A Scholarly Week (3)
Cyrus now found himself sitting once more in the office/ward that was Caligo's very own. The familiar dim room and messy desk greeted his eyes, except this time he was here with the ruthless Caliban instead of the amiable Imran.
Sitting side by side on their own respective chairs, he could almost feel the tension in the air causing him to wonder if he could slice it and spread it on a piece of bread with a knife.
Nonsense aside, the two quietly awaited as Caligo prepared whatever method of training he was deciding. Soon enough the professor revealed himself to all as he emerged from behind the massive stack of old documents and books, that now was a point of interest for Cyrus as he still did not have a definite answer on how the mage actually read such texts.
"I have just the method for you two. But first I need to make sure you both understand sense fully, call the following a special one on one lesson…or rather two on one lesson in this case. Better savor it while it lasts as well, usually this would cost Fidem but I will make an exception on account of how disappointed I was by those other fools" said Caligo as he sat in his own chair that he had carried, quite a unique sight for him indeed considering the recent 'chairs' he had been using.
"Starting from the basics, magical sense or perhaps essence sense is just like hearing, seeing, tasting, touching, and smelling. The difference is that instead of their respective stimuli being interpreted by your brain, instead you become aware of something that is always around us like being unable to see a certain color but then suddenly seeing it one day."
"Ever present it is, the world of essence that makes up the five building blocks of the reality that we all inhabit. Terra, Aqua, Aero, Ignis, Vita and Mors are what such a world contains, of course they are not all purely in each form with some being combinations of one or multiple different forms of each. What is important about all this, for our current purposes at least, is that all of this is what you can see with you use your magical sense. What people specifically see could be a little bit different, for some they see an array of orb like things constantly bouncing around while others see waves or lines squiggling about. No matter what you specifically see, it all boils down to be the same thing…" explained Caligo as he paused to drink from a flask. "Any Questions?"
The two students shook their heads, which upon seeing Caligo began his lecture once more.
"The way you train this sense can be broken down into two main ways: The first is enhancing your level of focus, like through meditation for example. The second is to think of it like a muscle almost, the more you use it until the point of breaking the stronger it becomes upon repair. The downside of this second method, much like when you reach the breaking point of your physical muscles, is that you experience some…pains after the fact. This clears up with a good nights sleep, but I suggest that you do anything you need before starting this method of training up as I imagine you will not be doing much of anything after you are done"
Hearing this enlightened Cyrus ever so slightly, and perhaps Caliban too as his forever neutral expression shifted slightly.
"It can be thought of like that, how intriguing. All this while I was essentially just using it instinctively, like another limb but never thought what to do with it beyond that" thought Cyrus.
"When you build it nice and strong, eventually you will be able to split it into several different strands to use on different targets all at once, much like what I did when I was pressuring all the students row by row. You will also be able to send it out further, attach it to other things for longer as well as be able to use it both as a weapon and shield when fighting other entities that have access to a similar method…now, do as I instruct so you can learn the method properly" began Caligo once more.
"First activate it consciously, and spread it out in any direction as far as it will go until you feel as if you have hit some kind of wall…
Now bring it back to yourself as fast as you can and repeat this process a few times until you reach your top speed of moving it out and in. Perhaps if it helps you can visualize the rolling of waves on a riverscape… oh yeah the desert. How about clouds of sand being tossed to and thro by the wind, like a twister being formed from two opposing winds."
The two did as instructed, finding that while it was not as simple as it sounded it was not too terribly difficult at the same time.
"Now comes for the hard part: Do the same exact motion as before, but this time act as if that wall stopping you from moving forth is not there and push forward even more with all you can. Do not think of it like running into the side of a stone wall or the side of a mountain, instead think of it like a flimsy barrier that is standing in your path dead set on seeing you unable to reach your most important goal"
The two once again did as they were told, both trying their best to visualize things properly and break past the 'flimsy' barrier that was in the path.
"This wall is anything but brittle, as in reality it is not really a wall but just the 'physical' limit of my sense. Yet, it should be possible to overcome such a barrier if I just try harder" thought Cyrus as he stubbornly continued to try, so much so that he started to become a little dizzy from the exertion.
