Dream Magic: Awakenings (13 page)

"Hey, you two! Stop bashing each other on the head! Those are high-quality training staves; if you break them, I'll chew you up and spit you out!"

"Yes, ma'm."

Eric pondered what his problem was. He didn't like wands, but didn't think his dislike was so deep it would to turn into disgust. Also, the idea of quitting before even starting was repulsive to him.
Even if I'm biased, it's better to give an honest try before deciding for sure.

Did I quit after destroying three crystals? Of course not, I'm not a quitter.
He managed to charge the crystal on the fourth try. He stood with the crystal in hand for what felt like half an hour, waiting for it to absorb the energy it needed.
Those things are half-alive or something.
He didn't actually have to do much except be patient and make sure not to unintentionally overload the crystal.
It wasn't as bright as Lucy's, but I didn't quit then and I won't quit now.

The sky thundered, without a single cloud in sight.
Strange.
Ever since the first time he arrived in dream camp, he couldn't recall it ever rained.

He looked at the wand in his hand, and resisted an urge to throw it away and be done. He recalled how it felt to hold Dancing Feather in his hand - such power, such purpose!

Eric sighed, and walked towards the stone table with the piles of stuff on it. Maeve was overseeing the kids from there.

"Could I try a staff instead?" Eric asked.

"Sure. Is there something wrong with the wand?"

"No, I just don't like it much."

"I see..." Maeve pulled out a black staff from the pile, and knocked on it. "Try this one."

"Thank you."

Eric took the staff and started walking back. The staff wasn't flimsy as the wand, and holding it felt more natural. Yet, his reluctance lingered on. The staff had substance, but in Eric's mind, it still lacked purpose.

He stopped after a few steps.
Maybe I don't have to figure out everything on my own.

Eric turned back to Maeve. "I guess I just don't get it; why should I use a wand or a staff at all?"

"As I said before, wands provide a baseline for magical energies. Your own energies are channeled into the wood, where any surges and inconsistencies are smoothed over. When focus magic is used together with symbol and ritual magic, the results tend to be consistent and nasty surprises are kept to a minimum. With practice, it becomes easier to focus on the particular energy type that you want to use. It's the same thing with staves, except they handle more power at the expense of precision."

The sky thundered again. Eric looked up, and saw dark clouds approaching.

Maeve grumbled under her breath. "I thought we agreed not to implement a weather cycle just yet... Damn that Joe, what the hell is he up to now?"

"Ohlson said a sword can do everything a wand can, is that true?" Eric asked.

"He exaggerated. Blades as focus items are carriers of the edge - that which severs and connects things. Wands and staves are good for manipulating the quality of energy, whereas with blades the energy type doesn't matter much as long as it's sharply controlled."

"But why should I use a wand if I can cast a spell without it?"

"Perhaps the biggest reason is ease of use. A wand helps iron out the mage's energies, so she has an easier time focusing - hence the term 'focus item'. This ties in well with the use of habit in ritual magic."

"But isn't that only a kind of crutch?"

Maeve shrugged. "A tool is a tool. It doesn't mean you have to use it all the time, just that you
can
use it if you want to. Another big reason is that focus items can be enhanced to help the user in various ways, most commonly through embedding crystals or carving runes. A skilled wandsmith can also create wands for specialized purposes." Maeve picked up a wand from the pile and waved it around.

"Lastly, a focus item can be used for practice while you learn a new spell or improve an old one. With the help of a wand, you can approach your own energies more objectively, and learn greater control. Some mages even go to the length of constructing various focus apparatuses to help them train. Alchemists create similar contraptions to aid them with their work."

Maeve lowered the wand. "Today's class is only about familiarizing yourself with focus items. Just observe and feel how the energy changes through the focus item; even if you won't use such tools in the future, you will have still learned something."

Eric caught himself leaning too much on the staff; he straightened up and nodded. "That makes sense. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

He turned around and walked back to his training spot. He wasn't enamored with focus items, but at least he came to understand how they could be useful. Eric decided to use a staff for training, but not carry one around.
For now.

"Why aren't you training?" Rose asked, offering no more than a glance.

Rose and Lucy stood farther away, and they continued to concentrate deeply as they whirled their wands. Eric couldn't tell if they were making progress or not, but they certainly showed dedication.

"I am, I just had some questions," he said loudly, and waited a moment for Rose to respond. She didn't, and he turned his attention back to the staff.

The wood was dark and hardened.
Must be some kind of coating.
It had the same symmetric arrangement of small, black crystals as the wand, except they were greater in number due to the length and thickness of the staff.

Since he couldn't use his standard fireball stance with the staff in his hands, he held it in his right hand, extended it, and pointed it in a direction away from everyone. He tried to make a fireball as he was accustomed to, but he broke off the spell almost immediately.
Damn.

When he used only his hands, there was a degree of immediacy, a certain tactile feedback which was missing here.
Maybe I'm just not used to it yet.
Additionally, the point he's supposed to focus on, the far end of the staff, was... well... far. Pushing the energy through the staff wasn't difficult, but it presented an additional layer of complexity requiring attention.

Eric tried again. Making the energy surge through the staff was more difficult than simply externalizing the fire.

There was a faint burning smell, and for a brief moment, a black shine grew from the crystals and enveloped the staff. The burning smell promptly subsided.

I should stop trying to make the fireball right away and just focus on pressing the energy through.

The staff definitely put up resistance to the energy passing through it. Eric considered pushing harder, but concluded it would probably defeat the purpose of using a staff.
Maybe the principle that the wielder has to become one with the weapon holds true here as well.

So far, since the fire attunement, the externalization of fire energy was as simple as flicking a switch. He recognized the fire within and pushed it out, easy as that. The resistance of the staff interfered and made him pay attention to the process - he had to go from inside energy to partial externalization to outside energy.

