Chapter 17. A Magical Explanation.
Erza readjusted herself on the stool she sat on. "Okay, we can get started now if you'd like," she said softly as she kept an eye on Gavin.
Gavin's eyes focused as he was instantly awake and alert with her words. "Yes please, the more I can learn before going to the academy in two months, the better off I will be," Gavin said with hushed enthusiasm.
Erza smiled fondly at her boy, "Okay, tell me what you know about shifters or magic," she began by questioning Gavin's current knowledge base.
Would you like me to provide you with the answers to the question? Veronica asked.
No thanks Veronica. I want to learn from Erza for right now.
Gavin sat back on the stool and pressed his finger to his chin in thought. "Hmm. Let's see. Shifters usually don't discover their ability to shift until they come of age at eighteen years old. That's when they shift for the first time. Parents usually begin teaching them about how to shift, mana flow, mana control and other stuff, right?" he asked her as he rattled off a list of information.
Erza nodded. "That's pretty good," she said as she took a drink of her coffee. "Usually, parents inform their kids over the years about shifting, so when it happens, the child has a crude knowledge of what to expect. They won't be able to practice or anything but will know what to look for and expect to feel and so on and so forth," she said as she yawned.
"Now shifting requires the use of mana points. You must be able to feel your inner mana flow and control it, shaping it to your will. Once you shift, it will require so much of your mana to maintain the shifted body," she continued as Gavin pulled out his phone and started taking notes. "The more you shift, the better your body will be at maintaining the shift and more proficient at using mana. Eventually, you can get to the point where it hardly uses any mana, and you almost have an unlimited amount of time you can stay shifted. Though that isn't recommended," she said softly as she took another drink of her coffee.
Gavin looked up when she said that last part, "Why is it recommended that a person doesn't do that?" He asked her quietly.
She sighed as she sat her cup on the counter. "There have been cases over the years when people spend so much time in their shifted form that they begin to lose their sense of humanity. Their animal nature began to manifest increasingly often. After months or years of being mostly in their shifter body, they completely lost their sense of self and humanity until only their animal instincts remained," she said quietly. It did not happen often, but it was a very real threat to the shifters of the world.
"Dang, that is some heavy material," Gavin said softly as he looked up into Erza's eyes. Maybe being a shifter isn't such a cheat code to strength?
She nodded grimly. "There have not been many documented cases, but it has happened, and as a shifter you should be aware of the danger," she said softly as she looked at him.
"So from what I'm gathering, practicing often to shift for prolonged periods of time make things easier, but also come with a dangerous risk?" he asked her for confirmation to make sure he understood what she was getting at.
She nodded as a snore came from the living room so loud that it woke up Tessa from the floor. She sat up right as if jolted by a shock. She looked around before her eyes settled on Gavin and Erza in the kitchen talking. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she stood up, the blanket fell to the ground. She had on a pink tank top and night shorts as she shuffled her feet into the kitchen. "Coffee?" she asked sleepily as she smiled at them.
Gavin grinned as he got off the stool and went into the kitchen and began making a second pot of coffee. He poured what was left into his cup as the fresh pot started to brew. "It'll be a few minutes before the next pot is brewed." He informed Tessa as she stole his stool at the kitchen table.
She yawned as she nodded and said, "Thanks Gav, you're a lifesaver," she said as she sat on the stool. Gavin smiled and held back his laughter. She was the definition of crumpled mess. Her tank top was too short and didn't even cover her stomach as her shorts rode up her thighs. Her long brown hair came loose from her ponytail at some point during the night and had random strands of hair sticking all over the place. It almost looked like she stuck a fork in an electrical outlet.
Tessa ran her soft fingers through her hair, as she tried to tame at least a part of her wild mane. Erza got up and went upstairs. A moment later she came back down and handed her a brush. "Here this should help," she offered the small round black brush to Tessa.
Tessa smiled appreciatively, "Thanks Erza," Tessa said as she took the small black brush and gratefully started to run it through her hair. She let out a sigh of gratitude as she managed to slowly tame her wild mane. The coffee finished brewing as Gavin walked over, pulled down a cup and poured Tessa a hot cup of coffee. He put some sugar and creamer in the cup and handed it over to Tessa as he pulled up another stool to sit down. Erza walked over and refilled her own coffee with the fresh batch, then went to sit down. "So, what were you guys talking about?" Tessa asked them after a few moments. "It looked like pretty serious stuff."
Gavin swallowed his drink and nodded. "Erza is trying to go over some basics of being a shifter and learning magic for me since she won't let me do any physical practice or training right now," Gavin said. There was obvious annoyance in his voice as he answered Tessa's innocent question.
Erza scoffed at Gavin's reaction. She turned to Tessa, who had a raised eyebrow, and looked at Erza. "What he neglected to say is that he is still sore and recovering, and I told him only learning knowledge right now. We will begin practicing magic once he is rested and healed fully ," she told Tessa as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Gavin.
Gavin attempted to look sheepish as he turned to face Tessa. "Oh, come on Tessa, you know I am healed just fine and can handle a little physical activity," he said to one of his best friends.
She frowned as she looked between Gavin and Erza. She threw her hands up in surrender and said, "Look, this is between you guys. I am Switzerland. I don't have a dog in this fight." She was determined not to get involved in this. Erza and Gavin could be incredibly stubborn when they wanted to dig their heels in on a subject. The last thing she wanted was to pick a side and start a potential argument. Gavin was her best friend, and she'd always pick his side usually. But Erza could be terrifying when she was wound up.
