11 Ch 11: Youth Education

Jaya and Sofia Revka had been friends with the Aslanbeks for over a decade. Jaya had Divinus as a Source and her wife had Anodular as a Source.

The two of them ran an herb garden on the edge of the district.

Levanya and Vivek had a few friends that might have been better teachers, and Jaya and Sofia's strengths didn't fully match with Baldeur's. But the others were either too busy, too far away, or it would be too hard to hide what they were doing.

What made the parents seek out these friends was how easy they could hide their son's training. Because Ilinka also had Divinus as a Source, they would frame it to others that Ilinka was Jaya's only student and Sofia was just accompanying her wife.

For his Mana training Levanya would teach her children.

"It's best to have a firm foundation. Too many people think Divinus is all in the vocal cords. But only the first two choirs can be mastered with the vocal cords alone. To go further you will need to master both your lungs and diaphragm." Jaya was giving her first lesson to both Ilinka and Baldeur.

Baldeur was well aware of everything she was saying but pretended to pay attention. Ilinka, only being two, didn't fully understand what Jaya was saying. She did like how the pretty lady's voice sounded when she demonstrated her magic and wanted to be able to sing like her.

"The last thing you need to keep in mind is mouth control. The first few choirs are very simple in this regard but eventually you will need to be able to manipulate your mouth in ways that no one else can." She continued.

"Now we'll begin with learning different types of scales. Ditonic, tritonic, and tetratonic are the most basic and won't be of much use after the first choir but having a good foundation is important."

After her explanation Jaya began to help them through their 2, 3, and 4 note scales.

Overall Baldeur was satisfied with her instruction. She had a good knowledge on how to advance without taking detrimental shortcuts that he saw too many take over his lives.

His only complaints were that he knew of better training techniques and she wasn't really good at teaching beyond just going through the exercises. It didn't help that one of her students was an energetic two year old.

"I think that's all Ilinka's going to be able to handle today." Levanya picked up her daughter, who had started to spin in circles while only partially doing the exercises.

"Why don't you finish up with Baldeur before Sofia takes over?" Levanya said.

Jaya gave Badleur some daily homework before turning over her student to Sofia.

"First we need to see what aspect of nature you are closest to. Hopefully you don't think of aspects in elemental terms, like wind, water, fire, and such. Aspects of nature aren't as defined and as limited as that.

"Just think of the four basic seasons. Oh, well, maybe you aren't as familiar with them since you haven't left the city yet." Sofia started to scratch her head as she realized this might be harder than she thought.

"It's okay I've read about seasons in books." Baldeur assured her.

"That's something but it's always best to experience the aspects." Sofia continued to think a bit before she had an idea.

She took out four pots from her storage pouch and filled them with dirt. She then planted violets in each. The first she helped sprout before freezing its growth in spring. The next flower's growth was stopped in summer, followed by fall, and winter.

"It's not the best way to learn but until you can go through some gates this will work the best. Now can you feel the different energies coming off each of the flowers?" Sofia said.

It was easy for Baldeur to feel the differences with Anodular but he made sure to give the impression that he was concentrating really hard.

"I think I do. This only reminds me of when Ilinka was born. This one seems full of life and stability. This one, I guess I'd say transition. And the last one feels like… I don't like how it feels." Baldeur said.

"Excellent. That's really good for your first lesson." Sofia said.

"Now we're going to figure out which one you are closest to before building your first connection. Just close your eyes for me." She said.

This was a very basic testing that Baldeur went through in his sixth life. You didn't need a connection to the aspects of nature to cast spells with Anodular but they would increase and add modifiers to your spells.

"Alright, just concentrate on feeling for Anodular through the flowers and reach out for the one you feel closest to." Sofia said.

It would have been easy for him to sense which flower was which with his eyes closed but he wanted to know if his first connection was the same as in his previous life.

When he opened his eyes he was surprised to see that he was pointing to the dead violet of winter. In his previous life he had the strongest connection to spring which helped him become a good healer.

It didn't matter which one he connected to first since he knew how to connect to all 13 aspects of nature but he really thought he was going to choose spring again.

As far as he could tell his other Sources were similar to what he experienced in his other lives. Telekinesis from his Psychic Source being the most obvious at the moment.

Maybe things wouldn't be like what he had previously experienced.

"Well this will be a bit difficult. Winter is the only seasonal aspect that I haven't been able to connect to. But that shouldn't stop us from trying." Sofia said.

She then spent the next hour guiding Baldeur through how to form a connection with winter.

By the end of the day he was exhausted and after a good hearty dinner he had a deep good night's sleep.

The next day his mother began her instructions on Mana.

"Mana is used to manipulate the world based on the user's intent. We use words, hand motions, and physical objects to help focus our intent. Over time you'll be able to simplify spells and by the time you enter the sixth circle you'll be able to drop some of those aids." Levanya said.

Baldeur was impressed that his mother could cast spells without all her aids by the sixth circle. Usually that was a feat that seventh and even eight circle mages would still struggle with. It showed how powerful his mother in this life was.

Dropping an aid was much harder than just simplifying an aid. Like going from a few sentences for a spell to a single word.

For the next few hours they read long poems that they would eventually infuse with Mana to create spells with. Levanya was stressing the importance of consistency in rhythm and pronunciation.

Ilinka was with them but she was still learning how to read so she just sat and listened to her brother recite the words.

After lunch Baldeur was surprised when his father took him into the basement where his training room was.

"Even though you don't have Qi that doesn't mean you can't learn some martial arts. Too many pure casters have lost their lives because they don't know the first thing about hand to hand combat. We'll start with basic footwork and move on from there." Vivek said.

From that point on at least twice a week Jaya and Sofia would stop by for lessons. While the other days were filled with practice and lessons from his parents.

If he didn't have experience from previous lives Baldeur would have been receiving a pretty decent education.

As it was, he progressed at a rate that wouldn't raise too many questions but still impressed everyone. It helped that he had a few other Sources to train along with the three his family knew about.