Chapter 6

Krarshe pulled his cloak tighter, trying to ward off the cold morning air on his journey to Lycia's house. He didn't know what deity the cleric invoked yesterday, but the healing was very effective; the pain in his head had disappeared completely by the time he awoke. Unlike when he sought healing from Teva after the fight in The Easy Lute. Do they not worship Teva here? he pondered as he entered the fenced-in yard.

"Oh, Krarshe, you're here today," Taliarrah said, opening the front door mere moments after he stepped onto the property. "I was surprised to sense someone coming. Figured you'd still be recovering."

"What do you mean 'sense'?"

"Nothing. At least nothing worth worrying about right now. If you're all better, we have much work to do today." She turned back into the house. "Lycia! Come along!"

Krarshe could hear Lycia calling back but wasn't able to make out the words. I'll have to ask her, I guess.

A minute later, Lycia came out in a heavy, woolen cloak. "Karshe? You've recovered already?"

He nodded. "Faster than I was expecting."

"You're actually okay, right? You're not pushing it?"

"I'm completely fine, Lycia. Truly. Woke up with no pain or anything."

Her green eyes narrowed for a moment, scrutinizing his words. "Mmm... Okay then..."

"Are you two coming?" Taliarrah called, already heading toward the forest.

"We're going to the forest again? I thought you said training normally took place near your house," Krarshe said to Lycia.

"Umm... After- With what you showed yesterday, Mo- my mother thought it'd be safer for the village this way."

Krarshe paused. "Y-yeah... Makes sense..." he said, rubbing the top of his head.

"I know what to expect now," Taliarrah said, not looking back as she walked. "I'll make sure whatever you do, you won't get hurt."

"She was listening?" Krarshe whispered to Lycia.

Lycia simply nodded.

Krarshe waited to continue. Once the sound of dead leaves beneath their feet provided cover, he leaned in close to Lycia and whispered, "Your mother said she sensed me coming. What was that about?"

Lycia jumped as his breath hit her ear. She rubbed her ear, embarrassed. "Honestly, it's not any big secret or anything. It's just the barrier spell around our house."

"There's a spell around your house too? I heard she cast one around the village, but-"

"That one's for repelling the forest denizen," Taliarrah said, clearly listening to their conversation now. "The one around the house is just to tell me when we have visitors. Or intruders."

How is her hearing so good?! "Oh."

"Not that we ever have those," Lycia whispered to Krarshe.

"You maintain both of these barriers?"

"The one for the house uses runic magic. Something I picked up when I studied in Dher Molduhr."

"I see," Krarshe said. I guess it must be those symbols on the fence.

"My mother is a wealth of magical knowledge!" Lycia said in hushed tones, trying to hide the pride she had for her mother.

I guess I picked the right teacher this time.

"I think this'll be far enough," Taliarrah said, stopping, surveying the small clearing. "Well, assuming... No, this is fine."

Krarshe looked back. He could still see the edge of the village through the trees. It would probably be fine, as long as he didn't release as much mana as he had previously. No spells should pose a threat to the village if he kept it at the levels he did in the academy.

"So I've heard you didn't practice any mana control at the academy, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Pardon?"

Krarshe looked back at her confused. He glanced at Lycia. She made vague gestures with her eyes, as subtly as she could. He thought for a second before remembering. "Yes, master."

"I thought that's what I heard. Okay, you have some catching up to do then. For now, I want you to practice making an orb of pure mana. Lycia, please demonstrate."

"Y-yes." Lycia held up her hand. After a moment, a nearly-transparent orb appeared above her palm. Its edges rippled a bit, but it maintained its shape. Lycia's expression showed her focus as the undulations of the ball gradually stopped, leaving a smooth sphere of energy.

"Wow..." Krarshe muttered on reflex.

Lycia's face reddened at the words. The orb began to quiver. Lycia's subsequent panic made it even more turbulent before the orb finally disappeared. "Curses!"

"It's fine, you're still getting used to it," her mother said. "Now, Krarshe, you'll be doing that. Just practice releasing mana without any incantation, but focus on its shape, the way the energy twists and turns. I assume you at least know how to release mana."

