A Step Above Parlor Tricks (Initiate Elementalism l Self-Moderated)

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

The Month of Immanis in The Season of Winter,
Era I of the Pax Imperialis, Era III of the Celestine Mandate

Winter's chilly blast was beginning to extract a toll on the venerable elf, gradually but nonetheless serving its effect. Erenthril's once bright-scarlet lips were now tinged with blue, his skin paler than the norm, and his emerald green robes hugged his frame like a beggar's only blanket during the darkening. Regardless, the almond-shaped verdant green eyes had yet to lose their sparkle, and still hinted cheerfulness underneath the bowels winter had shoveled upon him. Two brightenings after having signed up at the Paxian Arcana Academy, the day had finally come for Erenthril Mael'tharias to meet his teacher. A Master, or Mistress, he held every intention to study under the person until his Apprenticeship, and Ioannes forbid what he would do after that! His goals remained short-term, or short enough for an elf, and he adamantly refused to cast his gaze upon the longer, far-fetched objectives in the future. Live from day to day, perhaps pick up a crown in between, and Erenthril was satisfied with his lifestyle.

It was perhaps two candlemarks after dawn, and the elf still bore the appearance of having just gotten out of bed. His cascading brown hair, for the most part - one could never be sure which insipid strands shied away from the flow of the others - was tied hastily and thrown back. His face was grudgingly washed, and he was dressed sufficiently. A long white linen shirt tucked neatly into black woven trousers, coupled with a pair of hard black boots, and even Old Winter couldn't get a snip at his body. Add to this the flowing emerald robes that billowed out behind his every stride in the crisp bitter air, and Erenthril seemed well-prepared for the months to come. Twas the season, after all.

After grudgingly heaving open the large wooden oak doors and clawing to have them shut behind them, Erenthril made one last check over his appearance. Thank Ioannes the classes were inside on such a chilly day - the morning had started off cool and was only growing frostier. Deft slender hands slid out of the deep entrenching pockets of his robes and smoothed out the curvacious wrinkles, whilst keen elven eyes darted over his garments in spy of smudges or bits of dirt. No? Well then, an 'A' for effort and a 'B' for cleanliness - he had skipped the bath this morning and last night. With a placid smirk, Erenthril turned on his heel away from the door and slowly walked down the corridor, his leather boots padding along in silence atop the rolled out thin carpet. The beautiful busts and marble statues of Magi and their respective spheres lined either side of him, but the elf wasted no time in heeding their intricate beauty. If anything, Erenthril was running closer to late than he was early, and to arrive perceptibly on time was growing more difficult with each passing era. After a swift hello to the kind receptionist he had met two brightenings before, a sharp turn down the right corridor, ascension into the second floor via the stairway, and then a zig-zag of turns and twists, Erenthril finally arrived at his destination. His eyes glimmered in the sunlight that sparkled through the window opposite his classroom, and after taking a deep breath, he rapped thrice on the door. A pause, a single moment in eternity that nearly brought him to his knees in nervous mentaility, and then the door gently opened to reveal an elf.

"Vedui," the woman stated calmly, her sapphire blue eyes piercing into Erenthril's uncertainly as she guessed him Syl'rosyan. She wore scarlet robes of the purest silk that clung to her body like an infant to its mother, with the sleeves trailing her arms upward as she fiddled with tying her hair behind her head. Her hair! A shimmering array of golden blonde which cascaded smoothly until its flow ebbed to a halt near her shoulder-line. She had tan skin, tanner perhaps than Erenthril's, and appeared humble in his perception. "My name is Aranel Carnesîr, and you must be Erenthril, Mael'tharias? The name seems familiar, but its been a long while since I've been near the elfin Houses. Have you been to Syl'rosya recently?" she inquired politely, perhaps one of the most easiest ways to break the ice and learn the ethnic background of her new student. "Oh my, you're shaking! Please, come in and warm yourself!"

Erenthril proved a mixture of stunned and abashed. The fact that Aranel had already found him shaking from anxiety, or was it fear?, proved embarassing, yet he could always blame it on the cold. The Elven Mistress no doubt was his teacher, yet the chances of her speaking their native tongue and inquiring about his home seemed dubious. A note of caution, perhaps. Afterall, if Erenthril was to trust everyone he met at first glance, he would be not a step above foolish, and perhaps one below stupid. In such trifling times as these, where the Empire could possibly erupt in anarchy at any minute...well then, who would want to trust everyone they met? "Vedui melloamin," the elvish words flew off of Erenthril's tongue with grace and serenity as he performed a half-bow before switching to Common, "it is a pleasure to meet you Miss Carnesîr. The Common tongue lacks the grace and versality of emotions to express oneself, yet I fear it has subjected the empire to its popularity among the other races," a smile, or was that a grin? "It has been two eras since my last sojourn to Syl'rosya, and even then the trip was too short - thank you," Erenthril continued before stepping inside of the room. It was as he expected, a squarish room with many wooden chairs and then one larger one seated behind a table. One could tell it decorated by a Human, the furniture being almost entirely of Oak, the sort of hard and resilient word those stocky men and women preferred. Yet the Elf could tell that the Mistress had tried to spicen her temporary classroom up a little. A beautiful porcelean vase stood on the edge of the desk, housing within it a lovely myriad of purple and pink from a cluster vivacious flowers. And upon the cabinet were tomes and scrolls of treatises and novels, no doubt to be used in his studies later on. A fireplace blazed behind her chair, the flame flickering ever so slightly as the daft breeze blew in from the entryway.

