RP:Lessons in Stability

From HollowWiki

This is a Mage's Guild RP.


Mage's Training Center

Satoshi has sanctioned off a section of the training floor for herself and Ezekiel, whenever he decides to show up, if he even received her letter. The area is a large retangular section, marked off with white chalk borders, and with the magus standing immobile in the center beside a nine foot chunk of rough hewn ice. What parts she hasn't lain claim to are still given a wide berth, with the teachers and magelings alike all too familiar with the collateral damage the One Lesson Lady is capable of. A number of these magelings have even gathered up in a huddle behind their master's back and begun to organize a betting pool on how Satoshi's newest student will die. There are exchanges aplenty of, "Ice block, no doubt," countered with, "Please, it'll be icicle skewering." One pipes up with an excited, "No, no! Heart frozen and torn out through their chest in a shower of blood!" to which an uncomfortable silence is given, before they begin squabling over the morbid possibilities anew. With vulpine ears being rather keen, Satoshi hears most of these exchanges, and while she doesn't so much as twitch from her place staring toward the room's entrance, she can't help an inward smile.


Ezekiel spent the entire morning prepping for the letter. The meeting, the location, the reason for showing.. though pacing back and forth in front of a mirror rehersing excuses wasn't really 'prepping'. He stumbled none to graciously into the room with the letter clenched tightly in his burnt-gloved hands, nervously glancing around. The poor man glanced around with eyes wide open, taking in the spectacular display of the various forms of magic being tossed around and utilized freely. It was like a dream come true- and then instantly sank into nightmare mode. Feeling like the new kid in a gymnasium full of strangers, Ezekiel jitterly made his way past everyone-- careful to dodge a widly casted fireball --and approached the woman. "Oh- hi. Long time.. no see?" One of the students behind Satoshi mumbled, "He's a deadman."


Satoshi turns an ear back toward the source of the mumble, but otherwise keeps her focus on Ezekiel, face unreadable. She remains this way, just staring levelly at him, for an unpleasantly long time purely to see if he'll squirm under the gaze. What can she say? The poor guy is horribly fun to torment when he looks like he's on the verge of turning tail and bolting. Satoshi does relent, however, before Ezekiel can possibly do that, neutral mask melting into a lopsided smile as she replies in light tones, "Aye~. Unfortunately looming wars, mouthy Time Lords, rampaging devils, traitorous dragons, and the like all tend to get in the way of lessons in magecraft. But not today!" Realizing something then, Satoshi stops and leans forward to add in a whisper, "Your still have it, right? Hasn't all burnt itself out or anything?" It -had- been a possibility, and one she'd forgotten about until this moment.


Ezekiel did indeed cripple under her cryptic stare.. or at least cryptic in origin to him. Awkwardly glancing back and forth, he'd fiddle with his hands and pick at the leather strips of his burnt gloves until she spoke. "Yes.. I mean- 'it' yes.. never touched it. Too afraid something could go wrong.." In fact, 'it' being the magic that pulsed through his body, set off the rings in his palm, humming with a glow in active response to the magics that surrounded him. This was truly an incredible moment for him, albeit frightning as hell, incredible. "Are you sure this is a good ide..?" Nervous git.


Satoshi arches an eyebrow at the question. "It's my idea, so yes, of course it's a good idea." Arrogant much, Sato? "Now then! Our first order of business is figuring out a method for you to grasp your magic. Spells are a tad useless, if you don't know how to access the fuel, non? It varies with every mage, although the closest description I can give for going about it is to... ah... dig down deep in your mind? Find that source, and pull it forward. -Carefully-. Grab too much, and you can blast yourself or me clear across this room, or worse." Certainly the pair can recall the potency of that circuit of raw mana. If Ezekiel is carrying some of it, it's perfectly possible he has strength enough for a dangerous outburst. "Try for something small." As she speaks, Satoshi holds out her left hand, palm up, where a flicker of blue light is visible. "A spark." The flicker blossoms into an ember, a tiny dancing flame surrounded by glistening fragments of half-frozen water vapor. "So long as you keep your focus on it--your hold--you should be able to draw it into the physical realm." With this, Satoshi allows the flame to unfold itself into the shape of a lotus flower, petals clear and crystalline as glass, yet mobile as if the real thing.


