As predicted, having [Mana Sense] made no difference in Kori’s attempts to meditate during the morning sessions, in fact it just became an even bigger distraction as she now saw the eddies and flows of the worlds mana drifting about and her many attempts to reach out and seize control were exactly the opposite of the instructions she was getting very tired of listening to.
I’ve got the first part down, all the others have said the same thing, ‘feel the mana within and guide it to flow from your limbs and into the world’ that’s all well and good, I’ve managed that… But how in the Scale do I keep it from billowing out in a loose mist and losing the stuff? Every time I try it’s like shaking dust out of one of the leather mats, it just goes everywhere in a chaotic cloud…
Kori is not the only one frustrated with the situation, the last apprentice still sitting in on the guided meditation with her is Ury, who has apparently decided to blame her lack of progress not on her own incompetency, at least as Kori sees it, but on Kori’s ‘distracting antics’ and the various senior apprentices who spend their time guiding these sessions have concluded that working with each individually to be the better course of action.
This is great for Ury, but for Kori it just means that she is the sole focus in her failure, her repeated and fairly public failures… Especially when Ury attains the skill a few days later, cheering and hollering as she does before making a rude gesture in Kori’s direction when she caught her looking.
After nearly a month of individual lessons she sits as a senior apprentice with a brown sash, denoting an earth affinity, once again continues her lesson off to a side of the meditation space, “Feel the mana flow within your body, from the reservoir of power deep within, coax it gently towards your palm and let it sit there, just beneath the surface as you calm your mind. When your mind is clear and your heart at peace, allow the mana to spread from your palm, to flow into the open air and gently guide it to take form and shape it to your will, it doesn’t matter what, a simple pebble will do as well as the most elaborate figure. Hold that shape in your thoughts and direct it to the mana as it escapes your scales.”
Once again, she follows the guidance, gathering the mana from her reservoir within, as the days and months have passed and her Racial Level rose to now sit at level 6, so too has her mana grown. Drawing on it deeply as she lets it flow to both of her hands held in a cupped position before her, pausing as she tries to clear her mind of her frustrations, her nervousness, her errant thoughts, she pauses as the mana builds in her palms, trying to get that state of mind that her guide has described and finally releases it into the air, willing it to hold there within her cupped hands as a perfect little pebble, the same one she’s spent days studying to get a perfect image, as once again the mana billows out.
This time with perhaps at a bit more volume than intended as a grey white haze of mana rapidly spreads out around her, pushing against the mana already present in the air and flooding into the surroundings as it once again entirely slips her grasp, not even a speck resting in her hands where she attempted to will it. A dull ache begins to form behind her eyes and her balance falters as the world begins to spin slightly.
“Woah, woah, not that much Kori! You’re going to bottom out your… And it’s too late…”
While not the lesson they were attempting to teach young Kori this day, she did learn something quite important, letting your mana bottom out, to reach 0, is not a good idea… She spends the next several minutes ruminating on this fact after she collapses to her back. Since she can’t even stand up without her vision spinning and her breakfast attempting to revisit the world. All the while she can hear the quiet chatter from both apprentices and mages alike.
“Have you ever seen someone bottom out their mana like that?”
“Never, didn’t even know you could…”
“Did you see how much mana she released?”
“Yeah, she’s two years younger than me and I’m not sure I could match it…”
“Think she’ll be alright?”
“Not sure, even the most stubborn of apprentices don’t take this long…”
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
As the murmurs continue, Kori hears another voice rise above the rest, “What’s everyone standing around gossiping about? You all have better things to do.” Elder Ylst closes on the group as she speaks, her voice getting louder to Kori as she does. “What happened? I told you to push her past whatever’s blocking her, not try to break her.”
“Elder! She was trying the control exercise again and pushed a bit too hard, it seems like she bottomed out her mana…”
“Seriously? Alright… Help her over onto some leathers and let her rest… I need to talk to her when she’s not seeing 3 of me.”
Kori rests, unceremoniously dumped on a few leather mats and tries to recover her senses, all the while her thoughts whirl about through her mind, with many less than kind words for herself.
