Nioh was gaining more skill with his magic, which was good as he would have to take an examination within a month or so, so that he may remain in the Magnostadt Academy. Now, he sat in a small alcove he had found sometime ago, hidden away from the more populated areas of the academy. It wasn’t a restricted area that he knew of, just one not many people frequented. He sat in front of a large window on a cushioned ledge, looking out at the sky.
There were darkened clouds hanging above the city, now starting to weep over the academy grounds. Nioh had felt the storm coming, and that’s why he was at his favorite spot with a book opened in his lap. He had found he could focus easiest when it was storming out. The sounds of the storm versus the quiet of the indoors served to create a little isolated pocket of reality, one that allowed Nioh to focus on the rukh flowing all around him more easily.
He looked down at the book of magic that detailed the capabilities of different mages. There were some who could manipulate all eight kinds of magic, and those who could combine two or more types to create something new. But he focused on the fact that those who were advancing past the skills of a novice were capable of manipulating at least two forms of magic. That is where he needed to be, if he wanted to feel comfortable taking the exam. That's where he had been trying to reach for the last week and a half, to absolutely no avail.
He was a “Yellow Mage” apparently, due to his control of lightning. He knew it sounded silly, but the color wasn’t his favorite. Of course his natural affinity for magic wouldn’t pay any heed to his preference for color, but now he could develop his skills so that it did. Blue Mages were those capable of commanding water in all its forms, so that was the skill Nioh decided to pick up next. Blue was his favorite color after all.
Nioh closed his eyes and remembered the first time he summoned electricity to his hands. It was during a storm, naturally, he had felt completely calm and when he opened his eyes his hands were crackling with lightning. He closed his eyes and focused on water, the water falling from the sky outside, the water of the rivers and ponds near the city, the water rushing through the city’s plumbing, the water rushing through his veins and permeating his body.
He kept focusing and feeling and commanded the rukh around him to become water. But suddenly he felt a draft of cold, and when he opened his eyes he was met with the sight of his alcove covered in frost. Not just a light layer, but as if the space was dropped into a deep winter within a matter of seconds. The ice clung to the window, and even caused the water droplets that came into contact with the outside window to freeze as it landed.
Nioh raised his eyebrows in shock and turned back to his book, now stiff with ice “Not the effect I was going for, but obviously it worked. Just need to practice at the water bit…” He spoke to himself softly, looking around at the frozen space. He wondered if Water Magic also dealt with melting the ice it could create...well he supposed there was only one way to find out.
Word Count: 590/500
