In the passing time on their journey the days were apart from the cultist mostly uneventful.
At day they would normally travel along the crude path, after another day and a half leaving the forest and wandering along a hilly area, which painted together with tall green grass and some evergreen trees a beautiful picture. They encountered rarely some monsters, which René let mostly handle Mikael alone to hone his skills.
When possible, he would also train to concentrate on his mana, using what little he could while maintaining a state of vigilance.
At night then the serious training began.
The help René gave lessened each night, and Mikael could control his mana with passing time and repeating exercise more fluidly. Entering a meditative state also was mich easier, and after more than two weeks of travel he could stay in this for a longer period of time and complete multiple circles through his system.
They encountered more traveler in run down clothes and different attire along the way, indicating that they got near their goal, Miners Hut.
Mikael and René sat together on the bonfire, roasting over it a hare René managed to hunt right out its lair.
The smell of burning fat and fresh meat made them hungry, as the last week they mostly ate their provisions, few wild vegetables as their previous ones got too wet and turned moldy.
"This took a bit longer than I had expected. Didn't knew it was this hard to stay on track."
"Then why did you let me guide us. Told you I don't know how to read a map. Could have chipped in when I led us astray."
"You need to learn. Reading a map is a essential skill you have to master. At least you could train in the surplus of time. Your control reached an acceptable level."
René praised as he turned the skinned hare, checking how much longer it needed.
"Then you show me how to create a spell?" Mikael asked excited.
Over the last couple of days as he overcame the uncomfortable feeling of guilt he trained like a madman. Forcing himself to do another round of a circulation when he was already exhausted made up for the lack of control. René told him he needed even better control, so he grew a bit frustrated.
'I want to create some of these phenomena myself. Igniting a fire with a simple flick of a finger or strengthening my body towards the inhuman.'
"Yes, I think you are ready to try your first real magic. As I said before: mostly it depends on a solid imagination, a body that withstand the created force and control. I'll be here and guard you, so before you can do something stupid I can intervene. And the first thing you will create is this." he held out his hand, and on his palm a small but hot fire was lit, burning without a visible source. Only Mikael could feel the subtle mana which fueled it.
'Finally!' Mikael rejoiced.
"Many choose this as a start because it is so vivid. Everyone knows it, feels it and can picture a dancing flame. The challenge is to give it the right amount of mana, provide a consistent amount and have the picture right. You want a small fire, then don't picture a raging inferno. Want it stable, then don't make it flicker like a bonfire. The fire changes as your image changes."
Underlining his comment was the flame on his palm, varying in size and heat, also the color turned from orange to red, blue then green.
Mikael followed the presentation closely, taking mental notes.
"Can I create a fire everywhere, or does it have to be on my hands?"
He asked, because while training he noticed that from many parts over his body mana escaped outwards, be it hands, feet, navel or head.
"Theoretical, yes, but it's the easiest to do from the hands. There a natural path was created to let mana escape. And to have a hot and loud fire burning over the head or beneath your feet can quickly disrupt your concentration, as it isn't in your field of view. To see the magic makes it easier to control. In emergencies on the other hand with enough practice a spell shot from the foot safes your skin when tied up. One of the reasons magicians get drugged or beaten unconscious by the more knowledgeable enemies."
René hrumphed, before explaining the process of creating that fire.
"You'll start with a small fire, don't want to set anything ablaze or knocking yourself out after using too much mana. We do it together, step by step. Start with looking at me while also moving your mana, slowly and without disruption."
Mikael followed, now easily connecting with the lake of mana and its many branches inside him.
"Good, now imagine something small and burning without a wind blowing, a candle, or maybe a torch."
'This is a bit harder.' Mikael could maybe think of a fire, bit in his imagination it flickered or was bigger than it should be. It didn't help that the fire next to him influenced the intensity of his flame. But still, he thought of a torch, held upright and without disruption.
"Got it. What's next?"
"The fuel. Your mana is most concentrated on your abdomen, while your head made the important image and the hand is used to create that phenomenon. Instead of a circulation, make that fuel flow from both parts towards the palm. Steady and evenly, don't be afraid when you get a result. For a starter say something to guide yourself. Maybe: Energy within me, gather towards my palm and create my imagined element, fire."