What is wrong with me? Why can’t I get this… It won’t listen to my will or whatever the Scale it’s supposed to be listening to. Even Ury learned it… Ury! She’s about as smart as a cave slime… [Mana Control] is the start of everything, [Spell Shaping] is just taking that mana and forming a spell from it, [Rune Scribing] is taking it and shoving it in a rune you’ve carved and primed with reagents, everything starts from there but I can’t get the stuff to do anything but drift away.
Nearly an hour later, her vision no longer swimming about, she finally manages to sit up, not yet feeling up to the task of standing but at least progress. Turning her head nearly puts her back down on the mat as her visions doesn’t seem to keep up to the speed she turned her head with. Once settled again she slowly pans around the area, finding Elder Ylst sitting cross legged nearby with a wooden board across her lap and working on several papers.
As she quickly makes to stand up and greet the Elder, Ylst pre-empts her, “I wouldn’t, you’re as likely to fall flat on your tail as you are to actually make it to your feet.” Kori hadn’t even seen her look up from her work, let alone at her, but she realizes that the Elder is most likely correct.
“Yes, Elder…” She makes out meekly.
“I’ll be with you in a moment, we need to have a discussion.”
“Of course, Elder…”
She isn’t sure what is about to happen, but she’s starting to think that this will not be a pleasant conversation.
After a few minutes pass, and as Kori’s confidence in her limbs grows, Elder Ylst puts aside the little lap desk and the papers she had been working on. “What you did today was both impressive and foolish, bottoming out your mana in a control training exercise, not sure if I’ve ever heard of that one before. I felt the pulse of mana you unleashed earlier from halfway across the training grounds. I must ask, were you successful in finally attaining the Skill?”
Kori’s head begins to droop as she responds, “No Ma’am…”
“Kori, you’re one of the brightest young Kobolds I’ve ever met, you clearly have the spark for magic since you’ve learned [Mana Sense], we have tried just about every trick any of us can think of to push you forward, but if you could put all of that out but not corral even a fraction of it, then I doubt there is anything left to try. it’s becoming clear that the path of a mage is not one you are suited to…”
“But I’m trying really hard! Everything the seniors instruct and even overnight back in my den! I’ve tried making runes to push mana into, the inscriptionists have even let me try to power proper runes… I’m not sure what else to try.” Kori’s words stream out in a flood of nervous energy, trying to convey how hard she’s tried to learn the skills of a mage.
“I know, I’ve discussed the topic in depth with your various tutors.” A saddened look on Ylst’s face, “It’s been nearly six months since the start of your apprenticeship, just a few days until then in fact. For most apprentices, this date means nothing. But it’s not always quite so simple, if an apprentice fails to acquire the basic skills required for their trade by six months, they are deemed to be inappropriate for that trade and their apprenticeship is cancelled…”
“WHAT!? What do you mean by ‘cancelled’?”
“Just that young one, cancelled, you will no longer be an apprentice mage. It happens at least every few years here with the mages, but never one with potential like you seem to have. I’ve already argued with Chief Ortik to try to bend the rule, but he won’t budge.” Ylst shakes her head. “We’ve exhausted our options.
“But, but… I don’t want to give up… I want to use magic… To hurl flame or stone… To conjure the winds…” Tears begin to well up in the corners of Kori’s eyes, her shoulders slump and her head droops further still , her inability to control the mana she clearly possesses robbing her of a dream she’s held onto since that day at the hatchery when she watched Elder Ylst and Zephyr Mage Kore incinerate an entire nursey in order to protect the Clans young from an outbreak.
“I know dear. I know.” Ylst walks over to sit next to Kori on the leather mat, placing a hand on her shoulder and trying to comfort her, “I think you should return to the brood chambers for now, we still have a few days, but I think this is where we part ways. I do have one option for you, it won’t be easy, but it could lead you back to the path of magic. It may be the single most difficult option available to an apprentice, but if you’re willing then I’ll see what I can do.”
“Anything! I won’t give up.” Her words interrupted by a nasally sob, “What do I need to do?”
“I can’t say yet. I need to discuss it with someone first, but if I can convince them to take you on, then you’ll find out soon when your next apprenticeship begins. All I can really say is good luck Kori, whatever path you take next, you’re going to be 6 months behind, and everyone will be able to guess why…”