"Your goal for today is to master regulation of your flame size. After that we will proceed with the first technique. The task for the next 5 minutes is to hold a regular sized flame. After that a large one." Emblaze took a step back, giving Wolfe the space he needed. "Begin." He exclaimed.
Wolfe held his arm out, this time imagining the funnel for his 'clay' growing larger. Since he had perfected the tiny flame, his control over the output of his magic had greatly increased. Creating and maintaining a regular or large sized flame was a piece of cake.
After the exercise Wolfe was asked to create a small flame. "Every 2 minutes you will change the size of your flame from small to regular to large and back to small. Keep this up for an hour and you'll have perfected regulation."
Emblaze once again began causing distractions after the 30 minute mark, but Wolfe endured it with no difficulty. Emblaze's pinches were no better than a mosquito's pricks now.
The rest of the hour passed by way too quickly for Wolfe to realise. Emblaze was smiling proudly at Wolfe's achievement while the boy sat down to re-energize himself. Despite how easy it was to maintain the flame, it was still taxing on his untrained body.
"Before I begin teaching you the first technique, I think we should go over the rules of magic once again." Emblaze said ecstatically after a 5 minute break.
Wolfe sat up and began reciting all that he remembered.
"There are two main rules that have been set in stone since the beginning. The first is that the magic needs to remain in contact with the user. If contact is lost, the magic will dissipate. This makes it harder, for example, to throw fireballs towards enemies since the fire will dissipate once it loses contact with the user's hand.
"The second rule helps us work around this issue a little bit. If our magic becomes part of something else, it will not dissipate even if contact with the user is lost. This way we can light leaves on fire, and they'll continue burning even if we let go of them."
Emblaze nodded in agreement with what Wolfe said.
"The technique you will be taught today goes by many names, but we will refer to it simply as [Flamethrower]." Emblaze began.
"This is the most basic technique for fire magic users. There are techniques similar to it for other elements as well.
"Performing [Flamethrower] requires one to have control over the output of their magic. That's all there is to it. The range, strength and efficiency of the technique differ according to the situation. The user must constantly put out their magic and extend it outwards away from the centre of their body.
"Since you've already mastered control and regulation of the flame you already have one part of it down. The only thing left for you to learn is to extend your flame outwards."
Emblaze stepped to the side and gestured at Wolfe to give it a try. This time, instead of facing his palm upwards, Wolfe directed it forward. He imagined his 'clay' extending forward as he created a regular sized flame.
Just like in a candle held horizontally, the flame faced upwards in opposition to gravity. Wolfe realised at that moment that he needed to force the flame forward instead of just letting it go at its own will.
He didn't get it at first, but eventually Wolfe mastered the technique. He wasn't able to use the information he had received from the book earlier, but he believed that he would have a chance in the future to use it.
The sense of achievement did not leave Wolfe even as the day ended. Emblaze had congratulated the boy for his efforts as the dazzling orange flames had shot out of the centre of his palm.
Wolfe skipped gleefully as he headed for the Servants Quarters. The humid evening air clung onto his skin as he made his way through the mansion gates. A strange number of animal-driven carts were stationed outside the gate and Wolfe could see many middle-aged men and women gathered outside the mansion, searching for something in the gardens.
They seemed to ignore Wolfe since he had not come towards the mansion and instead gone to the Servants Quarters. Curiosity was about to get the better of him, pulling him towards the mansion so he could inquire why these people were here. But a closer look at their apparel told Wolfe that the guests were part of the Zodia Police Force.
"It's best not to get involved with them," he said to himself as he walked off towards his room. He wasn't allowed into the mansion that day for his daily duties, which made his curiosity worse.
As he went to bed that night, he couldn't help but wonder why the police were here. He would have thanked them for exempting him from his mansion duties if he hadn't figured out that something was clearly wrong. Before curiosity got the better of him and changed his mind, Wolfe closed his eyes and cleared his mind of all thoughts relating to the police. Instead he put on a smile and basked in the glow of his boosted self-esteem.
Just like him, the majority of Zodia's citizens slept without worry. Their care-free lives had been left undisturbed...at least for now.
Meanwhile deep in the underbellies of Zodia a sinister force had begun making its moves. Their actions wouldn't send shockwaves through the country for quite a while, but when the waves of evil would finally hit, they would hit harder than anything Zodia had ever witnessed.