Chapter 175 - No Longer a Novice

Hump raised the idea of joining Marcela’s squad with the rest of the party that evening. It was no surprise when they agreed. Which meant, if Graham’s artifact was a success, in a week’s time the five of them could be fighting warlocks. It was an unnerving thought, but far from what was at the forefront of Hump’s mind.

Tomorrow he was meeting with Priestess Luna. He had a date with her, he mentally corrected himself.

On the way up to the Daston Estate the next morning, Bud and Celaine had helped him to pick out a new set of clothes. The choice in the city was… too much. Why people needed so many different colours and frilly things, he didn’t understand. If Celaine had it her way, he’d be stuck with something that made him feel like a kid playing dress-up. Fortunately, he was able to go for something more practical, though still the finest ordinary clothes he’d ever owned.

“Two gold for ordinary cloth?” Hump scowled at the clerk. “You must be joking. I could buy a wizard robes for that.”

The clerk was a man in his sixties. He looked down at Hump through his glasses. “If you’d like to dress as a wizard, I suggest you shop elsewhere.”

The man had him in a corner. The last thing Hump wanted was to go through it again. “One and five,” Hump offered. “Be reasonable.”

The man frowned at him. “One and eight.”

“One and—”

“You won’t get better than that,” he interrupted.

Hump sighed, forked over the money, then left the shop with a grinning Bud and Celaine.

“You’re going to look so grown up,” Celaine said. “I don’t mean tall. I just mean—” She waved a hand. “Oh, you know what I mean.”

Hump glared at her. “Back to the short jokes, huh?”

She shrugged. “It’s still morning. Give me a chance to get warmed up and I’ll come up with something snappier.”

Rolling his eyes, Hump led the way to the carriageway. He would never admit it, but he was glad to have the two of them along. He was nervous. Adventuring was one thing and talking to people on the job was something he was used to. Having a conversation with an ordinary girl like Luna, he had no idea what he was supposed to do or say.

Hump did his best to keep his mind busy for the day. He was meeting Luna in the evening, so they had plenty of time for the usual day’s training. Few things occupied the mind as well as lava magic—he put it down to all the accidental burning. It came with the territory. Turned out, trying to use Control Lava for shaping exercises wasn’t exactly the safest way to improve his control. It was, however, effective.

Ump was in the spell casting chamber, though this time, not for the armour construct. The ground was covered in sand here, which made for a much easier clean up job for when his lava magic went wrong.

He took one of the fist sized rocks he’d done most of his training with and used his essence to make it float just above his hand. There were two key steps to casting Melt Stone that the Spell Tree hadn’t made clear initially. The process didn’t actually require a huge amount of heat. It required the right amount of heat while willing the stone to break apart into tiny pieces at the same time.

He fixed that in his mind, and said, “Melt Stone.”

The fist sized chunk dissolved into liquid all at once, forming a molten droplet of red and white heat over his hand. This much was easy. Where the spell became more challenging was maintain the consistency. While the spell took care of the work, it took a lot of essence to keep the heat up. Because of that, Hump stuck to shorter shaping exercises.

He brought both hands up around the ball of lava and took a calming breath, letting any stray thoughts leave him and focus take over. He gripped the lava using Control Lava, fixing it in place with his essence. He felt its resistance immediately. It was as energetic as commanding fire, but possessed the weight of earth, almost feeling like an explosion of essence trying to break free of him. The first few times, he’d completely lost control and sent a spittle of molten stone all over the place—it was then that Marcela he kept his lava practice to here.

With the lava ball firmly under his control, he moved his hands apart, pulling at his essence as he did, stretching out the lava like a gelatinous tube. He’d been shaping it into simple forms like bowls and cups—it forced him to manipulate the lava in all sorts of directions and thicknesses, pushing him to the limits of his control even in the short span he could maintain the spell for. Perhaps in the future, he’d find some suitable sand and attempt glass making. It would be handy to be able to make potion vials on the fly.

This time, he was going for a hollow tube. He was about halfway when the spell failed, the top side of the tube folding in on itself and causing the entire structure to collapse. Its power flared, and Hump felt it about to explode when he released the lava on his own, letting it fall to the ground where it hissed and steamed on the sand, pooling over it until it solidified.

Hump shuffled backward and leant against his hands, breathing deeply at the surge of ice through his channels. He winced, waiting for the cold to subside. While the immediate strain of such a strenuous shaping exercise was painful, he found he could recover for the most part in a few minutes and go again.

“It looks like your training has been going well.” Vivienne’s voice came from behind him.

Hump glanced over his shoulder to see her in the entrance to the chamber. He’d not noticed her enter.

“I’m getting there,” Hump said. “It’s more challenging than other spells I’ve learnt of the same tier. Lava has a stronger intent and a lot more energy than I’m used to.”

“Tier 2 manipulation magic is incredibly complex,” Vivienne said. “You’re progressing fast to already be able to wield it with such proficiency. It’s also good to see you keeping up with your shaping exercise practice.”

“I’m not sure I’d call it keeping up. I’ve been trying to practice with my new spells and equipment using shaping exercises. It’s a bit lazy but speeds up the boring bits of training.”

“I do the same,” Vivienne said. “It’s not recommended for novice wizards. While learning the basics, it’s important to focus on doing one thing perfectly rather than multiple things poorly. You’re advancing to a new stage of wizardry, however. Having the capabilities of a Rank 3 wizard is a big step up.”