"Make yourself comfortable, and prepare for an interrogation," Aranel offered a weak joke with a sly smile, closing the door behind her student and surpassing him to his seat. She quietly tiptoed around the desk and took a seat in her own chair, her arms immediatly flying to the armrests on either side, reaching for the safety of her power. Like most elves, if not all of them, she did not like change and was an extremely patient woman. Her arms had rested upon this wood for eras on end, and would continue to do so for many more. "Now then, Erenthril, you have made it thus far to my classroom, but that is only a fraction of a step in the long years you will spend ahead. I must inquire as to why you chose Elementalism above the other spheres. If you like the weather, then why not Druidism? Power, well...that would be Sorcery's trump card. Ambition, or maybe deceit? Mysticism would have aided you better there, my young friend. Tell me, why Elementalism?" Attentively, she leaned forward and fixed her bluish eyes upon Erenthril, her elbows spreading as she clasped her hands together in front of her, waiting ever so patiently for a response.

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

Erenthril considered his answer to her question carefully. Sure, he had paid for the lessons and purchased the Mistress' time for the remainder of the course - so long as it was hellbent on Arcana, of course - but that wouldn't change her opinion of him as much as this response may. He quietly settled back in his chair, appreciating for once the velvet padding that had been sewn into the wood. Leaning back, he clasped his hands gently in front of him while he ruminated through his thoughts. Finally, he came to it. His eyes sharpened, and he took a more keen insight to his life than he had expected to discover this brightening. "Well, I suppose it narrows down to knowledge and usefulness. Sure, I favor the ability to protect others and defend myself, but my true inspiration comes through adventure. Then...there is more than one type of adventure. Elementalism serves both. With Elementalism, I can protect myself while I travel, and explore the uncharted places that remain on Telath. But also I can learn and read more about Arcanomechanics, and discover useful tidbits. Out of all the Arcanic studies, I favor Elementalism because of its ability to enforce physical properties that afflict our everyday lives. The biting snip in the wind outside, for example. With Elementalism, I can learn to discover so many things. It will help me better myself as a person and reach my full potential. All that I am...I feel depends upon it," Erenthril spoke with a weary sigh, a hint of sadness in his satin vocal, just barely a hint. Perhaps a little too extreme, maybe too passionate, but it conveyed his point across nicely.

Mistress Aranel understood that point. A Master of Elementalism, she too shared some of his interests, in fact, his thirst for knowledge served as one of her primary obligations to the sphere itself. She offered a small smile, yet already her eyes had glazed over. Erenthril leaned forward - she sensed it, and she could make out the confused and concerned expression that passed over his face. And then...slowly, his world began to change. It was as if the Gods had placed a veil over his sight, allowing just enough light to satisfy his foolish youthful senses while a much richer, vibrant world lay beyond the deepest fathoms of his imagination. Gradually, beginning with the peripheral edges of his vision, the color brightened and the vibrance of the world seemed to pry realization upon the young elf. How many years had he lived, stumbling about blind? Over what seemed eternity, but proved only a few spare minutes, the new vibrance of the world overtook the old, crushing the last bastion of what he considered now obsolete and gray in the pupil of his eye. Erenthril was unbound.

His mind had been released, transformed and expanded into not three dimensions, but a fourth - access to the Astral Plane. A slight pressure pushed in the very back of his mind, awaring him of a hidden energy, some feeling more interesting than he could ever physically study. What was strange, however, was that he seemed to be able to recognize them. Perhaps they were just simply grouped. The warm, light energies that depicted benevolence and order he recognized as the power of thaumaturgists, while the ice and flames that symbolized elementalism seemed especially close. Others he perceived present, but seemed further away - dark brooding masses of the infernal planes, the harmonic, ethereal chords of song, and the alarmingly forceful bolts that resembled Sorcery. Most alarmingly however, were the powers from those planes that had seeped into the world. The bitter wind outside and the slightest form of sleet radiated with the elemental essence of water. Below them, although Erenthril could not see them physically - he sensed them, the trees radiated with unnatural energies that he couldn't quite place into the disciplines he thought common. Never in such huge amounts had he experienced the pressures and strains upon his mind. Unsurprisingly, his body performed the only sensible action. Erenthril passed out.

