Closed Prairie Dogs (Miro)

[Rayage]

Winter 34 512 AV

The Prairie was vast and barren. The entire landscape was uninteresting and littered with the bones of fallen creations. Some bones were easily recognizable, but others not so much. Rayage began to pounder what kind of magic he could draw out of them with the skills that Vick possessed. Although, it would be nice to know something about the bones at least little can be done about it now. He frowned, what a waste of precious magical material.

It was not the nuits idea to come out this place, and although it was better than his lab to be practicing personal magic, the place had a hostile feeling. Even though it was empty for as far as the eye could see, there were dips and divits in the earth itself, runic circles eerily marked places, and it made him altogether uneasy to be on a magical testing ground. Yet alone the place where wizards loose their latest experiments to see if they are worth keeping… What if they ran into such a creature? What then? Rayage was still so new to this power for it to do much good for him, it’s more a waste of res than anything until he could practice more.

Miro, of course, led the way. He seemed all too anxious to get the nuit ‘on the field’, and almost too confident in the developing nuits abilities. Rays teaching style was nothing like this at all. He frowned, but somewhere deep down excitement crept into his being. Adventure awaited them, even in this seemingly dull looking prairie. ”What are we doing here again?” he asked, displeasure evident in his voice.

The boy-wizard seemed rather pleased with himself for at the drop of the question he stopped in his tracks and whirled around with a big Cheshire grin on his face which told of his intentions, ”We are not doing anything.” he said, ”You are going to be doing the work here today.” Miro sounded a little too confident in himself and his words, as always. It just brought the nuit in an even more sour mood, though before Ray could say anything else the reimancer went on, ”I want you to focus on those feeling you felt as you were being initiated into my art. I want to concentrate on them, meditate, come to terms with your own emotions. Accept them.” he said shrugging, ”And then maybe you see what it takes to become a real reimancer.” the statement sounded more like a question, but it wasn’t because the boy was doubting himself. No, it was a challenge, an indirect slap to the face with Ray. The nuit caught on.

Rayage went to say something, but Miro again cut him off, ”Ill be over there. Have fun.” he said pointing in the general direction of where he was going, before he darted off not a moment later. The kid was moving fast too, too fast. Magic was guiding his steps, and the nuit had no chance of catching him, yet alone keeping him eyesight. Looking towards the direction the wizard pointed he could see a faint outline in the horizon. Was it trees? The border to some forest… he could not tell.

Though now the nuit was alone. Alone in a dangerous testing site with no experiments to call his own to protect him. He was truly alone, only him and his thoughts, or at least one thought: Miro was a horrible teacher.

[Miro]

Rayage had the fire in him alright. It was faint at times, but shone within him. When in need, he could reach deep and pull forth the intense emotions. The pain was imprisoned deep within his dead heart however. It was trapped, much like the screams of the Nuit while sealed in ice. To break free he would need to push hard and bring his feelings to the surface as Res. The best place to push his skills and teach him all he would need to know was the Testing Grounds. The apprentice was left in the Prairie, hopefully safe, surely able to prey upon fear of death to cast magic. The quality of his magic would be nothing, but producing flames had a profound effect on creatures.

Miro hurried for the woods behind the first mudpool. He began to run the distance, enhancing his speed with the Flux. While his left leg went forwards, his left arm swung back, redirecting the unused energy to his right leg to push off. As his arms and legs reversed positioning, the redirection was reversed as well, propelling him forward with even more speed. He began to limit his acceleration after a short distance, only using the discipline to safely carry his momentum. Finally he arrived at the woods, having to slow before traveling a short distance inwards. Under a marked tree, hidden below a slab of rock were his supplies. He produced his Res to remove the covering and retrieved the contents. A small pot of inscribing paint, a brush and his staff. The supplies were taken, but the covering left aside for when they would be returned.

The small detail brush was easily placed in his pocket. Ionu's Light was held firmly in his staff-wielding arm, while the pot of paint was cradled in his left. Finally with his tools, Miro began to run back to where he left his apprentice, this time relying on his natural speed and endurance. After a long jog, had finally returned, coming back a slow winding halt and catching his breath. "I...am...back. Sorry...I took so long." Miro set aside his staff for a moment. He removed the lid to the paint and dipped his brush. "Hold your hands out."

