To begin work on his new task, he first had to come up with the words that he could use. He knew he could use the word heat to warm up the area around the runic circle, but he was unsure how to specify a specific object that it would affect. He decided to start by trying to figure out how to heat up the stone while leaving the air the same temperature. His first thought was just to try the words heat and stone together. Since heat warmed everything, maybe if he added the word stone in it word focus the feat on just the stone.
"Limui'ilamolo Limeluasi!" The Alerite cleared his previous Inscription.
Aiming his staff at the rock he focused on creating the Runic Core, it took a bit longer this time as he needed two words to form this one. After a short time it was formed, he bent down to feel the temperatures.
"Ha! it worked!" The stone had become hot, while the air remained the same. Of course, the stone was emanating heat causing the air to become hot, but that would need a more complex spell to change.
"Congratulations, you are part way there. For future reference, sentences and even entire essays can be used to form more complex spells. Later when you learn to manipulate Spell Cores you will learn how to form much more complicated interactions between different words." Tu had looked at the Runic core and was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out. "Another important tidbit, generally more words make the spell stronger, however they also make it use more of your magic power. Without a 'Mana Draw' portion in the Runic Core you could easily drain yourself entirely during strong spells. I will teach you that after you complete this task." Tu then flickered back out of existence.
Starting on the next problem he did not know what would be the proper word to use in order to cool down the air. He thought maybe Freeze, but that might do a bit more and actually freeze the air. His next thought was chill, he hoped that this word would be better to simply make the air colder. Following what Tu had said he decided to try and make the spell strong by using a more complete sentence, 'chill the air'.
"Limui'ilamolo Limeluasi!" A wave of magic crashed over the Alerite tablet and cleared off the other Runic core.
Pointing his staff at the ground he focused once again, forming another Runic Core, this one takes longer than the last, being larger with three words now. When it finished the air around the stone became colder, as he moved his hand to touch the stone he could feel that the stone was still warm.
"Very good, to complete the last part you must combine both. Try to draw the heat out of the air and into the stone, rather than just heating the stone and chilling the air. This will reduce the Magic Power that is used, more efficient magic is better. Part of becoming a stronger mage will also be learning how the universe works. Science is an integral part of magic as it will give you finer control over your spells." Tu had reappeared after the Runic Core had been drawn. "For this part I will watch you as you work." Tu moved to one of the sides of the stone and watched as Mercer began writing notes in his journal.
In order to complete this challenge he needed to combine the spells in a way that is efficient. He first decided to try simple, 'Heat Stone Chill Air" Clearing of the Alerite he pointed the staff at the ground again. Before the he started though, Tu interrupted.
"If you wish to create the core faster draw the circle with the staff, it can sometimes double the speed of creation." Tu gave a gesture with his arm spinning it in a small circle.
Mercer gave this a try while he focused. Doing the motion made the outer circle form nearly instantaneously but the runes still took a while to form. On completion the air grew chaotic, when he went to feel he could feel both cold and hot air, it caused the air to mix in strange ways. Perhaps the spell misunderstood what he meant so he went back to his journal and decided to try something new. Generally the only hard part of this was trying to figure out the right words to use and then translating them. His next try he remembered the hints Tu gave him and decided to try 'Heat Stone With Air', Clearing the stone He tried again. This time it worked, it was slow and the air didn't cool down much, but he could tell that it was working.
"Ah congratulations. The reason this does not work well is the lack of knowledge on the science behind it." Tu stepped forward, cleared the stone, and created his own Runic Core in it's place. This one being significantly larger. Immediately the stone grew hot and the air cold. "Using knowledge of the world I am able to give specifics on how to efficiently transfer the heat into the stone."
"Will I need to go find a teacher then?" Mercer was kind of disappointed as he did not want to leave home.
"Eventually yes, though I believe Tumuo may be willing to teach you personally."
"I would like that, he seems to be well versed in magic."
"More than you know young wizard, more than you know..." Tu looked down at the stone for a minute before continuing, "For the last bit you should know today, I will teach you about the Mana Draw clause that is needed for most larger spells. Even my spell core contains one or else I would draw all my power directly from Tumuo." Tu cleared the board once again. Then he Inscribed a phrase on the stone, 'Milamola Losilari Tasimui Telatola', "This is the most basic Mana Draw clause, it translates to 'Mana Draw From Gaia' and will gain most of it's power needed to run a spell from the nature around it, leaving you free to perform more spells without worry." Tu looked up at the sky and saw the Sun setting, "I believe that is all for today return when you wish to practice more." With that Tu vanished.
"Limui'ilamolo Liatelu" As he finished speaking the stone faded away and the grass came back, hiding away the stone. Then Mercer headed back to their home.
...
This continued on for many weeks, Mercer would go practice while Lera went spelunking in caves all around the mountains, until one fateful day came to pass that had kept Mercer worried even through his training.