#magistry progression

Kaevia nodded and continued to scribble the words into the book and some even to the top of the page, key points which the word ‘Control’ was visibly seen,  “Yes, you touched on this many times before you left and I have that understanding as well.” She smiled and the quill continued, “ Control over emotions will make for an easier time on controlling energy and spells that are conjured.” She read aloud as she wrote.

“Precisely. Aside from making the act of conjuring a spell easier, it also keeps you protected. As you mentioned before that many feel that Shadow magic is corrupt, it very well can be. If you allow yourself to be vulnerable and susceptible to the shadows and their realm, they can overcome you which leads to many unforeseen consequences.”  Clearing her throat lightly, Elenaris offered Kaevia a very serious expression as she continued. “If you ever feel you are too weak, tired, or simply not ready for a spell of any kind, do not feel that you are going to gain from continuing on. Never push yourself past a breaking point, this training is to be taken very seriously.”

Kaevia’s eyes had anchored to Elenaris through every word she spoke but it was the clearing of Elenaris’s throat that caught her the most. She said nothing for the time being and merely nodded, “ One must be aware at all times and prepare themselves accordingly should they be able to.” She nodded and parroted the words offered in a different context. Once more she read them out as she wrote them upon the parchment.

It took a moment but she then paused and glanced up to Elenaris, “ This might be relevant to what we’re currently speaking of but I hear it is not uncommon for Confessors to have Champions at their sides at all times to ensure that A: nothing happens to the Priest or Priestess during their work and B: to also ensure that the Priest or Priestess who is a Confessor does not step out of bounds with their skills as a Confessor. To essentially ensure that the Confessor does not go…’rogue’. Is this true? I believe that I read in a book once that many Alliance Confessors have these said ‘Champions’.”

Elenaris nodded once. “Indeed, it is quite often that one dealing far into the Shadowarts or, as you said, a Confessor, has an aid by their side. From the time I was young, long before I had developed my skills to where they are now, even I had someone by me aside from my mother during training and lessons.” Her expression saddened but only briefly as she quickly picked up where she had stopped. “I know you are interested in becoming a Confessor, it is a very difficult position to take up. It was once a position I clinged to, lending aide to those of the House I served with, though distractions tear people apart and the Shadows are not simply of interest to me as with yourself and others who may take up the skill. They are wound into my family history.” She paused once more, reaching for one of the two glasses of water sitting nearby for a light sip. “Should you wish to move up as a Confessor, I would begin considering someone to be with you. A trust must be built.”

The smaller Priestess nodded and hung on every word as Elenaris spoke her wisdom. It was here that Kaevia sat back into her chair and folded her hands to her lap, “To see that I succeed without incident I will be sure to have two in my time to better ensure my success and doing what is right.” She licked her lips and then glanced from Elenaris to her notebook, “Confessor has been something I wished to do for a long time now and it is as if though it is more of a calling -- something I know I’m made for more so than just… a passing idea. All in due time.” Kaevia seemed to speak at herself and then lifted to settle herself seated straight, quill in hand and her gaze eagerly looking to Elenaris for a feed of more information.

“Very well, I suggest you begin building those relationships. I will also keep that drive in mind upon furthering your lessons and ensuring we touch directly on key points for Confessor training. It will be separate from a typical lesson of Shadows, but towards the end will be compiled more of teachings of the mind.” Elenaris placed her glass aside at this point, continuing on as she stood and motioned for Kaevia to do so as well. “How are you feeling?” She simply asked, offering no other explanation for the question.

Kaevia blinked and soon settled her quill down and closed her book. She wasn’t quite sure how to reply as her mind was hard at work trying to piece a plan together more so than what she had absorbed already through the lesson. It might have been easy now but there would be more to come; much harder information to retain and spells to learn. Standing, Kaevia looked to Elenaris and smoothed out the front of her rich, colored robes, “I’m feeling fine, the events of yesterday have since passed and I find myself more eager than ever to continue on. I have a destination to meet which yesterday was only one more thing to further my cause.”

Elenaris lifted a hand, a single finger remaining held up. “No, I do not need you to be eager. Eagerness when accompanied by tiredness and lead to mistakes. Are you well healed, rested, fed, and mentally well to continue on?” She rounded the table, gesturing for Kaevia to follow slightly away from where she had set. The empty spaces of the room now playing at their staging area.

The young priestess opened her mouth to speak but she then shut her trap awfully quick the moment Elenaris’s finger remained high to halt her. Maybe, just maybe...Kaevia’s brow might have twitched slightly. No. She did not know that word well and with a furrowed, yet determined brow she nodded,” Well fed, well rested and very much healed.” She began and she followed closely behind Elenaris as the two rounded the table. Her skirts swished along the marble flooring and in place, she turned to face her Mentor.

“And mentally?” Elenaris added before turning around to face Kaevia with an expression that read as ‘I’m waiting for the right answer’, and in fact she was.

Kaevia’s eyes stared forward and her hands folded primly to her front, back straight as her words came pouring from her lips. The truth in how her mind wove it, “ A stone wall. Solid.”

