Maybe I’ll stick to just learning for now, then.

“Might be a good idea,” Henry agreed.

It sounds like learning void magic is going to take a very long time, and I can’t exactly show that to my teachers. I’d like to learn it, but I think I should focus on space for now.

“Agreed,” Henry said. “Space magic is powerful if used correctly.”

Damien sighed. He swung his feet over the edge of his bed, ignoring the pangs of discomfort that traveled up his legs and lower back, and headed into the small training room. It was far from finished, but it gave a small amount of privacy.

He set the book aside and sat down, bracing his back against the wall with a relieved groan. Damien gathered his mental energy, forming the mental net and casting it out. Unlike the rest of his body, his mind still seemed to be mostly functional.

Damien gathered several motes of Ether, drawing them into himself. His limbs grew lighter and some of the tension left his muscles.

Does the Ether somehow heal me? I feel better after drawing it in.

“Not exactly,” Henry said. “It gives you a temporary spike of energy, which your body interprets as a signal to not feel pain. You aren’t healed – your injuries just don’t show as much. It’s useful for a fight, but don’t get over reliant on it.”

Good to know. Now, do you have a spell I could learn that’s actually cool? Making things change size is nice, but…

“Hah. Bored already? Well, I suppose I can’t blame you,” Henry said. Damien’s shadow rippled and twisted. “Give me control for a little. You’ll learn much better if you can observe me casting it instead of listening to me talk about it.”

Damien nodded, his consciousness slipping back as Henry took the reins. Henry had the boy raise his right hand and channeled two of the motes of Ether up through his arm and into his palm. As they moved, he mentally wrapped and twisted them, forming the energy into a churning ball.

As it emerged from Damien’s palm, Henry used mental energy to spin it violently. A dot of gray light appeared floating in the air over his hand. It expanded outwards until it was around the size of an orange, darkness swirling together with the gray in a mesmerizing pattern.

What’s that?

“One of the most basic forms of offensive spells in space magic,” Henry said. “This is a gravity sphere.”

He had Damien toss it into the center of the room. The orb froze an inch before it hit the ground, erupting outwards in a wave of darkness that was rapidly sucked back in on itself with a silent hiss.

Damien’s ears hissed as he, along with some of the dust and stone that had accumulated in the room, were sucked towards the where the orb had struck. The force faded away a moment later.

Henry was forced back as Damien’s shock put his body back under his own control. There was no longer any sign of the dark orb.

“That was amazing!” Damien said aloud, his voice hushed. “Now that’s what I call magic.”

“Less talking, more practicing,” Henry suggested.

Damien didn’t bother replying with a snide remark. He still had several motes of Ether left within himself, so he reached out to coax them towards his arm. The first one moved as always, but the second slipped away from his grasp as if it were coated in butter.

The boy’s eyes narrowed and he reached out towards it again, this time enveloping it in a bubble of energy to make sure there was nowhere to run. The dot of Ether moved forward and the second one slipped back, essentially trading places.

How do I move both at once?

“You’re focusing too much,” Henry advised. “By trying that hard, you’re telling the Ether that it only needs to listen to you when you’re paying it attention. You must act as if the Ether has already done what you need it to, and then it will.”

That doesn’t really make much sense. How can I act like it’s already done what I want it to if it hasn’t yet?

“Use that human imagination of yours. It can’t be that hard.”

Damien grumbled and returned his attention to the twin motes of Ether floating back within his chest. He nudged them forwards again, visualizing them both flowing down his arm and twisting into the same churning orb that Henry had made. The Ether wiggled a little, but nothing else happened.

It’s not working.

“Only because you refuse to believe it will. You are trying instead of doing. This spell isn’t difficult,” Henry chided Damien. “You could cast this, and many other spells, on your first try. The hard part is getting the Ether to flow in the way that you want it to. Your belief that you need to practice before it works correctly is hindering you. The Ether flows according to your commands, and you believe you will fail.”

You’re saying that I can cast this spell perfectly if I just think I can?

“You can cast the spell,” Henry corrected. “Not perfectly. Your understanding of the spell is unlikely to be complete, so you will attempt to cast the spell you visualize, which may or may not be the true essence of the spell you’re going for. It will execute to the best of the Ether’s abilities based off the way you cast it, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. Do you understand?”

I think I do, actually. So if I cast the spell, I cast the best version of what I’m trying to do, not the objective best possible outcome.

“That is a bastardized version of what I said,” Henry allowed. “So, what are you waiting for? If you agree that it should simply cast when you will it, then do it!”

Damien nodded. He raised his hand, copying the form that Henry had done. Instead of corralling the Ether, he tried sending a silent command. Damien envisioned the ball of churning grey and black energy appearing above his palm as if it had already happened.

It was a subtle difference, but magic was made in the details. Damien’s ears popped as energy collected above his hand and a twisting ball of darkness twisted to life.