The Nuit was ordered and obeyed. To start Miro redirected from the pathways along his left arm to his right hand to steady it. A circle was drawn with several lines through its center. Around the center circle he drew a square with triangles in each corner. When he finished, each of the shapes melded together to form a greater shape. Miro then continued on, copying the rune onto Rayage's other hand. As he finished the redirection was canceled. It was a focus and barrier to help him better flow and control his Res. The real training would start here, and this would be the final step to casting the magic freely. From here he would find balance and hone his control, learning to use it for its intended purpose, killing.

"Use your gathered emotions to flow the Res from your rune on your hand. First create an amount the size of your fist and show me your control. Will it to move about before your hand. Get comfortable with the flow and practice manipulating the substance until it becomes natural. The hold your hands apart facing one another and practice moving it within them until you find the limits of your control. Then you will practice how to transmute. Focus on your emotions, let them come to a boil and channel it through your hands and into your Res. You must cast your Res forth and transform it to fire before you lose control, aiming to send it out as far as possible."

Miro was sure of this student however. Though he was still new to this, the traumatic initiation gave him new discipline. If ever there was a shortcut to harnessing the power needed for personal magic, it was this. The wizard would push this apprentice to his limit to expand his power each time. When using the discipline became a natural instinct, they could be done. From there it would be intense training to hone and progressively turn his newly initiated Reimancer into an efficient killer. Since causing the pain on his apprentice, he knew he had created a powerful impression on him. The wizard was able to prey on the powerful authority established.

The boy walked up to the lively looking corpse with a smirk on his face. As he drew near he reached a hand to place it on Ray's neck and began to gently pat his cheek. "Remember the feel of my Res pumping down your throat, pushing to explode your organs. The way it felt in your body, your arms. Imagine it inside of you, how you wanted it out of you, then flow it out. Release the Res from your body through runes on your hand. Center your mind around all of the boiling feeling inside, bring it to the surface." Touching his face served well as a gesture of Hypnotism as well. He was able to attune himself to the Nuit and enforce his will to influence the man. He glared deep into the dead eyes, so deceptively alive. The boy's heart began to churn with panic, channeling it in to influence Rayages aura with his twisted presence to respond. Deep down, that sense of panic would be awaken once again. A sense of primal fear to get his heart pumping and mind flowing with instinct.

Miro had finished the first round of instructing, leaving it all on Rayage to present the skill. Even if he could not manage any step immediately, they would work to further his skill to that point. " I am still unable to accept that you would do this. When you initiated him, you promised revenge. How is this going to pay him back for what he did? This is a reward!" The master only smirked however. "Rayage made us stronger, so I am paying him back. His true reward will be realized on his own, when he understands. As for now, he is left with the reminder. When you can wield Reimancy, perhaps you will teach him your own lesson, huh?" A taunt to his dissatisfied partner. If Ender wanted revenge so badly, he could seek it out on his own.

[Rayage]

Rayage had produced Res one before, and though it took a tough lesson and deep realization. He had even found his element, and during that day he had even learned of a new power he possessed: The ability to affect the senses with hypnotism. The Res that Miro had placed within him transformed into a constant fire in his gut, and that fire sought to be released and to consume those who would stand against him. He harnessed this and produced the element of fire, a fearsome power. Now he needed only to learn to control it at will.

The boy was not nearly as skillful a teacher, but his techniques were working. The runes on his hand had worked in the past, and were ideal on the palms when using Reimancy, but when the Chained One brought him back to that point, he began to draw the hatred and betrayal inside of him to the surface. The Nuit shut down for a moment, the fire in his gut spreading throughout his body. The feel of the Res being shoved down his throat, the pain of his stomach exploding, and then, for bells and bells, the substance soaking into his ichor, into his very being… Changing him… for the better? Of course. Change is always good.

Miro had betrayed him, sought petty revenge, and caused him harm for giving a gift. Though Rayage had found him only returning the favor, he hated him for doing it in such a spiteful way. To harm his body, cause him an excess of pain, initiate him without his approval or consent. The child had gladly accepted his offer of more power, and yet he had done nothing to ease him into it. The shock would be enough to snap a mortal mind.

