Flashback A Chilling Revelation

[Keene Ward]

The fiftieth day of spring, 512 AV.

Keene sat hunched over the table, his legs bouncing up and down in frustration. His hands were cupped around a wobbling pillar of res, extending slightly above the width of his palms. Slowly twisting his hands clockwise, Keene muttered "Djas abase dalat..." A ripple ran from the bottom of the miniature tower to the top before the translucent liquid burst into mist, saturating his hands and the table below them. Sighing, Keene leaned back into his chair, running his fingers through his hair, effectively drying them off on his tousled hair.

"Mist again?" Mella sounded anything but pleased. He nodded, leaning forward once more to set his elbows on the table and rest his head in his hands. Not content to let Keene struggle in silence, the sound of wood being pushed upon wood scratched in the empty air as Mella stomped over to what had effectively become Keene's work area. "I can't petching teach you how to make a petching piece of ice." He nodded again, having been told the same thing many times over. "Just make the petching piece of shyke already." Frowning, Keene focused his Djed once more, a pool of the glistening liquid slipping from his fingertips to pool in front of him. "Concentrate." Keene turned to stare at Mella with indifferent eyes. "I'm going to keep petching repeating myself until you make some petching ice."

Turning his focus back on the slowly dissolving puddle before him, Keene drew it up into a pillar similar to the one he'd used before with a swift raise of his hand. Once more, he wrapped his hands around it, cupping it without contact as he pressed upon it with an invisible force. In his mind he pictured that which he wanted to create, just as he did with the air and water he'd been using. The snow capped mountains of Zeltiva, the blocks of frozen water used to keep their food cold in the summer, the feeling of the chill of winter upon his exposed skin on the rare occasion, all of them were brought to the forefront of his mind as his brows knit in concentration, focused solely on the res in front of him. Letting his eyes close, he pulled his hands back slightly, his fingers curving inwards, before pushing his hands out, fingers extended. The res pillar bent towards the curve of his hands. As Keene pushed, the pillar swirled, twisting around itself and moving away from Keene (though its base remained planted on the table. Slowly, starting at the bottom, the res solidified into a cool, transparent sheen that crept upwards towards the pointed tip. Eyes still closed, Keene could feel the chill of his intention affecting the res, shaping it into his desired state.

"Finally." The sound of Mella's voice immediately caused the tiny tower's remaining res to splash onto the table, though the rest of it stood unaffected by the sudden disruption. "Gods, Keene. If you were any pecthing jumpier you'd be a gods be damned rabbit." She rolled her eyes and returned to her desk, though not before adding, "Do that correctly a shyketon more times, and maybe you wont be such a hopeless petcher."

Quickly drawing what was left of the res back into his body by placing his fingertip directly on top of the pool, Keene regarded his incomplete ice sculpture with a frown. He found it unfortunate he'd been unable to finish the transmutation in spite of the interruption. It was a matter of speed as much as focus, and he'd employed neither. Gathering up his Djed once more, Keene reattempted the exercise, settling into his seat with a determined finality. Today was to be the day he mastered his first para-element.

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[Keene Ward]

It was several more trials into his training session after having first created the ice that Keene was finally able to do so again. It was a combination of his visualization along with a curious relationship between his understanding of water and his preconceived notions of what water was. Having had plenty of experience with the concept of "mist" or "fog" over the course of his attempts and creating ice, Keene had found water was more than simply a liquid. It could exist when dispersed into the air, suspended as tiny particles in the invisible sea of the wind. Ice seemed to be something akin to that, in the sense it was the opposite. It was dense whereas the mist was light, airy. Ice had little air between the water, it was solid because it did not dance with the wind as the mist did. Despite the revelation, Keene found the practical application of his finding to be difficult at best.

At first he had tried to simply remove the air out of the water by transmuting his res into water and willing it to be solid. That was resulted in the most messes, as the res merely became water and splashed into a puddle. He'd attempted to shape the res as it was becoming water with calculated bursts of wind. This, however, only created horizontal rain equivalent that, upon soaking Mella, was subsequently forbidden from experimentation. Keene had finally decided the most efficient way to transmute the ice was simply to transmute it. He was finding it much simpler in theory. Each time he willed his res to take upon itself the properties of ice, it shifted instead into suspended water before drizzling out of air in droplets all over the table.

