Late Night Lessons

Onia accepted and began casting, palms clasped together in a praying manner. Under her command, sparkling blue light flashed in front of her, and soon molecules of water began to form, condensing together to create a ball of water.

"Shoot!" Warden urged her.

Prepared, Onia fired the swirling mass of water forward, unaware in her concentration that Warden came forward to stand in front of her.

Warden drew his cloak forward as the cannon of water plunged into him. He didn't even have to take a step back, nor use energy to enforce his defence. Water splashed away from the legendary-grade cloak, leaving him mostly dry. Some of the splash returned to the caster of the spell as well as Kiara and Cupcake, but they were mostly fine as well.

"As I had thought," Warden said. "Water is not your go-to element to do damage."

The little lass was already tired of all the casting she did, but a new sense of frustration grew in her after another failed casting.

"But it isn't a lost cause," Warden said. "Not entirely."

"You mean?" Kiara asked.

"Pressure is the answer," Warden said.

"Pressure?"

"Yes." He thought for a moment about how to give an example that wouldn't be too outlandish for a village girl to understand. It appeared he took too much time in contemplation, as when he opened his lips again, their patience already wore thin. "You know when you cook something... For example, when you cook rice, you put a lid over the pot, right?"

The city girl seemed completely oblivious to what he was talking about, but the little lass understood him, much to his relief.

"Yes," Onia said. "Doing so makes the cooking faster."

"Do you ever wonder why is it so?"

Onia thought hard over the question. After her mother's death, she had done most of the housework even though she was merely fourteen years old. However, even though she learned those things about cooking, she never questioned her mother. But now it seemed relevant.

"It's not that profound of an answer. Just say what came to your mind."

After a long process of hard thinking, Onia said, "Because the lid traps the heat?"

"Not as precise, but you're right," Warden said. "Also, the lid traps the steam from evaporating completely, and the heated steam helps to rise the pressure inside the pot for even cooking. You see, it takes less time to cook, all because the pressure rises within the pot."

Onia nodded in understanding, though some of her confusion still remained. Warden could have answered all her questions without all the guesses from her, but it was important to keep one engaged while teaching something.

"But what does it have to do with spell casting?" Onia asked.

"Because, lass, spell casting is like cooking," Warden said sagely.

"Hmm," Kiara hummed, as if she understood something profound. "Is this why there are more female mages than males? But I was never taught to cook."

Perhaps that's why you suck at casting, Warden wanted to say, but refrained from blurting more than necessary. He could easily see the blonde girl storming off—perhaps even crying if he had made that comment.

Regardless, he just drew a connection between the two, not an ironclad law of casting.

"Hmm, let's consider a spell as a dish," Warden said and questioned Onia again. "What is required to make a dish?"

"Um, ingredients, fire, and some..."

"Cooking appliances," Warden completed her sentence. "Three things basically. So what is the ingredient for a spell?"

Warden eyed the blonde girl.

"Energy," Kiara said, feeling very accurate in her answer.

"Yes," Warden said. "As for the cooking appliance, it's more like a medium for spell casting. Do you know what is the medium for the spell casting?"

"Umm, ourselves?" Kiara was not so sure this time, but her answer was correct.

"Yes, the caster is the medium for the spell," Warden said. "Lastly, but most importantly, the fire. It is the will of the caster. The intent. While more energy is always better, it is the strength and precision of the will that determines the power of a spell."

Both of the girls nodded as realization dawned on them. Even Warden was surprised himself. Although he hadn't done any casting himself, using the spiritual energy was basically the same in a more unstructured way.

He had been doing everything instinctively, but now, after he put everything into words, everything became much clearer to him.

"So what do you do when you cast the spell?" Warden asked. "Tell me step by step and as precisely as you can make it out."

"I draw in energy from the Gate of Spirit," Onia said, her palm reaching for her navel where the aperture, The Gate of Spirit, is located. "Imagine them flowing through me like water streaming down a river as the energy listens to my will. They condense into water wherever I wanted around me and shot the spell."

"You are not so precise at the end," Warden remarked and turned towards Kiara. "Is your casting process about the same as well?"

Kiara nodded. "It is fire instead of water for me. Also, the source aperture is the Spiritual Tower for me, which is located in my shoulder blade." She paused for a moment, face down, as if feeling something inferior. "Obviously, The Spiritual Tower isn't as strong as any of the two Gates of Spirit, but I'll be able to open another aperture soon."

Kiara clutched Cupcake tightly.

"Good luck," Warden said, frowning. Even though the topic of apertures interested him, he returned to the topic of spells. "Now how pressure comes into play in casting. The thing is, the harder you condense your energy into the same spell without extending the effect area, the higher the impact will be. Will is very important in the whole condensation process.

"You know what? Call it coerce, as that feels like a better term for it. Anyway, the more pressure you create in your casting, the more unstable it becomes. If your will is not strong enough..."

Warden stopped for either of the two to complete his sentence. Onia was still digesting the information she received, while the blonde girl came to a conclusion on her own.

"The spell could burst prematurely," she said. "Which can cause injuries."

"Yes. You had to be extra careful even before considering it."