Closed A Step Out Of The Comfort Zone(Clyde Sullins)

[Garland]

Summer 6th 516AVI forgot the date, Clyde. Was it the 4th or 5th?

Garland had agreed to meet Clyde outside the city, deep into the woods, away from the city, away from anyone that could possibly help him if something goes astray.

"What could possibly go wrong, eh Tryn?" Garland said and climbed off his horse, Tryn. While on the ride over, Tryn seemed cautious, and that rarely happens, Tryn was as stubborn as any warhorse twice his size, and thrice as cocksure.

The forests outside from Syliras' walls were alive, and thriving, but deeper into the woods, into The Wildlands, the trees seem to dislike any outside influence, but where Garland was going was a clearing.

It wasn't a clearing created naturally, the entire area was burnt, black with char and soot, few blades of grass sprouted from the blackened clearing, it looked as if the fire that caused this clearing happened a little while ago.

Garland tied Tryn to a tree, a burnt out tree, not very sturdy looking, Garland always loosely tied Tryn, or tied him to things that could break off easily, Tryn was brave, but he was still a horse, threaten them and either they fight back or run away, Garland didn't want Tryn to die because he was tied to a tree and he'd wandered off.

Garland stepped around the clearing, waiting for Clyde. He had brought his sword with him for protection, nothing else, except for a dagger hidden in his boot.

He wore no armor and was only in his casual clothes, his leather jacket with an undershirt and and his trousers and boots, he wore a simple garb for a simple man.

"This place is eerie, eh Tryn." Garland said. Tryn just snorted in agreement, he was tense, ears perking up at the slightest noise. Garland simply stood there, lost in his thoughts.

[Clyde Sullins]

6 Summer 516

Clyde had already been camping and out in the woods for a night. He'd headed out of the city the day prior, and ended up running into a woman. He'd headed out a day early to take some time for himself, but inevitably it hadn't ended up being a calm visit to the woods if indeed Clyde had ever had one of those.

He still had his remaining camping gear with him, along with Cha ever present in his hand, and Rye at his heels following along with his ever watching eyes.

Though the two of them had agreed on the meeting place, Clyde wasn't the best at navigating and had been distracted the day before. First he had to get his bearings, taking track of the Kabrin road and where the castle of Syliras lay in the distance, and figuring out roughly from that where he needed to go.

Using those two landmarks seemed to help him get his bearings and figure out where he needed to go. Clyde thought to himself on how helpful such a thing was to do, and wondered why it wasn't more commonly done, not realizing it was a basic navigation tactic known by probably everyone in the woods besides himself.

Even with that means of finding his bearings, it was another bell or two before he found Garland, and so the squire was forced to wait a time before Clyde eventually arrived.

When he finally did approach Clyde did it with his normal stealthy nature, stepping on a large dry branch near the edge of the clearing which snapped with a loud noise.

In his defense the branch had been partially obscured by dirt, though after he found it with his foot he noted how it bumped up from the surrounding ground. A fact he noted for next time as a possible sign of something hiding just below the surface. Not useful now, but perhaps the next time he wanted to successfully sneak about he'd be that tiny fraction better or more knowledgeable.

Any sense of subtlety destroyed, Clyde coughed once before announcing himself to Garland, Rye silently staring at the squire before them, who clearly knew he was there unless completely non-observant of his surroundings.

“Gar, right... So, to begin the lesson. I'll be initiating you into a new magic, your first. It is called Reimancy.”

With that Clyde dropped his bag, taking out a small dagger to show the man.

“I'll need to prepare this before we begin, wouldn't want you to get any infections from my cutting you.”

[Garland]

Garland sat down in the clearing after a few chimes, he thought that maybe Clyde had forgotten. He seemed the forgetful type if something doesn't interest him.

It didn't matter much, Garland always tried to find a silver lining in the clouds. If anything, he could try his hand at hunting again. He'll most likely fail, but he enjoyed the sport of it. Of course if a knight were to spot him hunting, he'd probably be charged with poaching or some nonsense.

Sitting around and thinking was not Garland's strong points, more likely that not he would fall asleep while waiting for something to happen, luckily he was on edge and couldn't fall asleep.

