Solo Recovering what you are.

[Annalisa Marin]

81st of Summer, 513 AV

The smell of the salty waves filled her nose and the sounds of the lapping waves upon the shore filled her ears. Anna sat upon a beach located a few bells from Zeltiva proper, her leg crossed and her eyes closed. There was a strange calmness about her that seemed both oddly peaceful and unsettling all at once. The chaos of her mind, normally allowed to work and think freely was settling down as Anna cycled her breath. Clarity had to be achieved before Anna began her casting, for once the mind was cleared of distractions reimancy became much more easily utilized. It would not be safe, but it would be easier to use.

Focus Glyphs already adorned her hands and bare feet and pathway sigils ran highways down her limbs to aid in the speed of both res generation and casting. The day was far less hot than it had been on previous day and already she could feel the touch of Fall coming over the weather. It was soothing and calm, much like the sea before her. The waves fell in synch with her breathing and her mind grew quiet and calm with it. It was empty of all distractions, an infinite blackness that she likened to the Void. Yet today was not to be dedicated to the Void but to the natural elements of the world.

The young wizard opened her eyes from the meditation and uncrossed her legs, allowing herself to stretch her hands out to each individual leg. She reached as far as she could to the right, stopped and held it there for a chime. She then repeated the process with her left leg, feeling muscles and tendons stretch and hearing the small popping of her joins as they were allowed some activity. The body needed to be as well trained as the mind, an equilibrium that ensured the perfection of both.

The young wizard stood and stretched up as high as her arms could reach, joints once again making small popping sounds. It had become a routine to be repeated every single time before she casted, she liked to believe it was because it helped her reflexes. If something when wrong she wanted to be ready to jump out of the way of danger.

Anna finished her ministration and gazed out at the bay, admiring its simple beauty for a moment. Before, when arrogance had consumed every aspect of her being such things had escaped her notice. While she still possessed a cool and sure arrogance it was one that allowed her to notice and admire things other than herself.

Finally, now that she was ready she started a low chant in the Ancient Tongue, holding her hands out before her. And invisible gaseous cloud of res formed from her hand and feet, it permeated from her and quickly moved to cover a sizable portion of the air around her. The euphoric feeling of expelling res came over her but the combination of her incantations, the mediation, and the focus glyphs made the far less of a concern.

Anna willed the cloud of res to move forward suddenly and when it was near the exit point of her zone of control she willed it to ignite. An inferno formed in the air over the water, some of the flames moving to lick the waves that were under them causing steam to rise. The young wizard was testing area effect spells and this one looked to be quite potent. The feeling of casting sent a pleasurable shiver down her spine and already she was creating more res in a gas form, ready to try another large and higher tier spell.

Today was about pushing limits and expanding creativity, which meant large spells and Djed expenditure. She trusted herself to know her limits by now and to be able to remain into control, she controlled her magic not the other way around.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna willed the res to follow her right hand's movements, pressing down the urge to cast as the chant filled her skull and dispelled any distractions. She was not the overconfident and arrogant fool she had been not so long ago, she was cool and collected, her face a mask of steely concentration. The tall wizard sent her arms moving in a spinning arc, looking rather like a windmill like motion. She knew very little about physical combat but Anna knew that motions could help sharpen concentration. If she was going to test limits she needed to use ever resource available to her. The flame was as much a part of her as she was a part of the Void now.

The wizard jumped into a circling lead, nothing major but still a slight display of acrobatics helped along by her earlier stretching. As she moved her right arm down hard Anna willed the res to expel itself outwards in a circular manner. The amount she used was small for control purposes, larger amounts required greater concentration but smaller ones were better for controlled experiments.

As it moved out from her, Anna willed the flames to come forth. They ignited quickly and suddenly, looking rather like they were carried out from her by the winds. It looked a little too flashy for her tastes, the flames might lick an opponent's skin or ignite their clothing but other than that it only looked good for possibly intimidation purposes. Anna was unsatisfied by the results to say the least, even as she felt the euphoria coming over her. For once the urge didn't need to tempt her for casting more, she was going to try a trick she'd used earlier in the season.

Anna willed the res to condense near her hands, gritting her teeth as she expended more Djed in the effort of casting. The gas turned to liquid and formed a large ball of translucent liquid, more res being added as it phase changed. The young wizard allowed further res to escape her hands as she attempted to make it roughly the same shape as she had before.

