"Dad? Could you test me?" I asked as the sun was setting down.
"Sure thing." He grunted and led me to the edge of the clearing.
He sat down and a layer of solid light enveloped him. "Get through the barrier and you pass. I made it glow so you can see. You have no restrictions on magic." He said.
"That's all?" I asked.
"Yes, when it comes to raw power you should have enough to get through this if you can control it well enough. The main difficulty with illusions comes from the control over the magic and being able to control a lot of small spells all at once. You can learn at least the control with the basic amplifications you already know. Don't worry, you won't hurt me even if you get through the barrier. Go ahead." He encouraged me.
I eyed him for a moment, then concentrated all the magic I could hold around my teeth and in my jaw muscles then bit down.
My teeth slid across the barrier, not even denting it.
"So sturdy," I whined.
"It wouldn't be much of a test if you could break through on the first try," Dad grunted, amused. "You need to pay attention to the way you sharpen your teeth and strengthen your muscles, it makes a lot of difference."
"How do you do that?" I asked.
"That... I can't really explain, you just have to get a feel for that, what works for me might not work for you. If it did, I wouldn't bother with this." He said, happy that I was putting in some effort.
"I'll try then."
"No need to push it."
I gathered up all the energy I could, forcing it to take shape around my canines and pour through my jaw muscles, strengthening them and shielding them from damage. When I felt it was sufficient I bit down on Dad's barrier again.
I tasted blood in my mouth as everything blacked out around me.
***
"Oh, you're finally awake." I heard Dad's voice.
"What happened?" I asked, trying to wake up, I felt incredibly dizzy.
"You completely exhausted yourself." Dad said and licked the still bleeding bite on his right front leg. "Not the approach I expected you to take."
"How... Did I do that? Sorry..." I whined.
"Don't be, it's nothing serious. Still, why did you think that was a good idea?"
"What?"
"Using all of your energy at once. It's one way to do that, but the stupidest one, don't ever do that again unless there really is no other way. It's far too risky."
"I didn't know I could do that," I whined trying to console Dad.
"Hmm..." He grunted, "All of us can until we get old enough. I think we finally grow our reserves to the point that we can't spend them at once around fifteen hundred winters. Not even forest spirits can use as much energy in one go as us."
"What would happen if you used everything you have?" I inquired.
"You mean a blast of raw energy like this?" He asked and the grass and moss in front of us flattened and twigs and other debris flew up and were flung back. "Fertam would be pissed. But that goes for every Caniro past twenty winters. Your reserves grow really fast until then. It's why everyone tries to avoid fights with other adults. You have to be able to tell how strong your opponents are and catch them off guard before they can do that to you. Going all out right at the start can work, but you will get killed if they managed to avoid it, were strong enough to predict and block it, or if they aren't alone."
"I understand. Can you teach me the illusions now?" I asked. I did break through the barrier after all.
"You didn't..."
"You didn't specify how she needed to break through the barrier." Mom's voice came as she walked over to us, Xerio and Janym being left for Lyara to watch.
"She needs to learn how to properly control magic first," Dad said.
"Using up everything at once takes a certain level of control," Mom grunted.
"On whose side are you?"
"On the side of sticking to your word," Mom replied with an amused grunt. She then eyed me, "But Asher is right, it's a bit complicated for you right now, you have to be able to focus on a lot of stuff at once if you want your illusions to be effective in any aspect. Don't overdo it and don't try stuff on your own until Asher tells you you are ready."
"Yes, Mom." I grunted.
"It's good to learn, but you have to be ready for it first, or you'll hurt yourself. And no more magic today, you need to rest up after that stunt." She said, nuzzled Dad, then trotted off again.
"I'm explaining it tomorrow. Knowing you, you will stay up all night and get yourself in trouble if I tell you now." Dad said and got up.
"Lyara said you are good at healing? Could you teach me that too please?" I asked.
"If you inherited the talent from me, sure, but if you didn't it'll be almost impossible to learn, it's a weird talent compared to the other more common ones."
"Talent?"
"You are born with one, and it determines what uses of magic are easy for you, which are hard, any which are impossible. It usually takes us ten or so winters to realize which one we got since other than trying there's no real way to tell."
"What's Mom's talent?" I asked.
"Fire and anything related to it, she can control the intensity, affected area, everything. But you don't need to worry about your talent right now. You will start defaulting to the uses that utilize your talent as you get better at using magic. There's no need to rush."
"I won't then. Looking forward to tomorrow's teaching." I said and laid my head down on my paws.
"Sleep well." He said and trotted off.
There really was a huge difference between me and the adults still. It was starting to get frustrating, but besides getting older I really had no way to clear it right now. I decided to quickly learn the illusions and show Dad how good I was. Closing my eyes I quickly drifted into a deep sleep.