Magic?

Freda knitted her brows together, increasing the wrinkles on her already wrinkled face. Learning magic wasn't hard, it was easy to a degree, those who could, would. The tricky part with his question was the fact that he just acquired an ability that would let him, this was altogether a different situation.

Looking around her old dusty house, riddled with cobwebs along the bookshelves and supplies she kept, her eyes were drawn back to the magic circle now sitting under the black rusted cauldron. Flicking her long gray hair out of the way, she turned to look at Nevan with her bright blue eyes.

"Teaching magic isn't something one does, what one teaches to their offspring is the spells and rituals they've picked up through their lives, wielding magic itself isn't taught, it's something that they should already know and be able to draw upon." Freda exhaustively said.

Without her formation, she was feeling her age far more than she would have imagined, after all, she's been living inside it for centuries now, rarely stepping outside.

Nevan seeing her fatigue felt no sympathy as he demanded of her to teach him- "I care not for your excuses, you owe me more than just a pair of clothes." he said still feeling irritated at her earlier transgression, there were far better ways to go about it.

Freda looking at his furrowed brows sighed upon this realization and began to tell him- "With my formation destroyed, my options are limited, but I should be able to figure something out, It's been a while since I've skimmed through these ancient books."

Nevan deciding that he should let her rest so she would perform at her best, got up looking over at Rebekah giving a soft smile before turning to glare at Freda. "We'll let you rest for a few days, I'll come back when you're better prepared to help," he said grabbing Rebekah's hand to head out.

Once outside Rebekah looked over with concern as she asked- "Do you think it's wise to seek her help with this? She seems to off-putting....how do I say....she's a hermit who lives away from everyone and has the same hateful attitude, not caring about anyone or anything other than herself."

Nevan feeling her squeeze his hand in concern as she asked, smiled as he gave a soft squeeze back reassuring her- "Yes, she does only care about herself, did you notice that she doesn't even know about the happenings in Portland, those witches were definitely linked to her at one point, but it seems she really doesn't like interacting with anyone...I can trust her because she said it herself my dear, I have to be able to kill her like an ant with her powers using the formation, that means whatever it is I need to fight is far stronger than her."

"That also means she is trying to use you, maybe even set up a situation so you both kill each other and she benefits." Said a now frowning Rebekah as they stopped at the edge of the island, feeling the nice cool breeze in the quiet evening air with only a few birds chirping.

"You may be right, that doesn't change our need to do it though," said Nevan shifting into a wolf, letting Rebekah get on as he used his max speed to zoom across the river back to the nearby town for the night.

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A few days later Nevan and Rebekah were back on the island as promised, enjoying the cool, crisp morning air. Nevan was sitting with his left arm wrapped around Rebekah's waist, on a rock carved bench he made to enjoy the sunrise over the lake as they waited for Freda to wake. Rebekah resting her head on his left shoulder with a smile that looked like it couldn't be removed since finding Nevan.

It wasn't long before their ears picked up the rustling of movement heading their way. Freda coming over wearing a white robe, coughed a bit into her fist so they would acknowledge her.

With Freda now ruining the moment, Nevan got up to face her with a big grin, spreading out his arms as he came in for a hug squeezing a little too hard- "Freda my dear! How the hell are you?"

Freda now coughing a bit for real as she groaned from the pain- "Nevan! don't forget you need me at my top condition." she hissed.

"Tch, you never were any fun," said Nevan as he let her down, releasing her.

Rebekah giggling at the side followed behind as they made their way to the cottage.

Spotting the cottage once again put a frown on Nevans face, why did witches all like to live in cramped, cluttered filled places, he will never understand. To his surprise, however, upon entering the house they found it empty, only the magic circle in the middle left.

"We will only need this, I have adjusted it to better help with what we are trying," Freda said clearing away any doubt they might have. Making her way over to the other side to face them. "Please sit inside the circle facing me and we shall begin, it would be best if Rebekah remained outside."

"In your dreams, should anything go wrong I'll be waiting to slice you into a million little pieces," Rebekah said with eyes flashing her intent to follow through.

Nevan remained silent as he didn't want to be left alone in a magic circle with Freda either.

Freda frowning- "You would just be in the way." Seeing Rebekah just glare at her and Nevan not caring in the slightest, sighed- "Fine, whatever, let's just get this over with, while I do intend to help you as best I can, most of it will be on you Nevan, so try and concentrate on your new ability."

