The next day arrived sooner than Alban thought it would. Yesterday, after leaving the lake squeaky clean, he slept on Nimra's front yard. He was a pretty light sleeper, not even so much as a sigh escaping from his mouth. He woke up to an unpleasant noise, his eyes darting open. He stood up from the wall his back was propped up against, patiently waiting for Nimral to get on with annoying him again. His emotions were much more subdued, a reluctant acceptance washing over his psyche.
"Up and early, boy? That's good, you're going to need a lot of energy for sparring today." The old man was referring to their training session that was "cut short" yesterday. Or at least it was cut short for the Nimral, who felt ready and raring to go today. His body was practically shivering with energy, his muscles rippling from the neck down. Alban wondered if his supposed healing ability could deal with...whatever was going on with him.
Without any further delay, the spry old man lunged out at Alban, his fests outstretched as if to capture the air between his fingers. The fast approaching hand looked more like a net to Alban, who chose not to duck or roll under it but instead sidestep the maneuver entirely. His attempt at dodging was met with a kick aimed at his shins, but Alban flattened himself as close to the ground as he could while still keeping a crouch. The fierce attack avoided, Alban took the small pause in between Nimral's attacks as an opportunity to flee.
He discretely punched a hole in the ground, backing off expeditiously right after. The old nimm quickly followed in pursuit, but one his stance became momentarily unbalanced. His heel had slipped on the hole he had failed to notice earlier. The lapse in movement did not even last a second, but that was enough for Alban to hotfoot a good distance away from him. Nimral sized him up, his weathered eyes assessing the youth that he was getting ready to trounce a second ago.
"Learned some new tricks, did you? I didn't know a primitive boy like you could actually use that brain for, well...anything, really." Nimral was trying to goad Alban, his words prodding at his opponent's current state. The provocation did not seem to work, however. The youth's face was blank, almost as if asking him to continue. Wary that Alban really might have learned something while he was out cold the other day, he decided not to give the boy time to think.
His now clenched hands pierced the air once again, aiming at Alban's stomach, solar plexus, even the armpit. He was trying to stupefy Alban, his fists attempting to block off all the his escape routes. Just as much as Alban was observing him the other day, Nimral was watching him intently as well.
Alban's movements were really odd. Just when you locked onto him, he would constantly allude your grasp, your blows not really hitting the targets they aimed for. A punch at the heart left a battered arm, a punch to the gut smacked into a palm first. The worse part wasn't the missing, it was the simple gaze that followed all your movements, the occasional twitch of Alban's muscles almost resembling Nimral's. He was not progressing into a master from nothing, but he was transitioning from nothing to a mere novice. If this was a difference of a day, what would be the difference of a week? Two? A month?
Nimra's gaze scanned across the two men locked in battle, her eyes wincing at every shocking smack that rang out in hte air. Alban definitely couldn't evade all of Nimral's attacks, he only achieved the rate he was currently at because Nimral was taking it rather easy on him. Still, it didn't look easy at all...
---
'It turns out the old man wasn't lying after all.' The spar commenced for an hour and a half before the Nimral insisted he had to have lunch. He first mae sure to fully heal Alban first, the traumatic sight that was his body soon fixed. Alban felt good as new, wondering if that damned old man had even a trace of sympathy. Soon after, he strolled through the town in a search for Chiyo. He wanted his mana lessons straight away, as soon as possible.
He scoured the town high and low, spooking some of the villagers going about their work with his sudden appearances. He didn't find her anywhere, though he realized that he didn't visit the plaza at all. She couldn't be sleeping by the well, could she...?
Unsurprisingly, she was. It would've been hard to tell if she was sleeping if she wasn't snoring. The eyeless woman was alone in the village square, the nimms that usually populated the area not getting in her way as a sign of respect. Alban walked up to Chiyo, before the woman's snores quickly ceased an wre replaced with yawns instead. She pat the ground right to her left, indicating that that was where she wanted Alban to sit. He obediently complied.
"Before I teach you anything, you'll have to hear the fundamentals." A tired yet seductive husky tone rang out in the now tranquil area. "This will take long, so please don't interrupt me. I don't like super long lectures either, but you'll have to make do." Her mellifluous voice lost all traces of her previous exhaustion, clearing up tremendously.
"First, let's discuss the three types of mana usage. There are three specific forms of utilizing mana, each divided and named by some prick who thought it would be a good idea to make it much more specific than they are, The three types are as follows.
Transmitters. They directly produce mana that can take any element or none at all. They're free, creative, and good at shaping mana to their whims. They find casting spells difficult. Mana runs throughout their body, although some parts of them may have more concentrated mana as compared to the rest of their body.
Transmuters. They channel mana from their core into the world, projecting it more than guiding it. They excel at spells, but have difficulty using mana as liberally as the Transmitter. Their core condenses at a random place in their body.
Borrowers. A unique form of mana utilization that is a bit rarer than the previous two. A borrower will typically have little to no mana. However, because of this, they can channel the mana in the area into spells or shape it to their will. A borrower may excel in spells, shape casting, or both, but the caveat is that their ability is only as good as their environment. Unless you have a Uniqueness that aids being a Borrower, you're not going to be very effective in places that don't suit the spells or shape casting you perform. We'll get into Uniqueness later, if you'd like.
I'm sure you heard me refer to spells and shaping. Let me clarify what they are, okay?
Spells are mana compiled into a form and intent. When the caster brings the thought of the form to their mind, the spell is performed. Activating spells with thoughts alone is usually an arduous and difficult process for the average spell user, so they take certain gestures to bring the spell to mind. Spell users normally write books with detailed descriptions of the chants, gestures, or whatever else they use to bring the spell into existence. Spell users can form their spells in unexpected places if they are a Transmuter, as their mana core sends signals and mana to rapidly take form and follow the intent of the user, although it is a bit hard for the user to learn.
Shape Casting is what transmitters are the most effective at. Shape casting is much unlike spells, in that the user does not have to convey the form in their mind to use their mana. Mana can be freely brought out and utilized in various ways, defensive, offensive, and anything in between. Shape casting can give form to mana as well, although the form is merely half effective as a spell. Giving your mana a shape and intent will ensure that you get exactly what you want, but only as long as you are physically involved in the process. Unlike spell users, they cannot conjure up their mana out of thin air. Their mana come from their body, mind and soul itself, it being extremely difficult to shoot out spells from places not connected to them at all. They can learn to do so, but usually leave a trace of themselves to make it easier. Shape casters normally write books full of ideas for shaping mana.
A person can be more than just one of these three types. Everyone is born with a type that fits them the most, but can learn others through arduous and repeated practice. When you have two or more of these mana casting forms you are further specialized into 4 groups.
Someone that is both a transmitter and a transmuter is a Paragon. Someone that is both a transmuter and a borrower is a Gift. Someone that is both a transmitter and a borrower is a Virtue. And one that possesses all three is a Grimoire. The more forms of mana casting you learn, the harder it is to learn the ones left. And let's not even get started on mana techniques, okay? That'll be tomorrow." Chiyo's chest was heaving. her lecture finally finished. She almost wanted to puke spitting all that out, she couldn't imagine how bad Alban must've felt! Little did she know that she had made the savage youth in question very happy today.