First magic practice

It has been six months since the ceremony. Today is the day our magic training starts. It is recommended to wait several months after the ceremony of awakening. Arti and I will be sharing classes for fire, water, wind and earth elements since both of us have an affinity for it. The High Priest Dallan, who has a high affinity for light magic, will be coming to tutor Arti in light magic. I will be joining their lessons in secret from the public. My mother will be taking over my training of the dark element since she has a high affinity for it, and she has undergone training for it herself. As for fire and wind elements, we were told that our training in those would begin in five years since the tutor, who I was told is the foremost expert in fire and wind magic in the neighboring nations, is currently finishing up his research at the Royal Magic Academy of Cavenwall in Roredenia.

Today we start with the water element. Our tutor for it and the earth element will be the Royal Court Mage Emerik. Arti and I arrive at the training ground behind the palace. It is a clear patch of land by the forest with targets and obstacles placed around it. Emerik is already waiting for us there. He is a young-looking man with several wrinkles starting to appear around his eyes. His brown hair was short and messy, hazel eyes half closed and seemed to be miles away from where he stood. His face is a bit plain but not unattractive. In fact, he could be easily called attractive. Emerik is wearing a long robe of deep blue with a golden pin strapped to his chest signifying his position as the Royal Court Mage. He snaps out of whatever he was thinking about as we approach.

“Greetings, young princes. We have seen each other in passing but it is good to finally meet face to face. My name is Emerik, and I am the Royal Court Mage of His Majesty. You can call me Emerik. Today we will be starting our training on the water element. Do you know how magic manifests into a physical shape?” he asks both of us.

Arti is quick to answer. “The space all around is full of mana. When a magic caster performs a spell, the mana within the caster mixes with the mana in the air to compress and produce the spell.”

“Very good.” Emerik nods. “I know you are being taught the theory of magic so our lessons will primarily focus on the physical aspects of magic casting. We will start by producing a ball of water in front of our hands. As you know, a spell is performed by visualizing it. Some casters find it easy to chant along the imagination process to stay focused on the spell they are trying to imagine. It is not necessary, however. Imagine a ball of water forming in front of your hand.”

With that, he outstretches his hand, and, after a moment, a ball of water starts forming in front of it until it reaches the size of the adult’s head and stops. After a few seconds, he launches it in a low arc a few meters in front of him. “Now you give it a try.”

Arti and I both raise our hands forward. I close my eyes and imagine a drop of water appearing in front of me, expanding it to a bigger size. I feel a warm sensation going through my body until it reaches my fingertips. Opening my eyes, I see a ball of water in front of my palm the same size as Emerik’s. Looking to my right, I see that Arti had the same result. I imagine the ball shooting forward in a low arc and it shoots forward. The same happens with Arti’s.

“Great job.” Emerik nodded in approval. “I expected this to go well, but it still surprises me. It usually takes several days for new students to achieve this result. Since you got it already, we will move to the next step which is mana manipulation. Observe me.”

Again, Emerik lifts his hand, but this time instead of the ball, a thin pillar of water appears. “The trick is to imagine mana pushing on the water in all the right places. Try it.”

We do and, with slight difficulty, we manage to recreate the spell. “Great. Now let’s try different shapes. The more convoluted the shape, the harder it is to realize.”

We proceed to create different shapes. A cube at first, then moving to more difficult shapes. The pinnacle of difficulty was Emerik creating a whip made of water and striking the target with it. Arti and I didn’t manage to recreate it.

“Don’t be upset. This was definitely for a beginner to be expected to master on the first day. You both have already made more progress in a day that most would struggle to achieve in several weeks of training. We will finish here today. I will see you during our next lesson.” Emerik says.

Emerik leaves first, probably hurrying back to perform his other duties while Arti and I make our wake to the palace.

“Magic is really cool, isn’t it?” Arti beams.

“It is,” I nod in agreement.

“I can’t wait to learn more,” he joyfully hops while walking.

I can only agree.

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