Arc 7.1: Chapter 68
The rest of the Spring Term passed in the blink of an eye. Sunset and Negi were kept busy tutoring the Baka Rangers in preparation for the term Finals, with Sunset’s schedule being extra full with additional tutoring for Ako and the others. Thankfully, Yue had decided to actually apply herself this time around and so had relieved their burden somewhat.
Sunset’s training with Setsuna, Takamichi, and Evangeline had ramped up in intensity. Takamichi had begun sparring with her while Evangeline had begun testing how long Sunset could last against an all-out assault from her and Chachamaru - she was up to a minute and a half, now. Setsuna, meanwhile, had begun bringing other members of the kendo club in to help with Sunset’s hand-to-hand training, teaching her how to fight against multiple opponents at once. The one relief to her training regimen came when Setsuna and Mana announced that they had nothing left to teach her of Latin that she couldn’t easily learn on her own. She was using her translation dictionary less and less and could read most of the texts Negi had given her without issue.
Of course, that time was quickly co-opted by another pursuit.
“Practe bigi nar, aldescet!”
Sunset politely applauded as both Yue and Nodoka’s wands sparked flames at their tips. “Congratulations. You are both well on your way to taking the first steps to becoming the prelude to novice mages-in-training.”
Nodoka giggled while Yue rolled her eyes, both managing to keep their spells going even as they turned most of their attention to Sunset. “No, please,” Yue snarked. “Your exorbitant praise is embarrassing.”
“I’ll be sure to tone it down going forward.” Sunset chuckled. “But seriously, good job. You’ve both picked this up fast. And your pronunciations are almost perfect across the board. I think it’s time for the next step.”
“Really?” asked Nodoka as she and Yue doused their flames. “And what’s that?”
“Elemental affinity testing.” She gestured for them to follow and the three girls left the shaded gazebo atop the central tower of the villa and crossed to the training platform ringed by obelisks. “There are a few ways to do this, but the standard formula is to cast the various Sagita Magica - magic arrow - spells and compare the results, as well as how easily they come to you. The practice spells you’ve been using are so simple that any elemental affinity or revulsion is insignificant, but Sagita Magica requires a little more oomph. You’ve both been practicing the incantations, right?” At their nods, she directed their attentions to two of the pillars. “Alright, there are your targets. Start with flame, and fire when ready.”
Her students nodded and faced the pillars, brandishing their wands dramatically before them. Sunset couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.
“Sagita Magica, una ignis!”
Twin arrows of fire shot from their wands, streaking across the empty space to splash harmlessly against the stone. While Yue and Nodoka quietly celebrated their success, Sunset frowned in disappointment.
“Well-executed,” she eventually said, “but underwhelming. I’m guessing something about the spell felt off to both of you?”
Nodoka and Yue exchanged glances before the latter shrugged. “It did feel a bit like my mana was… fighting through something.”
Sunset nodded. “That evidences a lack of affinity. Shame. I was hoping for a couple more pyromancers.” She shook her head. “Ah well, no helping it. Let’s move on to light.”
A few more rounds of trial and error saw Yue and Nodoka lying on the ground, having exhausted their juvenile magic reserves. Sunset nodded in satisfaction. “Alright, looks like we’ve got our affinities. Honya, your affinities are water and wind, a classic mist mage. As for Yue, stone and sand, an earth mage. Sand is one of the less common affinities, so it’ll probably be a little tricky to find you a master when the time comes.”
“You’ll have plenty of time,” Yue muttered. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so drained.”
“That issue will fix itself with practice and training,” Sunset reassured. “Which will give me plenty of time to study up on elementary and intermediate sand magic, as well as reviewing stone, water, and wind.”
“Are you sure you shouldn’t get someone else to help?” Nodoka asked, sitting up. “Maybe Negi-sensei could help me. He has a wind affinity, right? After all, neither of us has a fire affinity like you do.”
Sunset tilted her head in confusion. “Like I- oh!” She slapped her forehead. “That’s right, I haven’t told you. I don’t have a fire affinity. Actually, I don’t have any elemental affinity.”
Nodoka and Yue traded looks of surprise before the latter turned back to Sunset. “You’re going to have to unpack that for us.”
Sunset chuckled and slipped a couple of rings onto the middle fingers of each hand. “Gladly.” She walked to the edge of the pillar and raised her left arm, pointing out at the sky. “Equus equus alicornus. Undetriginta spiritus lucis. Sagita magica series lucis!” The ring on her finger glowed white as twenty-nine bolts of light shot out over the water, exploding into a brilliant display. She then raised her other hand. “Undetriginta spiritus obscuri. Sagita magica series obscuri!” A dark mirror of the previous spell, twenty-nine bolts of darkness shot out and exploded against the sky. Sunset turned and walked back to her two students.
