“I think that most of the things Faluel is going to teach us are similar to the Royal Forgemaster spells you’ve seen me use in Kulah and Laruel. If not for my full-time job with the army, I bet that Dad would’ve also taught me how to forge cores from runes.” Phloria said.
Lith nodded and thought back at his quarantine when Vastor and Marth had shown him how the Royal Forgemaster wands could reveal the traces of his enchanted equipment and even the spells with which Huryole had tried to enslave him.
‘I wonder if Faluel can teach me something similar. It would be a great help to distinguish between the effects of an unknown illness and a spell, like during the mess that happened in Zantia.’ He thought.
“Nalrond, is there any chance that you might change your mind and teach us Light Mastery?” Friya asked.
“Depends. Is there any chance that you might change your mind and provide me with one of those silver wands?” He replied.
“I’m sorry, but no. My Dad makes those and they are considered a state secret.”
“My answer is the same. Light Mastery is not a candy that I can share lightly, but the last legacy of my tribe. I owe a great debt of gratitude to Faluel and Lith whereas I barely remember your names, sorry.” Nalrond said.
“Wow. Are you this rude with everyone or do you have a bone to pick with me? I can understand your refusal, but not the total lack of tact.” Friya said.
“I’m sorry.” Nalrond gave her a small bow. “I’ve still trouble adapting to your customs. In my village, your request would have been considered inappropriate and that led me to reply in kind.”
“Don’t worry. My request is considered inappropriate in the Kingdome as well. No one gives away their secrets for free. I just hoped that you could make an exception for us since we’re all Faluel’s disciples.” Friya scratched her head in embarrassment.
“I’m sorry, but no exceptions. Otherwise I would’ve taught Tista as well since I spend a lot of time in her home.”
“No wonder I dumped you after your trial week. Worst boyfriend ever.” Tista grumbled.
Before the Rezar could regret his choice of words, Faluel summoned them back to her lair. To everyone’s surprise, she wasn’t in her human form anymore. She had taken the hybrid appearance that she had shown them during the Shapeshifting lesson.
Her body was that of a humanoid covered in scales and had seven long serpentine necks with as many heads.
“No one can beat Hydras when it comes to multitasking.” The seven heads chuckled in unison. “This way, I can use one head to train each one of the girls individually while the rest of them focus on your lesson, Nalrond.”
A wave of her hand conjured three desks and chairs along with three humanoid golems that bore Faluel’s human appearance. Then, she cast a Hush zone around the desks so that no sound would spread past its boundaries.
“We’re ready when you are.” Three of Faluel’s head had their eyes turn blue as she took control of the golems with Spirit Magic, moving them as if they were an extension of her body.
“Thanks.” Nalrond cleared his throat a few times.
He had already taught Light Mastery to the youths of his village so he knew exactly what to say, but this time his class was full of strangers. He hesitated to break one of the greatest taboos of his tribe.
“Let’s start with first magic. Faluel, I’ve already seen Lith create holograms. Can you do the same?” He asked.
“Sorry, no.” She shook one head.
“The ability to give the light a shape it’s half the job. The other half is to give it substance. Faluel, have you ever tried to do either of those things?” Nalrond said.
“Several times. I even tried to apply the same principles that allow me to give shape to Spirit Magic, but to no avail.” She sighed.
“Don’t worry, it’s perfectly normal. Anyone can learn Healing magic, yet even though Light Mastery is based on the same principles, very few realize it. The light element is that of order which means that it can be used to restore the original shape of things.
“When you use it on a living being, you achieve Healing magic. Unlike the other elements, however, light has no shape of its own and you can’t give it one just by exercising your willpower.
“Light seeks order and the only way to shape it is to artificially create order. Let me give you an example. If I emit light magic and use my willpower to make it look like Lith, what do I obtain?” Both Nalrond and Faluel conjured what looked like a humanoid light bulb.
“This happens because our willpower is constantly battling the light element’s natural inclination to seek order which in our case means to light the cave evenly. What if, instead of just using willpower we try to picture Lith in our heads?
“I don’t mean to just remember what he looks like, but each one of his features, the details of his face, how his eyes move when he talks, and then we feed everything to the light element.” Nalrond’s lightbulb turned into a perfect replica of Lith and his Archmage robe.
Faluel tried to do the same, making her lightbulb brighter.
“I don’t see any difference. What I’m doing wrong?” Faluel said. Nalrond had expected the ancient Hydra to be angry or frustrated, but she looked puzzled at best.
“You’re just using your willpower. That’s the trap that prevents most mages from even conjuring holograms, let alone give them colors.” The hologram above Nalrond’s hand became identical to Lith, turning his skin pink and his robe deep blue.
“Do not force your memories nor your will onto the light. Just think about Lith as if he was something you’re trying to repair and the light will do the rest.”
Faluel tried and failed again, making her Lith-bulb bloated.
“Has there ever been someone incapable of learning Light Mastery? Because being the first would greatly piss me off.” Faluel said.
“No way. I’ve learned and taught Tista all I know about it, so I can assure you it’s just that hard.” Lith said. “What Nalrond means, is that when you conjure the light you mustn’t do it as you would to shape a pseudo core, but as if you’re healing a small bruise.
“Only that instead of letting the patient’s body channel the light element, your mental image must be so clear to fool the light element to believe that the air is supposed to have a different shape. Like this.” Lith conjured a doll-sized hologram of Faluel.
“So, the air is my patient, huh?” Faluel tried and failed again.
“Do not mix light with the air element or air’s chaotic nature will mess things up even more. I meant that you must reason as if the air is the patient, but the only element you actually use is light.” Lith said.
“You really are a good teacher, Lith.” Nalrond said while Faluel kept putting their advice into practice. “You’ve understood so much about Light Mastery that I’m surprised you didn’t figure it out the other half.”
“Thanks, Professor Manohar said the same thing to me a year ago, yet I made no progress. Teaching Tista and Solus helped me to better control-”
“I’m trying to learn here. Can you please shut your trap and let me concentrate?” Faluel cut Lith short.