A slightly grin might have been seen upon Elenaris’ lips, but as soon as it came it faded away. “Good.” She stated as she lifted her hands, palms upward. Her right moved to swirl in the shape of a circle above her left, fingers moving elegantly almost in a dance type fashion. “An easy task, I am sure you have done before.” As she spoke, a small orb of dark purple haze and smoke began to form, growing in mass the longer she moved her hand. “Bring forth a happy thought, a good one, pleasant. Then, conjure the orb to this size.” At this point she halted her spell, raising the orb slightly as it now was the size of a small melon. “Do nothing with the orb but hold it, feel it.”

Kaevia watched as her mentor went about forming the melon sized orb within her palm. It was at Elenaris’s last word that Kaevia sprung into action. Without another set of guiding words, Kaevia went about mimicking the hand positioning. In gentle, delicate circles her hand and digits went about splaying in and out in circular motions. She had done this time and time again but never had she the need to match a size. Ever so slowly the soft plumes of purple haze began to form and circle, weaving into itself. It seemed to cease for a time regardless of the circular motions Kaevia had made -- a possibility of a failed attempt but she continued on and her lips broke the silence.

“ The bakery my mother took me to as a child.” She recited as if though speaking about it would help, “ The sweets…” She added and once more the orb began to fill, weaving perfectly. It was here that she could nearly taste the sugary sweets within her mouth. A smile formed and in that Kaevia’s eyes drew to the shadow orb and her fingers began to slow until finally, the form of the orb rested within her hand. A solid, conjured piece of shadowy mass that now rested against her flesh. She held it, she felt it though it had no real texture, it was the energy that pulsed from the orb that she could ‘feel’.

As Kaevia faltered slightly, Elenaris moved closer, nodding slowly as her apprentice went on in reciting her memory. A light smile came to her lips as she held her own orb up near Kaevia’s, comparing the size. “Good good… Now hold it, do you feel the energy? How does it affect you and your thoughts?’ She now moved away, standing steps from Kaevia and still in front of her.

A sharp inhale came and the apprentice stared down to the orb within her hand. It was as if though she wasn’t sure how to explain it. Knitted brows was the only expression she could exude as she gathered her thoughts into words, “ Familiar yet foreign. Controlled yet it feels easy to sustain -- a piece of me?” She then questioned and her eyes glanced up and over to Elenaris.

Elenaris nodded though raised a brow. “Is that a question or a statement?” She inquired while not offering the chance for Kaevia to respond. “If a statement, then good… it should feel like a part of you.” She took  two steps backward, further away from Kaevia as she once again went about the motion of swirling her hand above the shadow orb. This time, the size did not grow or become smaller, simply the color darkened. Not only did the orb darken, but Elenaris’ demeanor seemed to change with it, her expression stiff.

“Now, think of a different thought. Angry, sad, vindictive...anything that would alter your emotions. Do the same as before. Hold it and feel it.” After giving the word and offering ample time for Kaevia to observe her own orb, she flicked her hand sending the dark shadows into the air where they dispersed. This was done so that she could focus upon Kaevia, standing by her side with a light grip to her shoulder. “An easy task, once again, but remember...even bad emotions can be held onto with control.”

The smaller Priestess watched and when the hand to her mantle touched down, Kaevia glanced to her own orb. Even though it looked relatively the same as her Mentor’s she couldn’t help but feel it paled slightly in comparison. She studied it hard and no words came as she knew there were many of these memories and thoughts swimming within her. The orb didn’t move or change for a long while as Kaevia studied it. Seconds passed into minutes and finally she lifted her hand to begin her work.

Her fingers swirled above the orb in slow, easy circles. Still, she did not talk and her brow furrowed. She was left behind. The orb darkened slightly. She was tired of people calling her a child and treating her as if though she wasn’t meant for greatness.

Her eyes glistened with a haze and the orb darkened. She hated him and everything he had done to her and everything he did not do. She hated walking away. She hated the city and horrible people.

The orb darkened more and more, her hand slowing with each pass she made over it.

She hated her nightmares and solo suffering, internal hate she never made known. It was here that the orb blackened purely and the very thing shook in her hand. Her focus was dedicated and unwavering but it was in these thoughts that she finally felt the thing crumble. It weakened and before she could even mimic the motion of placing it into the air to have it disappear, the orb shattered into black fractals that littered her palm and fell to the floor. It was as if though the thing combusted on to itself and could not be contained. Control was there, just not enough.

Slowly, Kaevia’s fingers recoiled to her palm and the dust of the orb completely dissipated from sight. A failure, but a learning lesson.

Elenaris narrowed her eyes upon the orb as Kaevia attempted to change it’s being. She tightened her grip to Kaevia’s shoulder the moment she noticed she was failing in controlling it. “Good try, Kaevia… pulling the shadows from darker thoughts is a difficult task to control. Though, it is there. You must keep exercising this and you will get it. Please, if I am not around to monitor, be with someone else, preferably one with shadow affinity, it would be more beneficial and safe.” She moved around to stand before Kaevia once more.

“Are you satisfied with today’s lesson? Even with your small mistake.”

The apprentice stared to her hand for a long while where the knuckles of her closed fist started to turn white, “ Yes. It has brought much to light for me and I simply need to learn how to separate one emotion from the vast collection instead of pulling one from everything.” Chewing at her lip she then looked over her shoulder to Elenaris. Oddly enough, she didn’t seem to sense disappointment from the elder, “I’ll practice and try harder next time. Control, but limitations as well.”