Draco, dressed in a loose tunic, waited for his master in the training hall. Not wanting to waste any time, he began to warm up and stretch. He had no idea what he would be learning today, but he hoped for some exercise, although practising magic would also be welcome. The dragon turned when the door opened. Darius still looked tired, but there was a sparkle in his eyes.
-I see you can't wait.- A hint of a smile lit up the master's face.
-Yes.- The dragon nodded energetically.- What are we going to do today? Practise magic? Fight with training swords? Train in close combat?- He listed excitedly.
-Unfortunately, I have to disappoint you, Draco.- Darius shook his head slightly.- I would like to teach you meditation and exercises related to controlling the source. Of course, you have learned to control your power on your own and have complete control over it, but these exercises will help you use magic in a more subtle way.- The master closed the door behind him so that no one would disturb them.- It will also help you measure your mana precisely.
-Oh...- The dragon was sure that his loss of enthusiasm was reflected in his attitude. He much preferred movement. -Sounds interesting. -There was no point in complaining, he had to try.
-I promise I'll practise fighting with you later.- Darius added with a slight sigh.
-Great! Let's get started!- Draco's enthusiasm immediately returned, and his gaze began to wander towards the wooden swords leaning against the back wall.
-All right, all right. In that case, let's not delay. Please sit down comfortably.- Bleist pointed to the centre of the small arena where they usually practised. Draco obediently followed the instruction and took his place on the floor.- Now close your eyes and try to calm your breathing.
The dragon shut his eyes and began to take longer and longer breaths. He focused on his master's voice so that his thoughts would not be distracted by visions of the upcoming exercises.
-In a moment, you will try to immerse yourself in your source.- Darius spoke quietly, calmly and slowly.- Not as usual, not completely. Do not dive into deep water, just immerse your face.- A long pause was broken only by the dragon's steady breathing.- Good, now slowly try to immerse yourself while focusing on my voice. Slowly immerse yourself while listening to my voice, and when you succeed, interrupt me.- The master began to slowly repeat the last sentence like a mantra.
Draco tried to focus on the words and the presence of his mentor. Breathing deeply, he began to explore the sensations coming to him from all around. Just like in the old orphanage. And just as slowly, he explored everything that was getting closer and closer to him. Finally, he reached his own body and, following a familiar path, listened to its rhythm and functioning. Moments passed, and the master's voice seemed muffled but still clear. The dragon finally took another step towards its source. He wanted to do it slowly and deliberately, but suddenly he was simply standing in the darkness, surrounded by a luminous sphere. In the lingering silence, the only sound was something like the soft rubbing of silk against itself and a deep, steady breathing that seemed to come from everywhere. Draco strained with all his might, but he could not hear his master. With resignation, he looked around. Nothing caught his attention, so he decided to try again. He emerged from the source. Darius continued to repeat one sentence calmly. The dragon took a deeper breath and began to repeat the steps. When he wanted to just gently touch his source, he immediately sank into it again. Somewhat frustrated, he repeated the whole thing a few more times, but to no avail. Finally, he gave up.
-Master, I can't do it.- Draco opened his eyes and looked at the mage sitting opposite him.- I sink immediately. As soon as I touch the source, I end up at the bottom.
-Calm down.- Bleist cleared his throat.- I would be very surprised if you succeeded on your first try.- He smiled.- Staying partially on the surface is not natural, so we instinctively avoid it. It takes a lot of practice to be able to do it without any problems.- Darius paused for a moment.- There are several ways to help you stay afloat. The first is to focus on a specific sound or voice, although that didn't work for you.- The master moved and sat down more comfortably.- I think we can skip trying to hold something hot or cold as well. For you, it will make little difference. The third way is to try to submerge while maintaining a simple spell.- The mage did not wait for questions and continued explaining the rest of the lesson. - Try with a ball of light, or simply form the released energy. On the one hand, it will be simple enough that it won't distract you from focusing on diving, and on the other, it will require constant manipulation of energy.