When he came to, he found himself lying atop the table with a massive headache. Surrounding him was ice, in its purest of form, glistening from the sunlight that reflected in through the window. Mumbling, Erenthril propped himself up and glanced around, his eyes widening as he saw nearly the entire room covered in ice. The entire room, save for Mistress Aranel's chair, which was quite separated from the ebbing flow of ice. There she was, curled up and reading one of her many scrolls, the rest littered about her chair as if she had read them all. Beside her, caged in shards of ice was a fire, imbued upon itself and flickering. The source of it remained unknown to Erenthril, who was beginning to wonder the exact cause of all of this. It was then that Aralen glanced up and found him awake. "Oh, welcome back to the world of the conscious! You sort of...well, passed out. That's normal though," she spoke with a bemused twinkle in her eye, a grin splitting about her plush red lips. She carelessly waved her hand about her, casting a sideways look at her own little fireplace she had conceived. "See what you can do with the powers of Elementalism? I conjured up some ice to slide you out of your chair...then built it upon itself to raise you onto the table. Your body looked like it might have gotten cramped up otherise," she shrugged indifferently, then followed the Elf's gaze to her fire. "Oh, this? This was for light. And some warmth too. Sometimes I grow tired of the norm, and its always enjoyable to have some fun at times. Though - don't attempt this until you're at least a journeyman. You'd have hell to pay otherwise," the Mistress warned. Erenthril could care less. Right now he wanted to pop some herbs and go back to sleep, perhaps a quick prayer to Ioannes that the migraine might go away.

"Well...okay. I understand, I think," Erenthril mumbled, blinking once or twice. Where was the ice? Where was that fire? Had it all just dissapeared?

"A technique you will be learning this cycle. It's called dispelling, but we'll get to that later. Here, drink some water and munch on this bread. It'll do you some good to prep you up a bit!" Mistress Aralen spoke quietly, stepping up and picking up her scrolls. Quietly, she carried them over to one of her many cabinets and exchanged them for a goblet, pitcher and some stale bread. With a chuckle, she handed them over to her pupil and waited to begin.

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

"Ready? Excellent. For the remainder of the candlemark I need you to copy down notes - yes, I know, boring and dull. But required nonetheless. If you ever expect to master this craft, you'll have to learn how to master the mechanics behind it. That would be tip one. The mechanics behind Arcana are formally called Arcanomechanics. Now, take this," Mistress Aralene spoke as she handed Erenthril a large, and somewhat dusty, textbook already open. The book was immediately followed by a quill and a small vial of ink, as well as a blank sheet of clean parchment. "I will have to step out for the classroom, I should only be gone a minute - one of my students needs some advice as to how to create her Staff of Arcana. Don't mind me, I'll be back in a bit," Aralene spoke before courtseying and leaving the room. Erenthril was left alone, with his textbook and paper, bound to copy down whatever information seemed to be held within the fathomless pages.

Ara and Vis


The Unbound quickly begin to realize that their five senses only pervaded a limited truth of their reality. Soon, it becomes apparent that in the Material Plane, every creature, every object, and every entity both possesses and exerts a field of energy. This field of energy, which is more spiritual and essential than other forms of measurable power, is known collectively as Ara. Relative to the frame of reference, the Ara possessed by an object or entity is called the Vis. Thus, for example, an adventurer both exudes and contains Ara, yet, when the adventurer perceives this energy, the Ara that he possesses is his personal Vis. The distinction is one of convenience, but also practicality, for it is with the Vis that a mage can acquire the foreign power necessary to cast a spell.


The Material Plane, as it has been already said, possesses these streams of energy, but Ara alone is insufficient to cast a spell. It is native to our world, and thus, is held by the same standards and rules as the physical constructs of our very existence. However, the Vis is the conduit by which energy that is not foreign to our world, and thus, not restrained by the same rules of physicality as the Material Plane, can enter this existence. And when a foreign energy source is successfully brought into our world, or channelled, it can then directly affect the Ara so plentiful in our universe and in this interaction create a physical consequence. This interchange of foreign energy with our native forces is called an Arcalysis.

Right then. What in Aeternia did all of that sum up to? Erenthril read and eventualyl re-read the information over three more times before he could even begin to grasp the fringes of what his imagination led him to believe. So there were energies...inside of him? Why hadn't someone told him of this sooner? It was then that by fortune, or perhaps luck, Mistress Aranel returned to the room to smoothen things out quite nicely. "Well, you see Erenthril - and it may take some time for you to come to terms with this information -there are two energies in the world. Ara, the energy fields around you, and Vis, the energies found within organic lives. You and I both have that inner energy. Now, the world you've known since your birth is often referred to as the Material Plane. The world you can now transcend to in a mental state is known as the Astral Plane.

To reach this Astral Plane, you must first meditate to rid your mind of disturbing thoughts or stress that may be imposed upon it. After progressing through this meditation, you can potentially reach Clara. Clara is the state in which your mind connects to the Astral Plane. By meditating, you can pull the Ara around you and merge with your inner Vis energies that form a temporary nexus that connects you to the Astral Plane. Note that this requires Vis, which will be important for you later. Initiates often find it difficult to attain Clara, because their minds are inexperienced and they're often naive in how to attain it quickly. It takes most Initiates anywhere from five to ten minutes to attain what a Master could in five seconds! So you see, the process of magic is quite difficult compared to what some may consider it," Mistress Aralene spoke, a grin flaring over her facial features. Perhaps Erenthril would understand. Then again, most of her students did not on day one.