But no, not the Alchemist, for his life was a journey of adaptation, one change after the next to improve himself, each day a step closer to perfection. This would be no different, a transmutation of his soul into fire. His body already burned on the inside, he needed only to let it out. It grew hot, he actually felt it, and the feeling only continued to grow. It was as if all of his Djed began to boil within his body. He willed it to flow through his arms and gather in his hands. He would pool it before the focuses on his palms and focus on the emotions that the discipline inspired in those it was used against.


Reimancy, it would surround you in ice or burn you from the inside out. Send a bolt of lightning through your heart and fill your lungs with sand. It could boil water and rock alike, and freeze them back in an instant. This power, it was what he craved. Rayage force the boiling Djed against the rune and willed it to flow out of his hand in a gaseous form. His entire body tensed up and slowly began to pour a red gas from the center of his palms. He clenched his eyes shut and focused on the feeling of Miro's Res inside of him. How desperately he wished to just empty his body of it, imaging the focus this release, and pushed even harder.

The Nuit relaxed after a moment and began to practically heave in exhaustion, like some human swaying from fatigue. His mind was abuzz with an overwhelming white noise that rattled him, but quickly faded away. He held his hand out before his chest, palms facing one another, and he focused on a point to draw in his Res. The substance gathered into a large gaseous orb, so much more than he knew he could produce. He concentrated on condensing the substance and turning it to liquid. For a moment the gas swirled in on itself, and slowly began to thicken. First it looked like mist turning to water, but then it thickened to look like a ball of blood.

Rayage brought his hands closer to condense the substance until it looked to be a thick gel, an orb larger than his head. He pulled it to hover over one hand, feeling confident in his ability to cast Reimancy. The substance moved quite easily between his hands, even in the thick form. Now with his Res at the ready, Miro could move on in the lesson.

[Miro]

"Well, well, well, Mr. Alchemist, you seem to have done it. Didn't even have to torch you about it. Now that you have produced your Res, we can begin. Today we will advance our understanding of your Reimancy. We will learn the limits of your range and attempt to find the limits of your casting. We will practice your manipulation of Res and control of transmutation. Then when we are ready I will teach you to properly cast a spell. You have a range of control that is quite limited, though spells can be cast further than this. Only, when Res is moved out of range, your ability to control it is gone."

Miro watched Rayage closely throughout his Res production, and was impressed. The Reimancer took Ionu's Light in hand and produced an amount of Res from its tip to match the Nuit's. "Watch, boy, I am expecting you to imitate me well." It felt good to demean the proud Alchemist and call him boy. He was only like five-hundred years older anyways. For now Miro was the elder, and had a few different exercises to practice controlling Reimancy that he would pass on.

The wizard manipulated the substance to move from one hand to the other, back and forth at a blurring speed. At such a close range his control was easier to coordinate than his enhanced body and faster too. This was an easy task, a warm up if anything. He then willed the substance to revolve around him, this time at a slow constant rate. After a few revolutions it halted before him and split the mass in half. He then directed the substances to move in small circles in opposite rotational directions. After a few moments of cycling them around he once again fused them into one. The last exercise was to push the substance out a distance. The further away it moved, the slower it got, though control was never an issue. After a few moments he called it back to hover before his staff.

"Just like that, okay? Pass it between your hands quickly to practice moving it quickly. Revolve it around you to practicing operating it even when out of your sight. Split it and learn to move them independently. And the final test is to move the substance out to find the range of your control. The further away from your body your Res is, the harder it is to control." At some point the substance would lose all ability to be controlled and fall to the ground as a normal liquid or disperse in the air if a gas. To regain control however he would need to be smart enough to take a step forward and come within range.

"I am feeling generous, so let me give you some incentive to finish your lessons. This will not go easy, and you will need some time to practice before these exercises are mastered. Technically, I suppose the ability to control two masses at once out of sight isn't required for the simple spell I planned. So, I will show you the advanced version of the technique now, hopefully it will inspire you. If you show some promise and enough competency, I will allow you to practice by throwing some fire my way. I will demonstrate, but only once, so pay attention, kiddo."

Miro smirked cockily and transmuted the outer layer of the substance to fire. He split it so that Rayage might see how much was burning before reforming the orb. "The fireball technique. Simply put, if you want to control it, you ignite only the outer layer and move the Res inside. Not really necessary to ignite it, but looks much more impressive while still in your control. Then, just as it reaches the limit of your control, you transmute and aim. Well, you aim, transmute, then aim again. Initial direction, transmutation, and then you always use those last few moments to will the spell towards its target. If you transmute too soon, you sacrifice accuracy, but wait too long however, you lose the ability to do so. Keep this in mind."

