V5 Incline 50: Test-Taker Einervaene

I stand still, watching someone recline comfortably on a gust of solid wind. It carries her off into the distance, leaving me with a smile as I try to imagine how comfortable she must be feeling. Though, I do have to wonder by extension, how would I use my magic to fly? Even if I don't tempt myself with the idea of what it will look like, it is an inevitable skill to try and learn. Magic is already a hard, lengthy process to learn in any meaningful force.

Flying is even harder than that, a badge of honour as well as a badge of skill.

Ironically, despite being nowhere near easy to learn or even a basic skill for our kind, it's near collectively seen as a benchmark for all who wish to be truly considered witches. There really is something strange about such a type of spell being the benchmark achievement needed to really advance in this life. Something all the more notable given my current problems with blood-magic. Sacrificial casting.

Depending on how you learn your magic. Depending on what influences you as you learn it all... You could end up completely locking yourself out of the ability to fly. Your mind might end up not being able to process a means because of how established your magic is.

And while I don't want to inflate or puff my ego, or go anywhere near the idea of arrogance. Even in my own head, I'm certain of one thing: Flying is an achievable goal for me. I am of a people whose magic near entirely comes from the sky. Even in my inexperienced state, this runaway bastard of a state I'm in... I still developed a spell that lets me ascend to the sky!

A spell at that, that I must have surely improved upon since learning new casting techniques?

"I should actually see how close to being able to fly I actually am!" I beam out with an open-mouth smile.

Quickly setting aside my former goal for the moment, I run and head off towards an empty stretch of grass. My heels thud along the mountain grass, slowing me down as much as my quick loss of breath. I almost collapse as I stop, but I hold my height as I look back across the verdant field. My face red, my set of lungs strained an enriched with high purity wind-magic. Even then, I keep looking up with a smile.

I recover quickly, setting aside my belongings and standing straight again, my wrists flicking about. Some distance comes between me and my personal belongs, just in case this becomes a messy attempt to fly. A few more steps away, and I close my eyes, taking in a few calming breaths. I need to make sure I'm focusing entirely on what I've been taught before I attempt anything.

"Just like usual, you know how to do this..." I say, my words not agreeing with my tone. I'm trying to reaffirm my thoughts with confidence, and I'm contradicting myself. It puts a frown on my face, a weight that lapses my attention away from where it needs to- I put myself back into the right mindset, the determined mindset.

It spreads across me, and I feel it all, the way my magic shifts my body apart into a lightning bolt. The skies are clear, but there is a lone cloud I can climb for, a lone cloud I can aim myself at. My body warps into sparks, transmuting into raw thunder-power and the sudden lightness that follows.

Yet, a problem near instantly comes... I can feel myself being pulled apart!

My panic cancels the spell, and I fall to the ground, flailing about the singed earth. Many, many breaths go in and out of me, calming me down. I get up, barely, and I crawl over to where I had put my notetablet. A sigh stutters out of me as full control returns to my body, and I write down what I've just experienced. My eyes linger on the finished notes, my stare intense and confused while I try to think about what went wrong.

My gloved finger taps on one of the details, an answer that feels most correct coming to mine. My spell is built around ascending to the clouds in a specific environment. Something I can't really do here when the clouds are so much different, so much more sparse. You need to go to the edge of the plateau and head down the mountainside or the spiralling road.

But, as I sit here pondering, I find myself focusing on that tug on my magical aura. It's so easy to lose control of your magic if you're absent-minded with it like you are down below. It could just as easily be the machines in Thrurstradtur. Even the machines in Suhurlodst. I've never been around such focused magical power before... This place is one of the Seven Great Peaks for a reason, and that concentration of power is the reason.

If that really is the case... Then... Then that means anyone who can fly here is managing the beat the pull of an entire city-machine! That's impossibly impressive.

They have such a mastery over their own internal, external-magic and subsequent aura that they can win against the machines of this place!

"Actually... That's a good thought to have." I comment openly, writing down a note for the teachers the next time I see them. They're so much more keenly aware of the magic-hungry city we're so close to.

Maybe they know enough about Thrurstradtur to give me the insights I need? How the city's magic systems work, tools I could get to help me against it, things like that. I would prefer the first option over the second, as tools can sometimes be curses that keep you from developing. But if it comes to it, I think I would be willing to set aside any pretentious ambition so I could learn to fly. Flying in and of itself is such a prestigious spell-type that it's hardly a sore spot to admit to using a tool to help you there.

Assuming, anyway. I've never met or really known anyone who has learned to fly despite all the challenges. But, to meet such an individual would be a great honour! A witch of such skill and prestige can be tolerated to an extent. Like how it's somewhat easier to forgive the clueless arrogance of a high-up noble back home, given how meritocratic it all is at that point. Or, the lack of manners from a commoner, at least, the finer manners.

You just learn to accept common problems without fail after a certain point.

"Still... I should give it all one more go." I mutter to myself, heading back to the singed grass and focusing once again.