Completed [Bronze Wood] Magic of Times Past (Solo)

[Huskabar]

Season: Spring/Day: 6th/Year: 489/Time: Morning 6th Bell Huskabar felt a sharp kick to his side, only to see the tall ebony skinned man standing over him, looking down to him with his rich brown eyes. Oh, how he could get lost in those eyes, but he could not focus on that now. In truth, this man was much older than Huskabar, or so he had heard from his father, but he looked far younger, and in the time he had known him, he had looked the same, without seeming to age even a single day. Years later, he would come to wonder if this was even his teacher’s true form, but such thoughts did not enter his head at this time. “You need to get up, Huskabar.” He said, before the messy haired fourty-three year old man, rolled over into his bedding, placing his hands on his head, wanting nothing more than to fall back to sleep. “Is this a game to you? I was asked by your father to teach you the disciplines he had taught me, and that is exactly what is going to happen, you lazy petcher!” A single ebony hand gripped a handful of wild untamely hair, before pulling at the grip with all of his might. Needlessly to say, this tactic proved to be painfully effect, causing a stumbling half-naked man to come quite unwillingly out from his tent. The hand then let go, as the darker skinned man turned his back, before placing his hands before him, without speaking a single word. The other wizard could not hear, nor taste, nor even see the djed pathways traveling within the man before him, but he had been learning, despite some of his own personal difficulties. He indeed had a good idea of what was happening within his teacher’s body at this very moment, and then, in front of the man something began to change… Reality had ripped open in front of him, and though this was far from Huskabar’s first lesson of the void, he couldn’t help but be amazed each and every time he saw it. “Stand beside me, and do the same, my student,” he said, and as he did, the hairy-faced man took several steps forward, mimicking his teacher’s actions to a tee, and soon he could feel the djed pathways working within his own body, redirecting them in front of him. He felt the magic flowing through his very being, as he concentrated his energies on opening a gateway before him. This indeed took a decent amount of time… Probably somewhere between thirty and forty ticks, but as that sweet blackness opened up before him, it felt as if his heart were about to sing. He could see the image of his teacher smiling out of the corner of his eye. “You are indeed getting much better every day, my pupil. This improvement is encouraging, but you still have a lot to learn before you are even at my level.” He just gazed forward into the tiny black hole before him, almost entranced with it’s beauty and splendor. This was probably his favorite discipline, of all three, and though his interest in voiding did indeed make it easier to learn, he knew the words that his teacher spoke were all too true. He was still had so much to learn, and there was still so much ahead of him, but he knew that he could indeed learn it… Especially with a teacher as wonderful as Richard, and though Huskabar felt guilty for these feelings that were stirring deep inside of him, he could not help them. He had never had a chance to talk out these feelings with anyone before, and all he knew was that they were not “normal” feelings in the slightest, and he was beginning to think that there was nothing “normal” about himself, and perhaps this was some sort of illness plaguing his mind. Whatever the answers to his questions were, he knew one thing above all else, and that was that he had to hide this part of himself, and he had to bury it deep inside…

[Huskabar]