Ionu's Light was held vertically in the undead's staff-wielding arm. He tilted it horizontally and thrust it forward, sending his Res forward at a crawling pace. It seemed to be just a normal fireball only cast at a slow speed, but then he added his special twist to the technique. Suddenly the single orb split into hundreds of tiny orbs that spiraled forward and outward like millions of tiny fireflies. They burned bright for a moment and their speed jumped, but in an instant they were gone. It was not the most practical technique, though it definitely demonstrated well what the apprentice should strive for.

"Show me your Res. Impress me, I dare you."

[Rayage]

Rayage smirked, ”That’s the advanced form?” he asked, thinking that it looked more like a waste of djed for something flashy instead of something practical. If he had the boys power… oh but he does, he just does not have the skill. The skill starts now, with the training. ”Fine. Watch.” the nuit announced, ”Ill do it.” he said, he was confident in his abilities already, but would he eat his own words? He did have trouble even producing res in the beginning, but it has gotten easier.

Nonetheless with a wave of his hand, the orb of res followed the movement flowing smoothly through the air. He had that part down. When he straightened that arm as far as it would go the nuit moved his other arm likewise, and it looked like he was creating a T with himself. Blood red orb of gel-like substance hovering over one hand the nuit willed it, pictured it moving to the other hand. Though it seemed that the res was resistant to his will as it moved slower than he pictured it. The orb shook with the nuits concentration as it moved, gliding across the air slowly moving to the very middle of both of his hands, the center of his chest, and then the orb would split, and the two pieces would move to their respective hands. He now had the two halves wavering above both of his hands, the strain in his concentration was great, the res itself was shaking, and the orbs themselves had gotten smaller than they had started. He hadn’t built up the skill or magical concentration to handle the orbs at that size, so they shed themselves naturally to a size he could handle, possibly half of the halves. He now had two baseball sized orbs of res, a lot of it was wasted with effort.

The nuit frowned at himself, and concentrated at one of the orbs. Slowly it started to move forward with his will, the orb leaving the confines of his open palm it charged forward. Once it got over a couple arms lengths from Rayage the orb dissipated. He had found his limit and marked it mentally with his mind. He didn’t have a very impressive range of control. Moving the other hand with the remaining ball of res on it he brought it to his center, and placed his other hand over top. The wizard then began to move the res between and around the hands, but it was a sloppy display, but it also showed promise. He couldn’t quite copy the master, but then who could hope to copy him in alchemy? It was almost the same comparison.

Once he had completed a couple rotations Rayage mentally pictured cutting the res with a knife, the knife going through the center of the res, and Ray mimicked this motion with his hand physically cutting the res and separating it. He now had two even smaller orbs which he would attempt to control together. Though this time he would try something different… He wasn’t one for following instruction of another exactly, and he was confident in his ability to master this magic. You aim, then transmute, then aim again. He told himself mentally. Looking at Miro, he was going to show this boy how to use his own magic, Rayage thrust an arm forward in a dramatic post, one orb of res shooting from him, and just as it was going to exit his designated zone of control he transmuted it all to fire, letting it fling away, forgetting to aim again. The second ball followed shortly after, the lag in the command due to the wizard not being able to successfully control two objects at once. Though the target was still the same.

[Miro]

Miro grinned as he watched Rayage struggle after all of his bold talk. "Not so easy, is it? Huh, hot stuff, not as connected to that part of you as you thought. It is not as easy as I make it look. My Res moves at my will, because it is a manifestation of my will. My thoughts and feelings bring it to exist, and it serves as my guardian. All of my problems, anything that upset me, that I needed to protect, my Res came to see I got my way. That is what personal magic is, you answer. Your answer for everything, right Corpsey?"

The Nuit picked up quickly on the lesson. The problem was Miro's mouth, and the answer was to burn it off his face, of course. It was that simple, and it was that easy, in theory at least. In practice though Rayage had a long way to go, but this was best shown, not said. The Chained One reached an open hand out to intercept the fire, his will resolute. He redirected the Djed Flux from his entire body to tilt and flow into his outstretched hand. A film of Res was produced and transmuted to water, and this process continued. The Flux would increase the toughness of his hand, and the water protect it some, but it would still be painful.

