And things did change. Jace was taking on the responsibilities Baysil had shouldered. Various tasks that Evaliena trusted her with doing. Making the different alchemical concoctions for clients of his mentor, along with her side hustles kept Evaliena. The Ink blocks for one. He felt he’d lose his sense of smell from the acrid stenches he will be enduring. Baysil teased him for this, but spent what remaining time she had with helping Jace get adjusted.
Baysil’s outlook had changed, too. She acted in a way where there was a weight lifted from her shoulders. She was excited to go back home, yet afraid of how changed she was. How the people that should be her own perceived her. Along with musings of the family she might build, much to Jace’s chagrin.
For Jace’s part, he was at ease knowing she would be around for a while longer, getting him used to the idea that Baysil was leaving. To him, Baysil was an older sister, and it hurt knowing she was going.
But for today, the pair of them were working on a spell concept in the living room. “So, Jace.” Baysil used his first name. “Do you think this would work?” Baysil traced her fingers across the craving in the wax tablet they were using. “Generating ‘stuff’ from nothing is going to consume a lot of mana.”
“It’s not about generating stuff, it’s about affecting mass.” Jace explained. “The more mass, the more influence the point in space this spell would have. If I can translate my thoughts into rune words, I could technically fly without the need for force or wind mana… I hope…”
“Or turn yourself into a fine red mist. Ugh, you’re reminding me I need to write up everything I wish to remember and take with me.”
“Yeah, you should be doing that, my new Adept.” Evaliena walked up the stairs into the living room. “Now, what are my two students doing in their free time?” She strolled to the pair and looked over their shoulders. “Huh? Why are you trying to spin something?”
“I don’t really understand this concept of ‘gravity’ either.” Baysil admitted. Jace understood spellcrafting could make almost anything possible, rending the need to understand how various laws of nature worked moot. Why learn that when you can shoot lightning and fire from your hands, cross leagues in a single step or camouflage an entire castle from sight?
“Knowledge from your old life again, Jace?” Evaliena folded her arms, sounding interested in that causally aloof tone. “You might as well explain yourself.”
Jace grinned. “Gravity is just an expression for acceleration, or just increasing movement. It’s also the influence objects exert over each other. The more massive, the more dense the object, the more influence it exerts. The opposite is also true. It can get to a point where the influence of an object is so great, fundamental natures just start breaking down…”
Evaliena continued to listen to Jace’s faulty explanation. There was a slight change of expression in Evaliena’s posture, as if something clicked together in her mind. “Jace Ashwood, I forbid you from talking to anyone else about this law of nature.” She said in a joking yet serious tone. “Or anything else about the fundamental nature of the world.”
Jace flicked his ears. “Oh, I’m guessing this is pretty dangerous in the wrong hands?” Baysil had a concerned look on her face now.
“I have witnessed many a spell and ritual that have wiped out entire armies. Those commanded powerful forces of nature from mana. But never something this fundamental. It would be like developing a new glamour or transformative spell. The risks are immense. The payoffs, however…” Evaliena sat down with a gleeful smirk. “I’m going to have to play with this concept.” Jace saw an excited glint in Evaliena’s sapphire eyes.
Baysil and Jace gulped. They looked at each other. “What have I done?” he asked himself.
“Just because I’m old enough to be your ancient ancestor doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy new challenges.” Evaliena winked, then she got down and looked at the wax tablets the pair were working with.
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Cedar told Jace that he’ll be stopping his training and sparring sessions. “I’ve gotten old,” the old silver admitted cheerily. “I simply can not keep up anymore.” Jace knew this was coming. As he trained, He noticed Cedar was slowing down this year, a weakness made plain with simply becoming old. “But… I have imparted everything I wished to teach you, boy. Thank you for indulging this old fool.”
Jace asked if Cedar was also considering leaving as well? Cedar shook his head at the idea and said, “Fates willing, I’ll stick around and bother you and Sandal for a few more decades before she finally has enough and dumps me back at my family.”
Evaliena had taken over. With Cedar out of the picture, she wanted to teach Jace more destructive spell work and how to incorporate casting into his movements. She would take Jace to a clearing along the range, far away from any thing Jace could accidentally damage during his training. Cedar taught him technique and mana control over his body. This time it’ll be more than simple expressions.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“You want me to hit you?” Jace said as he drew his quarterstave up into a ready.
Evaliena stood aways with her travel cloak covering her body, while Topaz sat off to the sidelines, moping as usual but forced to watch lest she be punished again. “Yes, I want you to hit me, your hardest if you could. I’ll be fine.”
