The next day passed much the same in regard to practice, leaving everyone a bit more confident in their less talented forms of magic.  The other groups’ fire mages also joined in with the flame-tossing exercise while taking breaks, as well.  Realizing the complexity improved their opinion of Dawn, seeing how easily she handled it compared to them.

When it came time for their combat training, however, only Dawn’s own group accepted her being a teacher for fire magic.  The others were muttering about things similar to “The teachers are insulting us, having a kid try to teach us.”

Sighing, Dawn explained, “I came from a village that survived a Black Tide, and assisted in the defense.  Niphru, who will assist, lived in the wilderness.  If you think we are not good enough, how about a little challenge?  If anyone can hit me with fire magic in any way within ten seconds, I will ask to have someone else teach you.  Similarly, the same will apply if I cannot prove I could hit all of you in under five seconds.  Does this sound acceptable?”

After some hushed conversation between the five who were unhappy with the decision, they agreed, two standing in front of Dawn and three standing behind.  After ensuring there was a reasonable distance between everyone so they couldn’t just jump at her, she casually waved her arm and stated, “Begin.”

The sudden storm of fire magic drew shocked gasps from the other groups, who hadn’t been paying attention to them before.  Meanwhile, Dawn didn’t even move, relying on her ability to sense mana to keep track of the attacks.  With ease, she pulled three people’s fireballs into orbit around herself, though another held control firmly, so she simply forced the flame to go out instead.  The fifth was tricky, however, blasting a wave of fire and then a continual spray.

This trick, however, wasn’t enough to stop her, as she condensed the fire into an orb between them, then used that to block the rest of the attack.

Several seconds later, she had twenty fireballs swarming around her in a chaotic dance, and she announced, “Time is up!  My turn!”

As soon as she finished speaking, four orbs of fire shot out towards each person, aimed to hit anywhere they could move.  As the others shouted in fear at the storm of fire, Dawn stopped all the fireballs just before impact, holding them in place while their targets swore and stepped back.

“I take it that proves I can handle a bit of teaching for fire magic?” remarked Dawn with an amused tone of voice as she snuffed out the flames hovering near the others.

All but one of them agreed, the fifth opting to instead join another group and not train with their fire magic.  Seeing this, Dawn simply shrugged and shook her head, mildly upset that her age was enough to drive them away despite her skill.

She then queried, “Does anyone have questions about the tests we just did?”

Almost perfectly in sync, two people started talking before one stopped, “How did you make your fire move so fast?  None of ours were nearly as quick.”

The second person nodded, and Dawn smiled as she explained, “This is a bit of an advanced trick compared to the normal way.  First, you want to try to compress an orb of fire as much as possible, then stop holding it in one small area as you throw it in the opposite direction.  The fire races out the back, helping push the rest forward.”

As the others began to chat about the idea, Dawn held her hand out to stop them before continuing, “This only works if you keep your control light, so someone else can take control easily, if they know what they are doing.  I’ve heard some twisted creatures can use magic as well, so you want to be careful when using this method.”

At this point, Niphru interjected, “I can confirm some of the creatures can use magic, or have abilities similar to magic.  I have also run into things that have ways to make themselves immune to fire.  While I’m not a monster like what I am speaking of, I can easily do what Dawn mentioned and take control of flames others throw, even if they don’t make it easy on purpose like we did yesterday.”

Dawn continued, “This means there is still reason to use slower methods where you focus more on control.  Compress as much fire as you can and keep a firm hold on it, and you will find it easier to keep control if another tries to take over compared to the method I just showed you.  Niphru and I have found that lower density is easier to disrupt or take over, while high density is much more resistant.”

Seeing the nods of understanding, she moved on to more general information, remarking, “While you can just throw fire at something, aiming can make it much more effective.  If something tries to bite you, why not shove a fireball in there first?  Not only is it a possibility that such an attack will stop them, but you also get through their skin or shell, making it much more effective.  Niphru can confirm that going for the head, in general, is incredibly effective, though a bit horrifying, in my opinion.”

At this mention, Niphru spoke up, “Fire to the face can cripple sight and smell at the same time, and potentially hearing too.  It is rather messy, but it does leave most of the body intact, and leather workers prefer that the majority of the skin be undamaged.  So while going for the body is less likely to cause as much of a sickening mess, it is less effective and harms the value of the materials you can get from the body.”

Dawn shuddered before remarking, “I’ve seen some of the bodies he brought to have butchered, and have had nightmares about their burned skulls.  But he was able to defeat things you would think were much stronger than him due to that.  But don’t let that keep you from aiming for the body if you think you are more likely to hit there.  I have firsthand experience that your body burning can easily cripple your ability to do anything due to the pain.”

“Wait, you mean you’ve been badly burned but still use fire magic so close to yourself with those orbiting balls of fire?!  You’ve gotta be making that up!” exclaimed someone in the group.

Smiling, Dawn remarked, “I feel more affinity with fire since it happened, and am proud to say I survived an inferno.  As for making it up, I have the scars to prove it.”

She then turned away from them, lifting up the rear of her clothes to display the side of her back, the scarring clearly visible there.  After a moment, she then straightened her clothing and turned to face the group again, spotting several shocked expressions.

Having spoken a while about fire magic, Dawn then went over what both she and Morris had said about other forms of magic.  After all, fire wasn’t always the best option.