“Huskabar, focus!” came the voice of his teacher once more, and as he snapped back to reality, he could see that the void before him was beginning to shut. He concentrated once more on keeping the small gateway open, re-channeling his djed to execute this desired function. He gradually stretch the chasm beyond anything he he had accomplished before, only to hear, “I like your enthusiasm, but pace yourself… You don’t want to start overgiving again, do you?” he said, as he raised his right brow, with a low chuckle. “Now Huskabar, I want you to try to do something a tad more tricky. I want you to hold the void in place while dislodging your astral wrists. This will allow you to shoot the void away from your physical body, and can be extremely handy, but I warn you, this technique can be difficult at first.” The much hairier wizard nodded to the words of his teacher, as he held his concentration on the void in front of him, slowly allowing his astral hands to ease from his body. He had used projection plenty of times before, though there had been a few too many times where he had to rip, rather than dislodge his astral body, and it was clear to him, that such actions came with their own cost, but not today. The astral appendages left his body, leaving their physical counterparts limp and lifeless. The astral hands held the void in place, “Easy, easy now… Pace yourself, my student,” came the voice of his teacher once more, as Huskabar began to distance the void further from himself, all while holding the size. “Very good, but be careful not to get overconfident, Huskabar” These words came but a moment too late, as it seemed he began to lose control of his own void, the dark portal within his astral grip had seemed to go haywire, and just as the void sprung towards Huskabar, something seemed to gain control over it, and as he looked towards his teacher, it was clear to him what was happening in that moment. Richard Wind had ripped his own astral wrists from his body to gain control of his student’s void. The tamed void gradually dissipated, as an expression of disappointment could be seen on the dark skinned wizard’s expression. The two emerald ebony swirled irises of the novice wizard slunk their gaze down to the ground in shame. It was then that he could feel the tremmoring hand of his teacher touch against his right shoulder, as his deep voice came, “It is alright, Huskabar… Look at my hand, I want you to understand something.” The bearded man looked to the hand on his shoulder, as he was instructed, and he noticed that the hand was now spasming uncontrollably. “Do not feel guilty, Huskabar. I chose magic, your father chose magic, and now you choose magic, and the undeniable fact about magic is that it is by it’s very nature dangerous and volatile. Things will go wrong, and if you want to be a truly great wizard someday you will embrace that fact, and learn from every experience you gain. Problems will always arise, and the most important part is that you learn from that…. Do you understand?” He gave a thoughtful nod in response to the wise words of his teacher.

[Huskabar]

Richard Wind then suggested that it was time to eat breakfast, which would help them both replenish some of their valuable djed. His teacher reached into his bag, before retrieving a large crispy loaf of bread, before snapping the bounty in two, and passing one half to Huskabar, before giving an approving nod. The bearded wizard scoffed down the meal, wasting no time in filling his stomach. He felt a little shaken over the events that had recently passed, but at the same time there was pure excitement flowing through his body. Even with his mistakes, he could not help but get the lustful taste of power to leaving his lips, no matter how much bread he ate. He wondered what he would be doing next, and though he was not completely sure, the anticipation was building at his very core. He was not the type of wizard to temper his ambition with patience, and that was exactly what made him dangerous… Dangerous to others, and dangerous to himself, but these were all things that he would have to learn for himself when the time came. “Alright, my student. Stand up. I think we need to work on your projection some. You were completely fine when dealing with just the voiding, and I can tell it is your favorite discipline, and that is good. Having a favorite is not a bad thing, but you cannot let that cause you to neglect your other arcana…” He reached into his pocket, before retrieving a pouch, and removing a single gold rimmed miza from it’s contents. “We will start light, and we will work our way up. You may begin to dislodge your astral wrists, my student,” he said the words, as the hairy man followed the instructions he was given. He took a deep breath, and with extreme care he slowly began to slide and dislodge his astral hands from his own physical body, and though this was not a fast process, he was getting a little faster at this each and every time. Once his astral wrists were finally dislodged from his body, he used them to grip around the miza, that his teacher had placed upon the ground, before slowly lifting it upward into the air. He was then instructed to hold the object in place completely flat and balanced in midair, and of course, Huskabar did his best to keep the coin balanced, which seemed easy enough. It was then that the ebony skinned man reached into the pouch once more, retrieving a second miza, identical to the first, before placing the miza on top of the one floating in the air before him. Now this seemed a little bit more challenging, and for a moment he thought the second miza would drop to the ground beneath, but after some quick adjusting the bearded wizard was happy to see that he was able to adapt. This happiness would not last very long though, due to the sight of the teacher reaching for yet another miza in his pouch. However his instructor was even less merciful than he had expected, and not only was a third gold rimmed miza added, but a silver rimmed miza was stacked on top of that. The novice sorcerer was seriously struggling at this point, and the small stack of mizas seemed to be gradually tilting back and forth, precariously sliding in both directions back and forth, as Huskabar fought to find a balance. Finally it seemed as if he had found that golden spot he was looking for, and that he would indeed be able to hold this stack in mid air, but before he could even take a breath, he seemed to lose control, and every coin came toppling over, plummeting down towards the ground. He couldn’t have been more disappointed in himself, but as he looked towards his teacher, he saw a completely different emotion… Pride, and if only for a moment, Huskabar’s encouragement reached new heights… Perhaps he was indeed meant to be a wizard.