"Yes, master."

"Any questions before I work with Lycia on her training?"

"No, master."

"Good. Come and see me when you think you have it, or if you have any questions." She turned and started guiding Lycia to the other end of the clearing.

"Like this?" Krarshe asked before she even reached her destination.

"What do you- You..." Taliarrah gawked at him.

"... That took me nearly a whole cycle..." Lycia muttered.

Krarshe held the sphere of mana above his hand. Its surface was perfectly smooth, the energy spinning in harmony while it maintained its shape. There was only one difference.

"Why is it so big?" Taliarrah asked.

"Umm..." Krarshe looked up at it. The sphere must have been at least twice his own height in diameter. "I don't know."

Taliarrah raised an eyebrow. "O...kay... How long can you maintain that?"

Krarshe shrugged. He looked over at Lycia. She seemed conflicted.

"Well then, I have a new task for you. Normally, I'd say to practice increasing its size. But for you, I want to see you maintain that level of control while it's the size of your head."

Krarshe pursed his lips and peered up at the imposing orb again. "Hmm. Okay."

"And, if you can, try to keep the spell going the whole time. You should be able to adjust its size smoothly while keeping it in the same shape."

This task is getting harder and harder. But, it is the kind of training I was expecting. He sighed at the monumental task he was assigned. Steeling himself, he looked at his teacher. "Yes, master."

* * *

"You think you've got it already?" Taliarrah asked, surprised.

Krarshe nodded. "I think so." I sure hope so. These past few days have been difficult. Ugh.

Getting a handle on his mana proved trickier than he had expected. Manipulating such small amounts of mana was like trying to grasp a sliver of wood buried deep in his fingertip. Time and again, the orb would quiver and ripple before eventually collapsing to nothingness. And this was his experience all day, every day, since this task was assigned. More than once, his frustration had gotten the better of him but he finally got it. Most of the time, at least.

Her eyebrows arched in disbelief. "Let's see it then."

Krarshe took a deep breath, readied himself, and held up his hand. A small orb of mana flickered into existence, cementing itself in the air, perfectly spherical. Krarshe's eyes focused, trying to maintain the flow of mana.

"Hmm. Can you make it larger? Slowly."

Krarshe nodded, his eyes not leaving the orb in front of him. Carefully, he let more mana trickle into the spell. The orb grew slowly to roughly quadruple the size.

"And smaller again."

Krarshe clenched his teeth, his breathing was becoming ragged as he focused. He knew this would be the more difficult task. It took a moment, but the ball of mana slowly shrank back to what it was originally. Once there, he relaxed a bit, maintaining the spell in perfect form.

"Consider me impressed. I didn't expect you to do it so quickly."

Krarshe terminated the spell with an exhausted breath. "That... might have been... the most... difficult thing I've done..." He braced himself against his knees as he regained control of his breathing. He looked over at Lycia, practicing her own spell across the clearing, holding a flickering ball of fire in the air as it grew and shrank. She didn't appear the least bit interested. The past few days, she seemed to be completely ignoring him. It was possible she was more focused on her own spell, but she'd seemed different since the other day when he first displayed his orb of mana.

"Mana control is the most difficult, and most crucial, part of the magical arts. Power alone is meaningless." Taliarrah looked back to check on Lycia briefly before turning back to him. "You'll have to keep practicing that same exercise every day until it's effortless."

Krarshe let out an involuntary groan. He immediately realized his mistake and stood upright in an exaggerated fashion.

"Mmhmm... I'll disregard that," Taliarrah said. "For now, we'll have you move on so we can have you fully caught up."

"What should I do, master?" asked Krarshe, obviously overeager after his groaning.

"We'll be doing the same thing, but with an elemental spell."

Looking over at Lycia, he could see her now using water in her spell instead. "Which one?"

"For now, you can pick one."

"Umm... Oka- I mean, yes, master!"

Taliarrah gave him a knowing look. "Let me guess, lightning?"

Krarshe nodded.

"I guess I'm not surprised."