-Hmmm... All right, Master.- Draco placed his hands on his knees, palms facing upwards. He slowly released a small stream of energy, divided it and allowed it to form into two small balls. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes again. He refocused on himself and began repeating the same actions as before. He quickly reached the place where he had been sinking all along. He focused on the flowing mana. For a long moment, he analysed the path along which the energy flowed, until he finally touched the source.
He opened his eyes again, surrounded by a golden sphere. Angry at another failure, he was about to roar when he realised that he could feel the movement of energy. He focused on it, but despite the clear sensation, he couldn't follow it. For some reason, he knew that if he did, he would simply wake up. Slightly frustrated, he gasped a few times, but mindful of his master's words about calming down, he tried to calm himself. It wasn't easy, but he managed. Tense, but with a clearer mind, he decided to focus more. He began to analyse everything that had happened, and then what he felt. He broke everything down into the smallest possible elements. He wasn't sure how long it took him, but he came to several conclusions. First, falling to the bottom of the source was indeed as natural as breathing, and only partial immersion resembled an attempt to hold one's breath underwater. The second thing that struck him, so to speak, was the feeling of the accumulated mana moving and the ability to trace it to the places where it flowed out of the body. However, he was unable to determine that this feeling meant that he had not submerged completely. It was more like looking at the sun while being deep underwater. Thirdly, he realised that the constant rhythmic breathing belonged to him, but in a different way. After listening carefully to everything around him, he had the impression that the breathing belonged to a huge, deeply sleeping creature. More precisely, to a great reptile. And even more precisely, to a dragon. It was in this situation that he consciously observed the presence of his dragon nature for the first time, separate but still within reach of his thoughts. He also realised that his separate perception of it was caused by the difficulty of connecting it with his magical self. The last thing he realised was that he could sense Gler'thys all the time. The sword was still connected to him and affected him, even if he was not holding it in his hand. With these new observations, he surfaced and opened his eyes.
Darius was still sitting in front of the dragon, but he seemed uncomfortable, as if he had been in the same position for a long time.
-I can see the confusion on your face. - The mage smiled warmly. - I will try to answer all your questions.
Draco took a deep breath and deliberately spoke about what he had felt and what he had concluded. Bleist listened to him with an unchanging expression on his face and did not speak until the dragon had finished.
-You have drawn some very interesting conclusions. The first two are absolutely correct. The third is extremely interesting, but I think I will have to correct you a little. Your dragon nature does not sleep as deeply as you have described. I would depict it more as a vigilant nap with one eye open. If anything, or more precisely anyone, tried to enter your consciousness, your dragon nature, its subconscious part, would attack in defence. - The crooked smile did not bode well for anyone who tried to do so.- Did they teach you anything about dragon consciousness at Dagos?- Darius asked unexpectedly.
-I think... Not much, Master.- Draco replied hesitantly, quickly searching his memory.- At least nothing like meditation. I think Rector Heilem once mentioned that mages can attack each other mentally, but we don't have to worry about that.- He shrugged after digging up that one piece of information.