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

Erenthril understood, if somewhat shakily. The dimensions that had defined his life up unto this point were now cast away; it was as if he was re-learning how to live again. His life - no, his choice, had turned itself upside down and reversed his lifestyle. He was learning knowledge he didn't even knew existed, and was beginning a journey far more tedious than he previously had imagined. Regardless, he was fine with this. This would prove enjoyable, if not interesting, and a definite gain in all aspects. With a shrug of his shoulders, he returned his Mistress' smile politely and leaned forward, ardently paying attention as his life unfolded before him.

"Right then. Well, before we begin with the actual spellcasting, I need to 'brief' you, so to speak, on what you'll see once attaining Clara. Once your Vis and the Ara around you have combined, the result termed an Arcalysis - or magical reaction, you will have access to the Astral Plane. What you see there will vary. Of course, this is different for every Mage since each individual's perception is different. However, I'm positive you will be able to recognize the strands of Ara, and especially your Vis - if you don't feel it within you already. But what then? Well, that's where I'm here for. You'll see these strands of Ara, and you'll find that by concentrating upon them at your whim, you can actually focus their powers to benefit you. This is obviously called Focusing, as you may have guessed. Or perhaps not," she spoke with a dainty shrug, bemusement sparkling in her eyes as she continued the foreplay. "Regardless, you will have to focus on these auras and immerse yourself within the Astral Plane, bending your full concentration in its entirety upon them while you're an Initiate. You will have to combine your Vis with these specific strands of Ara to mold yourself to the Plane and gather your desired essence. This immersion will result in a reconnection between your Vis and your physical body back in the Material Plane. You'll know when you're connected, it's often a mental snap of clarity or energy burst, maybe even an adrenaline rush. Anyways, this connection creates the necessary arcane pathway to bring forth the energy to cast the spell.

The next part is called Channelling. Once yuo have properly focused with the Elemental Essences, you will be able to bring forth the power from the Astral Plane into a physical construction imagined by your mind - back in the Material Plane. When you have gathered up enough of your natural essence, you must combine it once a gain with your Vis to create Mana. To make it simpler, think of Mana as the building blocks to your spell. As you weave and channel, your mind will convert the Astral Essence and your Vis into Mana so that you can continue 'building', per say. Once your spell is built, you may choose to cast it, and thus the channelling process is complete. At higher levels, mages often find it beneficial to channel more than one spell at a time, and thus use larger amounts of their Astral essence to create more Mana. This could be very dangerous though for an Initiate, so I beg you take caution to what you actually gather.

Of course, all of this is from a theoritical standpoint. You have yet to even enter Clara for a second time, and failure is common in all Mages. It takes intense concentration, and I won't expect you to attain Clara perfectly for the first cycle. However, later on you'll find it easier to transcend and thus grow more accustomed to it. Understand?"

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

Erenthril nodded, and then leaned back into the chair. It had comforable padding, some sort between linen and silk, and the frame outfitted his body just nicely. It wasn't ethereal, but it would serve to help his mind meditate. With a serene environment, it would supposedly prove easier to reach Clara, but that was yet to be seen. Batting his eyelashes to a close, the Syl'rosyan Elf quietly leaned back into his chair and simply smiled, the false mirage that appeared on his face completely contradicting the pressures that worked behind it in the tedious effort of clearing his mind. The stresses, the outrageous number of thoughts and the curvacious Mistress in front of him did nothing to help the Elf achieve clarity. No...this would definitely take some time to get use to if he was to begin doing this sufficiently. His brow furrowed as he concentrated even more, his mind fending off what seemed a numbing headache as it sought frantically to clear itself of desires. "Slowly Erenthril...take your time," Aralene cooed in a comfotring tone, her voice peacefully quivering in the air around him as they soothingly reached his ears. Erenthril took a deep breath, and attempted the process over again...

It took twelve minutes for Erenthril to obtain Clara. And that was only the first time. The minute he achieved it, he lost it, and so it went back and forth again as his mind countered what it had known for more than a century. On the seventh time of achieving Clara, it stuck, and Erenthril grinned in silent success; obviously he was a little more than afraid that speaking may disrupt his connection to the Astral Plane. The bright arcanic energies, which he now recognized as Ara and Vis, surrounded him along with the Astral Essences. "Very good," Mistress Aralene cooed, delighted with the prospect of success for her newest pupil. "Very nicely done indeed! Now, what's next? Oh! A spell, right. A very simple one at that, Erenthril, so don't worry. Now, I've already told you how to construct spells, but not one of a specific genre. The spell you will learn first is called Glowing Sphere, a very easy Elementalism spell to master and one you will use for the rest of your life. It involves you weaving an orb of either fire or ice so as to create a sphere of reflective light, it's very handy for reading past dusk if you don't like candles. Anyways, it's a simple orb, of whatever essence you please. I have a feeling you'll be better off with Ice..." Aralene advised, and then fell silent again. The rest was up to Erenthril.

