"That was really good. You just need to think about your attacks a little bit more, and you'll be dangerous."
"'You just need to think about your attacks.' I was thinking about my attacks, Case."
"Come on, I'm not trying to say anything else. I'm just telling you what I do."
Cory smiled. "It's okay. Rico, you know he's been at it longer, so he's got an advantage on us. Besides, it sounds like good advice." Cory turned to John.
"Am I sparring next, sir?"
"I think you need to practice your spells, for now. You use projection too slowly. And your composite mana takes too long to reinforce you. Work on that for now. I'll have you spar Rico next week." John paced the stone-like floor.
"And, Rico, you have a disadvantage at close combat. You need to think more tactically. If you don't have the raw power to match him, draw the fight out and look for weaknesses in your opponent. Casey is good but he wasn't serious. Use that against him."
John ran his sight over all of the young men. "All of you, I'm going to teach you the basics." He stopped his sight on Casey. "Especially you. You need this stuff to progress to purple."
They all sat on the bleachers. Casey watched as he touched his chin.
"Okay so getting to purple is a long process that can take a lifetime if you lack talent. As in physical, or sense. You need fine control of mana to get there." He walked along the gray stone. "The thing about mana is it's hard to control. Another is that it tends to dictate the way things are. Cold mana isn't necessarily cold. But it causes cold. More cold mana? More cold. It also works inversely."
He stopped his steps. "So more composite mana?" He pointed to Cory.
"I think… more to use?"
John corrected. "More strength, and health. That's what composite does. It naturally exists in the body. For sorcerers. So compression is the process of stuffing an unnatural amount of mana into the body." He looked at Casey. "I know you're a spiritual guy. There's another way to look at mana. The physical follows the spiritual. You have some experience pushing your body too far so you know what you need to do now?"
"I think I need to push even further, now?"
" I can tell when you're being sarcastic Casey." He smiled. "Just push smarter. Practice holding a larger amount of composite mana in your body. It'll cause muscle aches. Even more when you try to compress it. But, it'll make those muscles stronger over time."
"So this is like body building, but without weights?"
"It'll give better results than body building."
Casey thought. 'So if I lift longer and lighter, wouldn't that be better? Or maybe mix it?'
Rico raised his hand. "This stuff can work for me, too."
"You're more than welcome to try. And you too, Cory. It'll help you develop better control."
"Remember to try these principles in different ways too. There are no rules, just suggestions in sorcery." He changed the subject. "Look at Casey. I think you used a version of compression on Legion? It was creative, Case."
'So that counts.'
John said. "Any questions?"
Rico raised his hand. And John said, 'Yes?'.
"I want to make the journey to my father's place. Can you help me with that, please?"
"I was actually meaning about spells... But, yes I can. It's just that the place you need to get to is actually dangerous, right now."
Casey thought for a second. 'Rock Sound? With the kidnappings, I guess?'
"Do you know anything about the witches dad? I read that they're sorcerers that eat other sorcerers?"
"Yeah. I've only killed a few. I got invited by a old friend who I hadn't seen in a while. Jim… Jimmy. He worked at a winery over in Cordonne, to the east. " John sat on the bleachers as the three young men stood over him with their curious eyes. He continued. "His nephew went missing and he called the proper people, but they went missing too. I… it turned out that I had to deal with a dark red witch. She was a creepy thing, but I got her though. But the little boy had already passed."
John's eyes were dry but Casey saw that they were also green.
"I killed her sisters and their convenant… after investigations, of course."
"Well I think you did the right thing Mr. Knowles."
"Thanks Cory." John stood up. "Rico… I'm not able to move for a while. So are you sure about going now?"
Rico asked. "How come?"
"It's a government thing. Basically, I have to be stationed here for twenty five years before I can leave. I'm defending the southern coast."
"All by yourself? You're really that strong?" Casey's eyes were wide with understanding of who his dad had been in secret. So many odd phone calls, the times he'd go missing. Everything started to click. "You're amazing…"
"Really? It's just a part of retiring son. Someone like you will probably get here too. Besides I mostly just send reports." He touched the back of his head. "Case, use the spell that you used against Legion for me?"
"Yes dad. I'll have to adjust it a little bit though." Casey got up and walked a safe distance away from them. They stood near the black benches.
John said. "Don't worry, this place can take whatever you dish out, so don't hold back."
Casey nodded. He opened his hands and gathered as much of the AC between them as he could. It didn't make the blue cloud at the core of the vacuum like last time. But it had made a white moving blur. He felt for more cold mana with the node in his chest. White streams of frost were pulled into his mouth.
He let out a breath that seemed like frozen cumulous clouds. Ice formed across the floor for a hundred meters, making a scraping sound against the Stead's ground. Frosty wind battered them all; Cory shivered, he'd only worn shorts.
Casey shook some ice loose from his hands and made his way over. He only felt a little tired this time.
"Wow…" Cory whispered under his breath.
"Really nice, Case. That's a lot of power. I don't know… maybe you're gifted?" He touched Cory's shoulder and separated himself from the group. "All of you guys will get there, so don't worry." He pointed to the frozen field. "But, this is what compression makes possible."
"Even moreso, this is just the first step to learning how to control mana. I'll teach you more after you mastered this step. I think it's time we leave though."
...…..
"I'm in over my head right now Melissa."
"Come on. It's really awesome that you're doing this."
She shifted around the perfumes. The place was a milky brown store in the business district. There were other workers around but Melissa had been helping him for a while. She was really nice. He thought that he should've brought Rico by.
There were colorful and cute outfits here, but Casey wouldn't dare buy her clothes. That would be weird. At least right now it would be weird.
The lights were dim in May's and Things'. Its name sounded like amazing things to Casey.
Melissa pointed. "This?"
"Yeah I saw a commercial for Christmas with this in it."
She puffed her nose. "This smells so bad."
Casey shook his head, and smiled. "Then help me then?"
"Okay." She sighed playfully. She brought up a few from the sliding display. Casey thought that they all looked beautiful.
A purple bottle, a cherry one, and a mint. She waved and he gave her his arm. The process took a while but they found something nice.
"I smell sissy."
"It's alright. Society accepts… oh never mind, I'm still working."
Casey laughed, no one had paid it any attention. He looked at Melissa and smiled. She was really cool.
"Can you help me find make up for her now? Please?"
"Let's go look for a palette." They made their way to the right side of the counter. There were a bunch of different shades that Casey thought looked like her. And that was a problem.
"Come on. You get stressed so easy. Just show me a picture? No, this one has the wrong shade."
"Okay, I'll have her send another." He got his phone back and sent a text, it only took a moment for her to answer him. She had sent it so easily that he felt uncomfortable.
'Kiana… please don't let people tell you to do stuff like this. Don't send men your photos. Please.'
She sent a sent a saluting emoji and promised.
"So insecure."
He paid her no mind. "See this is how she looks."
"I can definitely match her skin. It's light, light."
"Yeah, and tall, too."
"Make up doesn't work like that." She sat the palette down on the counter. "Hey look. That lady has been staring at you for a little while now."
Casey turned and saw a woman that he hadn't seen in weeks. She was still beautiful but he hadn't missed her in days now. It was like seeing his old self. Or more truthfully an old dream. But he'd learned from failure. And he was stronger for it.
"Casey?"
"Hey Nadene."