357 Ocean Call
Looking deep into the half-wolf’s eyes, Megan pointed at him and said:
“It’s your turn!”
The beach sun made the girl’s long brown hair shine, the movement of the strong beach wind made the girl’s clothes reflect the sun. Her voice proposing this challenge was something that certainly surprised the half-wolf.
Now was the time for Luke to try to perform this magic. This sudden movement of the girl made the half-wolf take a step backwards, with his instinct to dodge. Even with his eyes attentive to the explanation, performing this spell was obviously something much more complicated than it appeared in that demonstration.
Since it was again an unconjured spell, mana manipulation was something the young man still did not fully understand. Even with his notions of wind control, he was unsure if he would be able to condense his own mana as Megan had instructed him.
After going over all the explanation the girl had given him. Luke held out one of his hands. Visualizing a Fire Ball again. He imagined all the mana coming out of him accumulating in a single small spot, as if it were concentrating completely in one place.
His energy was coming out of his chest, extending into his arm. That energy was assembling into a smooth, massive sphere that emitted a red and white glow. The heat from the small sphere was gigantic, warming the young man’s palm. Luke was focused on keeping that energy steady, however, he suddenly lost focus.
Just a few moments out of sync with the spell were enough for that sphere of energy to collapse, gradually disappearing. The young man’s mana stopped being channeled, the spell had been ruined. Luke looked confused at his hand, trying to understand what the problem was. Everything seemed to be going fine, but in a split second, he lost control of what was happening.
Megan then put one of her hands on his chin, and started trying to find a solution to the problem. The girl was looking up at the sky, talking aloud and going over what looked like paragraphs from a book. It was as if she was reading a magic book while looking at the sky. In fact, the girl was doing just that, recalling the exact page on which she learned this very useful technique.
“Maybe you just need a little practice, the spell initiation was going well. That means you lost control already outside the channeling process, at the beginning of the energy stabilization. This is a symptom of a troubled mind. Has something been taking over your head recently?” Questioned the young mage.
Luke then looked at the girl, and scratching the back of his head he began to try to explain what might have gone wrong during the spell
“At first, I could really feel my mana condensing, but there was a time when I just shut down, it was like a snap. It just came back a thought that’s been bothering me, in an instant, the whole thing went out of my control.”
The two looked at each other, the half-wolf seemed genuinely bothered by this brief barrier, the first truly difficult challenge he had faced. So, the girl proposed that they continue practicing the spell, she would try to lead him by giving guidance. The young man held out his hands, and again, focused on channeling the mana into a single space.
“First, close your eyes and visualize your energy leaving your body. Place it in a single spot away from your hands.” Megan said.
That small sphere of energy was appearing, he was completely focused at that moment. The small sphere of energy gradually increased in size, remaining extremely massive and smooth, growing as the youth channeled his mana into that spot a little in front of him.
“Now, control that energy. Keep it steady, at a single point. You don’t need to think about it moving, just feel it concentrating. You master this spell, every action that occurs comes from your will.” The girl continued.
Luke’s eyes were closed, but he could visualize and feel his energy flowing out. The palm of his hand began to feel this heat appearing, a flame that increased as he put out more of his mana.
But again, his thoughts went out of the now. That sphere of fire collapsed, disappearing into thin air before it even touched the sand on the beach. The half-wolf couldn’t concentrate at that moment, keeping his mind present to control his own magic was being a challenge. This truly frustrated Luke, controlling a wind spell was something easy.
So was creating a fireball with a basic spell. However, to channel your energy into a single point requires a state of presence at that moment, but the half-wolf’s thoughts were far away. With every second that he was out of focus, his mind went back to thinking about what was happening in Broteforge.
In that instant, Balance realized the problem, and proposed a clever idea to the half-wolf.
[Do you remember when the sound of the ocean waves cleared your head? Try to concentrate on the waves again, and try to automatically control the spell].
Luke widened his eyes thinking of this possibility, when he turned around, Megan was again looking up at the sky, reciting a book while thinking of possibilities. He was excited about the new way to solve the problem, so he asked again for the girl’s support.
“I will try again, if I fail, explain to me how I can better control this spell.” Concluded the half-wolf.
Now the girl was attentively watching the execution of the spell again.
He then took a deep breath, extended his arms again, and began to channel his energy outward. Now he began to use his superior hearing to listen to the sounds of the ocean waves. With each lapping of the water on the sand, the young man concentrated more and more on the now.
His energy was channeling almost automatically, it was as natural a process as breathing. He began to mentally visualize that sphere of energy in front of him, but the ocean waves now kept him much calmer and present.
That sphere of energy grew larger and larger, increasing its brightness and emitting even more heat. Luke’s palm felt the heat, which grew exponentially. Until it reached the size of a human head.
Maintaining something like that required a gigantic amount of mana, which surprised Megan who was watching the half-wolf with a smile on her face. After some time, he felt that he was already managing to keep the spell stable. Luke then decided to open his eyes.
In front of him was a massive, glowing sphere of fire, it was hot and emitted an extremely strong white light. It had no flames coming out around it, but the glow it gave off made it a little difficult to look at directly. It was almost like a small sun.
Megan was watching attentively, eager to see the results of this spell. She imagined that because of the size of the fire-ball, it would probably be much more challenging to control the direction and movement of that spell. In addition, it would be necessary to keep that sphere stable.
Even with so many challenges, the ease with which Luke learned an already not so basic concept of magic, created in the girl’s heart a certain expectation for the half-wolf’s future accomplishments.
The young man then held out his hands, and determined, he tried to control the trajectory of that sphere of fire into the water. Using wind magic, he guided it seemingly without problems into the water. But within a second of sliding, the spell collapsed again.
That sphere was coming apart, falling into the water.
*Pfffffffftttsss
The sound of water evaporating with the contact of the spell.
But this time, the half-wolf had already advanced too far. So, he was no longer bothered by the mistake. To his eye, it was a matter of practice, and he had no idea how amazing it was to perform such a spell in such a short time.
Now he again conjured that sphere. He repeated this process several times, constantly failing to move the spell. Megan was watching attentively, making notes inside her head of Luke’s various attempts.
In a moment, he managed to get that fire sphere moving again, he was focused. When suddenly, a loud sound took them both by surprise.
*The door to the laboratory opened, it was Adrian coming out.
The spell undid at the same moment, and both Luke and Megan looked at the same time at the blond-haired boy. The look in both their eyes showed a murderous instinct, with a voracious rage.
Adrian walked away, down the three steps of the laboratory entrance. Noticing the threats, he tried to run, when Megan, using wind magic, pulled the boy. It was as if a hand was pulling his leg. The boy tried to run away desperately, struggling, in vain. Until he gave up and let himself be pulled by the girl.
When he was in front of both of them, Megan reached out one of her hands just above the boy’s blond hair.
“Zaikiradis Water Fall” she recited.
A steady stream of water fell on Adrian’s face as he lay on the sand begging for forgiveness.