AN: Sorry about the delay, things have been busy IRL. Hoping to put out new chapters a lot quicker then this, at least one every two days, but life has a way a of sneaking up on you. Anyway, here is the new chapter hope you enjoy.
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“Stop!”
The boys turned towards Tamyra. Looks of surprise and fear were on Kelvin’s two friends’ faces, most likely fearing retribution from adults for their bullying. Leon was startled as well, but Kelvin just looked at Tamyra with derision. He obviously knew that Tamyra couldn’t actually have a real impact.
“Ah sister, it’s SO good to see you. How have you been? I was just so hurt when you didn’t come to happily greet me upon my return,” Kelvin said with a sneer. Seeing Kelvin’s confidence, his two stooges relaxed. They were momentarily caught off guard, but Kelvin had brought them back to their senses. Tamyra on the other hand tensed, knowing that her brother held all the power. Directly opposing him was not an option. Kelvin would almost certainly ramp up his tormenting. All Tamyra could do was try to placate him and hope he would just let things go. It was a long shot considering Kelvin’s personality but Tamyra had no choice if she wanted to help Leon.
“Kelvin, please stop this. It is beneath someone of your caliber,” Tamyra tried to flatter him. A lifetime of people doing nothing but singing Kelvin’s praises had conditioned him to enjoy flattery immensely. He would often bring himself to the center of attention to garner more praise. Tamyra thought that even his two friends seemed exactly like the type that would do nothing but laud Kelvin at every chance they got. But Tamyra’s words didn’t quite reach him.
“Whatever do you mean?” Kelvin mocked, “We are just having a bit of fun between friends. Isn’t that right boys?” Kelvin’s friends vigorously nodded. Tamyra’s thoughts about the nature of the other two boys were confirmed. Leon mutely looked at the ground, unable to meet Tamyra’s eyes.
“Of course!”
“Yeah, just a bit of fun.”
“See my dear sister. It is nothing but some friends having a good time. It’s a guy thing. A girl as stupid as you wouldn’t understand,” Kelvin dropped the polite act. “Now go away. You’re a nuisance.”
Tamyra knew that this was not going well. Kelvin was not relenting, and it was obvious that his attention was fully on Leon. Kelvin had even gave her an opportunity to leave. But when she left, Tamyra knew that Kelvin would probably bully Leon more. Tamyra had already come this far, and she wasn’t ready to back down now. “Please brother! You’re a better person than this! Stop hurting Leon!”
Kelvin’s sneer froze. “Leon?” He uttered in a dangerously low voice. “How do you two know each other? And how come you’re so willing to jump to his rescue on a moment’s notice?”
“We just met a while back. It’s really nothing I swear!” Tamyra hastily explained. While she didn’t understand why, playing down their relationship seemed to be the best course of action. Kelvin’s demeanor had totally shifted. Tamyra’s heart sank when she remembered a time when he acted similar. Kelvin was normally just a bully, and around others he acted imperious and seemingly unconcerned about other people’s business. But Tamyra still had nightmares about the time when he had acted different. And her heart sunk even further when she saw a truly sadistic smile enter Kelvin’s face.
“Leon, I humbly apologize for my actions.” Tamyra was shocked. And it wasn’t just her, everyone was astonished. Kelvin Vanthar never apologized. “I just got a bit carried away with myself for a moment there. No harm done.” Kelvin extended a hand to the fallen Leon, who tentatively grabbed it and was pulled up while wearing a bewildered face that mirrored everyone else present. “See? All is well that ends well. Well then, shall we be off boys. There are a lot of fun things to do at the Vanthar estate. I shall see you later my dear sister.” Kelvin began to walk away, and everyone just stared in confusion. “Come on. There isn’t any reason to stick around.” At Kelvin’s words the boys were brought back to reality and hurried to catch up to Kelvin who had already started walking away. As Leon went to catch up, he snuck a glance back towards Tamyra and mouthed the words,
“Thank you.” Then he turned and fell into step with the others.
