Gem hit the ground. Hard.

When she accepted Rodrick’s offer, he had let her know that a trio of knights were on their way to help assault the raiders and free the captives, and they would arrive after just three days and nights. She would need a crash course in combat if she wanted to participate in the attack later in the day of the knights’ arrival.

So she had affirmed her desire to begin training immediately. Rod then swept her legs out from under her. If it wasn’t for Abigail providing a spell formation (which Gem wasted no time in activating) Rod would still be keeping her on the ground.

Instead he had been surprised by a very effective facuted shield that had sprung up.

Then they sat down and discussed things like reasonable adults.

The biggest issue is that while that shield is quite efficient and extremely strong, we can’t do anything but walk around with it up. If we could run it and a siege bolter we’d make an awesome backline support.

“Ok, so I know that I’m going to get stronger through aura cultivation and practice, but how do you get stronger?” Gem asked.

Eating books. The more knowledge I have the greater my mental capacity. And the greater my mental capacity, the faster I can improve my Aether. Both are needed to run multiple large spell formations.

“We can work on that, although you’ll probably need to go to a city for the books you need. Money won’t be an issue for you for quite some time. Especially since you’ll get paid for participating in the assault.”

We’re getting paid?

“We’re getting paid?” Gem and Abigail asked together.

“Of course. But not just anyone can join up. As the town’s Headsman, I have final say on whether someone can join in as a paid participant in these kinds of things. Technically Sam could sign someone onto the guard and bypass me, but they’ve never disagreed with my judgement in that regard. Besides, the things that Draconid puts their recruits through…” Rod shuddered slightly.

Makes sense to me. Gem, you should work on being able to cast a few basic spells while maintaining a channeled spell formation. Nothing fancy, but some basic defenses and a harassment spell or two should be enough.

“That sounds like a good plan. Sparky is partial to electricity, which is a fantastic element for harassment. He’ll probably be overjoyed to teach you what he knows.”

Oh come off of it. We all know he just wants to fuck me.

“How would one even ‘fuck’ a book?” Rod retorted.

LIke this.

Abigail then formed a facsimile of a vagina and a penis from her malleable surface. Gem squeaked and hid behind her hands as the two glossy white constructs moved toward each other.

Rodrick placed a hand on Abigail and looked at her with a serious expression.

“Promise me you won’t ever do that in front of Spaerekel. Promise me!” Rodrick pleaded.

Ok, I won’t. Not unless I’m actually trying to get some. But as a woman I was always partial to females and femininity, and as a book I have essentially no sex drive. So such an event will likely never come to pass.

“That’s good.” Rod breathed a sigh of relief.

“Can I look now?” Gem asked.

“Hang on.” Rodrick stated. A moment passed. “Ok, you can look.”

Gem peered through her fingers, and was relieved to find no random dicks anywhere on Abigail.

“I’ll admit, I thought I’d open my eyes to a giant phallus, but it looks like you’re more mature than that.”

I’m actually not. I just figured we have too much work to do for me to wind you up too much. Dicks and pussies are just too amusing for me to ever give up.

“Thanks anyway.” Gem told the book dryly.

“So, off to Sparky’s?” Rod asked.

No time like the present!

*SLAP!* One of Abigail’s tendrils whistled through the air and struck Sparky’s face, leaving another bright red welt. It would be the third such mark in as many minutes.

Teach Gem first. Then we can talk.

And keep your hands to yourself.

“Ok, ok, I’m going.” The man quavered.

That’s the fifth time you’ve said that, and yet here we are. Again. I’ll believe you when you actually follow through.

Spaerekel was supposed to be teaching Gem some aura techniques and exercises, but he kept getting distracted by his questions for Abigail. It had gotten to the point where he was continuously channeling one of the few healing spells he could even use just to keep her from turning his face into hamburger.

“Gem. You want to be a battlemage, correct?” Sparky asked.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Sparky nodded. “Rod and I can teach you the basics, but you’ll need to find an actual battlemage to teach you the rest, unless Abigail can help.”

The man looked to Abigail expectantly, and flinched as she waved a pair of tendrils in a menacing fashion.

“What do you know about manipulating your aura?” He asked.

“Not a lot. I can feel it, and I can use it in tools and spell formations. And I can cast a couple spells. Really basic spells.”

Gem then demonstrated her tiny repertoire: a tiny flame which was just enough to light a candle or some tinder; an anemic Aether ball; and a floating ball of soft white light.

“You have no formal training, yes?” Gem nodded. “Impressive.”

“Really?” Gem asked skeptially.

“Yes, indeed! Not the flame or the Aether-ball, but that light spell is something beyond your average second level student at the Empirical Academy of Magic.” Sparky assured her. “It is among the classes of spells that can be pinned to one’s aura, to allow them to continue without direct concentration from the spellcaster.”

“‘Pinning’ to one’s aura? How do I do that?” Gem’s curiosity was peaked.

“Oh! It’s both very simple, and quite complex at the same time. As a technique, it’s closely related to various aura-inscription techniques.”

“Like the ones Valerie uses!”

Sparky smiled. “Just like the ones Valerie uses. These techniques all rely on decoupling the direct relationship between one’s thoughts and one’s aura. The exact method used to fix one’s aura in a given state varies by individual, and while there isn’t one ‘right’ technique, some are most assuredly better than others. For instance, treating one’s aura like it is made of bottled lightning carries significant downsides. It only took me shocking myself half a dozen times for me to decide that that was a really bad visualization.”