-As much as I disliked him, he was right. - Quietly muttered Bleist. - Yes, a mental attack, in other words, invading someone's source and directly attacking their consciousness, can be a very effective solution if you are fighting someone who is magically much stronger than you. It is also often used in black magic practices to cast curses or control the target.- He grimaced slightly.- It is also very difficult and dangerous. First, you have to maintain physical contact with your target, which is not easy in the heat of battle. Second, the defending mind is always in a privileged position and can do more in its own consciousness. Thirdly, and most importantly, the attacker cannot use their magic because their consciousness enters the other person's body, while the defender can use their power to physically repel the attacker. So the more powerful and experienced the magician, the more difficult it is to attack them mentally. Most often, it is not even possible to get within arm's reach. - Darius spread his hands. - At least that's the case with humans and other humanoid races. Elves, orcs, dwarves and so on. Our consciousnesses are different, but still similar enough that it's not a problem. It's different with shape-shifters, such as dragons or lycanthropes.- Bleist pointed at Draco with his finger.- Your consciousness is constructed in a completely different way, more complex and closer to the nature of a non-human form. Dragons, all kinds of animorphs, summoned creatures, races with a wider range of senses, or beings exceptionally powerful and long-lived, such as titans, have a consciousness so different from that of humans that our minds are unable to comprehend it, while at the same time you can easily understand the human mind. This is an advantage that cannot be overcome by experience, magical power, or any amount of preparation. In a clash between human and, for example, dragon consciousness, the outcome will always be the same. Even if the dragon does not actively resist. Simply coming into contact with such a different mind is a threat to humanoid races.- Darius took a deeper breath.- I don't think I need to mention that, how should I put it, non-human consciousness is much stronger than human consciousness. That is why dragons do not have to fear mental attacks. Although it would be a mistake to interpret this as insensitivity to them. They are ineffective because the mind of the attacking mage disintegrates upon contact with the dragon's. By the same token, your self would be destroyed if it came into contact with the consciousness of a titan.
-It's quite complicated.- Draco scratched his head. It sounded a little strange when the master equated dragons with the almost immortal titans, whose power could rival that of the gods.- But Ambassador Othis examined my source.- The dragon suddenly blurted out.
-True.- Darius nodded.- And he did so knowing the danger.- He stated with deadly seriousness.- Hugo knew full well that he was taking a risk by entering your source, but he had to do it. Another issue was that he had no intention of trying to interact with your consciousness. We must separate the issue of the source and consciousness.- The mage thought about something for a moment.- You see, the figure you define as yourself inside the source is not consciousness. It is only its avatar, a pseudo-magical construct through which you perceive magic. In the case of humans, the appearance of the avatar mostly coincides with the form taken by consciousness. However, for you, it is a construct in human form, when your consciousness should take the shape of a huge dragon. That is the difference. In theory, communing with your source should be safe as long as one does not try to influence your consciousness through the avatar or trigger the subconscious defensive reaction of your dragon nature. - The Master paused. - That is my theory. The problem is identifying the stimuli that trigger the defence mechanism. As we do not want to harm anyone, we will not test the acceptable limits. Another thing is that I will want to teach you to perceive magic without the help of the avatar, which will create a situation where every interaction with your source will be contact with the dragon mind.
-Master, if everyone perceives magic through this... construct, and I can use magic without any problems as I do now, then what is the point of omitting the avatar?- Draco quickly absorbed new information and did not even know at what point he got involved in the discussion. It was a bit disturbing, but at the same time it fascinated him.
-Many people ask themselves this question.- Drius smiled with a hint of pity.- Most of those who have come across this issue dismiss it as unnecessary. They do not see the benefits they could gain by devoting a lot of time to practice. Only a few people I know have managed to, as you put it, bypass the avatar. This has two seemingly insignificant effects. The first is reaction speed. A person who uses magic without mediation is able to react a fraction of a second faster. It's not much, but it can be the difference between life and death. - For a blink of an eye, pity gave way to the shadow of old pain, but it quickly returned. - The second, in my opinion more important, benefit is the ability to create runic symbols at the moment of stirring mana in the source, rather than after releasing the energy outside. Look.- Darius stretched out his hands and turned them upwards. Then a small ball of golden energy appeared above his right hand, and inside it a rune signifying light ignited.- Activation using an avatar,- muttered the master. The dragon did not have time to blink, and a symbol first flashed above his left hand, and only then did the sphere ignite. Interestingly, it was brighter than the previous one. - Direct activation. As you can see, this increases the power of the spell. Not much, as some say, barely noticeable, but still. Precise control increases a mage's abilities, which is why I want to teach you this. - Bleist smiled, dispelling the spells. - However, we must end today's lesson here. It seems that Oscar has already sent for us several times. It's almost time for dinner.