The Syl'rosyan elf took a deep breath and nodded. Clara was beginning to tire his weak mind, but perhaps he could finish the spell before he passed out. Sharpening his senses and regaining his focus, Erenthril began to bend his will upon the specific strands of Ara around them. Slowly, he shied them away from the normal flow of the arcanic fields and brought them towards himself, merging them with his Vis. From there, he sought out the Essence Planes. As soon as the Vis and Ara met, his mind snapped back into renewed clarity, and he found himself capable of gathering the essences required. After some searching, he found the Ara of all four essences, and then summoned forth his natural essence, water, and brought to himself. Channeling it with his Vis, he created the Mana required for the spell, and then began to weave it in a similar fashion that took his mind. Meanwhile, Mistress Aralene imparted the weave of the spell to him, as she would all his future spells, further enabling him to create the orb. He started out simply, using the Mana as a cage and then imbuing it with the secondary form of water, ice. Once this was done, he felt his mental connection to the Astral Plane ebbing, and concentrated with the last of his vigor to bring the spell back into the Material Plane. Squeezing his eyes shut, both his mind and the spell transcended and thus returned...

with shaky success. The orb appeared hovering between Aranel and Erenthril, but only for a few seconds. A glove, it reflected the hard shards of frosty ice that much matched the ones raining down upon the Academy outside, and brought some added light to the room. However, as Erenthril lost his concentration upon the globe, it eventually dissipitated back into Mana and escaped into the Astral Plane once more.

"Very good!" Aranel shouted with a punch of triumph, jumping out of her seat. "That was very well done! I'm very pleased Erenthril! Now, go home and rest. Eat. It'll do you good. Come back tomorrow three candlemarks after dawn, and we'll continue your lesson. Oh - and also, make sure you practice meditating before you go to sleep each night. It will cut the time it took you today in half, I promise. You did excellent, I'll see you tomorrow!" she spoke. The two exchanged a few more courtesies before she took her leave of him, and he of her, as he headed back out into the cold weather to return home. He was learning at last...

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

The next brightening Erenthril awoke refreshed and ready to begin his next lesson of Elementalism. The moment his bare feet touched the icy cool wooden floor he prepared himself for a trying day ahead. Washing the cold water onto his face, he blinked a few times as he gazed at his reflection inside of the basin. He had manipulated that essence just yesterday, creating a glowing sphere of reflective ice. If that essence could feel, he wondered what it would think of him for doing so. And yet, it seemed natural, the entire process. Water seemed so much easier to control than the others. Perhaps it simply enjoyed his company. Tugging on his hard leather boots and fastening his emerald robes about him, the Syl'rosyan elf brought the green cowl over his cascading brown hair and stepped out the door, into a cold icy blast of wind. Indeed...today would be very trying.

Arriving promptly for class, Erenthril found Mistress Aralene already there with two cups of bristling warm tea waiting for each on her table. The two exchanged courtesies and good mornings before they settled down into their chairs, following the natural pretense of things that all classrooms ordained to. "Very well, I hope you had breakfast. You'll need your energy today. Now, the next spell you will learn is called Elemental Orb. It's fairly simple, with the same layout of the Glowing Sphere, except this time your intent is to injure. Harm. Perhaps even kill. You could really use any of the elements here, air for electricity, water for ice - or in these temperatures, a chilly blast that would soak them with neumonia, fire for...well, fire, and earth as a large boulder. So, go ahead and meditate - you'll be aiming for the vase on my left. Don't worry, I'll dispell it if anything gets too chaotic. Go ahead now, try fire," Aralene advised before settling back in her chair, sipping her mug of tea. This should prove interesting...

And nine minutes later, it was! After staging a tedious battle against Clara, Erenthril's mind finally snapped into the crystal clarity he was gradually becomming accustomed to, and found himself staring in amazement as he immersed himself in the Astral Plane. He wasted no time in Focusing upon the closest strands of Ara around him and bringing forth his Vis - within seconds an Arcalysis was created and the Syl'rosyan Elf had further immersed himself within the Plane. Now, the presure was on, and it seemed a calm yet timely battle against the pressures that bore down upon his mind. Finding the Astral essences, he collected bare handfuls of both Fire and Air, planning to create two spells instead of one. Air came neutrally, not as benevolent or generous as the element of water, yet not nearly as difficult as Fire. Not that Fire proved difficult. Simply frustrating, like a baby constantly crying without a will in the world to shut up. The first time the element shied away from him, and Erenthril, unsure of what to do, tried repeatedly until he cleverly found a way to deal with it. The more concentration be bent upon the essence, the easier it came, yet the less control he manifested over Air. Beaming with success as he obtained both essences, Erenthril combined his Vis separately with each and experienced a numbing pain in his spine as he began to channel the Mana back into the Physical Plane. Quickly he created two orbs and imbued them each with their respective essence, one of fire, one of air. Finally, he imagined them spiralling towards the vase, each one taking a semi-circle route and colliding at nearly the same time. Perhaps it would work...he could only find out...

