Completed The Second Element

[Kynier]

83rd of Summer 518 A.V.

It had only been a couple of days since Doler had performed the initiation. Still, Kynier’s fingers and hands were slow and stiff in their movements. He slowly and carefully pulled back on the fingers of one hand in an effort to help loosen them up. While he knew the problem was due to desynchronization between his astral form and his physical one, it had a placebo effect that just made him feel better for doing something. Even if it had no effect on the cause. Standing on the balcony of the Midnight Gem, Kynier gazed at the sea while considering what he was going to do.

Kelski desired training in magic. And though he promised to teach her and answer her questions, he was uncertain of what to do. There were so many memories of receiving lessons from Bourin that it was difficult to remember what the first actually lesson had been. Kynier had exchanged information with other mages. Knowledge of one discipline for another, or a new discipline to someone that already knew enough that he didn’t need to explain the most basic concepts to. He never had a student before, and she wasn’t a blank slate either. Already, he had explained what Djed was. But she had talked to Farris, Savatar, and she possessed the book of Auristics.

In all honesty, he didn’t need to give her any training. Auristics and Shielding were both very safe disciplines that one could advance on their own. As he had done once he learned the very basics. Once she had asked about learning how to create “the fire”. Reimancy. But he still wasn’t ready to be able to Initiate her. Kynier looked at his stiff hand. That’s what he could do. If he pushed his limits, he would be enough of an expert to be able to handle an Initiation. At least, he was sure he could. Already there was very little left for him to learn about pyromancy. Making it time to select the next element.

The choice was between Air and Earth. Water was very practical to know. But since moving to the Midnight Gem, he had a bountiful source of clean water in a city filled with fetid waters. Remembering what Farris had once told him about Para-Elements. The creation of Lightning. The idea was very appealing to Kynier. Air was no less practical than Water. It was invisible too. It could be used more subtly in theory. So, Kynier closed his eyes and meditated. Relaxing his body and allowing his breath to flow freely through him. Since he was working on air, he filled his lungs to maximum capacity on each breath.

With another deep breath he delved into his soulcore for djed. With his will he transmuted it into res of a gaseous nature that protruded from his hand. The mystic material floated above his palm. It was then he realized he did not know what sort of concept to think of in order to create air. Fire came from ignition, but what single word could be applied to air?

So, the mage did not try to associate the concept to a word. He stared hard at the res and thought on its transmutation. Willing it to become air. But after a moment of such concentration, nothing happened except for the res showing signs of breaking down.

Credit for the boxcode goes to Luminescence!

[Kynier]

With a disgruntled sigh he released his concentration on the res to allow it to deteriorate to nothingness on its own. Kynier made his way inside to the study to begin a journal on his exploration of Reimancy. Before it felt as though he could remember everything he learned. Yet, there was so little that he had known at the time he made that decision. Farris had been wiser by keeping his journal. Until he had met the other mages, Kynier had no idea that most mages only knew perhaps three disciplines. Another piece of Bourin’s teaching that he had taken for granted.


Sitting at the desk in the study, Kynier took out a blank journal, as well as a vial of ink. Kynier set the book on the desk’s surface before uncorking the vial, and taking out the Mighty Quill from his vest. Kynier flipped past the first few blank pages. He would title them later. The quill tip hovered over the surface of the book for a moment as he thought about how to write down his notes. Eventually he decided that this one should reflect his thoughts and discoveries about his undertaking.


Eighty-Third of Summer, in the year of 518 A.V.

Today I’ve started researching the next element of Reimancy. I have chosen Air and have failed my first attempt of creating it. Unlike Fire, Air is proving to be a greater challenge. There is no singular word to associate with the concept of air, which is what I had done with the previous element and will do with the next two. Perhaps more imagery is necessary than what Nurxan would have suggested.


He set the Mighty Quill down in a way that would keep the journal from closing on him. Kynier straightened his spine a little as he allowed himself to enter a trance. One that hypnotized him with the sound of his own breathing. Eyes half closed and staring at nothing he hushed all thoughts from his mind except for one question. How to generate Air? Sometimes the answer needed to come to the mage instead of being hunted down intellectually. Ten breaths passed as he thought only of the riddle. Another ten breaths passed before thirty more. While he could ask the shadows for insights, Kynier felt in this it was better to be able to discover it on his own.