Finally, Keene had found that the mental images of ice paired with his memory's sensations of the cold helped to form a pleasing mold from which he could work. The water slowly began to become colder with each unfortunate aquatic burst until Keene gradually determined the correct feel and movement of the ice. It wasn't rigid as he had initially supposed. His strict adherence to control and pressure had caused the transmuting res to push back against him, effectively creating the inverse effect Keene had been trying to obtain. Instead, ice moved. It flowed, drifted, and slid along its parameters. Though solid in appearance, ice still retained the fluid quality of its watery cousin. It required freedom, expression.

Once that epiphany had been reached, Keene found his res responded much more readily to his demands. It twisted, whirled, and danced into the different forms he willed it, making sure to experiment with tiny amounts of res, rather than his entire supply. It became much more enjoyable to craft crude bridges and towers out of the ice, effectively creating a miniature frozen world. Mella, however, did not find Keene's experiments particularly beneficial. Everything could easily become a lesson, however, and Mella jumped on the opportunity. "You feel confident with ice now?" Keene nodded. The sensation of transmuting ice held the most excitement he'd had since he'd learned he could create an invisible "punch" with his res and a sharp whistle. "Make that... pig? dance." The creature Mella had been referring too was a poorly crafted animistic creature Keene had intended to be a dog. Having put little stock in his artistic abilities, Keene found the title of "pig" to be more of an honor than an offence.

Moving to pick the ice sculpture up to pantomime dancing, Mella shouted out several expletives indicating that was not the intended way manipulate it. Blinking confusion at his tutor, Keene returned his attention to the pig after receiving no further instruction. Exhaling a breath of gaseous res, Keene slipped it under the pig's "feet", sending light bursts of wind from beneath to cause the sculpture to bounce back and fourth. This time Mella let out an exasperated moan. The remaining res was pulled back into his body as Keene gave her another blank stare. His lack of understanding seemed to be a recurring motif in their relationship. Mella hardly every explained how to do anything, rather it was Keene's job to discover how, why, and what he was to do through trial and error (and, of course, the occasional - though often - check-up with Mella).

"Use your petching res."

Gazing down at the miniature menagerie (which had taken on an even glossier shine as the heat had begun to deconstruct Keene's handiwork), he dripped a small amount of res from his finger, resting his chin in the unoccupied hand. He watched as the gossamer fluid gathered in a small, undulating ball an inch above the table, floating a hair's width from the pig. Unsure of how exactly to go about it, Keene formed the sphere into several tendrils and wrapped them around the pig. The res hugged the pig for a few moments while Keene considered his course of action before deciding to just pick it up. Raising a finger to signal the res to rise, it did so. The pig, however, remained where it was; the res rose up into the air locked in the wrapped position without the pig.

Frowning then, Keene lowered the res, reattaching it to the pig before trying to hoist it up once more. Unsurprisingly, the pig did not move, save for the drips falling from its nose to the table. "The petching ice." Mella's instruction did little to assist Keene in his struggle. He tried several more ways; he attempted to push the ice, create miniature legs walk for it, strings attached like a puppet, and in the end resorted to passing the res from side of the pig to the other, glaring as it passed through the object with little effort and no intended effect.

Finally, Keene let what was left of the res pool on the table a distance away from the pig, choosing to focus primarily on the melting creature. "Move." The command was given with as much force as Keene could muster short of shouting. His patience had already been worn thin by the mere creation of ice. Using his res to somehow further manipulate the already transmuted substance was infuriating. The pig, however, remained placidly unaware of his plight.

"Gods, Keene. Move the petching ice." Mella made two fists and slammed them together to better illustrate her point. Keene started impassively at her, uncertain what the gesture meant, but inclined to decipher it for lack of any alternative. Balling his fists, Keene's res rose up in response, though by then it had dwindled to about half its size (now only about a quarter size of the pig). As all great experimenters who had come the their wit's end, Keene smashed his fists together, slamming the res into the pig. When he separated his fists, the res followed suit and the pig remained. Glaring at the impassive face of the questionable animal, Keene flicked his eyes to the floating bubble of res and back to the pig. He'd been attempting to move the ice with his res, however the instruction had been to move the ice.