Jace circulated mana through his body, reinforcing his muscles, and leapt forward at speed, aiming for an overhead strike with as much strength as he could muster. She had taught no combat related spells, just simple things for aiding him in alchemy and a light to see into the dark, along with the source link. He figured she didn’t trust him with anything serious, so he would not permanently hurt himself. A loud clack rang out as the end of the quarterstave smacked against an emerald disk of mana. Solid air. Surprising Jace as that wasn’t the grey mana, the force mana he had seen before used in a similar way.
Evaliena had barely moved, just raising her hand up. She then twisted her arm and thrusted it forward to push Jace back with the same green mana. “Were you expecting something else?” She smirked. “Expecting me to use a force spell instead of a wind spell?”
Jace landed and skidded back on his feet, wincing in pain. “What do you mean?”
“As you probably learned, a spellcrafter can only control one Core related spell at a time. Which means a spellcaster will often reserve their core spells to defend against other core spells. There are very few things that can stop a Force Lance. Which is another Force spell, certain protective trinkets, mana reinforced materials or simply being out of range,” Evaliena explained.
“So it’s dangerous to be within range of a mage without such protection?” Jace guessed as he lent on his stave.
“If you suspect your opponent knows Force Lance or a similar spell, you better brace yourself. If you summon a point defence disk or a force wall, the impact from a force lance will knock you off your balance if you’re not careful.” She continued.
This brought up a question in Jace’s mind. “If Core spells are so lethal, how do non-mages even stand a chance? Moreover, why use anything else?”
“I just told you, one of the weaknesses of core spells is distance. The absolute distance of a single core spell is around fifth paces. Beyond that, you need to use other spells.” Evaliena folded her arms. “As for the chances of non-mages, that’s where the martial arts come in. Not a subject I’ve really told you about. But it evens the playing field.” Jace flicked his ears. This was new. “Those without an awakened soul gate can still use mana. With enough training, they can cloak themselves in a protective aura of mana. It’s pretty effective against Force and Metal as it’s a manifestation of their will. As is Force mana, a manifestation of will.”
“How dangerous is a Force spell?” Jace wanted to know. Evaliena moved her arm, Jace caught the glimpse of a circle of mana around her arm and around a boulder behind her. Pulled out of the ground and moved with wind mana to her side. He saw a lance of grey mana cut the boulder in two without sound, the pieces falling onto her sides. There was a deep cut in the ground as well. Jace blinked. “I guess I should avoid getting hit by that.”
“Oh, very much so. I’ve had my limbs cut off and chunks ripped out of my abdomen via force lances.” Evaliena added. Jace grimaced at what she said. But if that was true, how was she alive? “If you’re wondering how I survived those, my comrades stitched me back together with restoration spells. But we’ll cover such spells another time. Just to make a point, Jace, duels with Force spells will only end once one side is exhausted. So ready yourself again. I’m going to teach you your first combat fire spell and how to cast in combat.”
Excitement rose in Jace about learning his first combat spells. This raised another question in his mind. Evaliena and Cedar rarely showed a spell construct when casting their spell. He really wanted to know. “How are you able to cast spells without forming them?”
Evaliena smiled and with a smooth voice. “They’re engraved on my very soul. Not to tease, however, I’ve simply used so many spells so often, I don’t even need to think about them. Annoyingly, it’s very hard to not actively use certain spells out of reflex. But enough. Watch and learn this spell.” She held out her hand and began drawing out the fire spell in silvery runes.
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Left panting and exhausted from his sparring session. Jace’s head ached from trying to spellcraft while defending. If Cedar was tough despite being out of his prime. Evaliena’s movements were absurd. She doesn’t miss a step. Her feints, perfect and her blocks, firm, backed with little mana. But unlike Cedar, Evaliena did not strike back as hard. Instead, just a hard tap to the spot she connected to, to tell Jace to stop sparring. She only did this if she sensed Jace was taking too long, and Jace had no successes throughout the session.
“That’ll be enough.” Evaliena said. “You won’t learn in a day.” She walked up to Jace’s side, patting him on the shoulder. Which stung a little from the workout he just received. “And for the fire spell, do not practise it without my supervision. It might be just a bolt of fire, but you could easily burn the keep down.” She warned. Jace nodded along.
The world blurred, and they were back outside the keep’s gate. “Cedar taught you well.”
“Huh? I couldn’t lay a single finger on you.” Jace pointed out.
Evaliena smiled and began walking, with Jace following. “Trust me, you’re better than most braves your age. Granted, most braves don’t have a personal tutor. Now, what do you want to eat for supper?”