Control Comes from Within

I was now much more knowledgeable than I was in my first battle against the voranders, when I had first done the same maneuver of instinctively shooting out essence. But unlike before, I now knew that just discharging essence accomplished nothing. Even with a combination of intent, will, and effort, nothing would happen, besides some essence going to waste. I remember in my first year, Professor Shuubert demonstrated that exact action in class once, and explained how essence needed chants and hand gestures to direct it into a spell that would make use of it.

Naturally, that wasn’t the whole truth, as one could eventually reach a state of proficiency with an element or a specific spell that eliminated the need to chant or gesture, but that method took time and experience, along with a high affinity for the element in question.

This was a likely cause for my effortlessness in casting spells related to my specializations of blood magic, nature magic, and taming. Healing spells still required me to chant, as did the one fire spell I knew, the torch spell that created a hovering flame above one’s hand.

But all of that failed to explain why, when I launched essence at something threatening my life, it ended up in my inventory. I could close my eyes and, with just the intent to do so, see what was in my inventory.

Spearmint was peacefully sleeping, as per usual. The two voranders, after I had spoken to them, had convinced themselves that, since they weren’t dead yet, they had some role left to fill, and took to relaxing when I wasn’t around, lying on the floor.

And the newest addition sat atop the pile of my belongings in the corner: the spear.

“You’re completely fine,” one of the healers said, drawing me out of my inspection of my subspace and back into the real world, “There’s no poison or toxin in your system, or any magical effects that we can detect. Your bout of dizziness was likely stress-related and not an effect of any injury. You’re fine to continue competing if you wish to. Just remember to drink some hot water later, the winter chill might give you a cold if you’re not careful, ” she finished saying.

I got up from the cot and assured her I would, in fact, drink some hot water, before she dismissed me and turned back to watch the projection of the stadium, where the announcer was already informing the audience that I had already ‘recovered’ and was able to proceed.

The walk through the tunnel back to the stadium was short, but the cheering I heard as I stepped onto the grassy center and fell under the scrutiny of the audience made the one minute walk feel ten times as long.

The rest of the competition passed in a blur. I vaguely remember flashes of the two battles I had, making tripwires that sent my opponents to the ground and covering them in blood-red nets to trap them. My prize for winning was a Copper Blood Elixir, which increased the concentration of copper in my blood, and allowed me to exert a small amount of control over the blood’s temperature.

The judges politely insisted that I drink it in front of them, to reduce the chance of theft or any other crime. I’m sure I made a weird face as the bitter and metallic drink went down my throat, judging by the audience’s reactions.

The judges all shook hands with me and the other two finalists, the three of us bowed to each other as tradition and respect required, and the blood magic event was finally considered over. My friends were easy to spot, a pair of excited guys hopping up and down while the rest tried to calm them down and stop drawing attention to themselves. A few of my more daring friends had apparently made a small fortune betting on my victory, leading to a lot of hair ruffling and claps on the back. They offered to split it with me, and I accepted after the usual niceties of declining back and forth a few times. It was hard for me to say no to easy money.

We started walking back to the academy compound to rest, and the physical and mental fatigue that I ignored earlier both hit me as we made our way through the busy streets. I now regretted signing up for the nature magic event as well, as I only had one night to recuperate and prepare before the event began. If it had any similarities to the upperclassmen’s version, I would be engulfed in a massive free-for-all between all the competitors, where the last four contestants received prizes.

I was less drawn to the thought of the potential prizes, and more towards the siren call of my soft and inviting bed, despite it being late afternoon. I bade my friends goodnight, and the next thing I knew, morning had arrived, judging by the room’s ambient light.

I sighed to myself, reluctant to get out of bed, and begrudgingly threw the sheets covering me off to the side. I had less time than I preferred to get ready and be at the stadium, so I hurriedly showered and changed before downing a mug of blended herbs, fruits, and vegetables that was infamous for tasting revolting yet being unhelpfully healthy.

I drank three cups of honeyed tea to rid myself of the taste before I ran to the stadium, thankful that the event was being held this early and hence, making the usually congested streets less busy.

In a surprising turn of events, there were more participants competing in the stadium than there were audience members watching. The organizers apparently made a blunder with the timing, setting it too early, so they decided to just accept the blunder. Thankfully, there would be no announcer blaring commentary for this event, and the audience was totally fine with that.

The nature magic competition was far more exciting than the blood magic one, minus that last little incident, as it held true to form, and did away with rounds of testing different aspects of nature magic. Instead, everyone was thrown into a massive free-for-all and the last person standing would be declared the winner, with the final three, oh the judge just said four, people standing would be declared runners-up and receive prizes.

For this to not be a massive waste of time, I had to get one of those prizes and thus, rank in the final four. Oh, the second through fourth placed participants would receive a potion of their choice from those available, while the winner would receive…

A traditional elven bow, with all the customary enchantments and an accompanying quiver.

And the judges would ensure that the winner bound it to themself in front of them, so I couldn’t even sell it if I wanted to.

Dammit. If I were a better archer, I’d definitely be incentivized to get first. Looks like I’m fighting for second to fourth place, then.

My enthusiasm dipped at the realization, but it was a cold truth that I’d get more use out of one of the potions than the bow.

Once the judges finished explaining the few rules of the event, the common sense ones like no intentionally attempting to kill or cripple anyone or acting dishonorably like that lunatic who attacked me, they transformed the stadium completely, turning the terrain from a grassy field into a dry and barren wasteland. The soil was cracked from the lack of moisture, and there was no vegetation in sight.