His eyes snapped open as he saw two orbs, one glistening of electrical sparks, the other ablaze in flames, take form before him. They then swiftly took off, as if racing, each one attempting to come before the other. The spells raced towards the vase, until finally....the dissipitated. "Very good," Aralene's voice drifted to his ears, summoning him away from the confusion that perplexed him. "I dissipitated them before they reached my vase - I couldn't very well let you destroy it, could I?" she laughed heartily as her eyes twinkled in bemusement. "You did very well, I'm impressed you could shoot off two spells at once at only your third time. Well - the air elemental orb was pretty weak, no more than a static shock from rubbing against carpet, but the fire proved sufficient to light clothing. You did well," Aralene spoke her approval with a firm nod, settling back into her chair. Two spells down, four more to go.

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

Clearing her throat, the Mistress continued on as if she had not skipped a beat, despite the newfound worries of Erenthril's Vis reserves. How many more spells could he do today? The remaining four? We'll press him for it...all he has to do is demonstrate some understanding of them. We have an entire cycle to practice, and even more if he practices at home... Aralene quickly concluded within her head before snapping back to the needs of her pupil. "Your next spell is Elemental Shock. It is nearly identical to Elemental Orb, except this time when you bring the spell into existance, you want to channel it inside your target rather than out. For instance, if you were aiming for a living target, you would channel an elemental shock of fire inside of them so that they might -"

"Combust?"

"Precisely. Now, try an Elemental Shock of air inside the pot. The electricity shouldn't damage the vase, but it certainly will have an outwardly appearance upon it, I'm sure," Aralene concluded with a cheerful smile and a bounce in her seat. She had given Erenthril the tools, now all he had to do was succeed with them...

Quietly, Erenthril concentrated upon reaching Clara. He went into his meditative-like trance, and found it easier to reach Clara having already relieved himself of the trifling stresses and trivial thoughts. His mind snapped into the Astral Plane and enlightenment dawned upon him as he quickly set about his business. First, he would immediately Focus upon the Ara strands around him after the Arcalysis, drawing them towards his Vis through sheer will power alone until the two combined. Another snap, more clarity. Now he needed the essence. What had Aralene said? Air? Right...Erenthril quickly carved a handful of air for himself, which was beginning to become difficult to deal with as it was his opposite natural element, and then combined the essence with his Vis once more. Another snap, even more clarity, and a burst of the senses this time as well. A slight adenaline rush however, due to the pain coming from his neck now. Channeling was becoming more easier though, on the bright side of things. With a grin, Erenthril began to weave the spell, at his element, working the Mana with efficiency and what he could consider ease. Needless to say, the Elf was getting the hang of this now, and within moments he found himself bringing back the Elemental Shock back to the Material Plane, locating it directly within the vase itself.

His eyes fluttered open to see an electrical shockwave travel over the vase, surrounding it but causing no harm. Had the vase been a small animal, say, a rodent, its insides would have been fried within seconds. Regardless, the spell proved yet another success, and Erenthril added another point to his mental score chart.

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

Another well-driven success, yet one that may be compromised by his cockiness later on. They still had the remaining part of the day to practice, so they spent a candlemark reviewing the spell and its components. They made small-talk as well. Erenthril explained his history and how Syl'rosya had been while he had visited, and Aralene did likewise. The two were well on their way to learning much more about each other than they had originally intended, but it was time well spent. Afterwards, Mistress Aralene flipped through the book to the next page which described the next spell they would be working with. "You've done well so far Erenthril, but there is something you should know. The success of your meditative trance depends upon your anticipation. If you begin meditating with a surety that you know you will attain Clara, no doubt it will take longer because of the excitement coursing through your mind. Its how our minds work, really. Regardless, its always could to withhold just a smidgeon of doubt to fuel the process. Okay?" Erenthril nodded his understanding. "Right then...the spells I am teaching you are in progression. You started with the glowing sphere, which then led into the Elemental Orb and Elemental Shock spells. Now we're going to switch to Elemental Grasp, which involves coating your hand in the desired essence. For example, you could coat your hands in a shield of ice, a mass of fire, cove them with stone, or channel them with electricity. In all reality, it depends on how you feel at the given time when you choose the said element. But that's beside the point. Go ahead and enter a meditative state. Remember that you are coating your hand, not imbuing it, with the essence. So, it would be wise to leave some pocket space, your hand isn't immune to fire y'know," Aralene joked pleasantly, leaning back into her chair and smiling amiably.

