Concentrate on their magical energy? What did that mean? How was he supposed to do that? What did magical energy eve feel like?

Any other questions he might have had died as he felt something foreign enter his body. It danced around inside of him, turning his insides into a whirlpool of strange sensations, before bursting into white hot pain. His body spasmed as death coursed through his veins, fighting against his will to live in an unyielding struggle. It was a challenge to even recall what the Dragon had told them; something about concentrating and shapes and anything to stop the pain.

He was in such a state that it was too painful to even muster a scream. He simply curled on the ground, alone in his head as he slowly, painstakingly imagined a shape. A shape that could save him. It was painful and he didn't want to die! He was not going to die!

His hand gripped air as a shape came to mind. Something that could prevent this - a chain. A simple, thick chain; it looked misshapen, deformed even, but this was a tool he knew, a tool he could use . . .

@TheHangedMan @Eklispe

Charles would watch them from slight distance and raise a brow when he stated to see their energies begin to react and instead of continuing to explode out, start to retreat inside. He would grin slightly "Looks like I have two very nice lot" he would say softly, he had estimated with what he could sense they could of lasted a few hours before they would of died but they was making fairly good progress. His eyes would get a slight glow to them as he used his magic to see the magical energies of his two apprentices, he seen the shapes the was forming and would raise a brow at the unique shapes. Most people would do simple things like a sphere, a square, things like this but his two apprentices was choosing actual objects. A knife and a Chain.. interesting he thought.

It would of been approximately an hour and a half before they seem to stabilize finally. Charles would clap his hands walking closer "nice work, it seems like you two may just become magic users after all" he says with a chuckle. "Once you get your breaths I want you to do the most basic in manipulating magic energies, though thanks to this awakening you two shouldn't have much trouble doing this unlike the other method, Imagine your internal supply, imagine the shape you made, then pull out energy from it and have it flow through your entire body and form a small layer around your bodies" he states. "If you must, start meditating it can sometimes help clear the mind to control magic" he states smiling at them. "I can't explain in exact detail how to do basic manipulation because it's just as diverse as there are people in the world" he states.

Meditating? Morgana mentally sniffed disdainfully at the thought, too busy panting to regain her breath to do it anywhere else. She hadn't signed up for some stupid Zen class, she was here to use magic. The knife she'd constructed slowly dissolved into nothing and Morgana only spent a few more moments resting. Her eyes slanted over to view Solomon. A chain? Kinky. Morgana refocused on her self and with a deep breath, she started worrying about her next task. Focus on the shape she'd made and create a small layer of energy around her body. That was easy enough. Right? The image of a knife came easy to Morgana. It was a picture flowing with energy. Morgana carefully siphoned mana from it and drew back sharply when she felt a sting. For a moment the energy she had before Morgana grabbed it with grim determination. Of course. One should not wield a knife if they were afraid of getting cut. Keeping this in mind Morgana drew more, enough that she felt she could cover her whole body. Morgana let out a relaxing breath and the mana flowed outwards with it throughout her body. A loose but rigid control over it. Like letting a river flow, but only within its carved out path. Now she could feel it just beneath the skin throughout her body. It was now just a matter of expanding the flow a little more. With a cautious thought Morgana let the energy flow just a little bit further out. And just like that a thin veil of mana surrounded her.

Solomon frowned. Those were some pretty vague instructions. Still, what exactly about this wasn't vague? He supposed it was to be expected.

He sat crossed-legged on the ground, inhaling and exhaling repeatedly, trying to do as he instructed. It was about vision, all about vision. It was up to him to envision how to pull out the magic, and to do that he needed to use the image he made. A chain -- he imagined a chain so as to "seal" away the pain, something to hold it back. Now, he needed to "unchain" energy. So he imagined the chain sliding back, unraveling itself in an attempt to set free that which it had contained.

With each link of the chain coming undone, Solomon thought he felt energy course over his body. Was it his imagination, or was it real? He wasn't sure, but he liked the feeling. More and more, the imaginary chain undid itself, until a veil of mana flowed over Solomon's skin.

He opened his eyes, and exhaled deeply. He was strangely tired after that . . .

