The Maze was full of students, but only the Third Year students had to stay for more than thirty minutes, for the younger kids, things were relatively the same.
Today's torture of the day for Ciaran was a steam bath. If the drowning was euphoric and the freezing was traumatic, then this one was hypnotic.
The feeling the boy had was the same as when he meditated, but here he was moving around. He could move, and he could think, but his connection with the Wind was strengthening and he felt in a trance.
All around him, he could only see the mist. The ground, the sky, they were nothing but white steam all around him. He hadn't cleared his mind, but he didn't have to, there was nothing around him to inspire any thoughts. Even his connection with Ariadne was cut off once again.
"What am I supposed to be doing?" He shouted. The feeling he got from this place wasn't as harrowing as yesterday, in fact, it was kind of pleasant. The problem came, four hours later, when he had been sitting there and nothing had changed. He had tried meditating, exercising, and even screaming, but nothing changed.
The boredom was unbearable, mostly because he was planning on taking his class to the forest today and teaching them to hunt. He had a lot to do once again, and this immaterial prison was starting to get on his nerves.
The first sex hours in there were annoying, but the next fifteen were damn near horrifying. There was nothing and no one. Just whiteness, and silence.
Two whole days later, the boy stopped caring about anything. He wholeheartedly focused on his Wind.
Two more days later and he found that the Wind and the Mist were similar but vastly different. The Mist had its own voice, and until now he had mistaken it for the Wind. Now that he knew it was a whole different beast he had in front of him he began to work.
Four more days in and he finally could understand, alas it was just sounds, not words. He had a long way to go, but what else could he do.
"Wake up."
He continued to research.
"Wake up."
For another two days, he heard only sounds. Once or twice, he heard a word.
"Wake up." He finally understood what it was telling him.
He opened his eyes, and the Mist dissipated, leaving a very confused Verdania in front of him.
"Um, hello." She said, not expecting him to be back so soon.
He looked at her and moved his body, which surprisingly was not stiff at all.
"How long have I been here?" He asked. There was no way he had been sitting there for more than a week like he thought he had.
She looked at him funny, and answered 'Ten minutes'.
"Usually our perception of time is stretched in this exercise. When I was first subjected to it I gave up after half an hour, but I had experienced almost three whole days in there. Don't worry this is the hardest of the Water fundamentals." She said, gently placing her arm around his shoulder.
He looked at her funny, trying to see if she was messing with him. When he felt she was sincere enough he sighted.
"I was there for more than a week Sis. And I didn't give up, the Mist told me to wake up, so I did." He said, and her jaw hit the floor.
What was this? There are always some slight differences between the same element users, but no seriously what was this. It took her eight months to start hearing the Mist. And that was eight REAL months, inside it she had experienced years of complete isolation.
'Water is the most connected element, the Ice part is connected to the solid elements while the Mist part is to the more immaterial ones. Just how strong is his connection with the Air, this is ludicrous." She was having a miniature panic attack inside, but on the surface, she just congratulated him and led him to the waterfall.
All the spare time he won himself would be spent in deep meditation.
"Ariadne, you come with me. Your teacher is waiting for you." Verdania called out to the spider.
She left the boy's soul and followed the dryad to a separate area where a scarlet-haired woman was waiting.
"Today we will begin your education in Fire magic. But first, will you be comfortable with establishing a connection with me, so I can hear your thoughts. It will make our work go on smother.
They did and Elizabeth could hear the spider in her mind.
"First let me ask you do you know what fire is?"
The spider extended her leg and a fireball was conjured.
The woman just chuckled at that. She was happy at least the familiar was innocent. The spider was like a little girl, just hairier and heavier. With a few extras in the limbs department, and mandibles capable of administrating deadly venom.
"First let's begin with the basics. Magic is us using our souls to affect the natural world. I understand if you wouldn't believe me at first, but all magic can be explained with science. Well, only if you are talking to mages at least, normal people simply can't grasp the reality of it all."
The Great Mage looked at the spider and was satisfied, Ariadne was keenly listening to her. If she had the ability, she might even have taken notes.
'Why can't you influence your partner girl, he could use a little bit of your diligence.' Elizabeth thought, and after the spider tilted its head, she remembered that their minds were now temporarily connected.
"Moving on! Fire is a chemical reaction that occurs when a combustible substance, such as wood, paper, or fuel, combines with oxygen in the presence of heat or a spark. This reaction releases energy in the form of heat and light, which we perceive as flames. The chemical reaction that creates fire is known as combustion. Combustion occurs when the fuel, which contains carbon and hydrogen, combines with oxygen in the air. This reaction produces carbon dioxide and water vapor, as well as heat and light energy."
The woman went into a technical explanation to hide her embarrassment. The spider didn't mind, because her partner would often talk about chemicals to her. He had kept practicing alchemy on the side, saying one might never know when they would need a good explosion.
Seeing the spider understand her so far, Elizabeth decided to push her pupil's mind a bit further.
"Now let's talk about heat. Heat is a form of energy that is transferred from one object to another as a result of a temperature difference. Heat energy is a form of kinetic energy, which means that it is associated with the movement of atoms and molecules in a substance. When two objects of different temperatures come into contact with each other, heat energy flows from the hotter object to the cooler object, until they reach thermal equilibrium and have the same temperature. The rate at which heat energy is transferred is determined by factors such as the temperature difference between the objects, the heat capacity of the materials involved, and the surface area of contact."
"Heat energy can also be transferred through radiation, which is the emission of electromagnetic waves from a heated object. This is how the sun heats the Earth, and it is also the principle behind infrared heaters. Heat plays a vital role in many processes in our daily lives, from cooking food to heating our homes. It is also an important concept in physics and thermodynamics, which study the properties of heat and its effects on matter."
She stopped, as she saw a familiar look in her student's eyes. The spider was lost, and she had gone overboard with the explanations again.
"What I am trying to say is, heat is an essential aspect of life, and Fire could provide it. It is essential you master Heat before we move on to Fire. We will begin by me heating up this place, and you trying to absorb the heat through your body. Watch!"
Elizabeth threw a spark on the ground and it started a small fire. Then she placed her hand, over the flame, and slowly the heat from it radiated less and less until the fire died down. Then she gently pressed her palm to one of Ariadne's legs.
The spider could feel her hand. It was warm. Then the woman laid her whole arm onto the leg. It was warmed up to the elbow, and then the temperature normalized.
"I want you to learn slowly. First, we start with small sparks, and then we move up. You should be able to repeat what I just did in a few days tops."
Ariadne looked at her, the shock apparent in her eyes. She asked if it was really ok to not train for real. When Elizabeth asked what she meant she showed her a mental image of how Ciaran was trained.
"Fucking lunatics all of them. Listen, girl, never compare yourself to those liquid-brains. They only think in extremes. Better to take it slowly than to risk your life in every damn training."