Agitha’s head was pounding, the tiny shaft of light that had found it’s way between the closed curtains was striking her full in the face like the vengeful flicking finger of an angry god. Her mouth still tasted of the harsh mushroom alcohol so coveted by the dwarves. That stubby smith had goaded her into another drinking contest, damn his stinking beard. She cracked an eye. Bait’s bed was empty and neatly made. She rolled over just in time to catch Merc’s licking tongue full on the lips.

“Blegh! You...How long were you waiting to do that!?” She couldn’t help but chuckle in spite of her hellish hangover. No matter how strong one became, none were immune to dwarven booze.

She sat up with a clear mission: obtain water, bacon, and three buttered biscuits followed by a tactical retreat back to bed (bonus points if she could evade conversation).

The sound of wood smacking against wood drew her attention to the back window of the kitchen as she shuffled in. Her thick mane of gray hair was a tangled mess and she squinted painfully against the merciless outdoor light.

There was Bait, looking somewhat competent (for a beginner) as he sparred against Nin who was still clearly tuning her effort to keep him engaged but could destroy him at any moment if she so chose. Agitha was surprised at how far he had come in such a short time. It had been the right call hiring the girl. Agitha lacked the patience to drill the basics for such long hours; Nin was a godsend.

With hangover slaying weapons in hand, Agitha retreated back to her dark room and comfortable bed. She felt a tiny bit of guilt resting away the morning but tonight would be hard work crushing Middle and Bait was clearly in good hands. She munched the bacon and biscuits slowly, and drank the entire large pitcher of water. She then stole Zell’s pillow to shield her from the light when she went back to bed.

Bait never noticed the disheveled groggy elf spying from the kitchen window. He was far too engrossed in what was shaping up to be his best sparring session ever. He had landed another grazing hit to Nin’s shoulder and was finally starting to understand how to relax his vision to pay attention to the movement of his opponent’s entire body. Combining that with his muscle memory meant there were moments where he felt more like he was observing his body sparring rather than controlling it directly. The two were able to trade parries back and forth for several minutes at a time now before the inevitable strike slipped through Zell’s defenses and they reset.

The current exchange had been going for a full ten minutes, wood clacking against wood in a constant rhythm accompanied by grunts and growls from the the two opponents. Zell was fully into his trance now, and even Nin was hard pressed to keep him at the range most comfortable to her long reach. Like a badger he continually pressed into her space, thrusting and pivoting away from her sword arm. If he learned many more attacks as well as that one he was going to be dangerous.

She finally decided to show him the hole in his offense. He stepped in beautifully, and pivoted like a true expert. He thrust his blade with confidence into the empty air where Nin was supposed to be. Less than a second later, a pointy elbow made solid contact with the back of Zell’s head, adding to the momentum of his thrust and knocking him to the dirt in a heap.

She had pivoted exactly matching his speed in the opposite direction, spinning behind him with a dancer’s grace before dropping her perfectly placed elbow onto his oblivious head.

Zell had no clue what hit him, literally. He strongly suspected someone had thrown a large rock from far away.

“What was that?” He groaned as he rolled to his back.

“That was a Slip Step. A move lady Agitha used on my dad according to him ‘a million times’.” Nin replied. “There are none more blind than the overconfident, and no attack more devastating than the unseen.” She repeated a lesson from one of her teachers.

“Yeah I thought I was going to get you with that one, then you just disappeared. Still that was amazing, I can’t wait to learn that swoosh-spin-smack thing!” Zell rubbed the lump on his head as spoke.

“Slip Step is easier to say. I said it earlier. Is your head okay?” Nin stifled a small giggle at Zell’s improvised move name. “It’s a little too advanced for now but it is time you learned a new attack pattern.”

“My head’s fine, this is nothing. You should have seen the knot my sister gave me with a frying pan when I was ten. It was like a tomato.” He stood up and readied his sword for the next lesson.

Nin was continually amazed at his toughness and unbreakable attitude. He was indeed a slow learner, there was no contesting it. He was also possessed of a determination and toughness that Nin had never seen before including in herself. She suddenly felt a strange sense of shame. How much further would she be if she had applied an attitude like his to her own skills which had come so easily? She resolved to learn from Zell, and not to fail him or Agitha as an instructor.

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“Ok I’ll show you how to attack from a level change.” Nin began.

Zell’s mystified expression told her that he didn’t understand a single word of it.

“From your basic position, change levels by equally bending at your knees and hips. It’s a motion that isn’t easy to notice if done right, and drastically changes your angles of attack whether cutting up from beneath or attacking the legs of your enemy.” Nin demonstrated, dropping so low her rump nearly touched the ground as the swept her blade low at ankle level then snapped it straight up at an angle that would catch the poor imaginary fighter in the groin.

