[b]3:00 PM (Magic Training)[/b]

Irin marveled at Merrik's little magic show, oohing as the tendrils of flame and shadow shot into the air. Merrik then provided them with their first task: to create a flame and to twist it at will. Irin thought for a minute. He was right handed, meaning that in battle his right hand would be occupied with his sword. Therefore, he'd want to use magic with his left hand. Fingers folded, but palm wide open, he stuck his hand out and thought about fire. [i]Symbol of life, bringer of death and destruction, power in its physical form.[/i] Smoke began to slither out of his palm, which, being as unnatural as it was, completely surprised him and caused him to lose focus, the smoke quickly vanishing. Regathering his senses, he stared at his palm, feeling it with his other hand. If this were any other circumstance, he would have convinced himself he was just seeing things. He took a few deep breaths, and held his palm out again. [i]Feeding off of energy found in the air around it, it is a producer of light and heat. It is power, and as such, requires caution to control.[/i] A flare of light shot out of his hand, and quickly vanished, leaving a steady candle flame levitating above his hand. [i]Fire.... fire... That is fire. But what moves fire?[/i] He paused for a second, and the flame faltered, but he quickly regained focus and the flame became steady again. [i]Air. air directs fire. Air... energy and force in a state of dormancy. Only when it becomes wind does it awaken itself. But that is not all it does. It has the life in it to keep everything alive. Without air... nothing would survive. Not even fire.[/i] He cupped his other hand, and held it in front of the flame. The flame danced and flickered, leaning away from his right hand. He moved his right hand underneath his left, and made a circular motion with it. The flame writhed and twisted, slowly forming the twisted shape of a corkscrew. Irin breathed heavily with concentration, but a grin appeared on his face as he marveled at what he had just done. He had performed a miracle of miracles...

Magic.

As Merrik wandered about the group as they discovered magic for the first time he kept keen eyes out for anything that may have appeared dangerous or unusual. Magic came in all sorts of forms as a result of variation in thought processes and will. He saw a variety of different approaches to the simple task of creating a flame, but as he passed by Irin and Uram he couldn't help but furrow his brow at what he saw. There was a flame before the man no doubt, but it twisted and wove about in a way that was unnatural of fire. It was if it was it was being pulled up into a small tornado of air. This was enough to bring about Merrik's protest.

[b]"Irin, could you halt your workings for a moment?"[/b] He made his way over to the man and his silvery dragon, nodding politely to Uram as he always did in the presence of a lady. [b]"I wonder if you could explain to me the process behind your manipulation of the flame. If you cannot put it into words, I'd like for you to feel it and open your mind to Uram that she might work as a vessel to help me understand."[/b]

Irin released his mind from its concentration and the fire vanished instantly. He shifted his gaze over to Merrik and responded to him. "I'm manipulating the fire by controlling the uh... I don't really know. He turned his head so that his gaze was on Uram, who acknowledged his silent request, and conveyed his thoughts through to Merrik. Partway through, she faltered, as she realized just what the issue was. 

[i]Oh, uh, Master Merrik, I believe I see the problem. He's using wind magic to manipulate the fire as opposed to just fire. My apologies, I must have mixed my thoughts a bit when giving him the necessary knowledge.[/i]

His thoughts now confirmed by the presence of wind magic, Merrik lifted his hand to his chin in a thoughtful manner. He knew the flame wasn't right in the sense that it did not behave in the way fire would naturally behave; he knew there was something off about the manipulation, yet he didn't expect Irin to be harnessing wind magic to manipulate the flame. This meant he did indeed understand fire to some extent to have created the flame at all, but his bonded instinct had shifted in wind magic to flesh out the idea of how the fire would move. [b]"Hmm, this I did not expect. I hadn't planned on introducing your specific elemental magicks until a strong understanding of basic fire magick was grasped. You certainly have the basics, your flame was strong and very much alive. But it seems Uram's air-prone instincts were portrayed. I know you've long used wind to manipulate your flames Uram but we do need to get Irin to focus on and understand the fire magicks before anything. Though, seeing as you've picked up on Uram's instincts rather quickly, I think it might be best that we get you started on your elemental magic sooner than planned." [/b]

