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“Alright, now repeat after me; Rain of Gain!”
Link watched as droplets from the faucet floated over to a small plant and gently “rain” down on it.
“Okay, you’ve seen how to works so try it yourself now.”
Link nodded before saying, “Alright. Rain of… gain.”
Unfortunately, nothing happened.
Zelda narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re not saying it right. You can’t pause in the middle of the spell and you need to say it with conviction.”
“I’m sorry.” Link chuckled. “It’s not your fault. I just can’t take a spell called ‘rain of gain’ seriously.” He rubbed his forehead as he continued to laugh.
Zelda rolled her eyes in exasperation before asking him, “Do you want to move onto something else?”
“Yes, that might work.” He snickered before sighing. “Is there any spell that I’ll be able to say without laughing?”
Zelda paused, thinking back on what she’d learned, before saying, “Well, there’s Sunlight Spike.”
“Oh cool. What’s that?”
Well, that’s a good sign at least. She thought to herself before explaining, “It’s along the lines of rain of gain in which it can help plants grow, which is what we’re learning.”
He nodded, smiling. “Alright. How do I go about casting it then?”
“It’s in much the same way, except you have to use actual sunlight instead of a source of water.”
“That makes sense. Well then, let’s get started!”
One hour later
Link had made some progress on casting sunlight spike, at the very least. Unfortunately, his plant had yet to sprout which wasn’t a good sign.
“Ugh, this is taking too long…” Zelda grumbled to herself, sitting on the floor.
“I agree.” Link sighed, sitting down beside her. “I wish this were easier… then I could move onto the cooler spells!”
“Unfortunately, things like that never come easy. I mean, I still struggle with some of the more advanced spells and I’m a grade ahead of you!”
“Hmm. That’s not promising for my chances…”
They both fell silent and they each could feel the frustration rolling off the other. Eventually, Zelda couldn’t take it anymore and said, “I’m sorry if this isn’t working.”
Surprised, Link looked at her as she continued with, “I’m top of my class yet I can’t even tutor someone…”
“Oh no! No, no, it’s not your fault!” Link quickly interjected. “You’re an incredibly intelligent and motivated witch, which is why you were chosen to teach me!”
He then sighed. “The problem is me. I’m just not smart enough, I guess…”
“That’s crap and you know it.” Zelda immediately said. “The fact that you’ve made it this far in the curriculum and are even at this school in the first place clearly shows that you’re intelligent! No, the problem we’re having is something else…”
“Like what?”
Zelda stopped for a minute, deep in thought, before she lit up and said, “I think it has to do with your motivation!”
“Hm?”
“Think about it! Something either distracts you or leaves you feeling discouraged and it saps your energy, leaving you unmotivated. I’m sure if we figure out a system that would help you move your butt, it would do wonders! You would do wonders!”
Link couldn’t help but smile at her excitement. “You think that’ll work?”
“Yes I do! For starters, we’ll use a reward system.”
“Reward system?”
“Yep! Every time you succeed in doing something, whether that’d be learning a spell, finishing an essay, doing a 10-minute study session or something else, you get a reward.”
“I see. And what would those rewards be?”
“That all depends on how big your accomplishment is. For example, for finishing an essay, you reward yourself with a treat that you like. I know you like Hylian Donuts so maybe use that as your treat. Just don’t go overboard. And for finishing a class, you splurge on something bigger and more significant, like maybe a new wand or piece of furniture since I know you’ve wanted those things. Do you get what I’m saying?”
Link smiled. “Yes, I do. It’s a great idea!”
“Thank you.” Zelda smiled back before she said, “Now, let’s brainstorm ideas for this system.”
One week later
“…and our final demonstration for the day is Link Vinculum, who is going to be showing us his plant growth spells which he learned under the tutelage of Zelda Harkarian.” Headmaster Impa said.
Link smiled and walked up, feeling nervous but knowing that that was normal.
“Alright, now you’ve learned Rain of Gain, Sunlight Strike and Compost Crumble, correct?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Alright. We have just planted a sunflower seed in this pot and now you have to get it to sprout using the aforementioned spells. Are you ready?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Excellent. Please continue.”
Link took a deep breath before pointing his old wand at a nearby watering can and said, “Rain of Gain!”
And a significant amount of water rose up from the can and he carefully let it drip into the pot.
Once that was done, he said, “Sunlight Strike!” and carefully directed sunlight from a nearby window to shine upon the pot for about a minute. He could begin to see the soil gently shift around, which was a good sign.
Encouraged, he said, “Compost Crumble!”
And using that spell, he carefully maneuvered some fertilizer over to the pot, crumbled it over the soil and once that was done, it only took a few more minutes until a decently sized sprout began to grow before stopping.
Link grinned proudly as the Headmaster measured the sprout and said, “It’s half-an-inch tall! Well done!”
Link chuckled at the applause and said, “Thank you. However, at least half of the credit should go to my tutor, Zelda. It was thanks to her that I learned this much in the first place!”
“Yes, quite right. Well done, Ms. Harkarian!”
Zelda smiled and blushed as more applause rang out.
“That will be all for today. Have a safe journey home!”
Link walked up to Zelda, who grinned and hugged him. “Well done!”
He chuckled as he hugged her back. “Thank you. I meant what I said, though. You were a big help!”
She smiled at him as she pulled away. “Thanks.”
As they began to walk away, she asked him, “Now, when do you want your reward?”
“Soon. I want to relax first for a bit, though.”
“Fair enough. Doing spells can be exhausting.”
“Tell me about it.”
They both laughed as they walked away.
From that point onwards, Link and Zelda grew closer together, both academically and personally.
And by the time the end of the school year came around, he had finished all of his classes, earning top marks in some of them!
So what was the big reward he gave himself? A date with Zelda.