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3/15/2022 9:36:08 PM
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Solitha Chapter 7: Learning the Basics

[spoiler]ngl, this one kinda sucks[/spoiler] When Nona came to, he was laying down in a massive white and gold bed, where his head seemed to sink down into the pillows. Yellow rays of light shone into the room, filtered by the shuttered windows to his right. He sat up, stretching and yawning loudly. He was still very groggy, but he could feel the energy running through his bones. He took a deep breath, breathing in the thick City air. The pressure on his chest that presumably made him faint was still there, but it much more bearable; hardly noticeable at all. The door creaked open, and in came Ahsante, bearing a small tray with a streaming teapot and two small, porcelain cups. He greeted the human with a small smile, then set the tray down at a quaint side table. He gently opened the shutters, then propped open the window, letting the brisk morning air circulate through the stuffy room. Nona squinted against the new light, but it only helped him awaken more. Ahsante sat down at a little stool by Nona’s bedside, then offered the human one of the cups of tea. Nona graciously accepted, taking the cup and a sip of the steaming, light golden liquid. He nearly spit it out. Not only was the tea way too hot, but it had an incredibly bitter and earthy flavor. As the warm liquid coursed down his throat, Nona’s awareness sharpened, and he could feel the weight on his chest become more bothersome. Still, he forced it down, probably scalding half his tongue in the process and gave Ahsante an uneasy smile. “You are very sensitive to magical energy. Many outsiders can feel the difference in the Mages’ District, but few are so affected as you are.” Ahsante said plainly. Nona knew that they both knew that he had no idea what the elf was talking about. A million questions raced through his head. What exactly was magic? And why was he so sensitive to it? Were all humans sensitive to magic? Was this good or bad or simply a fact? Nona took his time considering all the questions, trying to figure out which would clear up the fog of confusion in his head. Ahsante waited patiently for Nona to think, but then he finally settled on: “Huh?” “Perhaps it would be best if I were to show you. If you will come with me,” Ahsante invited, gracefully rising from the stool. To Nona’s amazement, the elf downed his entire cup of tea without flinching and set the empty cup back on the tray. Nona put his, still nearly full on the tray as well, then slid out from beneath the covers. To his surprise, he wasn’t wearing his usual travel clothes, but soft linen pajamas with a stylish yellow A embroidered on the breast pocket. There were some slippers beside the bed, so Nona stepped into them and followed Ahsante out the door. They walked past what Nona assumed to be the guests’ chambers, a long hallway with identical doors. They popped back out into the main hall, on the western side of the second floor. Ahsante then led him to a door in between the two staircases on the second floor, which led to another long, thin descending stair. At the bottom of the stair was a t-intersection, where thick stone doors lined both sides, if they could be called that. They were really more like stone slabs, with no visible ornaments, knobs, or handles. Ahsante traced a complex rune on the stone slab with his pointer finger, and it left glowing yellow lines. When he was done, the rune gradually pulsed once, then the door rumbled, sliding open on its own accord. Ahsnate and Nona stepped through to the training room, a stark atrium. The white marble walls were pockmarked by scratches, burns, cracks, stains, oddly colored residue, and all sorts of damage Nona could not fathom. The only furniture was two of the same white stone stools, both of which sat facing each other in the center of the room. The floor and the bottom portion of the walls, about six feet tall, were covered in a dark pink, ribbed, and bouncy substance laid down like carpet. Ahsante called it Gigagrub skin, made from highly magical-resistant creatures found deep in faraway caves. They took their seats at the stools and began. Ahsante held out a palm, then, a moment later, a luminous blue ball appeared over it. Ahsante retracted his hand, but the ball stayed, casting its soft light over Nona’s bewildered expression. “Thread is the most basic unit of spellcasting. It exists all around us, and it can be used in a variety of different ways. The amount of Thread being used, or ‘Spun’, as we mages like to say, is what caused you to faint. However, on its own Thread is useless to us. Each spell is comprised of two parts: the Shape, which is the framework of the spell and determines what it does, and the Knot, which is the collection of Thread that makes up a spell and determines how well it performs,” he explained. “Ookaaay,” Nona said, nodding along, but seeming unconvinced. Ahsante withdrew a small tile with a rune carved into it. To Nona’s eye, it looked like a ball inside a four-pointed star. “This is the notation in Haveish, the common tongue used by High Mages, for Lightball. So, Gather Thread, which is fancy mage talk for directing Thread to a certain spot, and try to force it into this shape. It often helps to point or hold out your hand in the direction you want the Thread to go,” he told Nona, tapping the small tile. Nona nodded again, then held out a shaky hand, palm upward, like Ahsante had done. Taking a deep breath, he tried to divert some of the pressure on his chest to the empty space above his palm. He stared at the rune, holding it in his mind, as a faint blue outline of a sphere gradually began to materialize. Nona flinched, shocked that something actually appeared. In doing so, the sphere flickered out of existence. He glanced at Ahsante, to see if any foul play was involved, but the elf had remained stock-still, firmly holding the tile up. “Do not be troubled if you cannot get it on your first try,” Ahsante encouraged, “many of the greatest mages took-“ “Got it!” Nona exclaimed, laughing at the glowing ball gently spinning above his hand. All he needed was more Thread in his Knot, so he had stopped paying attention to the rune and willed a ball of light to appear above his hand. “Very good! Now try moving the ball around,” Ahsante continued, as his own Lightball floated from his side to above the elf’s head. Nona regarded his teacher with dubious apprehension but stepped up to the challenge. Nona moved the hand underneath the Lightball slowly, making slight changes to his Knot as he did. The ball wobbled, threatening to fall apart, so Nona reached up with his other hand to “steady” it. He closed his eyes, concentrating only on the visualization of the Knot and Shape in his mind. He moved his hand again, simply imagining that the Lightball was there above it, and, when he opened his eyes, the Lightball had melted into an amorphous, floating puddle. Nona lamented his first spell like he had lost a child but steeled himself to try again. It wasn’t long before Nona started to get the hang of magic, well, at least the Lightball spell. The more he practiced, the more he felt Thread working in tandem with his body. It was a trial and error, with Nona making the slightest changes to his Knot until it felt right. Then, he’d practice dispelling and recasting the right spell over and over again until he got it. He figured out how to move the Lightball, with both hands, how to change the shape of the ball, how to change the color of the light, how to change rays of the light into spotlights or other shapes, and other modifications to the spell. Most of the time, the spell collapsed into a blob or the Knot Unraveled, dispelling the spell before Nona wanted it to after a few seconds, but the human felt like he was learning so much just by toying around with this one spell. Ahsante would interject with tips or new challenges, but, for the most part, the elf let the human practice with magic, learning the feel of Thread and how to make cleaner Knots. They did take a few breaks, but Nona was so enamored with his Lightball, which was now a pyramid that flashed different colors on each face, that he hardly remembered them. Then, Reke skittered into the room, climbed up the stool, and took a place at Nona’s shoulder.