Ezekiel hadn't even so much as moved from his original spot, and already he could feel the countless number of eyes burning into him. Watching the woman not only instruct, but demonstrate the task at hand (literally) left him speechless, and with a jaw as wide open as his eyes. Not because it was beautiful, skillfully executed, or his first lesson.. but rather- how in the hell was he going to manage -that-?! It was a good thing he hadn't eaten breakfeast, because the ulcers in his stomach would have made him paint the sanctioned off rectangle with it. Hesitantly, he'd raise his right palm- No! Left palm. Left palm! Quickly switching it over, Ezekiel glanced down; an electric spark was something he did know. The only thing he did know. It was his way of breathing a little life into his artifacts and creations, gadget or otherwise. So when he did his best to force a small jolt of an electric arc, he was more than surprised to find an entire fist of reactive energy, lighting up happily to his will. Cobalt arcs danced wildly around his palm, fist, and even past his wrist- this part was no doubt easy. It was the concentrated flame, creation after that flopped. All Ezekiel managed to do, was intensify the electric imitation of mana, and pop loudly. He coughed. Hand smoking. Arm smoking. In fact.. his entire left side.. smoking black and burnt, looking like a firework had just gone off in his hand. "No.. No- that wasn't it. Do over?"


Satoshi's whiskers are rigid and quivering by the time Ezekiel has snuffed out the 'mana firework' in his hand. Trying to ignore the unpleasantly tingling sensation coursing through said whiskers, the kit nods in encouragement. "That's a start, at least. Try it again? This time, try to form it into something small and simple. Like a ball, perhaps. It requires focus, above all else. Don't let your mind wander else you'll lose the thread and it will all unravel. Concentration is a mage's most essential skill." Satoshi closes her hand over the flower then, smothering it back into unseen vapors with the gesture, and once again leans closer to the flectomancer. Like before, she stares at him now, but unlike then this is not a predatory gaze nor one intended to make him fidget. She is searching. For what? Something. Anything. That glimmer of a key that might serve to unlock doors for the would-be mage. "I know you're capable of it. I saw you, the way your focus didn't slip in the slightest, while working with that magic reservoir. It's just another object, just another device, that needs unraveling, Rabbit. Go on, then."


Ezekiel could feel his face burning red hot, strictly embarrassment. The snickers, the pointing, the death-stares he could feel lighting up his back. It was reason for the lack of focus, and the short-fused fizzle he had experienced- or as Satoshi had exclaimed, 'the unraveling thread'. With a heavy sigh pushed out his nose, Ezekiel tipped his head back and tried again. Left hand up, breath held (he didn't mean to do this), and that channeling draw of force and will marked the beginning of take two. Again, the energetic sparks of magic danced around his forearm, eventually gathering in raw at the base of his palm. He did everything he could to force out any sound, voices, and even resonance from the closely surrounding magic at play. In time, the jagged-swirls of electric-like-magic meshed together and took shape as a sphere like she suggested. It didn't stop there, from arc-to-sphere... from sphere-to-urchin? Ok, so maybe it wasn't quite as pretty or developed as a flower, but it was something recognizable. Sort of. Hundreds of tiny spines stuck out in all directions, hovering inches above the mans palm; it was weak, but it was a start. "Like- Like this..?"



Satoshi, as irksome as she finds the students' tittering to be, doesn't do anything to call them to order. It's distractions like this that a mage must learn to work around, to block out, and to overcome. Shielding Ezekiel from it now will only make the task harder later. She does, at least, shoot at sharp look in the teacher's direction, a silent reminder that he should be giving his own lessons instead of standing around gawking at a flustered novice. The look softens as Satoshi turns her gaze back to Ezekiel, and she nods eagerly at the rough shape his mana has taken. "Yes, precisely~! You've got a hold on it now, so keep it that way, and make a choice: duplicate it in your other hand, or double the size of this existing one." It's a test of sorts, to see if he can maintain his concentration while being given instructions, as well as it find out if he can split his focus further by altering the existing magic.


