Today, Scias would begin a new phase in his journey of magic.
"First, a control test," he murmured, settling into his stance.
He extended his palm, channeling mana with the practiced ease that came from rigorous training.
The invisible force shot forward, striking the tree with a satisfying thud, bark splintering exactly where he aimed.
Nine more casts followed, each as perfect as the first.
Mana flowed through him like water finding a familiar channel, responding to his will without resistance.
Scias nodded, satisfied. "Good."
Now he considered his next move.
So many options. So many posibilities.
Should he first test the spell's power? Perhaps examine its range limitations? Or maybe focus on the spell's speed?
Scias paced infront of the tree, deliberately breathing slow and deep.
The military commander would have established a rigid testing protocol, but he reminded himself that he wanted to break free from those constraints. Still, a methodical approach would yield better understanding.
"Power first," he decided finally. "I need to know if I can control the force—make it stronger or weaker at will."
He marked a fresh area on the tree, then stepped back to his usual position. In his training, Scias began noticing the flow of mana inside his own body.
This time, instead of simply channeling mana as did before, he focused on restricting its flow.
His first attempt produced only a light tap against the bark, barely marking the surface.
"Success," he whispered, feeling a small thrill of accomplishment.
For his next cast, Scias envisioned the opposite—opening the floodgates, allowing more mana to flow through his palm.
The result sent splinters flying as the blast carved a deeper gouge than any previous attempt.
A smile crept across his face. Spells could be adjusted according to his will.
"Now let's test distance," he murmured, backing up several paces from his target.
At ten paces, the spell worked perfectly.
At twenty, he felt strain of projecting the force over distance. Staying at this distance, his casts seemed unreliable, some reaching the target weakly while others dissipated halfway.
Scias added this discovery to his growing understanding of magical mechanics.
How fascinating that force diminished with distance, just like an arrow losing momentum during flight.
'Is there a way to maintain power over distance?' he wondered, then laughed softly at himself. 'One question leads to three more. That's the beauty of learning.'
The morning passed in quiet experimentation as Scias tested variable after variable.
He found out that he could cast more quickly with practice, reducing the preparation time between spells. He learned that visualizing different impacts—sharp piercing force versus broad pushing power—altered the spell's effect on his target.
Each discovery fed his curiosity further, each answer leading to new questions.
This was freedom—the liberty to explore purely for the joy of understanding, unburdened by military necessity or tactical advantage.
By midday, Scias sat cross-legged in the grass, exhausted but satisfied.
He barely scratched the surface of what might be possible, yet already the spell didn't feel foreign. It started to feel more like an extension of his will.
'Perhaps this is why those creatures could manipulate elements so naturally,' he thought, remembering the fighting beasts.
'With enough practice, magic becomes as natural as breathing.'
As the sun climbed higher, Scias went over his morning's practice while cooling himself in shade. A new thought surfaced as he absently traced patterns in the dirt with a twig.
'Must the force always originate from my palm?'
He stared at his hand thoughtfully. Perhaps the gesture was merely a physical crutch, helpful but not essential.
Scias closed his eyes, visualizing the force spell exactly as before but without raising his arm. He focused on the same mana flow, the same intent, picturing energy gathering around him rather than channeling through his arm.
Nothing happened.
He frowned, trying again with deeper concentration. On his third attempt, he felt the familiar stirring of mana—but it felt sluggish.
"There's something here," he muttered.
With his next attempt, Scias kept his hands deliberately at his sides, visualizing the force striking the tree.
A faint thud sounded and a small dent appeared on the bark.
"Yes! It worked!" His exclamation startled birds from a nearby branch.
The spell was weaker, less focused, but it manifested without the physical gesture.
Over the next hour, Scias tried casting without hand movements, gradually improving strength and accuracy until the results nearly matched his palm-directed casts.
'Interesting... using my arm feels easier, creates a stronger connection. But casting without movement would be invaluable in combat—no telegraph of my intentions.'
Then he thought of another possibility.
What if using magic felt easier to him while using his hand only because he learned it this way? Would it be just as easy without his hand if he initially learned it that way?
