Niphru woke again to the smell of roasting meat, immediately excited for breakfast. It appeared that Dawn was making enough food for several days, with jerky being made in the oven, with a closer look showing it to be heated by her magic rather than the enchantments. Niphru nodded to himself; getting practice could be done through the basics of life, not only through dedicated practice.
On that note, he created a plane of force beside the chair and leapt onto it, his fall stuttering as he slowed slightly before breaking the spell.
As Dawn finished up what she was working on, Niphru excitedly exclaimed, “Dawn, I finally figured it out this morning! I can manage a little force magic now!”
Smiling, Dawn reached down to pick him up and hug him while replying, “That is great, now we can both use it! I bet the others will be surprised!”
After a moment, Dawn set him back down and turned back to focus on the food, and Niphru waited patiently for breakfast to be done. Eventually, Dawn finished breakfast, though she still had a fair amount of meat still cooking in the oven, so she had to go back to adjust her flames once while they ate.
Following their meal, they left their home to meet with the others before the advanced lesson, finding some new faces.
Seeing the questioning look on Dawn’s face, Viera walked over to meet her and stated, “We aren’t the only group of talented apprentices. Several of the high mages spend some of their time working to help the advancement of those below them. Our lesson will be with them today, so we will see Morris soon.”
“High mages?” queried Dawn, confused at the term.
“Oh, right. I forgot that you skipped most of the things new people hear because you were brought in at a higher level. There is one archmage, a pair of grand mages for each spire to control the defenses, and then master mages below them. Below that, you have high mages, mages, high apprentices, which we count as, and then normal apprentices. Below that, you have low apprentices, which are the high rank at towns before coming here, and then lesser apprentices. Each group is less firmly defined than the last. For example, master mages and high mages are more a matter of opinion than solid definition.”
Dawn nodded and replied, “Thank you; I have just been thinking of them as better mages. Having specific terms for the different levels of skill is nice.”
After this discussion, they joined the rest of their group to chat for a time as they waited. Niphru took up most of Richard’s time, however, discussing uses of wind magic, and how to make the most out of it.
Eventually, Morris arrived alongside two other mages. Everyone quickly quieted down and shifted their attention to the teachers, who nodded in approval at the rapid focus.
“Today, we will be going over some of the advanced concepts of magic. For a very quick mention, you can take your basic mana manipulation techniques and shift them to have a specific shape. Instead of moving a blob of water, try to hold it in a pyramid or cube as you work with it. Later on, you can use multiple different sections of mana in different shapes to further refine your control,” the woman beside Morris explained. She then held up her hand, water flowing from several pockets in her robe. Following this, she surrounded her hand with different shapes of water as an example.
Morris then continued where she left off, “This is a bit harder with earth, however, so don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t work on the first, or even the hundredth attempt. I’m sure you’ve already noticed that the stone of the tower is a bit odd. It is designed to be usable as practice material, leading it to be more malleable than most when imbued with mana. Once you succeed with it, then attempt to use stone from outside. Our merchant on the first floor can supply several different types for free, as long as you return them when you are finished, or at a low cost otherwise. Don’t just drop those, however. The spire only reabsorbs its own stone.”
The other man then spoke up, “Do not forget that you can also practice while performing daily life activities. Light magic is obvious enough, but you can use fire magic to heat water in the bath or shower, if you let it come out cooler. You can also use it to cook instead of the enchantments, or even to help clean fireproof objects. Water magic can be used to clean yourself without manually scrubbing, and to pull water out of your hair after a bath or shower. Additionally, you can pull the water out of wet clothing if you get caught in the rain. For that matter, either wind or water magic can be used to prevent getting rained on.”
Nodding, Morris remarked, “That is a very useful thing to keep in mind, everyone. Look for any chance to use magic, and use it anywhere you can. You won’t always be able to do so if you travel, but while in Arrival or the wilderness, you will have plenty of ambient mana to use, and no one will mind you using it up. That is our purpose, after all. We have many ways of describing what we do, but in the end, our goal is to use up as much mana as possible to keep it from harming humanity.”