His identity stretched. That which travelled through the staff was still part of him, until it became something recognizably outside of himself.
Is this extra step a benefit or hindrance?
Eric started thinking about how to use it to his advantage.

The fire energy he pushed through the staff came out different than his usual explosive fire. Instead of big flames intent on burning everything, the resulting fire consisted of small flames burning with the same size and color.

Controllable?
He pushed the fire through, and made a standard air sphere for containment at the exit point. The result was a mono-color flame ball, which was responsive to Eric's guidance, but didn't pack much of a punch. Eric went through the motions a few times, thinking about how to use this type of energy. He remembered what Ohlson told him, that advanced fireball spells also used earth-type containment.

He guided the energy along; reminiscent of the time Rose used a burning twig to illustrate the idea behind the magic of imagination. He led the fire along in the major motions of a magic sphere, and after a few tries, it remained relatively stable.

Practice this way was tedious, since he didn't have the stance or the use of his hands to help him, but he was getting the hang of it.

Slowly, a plan formed in his mind. If he used this cleaner type of energy to make a shape on the inside, and applied the rotations of an air-based sphere from the outside, this two-tiered containment would allow him to push more fire into the spell. But how could he access the regular fire if he pushed it all through the staff?
I would have to learn to get this energy without the staff.

Or... oh, I'm a genius!
I could push energy both through the staff and around it!
The fire passing through the staff would be clearer, while the fire travelling around it would be unfiltered and he could externalize the bulk of it without resistance.

He let the idea of the spell crystallize in his mind, until each detail fell into place.

It should work... It will work!

Eric extended the staff away from him, paused for a moment in deliberation, and let the spell fly. Flames blazed along the staff, and a powerful turbulence whipped them into shape at the end of the staff. It wasn't yet a fireball, but it was fire, and it was a ball, more or less, violently spiraling around in many directions. Eric's concentration skipped out on one detail, then another - and the flames burst out in a display of fireworks.

Yes! I'll have to work on the compression... but it works!

"Did you see what I just did?"

Rose smiled briefly and gave him a quiet thumbs-up.

"I used two-fold containment. It's not yet perfect, but maybe next I will..."

"Shh." Rose was more interested in what was going on to her left, as she was eavesdropping on the conversation between Lucy and Maeve.

Eric moved closer.

"...can play as long as they don't disturb others who are practicing. Keep an eye on the item piles, and if someone wants to leave, collect their practice wands. Got it?"

"Yes," Lucy said.

"Good... I'll be back soon. I feel it in my bones, Joe's up to something and he didn't tell me. And if he is, I'll beat the ever-loving poop out of him. I have too much to worry about as it is."

With every ounce of resistance you're making your fear stronger. Every such thought or feeling is like saying: "This thing is so strong and I am so weak!" Why would you give your power and integrity away like that? Face your fear head on, accept it, let it go and see it vanish.

- Practical Guide to Nightmares,
Dreamer's Handbook

Eric was sitting on top of a hill, twiddling a blade of grass and listening to Mr. Smith.

"...so, try not to do anything that would seem cowardly or too otherworldly. Here are some guidelines: engage head on, at short or mid distance. No long-range sniping, alright? No excessive flying either - a hop or two is allowed, but keep the battle on the ground. No mind control, no illusions, no hexes, no curses, no domination magic, no necromancy-"

"We don't know any of those," Lucy said.

"Good... nothing too dark or too cruel. Charge and bash their skulls in, or blast them from not too far. No sneaking, no backstabbing, no eye-gouging. Kicks in the groin area are just fine - dirty, but not dishonorable. We want them defeated, but it should be very clear to them that they are being defeated at their own game in a friendly contest. Questions?"

"Why are they attacking us?" Rose asked.

"They have a battle culture; probably no reason beyond that. For them, a battle is how they validate and find their own place in the world. For us, this battle is a communication attempt. By making a show of force, we are saying we are not pushovers and that we share some of their values. If we exhibit too little force, they'll despise us. If we exhibit too much, we risk being revered. So, we aim for the middle and hope to establish a basis for future diplomacy."

Mr. Smith raised a pointed finger. "That's where you come in. We, the teachers in this camp, are too powerful, so we'll let you kids take the front lines. The fight will be fairer, and the goblins will have to acknowledge the ferocity of young humans. It should be a learning experience for you as well."

"And what will you do?" Rose asked.

"Observe, mostly, and prepare for the unexpected. I'll keep the portal and the realm stable, make sure no one scares to death, and take other precautions you don't have to concern yourself with."

A vast field stretched below, filled with the shush of green grass. Across the field and a little to Eric's left, towered a hill higher than the one he was sitting on. To his distant right, densely packed trees marked the boundary of the field. Beyond the trees, all he could see was a large body of water going till the horizon.
Is that a sea? Hmm... I think not. It might be the same lake I swam in, just in another configuration.

On the far edge of the field was the reason they were here: the portal. It still looked strange, but it was no longer simply an anomaly in the space-time continuum. It was strong, more symmetrical, its movements and rotations no longer haphazard. It twisted light around it like a kaleidoscope, but it also radiated: the light of another sun was shining through it.

"Wasn't the portal on top of the cliff?" Eric asked.

"We moved it. We needed space and static distances, so we constructed this battlefield for the occasion."

"I didn't know it was possible to move a portal," Lucy said.

"Everything is possible," Mr. Smith stated.

There was movement near the portal. A figure appeared, ran around quickly with a raised sword, and shouted loud enough even for Eric to hear it. One more goblin appeared, then another and another... They quickly formed a defensive circle around the portal.