Teach Me. [Roland/Open]

[Deleted]

It had taken a decent amount of time for Lilith to find her way to her destination. Regardless of the directions given to her, finding this place was it's own challenge, and she wasn't good in the forest, or any foreign place to begin with. Despite this, she insisted on going alone, when Sima had proposed he join her- this was something she had to do on her own, something she had to learn on her own.

---

Lilith was taking a small break now, completely uncertain as to how far away she was. She knew of magic, but it still baffled her- the only experience she had with it was the healing she'd done, and slight vine manipulation- something no one even knew she could do. Aside from that, she'd seen Sima's magic, but it wasn't nearly the same- and Aria's transformations, but those scared her. She knew she needed to become stronger, not only for obvious reasons, but to prove to herself that she could do it- she wasn't just a librarian anymore. Lilith sat on a rock and pushed the hair from her face with a sigh. Looking down at the grass below, it was easy to see that spring had just begun. She focused, feeling that there were some vines not to far from her, but that was all she could do. She couldn't even move them- she didn't have the energy. She'd healed the Fallen Angel, Trésor, not to long before and it had drained her- she was still recovering. 

With another sigh, Lilith forced herself to stand, marching in the direction she'd been told. She could find this place- she had to. Her boss, Mr. Locke, had instructed her to be there for a certain time, so she'd left quite early, just in case. She had an office number, but it was no good unless she could find the actual building. She couldn't have been more than ten minutes away now, she'd been walking for what felt to her, like two hours or so. She stopped again, trying something new. Lilith closed her eyes, and focused on the air around her, feeling for the vibration, and hum, of magic in use. She'd assumed before she left that it would be protected, but she hadn't realized how heavily guarded it was. It didn't take much concentration to feel the magic pouring out around her. Now, all she had to do, was stay focused and walk in the direction that the magic felt the strongest. She didn't have to break the spells to know where they were coming from. 

---

After another five, maybe ten minutes, she found the source. She could feel the magic surrounding her like a harsh breeze. She hadn't expected it to be welcoming- it was there to guard the place. Though, now that she'd found it, she just had to find a way inside. She pushed harder, mentally, looking for the source. She was in the right area, that much she knew. After a moment, it seemed like something was directing her more to the left. That was right! She remembered now, Mr. Locke had told her, it was left from the point of magic. This place sure wasn't easy to find, and though she understood why, it was a pain. 

Okay... So, left... now what? She walked left, pushing past the branches, and found herself looking at a door. Oh. That's what. After slightly hesitation on whether to knock or enter, Lilith chose to enter, pushing the door open and walking inside. She wanted to stop, take in her surroundings, but her mental clock was telling her that she didn't have the time, it would have to wait. Lilith gripped on to the shoulder strap of her bag and headed forward. Now all she had to do was find the office, by following the numbers of the other offices. 

---

She probably stuck out like a sore thumb, but she was to focused to really notice. She counted up the numbers in her head, until she came across the right one. Okay. Okay I can do this. Okay. Lilith raised her hand and forced herself to knock. This would be interesting.

[Roland]

As Lilith knocked on the door it suddenly swung open to reveal a sparse office and a desk with tall mounds of paper on both sides. Sitting in the chair behind the table was a man in a black coat with a wide brimmed hat. The hat shadowed the eyes and made it had to see him, but he gave off both a sense of great magical power and tremendous weariness, as if he had not slept in days.

He was staring at her, and as she saw him two small amythyst light seemed to begin to blaze behind his eyes, revealing his shadowed face in an ominous light. His eyes were sunken, and his pallor was beyond pale, but he looked her over with a military efficiency and motioned for her to come in.

"So your name is Lilith?" He asks picking up a sheet of paper and reading it. "Locke asked me to give you a session on the basics of magic, so come on in, I don't have much time unfortunately, but I should be able to teach you some of the basics and show you what to work on in order to give yourself a foundation." He explains, he reaches into a drawer and comes out with two leather bound tomes. "You'll also want these, one details human anatomy and the other is a magic fundamentals books." He explains and then motions for her to sit in the chair across from him.

"I've been told you are a healer, let's see what you can do." He says and then picks up a letter opener and uses it to make a cut along his palm before holding it out to her and waiting for her to heal it.

