The night raged on, yet the insurmountable force of the dark is slowly overtaken by the rise of the sun, and with it, the waking of the people. The waking, of our Outsider.
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Alkir slumbered peacefully on the foreign yet not uncomfortable couch-type surface he had been led to. Its shape had just enough give and the perfect amount of yield to give the best sleep the boy had in ages. But as light streams through the window panes and clashes against his eyelids, his sleep must come to an end. Jace was already waiting, seated at the nearby dining table. "Good morning Alkir, come now, our day starts now, you have lots to learn. Come along, I am bringing food and drinks,"
"Wait, wha?" The boy sat up and glanced around, taking in the lit room. "Oh, yeah, right, sorry." He groggily stood up, wobbling slightly before muttering that he was ready.
"Let's go, you'll be more awake when we get to our destination." Jace ushered Alkir out of the door and to the nearby wall. "Now, the same as last night, crush the stone when it glows." Jace ascended the wall with ease, dropping down to the other side as quickly as possible, crushing the stone and guiding the boy as he appeared, directing him through a forest trail. Jace let Alkir slowly gain more lucidity along the walk, electing to remain silent until they reached their destination, and it seemed that his charge acknowledged this, remaining silent as well. Emerging into a neat clearing Jace dropped a hand-tied sack onto the ground. "Food." Was his simple reply to the boy's quizzical stare. "Here, drink this," he tossed a vial, containing a greenish-clear liquid, to Alkir, who downed it with little hesitation. He's far too trusting. "Now, young one, today is what you might consider a training day. To survive in this world you must know how to brave its challenges, and defeat the creatures and people in your path. Understood?" He nodded. "Good, I am going to give a short demonstration of all the things we will work on today, watch." Jace spaced his feet at shoulder width, letting his arms hang at his sides, eyes closed, and took in a deep breath. The grass around Jace's feet began to gently pulse outward as if a soft summer breeze was radiating from his body. "This is mana expulsion." Vein-like patterns through his arms dully glowed, nearly unnoticeable in the streaming daylight. "These are conduits, connections, the veins that move mana around the user, and that allow people to interface with the world." His eyes slowly opened.
"And this, this is magic." Herebi, Melo. A small ember materialized before Jace, promptly coming ablaze in a dazzling flame no larger than an apple. Jace's arm movements directed the ball around, and when he closed his fist, the flaming sphere was snuffed out. "Finally, you will need weapon training, sword or dagger, doesn't matter, but you need something." He turned to face Alkir. The boy's fash was a tapestry of wonder and excitement.
"Genuine magic... Holy shit that's actual magic!" He was practically bouncing on his feet. "You're gonna teach me how to do magic?!"
"Well..." Jace looked him up and down. "Right about now you'll learn to teach yourself." This was met with a decidedly more curious expression, that was at once accompanied by a visible distortion in the air around Alkir, only lasting a moment
"What, what the hell is that? Why do I feel like this, what did you do to me?"
"I assume you mean the tingling?"
"Well duh!"
"That is your mana chamber releasing its contents through your whole body. That is mana" Alkir was speechless, partly from the revelation, and partly from the immense feeling of vertigo accompanying the pins and needles.
"What do I do?!" He was getting panicked now.
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"Sit if you need, but breathe, breathe and focus. Concentrate on the epicenter of the sensation. Focus on the course the mana takes. And on the existence of the conduits. Think of it as a new muscle you just worked out. figure out how it works, where it is, and how it fits in." Alkir roughly sat on the bed of grass, silently closing his eyes. Periodically the same distortion would flicker, ranging from a thin veil to a minor shockwave. Quite strong, is that truly his first chamber? remarkable. "Good, feel the mana. Visualize it stabilizing, remaining inside. coursing through your blood." The waves ceased. And the same pressure-like force that Jace had performed was being distorted on the grace around Alkir. "Marvelous! You've reached stability, well done Alkir!" The pressure waned and drew to an end. Alkir released a deep breath, and fell onto the ground, sighing up at the sky.
"God, that felt... Incredible! That was actual mana! Magic! There's no way this is real!" The short and huffing breaths subsided, giving way to more verbalized excitement. "When can I learn spells!" His gaze became fixed on Jace.
"Two problems. I only know a handful of techniques, and you need to increase your efficiency. You exert too much mana, it takes you a tad too long to stabilize. Don't worry though, just using your mana as is will boost your physical endurance and strength, it is quite useful." Jace was pleased to see Alkir didn't grow discouraged.
"Well, what's next?" Alkir used his legs to springboard into a squat, then stood and eagerly looked at Jace.
"Now, you need to learn to see your metaphysical plane." He was met with a deadpan stare.
"My what?"
"Ah, forgive me, one of the others from a long time ago used that term, figured it may make sense to you. It is the place where your, well, soul, resides, and it is the place where your mana, relics, equipment, and all other things are held. Although we humans are unable to truly visualize this space, we can feel what is within. such as my sword." Said blade flashed into existence, and back into nothing on cue. "And it allows you to see, for lack of a better term, your abilities and the such."
"Okay... ok, I think the only people who would use metaphysical as an actual descriptive word are either too smart or too pretentious, but I more or less understand. Now... how do I do that?" Jace smirked.
"Do you remember feeling the epicenter of the mana? that was what I call the gate, the point of connection. If you focus on that, perhaps with some mental imagery, it will slowly come to you. It does get much quicker, so its combat effectiveness relies on practice." Jace watched as his new apprentice concentrated, waiting for it to finally click. Man, that stand does make good rolls...
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In the end, nearly half an hour passed when Alkir finally shouted, "I did it!"
"Oh? what did you feel" Jace raised an eyebrow, he had downed two of the five sweet rolls.
"It was... like... I kind of really describe it, I could just, interpret the sensation, it immediately felt like a full thought, but not in a voice, right?"
"Well, since you asked, yes that is about what I figured, but each person has their differences, so even if it was different you wouldn't be wrong. What did you figure out?"
"Well..." Alkir collected himself for a moment. "It was, I think it was full, the space gave the impression there wasn't much room to grow, I figure that was my chamber. Something came to me and I just got it instantly, no words or writing in my head, but I just knew, like there was an empty mold, something had a shape, but it was missing a piece, what was that?" Jace thought to himself for a moment.
"What you are describing, was likely your skill, class I believe is the other world's equivalent, what you are most attuned to perform. This often needs to be gained, even though it's a part of you. It does sound a bit odd though, but don't dwell on it, when it does become complete its nature shall reveal itself, now come, eat, using all that mana can't have made you any less hungry." Jace gestured to the remaining rolls, and Alkir lazily jogged over. "I must ask, why are you so ready to trust this world? And me, for all you know the mage from yesterday could've been friendly." Jace curiously studied Alkirs expression.
"Well, what I will say is, I chose to be here, I'm not going to freak out at every little thing." He took a bite from one of the rolls, then resumed speaking. "Plus, that goddess who gave me the choice seemed pretty nice, and mentioned a guide of sorts to help me acclimate, so I figured what the hell." Alkir didn't answer further, returning to the remaining rolls. Jace seemed satisfied with the answer he received and waited until the former had finished eating to speak up again.
"Now a slight dilemma, we need to get you some gear, namely a sword and knife, before we continue today's intro lesson, so let's get going."