Sorcery

"You ready for your next lesson?" Lunaris asked Lucian as she sat on a log

They were next to the camp, right outside a treeline where Lunaris decided to have Lucian for her next lessons. 

Lucian nodded, "I have no choice, do I?" 

She shook her head, "No." She said, "We have little to no time for you to be capable of combat. First things first, let's get you a new fresh set of clothes." 

She snapped her fingers and suddenly, a couple of people walked through the bushes, carrying folded clothes in their arms. Lucian noticed that they wore black uniforms and were mostly female. 

They set a blanket down on the ground in front of him and set down the clothes; Lucian saw that it was a pair of pants, a shirt, a coat, and some boots. 

"What's this?" He asked as the people stepped to the side next to Lunaris

Lunaris gestured to the clothes, "Fresh clothes." She said, "Change." 

Lucian looked at his clothes, "Huh..." He said, "I guess so....where do I go and change?" 

"What do you mean?" Lunaris raised her eyebrow, "Do it here." 

Lucian frowned, "What?" He said, "Are you crazy? You want me to change in front of you?"

"That's what I said." Lunaris said

"How would you like it if I had you captive and told you to change in front of you?!" Lucian exclaimed

Lunaris tilted her head, "I'm being generous enough to give you a fresh set of clothes." She said, "Is this how you'll respond to me?" 

Lucian crouched down and picked the clothes up, "I'll go behind a tree or something." He said, "I'm not changing in front of you." 

"Have you never stripped in front of a woman?" Lunaris chuckled

"That's besides the point!" Lucian said, "It is rude to get naked in front of a stranger!" 

"Very well, do as you please." Lunaris waved him off, "Don't think of running off. I do have the cuffs on you and I can track you quite easily with them on." 

"I didn't plan on it." He said as he walked over to a set of bushes, "I don't know where to go....." 

Lucian began to change his clothes behind a tree, feeling Lunaris's gaze from a distance. To say that he felt uncomfortable was an understatement but he was in need of new clothes. Yes, he was able to bathe in a pond over the few days he's been held captive, but his tattered clothes were not something he wanted to have on. 

A few minutes of tinkering with the new clothes, Lucian walked out, tightening the belt on his pants. He felt better, far more comfortable in a set of new clothes. Lunaris had given him a pair of dark gray pants, black combat boots, a white button-up shirt, and a large black trench coat. 

"Hm.." He said as he patted his coat, "That's.....these are nice...." 

Lunaris smiled, "You look far better that way." She said

Lucian no longer looked like some random vagabond who looked like he'd beg in the streets and lived in the sewers. He was wearing an official uniform of the Darklight Sect, a silver crescent moon embedded on the left side of his coat. 

Lucian looked at her, "Thank you, I guess." He said

Lunaris nodded, "You're welcome." She said, "Those are made with a powerful enchanted fabric, they won't tear or be damaged so easily. Despite that, they're really easy to clean. Consider it a reward for passing your conditioning tests."

He nodded, "Okay." He said, "Now what?" 

"We begin your Sorcery Training." Lunaris said, "You do remember how I mentioned that Graced and Cursed Ones can use Sorcery as an effect of their respective powers?" 

Lucian nodded, "Yes." 

"Well, the 64 Seals allow a fraction of your Calamity's power to leak out slowly." She said, "After enough of it accumulates, you'll be strong enough to naturally undo the first seal. Undoing that seal will grant you even more power and will get you access to your Calamity. What you'll be using is the.....well, think of them as embers of the raging fire inside you." 

Lucian nodded, "O-Okay..." 

"Lift your right hand up, open your palm." Lunaris said as she did the same, "You can feel it, right? The Ether around us and inside you." 

Lucian did as she said, "Uhm...." 

"Concentrate." She told him, "Allow your senses to give in to the frequency of this world's magic." 

He nodded and closed his eyes, relaxing his entire body and allowing his mind to go blank. Almost immediately, Lucian felt himself floating, and everything around him went black. Yes, his eyes were closed, but he somehow got a third-person view of himself standing in a black plane. 

The then saw as the outline of his body, a dim white one. Inside his body, he noticed a vast and swirling black mass that unsettled him. Then, around the black plane, he noticed what he could only make out like grey static, like that of a tv screen when there is no signal on the channel. 