“To continue on, I’m sure you’ve all heard us talking about talent. This is somewhat of an inaccurate term, as it can be changed, with sufficient effort. The mind works with the spirit to control mana, but the mind is not a singular thing, there are layers to it. The part relevant today is called the subconscious, which you do not notice normally, but it works to help keep you alive as well as numerous other tasks. I’m sure you don’t actively try to breathe, or make your heart beat. These are examples of what it does for you. Similarly, suppose you do something so many times you no longer think about it as you do it. In that case, it is an example of having trained your subconscious mind,” the woman said before catching her breath and continuing, “This leads to the concept of training talent. You can work with magic a certain way for long enough that it becomes natural, no longer requiring thought. This is part of how the more skilled mages can manage complex effects without significant time spent on each action. Again, this is part of why we focus so heavily on trying to get you to practice mana shaping. In time, it will become something you no longer think about, you will simply get the result you want immediately.”
Morris then remarked, “You will find that to go beyond a certain point, you can’t really manage it without working on improving your talent this way. That said, there are limits that most cannot surpass, and everyone has their own limits on each type of magic. As an example, Richard over there is better than I am at wind magic in terms of talent. I can brute-force more than he can do, but I simply cannot fully comprehend what I am doing, and thus, I cannot make it natural to myself.”
The other man nodded before speaking up at a measured pace, “The different types of magic each function differently, leading to different levels of understanding. That said, they function the same for different people, so it is possible to teach what you know to another, though their ability to understand is limited by their own knowledge, as well as the inaccuracy of language. Additionally, understanding how they function in a non-magical setting can vastly increase your ability to work with each form of magic. For example, fire requires a fuel source as well as fresh air, and puts off exhausted air and smoke. With magic, you use mana as the fuel, which does not produce smoke, but you rely on natural airflow. If you combine it with a bit of air magic, you can make it burn much hotter. Likewise, if you have fuel, you can make the fire easier to maintain. An example would be using water magic to hold a sphere of oil, air magic to suck air in and spit it out above, then ignite it with fire magic. This will result in a low-maintenance ball of fire that you can split smaller fireballs from.”
The woman followed up by stating, “Sometimes there are also factors that make it more or less difficult to use a given form of magic. Using the former example of fire magic, it is very difficult to perform underwater. Similarly, water magic condenses water from the air, so in dry air, you will struggle. The trick, therefore, is to carry your own source with you. I have multiple waterproof pouches in my robes to carry water. Morris learned to compress normal dirt into stone. One of the mages specialized in fire discovered a mixture of powders that burn underwater. Each of these allows the usage of magic in a place it normally would be difficult to perform.”
These explanations continued for a while, though they were less interesting, as water and earth magic were of little interest to either Niphru or Dawn. Unfortunately, there was no mention of force magic, leaving both disappointed as they spoke over their bond about what they had learned.
Surprisingly, there were no questions from the gathered individuals, and Morris mentioned, “We will be back in two days to teach some combat techniques. Part of our goals is to push back the wilderness, which requires being able to deal with the twisted creatures it creates. We have recently decided that each of our groups will be going for some hands-on training soon.”
Hearing this, multiple people started muttering to each other worriedly. Seeing this, Morris shook his head and continued, “You don’t need to worry too much, your teachers will be there with you. We have each set aside a full week, not including travel time, in order to assist if needed, and give advice. I recommend getting some rest and then practicing what has been discussed today; the mana shaping exercises are quite helpful.”
Following this, the three returned upstairs, leaving the students to talk amongst themselves. Niphru saw several people worried about the trip and remarked, “I came from the wilderness, it isn’t that bad on the edges, and I don’t think they’d want everyone to go too deep.”
Dawn nodded, stating, “Niphru spent quite a bit of time hunting, including hunting twisted creatures, and only needed help a few times. He does have some advantages, but compared to a group, that isn’t anything special.”
Hearing this, most of the people brightened up, less worried about the danger. With their fear partially gone, everyone split up, with the agreement to meet up again tomorrow for practice.
Dawn and Niphru returned to their residence to have something to eat, after arranging to meet up with the rest of their group in an hour or so to practice together.
Dakon· Dec 14, 2023