She told him the spell. As he listened, Krarshe noticed Lycia peeking toward him now.

"Think you got it?"

He nodded again and held out his hand. Focusing on the release of his mana, he recited the spell, "Se Esfiru hinoras, suesoo shu zeraus dzam mea'anom, se zerais dzam gra zehinga!"

The orb of lightning burst into his outstretched hand. The size and shape were exactly what he wanted. Just as he had with the orb of mana, he grew and shrank the orb slowly, using all of the focus and effort he could muster. Looking over at Taliarrah, she seemed unimpressed.

"You know, it's not unusual for people to have an inclination for different schools of magic, but your affinity for lightning is rather extreme."

"Did you expect this to happen?"

"I kind of figured it would, after your spell a few days ago. Well, let's try a different element this time."

Uh-oh. Time for this already, huh? "Umm... Sure, but I must warn you... Maybe you and Lycia should... go behind one of those trees over there," Krarshe said, pointing at the far side of their training area.

Lycia stopped her spell. Both of the elven women looked at him with concern. "This won't be like the other day, will it?" she asked.

"No, Lycia, not like the lightning spell. But, still, I just- I want to know you are both out of harm's way."

Taliarrah gave him a sideways glance before shrugging. "If you insist. Let's... go with what should be a less destructive school."

She explained the spell to Krarshe before she and Lycia took position behind a large tree.

Let's see how it goes... I mean, maybe it won't go wrong this time? "Anari, mazushe dzam fusu'e, se me hinoras, se mazu dzam gra zehinga!"

A perfect ball of water appeared above Krarshe's hand. He smiled for a second before he saw the ball begin to ripple and grow in size. No matter how he focused, he couldn't control the size of the orb. Another second, lightning began arcing along the liquid's surface. And another, bolts of lightning began tearing free of the orb, striking the ground around him. A stray bolt caught the branch of a tree behind him with a crash. He immediately stopped the spell.

"What in the world was that?!" Taliarrah demanded, emerging from behind the tree.

"I honestly don't know. But, I do know it happens all the time."

"That's the first time I've seen that."

"Your other spells seemed fine," Lycia added.

"I mean, with other schools of magic, aside from lightning. Or arcane. Those two schools seem fine."

"So, if I had you cast a fire spell-"

"The same thing would result. Trust me, they... tested me extensively at the academy."

"Hmm... And they drew no conclusions?"

"Not that I'm aware of. They didn't really discuss it with me."

Taliarrah started chewing on her thumbnail, looking off into the distance.

"Oh no... She's doing it again..." Lycia whispered.

"Doing what?" Krarshe whispered back.

"Okay, here's what we'll do," Taliarrah said, clapping her hands together. "You two, continue working on what you've been practicing. Krarshe, just stick to arcane and lightning schools; Lycia, all the ones I've taught you. Do NOT do anything dangerous."

"Wait, wha-"

She immediately interrupted Krarshe. "I need to look into something. So, if you'll excuse me." With that, Taliarrah headed back toward the village.

"Ugh." Lycia smacked her forehead with her palm. "I hate it when she does this."

"... Okay, what is going on here?"

"You got her interested."

"Interested? In what?"

"Your magic."

Krarshe's eye twitched. "She's not going to... study me, right?" Flashbacks from his time with Professor Landry flooded his mind.

"No, no. She'll just be locking herself away in her study. Which unfortunately means we'll be left repeating the same exercises."

"... I've already been doing that..."

"And you'll be doing it more. Last time I saw her interested enough to start chewing her thumb, she locked herself in there for a few days."

"You can't mean... No... Not this same cursed exercise..."

"For at least the next few days, yes." Lycia sighed. "Well, let's get to it, I guess. And stop crying please. I'm embarrassed just watching."

"Nooooooo!" Krarshe sobbed. His cry rang out loud enough for the villagers to hear it, surely. Marcel would use this against him in his latest provocation, no doubt. Just that thought brought him deeper into despair as he reluctantly continued is endless practice.

