Awareness training with T!

[Micheal Grayflow]

Michael sits patiently at the bench just outside the Inn, in one hand, an apple. And in the other, a water mana, carefully shifting around his finger as he stares at it with minor concentration.

[Torvallis!]

"AH YES!

Has anyone else decided to tag along for the lesson?"

Torvallis! arrives with several rats on rope leashes.

"I brought the rats out for some air!"

[Micheal Grayflow]

Michael jumps at the suddenness of the Fire mage, nearly dropping the mana, but catching it before it leaves his hand.
"Torvallis, it's good to see you. Am I correct in assuming that you'll be teaching? If not, I wouldn't mind the company. Even if most of them were literal rats." Michael says, before taking a bite out of his apple.

[Torvallis!]

"Absolutely I'll be teaching! Shall we get right down to business?"

Torvallis! ties the rats to one of the deck posts, and then turns to address both Michael and the rats.

"So the most important part of higher awareness is being observant enough to boost another mages power! You need to be able to observe the way they use magic, and instantly copy it! Have you done anything like this before?"

[Micheal Grayflow]

Michael shifts slightly to pull his spellbook out.
"No, I have not done anything like that before. Like I said in my note, I only know the basics.
That and I'm usually busy trying not to die most days as of late." He says before taking another bite of the apple.

[Torvallis!]

"Not you!"

Torvallis! pointed to one of the rats.

"I was talking to Lord Second Breakfast the 3rd! Look, see? He's waving his little ratty hands about. He's got the right idea!

So it doesn't matter if you know the right movements if you can't do them in time with the other mage . . . you could even end up getting in their way. And conversely, it doesn't matter if you don't know the right movements, as long as you can boost the amplitudes!

See, magic is like a wave upon the ocean, (yes, thank you for the demonstration of waves, Cinnamon Chocolate), there's always a push and pull to it as it resists change, it resists the release of power. Push the tide when it goes out, and it comes back stronger. Pull the wave as it comes in, and you work with it, instead of against.

I'm going to summon a fireball, I want you to push and pull with the waxing and waning of the energies."
"

[Micheal Grayflow]

Michael looks nervous, and hesitates for a brief moment.
"Alright, I think I'm ready. Does being a book mage hinder this lesson?" Michael asks, setting the apple down and he cracks his knuckles in preparation.

[Torvallis!]

"Not yo- Actually, that'll work too. And no, it's all about power, not about the spells here. You should know this as a book mage! The spells we cast are actually just pre-prepared rituals, packaged after much experimentation. Which is *why* you need your book.

Now c'mon, pump up this fireball"

[Micheal Grayflow]

Michael puts the the mana in his bag and sets the apple down.
He begins to pump to fireball to the best of his ability. His hands flowing in a pumping motion towards the fireball.
(OOG: Hope this is the direction your going in.)

[Torvallis!]

"Yes, yes, exactly! You can see the fireball getting bigger! That's exactly a correct motion!

Each type of mana moves a little differently and requires a different style of motion . . . water moves in and out, like the waves. Fire pulses. The earth grows upwards, and the air swirls around. Essence and void are a bit different again, but if you ever learn those magics, you'll learn how they work.

Alright, we'll practice more on that later.

For now, let's learn how to observe magic more closely. Uh, what magics do you have training in?"

[Micheal Grayflow]

Michael beams slightly with excitement at the praise. Grinning, he attempts to split his concentration and redirect half to the fire mage.

"I deal in water magic at the moment and am able to command people with a temporary spell." He says, looking up while continuing the motion of pumping up the fireball.

[Torvallis!]

"Okay, so we're going to start with some air magic! I wanted to make sure it wasn't something you knew.

So a more aware mage should be able to observe other magics, and learn as well as they would with a teacher, simply by observing.

The first step is to observe the primal power of that magic, and then afterwards to observe the spells and learn them by watching.

So let us sit down and look at the energies of the wind. You already know some tiers of power, so tell me, what did you need to know about the energies of water before you were able to make use of them?"

A squeaking can be heard from the bench.

"NOT you"

The squeaking stops.

