To Achieve Mastery

by **Annalisa Marin** on January 10th, 2014, 8:19 pm

14th of Winter, 513 AV

It was time. Anna had felt it in her bones, in her very soul, like a change had washed over her during the course of the previous evening. She knew in her heart that it was time for her to finally become so much more than just the average reimancer. It was time for her to join the ranks of those legendary few who controlled all four elements as easily as they breathed, who shaped the world around them with a mere flick of their wrists and could destroy armies. It had been a long time coming, but finally her time had arrived.

The tall woman stood staring out at the nearly endless expanse of ocean before her, her grey eyes scanning the horizon with the same regal appearance as an empress might her new domain. Too long had she been denied control over water and its para-element, now would be the day she changed that. Maelstrom had defeated her once before, as had that fool Tallis, now she was about to become the equal of the Master of Reimancy and a goddess compared to Tallis.

The waves crashed upon the rocky shore, probably colder than the air she breathed which was perfectly acceptable to Anna. Let Amaryllis have her silly games, Anna was about to become more than many Wizards could dream of being. She could feel it in her very being, the strength it took and the experience one gained from being a Reimancer. Of course this power wouldn't belong to her, it was as she was, another tool for Rhysol to use as he saw fit. She owed the Defiler everything that she was today, it was only through his blessings that she was so powerful.

The tall woman held out a hand, fingers curled upwards as she gathered the energy within her very being. It was pretty much instinct by now, barely requiring the thought to gather Djed beneath her outstretched hand. She willed it to push upwards, the translucent purple res being generated at an ungodly fast speed. It wasn't as fast as perhaps Roknus Maelstrom just yet, but it was certainly close.

The minimal amount of res sheathed her hand in a glove of shimmering purple liquid, the act as easily accomplished as sneezing really. Gods it hadn't been so long ago in the scheme of things that she had struggled just to create enough res to create a firebolt. Anna could bet that should could create a swarm of the fiery projectiles and still have plenty of power left in her. It amazed her how very far she had come.

She willed the res upwards from her hand, shaping it into a ball of around the same size as a firebolt. From here she layered the res with two main layers, a relatively thin outer layer and a thicker inner layer so that she could keep control. Layering her res was pretty much a must by this point, her complex weaves of casting required it.

Anna closed her eyes and concentrated upon the concept of water, cool, yielding and easily conforming to the needed shapes. It was an ever changeable element, yet without it the world would not be as it was now and instead a dry and barren wasteland. It was the most overlooked of the prime elements, but perhaps the most vital for survival. Anna perhaps wouldn't have been so miserable on her initial days here if she could have generated the liquid.

She detached this concept and instead enforced it upon the res in front of her, willing the outer layer to bend to the iron strength of her will and create water. For a horrible moment Anna felt nothing, fear rising in her that she still wasn't ready. Then she felt a negligible amount of Djed be drained from her, and when she opened her eyes the ball was surrounded by shimmering glassy liquid.

A slow and victorious smirk extended across her lips, it was finally hers. The power to shape the very fabric of the world to conform to the will of Rhysol, to be not just a powerful Wizard but to be a force of nature unleashed. Yes, there were no limits to it all now, she had the power to destroy and create as she desired. A goddess compared to mere mortals and even compared to lesser wizards. A true Master in every sense of the word.

The Sorceress willed a small section of the ball to break off, a small inner layer of res keeping control of it. Anna opened her mouth and placed it in her mouth, willing the res to transmute and swallowing the liquid. It tasted strange, pure in a way but it was certainly water and Anna was pleased. Now it was time to test its uses in attraction and then to attempt to see what combination would yield a para-element. Specifically the Para-element of ice.

by **Annalisa Marin** on January 10th, 2014, 8:55 pm

Anna idly willed the transmuted water to fall away from the res, already willing more Djed to push out from her body and purple liquid to form from her arms and legs. It formed with the same frightening speed it had initially, idly she wondered how Celeste would react to seeing what she was about to do. She had seen a fraction of her true power that day, now she would have witnessed Anna as being a master of all four elements. What were her little morphing parlor tricks compared to the ability to turn the ground beneath one to lava, or to consume one in a storm of lightning? Nothing, that was what.

The generated res slithered out from her body and into the roiling water, a smirk on Anna's face as she raised her arms. This was going to be rather interesting, she'd always wanted to command the waves as she willed but now she was actually going to be able to do it. Anna split the res into two large halves, her face becoming a mask of concentration as she maintained control of the purple liquid despite the rough water. The woman threw her arms out wide, willing attraction to occur.

The effect was dramatic and instantaneous as two sections of the ocean waters seemed to draw back and start to gather more size as they did, becoming larger and larger the longer Anna held the attraction. She could feel the drain far more acutely now, but it was hardly so terrible as to be threatening to put her over her limits. No, the real danger was keeping focus through the sheer godlike power she could literally feel coursing through her veins.

