Summer 1, 121
Even though Makt had woken up relatively early, he was still eager to get some training done. He opened his closet and took out his training outfit. In a hurry, the young Galsterei fled the town and began searching for an open field. The young Galsterei searched for about fifteen minutes before locating the ideal location. Makt was accustomed to using fire bolts by channelling aether into his hand. At last, the young Galsterei started his warm-ups, doing some laps around the field and practicing the act of calling aether in his hands.
At last, Makt started by channeling the aether into his hands using the necessary canting. He waited for a minute in hopes that something would occur. Nothing at all occurred - he had squandered his aether. Makt gave it another go, with the same outcome. Subsequently, the young faelnir attempted to focus his aether into a more compact region within his palm. This time, only a tiny bit of the magic was visible.
Even though it was so little, it satisfied Makt that he was headed in the right direction. He attempted the cantings again, then directed his aether to that particular spot on his hand. When the young faelnir attempted to press his palm up against a tree, a small fire started but quickly died out.
Although his progress may have seemed slow to other Galsterei, he was growing increasingly good at it. His hands were becoming a little hot where he was channeling aether, so he shook them uneasily. The inexperienced fire mage started it again by doing the canting and directing the aether into his hand. The Galsterei then put his hand up against the sapling, causing a sizable flame to materialize. Upon glancing down at his hand, Makt saw that his hand was red. Had he burned himself?
Makt began again. About half of the intended flame size materialized above his hand. The optimistic Galsterei made another attempt, but this time he didn't make much more headway. Makt played around with how much aether should be used. He initially filled his hand with a lot more aether. The fire flared up in his hands. "Fuck!" the charred Galsterei ran to the stream and swiftly submerged his hands in it. He returned to his original position and started over with a little less aether. He was getting close.
The boy gave it another go, channeling aether and canting. For some reason that was unclear, the canting came out worse than the last time. Makt warmed up a bit more by shooting a firebolt a few times before starting over. He started the procedure over again, and the outcomes were astoundingly similar. The juvenile was roughly three-quarters of the way there. When he next tried to set the sapling on fire, a sizable flame, bigger than he had anticipated, materialized.
Makt was getting excited about the fact that he was nearly finished. The young Galsterei was starting to lose his reserves. He directed his aether through that particular area of his palm and applied pressure to the tree. He finally created a fire large enough to set the tree on fire. The flames continued to burn until he controlled them to move them away from the tree.
He still felt like there was something wrong with the flame. It wasn't enough to simply set the tree on fire. He wanted to incinerate it. The young faelnir repeated the process while significantly increasing the aether he put into it. Again, the fire was a little underwhelming. Makt gave it another go, greatly boosting the aether. The flame was too large and also nearly set his own hair on fire. He removed a small amount of aether and again pressed his palm to the tree. Finally, he got the fire just right.
Makt could hear crickets in the clear night air as the trees swayed in the wind. He'd learned a little, but there was still more he needed to work on. After putting out the fire and positioning himself approximately 15 meters away from the tree, Makt went back and reviewed the thoughts in his head to make sure he understood what he wanted to try next.
Based on what he had learned from watching others, the young Galsterei decided to try a new technique. He slammed his hands on the ground after canting. The young Galsterei watched to see if the effect was postponed for a little while. "Well, that's what I get for not thinking this through," he thought.
The youthful Galsterei began to consider his options carefully for how he would pull this off. It was not long afterward that Makt had an idea. He channeled aether into his hands while canting. The aether then appeared to him to be traveling straight ahead before exploding into a ring of fire. Apart from the area where the line was supposed to be beginning to smoke, not much happened.
The young Galsterei was aware that, at this rate, this would take some time, but that the effort would eventually pay off. Once again, Makt began the process by slamming his hands onto the ground and canting. He was shocked to see a tiny bit of flame emerge - it might have been a foot long.
Makt was starting to feel a little worn out. He didn't want to overexert himself, so he went home. He would only return several days later when his reserves had come back to him. When he did come back, he was in a much better headspace. During his rest period he had practiced canting, though he hadn't used an aether during that time. Now, the canting was almost second nature to him. Makt forcefully hit the ground with his hands. The length of the fire was roughly one meter now. Proud of his accomplishments, Makt pumped a fist into the air.
The young faelnir slammed his hands on the ground and performed the necessary canting. He suddenly unleashed his longest fire yet, a 1.5-meter-long stream. Makt had only recently realized how slowly his training was going. Makt observed that the continuous training was beginning to burn a little on his hands. The young Galsterei visited the nearby stream, where the dazzling moonlight on the water caused him to feel a sense of peace.
The amazing scenery was ruined when Makt suddenly came to his senses and dipped his hands in the water, causing numerous ripples. He was inadvertently burning his skin with every attempt. It was to be expected, though it still stung. Pushing the pain from his mind, he dashed back to his previous location and resumed. Before putting his hands on the ground, Makt tried to focus and mentally visualized the desired outcome.
It appeared that the fire's length didn't grow at all. Makt was positive that there was a problem. He suddenly realized that he wasn't directing the fire appropriately because he was using enough aether. Makt repeated the canting quickly, adding more finesse to his movements this time. The tree was finally reached by the flames. The thought that he had completed this technique nearly made his chest swell with pride.
Then it dawned on him – what he'd really want was for a ring of fire to appear beneath the tree to better spread out the coverage of his attack. He muttered a curse to himself and resumed his attempts. In his frustration, he performed the canting so quickly that he made a mistake and ended up sending the fire in an odd angle, wasting his aether.
It took the young Galsterei several minutes to gather his composure before he tried once more. There was still no fire ring surrounding the tree, despite the line leading up to it growing in length. Makt gave it another go, slamming his hands to the floor, concentrating intently on the desired outcome. A tiny, eight-inch-tall ring started to form all around the tree. Makt was aware that his aether was starting to diminish, but he also knew he was finally getting what he wanted.
"Finally, I'm done," he said to himself as he made his way back to the stream. He leaped into the water this time rather than dipping his hands in. The young Galsterei was embracing the cool water. After wading around for a while, Makt needed only thirty minutes to dry off. He felt he deserved a reward after all that hard work.
