By the time Brax sat up in the thin mat, both Cygnus and Xinyu were already gone. Cygnus left a note to meet in Kalahari in several weeks' time, and Xinyu to somewhere unbeknownst to anyone. Her rucksack and some supplies were gone along with her, and for some reason, Brax had the foreboding feeling he'd never see the strange merchant girl again. He looked up and saw the huge figure casting a wide shadow over him.
"You are awake," Kofi said, handing him a sack of water. "It was a good fight."
"Not really," Brax said, gulping down the warm water to appease his dry throat. "I only lasted a few seconds. You may not know it, but that girl was only using a tiny bit of her power. I unleashed everything and lost without a fight."
"And that is why it was a good fight," Kofi said. "You very well knew your opponent's overwhelming strength and yet you still were willing to fight. You are a warrior. You just do not know it yet. Perhaps with some training you can-"
"Nah. I'm old," Brax interrupted. "I'm out of my prime. My bones crack, n' and my muscles are always sore. Ain't no amount of training gonna fix that."
"That is not true," Kofi said. "When you unleashed your full power, I could sense the ocean of magic inside you. I wouldn't go as far as to say you're anything special, but you've still got much room to grow. Of course, that strength is wasted because you lack control. All the magic poured out of your body into the air and dissipated into the earth's energy. That is why your attacks drain you so much despite your potential."
"Then can you teach me to control my magic better then?" Brax asked.
"It is why I am here," Kofi said. "I admire your nature, and I have a feeling you're destined for something much greater."
Brax's excitement rose. To think, a man whose back ached in the morning and knees cracked with each step had such potential. He didn't want to get a thick head over it, but for a man who was never afforded anything in all his life as a peasant, he couldn't help but let that child-like anticipation and pride creep into his body. His muscles were rejuvenated, and he felt young again. Why hadn't he left on a grand adventure much earlier in his life?
…
"Before we begin, I need you to explain how your magic works in full," Kofi said. "You seem to have basic control over earthen spells, but what of the other magic you use? The one with the pieces of paper and odd effects."
"That would be my card magic," Brax said. "Frankly, it's just somethin' I made up long ago based on another similar magic I saw in a book. The more magic I put into those cards with random effects, the stronger they are. That could mean in a good or a bad way."
"Then why do you not create these cards beforehand and keep them until you need them?" Kofi asked.
"Cause creating them and keeping them in existence takes so much energy that it would be impossible to hold onto them for more than a few minutes," Brax said.
"I see," Kofi said. "In order to control your magic, you will have to become one with nature's own magic. Such will allow you to freely channel the flow of energy through your body into the world without wasting a single drop. You will even be able to borrow some of the world's energy if you get good enough."
"Wait, so you reckon I could use the magic in nature in addition to my own?" Brax asked. "I ain't ever heard of that one before."
"This is the magic my people use," Kofi said, getting up.
"Alright, so how do we do this?" Brax asked.
"Meditation," he said.
The first day was spent in the middle of the desert with Brax sitting on the hot ground. He was told to concentrate on locking onto the magic that lay all around. Kofi said that feeling it was attuned to feeling the wind on one's skin and could provide limitless magic energy if mastered.
"Feel it on your skin," Kofi said. "Let it in, and it will lead you to new realms of possibility."
Quickly, Brax was able to sense its presence. Almost immediately, actually. Nature's magic was soothing, yet also overwhelmingly all around, and something he had never noticed before. He allowed it to flow in and out of his body like fresh breath, which invigorated his soul and cooled his body from the bleating sun.
Of course, feeling it was only the first step. Anyone with an ounce of magic energy could notice nature's magic if they were told to do so. Controlling it and distinguishing it from one's own energy was a different matter. In the end, trying to maintain magic once it left the body was similar to trying to keep a drop of blood from dissipating in the ocean. Possible, but requiring an impossibly high level of concentration. One which Brax did not have.
"Now that you have felt the magic for hours, you are familiar with it, no?" said Kofi. "Nature's magic is not a single entity. It's the pool that flows to and from all things, living or not. The trees. The earth. The plants. The rocks. The animals. You and I. All magic returns to the sea of nature, and when you understand it's not something anyone or anything could own, you may have access to its limitless power."
"It's overwhelming," Brax said. "I never knew there was so much magic in the air…"
"More than you could ever imagine," Kofi said. "To control it, imagine you are a grain of sand in the desert. Let yourself become part of the terrain around you, yet never lose sight of yourself. Practice this by releasing your magic into the air and bringing it back into your body after a moment."
Brax felt a tinge of weakness as he released tiny bits of magic from his body. It was kind of like exerting a muscle, but inside his mind. He could only concentrate on sustaining his magic for a few moments before he lost concentration. He repeated this again and again for hours, yet not once could he bring an ounce back, no matter how hard he tried. Still, when doubt crept in, he shook his head and thought about all the things he wanted to show his wife and daughter, like the great man he could become. He would become strong and be a hero that Nora could admire.
His body felt like it could collapse at any time as the sun fell, but Brax continued the practice. He felt like he could last a few more seconds from when he started, which, at the very least, was progress. When his vision grew blurry and his head bobbed, he thought about his dreams. The ones that motivated him when he was young returned like an asteroid of booming realization. He grunted as he tried to recall his magic, but nothing ever returned. He was beyond frustrated, and his patience waned. That's when Kofi put his hand on Brax's shoulder.
"That is enough for today," Kofi said. "I've watched every second of your training, and I am quite surprised at how far you have come in just one day."
"I don't feel like I've made any progress," Brax said.
"You have, and it is only day one," Kofi smiled. "Remember, the passage out of the desert is long, and though each step may not visibly bring you closer to your goal, it does bring you closer."
The following days after, Brax was tasked with the same meditation exercise. It wasn't easy on the man who had taken it easy all his life, but he was willing to put in the effort to compensate. The physical strain on his body was intense in such a climate. He didn't have to move, but under the cruel desert sun, he was constantly raining down sweat, creating a pool beneath him each day. His closed eyes twitched as he tried to maintain concentration, but the mental taxation of doing the same task over and over again for hours, days at a time, was immense as well. He felt right to sleep each night, drained. As fortune had found him, he was able to bounce back each time he collapsed from exhaustion.
Brax, the unassuming aging man, was giving it his all.