Seeking Instruction (Adrain)

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"You can't expect to tap into your full potential unless you are willing to learn the basics of other elements. You've gotten past the initiate point of fire control, while you may be intrigued understand that for anything remotely advanced you need to at least learn the basics of shifting your mana to other energy types to fuel the desired effect." he says, slightly annoyed that Roxanne kept being resistant to the idea of learning other elemental types even though she came to him to learn more advanced things. Maybe its more complex sounding, yes, but when you try to achieve a new academic apex, one must be willing to expand and push their boundaries.

"It will help, but there is a practice element. Fire is volatile as it is dangerous and must be kept with the utmost of respect. If you think you absolutely dominate it at all times, it will literally burn you from the inside out. But for this fire spell, it requires you to weave fire mana into your body to an extent beyond just spellcasting, but to let it embrace you and take you beyond. It literally causes you to dematerialize your body into a mass of fire and back again. It is a spell I don't normally teach students for a hundred good reasons and I am reluctant to really show you just for the risk factor. However as promised...'

The next twenty minutes would be spent showing Roxanne the glyphs and examples of the fire control. Several times, Adrain's body would erupt in fire as he went into the fire form and showing Roxanne the amplification potential of the spell by forcing faster and more potent fire spells from his frame. Once he would seem disoriented briefly after returning to his normal state, but it would wear off in due time and be waved off as a side effect. At the end of it, he takes a few steps back, watching Roxanne.

"So...that's about it for the description, now you have to put it to effect and gain control for yourself. Once you seem to get the gist of that, we can do the explosion sorts of spells."

[Roxanne]

Roxanne listened as Adrain pointed out that learning other elements would only help to make her stronger. She tilted her head, considering the thought. "You present a very valid point. Earth and Fire do go well together too. What would you suggest as a basic starting point for learning to manipulate Earth? I've never tried to shift my mana outside of this element, honestly. I'll admit, I'm nervous," the half demon said, laughing a little.

As the instruction continued, Roxanne listened carefully, nodding to show she understood. She watched as he demonstrated the spell, and a few extras. She noted the glyphs and examples he showed her, copying them and following his lead. The half demon noted the effect this seemed to have on Adrain as he seemed disoriented after returning to his normal state, filing that away as a potential side effect to be aware of. Throughout the lesson, she made little noises of understanding whenever appropriate.

"My turn, then? I'll start slow," she said, after he finished and indicated that she needed to put it into effect and gain control on her own. Roxanne concentrated on her hands first, the way she had in the very beginning when she was first learning to control her magic at all. She followed Adrain's example and instructions, just the way he had shown her. After a moment, her hands would turn to flames, followed by her arms. The look on her face was intense as she focused on the task at hand. Her feet and legs were next, up to her hips. Roxanne let out a breath, looked at Adrain, and then forced her torso to follow until eventually she stood as a body flame for a moment.

The half demon held the form for a few moments, revealing in the strangeness of it. She was hot but it wasn't uncomfortable. She could feel the wind blowing slightly at her form and held one hand up, turning it this way and that for a moment before looking down at the rest of herself.  Then with a small puff, she materialized back into her normal body. She was slightly out of breath but looked exhilarated. "Wow, that's an interesting feeling! Thank you for teaching me this" she said, smiling at the headmaster and sinking into a crouch for a minute. She felt a little dizzy but was proud of herself and grateful to the element for behaving. 

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"Probably a stone projectile or a small rock wall, I wouldn't try stoneskin abilities til you had better control, though you see once you master one element, the rest fall in line quickly with practice." he states, nodding that Roxanne had at least decided to open her mind to the new spell type. It at least made her more confident that she would be able to develop in a meaningful way and not just learn individual tricks.

Adrain watched as Roxanne tried her own take of the fire body technique. It was good...for a first attempt. At least she didn't seem to lose any weight or size to her in the process. "That's a good start, but you'll need to learn to maintain it for longer and be less taxing if you plan to use that in a combat situation. You can also grow in power with it with enough practice, expanding your form to intimidate an enemy or engulf them in fire...or even use it as an intimidation technique since a fiery grasp around the throat does wonders for making people lose the will to fight." he states with a clear thought process for combat.

"In any case, it is possible to 'preload' spells you are very talented with to also instantly release them by imbuing them in a fire crystal or a crystal of the relevant element. Something to consider with the explosion abilities since they take time to cast, at least safely. In any case, what else do you want to try to learn?" he inquires, waiting patiently for a response.

[Roxanne]

Roxanne nodded at Adrain's suggestion to start small, looking a bit surprised that mastering one element would make the others easier. Though, she supposed that made some sense. "Of course, one must learn to crawl before they can walk, right? Perhaps we could work on that a little bit later," she said, smiling.

Once she had reverted back, she looked up at Adrain, listening as he critiqued her. The uses for the spell seemed very practical and she was glad he had agreed to teach her after all. "Thank you. Practice does seem to be the key to learning new abilities. Do you have any suggestions for making it less taxing? I like the way you think though, as far as the combat suggestions go. I'll have to keep these uses in mind," she said, standing back up and stretching a bit. Her moves were precise, inadvertently showing off her flexibility and her toned body.

