The water elental shuddered like a dog shaking off rain. Of course, that didnt make any sense since it was made of water, but Alex didnt have ti to worry about all that. He couldnt believe what hed just been able to do: from the ti hed started learning spells, hed never learned one so quickly before, not even back in Thalandand that was before The Mark.
A sudden surge of jealousy hit him.
Is this how easy it is for unMarked wizards? he bitterly asked the water elental.
It answered by bubbling at him.
Yeah, youre right. He took a slow, peaceful breath. Shouldnt complain. Ive just had a breakthrough.
Thmp.
The water elental jumped as he slamd his notebook down and began rapidly jotting notes.
BREAKTHROUGH! he wrote in all caps.
Have gotten better at using the powerTraveller-related?that helps cast spells that touch other planes. It takes away a lot of the burden of completing complex parts of summoning and teleportation spell arrays.
Successfully cast Summon Water Elental after only 39 tries: a new record set for learning a spell. Woooo yeeeeaaah! :) :) :)!!!!!
He stopped drawing smiley faces after the third one, but it took so effort to do it. Excitent threatened to send him running around the room screaming like hed lost his mind.
Focus! He scolded himself.
Next step. Evaluate limits. asure casting speed. See if the power can be applied more efficiently.
First, test casting speed.
Taking a deep breath, Alex noted the position of the wall-mounted tikeeper, and began casting again.
Or at least he tried to cast again.
Oof, he groaned. His energy was low. He had to stop the spell.
Alex had been casting for a good part of the day and going through the spell and practising illusionary patch repeatedly, had used up a lot of his mana. He could fix that by using Life to Mana, but hed rather avoid its unpleasantness if he could.
May as well just wait for a bit and do sothing else in the anwhile. He said, starting one of ValRoks more powerful mana manipulation techniques. Its been awhile since Ive worn down my mana like this.
His mana pool had grown dramatically over the past year, and he normally paced himself during practice, but today, hed let his excitent get the better of him, which was understandable considering all hed accomplished. But, he knew better than to let that happen. He could see Baelin looking down at him, shaking his head.
Still, itd be kinda nice to take a bit of a break from casting, He said, dismissing the disapproving image. Might as well make the best of things while my manas regenerating. Alex looked at the water elental in the summoning circle.
Ah, right, hello again.
It was bubbling, slowly drifting back and forth, pressing itself against the circles walls. Its movents werent aggressive or anything, just curious.
Alex released it from the summoning circle and watched as it slowly slid around the room.
Its pretty cute, he said to Claygon, who seed to also be watching it closely. It was prodding the floor with tentacle-like protrusions of water now, like it was testing the surface. Ti to try so harmless experints hed planned for the summoned creature.
Genuinely harmless, not the Kybas sick sense of humour kind of harmless.
Here, I want you to try sothing for , he said, gesturing for the elental to co to him. Let wait, hold on.
Alex switched to one of the elental tongues of water, using its most common dialect.
Youcontrol your wateryes? he asked.
His speech was broken, his accent terrible, and his audio-prestidigitation rudintary, but it was a chance to practise the language. The Mark was already pointing out parts of the sentence that hed gotten right, so his skills would improve for next ti.
Yes was all it said in return.
At least it understood him.
He searched for the words to give his command.
Want youto control- he paused, then cursed softly. He didnt have enough vocabulary to convey what he wanted to say, so he switched back to the common tongue.
Ah well, itll co with ti. He said. This is what Id like to try. Id like to see if I can use your core as a reservoir to carry potions in without them getting wet. Can you form a bubble in your middle thats big enough for my hand holding a small object to fit into? He extended his hand toward the water elental.
The fluid creature bubbled, then made a sucking sound, a bubble the size of one of Selinas fists ford inside.
Cool! Alex clapped. Alright, now for your next task: I want you to form the sa kind of bubble around my hand, he pointed to his hand. So that it doesnt get wet. Can you do that?
Yes, the elental bubbled in its mother tongue.
Okayare you ready?
Yes, the elental bubbled again.
Alex took a potion bottle from his bag, and gingerly placed his hand in the bubble within the water elentals core. The sensation on his skin was strange; it felt cool and clammy, not exactly like water, but more like a silk glove. If the temperature of lting ice was just below room temperature, he imagined it would probably feel much like this.
There was a sudden bubbling from the elental. Alex froze. Was it going to bubble over like a boiling pot? Is there sothing wrong?
No the creature burbled, then it said sothing Alex didnt understand.
Frowning, he had his Wizards Hands retrieve a book from his basket: a dictionary of better known languages of water elentals. Then using The Mark and a little guesswork, he phonetically worked out what the elental was bubbling, then a Wizards Hand flipped to the right page for translation.
He chuckled.
It had told him that his hand tickled.
Alex had to fight an almost overwhelming urge to look for a way to summon the little creature permanently; it would make the cutest pet ever.
But, work and experintation ca first.
Alright, well sorry for tickling, he apologised, removing the hand holding the potion bottle from the creatures core. It was a body enhancent potion. Id like you to try sothing else now. Im going to pour this liquid into the bubble in your core. Its completely harmless, but Id like to see if you can keep the bubble around the potion, just like you did with my hand.
