I went back to the place where I discovered the barrier.

"Explico magicis obice." 

A second closer look at the barrier yielded no new information.

"Vi aer ignis aqua spiritu quaseo obice laxo." 

I tried to break it, but nothing happened.

I found a weak point, yet my magic proved too weak to overcome it. Remembering Akois's words, I let out a long, dejected sigh. I had to break the ice magic as part of a test. He knew I couldn't break the barrier directly, but removing the ice magic might trigger the barrier's natural collapse. My initial approach to the problem may have been incorrect. I wanted to unfreeze everyone after I found a doctor because I thought it would be best to show them how I found them. I worried that a longer period of unfreezing could have a bad impact on the reanimation, but I guess I'll just have to act quickly after I unfreeze everything and everyone.

"Dona mihi ignis."

Nothing happened.

"Dona mihi ignis!"

Again, nothing.

Odd. Something was seriously amiss. I've always succeeded in casting magic, particularly fire magic. Flames would come out naturally whenever I wanted. Perhaps my focus wasn't sufficient.

"Dona mihi flamma ignis spiritus!!!"

I was sweating profusely, feeling incredibly hot, yet unable to produce any flames.

My incantations were flawless, and I focused intently, but my magic was inexplicably blocked. The option that I lost my magic was impossible. To begin with, I doubt anyone can actually lose magic. A myth about a wicked old witch mentioned it, but the requirements were extraordinary and didn't apply to me. Something may have blocked my magic; however, I was completely unaware of what it might be. I doubted a spell could block magic. I saw nothing capable of absorbing magic so far. My magic worked perfectly during my fight with Akios in the mansion. Perhaps going back inside will enable me to use magic again.

I went back to the mansion where only me and the frozen sculptures were present.

"Dona mihi ignis!"

A weak flame appeared.

I managed to cast magic, but it was weaker than I wanted. I walked around as I tried to clear my head of all thoughts and focused on the essence of flames.

"Dona mihi ignis."

A flame of the desired size showed up, but it extinguished quickly because I called it forth as a test.

"Dona mihi ignis."

A weak flame appeared.

Since I nervously paced around, I found myself at the position where I called forth my first weak fire. Perhaps the location was significant. The reason remained a mystery, but testing confirmed the theory's validity. Circling the mansion, I summoned my flames to test their potency. The flames' strength guided me upstairs to the main study, where Leo was frozen. Possibly, Leo's bond with the fire spirit intensified my magic at that location. 

I was left with no choice, so I commenced my fire incantation inside the mansion. With a powerful focus, I began to thaw everything around, starting in the main study area. Although the flames were intense, their gentle nature melted the ice gradually. With one area thawed, they continued to the remaining part of the mansion, leaving it pristine. After my flames melted everything in the mansion, I focused them on the outside. A sudden large thud behind me made me instantly lose all of my focus. Every single one of my flames vanished instantly.

Leo's body was entirely thawed, yet I couldn't find any indication of life. He just collapsed.

"No!" I exclaimed.

Despite the thawing of everyone, there were no signs of life. I concentrated harder and spotted signs of life down the hall, which seemed to have appeared suddenly.

"I knew you could do it," I heard Akios' voice from the hallway.

He entered the room in a celebratory mood. A quick glance out the window confirmed, my expectation, that the barrier had been broken. All the ice had already disappeared, even though I mainly focused on the inside. The mansion and its surroundings became a free place. Despite defrosting everything, I remained dissatisfied.

"Leo and the others- they aren't showing any signs of life," I said as I nervously glanced around.

"So what?" said Akios, looking at me strangely. "They are strangers to you, are they not? Why would you care for them?"

"This isn't right," I whispered.

"People die all the time. It's normal," Akios said, uninterested.

"No... this is not right, I can't bear the thought of..." I continued in a quiet tone, dreading of the situation in which everyone was already dead.

"What?" Akios interrupted me.

"We need to bring a doctor," I requested. "You can teleport. Bring someone here quickly! We need to reanimate them."

"A doctor? Reanimation?" 

Akios showed surprise, but quickly got over his initial shock.

"You are being so silly right now," Akios said as he laughed. "I never heard of a witch calling for a doctor." 

He laughed again. 

"If you are a witch, shouldn't you help them with your magic?"

"Please! I can't reanimate them, but a doctor could do it naturally."

"I get it. Even if you wanted to do something, you couldn't with your current magic level," Akios said it as though he was feeling sorry for me. 

"Such a pitiful girl."

Akios appeared to have no intention of assisting them. He was most likely responsible, thus his apathy. I was about to leave the room when he called me back.

