Control Magic

Ria woke in the early hours of the morning. Her clothes and the bed were drenched in sweat, while the room felt unnaturally warm.

It took her some effort to reign her powers in. After that, she washed herself off, got dressed and left the room, class schedule in hand. According to the scroll, she was supposed to go to the tower of fire, third level, room B.

The tower wasn’t hard to find, since all the walls of the hallways were color coded and showed depictions of the various elements, that pointed her into the right direction. A B inside a tetrahedron marked the lecture room she was looking for. There were two doors next to the B, so she took the one on the right. The room itself looked like part of an amphitheater; Rows of chairs sat in an arc on different levels around a dais at the bottom. A blackboard hung behind it and was full of texts, numbers, equations and diagrams.

What made her stop was the amount of people in the room. Too many people for her. Ria wondered, whether she should leave immediately. Then the people looked at her. A lizz pointed and all the other lizz moved a bit closer to her. Not away, but closer. They even pushed the other people in the class away from her.

Ria had no idea, what was happening, but the humans, dwarves, elves, two dwelves and a felana didn’t seem to have a problem with her and all the lizz seemed to seek her out. It seemed as if she wasn’t putting anyone in danger for now, so she took a seat in the furthest corner of the right side of the room and looked over everyone else. Her eyes were drawn to the felana. She had impeccable fur. Which had to be hard in a city that was full of ash.

“Hey. You’re new, aren’t you?” A lizz sat directly next to her. Small horns had started to grow on the sides of his head, and his features were a bit more angular than that of most lizz. He was definitely male. “I’m Brannzza. And I really like your aura. You feel warm. Like the sun.”

“You know the Sun Dragon Ikaruz? The one that flew too close to the sun?” she warned him.

“It’z an interezting fairytale.” Brannzza nodded. “He had to have had excellent control over hiz magic to be able to fly so high. But in the end he burned out and didn’t survive the crash.” The lizz shook his head. “One alwayz need power and control in equal measurez.”

“Yes. And I don’t have enough of the latter.” Ria sighed and hoped that he’d get the hint.

“I wouldn’t mind helping you learn.” His forked tongue tasted the air for a moment while he had his eyes closed. If she remembered the lizz’ body language correctly, he was smiling at her.

“I’ll think about it.” She mumbled, and hoped that he’d leave. Still, the lizz seemed to tolerate her power far better than anyone else. And with the collar she really seemed to be able to walk among society without harming anyone. She thanked En’rin in her mind.

“Great. I’m looking forward to it.”

Ria sighed. She failed in getting rid of him. But maybe she could use him to investigate the Agua Intelligencia. After all, she had no idea, how to go about that task she’d been given.

She noticed the eyes of a few more on herself until an older dwelf walked in. Both his hair and beard had turned snow-white already and even his pointy ears seemed slightly wrinkled. He sighed and cleaned the blackboard by summoning a bit of water. Then he turned to his audience.

“I see you’ve spontaneously decided to sit very differently than usual,” the dwelfe said. “I guess it’s because of our new guest, isn’t it?” He looked directly at her. “Since I can feel your aura down here, you seem to lack in control. Let’s make that the subject of today’s lesson, shall we?”

Ria blushed and wanted to leave, but the only way she could do that right now, was to climb over her chair. And that, for now, was far more embarrassing.

“As you know, most mages wear these mana block bracelets.” He lifted his arm and pointed to the metal on his wrist. “It hinders one’s mana from flowing out of the body. It helps to create a pool that can be used to cast greater spells than normal.” He lowered his hand. “Once that block is released, the mage can control the mana and shape it into magic. There are a few rare exceptions that generate so much mana on their own, that they don’t need these blocks, but rather a method to dissipate it safely. Those people wear power control collars. Our very own Elemental Avatar is a prime example for one such person. She provides Volasis through her control collar and a complex mana distribution network that is connected to it with mana. That mana has an affinity for water and is the source of all the city’s fresh water.” The dwelf pointed at Ria. “And our guest is another example for one such person. I guess she’s between a typical mage and an Elemental Avatar.”

All the students in the room turned around and looked at her.

Ria didn’t say anything. There was nothing she could deny and nothing she was willing to divulge.

“The reasons you need to control your magic may be different, but the principles are the same,” the dwelf continued and pulled the students’ attentions back to himself. “There is a lot of discipline involved, which will benefit your overall magic use. Therefore you should practice control as much as possible until it becomes second nature.”

Brannzza rolled his eyes.

“Discipline of the mind is very important for magic and control. Last time we talked about meditation as a possibility to further your own discipline. But this time we’re looking into more advanced control mechanisms.”

The dwelf turned to the blackboard. “You can use your own mana to create a magical construct that helps you control your magic. It is easier, if you have an aptitude for control, which is governed by ether, but everyone can learn it.” He drew figures on the blackboard and wrote numbers, equations and symbols below it.

Ria sat up straight. That sounded exactly like what she needed. She did her best to absorb all the information. Especially since she had an aptitude for ether-type magic. It was as if this lecture was made for her. She wanted to try it out immediately!

“You need to adjust these parameters to your power,” the dwelf said as he was done filling the blackboard with information.

A few people raised their hand. “Yes?” He pointed at the felana. The cat-like person stood, her tail was half-raised.

“That magic looks a bit clumsy. I guess the power gains through increased control are eaten by the rather poor design of that magic?”