“Don’t mistake this for some sort of unparalleled genius or potential for absolute mastery of magic,” she said. “I said that I don’t have any particular affinity, and I don’t. But that also means that I don’t have any particular weakness. There is no element of magic that is particularly difficult for me to cast, but I will never be able to perform the greatest magics of any of the elements. A fair bit more than a jack of all trades, but ever a goddess of none.”
“B-but you always call yourself a pyromancer,” Nodoka said, confused.
Sunset chuckled. “Just because I don’t possess any elemental affinities doesn’t mean I don’t have any personal affinities. I mentioned my Talent-Based Sub-specialization back in Kyoto, right?”
Nodoka nodded. “I think so. You said something like wielding opposite elements together, right?”
“Close enough. You see, Equestrian magic is different from Earth magic. Suffice to say that Equestrian magic is more versatile. I was able to wield fire and ice in conjunction there in a way that I never could here. That particular combination was a specialty of mine, one that hadn’t been seen in practical use for almost a thousand years before I revived the style. It became my signature of sorts, and I grew rather fond of it. Not to mention that I’ve always been drawn to flames.”
“Even after, well…” Nodoka trailed off, looking away.
“My accident?” Sunset suggested. “Yes, even after that. I had to learn to not be afraid of my magic after that, but I never feared fire.” She chuckled. “I grew up in a bakery, after all; I always knew that fire could burn.”
“Moving on to less macabre topics,” Yue suggested, “this means that you’ll be able to keep teaching us for a while?”
Sunset nodded. “I should be able to get both of you up to intermediate level, at least. But at that point you’ll be learning faster than I can master. We’ll have to find you more permanent teachers then. I’ll see if Wildfire or Takamichi know anyone.”
And thank Tenko neither of you has ice or darkness affinities.
***
There was one more significant addition to Sunset's schedule, but one that cost her little time that she hadn't wanted to spend anyway. Every day in between her training and his, Sunset and Negi would sit together in one of the villa's libraries. Sunset had instructed Negi in meditation the same way Celestia had instructed her all those years ago.
Negi had taken to it about as naturally as Sunset had.
“Stop it.”
Negi winced at the gentle admonition. “Sorry.” He shifted slightly where he sat and began trying to empty his mind again, breathing in a steady rhythm. Sunset - sitting across from him - kept herself in a half-meditative state. It wasn't quite as deep or serene as full meditation, but it allowed her to keep an eye on Negi and notice when his mind started to wander.
As it had just done once again.
“Stop it.”
Negi's eyes opened and he pouted at Sunset. “How can you even tell?”
“Your eyes move when you think,” Sunset said. “I can see it through your eyelids. Focus on your breathing. Empty your mind.”
Negi sighed, slumping a bit. “I'm trying. I've always been a thinker, though. I don't know how to just… stop.”
Sunset sighed as well, bringing herself fully out of her trance. “Believe me, I get it, Wildfire. Playing whack-a-thought is always frustrating. And you and I have it even harder; I get more and more frustrated with each failure, and you chastise yourself more and more. Both of which go against the whole serenity thing we're going for.”
“But you're able to do it so easily.”
“I'm able to do it easily now,” Sunset corrected. “I was just as bad as you when I first started. Heh, if I hadn't been terrified of my magic, I would have been setting things on fire every session that first month.” Sunset reached forward and placed a hand on Negi's shoulder. “You'll need to be patient with this, kid. I know you're used to being the genius who can master just about anything with enough grit, but genius and grit aren't what you need here.”
“But,” Negi looked up, his eyes full of worry, “I need to get this quickly, don't I? I mean, if I lose control again-”
“Oh, you'll definitely lose control again.” Sunset chuckled at Negi's shocked expression. “Wildfire, this was never going to be a quick fix and a panacea. Meditation will help a lot, but it's got some powerful wrath to fight against. Even after you get your breakthrough, it'll still be a while until you'll be able to call upon part of that serenity in the middle of a stressful situation. This is a process, not a goal.”
“More borrowed wisdom from your princess?”
Sunset glared over at Evangeline where she lounged nearby, looking at a book and trying to pretend that she wasn’t interested in what they were doing. “Borrowed wisdom is wisdom still, so long as the borrower understands and internalizes it. If societies could only learn from their own mistakes and not the mistakes of others, we never would have advanced beyond fire.” She turned back to Negi. “But yes, that’s pretty much the speech Tenko-hime gave to me.” She snorted. “Of course, it’s easy for her to talk about patience and long processes. Perks of immortality and all that.”
