Rays of sunshine forced their way into Ben’s eyes as day broke. They didn’t need to try very hard, he’d been awake for the past half hour.

How he hadn’t barfed last night was a miracle in itself. It was one thing to eat something that he had seen speak, something he also had an issue with, but its brain? Ugh, it was hardly any wonder why he had trouble staying asleep. Hopefully he didn't get any diseases from it.

At least the bed roll he took was comfortable enough. Certainly beats sleeping on the ground.

He heard the large body of his mentor start to rise from behind. In a voice not entirely all there yet, his main character said, “Awaken, my servant.”

With nothing else to do anyway, he obliged, getting himself up and out of the bed roll. This earned a pleased rumble.

“Much better, that’s the prompt response I’m looking for.” Kinsoriel continued while he began packing the roll back up. “We have much ground to cover today, both in your education and towards Tesktar.”

He stretched himself out as Benjamin finished, and the popping of joints could be heard. “Ahh, there we are.” Once done with his stretches, he looked over to Ben. “Come then, let’s be off.” Agreeing with him, Benjamin pulled out the map and they got back on track.

The path they were taking was a serene one. Clear air and a distinct lack of noise outside of their steps. Such elements would make for a terrific scene down the line, something he could look forward to.

His compatriot didn’t seem to see it the same way. A small scowl seemed fixed on the dragon’s face the entire time.

“Is something wrong, master?” Saying that last part still felt unnatural in every way.

“No little author, nothing more than what’s already wrong.” The scowl grew as he said this. “I loathe being forced to walk.”

Yeah, that sounded about right. “Look on the bright side,” Benjamin said with a smile, “I’ll be able to help you with that in no time at all.”

Kinsoriel’s scowl gave way to a smirk alongside a snicker. “Ohohoho, that’s a good one. I thank you for your levity.”

That certainly stung in a way Ben wasn't used to, something surprisingly common with him. At least he managed to improve his character’s mood.

The tree line gradually thinned as they walked, giving way to a refreshingly different sight; a lake. Its waters were crystal clear, reflecting beautifully as the sun neared its apex. Benjamin could barely see the faraway edge at the other end. He couldn’t say the same for the path they would need to walk along, stretching even further.

“Look here, my student.” Kinsoriel sat beside the shoreline, peering into its shimmering depths. “I believe we have a learning opportunity.”

A bit skeptical, Benjamin asked, “Do we?”

“Yes, we do.” the dragon confirmed with a slight edge to his voice. “Here I can show you one of the principles of magic use in practice.”

Knowing these principles again after yesterday’s lesson, this caught Ben’s curiosity. “My apologies then teacher,” he said with a short bow, “please go on.“

“Good. Now as I was saying, we can put a principle into practice, number three to be exact.” Kinsoriel raised a brow expectantly. “You do remember which one that is, right?”

“Of course,” Ben rattled off speedily, “It’s ‘Magic provides a formless answer to solid problems’.” It meant that while magic could solve just about anything, its effectiveness was tied to how the caster used it. Much like trying to use a hammer to tighten a screw, incorrect usage wouldn’t get results.

“I’m half surprised that didn’t fall out of your head last night,” the scaly teacher lightly mocked, “but yes, you are correct.” He tapped a talon against his head. “To be a spellcrafter worthy of service, creativity is a must.”

Still unsure what he was getting at, Benjamin waited for him to carry on. “We could walk around this giant puddle like mindless beasts and waste our time, or…” He turned to face the lake, holding his claws together to form the shape of a circle. “We use a little creativity. Ice Beam!”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

In between the space made by his claws, a white dot started to appear. It rapidly grew in size, going from a speck to that of a tomato in a second. Once it looked like it would touch the dragon’s hands, it instead started to fire out a solid ray of white energy, aimed at the water. Any spot that made contact froze up into a mass of ice, as thick and solid as the ground.

With a sly grin more fitting of a snake, Kinsoriel walked forward while continuing the spell. “Follow!” He shouted enthusiastically over his shoulder as he tread the new path.

Benjamin did so reluctantly, doing his best not to trip. Though he had managed to quell some of his fears, a slippery surface was something he dreaded the most. All it would take was one fall in just the right way and bam, his head is cracked open like an egg. They were also treading just over a lake, and Benjamin would still not like to find out if he could swim.

