Control and lack thereof

Inside the pagoda there were many pictures and paintings of Great mages using the air element to perform many incredible feats of magic. From a raging tornado, to a depiction of a thunder god, there were many different meanings, lessons, and inspirations one could get if they were to study each painting. The air circulated the room in a gentle breeze while also mixing up and deviating the patterns that emerged from competing air flows. Grim imagined if he was to be able to walk on a cloud, this is exactly that feeling and lost himself to the flow of the temple. A slender hand clamped down onto his shoulder as he faltered.

"Focus damnit, you've already lost too much mana. Unless you want to end up in a coma for a week, you need to focus!"

Between the words and the hand holding him down from losing himself into the sensations the temple gave off, he was able to keep his mana stable if only barely.

"Normally we can use potions and alchemical tools to hasten our mana recovery or downright infuse some world energy into our bodies at the expense of exhausting our bodies quicker. There is also a technique that allows you turn your passive mana recovery into an active state at the expense of being able to use your mana at the same time. For lack of a better expression, you will breathe in the world's energy and convert it into your own mana by infusing your will into it and removing the world's will. This takes great focus and concentration to even perform, so trying to cast any type of spell at the same time is usually unheard of. It's not something I can explain to you with words, but something you must feel and figure out for yourself. Every mage has to create their own personal technique."

Kyriel tried to help stabilize Grims body and mana by lending him some of his own mana and vitality. The energy conducting into Grim felt extremely refreshing and soothing, clearing his mind of any strain and allowed him to hold his own without straining against his own mana so much. The worst had passed, but the storm had not completely subsided. With every moment he felt more and more of his mana trying to rebel and join the outside world once again.

He was then forced into a meditative pose, sitting down cross legged in the very center of the room as he staved off the wild mana within him. It felt like he was plugging holes up that his mana was trying to escape from just for it to find another hole to go through for him to plug up. It was like the ebb and flow of the ocean beating against a rock wall. He could feel himself slowly losing the battle as his mana continued to run rampant. Time passed so slowly, he wasn't sure how much had actually passed but it had felt like he was in that same agonizing state for days. In reality only a few minutes had passed.

His mana reduced to 0.1 as he lost focus for a slight moment, and then all hell broke loose. His mind went blank, his eyes began to glow a bright white, no pupils were able to be seen, just two white lights peered out like two lanterns. His body suddenly calmed and his head turned toward his master.

Kyriel had been monitoring the situation silently next to his apprentice the whole time so he immediately knew something was very wrong here. In all his life he had never seen or heard of anything like this happening. Then he felt the aura on Grims body become extremely dangerous and the power he felt from him was increasing at an alarming rate. It was then that Grim had turned to him with a creepy and wicked smile that in conjunction with his eyes glowing so bright it was hard to believe he was even human.

Every hair on Kyriels body stood on end and the amount of danger he was perceiving was enough to know that his life was definitely on the line if he didn't do something fast. His first instinct was to try and knock him out, so his hand shot forth with enough strength to knock him out and every bit of agility he could muster to end it as fast as possible angled towards the neck of his apprentice.

He felt his hand make contact and slightly relaxed before his heart fell right out of his ass as he realized that Grim had not only blocked his attack, but that creepy smile continued to stare back at him as if mocking him. The gentle breeze in the pagoda suddenly ramped up into an intense tornado that began at the edges of the room, as it sped up faster and faster it started to contract towards Grim as the center of the storm. As it was contracting, wind blades shot off to the surroundings randomly, occasionally striking the walls of the pagoda causing the whole structure to start shaking and magical sparks would accompany loud bangs as the enchantments of the place fought off the destructive and cutting energy being emitted.

The more it contracted, the more fierce and sharp the wind blades became. Kyriel knew he probably wouldn't last very long if it continued on like that and reached him right next to the center. At this point the glow covering Grim was spreading around his entire figure making him look like a god descending upon the mortal world. "However, you are four centuries too young if you think you can take down this old man!!" With a yell he once again attacked, this time with all his strength as well.

Much to his dismay, his hand was not only blocked, this time it was caught by Grim's. The tornado stopped abruptly before visibly contracting at double the speed. Wide eyed and apprehensive, he calculated that at this rate he would not have but a few seconds before finding out if the ominous looking wind could harm him and by the way things were going he wasn't so optimistic about it. So he followed with his other hand and legs to have them blocked and sent back as if hitting an impenetrable wall. Frustration and disbelief filled him to no end. After a flurry of strikes followed by parries, the wind had contracted almost entirely to the two of them as was apparent by Kyriel's cloak being kicked up in the air. The edge of his cloak that was being whipped back and forth at an alarming rate suddenly was yanked into the tornado. Only quick thinking saved him as he unclasped the cloak from his robes, before it was sent into oblivion as it was shredded into millions of pieces.

"DON'T FUCK WITH ME KID!!!!"

Anger burst forth from him in waves, all different colors of mana exploded from Kyriel and enveloped him as he activated a multitude of spells increasing his natural stats. He launched his free hand towards Grim's head, but it was just a feint as his real target was a liver shot. Unsurprisingly he felt a pincer-like claw catch that hand as well. With his hand still entangled and no other option, he leaned back as much as he could and then shot forwards towards Grim head first. Both of their heads collided and bounced back equally. The light in each of their eyes and bodies went out like a candle as they both lost consciousness in the next split second after Kyriel's kamikaze attack.

No sooner than the white light and tornado disappeared when Grim was knocked out, Minerva appeared from the shadows and immediately placed a paper seal covered in runes onto Grim's body. After making contact, the runes on the paper seal glowed faintly as if nothing had even occurred. Then with a look of confusion, she took out paper seal after paper seal and meticulously plastered them all over grim until only his face was spared from the onslaught. With each seal that was added the glow coming from the runes illuminated brighter and brighter until it didn't seem as if it could get any brighter. The entire pagoda looked like the sun from the outside.

Minerva's eyes twinkled in complicated emotions as she stepped back to admire her handiwork. Then with one last paper seal she smacked it right onto his forehead and all the runes pulsed together in a flash before turning black and the paper seals themselves turned to dust, leaving black runes layered and spread all over his body. With a sigh of relief as the danger exuding from his body finally started to retreat and disappear as if it was never there in the first place. She then turned to take care of Kyriel before picking both of them up and taking them to their respective rooms.