Another pine needle, and another, and another, they go up like flash paper every single time, each time Alice picks one she tries to hold back more and more but it always ends the same. The only modicum of progress that she seemed to be making is the needles take longer to burst, but they always do, the progress she seemed to be making at first slips away as the more frustrated she gets the worse she performs. Hours pass as the sun gets lower in the sky and now several branches of the pine tree are completely bare, Isaac lays back in a chair and reads a book at this point now rather bored of watching her fail. Alice keeps on trying in her overly stubborn manner, sweat builds on her forehead as she tries different positions, sitting, standing, holding it in one hand or both, closing her eyes, no matter what she tries the results always seem to end up the same. As the sun lowers just behind the trees, the sky with the orange glow of the sunset, the chirping of the birds, it all seems calm... or at least it is except for about once every thirty seconds or so there's a bright flash of light, puff of flame and loud swearing coming from Alice.
Alice: "That was so close c'mon i got this just o-one more ju-" Alice reaches out for another needle on the branch but feels her legs give out beneath her, lightheaded and shivering from the cold which she only just now noticed since she stopped concentrating, she thinks to herself, what's going on? why do i feel so weak?
The sound of a book shuts closed and footsteps on the grass approach Alice who turns back to see Isaac with his arms crossed over his chest.
Isaac: "Alright kid it's do or die time, you ready to show me what you learned?"
Alice: "W-what.. no I wasn't able to get it to work, i... i keep failing, i don't know what's wrong it seems so simple"
Isaac: "Of course, it is simple, you've been trying all day, now tell me what you feel right now"
Alice: "I... don't know i guess, disappointment? annoyed? fru-" Isaac cuts her off.
Isaac: "I meant physically kid, what are you feeling?"
Alice: "Oh... exhausted, lightheaded... drained i guess... kinda nauseous actually"
Isaac: "Good, now get ready to defend yourself or this might actually kill you" Isaac holds out his gauntlet clad hand out towards her almost as if he's doing something, but Alice sees nothing there.
Alice: "What are you talking about i can't do anything, I'm way too exhausted to do anymore tra-eugh.." Her stomach turns, Alice feels like she's going to throw up, her vision starts to go blurry. "W-what's.. ha-hhgn.."
Isaac: "What you are experiencing is the level of miasma present in tier one magic zones, concentrate kid, protect yourself, cover your body with your aura or you won't survive very long" Isaac's voice sounds warped and warbled to Alice, she's cognizant but starting to feel out of it now.
Alice smells copper, she puts her hands to her nose as she feels drips of blood hanging off her lips, this guy is insane, she doesn't have any energy left what is he expecting her to do about it? Alice grits her teeth and raises her hand up towards the source of her frustration, fuck it just go for it at this point. She summons up what little aura she can muster as a very faint swirling cone of magic pushes back against the miasma repelling most of it from going towards her. Isaac shakes his head as he looks down at her in disapproval.
Isaac: "Kid that's not right, i'm going to give you to the count of three before i drown you in miasma again, either do it right and protect yourself with your aura or use the time i give you to pray to whatever gods you believe in you ready kid? .... one...."
Isaac steps forward once, the wave of miasma starts pushing back, Alice winces, her hand trembles as she can't manage to keep the output up and the swirling cone coming from her hands starts to fade and shrink.
Isaac: "Two... " He steps forward again, the wave of invisible miasma gets so dense it now ripples and warps the air as if twisted by the heat of a flame, the miasma pushes Alice's aura back more and more till it's only about an inch from her fingers now, she's trying her hardest to push back but with her exhaustion and low reserves of aura she can feel the tingling and burning of the miasma touching her fingers.
Isaac: "Three!" He juts his hand forward and Alice feels her magic give out, she barely has anything left, she can't push it back anymore, panicking she curls up into a ball and covers her head, she has no choice but to try and infuse herself with her magic, she doesn't have time to think about how to do this she only hopes she doesn't explode like the pine needles, she feels what little magic she has flood her body. She feels the heat from her core spread around through her muscles and to her skin, the cold of the fall air seems to disappear as it's almost unbearably hot now, she lays there curled up hoping that she doesn't explode or get consumed by the miasma...
Alice looks up... confused, her skin tingles but she hasn't exploded or puked her guts out, or at least she thinks so, she's way too exhausted to really think right now, she looks up at an Isaac who smiles down to her and puts his hand away, the wave of the miasma clears but Alice no longer feels the cold.
Isaac: "There we go, i knew that would work, honestly all you sorcerers are just too easy to understand"
Alice is quiet for a while, she takes a while to understand but as she looks down at her hands she can see the faint glow of her wispy blue aura coming off her skin.
Alice: "How... did you know that wouldn't kill me?"
Isaac: "Well simple, you kept putting way too much magic into things and destroying them, so i had you exhaust yourself till you had barely any left, and now that you didn't have enough to kill yourself you can go ahead and get used to the feeling, how does it feel by the way?"
Alice: "I... huh, it's... not cold anymore... it feels weird, it tingles a bit.. how long do i have to keep this up for?"
Isaac: "Oh that's easy, just keep it up forever now, while you're eating, while you're sleeping, get used to it kid, you drop that aura for a second in a magic zone and you're going to have a bad time"
Alice: "... You can't be serious, i feel like i'm about to pass out and i'm meant to keep this up indefinitely? how am i supposed to manage to do that??"
Isaac: "Mana skin is the simplest and most basic application, it will protect you from all things, cold, heat, physical attacks, and most importantly magic, you will practice until you can always have this on, if you don't the miasma will kill you, the cold of this forest will kill you, and a wolf could easily kill you."
Alice looks down at her hands, she's shaking and feels as if she's on the verge of passing out, she can feel the faint magic coursing through her entire being.
Alice: "So... i just have to keep this up then.. okay, uhm... can we get something to eat, i'm starving and i've been training all day and honestly i feel pretty faint right now.
Isaac smiles and beckons her as he starts walking over to the cart.
Isaac: "You're almost ready kid, c'mon lets get you some food so you don't end up keeling over and dying, plus i'm going to get to give you a little preview of what your future holds, the food you're going to eat is unlike anything you've had before."
Alice hobbles up to her feet starts to slowly make her way over, she winces a bit as she limps her way there purely from the cramps of standing and training all day.
Alice: "Oh yeah? you fancy yourself a cook or something? you don't really seem the type to do that to be honest" Alice has a pained smile, Isaac smiles back as he opens the back of the cart, pops open a crate and pulls out what... seems to be a potato, but it's strange, it has bands of blue and purple colors over it and has a strangely uneven bumpy surface.
Isaac: "You know how everything in zones over 0 has magic inside of them?"
Alice: "Sure yeah you told me that already"
Isaac: "What do you think happens if you were to eat creatures and plants that are magical?"
Alice seems to think to herself a bit, Isaac is grinning quite a bit
Isaac: "You're going to get your first taste of magical food and ingredients kid."