Xiacran Tower(On Hold)

What to Expect

Cassius takes Inigo back inside and up to the dining area where Shaya is waiting. The Dahalin runs up to Inigo as soon as he sees him.

"Come on! I'm starving!"

Inigo smiles and runs after Shaya to collect a plate to load up with food. Cassius decides to leave the students and uses this opportunity to have dinner with his colleagues.

Shaya goes first, not that he gave Inigo a choice, the hungry Dahalin goes from section to section filling his plate with a mountain of food. Inigo, still feeling a bit sickly, only grabs a few items, mostly fruit, the heavier foods such as meats and cheeses don't look appealing.

Sitting down at a table, Shaya does not waste a second before digging in.

"So..." Shaya says with a mouth full of food, "Did Master Rhodes make you expel all of your mana?"

"How... How do you know?" Inigo stutters.

"You look shattered!" Shaya laughs and accidentally spurts out some food from his mouth. "Oh, sorry." He apologises and quickly chews and swallows the food in his mouth before speaking again. "He did the same to me. I came to the college early as you did, so what did he make you try and lift?"

"We've not tried to lift anything, all I've been shown is how to shoot flames from my hands."

"So you're a Pyro? That's cool..." Shaya says in a tone that would suggest otherwise. "All I can do is this..."

The Dahalin puts down his fork onto the table, with both hands hovering above the fork starts to lift into the air. Shaya directs the fork through the air in a circle using slight hand motions then slowly down and back onto the table softly with scarcely a clink.

"That's great! How can you make it land so softly?"

"There's no need to be patronising." Shaya scoffs.

"I'm being serious. I used to practice in my room at home but I could never get it right, my parents didn't want me practising magic so it was important to not make a sound. Every time I tied it would either slam into the ground or be thrown across the room, I can lift objects easy enough but it's hard when it starts spinning, not to mention lowering it, it's hard to keep hold."

"Oh, sorry, I'm not used to being asked, I'm usually doing the asking. Right, I had the same problem at first, apparently, I was using the mana in the air to move the object rather than the mana within the object. You see using the mana in the air is like trying to grab at the object like you would do your hand, so it's hard to control, therefore you need to use the mana within the object itself. Does that make sense?"

"I think so."

"If you can focus in the mana within the object you can almost feel the object within your mind, once you can feel the object you can then move it in any way you like, up, down, left, right, and so on. Most mages can move objects without using their hands, I find it easier to control the object with my hands doing the directing but I'm guessing better without."

Inigo focuses on the fork trying to feel the mana within, as soon as he can see it clearly in his min he tries to lift, his head starts to pound as the fork shakes. He stops and breathes deeply.

"Nope, I have nothing left. I'll try tomorrow."

"Yeah, I passed out straight away after dinner when Master Rhodes made me lift a fallen tree."

"A tree? I think the biggest thing I've tried to lift was my bed but it didn't move a bit."

"It took a lot of mana to do, I almost blacked out before I could get it back onto the ground."