Ezekiel was doing his best to maintain the stable energy for the first time in his life as opposed to unsteady pulses of raw, unpredictable power he was use to. So it was no surprise when Satoshi's last instructions made his creation shudder, the spines of his 'mana-urchin' stretching and shrinking to odd lengths. Almost like the equalizer of a stereo- the lines that bounced up and down to the beat of the music. Only, these spiked to the sporatic beat of his racing heart. In his left hand, he did everything he could to hold the creation while in his right- he tried to start one anew. Although he took twice as long to form the second, he did as instructed and somehow managed two. Though.. this wasn't quite as urchin-like as the first; a sloppy sphere, sliding down. Almost like- no.. it -was- melting, but never did it decrease in size or volume. "This.. is rather confusing." There he stood, a novice before his mentor, with spaztic-urchin ready to explode.. and an imitated ball of floating.. icecream? in the summer heat. One of the students coughed again, "Deadman."


Satoshi lowers her head to peer at the second sphere and its state of perpetual melting. "Now that's interesting..." Oh how tempting it is to give the thing a poke and see how it reacts. But Satoshi refrains. Now is not the time to start jabbing away at the barely maintained magics of a panicky flectomancer--mostly because the kit has no desire to be sent barreling down the stairs in an explosion of electricity and singed fur again. Or worse, because Sven knows what in the name of hellfire Ezekiel is truly capable of. "Well, obviously you have an idea how to call it into physical form, eh? Let's see if you can take what you've got here, and reshape it. Something small, and familiar might be best, like a tool you use often, or an item you're attached to, anything will do so long as you can fix the image firmly in your mind. Magic's an extension of you, you shape it through your will and words, it replenishes as you rest, and burns out as it's called upon. It's why you'll feel drained the more you use and how quickly you do so, same as if you've been doing physical labor." Sure, the lecture might not be necessary, however she's still aiming to test Ezekiel's limits of concentration while nuding him down paths that will eventually become second nature to him.


Ezekiel broke his focus while she went into details for his next task. He flinched more than he should have, but when both urchin and melting blob went up with a crackling hiss-and-pop, he took -no- chances. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous, the adrenaline pumping through his blood making him practically quiver with excitement and stressed out nerves. It was like he had shot his first gun, and didn't know how to react afterwards. With a nod, Ezekiel stood up straight and held both palms up. A tool she said.. something familiar.. something close- that was it. Close. Again he readied his focus, and cleared his mind as best he could. He even went so far as to close his eyes for a few seconds for what it was worth. In time, the familiar arcs of magical energy built around his hands, ran the length of his forearms, and balled up in his palms. What came next was not what he had envisioned; something akin to a squirrel..? No- a ferret. Very polygonal in shape, and if anything, looking a tad bit morbid. It was like Tim Burton had gotten his hands on a cute, fuzzy critter- and played the role of Frankenstein. Horribly disproportioned, and lacking a soul.. (At least it seemed that way, looking into its eyes) Ezekiel managed a very.. very shoddy rendition of his favorite creation; the mechanical clockwork ferret. "I.. What did.. -help."


Satoshi rocks back on her heels, half-expecting the misshapen ferret to spontaneously combust, or for Ezekiel to hurl it away from himself in a sound bout of panic after his plea for help. "It's a start, Rabbit, keep at it. You built that little creature yourself, no? You should know its every curve, crevice, and corner. So pull that image up in your mind, hold it, dwell on it, and -build- it." Creating a doppleganger image with the complexity of a clockwork ferret would not have been Satoshi's suggestion when first attempting to shape one's magic, honestly she would have told him to craft a hammer or a spring if it had been up to her, but if Ezekiel had constructed the animal before, he can do it again. Maybe. It's not exactly an easy type of magic to master right off the bat, Satoshi has rather shoved Ezekiel down the fast track in a wild hope that his sudden surplus of magic and a considerably keen mind would make up for lost time. He'll need it, however, to counterbalance his unstable personality, else he'll be a walking mana time-bomb, just waiting for one bad reaction to set uncontrolled spells into motion.


