The Scholar, The Swordsman and The Sorcerer

Chapter 5: Learning New Things

Since Zhihao knew his element already, Instructor Yuan focused most of his attention on him. That didn't mean Mi Zhein was ignored, however. Quite the contrary. When Mi Zhein tried to take a nap during class, their teacher waved his fan in the boy's direction sharply. A peculiar, acrid, odor followed the gesture, causing Mi Zhein to sit up sharply.

"Ahh! Teacher. Mercy! Mercy! Don't! That stinks."

"Good. Now wake up and pay attention." Yuan hid a smile behind his fan, adding, "You don't have to summon your element to learn from what I'm teaching. In fact, the better you pay attention to what I teach him, the better you'll be able to understand how to do the same."

"Yes, Teacher." Cowed, but with a sharp glitter of humor in his eyes, Mi Zhein used his own fan to send the stink spinning into a corner. "But don't you think bitterfruit's a bit rough? I mean, some people get sick off it."

"It got your attention, didn't it?" Yuan scoffed.

"Was that your element, then, Teacher?" Zhihao asked, before Mi Zhein could take the argument further. "Only, I don't understand how it worked."

Yuan waved his fan in Zhihao's direction, the slight breeze accompanied by a pleasant and vaguely familiar smell. Zhihao didn't know why, but it reminded him of Bai Feng forest. "Scent," Yuan said calmly. "It may seem a weak and useless element, but I promise you, it can sicken and kill if need be."

The last was said with a pointed glare at Mi Zhein, who scoffed at the implied threat. "Welcome to try, if you'd like," he grumbled.

Seeing they were about to start arguing again, Zhihao interrupted. "I don't really understand. How is scent an element?"

"It isn't. Or not as most philosophers think of elements. In fact, back when I was first training, they hadn't realized how complicated elementalists actually are. They thought I was a wind elementalist. It nearly got me killed." Instructor Yuan sat back in his seat, waving his fan gently in front of his face, "You remember I didn't want you to get yours wrong, during testing? That's why."

"I'm sure you would have realized, though," Zhihao offered. "So how does elementalist magic work? Instructor Jiahn said something about it being the element having an affinity for the sorcerer?"

A smile. "Instructor Jiahn oversimplifies, of course, but that's close enough. An elementalist sorcerer has an instinctive and natural understanding of their specific element. That, in turn, tends to draw the element to them more readily. It means you'll never have to summon magic to your will. It also means that you'll have to innovate and cultivate the means by which you use it. Of course, that's true for all sorcerers, so nothing strange there."

He tapped his fan against his palm, adding, "Now. Before we go further off track, let's continue the lesson. Zhihao, think about what it's like in your bamboo forest. Think about how the breeze moves and shifts the reeds and catches the leaves. Mi Zhein, pay attention to what happens when he does this."

Nervously, but unwilling to disappoint his teacher, Zhihao obeyed, only break off as a small wind rushed through the room, humming softly as it went. "Was that?" He opened his eyes and was startled to see both Yuan and Mi Zhein's hair had been thoroughly tousled. "Er...."

As Mi Zhein grumpily restored his hair to what little order it could manage, Yuan smiled. "Well done. We'll work on control soon enough. But that is exactly what you should be feeling when you call the wind."

#

That afternoon a guest lecturer from San Zan Temple would be speaking to the school on the subject of duty. Since this meant they didn't have to attend Learnédness or Martial Forms, both Zhihao and Mi Zhein were sad and happy. Admittedly, the class they missed and the class they were glad to miss weren't the same, but the reasons were the same.