Chapter 31

“This will be far easier, and more effective, if you can convert your mana to my aspect.” I was instructing Myta well away from our companions. I’d called us to a halt early, specifically so that we could prepare to put our plan into action. If our fighters could be enhanced, we would have a significant advantage when facing the forces of the Pure. And we needed every advantage we could get. Ket had located a few of their camps scattered about, but couldn’t see or sense the inhabitants without crossing their wards. Something that might immediately alert the Pure to her presence.

“You’ve talked about converting aspects before, I know. Find the similarities, feel out a path between them, visualize the transformation, then don’t release the mana until I’m ready to lose it.” Myta ran through the overview, and then smirked at me. “But it would help, master, if I knew what your aspect was.”

I paused, my brow furrowing. “I’ve used my mana on you daily, for weeks now. How can you not know what it is?”

“Because it doesn’t make any sense? When I call on my own aspect, or touch other aspects in the world, they’re easy to understand. Fire is fire, I can feel the heat, smell it. Yours is… something else. Something different.”

“My aspect is a little more conceptual,” I nodded slowly.” I suppose I should have expected that.”

“Conceptual?”

“I’ve told you before that everything has an aspect. Objects, events, emotions. Even ideas have an aspect.” I scanned the surroundings with my spiritual sight again, just to make sure that no one was spying on us. “My aspect is an idea, an ideal really. That of refinement.”

“As in, refining metal?” She asked, looking a bit perplexed.

“Yes, but it encompasses more than that.” I paused, trying to decide how best to explain. “When I was young, my teachers were obsessed, or at least very focused, on the idea of perfection. And especially of the perfect aspect. But that never made much sense to me, perfect changes all the time.”

“I understand that,” Myta nodded. “We talk about that in combat training. You must choose the correct action for your situation and goals. You might find a perfect action in any specific circumstance, but there’s no action that is perfect for every situation.”

“Exactly.” I grinned. “Most of the sorcerers seeking perfection tried to expand their aspects, farther and farther. Just as I have been teaching you to do. They felt that the broader their aspect was, the closer it would be to ‘perfect’. Others tried to develop some aspect that they in particular felt was the closest thing to perfection.”

“But we’re not talking about them.” My vas gave me a wry look.

“No.” I quirked a smile, but couldn’t quite keep the bitterness out of it. “No one does. I picked a different path than most, I thought that if perfect always changes, why not focus on the change? The process of becoming closer to perfect all the time?”

“I’m not really sure how that applies to metallurgy.” She raised a brow at me.

“Refining metal is the process of making it useful for smithing, yes? Usually it means removing impurities, but sometimes it adds them, combining the best qualities of component parts. For me, refinement is the process of transforming one thing into a better, more useful thing. It’s an ongoing effort, which constantly changes to suit your needs.”

“I… think I understand, master.”

“Good,” I nodded. It did no good to dwell on whether she did or not. The entire point of the exercise was to see if she could call on my aspect as easily as I called on hers. Well, perhaps not quite that easily. I was already familiar with converting aspects after all, and mine was not an easy one.

“You have a leg up in this,” I said. “Fire is already an aspect that lends itself to transformation well. When you form your intent, focus on the way that fire can change and purify what it touches. That’s you way in.”

Nodding absently, already focused on her task, Myta focused her presence in her right palm. Visually there was nothing to see, but to my spiritual eye her efforts were clear. First her mana took on the quality of soot, then it shifted to the feeling of comfort a lot hearth brought to a cold home. She was calling on the individual changes that fire could bring, which was good, but the next step was harder. Now she had to bridge the gap between the individual changes that fire could make, and the idea of fire as a **** for change. I let her work at it for perhaps half an hour, before deciding to give her an extra nudge.

“Try thinking of this from another direction instead.” I told her. “Think of a time when something fundamental in your own life changed. Then see if you can imagine that change as a fire, sweeping through your life. Ideally a good change.”

“I might be able to think of something that matches that description,” she quipped, meeting my gaze. When I didn’t say anything she snorted, closing her eyes again to concentrate.

The difference was immediate, and palpable. Myta had once described feeling my needs as though there were an almost physical presence next to her, like a boulder she could sense even though she couldn’t see it. Now I understood what she meant, and I had a a little more perspective on it. Her will pressed against mine through our bond, not in a contest of any sort, but as though she were leaning against me for support. It was a comfortable sensation, like when she leaned close to me while we sat at the fire together, companionable and affectionate.

Her presence flared, transforming in an instant from lively orange red to argent fire. When I tested it, I found that she had taken a conceptual leap forward in transforming her aspect. Normally these shifts happened one small stage at a time, but she had found her way to something very close to my aspect of refinement. A transformative fire, a catalytic flame.

It wasn’t restricted to her hand, either. Her entire presence had transformed, although her internal mana was unchanged. If her internal mana had somehow been affected, I had no idea what the consequences might have been. Changing their presence required a sorcerer to think in different ways, but changing your internal aspect required a much more fundamental shift. Only the dramatic change I’d just seen made me even consider the possibility, but the threat of altering someone’s personality was one of the things that made soul sorcerers so feared.

“Well. I’d call that a great success.” I swallowed, to soothe my dry throat. “As long as you can maintain that transformation, and your intent, at the same time.”

Myta looked at me with concerned eyes. She had felt my wild tumult of emotions; from surprise, to excitement, worry, and finally relief. Even if she didn’t quite understand the reason for all of them. I squeezed her shoulder.

“Everything is fine, my flame. But experimenting with things we don’t fully understand always carries risks. When the unexpected happens… We’ll, I was worried for you.”

“I’m fine, master.” She grinned at me. “At least, I think I’m fine. You might have to check more thoroughly to make sure.”

“I’ll give you a full examination later.” I smirked a little as I replied. “For now, you’ll need to practice a spell to temper the anima of the fighters, and we need to find out who is willing to risk it. As well as deciding who we want to go first.”

“About that,” she bit her lip “I asked around while we were traveling today. All the fighters have volunteered to be in the test, so we have our pick. But Denu and Cata asked to be included as well.”

“Cata should be fine.” I said. “He’s got ambition, and I think he’s half hoping I’ll apprentice him after this, with the way he’s been hovering around us and asking questions. Denu is another matter. She’s too young to be judging such risks.”

“Fifteen is old enough.” Myta scoffed. “At that age she’s ripe for marriage, and she already sees plenty of risk traveling with her mother. Just because you’re older than the entire group combined doesn’t make us all children. If her mother didn’t trust her judgement, she wouldn’t be here.”

I had to admit that was true. Families in Ramana would often begin arranging marriage at about that age, hoping to take greatest advantage of a woman’s child-bearing years. It didn’t sit quite right with me, but Myta was right. I was fairly sure this would be safe, and the girl was already risking bodily harm or worse.

“Fair enough,” I replied. “In a way that works out well. We’re best served by a mix of experience and spiritual strength anyway. I thought Hati could serve as the high end. She’s handled sparring against you the best, and has been the most eager to do so. Denu and Cata can be the low end. Pick two others and we’ll have our test group.”

With that sorted, we spent the remainder of the day practicing. My vas focused blasts of silver flame at me again and again. I was the perfect training dummy for this the strength of my spirit allowed me to shrug off the effects when she accidentally hit me with regular fire, and I was able to judge the effect of her spell firsthand.

By the time that I judged her ready, it was time to retire for the night. Tomorrow, we would begin our experiment.