Eyes lightening with a small glimmer of potential revelation, Keene dripped some more res out of his reserve to join with what had become the small dot of res already floating above the table. With the larger sphere, Keene moved it close to the pig and once more turned his thoughts to the chilly identity he had found ice to be. Instead of willing the res to become what he sought, he chose for it gather. The pig twitched, along with the rest of the partially melted scene. Gathering his focus, Keene rallied behind his mind's archetype of "iceness", drawing all substance that fell under such headings as "frozen", "cold", and "made of solid water" towards the revolved ball of res until the ice slowly fell into orbit along the shell of the res sphere.

"Finally." Though it was rare for Keene's feelings to match those of Mella's during any given time or through any given experience, he was inclined to feel much the same as he watched the ice revolve in a peaceful, steady spin. "Now throw that shyke outside and eat something."

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[Keene Ward]

The next day was spent much the same as the past several hundred days after his initiation into reimancy. Keene rose early to begin his morning readings. Breakfast was had several bells later once Mella arrived home from her morning readings. After breakfast, Keene busied himself with Nader-Canoch, as the previous day had been devoted to several poets, all of whom he'd found rather stuffy and uninteresting. Lunch was had only after Keene was able to successfully read aloud several chapters of Nader-Canoch script as well as define specific words in their context at Mella's digression. They had eaten late. It was after lunch, however, Keene's interest was refocused, having been rather distracted for most of the day.

He stood over a bucket of water, his res swirling a foot above the surface of the liquid as a thin disc. His attention was focused on the stillness of the liquid beneath him. In his mind he saw waves, rain, rivers, and storms, the images swirling and writhing in the spirit of the sea. Slowly, the water began to rise out of the bucket as Keene willed it into motion, drawing it to his res. Rising out of the bucket as a single tendril, the water slowly grew in girth as it wobbled its way up to the res, seemingly latching onto the swirling mist and pulling with it the rest of the bucket's contents. It swirled in response to the res disc's rotation, an air born whirlpool. Keene increased the speed of the rotation, the water whipping around in tighter circles with each spin. Aiming the disc at the back wall where the boxes still remained (he'd decided they were still useful for target practice and should not yet be returned), he let loose the hurtling liquid, sending his res through the water, Keene sent his influence over the water, the freezing res turned to ice, but the water only partially froze resulting in a watery crash of splintering ice all over the back wall.

Perturbed, Keene released some more res and walked over to there the water still lay, the sphere of shimmering liquid hovering near the hand that had excreted it. Extending his hand (and subsequently the res) over the mess, he drew the water back up into to the sphere. The broken shards of ice remained, but Keene had little need of them at the moment and contented himself to return to the bucket and drop the water back into it, along with the res. Stooping over the bucket, he glared down at its contents. The sphere of res had retained is shape, floating in the exact middle of the mass of water. Once more, Keene transmuted the res into ice. The images of the frigid cold in all its known instances danced through his mind as the res solidified into the blueish crystal. The water around it chilled considerably, but the ice had little more affect. Frowning deeper, Keene held his hand over the water, dripping more res over the ice, letting it flow into the crystal's center and infusing it with layer upon layer of frosty chill. Slowly, the water around it began to fuse to it, solidifying and expanding slightly. He watched as the water froze around the outermost shell of the ice while the rest of the water remained a liquid. Pulling the ice ball out of the water using his influence over the sphere's res center, Keene set it on the ground as he extracted the res from it.

Already he had used about the same about of energy as the day prior, but for his theory to work he required another fistful of res, which he produced and added it to what he was already working with. He could feel the flow his Djed shift and compensate for the loss. It was a strange, lightening sort of feeling he found both disconcerting and exciting, though the unnerving nature of the experience had so far keep him for pursuing the excitement too far.

