We quickly made it back to the great tree and went inside to find Delmar now sitting near the entrance of the cave. Once we had all made our way inside he said "Had your fill already?"
"We are good for now but I think we will hunt again in a day or two, we would like to rest for a while then I was wanting to ask for your assistance in our training. We still are lacking in many areas and with the excellent display of mana control you performed with the barrier I cannot think of a more suitable teacher." I responded.
"No need for flattery, that was a rather elementary spell and with the use of my tree it made the execution that much easier."
'first he says he doesn't need the flattery then brags what a show off.'
"Anyway I was planning on training the three of you anyway so no need to worry, get your rest we will start once you are ready." Delmar said.
The three of us nodded then found somewhere in the cave to lay down and quickly fell asleep.
I woke up some hours later feeling refreshed, I guess the extra mana in the elk we ate must have added some extra rejuvenation.
I slowly lifted my head only to see that Corentine was already awake and receiving instruction from delmar outside the cave entrance. Apollonia was still quietly sleeping near me so I chose to silently get up and head outside to join the fun.
upon seeing me exit the cave entrance Uncle looked my way and said "feeling rested?" To which I nodded.
"Good, then join us in my lesson on mana control." He continued.
I quickly walked over to were Corentine was standing then looked at Delmar then once he could see that he had our attention he started.
"Think of your mana as the flow of a mighty river, as it flows within your body it seeks any outlet it can. And once it has found it, it will rush out as fast as it can, your job is to regulate that flow, the better regulation the more control you achieve.
"With that picture in your minds eye I want you to imagine that your regulator is the runes in which we cast our spells and manipulate mana. I want you to summon only one rune, specifically the one you should already have made which controls the power of your spells."
I closed my eyes and felt my mana rushing through my body as if it was a living thing, then summoned the rune.
"Good now I want you to put the bare minimum amount of mana you can into the rune and keep that flow constant."
I quickly did as he asked trying to control the vast power of the mana stream within my body. At first it felt like it wanted to rush out all at once, but I quickly restrained it, I focused as much as I could manage but when I opened my eyes the rune still glowed brightly.
"Looks like you still have work to do, but you have time, keep trying and you will succeed." Delmar said.
I tried as hard as I could to lower the mana flow but when I open my eyes again nothing had changed. So I tried again, this time the runes glow decreased ever so slightly almost not noticeable.
I looked at Corentine's progress and her rune was glowing about half as bright as my own and was steadily decreasing.
I kept trying to decrease my output, only making small gains each time until Delmar spoke up.
"I think it is time we took a small break, after which we will continue."
slightly frustrated over my lack of success I nodded then walked back into the cave with Corentine to the still sleeping Apollonia and laid down.
After an hour or two she finally woke up and Delmar summoned us outside to continue our training, as we continued as we had been he explained the training to my sister, then she joined us. All the while Delmar kept a close eye on our progress.
For hours we stood there just trying to decrease our mana output, with Corentine having the most success, and Apollonia just behind her.
I still struggled to find a way to quell my raging mana, it seemed that anytime I tried to use any amount it all rushed forth as if it was eager to be used.
Soon enough the sun began to set and Uncle told us we were done for the day, urging us to get some rest so that we could start again in the morning.
I reluctantly agreed and went inside before laying down and going to sleep.
When I woke up, without waiting for my sisters I went outside and started my training alone.
After a while with still no progress an idea suddenly hit me, I have so much mana that when I try to simply restrict the flow there is only so much I can close off. I could redirect some of the flow back into my body to reduce the strain and make it easier to control in the rune.
Just about then everyone else came outside and began as well, not that I really noticed as I was concentrating on my new idea as hard as I could.
Though the idea seemed good it was a struggle to control two things at once so I dispelled the rune and practiced controlling the flow of mana in my own body.
At first it strongly resisted it but I guess once my mana felt that rather than controlling it I was redirecting it, it seemed to obey my will.
Once I had accomplished this after hours of effort, I re summoned the rune only this time as I predicted the output was much easier to control.
seeing the stark difference in my output Uncle spoke up, "Well done Valorian, what did you do to overcome your block in progress?"
Happy with the compliment I quickly responded, "I first practiced redirecting the flow of mana within my body then with the rune summoned, I only used a fraction of my mana stream to power it. Almost like a fork in a river."
"I am quite surprised you came up with that all on your own, Apollonia, Corentine, why don't you try this method as well?" He added.
My sisters quickly nodded, eager for anything to help them progress.
I then resumed my practice, continually trying to decrease my output.