[Deleted]

Y-yes! Lilith Harmonia. Lilith stepped into the room, gripping the strap to her bag tightly. Her heart was racing but her face looked relatively calm. Thank you for taking the time to help me. She spoke as she sat down, her eyes wandering over the man in front of her. He intimidated her to no end, from his attire to the way he held himself and how he spoke. She was focused more on his words than anything else, wanting to take as much as she could from what he taught her today. She took nothing about this lightly. 

---

She was here to be stronger, to protect her loved ones along with herself. She looked at the books for a brief moment before back at him. He waisted no time at all, and she rather liked it. Lilith sat straight, her lilac eyes looking directed at him, with her platinum hair up in a high fluttering pony tale, ending at her hips. She was prepared.

So she thought. Her mouth fell open as she saw the blood fall from his hand. Oh goodness. She moved to stand, but refrained, blinking one, two, three times. This is what he wanted to prove- could she handle sudden pressure, though the situation was not dire? She could. She knew she could.

Lilith took a silent deep breath, and took his hand firmly in hers, raising her other above his. There would be blood on the hand that held his, but she paid no mind to it. Normally she would have closed her eyes to focus, but the cut was a simple flesh wound, no muscle tissue harmed or other things. All it took was the concentration to have her magic flow from her body to his hand. She felt the familiar warmth as it worked around, the cut slowly mending itself. It was a slow process, even for a simple task, and it still took a bit of energy out of her- winded as she still seemed to be from the Angel. 

---

When she was finished, she removed her hand, taking a tissue from her bag to clean of her hands before offering it to him. My magic is frustrating. I have it, I always have- and its strong. But it takes so much energy from me, that I can hardly use it. Since healing that Angel, I can barely heal even the simplest of things- and it's not lack of power, its lack of strength. She was being bold, knowing her shy demeanour would do nothing for her here. It was clear he was only looking to help someone who was quite serious about their cause.

[Roland]

Roland, watched the girl enter, he could feel some magic about her, though he was not entirely sure of the scope. Though what bothered him more was the faint sense of divine magic she carried. As she sits down and looks on attentively he nods his head, this was good, it was important that she was willing to pay attention and this was the right attitude for someone who was learning the basics to have.

After cutting his hand he noticed that she seemed taken aback by what he'd done. This was interesting, most of the healers he knew gravitated towards it unconsciously, and were basically never phased by things like blood, but perhaps she was new to the profession, he did not know. Though after the brief pause she reaches forward and heals the wound, though the effort winds her causing Roland to raise and eyebrow and then squint, examining her aura and magic. "Hey, I want you to answer me honestly, how long has it been since whatever you did that injured your channels?" He asks her curiously.

It was not normal for someone to try to cast in a condition like hers, though it was not particularly dangerous, she would be nowhere near full strength.

[Deleted]

Lilith looked up, no longer cleaning her hands. Injured? Oh, well, about a week ago I healed a Fallen Angel, and she was about to bleed to death. It took a lot out of me, I'm still recovering. But To be honest, it's always been this way- mind you, healing your hand shouldn't have been difficult. No, simple things never used to wind me, but healing large wounds, or a lot of small ones for a long period of time, or at least, without stopping for a short period of time- it has always taken a lot out of me. Her explanation was solemn. Lilith was aware that her bodies limit to her magic was far from usual. 

---

She'd always wondered if it was her lack of will power or strength, but recently, she'd begun to think it was simply that her body couldn't handle it- that's what she needed to prove wrong for herself.

I've been healing for nearly as long as I can remember, and as I said, it's always been this was. But I never stopped, thinking, maybe with time I would grow stronger. I did, but only slightly, and it's been many years. Healing is something I love- I can help people who need it, animals, anything or one I care about. I'm not known for being the strongest of people, nor am I someone that people tend to remember- but I heal, because I can keep them strong. I need to learn how to control this- how to fix it. She ended exasperated, tired of her weakness. If this man could truly help her, she would have to let go of her shy demeanour. She had to be bold or she would never get what she needed.

[Roland]

As Lilith explains her situation Roland nods and his eyes seem to glow dully. His mouth turns down into a frown. "So you're entirely self taught, it sounds like you've basically just been using your power as opposed to learning about it. Going on like that will be dangerous to you. At worst you could burn out and lose some function of either your body or your magic." he explains, then he closes his eyes and breaths in deeply, collecting his thoughts.