@Eklispe @TheHangedMan

Charles would chuckle "very nice work" he tells them "This ability has two names, Mage Aura and Magic Shield" he states "the difference is how you influence the aura" he tells them with a slight grin "Mage Aura is usually a show of power, of how much energy you contain, if you keep concentration you can simply pull the energy back in and not lose it, but if you increases the density of the aura then it'll become the Magic Shield, a fairly effective shield that which will only be as strong as you put you power into it" he tells them. "you can make it so thin on your skin it's invisible, or you can make it extend out to protect others around you" he states and grins some "since you was successful on this then we will proceed to a little ceremony for my students" he tells them walking over to another part of the field and grabs the air and pulls ripping away an illusion of a cave entrance "you two... will get to choose a dragon egg" he tells them with a grin. "this dragon will help you in your training with it's own power, greatly improving your own, and it will also try to protect you when you need it" he tells them. "You simply have to take care of it as it grows" he states.

Morgana nodded tightly in response to Charles's explanation. With a carefully released breath Morgana let the paper thin magic surrounding her retreat back into her body: then, with another thought let it retreat all the way back into the knife. The process was imperfect and quite a bit of it bled off, disappearing into the air. Morgana however, was far more focused on this tantalizing new bit of information. They got dragons? Hell she didn't care if she did have to go nude, dragons and latent magic ability unlocked on the same day? No qualms whatsoever. The nerve rending pain that had started things off was simply another painful memory now. Morgana rose from her kneeling position with a wince, had she been like that long enough to be sore? Whatever. Morgana headed into the cave filled with thoughts of grandeur. What dragon would she choose? What were her options? Oh she could just picture the look at Gregor's stupid face when she came into town overflowing with her mage aura and riding a dragon.

Solomon grinned, almost oblivious to the Dragons explanation of his newfound abilities. What mattered most was that he had them. As of right now, at this very moment, he was doing actual, tangible magic, with his own hands!

He thought nothing in the world could make him a happier man than he was at this moment, and his smile stretched from ear to ear, to the point where it almost hurt. Of course, he was going to be surprised once again as Charles gave away the next step of their "little ceremony":

Dragons. They were going to raise dragons.

"Huh." Was about as much as he was about to get out before keeling over to the ground in excitement and probably soreness from remaining still for so long. He promptly got up, energy filling him up again as he thought dragons!

He followed Morgana into the cave, outwardly more enthusiastic, almost jittery even.

@Eklispe @TheHangedMan

Charles would flick both of them on the head when he noticed how distracted they became at one point "Don't get distracted" he says as he walks infront of them down a stone stair case lit by Light Crystals hanged at the walls. "Just because you was successful in the first thing doesn't mean you should get carried away.. especially you" he says looking at Solomon "while she waited until after the manipulation of magic was done and even retracted her aura" he says while pointing at morgana then turns back to solomon "you got distracted near the end.. you have yet to retract your aura it's probably going to use up all your magic if you don't and it's gonna hurt" he states before looking forward.

it would be a 25 minute walk down steps before they reach a corridor which extended further, after another 25 minute walk they would enter a huge cavern.... with nests laying every where and dragon eggs inside of them "Now Listen up!" Charles' voice would echo loud and clear "Your not going to simply 'pick one you like'" he tells them "The bond with a dragon is a deep and powerful thing, everyone has an affinity to certain dragon types, you are to walk around this room until you feel something, a intense desire being emitted at you, a pull if you will." he says looking at the eggs "Once you do then that is the egg you will picking, for it is the dragon that wishes to be with you.. and one that you can also survive" he says as if it's something very dangerous to pick an egg.

There would be many types of eggs of different shapes and sizes belonging to all types of dragons.

Solomon blinked. Oh. Whoops.

"Right, right," he said sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Thank you for the warning." Guh, he couldn't help being excited, now that he was finally learning magic - plus dragons - but he chided himself for being so careless. Regardless of how awestruck he was, there was no excuse for being a fool.

Solomon shut off the magic flowing around him, and his aura flickered away. He felt as though a burden he was unaware he was carrying disappeared, and he sighed in relief. Biting his lips, he approached the eggs on display, going through them until he felt that "desire" Charles was referring to. What kind of dragon would choose someone like him? He wasn't special in anyway he knew - desire to learn magic aside.

Suddenly, just as he walked past a cluster of eggs, his looked to the side. No, to be more accurate, it was as though he was forced to turn. To look, at a certain egg that now stood out among the others, so much so that it was a wondered he did not see it at first glance. He approached it cautiously, almost reverently, before placing a single hand on the egg.

"Is . . . is this it?" he mumbled, more to himself than to anyone else.

