After-school Training

The sun construct was setting slowly, signaling the end of the day for all the students of the Exarhi students and teachers. Its neverchanging movement across the firmament was possible due to its mechanical nature; the sun and the moon, as well as the weather, ground and stars, were designed to make the lives of the mages living there as simple as possible, removing every ounce of unpredictability. Even so, there were many teens across the campus that payed no attention to this cycle, spending hours and hours studying or practicing. It was, after all, a student's powerful will and prowess that made them a future Exalted, worthy of standing alongside the very best.

Even so, it was completely dark when Sarkuhar saw the movements of a kid in the interior gardens, practicing what looked to him like punches and kicks. As the kid hit an imaginary target in front of him, the old man could notice the blue sparks of mana gushing out sharply before being absorbed back into the body. He approached the figure slowly, then stopped. It was Matias, his student from the morning class; Sarkuhar relaxed his posture, laughing to himself. There was no need to be on guard all the time; Exarhi University was, possibly, safer than any place on the Continent. "Take five minutes, Matias!" he yelled as he approached the elf, waving his hands above his head. "What are you doing at this hour?"

"Ah, g-good evening, Master Sarkuhar..." the boy answered, a little flustered. "This is a little... embarrassing, I'm sorry-" The teacher raised his palm, telling him to stop: "Never apologize for working hard, Matias. That's not why I'm here, anyway. I thought you might be some lunatic preparing an incantation. Had to make sure." Sarkuhar let out a guttural laugh, slapping the boy on the back. "And wouldn't you know, I found something even more strange! Boy, it's almost night, what, pray tell, are you still doing here?" Matias let out a yelp as his teacher slapped his lean body. "W-well, I really thought I should practice those movements you showed me... They felt... weirdly good, as if my body was waking up from a deep sleep."

"You never circulated your mana before? Let me teach you some more techiques, then." Sarkuhar dropped his bag on the grass and took a starting stance, eyeing his pupil's movement. The boy, catching his teacher's gaze, quickly straighten up and assumed the same stance. "You see, kid, every living being is made of many parts and bits and pieces. And these pieces are held together by tunnels and pathways." He started moving slowly, stretching his arms and feet in fluid motions, balancing his weight from one foot to the next, slowly waving the air around him. Matias followed his deliberate motions, concentrating on the feeling of his energy tensing up and releasing in sync with his muscles.

"These channels... are you talking about how mana flows?" The boy kept moving, slowly gaining more confidence in his own body. "Your body is made of more than just mana, kid. But yeah, for today let's just focus on that." Sarkuhar channelled his mana into his stomach, curling up before stretching upwards. Around him, a bluish wave rised from his fingertips, then returned, covering him in mana particles that were quickly absorbed into his body. "The key to spellcasting is understanding that mana never stops moving. Your body should be a conduit for it; restrict its flow in the right way, and you'll be capable of performing magic. This is the basics of the basics."

"But what about dictionaries? What about innate spells?" asked the student. "Those are simply applications of the principle, boy. Have you felt your body tingle when you linked with that ice tome during the morning class? That's the moment your pathways accepted the book into your body's systems. Dictionaries restrict the flow of mana for you. As for innate techniques... You don't need to manually breathe, do you? The same is true for your innate spells. You just know what to do to cast them. They're part of you."

"Part of me, huh." Matias looked at his palms, clenching his fingers into fists and opening them, seeing himself in a new light. "Wait, does that mean anyone can cast any spell if they really want?!" Sarkuhar laughed. "Of course, kid! Well, it's not as easy as it might sound. For most people, it's borderline impossible. Your body really skips a lot of steps for you, stuff you don't even think they would matter. Stuff so detailed and complex it could keep an entire Department of this University alive by itself. But... there are people capable of learning spells. You should too, if you want to be worth a damn on a battlefield, I mean." The kid focused on his body, on his mana and, mimicking the morning practice... he tried to cast the attack spell. "Teraxi!" he yelled, and... nothing happened.

"I told you, Matias. The tome does all the heavy lifting for you. But, if you really are that interested... Come tomorrow by my office, and I'll sign you up for the Advanced Battlemage Combat course. What do you say?" The elf looked at him, his jaw wide open. "Really? Are you serious, master Sarkuhar? But why me?" The man put a hand on his shoulder, looking at him with the eyes of a proud teacher. "You're already practicing after classes on your own. What else can I do? Besides, it's rare to see such a fight-obsessed student these days." He stopped, putting his second hand on his other shoulder, gently but firmly. "And, I must say that you might have a gift for this, kid. Remember the target practice? Almost nobody at your age should be able to pierce those medium-sized shields. And surely not on their first try. So," he let go of the boy, "what do you say? Are you in?"