Dipping the res back into the bucket, who's water supply had dwindled some, Keene stretched the res out in a three dimensional lattice. Line upon line of res ran through the water, filling it uniformly with a criss-crossing collection of liquid res rods. These he then transmuted into ice, willing the shining substance into the wintry substance of ice. This time, however, he focused not upon the true feeling of ice but the intensity; the burning sensation of skin left uncovered for too long, and the icy peaks of mountains that never thawed. The res froze, however this time the water froze alongside it. The increased surface area allowed the water to better absorb the intense cold of the magic ice, in turn freezing the entire contents of the bucket. There was a sharp cracking sound as the rapidly expanding water pushed out and broke through a section, however for the most part it was a success. Mostly a success. The process had required Keene's full attention and concentration, fine for practice, but it lacked practicality. He'd been able, presumably, to enhance the intensity of his ice's chill, however for it to be practical, it would require either a faster vehicle of dispersion or a temperature so intense the water would freeze instantly. Keene chose to focus more upon the prior, as his main process of transmutation revolved around images and sensations, neither of which were sufficient enough to produce such a temperature.

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[Keene Ward]

The next bell was spent gathering buckets. The bell after that was spent filling and lugging them back into the house. Over the course of Keene's most physical endeavor over the past handful of days, Mella yelled at him three times (the fourth was shadowed by her patented "wind-punch" that sent Keene flying several meters back and - subsequently - losing two buckets and their watery contents). After having gotten her rage out through violence, Mella had been much more agreeable when the windblown Keene reappeared in the doorway covered in dirt and scrapes from the tumble down the short hill their house was sitauted on. And, of course, by agreeable she refrained from causing Keene any more physical harm.

Once the buckets had been spaced out in a scattered, irregular fashion across the floor, Keene squatted down next to the bucket positioned in the relative middle of his area of the house. The bucket sat nestled between his knees as he stared down into the placid surface of the liquid within. Not one to personify an element outside of understanding its nature in order to transmute it (a technique he found to be bothersome, but unavoidable as it was the only way he'd been taught by Mella - further exploration into transmutation tactics took a back seat to mastery over higher level skills), Keene still had the impression the water taunted him with its very un-frozen state. Rubbing his hands together, Keene sprinkled concentrated drips of res into the bucket, spreading each bit of res throughout the liquid, much like water droplets within a cloud. Once that was accomplished after several ticks, Keene flexed his fingers once before clenching his hands into fist. At the same time, he channeled his understanding of ice through his res, transmuting it into the frozen substance.

The water below him rippled slightly, but remained as indifferent to Keene's influence as it had before he'd even begun. Glaring down at the water, Keene stuck his finger into it, giving it a splash and quickly recoiling his had at the sudden icy sensation. He'd affected the temperature, suggesting his theory of res dispersal in an existing element and its subsequent transmutation may have a positive (or mirrored, in this case) effect on that element. Uncertain how much res was required to freeze the water, Keene dripped several more drops of res into the water, dissolving it into the liquid as he'd done before. Just as before, Keene altered the identity of his res to fit the ideal of water's solid cousin. Again, the water remained a fluid.

The process was repeated several more times, each instance of res addition involved precisely two drops of concentrated liquid res. The draw on his reserves was minimal, but the reason for the incremental amounts of res was less one of energy conservation and more of observation. Once the water did finally freeze, Keene had reach a relatively fair amount of res (the total about the size of a ball big enough to fit Keene's hand comfortably). In terms of ratio, it took about a quarter of res to freeze the relative amount of water. Staring down at the bucket in contemplation, Keene ran his finger over the solid. It had already begun to melt in the relatively warm temperature of the house. Keene figured the temperature of his ice could be adjusted depending on the intensity and volume of his res during transmutation, however having only just recently discovered how to produce the element straight from his res, he doubted he would make too many improvements without a fair amount of practice.

Instead of attempting to modulate the temperature of his ice, Keene focused on the exact amount of res needed to freeze the buckets of water in a single attempt. Having already determined the rough amount of res required, Keene shifted to another bucket a few steps to his left, waddling like a duck that had become a man without realizing it. The next bucket met it's frozen fate much faster than the previous, though it still required three attempts of marginal increments of res after the initial sphere failed to instantly freeze the water upon dispersion and transmutation. Attributing his failure in part to the differences of volume contained within the buckets, Keene advanced upon the third bucket, his waddle brooding. Once more, he gathered a handful of res, this time, however, it was slightly larger than he believed he needed to freeze the contents of the bucket. Plunging the ball of res into the water and dispersing it throughout the liquid through a series of finger flexes and hand clenching. The water, as he expected, froze immediately once the res was transmuted, though the bucket cracked under the sudden alteration of the element within.

