“Tell me, what do you see luv?” a feminine, elegant, somewhat lower pitch voice questioned.

Two individuals stood in what could only be described as a beautiful view of an ocean. Light blue grasses with flowers streaming out in reds and pinks with blue stems, a pinkish sky with creamy orange, overlooking a multi-colored body of water. To shore it was a blend of darker blue, lighter purple, and a blend of pinks in between while further out is was more bluish green or perhaps greenish blue. A town with a huge harbor sat on the seaside, wood docks mostly with some cement ones. The architecture of the town, a mix of ocean vibes with seashell stylized houses and some other aquatic backing.

The shoreline, dotted with these docks and brilliant beach fronts. Sparkling sands all around leading to the rolling hills and plains. High up overlooking all of this on the hills were the two, one cloaked in a white coat with sky blue stars, black hair. The other, younger and slightly shorter, dark blue coat and pants, a purple shirt, dirty blond hair somewhat long, and stunning emerald eyes. It had been the one in white that spoke first, questioning the second.

“I see… wait, do you mean literally or metaphorically?” the second asked.

“Yes~”

“… not going to dignify that with an answer,” the second murmured, “So why did you bring me out here Ms. Holly? To show me how great things are off of Earth?”

“Hee, well partially my dearest Elise. I actually wanted to show you that there are many maaaaagical things out in the world that you have yet to learn about luv,” the first, Holly, replied.

“Why-… why did you say it like that?” Elise questioned.

“Hoh? Say what like how?”

“Magical, the way you said it?”

“Because luv, magic is bullshit,” Holly then replied, monotone at the end.

“… then explain-”

“Here,” Holly murmured, a bit of color back in her tone as she held out her right palm, upwards.

A ball of white light appeared before her hand, hovering above the palm, crackling. Elise looked to Holly, then to it with slight shifts of the head.

“To the uneducated yes, this is magic; but magic, as you Earthlings know it, is so far off. This is Energy Control. As you know to do this we draw power from the flow of cosmic energy, provided by the Celestial River,” Holly spoke as she jolted her hand up and down, tossing the energy ball.

Elise nodded, watching the ball go up and down, “Yes, I know that. So it’s not magic because it is… a property of the universe?”

“Oh, no, we just don’t like it being labeled blatantly as magic; but yes actually,” Holly giggled, “There are three main aspects to Energy Manipulation luv. What you know as that manipulation right now, we call basic Energy Control. Simple right?”

Elise blinked in response, her expression unchanging.

“Right, well, anyways. Energy Control is where you draw a spectrum of the River’s power into yourself. You store it, excrete it-”

“Please don’t call it excre-”

“Summon it, happy? You store it, use it, and guide it. You can use it within yourself to augment the body, or project it as a physical force using yourself as the origin, such as this ball,” she concluded, grabbing the orb firmly as it fell back into her palm.

“I know that already, you’ve had me reading on the subject for weeks.”

“I know that you know. Mostly universally, this concept is understood, and is actually something attainable by many so long as they have the right mindset. What comes next, is the part people often refer to as- Magic.”

Holly’s free hand flexed once, then twice, and then once thrice she grabbed hold of what was seemingly nothing. A grip held on the air; though not long after she swung her arm up and as she did a solid three to four liters of water rose up out of the ground and hovered before her. Followed in the next seconds, the orb of light erupted into an orb of flames. Her hand gripping the air flung forward with the arm as she took a step- the water launching itself forward as a small wave flying through the air itself.

Following that, the orb of fire was thrust forward as she shunted her right side ahead, ejecting a torrent of flames from her palm straight into the water. An eruption of steam came after and swiftly engulfed Holly, followed by Elise.

“This… is what people refer to as magic in our world luv; but it too is not simply magic,” Holly’s voice called out.

Within a few seconds the mist cleared around her, Elise’s head swaying left and right. She blinked again, now surrounded by eight of Holly. Eight bodies, all identical, all standing around her.

“If you want, it is also Energy Manipulation; though this time-” all spoke in unison, the voice of Holly echoing.

A simple tap of the foot from one and a jolt of the head. Right beneath Elise a column of earth rocketed up with her standing atop. She rose several meters into the air on the pillar, shaken and stumbling at first, looking down as her arms swung out in an attempt to balance. Soon though the pillar broke apart and left Elise atop a hovering mound of soil, which then drifted towards the Holly that jolted. The other seven disappeared and the earth was set down on the ground, following which Elise stepped back and off.

“This is not simply taking energy within oneself and casting it out with some chanting of spells or technique, usually. This is to manipulate the energy in the environment itself, the very substance and flow around oneself. It’s how we used Light Energy to cultivate our homelands eons ago actually. Of course there’s certainly a lot more to it beyond just making copies and controlling elements of nature,” Holly concluded.

“Incredible,” Elise murmured, partially stunned, her blank face now replaced by one of intrigue, “Just, manipulating the environment. That’s got to be some limitless stuff-”

“Like I said there is a lot more to it than just commanding the energy. You can conjure attacks, perform what you know as spells, summon companions for battle, so on and so forth. My particular favorite battle companion just so happens to be a Flame Unicorn, one with blue flames and wings. Some people are able to play with space-time actually on a time freezing level, or move across entire continents in an instant.”

“F-for real?”

“Yes. The point though Elise, is that you have a lot to learn before you can call yourself a master. You have proven very capable with basic energy control; but you need to realize that there is far more out there than just Light and Dark Energies. The Celestial River holds great power, it is the blood of the universe itself.”

Elise paused again for a short time, glancing to her right briefly before looking back to Holly, “Taking energy into yourself and using it, and controlling the energy in the environment around you………… is there- is there a means to manipulate the energy in another?”

Holly’s stare drew cold as she looked back to Elise, a breeze passing between them, “That… is the third classification, from which status and ailment magic is attributed to. Energy Control, so-called Magic, and that- that would be Curse Manifestation. It’s usually frowned upon, for the same reasons that gave the world Vampiric creatures.”

“Or, for turning them into monsters. Like Azala,” she murmured.

Holly’s cold soft gaze rested upon Elise, followed by a nod, “Power can be corrupting, that is the one drawback of the River’s gift. In order to progress Elise, you will need to overcome your demons. Otherwise you risk being consumed, and devoured by the world’s evil. Never forget, it isn’t the weapon that kills people, people kill people for their own sinful gains. Even an act of good can lead you down the wrong path if you’re not careful.”