Uriel, having learned in detail about magic, mana, and other things, now wanted not only to secure a life for himself, but also to see this magical world, to create some spells with his own hands, to summon an elemental, and to peek into the astral. This was interesting to him precisely in terms of realizing his new, not even acquired, powers, not as a researcher seeking to expand his worldview or make a contribution to magical science. To be fair, almost all sorcerers started out with the same motives as he did, only a few initially wanted to become scientists and they often made archimages out of them. The main thing for wizards who had not yet seen their future was to understand in the process of learning who they are in this supernatural world - guests or masters? Is magic for them a means or an end in itself? And fortunately the majority of mages answered this question correctly.
The mage of life did not, of course, ask himself these questions. Previous failures had rather pressed down on him with their weight. Now they only encouraged him and made him want to prove to others and himself that it was no accident that he came to this academy. Uriel decided to change his tactics during his meditation. He had yet to make any progress by acting entirely according to the instructions of his teachers. Today the sorcerer decided to visualize in his mind all the manifestations of magic in the room, of which he had some knowledge. That is, with his imagination he endowed each of the mages with some transparent, multicolored substance swirling around their physical bodies, including himself. It wasn't easy to hold it all in his head at once.
It took him a few minutes to concentrate, as he was not immediately able to realize what he had in mind. But after a while his imagination drew a clearer and steadier picture, so that he did not have to strain himself to do it. It was as if at just the right moment, their teachers entered the meditation room, where all the students were already present. Uriel's mind had obediently given them some sort of aura as well. The teachers disassembled their students and began their training.
The sensation of pressure on the aura could be compared to a headache, high fever and direct physical pressure at the same time. And this is despite the fact that the student's aura was very strong. For those who had it weaker, the sensations were much worse. This was probably one of the reasons why weaker mages finished this stage of training earlier. Uriel, in addition to his usual actions of finding the right sensations and trying to resist the teacher's aura, was also engaged in recreating everything that was happening in his imagination. The way his teacher's aura spreads and takes over his own. The way it squeezed and tried to push its nasty misty tentacles inside. How his own aura resists it, expelling the foreign elements, how it expands, strengthens, and pushes back the aura of the attacker.
Nothing happened for fifteen minutes. The sorcerer was beginning to think that his method wouldn't work. He even began to think what else he could try, and distractedly noticed that the feeling of some invisible limb, which seemed so distant and unclear, began to approach him, becoming more and more clear. Trying not to spook his success, the magician fully immersed himself in this feeling, trying to strengthen it and as if to make it more his than it was now. It wasn't going fast, but it was going. With each heartbeat this feeling occupied more and more space in his mind until it completely dissolved in him.
No strings were heard by Uriel, but quite suddenly to himself he gained control over a part of himself that he had always had, but until recently knew nothing about. His aura was completely flexible, seemingly very strong, but it did not stretch or shrink. It was as if it were made of liquid light. It was not what he had imagined. Its edges were about thirty centimeters away from his physical body. Colorful and shimmering. Uriel's was predominantly green with a few spots of light. The auras of all the other warlocks in the room were now visible to him as well. Bigger and brighter on the teachers, dimmer and smaller on the students. Catching himself, Uriel tried to push the teacher's aura out of his own. Surprisingly, it turned out to be quite simple.
Suddenly, the teacher's aura began to move incomprehensibly, and a structure of curved and straight lines, geometric shapes, and previously unseen symbols began to appear directly in the air. Obviously, it was a spell. A pale gray stream of "raw" mana flowed from his aura into the finished weave. As it filled to the brim, something strange, but very beautiful, happened. This is what happens when some incredibly complex knot is instantly untied when you pull on one of its ends. Now it was as if a magician had pulled the "thread," and the whole structure "untied". But it didn't turn into one straight thread, but surrounded the two of them, the student and the teacher, with a transparent dome. This action made the young sorcerer's skin tighten slightly.
- Have you looked around? Congratulations on overcoming the first step on the long road to power. Now you're a true wizard, even though you don't know any spells yet. That's the end of congratulations. Now tell me, what exactly did you do to feel the aura?
- I imagined as if I could already see magic. I gave everyone the semblance of auras, and also imagined how my aura resists yours.
- It's an infrequent way, rarely works for anyone. Okay, you can ask questions or go straight to rest. You don't have to go to meditation anymore.
- Then I have one question. From what you say, I understand that there are at least a few ways to awaken your abilities. Why aren't we told about them then, is it some kind of secret?
- The most trivial question. There are more than eight thousands of these ways of awakening. The one they tell you about is both capable of revealing the abilities of the greatest number of mages and so unpleasant that those to whom it doesn't fit always come up with something of their own. And you can't try all the other eight thousand in ten years. So everything is subject to rationality and that's all.
- What kind of spell did you create?
- A dome of silence. It's so the others in the room can't hear us. So you don't have to tell the other students how you accessed your powers.
- Okay, then I'll go?
- Yes, you can be free.
