The following day, we stood in a small shaded patch of grass, not unlike the one I had found near the inn. This one was a little larger, with a few trees, a nearby bench, and flowers growing underfoot in a dense multi-colored blanket. Petals blew in the air, and the smell was almost unpleasantly strong.

I pushed it aside and focused on Wallace, who stood facing a tree. He wore loose clothes and held an arming sword in his right hand while his left was tucked behind his back.

Wallace adjusted his grip, then stepped forward and swung his sword in a quick, downward cut. It was light, thrown with more grace than I expected based on his past showings, but not with a particularly impressive bit of strength behind it. Even at short range, I could not sense a whiff of mana, yet when the strike landed, it did so with more force than I could have mustered with magic.

"Impressive," I remarked as Wallace pulled his sword back, revealing a divot cut into the bark.

"Not really," Wallace remarked as he reset, then glanced over his shoulder to me, "Did you catch it?"

"No," I shook my head, "Can you do it again?"

Wallace reset and struck again, more slowly the second time. As he moved, I caught the faintest flicker of metal. It was such a tiny, almost imperceptible twist of mana that I doubted I would have sensed it normally and suspected he was purposefully exaggerating his magic for my benefit.

Metal mana ran from his chest, down his arm, and through his hand. It slipped past his skin and into the hilt, and I could sense it stream up the blade, strengthening and reinforcing it, similar to how I might enhance my body.

Wallace's attack slammed into the tree in the same place as the first with the weight of a falling mountain. His strike echoed across the small park we stood in with a deafening crack, and the divot grew deeper while the blade appeared undamaged.

I folded my arms over my chest, "I see. So you are using reinforcement, then? A forging technique?"

The man laid the flat of his blade against one shoulder and tilted his head to the side, "Is that what it's called?"

"Do...do you not know?" I asked, failing to hide my surprise.

"Nope," Wallace shook his head, "I know how to touch my mana, how to use it, and how to gather more, but that's it. I didn't figure out I could make metal things tougher until a few months after my Awakening."

While I did not like the man, my opinion of his skills rose at that moment. If Wallace spoke the truth, he was far more talented and intuitive than I would have assumed. I doubted I would have made the same intuitive leaps without my formal education, and I was certain I would not have managed it with nearly as much finesse and control.

Still, there were at least a few things he was not sharing, and I had no interest in trading my knowledge for information I already knew.

"That explains why your sword does not snap in two," I replied, gesturing towards the tree, "But not how you hit so hard."

Wallace grinned, a hint of arrogance returning to his face, "Watch again."

His third attack felt near-identical to the first two, with even more clumsiness than ever, and this time, I caught more of his magic. I could feel the bars of mana flowing through his blade, almost like rigid bars lying underneath the surface of the metal. And there, just on the edge of my senses, was something else. A twisting and pulling upon the sword, subtle as a spring breeze.

Just like that, everything slid into place. I thought of how my sword had been pulled aside on our duel and how I could move my mana like my own arm.

I see...

"You are using metal mana to...direct—no, to pull the blade," I murmured, folding my arms over my chest, "That is how you hit so hard. You combine those two spells, strengthening the metal before pulling it to strike with impossible strength. It is the same trick you use to turn aside an opponent's weapon."

Wallace blew out a breath and shook his head, "Should I be insulted that you figured it out so fast?"

I shrugged, "I do not care what you feel about it. What I do care about is how you hide your mana while doing it. I can only sense the faintest flicker, and even then, only up close while actively watching. And I am pretty sure you are exaggerating the movement."

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Wallace raised an eyebrow, "Bit of a long story."

"I have time."

Wallace stared at me, and I returned the look for a few seconds before continuing, "If you would prefer, we can end our arrangement now."

"Alright, alright, take it easy," Wallace held up his free hand, "Just...it's tricky to explain, okay?"

Wallace held the sword out at arm's length, and I felt his mana flow into it again, "Not long after I became a mage, I started experimenting with my magic. I didn't know how to cast many spells, but I was always decent with a sword. It didn't take me long to figure out how to pull on metal or push it into steel to make it tougher, but hiding it was another story."

Suddenly, the sensation of mana within his blade seemed to plummet. I blinked and stretched out, trying to catch any lingering hints, and, for a moment, felt it. Then, it slipped away just as quickly.

The metal mage lowered the blade and gestured toward me, "You sense mana because too much comes out of things, right? I figured out that if I make a...I don't know, a loop, kind of? It helps muffle that. Keeps my sword strong and keeps me from using up too much, too."

"You pull it back into your body," I said, and Wallace nodded.

"Yeah, exactly."

"And that works?" I asked.

"Yeah, well enough," Wallace nodded, "Took me forever to learn, though. At least a year to think up that loop trick and another six months to start moving my sword without breaking the damn thing."

I considered his magic for a time. His 'loop' trick might have some utility if only to reduce mana loss, but the rest were near-useless. I could not reinforce my swordstaff without cracking it, and I could no more pull on the metal of a blade than I could rip the sun from the sky.

