When Shi heard that he would be learning elemental magic, he perked up instantly. "Elemental magic is just like improving an item with magic. The only difference is the complexity of what you're controlling. To understand a tool that you made is simple, to understand a part of this world is infinitely more difficult.
I could tell you what I know about water and you would be able to control it, but you wouldn't be able to do so as efficiently and powerfully as you would if you learn for yourself. That is how powerful wizards in the big cities stay on top, if you create a spell, then you can make a ton of money teaching it to others.
The best part is that they will stay beneath your skill in the spell and cannot teach it to others since they lack true knowledge into the matter. Almost all of the most powerful wizards in this kingdom do this for money and are rich for it. Anyways, you should start with water, because it is the easiest of the four elements to understand.
I will give you 3 months to get to the stage where you can move water. Come back to me then and show me how far you have come in your control." Oshieru dismissed Shi with a wave of his hand after giving his assignment. Instead of returning home, Shi went down to the river that ran next to the village and squatted down next to it.
He carefully observed how the water flowed, it seemed to always go the path of least resistance. It seamlessly flowed around any obstacle in its path. Shi dipped his hand in the water, watching it flow around and he felt the pressure it put on his hand. Water is capable of moving things, but not like a living thing, it uses overwhelming force because it is an overwhelming force in large enough quantity.
Water is also needed to sustain oneself, so water is also within every living thing. It can give life to a thirsty man, but also take it away, drowning mercilessly the man who drinks deeper than he can handle. Water holds life and death, strength and flexibility, and can be unstoppable or easily diverted.
It moves in a constant cycle, flowing through the earth, or pounding down on it. It can destroy mountains, and given enough water and time it can destroy nearly anything. Water is the ultimate in flexibility and long term power, fire will burn out quickly, while water will eternally wear down whatever it attacks; earth is strong, but water will still destroy it, and wind can be sharper than a razor, but water will just flow around it and continue its unstoppable assault.
Understanding this, Shi started to try and move a little bit of water. After a few hours, Shi could only control one drop of water, and even that took his full concentration and he couldn't do much with it. He returned home after this, and started forging a hoe to clear his mind. He had gotten permission from his father to reforge the old tool steel into new tools for his father to sell.
Shi would also get a 25% cut on the money made from the tools he reforged. Shi reckoned that he had learned about as much about water that he could for now, so he started thinking on the nature of magic. A mana core was like a second heart in his chest, and many people thought the heart was the source of true feelings so maybe his mana core was the source of true will.
Magic seemed to be a manifestation of the user's willpower as well so it seemed plausible. So what he needed to do was keep the nature of water in his mind while truly wanting it to bend to his will and overpower the water's wishes with his. He had reforged about 25 tools and he went home soon after.
"Where the f*ck have you been?!" Shi's mother, Kea asked angrily. "I was just at the forge for the day" Shi replied calmly, not understanding what his mother was so angry about. "For the day! For the f*cking day!" Kea yelled, "You've been gone for a month!"
"I'm truly sorry, I didn't realize I was there so long." Shi said apologetically, "I thought I was only there for a day or two, and I was thinking about the assignment that Master Oshieru gave me." Shi said. "It's okay as long as you're safe but don't pull that sh*t again." Kea said, tears in her eyes as she hugged Shi tightly.
After a much needed nights rest, Shi went back down to the river to try his hand at water magic again. As he sat down he focused on the small bit of magic in the water. Individually, each bit of magic and will were insignificant, but all of them combined were truly terrifying.
But this time Shi was prepared, he dominated the will of a foot thick (0.3 meters) sphere of water and brought it to his palm, shaping it to a mini water dragon in his palm. He made the little dragon roar and dive towards a patch of dirt, it dug in about 6 inches (0.15 meters) deep into the ground and then came back into Shi's palm.
Shi then brought in more water, making the sphere 5 feet (approximately 1.5 meters) thick. This was Shi's limit, so he shaped this sphere into a koi fish, suddenly the sphere was easier to control. "It seems that the water is more accepting of forms that it's used to." Shi mused, he then turned the water into a 9 headed hydra, thinking an offensive water creature might help him do more damage.
He then sent this hydra at the ground near him, it broke about 4 feet (approximately 1.2 meters) into the ground. For the next couple of months, Shi practiced water magic daily, trying out different forms for the water, but none were as effective as the hydra. By the end of the 3 months, Shi could summon a 10 foot (approximately 3 meters) thick sphere that he could turn into a hydra that when it attacked a boulder, it could force a small crack in it.
He returned to Oshieru's house and showed him the hydra's attack and demonstrated his mastery over small amounts of water. "Very well done, incredible! You have incredible focus and discipline for someone your age." "I'm a blacksmith, I need intense focus to turn in a tool that's even passable." Shi said simply. "You've done well, but water is the easiest element to master, now you will learn how to move the earth. Earth is difficult to master, even those with more talent than you have failed here so don't grow lax.
However, I believe in your ability to overcome this obstacle in a year, if it becomes too difficult however, you can always stop learning magic." Oshieru said, trying to push Shi to have greater determination. He would need it to master earth in a year, this stage was what separated the casual magic users who were useful for improving their trade, and those who could be helpful in nearly any situation.