Uriel went to the dining hall to celebrate his small victory. He liked to eat, and the food at the academy was very tasty. He'd even got fatter a little, after being here only a few weeks. What would happen next was even scary to imagine. He hadn't seen a single fat professor yet, though. It was doubtful that the food didn't interest them. Perhaps there was some spell or other way. If so, this was the way the sorcerer needed as soon as possible; he didn't want to spread himself wide.
After reaching the dining room and saying hello to a couple of acquaintances, the mage approached the food. For the occasion, it would be appropriate to have chocolate cake. There was no chocolate in his hometown. He pondered only how many pieces to take. He had to choose just enough to keep from throwing up, but he wanted as much as possible. After loading about seven pieces on his tray, Uriel went to one of the free tables. It was only the middle of the day and most of the students were either in meditation classes or in their rooms. He reached his destination and began a leisurely lunch, contemplating his new position.
"Eh, now begins my magical existence. Up to this point, the academy wasn't much different from the same school. There was essentially no contrast. Boring lectures are the same everywhere. And spells are a different matter. I can only hope that this case is no more difficult than the other skills. It would not be pleasant to fall behind the others. After all, with such an aura, it would not be so hard to become a great wizard. It is a pity that my affinity is only good with the magic of life. The magic of life is, of course, good, but a fire tornado is better, much better.
By the way, it has not been found out for almost a month of my training, why the parameters of the aura can be almost more important to the magicians of life than the affinity with the mana of life. It is doubtful that those two mages, my examiners, were joking about this, because there is no space for humor. And why would they joke, much less lie? That's right, no reason. Even William, who knew more about magic than any of his friends, didn't know the answer to that question. "Thinking about his aura made the sorcerer look at it again. As before, it was dominated by the color green, with large gaps of light. Apparently it reflected his affinity to different types of mana. Excellent with life mana, good with light energy, and bad with everything else. Actually, the other types of mana in his aura literally looked like thin strings. Their appearance had a somewhat depressing effect on their own possessor. He saw almost no such threads in the auras of their teachers. His own mentor had the most, two threads. The others had fewer or none at all. Which meant better fusion with all types of mana. What looked like threads in Uriel's aura, in the auras of the other mages were huge sections of their auras. Their auras resembled a rainbow, only with nine colors. Uriel's "big" colors were only three - life mana, light mana, and raw mana. "And why, I wonder, if the aura already displays all the propensities for the different types of mana, was it necessary to perform that ritual with the lights to determine the fusion? I doubt I'm the only one who sees those colors in other people's auras representing different types of aura. Maybe some sorcerers' auras aren't displaying their affinity levels correctly? That would explain a lot. I, myself, have an aura that visually matches exactly what the ritual showed me at the time. I would have to ask William if I could.
I'll have to remember to ask about magic. I've been under its influence a few times now, and I've noticed a certain strangeness. I was under the influence of spells twice, not counting the auras of adult mages and the ritual. Once when I was teleported from the mage guild to the academy. And the second, just now, was a dome of silence. The difference was that I didn't feel anything at all during the teleportation, not even noticing it, though it was probably a very complicated spell, since it required a specific room. During the activation and action of the dome of silence, most likely a much simpler spell, it felt as if his skin had tightened a bit. There could be two explanations here. Maybe it's just different types of spells that affect people differently. No one ever said a person could always feel the spells being cast on them. It's also likely that I wasn't a mage when I teleported, and therefore simply didn't have access to the part of me that could sense magic. And the curtain of silence was created by my mentor after I had gained control of my aura. That's what made it possible for me to feel it."
Speaking of feelings. Uriel distinctly felt that he had clearly had too much cake. It became uncomfortable to sit, and sometimes something quite disgusting wanted to rise up his throat. This problem could only be solved by strong and unsweetened black tea, for which the mage went, got up from the table and took his plates to the servants. To the overeater's considerable surprise, as he poured the tea, he noticed Munith, his fellow dark mage, enter the dining room. He must still be in meditation. His arrival meant only one thing: he, too, had learned how to control his aura. Even though Uriel had mastered the skill before Munith, his heart still ached with envy. Or some similar feeling. It was strange to envy someone who came in second, but there was another way to look at the matter. He was already losing to the dark mage in everything. In his grades, in his abilities, in his aura. He should have beaten him with the speed of his training. Well, he didn't.
Munith, by the way, was somehow very suited to the look of his aura. The mage himself was of medium height, very thin, he began to eat normally only in the academy, with sunken cheeks, sharp cheekbones, his face looked like that of all beggars older than his real age. His eyes ran fast, like those of a hunted animal. His hair was ungroomed and fell to his shoulders. He gave no impression at all. But his aura was... It was almost twice the size of Uriel's, and it was all covered in black. It was about equal parts death, darkness, fire, and air. It was all at the level of excellent affinity. The rest of the colors indicated at least a good degree of fusion. Munith didn't have a single thread in his aura. The life mage knew that, of course – they lived in the same room, what else were young warlocks to talk about but their powers. But knowing and seeing it in front of you like that were very different things. "Yeah, you don't want to mess with that monster," Uriel thought.
The monster, meanwhile, was completely unaware that he was a monster, and with a plate full of meat, headed for the table, at which he noticed his friend sitting with a mug of tea.