The Taste of Seduction

"Aaah…"

Meredith submerged herself in the bathtub, relaxing all of her muscles and nerves as she had indeed intense training today.

She closed her eyes and even put a wash cloth over her eyes so she can further submerge herself, resting her nape on the tub.

It was a very productive day. She was able to have a lot done. From tearing leaves in half, from breaking rocks, to popping rubber balls… Meredith was confident enough to say that she had a better grasp of her focus and control in magic.

She was able to learn a lot of stuffs other than those, too! She could still remember the giddy feeling she got when she tried levitating an object for the first time, and the goosebumps she felt when summoning her first spirit.

She was even very eager to learn more such as potion making and necromancy, but she would have to ask that from Austin after the ritual. She knew that first; they would have to undergo and finish the ritual before furthering her training.

"Mm…"

She let out a relaxed sigh. She removed the wash cloth that was covering her eyes, now proceeding to get the luffa and the body wash from the side to lather her body with it.

She had been sweating since the morning training and she\'d want to thoroughly wash her body to make her skin soft and smell good. She washed her hair next, making sure that she\'d massage her scalp as well.

After she was done bathing, she went in front of the vanity mirror and then blew dry her hair. The moment she was done, she wrapped her bathrobe around her body, went back in the room she shared with Atlas, changed into her PJs, then drifted off to sleep immediately.

She didn\'t even manage to text him good night as he was still out, jogging! Even though it was almost 9 PM, she was dead tired, Meredith already in dream land and eager for the heavy training tomorrow.

***

"Fuck! This is hard…"

"Meredith," Austin scolded, stricter today than he was in the previous days. "Less cursing, more focus. Don\'t break your momentum! How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Tsk!"

She clicked her tongue in frustration. She closed her eyes again, her left hand stretched as her palm faced the large chain in front of her.

They were already starting the final part of her training: breaking the large chain that seemed to hold an anchor of a ship. It was stretched in front of her as well, so she could further see a better energy pattern of the item.

She was on an Indian seat on the ground, her back straight to keep her posture good as she focused her magic and concentration on the chain. They had been an it for hours, but still, there was no progress of breaking even a single part of the chain.

She only managed to make a few dents on the chain, indicating that she soon had a grasp of it, only to break her focus and concentration and failing afterwards.

"Tak!"

Meredith gasped when she heard a loud clanging sound from the chain in front of her. It had broken off her concentration, frustration suddenly taking all over her body as she realized she only made another dent that is slightly bigger than the others.

"Damn it!"

She stood up abruptly from the ground, pacing back and forth as she tied her hair in a messy bun. Her body was burning hot from all that focus and surging magic and yet she was only able to make a bigger dent?

How will she be able to do the ritual in two days, then?

"Meredith, calm down," Atlas comforted, he and Marcus watching her training since the very beginning. "You\'ve come this far; you\'re already doing great."

"True, keep at it," Marcus chimed in, encouraging her as well. "If you maintain the same pace, you may be able to break the chain."

She looked at the two with a small smile planted on her face. She mouthed "thank you", the woman sitting back down on the ground in an Indian seat, returning her focus on the training.

She remembered the feel of her magic surging inside her. She remembered that it started small, cascading into something big. She remembered the sensation like a ripple from a puddle, the effect coming from the very first drop.

If she tore the leaves, broke the rocks, popped the rubber balls, individually—and the chain in front of her is one entity that\'s just longer and bigger… then what if she does things simultaneously to make one chain reaction since they are indeed connected?

\'I\'ll try it out…\'

With that thought, her hand illuminated. It surprised the three as it was the first time that she did it before them during their training.

"Yes, yes!" Austin further encouraged, leading Meredith to continue. "That\'s the feel of it—full concentration, full control! Keep at it, Meredith! You can do it!"

She creased her brows together as she was slightly distracted by his words. However, as she listened to it as well, she kept at it, feeling a surge of energy coursing throughout her body then to her palm.

"Ha!"

The whole chain before her lit up light blue. After two solid seconds, it slowly faded from the left, to the right… as if disappearing into thin air.

Unlike what she did a while ago that did dents on the chain, this time, it disappeared right in front of her elegantly—the type of magic one could see from movies or imagine from fairytale books.

"I… I did it," she mumbled, standing up to look at the three. "I can\'t believe it… but I finally did it!"