How were we supposed to use the most prominent aspects of nature magic, plant control, without any plants around?

“Nature magic is far more than simply growing flowers and extracting poisons,” the oldest of the judges said. “Life will not always be so kind as to give you what you need. Sometimes, you must adapt to the situation at hand, and make the best out of what you have. Now, the competition will begin in eight, seven…”

Shit, he was counting down already?!

I had no idea what to do.

In the other versions of this event I had seen, the fields were changed to a sandy beach and a savannah with sparse trees and tall grass.

In this…near desert, there was barely any opportunity to demonstrate –

No, the judge was right, I had to adapt.

Terrain manipulation.

“Three, two, one…begin!”

Now, it was something of a debate on whether or not nature magic was the first magic, as some argued that all elements were a part of nature and were thus derivative, while others claimed that nature magic was merely an inspiration for the other branches of magic and built off its principles instead.

There were no purely offensive spells in the school of nature magic, so you couldn’t just cast a spell that shot pollen or poison at someone.

But if it could be argued that nature magic was the first magic, then it followed that all the other branches were considered offshoots, and thus, part of nature magic as well.

Which is why the majority of students were flinging all kinds of spells from the other branches at each other, and the judges made no move to stop it, instead just floating in the sky and wearing expressions of…disappointment?

Terrain manipulation was key here, even if everyone else was technically casting nature magic spells.

I was on the periphery of the wasteland, and just dodged any projectile headed in my direction while running around and trying to avoid doing anything too aggressive. The field was filled with shouts of chanting and fireballs, lightning bolts, water droplets, and earth spikes breaking against the hard dirt as they missed and hit their targets.

The judges swooped down constantly as they pulled out those who they deemed too injured to continue, and interfered when a spell looked too dangerous, before admonishing the caster and giving them a warning.

I continued to jog around the outer edge of the field, avoiding nearly everyone as I observed how the number of competitors continued to trickle down from the nearly two hundred that had started to a much more manageable number, around ninety or so.

And something that should have been predictable but still surprised me was the almost natural development of factions, as groups slowly increased in size while people sought safety in numbers. Apparently, they had set aside the issue of what would happen after one faction lost.

There were two factions, to be more specific.

And it was pretty obvious who was in each faction.

After all, one side of the wasteland was far more noble than the other.

And, in what I’m sure was the universe playing a prank on me, I somehow ended up behind the noble faction, their group separating me from the commoner faction on the other side of the field. Tactically, this would be a decent place to ambush them from, if I was capable of casting offensive spells at them right now.

Which I was not. I had very little experience with the other branches of magic, and the few spells I did know were decidedly not attacking spells.

And the second phase of the prank revealed itself, as a few nobles finally noticed me standing behind them and were about to act on it…when unexpectedly, a path was cleared that split the nobles in half, a long mound of upturned rock spikes dividing the group in two as the commoners entered the gap, sandwiching themselves between both halves of the noble faction.

“Oi! Are you with us or against us?” a visibly commoner boy shouted at me, to which I replied, “I’m on your side, asswipe,” with a roll of the eyes.

“Ha, looks like you are,” he replied, before fending off a water lance launched his way with a fiery blade.

Not sure about how smart it is to defend against water with fire. All that steam would blind everyone around, not to mention the…temperature…

And just like that, a lightning bolt of inspiration struck me, an absolutely mad and impossible idea worming its way into my brain and demanding to manifest itself into reality through me.

“Can you keep me safe for a few minutes?” I shouted at my unnamed comrade. “I’ll try to do something big, but I need to focus for a bit!” My voice conveyed the excitement I was feeling at the thought of successfully pulling off my idea.

“What are the –” he ducked and rolled to avoid a lightning bolt, before sending back a fireball at his attacker. “ –odds that you can do this?” he finished asking me, his eyes peeled for any more incoming attacks.

I replied honestly, and with an inexplicable smile on my face, “At best, one in ten.”

“Well, it’s not like we have any strategy right now. A few minutes, you said?” he asked.

“Five minutes at most. After that, you can give up on me if nothing happens. You can use me as bait if you want,” I offered. If I couldn’t execute my plan, I’d be a sitting duck anyway, plus I wouldn’t have done anything in the event to warrant getting a prize, in which case I’d rather spend my time sleeping.

“Haha! Has anyone ever said you’re mad?” he asked me, laughing all the while.

“Just the voices in my head,” I replied. Whether I was being honest or sarcastic was up to him.

“Ha! Of course they do!” He turned around to lock eyes with me, his tone deeper and more stark than a moment ago. “Five minutes. No more.”

“Five minutes,” I agreed, nodding to him.

I immediately sat down cross-legged on the ground, not in the mood to waste any time. I quickly began chanting and gesturing to cast one of the few utility spells I knew, the spell of silence, which manifested as a pair of mini-tornadoes swirling around my ears, and blocking out all sounds.

Most of my acquaintances knew it best as something that helped with hangovers, but it was also incredibly useful for blocking out any distractions when attempting to concentrate.

I took deep breaths as I closed my eyes, aiming to slow down my heart rate before I began my breathing technique. I would need a lot of essence for what I was about to attempt, so I began collecting it through my breathing, ignoring the outside world as best I could and focusing solely on the task at hand.

Power and control. Both would be needed for what I was about to try, but it wouldn't be wrong to assume that the amount required would scale with the size…right? Theoretically, it was possible. In practice?

Well, I was about to find out.