Finishing the Promise, pt2

Subject: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:54 am

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened. I thought I was doing it right. If it was any stronger than yours it must have been right because I’ve never cast the pulse spell any stronger than you sent it to me.” The mage woman doubled over with laughter at my apology,

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:55 am

she really seemed to get a kick out of that. While she took a minute to recover, I assessed my wounds. That pulse hadn’t hurt me too bad, nothing like other wounds I’d suffered in the past. By my calculations I could probably take four or five more of those

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:55 am

at full power before I would have to rest and get some healing from the backup mage watching from across the room. The woman finally recovered from her bout of hysterics, when she straightened her body I could plainly see that I had done more damage to her than she’d

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:56 am

done to me, almost twice as much to be exact. She wouldn’t be able to stand many more attacks like that before she’d need the healing mage herself. “That may have been true before we started this training today but I’m barely standing proof that you just cast that

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:57 am

at the highest level possible. That wasn’t my magic coming back to me at all, that was yours being cast from your hands at a new level for you. From now on I am going to cast a protection spell on myself to buffer some of the damage in case

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:57 am

you accidentally cast that strong a spell again. Is that alright with you?” Of course that was fine with me, I didn’t want to kill the older woman, well the desire to kill her wasn’t a very strong one, at least not anymore. Earlier today I would have been happy

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:58 am

to watch my magic harm her in such a way, but now I knew that she was helping me, sacrificing her time to help my magical aptitude grow stronger. For this reason I would not oppose her decision to protect herself against my magic. We couldn’t drain all of the

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:59 am

healers of their strength just to get this last lesson out of the way. “I have no problem with you casting a protection spell. Whenever you are ready to continue, just let me know.” I was ready to keep going, but I had not been nearly as hurt as she

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:59 am

so I would give her all the time she needed before moving on. My original approach had obviously not worked since she said I had cast the spell at the highest level and not redirected her own magic back to her. I would have to figure out another way to

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:00 am

come at this problem. Maybe my thinking that I had to absorb the magic to begin was where I went wrong. Perhaps absorption wasn’t a part of the process at all. If I was only supposed to take part of the damage then I wasn’t supposed to let the full

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:01 am

brunt of the attack get close enough to harm me. That would mean that I would have to begin the redirection at some point close to halfway through the exact second where the attack actually hits me. That was harder than I first considered, but not too hard to do.

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:01 am

Anything was possible where magic was concerned right? Gauging the halfway point was going to be the hardest part in all of this. Plus I was going to have to make it all happen while still suffering the effects of half the damage dealt by the attack. That was asking

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:02 am

for quite a bit if I do say so myself, but I knew my limits and knew this was well within them. When the mage woman finished her protection spell and gave the signal for me to get back into position, I complied and took my stance. This time I

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:02 am

was ready, more ready than before, and I thought I had it all figured out. She cast her attack, again I could feel the precise moment when the magic was released from her hands and shot through the air toward me. This time I waiting a heartbeat, let the pain come,

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:03 am

and then blocked the second half of the magic. While I say I blocked it that isn’t really accurate. It was more of a pause than a block because I only stopped the blast of raw energy long enough to gather it all in and hold it long enough to

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:04 am

add a bit of mine to the mix. Then I shot it back at her with all the force I could muster, Only the little bit of power it took to hold her magic was sent along with the attack, I guess that’s where the small added power comes from.

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:04 am

Other than that magic to hold hers, the only other energy I used was just what it took to push the spell back her way. I could feel the difference between this time and the first. The first I knew I was casting something, this time I wasn’t. It wasn’t

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:06 am

the same sensation, that’s how I knew I had figured it out, broken the code if you will. I watched as the redirected attack hit the mage woman, even through her protection spell she could tell that I had done it right. The force still made her stumble for a

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:06 am

few feet but her protection held up against the damage that would have been dealt. “That’s it, you got it. Good job my lady. That was the last ability I can teach you. You have reached the pinnacle of your light mage learning. All that is left for you to

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:07 am

do is practice these abilities to make yourself a more effective mage.” Finally, this grueling day of training was over. It was time get some healing and then head home for a nice long hot soaking bath. If my body didn’t feel back to normal by the time I crawled into bed, I would seriously consider taking tomorrow off or going in a bit late at the very least.

Subject: Re: Finishing the Promise, pt2 Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:08 am

From now on I would rethink devoting entire days to training, I was getting too old for the constant drain on my resources. Either that or I needed to work on my stamina a bit more. Between the sheets I had plenty to go around, but on the battlefield I feared that I fell dangerously short.
Light Mage Mastery – Magic Backlash (A)

» Finishing the Promise
» Finishing out the Week
» Tired of the Promise, pt2
» Tired of the Promise, pt3
» Shiyan (promise he's the last for a while ^^;)