Shielding

After a few minutes of coughing and a few more of Freya fussing over him, Eres was back at his desk with a new cup of tea, laughing at the somewhat distraught look on his new servant's face.

"Come on Freya, you have cast multiple healing spells on me, we both know I am okay and just overdid it a bit. What harm is there in reading some more?"

"Apologies, Master Eres, but we most certainly don't both know you are fine. I haven't ever heard of anyone coughing blood after establishing their core, and my skills are sorely lacking to diagnose what it could be," Her tone started off clipped but as she continued got softer and more worried, "Not to mention, most people don't create wind or have their eyes glow when they are just learning how to feel and channel Mana."

Eres dropped his pen on the paper leaving a large splotch of ink, "I am sorry, I am going to need a refresher there. I felt the wind, but you said that my eyes glowed?" his voice was somewhat strangled, but the perplexed tone was clear.

"Yes Sir. Perhaps check the books for that, and keep from any more practical experimentation today?" As soon as she spoke, Freya brought her hand up in front of her mouth, eyes wide in panic. "I am so sorry Young Master, I didn't mean to -"

"It is quite alright, Freya," Eres smiled and spoke gently, "I understand that you only meant the best, and I won't berate you for that do not worry. I'm not too worried about formalities, though of course a show will be put on in public. When we are together like this, however, you have full permission to speak your mind.

This and that are two separate matters though. I can't promise anything, but I will try to limit myself to theory for the rest of the day, how about that?"

As Freya gave a small nod and bit her lip, Eres turned back to the book.

"What colour were they?" Eres spoke without turning around.

"Pardon, Master Eres?"

"My eyes, you said they glowed. What colour were they?"

"I think they were purple, Master Eres. Certainly not the usual Blue."

"Cool."

For the first time, looking at the cheeky grin on his face at the prospect of glowing eyes, and watching his feet kick back and forth under the study desk, Freya could see a 10-year-old boy there rather than the almost grown-up feeling she had from him previously. She smiled slightly and went to make another pot of tea.

* * *

After he had finished re-reading the book and skimming through a few others, Eres had found nothing regarding glowing eyes or pain during the creation of the Mana Core. The only slight mention he had found was those who tried to draw in more Mana than they could handle might experience discomfort before the Mana slipped away from them.

Perhaps I drew more Mana than I should have been able to, but my increased control let me create a core from it despite the backlash.

Eres pondered the possibilities while watching the sunset out of the window next to him. A tray full of empty dishes was placed to one side of him, and the various tomes were open to bookmarked pages as he let his hair down and shook it out before getting to his feet.

"I think this is enough for today, don't you Freya?" He turned to see the maid still stood still watching him, somewhat in a daze. "Are you okay? What is it?"

"Apologies Master Eres I was just surprised. I have a brother a few years younger than you, and the thought of him sitting to read all day is completely impossible, so you had just surprised me," Freya murmured, eyes somewhat downcast and embarrassed.

Eres felt the back of his neck sweat a little once again. He knew his concentration and focus were unusual now due to the extra set of memories in his head, but he couldn't do anything about it now.

"Well, even as a third son I had to develop a focus for learning early on," Eres laughed off the comment easily enough, "I think I will retire for the night. I will probably be in here again tomorrow, and likely make those requests for a teacher that one of the butlers mentioned, so if that needs any preparations would you be able to take care of it?"

"Of course, Master Eres," Freya smiled and gave a small bow, "Breakfast in here for the morning, and proper writing implements to write a request for a teacher, all should be easy enough."

"Wonderful Freya. Have a good evening,"

"Goodnight, Master Eres, I will see you tomorrow,"

Eres slowly wandered back to his room thinking about everything he had learned today. He learnt about mana and how to control it. He created his Mana core and learned how basic spellcraft worked, although he had yet to try any spells. He also learned he had a competent if shy personal maid who was skilled in Healing, even if she didn't realise it.

Another day full of surprises, Eres chuckled to himself as he disrobed. Climbing into the soft and freshly changed bed, he felt the stickiness of his skin and frowned, I will need a bath tomorrow, as well as trying out some magic and asking for tutors. Looks like my days won't get any less busy any time soon.

* * *

The first thing Eres did after his breakfast in the morning was ask for a bath to be drawn. Once he had washed the sweat from his skin and eaten the breakfast Freya brought him, he settled back into the study to continue reading. However, after only a few moments flipping through the book, he hopped off his chair and sat in the centre of the room again. Ignoring Freya's obvious frown, Eres once again began to feel the energy in the air and this time slowly began to draw it into himself. He felt the Mana pull into his body with every breath and settle into his core until it was full to the brim.