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  • Edited by Merribor: 4/9/2022 3:13:17 PM
    “Reke! Check this out!” he said, thrusting his pyramid monstrosity in the lizlai’s face. “Wow,” he responded dryly, clearly unimpressed, “But it’s nice of you to finally wake up, you sleepyhead. We had things to do these past few days.” Nona grinned and resumed playing with his Lightball, morphing it into different shapes and sizes. Reke then turned to Ahsante and said, “By the way, I wanted to tell you those books you sent me were absolutely useless. How long ago did Lusahn check them out from the Imperial Library?” Ahsante scratched his chin, trying to remember what the librarians had told him. “I believe it was before winter of last year, but after the summer solstice,” he concluded. Reke blinked. “He left three months ago,” he stated. “Is it not possible for him to prepare for a trip ahead of time?” Ahsante asked. “So, you’re saying Lusahn took off at his usual time, without a word, knowing that he’d be gone for more than three months? And he knew about this for nearly a year? And he didn’t send any replacements to us? Yeah, I don’t think so,” Reke countered. Ahsante shrugged, “Lusahn kept secrets, even from me. It is a possibility to consider. I am doing the best I can to discover his whereabouts, but the Mages’ Guild is large, and I am a busy elf. If I had another pair of eyes, mayhaps we could work faster.” Reke looked doubtful. “What do you mean by another pair of eyes? You have to have some sort of an assistant or another mage that would be willing to help you take a peek around,” he challenged. “Alas, I have long since retired from training apprentices. And none of my personal servants bear the proper certification to dig in the right spots. But your friend here is quite gifted. With some rudimentary training, he could very well become a student of the Guild.” “And does Nona know what he’s going to get into?” Reke asked, narrowing his eyes at the elf. “Yes!” Nona blurted out, after hearing his name. He held his LIghtball in between two fingers like a pencil, which had transformed into a thin purple obelisk. Reke tilted his head at him incredulously. “I mean, no. Definitely not. Well, maybe. It depends on what we’re talking about.” he added after unsurely, glancing between Reke and Ahsante, before going back to his LIghtball. Reke rolled his eyes, while Ahsante looked up at the sky, where wisps of dark Nightclouds were beginning to form. “It is getting late,” he declared, “perhaps it is better to discuss this in a more appropriate venue? Over dinner, perhaps?” “Fine, c’mon Nona, let’s go,” Reke conceded. As their gracious host stood and led them out of the training room, Reke eyed the elf’s back, nursing suspicious thoughts. He was trying to get something out of them; what, Reke wasn’t sure, but he certainly didn’t like it. … Next Chapter: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/260910097 Previous Chapter: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/260635989?sort=0&page=0

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