“Good catch.” The dwelf nodded. “It is a good example on how it can be accomplished, though. It was the first of its kind and has been refined since. That magic is a lot more complicated and harder to use, but they’re easier to maintain. In order to get you used to this kind of control, this magic right here is stioo a good entrance point.” He pointed at the board. “But even in this state, it can be useful for those that need to burn off extra mana.” The dwelf looked in her direction.

“Can’t people with too much mana just charge crystals?”

The lecturer glared in the direction the comment had come from. “I’d appreciate it, if you raised your hand first before stating your question. As to the contents of your unqualified comment: Do you always carry chargeable crystals with you? Do you know how much they cost?” The dwelf shook his head. “I’d suggest you think about all the implications of your ideas first and then raise points we can discuss about them.”

The dwelf’s comment was met with silence.

“Any more sensible questions?”

Ria raised her hand. “Since that magic, these control bracelets and collars, and mana storage crystals deal with releasing magic in a slow and controlled manner, do they have something in common?”

The dwelf looked at her for a moment, then at his blackboard for a long time, and then back at her. “Good question. There are differences in how we use magic and in how patterns are formed for magical items, but the underlying principles should be the same. I have to come back to that in our next lesson.”

Ria nodded, slightly disappointed. En’rin would’ve known. She missed her mentor.

“Are there any more good questions regarding this topic?”

He waited some time, took a few questions on how he’d written the equation and how some of them connected to the drawing he’d made, until he ended the lecture with: “Very well then. If you have enough mana, practice this magic. The experience will help you grasp the more advanced versions we’ll be discussing from next week onwards. See you then.”

The first students rose before he had even left the room.

“That waz something.” Brannzza hissed, his tongue tasted the air aggressively. “How could you follow all that. Did you uze a BPP?”

“A BPP?”

Other people around them hissed. It was as if Branzza had broached a topic that shouldn’t be discussed in the open.

“A Brain Power Potion. Some uze them to get though academy and graduate with a degree. And after that they think they can score a good job.”

“And that works?”

“I don’t know. There are storiez of people, where the potion failed during the examz. It ran out too soon. And there are otherz of people succeeding. Which would explain, why our government keepz getting worze.” Brannza shrugged.

“You’re not using them then?”

“No.” He put his hands behind his back. “You?”

Ria frowned slightly. This felt like an opportunity. But if she came off as too enthusiatically, she could ruin it. The same was true for showing a complete lack of interest.

“I do have to get this control magic down. My control collar isn’t good enough,” she answered.

“Can’t you get a better one?”

Ria shook her head. There were no better ones for Elemental Avatars. She had no idea where the others came from, but hers was unique. One of a kind. And probably better than the one she had.

“That sucks.” He blinked slowly. Once. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you’re an Elemental Avatar. And I’d wonder, whether you came to take over the city, but there are several problems with that theory.”

“Like the fact that Elemental Avatars can’t leave their cities?”

“Yes. Like that. Most cities would collapse without their EA. And there are only so many elemental aspects that can be summoned.” He blinked at her. Again.

“But since it isn’t impossible, you think that I might be one?” she asked.

“It would explain your power problem.” His tongue tasted the air.

“Have you ever met an EA?”

“No. So far I only saw Ariel and that was a fairly wet affair. I really like your aura better.” His tongue tasted the air again.

Ria had to force a smile. Her control slipped a few times, and she bore her teeth. Together with a burst of her power.

The lizz that were still in the room all turned to her.

“We should build a new city,” Brannzza suggested, and showed his teeth, too.

This was going into a direction Ria didn’t like. The lizz misinterpreted her misgivings about the situation.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She stood up. “Now, please excuse me, but I need to get to the next class.”

“What is your next class?” Brannzza looked eager to join her.

“I’m afraid it’s a private class,” Ria told him with a smile. She wanted to practice the new magic she’d just learned. On her own.

“You can afford private lessons, but not a better control collar?” He blinked slowly at her.

“It’s complicated. I hope you don’t mind that I won’t share everything with a complete stranger that I just met.” She walked past him.

“Ah, yes. I understand completely. See you around.”

Ria gave no answer, but hurried out of the room without running outright. Was this how normal interactions with other people, with lizz especially, should be like?

She knew that lizz could take more heat than others, even needed it, but they could also burn like everyone else. Not being able to get really close to anyone made everything a lot more complicated.

How was she even supposed to solve this Agua Intelligencia problem? Right now she looked as if she was too intelligent to need such a potion.

Sighing, she retreated to her room and began to construct the control magic the dwelf had taught them.

It took her several tries and her room had become unnaturally warm when she finally made it work. She did have to readjust her magic every hour, but it was still a giant step forward. It felt as if she had created a second layer around herself that kept her power at bay. An aura that blocked her mana. She would have to test, how far it could replace her control collar, but doing that right in the middle of the city wasn’t a good idea.

There was a knock on the door. Startled, she opened it and looked in the face of a young elf. His long, beautifully kept hair stood in slight contrast to the harder features of his face.

“Good Day to you, Miss …?”

“Ria. Just Ria.” She tried to smile.

“Miss Ria. I am Sore’in, and in charge of the student dormitories. I have noticed that you’re doing extensive magical training in your room. The heat caused by your … experiments is already spreading to the surrounding rooms and threatens the integrity of the building. Please refrain from any further actions like that.”

He sounded and looked so serious that Ria had no idea what she should reply.

The elf sighed. “Humans,” he muttered. “Always causing trouble.” He shook his head. “No more excessive magic in the dorms, am I understood?”

Ria nodded.

“Good.” The elf turned around and left without another word.

Ria closed the door. Life in Volasis would be far more complicated than she was used to. But it still beat the nights outside in the dirt and ash.