"Stop!" he shouted.

I froze, startled by his shout, despite anticipating nothing from him.

"Well, you passed my test and as a wonderful teacher, I must reward you," he said. "I'll bring a doctor here," Akios smiled. His smile creeped me out. Akios changed his opinion too quickly.

As promised, he quickly teleported and came back with a doctor.

"Dear doctor, would you reanimate these people, please?" Akios asked.

With a nod, the doctor promptly began his work. He began to massage the area over Leo's heart. It was my first time seeing a doctor at a reanimation. My amazement was profound, and I desperately hoped for the doctor's success. Eventually, the doctor gave up on Leo, declaring his efforts futile. He went to the hallway and examined the unfrozen servants there.

"Didn't he give up too quickly?" I said my thoughts out loud. "Is there no way to save Leo and the others?"

"The doctor is no good, as you see, Calytrix," Akios said triumphantly, "But I can bring them back."

"Necromancy?" I asked sadly.

I knew it wasn't the right answer or the thing to do.

"Well, I'll use a bit of science that you seem so fond of and a bit of magic. My powers differ from yours."

"Really? They can be brought back as naturally as possible?" I asked.

"Of course, but I don't work for free even if my cute student begs me," Akios seemed like he could change his personality quick.

"I require a subcontract. I'll ask you to lend some of your power to my master in the time of need," he proposed.

I hesitated before answering him. Making a contract, lending power, was a serious thing. It wasn't even for Akios but for this his master, whom I knew nothing about.

"I can help this person either," I heard the doctor telling us about his progress from the hallway.

"No! That can't be! Are they all dead?" I said while slightly shaking. "I didn't want to..."

"What?" Akios interrupted me.

"I don't want to be in a place with lots of corpses," I said, as I panicked. "I don't want to walk among them."

"I understand. We should help them," Akios said. "If we leave them like this, it'll be like you played in a dead owner's mansion, while his body and those of the servants were still freshly murdered."

"You're the one who killed them," I accused him.

"No! You misunderstood. I found everything like this when I prepared for your test. Somebody else did this," he defended himself. "But from the way you're looking at me, you won't believe me."

"Lectio animo!" Akios used a spell on himself.

His thoughts were so audible it felt like they were my own. He wasn't lying. Akios actually found the place already frozen and decided to test me. He thought I had great potential as a witch and if I train properly, I could help his master Andrezey save the world.

"Finis!" he stopped the spell.

"It seems that you didn't lie," I said. "You're doing this for your master and he wants to save the world."

"See? I would be a terrible teacher if I lied and I'm not like that," Akios said. "Do you want me to help Leo and the others?"

"I guess I could trust you," I said, unsure.

"Excellent."

Using both hands, he clasped my left hand and commenced chanting the contract spell in an unfamiliar language. His magic was unlike my own. I'd never heard those incantations before, yet the spell was successful. The contract was in force. I felt restricted, even though he left my magic untouched. My magic was bound. Akios or his master could bring out or stop my magic without me agreeing to it. In his thoughts, he mentioned his master would save the world and he could revive all the people from the mansion.

I probably didn't do the wrong thing. If something goes bad, there are always a lot of ways to break off a contract.

 A magical pentagram with unknown letters appeared on the back of my left hand. I attempted a close examination, but Akios' spell-casting diverted my attention before I could complete it. He unleashed a potent spell engulfing the entire mansion. It began as a kind, gentle magic, but it evolved into something darker and heavier. I didn't like how it ended at all. 

The sounds of awakening filled the mansion. Leo also woke up, looking normally. There was no sign of decay or scars. A necromancer's creation, a zombie, would flee the scene of its death instantly. Though outwardly he appeared normal, his eyes held a lifelessness that startled me. They were dark, with a hint of brown. Perhaps that was his natural colour, but I had a feeling it wasn't.

"You- are you?" Leo spoke like a normal human. With the gait of a healthy individual, he rose and came towards me. I jumped a few steps back. His vacant stare and the ominous nature of the spell's final stage compelled me to withdraw.

"Oh, are you shy, Calytrix? I didn't know you were that type," Akios said."Everything is all right now. You did well." 

He smiled lightly. 

"I'll let you rest, for now. We'll talk later." 

Akios used his teleportation magic on me.

"Wait! "I said, but it was too late.

The teleportation started. With many questions unanswered and problems unsolved, the teleportation was unstoppable. For now, I accepted it; I'll tackle the new problems later. Leo's intense gaze was the last thing I saw. His words were lost to the teleportation magic's silencing effect.