“I’ve been wondering about that,” Negi said. “You’ve referred to Tenko-hime as a goddess before and referenced her immortality several times. But is that, well…”
“You’re trying to figure out how to ask me if she’s really an immortal goddess without implying that I’m either lying or deluded.” Negi winced and Sunset chuckled. “Relax. There was never going to be a tactful way to ask that.” She leaned back on her hands, staring up at the ceiling. “Tenko-hime is an alicorn, a gestalt being which combines the traits of all three pony tribes. They are functionally immortal, though they can be killed. But I’ll admit that ‘goddess’ is a little bit of an overstatement. Alicorns are more like… are you familiar with the Hawaiian concept of Kupua?”
Negi frowned a bit. “Those are their… gods, right?”
“Kind of.” Sunset thought about how to explain it. “They aren’t so much gods in the traditional sense. More like… humans plus plus. Immortal humans of supernatural affiliation and ability. As much a god as you can get without having a shred of true divinity. That’s alicorns. Tenko-hime is the Alicorn of the Sun, a powerful being who moves the sun across the sky and can draw on its power. Functionally a god in every aspect except a direct connection to the Divine.”
“And… that’s what you wanted to become?”
“That’s what I WILL become.” She chuckled. “Call me Icharus if you’d like, but every alicorn started out as a regular pony. Remember, Cadence used to be a pegasus.” She shook her head and sat up straight. “But that’s enough stalling; back to work.”
Negi flinched at being called out while Evangeline chuckled. “Er, right.”
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Woot to the magic world!!! I. Can. Not. Wait!!! These next few months will be torture! But keep cooking please!
Did not expect I'd ever see a negima crossover on here. I have vague recollections reading the first few after I finished reading Love Hina a long time ago (wonder if there's any hints of Love Hina references hiding in here)
I'll definitely be giving this a look at some point!
Well, Sunset is confident after all.
11869600
The o.g. Negima itself only rarely referenced Love Hina (and the previous work A.I. Love You). To the extent of having Naru and Seta appear in one panel, Motoko and her Sister appear in one panel, and Narus stepsister being a recurring character (but never mentioned as such).
(And A.I. Love You just being referenced in Hakases rant when she finds out Chachamaru is in love with Negi).
11772109
One Sunset did, the other didn't, cause split timelines!
11869800
Got it. Though I'm pretty sure "ludus" is the Latin word.
11869801
tbh, in the story, UQ holder only got involved in the alternate timeline. Otherwise it was basically just a networking organisation, so I can't see a reason why it WOULD get involved unless the story went completely off the rails.
11869871
Remember there is a Sunset who got left behind and now has to help things in the timeline were magic stayed revealed... probably by calling Equestria for aid.
11869802
...oops. Retcon: eros is the familiar term, so she used Greek for both.
Another set of great chapters
*Pounds table with fist excitedly, chanting MARS, MARS, MARS, MARS, MARS!*
Oh what a trip this is going to be. :3
11869600
Me neither if I’m honest and so well done. Negima was near and dear to me and Llve Hina was the first Manga series I owned. So yeah
11870162
Are you interested in any ocs for your story? Because I have one in mind ever since I heard about the universe that your fic adds MLP to ever since I found out how a certain schoolgirl whose name starts with Z is a full demon.
11873368
Negima! already has a ridiculously large cast, even with me sidelining a lot of people. It doesn't really have room for more side characters, and the antagonists and protagonists are already locked in.
That said, if you wanted to write an ambiguously cannonical omake side-story with an OC, I wouldn't object.
11873501
I suck at writing stories. I'm better at making OCs than that. And even then they're not perfect. So a simple no would have been more appreciated.
11873887
I figured a blunt "no" would have been rude without an explanation. If I offended, I apologize.
I'm just so happy there's an update, I've been waiting and it is worth it😆
Thank for the chapters🙏🥰
Oh wow. Sunset definitely needed that bit of catharsis. And to think, it started as a counterprank…
Looking forward to more. You have quite a few engaging character arcs going here.
I take they aren't just trained in Kendo but also in Kenjutsu? Having practiced it, I know how predictable the sport is due its linear footwork and repetitive patterns.
So, the lighter spell is an easy one.
Wait, what?
Oh. Got it.
Bet Evangeline would be jealous if she found out.
So, Sunset started out as a poor meditator? Doesn't surprise me.
I could list all sorts of "borrowed" achievements that proves this... But I'll just use paper. Invented in China during the Han dynasty, it was later passed to the Muslim world and then the Europeans, revolutionizing writing just as every passage improved it just one bit (watermarking, for example, was invented by the papermakers of Fabriano in Italy, and only later spread to everyone else).
So, an Immortal in a Xianxia novel.
Yep, Xianxia protagonist.