The undead intercepted and clasped the fireball as it entered his hand. Tendrils of fire spurted between his fingers and the sound of fire sizzling could be heard. The pain, well, damn Morwen, it hurt. The soothing cool water that dripped from his hand and braced mind did well to dispel his concerns though. The second spell was much slower however, and he had plenty of time to weave more sleight of hand. The Reimancer produced a coating of Res to cover the back of his hand, and as the spell came near he drew his hand back and slapped it. As his flesh came near to make contact, he sent the mass or Res to move through it and attract the flames. The Res and flame was directed out a distance before its core was transmuted to a bursting gust of air that caused the flare to erupt.

The master glared at his student with some breed of malice and determination. He ended the cancelled the redirection to his palm, but continued to stream cool water to stream from his hand to soothe the pain. "Damn, you make a master proud! So quick, so fiery. If my body wasn't so dry, I might tear up a bit. You are learning quick, making your own path, seeing your limits. It is becoming apparent to you how much work ahead of you there is, but also what you have available to you now. Master what you have available, and more will find its way to you. Simply put, you've done what I've asked. And now, you have earned what comes next." The Alchemist was so obviously itching to test his mettle.

Miro held his right hand out, palm up. Ionu's Light rested passively in his offhand, unneeded for now. He smirked and flourished his fingers towards his palm, the universal sign for, "come get some". "Come at me, make me burn. Leave a scratch on me and I will teach you a technique that is a..." The wizard hesitated, and his face borne a grin. "A surefire hit." How he loved the pun, unable to contain the laughter that followed it. This technique however, it was not one dreamed up for a special occasion. No, this one was special. It was the technique that came from mastering the discipline, and it was what he considered the first half of using Reimancy with perfect efficiency.

It was so simple, so basic, even this fresh initiate could make use of it. The easiest way to produce Res? Through the hands of course. The closer Res is to one's hands, the more control as well. The best way to ensure Res hits its target? To stick them with it before transmutation. Combine these bits of information, you may find that bringing your hands close to deliver the Res is the best method to land on an evasive target. Of course, one does not need to touch their target to guide Res to them, for that can be risky or otherwise difficult. They only need to keep in mind, the closer they are, the easier it is. The newly initiated would likely need to make contact, or at least come close.

For Miro, this technique was devised as a way to combine the Flux and Reimancy further. Not only would he land a devastatingly powerful punch, but leave behind a surprise to be transmuted into further agony. The poor slow Nuit had a handicap of sluggishness, sadly diminishing his ability to touch a target. Poor apprentice, how badly he needed to learn the way of the Flux.

Before however his student could continue, Ender broke from his wrist and began to hover away. "I will have no part in this. Do not damage US further, and if he does, return the favor. That is your way, is it not. He helps us, we help him twice as much. He damages us, you damage him MORE."

[Rayage]

Rayage smirked when both of his attacks were deflected with ease. The last one exploded with surprising force, the master probably added a different twist to that fire spell. ”You shouldn’t be so surprised, Miro.” Rayage said, ”I have said before that most wizards are fools. I am no longer a fool wizard. I just need a bit of practice.” Confidence was spewing from him for in magic there was no room for doubt. He had observed his limits and his mind was already working on ways to overcome those. He did not need Miro to tell him how to be clever.

The Alchemist stayed silent throughout the other wizards talk. It wasn’t like he wasn’t listening, but all Miro did was praise and challenge and tempt. Was this the extent of his teaching method, or was this because of his sheer confidence in the nuits ability to catch onto things pretty quickly? Whatever the reason Ray found it slightly annoying. ”Nonetheless, yes, it is harder than you make it look.” he admitted to the man. He wasn’t going to lie to Miro this time, and pride wasn’t getting in his way. He would get better, and when he gets better he was sure that he could challenge even the boy who stood before him.

Widening his stance the nuit firmly planted himself as he held his hands out again, drawing upon his very soul and detaching it through the process he had learned. He would turn his very soul into res, and then res into the element of fire. That is how it went, a two-fold transmutation based on will. This reimancy wasn’t too difficult a concept to grasp. He guessed that is why even the knights had mages. Pathetic mages at that, but magic was magic and was still dangerous, perhaps even more so, in the hands of the idiotic. It was those idiots who gave the rest of them a bad name. It infuriated him.