He paused for a moment and turned his head to where Obsidian Nova lay watching, his attention was perked at the strange use of magic just as Merrik's had been. For a few moments he simply stared at the dragon, obviously locked in unspoken conversation with his bonded drake, but eventually turned back and spoke to the pair before him. [b]"It's settled then. If you can prove to me that you can fully grasp fire magick, I'll start you on wind magick. Take your time; if you're going to be using flames at all I expect you to have a full understanding of them just like everyone else. Work hard and quickly and soon enough you'll be expanding this new instinct to contort the wind. You may go on to do great things; wind magic users can be very powerful, and it's not uncommon that Atmosphere Dragon tamers of the past have gone on to control even the most disastrous tornadoes, twisting the wind in a nature not unlike their own breathing. But promise me, we take this slow. Magick is dangerous, no matter how natural it is to you."[/b]

Irin nodded at Merrik's statements, a look of surprise on his face. Magic was not something he would have thought he'd be good at, but then... how would he know? Barely a few days ago, he would have laughed at the whole concept of magic. Yet here he was, apparently with natural talent, too.

Holding his left palm up and open, with the fingers folded, he stared intensively at it again. [i]Fire...[/i] he thought about it hard until a flame appeared levitating over his palm.

[i]Fire is a representation of life, but life doesn't just bend to the will of what's around it, it has its own will. It hungers, it eats, it grows, it dies. But it follows its food, like a wolf follows a deer. Fire feeds off of fuel, and this flames fuel is my magic. The focal point of my magic is what it burns off of. If I move or change the shape of the focal point, the fire will obey.[/i] He shifted his magic slowly left and then right on his palm, and the flame followed. He then moved his magic in a small circle, clockwise, then counterclockwise, and the flame did likewise. Then Irin intensified his concentration as he attempted to turn the focal point into a shape. A short bar shape. The flame widened, as though it obtained more fuel to feed off of. Irin's brow furrowed, and the right side of his lip was twitching from concentration as he made the fire rotate about its center. The fire dimmed briefly and then began to rotate and twist about the center. The speed at which it rotated was inconsistent at first, but it soon came to maintain a steady speed, slowly increasing as Irin put more and more effort into it.

Merrik watched as Irin tackled the concept of fire once more, this time with a refreshed understanding of the element thanks to Uram. He watched Irin concentrate and begin to understand the true natural working of the flame and slowly begin to contort it to his will. [b]"Yes! You're understanding fire's true nature now." He circled around the pair, observing their actions. "It won't be long before you have a strong base of understanding for the use of mana. I figure by next week we'll get you working on implementing wind magic into your pool of ability...How's your mind training coming? Do you think you're nearly ready for your first round of lucid meditation?"[/b]

Irin felt proud when Merrik praised him, but the pride was replaced with embarrassment when Merrik mentioned the lucid meditation. "I... suppose so. But I'll have you know that I could not study that journal, for..." He stared down at his feet. "I... can barely read at all. I could read bits and pieces of it, but it was difficult enough to read a couple sentences. I don't think I could read a whole page, much less a whole journal."

Shock was Merrik's first reaction; he often forgot about the lack of necessity for people to learn to read and write. But a moment later he settled his surprise and nodded in understanding. [b]"My apologies, I often forget that reading and writing are of little use to many folk in these parts. In my life, and the duties I've been assigned, I could not go a day without these crucial skills. You must know, this cannot go on forever. You'll have countless hours of studying to be done; you will be taught to read. A Dragon Tamer stands above nobility in social stature. Not because we seek out standing, but because our work requires high skill in many areas. Yennifer, you've met her I assume? She's got a keen mind for teaching and she is a highly literate woman. I'll work with you personally as much as I can but when I cannot, she will help you until you learn to decipher our unusual language. We'll begin tonight, come and meet me in my chambers if you would. By the end of the week I expect we'll have worked through a number of journals and hopefully, after reading past tamers' experiences with this ailment and after you've spent at least 10 hours in meditation, we'll concoct the potion and send you into the land of Uram's soul.

In the mean time, I expect you to work on focus on improving your understanding of fire magick. When you can convince me you've mastered the concept, I'll begin working with you and Uram in expanding your experience with wind magicks."[/b]

Irin nodded at Merrik's request, "Yessir." He said, and he held his hand back out in front of him, and created another flame, concentrating on the finer properties of the flame.