Zell watched carefully, then squatted and swung his sword. As expected, it was a total mess. Nin was getting more and more accustomed to teaching the dense boy, and began breaking down each part of the move into tiny steps.

“Don’t bend forward. Keep your chest out and your eyes up. Better... Don’t compromise your feet, keep your lead toe toward your target... Good, now all at once.” She continued to correct him until it was mostly right.

“That’s good for today. If you still want to catch Rin before work she’s probably reading in her room.” Nin offered as she walked toward the inn. “I might try to convince her and my dad to join us for a few sparring matches tonight if you’re interested.” She continued.

“That sounds like fun, though I think your dad might squish me!” Zell replied, following behind her.

Zell walked down the long hallway past the stairs to Rin’s door. He knocked lightly and announced himself.

“Hey it’s Bait. Do you have a minute?”

“Coming.” Came the reply. Zell took a step back as the door opened.

Rin was still in her nightgown. Zell avoided looking at her shapely toned legs with mighty effort.

“Did you need something?” She asked after a long moment of silence.

“U-uh. I was just going to ask if you could show me how to use that spell from yesterday. Or any spell, I’m just really curious about magic.” He finally blurted.

“Oh. Yeah come in.” She said as she stood aside.

She sat Zell down in her desk chair and took a seat at the edge of her bed before beginning her instruction.

“Magic is fueled by mana, which every creature produces to some extent. If you have enough of it, you can cast spells. Most people don’t have enough to use more than simple cantrips like the candlelight spell you saw. Your mana generation rate and capacity are mostly hereditary but can be raised by defeating mana rich creatures or through extensive study and meditation. It doesn’t just fuel spells either, it can fortify your body as well. That’s called Raw Channeling, focusing mana power into physical strikes or hardening your body against attacks is how most fighters use their mana. Magic users on the other hand spend their mana to cast spells. There is alot of room to do both, I am a hybrid fighter myself. I use utility spells to change the conditions of battle in my favor such as putting a bright light behind me, and enhancement spells to increase my physical abilities.” Rin paused to make sure Zell wasn’t completely lost.

He was wide eyed, with his mouth open. He looked remarkably similar to a goldfish.

“I sort of get it I think.” He said unconvincingly. “So if I have enough mana and make the right movements and say the right words magic happens?”

“Not exactly.” Rin replied. “You also need to have very clear intent and focus as well as a connection to your mana. If you have that along with the appropriate ritual, then magic will happen. Let’s have you try the candlelight spell, it’s the simplest cantrip to learn.” She finished.

Zell nodded and watched with intensity as she repeated the motion and said the word: “Viata!” Like before, a light appeared hovering just above her head.

“Now you try.” She instructed.

Zell nodded. He envisioned a second light in his mind as clearly as he could. He pictured its exact shape and brightness. He then mimed the motion: a half circle and a straight line down the middle as he said “Viata”.

He gasped in pain as a massive headache struck him from nowhere and he nearly fell out of the chair. He felt sicker than he ever had in his life, nausea assaulted him and his vision dimmed to a pinhole. It passed after a few agonizing moments but the memory of it lingered.

“Did I do it wrong?” He finally managed to ask.

Rin had a sympathetic look. “No. You did it perfectly and the spell was really cast.” She sighed and put a hand on his shoulder as she delivered the sad news. “You have no mana. Well you do but not even enough for cantrips. That sickness is a symptom of being low on mana relative to your total capacity. The further you are from full, the worse you feel. That’s why most people just reserve their mana and only use Raw Channeling which doesn’t consume it any faster than it replenishes. The greater your capacity the more potential there is for pain as you deplete. For example if I were to run completely out my mana sickness would be many times more severe than yours was just now with a low capacity.” She left her explanation at that.

“I see.” Zell said, standing up. “Thanks very much I learned alot.”

Rin felt terrible for him. This was the first time she had ever seen him look depressed and it was awful.

“You can always raise your mana with work you know. And no one I know works harder than you.” She offered hopefully.

Zell brightened up a bit and nodded in thanks as he left the room.

“Oh well.” He said to himself on his way back outside. “What did I expect? It wouldn’t be me if it was easy.”

Once back in the yard. He drew his training weapon and began to drill a pattern including everything he had practiced to this point: Step, pivot, level change, cut low then up, retreating thrust, repeat. As always he focused on one step at a time first, then polished the entire movement before zoning out while his body memorized it. Since he wasn’t working dinner service he decided to just drill this pattern until he had it down perfectly. The sun was beginning to set before he finally staggered back inside to find Agitha fully armored and donning her weapons.