The eerie dead trees, the lack of birds or other wildlife, the odd tingling on the back of his neck made this feel even less welcoming than the Lavender Castle.

Then he heard a twig snap, there was no way he would have missed that in the silence, in one swift motion Garland stood up from the ground and drew his sword.

Garland sighed and looked at Clyde. He sheathed his sword and smiled. "I thought you've forgotten about me."

He was really doing this, he would be lying if he said he wasn't having any second thoughts, but he signed a contract, he was here and Clyde was here, there was no turning back at this point.

"You're going to... cut me?" Of course Garland was guarded, but he had no idea what it would actually take to learn magic. "Do you have to cut out my heart? Because I think I've read a book about this once."

Garland tried to make light of the situation but in truth he was nervous as shyke right now. "I guess I've got to do this then. What are you going to do? Are you going to drink my blood or is there some kind of ritual?"

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde, as was perhaps common among mages, preferred to act with a sense of mystery and lack of information or full explanation. He particularly had a tendency to enjoy giving half statements with missing information, ones that often led people to the wrong conclusion due to incomplete explanation.

Perhaps it was simply a symptom of being a mage, a natural occurrence from doing the impossible by mundane means. Or perhaps it was to better cloak what was done in misunderstanding to add to the sense that a mage knew things beyond a non-mage. And that he as a skilled mage knew far more than a new initiate into the art of Magic.

At the same time Clyde was also a teacher, and enjoyed instructing others when the time called for it. When he did deign to share his knowledge, he did so quite well and in an in depth manner.

When the squire reacted by drawing his sword Clyde simply smiled, continuing on unfazed. He knew quite well that even at this range he'd have more than enough time to kill him should he try to threaten or attack Clyde. The same couldn't be said of a lesser Reimancer. One with less skill would be the most vulnerable in such a situation at close range, as the melee attacker could close the gap before such a mage had a time to make and gather enough res for use. Clyde on the other hand could make his instantly, and at a much faster rate than others, and so had less to worry from such a threat. He also had much finer control over his res.

If he was caught off guard or unexpectedly he'd be just as bad off, but short of a master assassin he didn't feel like that was too likely.

He wasn't surprised to hear the squire say he'd thought Clyde had forgotten him, he wasn't the best with directions and had gotten somewhat lost. However even he paused for a moment and was at a loss when the squire thought he planned to remove his heart.

One eyebrow raised Clyde stared quizzically at him, pondering what to say before he did. Finally after a full half chime his mind caught up, and he smiled and shook his head as he responded.

“What the petch man? You do realize if I removed your heart, you'd be dead, right? You kind of need that petching thing. Gah... Gar, no, I'm not removing your heart. Don't be stupid. That wouldn't make you a mage. It'd make you dead. Or maybe a ghost. But not a mage.”

His face returning once more to its passive state, he began to draw the dagger once more, only to pause and stare at the squire again.

“Where did you read about cutting out someones heart? Or what was in relation to? I've not heard anything about that. I've no idea what it'd be for, or what magic.”

Clyde would give the squire time to answer, before pressing on to the matter at hand.

“I'm not going to drink your blood either. Look, let me explain, or get to that part of the lesson, and perhaps then you'll understand. And as far as ritual's go, everything we do in some sense is a ritual. The hard part is picking out the bit of them that actually does something, if any particular part does. Or picking out which ones get done by the act of doing them, and not specifically by the ritual itself. That's even trickier. The skinning the cat ones. The way doesn't matter with those, as long as the end result is reached.”

Sticking Cha under the crook of his left arm, Clyde drew the dagger and held it out above his left palm, flat of the blade over it by a foot. Extending his will down his arm, he manifested his res with a flick of thought. A tiny puff of silvery gas exuded out of the palm of his hand, hovering and coiling into a ball by a secondary manipulation willed by thought.

“Lesson one on Reimancy. Its all about the res. You make, or exude, the res. You control the res. You do stuff with the res by controlling it, and it does the magical effects. That is how the magic works. But right now your body can't make res. So I've got to put my res inside you, and help you pull some out.”

“For me its easy, I can exude it at will in and out like my flesh was an open window. For you, it won't be easy, since your body isn't conditioned for it. I cut you, just enough to break the skin. That acts as an easier entrance, helps me get it inside of you. Once I'm done you'll be able to do it to, make your body and flesh exude the res, but going in its not as easy. Understand?”