[Huskabar]

The teacher reached his right hand upward, running it along his smooth bald scalp, as he let out a low chuckle, nodding approvingly to his pupil, “Huskabar, you are improving. There is no shame in finding your limit. You just need to be able to push that limit through practice, but do not confuse my words… Caution is your greatest ally in the campaign of growth and power. That is why we shall now rest, before continuing todays training.” These words were swiftly met with a disgruntled expression, but the deep voice continued to speak, “Magic is not like anything else, my student. You know this. If I were teaching you how to swing an axe, you would indeed eventually get quite tired, but vicious horrible spasms of exhaustion to the point of death would not be a likely outcome. Magic however can lead to many roads of danger, and we must be wise. I know your nature, Huskabar, and you have an insatiable thirst for power, and if your learn to harness and control that thirst, it could serve you well. If you do not, it will most certainly get you killed.” A gradual begrudging nod then came from the bearded sorcerer. “Very Good… Now, back to bed with you. We shall awake once more in three bells.” The two men made their way into their own tents, but as Huskabar looked upward, he did not see a tarp hanging above him, but rather the entire cosmos, and as he arose into the air, towards the glimmering spectacles above, it appeared that the stars and darkness above were nothing more than a curtain that hid the truth of all knowledge. He pulled back the curtain, only to see his own reflection looking back at him, with a crimson gaze that burned with a lustful greed. He reached forward, and as he did the reflection reached toward him, but then the figure gave a swift pull, only to reveal that what he thought was his reflection was his true self, and he was nothing more than a curtain, containing his own forbidden knowledge. This was not a duality, or any struggle between good and evil within himself… No, goodness was a myth, and so was evil. Nothing more than a curtain that hid the truth, and that was that knowledge was the only true force of this world, and knowledge has no alignment. Huskabar awoke with a gasp, his eyes springing wide open, before making his way to the entry of his tent. He looked outward to the sky, with a faint smile coming to him. It looked as if a significant amount of time had past, and it was now perhaps the tenth, eleventh, or twelfth bell of the day. He could not tell exactly, but he was excited to return to his lessons. “Awake, I see…. It’s been five bells, you know? You must have been very exerted from our practice earlier.” The hairy man looked nervous for but a moment. He did not mean to sleep so long, and he had hoped not to have displeased his teacher. “Do not worry. If you needed the rest, it was a good thing that you got it. I do not wish for you to overgive, and rest, time, and food are a good way to help prevent that. I am sure that a decent portion of your djed has returned to you, but even still… We shall eat before resuming our training.” This was the last thing that the newly-inspired magical trainee wanted to hear, but he respected his teacher’s decision. It was actually quite out of character for Huskabar to have any respect for an authority figure of any kind, but there was just something about Richard Wind that seemed to natural demand his respect. His Teacher could very well be the only person in life that he truly respected. Even his own father, the late Kravon Skorn was seen as little more than a coward in his eyes for denying his gifts, and dooming the pair of them to a life of poverty. These thoughts faded from mind, as his teacher’s hand reached into his pouch, receiving three tins, placing them down upon the ground between himself and his student. The novice conjuror felt his stomach rumble at the sight of the containers. He was most certainly ready for a meal that was a little more than bread. The three tins were then opened, and the lids were set to his right side. In the first tin, ripe, yet uncooked green beans could be found. In the second tin, was buckwheat, and this vision quite literally filled the student with discomfort. He hated buckwheat, and he was quite certain that it was in fact meant to be fed to stags, as the name suggested. In the third tin was a plethora of delicious almonds, and this was something that the wizard could not complain about… He loved almonds, and his teacher knew it. Perhaps this was some sort of reward?