[Micheal Grayflow]

Michael ponders the question, seeming as though he has never been asked questions like that.
"I guess, when it came to water magic, it was understanding the uses and dangers water that surround water. It can remove poison if used by a skilled mage, or drown those not careful enough or unlucky to find themselves within its watery grasp."
He takes another bite of his apple. Hoping his response was adequate.

[Torvallis!]

Torvallis! considers the answer carefully.

"I was looking for something more about the nature of the energies, but you may well have answered that in your own way.

With proper awareness training, you should be able to observe air magic and come to similar conclusions about it, without a teacher. You don't need to go that far right now . . . but observe the winds around us and tell me what you can see about air magic. If it's not enough, I'll guide you to look closer"

[Micheal Grayflow]

Michael stops for a moment and begins to stare intently on the blowing winds around him. After putting much of his focus on the winds, he's looks somewhat disappointed.
"I'm afraid I can't see anything when it comes to air magic, will you guide to look closer Torvallis?" Michael says, bring focus back to his teacher.

[Torvallis!]

"Think about what you told me about water. Now think about air. You know the spell 'the air will spin you'? Try looking for eddies and currents, for vortices within the air. Much like the same currents in the water. And look closely at the structures of those and how you would use them"

[Torvallis!]

((OOG: ping!))

[Micheal Grayflow]

Michael sits upright and visibly ponders the question.
"I know of that spell. But I dont know how to cast it. But I think I understand where you're coming from, water tends to act similarly to air in many ways."
Looking closer at the air around him, Michael sees the wind blowing around him and Torvallis, its affects on the surroundings being the only visible impact.

[Torvallis!]

"Right, now what I want you to do is study those energies and tell me . . . how would you use them to make the mentioned air spell? What hand movements would you use? You know the incantation. You won't succeed if you try right now, probably, it takes some time to get it right. But just go through the motions, quickly, of figuring out the spell and try it out a bit."

[Micheal Grayflow]

Michael thinks for a moment. Unsure of how the spell would be cast. " I think it would go a little like this." Michael then begins to make his hands move along with the breeze before bringing his hands together and attempting to 'cast' the air spell, whispering its incantation.
Afterward, Michael looks a bit frustrated, trying to understand what his teacher is trying to teach him.

[Torvallis!]

"Heh, you must be thinking, 'what's the point of this exercise if it won't lead to anything?'", T! chuckled.

"But you are getting something from it. Auto-didactism is hard to pass along, but it's necessary part of teaching awareness because we all understand magic differently. Unless I can teach you how to teach yourself . . . to some extent . . . I can't teach you how to be aware. An ancient teacher once said that there 'is no royal road to learning mathematics', and that the only way to learn is replicate the mathematical structures within your own self. A lot like the royal prince who asked for a royal road, an initiate in magic will often not even attempt to try something that they know someone else knows, and would like that knowledge to just be imparted instead of figuring it out.

If I was only teaching you one incantation, I could just teach you one incantation. But I'm teaching you awareness, I don't get to do that.

So I don't get to go the easy road here, which would be to figure out what you're doing wrong with the incantation and correct it. I have to guess at the method you're using to figure out what to do, and try to guide it.

All that is leading into this: I don't know that spell either. But the first thing I would've tried is to move despite the breeze, because I would be attempting to create a wind. You tried to move with the breeze, and that is also a good idea, using the existing energy to accomplish what you want. I'm not sure how you intended to direct it in a circle, to spin someone, but then I'm not certain how I would've generated the energy to spin someone. Certainly if it was as easy as twirling one's hands, we would see air mages sipping tea out of wind-held cups.

Would I be correct in guessing that you have an idea of how you would experiment, and what glimpses of changes you would look for to know if your spell is working?"

[Micheal Grayflow]

Michael sits there for a time, starring up at sky, thinking about what his teacher speaks.
In that moment of concentrated thought, Michael looks toward the fiery mage and then it clicks. "I think I understand now, or at least I think so. Using existing energies is one way but actually generating them works a lot better, I think."

[Torvallis!]

"Mmm, you seem to have made some realization. I'm not sure if it's the correct one, I would have to teach myself the spell as well. But you're formed some idea of why you're right, and why you were wrong, and now you can experiment to test that 'why' understanding further.

I think your training is complete, for now. Hopefully, by the next time you wish to become more aware, I will be able to teach you"

((oog: I will sign off on awareness 2 now))

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