Realm of Monsters

Loh cupped her hand over her brow and surveyed the green hills all around them, “This should be a good spot to stop.”

“But, it’s barely past noon,” Stryg said.

“It’s time to properly teach you. Besides, I think I’m getting nauseous from riding so much, damn hangovers,” Loh covered her mouth.

“This seems like a good spot to defend. We have the high ground advantage against anyone that might try to ambush us from below the hill,” Maximus noted.

“Everything looks the same, it’s all green,” Rhian groaned. She wanted to go home and rest in a comfy stable.

“Maximus, Rhian, why don’t you both start setting up camp,” Loh dismounted. “Stryg, follow me.”

“Yes, Mistress,” Rhian and Maximus said in unison.

Stryg hopped off Rhian’s back and followed Loh a few dozen feet away from the centaurs, although they stayed on top of the hill.

“I’m ready, master. I promise I won’t fail you again,” Stryg said resolutely. He was eager to wash away his failure at the root-bison hunt.

“I like the enthusiasm, you’ll need it. Now sit down with me,” Loh said.

Stryg followed her directions and sat down cross-legged across from her.

“I wanted to continue your training in the flame spell form, but after last night’s bison incident, I think it’s best if we begin practice in orange’s second spell form.”

“Agility magic?”

“Exactly,” Loh nodded. “You tried casting a vigor spell last night and failed.”

Stryg looked away in shame.

“While you may have miscast, the blame is not entirely on you. I should have explained to you earlier that enhancement spells are different from other spell forms,” she admitted.

“Enhancement spells?”

“Body enhancement to be precise. The term refers to three spell forms. Yellow’s durability, orange’s agility, and brown’s vigor spell forms. While most spells transform mana into a corporeal form as it is released from your body, the mana from enhancement spells are never released. The mana instead stays within your body, suffice to say it’s dangerous. The only other spell form that does something similar are storm spells, but those practically kill everyone who uses them, so we’ll table that topic for later.”

Loh opened her hands, “You were taught that when we cast a spell we require two things, a precise image and a will to create magic. While this is true there is more to it. The first is obvious, mana, without it we can’t create any magic. We also need a strong mind to maintain our focus and a strong body to withstand the spellcasting.”

“Make no mistake, Stryg, spellcasting takes a large toll on our bodies. Everytime we cast a spell mana flows through our veins. I know you’ve felt it, that energy surging in your veins. It’s exhilarating, but it also puts an enormous strain on our bodies. Think of it like water flowing inside a pipe. If there’s too much water flowing at a time the pipe will burst. Having that sort of energy flowing inside you pushes your body to its limits. Which is why we magi exercise and train our bodies so they can withstand more of that stress.”

“I’m not too worried. I may not be big, but I’m confident in my constitution,” Stryg patted his chest.

Loh glanced at his biceps, “Your muscles are toned and you're quite strong, this is true. You’re also freakishly heavy. Your body can most likely handle more physical strain than most. But, there’s one more caveat.”

“What do you mean?”

“Even though mana is ethereal it is still a form of energy and that energy gives off heat as it travels throughout our body. The more powerful the spell we cast, the more mana we use, and the more heat we create within ourselves. When we miscast most of the mana we use ends up being wasted as heat, you’ve probably felt your body burning at such times.”

Stryg recalled how his arms burned when he first cast a drain spell to escape the poacher all those moons ago.

Loh clenched her fists, “No matter how strong your body and will are, or how great your mana reserves are, you will eventually overheat, always.”

“Overheat?” Stryg tilted his head, “I’ve endured worse.”

“You misunderstand. You will heat up from the inside and if you don’t stop casting before cooling off you will die. Most magi have modest mana reserves and will run out before they reach a stage of overheating. But, someone like you, a prime mage who tested dark in each chromatic color, will definitely overheat way before you empty all your mana reserves.”

“Wait, you’re saying even once I master my colors I won’t even be able to use them all?” Stryg frowned.

“Not all your mana at once, no. A mage will cool down far quicker than their mana reserves replenish, so technically you can use up all your mana. It’s just unlikely,” Loh shrugged.

“Is there any way to make our bodies cool down quicker? Like jumping into a cold river?”

“Not really. Our bodies are heating up internally. Outside cooling has very little effect. A few red magi tried creating potions to help the internal cooling process, but the rapid change in temperature only served to damage their veins and prevent them from spellcasting all together.”

Stryg ran his hands through his hair, “So, we’re screwed then.”

“We have limits. No one is all powerful. Which brings me to my main point. Enhancement spells run mana through your body, not just your veins but your entire body. You can hazard a guess at what kind of extra strain that puts on us. Only the most physically fit magi can use enhancement spells properly and even then it still exhausts them.”

“I guess it’s good that I’m in great shape, then?” Stryg grinned.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, you’re the one who miscast the vigor spell and ended up dangling off Rhian like a corpse,” Loh chuckled.

“Then what am I missing?” He scowled.

“First, we have to go over what you did when you miscast,” she raised her index finger. “You told me you tried having the brown mana seep through your muscles. That was the wrong idea. The only place mana should be inert is within your heart, everywhere else it needs to be in constant motion. Like water flowing inside a pipe.”

Loh pulled back her sleeves and tapped her forearm, “You can’t let mana just seep into your muscles and stagnate, it’ll just end up burning your muscles. And if you try to change that stagnant mana into something like say, a vigor spell, you’ll just end up spasming out like last night.”

“Good to know,” Stryg sighed.