It felt rather like she was completely and utterly invincible, an unstoppable force of nature. She imagined Zeltiva itself being consumed in a massive wave created from her hands, the people mere insects compared to her power. She didn't just have power, rather she was power incarnate, beyond the ken of mortals and approaching the realm of the divine. It took the greatest of will power to maintain focus through that haze, to still possess the ability to think even somewhat rationally.

She took the two large growing masses of seawater and made a motion of her hands rising up and coming closer together. The masses of water moved as directed, cresting upwards as directed to form to large waves that were moved towards each other. It was magnificent to control the waves of the ocean so easily. No ship could escape her wrath now, she could topple it with the very strength of the sea itself. By Rhysol this power was glorious in every possible way. She wanted to see how large she could make a wave, perhaps one large enough to consume all of Sahova into the sea...

No, she needed to maintain control. Anna waited until the two waves were close to each other before bringing her hands downwards. The two opposing forces crashed down upon one another, the sound of their clash like roiling thunder in the distance. The water lapping against the rock shore had drawn out previously from her drawing water to the res, but now it seemed to wash over the shore much higher than before.

Anna could feel her res and drew it back towards her from the water, the purple liquid slithering like snakes from the depths. Her mind was awash with euphoria, the sheer power she now possessed was staggering and it felt so petching good. She wanted to try again, the urge pounding at her skull for her to continue and push herself to her complete limits and show the majority of the Nuit on the Island how little they measured up compared to her. Those Golems in the Forge could be made into scrap metal if she brought the full force of her fury to bear. However it was not yet time for such a thing, she still needed to run one final test.

Anna pulled herself from the haze of the pleasure of casting and willed the res to start to form into individual pieces, fracturing the large pool she had gathered before her. It was time to combine the forces of Air and Water and recreate a spell Maelstrom had used against her during their fight. This would be the final test, once she mastered this then nothing could stand in her way. She really would be a figure of legend.

by **Annalisa Marin** on January 10th, 2014, 9:32 pm

The translucent purple liquid res was gathered in smaller sections at first, but then suddenly Anna changed her mind. She didn't want to copy Roknus Maelstrom's techniques, no, she wanted to create her own which would be so much better than his. She was a master in her own right, one who could control the forces of the four elements and their para-elements. Why shouldn't she start to develop her own techniques and abilities? She shouldn't be miming the works of other Reimancers, she could be looking to improve them based on her own knowledge.

Anna considered it for a moment, grinning when she got a rather interesting a deadly idea that was based off of a previous construct she had used from the earth element. However this one would be far more refined and deadly. First things first, she needed to actually shape the res as needed for her purposes. The tall Sorceress gathered the res together before her, willing it up to form the dais like constructs she had created before with the earth element. The difference here was that there were small divides going down it, forming a number of disks about a few feet in diameter. Each of these disks possessed a thick outer layer and a smaller core of an inner layer of Res.

Grinning that this was complete Anna closed her eyes and focused upon the two concepts of wind and water. They possessed a form of inherent compatibility, a harmony that only two natural elements could actually possess. The reimancer held these concepts and enforced both of them upon the res in the outer layers of the disks. As before it took a moment before Anna moaned in purest ecstasy, the disks solidifying and gaining a strange glassy reflected look about them.

The end result was a glassy looking dais of purple ice made up of a number of disks with incredibly sharp edges. Anna felt feelings of triumph course through her veins, the had done it. She had created the Ice Para-Element, though in honesty it hadn't been that difficult as she'd seen it in action a number of times. Enough to know what elements one needed to control to produce it.

Of course the spell was not yet over, as Anna held up a hand poised palms up and the other hovering over it looking rather like she was about to fling some throwing star at someone. She made the motion of moving her upper hand outwards, the gesture for the top most disk to rocket outwards a start spinning. Anna easily maintained control of it and willed it to start circling the area near her.

The woman repeated this motion over and over, until surrounding her were spinning blades of death. None ever hit one another and they never came close to hitting her, though anyone that tried to cross the boundary they now created would have been shredded to ribbons by the fast moving and sharp purple disks. She maintained control of the multiple constructs with ease, though she could certainly feel a drain setting upon her. It was coming time to bring this little experiment to an end.

Anna flicker a finger out towards the ocean and as one the disks flew outwards past her, one actually spinning close enough to slice off a few errant strands of her hair. The tall woman could feel the cold radiating off of it, she didn't flinch away from it however and merely crossed her arms and smirked as she kept willing them outwards. She could feel how far her zone of control was, it seemed to stretch on and on and she still managed to maintain control of the spinning disks of icy death.

Finally, as they started to look like they would vanish into the distance and as she could feel the drain start to settle over her more prominently, though not overly dangerous, she dropped control of them and let them spin into the sea. Anna felt good for this little test, powerful and revitalized in a way she hadn't believed possible. There would be no stopping her now and no denying just how powerful she was. Daren could have his little mind tricks, Anna had something so much more than he would ever control.

With a final glance out to the horizon Anna turned her back on the sea and started her way back to the Citadel, reassured of her power.