Ezekiel flinched again while the ferret-like monstrosity went up in smoke.. quite literally. Perhaps this was a little more then he was ready for, he knew this would only be a waste of the woman's mind. He wouldn't tell her that of course, but instead simply nod like the good little apprentice he was, and try again. Truth be told, he was afraid she'd end him on the spot, if he tried to back out of the deal he made with her. After all, he was sort of in debt to her, saving his life like she did. Twice. "Ok." Deep breath, eyes closed, back straight. Every little step he could to postpone another fiendish creation, because he knew he was just going to fizzle this next one up just as bad. A static crackle of energy, wrapped around, and once more- balled up in each of his flat palms; it was getting easier, much easier. Piece by piece, he built the animal from the ground up in his mind, just as he had that day at his workbench. Every screw, every pin, and every cog. The wire bush for a tail, and even the sharp chips for teeth, every inch of the creature was explored, revisited, and assembled. Now, even though Satoshi wasn't seeing exactly what was going on in his head, she could very well see the end product of his imagination and focused will. Albeit.. it wasn't quite as complex as the real deal, it was enough to fully recognize the origin, and uniqueness of his particular ferret. Neon blue lines twisted and bent, meeting flat ends, with sharp ends. Almost like an artful design created from a bundle of fiber optic wires. In the passing minutes, he was at the very least, able to reconstruct the basic skeleton of the ferret, as hollow and empty as it was. "I'm afraid- afraid that's as far as I can go." Far from finished, naturally, but easily recognizable. While he spoke, the layers of the manipulated-mana began to spike outwards, like static.


Satoshi regards the neon colored replica for a lengthy moment, both to get a proper look at it and to gauge Ezekiel's ability to maintain the complex design. At last she nods in signal for him to release the magic, only remembering at the last second to hastily add, "Let it go slowly! Gently!" Backlashes from abruptly released spells are never, ever pleasant for the caster or anyone nearby. "There now, you're far more capable than you give yourself credit for, Rabbit. It takes most students a solid week of practice to manage something like that. Bravo~." She speaks the truth too, not fluffed up praise for the sake of egos, as becomes obvious by a number of the magelings having traded their looks of morbid anticipation for silent awe. Those looks are their own form of praise for Satoshi, as it means she's successfully brought an apprentice through a lesson without any permanent injuries or death, a proof that she can be a teacher after all. Beaming at this thought, the magus gives Ezekiel another nod. "I think that will do for today. I'd rather not burn you out completely just yet. We'll test the limits of your energy supply another time, until then, keep practicing what you did today. Try different shapes for mastering control, and if you're feeling daring, see if you can produce that ferret again and make it -move-. We'll see if you aren't able to conjure up something a fair bit more solid next time, eh~?"


Ezekiel was a little late in catching that last part. Although it wasn't as explosive as his first attempt, it was loud enough to make a few jump- himself included. "I will keep that in mind. I.. uh- thank you.." That sounded as awkward as it felt; what did you say in a situation like this? Conversation for dummies, look into it Ezekiel. The man was still jittery, and beaming with anticipation, despite the 'minor' fatigue he may have earned from simple conjurations. "When should we next meet? Or should I just wait for the next letter.." This whole apprentice thing didn't make any sense to him. It was like learning a whole new custom, and he had no idea where to start.


Satoshi looks as lost as Ezekiel for a moment. Being a new master to an apprentice requires just as much adapting as vice versa! The kit recovers admirably, however, after only a moment more spent blinking owlishly. "In a few days' time, I'll find you, and we'll see how you've progressed." Yes, she meant that to sound ominous. Satoshi is a firm believer in learning through trial by combat, so she fully intends to jump Ezekiel with impromptu lessons--just as soon as she's trained him enough so that he won't kill over from a heart attack if pounced upon. "Until then, rest and practice, Rabbit. I told ya you had the spark, no~?"


Ezekiel scratches the back of his neck, standing awkwardly. With a shrug, he more or less agrees with her. Or still isn't sure what to say. Freaking conversations, how do they work? "Am I.. free to go..?" He didn't mean that to sound as rude as it probably did.


Satoshi said to Ezekiel, "Unless you want to have a sparring match with Buster," she jerks her chin in the direction of that tall chunk of ice behind her, which unfolds itself into the hulking form of a gorillian golem, "Yes, you're free to go~."


Ezekiel almost immediately starts to pedal backwards. That was his answer to that. Even tripped backwards, going out the door.