Gavin frowned at Tessa. "Coward," he called out, sticking his tongue out at her. She shook her head as Gavin turned to face Erza. "Alright, alright, where were we?" he asked as he took another drink of his coffee.
"You were a pain in my ass, like usual," Erza muttered quietly as she looked over to the side and back at Gavin to see his crap eating grin. "Anyway. It can take a little bit of time to get used to the sensations of shifting at will. You have to be able to sense and feel your internal mana flow. Once you get used to the sensation of that, you can then learn to recognize the way your body felt when it shifted the first time. Usually this is easily done with some quiet meditation and guidance," Erza said as she went on to explain.
"When you are fully healed, there is a wonderful site we can go camping at. You, me, Aria and Lyla. We can all work together to help teach you the physical aspects of shifting on command and how to learn magic," Erza said, informing Gavin of her plans.
Gavin grinned widely. "Camping trip?" he asked.
Tessa shook her head, laughing. "Is that all you got out of that?" she asked as she crossed her left leg underneath her.
"I'm a teenage guy. The thought of a camping trip with three beautiful females is all I needed to hear," Gavin said, winking at Tessa as Erza looked annoyed in her seat.
Suddenly, a hand came out and smacked the back of Gavin's head. Gavin yelped in surprise and grabbed the back of his head, rubbing it softly as he turned to see Aria. She had a black hoody and her jeans on as she glared at Gavin with hands on her hips. "Can you not be such a guy?" she asked in annoyance. She narrowed her eyes at him. She had caught his last words about a camping trip with three beautiful females. She shouldn't have expected anything else but had thought Gavin would be better than the stereotypical teenage guy.
"It's fine, Aria, he's just an idiot," Tessa said and laughed as she watched Gavin rub the back of his head in his discomfort. Serves him right for being such a typical guy.
"Sheesh, make one little dumb joke and everyone loses their minds," Gavin muttered in annoyance as he glared at the women seated around in the kitchen. Tension filled the kitchen before Erza gave in first and cracked a grin before she burst into laughter.
"Alright, alright. Moving on," Erza said in between laughter. She took another drink of her coffee and looked at Gavin. "So, what do you know about magic?" She asked her boyfriend.
Gavin thought for a moment. "I honestly know next to nothing. I know most people have some amount of mana points. They need to be able to feel their inner mana flow, and then they can use the mana," Gavin said to her. He had to admit; he didn't know much about mana and magic.
Erza grimaced slightly. "Some of that was right, some of that was wrong. So. Let's start with the basics. There are six core elements to magic. Air, water, fire, earth, light, and darkness. Most people can attune and have an affinity for one, sometimes two, different elements of magic." She started to explain as she grabbed a sheet of paper and wrote down each element in a circle.
"What that means, is that usually someone can only attune to one or two types of magic and not the others. It is rare or uncommon for someone to be able to use more than two, and almost unheard of for someone to use all six types of magic." She explained as she looked at Gavin and Tessa.
Erza continued, "There are training crystals we can pick up that will help with that process." She drew a symbol on the sheet of paper next to each written element. "They are really simple to use. You just pour your mana into the crystal, and if it lights up with the symbol, congratulations, you can use that element."
"Now, let's say you have an affinity for fire magic. Using magic is kind of straightforward. You concentrate on your mana flow, then you picture an image, or an action in your mind. You focus intently on that image. On that desire. Like if I said, I wanted a ball of fire to appear in my hand. I would concentrate and imagine a powerful fireball resting in my hand." She opened the palm of her hand, and a ball of fire appeared.
"I'd imagine the weight of the mana, the heat from the fire. The sound of the crackling flames as it moves within the palm of my hand. Then I focus on releasing it and throwing it. I'd throw my hand out and, boom, a fireball would be thrown across the room at the target I wanted to hit," Erza let it sit there for a moment before she closed her hand into a fist, and the fire was extinguished.
"That seems like magic is really stupidly broken and limited by imagination only," Gavin said thoughtfully.
Erza nodded, "It is limited by imagination, creativity, and the users' mana points." She said in confirmation.
Gavin grinned in understanding. "Magic could be so busted and broken," he said with excitement. This camping trip is going to be so incredible.
Erza laughed as she looked at her wolf-boy. "Now besides the six core basic elements of magic, there are other types out there that some people can specialize in," she began to say.
Lyla grumbled as she sat up on the couch and looked over at the group at the table. "That better be coffee I smell," she said in a grumpy voice at being woken up so early.
Aria laughed and took her a cup as Erza continued, "For example, while not popular, some Magi, or magic users discover they are able to connect with healing magic. Healing magic is a branch element of Light magic. There are a bunch of other types of magic in the world, but the core 6 are what enable the other elemental abilities or branch magics," Erza said as she took another deep drink of her coffee.
"Okay then, let's do a deep dive. I want to learn everything," Gavin said as he intently listened to his girl. He was going to learn everything she had to teach him and be ready for the academy in the fall.
He looked around the room, remembering the daily quest activities from Veronica. "Can we get some breakfast going while we work?" he asked as his stomach grumbled slightly.
Erza laughed and shook her head. "Is food all you think about?" she asked him as she walked over and began to rummage through the fridge, pulling out leftovers.