Stavi could sense the space around him in a way that he never had before, or more precisely he could feel something filling that space. Of course, after years of training he knew that it was what the old witch called ‘vitality’, the strength that existed within each living being. This was the first time that he had ever experienced it in such volume, and it was overwhelming and heady. It also had a tinge to it, one that was new, and he wondered if it was because this was all the vitality in his teacher, spilled all out at once.

After allowing himself to experience this for a moment, he started performing a series of complicated hand mudras as he chanted a mantra under his breath. In response, the vitality began to condense until it had formed a long, snakelike shape that was swimming through the air, circling his body.

The weakness of this technique is that using vitality as my power source means I have immense power for an instant, and then none the rest of the time. Magi draw in power to their sarovara and can use it when they wish, only have to draw in more to replenish themselves. What I’m doing now? This should be how the great magic beasts and monsters gain power, by forming a core. Either that or the energy will poison me and I’ll die a fucked up death.

Stavi opened his mouth, all the while continuing to control the serpent of energy, and it slithered down his throat and into his stomach. It was so cold, so very cold, that it had become boiling hot as well. The young man screamed in agony. It felt like a pool of molten lava was sloshing around in his stomach, and then it burst out in a corona of fiery tendrils that started snaking through his flesh.

What happened after that, he wasn’t sure as his brain soon lost the battle to keep him aware. To be honest, it was a relief when the darkness overcame his mind and he sank into blissful unconsciousness. When he awoke, it was over and he was still alive.

Okay, so we have a possible best case scenario here…

Stavi didn’t try to get up, he just lay on his back exhausted as he tried to perceive his status. For one, his mental probing had some force behind it now, he could actually feel things inside himself with a small amount of specificity, and secondly he could clearly feel the teeny, tiny ball of burning ice in his abdomen.

The core! MY core…

There was an explosive sound, and it took a second for Stavi to realize he was the one who made it, and he was laugh/crying. This had been such a long journey, the price had been so high, and this was merely the first step. The fact that he had lived was amazing in-and-of itself, but to succeed? It was something he had only ever dared hope for, not expect.

He sobbed, from joy and sorrow, for a few more minutes until he felt emptied out of emotion. It was at that point that the stink hit him, and it was like someone punched him in the face. It was decaying flesh, it was spilled blood, it was shit, and for certain it was whatever this dark grey slime covering his skin was. His entire body was covered in a greasy, fat-like substance, and it smelled like death.

After he struggled to his feet, feeling as weak as a new-born kitten, he stripped off his clothes and used them to scrape as much gunk off his body as he could. He let the soiled clothes drop to the ground, and dug through his teacher’s things until he found a thin blanket and wrapped that around his waist as a makeshift skirt.

With a last look at the place where he learned all he knew, he bent down and moved out of the door. The wind was bracing, and it felt good to catch a breath that wasn’t full of stink, even as his body started to feel chilled. Looking around, everything still appeared the same, the city in the distance, and the slum of tents in between. There was a large clear space around this tent, the people of the outer city had no desire to antagonize a witch, and that was the only reason someone hadn’t burst in yet.

Stavi held his hand out towards the tent, noticing how pale his skin looked, as if his skin had a layer of ash on top of it, and focused on channeling a tiny bit of the energy he could feel swirling around his core. He imagined it moving up and down his arm, and out through his palm as he intoned a word of power.

“Agni.”

There was a palpable sense of loss as the energy departed his body, and then he could feel a flash of warmth as the tent ignited. It wasn’t the biggest fireball he had ever seen, but he had cast it long after his teacher died, which was something he had never been able to do before. It wasn’t like the Magi though, he could feel that the energy around his core had lessened, and it had no way of regenerating.

“I’m going to have to find sources of vitality, ion-going sources…” He muttered to himself under his breath, not noticing as shouts of ‘fire’ began to ring out. He turned towards the city, and began walking cautiously so his blanket-skirt wouldn’t fall down and reveal his nakedness. The smell that was still rolling off him kept everyone away as he made his escape.

The people behind him were trying to put the fire out, but water was scarce out here on the plains, and Stavi knew that sooner or …

BOOM

Sooner or later the fire was going to reach her stash of oils, and not to mention her liquor!

He never stopped walking, in fact he started walking faster the further away he got, until finally he was running full-out, holding the blanket around himself.