“You need to have that mana flow not just through your veins, not just your muscles, but your entire body. It’s dangerous if you don’t know your ligaments, bones, muscles, and blood properly. If you don’t, you risk spending too much or too little mana, and we both know that’s a disaster for spellcasting. Look, I know it’s a lot to learn, but the upside is that you don’t need to know all of it, just the body parts you plan on casting your spell on. Like this.”

The veins in Loh’s forearm darkened until they were black. Her grey arm looked like marble.

“Agility magic,” Stryg whispered, his pupils widened.

“Agility spells normally focus on your limbs. It’ll be easier to learn the anatomy of your arms and legs as opposed to your vital organs,” Loh clenched and opened her fist repeatedly.

“I know about anatomy. We learned about it in professor Gete’s class. He made sure we knew the anatomy so that we could succeed in necromancy,” Stryg’s shoulders slumped. “I failed in necromancy, but I learned the anatomy at least.”

Loh nodded, “Good. It’s difficult to learn a person’s entire anatomy, but Gette’s instruction should serve well enough for our purposes. When you start learning healing spells you’ll gain an even better understanding of anatomy. But, that’s a talk for another time.” Loh stood up, “Now it’s your turn.”

“Should I try casting an agility or vigor spell? Or both?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. You haven’t been able to successfully multicast once and you’re not going to be able to do it with new magic. Besides, it’s impossible to multicast enhancement spells. The strain is too great on the body.”

“Oh,” he recalled the pain he felt last night when he tried casting vigor magic. “I see.”

“For now let’s just work on a simple agility spell. Your right hand will suffice.”

Stryg nodded and got to his feet. He closed his eyes and tried focusing on his arm. He recalled the muscles and tendons. There were many, it was difficult.

“You don’t have to constantly think of each and every part of your body. You just have to be aware of their existence. Don’t let your body become an obstacle that blocks your mana, instead let the mana move through unimpeded.”

“I’m trying,” he took deep breaths.

Stryg imagined what it would be like to have the orange mana change his body, enhance his arm. The mana within his heart reacted and began to flow through his veins and into his arm. He needed to keep the mana moving, constantly changing his arm. He could feel the heat building up within. His hand began to burn. He grit his teeth and tried ignoring the pain.

The veins began to darken, his hand shook. He groaned as his hand cramped, the muscles locking in place. He released the spell before it could cause more damage.

“Fuck,” Stryg cursed.

His arm felt as if it was burning. He couldn’t move his stiffened hand and was forced to watch his fingers twitch as if in a frenzy.

“It was a good first try,” Loh smiled wryly.

“I’m sorry. Just give me one more chance,” he lifted his left hand and closed his eyes.

“Stryg, it’s okay. You need to take a break. You can’t force these things, that’s just a recipe for injury.”

“I heal fast.”

Loh’s shadow shot out and pulled his arms aside. “Listen to me, dammit. When I tell you to stop, I mean it. I am your teacher and I know what is best for your training, you do not.”

Stryg narrowed his eyes. He could feel the pull of her shadow tendrils. He knew his own strength. He could probably rip away from the shadows if he really wanted to. But, the angry look on Loh’s face warned him otherwise.

“If we are going to be master and apprentice we need to trust each other. You need to trust that I know what is best for you and will always guide you in the right direction. Do you understand?”

“...Understood,” he bowed his head.

“Good,” she released the shadows. “Don’t sweat the small stuff. Most novices can’t even get their veins to darken at all. You’ll get better at it with practice.”

“Can I at least try casting a vigor spell? Or maybe a durability spell?” Stryg asked hopefully.

Loh shook her head. Her apprentice was too eager to prove himself and too excited to try out his magical abilities. But, more than anything he was too stupid to realize the risks of reckless spellcasting.

“I am not a chromatic brown or yellow. You shouldn’t practice those spells without the proper teacher,” Loh said. “Just get some rest for now, we’ll keep practicing in a bit.”

Stryg sighed and let himself fall backwards, landing on the soft grass.

Loh laughed, “Believe me, I’m gonna push you harder than any teacher would at the academy. Soon enough, you’ll have wished you were never a mageborn.”

“I don’t think that’s possible, the latter, I mean. Don’t worry, I will rise to whatever challenge you give me. Even if I make a mistake I will not give up. I won’t fail you,” he swore.

“That’s what I like to hear,” Loh grinned.

Stryg stared up at the sky, “...Master?”

“What is it?”

“Why don’t you want me to tell others that I’m a prime mage? Is it a bad thing? Or am I just defective? Is that why we’re all the way out here in the middle of nowhere and not Hollow Shade?”

Loh laid down next to him, “You’re not defective, Stryg. We’re out here because you need training and you need to be able to do that without distractions.”

“Really?” Stryg turned his neck and looked at her.

“Really,” Loh placed her hands behind her head, “And don’t worry about your other colors, I’ve spoken with my grandfather to arrange teachers for the rest of your chromatic training.”

Stryg made a mental note to ask about her grandfather later. “...Then why do you want me to keep my chromatic colors a secret?”

Loh glanced at his lilac eyes. His pupils were undulating in rapid motion. His face may have been still, but his eyes gave him away. He was stressed.

Loh closed her eyes, “There once was an aristocrat, a drow, who had done nothing of note. He wasn’t talented in magic and he wasn’t a great warrior. In fact, despite being from a Great House, he was completely unremarkable. Everyone’s eyes were instead focused on his talented mage sister. No one thought he would accomplish much with his life. His name was Elzri.”