Shifting to a werewolf he made his way over and sat down in the circle, eyes glowing as he readied himself. Freda lifting her hands, palms out, spreading her fingers as she began the incantation. The magic circle she drew was supposed to help her view his body on a fundamental level, so she could see how the magic is flowing in and around him as he tries to wield it.

An hour has passed with not much happening, Freda lowered her hands to ask- "Is there a reason why you're in your werewolf form?"

Nevan losing the glow in his eyes as he also needed a break looked up- "Well as you should know it's my strongest form, it should be the easiest to make things happen."

Freda- "I don't agree, if anything your human form should make it far easier, you magical creatures being made of magic can't wield it cause it would be like trying to dry yourselves out, humans, on the other hand, do not need magic to live so wielding it is of no consequence to us...It's strange that you even acquired this ability, the only reason I think it's remotely possible for you to wield it, is cause your an Original."

Nevan- "I acquired this ability from a jaguar, this is the ability they have and use to great effectiveness I might add." remembering Sumeet sending waves of earth spikes at him.

Freda furrowed her brows after hearing this- "I don't know what to tell you, it's strange that they should have such an ability, however, I would assume each use drains some of their life away or they could just be a lucky anomaly, nothing is ever certain when it comes to magic...You, however, should not base your actions on exceptions."

"Your werewolf form, from what I've been able to gather so far, is receiving a boost of power which is what gives you magic like resistance, but it's not going to be able to wield it."

Nevan still thinking about how the jaguars of the past hardly ever wielded magic and now seemed to be using it more, maybe they were no longer afraid of death and that's why they decided to finally start using their gift more productively.

Looking towards Freda with a serious look, he had to find a way to keep them dead- "Freda, do you have a way to make sure someone stays dead?"

Freda froze in response to his question, stiff as a statue, Nevan seeing this called to her a few times before yelling loudly- "Freda!"

Snapping out of it she looked down to the black werewolf sitting, Nevan, trying to figure out a way around her current predicament.- "I'm sorry, but we'll have to talk about such things at another time." then thinking how he didn't know about the entity yet had to wonder what brought this question out. "Why do you ask?"

Nevan staring at her deeply as if trying to figure out her secrets through his glare- "The jaguars I talked about, they came back from the dead and I'd rather them not come back a third time."

"What!" Freda exclaimed as her mind raced at the implications. "This can't be, it's happening faster than I expected," she muttered to herself as she rubbed her face in exasperation. "I'm sorry, but as I said earlier, such conversations still have to wait, what we need to concentrate on now is helping you increase your strength no matter how minor it may be, quickly turn into your human form and try again."

"Freda, I think if this has anything to do with that entity you were talking about...." Nevan started to confront her before being cut off.

"Look this is very sensitive stuff, I don't want to draw eyes yet, with the recent warding I put up, we don't have long before they notice and I get found out, stick to the plan...Please," she said showing fear on her face.

Having never seen such an expression come across her face before he relented as he shifted into his human form.

Freda urging him on- "Time is shorter than I first thought, let's finish this sooner."

Eyes glowing he tried for the first time in his human form to use magic and to his shock, he could feel it and could feel it move a little to his will.

Freda sensing the magic react much stronger to his human form made sure to activate the circle again to better see what was happening. "Good this is much better, you definitely can start to use magic in this form, but I'm sorry to say, you'll only have control with not much power...maybe in time it'll change." saying the last part so Nevan wouldn't lose hope.

Nevan, on the other hand, was ecstatic, he could finally start to use magic, he felt like he received a new toy as his grin grew wider, forgetting the earlier doom and gloom. Rebekah also Smiling to the side seeing him happy but staying quiet so as not to disturb them, despite having her questions and concerns about this future threat.

Freda sighed seeing his stupid grin, seeing him already forget about their recent conversations. She poured more power into the circle to help him feel the magic better and help solidify his recently obtained attunement to it.

Finishing she lowered her hands seeing him now with a small ball of light in his right hand that he was playing with. "Nevan, while it most likely won't matter we should check your wolf form to."

Nevan reluctantly looking away from his glowing ball, looked up to Freda,- "Sure we will, also we should check my Noblesse form."

First time hearing about it, Freda looked confused- "What is this Noblesse form?"