Johan was sitting in the parlor room of Naths house. It was a bit later than usual for his usual lessons, Nath apparently needed to prepare a handful of things this time around. Johan hadn't been too bothered by it, taking some time to ensure his watch was wound up properly, and checking the time against the clock in Naths parlor. Finally, a few minutes after Johan finished fiddling with his watch, Nath came into the room.
Nath carried 3 books under one arm, and a glass of water in his other hand. The old man set the glass down on the small coffee table that sat between Naths comfy chair, and the loveseat that Johan currently was seated on. Then Nath sank into his chair across from Johan, setting the 3 books onto his lap as he did so.
Nath sighed in contentment as his old body settled into the plush chair, then spoke.
"Alright. So today we are going to learn more about elemental magics. I know that you have probably gotten a bit sick of all the talk about constructs from the last couple weeks, even more so with that navigator terminal stuff. I figured this would be a nice break for you."
"Thanks. Constructs are great and all, but it was starting to feel repetitive since we keep talking about it, but I can't really use any of what I learned about it yet." Johan admitted.
"Well, yeah. Every mage experiences that, though usually it's far earlier than your age since most go through that before they get a mana heart. You are just a very strange case. I digress, however. The first element we'll be talking about is one of the prime elements, those of fire, water, earth and air. They are called as such because it is theorized that all elemental magic revolves around those 4. The exceptions to that are the elements of light and dark, which are debated about whether they even are elemental in nature. Sorry, I got off topic once more. The specific prime element we will be referring to is water. water is the foundation of almost every elemental based healing magic. There are others as well, such as Earth which can have similar effects in specific situations. Either way, we will first learn about the manipulation aspect." Nath took the top book off his lap and set it on the table top, "Then we will discuss conjuration." he then set down another book, "And lastly, imbuement." He set down the final book. "I expect the first 2 things I mentioned to be a bit easier for you, since you learn similar things with non specified magic as well. Imbuement is going to be hard for you, but I'm sure you will eventually get the hang of it."
"Going by name, is it similar to Muscular Strengthening, but for objects and external mana?" Johan asked regarding imbuement.
"It could be said to resemble that in effect, but the issue is how it behaves in the action. It's very different, but for now lets shelf that talk, and get down to the nitty gritty about manipulation." Nath paused, checking on Johan to make sure the boy hadn't started to think too deeply about imbuement, or anything else that had caught grasp in his mind, seeing Johan nod, he then continued.
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"Manipulation of elements is different from mana manipulation, where as before you were trying to filter it, now you need to directly control it while filtering simultaneously. This is why I had you forming spheres of mana that you had sifted so much, it's not quite the perfect representation, but it ought to help you out in getting the hang of things more easily. The biggest and most alarming difference between non specific mana control and specified control is the fact that the mana will have strange attributes to it. water for example, you will feel it try to slip from you constantly, you need to use your intent to channel it in the same way a gutter guides rainwater, or a pipe guides water. Wind is entirely different from that though, for wind, it's better to let it flow freely, while simultaneously using your intent to goad it to where you want, similar to trying to get a stray animal to let you pet it. Every mana type is different. For now I want you to create a sphere."
Johan listened intently to Naths teachings, ingraining that knowledge into his brain, and did as he was told. The sphere formed seemed almost translucent now as compared to before, it was so pure...
"Impressive. I didn't get nearly that good until I had my 7th construct, then again my technique is also wildly different from your mana manipulation technique. Anyhow, I want you to take this sphere and without losing any mana make it into a rod." Nath watched Johan, a bit of a smirk forming onto his face as he watched Johan fail to do that.
"See, you probably understand it much better now, eh? You were subconsciously forming the sphere, then pushing that through your sieve. Your goal is to sieve your mana before you make it into a shape from now on. It's annoying for a while, but the payoff is worth it in the end as it greatly increases your ability to manipulate elemental magic. It also helps you ween off of the sphere, once you no longer need to form a sphere before you cast elemental magic, you'll be up a leg against anyone else who hasn't done so, it saves, admittedly a small and meager amount of it, time. Getting to that point will let you cast just slightly faster than peers of your current level. I doubt that you will be encountering anyone like that so soon, but it's good to ingrain it as habit now." Nath sighed, and took the glass of water and drank it. He then set a glass of water on the table.
"In that span of time from my lips leaving the glass to it touching the table, I managed to create a new fresh glass of water. That was purely manipulation, with only a smidge of conjuration, and I know that you only felt a faint blip in the manaspace, but by the time you detected that, I had already set the cup down. If that were an attack you'd be dead." Nath then stood up, knowing he had proven his point.
"Now then, I've given you your goal and have shown you why it could be helpful to have. Ah, that's right, keep in mind that your senses will also get better if you are dealing with faster, less cumbersome steps in manipulation, after all mana sense is like a muscle, it can be improved over time. I'll see you in a few days. I have some business to attend to. Feel free to take the manipulation book home to study while I'm gone. there are some exercises in it for you to learn." Nath walked towards his front door, grabbing his coat, and slipping it on. As he pulled his left hand through a staff appeared in it. no not *a* staff, but *his staff*, Johan realized. Then Nath walked through the door.
Johan was a bit confused. he had not even once seen Nath holding his staff, nor seen the older man look so serious. It... Concerned Johan a bit.