Chapter 63 - Mysteries of the Soul

Hump had experience with shaping exercises. His master had taken him through them almost every morning, and ever since leaving Bledsbury Dungeon, Hump had carried on the practice.

What Vivienne wanted was something more.

“We’ll begin with Hide Object,” Vivenne said. “I assume you’re familiar with it.”

Hump grimaced. “Familiar is a strong word.”

Vivienne looked at him impatiently. “Do you know the cantrip or not?”

“I know it,” Hump said. “Illusion magic just isn’t my specialty. I’m more of an evocation wizard.”

“I didn’t ask for your specialty,” Vivienne said. “You claim to be a Rank 2 wizard. You should have no trouble using basic spells. Go. Show me what you can do.” She placed an unlit candle on the table. “Conceal it.”

Hump sighed. Hide Object was a delicate spell that required one to cleverly manipulate essence in a way that bends light around an object. It was far from perfect, and in a well-lit room like this it would be fairly obvious at a glance, at least when used by a competent wizard. Hump on the other hand hadn’t used the spell for at least six months and even then, it had only earnt him a few disgruntled curses from his master.

Hump held out his right hand and began to channel essence into his bracelet.

“Stop!” Vivienne snapped, pointing at his wrist. “What is that?”

Hump blinked. “It’s an essence channel bracelet, to help keep my essence steady.”

“Take it off,” she growled. “This is a test you idiot. No artefacts. Why in the world would Seth let you use that instead of teaching you to control your essence properly anyway?”

“Erm.” Hump slipped the bracelet off and placed it on the table. “I actually bought it myself. It was just a temporary solution. My power increased in Bledsbury Dungeon and since then my control’s been lacking.”

“It will always be lacking if you rely on a gimmick like that,” she snapped. “Now get on with it.”

“It’s pretty useful actually—”

“Hump!”

“Getting on with it…” he grumbled. He focused on the candle and fixed his goal in mind, visualising what the rest of the room would see as a result of his spell. He held out his hand, channelling essence to it and forming the spell.

“Veil that which is before me, Hide Object,” Hump whispered the chant. His essence surged. The air shimmered, distorting as if he’d put on eyeglasses that weren’t fitted for him. Distorted, but the candle was very much still there. It was close. Hump doubled his effort, imagining the clear space above the table, the wood beneath where the candle should be, willing it gone. The candle seemed to shift, like a reflection on the surface of a rippling pond, but nothing more.

Vivienne stared at it and frowned. She walked around the table, inspecting it from different angles.

“Robert, would you come here for me,” she said. “Hump, maintain the spell.”

Hump gritted his teeth and nodded. He could hold this much at least. As draining as it was on his mind, it didn’t require much essence.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong with Hump’s spell?” she asked Bud, standing beside her on the other side of the table.

“It’s not doing anything, but over there…” Bud quickly walked around the table and Hump felt a dawning realisation. “It’s working here.”

“Exactly,” Vivienne said. “Hump, you’ve only hidden the candle from your direction! And not just that, I can see it less clearly when I squint.”

Hump sighed and let go of the spell. “I’m terrible at illusions. This was a bad one to start with.”

“Then what would you like to do next? Mind’s Hand,Shape Essence, Manipulate Elements, Whisper, Light. Take your pick.”

Gods, that was a lot of exercises. “Let’s go with Shape Essence,” Hump said. It was the standard for shaping exercises—the ability to manipulate pure essence—something he could do well.

“Very well.”

Hump began by gathering a ball of pure essence over his palm. It was much like preparing Essence Blast in a way—the steps were similar. Gather essence into the spell and then condense it to build up its power, only instead of releasing it, he forced it into a shape. The ball glowed a beautiful deep blue, the particles of essence streaking about each other in constant motion making it almost appear alive.

He began with the simple motions. Expanding and contracting the ball; shaping it into a disc, a pole, a ring. He added to its density, making it shine brighter, then he did it all again while moving. It was when Vivienne asked him to do the same but with three balls at the same time that Hump started having trouble. He lost control of the first by himself, and that brief moment of distraction was all it took for his essence to surge and the other two to erupt in a pop that stirred up the air of the room.

