Chapter 68 - Direction of Training

They gathered in Vivienne’s study after lunch. A cozy room on the second floor with just enough space to fit them all in. A rounded bookshelf covered the back wall, shaped to fit the building’s curvature, filled with an impressive collection of books on everything from magical theory to mathematics. While the three of them found seats on a couple of plush sofas, Vivienne sat behind her desk, a notepad and pen in front of her.

Dylan followed them in shortly, bringing with him another tray of tea that filled the room with a pungent herbal scent. Hump took his gratefully, taking a sip of the steaming brew as Dylan sat down beside Celaine. There was nothing quite like a hot drink to mitigate the chill after expending essence.

“I’ve already pointed out a few areas of improvement that stood out in each of you,” Vivienne said. “What I’d like to do now is expand on that and decide on a direction to move forward. Now I’m also very aware that we haven’t known each other long, and each of you will know yourselves much better than I do. I’ll be relying on your input to tailor this training to each of you, so speak up whenever you feel the need. How does that sound?”

“Good, I think,” Bud said. “I certainly feel the need to improve after that beating you gave us on the field.”

Vivienne smiled. “It wasn’t so bad. You each had your flaws, but I could see talent in there too.”

“Really?” Celaine said. “It felt like a whole lot of terrible to me.”

“You’re not pleased with your performance?” Vivienne asked.

Celaine scoffed, either angry or embarrassed—Hump found it hard to tell. “Is there anything to be pleased about? I spent half the fight running away from an illusionary attack and didn’t land a single hit on you.”

“Perhaps in more favourable terrain your skills in stealth and mobility would have better come into play,” Vivienne said. “In an open space like that, illusions are much easier to maintain, and more difficult to see through.”

Celaine sighed. “Either way, it’s clear to me now that I need far more practice with Hunter’s Instinct. I’ve had little experience outside of hunting monsters and none of them have used essence in any way close to as complicated.”

“It’s something we can work on,” Vivienne said. “Though, if I thought you would land a hit on me, I wouldn’t have suggested sparring with real weapons. My illusions are not so easily seen through even by those with an ability to do so.”

“You were that confident?” Bud asked.

“I may be a wizard, Robert, but there is a disparity of rank that cannot be surpassed simply with a few blessings.” She turned back to Celaine. “Now back to the topic at hand, while you may have mostly been dodging illusionary projectiles, you displayed advanced skill in both your archery and mobility. Outside of soul training, I think for you we’ll be focusing on how you can apply your blessings in different ways.”

“What do you mean?”

“Take Spring Step for example. Being a blessing, this likely comes subconsciously to you, however what you’re actually doing is using essence to both enhance the muscles in your legs as well as create a propulsion force to push you up. So far, I’ve seen you use it to jump explosively, but have you tried using it to run, climb, or walk on water? Can you use it to perform a powerful kick? Is it possible to channel the same ability but through your hands?

“I don’t know,” Celaine said. “I was told at higher circles Spring Step can be used to walk on water, but the one time I tried it I fell through.”

“A higher circle requirement suggests it could be either a lack of control or power,” Vivienne said. “We’ll need to do some testing. Perhaps you can’t yet walk on it but maybe you can jump or skim across it. Blessings simplify the process of using essence. They’re versatile and finding that versatility is the difference between being average and great.”

“I’m not sure how I feel about breaking down what our blessings do on a technical level and how they function,” Bud said. “It sounds an awful lot like wizardry.”

Vivienne turned to him abruptly. “As it should! Wizards take their spells from blessings. Though most spells are far from as versatile, it’s by isolating the various powers that blessings hold that we create them.”

“You intend for me to go down the same path?” Bud asked.

“You’ve already started,” Vivienne said. “Launching your frostfire beyond your blade was a sneaky tactic. If I were closer to your own level, it may have caught me off guard. Once more, this is where the soul is key to strength. I may lack the physical strength of a fighter practitioner or Chosen, but the density of essence within my body enhances it to the point where I can likely keep up with you. You will experience the same thing each time your Brilliance receives an additional circle, even more so for major circles like the fourth where your soul is manifested.”

Hump found himself wondering how she would compare to Kassius, who had required multiple bronze rankers to bring down, as well as the help of an undead dragon.

“If only reaching the fourth circle were so easy,” Bud said.

“Your souls have yet to reach maturity,” Vivienne said. “This is the period where you will develop the fastest. While advancing to the fourth circle during our time together is unlikely, I’d like to see you both reach the third. Particularly you, Robert. You’re at the age where Chosen really start to show their growth, and you need to make use of it.”

“Is that possible?” Bud asked. “You said it’s taken Dylan four years.”