Holding his arm straight out before him, palm down, he pictured and saw in his mind the pieces of his soul which he was severing from himself, sacrificing for the creation of this magic. Willing those cut pieces to form, they rushed through his body and came condensing in his hand, and then it slowly leaked out forming a small red glove hugging every detail of his hand. It didn’t stay that way for long though, it flowed with a fluid will and at the very tip of the middle finger made itself into a small sphere. The sphere then divided itself, shaking into four separate parts crowning the pinky, ring, middle, and pointer fingers. Perhaps Miros ‘advanced’ technique had a use after all.

Moving his hand back, eyes looking at the palm of his hand as he brought it over his face, the nuit did a back-hand swiping motion through the air at Miro as if throwing something at him. Well, he was. He was throwing the four orbs of res at him, and they flew from his hand with a precise concentration. It seemed that the nuit had an easier time visualizing and controlling the res when they were joined with one gesture. That was good to know. Before they left the nuits zone of control Rayage would step forward advancing on Miro, though his sluggishness would be no match for the others speed if the other would deep it appropriate to retreat. However, Ray calculated that he wouldn’t. Miro was far too confident in his abilities, that much was apparent in the last way which he had blocked his attack.

Trying to keep the spheres in the zone of control as he launched them at the boy the nuit moved, willing the spheres onwards. One teetered on the edge and he lost control of it, and the res dissipated before he could mentally grasp ahold of it again. Another after a couple more steps did the same, and Ray frowned. This was a harder concept than he thought it would be. ”You want a surefire hit? I’ll give you one.” he said moving the two smaller orbs to either side of him, one on the right and the other on the left. If the boy hadn’t moved back with Rays advances the nuit would now have Miro completely in his zone of control for the res. The red orbs hovered and moved with the will of the nuit in no particular direction, moving everywhere, but always within Rays line of sight. The moments that the res would teeter out of it Miro could see the res flicker like a candle in the wind. Ray still hasn’t the control over the res which Miro would like him to have.

”Remember, most wizards are fools.” he told him, ”I am no fool.” This whole time in his left hand, shielded just out of sight was a small orb of res forming on his palm. The nuit had his left arm hanging causally just as his right. He was betting that the other would be distracted by the two more imminent threats, and the fact that Ray didn’t favor his left hand as much as he did his right. It was going to be a cheap trick, but he was hoping that it would work. A moment was all he needed.

Ray lifted his right arm in a gesture and the two smaller orbs formed into one, meeting at the center. ”Feel the fire.” he said doing a little pushing gesture to send the res flying at Miro, transmuting it, but before it got too far he did a slicing motion with his right hand, cutting the orb in half and the fire splitting into parts before each of the cores were ignited. Though the fire barely was cut in half, and they barely looked like two orbs at all. It was such a flawed and imperfect version of what Miro had shown him just moments before, but it was the beginnings of something.

After he launched his attack he continued to advance on the mage. He only had a moment to make sure this next would hit. Trusting forward his left hand he let the sphere of res shoot at Miro, but he didn’t transmute it. Instead he just aimed it at the mage, for he had seen what Miro could do with fire, easily direct them away, but could he control another wizards res? Well we will find out now.

[Miro]

Miro smirked at Rayage, the newborn Reimancer, trying to stand on fresh legs. The wizard twirled his staff in his left hand and passed it to his right behind his back, still spinning of course. As Ionu's Light transferred to his staff-wielding arm, he produced an orb of Res to surround both tips of the staff. The apprentice was still quite foolish. The easiest way to break a novice's spell was to go straight to the source, break concentration. This could be done in many ways, a bluff, for instance. Run at the Nuit, use Hypnotism, make his mind sway to defending himself. But that made for a poor lesson. Why bluff when one could break concentration with pain?

The master watched his apprentice lag at him, his Res quite erratic. That had to take some effort for him. It was tempting to see where the spell was going, but of course, Rayage was supposed to be the one learning. Before the Nuit could come within striking range, Miro flourished the bottom of the stuff upwards and sent his spell towards Rayage's gut. The mass was instantly transmuted to a small boulder of rock, lazily aimed. His staff, now poised over his shoulder, was grasped with both hands. The remaining orb sat on the staff behind him and was flung forth as well. He willed the mass to shatter into a field of shrapnel and transmuted it to rock. Each stone was rounded and slowed, as not to cut the poor fool, but still would be painful on impact.