The fact that Stromwell, the guy who writes anti-climactic deaths left and right, had total power over him didn’t help. Thank Father he was so full of himself though. He’d always been one to revel in how right he is, and this bet of his was just another way of doing that. But while his pride would probably keep him from railroading like that, one could never really know.

He was separated from his thoughts when walked right into the dragon’s back leg, falling back onto his rear.

“Gah! Watch where you’re going!” Kinsoriel complained as he turned his head around.

After raising himself back up carefully, Ben defended himself. “Why did you just stop?!”

His teacher looked away without saying anything. It was then that Benjamin started to notice what had happened. He had stopped using the spell, and Kinsoriel’s chest was moving as though out of breath. Most worrisome was the quivering of his forelimbs.

“Master…” Benjamin said to ease the next part of the sentence, “Did you run out of mana?”

The dragon’s head bobbed up, but he didn’t turn this time. “I have not my student, a master of the arcane never exhausts all their mana.” In a slightly somber tone, he said, “They know their limits.”

Moments like these would make for great character-building from behind his pen, but he wasn’t. It was so much harder to do the correct action when he was the one responsible for it. For the sake of this world, he’d give it a try.

“Well, that’s why you got me right?” He stepped to the front, carefully avoiding the edge of the ice. “Let me help.”

With what he had relearned yesterday, he knew the process of casting a spell now. He had to fully visualize what the spell would do. He needed to draw the power out from his body evenly, and he had to maintain focus. The first part came to him naturally given his plethora of experience as an Author, but the physical component gave him a lot of trouble. He would just need to make due.

Already having seen the spell in action, he replicated Kinsoriel’s motions. He clasped his hands together in the shape of a circle. In his mind, he imagined the chilling orb that would grow in his hands, expanding till it nearly reached his skin. At that moment, it would shoot out and freeze whatever he aimed it at.

That was the easy part. Now to truly bring it to life. It was a tingling feeling, almost a bit painful as he forced his mana into his hands. Whatever muscle or motion it was that allowed this was lacking for sure. Such a sloppy draw made it come out unevenly, but it was happening. With the ball as good as it was going to get, Benjamin declared, “Ice Beam!”

It fired off successfully, but it was short-lived. The beam lasted for only one second before sputtering out. All he had managed was to make a floating platform rather than stable ground. They were still only three-quarters of the way through the lake. He couldn’t contribute like this.

“Ah, a raft!” exclaimed Kinsoriel with a delighted rumble, “Now that’s principle three in action!”

What? Oh, well what do you know, it was a raft. It seems that his weak showing had inadvertently been just what they needed. You wouldn’t see him making a fuss about that. What was more surprising came after.

From out of his eyesight, he could feel his head being gently pat by the dragon. Gently for a dragon, that is. It was actually hurting his neck quite a bit. He did his best not to express this. The last thing he needed was for the grump to know he could hurt him.

They both got atop the platform. Kinsoriel pushed them using the solid ice as leverage.

“Now while that was good thinking, there was something else I noticed, my student.” The dragon pointed a claw at one of Benjamin's arms. “Your E.K. was not even. It wasn’t just sloppy. It could be potentially dangerous.”

Ben couldn’t help but raise a brow. Dangerous? How? “If you call to memory my blood example from yesterday, you’ll find another similarity. Clots.” He could feel the arm that was being pointed at itch and shudder as that word hung around him. “Never allow your mana to clot little author. Those precious seconds that it takes to fix could be death in an intense situation.”

That’s… better than he expected. For a moment, he was imagining something far worse. Mangled limbs, a heart attack, blowing himself up, something along those lines. This was still very useful information though, and he was grateful to be given it.

“Thank you for your feedback teacher,” Benjamin said genuinely, “I will be careful not to do so.”

Shrugging it off, Kinsoriel said, “I just don’t want my time spent training you to be a waste. You’ll die someday, and I want to get as much use from you as I can get.”

Successfully souring Benjamin’s gratitude, they both sat silently while drifting towards the shoreline. Changing this dragon was going to be a slow and irksome process.