Seemed that there really was no way to get around the verbal issue, then. Minako frowned slightly at the information, closing her notebook and setting it to the ground.
How to get around that? Would whistling work? She used it almost as much as her hands or her phone, at least to get someone’s attention. And she used her mouth to whistle, so, hey, in theory…
Oh, but what do I know? she thought, huffing slightly. Nerves threatened to twist her stomach into knots, but Minako grinned and bore through it with practice and willpower. Nothing to be done if she couldn’t do it; and if Mr. Caleb wanted to make her his only student and dedicate his time to finding a way to work around it, all the more reason to give it her all!
Fire Bolt–that was the little ball, right? Minako rolled up her sleeves and rubbed her hands together as fast as she could until the palms were warm from friction alone, as if it would help a spark generate.
Verbal–she blew a sharp note of air between her teeth and flicked her wrist, as if twirling an invisible polearm–and somatic, equals magic! Fire Bolt!
Minako felt a flush blooming under her scarf and bounced from foot to foot, rubbing her hands once again. Another whistle, and gesture–she thought with all her might about arcane energies, and the way she felt whenever she casted Agi with Orpheus, and–!
Still. Nothing happened. She stomped her foot against the grass and cracked each finger independently.
I, Minako began, biting at her lip as she stalled her signing briefly. I um, I don’t. Think I can do it. I’m sorry.
Caleb could feel Minako’s disappointment in his chest, and he couldn’t blame her. Thinking over the way she did the somatic aspects of the spell were wonderful, and she did attempt a form of a verbal component that was within her power.
Honestly, he was proud of her.
Walking over to her and putting a gentle hand on her shoulder, “First, you did an excellent job on the somatic component; there was a lot of energy there. And the verbal component that you substituted was brilliant. I am very proud of your first attempt. This verbal component issue is something that we can hopefully find a counter for, but it was a good idea to whistle...maybe that is something that we can look further into...”
As Caleb’s mind drifted....a thought came to him: cantrips are innate spells within the caster....they can’t be taught.
Caleb slapped his forehead with his hand, “ Scheisse! I should have remembered that,” turning towards Minako, “I am terribly sorry, but I have made a mistake: cantrips are spells that are innately known by each caster. Since these spells are so ingrained within their mind, one cannot be taught cantrips that they do not already know.”
Slight shame found itself on Caleb’s face in the form of his reddening face.
Returning to his spellbook, Caleb flipped through the pages, trying to find any spell that a low level that he can teach her that didn’t have a verbal component...and after a couple seconds of looking, he found one: Catapult.
Slamming his book down and turning towards Minako, a smile on his face, “While this spell is of the 1st-level, it does not require any verbal component, just the somatic!”
Caleb grabs Minako’s attention and performs the Catapult spell on a boulder a couple feet away and tosses it about 10 feet away.
“Just imagine the target that you want to move being weightless and that you have total control over it’s trajectory. It is a lower level spell, so we can safely assume that if you can do any magic that you can perform this spell.”