“Good, that was adequate,” Vivienne said.

“Just adequate? Remember I’ve just had a boost in power so I’m still acclimatising.”

“You’ve had almost two months to adjust, that’s hardly an excuse. If I remember correctly you were struggling with the third last time we met. How many more could you do before this boost.”

“Four,” Hump said. On a good day, he thought to himself.

“I had students your age able to juggle four with their eyes shut. Power is important, Hump, but you can only make proper use of it when you can direct essence efficiently. You must be exhausting yourself constantly like this.”

“There may have been a few moments like that,” Hump said.

“I thought he was going to pass out more than once,” Bud said.

Vivienne sighed. “Practitioners lack the capacity of Chosen. It’s not so bad for internal users that focus on body enhancements, but for wizards, efficiency is key. Precise, well-executed attacks will almost always triumph over sheer force.”

“Control was never my strong point,” Hump said.

“Good that you know,” Vivienne said. “That makes it easy to choose where to focus your efforts.”

They moved onto Light next, which again was somewhat passable. He wasn’t used to using the spell without his staff to act as a conduit, and manifesting light as floating orbs proved to be a little more difficult than he remembered. They flickered whenever his essence fluctuated, sometimes flaring brightly enough to momentarily blind him, other times becoming unnoticeable. It didn’t get much better after that. By the time they moved onto elements, Hump’s head was pounding, cold had penetrated to his upper arms, and he was fed up. He hardly tried with water and wind, knowing his affinity was miserable with them anyway, and Vivienne already knew of his affinity with earth. But once they reached fire Hump focused up to make one last effort.

Vivienne placed two more candles on the table and had him light them all first. Easy. He then had to squash and relight the flames one by one as she called them out. After that, she gathered up a wind and attempted to blow them out while he kept the flames alight. When it became clear that she wasn’t going to blow them out, Hump smirked. Two months ago, maintaining three flames like this would have been impossible, but now the fire felt like an extension of himself.

“Now contain the flames,” Vivienne said.

With a thought, Hump raised three flames above the candles until they floated in the air, fuelled by his essence alone. He spun them around each other, slowly at first, then faster as his confidence grew. He let the flames grow so that they formed a ring of spinning fire in the air and grinned.

“Very good. Your fire affinity’s improved much since I last saw you. You could hardly light a fire on your own back then.”

Hump ended the spell. “It’s improved more than anything.”

“Is this to do with your bond with the dragon egg or the spellbook? I’ve heard that spellbonds can have such an effect on a person, though I haven’t heard of any that have made such a significant change.”

“It was only after I bonded to the egg,” Hump said. It wasn’t really a lie. Technically, it could have been his bond that caused it rather than the imprint on his soul. “I suppose a bond with a dragon is a strong bond to have.”

“Indeed. And a powerful affinity too, especially for an adventurer. Fire and earth is a powerful combination with versatile offensive spells, crowd control, and physical defences. What other spells do you know?”

“Well there’s Spark,” Hump said. “And I know a fire variation of Essence Blast and Focused Blast, though I’m concerned about the latter blowing up in my face so haven’t given it much of a go.”

“Focused Blast is a good one. Even as you reach the higher ranks you’ll find its effectiveness is still there. I want you to try something.” A flame appeared between them, small and flickering. “You’re going to concentrate all the essence you can into the flame but contain it into a small space.”

Hump frowned. “This sounds like a far more dangerous version of standard shaping exercises.”

“In a way, it is,” Vivienne said. “However this is an opportunity to demonstrate exactly why mastering control is so important.” Even as she spoke, the flame before Hump’s eyes was getting hotter, yet it remained no larger than a fingernail. The colour began to change to blue, and then white. Hump scooted his chair back and gazed at the condensed heat. Essence swept from it so strongly that he felt it on his face like a wind.

“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” Hump said. “I told you I have control issues, and if I my essence were to fluctuate at the wrong moment, it could explode.”

