Chapter 46 - Introduction to Magic III
Bryn could feel his excitement over his body. He didn't appraise anything from the transformation, focusing only on watching Gabriel perform the water encantation. As Gabriel moved his body, words left his mouth. Both had a rhythm to follow. With each movement and word, more and more water particles centered around Gabriel's core.
A perfect sphere of water formed in front of him as the encantation finished. Gabriel opened his eyes and smiled at Bryn's mesmerized face. He then threw the water ball at a nearby tree. The strength behind the projectile was so vast that a cylindrical hole appeared on the trunk of the first target, and the magic kept going. Bryn could still hear its impact on targets in its path.
Bryn couldn't hide his smile. The thought of water being this strong made him think about the many possible ways to use magic in the future. For now, Gabriel's words brought him back from his fantasies.
"Your turn Bryn…"
"Yes!"
Bryn remembered Gabriel's words and movements, so he started mimicking him.
Nothing happened as he performed the sequence. No particles accumulated around him, and no sphere of water or magic was between his palms. Confused, he looked at Gabriel in search of answers.
Gabriel simply smirked at Bryn's confusion.
What was I thinking? If repeating words and movements transformed people into mages, why would Gabriel do a magical awakening on me? What happened during the ritual that could help me during this process…
As Bryn relived the experience he had just lived, he felt the phantom limb's presence once again. He looked around and no leg, arm, or tail moved, but he felt slight changes within him.
Closing his eyes, he focused his conscience on this new portion of himself. Bryn felt it resembled a new organ or sense more than a new limb. As his mind focused, trying to attune himself to it, he closed his eyes. Streams of energy started to appear, and as he attempted to exercise this portion of himself, the energy flowing had no changes.
Maintaining his eyes closed and attention, he started a breathing exercise. The flow began to increase with each breath, to the point that it was evident in his mind. The current originated near his stomach, where the new organ was situated, with different pathways all over his body.
So this is what Gabriel meant by core… Can I train it?
Bryn kept breathing and focusing on the energy traveling through his body. Combined with the air came a new energy wave filling his core. As he exhaled, the core kept a portion of it, sending the rest through the pathways to his legs, arms, and head.
The process was revigorating. His expression improved with every breath; he felt lighter and stronger, and his lips curled upwards as vigor ran through his veins.
Remembering Gabriel's words and movements, he started replicating the man's movements in his mind.
Looking at Bryn's concentration, Gabriel crossed his legs and started to observe the young faun. Channeling mana to his eyes, The world changed colors. Material things became almost black and white. Energy traces are the only things preventing his vision from going black and white. Each living being has some elemental energies. After awakening his magic, Bryn's colors were almost all white. With enough attention, one would recognize what was shown in the ritual, but if someone saw him now, the ritual would be like comparing a firefly to New York Square.
As Bryn's breathing technique started to take effect, he replayed Gabriel's movements and words, trying to visualize the water particles accumulating around his body and converging into his core. Nothing had happened in the outside world yet, but Gabriel could see the throbbing water elemental energy growing stronger gradually.
I can already feel the entire path inside my body where the energies flow from and to. As I visualize Gabriel's enchantment, I can tell that the energy flowing in my body lightly converges into a pastel blue. I think it is time to try it once again. Thought Bryn as his feet and hands changed position.
Eyes still closed, he felt an energy flow increasingly faster than when breathing or visualizing the movements. The energy flooded through his pathways to a point when his entire body was circulating water energy. As the words and movements reached the halfway point, the energy inside his body started to disperse, and what was left converged on his hands and core. As it happened, the dense water energy worked like magnets to the snow surrounding him. The snowflakes transformed into water as they slowly floated upwards. Bryn felt some spasms and tremors. Sweat came out of his pores. Still, they converged with the snow around his hands and in front of his core.
I feel IT! There is water covering my hands!
As soon as the thought came, his concentration was broken. The water on his hands and core splashed onto the floor, his hooves and fur mixing the remaining dirt and snow around him into slush.
Gabriel laughed at his facial expression. Happiness was instantly transformed into frustration as his control of the water element weakened to the point it broke.
Bryn gazed at him, his eyes squinting as the lips pressed the upper part of his mouth. Shaking his head from side to side, he again closed his eyes.
This time, Bryn didn't focus on a visualization of Gabriel's demonstration. Instead, he focused on the energy within. He started with his respiration until the flow was capped. Then, doing the movements and chanting, observing how the waves inside him moved and provoked change.
As the mana transformed from neutral to pastel blue, representing the water element, the flow focused on his hands and core as snow around him and the slush changed their physical state and accumulated around the same spots.
