Erika's First Lesson

The sun rose and the birds chirped. It was a somewhat cooler morning. Dew coated the landscape and a light fog loomed over. I of course was still paralyzed in the dirt. Erika woke up fairly early this morning. It seemed like she was still upset with me because she was giving me the cold shoulder.

She was attempting to cook something for herself for breakfast. I had done all the cooking these last few days, so this was the first time I witnessed her cook. The potato she attempted to cook turned into something that no longer resembled a potato. It looked like a pitch black blob that sort of looked like a piece of coal.

She sat beside me still not saying a word. She started gnawing at the burned thing she cooked. I couldn't imagine it tasted all that great considering that it looked like it had the same texture as a rock.

Eventually I decided to break the awkward silence,

"if you un-paralyze me. I'll cook you something actually edible."

Erika huffed.

"First of all, your bargaining isn't going to get you anywhere. I'm still mad at you. Second, I don't appreciate you insulting my cooking. It turned out a little 'dry' but it's perfectly edible."

She stubbornly bit off a piece and chewed it with her back teeth. It made a loud crunching noise. She was trying to hide her facial expression, but it was apparent it was absolutely disgusting.

"Alright then how about I give you your first magic lesson today."

Erika paused for a moment. Her face lit up a bit when I said that.

"I guess maybe I can forgive you... at least this one time."

"Before I can show you anything though, I need you to do me a favor and touch the center of your seal."

She touched the back of her hand. My paralysis was suddenly dispelled and I was able to move again.

"Hey, Mr. Arno, what exactly does this thing on my hand do? I get that it binds you as my thrall, but it seems like there is more to it." She asked curiously.

"I'll put it simply, when a binding seal glows it means the master can issue various commands to their thrall by touching it in particular sequences. Last night you used the most basic sequence which is the 'stop' order."

"That sounds pretty cool. Is that what you're going to be teaching me then?"

"No, once you're more adept with magic, I'll show you more things with the seal, but as of now you don't even have enough mana to use anything else."

What I told her was only partially true. There probably were other low level commands she could use, but I would prefer she knew as little as possible to prevent her from gaining too much control over me.

"Okay, then what magic are you going to show me then?" She said, eagerly.

There happened to be an apple tree just above where we were camping out. I picked an apple from a low branch and held it out.

"This," I responded.

The apple in my hand suddenly changed color from red to blue.

Erika seemed unimpressed.

"I guess that's sort of neat..., but can't you show me something… a little more exciting?"

"I understand you're eager to learn, but you can't even control mana yet. You have to start small and work your way up. Besides, I have a plan for teaching you."

"What do you mean by plan?"

"I'm going to train you in a rare form of magic known as illusion magic. Even when I was alive, there were very few people adept in this art. Lucky for you, I happen to be one of those people."

Magic is categorized into five main forms. These are:

1. Destruction - Control over the elements.

2. Healing - Control over the body.

3. Influence - Control over the environment.

4. Necromancy - Control over the dead.

5. Illusion - Control over perception.

Most mages spend their lives specializing in only one form. I personally started out specializing in destruction, but as I got older I mastered four of the five forms.

Over the centuries illusion magic sort of became a lost art due to most mages preferring what were considered more practical forms such as destruction, healing, or influence. Necromancy isn't too common either due to it being taboo.

Personally, I was choosing to teach Erika illusion magic because I think it would suit her well. When it comes down to it, she serves more of a support role, while I'm more combat oriented. Healing form is typically the go to for support, but since I'm already undead it's not really much use to me.

"Okay that sounds good, but what exactly is illusion magic?" She asked.

"The illusion form of magic is any type of spell that revolves around the controlling of an individual's perception of reality."

"I'm going to be honest with you Mr. Arno, the words you're using are way too big for me."

"Let me put it this way. When I changed this apple from red to blue, I didn't actually change the color of the apple. I used magic to change the way your mind perceived the apple’s color."

"So basically you used magic to trick my brain into thinking the apple was blue instead of red, is that correct?"

"Exactly! As you improve with this form, you'll not only be able to change colors of things, but you'll be able to change their form all together. For instance you could make that apple look like an orange, or a rock. You could even make yourself look like someone else."

"When you put it that way, I'm kind of excited to learn now. Hand me that apple so I can try."

I tossed her over the apple. She inspected it for a few moments then held it out in her hand. She stared at it for a few moments, then clenched it and started to make noises (that kind of sounded like she was constipated)... Nothing happened.

"Staring intently on it isn't going to do anything. You know when you cast your light ball spell? Try and gather a small amount of mana the same way. Try and focus it around the apple."

She focused again. To my surprise, this time she managed to change the color of the apple's stem.

"I almost did it Mr. Arno!" She said excitedly.

"Good, just keep practicing."

She spent the rest of the morning trying to change the apple's color. After a couple hours, she managed to change the stem and about a quarter inch radius around it. She was making decent progress for this only being her first lesson.

While she practiced, I packed up our camp and prepared to get back on the road.