As the water ball from Bryn’s magic hit the tree, snow fell on top of his and Gabriel’s heads, provoking a laugh out of the young faun. Gabriel, on the other hand, had an expression different from his.
“Bryn, what was that?”
“A water ball! I still couldn’t focus on the visualization, though…”
“I meant your movements…”
“Ahh, after you told me what to focus on, I realized that the words and movements are not fundamental for the water ball.” Said Bryn as he brushed the snow away from his head. His head movement jolted briefly as his hands felt the new small horns.
I should check the developments from the ritual later on, but let's try to improve on the water magic. Bryn thought as he again focused on his breathing and the magic spell.
Before focusing on the visualization part of the spell, Bryn decided to try a couple more times by simply following the previous steps. Controlling the flow of mana as the movements and chants happened, sending a burst of mana so that the spell could manifest. The results were similar to the previous one, just weaker in strength.
He looked at both hands, clenching and opening his fists as he felt the effects using the spell had on his body. I got this. It's time to work on my visualization.
As Bryn tried to put the different steps to materialize the spell on autopilot, his mind focused entirely on forming the image of a water sphere. His eyes were closed so he could see if it was or how it was working, but liquids got drawn towards a revolving center in his mind. In Bryn’s mind, the spherical shape would be natural if the point pulling any water particle was perfectly still in the center. He mentalized a perfect sphere as if he could control forces to fight against gravity, the intensity of hydrogen bonds, and a spin to reduce wind’s influence. It was revolving slowly on the outside and faster on the inside.
Gabriel focused his attention on Bryn’s mana flow and movements. He tilted his head sideways as the inner portion of his cheeks contracted. So, at the moment, he can only focus on performing between four and five spells, which is a bit lower than I thought.
Bryn’s movements finished once again, and as he opened his eyes, he saw his spell flying towards the tree. The spell was half the size of the previous one, but it hit much harder on the tree, leaving a mark on the trunk. The tree bark now had a round piece missing, and the scar on its body also had scratches from side to side.
Visualizing the spell creates a much more powerful result proportionate to the mana spent. Bryn thought as he once again started another spell.
Gabriel couldn’t maintain an expression for a long time. Bryn constantly took one or even two steps backward, only to run ten steps forward in the following move.
“Mr. Gabriel, are there advantages to focusing your mana on a certain part of one's body?”
“Good question. Mana is energy; different effects can occur if you cover yourself with energy. Look at me.”
Bryn stared at Gabriel nonstop, trying to perceive any changes, but nothing happened.
“Did you notice anything?” asked Gabriel.
Bryn shook his head from side to side.
“Now try and maintain a small flow of mana to your eyes.”
Focusing on his ever-leaking core, Bryn guided a stream of energy to his eyes. His body tensed instantly.
“What is happening?”
“Don’t worry. We call this “Magic Sight.”
Bryn saw Gabriel almost invisible. It was hard to comprehend depth perception with this kind of sight.
It feels like an X-ray, but I don’t see bones… Thought Bryn, trying to make sense of the discovery.
“Let’s try again. Do you see anything?” Asked Gabriel.
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When Bryn’s eyes looked at him again, Bryn saw a light walking around Gabriel’s body. The man started to move his limbs one at a time, and the light followed his every move. He approached a rock and punched it without much effort. The light traveled with his arm and dashed to his knuckles as his punch landed on the rock. The energy transfer was much greater than the physical strength. The rock was sent flying a few meters before falling to the ground.
“What was that?!” asked Bryn.
“You will learn it with time, but a good mana control can help you a lot.”
“Mr. Gabriel, could you perform your water ball once again?”
Smiling, Gabriel answered, “Of course.”
Bryn focused his eyes on the man. As the movements and words started, Bryn realized that the energy leaving his body was much brighter than his own. On top of that, the blue color was also intense. Looking at the energy flowing in Gabriel’s body and condensing in front of it made Bryn feel calm until the sphere got shot just as fast as the last, perforating a few obstacles before it splashed away.
I never considered that the energy should be focused on the center spot of my visualization. That is so obvious when I think about it! Why was I condensing the mana on my hands if I was not throwing the damn water ball?!
Bryn divided his training into three steps. The first was to improve his control over mana. The second would be learning better ways to turn neutral into elemental mana. Last but not least, imagination. He had to learn how to use his knowledge from Earth to improve the spells.
Brynn had been pacing ever since Gabriel had used his spell. The man was happy that the faun was dedicated to becoming a mage. He remembered the times he and Jonas trained together; they were a little older than Bryn. The nostalgia was interrupted by Bryn’s movements stopping and him trying the spell again.
Bryn’s core this time didn’t send a pulse of energy towards his hands but a steady stream. Bryn tried to do the same thing he did to his core but to the spot between his hands. The steady flow of mana had no color, some dispersed outside, but he could condense it in a single point. His mind now worked on visualizing the energy flow becoming blue with time. As if his energy absorbed water characteristics from the world around him.