Morgana rubbed her head ruefully. Spoilsport. Still, she couldn't resist a slight smirk at his berating of Solomon. Of course she also had just learned running out of magic was very painful. Not that she planned on doing so if she could help it, but it was good to know none the less. Dang it was a long walk to wherever these dragons were, it felt like she'd be walking for at least an hour. However upon entering the cavern she was more than rewarded for the wait. A fantastic spectacle of dragon eggs. As many as you could imagine and all sorts that you couldn't! From his explanation she gathered they were supposed to walk around until they found an egg that liked them. Well that should be easy. As for surviving. It would a baby dragon, how much trouble could it be? With this in mind Morgana began walking forward, looking at all the massed eggs. Her eyes locked onto one in a corner, it was a lightblue color remnicsent of moonlight and had odd red spots in it. Morgana walked over skeptically, thinking the strange fascination she had with it to be mere chance. She crouched next to it, staring at it some more. "Hmph, not so special are you?" Still she couldn't help but want to slowly place a hand on top of it, gently, as though it might fall apart at her touch.

@TheHangedMan @Eklispe

Charles would shake his head watching them, knowing they was naïve but that wont be an excuse for the future. Moment They touched their eggs a bright flash would emerge and an intense burning sensation of their palms would be felt, it would go away after a few minutes. A pattern would be imprinted on their palms, nearly invisible unless one concentrates on it. They would feel a surge of energy, the magic they lost earlier would feel so little, almost like they got a entire another body full of magical power attached to their magical energies without knowing a way to grab it. Charles would nod clapping his hands "Good, now pick up your eggs and follow me back" he says as he turns around and starts heading back to the field. In the field he would begin to give them the quick rundown on how to properly care for their eggs, about keeping the eggs at certain temperatures could greatly effect the unhatched dragon's development. How to properly keep the egg clean, and so on, one major thing would be that even though he tells them they will have incubators they can't leave the eggs inside of them because of the bond they have formed, they need to grow that bond by spending time with the egg. He would then begin walking to the Cabin "I'll show you two to where you'll be staying" he states "After that you'll place any of your personal belongings there, your eggs in their little incubator nests" he states "we will then begin some of the better training, Elemental magic training" he says nonchalantly.

Inside the cabin he would lead them through the back past various workshops of magical tools, and bookshelves to a door. Going through the door would be a simple hallway, with a pair of stairs at the end, and doors lining each wall. He'd open the second door on either side "these will be your rooms, the bathrooms are always the far left door on each floor" he tells them, before heading back out and leaving them to it. Inside each room would be a bed with animal fur bedding, a cabinet, a closet nearly filled with robes, an Incubator in one corner and a chest at the foot of the bed. A window would gaze out though the view it sees would slowly seem to change as if it was a magical camera.

Whoa? Upon touch the egg basically branded her, causing her to recoil from the unexpected pain. Ungrateful little thing. "Alright alright I take it back." she muttered to herself. Still, upon further insight Morgana realized she could sense practically of mirror of her own internal energy. Some sort of link thing? Well she could take a branding or two if it meant she could have more power. Morgana obediently picked up the egg and began the long trek back at the end of which they were promptly given a somewhat dull lecture on how to care for their eggs, though it was one Morgana made sure to pay close attention to. She followed Charles into the 'cabin' if it could still be called that, excited at the thought of getting to learn more about magic. First they had to look at their rooms though. Morgana looked around what was to be hers with amazament. It was so luxurious! Morgana quickly set the egg down in the Incubator and looked around, peering into the closet, the chest, and finally jumping on the bed and laying on it. Awesome. What were they supposed to do next? Charles hadn't said. Well that meant it was time for a quick break before jumping back into things.

"Yeowch!" yelped Solomon as a burning sensation erupted on his hands. Despite the pain, he held on to the egg, not risking dropping it lest it prove less sturdy than it looked. He felt a rush of energy surge through him, and he exhaled in awe.

Turning his head as Charles clapped, he nodded, following him back to the field. The mage gave them a quick rundown on how to take care of the eggs and Solomon wished he brought a notepad with him. Looks like he would be spending a lot of time with it then, despite the incubators they were given, and he began wondering about the nature of the bond he had formed.

His next words, however, caught his attention. Elemental Magic training. For the . . . what time this day, Solomon began grinning wide and excitedly. Before that however, he showed them around, stopping finally at their rooms. It was comfortable looking, to say the least. Solomon put his egg into the incubator and flopped into his bed, savoring its fluffiness.