"Alright, I should probably start with some of the basics, you have damaged your mana channels, basically the part of yourself that harnesses and uses magic. This happened because you used too strong'a spell and your channels could not handle it." he explains as he leans forward slightly peering at her. "It might be easier to explain like this, you basically tried to pick up something too heavy with your magical muscle and now you've sprained it. Assuming you don't keep trying to use magic, or at least limit it significantly you should recover on your own, and before you leave I will help to treat your channels which should help speed along the process." He explains as he rummages through a desk drawer and digs out another book, placing it on the stack.

"So what you've been doing to this point has actually increased your strength, but what it has really done is it's made you capable of channeling more magic at once. Basically you've learned how to cast a bigger spell, but since you have not been training magical endurance you've basically got stamina issues. There are a bunch of ways to deal with this, but there are two main ones that most people use. The first is to to get better at fine control, basically is you become a better healer you need less magic to achieve equal result. You can get there by studying more about the body and learning better ways to mend and treat injuries, that way you can use less stamina to achieve equal or better results." He stops for a few moments and lets his words sink in before continuing on.

"The second method is to increase your magical stamina. If you have more stamina inefficient healing becomes less of an issue because you have more stamina to waste on the inefficiencies. You can improve your stamina be either learning to draw from another source, like nature or divine magic, or by continuously exhausting yourself with consistent use of weak spells. Like with physical training, you'll build up endurance by using smaller amounts constantly over a long period of time. A good exercise in this case would be to heal a lot of minor injuries...or actually...I will teach you a spell that is easier to use for long periods of time than healing." He says as he walks out of the office and comes back in with a glass of water and a bottle of beer.

[Deleted]

Lilith nodded her head, taking in everything she possibly could from his words. It all made perfect sense. She had taught herself, because she learned as a child to keep her magic to herself. Slowly, as she grew, she grew out of that a little, but it never went away enough to seek for a teacher- until now. Lilith watched him carefully, seeing him place another book to her pile, and not minding in the slightest. She needed this, all of it.

So I need to exercise, both my magical muscles, and my mind? She wished she had brought a notepad, or something to write this all down- but her mind would have to suffice for now. She looked up, startled as he abruptly stood, and left the room. Her mind wandered as to what she would have to do. She knew she would do whatever she could. When he returned she looked at him curiously.

Beer and water? How will that help me heal better? She wasn't accusing, but innocently asking. She had no thoughts against his methods as of yet.

[Roland]

Roland sighs at the question, well it was to be expected, she was a beginner he should expect her to instantly understand everything. "Listen, one of the things you need to do if you want to improve your stamina is cast a lot of magic. Healing is one of the most inconvenient magics for this since to heal someone they need to be injured, and to do what you need to do you need a long line of people with minor injuries, so you'll either need to set up in third district, or you will need to learn a spell you can cast consistently. Without needing to injure yourself or someone else." He explains.

"I am going to teach you how to purify food and water. In addition to being a generally useful spell it has a secondary function that will make it useful to you. You should be able to use it to cleanse wounds so that you don't wind up closing up an infected wound. Additionally it is a good first step if you want to learn how to heal illness or poison." He explains, if she wanted to heal this was a good place to start.

"The beer and water are a test, if you cast the spell correctly the alcohol should be removed from the beer. The water is for two reasons, the first is that it is easier to cleanse smaller quantities so we will want a diluted beer and secondly non-alcoholic beer tastes bad." he explains simply.

"Is this all making sense to you so far?" He asks her.

[Deleted]

Upon his explanation, the pieces fell into place, and Lilith nodded sternly, determination set in her eyes. With a glance, she found that her mind would not have to remember everything right away, as she spotted a blank sheet of paper, and something to write with. With a hesitant and apologetic glance at the man, she leaned forward and reached over, grabbing them. She quickly wrote down what she'd already been told, making a list of full sentences- with her luck, point form would make no sense later.

Once that was done- and it only took a moment- she sat back up and nodded once more. I believe I understand. And to be honest, that concept is brilliant- I wish I had known of it earlier, that certainly would have been beneficial. She smiled shyly and had her hand set and ready to write his words as soon as they fled his lips. Her eyes moved slowly, from his slightly averted face, to the bottles in front of them. She could feel herself grow nervous- what if she couldn't do it? Would he make her leave, finding her not strong enough for him to try and teach? She didn't believe him to be cruel as such, but really, she didn't know him at all. All she knew, is that if he did, she would have to find someone new- this needed to be done, for herself.