“So, before we begin, what all do you know about Reimancy, if anything?”

[Garland]

"It was this weird book about some sort of magic, I think it was about some common misconceptions about magic and magical creatures. Most of things I've read are more or less false." Garland had to admit the things he'd read were unbelievable and in truth he didn't really believe most of them.

"What I know? Well there are four elements that is used in Reimancy; earth, air, fire, and water. I know about Overgiving, seen my fair share of novice squire-mages getting headaches, bloody noses and the likes... Ummm..." Garland tried thinking about what he knows about Reimancy, and in extension any magic he knows that he knows to be a fact.

"That's all I know that I'm sure isn't a bunch of bollocks." Garland was a bit confused about a few things Clyde had said, mainly about exuding Djed. "I've known about Djed, mostly the most basic understanding of it, I don't know much about it, just that it's the thing that fuels magic."

"You say you can make Res from anywhere from your body? Wouldn't it need like some sort of hole to escape from in your body? Like you mouth?"

He felt like he was back in class, with the teacher eyeing him down. This was not a welcoming feeling for Garland, but at least it was vaguely familiar. He tried thinking this as some sort of lesson instead of a secret ritual that more than a little bit shady.

Garland stepped forward and extended his hand to Clyde. "Would this hurt? What am I saying? Of course it would... It doesn't hurt as much if you don't expect it I guess." Garland opened his palm, waiting for the cut. Unknown to him, that the cut was not going to be the most painful part of the ritual.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde mentally hummed as Garland spoke, recanting his sparse knowledge on Reimancy.

He'd written the book on it, or a book, and had been practicing for years, and so knew how little he currently knew.

But either way he'd know the main facts of it, at least he would by the end of the day after hearing what Clyde had to say.

“Not incorrect, though a rather limited and select bit of knowledge on it. There are four elements, though you can't use them all as a new initiate into the magic. But as you grow more skilled you'll learn to use new ones.”

“As for djed, it does fuel magic, at least in a manner of speaking. But it also fuels my mouth moving, my arms lifting, everything I do and you do uses djed. Magic is distinct though, particularly personal magic, in that it lets you tap that djed in your body more directly for a given effect. Of course, since your using your bodies own djed if you use too much it can leave you wanting for djed in more normal uses. You know, tired, or exhausted.”

“And if you go beyond that, well that is when the worse stuff like Overgiving begins. Don't confuse the two though, they are distinct effects of djed use. Being tired happens whether you expend djed by mundane or arcane means. Overgiving is unnatural, and only possible by use, or in its case overuse of magic. Don't confuse the two.”

He was about to transmute some of his res into flame, so that he could heat the blade and sterilize it before he began, when Garland asked another question so stupid to Clyde's mind he had to pause. For a moment Clyde simply stared at him, his res floating under the blade, a puzzled look on his face as he tried to reason out if the squire was serious.

“What a... Wh... Are you serious Gar! I just exuded res out of my hand! My petching hand! Right in front of you, and you ask me if you can make it from your body or just openings. Do you see a petching mouth on my hand!”

Closing his eyes and shaking his head, Clyde massaged his forehead with his free hand, fighting off the headache to come from dealing with this... Squire...

“I swear Gar, this isn't funny, and I'm not laughing. Use your petching eyes, and think stuff through. I'm fine with you asking questions, but not when I've just displayed the answer right in front of you. If someone falls into a petching river and comes out sopping wet, are you going to ask them if water is wet?”

Pausing once more, Clyde opened his eyes, staring at the dagger and his res for a moment, questioning if he should continue or just give up on the squire. He'd seen some merit in him, but at the moment he didn't see anything but idiocy.

“Everything is a question of skill Gar. Yes, its easier to exude res from openings, or in the places were initiation openings were made. And at the start it'll be hard enough to do that. But in time, with skill and practice, you'll be able to exude it from anywhere. Your toes, your back, your head, anything. Your entire body can be permeable to exuding res, as your res is of your body, its djed. But your no where near that yet.”

As the squire stepped forward, holding out his hand, Clyde thought for a moment before coming to a decision.

“Did I say I was just cutting your hands? Take off your shirt Gar, and then we'll begin.”