* * *

The kitchen was warm, with the smell of dinner wafting through the room. The succulent smell of stewed beef and carrots would be enough to make anyone's mouth water. But, it was insufficient to get Krarshe to conquer his exhaustion and lift his head off the wooden table. His physical exhaustion, however, was dwarfed by his mental and emotional fatigue.

He groaned as he thought about the upcoming day's training and started banging his head on the table repeatedly.

"That good a day, huh?" Marcel asked from the stove. He sniffed the pot and muttered something to himself before adding a multitude of seasonings.

"How could you tell?"

"That was you howling out there earlier, right?"

Krarshe stopped banging his head and rocked it to the side to look at him. I knew it. "Wasn't me beating my head to mush just now?"

"I mean, there's that too. I just wanted to confirm it was you crying out there in the woods before I gave you grief for it," Marcel said, smirking.

Krarshe returned to his face-down position. "Just be gentle, okay?"

"You know as well as I that that's impossible." Marcel took a sip of the stew. "Hmm! Could use more salt. Karshe, can you get some from the storage room?"

He rolled his head to the side again and stared at the old man.

"C'mon, you can wallow in your shame while you do it."

"Who's ashamed?"

"Oh? Was I wrong? I figured you were just kicking yourself for crying in front of Ellycia."

His eyes narrowed. "I wasn't, until now..."

"Glad to be of service," Marcel said with a bow. "Now, the salt."

Krarshe sighed and shoved himself up off the table hard enough that he and his chair nearly fell backwards. He quickly caught hold of the table and steadied himself before getting up. He didn't respond to the "Thaaaaaaanks!" he heard from the kitchen as he walked down the hallway.

Why would you put your storage room so far from the kitchen? Krarshe wondered as he went, passing by one empty room after another. Why does he even have all these rooms? He stopped and peeked into one of the rooms. The mostly dark room held a single bed, its blankets oddly disheveled as if someone had just woken up late, left undisturbed for an unknown length of time. This wasn't the only room in the house that felt almost frozen in time, with hints of daily life but strangely devoid of it.

He wasn't sure how many of the rooms were this way, but he'd discovered several of them in the roughly three quarter-cycles he'd been living here. He wouldn't be surprised if at least half the house was like this. This, contrasted with Marcel's constant friendly and cheerful personality, was unsettling. He couldn't make sense of it.

"Thank you," Marcel said when Krarshe returned with the sack of salt. "Sure took your time. Busy crying again?"

Krarshe rolled his eyes. "No, I was just thinking about something."

"How you'll face Ellycia?"

"No."

"What you can do now to reclaim your dignity?"

"No!"

"That's good because I don't think there's anything you can do for that."

He glared at Marcel. "No. I was just noticing..." Do I bring this up? he thought, remembering a few days prior when he brought up the drumming. Maybe I can approach it indirectly. "This house is awfully big for just you, isn't it?"

"Hmm?"

"I mean... there's just a lot of unused rooms."

"Oh, you mean- Well, I wasn't always living alone. My wife and son lived here a while back."

Krarshe hesitated before continuing, "What... happened to them?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. My wife left me and took our son with her, but that was years ago, back when our son was your- Well, LOOKED around your age. He's a grown man now, actually lives with his family in this village. He won't talk to me though, after what my wife taught him about me growing up. And she left the village not long ago. ... I guess I should be saying my ex-wife, huh?" He laughed.

With a sigh of relief, Krarshe said, "That's good then. I was honestly kind of nervous I'd be bringing up a taboo subject. The rooms look almost abandoned."

"No no. I'm just too laz- busy to fix them up."

"You were definitely about to say lazy."

"Come now, do you think I, the village's headman, would be lazy?"

"Absolutely," he said with a straight face as though he was stating objective fact.

"Well... You got me there." Marcel let out another hearty laugh.

"So why'd she leave?"

"Who? Oh, my wife. Err... Ex-wife. Well, she caught me cheating on her..."

"Cheating? What do you mean?"

"Infidelity? Adultery? An affair? Do you understand?"

"Umm... Not really."

"You know, Karshe, sometimes you're a bit odd," he said, shaking his head. "She found out I was sleeping with another woman."