More than a hundred slow breaths passed. Discouragement was not able to settle in as it would have been a distraction. Until finally a single very deep breath had been released. Kynier had considered accepting defeat when it dawned on him. Breathing. Lifting his head, his mind retreated to his core to access his power. Djed transmuted to gas which he held above his palm. Focusing on the idea of creating air he tied his intent to a single word. Breath.

The gaseous res disappeared, yet Kynier still felt some control of res above his hand. Holding up his other hand to the far side, he willed the unseen substance towards it. It did not feel like a gust or a gentle breeze. More like a dense puff of air that struck his palm in a semi-violent manner. It felt like air and the sensation was gone as quickly as it had formed. Kynier smiled.

Credit for the boxcode goes to Luminescence!

[Kynier]

It was possible that it was merely a product of luck. So Kynier immediately brought forth more Djed and turned it into a liquid. He cupped his hand and allowed it to pool in his palm. Focusing his intent, Kynier stared at the translucent liquid. Breath. The liquid dissolved quickly, and Kynier could see the air ripple above his palm. Bringing his other hand above the first, he created a spherical shape with his hands and fingers. Kynier channeled more res to form, converting it into air and willing it to condense. A small opaque mass formed between his hands as the artificial air grew in quantity.

A curiosity formed. Kynier brought the sphere of air closer to his face. His hands rotated around to the other side as Kynier took a small inhale which consisted mostly of the res made air. Almost instantly, Kynier’s head felt lightheaded. Pulling his face away, Kynier took a few rapid breaths of normal air. Twisting both hands around to face away from him, Kynier sent the sphere of air away from him to dissipate. He gave his head a shake and braced his weight on his knees as he waited for the lightheaded sensation to pass. After a chime it was gone picked up the Mighty Quil to write more notes in his new journal.


Only two attempts have been made, but both have been successful. Corelating the concept of breathing with the production of Air. During the second test I indulged in a curiosity and took a breath of the product of my Reimancy. It is something I would not recommend doing again unless under dire circumstances.


Setting the Mighty Quill down Kynier started pacing between around the study. With a finger and thumb he rubbed at his chin as he considered what he could do with aeromancy. Before he had begun it seemed like it would be a useful and subtle tool. Now that he was a few steps into the process he was second guessing that assumption. That would potentially require a more finite level of control than was possible. Kynier gave a thoughtful “Hmm,” he made his way out onto the balcony again. Taking a breath of fresh natural air to help steady him more from his experiment a chime ago.

Sitting down Kynier closed his eyes and began meditation once more. He attempted to expand his awareness in order to sense the things beyond his sight. To feel the stillness around him. After several chimes of being one with the stillness, Kynier realized that there was in fact motion occurring in the study. Air was flowing in the subtlest of breezes. The discovery gave Kynier some inspiration as well as some understanding. That before he could attempt the gentle breeze he needed to first learn to control its movements more. Unlike Fire, air was constantly changing directions

Straightening his posture, Kynier redirected his awareness inward. To tap once more into that font of power for another experiment. One that was best done outside where it would make less of a mess.

Credit for the boxcode goes to Luminescence!

[Kynier]

There were many subtleties to magic that Kynier discovered that he was growing accustomed to. Unless he was deep in meditation, like now, he tended to overlook how it physically felt to summon his Djed. The buzzing warmth he felt throughout, as well as how all the hairs on his body stood on end, covering his skin in bumps. In the stillness with his mind purged of other thoughts and sensations, Kynier had bypassed being desensitized to the feeling. If he were to think back to when he had no longer noticed the sensation, he would not be able to distinguish a time.

The Djed transmuted to res, which he formed in a gaseous state. Unlike before, it did not permeate through the palms of his hands. Instead, it emanated from his arms, his shoulders, and his back to create a mist that surrounded him. With a deep breath, Kynier willed his res to emanate ever further away from him on the exhale. Though his eyes were nearly closed, he could feel, more than anything else, the distance the res was covering. Once it reached out approximately three feet in each direction he was satisfied. His focus narrowed to half of what he had conjured as he applied his will and intent to its transformation. Breath. To an observer, the dense opaque mist would have suddenly become more transparent. But the unused res was now bound to the artificial air and was still in a state to be manipulated.