As he thought about it, he focused on the exact visualization he had previously, using his knowledge of chemistry and physics to leverage his magical energy to pull in and maintain a spherical form.
This time, his concentration could maintain focus for much longer on the different steps, to the point that he believed that the center of his sphere was about to solidify from the amount of pressure the mana helped to create.
He was so focused on the process that he forgot to shoot the created projectile. He studied it with all he could until exhaustion broke his concentration, and the sphere troped to the floor. The size of the splash proved his beliefs. There was much more water on this ball than the last.
If I can super condense water, the power behind the attack will increase much more! Also, a tiny projectile would be better. It would fly faster and have better penetration properties.
Bryn looked to his last spell marks on the tree, aiming his next attack on the central point. He waited and mentally regained his strength before starting to perform the spell. Trying to combine all his discoveries, he focused the energy on the central point of his visualization. This time, the energy-absorbing water was even more condensed but in a lower amount. The sphere in front of him was the size of a marble. The revolutions inside the sphere controlled by mana increased as he envisioned a small whirlpool as the force pulling everything to its center.
When the spell was shot, Gabriel got up from his resting position. During Bryn’s experiments, he found a more relaxed position to watch the faun, but the developments proved too exciting. Unlike Gabriel’s attack, Bryn’s was much slower. He had focused too much on the projectile and too little on the attack.
As it hit the tree, a loud bang was heard through the forest. As Bryn’s spell touched the tree, the mana membrane, keeping the high-pressure liquid inside, had a small fissure that allowed its content outside in a fraction of a second. The amount of pressured water expanding, summed with the speed it traveled, was enough to evaporate more than a third of the tree’s trunk in depth.
I can use this hunting! It still needs to be faster to have offensive use, but as a defensive measure, it is fantastic!
Looking at the tree, Gabriel looked confused about how Bryn’s attack could cause so much damage since it was going so slowly. The principles behind his attack were much different than Bryns. Instead of the extremely high pressure, Bryn was able to create, Gabriel used his mana to maintain the shape and form of his water ball as it hit other objects. Bryn didn’t have the skill to maintain his mana stable for so long away from his body, so his attack should have been much worse than the result on the now-dead tree.
He was genuinely happy about what happened. Bryn’s potential was enough for him to want to teach him personally as much as possible. “Excellent, Bryn, what did you visualize?”
“Thank you, Mr. Gabriel…” Before continuing, Bryn tilted his head as one of his hands reached for his chin. What should I do now? I’m not sure they have physics or chemists in this world. Why would they? Magic substitutes many hurdles science developed to deal with. Simple is better now.
“I imagined a lot of water inside the ball, as much as my head could think of…”
The answer was so evident that Gabriel felt dumbstruck. He had never thought about doing something like that on a water ball, the first and straightforward water spell there was, but the line of thinking was used on other magic spells and elements.
“Amazing! Today has been a good day. We have to return to the village for now, but we will resume your training tomorrow.”
“Really? Can’t I stay here a bit longer?”
“Resting is important, let’s go.”
Both started to walk back towards the village. On the way, Bryn kept controlling the mana output, leaving his core trying to send the surplus to his entire body. He kept some of his energy in his eyes, trying to balance the newfound magic vision and his regular sight.
Arriving at the village, Jonas and the others were still out. Gabriel took him to Lysanders as usual, but as they entered the restaurant, some villagers looked at the faun’s new form with different eyes. His pale skin was white, almost like the snow. The fur escaped his pants, and his hair no longer had the hazelnut color; now, it was grey. Over his head, four small horns escaped the sides of his head. His height hadn't changed, but he didn’t look like the cute faun from the days before.
Lysander strolled towards Gabriel, his face the same as always. When he looked at Bryn, the faun’s eyes locked onto his. A side smile appeared on Lysander's face as he realized the kid noticed his appraisal and mana going into his eyes.
“Today, you eat for free, kid. Good job! Gabriel, come help me for a second.”
As both men walked inside the kitchen, Lysander’s expression changed to somber. “What have you done, Gabriel?”
“Lysander, I just woke the kid’s magic. It would be the same if it happened here or anywhere else.”
“Our continents and kingdoms are quiet now, but you know war has never seized.”
“That has nothing to with a young faun like him.”
Lysander’s fist struck the wall next to him, “That is what you believe until the moment you find yourself against him on a battlefield.”
“Commander, do not worry. I’ll take full responsibility if it comes to anything like that, but you know I don’t believe conflict between us is the way to go.”
“I’m not your commander anymore. You are responsible for the legion now. Do what you wish…”
Gabriel listened to the man’s words, and as the silence became awkward, he walked outside. Looking back, he saw tears running from Lysander's eyes. The man was still in the same position, his arm against the wall.