Nighttime was a deathly silence punctuated by the occasional hoot from owls outside and the fire slowly crackling on the inside. Dene sat across from Jon with the burning hearth between the two. Her shadow covered the entire wall behind her.
On Jon’s lap and the table at his side were various scrolls rolled around polished rods of wood. They were all written by her and filled with strange glyphs and circular diagrams essential for casting spells.
“Cultivation is the absorption and refinement of mana. More than that, it is a way to increase one’s power.”
Dene leaned forward and grabbed a piece of firewood burning inside the hearth. She was unfazed as the fire licked around her hand. “It can strengthen the body, making it stronger than steel.” She pulled back and crushed the wood in her fist. Next, she opened her hand and a ball of fire ignited atop her palm, consuming the leftover chips. “Or it can sharpen the mind, allowing one to comprehend and chant spells.”
Dene wiped her hand clean before resuming the lecture. The first part was something she repeated to Jon to exhaustion, so much so that he had even the tempo of her words engraved in his mind. The cultivation path is the path to power and has to be constantly pursued. Because whatever goal one has, they will eventually need power to achieve it.
“There are seven schools of elemental magic. Fire is one such element, followed by Earth, Shadow, Water, Wind, Light, and Lightning. Most known spells belong to at least one of them, and an affinity with its element is required for casting. The higher it is, the easier to cast the spell. Even a Warlock will find it impossible to cast an Initiate-level spell from a school they have no affinity with.”
“And how do I gain affinity?”
“You don’t. It is something innate and can’t be changed. Historically, most members of the tribe have been well attuned to Shadow. Also Fire, to a lesser extent.”
Jon nodded along. “So I’ll be able to cast the same spells as you, then,” he said, but Dene shook her head.
“We will have to wait until you’re an Initiate to find out if you have the same affinities. It is possible for there to be deviations even when the parents have similar affinities. Which is not the case. Your father is very talented with Fire, but also completely inept at Shadow magic.”
That surprised Jon. Not his father’s affinities, but the fact that Dene mentioned him at all. His mother rarely ever spoke of the man, and just this tidbit piqued his curiosity.
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Seemingly realizing the misstep, Dene continued before he could inquire more. “Shadow Bind is a central spell for warriors and hunters alike.” She displayed a scroll’s contents to him, pointing at sets of straight lines mixed together to form various runes that he couldn’t decipher. “Its incantation is one of the simpler ones, which is why it is usually the first to be taught. For now, you must try and memorize the runes. They might seem impossible to understand for now, but it will start to change as soon as you become an Initiate.”
“And when will that be?” he asked, already aware of the answer she would give.
“When the Benefactor deems you worthy,” Dene said, an answer that didn’t satisfy him when he first heard it and was even less effective now.
It was impossible for any cultivator to predict when the next advancement would come. His advancement to Fighter came by surprise. Same when he advanced to the second level. All he could do was fully commit himself to training and studying so as to speed up his cultivation.
“Agonizing over it won’t help. Besides, being an Initiate won’t make any difference in direct combat.” Again she pointed to the runes on the scroll. “To cast a spell, one must chant the incantation, which leaves them defenseless until it is complete. For an Initiate spell, this can mean anything from fifteen seconds to half a minute of standing frozen in place depending both on the spell and your level. Only by becoming an Archmage can one ignore the incantation and cast Initiate spells at will.”
“Don’t see much of a point then. Even if I were an Archmage, my spells would only be effective against Fighters.” The fire burning in the hearth was as strong as an Initiate-level spell, and Dene put her hand directly inside without flinching. “I might as well focus on cultivating my body so that I can shrug off any spells.”
Dene shook her head. “The spells might not be enough to defeat an enemy by themselves, but they can still hurt, interrupt one’s concentration, and create openings to be exploited. Don’t underestimate how useful these can be. I once stood unarmed against five Crusaders with swords in hand, all thanks to careful use of spells.”
She stood up and handed the scroll back to Jon. “I’ll sleep now. Study the glyphs on this scroll and try to commit them to memory before bed. It will ease the burden of learning it when you eventually become an Initiate. And don’t leave the scrolls close to the fire when you’re done.”
Jon nodded, and Dene retired into her room. He continued studying the scroll which often felt like beating his head against a stone wall. At a glance, the glyphs seemed easy to understand but slipped away from his mind the moment he moved on to the next one. To make matters worse, the diagrams were entirely dependent on the glyphs, so studying them before the glyphs began to make sense would be impossible.
Even so, he persevered.
The memory of his first hunt remained fresh in his mind. As the shock from killing the boar left less and less of an impact, another emotion took over. He felt awed at how easily she managed to restrain the animal, something he could only do with great difficulty. She didn’t even need the spell given how strong she was.
Jon wanted that. He wanted to grow as powerful as his mother.