Kynier’s mind focused on a circle and his will followed suit. The aeromancy began to rotate around him. Slowly, with the intensity of a soft exhale. It was the most amount of res he ever attempted to manipulate at once, and he was already doing it for longer than he had ever done before. He pushed harder with his mental efforts. The speed of the res’s movements was experiencing a gradual increase as it spiraled around him. After a chime he felt the gentle trickle of sweat on his brow. With a single deep inhale, he eased on his mental intent only to renew it on the exhale.

The air around him circled him with the pace of a gentle breeze, slightly offsetting how warm he was beginning to feel from such a long application of magic. Harder and harder he pushed, just to see how fast it could go. Eventually, Kynier lost track of the chimes that had passed and the miniature vortex he sat in the middle of had the intensity to slightly disbalance someone. Kynier cut his will off from it suddenly and gasped. Almost instantly all the remaining res deteriorated, and the artificial air dissipated into the atmosphere.

Catching his breath, which he wasn’t aware that he had lost, Kynier remained seated for a few moments. Once he had recollected himself he stood up and went back to the study. The next page of the journal had flipped closed on the book. The mage sat down and returned to the current page in use and took up the Might Quill again.

Air is not as easy to control and manipulate as one would expect. While it is more easily manipulated than Fire, it took several chimes to generate a wind that could, at the very least, disturb someone’s balance. For now, it is an impractical method for offensive purposes. The next step is to explore a subtler use of it.

Credit for the boxcode goes to Luminescence!

[Kynier]

Kynier set the quill down and messaged his fingers and forearms. It was not easy writing when the fingers were this stiff. Depending on how the next experiment goes, it may not be necessary to record the results. For a moment he considered the logistics of keeping a journal. It was more documentation than anything. What he was unsure of is if it was worthwhile making a note about every attempt for each experiment. Perhaps not. Noting what caused his endeavors to succeed was most likely more important than noting unknown reasons for failures. Mentally he shrugged. Only Tanroa knew until he spent more time actively doing it.

Reaching into a drawer, he pulled out another book that was blank. Kynier opened it and flipped through a few pages; testing the pages to see how stiff they were. They didn’t seem too rigid. Standing up, he went to the center of the most open section of the study. There, he set the blank book down with the pages open to approximately the middle of the book. Taking a few paces away, he sat down on the floor and made himself comfortable.

Certain days, meditation was fairly easy to initiate. Other days it was harder. Strong thoughts would linger, and the mind just couldn’t reach an inner peace sometimes. Often, he found that days of training, like this, it could be difficult to avoid falling asleep after multiple uses of magic that stretched his limits. Kynier’s mind felt a bit worn from the prolonged state of intense focus he used during the last experiment. “This will be the last one for today, I feel.” Not daring to close his eyes, Kynier began his meditation. This time he used the Syna and Leth imagery over the river.

A mental image portraying the passage of time. Kynier worked on synchronizing the astrological bodies’ movements with his breathing. After a chime or two, the mage felt his eyelids begin to droop. Abandoning the meditation imagery, Kynier reached for that inner pool and took some Djed mentally. It transmuted to res that took a gaseous form. A hand reached out with the palm facing the open book on the floor. With one last breath filling his lungs, Kynier applied his intent to the gaseous res forming at his fingertips. Breath. Part of it transmuted once again.

Quickly, Kynier willed the small gathering of artificial air towards the book. It traversed low to the ground and moved faster than he expected. The aeromancy brushed over the open pages and managed to flip several over. The small gust had struck harder than he anticipated, making the pages flap loudly when turning over. Kynier scratched at the back of his head curiously. After a moment, he stood up and retrieved the open book to return it to the desk drawer. When he was sitting down at the desk he picked up the quill to make one last note for the day.


The attempt at a subtler use of Air was not as successful as I had hoped. This was due to a different discovery that had been made. Smaller quantities of Air formed with Reimancy are capable of being propelled faster with less effort. This is very interesting because it reminds me of something that Bourin would repeat a few times to me during my youth. “Less is more.” At the time I did not really understand how that could be. Now I can understand.

Credit for the boxcode goes to Luminescence!

[Kynier]

Grades!

Skill Rewards

• Logic +2
• Meditation +4
• Reimancy +5
• Research +5
• Writing +4

Lores Learned

• Meditation: Bypassing being desensitized
• Meditation: Somedays, meditation is easier than other days
• Reimancy: Creating the element of Air
• Reimancy: Aeromancy should only be breathed in an emergency
• Reimancy: Generating a vortex around Kynier
• Writing: Not easy when the fingers are stiff