The large ball of res hovered before her, shifting slightly as she moved it out a little more and willed the outer layer of the ball to ignite. That accomplished Anna willed it to shoot out as fast as she could send it out. It quickly approached the limits of the zone of her control, as it did Anna willed it to separate into a large number of smaller flaming balls of res. She was able to retain control due to not having yet transmuted the inner layer of the res, it was a simple thing really.

The flames rained down upon the water once more, sending steam rising from the water. It was rather impressive in her opinion, a large area of effect and the flames would likely cause a fair bit of damage due to the number of smaller balls heading towards a potential enemy. It was much more difficult to dodge than a single large attack.

The urge was pounding her skull and already Anna could feel that she was near her limits, yet not quite there. One more large spell would likely do it for her before she would need to stop, hopefully she could resist the euphoria long enough for the last spell she wanted to try out.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna chanted low again, drawing more res into her hands and moving it before her once again. The waves of exhaustion poured over her as she drew more of her very being from her body, the Djed drain sending chills down her flesh and the beginning of the taste of iron upon her lips. Her grey eyes narrowed as she created yet another large ball of res, much like the one she had created moments ago. This spell was going to be very similar to the previous one but it was going to be much more devastating if she had as say in the matter.

First of all she ensured that the ball of res was further out from her body than the other one had been and she began her chant more loudly than it had been before. She was trying to keep control of herself and her actions, overgiving so soon after recovering from it was not something she wanted to deal with. The distance was due to the intense heat she was going to be generating with this technique, if not carefully handled it could harm her just by close proximity.

The young wizard closed her eyes and imagined a force of destruction greater than that of fire, possessing the destructive qualities of both earth and flame. The res heated up to and extreme beyond the ability of more people to stand being near without blistering their skin. As the lava came into existence over the outer layer of res Anna could feel the intense heat from where she was standing. The heat coupled with exhaustion was straining her, as was the tax of the transmutation but still she held on for a moment longer.

The wizard opened her eyes and pushed the ball of fiery liquid outwards towards the water of the bay. At the last possible moment the wizard willed it to disperse into a shower of flaming liquid. Anna marveled at the amount of steam sent up from the water as the lava made contact with the water, a loud hissing sound audible for quiet some time.

The effectiveness of this attack was even more so than that of the ball of fire. Unlike the fire, which died out rather quickly, lava had staying power and was much more difficult to safely put out. If it hit a person it could easily eat through clothing, armor, skin, and bone. Lava was much more difficult to handle but was much more destructive, therefore in combat it would no doubt be her preferred weapon.

Her head was throbbing and sweat poured from her skin, once more her eyes were cracked from heavy spell use but she did not feel as though she had overgiven. Any more casting and she might have, but she felt she had stopped short of pushing her luck much too much.

Anna's mind wandered slightly to her duel with Tallis as she allowed herself to be seated in the sand, the events of the duel she had lost. At the time it had been a matter of stinging her pride to remember her humiliating defeat, now it was a learning experience. After careful analysis of the duel over time Anna knew why she had lost. Inexperience had something to do with it, however the major factor that might have contributed to it was that she needed to try and use non-lethal spells. Reimancy was not a toy, like she had once treated it to be not so long ago. It was a tool and a weapon, a means of achieving greater power much like the Void in a way.

Limiting her creativity in spell usage narrowed its uses, if she had possessed free rein then she would have been able to control two elements as well as their mix. Coupled with her Glyphs for faster casting and res generation and the fight would have easily fallen in her favor. It was a learning experience, much like everything was appearing to be now day. She just needed to approach situations with an open mind and with a readiness to learn, much like she had in her earlier years. That was the road to greatness.

[Abstract]

Anna

Skills

+ Meditation - 1
+ Acrobatics - 1
+ Reimancy - 4
+ Observation - 2

Lores

+ Reimancy: Multiple fireballs
+ Losing is a learning experience
+ Lava is much more destructive

Other:

I gave you a point in acro for the stretching
Anna will have pain in the back of her skull and wrists every time she tries to cast for the next half season

Notes

Cool thread! I liked the description of the reimancy creations... good job!

If you have any questions, comments or concerns about this grade, please PM me and we can work it out!