"What...." He said as he frowned

"You see it." Lunaris said, "Now I want you to will yourself to bring forth that Ether to your hand." 

"H-How..." Lucian asked as his eyes were still closed

"Just think of it." She said, "Think of the ether like water and your hand as the cup. Pour it into it." 

Lucian nodded and did as she said. He willed the Ether, his swirling black shadowy mass to pour into his open palm. 

Suddenly, the swirling black mass appeared on Lucian's palm, emitting a powerful force. 

He opened his eyes with surprise, "Whoa!" He said

"Concentrate, keep your Ether in your palm." Lunaris said with a slight smile, "Your Black-Ether is potent, I can feel the danger it poses from here." 

Lucian narrowed his eyes as he saw the ether on his palm, manifested as what he can only describe as thick shadows on his palm. He felt a powerful yet cold feeling creep up along his arm and into his shoulder, the chills running down his spine as his felt every cell in his body pulsate. 

"I....." Lucian said

"Now....." Lunaris said, "Imagine the Ether as flames. The most basic of Elemental Sorcery, the Firebolt." 

"Huh?" Lucian said

"Do it." Lunaris said, "Your thinking of it as water in a cup, right? Now think of that water to be boiling, scalding hot." 

Lucian nodded and concentrated, thinking that the swirling shadows were hot. And almost like nothing, the ether shifted in silver-like flames which emitted a shockwave. This caused Lucian to widen his eyes in surprise as he took a step back. The flames felt hot.....or at least he thought them to be hot, but he was unaffected. He knew they were hot, but he wasn't burned by them. 

"Interesting." Lunaris said with a smile, "Silver Flames, quite potent. Point your palm into the sky and fire it. You think of it as boiling water on a cup? Now throw the water where you want it." 

Lucian pointed his arm up, extending it into the sky as he narrowed his eyes. 

Almost like nothing, he fired off the firebolt into the sky and watched as it detonated into a small explosion in the air. 

"Wow...." He said, "That's..." 

Lunaris clapped, "I knew Calamities granted Traversed Cursed Ones prodigal talents." She said with a smile, "But you caught on pretty quick. Or maybe my explanations are the reason." 

Lucian looked at her, "Y-Yea...." He said, "I can only do firebolts?" 

"Most Sorcerers are attuned to a specific branch of Magic, Pyromages are obviously attuned to Flame Magic and Cryomages are attuned to Ice Magic." She said, "You get the jist. You are a Cused One, you're attuned to what your Calamity is. And your Calamity is the Dragon Calamity. In truth, your power is whatever a Dragon can do. And in this case, Dragons can use Sorcery and pretty effectively." 

Lucian lifted his left hand up and narrowed his eyes, focusing deeply. 

Suddenly, his hand was engulfed in the swirling black shadowy mass yet again and he took a step back, as he raised it in the hand. 

All of a sudden, his hand was engulfed in lightning, crackling loudly as he waved his hand to the side, firing a lightning bolt to the ground, causing a shockwave. 

"W-Whoa!" He said with awe

Lunaris looked at this with surprise, "Impressive." She said, "You're picking it up quite fast. Yes, you can use most Elemental Magic." 

"What exactly is a Dragon Calamity?" Lucian asked

"I don't know exactly, I've asked my superiors to send me texts regarding it." She said, "I've never seen one in action myself. My Arch-Magus only told me that Dragon Calamities can let you use Sorcery quite well. My assumption is that you can turn into a Dragon God, a powerful Dragon that can destroy anything and everything. But.....like Graces, Calamities have complex potential. So it's best if I delve deep into the possibilities." 

Lucian raised his hands together and focused, summoning more of his black-ether between his open palms. 

"Hm..." He said, "This feeling is starting to feel familiar, but I feel drained the more I do this." 

"Well yes, you have limited Ether since your first Seal isn't undone yet." Lunaris said, "But what you're doing is summoning pure black-ether and turning it into the element you wish for it. What you need to do is summon the element by default, that'll waste less Ether than usual." 

Lucian narrowed his eyes and the black-ether turned into a silver fireball, "Hm..." He said, "I guess so." 

"Worry not, Lucian." Lunaris said with a chuckle, 

"I'll teach you."