So what do I do?

[Roland]

Roland waves his hand as she takes a piece of paper and looks at him apologetically. "Take it, but bring your own going forward, a lot of the paper here is magically obscured since the documents are classified, that paper is fine though." He tells her in a rasping voice. Roland's expression remained stern as she copied down the list and he waited for her to finish writing and reviewing what she had written before going on, no point in her being told this just to forget it or to be unable to understand her notes.

When she expresses amazement at the theory he nods. It was a good method, not one he had used, but he had often been described as someone who was born to magic, it was likely part of his heritage.

As she grows nervous Roland debates whether he should try to ease her mind. It would make the next part easier, but making it too easy wouldn't be good. He takes two more glasses out and pours some of the beer into the small glass. "There are three fundamental methods on purification spells. The first is simply to use magic to remove or destroy things that do not align with your mental image of what you are consuming. This method is the simplest and very reliable, but it requires quite a bit of strength to use and it is visible since you will end up drawing the poison out of the food or drink. The second method is to magically dilute the poison with water aligned magic this will basically replace "unclean" elements with water. The benefit to this is that it can be used in situations where you do not know what you are consuming, but it requires a strong alignment with purity and any tainted magic from the user might make it worse. The final method is closer to magical alchemy, it is basically changing unknown objects within the liquid or food into an inert version. This requires a strong understanding of poisons and infections though." He explains.

"The easiest way for you will probably be the second method, unfortunately it is also the method I am the worst at, but I can give you a demonstration." He places a hand over the glass with the small amount of beer in it and a small current seems to run through the liquid as magic emanates from his hand. After a moment he looks at her. "That is the gist of it, you are probably going to need to try and fail a few dozen times before you get it right, but go ahead and try." He encourages, but then thinks for a moment and raises a hand.

"First don't use more magic than it would take to heal a very small wound to do this. I don't want you exhausting or hurting yourself, especially not on your first attempt. Stop if the first one fails."

[Deleted]

Lilith blushed, nodding apologetically about the paper. She should have been more prepared. Her mind was still in a slight haze from the week before- her body not fully recovered. Her hand was scribbling as he spoke, wanting to get all the methods down. He was correct, in her opinion at least, that the second method would be better for her, but she copied all three regardless- the knowledge couldn't harm her.

She watched his demonstration silently, leaning forward slightly as she did so. Her eyes glimmered lightly as what he was doing was being reflected in them. Once he was finished she looked up and nodded, her face serious. You don't seem all that bad at it, Sir. She shrugged softly, commenting on how this was his least favourable method, as he had said.

Lilith leaned to her side, and placed the paper and pen on the ground beside her, taking deep breaths to calm her nerves. Being nervous would only hinder her. She had no reason to be- he knew she was going to struggle, she didn't have to prove anything, just that with practice, she could do it.

A small wound. Okay. Got it. With one more deep breath, she took another glass with a small amount of beer in it, and raised her hand over it. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, before opening them again, deciding that learning to focus with her eyes open could be a good idea. Closed her eyes made her feel exposed, depending on the situation. Her purple eyes started straight into the cup, her hand quivering lightly over it. She felt her magic flowing through her, concentrating on a "Small wound" in the cup. It reached her hand and darting into the liquid, but she couldn't tell if it made a difference.

I.. I don't think I did that right... She placed the cup back down and retracted her hand, lowering it to her lap. It was expected that she wouldn't do good the first time, and she knew it would happen, but that slight disappointment over the hope that she could do it right the first time, still lingered slightly.

[Roland]

Roland shrugs as Lilith seems to be worried about the paper, not much either of them could do about it now, even if it had been important. "If you need to find a place to get paper let me know and I can refer you to one." He says as he examines a memory of her casting the healing spell it was, educational. He had never been very good at healing, but he thought he got the basics of what this was, he'd need to work on it though.

When Lilith mentions that he seemed good at the water alternative he shook his head. "No I really am not that good, I just know how to do it. I use the first method of purification, subtlety has never been the strong point of my magic, and due to my circumstances I have never lacked for magical stamina." He explains though finds himself slightly embarrassed about the self praise. Though he supposed one did not get born to the mother of magic without gaining a strong skill in magic itself.