“You’ve been training well beyond four years,” Vivienne chided. “Reaching your second circle so soon after gaining some experience is good, but you can’t let that slow down. Your souls are primed for advancement. What you need is a catalyst. As for Celaine, we’ll need to figure out just how much her Brilliance differs. You said that Owalyn does not need to grant you your next blessing. How do your people usually progress?”

“We hunt,” Celaine said. “As we train our skills and gain experience, our circles naturally develop, eventually granting us our next blessing.”

“Then you will have priority when it comes to monster requests,” Vivienne said. “In the meantime, developing your soul technique will be our focus.”

“Actually, there’s another thing,” Hump said. “Celaine is interested in learning some magic, so I’ve started teaching her shaping exercises. I think it would be worth her joining us for spell practice.”

“A Chosen learning magic,” Vivienne said, eyes alight. “Interesting. Very interesting! Yes, you should join us indeed. Though will Owalyn not oppose it?”

“She encourages our learning of new things,” Celaine said. “There is nothing to be concerned about.”

“Then you will join us for spell training,” Vivienne said. “I’d like to see what issues Hump is having forming a bond with the egg, so perhaps we’ll tie the training in together. I hope that’s okay with you?” Vivienne’s look told Hump that the question was directed at Celaine.

Celaine hesitated for only a moment before nodding. “Yes. I think we could do with the help.”

“Bonds with beasts are almost always matters of the soul,” Vivienne said. “I believe we’ll find a solution.”

The thought made Hump nervous. The problem seemed obvious if it really were an issue with his soul—only the dragon’s imprint could be responsible for that. This training with Vivienne might just reveal the one thing he was still trying to keep from her.

“Is monster hunting going to be the core method of training our souls?” Bud asked.

“No. For one thing, there’s not enough monsters in the area for that. But more importantly, strengthening the soul is more than just fighting and training, it’s about understanding yourself, and using that understanding to reaffirm your resolve. Whether that’s based on the ideology of a religion or one’s own desires, it matters not. There are some other training exercises we’ll go through of course. Much of what I’ll teach you is meditative techniques, and how to defend yourself against suppressive auras.”

Bud nodded, though he was frowning. “I think I understand.”

“You’re taught as Chosen to accept things for what they are,” Vivienne said. “As practitioners, we’re taught the opposite. We dig deeply into the theory behind why things are the way there are. I understand that looking at your Brilliance in this way might appear to go against your prior teachings—it doesn’t. There is logic beyond everything that the gods do, and we’re just trying to decipher a piece of it.”

“Thank you,” Bud said. “I’m looking forward to seeing the results.”

“Honestly, these days young lords and ladies are far too pampered. They should have had you out fighting monsters years ago.”

“It’s deemed a rather archaic practice to send out children to hunt monsters,” Bud said. “Alveron is safe. The lands are no longer plagued by monsters.”

“Which is why we see less and less Chosen reaching the fourth circle. And let me tell you, a Chosen without their soul manifestation is hardly a Chosen at all. Now are there any other questions?” She looked between them both. “Perfect. Then we’ll move onto Hump. Dylan, why don’t you start? What did you make of his abilities from your session?”

Dylan glanced at Hump, appearing a little uncomfortable.

“That look isn’t a good sign, is it?” Hump said. “Just be blunt with me.”

“Very well,” Dylan said. “Then I ask you to forgive me in advance if I cause any offense.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Hump said. “There’s nothing you could say that’s worse than what Celaine says.”

Celaine glared at him from the opposite sofa. “I am not that bad.”

Dylan smiled. “Okay then. Overall, I think you did very well. When you caught me with that earth spell and forced me to use my Aspect of the Bear, that could very easily have ended with my defeat. And if we consider your ability with fire magic, you’re a very potent opponent.”

“Then what was with the apprehensive look?” Hump asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

“The way I see it is you have three very dangerous weaknesses,” Dylan said. “Though perhaps two of them may fit into the same category. The first isn’t too terrible, and my master already pointed it out. You were unable to deal with my mobility, outside of laying a trap. It’s not something you can rely on in every fight, so you’ll need to either improve your ability to strike mobile opponents or find a way to restrict them.”

“This will be particularly relevant if you’re to improve your individual combat abilities,” Vivienne said. “It’s almost counterintuitive for a wizard to learn to fight alone, but you face a rather unique circumstance. These trials will not allow you the help of your teammates.”

“Which leads me onto my next point,” Dylan said. “I fear in a real fight you would quickly be overwhelmed in melee combat. Where Master Vivienne is capable of both blocking and responding to an attack, you have to retreat behind your shield. Shattering your own shield to catch me off guard with Essence Blast was a nice attempt, however such an all or nothing gambit doesn’t have long term prospects. Eventually you will get unlucky or be faced with multiple foes that can take advantage of your momentary vulnerability.”

“I agree with you,” Hump said. “There’s been too many close calls already, and I’ve only been doing this for a couple of months.”