He shook his head, thinking that he would eventually get to a point where casting spells with or without hand gestures would be the same. It would feel natural either way.
Absently, Scias was playing with a stone in his hand. When he noticed it, he trhew it to the distance.
Watching the stone move through air in an arc, a new idea popped up in his head.
Could the spell travel in anything other than a straight line?
He raised his hand this time—no need to make things more difficult—and cast the spell with a new visualization: a curved path that would strike the side of the tree rather than its face.
The force shot forward and traveled straight, hitting the front of the tree as always.
Scias tried again, focusing more intently on the curved trajectory.
On his fourth attempt, he felt the mana respond differently—the force wobbled in its path, striking slightly off-center.
By his sixth attempt, Scias managed a distinctly curved path, the spell sweeping in an arc to hit the side of the oak.
Each success required intense concentration, but the potential thrilled him.
What about stopping mid-flight? Could he pause the force and resume it?
This proved even more challenging. His first attempts failed completely, the force either completing its journey or dissipating entirely.
But by late afternoon, Scias managed to briefly halt the spell's progress, holding it suspended before letting it continue.
The effort left him dizzy and his mana reserves depleted, forcing him to stop-
* * *
New day. New experiments.
Today's question burned in his mind: Could he cancel a spell after casting it?
He used a fallen log as his target, standing in his usual distance.
Scias cast the force spell with moderate power. As the force left his palm, he concentrated fiercely, attempting to reclaim control and dispel the energy before impact.
The invisible force struck, sending the log tumbling.
For his next attempt, Scias focused on maintaining a tether between himself and the spell. A connection of mana that remained unbroken after casting.
When he felt the spell leave his palm, he held that invisible thread and mentally pulled back.
The force wavered mid-flight before dissipating into nothing, inches from the target.
"Success!" A grin split his face.
'So this was the difference between success and failure yesterday.' Scias thought.
Over the next several hours, Scias refined his technique. The mental tether required some mana and it needed to be initialized with a spell.
By midday, Scias could reliably cancel the spell at any point during its flight.
The following morning, he tackled a more complex question: Could he alter the spell's power mid-flight?
Scias cast the spell with moderate force, keeping mental connection to it.
As the energy traveled toward a small sapling, he concentrated on intensifying the power, feeding additional mana through the connection.
The invisible force struck stronger corresponding to the added mana.
"Interesting," Scias murmured, making mental notes.
Over the next three days, Scias mastered power changes, learning to both increase and decrease the spell's strength while moving through air.
The technique proved mana-intensive but undeniably valuable.
His fourth day of experimentation brought another challenge.
Changing the spell's direction after casting. Could this be done? Previous tests showed he could influence trajectory before it left his grasp, but mid-flight adjustment seemed different.
Scias was succesful on his first try. The force curved, striking slightly right of center.
"That's it!" he exclaimed, momentarily startling a nearby bird.
'It works as I hoped,' Scias thought.
'Visualization is the key. Even though it demands my full concentration.'
Each subsequent attempt brought improvements.
By sunset, Scias could guide the spell through gentle curves and even around obstacles, though sharp turns remained beyond his skill.
As twilight descended on the seventh day of experimentation, Scias sat cross-legged in his clearing, going through what he learned.
The force spell, once a simple straight-line attack, now became a versatile tool under his control.
Yet each discovery revealed a critical limitation: all manipulations required establishing mental tether to the spell.
Once cast without the tether, the spell followed its original intent without possibility for change.
'I've pushed this spell far enough' he thought. 'Each new discovery requires exponentially more effort than the last.'
He rose, stretching his stiff muscles from hours of concentration.
'One spell taught me much about magic,' he pondered, watching the sun slowly descend.
'But a new spell might reveal things I've missed. Principles that apply to all magic rather than just one spell.'
The beasts he witnessed commanded elements—earth and air.
Scias gathered his thoughts, mind already racing with possibilities.
Would earth respond differently than wind?
Tomorrow, he would explore new spell. Starting with earth magic.