“Humour me,” Vivienne said. “I’ll make sure nothing catches fire.”

“If you’re sure.”

Her flame flickered out of existence, the heat subsiding.

“Spark,” Hump said, summoning a flame of his own. He started slowly, trickling essence into the flame, intent on holding it in place and retaining its size. The difficulty was both in keeping his essence steady and controlling the power of the flame. Both required focus, and either one slacking could result in a roaring flame in his face. He’d never tried the exercise before; his affinity simply hadn’t been strong enough to bother.

“Good, now don’t lose focus,” Vivienne said.

Hump bit his lip. He stared into the flame, intent on his desire. Slowly more and more of his essence trickled in. The flame turned blue, and even a foot away from his face, it warmed his face pleasantly. He smiled. There was something far more satisfying about fire than earth. It fought against him, trying to break free. Where the earth was inanimate, fire was alive, with a will of its own. Power welled from within, excited, hot, desperate to break free from his will. White flame flickered within.

“I’m about at my limit,” Hump said through gritted teeth.

“Keep going,” Vivienne said. “You’re almost there.”

A tendril of flame flickered out of control and Hump suppressed it, slowing his supply of essence.

Another broke free on the other side, then two. His essence surged as he became distracted, and a stream of flame soared into the air. Hump jerked backward, the heat suddenly too much.

Vivienne made a slicing motion with her hand and barked, “Dispel.”

Foreign essence bombarded his spell, cutting his connection to it like a knife, quelling the fire in an instant. Vivienne glanced up at a black spot on the roof and frowned.

“Now that was my fault,” Vivienne said. She turned back to Hump, smiling. “Very impressive though. Your talent for evocation was true it seems.”

“I still lost control,” Hump said. His head ached with a stabbing pain, the cost of maintaining his control over essence for as long as he had. Intent was more than simple thought, it was will, and it pushed the mind to its limit.

Vivienne laughed. “That’s what happens when we try to push past our limits, yet it’s a vital part of learning. It’s when our abilities are stretched to their fullest that they grow the most. That was a powerful flame, Hump. To be able to produce even a flicker of white heat is difficult for even a more experienced wizard, and you controlled it splendidly. It is when power and control balance out that one’s strongest abilities manifest. Some specialise in large area attacks, while wizards like myself channel essence in a precise but very dense manner. There is no right way. Through practice, you’ll find the method that fits you best.”

“Master Sethril was closer to the control side of the spectrum,” Hump said. “Though he focused a lot on influencing terrain. Wouldn’t that be closer to the large area attack speciality?”

“Don’t misunderstand,” Vivienne said. “Power is important. It’s the combination of both that makes a wizard effective. Seth’s control over terrain was so effective because he could cast his spells so quickly, keeping up with his opponents. It didn’t make him much of a duellist, but he was devastating when in a party, able to impede and control foes with ease.”

Dylan walked up to the table to get a better look at the ceiling. “I don’t think there’s any structural damage but that’s going to need a good wash and a fresh coat of paint.”

“Forget it,” Vivienne said. “A few marks add character.”

“That’s just a burn mark,” Dylan said.

“He’s always like this,” Vivienne said. “Never can leave anything damaged or broken. Anyway, I’ve seen all I need to see from you, Hump. I think we best get started on Bud and Celaine’s abilities before we lose too much of the day.”

“You don’t want to finish the tests?” Hump asked. “What about my Spirit and Essence Pool?”

“I cannot evaluate your Essence Pool until you have fully recovered, and our discussion yesterday revealed much of your Spirit. You were able to withstand my Will despite not yet manifesting your own soul.

“No matter what type of essence wielder you are, the soul must be mastered. It is the core to power, and the key to manipulating essence. Learning to sense and interact with essence is everyone’s first step on that path. For practitioners, it happens naturally, often manifesting in simple ways. Children might veil themselves in shadow to hide as part of a game, a mother might gain a surge in strength to save her child, a soldier might find themselves on the battlefield. Chosen, however, gain this when they are first bonded to their god, their first circle and blessing. The second and third circle then build on this, granting minor blessings along the way as the soul grows, building the foundation for the fourth circle and the next major step of soul creation.”