The elental gave a burble.
No, you cant absorb the water in it.
The next burble sounded disappointed.
Yeah, I know, Alex said. Theres nothing you like more than taking water from impure liquids and absorbing it, but do this for , and Ill reward you.
There was a questioning burble from the water elental, and Alex guessed that the little spirit was wondering about the reward hed ntioned.
I think youll like it, he said pleasantly, making sure to be nice.
His spell gave him full control over the creature, but there was no sense in pissing it off instead of trying to form a good relationship with it.
Aggressive water elentals were a nightmare.
People often thought water elentals were harmless compared to other elentals, sothing Alex used to think before taking Professor Mangals class.
After all, the simplest bumpkin understood that a creature made of fire was deadly, and most people could easily see how an earth elental could also be dangerous, taking earthquakes and such into account. There were so folk who underestimated air elentals, but most gave the creatures of storm and sky respect. Anyone who underestimated them usually changed their opinion when one of them started shooting lightning their way.
But by and large, the average person tended to think of water elentals as safe creatures, according to Alexs textbooks. Folk feared the sea with its depths, massive size and waves, but not water itself. People didnt live their lives in fear of rain, ponds and small streams. Water was associated with life most often, not death.
One of Professor Mangals more illuminating lessons on the subject ca back to him.
-do not underestimate them, his summoning professor had cautioned. Even the smallest of water elentals can pose absolute danger if provoked. Water has a great mass to it, and so a water elentals strikes have a surprising amount of force behind them.
She had pointed to her mouth. If one manages to gain access to your mouth or nose, they can easily and quickly smother you to death. Worse: a water elental can control its form to such a degree, that it can seep through almost any crack or gap in any object. Anywhere water can go, a water elental can go.
Her finger had tapped her ear. Have you ever left the beach and had water stuck in your ear? Imagine that, and now imagine that the water inside your ear wants to kill you.
So of the classincluding Alexhad turned greyat the ntal imagery.
Oh yes. Such things are most grueso. And it gets worse: there are so water elentals who consider most life forms a corruption. You see, alchemists have determined that roughly 60% of a human adults body mass is entirely water. That varies sowhat between individuals and races, but the point is that we have sealed water within our fras. So water elentals see us as a perversion; nothing more than walking prisons corrupting the pure water we have insideand so they extract it from us as easily as they would absorb the water from a cup of wine or a mug of beer.
Several students had gasped.
When they are finished draining a living organism, its left in a state of dry, dusty skin, and crumbling bone.
Alex shook the image from his head.
This creature might be cute, but it would be best not to upset it.
Alright, here we go, he said, pouring the tinted potion into the elental.
A bubble of colour ford in its core: an orb of potion encased by water. He watched the potion bubble shift around inside the creature, waiting to see if the bubble shrank, or the elentals colour changed because the potion was seeping into it. No seepage.
Good, theyre not mixing. Just like oil and water, he noted. Alright. You can have that potion if you want it. But, if I were you, Id absorb all of it, not just the water part. I think youll like it.
The water elental paused like a cat contemplating a bowl of milk, then bubbling happily, it began absorbing the body strengthening potion. It gave Alex a happy little burble as the mana raced through it, powering up its watery form.
He chuckled and fed the creature a few more potions, not just as a reward, but also as a sign of goodwill. It continued happily absorbing each potion, drinking in the mana, and when they were all gone, it let out what sounded like a big burp.
Well, it sounds like you enjoyed yourself. Alex laughed.
Hey, you wouldnt mind sharing your na with , would you? In the future, therell be more tasty potions for you if I summon you again.
The elental paused, as though hesitant. It occurred to Alex that the creature mightve been quite young, at least by otherworldly spirit standards.
It suddenly bubbled a na at him, one that sounded remarkably similar to-
Bubbles it is, he laughed, feeling a shift in the air as the elental was being pulled back to its ho plane. Ill call you by na next ti, okay? Until we et again!
With a shimr, Bubbles disappeared.
He jotted down the results of his experints.
Water elentals make a good potion delivery system. They can hold potions in themselves and carry them to enemies. Might be able to use that to work around orbs of air or any other asures enemies take against gas.
He tapped his pen on the page, frowning and opening a textbook on water elentals. Slowly turning pages, he ca upon an entry about their ability to extract water from living creatures.
Just as water elentals can extract water, they can also inject water into living beings. Past cultures have used this ability to effectively rehydrate those who had suffered heatstroke.
Well, well, I think we have a new strategy, Claygon, he said, looking up at the stoic golem. Since water elentals arent hurt by an impact because theyre made of water, maybe I can have you toss Bubbles at an enemy, then it can inject a potion into them and extract their water stores all at the sa ti. He considered that for a ti, liking it more and more. I think I made a good choice here: water elentals could speed up my alchemy too if I have them distil water for .
As new options swam through his mind, he felt his mana recover. Alex closed his books.
Now, let's try this again, he said, preparing to cast Summon Small Water Elental again. I need to figure out this power that helps with spells that touch other planes.
If he could figure out how to use it, it could change his entire path through wizardry.
His power could increase faster, faster than even in his wildest dreams.
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