"I am Selene Rose Rodriguez."
She was intelligent for someone so poor. Many told her that she should keep her dreams realistic, in line with her status and to not be too greedy. Her friends, family and mentors all told her the same thing.
Despite it all, Selene was able to study at a prestigious university on a scholarship, taking Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. She was dubbed as the great know-it-all by some people.
She stayed at different households as a working student when she was in high school. And if she was being generous, she would describe herself as a strong and adaptable person, forged by hardships that came with poverty and her desire to lead a fulfilling and comfortable life.
In reality, she's an ambitious person who wouldn't mind stepping on others to achieve her goals. This was one of the reasons why no suggestions or advice will make her stop pursuing her dreams.
"It's like my conviction is being tested once again," she murmured to herself, catching a floating rose petal.
She submerged her body in the fragrant water and closed her eyes, feeling the warmth permeate her skin.
She stayed like that for an hour before coming out. Finally covered with a bathrobe, she stared at her own reflection in the mirror.
The face of a stranger. She was unhealthily thin. Her cheekbones were sharp and her overall appearance was gaunt and pale. Her green eyes looked cold and unwelcoming, looking out of place in the harmony of her features.
Her hair cascaded down her shoulders like wilted lavenders. Its color sharply contrasted her pale, ivory skin.
Selene Antonette Rosseficent looked no different from a sick person. Her eyes were dull and lifeless, yet there was a hint of intelligence hidden beneath it. The creepy part in all of this was the fact that Selene's brain still get shocked when she sees her own reflection. It's like she's looking at a different person, but her movements would follow her commands, making her feel like a puppeteer. All in all, it was an uncomfortable sight.
She tucked a stray hair behind her ears, noticing a leaf sticking to her skin. It was so tiny and insignificant.
Without much thought, Selene brushed it off. She thought that it was just one of the herbs the maids put on her bath along with the rose petals.
However, in the next second, a sharp pain assaulted her senses. She let out a yelp and massaged her forehead.
Information about a certain type of fungi appeared on her mind. She once had a nightmare about mushrooms growing on her flesh.
'What's stopping mushrooms from growing in a human's body?'
The thought made her shudder.
Calming herself, she reached for the drawer and found a pair of scissors. She took it and cut the stubborn leaf.
An indescribable pain crashed on her like a siege ram.
She held onto the sink as the wave of burning pain made her lose her senses.
A scream came out of her lips.
It was then.
Thin vines crawled out of her fingertips like a growing plant on timelapse. The pain made her incapable of making sense on what's happening with her body. She fell on the floor and convulsed, her bones cracked and her iris rolled to the back of her eyelids.
Amidst the torment, Selene forgot everything. She didn't even know who or where she is. The only thing in the world was pain, as if a sharp knife is tearing her soul apart. It came from her heart, her head, and muscles. It came from everywhere.
The door opened and her lady-in-waiting rushed towards her, but she stopped upon seeing Selene's state. Her body moved in grotesque ways as if she had no bones. Meanwhile, thick vines were crawling outward like an explosion with Selene at the center. They grew thicker, as if feeding on her life force. It draped on the sink and into the walls akin to a snake.
"The Lady is awakening her magic!" The maid exclaimed in a mixture of both fear and bewilderment.
A few minutes later, Selene disappeared beneath the mass of intertwined vines.
---
Duke Rosseficent took the letter from the tray and cut the seal off.
Without much thought, he read the letter sent by Selene's butler. His expression growing more and more angrier as his eyes moved further down.
"Had they all lost their minds?" With shaking hands, he put the piece of parchment down his messy table. "An awakening?" He laughed, refusing to believe the news.
His butler stood with the tray of letters, looking at his master and awaiting his orders.
With a deadpan expression, the duke said:
"Write a response. Bring her to me."
The butler bowed and went out of the room.
---
Selene had a dream. In it, her sister, Jhannein greeted her with a hug as soon as she opened the door. It was a seemingly ordinary day, no strange events like growing mushrooms on her flesh. It was so normal that she thought it was true. She even went as far as mistaking it as the reality and her transmigration was the nightmare.
However, as soon as she opened her eyes, the true reality greeted her like a slap to the face. The familiar wall of portraits came in to view, leaving her disappointed.
Her only lady-in-waiting stood immediately upon noticing her movements.
"Lady Selene!"
The maid's eyes were red and puffy. She sniffled as she stared at Selene.
With a croaky voice, she asked:
"What happened?"
Another sniffle came from the maid.
"You have finally awakened your magic! I can't believe this day would come, Lady Selene."
Checking her memories, she recalled what had happened back in the bathroom. She shuddered.
"How long was I unconscious?"
"It's been two days, my lady. I will help you wash up. Please stay still."
She rushed out of the room and left Selene slightly disoriented.
Sighing, she threw the blanket and stepped out of the bed. Her feet touched the cold floor, sending a shiver down her spine.
The window beside her was opened, letting in the fresh, country air.
A flock of birds flew through the sky and the scent of roses entered her room, chasing away the smell of incense. It made her body relax a bit.
Remembering the dream, she thought of her sister.
'Are they safe from the earthquake?'
There was no way to know what had happened to her family. But, she hoped that Jhannein was safe, at least.
Soon, the maid came back with a basin of water. Selene washed her face and felt the sleepiness leave her body.
"How did I get to my room?"