Krarshe cocked his head to the side. "What's wrong with that? When travelling, I've seen a lot of people sleep together. Especially on cold nights."

Marcel rubbed his face, exasperated. He stopped stirring the pot and turned to Krarshe. "I mean, I was having sex with another woman, despite being married to my wife."

The young elf stared at his housemate for a minute, studying his face for signs of implicit meaning, mulling over what he'd just said. "So you took another mate? I don't understand, did you try to do it secretly? I could see why she'd be upset, but-"

"Secretly or not, it was wrong! I made a mistake and she couldn't forgive it, so she left with our son!"

Krarshe was taken aback by Marcel's aggressive retort. He waited, letting him calm down, before continuing, "I'm sorry, I just don't understand. Do people here take one mate?"

Marcel's face slowly shifted from frustration to confusion. "Usually, though some nobles take mistresses. Do... your people not?"

He shook his head. "No. In fact, it's not unusual to have numerous mates. As long as we're open about it to our other mates."

The confusion on Marcel's face deepened. "Now THAT I don't understand."

"I mean, is your heart so small that it can only love one person in your whole life?"

"Well..." He drifted off without giving a direct answer.

"It's a long time and you never know who you'll meet during it. If I met another person a hundred years from now, it wouldn't lessen my love for- Well, for my first mate."

"First mate... Right..." Marcel gave him a sly look. "I guess that kind of makes sense, when I think about it. Elves do live a long time."

"Huh? Oh, right, yeah."

"I guess it's just cultural differences."

Krarshe nodded. An acrid smell caught his attention. "Umm... Marcel? The pot..."

"Hmm? Oh, curses!" He quickly spun around and moved the pot off the stove. "Shit!" He shook his head, disappointed, muttering curses to himself. "I guess we're stuck with burnt food today."

"I'm sure I've had worse. Just... don't ask me to cook for you."

Marcel gave him a curious look. "Oh? You can't just make a statement like that and not tell me the story," he said, scooping out a helping of the overcooked stew.

"I guess I don't mind recalling this one," he said, smiling to himself.

Taking the bowl from Marcel, he started recounting the story of his cooking competition with Bri and Tibault nearly two cycles ago now. Krarshe's smile grew wider as he spun the tale, more than happy to talk about his friends and their antics. It was rare he had time to think about them, but every time he did he remembered all the fun he'd had. One day, he knew he'd have to pay them a visit.

* * *

"Did he really do that?"

Krarshe nodded.

"That codger is too much sometimes, I swear..." Lycia held her orb of water over her head. With a few words, the orb shifted to a ball of flames.

"And I'm living with him." Krarshe was lying in the leaves, arm extended toward the sky. He carefully watched the orb of mana expand and shrink.

For nearly a quarter-cycle, the two of them practiced like this, all day, without rest. What had started as a struggle was now simple, effortless. Lycia's control over her spell was perfect, the sphere of magic holding steady as she shifted the school with ease. Her ability to adjust the size of it was also flawless, though she couldn't expand it to the size Krarshe had.

Krarshe had been forbidden from using different schools of magic, but he had absolute control of the size of it. One day, he made it big enough to cover the entire clearing, which he was proud of. Lycia, however, was so startled she almost lit the forest on fire with her spell by accident, something they'd both agreed to keep secret from her mother. Since, he'd played with summoning a second orb with his other hand, getting the two of them to move as he wanted; something he'd learned from watching Lycia's training. He'd almost gotten a hang of having them both orbit him, but wasn't quite there yet.

"Ugh, I'm so tired of this." Krarshe sat up, maintaining his spell.

"Do you understand why I was complaining?" She sighed. "I knew this was going to happen the moment she took interest."

"... Think I can launch this orb out of the forest?"

"No."

"Then how far do you think it'll go?"

"I meant don't do it."

"Then how about to Marcel's house?"

"... Still no."

Krarshe smiled. "Thought about it for a second, didn't you?"

Lycia turned away, hiding her mischievous smile. "No I didn't."

"You're telling me you didn't think about his face when he came back to his house."

