Calen was sitting on the ground rubbing a healing paste onto his various wounds and bruises, as he listened to Lydia’s lecture.
"The divine fla is different from the power champions, priests and druids use - we are rely borrowing it, barely scratching its real potential. Your case is different however, that little lamp of yours contains a genuine piece of a divine domain, and you have absolute control over it."
"That sounds really great, but what does that an in practice?" Asked Calen.
"I was getting to it. Every God has an interpretation of their own domain, and those borrowing their power can’t use the power in ways the deity doesn’t allow. A Flabearer wields a copy of the Sun domain, and therefore isn’t subject to such limitations."
Calen’s eyes went wide.
"You’re saying that I can do whatever I want using the fla?"
"Not quite, there are still so limits - the more remote from the aspects of the sun the action is, the more difficult it will be to perform. Naturally it ans you can’t do things that are categorically opposed to your domain, for example, you can’t use flas, which are ant to destroy, to create sothing..."
Lydia looked at Calen with a sly smile.
"...or at least that’s how it looks on the surface. In practice, there are many loopholes inside every domain, and they’re exploited by humans and gods alike."
"What do you an?"
"Let’s take that last example - you cannot create sothing from the fla, but nothing is stopping you from using that fla in a forge to lt unbelievably hard materials and create an incredible armour or weapon."
It seed that the fla was incredibly versatile and the way Calen has been using it so far was very narrow-minded. Luckily, he was in a perfect scenario to co up with new tricks.
"Alright kiddo, I’ve tested you, and said my piece - it’s ti for the proper training. Pick up another sword an enhance it with the fla like you did before."
Calen walked up to a rack containing several wooden swords, and picked a random one. He stood at the center of the courtyard and let the divine power flow into the blade.
"What you did now is the most basic application of any divine power, it can enhance anything and anyone, making armour tougher, swords sharper, people stronger and so on."
It was good to know that he could enhance not only weapons, but also himself and his companions.
"I can also channel the fla through the blade."
"Have you tried covering your blade with fire then?"
Calen shook his head.
"Try it then. Your fla might be too weak but there’s no harm in trying."
He closed his eyes, focused, imagined his sword being swallowed by the fire, and then willed the fla to fullfil his vision.
"Well... it’s not bad, I guess." Lydia comnted.
Calen cautiously looked at the blade - he succeeded, at least partially. It wasn’t quite the blade made of flas he envisioned, but the sword was undoubtedly on fire.
A thin layer of fire enveloped the blade, happily dancing around it’s edges. He slashed the air a few tis, glowing lines tracing the blade.
"It might not look like much, but in this state even a wooden sword is dangerous to most abominations. Now extinguish it, were going to try sothing completely different."
He did as instructed.
"The healing ointnt will help with your injuries, but they won’t heal completely - try using the fla to close your wounds."
He focused again, summoned the fla and... nothing happened.
He rolled his shoulders, exhaled and tried again.
Nothing.
Try after try, no matter what he did he could not speed up the healing process.
"I can’t do it." he said, frustrated.
"I can see that. Don’t worry though, I would be more worried if you were able to do everything after a single diocre verbal explanation." Lydia chuckled quietly.
So far Calen had no issues getting the fla to do whatever he tried doing, so a fail like this made him more annoyed than he probably should have been.
"Why can’t I do it?" He asked.
"There could be a myriad of reasons. Tell how do you go about controlling the fla and we’re go from there."
"The sa way I control magic, I guess? That’s what the guy who woke up told to do."
"Here’s the problem then, it’s true that the thods are similar, but they’re not identical. You said that he was an Archmage, yes?"
Calen nodded.
"Then it makes sense he didn’t understand the difference. Magic is an outside force, so you have to cut off your feelings and thoughts to properly manipulate it. Doing so limits your will, but it also prevents any unexpected side effects."
"And I’m guessing the fla is different in that regard."
"It is. The fla is a part of you, not an outside force, so cutting off your emotions while controlling it will impede you."
That was slightly problematic, Calen has trained his whole life to clear his mind while he controlled cosmic powers, it wasn’t going to be easy to unlearn that habit.
"All in all, your will is strong but the fla is not, and you need plenty of practice."
Lydia smiled.
"Tomorrow we’ll go hunting."
***
Baor was standing shirtless in the middle of a public arena, his massive body covered in complex runic patterns. Next to him even Cassian looked like a child.
The difference between them was only accentuated by their state - the druid was half-naked and barehanded, while Cassian was in full armour, wielding a greatsword.
"Your equipnt looks nice I’ll try to not damage it too much." laughed Baor.
Cassian tried to appear emotionless, but his pride was a bit wounded. He knew that the druid was likely very powerful, and likely didn’t an anything malicious, but it still stung slightly.
The arena was completely empty despite being on open facility, he couldn’t help but wonder if the druid limited the access to spare him from the embarrassnt.
"We’re starting in three..."
The symbols in the druids body stared glowing with an eerie green light.
"two..."
Two might horns grew out of his of his forehead, and his fingers turned into sharp talons, his already bestial figure beca truly monstrous.
"One!"
Cassian barely managed to hold up his sword to block the fist strike.
The claws didn’t carry much strength, but they were viciously fast, the druid was dancing around him, hitting every now and then, testing him.
He was playing with him.
Surrounded by a wall of claws Cassian could do nothing but defend and look for an opportunity.
Then he saw it.
Baor was favouring his leg site, leaving a small window open every fourth hit.
Cassian tid his riposte perfectly, striking at the druid’s exposed side.
To his complete surprise Baor easily caught the blade, as if he knew exactly where he would strike.
"That’s enough." Announced the druid, and turned back to human. "You have good instincts, and a decent technique, but you’re to rigid about your style."
Cassian frowned, he knew that he followed his father’s teaching very closely, but he had always thought it was a good thing.
When he said so to the druid, Baor nodded.
"It’s a good thing when you’re fighting against humans, but when you face a creature you never seen before flexibility is much more important."
The druid tapped his chest where the runic symbols converged.
"I’m a bit of a special case amongst my brethren, normally druidic power allows its wielders to commune with wildlife and control plants - I channel that power to change shape at will. It will be a perfect teaching tool for you, hundred monsters all rolled into one aweso package."
Cassian wanted to be mad at the druid for humiliating him, but he simply couldn’t. The large man was just too jovial and pure to sincerely dislike him, even when he just told Cassian about his most powerful weapon he was smiling from ear to ear.
The druid disrupted his train of thought by jabbing him with an elbow.
"And you know flexibility helps in all parts of life, not just combat."
Cassian didn’t like sothing about his tone.
"I have no Idea what are you referring Lord Elder."
Baor gave him a toothy grin
"Well of course not, your attempts to woo the young alchemist were awfully stiff."
For the first ti in quite a while Cassian was completely speechless.
"But... Did you spy on us?" He tried to remain calm.
"Of course not boy, I just saw you two talk. I took a thousand shapes and lived for over a century, reading body language is for as natural as breathing."
Cassian assud that Baor wasn’t particularly smart due to his happy-go-lucky approach to life, but it seed he was dead wrong.
Whether the druid noticed his internal crisis or not, he didn’t seem to care as he approached him and slapped his shoulder.
"Let’s start with the Blightborn and we’ll go from there."
Right, they still had actual training to do.
This was going to be a long day.
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