, sitting beside him and hugging him again. "Promise me you won't risk yourself like that again, Bell."

Bell laughed nervously but finally nodded. "I promise, Goddess Hestia. I won't put myself in danger unless it's necessary," he promised with his characteristic childish smile.

Yara clapped, drawing everyone's attention. "Uff! Come on, come on! I'm starving. Let's go eat," she said, walking toward the church entrance.

Akasha, Hestia, and Bell followed, deciding to leave that event behind.

As Yara and Bell walked ahead, Hestia stayed behind with Akasha.

"Akasha. I know you're a new adventurer, but you have powers I've never seen before. I talked to Hephaestus, and she told me what happened at the pub," Hestia said, watching Bell play with Yara.

Akasha simply nodded. "Mmm, and?"

"Please, take care of him. Make sure he doesn't get himself killed..." Hestia pleaded, looking into Akasha's eyes.

Akasha sighed as he saw those eyes. They were unbearable. "Don't worry, he won't die while I'm around. I promise," he declared, looking directly into Hestia's eyes, assuring her he wasn't lying.

"Besides, he won't die. He's shown great potential."

Hestia chuckled softly. "Hehe, yes... my Bell is the best," she said, a bit of drool escaping her mouth.

Akasha saw this and made an almost imperceptible grimace. 'She's crazy.'