Erenthril went about his business quickly, seeking Clara whilst following what his Mistress had said. He had some doubt, but not too much, and some confidance as well, but none too much of that either. He started simple, blocking out thoughts and evading stresses. Once he attained Clara, after roughly eight minutes or so, his senses heightened and he began to bend his will upon the specific strands of Ara around him. Slowly, he shied them away from the arcanic fields and merged them with his Vis, bringing him once more deeper into the Astral Plane that he may find his essence. As soon as the Vis and Ara met, his mind snapped back into renewed clarity, and,after some searching, he found the essence planes and summoned forth water. Proceeding at a reasonable rate, he then channeled it with his Vis; he created the Mana required for the spell, and then began to weave it in a similar fashion that took his mind. He first made a cage around his hand, and then cage around that cage, thus creating a fully-purposeful three dimension glove around his hand that would house the essence of ice. Once this was done, he felt his mental connection to the Astral Plane ebbing, and with a final burst of concentration brought it back into the Material Plane. Both his conscious and spell transcended, and then returned to the Material Plane.

"Oh that's cold!" Erenthril nearly shouted as his hand enveloped in ice. What had he done wrong? Why was his hand beginning to freeze? He had performed the spell correctly, had he not?

"Oh dear. Erenthril, you will have to dispell your spell. You need to gather hold of the spell's weave you created and destroy it, simply bend your full concentration upon it and break the Mana free. Use your own magic to combat it, if you must, but try and ignore the ice before your hand gets frostbite..." Mistress Aralene spoke, already slipping into Clara to help her student. She was alrady beginning to guess at what he had done wrong...

Erenthril grimaced but managed to bring himself back into Clara, quite slowly of course. There, he found his spell's weave and began to bend his will on it, forcing as much of his arcanic prowess upon it as possible. His own Vis quickly encompassed the spell and then tore at it, disrupting the weave and allowing the Mana to ebb free. Slowly, the ice around Erenthril's hand began to dissipitate, and a renewed feeling of warmth was kindled inside of it, though whether that was normal or some prospect of Aralene's work he would never know.

"You had gathered too much of your essence, Erenthril. The cage you wrought for it was too thin, and naturally the Mana was too thick with ice that it froze your hand regardless. Next time leave a greater gap, and perhaps a larger cage for the Mana to fill into. Do you understand?" the Mistress Aralene asked, her eyebrows raised in concern as she stared forward ardently. It was important that he knew this.

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

Erenthril managed a bare smile, his own eyebrows raised in surprise at this recent failure. Too much of an essence? He supposed it possible rather, believable - considering it had already happened - to gather simply too much of an essence. And he had experienced the consquences from doing so. A lesson far better learnt inside of the Academy rather than out, he could argue, but the fact that it had come through the price of failure deterred his high spirits for the moment. A slight frown marred his features as he sadly nodded towards Aralene, accepting the price of his failure and moving along with his lesson. His hands slowly folded in his lap, his black leather boots tapping on the floor to help keep the rhytmatic easing train of thoughts in his mind from dissipitating. "I understand Mistress, please go on," he spoke after much thought, glancing upwards with his piercing gaze and looking directly into her eyes.

Yes, he understood. But would he later on, when he attained the greatest of heights? Would her pupil understand his mistakes when he became a Journeyman? A Master? Even an Archmage could make mistakes...yet it the mistakes did not make a mage. The attitude behind them did, and the prospect of surviving such magical mishaps and encounters. With a light-hearted sigh, Aranel nodded and continued on with her lesson. "Very well then Erenthril. Just remember - even the most experienced of Mages make mistakes, and you're only a mere Initiate! Do not let your failures trouble you, but rather, trouble your failures and learn from them. You cut the chance of making such mistakes in half if you learn to accept and recognize what you did wrong. Your next spell is called Inner Radiance, which is practically the same as your Elemental Grasp. You need to create an air pocket large enough to not inflict any harm upon yourself. Then, make another cage with the Mana and imbue the essence of fire within it. Not too much, you don't want to light the very aura around you on fire - but rather by heat. So - learn from your mistake and try and carve just the right amount of fire from the Essence Planes. Okay?" she asked cheerfully, bouncing in her seat before leaning back.

Erenthrill nodded with slightly less enthusiasm and then settled into a meditative trance, closing his eyes and concentrating sharply upon attaining Clara. Because he had just done repeated the process he found it a lot faster and easier than he had expected, and attained the Arcanic state in only six minutes. A big breakthrough for the Initiate, the shock that plagued his mind afterwards nearly knocked him out of the Arcalysis - yet he managed it somehow. Quickly he began to focus upon the strands of Ara around him, and combined them with his Vis to draw out the essence of Fire from the Astral Plane. With this, he used his Vis once more - whose reserves were beginning to grow quite low - and bound the essence and vis into a substantial amount of Mana. Taking a sharp intake of breath, he then shaped the Mana into a cage-like weave around his body, using sheer mental power to accomplish the task at hand. His very last step before channeling back into the Material Plane was to imbue the cage with the essence of fire, though hardly enough to light the entire aura around him on fire.