As he said this with a flick of will the outer layer of his res transmuted into flame, held together by the res within. Aiming the flames he danced them over the dagger, just enough to heat it up and sanitize it, not enough to damage or warp the blade. He'd done it several times before over a long period of time, usually for other initiations though not always.

“And you'll probably want to lie down, in case your legs spasm and give out. I don't need you falling in the middle of things.”

[Garland]

Garland was not taken aback by Clyde's reaction, he did phrase his question wrongly. "That came out wrong, what I meant was would it be easier for novices to draw djed from an open wound or from their mouths etcera."

Garland was, of course, a bit surprised when Clyde said that he wasn't going to cut him on the hand. "Are you sure you're not going cut my heart out? I'm kidding."

Garland took off his shirt, showing his rather well-built body, he wasn't as muscly as an Akalak but his might was respectable enough.

Garland lied down on the ground. "I'm going to flinch when a dagger cuts me on my chest, but I don't think I would spasm too much, this is unnecessary, but you're the teacher."

Garland felt even more uneasy when Clyde started sterilizing the dagger, he was fine getting stabbed, cut up, bruised and broken, but being burnt was just one of those things he couldn't quite get around, he always felt uneasy when fire was in play, although, he had an iron will, and a stubbornness to match fire and hot metal would be ineffective in getting information from him.

"Let's do it." Garland watched Clyde, if at any moment he attacked Garland more than just one cut, Garland could force the dagger back onto Clyde, despite his skill in magic, he didn't seem to physically strong, Garland had no doubt in his mind that in a normal fight, he would be obliterated in mere seconds, but at this range, if things go wrong, he might have a chance of surviving.

[Clyde Sullins]

Watching the hot blade in his hand, Clyde ignored some of what the squire said. He hadn't heated the entire thing, not the handle, and he'd only heated the blade itself enough to feel confident there wasn't anything on it that might get a wound infected.

After a few chimes letting it air cool it was still hot, but he assumed not hot enough to outright burn like a red hot poker coming out of the fire. Although from experience he knew heat and hot blades could cauterize wounds, having had to do it himself in the past.

Glaring once more at his comment on how he wouldn't flinch, Clyde simply let a small smile come to his lips as he responded.

“I didn't say you'd flinch, nor that it'd happen when I cut you. I should hope you can handle that. No, I meant the initiation. Ones body tends to... Lose control... While they are being initiated. Standing during it probably isn't a good idea. Who knows what body part might jerk or spasm before its done. So stop trying to act tough, or assuming I said you weren't. Don't go making assumptions off of half understood things I say.”

Once he felt the blade had cooled enough to not outright burn as he cut him, he knelt down next to Garland. Taking first the squires right wrist in his own grip, he slowly pulled the blade against his hand, cutting a careful incision across the open palm. He was careful to not cut too deep, just enough to break the skin and cause a flow of blood to well forth.

With that done he moved over, grabbing his left wrist and repeating the process, cutting a opening across his other palm.

Finished with the hands, Clyde moved over once more, settling over the squires chest. For his final cut he used the tip, cutting a shallow incision in a circle roughly a hand span wide just between his breastbone, avoiding any overly sensitive or easily damaged areas a bit wider out.

Once he was done, and assuming the squire didn't interrupt him, Clyde would sit on the ground next to the prone squire while crossing his own legs.

After wiping the blade clean on the man's trousers he'd set it aside, and then would hold both of his hands aloft with palms up and Cha resting across them.

Closing his eyes for a moment Clyde would reach out with his aura sight, reaching out of Cha and gripping Garland. He was skilled enough in both magics to do both at once, and he felt a low level auristical examination would aid in his work.

After he'd been sitting with his eyes closed for roughly a chime, Clyde would begin. From the outside it would appear as if a cloud had exploded out of Clyde from every direction. Out of his hands, arms, legs, chest, head, eyes, back, every inch in unison exuded res, sending a cloud outward made up of the same silvery gaseous res as before.

For a moment it would hang there, suspended, before splitting off into four pieces. A single larger chunk on the top would aim for the squires head- his mouth and nostrils. The other three smaller tendrils would head for the pair of hand wounds and the cut on his chest.