With a satisfied smile, he stood and smirked at Freya, "See, that wasn't so bad, was it? You can stand down with the Healing words now, I promise I'm fine."

Freya just let out a long sigh and nodded her head, until his next words made her eyes bulge in surprise.

"Well, now onto spells I suppose," Eres tapped his chin as he began to go over the process of spellcasting in his head. Intent was most important, and when one could focus their mind enough and had seen a spell effect enough times to visualise it perfectly then it could be cast without an incantation, but until that point, a word or phrase in an ancient language was used to guide the Mana. "What was the word again? Shield!"

Eres' hands held in front of him and he spoke with enough vigour that Freya half expected something to happen, but his hands remained empty and his Mana remained still.

"Well, I suppose getting it the first time would be unusual. Let's try this one again," Eres muttered, grabbing the book that outlined this rudimentary spell. Shield was a spell that created a wall of solid Mana in front of the caster. It was a rather taxing spell for how much damage it could block, but the short incantation made it a safe fallback in battle and an even better training spell, as it was one of the few spells that created solid and visual Mana rather than manipulating another force or element with it, helping trainees to get a feel for how Mana moved both in and out of their bodies.

"Circulate your Mana, project it into the air and shape it with the incantation… well that is incredibly vague," Eres sighed, "It doesn't even mention how projecting Mana is meant to feel. Well, let's try it again, step by step."

Concentrating, Eres now felt that warm core in his body and willed the energy inside to move. His eyes closed against the outside world Eres began to focus his mind on the new development in his body, with Magic Core, and all he could feel was the sluggish push and pull of this energy, moving inside him like the tides. At first, he tried to wrest control, and it slipped from his grasp again and again. Trying different methods of moving it, he eventually found that it would follow his will as long as he moved it in the direction it was already moving, almost like it was circling inside him and he had to go in the same direction or else he fought against the current.

Once he had got the Mana moving to his will, he began to move it through his bloodstream, circling the energy slowly through his heart, his brain, his lungs, all the way to the crown of his head and the tips of his toes.

As Freya watched the young boy begin to sweat, she again realised how truly absurd this was. She was fourteen years old and had been subjected to harsh training to be able to bring her Divine Power under control and master basic healing magic. This was a feat she was secretly very proud of, as she had managed to muster Divine Power in only a few days, and had made it answer her call in only a month. Yet here was a boy four years her junior who had not only gathered a full Magic Core in a few hours but was learning to manipulate the flow of Mana not even a full day afterwards.

Hours passed with Eres standing in the centre of the room, sweating and grimacing, and more than once Freya wanted to check if he was okay, but she knew if she interrupted him she would be stepping far beyond her station as a mere maid, so she could only chew her lip and worry.

When Eres finally opened his eyes, he felt different. The Mana circulating in his body was invigorating, every nerve ending feeling alive and alert. He could feel it thrumming in his veins, and every time he released his control even a little it began to grow listless, settling back into his core lazily.

"Well what do you know, Mana is sluggish," Eres chuckled as he once again controlled the indolent energy, "Let's see how it moves outside."

Eres began to feel the energy in his hands vibrate as he slowly willed the energy to coalesce in front of him. The Mana moved through his hands and into the open air, where it began to thrash and writhe more freely. Eres was gritting his teeth to maintain his control and kept the small portion of Mana he had gathered in his hands under his control while letting the rest slump back into his core. He could see a light purple mist covering his hands, and a wide grin split his face.

"Freya, I won't lie, I am incredibly excited by all this, but if something goes horribly wrong do keep me alive won't you?" Eres laughed as he watched Freya's mouth drop open.

"Master Eres, maybe we should wait until -" Freya began, but she spoke too late.

"SHIELD!" Eres roared out, willing the mana he was barely containing into his hands to protect him, to protect anything he wished to protect and to never fail him.

Eres would have liked to believe that at this moment he would remain steadfast and would look at his creation with smugness and pride, but in truth, as a purple flash lit the room, he turned his head and brought his hands in front of his face, fearing some sort of backlash just like forming the core.

A few moments passed, and Eres finally peeked through his fingers and saw Freya in much the same pose. After making sure they were both okay, Eres looked properly at the magic he had invoked and began to chuckle. Soon, his laughter ripped out of him in huge echoing bursts, as he could hardly believe his eyes.

Standing in front of him was a transparent wall of purple light, seven feet tall and nearly the same across, the edges rippling as if a liquid substance. Eres stepped forward and knocked his knuckles against it, feeling the wall repel his hand as if it were two magnets. He turned to Freya, her mouth still stuck in a small "O".

"Magic!" He laughed triumphantly, "I can do Magic!"