Magic, and What Power Means

The students were sprawled around the training grounds, panting for breath, their bodies battered, their minds exhausted. The serpent had crawled to the perimeter of the arena, melting back into shadow, but its presence remained—danger always just at the edge of your vision.

Orthus stood a few feet away, watching him, a speechless look on his face, his eyes shimmering violet and shining faintly as they opened up to all the images laid before him. The students had escaped the encounter, but it was a start.

Hana's hands were shaking still. Her bright eyes were open wide, but behind the fear was a flicker of determination.

"I — I can't believe I really did it," she said, in disbelief still. "I hit it!"

Orthus nodded and spoke gently, as if to some one who had learned how to do some of the simplest things. "You did. But driving through it wasn't the challenge. Surviving is."

Leon Kisaragi was leaning up against a pillar, panting for breath, having successfully teleported out of the jaw of the serpent. He wiped sweat from his brow and glared at Orthus.

"Surviving? That's what you call a lesson?" There was frustration in Leon's voice. "You're out of your mind if you think I'm going to sit here and learn while monsters attack me."

Orthus raised an eyebrow, unfazed. "Learn? If you can't make it, you can't learn. Magic doesn't give a damn about your ideals or whether you're prepared. The world won't wait for you to feel comfortable."

He turned to the group and his expression was serious now. "Magic is a tool, and it's a beautiful tool, but it requires respect. Just because you want something to happen doesn't mean you get to dictate what it is. Magic is survival. Either you adapt and learn to wield it, or you die trying."

The students stared at him, dumbstruck.

Hana balled her fists, still shaking. "But… I hardly know anything on magic. I just raised that flare out of instinct. How do I control it?"

Orthus turned toward her. Now, his eyes were sharper, and for the first time there was a trace of real interest in his expression. "Control is an illusion. Magic isn't about control; it's about faith in yourself. You cannot force magic — it's not a weapon you wield with your willpower. It is part of you, just like everything else. The moment that you stop trying to control it and let it flow through you, that's moment you start to understand it."

He allowed those words to settle, his eyes searching the group one more time. "Magic is a reflection who you are. And who you are dictates how well you'll use it."

The Weight of Power

One of the students, a lanky dude with unkempt blonde hair, stepped forward, his face taut. "So… you're saying magic is just about accepting it?

Orthus nodded. "Yes. But that's where the real difficulty is."

Again, the group of students fell silent, each grappling with the notion that magic wasn't something they could just order up. It was infinitely more complicated, infinitely more dangerous than they had ever feared.

"But what does that look like for us? the redhead — Alina — said, her voice quavering. "We can't even do anything we can't do anything. We don't know how to wield magic the way that you do. How are we going to survive in this world?"

Orthus paused a moment before replying, his tone gentler this time. "You learn by doing. By failing. And by surviving. -magical-advice-as-hard-as-you-make-it/"]As hard as you want it to be.

He held up a hand and snapped his fingers. Then, a glowing, spiraling portal burst into the center of the arena. The air surrounding it oscillated, and an unusual, nearly stifling essence permeated the atmosphere.

"Another test," Orthus said. "I'm giving you one chance. Step through the portal. Show me that you've learned something. I'm going to watch, but I won't interfere."

The students gazed at the portal, some of them tentative, other more inquisitive. Leon looked from the others, his face hardening. What's the worst that can happen, right?"

He went in first, then Alina, then a couple of folks. When they got closer to it, the air became colder, and an uncomfortable sensation hit their bodies.

"What is this place?" one of the students said in a whisper.

Orthus didn't respond. He just looked at them entering the portal with his arms crossed. "You'll know soon enough."

When the students stepped through the portal, they were greeted by an expansive, barren wasteland stretching in every direction with nothing more than undulating plains of black grass and a blood red sky. The smell of iron and something else—the unnatural—clogged the air.

"Where are we?" "Alina," she whispered, just above a whisper.

Leon glanced about, instinctively reaching for a dagger. "I don't know. But I don't like this."

Before he could answer, the earth shook, and then a terrible roar rumbled up from the wasteland. Another massive shadow approached the horizon, the ground sending vibrations as it came closer.

What emerged was a beast at least thrice the size of the serpent they had previously fought. Its body was encased in dark, spiked armor, and its eyes glowed with a disquieting red light.

"Get ready!" Leon yelled, sprinting toward the creature with his dagger poised.

But the creature was quick — far quicker than they anticipated. It swung its massive claws in one motion, and Leon went flying backwards.

Still rattled, Hana threw out her hands, but the magic sputtered and gave out before it could make anything useful.

"Dammit!" she screamed. "I can't do it!"

Orthus's voice rang out from behind, steady and unyielding. "Survive, or fail. There is no in-between."

The students looked from one to the other in panic. They had no business being there; they weren't ready for the peril that awaited them.