Within his mind Clyde had the mental image of Garland holding a single hand over the circle cut into his chest. In his mind he could see through his flesh, and the cuts overlapped in his mental space. Alone they meant nothing, but in the correct pattern overlapped they made a familiar symbol to Clyde. A circle with a line skewering it. A simplified version of the symbol of the Ebonstryfe.

[Garland]

Garland felt the blade run across his palm, feeling tense not from the wound but Clyde's presence more than anything else, Garland knew that Clyde was a powerful mage, seclusive, and most likely done some questionable things in the past for his magic, but the feeling he's having now, it's like a dark cloud hanging over him, a very evil cloud.

This was the biggest mistake of Garland's life, but that contract he signed, the thought of breaking it doesn't even cross his mind, he was for all intents and purposes loyal to Clyde. The feeling of trepidation was there, waiting for Clyde to finish cutting Garland up.

The blade felt hot, but not enough to blister or boil the skin, Garland's heart pounded like drums when Clyde cut a circle in Garland's chest. When that was said and done, Clyde sat down, wiped the blood from the dagger on Garland's pants and for a chime just sat there.

Garland thought it was over and was about to speak, but then a cloud of gaseous res exploded out of Clyde, like a mist.

The misty res floated down to Garland's wounds. This shouldn't hurt, right? Just like breathing in the fresh air... or a fart since it came out of someone's bo- Garland's thought was cut short as the cloud of res covered his head.

He felt like he was drowning, like his body naturally rejected this res, like it's some sort of sickness and the body was violently fighting it off. Garland wanted to retch, but his body did not obey, he could feel his arms spasm, desperately Garland's arms, slowly tried to cover up the wound on his chest.

He felt pain, but after the first violent outburst, his body started calming down, like the body began to accept the foreign res that had entered his body. He slowly sat up, his hands and legs twitching occasionally, he then emptied the contents of his stomach away from Clyde.

"D-do... all magic initiations start out like that?"

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde wasn't surprised when Garland jerked about somewhat upon receiving the res. Within his mind he focused on the same image of a line through a circle, while focusing on Garlands aura and his own res. As it was a part of him and made of his own djed Clyde knew of it at an innate level. Where it was, its proximity to himself, just as if it was one of his limbs. He could move it by willing it, the same as he did one of his limbs if not perhaps more easily.

Using his awareness of the res combined with sensing Garland's aura he traced a route for his work, carefully winding and guiding the res within the squire. The two magics together made for an easier transference than Reimancy alone would allow.

As it moved through him small bits decayed and died, perhaps small drips and drops being lost and absorbed into the squires body. However what he was looking for was deep inside Garland's core, his deep essence.

Clyde shushed the squire as he tried to speak, forcing the words around his res soaked mouth as Clyde slowly exuded more res, more res flowing in behind the first bit and sinking into him. Trying to cover the wound did nothing, as the gas simply snaked around the limb and soaked into the many openings in his body.

In his state of concentration within the squire and his aura Clyde felt like moments had passed, more likely in truth several chimes had.

Finally though he reached that important inner core, and forced his res into it. A notch without a surface, a cave without a mountain, not a true place or emptiness in the mundane sense but something only existing in the magical.

Clyde used his res to fill that notch, to awaken it, stir it, and free it. Then he began to pull his res back out, pulling it back the way it came while coaxing Garland. Leading him. Showing him the paths and ways within his own body, his own djed. How to move, to make the res, to stir his inner core and release his res.

“Now Gar, push. Will it out. Will it out till all of my res is gone, and you've pushed it out with some of your own.”

The intent was to force the sensation, the process of the res exiting him, upon the squire, to have him mimic it with his now awakened res making abilities. The ability awakened by force of his own res.

Then he would make his own res, and use it to force the last bits of Clyde's res out, thereby exuding his own unique res for the first time. Each mage's res in his experience was unique, and so it'd be visibly noticeable when his res stopped exiting and the new res of Garland's began to exit.

As it would be his first time it wouldn't be much, but it'd mean the squire was a Reimancer and mage and could with training and time do so again.

Clyde meanwhile would continue to pull his res out, tracing it back and reabsorbing the leftover res not lost in the process.

He would keep pulling until all of the res had left the squire, and then wait to see him hopefully perform his first instance of exuding res.