However Tamyra couldn’t believe that it had ended just like that. That smile on Kelvin’s face was all too familiar to Tamyra, and she shuddered at what was to come next. The terror of that day at the pond had taught her that Kelvin was capable of truly horrible things. She planned to be extra sneaky and do her best to avoid her brother while he was out alone. The only reason Tamyra could come up with for that apology was that he didn’t want to make a scene in front of his friends. Being extra careful, she decided that her usual spot was too close to the house, so Tamyra hiked farther out into the wilderness. Stopping when she reached a fallen tree, Tamyra decided to sit under it and use it as shelter as she had no idea how long she would be out there for.
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Under the tree was dark, so Tamyra used one of the few magic techniques that she knew to create a simple light for her. Normally the mana cost would be too high for her to maintain it for any amount of time, but Tamyra had practiced over and over to make the technique as efficient as possible. Since it was such a basic technique, no one had ever taken the time to refine it, especially since anyone with a decent amount of mana could easily maintain it. But for someone with a ridiculously low amount of mana like Tamyra, it was a necessity to make the technique as efficient as possible. Through hours of nonstop practice, Tamyra had managed to figure out how to do it. Magic was the process of converting mana into a form that could do work. Mana was a curious substance that was neither energy nor matter. Certain living beings had been blessed with the ability to generate mana and control the mana they generated. The mage would visualize what they wanted and then control the mana to become what they envisioned. Mana could be changed in to energy, like heat or kinetic energy, or it could be turned into matter like water or a rock. The mana cost rose as the amount of matter or energy rose. However one could decrease this by increasing the efficiency of the technique by exerting more control over the technique, which made sure that that excess mana was not wasted either from not being full converted or being converted into something else. For instance, if a mage wanted to make a kinetic blast, some of that energy would be converted into sound energy. So a skilled caster could use less mana by restricting the sound made. The downside was that this required much more concentration and time as well as the proper knowledge of what the caster wanted to happen.
Tamyra had used these principles to refine the basic light technique. She first had learned to use all of the mana she would allot to a task. This meant zero mana would be wasted in her casting. The next process that she diligently practiced was making the light only shine light. A basic light often wasted a lot of energy through heat, and sometimes even sound, but through days and days of careful practice, Tamyra had made her technique only produce light. Due to her low mana amount, if Tamyra wanted to sustain it the light was fairly dim, but it was enough that if she kept the light close she was able to read without much problem. It also had the added bonus of being harder to spot, which was a must considering her reluctance to be found by her brother.
The light Tamyra had made had one more added technique to it. Since maintaining such a perfect light was mentally taxing, Tamyra made the light into a partial enchantment. Enchantments were when the mage would create a set of instructions and a supply of mana to an object or spell. These could then be left alone and would be independent from the mage who created it. These are extremely difficult as one would have to visualize the exact mana structure of the instructions. But since Tamyra had such a small amount of mana, she had to use a partial enchantment. A partial enchantment is when your enchantment has its instructions but siphons mana off the caster to sustain itself. It had taken a year to perfect this method, but Tamyra’s practice had payed off.
Tamyra got herself comfortable and began reading her book. It was a book explaining how to use different types of energy in conjunction with magic. It was mainly the basics, like creating a fireball that combined heat energy and kinetic energy. Tamyra knew that her mana was far too insufficient to pull off a technique like that. Her goal was to understand mana. Despite thousands of years of research, not much was actually known about it. No one knew for sure what it actually was and what it was truly like in its pure form. Tamyra’s goal to become someone important was to enter the forefront of mana research. Those who could make new technologies were extremely important to both countries and businessmen. If Tamyra could discover something truly important, then even Kelvin would be unable to touch her.
Tamyra’s reading took her long into the night. She didn’t dare go back to the house until she could be absolutely sure that Kelvin was asleep. Sleeping outside was an idea that Tamyra toyed with, but ultimately decided against it. Some of the servants would demand work from her and if she neglected these duties, she would be brought to the attention of the higher ups, possibly giving Kelvin a reason to do something horrible to her. Tamyra hadn’t brought along a watch with her, so waited until long after the sun had gone down to make her way back. Using her light to see her path, Tamyra retraced her steps in order to get back to the house. It was when she had almost reached her usual hiding spot that she heard someone else walking towards her.