"Uuuh," he moaned contentedly.

@Eklispe @TheHangedMan

Charles would return outside to prepare a target range basically for training then would wait for his two apprentices to come back out, since he did tell them they would start elemental magic training after they are finished with their room. He would think about the potential of these two and chuckle to himself "Maybe I'll shock the other masters with this pair.. who knows... I only have two weeks to train them to a degree that will at lest qualify for that event." he says to himself as he waits. He would only wait for thirty minutes for them before he would come searching them annoyed at how they hadn't came out yet, though they wont have to worry about an annoyed master should they arrive before then.

Morgana took an adquete power nap for like 10 minutes, she was somewhat leery of ticking of Charles but it had already been a long day and she just needed a short break. Afterward she immediatly jumped to her feet, checked to make sure her egg was still there and began heading back outside to look for Charles, supposedly they were going to start elemental magic training. Well that would be interesting, Morgana couldn't wait to do things like create fire, a handy skill no matter who you were. Of course Morgana planned to learn much much more than that, but everyone needed to start somewhere.

Solomon didn't sleep. He loved the absolutely heavenly feeling of lying down and relaxing and why was this bed sooooo soft but he wasn't sleepy. Even if he was, he'd be too excited to sleep anyway. The only thoughts going through his head were those of magic. It was occupying everything he thought about now - maybe even before then. Was he this obsessed the night he met her? Probably not, but he could care less now. It was just too exciting!

After a few minutes he decided he'd wasted enough time, and hopped off the bed, stretching in a relaxed manner, before stepping outside. Morgana was there already while Charles had set up what looked like a target range. It didn't take long for Solomon to make a connection to that and what they were going to be doing next.

@Eklispe @TheHangedMan

When they arrived Charles would look over to them "you two took your time" he says shaking his head "I'm going to teach you the basic technique of each of the prime elements" he states "Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, Dark, and Light" he tells them putting his hand up and pointing his palm at one of the targets and intense heat would begin to form infront of his hand until it became a raging ball of fire which he then shoot out at the target incinerating it. "the basic technique is a sphere technique" he states to them "Normally you would know very easily how to make the sphere itself from training in manipulating your mana into a sphere for a week or two" he says "But I accelerated that with my unique form of awakening" he tells them. "Fire Ball, Water Sphere, Sand Ball, Breeze Ball, Light Sphere, Dark Sphere. These are the known name of this technique, you manipulate your magic energies into a sphere and change it's affinity from it's core" he states "Each element has a certain magic affinity, learning how to manipulate it just right will take time but to be frank our training sessions are going to be a lot more harsh than others because we are rather short on time" he tells them.

He'd look back to the target "First we'll do the fire ball since it's somewhat easier." he states "Now first you begin to emit your energy out of the center of your palm and begin to change it's shape" he states as he lets out visible magic energy turning into a visible sphere for them to see. "Then at the center of this sphere you start to change it's affinity by infusing it with Fire elemental energy..." he says as the center of the sphere begins to turn red and it starts to spread "This is an energy that wishes nothing more than to break out and devour anything near it... an energy that seeks to destroy" he states. "after you infuse it with the required energy.. you activate it" he states as the now red sphere seems to have a flame appear and then suddenly bursts into a sphere of fire, he'd grab the fire and then squeeze and crush it destroy the fireball, before turning back towards them. "This will require a lot of practice to get right, don't expect to get it on the first try... well unless you have an affinity for fire magic to begin with" he states. "I'll teach you something that can help though.. there is two types of magic in this world.. Chantless Magic and Chanted Magic" he tells them "Chantless magic is where you simply create the spell without saying a word, this form of magic is harder yet a lot faster than chanted magic, with Chanted magic you must speak a specific verse for each spell and the stronger the spell more chanting required" he would turn back towards the targets putting his hand back out "I Call apon thee spirit of flame, form before me your power! Fireball!" he says and suddenly a fireball forms almost instantly at his palm. "Chanting magic assists you in creating the spell by going through the steps itself, but it wont always succeed just because you say the chant" he states "It requires your upmost concentration, you must speak the words perfectly, and have enough magical power" he says, looking back at them destroying the fire ball he just created "If you mess up anywhere in the chant it will fail... this includes your tone of voice when you speak the chant, you must have a strong will and firm voice when you speak it" he states. "Also don't try to crush the fireball like I do.. you will probably lose your hand, I simply can do it because a fireball is nothing to me" he says dismissively. "Now try to create a fireball and hit a target"