"... Okay, maybe for a second. But don't do it. Knowing your power, the house would get obliterated."

"You think so?"

She nodded. "As if the Hungerer itself had consumed it."

"I'm being compared to a curse now? Not sure if I should be upset or proud." He stood up, still keeping his focus on the spell. "Want to compete again?"

"Ugh, no. I've given up trying to beat you," Lycia said begrudgingly. She clicked her tongue, clearly sore remembering the day prior when Krarshe's spell had dwarfed hers. "Your power... It really is beyond anything I've seen. Even my mother was shocked the first time she saw it."

Krarshe's spell fizzled. He felt a lump in his throat, more overjoyed from her compliment than he expected. "R-really?" he croaked.

"Don't let it go to your head."

Lycia and Krarshe spun around to see Taliarrah trudging through the woods toward them.

"Mom! You're back."

Krarshe's thoughts immediately went to what he was talking about with Lycia, regarding launching his spell. "So... Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked hurriedly, hoping she didn't hear him earlier.

"I'm not certain yet, but we're going to test it." She turned to Krarshe. "Krarshe, I want you to say the following before you cast the spell: Sem kranruenza mrom."

Krarshe raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly. "Should I cast it with..."

"Water is probably safer," she said as she took cover behind a tree.

Lycia hurried over to her mother's side as Krarshe made his way to the far side of the clearing.

Imagine this be all that was necessary... He raised his hand in front of him. "Sem kranruenza mrom. Anari, mazushe dzam fusu'e, se me hinoras, se mazu dzam gra zehinga!"

A sphere of water burst forth in his hand. The three watched it carefully as it floated there, anticipating what was to come next.

But nothing happened.

Krarshe held the ball of water for a minute, but its form remained steady and, most shockingly of all, was without any lightning. Excitedly, he adjusted its size as he had with the arcane orb the past few days. Its shape rippled slightly but it maintained its form. He let the orb burst, splashing water all over himself and the surrounding trees as he cried out, "It worked! It worked! I can finally cast spells properly!"

"Karshe! You did it!" Lycia emerged from behind the tree, jumping for joy with him.

The two rejoiced for a good minute before Taliarrah interrupted. "I'm happy for you, but can you two stop hugging already? This just means we can continue with your training."

Lycia and Krarshe stopped, now realizing they had been embracing each other. They quickly separated and turned from each other bashfully.

He heard his teacher snicker before she spoke up. "Krarshe, you'll need to use this before each spell, aside from arcane and lightning schools. Don't forget it."

"Umm... Master? How did you figure this out?" I mean, I'm not surprised, but it just seems so... simple.

"I don't think it's a prudent use of time to go into what I've been doing for the past several days. Don't worry about it, and let's press on with your lessons. There's a lot I wish to get through." She cleared her throat. "Are you going to be okay with those wet clothes?"

Krarshe looked down at his clothing. They were soaked from his spell earlier. "Umm... I should be fine."

"Uh-huh... Go change, we'll wait."

"... Yes master."

Krarshe sprinted home, newly revitalized by his successful spell. Even Marcel's usual joking wasn't enough to derail him. In a flash, he was back and eager for more lessons.

"That was quick. Good. We have much to do to make up for lost time. First, let me see the results of your practice while I was gone."

Krarshe and Lycia exchanged looks, thinking about the last few days of chitchat while they practiced. In unison, they cast their spells.

Taliarrah had them manipulate them repeatedly, changing their size and school. Even Krarshe, who was eager to do so. She had them move them about. Officially, this was new to him, though he'd already practiced it when watching Lycia.

"Hmm. Both of you, your mana control is splendid. Frankly, I'm surprised at how quickly both of you picked it up. Perhaps training together helped push you both further. Regardless of the reason, you should feel proud."

Krarshe and Lycia smiled at each other.

"I think you're ready for it now."

"It?" the two students asked in unison.

"Abbreviated casting, or short-casting a spell."

"Mom, really?"

"I thought that was supposed to be difficult. Why are we learning it so early?"