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[Keene Ward]

Straightening himself up, Keene stared at the remaining buckets. Not included the previous three, there were fifteen left, spread across the floor of the room. From her desk, Mella let out a string of profanities followed by the slamming of a book being forced shut and the thud of another being opened. Engrossed in her work, Keene was free to his own devices as long as such devices weren't disruptive (in the subjective sense of Mella's sensitivities). Turning his attention back to the buckets and subsequently the water within, Keene focused his res, letting it seep from his fingers and trail across the floor. Beginning with three distinct cords of res, Keene fed the appropriate amount into the buckets (once more slightly overcompensating for what he believed to be the minimal amount to achieve instantaneous freezing). Spreading the res through the buckets, Keene was only able to do so by focusing on each individual bucket. One the res was properly "dissolved" within the water, however, he was able to simultaneously transmute the res (and by association the water) into ice.

The amount of res needed to affect three buckets worth of water was much more substantial a drain when done at the same time as opposed to increments. Feeling it would be unwise to push himself much farther for the day, Keene slipped over to one of the unfrozen buckets, flexing his fingers in preparation for the last experiment of the day before he would have to retire from res expenditure. The water froze due to the res saturation and transmutation. It was the same as a cloud in that regard, the air was affected by the heavy concentration of water within it. Altering the res particles led to an alteration in the element it was displaced within, a concept Keene deemed relatively basic after having eventually come to its realization. Thus, he speculated, the faster he was able to spread his res through the water, the faster the transformation could occur.

Gathering his res into a sizable ball, Keene dropped it into the water, forcing the sphere to expand and fill the bucket. A reflexive jerk of his knee caused Keene to stumble backwards as he transmuted the res. Instead of the dispersed particles causing the water to freeze, the res shot upwards in a spike. The sharp, frozen pillar extended several feet into the air, based firmly in the bottom of the bucket. His left hand twitching some, Keene took a moment to lean against the wall. He'd released slightly more res than he'd intended, and the spell hadn't quite gone according to plan. Taking it as a sign his practice for the day was over, Keene slid down to the floor, resting his head on his knees, pulling his legs to his chest.

The evening had been successful, in spite of his minor mishap. Lifting his head to stare at the remaining buckets that would have to be dumped and returned to where he'd found them, Keene sighed, resigning himself to the task. After all, though his body was weary from the exercises, his Djed required time (and food) before he would be able to handle any more reimancy. Resting on the floor for several more chimes, Keene pushed himself to his feet once he felt his body fully under his control. Shuffling over to the first of what began his eight repeated trips, Keene stooped down to gather up the buckets, one in each hand, before turning to head out the door. He was going to be sore in the morning.

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[Perplexity]

You have played well, but the game is at an end.

You have been bested. Beaten. Checkmate!

However, here is a consolation prize: a wealth of Experience and Lores! If you have any questions or concerns regarding this grade, please do not hesitate to send me a PM. I'll be more than happy to assist you!

 

Keene

XP

• Reimancy | +5
  Research | +4
  Endurance | +2

LORES

• Reimancy: Transmuting Res To Mist
  Reimancy: Manipulating Res Through Sheer Willpower
  Reimancy: Transmuting Res To Ice
  Reimancy: Dividing Res Into Layers
  Reimancy: Dropping Res Temperature
  Research: Experimentation Is Key

MISCELLANEOUS

• Overgiving- Due to his extensive experimentation with Ice Reimancy and his tendency to push himself a little further than he should, Keene’s body temperature is slightly lower than the average person by just a degree or two. As a result he is more susceptible to conditions such as hypothermia, frostbite, chills, etc. but would be surprisingly comfortable in warmer conditions.

Until Our Next Match,
-Perplexity, DS of Zeltiva
.