"I don't understand! Why can I not control it?" Alliya complained.

"Because, it isn't your fire mana," I replied patiently. This was something everyone had suffer through to understand.

"What difference does it make whether it's mine or yours? Mana is mana."

I scrounged my eyebrows at that. "Well, you know how to control your arm, right?"

"Yes?"

"And I have an arm too."

"Uh..."

"So how come you cannot control my arm? You know how to control arms, you've been doing it your whole life. Yet, you cannot control mine, despite it being right in front of you. I'm not even fighting you for control of it, I'll let you use it for a while, I promise. But you cannot. It is not your arm."

Alliya sighed loudly. "So... it is impossible? Why did you have me waste my time?"

"Because it is not impossible. First, you can push my arm with yours. If I leave my arm limp, you can make it go where you want it to go. That is a kind of control. Second, we can make signs. You say 'right', I turn my arm right. You say 'left', I turn my arm left. It's not great, but it's a form of control. Remember, we are trying to cooperate and coordinate, not create an attack. And third, at the risk of taking this metaphor too far, you could eat my arm which will partially give nutrients that will end up in your arm, which is a way to circumvent the limits of mana control."

Alliya gave me a quick disgusted look, but then turned thoughtful. It seemed like she had understood. "You'll never be able to control my flames directly, so don't even try. Still, if we work on it, you might eventually be able to tap into my power well enough. This will actually be more difficult for me than for you. You can use your full concentration on this while for me it has to be a passive effect I don't need to pay attention to."

My disciple turned even more thoughtful and after a moment of contemplation asked, "So how does the Empress do it? She literally yoinks black mana out of revenants to kill them and strengthen herself."

"That..."

I had to think for a moment. That was indeed a good point. "I don't really know. It might be that she is using a workaround without realizing it. Transforming the mana on the fly because witches cheat. Maybe it's a peculiarity of black mana. Fire tends to burn no matter how high your attunement, there is a chance that with perfect black mana attunement it is possible to contest sources of mana by will alone. Either way, you will not be able to replicate this anytime soon, and we need results now."

She did not look convinced. "Look, I'm not telling you to stop looking into it. Maybe working on this can be your masterpiece to graduate as a proper mage. It could even be of good use when one picks their environment right. But for now... what is your second highest attunement?"

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Some mages were cagey about their attunement, even though it didn't matter that much. It's not like you could keep it a secret anyway, unless you were willing to forego magic outside of safe areas. Alliya just sighed, probably having expected this and made her peace with it.

"It's air. I'm not very good at it. I've been concentrating on fire."

I nodded at that. Secondary attunements were often neglected during early development, with good reason. Why settle for weak magic when you could use strong magic instead? Though, sometimes flexibility and synergy would beat raw power.

"I want you to focus on your air control for a bit. And before you give me that devastated expression, just consider it concentrating on fire even more. Air fans flames, turning a spark into an inferno. Also cloaking will come in handy, but that's for later."

She nodded at that. We spent some time practicing while walking along the path and her gusts of wind expectedly pushed my flames around decently well. Her endurance needed a bit of work, but mostly it did what I needed it to.

"What is your second highest attunement?" Alliya suddenly asked.

"Life. Good for healing accidental burns. Also good for making flames have more life in them, if you know what I mean. Though I started with that late." I guess it was my time to share.

"When I was around your age, young and stupid, I saw that people died after a century or so. Endurance helps, but only so much. And when you go past that limit, Entikku starts having a problem with you. She doesn't like stagnation or repetition, and to be honest, neither do I. So, I did what I thought was very clever and became an [Acolyte of Entikku] at second step."

"You? Clergy of Entikku?"

"Yes. Why is that so surprising?"

"It's just... You don't strike me as the pious type."

"Why not? Entikku's teachings make a lot of sense. She often steps in to do what is right. Supporting her just makes everyone's lives better. Well, unless you're a revenant, but even then, having final rest is still an improvement. And sometimes she even goes out of her way to protect the worthy, like your dear dean, who would be dust without her mercy."

"... wow. It's like talking to a real cleric."

"I'll have you know, I'm technically still an [Acolyte of Entikku]. Previous steps are not lost, not completely. I can even commune with Entikku, divine Her Will, and bestow blessings. Not that anyone asks me anymore," I grumbled.

"Why don't they?"

"Because when they identify me they see [Sorceress], not [Priestess], so they don't think I can. I don't advertise either. Bestowing blessings on rich patrons never sat well with me and blessing the poor does not pay. I mean, not only do I not get money, it also enables their lords to drive them even harder, making their lives more miserable overall. But enough of that. Have you learned to shield yourself sufficiently?"

In answer, Alliya put her hand into my conjured flame. I felt the air being produced, enveloping her hand, keeping enough space that the flame never quite touched.

"Alright, not great, but it'll do. I can heal minor burns, but don't expect me to do much more than that. It is time."

"Time for what?"

"Time to skip the middle part of our journey. Hold on tight, don't get burned and try not to scream."

"Scream?"

With that question I directed a persistent fire blast downwards, then angled it a little to gain speed. What I lacked in control and stealth that air mages had I made up for in power, and whoever was down there spying on us would not be able to follow.