"Remember, most fools are focused, do not lose concentration so easily. Maybe you could take a page from the fool's handbook. Fool yourself into believing the only thing that exists is what you wish to accomplish, landing your spell. Block out pain and other distractions, get the best out of your spell." The Reimancer laughed. "You are an entirely different fool. One in denial." The undead knew well how easy it would be to land a spell when the apprentice was close, but even then it was not an issue. He began to use his Aqua Aura technique and leak a gaseous blue Res from his body to envelop him. It was time that Rayage learned just how insignificant his power was, not just his ability to harness it.

[Rayage]

Rays plan however didn’t quite turn out as planned. Miro didn’t let him get close enough to fire off his res, but instead did a spell of his own. With a twirl of the staff rock came flying at him. Not quite expecting Miro to attack the nuit was caught off guard, and thrown to ground by the force of the blunted rock. The shower of smaller ones came shortly after, most flying over his now grounded position, but some hit him. A grunt came from him, they were not sharp but they did hurt him. Though it seemed that his body wasn’t badly damaged. If he was living he was sure that he would have had a big old bruise, and lots of smaller ones scattered across his body. The force all but dispelled the wizards concentration making him lose the rest of his res. His power was so easily dispelled. It frustrated him.

”Maybe you are right.” he said after a couple moments of silence, ”Maybe this whole thing is foolish.” he said, brushing the stones off of him as he regains his composure, ”Perhaps there is no competing with your power right now, and yet you taunt me still.” he told him, ”That pride of yours will get you killed one day.” he said, ”Not that Im making any threats.” he shrugged, ”But one day you will see… I too was too confident.” he admitted, ”Though I am not a fool.” he said that sentence louder than the rest, ”Fools never learn their lessons.”

”It should be obvious to any onlooker who is the more powerful Reimancer.” he said, looking at the sheer amount of res the boy was able to produce. ”Though even you started somewhere.” he said, leaving it at that. He could feel the urge to cast more and more nagging at his mind. The temptation that maybe, maybe just this time he would be able to hit him. Maybe if he used all of his power he would be able to outmatch the reimancer. Those thoughts however were shaken away by the rational mind of the wizard. He could not give in to himself, or his lust for power. Miro had won today. Today, but tomorrows match has yet to be decided, and next days and the next days. There is always next time when training, and he did not have the magical stamina which the boy possessed.

”How about you come with me to my lab? We can come back tomorrow.” he suggested, ”I have a gift I want to give you.” he told him wondering if Miro could sense it within the nuit as well, the mental battle going on inside his head.

[Miro]

"Oh, yes, but first I have a gift for you. It is called discipline. You've more Djed than that in you, ya lazy old bastard. Do not think we are done because you say so." Miro scowled at the Nuit, very disappointed. "You get hit once and cry about it? You may feel exhausted, defeated, but you have more in you than that. Wipe the pain and exhaustion away and come at me again, or else I am coming at you. Even if you have to use teeth and claws, scratch me."

The master would require at least one more spell to be cast before they could be done. It did not have to be big or flashy, but something. He had lessons to learn still today. Most important was not training him to control Reimancy, it was the discipline needed to master it. Discipline was needed to master all personal magic. "We are not done, and you are going nowhere. If I have to break your legs to make you stay and listen, I will." But, the undead was not soulless, he understood his apprentice's feelings. "I'll make a concession for you." He tossed Ionu's Light to the ground. "I won't hit you anymore, and I won't take a single step. You only need to create a small amount of Res on your hands and deliver it to me by touch. If you can manage this, by all means, burn me as you wish."

The Reimancer sighed to himself. It sounded easy, but it wouldn't be. Enhanced speed against delayed speed meant that Rayage was never going to land a hit on him, but this was not what he asked. "Come here, and only transfer your Res onto me by touch. If you will it to float at me, I am going to just kill you. ONLY, and I mean ONLY stick your Res to me while we are touching. Got it? You try to leave, you try anything besides this, and I am going to kill you. So, quit delaying and come here so we can finish this lesson. You know how much I love gifts!"