Morgana nodded, carefully following along with the explanation. Basically they just had to pull their magic into a sphere and focus on adding the proper element. Also chanting was for novices, if you were skilled you didn't need to use any words. Make a fireball. Hit a target. Easy enough. Morgana held one hand up as though grasping an orb and started at it intently. Focus, draw from the center, wrap your body in it, form it. The image of a knife was pratically already in Morgana's mind before she reached for it. The familair pain came again as Morgana drew her magic from it and formed a light layer around her body. It was easier this time, but she knew better than to get cocky and didn't let up her concentration one bit. Her energy began flowing into her hand and it accumulated in a sphere just above her palm. Now to add the element. Morgana repeated the chant, "I Call apon thee spirit of flame, form before me your power! Fireball!" As she spoke the words she could feel a change in the magic she felt above her hand. It became hot, volitile, nearly- The sudden surge of violence upon speaking the word Fireball suprised Morgana and she lost control of the spell, the fireball she held for nearly a moment burst outwards, lightly searing her hand. Morgana bit her lip fiercly to hold in a cry of both pain and frusteration. Stupid! Pain had never stopped Morgana before and it wouldn't now. She began the process once more. Deep breath. The pain she felt was trivial.

The magic came back. Knife, pain, aura, hand, orb. A simple process, though simple was far from easy. This time Morgana drew a little more magic than last time and coated her hand in it. She didn't know if it would shield her from a second mistake but it was worth a try. Morgana stared at it for a moment more than curled her lip in disgust, no, if she failed again she deserved what she got. The mana went into the ball with everything else. Once more. "I Call apon thee spirit of flame, form before me your power! Fireball!" For a moment a firey orb came into exsistence and Morgana immediatly turned her palm forward and pushed it forward both physically and magically. It didn't move far before it lost its shape and flame simply erupted forth in a small cone before vanishing. Morgana put her hands on her knees panting for a moment. Heh. That wasn't so hard. She just needed a moment to catch her breath. Next time. Next time she would hit the target for sure!

Solomon nodded throughout his explanation. It was simple in theory, but once he got to actually trying it . . .

"Guh." Nothing happened. He tried chantless and chanted, but at most he got a small spark out. He even brought out the image of his chain to help him focus, but for some reason he seemed to do even worse. He kept wracking his brains to find a solution.

"Affinities, he said something about affinities . . ."

And that was when he realized it. He absolutely sucked at destroying stuff. He was a bookworm, a reader by nature. Physical activity was limited to sports, and even then he'd never done any contact sports. He was just really, really bad at channeling his thoughts into ones fore destruction. He gave a sideways glance towards Morgana, and - of course - she had already succeeded. Solomon gave a deep sigh.

"One more time then," he muttered. He might have been a brownie, but he still had his pride!

This time, he concentrated on the image of his chain shattering. For some reason, the thought was actually, physically painful, and he had to bite back a grunt of pain. Inhaling deeply, Solomon ignored the pain in favor of completing his "image"; slowly, a ball of fire formed on his palm. He withheld from chanting, instead finding it easier to focus on the image he had created, in conjunction to the movement of energy across his arm. Once he was sure it was the appropriate size, Solomon recklessly hurled it at the target.

It landed somewhere that was not the target.

"Ugh . . ." said Solomon, as the ground beside his intended target erupted into flames. "Well that sucked."

@Eklispe @TheHangedMan

Charles would clap his hands then take Morgana's burnt hand and put his hand over it and she would feel a warming light, he'd remove his hands from hers and it would be healed. "You two impress me.. I didn't expect either of you to create a fireball this fast even with chanting" he states then looks at Solomon "you impress me even more since you succeeded in a chantless cast" he states with a raised brow "not many people can succeed in chantless magic since it requires intense concentration, and I guess technically imagination for the spell" he says, he'd look over at the burning grass and wave his hand and the fire would burn out. "it'll take a lot of tries to get your aim right thanks to the mental and phyiscal exhaustion from casting... I suppose you both have realized now that magic affects you physically as well" he says. "you can guess what will be happening then after we finish practicing with the fireball for another hour" he tells them "a 2 KM run should work" he says as if it's nothing. "after the run we'll have dinner and call it a day, tomorrow we'll ramp things up even more" he states.