"Ah, that. Lady Selene, one of the kitchen staffs used to work at the magic tower. He helped in stabilizing your magic. We called in the physician to check on you after that."
Strangely enough, she felt giddy inside. It was an inexplicable feeling. It's something she felt only when mixing solutions in the laboratory.
'I can now use magic?'
Selene looked at her hands. Her childhood fantasies flashed on her mind like a movie trailer. All the things she wanted to do. Like shooting fireballs, making things levitate and teleportation is now within her reach.
She shook her head and sighed, trying to plan out her next actions instead.
First things first, she had to try her magic. After that, she will figure out a way to go out of the manor and visit some local library to study and familiarize herself with the basics of this world. If the products she enjoyed back on Earth don't exist here, then she can just make them herself.
Taking advantage of the Rosseficent Family's wealth, she could build her own laboratory, make products that this world had never seen before and start her own business.
This newfound determination lifted her mood and made her excited for the following days.
Three days since her awakening, Selene finally tried to use her magic.
She stood in the middle of the empty training grounds and chanted one of the basic spells she found in a book.
"Tenth form: Attack!"
As if responding to her words, thin vines slithered out of her fingertips and crawled in the air, straining to reach something. But before it could go any further, they dropped dead and dangle from Selene's fingertips. They were extremely weak; they would snap if she pinched them. However, she had learned from experience how painful that would be, so she didn't even think of confirming it.
Still, Selene felt incredible that she didn't mind the soreness of her arms.
The physician advised her to take it easy because her mana veins were still healing from the awakening. The physician was a strange man. He was old and clumsy. With a suspicious smile on his face, he even told her:
"This is not an awakening. Rather, it is an unsealing."
She shook the thought off and looked at the vines that had grown limp.
"So, this is magic."
Mages are said to be one with the four elements: Water, Fire, Air, and Earth. One thing that Selene found out just recently was the fact that their magic is an extension of their body. The element that they have an affinity with or a spell they cast is like an additional limb.
If humans could move left and right, up and down, and forward and backward in a three-dimensional world, mages had an additional dimension that they could control, that is mana. However, it doesn't mean that Zetheria is four-dimensional.
It's just that, they could interfere with the natural laws to a certain degree, unlike humans who could only attempt it through science. And even that was them, being bounded by the laws.
'Oh, what would happen if a scientist suddenly became a mage?'
As magic is like another limb to mages, it also means that what their magic felt, will also be felt by them. This is what they call as the Spell Recoil.
Staring at the manifestation of her magic, Selene willed her vines to disappear. Without skipping a beat, the vines disintegrated into sparks and evaporated. A feeling of loss and emptiness came to her out of the blue.
Selene could only cast that spell once a day. If she forced it, her mana veins will rupture and she will forever be incapable of using magic.
It would be a tragedy if she awakened her ability only to lose it out of her own recklessness.
Glancing over her shoulder, the dawn of a new day started to peek above the towering wall of trees surrounding the manor. Inside, the maids and staffs were waking up one by one.
Looking around the abandoned training ground, Selene let out a sigh. Moss were growing on the edges of the concrete and there was a spiderweb of cracks on it, where tiny sprouts strive.
From this angle, the manor looked no different from a haunted house. It was noticeably old. Its walls were weathered and overgrown vines crawled on it, avoiding the windows and reaching the topmost floor.
She watched as the night slowly receded, replaced by the light of the sun, if that's what it is called. She had never really entertained the thought that their star could be a different star. Still, it did not fail in its role, that is, providing light and energy, making life possible in this world.
After a while, she went back inside and headed straight to her room. Soon, Mika, her lady-in-waiting, knocked on the door.
"Lady Selene, are you awake?"
---
Everyday, Selene would wake up early and cast that one spell again and again. Her new routine made her look forward to the next day. However, there wasn't a significant change in her situation. She was still stuck in the manor.
Now that she had awakened, the staffs treated her a lot better. The amount of her meals improved, as well as the taste. They would smile and greet her if they ran into her, a noticeable change to their nonchalant behavior in the past. Not that she cared how they chose to treat her. If anything, Selene felt a bit guilty.
Those smiles, were not meant for her. Selene Rosseficent suffered from not being able to use magic and it only awakened when another soul occupied her body. All her efforts in collecting and memorizing spells didn't benefit her one bit. Well, it did help Selene in understanding magic.
'What a tragic life.'
Dipping the quill with ink, she wrote a few words on the next page of Selene's most recent journal.
'Dear Selene...'
She was glad that when she came here, she didn't have to study Zetheria's language. It seemed as though she already had a subconscious understanding on its words, sentences, and grammar. It didn't take long for her to grasp it completely: its letters and sentence structure. Reading did helped her a lot. Now, she could construct coherent paragraphs using the language.
They call it Zether. The lingua franca of this world.
Not long after that, she learned to read their calendar as well. There was an uncanny similarity to the ones back on Earth. In addition to that, it seemed that they used the same numerical system, so adapting to it didn't pose much of a challenge.
She didn't forget to write the date on the top right corner of the page.
It wasn't much and to be honest, writing a letter to someone who is presumably dead, is kind of stupid. However, Selene was aware that she is only doing this to make herself feel better.
And she succeeded. She did feel a lot better after writing it.
Soon later, the butler came to Selene with a white envelope bearing the seal of the Rosseficent Family. Finally, after two weeks since the funeral, a letter from the duke arrived.