His mind and spell snapped back into the Physical Plane two seconds afterwards, bringing with it a scolding hot aura that surrounded his body. Fortunately, and in contrast of his last spell, he did not feel a single tinge of heat, but rather the normal temperature of the room. To test his spell's efficiency, the Mistress Aralene leaned forward slightly and held her hand out. The tips of her slender pale fingers eased gently closer until they finally drew back - perhaps a twelve inches away from his chest. "You pass on that one, Erenthril. That was hot!" she exclaimed with a tone that mixed pain and pompous cheerfulness together in a melodic vocal.

"Okay, we'll do the last spell then. I reckon you have enough Vis reserves just to complete it, though its efficiency will be minimal. This spell is quite different from the others. It is called Earth Spike, and involves the essence of Earth. Now, I know you haven't worked with the element quite yet, but I believe you will not suffer any reprisal of any sort. Just remember to concentrate. The spell's weave is simple enough - create a large pike with the Mana and imbue it with the essence of earth. Anywhere in the classroom will suffice - so long as you don't break any furniture," Aralene smiled wickedly at the thought, her eyes glimmering before she adjusted her scarlet robes and took up her cup of tea. Sipping it quietly, she settled back in her padded armchair to watch.

Erenthril attained Clara with relative ease, but only through evading the sorrowful thought of the Theylri he had seen kidnapped the darkening before. With a shudder he began to focus and channel the Ara around him, combining his Vis with this and that to create a small amount of Mana with the essence of earth. He weaved the spell with moderate ease, surprised at the simplicity of it all, and created a small pike no more than a meter in height. He then imbued within it the essence of earth, focusing upon the rockier aspects of the broad-term. His last step involved the placement of the spell in the material plane, which he situated nicely right beside his chair upon the stone floor. With a deep, relieving breath, he made the last great leap back into the Material Plane and prayed to Ioannes he would pull the spell off...

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

The spell manifested to the right of Erenthril's chair. The Earth Spike appeared after a second, shooting out of the stone floor, a smooth pike of gray rock that spiralled to its pointed tip. It was then that the idea hit Erenthril. If he could position a spike such as that at just the right moment, he could impale his victims. That, or just as simply set traps for them. With a mischevious grin Erenthril stood up and walked over to his creation, brushing his hand along its surface. He tapped his fingers against the very tip of the spike, amazed at how the tip pricked the surface of his hands. With a mixture of delight he tapped it once more until it dissipitated, the Mana freeing itself back into the Astral Plane and taking leave of the Mistress and her pupil. The very Mistress who was standing eagerly behind her desk, her eyes locked upon Erenthril's form as he had explored his creation. It was, after all, the first time he could actually physically touch one of his spells without causing any bodily harm to his person, and how he perceived the spell cast would make the world for him. "Remember, Erenthril, that these spells are very real. They can maim, injure, or even kill a person. The greatest of goods can also become the greatest of evils if used for the wrong purpose," her voice trailed solemnly, a sadness tinging her vocal chords as the mellow tone carried out around the room. Her eyes glistened briefly as a trembling hand reached up to her mouth. Erenthril missed it all, too attentive to what she had said, and too amazed with his creation to take heed of what his teacher was physically doing. After all, his back was turned to her.

Aralene's eyes snapped back into reality. "Right. Your Initiate course is over, I expect you will return in two cycle's time to renew your lessons as an Apprentice?" Aralene asked, carefully gaurding her question. Perhaps he would wish to learn two arts of Arcana, or maybe learn something else instead. After all, melee was just as important in the heart of battle as magic was.

Erenthril paused for a moment, taking in a sharp breath before turning on the ball of his foot. "Well...Mistress Aralene..."

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I thought you desired to go into Apprentice! Forgive me, I misjudged your actions," the Elfin maiden countered, waving an airy hand along with her statement.

"No, it's not that I choose not to learn more. I simply cannot afford it. My budget is shot at the moment, and until I find a job I'm unable to afford the Apprentice course. As much as I would really like to learn, I simply cannot due to my...financial, circumstances."

"Nonsense! What do you think us Masters at the Academy are? Cold and heartless?Erenthril, if you show the devotion to continue to dedicate yourself to your sphere of magic, which, I will attest that you have, we could easily land you a job as a clerk or receptionist. Mind you, it will not be easy, and you will have to actually work. But by working at the Academy, you Apprentice course will be arranged for. In fact...saying you work for the entire duration of your Apprentice course, you can still manage 15 crowns per cycle. Not to mention all the Arcanic lore and our huge library you'll have access to. What do you say?"

"It sounds marvelous! Of course I'll take it - thank you so much Mistress Carnesîr!" Erenthril shouted with a triump punch in the air, before walking around the table and hugging his Mistress in a modest-sort of way. And, for the first time in a long while, Aralene Carnesîr actually blushed at the prospect, and took a step backwards from her pupil, hands coming forward to separate the two of them.

"Excellent. I'll see you tomorrow then, bright and early. Your course will begin in two cycles' time!"

[Crimson]

*CRIMSON STAMP OF APPROVAL*

This self-moderated training thread will suffice for Initiate-level Elementalism.

Training complete, thread closed.

Transactions (the receptionist job) mentioned within have also been approved.