Mikael then held out his right hand, palm facing upwards. He certainly had small trouble keeping the image steady as well as the flow of mana. Thus he repeated after René, and certainly it helped. The mana gathering in his palm felt warm, and before even a spark came, a fire jumped into existence, creating a small buff when igniting. Instantly Mikael felt the mana inside him fueling the fire at a fast rate, and now it also began being influenced by the natural wind, flickering and dancing.
Mikael himself was for a moment rigid, staring at the fire he himself conjured out of nothingness. A grin spread out onto his face, and he looked at René in glee. "I did it! I could do it!" he said happy, not forgetting to still concentrate.
"That's right. Good job, but keep for now your attention on that element on your palm." René nodded, also having a teethy grin.
In his excitement Mikael had trouble keeping the amount of mana consistent, as he talked fueling a bit more to it.
In a blink the previous relatively small fire grew to double its size, creating a wave of heat that made Mikael flinch backwards.
"Woah, hot, Mother!" it slipped out his mouth. Quickly he adjusted his mana output, yet this time in proportion it was too little. The result was the fire got smaller fast, only 2-3 centimeters high before getting extinguished by a nightly cold breeze.
Staring at his now weirdly cold and empty palm, he saw no visible damage or burning, only his skin was more reddish. Then, exhaustion hit him like a carriage, and the World seemed to spin around him. Together with a slightly upset stomach and a headache, he closed his eyes and laid on the ground, trying to reduce his ake.
"Ohhh, it was never this bad." the smell of that hare didn't help to settle his stomach, and René took it off the fire, ripping out some flesh from it and eating it in savor.
"Better eat some of it now, even if your belly says otherwise. Except sleeping and actively meditating, eating helps your body recover mana the best."
"I know, but it wouldn't stay in. Glad I didn't faint right here."
"Familiarize yourself with that feeling, it's called mana deprivation. That jump you had when the control slipped increased your usage nearly tenfold. That's why I said stay calm and practice control."
"Learning by experiencing is also good." he added, walking up to Mikael and helping him sit against a tree trunk, handing over a bottle containing some liquor.
Gladly he took a sip from that, and as the warm sensation ran down his throat, some color came back to his pale face, and his stomach also calmed down.
"I saw previously that Goblin magician create a fire which grew bigger by the second, also hurling it towards us. It didn't seem to have trouble with that like I did." Mikael recalled. Looking at René for an explanation, he saw him playing with a small flame in his hand, making it jump from one hand to another.
'Bragger!'
"Variants are a species that is full of unanswered questions. They can't be compared to us. Or do you can compare yourself with a four-legged animal that lived all its life surrounded by natural abundant mana, creating phenomena by instinct? I can't, nor will others ever say so. At least no one sane."
He made his fire fly up into the air, still burning while falling to the ground, but before meeting it dying down.
"We are humans, with limits and hurdles to overcome. By the way, what you messed up would have knocked any other apprentice out cold. While you lack control and calmness, your perception and endurance is outstanding."
Mikael smiled weakly, having another sip before reaching for some of that meat.
"How do I create what you just did? Making the fire jump and keep it burning?"
"A matter of training. Supply enough mana to the fire, but not a constant stream, more like a container it draws the fuel from. Mana is Form and weightless in this state, so it can be, let's say, attached to that fire, which is also a creation of your mana. Another part is the picture you have again. My fire wasn't attached to anything, a ball of fire in the void, and so I could manipulate it easier."
"Then why did I have to make it a torch or candle?"
"Because a fire needs something to burn, and it's unnatural for it to just exist without anything functioning as a base. For you that is too difficult, don't want to make your first try unsuccessful and as a result dimish your motivation. Take it slowly in the beginning, you will soon enough get to the more practical parts. For now you at least don't have to worry about carrying fire starter around."
After some more smalltalk and deciding their guard duty, Mikael went to bed first, exhausted from his training, but still elevated by his success.