“Aura creation,” Bud said.

“Yes,” Vivienne said. “Or more accurately, it is the manifestation of the soul. For Chosen, it is part of your blessings, your natural path of progression. As practitioners—as wizards—this is something we must form ourselves. We have no circles to give us structure, so we must create that foundation ourselves.”

“It’s almost like the circles make up one complex formation with the God Glyphs functioning as the runes,” Hump said.

“Well it’s exactly that,” Vivienne said. “It’s all just one complex formation, designed to form the soul into its optimal structure.”

“And you plan to train us in the same way?” Celaine asked.

“The important parts are the same,” Vivienne said. “Many of these artefacts were originally designed to help decipher the secrets of Chosen power. At the same time, they became very good at measuring their abilities.”

“And you use this to train Chosen?” Bud asked sceptically. “My own family has devices to measure our progress, and of course the circles granted to us represent our power. I can see how knowing these things would be useful, and forgive my bluntness, but I’m struggling to see the benefits compared to traditional training.”

“What’s the common ground between Chosen and practitioners?” Vivienne asked.

Bud frowned then shook his head and shrugged. “We both use essence.”

Vivienne bobbed her head. “Sort of, but no, not really. The essence of a Chosen comes from a domain and is given direction by the blessings inscribed upon your core. Practitioners draw their essence from the world and must learn to channel it themselves. What else?”

“The soul,” Celaine said.

“Precisely. Think of the soul as a pool. In the case of Chosen, you have a pipe connecting it to a much larger pool of essence—an ocean in fact, the domain of a god. Practitioners, however, take in the essence around them, the rain and vapour if you will. And while the gods may grant you blessing to help guide your essence, it is your soul that does the work. It will not teach you how to train your blessings, nor your skill with sword or bow. You are more than capable of both, and there are far better teachers out there than I. What I will teach you is how to develop the foundation of your soul.”

“But our circles are crafted by the gods,” Bud said. “How on earth are we meant to improve on that?”

“They solidify what power your soul already has, building a foundation for the next circle. However, they can only create a structure out of what is already there. For you to reach the next circle, you must nurture your soul and train it to make it ready. This is what happens when you draw out your Brilliance and pray, you nurture your soul with the power of the domain.”

Bud frowned. “No, that isn’t right. Our circles are granted when we take the next step on our path. When we reach enlightenment. I gained my second circle once my understanding of Kelisia’s ideals became clearer.”

“What understanding was that?” Vivienne asked.

“That helping people is not like it is told in the stories,” Bud said confidently. “That the job of a Chosen is not to chase adventure, but to see the horror and danger, then step into it anyway.”

“It’s a very noble principle,” Vivienne said. “And such an understanding would certainly strengthen you. Your misconception is that it is Kelisia that grants you that power. You earned it yourself, Robert. You took that step, and then Kelisia gave it structure.”

Bud frowned. “That’s not how it works. The church, all the Chosen I know, my parents, they all say the same thing. How can you say otherwise?”

“Because I have studied it,” Vivienne said. “Because I have measured the increasing strength of the souls of Chosen and seen progress before their next blessing is granted.”

Bud shook his head. “No, the gods grant us their strength. We owe our power to them.”

“We’re not here to debate ideologies today, though I would be happy to discuss this further another time,” Vivienne said. “Today, we are merely assessing the strength of your souls and your abilities. While our logic my differ, I hope you trust in my methods. Dylan is proof of their success. He was Chosen when he was fifteen, and in only four years he has reached the third circle.”

Bud looked at him with surprise. “That’s very impressive. You must have been through a lot.”

Dylan smiled and shook his head. “It’s thanks to my master’s teachings, I assure you. You would do well to listen to her.”

“It seems I would,” Bud said. “Very well, let’s carry on with the tests. Where do we start?”

Vivienne smiled and Hump felt a familiar pressure building around her. Both Bud and Celaine stepped back, instantly on alert as they sensed her attack. “Let’s see how you hold up against suppression.”