As he snapped back to the present he observes her first attempt and shakes his head. "No, you are not trying to 'heal' the water, you are trying to remove that which does not belong. Healing is the practice of helping something regain its original state, in that case it is much like purifying, but there is no natural regeneration to work from. Think of it like dealing with an arrow wound, you need to take the arrow out before you can completely deal with the wound." He explains before getting up and walking over to her.

"We can try this again in a few minutes, but first let's do something about the damage done to you, keep still." He closes his eyes and places a hand on the small of her back. As he does this he extends his senses and energies into her causing his magical energy to enter into her channels.

"They're swollen." He grumbles and Lilith would feel a steady feeling similar to when she had casted healing magic on herself, but instead it would begin to erode away the weakness caused by overuse of her magic.

[Deleted]

Lilith looked down, nodding. You couldn't heal water. She should have known that. She had to figure out how to "heal" without healing. She'd never purified something before, so this may be difficult. She looked up as her came towards her, stunning her into remaining still. She had not expected him to come close to her. She sat straight, her body tense, and she barely took a breath.

She felt his hand on her back, and her face deepened in colour. It was not out of attraction, or embarrassment, but simply the shyness to contact in general. She had been doing good with keeping her demeanour strong, but that didn't mean she had rid herself of her incredibly introvert persona. Lilith did not move, hearing him speak. Swollen? Her eyebrows furrowed together- she did not know that was possible. Suddenly, she felt a change, something flowing through her, similar to how her own magic did, yet, different.

Lilith clenched her hands together in her lap, enduring what she had to. This would help her, she knew that, and she knew he was doing no harm. Yet, the close proximity made her incredibly nervous, and it took all she had to keep it together. She would not stutter, she would not panic. No leaving, no trembling. She had to stay forward, strong. She had to learn.

I did not know that was possible. I found out about my magic when I was a child, living in an orphanage. I had no teachers, and I was the only one. Well, perhaps the only one aware of myself, for all I know there could have been more, later. I taught myself how to channel it, but never found someone willing to help- though that's my own fault. I don't know how obvious it is, that I am... socially awkward. Word vomit. Wonderful timing.

I only now seek for a teacher, as it has become more prominent, my issue, and due to recent situations, more important.

[Roland]

As Roland works he can't help but grin a bit at Lilith's comment, though it was probably good the girl couldn't see him as Roland's grin did nothing to soften his stern features, and in someways actually made him seem more intimidating. It would be more surprising if you were a socially adept mage, He mused to himself as he thought about the eccentric mages he knew, there were far more of them than proper ones.

Though her explanation about not knowing her channels could be damaged or "swollen" caused him to frown as he contemplated how to explain what he was trying to say. "Alright, 'swollen' is just the term I am using for it, burned out might be another good term. You've over used them, they are recovering. However, unassisted this process will be slow, I am speeding it up, but you should be careful in the future. Much more and you might have permanently lost your ability to use magic, or even died." he explains as he continues to work, healing really wasn't his strongest suit, and as soon as he seemed to have gotten her channels on the way to recovery he pulls back, after all no sense helping her just to cause more damage by accident.

When he finally releases her he sits back into the chair next to her, his eyes were glowing like brilliant violet blazes and his ashen face looked slightly paler, for the first time Lilith would be able to see the man's full features. To be frank, he was a mess, it had been 7 days since Roland had last slept and he looked it. After a few moments pass he gets back up again and walks across the table.

"Alright, lets learn some other basics before he try casting a spell again, close your eyes and try to feel the magic within you. What does the magic do when you are not using it to cast?" He asks her.

[Deleted]

Lilith had a silent sigh of relief as he pulled away, able to answer and speak with more confidence now that she had her personal space back. I could have died...? Lost my magic? She looked up to his face, and blinked in surprise. Your eyes... They're almost like mine.... and, you look so tired.... She blinked and looked away, blushing. I apologize.

Lilith sat straight and leaned back into her chair, closing her eyes as instructed. What did her magic do when left alone? Well... it kind of just settles. Almost like at the bottom of my stomach... She shifted in the chair uncomfortably. She'd never taken notice to that before.

What does that mean?