Dylan scratched his head. “Well regarding your defence at least, I think there’s a fairly simple solution that will see massive benefits.”

“You’re not going to tell me to train harder, are you?” Hump said.

Dylan snorted. “No, though it will certainly require some time. Your staff skills are almost non-existent—”

Hump frowned. “My staff skills? As in, my ability to hit you with it?”

“Exactly,” Dylan said.

“I’m a wizard! We tend to get squashed if we’re in range to hit things. In fact, I’ve made it my policy to avoid getting close enough to hit things.”

Dylan smiled. “That’s all well and good until those things get in range to hit you. Learning some quarterstaff techniques will make you less reliant on just your shields for defence. Besides, who would expect a wizard to smash them in the face?”

“Nobody, I suppose,” Hump said.

“I’d be happy to teach you. I’m no weapon master, of course, but I’m more than capable of teaching you the basics.”

Hump glanced at Vivienne. “What do you think of this?”

“It’s not something I’ve trained myself, however they do teach staff technique back at the academy. While you won’t see the same benefit as a wizard skilled in internal essence techniques like battle wizards, who lie closer to fighters on the spectrum of essence usage, I believe it would still be a good skill for you to have.”

“It’s good exercise too,” Bud said. “If Dylan’s willing to train you, I think you might even enjoy it.”

Hump was fairly certain he wouldn’t, though now wasn’t the time to argue on that point. “I’ll be honest, when I came here for training, improving my melee abilities weren’t high on my list.”

“It will do far more than just that,” Vivienne said. “It will train your reaction speed, your ability to respond to an attack, and even your general combat sense. All of it will help you to understand how you should apply your spells.”

Hump sighed. “I can see the sense in that. I’m willing to give it a try, though it’s no replacement for spell practice. Watching you really brought to light just how lacking my own magic is, Vivi. I’d like to learn to use Parry Shield, and your illusion magic looked incredibly useful.”

“I’ll try to teach you both, though the goal here is for you to find your own style. I lack your talent for power, which has naturally led to my specialisation in the more precise uses of essence. While illusions are well suited for me, your tests revealed that may not be the case.”

Hump grimaced. “Was it that bad?”

“I’ve seen twelve-year-olds with more skill at veils,” Vivienne said. “Don’t be disheartened though. We each have our strengths, and while it’s vital for you to improve your control, we can’t ignore the gifts that you do have.”

“What are you thinking?” Hump said.

Vivienne sat back in her chair, assessing him. “You tell me. What style of magic do you see yourself developing? Which schools do you feel most comfortable with?”

“Master Sethril was directing me toward earth magic that controls the battlefield like his,” Hump said. “I always thought I would go in that direction eventually.”

“Such large-scale magic requires both control and power, I can see it being a good fit for you. However, you’re still not thinking about your own strengths. You’ve changed since Seth passed.”

“Fire and earth,” Hump said. “My master lacked offensive capabilities, but I don’t.”

“Indeed,” Vivienne said. “Having two affinities as strong as yours is uncommon. It’s unfortunate in some ways that one of those affinities is fire, as such spells are so hard to access, though hopefully your spellbook will be the solution to that. I have a few fire spells that I can teach you too, though when it comes to combining them with earth you may need to create some yourself.”

“While I’ve never heard of a lava wizard,” Bud said. “The Chosen of Lograth are said to possess the strength of a volcano. There are few more devastating on the battlefield.”

“It’s a power combination,” Vivienne said. “There’s plenty of area control that you can use to restrict the movement of your foes in preparation for large attacks.”

“A lava wizard,” Hump said. “It sounds like a fitting combination for a dragon bonded, doesn’t it? I like it. How do we start?”

“I suggest you continue the line of teaching Seth started you on,” Vivienne said. “Do you have access to his spells?”

“Not many of them. Not yet at least.” They had to be in the Book of Infinite Pages, the question was how to get them out.

“No matter,” Vivienne said. “I have the tomes for many of his lower tier spells. I know I have Earth Pit, which will be a good way to expand on your use of Transform Earth. And then Earthen Grasp is simply a very useful spell. We’ll start with those first. From there, we’ll need to figure out how to imbue them with fire essence.”

“About that,” Hump said. “I think that’s technically what I did back in the dungeon. I suspect my use of Rockshot combined with fire essence caused my spellbook to reveal Molten Stone to me—it’s a Tier 4 spell.”

She frowned at him. “You’ve used it?”

Hump laughed nervously. “No. It’s well beyond me. I thought it might be a good thing to work toward.”

“Very good indeed,” Vivienne said. “It’s a powerful spell. And it’s interesting that you gained access to it after your experience in the dungeon. We’ll need to do some tests to see if we can gain access to more of its pages.”

Hump grinned. “I was thinking the same thing.”