They set out late the next morning, after a comfortable meal and good conversation, and the inevitable coffee. Tobi had experimented on his new trick as soon as he’d awoken, and Samuel noticed his obvious pleasure as he crumbled a few rocks without trouble. He grinned to himself at Tobi’s enthusiasm, remembering his own early practices and the thrill he got from learning a new spell or skill.

“I’ll teach you another trick while we walk,” Samuel said, thinking quickly. “It might suit you better, to aid you in combat.”

Tobi perked up at that, and had packed up their camp in record time. Less than ten minutes after breakfast was finished, they were on the road again, and the youth had turned to Samuel with an eager light in his eyes. Grinning openly this time, Samuel handed him a small straight stick he’d plucked from the ground.

“Do you want me to dissolve this one as well?” Tobi asked, looking at the tiny piece of wood. “That would be much easier than the rock.”

“No,” Samuel said with a grin. “I want you to make it fly.”

“Oh,” Tobi replied, his face falling somewhat. “Err, how do I do that?”

The question didn’t surprise Samuel, who’d had to experiment for weeks on end before he’d gained the ability to fly. But he was hoping that, with his experience with the spell, he could make it easier for Tobi to learn. Still, best to start with other, smaller objects.

“Fill it with your mana, as you did the stone,” Samuel explained hesitantly. “Then, by moving your own mana, you should be able to move the object.”

Tobi didn’t seem to notice his uncertainty, eager as he was to try it out. He directed his attention to the stick and, while Samuel took a lazy glance around them, directed his mana up. It left the stick immediately, and the wood remained in his palm without moving.

“Huh. It didn’t move the stick.”

“That’s only to be expected,” Samuel said, hoping he was right. “But if you grab a hold of the natural energy within the stick, you should notice a change.”

“Natural energy?” Tobi asked, looking confused. “Isn’t all energy the same?”

They both stopped on the path, looking blankly at each other. Not sure what he meant, Samuel opened his mouth. “Don’t they teach about the separation of mental and physical energies at the College?”

Slowly, Tobi shook his head. “No. They teach mastery over magic. Magic is the art of interacting with the energy of the world, to bend it to your will.”

Samuel opened his mouth again to explain that Grimr and Astori had taught him otherwise, then hesitated again, thinking quickly to himself. Two of his most influential teachers had stressed the separation of energy. In Astori’s final examination, he had to separate parts of himself to escape that curious room his teacher had made. He still didn’t understand much of it, and hadn’t thought of it in months, but it seemed to be concrete proof that multiple types of energy existed. Thus, so did other types of magic that used those energies.

“This is a surprise,” Samuel said, once he had explained about his final exam with Astori. “Between Astori and Grimr, I thought this was common knowledge. Even your father dabbles in the theory, from what I remember.”

He’d chosen not to mention Ancient magic, those powerful spells that utilized Ahya’s energy. For a start, Tobi couldn’t work those magicks even if he wanted to, as it required knowledge of the Ancient tongue, which couldn’t be taught. Also, as he reminded himself, using Ahya’s energy was fraught with complications. Just one wrong word and catastrophe ensued, according to Grimr.

“Let me explain it this way,” Samuel continued. “When you work an arcane spell, what do you use to fuel it?”

“Mana,” Tobi replied at once, his tone making it sound obvious, which it was. “But you also use mana for healing, and that deals with the body.”

“True,” Samuel said. “But where is it said that mana is created and stored?”

“In the mind,” Tobi replied again, just as quickly. Then his eyes widened. “Are you saying that physical magic would use energy from my body?”

“Well, the body is the most common source of it,” Samuel said. “I haven’t found or learned a name for it, but it resides in your body. When you exercise, you use it up, and the more you use it, the stronger you get, right? That’s because you have more of it available.”

“Hmm,” Tobi said thoughtfully. “That sounds like ki, the energies that monks claim to train and use daily.”

“That’s a good enough name for it, I suppose,” Samuel agreed. “But if you use that, you can accomplish great physical feats. It’s how I bolster my legs and arms in a fight.”

“I’ve noticed you doing that,” Tobi said with a grin. “But you only seem to use it when you’re exhausted or lifting a great burden. If you did that all the time, you could move faster and strike harder all the time, I imagine.”

“Probably,” Samuel agreed again. “But it requires more than a little energy, or Ki, I suppose I should call it, to achieve. Doing it for long periods of time would drain me too quickly. If I could do it with mana, that’d be a different story.”

Tobi looked thoughtful for a second, then look down at the stick in his hand. “Is it possible for ki to leave the body?”

“Your father managed it several times. Once when he tried to help me fight off my corrupt mentor, and again when we helped Grimr defeat Neratas. He shot white blasts from his hand and weapon.”

“You mean his War Strike?” Tobi asked, still looking at the stick. “Yes, it’s very powerful. I can even do a smaller version of it.”

“But he used his physical energy to do that,” Samuel asked, perplexed. “Show me how you do it.”

Tobi put the stick in his left hand and pointed his right up into the sky, away from any potential innocent targets. Energy welled in his body, traveling to his palm in a flash, then burst out of his body in a bright white bolt. It shot into the sky too fast for Samuel to see, and he lost track of it. It was clear to him, however, that Tobi had used physical energy for it.

“You don’t realize what you’ve just done, have you?” He asked blankly. “Do it again, but this time, notice carefully what happens within your own body.”

Tobi repeated his action, much slower this time as he was focusing so intently. As the energy gathered in his body in preparation for the attack, he frowned slightly, considering. Then he released it up into the air and lowered his arm, nodding thoughtfully. “I see what you mean. I just assumed that was mana all this time.”

“It does closely resemble the magic that most are used to,” Samuel agreed. “But it’s entirely physical. Much more complex than simply reinforcing your body, but you seem to have a large reserve already.”

“I imagine that is due to the training I’ve received under my father,” his apprentice said. “Much of my childhood consisted of strict physical exercises. It was all very demanding. At least tumbling is fun.”

“What is tumbling?” Samuel asked.

“It’s a kind of sparring without weapons or strikes. The goal is to pin your opponent on the ground.”

“Oh, that does sound useful. I should learn that when I get the time.”

Tobi looked at him in silence for a few seconds, a small smile on his face. “You use a single sword and no shield. I planned to cover it once we’ve moved on from the basics.”

Realizing that they’d stood in the same spot for close to ten minutes, they began to move forward again, winding their way along the forest path. It moved back and forth randomly as if it had been created by a wild animal. Indeed, some sections of the path were so narrow and undeveloped that they resembled game trails.

Tobi continued with the task that Samuel had set him, completely coating the stick in his ki in an attempt to move it. The small piece of wood did twitch occasionally as the mana tried to shift it, but it still refused to leave the surface of his palm. Tobi was only becoming more and more obsessed, diverting every ounce of his attention to it, at the cost of his awareness.

Samuel pulled him to the side to stop him ramming into a tree for perhaps the third time, shaking his head at his total concentration. Then Tobi let out a gasp of surprise, then a cheer, and Samuel glanced down at his hand to see the stick. It was floating an inch or two above his apprentice’s palm, rotating slowly in mid-air.

“I did it!” He said excitedly, turning to face Samuel, his face shining. “The trick is to keep a little around it, so that it all moves as one piece!”

“Great work,” Samuel said with an encouraging grin. “Let’s call it for a while here. The next step will be more tricky. But since you can do this, I have no doubt you can do the next part.”