[Huskabar]

He immediately dug in to the bounty before him, feeling the sweet savory crunch against his teeth, as he narrowed his gaze, enjoying the taste. He turned his gaze to his teacher before him, as he heard the man before him begin to speak, “Now listen… This is important. I am very proud of your progress, but there is still something you must do before we may continue your training. I need to know if you can handle it.” Huskabar’s gaze perked up, his mouth filled with the chewy delights, as he raised his right brow with a curious expression. “What I need for you to do may be very difficult for you, but you must listen carefully. Are you paying attention?” The man nodded vigorously to the words, his cheeks filled with the almonds. “I need for you to pull back the curtain, Huskabar.” Immediately his eyes sprung open with pure confusion and surprise. How did his teacher know of his dream? This made absolutely no sense. “Pull back the curtain!” the man yelled. With a sudden flash, everything changed in a moment, and reality came rushing back to the mage. He was in the middle of the Bronze Wood, rain pouring down from above, his body entirely covered in mud, and his teacher was nowhere to be seen. He let out a shrill cry, as the memories came rushing back to his mind. Everything had become too heavy, and every experience had become too much. Life was no longer simply about surviving, and when one has a moment to stop running, the past has a way of catching up, and the pain that comes with that is not always so merciful. He gripped his skull, as he opened his mouth, to see grubs and beetles pouring out from his lips, down to the ground below. He had truly had a breakdown, and yet through it all he had continued to train, and with more moderation and discipline than he had been able to manage before. It had all been a delusion, and this realization stung more than a scalding blade straight to the heart. He collapsed down into the mud, as tears streamed down his cheeks, pressing the hair of his beard against the moisture of the puddle beneath him, closing his eyes, feeling the sweet unspoken desire of suicide caress his thoughts. If he were to just lay there, in that puddle, and keep himself down, he could drown, there and then. All of this pain would be gone, and the curtain would be shut once and for all, but he knew this would not happen. He was a coward, and death scared him as much as it would scare any man, if not more so. His life had been tragic, filled with misery, pain, hurt, and time after time the chance of happiness had been denied from him. His brain had cracked under the pressure, and happiness was indeed created, but it’s falsehood had inevitably shined through, and misery was once again his only companion. The pathetic sight of a man finally felt sense return to him, as an epiphany hit his mind like a infernal carriage of disaster, speeding from nowhere’s darkness. His every limb filled with a liquid fire energy of rebirth, as the realization washed over him. If he was to reach his goals, and become the person he was meant to be, he had to not grovel in this pain of the past, but rather harness it, wield it, and make it the very thing that fuels his spirit. He knew in that moment, that he was not crazy at all, but more sane than any other living being could handle, and this was the reason he saw the world so clearly, but with that came it’s own form of suffering, and like all things a cost was paid with his own mind, but he would not allow this to hold him back any longer… He looked up to the sky for a moment, a large twisted grimace sprawling across his face, before placing his hands upward, spreading his fingers, as he began to concentrate, and tick by tick he let the djed pathways follow the energy from his very core, and then finally, after what seemed to be eons a black gateway of nothingness emerged from thin air, as he peered forward, focusing on the opening, before saying four words, “Hello, my only friend….” and so it was, the curtain was gone….

[Radiant]

Huskabar :

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Observation	+2 XP
Projection	+2 XP
Voiding	+3 XP
Endurance	+1 XP

Lores

Lore Earned

Richard Wind: Shadow Mentor

Voiding: Creating A Portal To the Other Side

Projection: Dislodging Astral Limbs And Manipulating Them

Projection And Voiding Combo: Moving The Void Portal With Projected Hand

Magic: Dangerous And Volatile

Loots

Notes :

A very nice magic thread, Huskabar! I love how you play his mental issues and write the intricate details of magic.

Enjoy your grades! Also, congrats on reaching Competent Projection!

My radiance is not bright enough?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, beam me a PM and we can work it out.