This time, Bryn didn't open his eyes, trying to expand his continence towards where the water particles were circulating. Unlike the magnificent display from Mr. Gabriel, Bryn's water ball had an uncontrolled form, trembling to stay together like his body. As his movements and incantations finished, he tried firing it at the nearest tree, but his connection to the elements was not sustained. The shaking water ball traveled about a foot before losing its form and momentum falling to the ground.
A clapping sound echoed through the forest as Bryn's knee hit the floor, and he breathed heavily.
"Very good for your first try." Said Gabriel as he approached.
In between breaths, Bryn asked, "Mr. Gabriel, what did I do wrong? Were the incantations not identical to yours?"
"They were, and so were your moves. But they do not control your mana flow, elemental conversion, or visualization capabilities…"
Bryn pondered about his answer a bit before changing the subject.
"Why was I tired after a single spell? Is it because of my low int status?"
"In portion, yes, the more int you have, the more mana can be available to you. That's not the reason you felt weak, though."
This guy… He is making me work for the answers. Hmm… I should implement that in training the others at some point. Still, that is best for new techniques or things that require the mind to work more than the body.
Bryn didn't look discouraged at all by Gabriel's answers. On the contrary, as his respiration stabilized, he regained his composure and rose to his feet before passing back and forth.
If the enchantment and the movements are not an autopilot recipe for the water ball Mr. Gabriel shot, they should work like crotches. We had many of those on Earth. Jingles to remember different subjects and help with memorization. People remembered the jingle, but the important thing was to learn the content and how to use it… Let's break down what he said. Mana flow means improving how the mana circulates on my body. Elemental conversion has something to do with the color of mana inside my body, but there is not enough information for me yet… Last but not least, visualization.
Bryn sat down with his legs crossed. He calmed his breaths and went back to visualizing the energy within him. His core pulsed like a heart, and energy waves flooded his pathways like blood did his arteries and veins. With each breath, the flow increased, but the core kept sending energy to his entire body. He tried to control the energy leaving his core, but nothing happened on the first few tries.
It was hard not to contract his abdomen during the process since that is where the core was placed, but when he did, nothing changed on the core.
After a few minutes, he could finally calm the energy around his body. By doing so, his core deepened its brightness. As if a gas tank was filling up, while he kept his core under controlled mana release, he felt a newfound strength within himself.
Gabriel couldn't believe his eyes. His back muscles had tensed in anticipation as soon as the energy signatures from Bryn changed rhythm. This kid… Just who is he? The changes to his body meant a constant absorption of mana from his core, how was he able to control it so quickly?
After another moment, Bryn realized that his core had stabilized at a much higher mana density. Now that I have much more mana to use, I could try the encantation again, but that would be simply to strike my ego. Is sending mana to different parts of my body possible?
He tried channeling mana through the pathways, but maintaining control of the situation took a lot of work. As if his mind was divided between maintaining the floodgates from his core closed and regulating other valves around his body, the first target was his left hand. As more mana flowed towards it, he could sense it being drained on the way by his body. It's like my body is craving this energy. Let's try a burst of it. Controlling his mind, he channeled a mana pulse to the same hand. This time, the speed at which the energy followed was faster, and less was taken on the way. But as soon as it reached his hand, it remained there for a second or two before being absorbed by his body.
He felt that the absorption had some effect but nothing relevant. Enough about flow management. I'll have time to train it. The next step is the conversion. How should I start that?! The first half of the enchantment was responsible for the energy flow becoming blue... Let's try it once more.
Bryn got to his feet and started the movement sequence once more. As soon as he reached the first half, he stopped. The exact process was repeated to the point the ground beneath his feet had neither snow nor slush, only dirt.
Observing closely, Gabriel could tell that as the pure mana converted towards water elemental energy, Bryn would instantly stop the sequence and start over. But he couldn't understand what he was doing. The enchantment was working, and should Bryn finish it, his first spell would be mastered. It was already incredible that his talent allowed him to control the energy flux from his core quickly. Normal magical users had their core stable and would only emit energy on demand. One of the reasons people mistook users like Bryn as bad magical users in small towns or families.
As Gabriel kept watching, the smile on Bryn's face was noticeably bigger as his movements started to shorten after so many repetitions.
Bryn stopped to replenish his core, and as it got to maximum strength, he did the new and diminished half of the encantation. As his core pulsed the energy, this time it was an uneven amount, flowing straight towards his hands, the rest remaining at his core. The mana changed color to the same pastel blue, but it shone brighter this time. The water ball still trembled a lot, but it had doubled in size now. As Bryn threw it, the impact was enough to shake the small tree and make snow fall over himself and Gabriel.
Bryn started to laugh, not imagining that would be nature's reaction to his first spell, and as he looked at Gabriel, the man had both a smile and his jaw a bit dropped.