After getting the book from the labyrinth of magic, they all decided to go back to Austin's palace to rest and replenish their energy.
Their trip to three different places, Ireland, Svalbard, then to Machu Picchu was indeed tiring and they visited those places in order to get their hands on the book.
Of course, Atlas and Marcus followed and stayed in Austin's palace. He never was bothered that they were always around to watch the training either. Wherever Meredith is, the two will always be there.
Meredith had personally asked Austin to train her since she was perfectly influenced by her ancestors' and mother's magical prowess. The moment she got the book in her hands, she thought that she had to learn herself.
Never had she tried magic. She didn't even feel the surge within her and with her family background being the daughter of a strong vampire-werewolf and a powerful witch, she knew that she had to learn herself.
Meredith was always fascinated by magic, but she never had the opportunity to use it until she asked Austin, a powerful fae. He is a skilled one, fitting to be called the Fae King, and he promised to teach her how to use magic.
Meredith was thrilled, but she knew that it wouldn't be easy. Austin warned her that it would take a week-long training—or more depending on her progress, to even begin to understand the basics of magic.
Hearing this before during the first day of training, Meredith was quite impatient. She commented on it, saying "Can't we skip to the strong ones?"
Austin reprimanded her calmly and said that even in human schools, they aren't taught the short cut and was taught the long cuts first to get the hang of it, and grasp the basics. And so Meredith gave in and listened to his lessons and trained slowly along with him.
Austin started by teaching her about the different types of magic, and Meredith was surprised at how many there were. She had always assumed that magic was just about spells and potions, but Austin showed her that it was much more complex than that.
She learned about divination, transfiguration, and even necromancy. She was both excited and intimidated by the sheer amount of knowledge she had to absorb.
But as the first days of training went on, and as Austin also did his best to summarize the concepts for her before they start with the real application of training, she understood why she had to learn these information.
It's for her to further know how the spells are applied and what are they, and how they are used.
After they ate breakfast, they rested for a bit. While Austin went somewhere in the palace to get whatever that's needed for their training, Meredith shared a conversation with the two as they stayed by the dining table for a while longer as they wait.
"How's training going?" Atlas asked, Meredith shrugging as she let out a small sigh.
"To be honest, it's quite difficult to grasp the basics and learn them in a few days' time. It was fun since they are new to me, but at the same time boring because it's all 'blah, blah, blah' by Austin."
The two couldn't help but laugh, Marcus making a comment on what she said.
"Well… that is indeed what's needed, right? From what I heard from Austin last night when we took a night stroll in his garden, that you're ready applying magic starting today."
"Ugh… yes!" Meredith exclaimed, a hint of excitement in the tone of her voice. "And what a relief, too! I thought I was over with my student days with boring lectures… now I can finally learn something interesting."
"Ahem…"
Like a student who was overheard commenting that a teacher's lesson is boring, she stood up defensively, almost knocking her chair backwards. A silent chuckle came from the two, Austin slightly arching his brow at her.
"What did you say about my lectures?"
"Nothing," Meredith answered immediately, a smile tugging the corners of her lips. "Erm… the training?"
"That's what I thought," Austin began, letting out a playful scoff. "Come. I shall tell you about the ritual."
"Oh!"
Meredith followed him as he went to the garden where they usually hold their lessons and training. Austin chose to be one with nature as magic is always best learned and used in nature.
Now that they are going to apply magic as the start of their training for today, she is beyond excited to learn something new other than sitting down and listening to his lectures.
"Remember—" Austin started, her attention all on him. "—doing the soul tie in itself is a powerful and long ritual. It would take the same to undo it. I said that before, too."
Meredith nodded, eager to learn as she listened attentively to Austin. With him turning to look at her, he had his hands tucked in his pockets, further explaining how the ritual is done.
"The ritual should be done on a full moon. Depending on your progress, we can conduct the ritual on this month's full moon, which is…"
Austin got his phone from his left pocket, searched for the nearest schedule of the full moon, then continued his statement.
"In four days."
Meredith widened her eyes in surprise. She didn't expect that it would be this soon, thinking that it would be in a week or two.
"F-four days?" she stammered, letting out a scoff of disbelief at the same time. "Can we really manage to learn how to do the ritual in FOUR days?"
"Well…" Austin shrugged, answering her question honestly. "I didn't tell you that we have to do it IN four days. I said it depends on your progress of how fast you can grasp it. We can wait for the next full moon if you want. Which is…" he checked his phone again. "Next month."
"Next—!!" she opened her mouth, unable to finish her sentence as well. "Damn…"
Meredith couldn't help but whistle, shaking her head as she thought a month is too long as well.
Well, four days is indeed short, but a month would be a long wait, too…
"Fine." Meredith let out a sigh, not wanting to waste time. "Let's just train."