Hump paused at that. He hadn’t really thought about what it meant to have wielded the Tier 4 spell, White Flame, against the dryad. Wielding battle magic in a combat situation without a formation. Unofficially, that made him a Rank 3 wizard.

“I’m still a way off Soul Manifestation,” Hump said. “Until then, I still feel like a novice.”

Vivienne shook her head. “That feeling never goes away. The more you know, the more you realise how much of magic is still a mystery. Only the ignorant believe otherwise. You are closer to Soul Manifestation than you think, which is one of the reasons I came today.”

“It is?”

She nodded. “I thought now might be a good time to renew our training exercises. I need to see it to be sure, but your use of White Flame draws on techniques only available to those that have successfully manifested their soul.”

“How’s that possible?” Hump asked. “I used the soul projection technique you taught us.”

“That isn’t normal. Being able to use the soul for any kind of attack is exceptional. I believe that the changes you’ve experienced have pushed you beyond an ordinary Rank 3 wizard.”

Hump stood up and picked up his staff. It made him anxious talking about this. Reminded him of the problems he had to face. “When the gorger almost took me over at Stonebark Forest, it woke me up. I’ve been in denial about my situation, but for the first time after that I could sense my soul, and their imprints on it. It made me realise that the damage is done, and it’s not going away on its own. The only way for me to move forward is to grow strong enough to overcome them, and eventually destroy them.”

“I’ve heard of wizards overcoming more minor soul damage in similar ways,” Vivienne said. “It’s possible.”

“Do you know how they did it?” Hump asked.

“Not exactly, but the principles of the soul don’t change. You can either carve off the part of your soul they’re attached to, or you can accept them as a part of yourself, nullifying their intent.”

Hump frowned. “Neither of those sound like particularly good options.”

She laughed. “It won’t be easy. It’s a good goal to strive for though. We’re jumping ahead of ourselves here though. I’ve not even seen you use White Flame yet.”

“You sure you have time to train me?” Hump asked. “It sounded like you would be pretty busy.”

She waved a hand. “Graham exaggerated my role. If we don’t find time now, we may never. Show me what you can do.”

Hump grinned. “Alright then.”

He hadn’t done much practice on White Flame since the battle with the dryad. For one thing, it exhausted him each time he used it, which didn’t make for great training. It also came naturally to him. Ever since he’d woken from his dream with White Flame, it felt like a part of him. The hard part was summoning the power of his soul in the first place, but now that he’d done it, it felt like he could draw upon it whenever he needed to.

He took aim at the armoured construct. A flame kindled before his staff, and into it he through the strength of his soul. Light exploded into the room, and the flame quadrupled in size, essence flooding into it from his staff’s focus, stirring up the wind around him.

“White Flame.”

Fire erupted in a cone from Hump’s staff, blindingly bright. It obscured the armoured construct from sight and filled the air with the smell of burning. As the spell faded, the armoured construct lay in pieces on the floor, glowing red with heat.

Hump placed his staff back on the ground and leaned on it, drawing in deep breaths as he waited for the familiar cold to fade. This was far from the strength he’d put into the attack on the dryad, but it drained him fast.

“Fascinating,” Vivienne said. “You’re definitely directly drawing upon your soul’s strength. Soul Manifestation does the same thing, only you’re using that power to fuel your magic.

“Isn’t that basically the same thing?” Hump asked.

“No, not quite. Soul Manifestation is more than about summoning power; it is about imposing one’s soul on the world around them. No matter how it manifests, that is always the case. Your soul is far stronger than that of a wizard of Rank 3, but you must be cautious. Magic like this opens your soul up as a target. If, for example, I decided to exploit that weakness, I could use the time you spend casting to attack your soul directly, closing you off from your essence and effectively defeating you.”

Hump frowned. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

Vivienne smiled. “The good news is, it’s preventable, though the techniques for such defence are usually only usable for those that have manifested their soul. I’m not entirely sure you can wield them, though I suggest you try.”

“What kind of techniques?”

“For starters, we’ll continue developing the techniques I’ve already taught you. Perception, manipulation, and projection are all key to Soul Manifestation and the techniques built upon it. Until then, your soul is a weakness. As powerful as it is, it is only after manifesting it that you can build on its defences. What we’d be doing is trying to create those defences early.”

So I’m going to be a punching bag again. He wanted to complain. He hated training defensive techniques at the best of times. He could still remember his early days learning Shield, defending against stone after stone thrown by his master. There was never any winning either. If his Shield held, that only meant the next attack was heavier. But… if he could work on his soul now, he wondered what impact that would have on his growth. It had hardly been a consideration when he’d first gained the dragon egg, but if he could complete Soul Manifestation before the Dragon Keeper Trials, he might actually have a chance.

“I’d like to try,” Hump said. “Whether it works or not, my control over my soul needs to get stronger if I’m to have a chance of removing these imprints.”

“Then we’ll begin as before.” Essence expanded around Vivienne, steaming from her in great water-blue trails. That power gathered in the air around her, coating her in power. Hump felt a chill down his spine as she released the power of her soul. “Do your best to resist.”

The pressure descended like a storm. Hump felt himself drowning in it. He responded on instinct, his entire body tensing as his soul pushed back against the intrusion. Where the gorger had wormed its way in, Vivienne came from all directions with overwhelming power. It crushed him, though as strong as it felt, Hump didn’t feel like he would collapse against it. It pushed him, but he could still control himself. He pressed back against her, forming a shell of will and essence. He could resist.