(MalexMale) The Crimson Immortal [Crimson Immortal Series: Book 4]

20: Dusty Rifts

For the better part of the evening, Zhil spent it familiarizing himself with his soul magic. He figured if he understood how the magic worked better he would have a better grasp on stabilizing his rifts. He had already learned that due to his death, no matter how much soul energy he expended the side effects of a soul mage never tempted him. So he was free to practice as long as he was awake.

It was late into the night when Zhil had a breakthrough and was able to open and hold a rift without it exploding or dissolving. Zhil was so ecstatic after the first minute passed and his rift still maintained stability that he stupidly lost concentration causing the rift to fizzle out. He spent the next several hours trying to do the same but in the end, had no success. He sighed and believed it was better to get some rest and try again in the morning.

The morning was already showing signs of the day being a hot one. Even though the sun remained behind the clouds, it continued heating the ground below. Zhil sweltered in the garden diligently forming rifts. Several attempts already landed him in the dirt and forced him to rest because his stomach hurt. At that time the intrigued ghosts emerged from the forest wondering why a human was attempting to make a rift. Few even tried to give Zhil advice. Some of it was helpful but most of it was what Auran had already told him. Zhil ran his hand through his hair, he was confident in getting it right and knew he needed time but time was against him.

By midday, Zhil started to get the hang of creating rifts. He was having more success and sustained the shape of the rift until he closed it. Those rifts were small, barely large enough to fit a hand through but enough for Zhil to have hope. Auran had explained to him that by starting with smaller rifts he could build up the magic and muscle memory slowly and eventually move on to larger rifts. It'd still take time but cut down his learning time in half. Zhil still thought that was too long and for Sei's sake pushed himself as hard as he could. He was already a master and magic came easy to him. Zhil felt he should be able to conquer the challenge of a single large rift to prove Auran wrong.

Zhil raised both arms with determination, having been successful on nearly all attempts since noon he decided to attempt a larger rift. Unlike regular magic which needed an incantation, whether spoken or not, soul magic did not. Soul magic fed off emotions and the amount of energy as it was pulled in.

Zhil took a deep breath and expanded that energy outward to start the rift. A spark formed first, then the tear opened painfully slowly. Zhil's forehead wrinkled, straining to hold the rift but he was driven to prove he could do it. More and more of the tear opened and his arms began to shake. The rift already showed signs of destabilizing by arching off sparks and cracking. Suddenly it exploded and threw Zhil back a few feet. He landed hard on his back with a thud and stared blankly at the clouds defeated. He grimaced as he sat up and dusted the dirt off his body. Frustrated, he threw his soul fire into some of the surrounding plants burning them into charred husks.

"You...shouldn't burn...his garden." Auran had returned some time ago and silently watched Zhil from a distance. He wanted to witness Zhil's progress without interrupting him. Though Zhil was making good progress with small rifts, Auran let out a quiet enthusiastic huff when Zhil attempted the larger rift even though it ended in failure.

Zhil's heart jumped into his throat. The other ghosts had left a long time ago and he had thought he was alone.

He cleared his throat before speaking, "Must you always do that? Stop hiding in the shadows and scaring me!"

Auran's lips lifted into a sly smirk but that smirk quickly faded changing the subject entirely, "You...had a...binding on...him." He leaned against the tree closest to Zhil, "I sensed...the binding...that...time I met...Sei...and...again with you...when we...crossed...paths...in the...forest. I...don't...sense...it now. Did it...cease...to...exist...after...your death...or did...you...break it?"