When Adrain mentioned 'preloading' spells, Roxanne looked at him, intrigued. "'Preload" them in a crystal you say? That sounds useful, but how would you do it? And how do you release it when you need it?" she asked, curious. When he asked her what else she wanted to learn, she thought for a moment. "We could move on to the explosions now or perhaps you could help teach me about working with the earth element," she suggested, since those were the only other two things they'd not covered.

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"To make the fire form easier, you can potentially get equipment made that improves the way you channel or the speed and duration of the ability. Using the ability is also a way of conditioning your interior, you can probably get runic tattoos to make your outside easier to shift if you feel like you need to go that far. Magic is complex like this, there are numerous ways to improve but some form of effort or cost is always demanded." he states. At this point Roxanne seemed to be showing off her body, at which he faced away since it was too easy to get distracted by female body at times.

As she inquired about preloading spells, he spoke once more.

"Well the typical method would be to charge a disposable item, typically an enchanted scroll or a mana gem with the glyph and gather power within it. The more potent the host, the more potent the magic that can be stowed. Once the spell is stable and within the item, you simply need to use a quick release spell to use it when prepared." he states then looking at Roxanne with a small shrug. At the inquiry of what to work on he looked to Roxanne moving a small ways away.

"The explosion spell is just a different glyph and a lot of the same casting patterns, only instead of drawing the fire into and through yourself you put it into a single spot outside your body. With the time here today, it may be worth exploring the Earth element. Earth adds a lot of diversity to abilities and can fundamentally change your surroundings as needed to improve your situation whether in combat or transport or otherwise." he states as he then looks at a barren spot a safe way away.

"Also, I mentioned magma earlier I believe, many people when fighting someone expecting fire can expect fire, but to have magma erupt typically sends a different message all together." he says as he then begins to channel mana rapidly through his body as a orange sphere manifests and he then rotates his elbow and hand slamming it upward in a sense as a pillar and stream of magma erupts far away surging fifty feet in the air and then cascading onto a separate spot creating a spot of lava and magma well off and away.

"...Tell me, if you were to accost someone who could do this, would you really be inclined to continue?" he states as he continued to have the lava surge for a few moments before it died down and began to fade as the mana binding it was released.

"Earth is drawing in stability and consistency while fire is erratic and wild. They may be opposites in a sense, but the principle of magic remains. If you can control a wall of fire, try causing it to turn to Earth but once mana begins to course through your body, instead of letting it go naturally to fire, control it, turn it to balance and strength and have a wall of stone erupt somewhere that isn't going to harm us."

[Roxanne]

Roxanne listened intently as Adrain explained and gave suggestions for how she might make the fire form easier or improve it. The idea of runic tattoos was intriguing and her eyebrow arched as he touched on the subject briefly. When he mentioned that magic was complex, she nodded and chuckled once. "What would runic tattoos do, exactly, and how does one acquire them?" she asked when he was done. She noticed that he turned away as she stretched and shrugged.

A look of understanding settled on her face as he moved on to explain about the glyphs and charged items. "I could see where that would be useful in some situations," she said, letting the subject. As Adrain moved on to briefly mention the explosion spell, she nodded. It would be easy enough to practice that on her own, keeping his explanation in mind. Roxanne smiled eagerly and nodded as he suggested moving on to exploring the Earth element. She liked the sound of what she was hearing so far.

When he asked her about his mentioning magma, Roxanne gave him a confused look. "You did, but what does that have to do with the Earth element?" she answered. She arched one delicate eyebrow as he mentioned that magma could send a totally different message, curious. Roxanne watched as Adrain began to channel mana, her eyes following the orange sphere he conjured.

When the pillar and magma erupted, the half demon jumped and instinctively settled into a defensive pose. Realizing her error, and hearing Adrain's follow up question, she straightened. She gave him a brief dirty look and then grinned, a peal of laughter echoing through the open training area. "No, I can't honestly say I would be inclined to do anything other than fly away. Though, I would stand my ground if I had to," she answered.

Roxanne relaxed as Adrain began to instruct her on the element of Earth, taking on a more serious and thoughtful expression. She wasn't quite sure how to do what he was telling her, but she figured she'd start small. He had a point, the principle was similar. The half demon nodded and then focused, turning away from them. Summoning a wall of fire was easy, child's play. She started with that to give herself a visual to work with. The wall of fire appeared to grow out of the ground upwind of them and quite a ways off.

Having done that, she let it die down then closed her eyes. She could feel the mana flowing in her veins and skirting over her skin like living flames and worked to change that. Earth was more solid, stable as Adrain had said. Roxanne wrapped her mind around that principle, thinking of various forms of Earth and using what she knew of how magic worked to make the change. It took her quite a while but eventually she felt ready. A small groan escaped her lips at the difference. She knew it was purely mental but the mana felt heavier to her now.

Opening her eyes again, Roxanne looked to burned patch of ground where she had summoned the fire wall. She used the same hand gesture but this time applied the Earth mana, picturing the wall made of Earth rising slowly. Her brow furrowed in concentration. Slowly, the ground shifted and a wall rose. It was crude and looked as if the Earth had simply gone vertical but it was progress. The half demon grinned, pleased with herself.