After a short ride, they've reached the abandoned park.
Owing to his prior experience, Cyril easily led Myra towards the statue of the earth goddess deep within the park.
It seems there were no people conducting any shady deals nearby. As the sun slowly lowered, they were the only people in sight. Even Selene was nowhere to be seen at first glance.
"She should be-"
"I'm here."
"...!"
Suddenly Cyril felt his body freeze, as if every muscle in his body turned rigid. He glanced at Myra nearby, only to find her in the same state.
Selene walked closer to them from out of nowhere, her hands behind her back.
She gave one glance at Cyril, then observed Myra from top to bottom. Her gaze was calm like a surface of a lake that possibly hid something within.
Myra struggled but gave up quickly, simply staring back at Selene without any fear.
"I didn't even notice her attack! But with me here, it won't contain you for long, let me-"
Don't.
She doesn't mean harm.
"How do you know that?"
Rhamn only shrugged, glancing at the magic creatures on his shoulders and around him. None were affected, even Morpho could move around freely but chose not to as well.
A few tense seconds passed as Selene's golden eyes pierced through Myra, as if trying to discern something. Finally, she snapped her fingers, and the force constricting their bodies went away.
Myra stretched her arms, breathing a sigh of relief.
"How successful were you in the spell's usage?" Selene calmly asked, immediately making Myra freeze again.
"Not very... Not at all, I mean," she sheepishly replied as if talking about something shameful.
"As expected."
Selene coldly shook her head, making Myra's face turn a level darker.
"Still, since you now know of it, there is a connection between you and I."
"I could just forget about it. You know, there is magic that wipes-"
"You can't erase the strings of fate through something so simple," Selene interrupted, making Myra stand up straight.
"I already thought about it. Since Cyril wanted to teach you so much, then he'll do so."
"...?"
Being mentioned, Cyril walked closer to them and bowed in greeting, though Selene ignored him for now, staring at Myra.
"We'll make a test out of it. He shall be your teacher. If in a month's time I find out you can't use my spell at an adequate level, then he'll fail."
"Myra is hopeless! There is no way she can succeed!" Rhamn exclaimed with annoyance, but then her face became dismissive.
"Oh well. So what if you fail? I bet she won't stop teaching you because of it."
But as her face became more and more smug, Selene next words made a change.
"If somehow you pass, I shall procure Ambrosia for both of you. You seem to value that piece of rock."
"…!"
"Consistent effort will always surpass talent! Let's go!" She cheered with the face of someone who never doubted their friends.
"However," Selene continued, her eyes narrowing down, "if you fail, then Cyril shall leave the city with me to fully focus on training."
Myra listened with wide eyes until the end, then hesitantly glanced at Cyril.
"I agree," he said, stepping forward.
Myra stared at him with panic, but before she could say anything, Selene replied. "It's not something you can decline, but I'm glad you made peace with it so quickly."
"..." The corner of his mouth twitched.
True, I suppose.
"Are you really sure?" Myra whispered to him.
"Yes. Don't worry about me."
After a moment of silence, Selene turned to face him, her golden eyes scanning something on his body.
"You have a snake now?"
Atheris poked her head out of his jacket, sticking out her forked tongue. Even though she no longer needed to hide, she took a liking to staying in his jacket.
Their golden eyes met, observing each other for a moment.
"Yes. Her name is Atheris," he replied, gently petting the snake's head.
"I see." Selene nodded, looking away from the serpent. "Another thing. Cyril, I allow you to also teach the beings with you. That would be proper."
"...I understand, I'll do it, Master," he said as respectfully as he could. Those were his intentions from the beginning.
"Lucky."
As if hearing something particularly pleasant, Selene's expression became a level warmer. She put her hands behind her back, in her eyes something close to satisfaction.
Suddenly a gust of wind hit the ground near her, cleaning it of any leaves.
Selene sat there cross-legged and pointed in front of her.
"Now, since I am here already, let's not waste this opportunity. Come, let's train."
Morpho immediately flew off his shoulder, landing near Selene. She bowed her insect head towards her in respect and began impatiently waiting for the rest.
Cyril nodded to Myra, then sat on the ground as well. He also took the tiger off his shoulder, putting him on the ground near.
"Atheris, come down," he gently whispered.
The snake from his jacket threw a reluctant glance around, at first planning to refuse. But as she met Selene's serene golden eyes, she relented, slithering down nearby.
"Is it alright for me to be here? Cyril is supposed to teach me..." Myra mumbled as she joined them.
"If it had been possible for you to learn from only one session with me, then you would've been my disciple already. Don't think too hard. Sit."
Myra's face twitched, before she tiredly sighed and sat down near Cyril.
Next, Selene began a special lecture about the spell she created. The listeners were a wide group of beings: a human, a half-human, a tiger, a butterfly, and a snake, all listening with various degrees of attentiveness.
At one point Morpho created a magic circle and began practicing more earnestly, and while Cyril did the same, he subtly focused on helping Tigris, Atheris, and Myra understand it as well.
In a quiet park devoid of any other people, they spent a few hours peacefully practicing.
...
At some point Selene grew quieter and quieter, only rarely offering a few words.
She calmly observed as Cyril guided the tiger cub and the snake while also trying to explain things for Myra.
After Morpho and Cyril, Myra was the one trying her hardest. She easily created the magic circle but struggled immensely when it came to actually using it to enhance her own body.
The tiger and the snake had a different problem. They completely lacked any motivation to succeed with the spell, doing only perfunctory levels of effort.
"..." Cyril frowned as he racked his brain to come up with a method for them. The more he thought about it, the more he felt it necessary they learn at least the first part of Selene's technique. Making their body tougher is incredibly useful for their safety.
"We can take it slow, not like we live on the battlefield."
Better now than later.
"Better late then never! It's fine to take it slow."
Ignoring her, Cyril leaned closer towards the tiger cub.
"Tigris, do you think Atheris would be impressed if you learned the spell? Maybe then you can even use your experience to help her as well?"
The tiger cub's face grew quickly grew thoughtful. He imagined himself doing fancy moves in the air as the snake stared at him in awe. He quite liked the idea.
Suddenly he focused on the task much more, trying his hardest to create a proper magic circle.
Satisfied, Cyril then looked at the blue snake.
Atheris, who was born not too long ago and never even tried to create a magic circle before, immediately made a cute face at him.
"Just do your best," he said, patting the scaly head.
After his encouragement, the snake happily went back to constructing circle-like shapes in the air. She looked more like a child happily drawing random things on a piece of paper.
With that done, Cyril looked over everyone again and settled his gaze on Myra. She focused on the magic circle with her eyes closed, as a sweat drop trickled down her forehead.
He didn't interrupt but silently observed, trying to see if there was any progress.
Selene almost imperceptibly nodded at the scene and raised her head to stare at the slowly rising moon.
"Things are not as bad as I thought." she whispered.
"Are they? I only hope whenever you plan on taking us will have a manavein nearby..." Rhamn objected, as if replying to her.
At the sight of Myra's undoubtedly hardworking and undoubtedly fruitless training, she was growing a little worried.