Then again...

"Can you show me again?" I asked, pulling out my notebook, "Slower this time?"

An hour later, we sat on the grass facing one another. Wallace kept his eyes closed, taking long, low breaths while I fixed my senses on his core.

Initially, I thought his almost complete lack of a mana signature spoke to his talents with shrouding, but this was only half the story. Whoever had taught Wallace magic would be hard-pressed to do a worse job. He was a Vapor and not much of one at that.

Moreover, his gathering technique was strange. It was a worse version of Origin Breathing, moving and affecting ambient mana in ways that technically worked but practically fell far short of the real thing.

So, I set about fixing that flaw.

Wallace had jumped at my suggestion. I had worried he would find it boring, but he clearly had felt crippled by his limited reserves. Besides, I did not trust the man. Teaching him basic magic was one thing, but I would never show him anything truly dangerous until I trusted him or until I could cut him down at the slightest hint of a threat. Preferably both.

"Relax," I said, "Take deep breaths and allow the metal within the air to flow into your lungs. Do not pull it, but coax it. Gently."

Wallace followed my instructions, but soon, sweat beaded his forehead. His breathing grew unsteady, and finally, he opened his eyes and slumped forward.

"Damn," Wallace pushed out between breaths, "I was hoping I could hold it longer."

I decided against telling him he had picked up the changes faster and managed the breathing pattern longer than any first-year could have done.

"Practice makes perfect, and I suggest you get plenty of it," I said, standing up and, after a moment, holding out a hand to help him up. No point in picking unneeded fights if we were going to work together.

The man stared at my hand, then shrugged and took it. I pulled him to his feet before continuing, "Same place tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure," Wallace nodded as he pulled a cloth from his pocket and wiped his face, "Sounds good."

We said our goodbyes, and I set off for a store near my lodgings. The night was young, and training awaited.

***

Most of Wallace's magic would never work for me. I could not manipulate the steel of my swordstaff through any inherent property of Aether, but I could do something almost as effective.

Force magic revolved entirely around using pure, shaped mana to move around objects, including all forms of telekinesis. It was less efficient and required greater control than elemental magic, but I had a large enough core, and Aether had great enough raw power that those drawbacks felt less crippling.

I had lofty ideas of tearing weapons from a foe's hands, manipulating them to cut down people by the dozens as I danced between them. And what would it look like if I used his technique to pull my weapon while swinging it with my full, magically enhanced strength?

It was the sort of thing that would take months, but I had months. Maybe it was time to make that vision a reality.

I sat on the floor of my room, holding an apple in one open hand. Aether ran through my body in time with each breath, a little unstable after my latest imbibement of mana-infused water, but not as much as I had feared.

The first step to learning force magic was simple levitation. It taught control with as little personal risk as possible. I had already theoretically "surpassed" that stage with my Force Step, but getting anywhere required starting from the basics. It would feel as if I was treading water, but reaching the highest heights required a solid foundation.

First, I drew mana from my core and pulled it down my right arm. It flowed smoothly through my skin and out in a thin, diffuse green cloud.

I let out another breath, then grabbed the mana and moved it with as gentle a touch as possible. It twisted, and I shaped it into a thin membrane, which I wrapped around the apple like a second skin.

It took me nearly a minute to check the 'skin' for any flaws or faults, any spots where it might fail. Then, I moved the mana.

The 'skin' stretched at the bottom, and the apple wobbled as it lifted from my hand. It rose maybe an inch up, and I smiled but a few seconds later felt the mana construct fray. I tried to hold it together, pushing more Aether into the entire thing, but it was too late.

It broke apart, and the apple fell back into my palm with a soft 'thud.' I caught it and sighed, dismissing the broken construct and pulling the remaining mana into my core. It took me another minute to form a new, stable membrane, which I pushed additional strength into just in case.

If the first construct was too weak, the second was too strong. I formed the 'skin' around the apple and pulled on it, tightening the shell. My control was good but not that good, and I felt it slip. The fruit split down the middle with a loud, wet crunch.

I stared at the broken fruit within the green shell before sighing and dismissing it. The apple halves fell into my hand, and I raised one chunk to my mouth before taking a bite.

It tasted sharp and fresh, in-season despite the winter raging outside. While Colkirk had never become an agricultural powerhouse, plenty of mages within the city had followed in Elvor's footsteps, using spells and enchantments to grow fruits year-round.

This was the great struggle with force magic. You either used too much power or too little, but both left you with wasted mana and frustrations rather than anything worth a damn. The mark of a master was using just the right amount of strength for any and all occasions.

I could have sacrificed precision and versatility in favor of raw power. Brute force pushes and crushing attacks would have taken me days, maybe weeks to learn, but such a path would have defeated the whole purpose of training with Wallace.

Besides, I had taken plenty of shortcuts over the past year. It would not hurt me to learn one type of magic the right way.

So, I finished my apple before grabbing a fresh one from the basket next to me. First, perfect the basics. Then, move on to far more exciting applications.