"Hmm, as expected it seems even you two run into the same problem as everyone else…myself included. It is nothing unusual as everyone is like this: they require an external force to break through that first barrier. After that its just a matter of time and effort poured into it, but for now…brace yourselves" said Caligo as he stood up and walked behind the two, whilst instructing them to remain facing forward.
Instantaneously, it felt like the scythe of death itself was resting on the shoulders of the two students. The cold of the blade, the complete disregard for human life, and even a ghastly chattering of two jaw bones coming together in a cruel laughter was imagined for the two…all of it feeling as real as the chairs that they sat upon.
"Focus you two, continue to repeat the same motion with your sense but this time like your life depends on it…because it does HAHHAHA" laughed Caligo, such laughter perfectly in sync with the imagined laughing of the apparition of death itself.
Coming to their senses slightly from the words of the professor, both Cyrus and Caliban did as instructed as fast and hard as they could by desperately trying to puncture through the solid wall that barred their way onto the path of progress.
As their failures continued, the intensity of their hallucinations increased. So much so that Cyrus swore he felt the edge of the scythe digging into his skin, even drawing blood that ran down his neck and onto his robe snaking its way down like a small stream until eventually dripping onto the floor drop by drop.
Not wishing to die from fright, which would be one of the more pathetic ways to go out or so Cyrus thought, he doubled…no tripled his efforts in breaking past the accursed wall that was the cause of all of this. Turning his fears and frustration into a fuel, he burst through the obstacle in one final push of immense might and unending glory.
��I did it!" yelled out Cyrus, both in celebration and to stop the absolutely horrible experience he was being put through.
The moment he declared his victory the apparitions stopped…but curiously his neck continued to bleed.
"What on Mundus…was that real or fake?!" thought Cyrus in shock as he healed his neck with a quick Vita activation.
Next he felt extreme vertigo, as if the world around him was spinning whilst simultaneously contracting and expanding. Feeling sick, Cyrus did all he could to stop himself from retching and heaving aloud which would possibly end with him throwing up all over the floor.
"That's Fidem I would be puking out…" was such nonsense that went through his mind as he made use of his Vita knowledge to do all he could to stop the side effects of the training, which helped somewhat but he was far too lacking in knowledge to try anything else for fear of death by foolish use of magic.
Eventually he heard Caliban repeat the very same words that he had said, visibly sick as his faced turned green and he heaved in one breath after the other.
"Good. Cyrus heal Caliban as well; it can count as training to use basic spells when under the effects of a stressed sense.
Cyrus nodded and went in to heal him, as though his head was pounding and the world threatened to slip from under him at any time he would have to be next to braindead to not be able to do the most basic of Vita healing spells.
Caliban, however, did not take very kindly to such a gesture and raised a shaking hand that was holding a knife while looking quite comical as he almost dropped it several times.
Caligo sighed and said,
"Hey kid, I don't know what hell hole you climbed out of in the wasteland to act like such a feral dog but no matter how strong you are you will fail on your own. The enemies of the Empire are far stronger than you can imagine and by graduating from here while you may gain much you also become a target these very same enemies. Learn to play with others Caliban, else you will die before you can achieve your goal" lectured Caligo in a rare moment of sincerity.
Still shaking the knife towards Cyrus, Caliban was clearly going through an intense internal struggle before a look of realization flashed across his face for a moment which allowed him to move the dagger down and back into his clothes.
"Hurry and do it" spat Caliban, somewhat rudely to one who was about to heal him but the current Cyrus both did not care much disposition wise and even more so now that he could barely hear a thing.
A quick activation of the Vita domain later, something that anyone can do the moment they become a mage with utter ease, Caliban was also healed.
Both of them tried to get up a few times but failed miserably.
"Hahaha, reminds me of my younger days. This is why I had you do this here after all, convenient beds right here for you to rest on."
"There are still a few more hours before the evening meal is served, you two can rest here until then so you can walk properly and not die of a bad fall. I will have a few of your seniors escort you so no one gets too handsy with ya, as your weakness is entirely my fault. Wouldn't want my only two actual students to kick the bucket because of my actions heheh" ended Caligo with a sly chuckle as the four shadows appeared under him once more, this time picking the two up like newborn pups and dropping them onto the beds behind.
"Sleep tight kiddies"