Taliarrah shook her head. "People say it's difficult because they're poorly trained. Short-casting just requires strong control of your mana, something you both have now. Normally, the incantation dictates everything about the spell. In short-casting, you need to manipulate it yourself. Know the feeling of the spell, and adjust your mana to match it. The spell itself just guides the form or shape it takes."

"Umm... Are you sure about this?"

"You'll see, Lycia. I'd bet you'll have a pretty good grasp of it by the end of the day. Krarshe too, despite his struggles." She turned to him. "You will still need to include what I taught you earlier, which will lengthen your abbreviated spells, but it'll still be faster."

"Okay," Krarshe said. Ugh.

"For now, basic spells will suffice. More advanced ones will take time to get a feel for, so continue your traditional spellcasts for those. Now, let's get to it, the night won't wait for us."

For the remainder of the day, Taliarrah taught them the basics of short-casting. Much of it revolved around feeling how the mana felt when it took the form of a specific school of magic. As long as you could replicate that feeling as you released your mana, the spell would function normally. As she had said, a mere few words really was enough to shape the spell after that.

The two practiced for hours, practicing the orb spell they'd spent forever casting. Just as Lycia's mother said, it seemed easy. Way easier than Krarshe was expecting it to be, given what Landry had said about it. It made him question the teachers at the academy even more.

By the end of the day, both of them had a solid grasp of short casting. While the spell fizzled out occasionally, the vast majority of their spells worked as they wanted.

Krarshe found his skills with lightning to be particularly effective. Just as he had back when he was playing around in the academy's training area, the spells for this school felt as though they didn't need any spellcast. Only now, he could have it take shape in front of him, rather than just shocking whatever he touched. He chuckled to himself thinking about it, garnering weird looks from Lycia and her mother.

"Okay, I think that's enough short-casting for today," Taliarrah said, the sky now a bright orange.

"Phew, that was exciting," Krarshe said, resting against a tree.

"I'm surprised, that was easy," Lycia said as she mirrored Krarshe, bracing herself against another tree.

"Proper preparation is the key for any mage," said her mother. "Now, I have one more thing to teach you, in preparation for next quarter-cycle. I'd like to introduce it now so you can begin practicing immediately."

Both of them looked up before and took their positions in front of their teacher.

"What I'm going to teach you..." she started, looking at both of them. Then her lips stopped moving. "is the yaraada spell."

Krarshe jerked his head to the side, hearing what sounded like Taliarrah's voice in his mind. He turned to Lycia, who was also looking for the source of the sound.

"This will be the next step in your training," Taliarrah's voice said, resounding in their heads, her mouth completely still.

"How are you..." Krarshe started.

"You'll need to practice projecting your mana to another person, sending along your thoughts. Picture them clearly in your mind as you do it."

Lycia looked at Krarshe, then back at her mother. "This seems complicated..."

"It takes some getting used to, though using it with one individual is not as challenging as transmitting it to a group," she said, speaking normally again. "But, this is why I wanted to get you two started on it now. It's immeasurably useful when you're working as an adventurer."

"Wait, you can just talk through your thoughts?" Krarshe asked, surprised. "Why isn't this used more? You'd think it'd be one of the first spells taught at the academy."

"I agree it's theoretically useful, especially on the battlefield, but it's susceptible to being intercepted or manipulated if your enemy is knowledgeable and discovers you using it. It also requires exponentially more mana and focus the farther your target is. It only works if you maintain a clear image of the target."

"So NOT useful on the battlefield."

"It's typically easier in close proximity for those reasons, yes. However, it's still useful for covert conversations when you're in a dangerous place."

"That makes sense," Krarshe said, nodding.

"Wait, what did you say before?" Lycia interjected.

"Hmm?"

"'When you're working as...' what?"

Krarshe turned to Lycia. He thought for a moment, recalling his teacher's words.

A smile spread across Taliarrah's face. "This is why I want you practicing this going forward, in addition to the rest of your training."

Krarshe's brow furrowed. Wait, does she mean-

"You're both at the point where you need to start working in some practical experience. As such, next quarter-cycle, together, we'll be registering as adventurers."