“What do you use now?” Gem queried.

“Now my aura is of static potential; that feeling just before lightning strikes when your hair stands on end. Barely stable and just waiting for an excuse to release itself. It pairs well with my passion and aptitude for electricity spells.”

Each person’s aura is an intrinsic part of themselves; it is something unique between each individual. So while we can (and do!) endlessly debate about the best methods of aura control, those methods are typically unobtainable outside of rigid academic environments, and at a tremendous cost of time. Time that could usually be better spent on other pursuits. My advice is thus:

Ask yourself, “What does my aura feel like to me? How does it behave as I interact with it?” From this understanding, forge your own designs and techniques to fulfil your requirements. Through this path almost all will find greater success than if they had stuck to some rigid interpretation of ‘the best technique’.

-Grand Archmage K’therm

“That’s exactly what I was taught at the Academy. Comes from this book.” Sparky then grabbed a book from a nearby shelf and passed it to Gem.

“The Comprehensive Basics of Aetherial Manipulation, 6th edition. By K’thern, Grand Archmage of the Wandering Tribes. Edited by Wizard Grandmaster Edith and Master Sorcerer Grant.” Gem read out loud.

Oh cool. I only have the fourth edition. Hey Sparky, any chance I could eat that book?

Sparky blinked a couple of times.

“Nope. Not happening.” He ripped the book out of Gem’s hands and threw it roughly back onto the shelf. “I’m not having you learn from that edited piece of horse shit when you have access to the best version of it.”

Let me guess, some people thought they knew better or got greedy and wanted to release new versions?

“Both I’d say. After K’therm died it only took them two years to deface her masterpiece. Demand for the fourth edition is so bad at the academy that they haven’t loaned out a copy since my second year there. And of course the chuckleheads in charge could fix that in an instant but nooo, they claim that they don’t want to produce ‘inaccurate’ information. And it has nothing to do with the fact that their version sells for three times what K’therm’s used to, oh no. And- Wait.” His expression changed from angry to curious in an instant, You EAT books!? How does that work? Can I see? I sure I can part with a few-”

Focus. Teach Gem now, talk to the slap-happy book later.

“Right, right.” He took a deep breath before addressing a beaming Gem. “So yeah, you can’t really go wrong with the C-BAM-4, unlike some other ‘cultivation manuals’ and other such nonsense. So follow the advice. It may sound corny and cliche, but it really does work quite well. Feel your aura. Learn how it reacts to you. And then you can figure out how to use those traits to your advantage.”

Gem was having a joyous time after meeting a fellow inquisitive soul, albeit one who was far more distractible than herself.

“I think that’s a good starting point. Abigail can help me with some of the details, but I have to figure out my aura first, right?” Gem posited.

“Yeah, at the Academy we learned about our auras on our own first, then again after we learned about how others perceived theirs. So just find a comfortable place to sit or lay and get started.” Sparky confirmed.

Moving around and even performing some exercises are also an important part of learning about one’s aura, for some people at least.

“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” Gem thanked Abigail.

“Alright, now that Gem’s sorted, how about you show me that book eating thing you mentioned?” Sparky asked Abigail.

I’ll answer some questions (and ask some of my own), but I’m probably going to have to decline to eat any books right now, tempting as that may be. I'm pretty sure Gem is curious enough to want to watch too. 😉

Gem nodded, then blushed when she realized that the book had winked at her.

“You can do little faces!? That’s so cool! Can you do more than that? I know of some books that have moving images in them. ‘Course they’re mostly pornographic, but I’ve only looked because I’m interested in the magic. Honest!”

I’ve got a few tomes with moving images stored in my noggin. They are all porn.

“Ok! I’m going to go over here now!” Gem objected as she hurried to a sofa at the other side of the room.

After Gem had made herself comfortable by sprawling out in the veritable sea of blankets on the sofa, Sparky and Abigail finally got to do their Q and A session.

“Hey, it was just getting to the good part!” Sparky objected as Abigail cut off the moving image of lewd things.

That’s why I turned it off. I don’t want to see you getting too excited and forgetting about your other guest. I might have a rather dirty mind, but she’s adorably innocent.

“Speaking of seeing, how do you see? I don’t see any eyes or anything.”

Active and passive Aether sense combined with some scrying for color perception.

“Fascinating. But I haven’t felt anything from you, and I should feel something, I always have before… Wait, you said passive too! How far does your passive Aether sense reach? How accurate is it?”

I can see everything that’s not warded in here. As for accuracy, you have 5,290±110 pubic hairs surrounding that boner you’re sporting.

Sparky’s hands flew to his crotch in a vain attempt to hide himself from Abigail’s gaze, until he realized something.

“There’s no way you can see that kind of detail through my aura. Some random person off the street, yes, but not someone with a well developed aura like mine.” He accused.

Yeah, you’re right. I can’t actually count hairs on your body. I can see your dick, though.

Abigail saw something with her Aether-sense.

Rodrick was right, you would fuck a book, wouldn’t you?

Sparky considered a moment. “Is that possible?”

A long silence passed while Abigail tried to figure out how to answer.

No.