14 CHAPTER 14: Step 1

"When it comes to perfecting Expulsion, the only thing to keep in mind is the rate of flow of your magical energy." Emblaze stood in front of an alert Wolfe as he began the day's lesson.

"You first need to get comfortable with a range of outputs and be able to bring any of them out without a second thought. To put it in simpler terms, you need to learn how to create small, regular, and large flames. It's very easy to create large ones since they require no restraint. Creating smaller sized, more precise ones requires immense control over your magic. Our task for today is to ingrain into your mind how to create this smaller flame and maintain it, after that we can move onto the final sub-step of Expulsion."

Emblaze gently grabbed Wolfe's hand and placed it forward, palm up. He curved his hands around Wolfe's palm, forming a boundary at its edge. "Try confining your flames within the boundary, make sure you don't go overboard with it, as it could cause damage to both of us."

Wolfe was more nervous than ever since Emblaze's health was also at risk this time. "Try imagining a smaller hole to let your flames out of. And don't get so nervous, just ease yourself into it. We'll both be fine as long as you calm yourself."

Emblaze's comforting words were just what Wolfe needed to pacify his nerves. The boy closed his eyes and imagined a large hole gradually contracting and becoming smaller. Since sticking with the 'clay' analogy was easier for him, Wolfe imagined a funnel through which he pushed the 'clay'. The image of a large bunch of 'clay' being forced slowly through the tiny opening of the funnel did the trick.

A tiny flame formed at the centre of Wolfe's palm, smaller than the one formed a few days ago. But unlike the previous one, Wolfe could feel the weakness of the current flame. Maybe it was the smaller size, or the cautious nature that had caused him to create it, but either way it left a sour taste in his mouth.

Emblaze on the other hand seemed happier than usual. He threw his hands up into the air to rejoice at Wolfe's quick pace. "At this rate, the boy could achieve Gold rank faster than I presumed." He thought to himself.

The sourness in Wolfe's mouth was replaced quickly with the sweet taste of achievement. Seeing the joy on Emblaze's face easily distracted him from controlling the flame.

The fire erupted into a glorious blaze as Wolfe's attention swayed, his face darkening as the fear of burning himself creeped back into his mind. Thinking quickly, Emblaze grabbed the bottom of Wolfe's hand.

A cool sensation passed over Wolfe's hand, covering his palm and ceasing the raging fire. An embarrassed look painted Emblaze. "Maybe it was too early for me to decide something like that," he said to himself, laughing off his naive behaviour.

Wolfe looked down in shame, looking back up only when Emblaze commanded him to do it again, this time without the man's hands acting as a visual boundary.

Holding the base of his wrist with the other hand, Wolfe closed his eyes, imagining the funnel once again. Once the flame manifested, he stared at it intensely, focusing all his willpower into maintaining the size.

"Good," Emblaze said. "Now hold the size for five minutes. After that you'll have a 2 minute break before holding it for 10 minutes. We'll continue this for the rest of the day, increasing the time by 5 minutes after each interval to make sure the feeling is carved into your head."

Before Wolfe knew it, he had a grasp over controlling his flame. Keeping it at the same size for even 3 minutes was hard at first, but he got the hang of it eventually. After the 30 minute session, Emblaze began causing distractions to waver Wolfe's attention. It started out with odd noises, but soon escalated to pinching Wolfe or tickling him.

Emblaze explained that the distractions were meant to teach Wolfe how to divide his attention appropriately between the task at hand and any disturbances.

The training ended at 4:50 in the evening once Wolfe had successfully held the flame for an hour without stopping. The 2 minute breaks were more than enough to replenish all the stamina required to produce such a tiny flame, making this method of practice very efficient as it taught him control while increasing his stamina ever so slightly.

Wolfe walked back to his room after departing with Emblaze. The man had asked Haik to put a hold on Wolfe's mansion duties and let him access the books in the Study, but Haik only agreed to the latter. His reasoning was that Wolfe was still a servant even if he was learning under a proficient teacher.

Unsurprised, Wolfe had walked back to his room to get freshened up. He lay down on his bed for a while before leaving for the mansion, all the while wondering how eventful the day had been.

A guard escorted Wolfe into the Study at 10:00 P.M. once his mansion duties were completed. Wolfe was locked into the room and had to knock thrice to call any guards to let him out. This measure was put in place by Haik himself, since the Study was in the mansion and the thought of a servant being left alone a few metres away from him at night made him uneasy.

Wolfe lit a candle using his flame, the orange light reflecting off of a tiny section of the book shelf. Holding the candle in one hand he walked across the shelves, searching for a book meant for beginners. He was sure he wouldn't find any material centred around an element other than wind, and so searching for a book that taught him the common techniques followed in most magic was the key.

Looking for around 10 minutes, reading every book title visible to him, Wolfe finally found one called 'A Mage's Guide: Mastery of the 3 Essentials, by Ignacious Vilio.'

The book was around 100 pages long, with diagrams of multiple kinds scattered all over. Wolfe flipped through the book and noticed how most of the book was just drawings. He could finish it in a day if he actually tried, but at this point he only needed to learn about the first step.

The bulk of the book was reserved for the 2nd step of Formation, leaving only around 30 pages in total for Expulsion and Termination. Sitting down at the desk, Wolfe read through the Expulsion section. He spent until 1:00 AM sitting on the uneven wooden chair. One of its legs was shorter than the rest which made the chair unforgivingly wobbly and uncomfortable to sit on. He could have switched the chair but he chose to endure the irritation.

The guards unlocked the door after Wolfe's 3 knocks. Instead of heading to the Servants Quarters, Wolfe decided to return to the training spot. Over the past 4 days he had realised that if he needed to wake up in a few hours, sleeping on the prickly grass was better than sleeping on a comfortable bed.

He closed his eyes and fell asleep on the cool ground, his mind calmed by the fact that he had acquired some valuable information that would definitely come in handy the next day.