Arcane Exfil

“Betcha it’s gonna be fire,” Ethan said, mirroring Miles. “Fantasy shit always starts with fire.”

Miles snorted. “Hell, wouldn’t shock me if they had us crunchin’ numbers on specific heat or some shit.”

Out of everyone, Mack would probably love this the most. But no point in saying that out loud. A simple ‘yeah’, a chuckle, and an external interruption worked wonders.

A woman in her late twenties waltzed through the training hall’s entrance – pretty, with brunette curls matching the bounce of her steps. “Good morning!” She greeted them with a warm smile. “You must be the new Slayers – Lieutenant Mercer, Sergeant Walker, and Sergeant Garrett, if I’m not mistaken?”

Cole nodded. “That’s right. And you’re Lady Verna?”

“Indeed, the very same!” Her personality seemed a bit more upbeat than what he’d have expected, especially out of a Celdornian office. But hey, it could be fun.

Verna approached them. “I’ve been most eager to make your acquaintance. Sir Fotham spoke in glowing terms of your barrier work on the day of your arrival. And then that dreadful business with the demons – utterly extraordinary, having to face them on your very first night!” She leaned in, covering a part of her mouth with her hand. “And then having to deal with the bureaucrats the very next day… Truly extraordinary indeed! How do you fare this morning?”

“We’re managing,” Cole admitted. “Can’t get any worse than rock bottom, eh? Think we’re all ready to learn something a bit more offensive than barriers, though.”

“A touch of restlessness already, I see.” She grinned. “Well, I suppose I can’t fault you for that. But do not be so hasty to dismiss barriers – they’re one of the most versatile conjurations.”

“Yeah, can’t lie, they sure as hell saved our asses,” Miles said.

Verna sat on a nearby table. “And how fares your companion?”

“Safe and sound, ‘lethargy’ aside,” Ethan sighed. “Least he’s stable, I guess.”

“That is heartening to hear. The healers here are exemplary in their craft – he shall be quite himself before long, I am sure.” She took in the room, eyes settling on the tables behind them. “Now then, as you’ve already demonstrated remarkable aptitude with barrier magic, Sir Fotham deemed it appropriate you expand your options. ‘Something a bit more offensive than barriers,’ yes?”

Cole followed her as she got up from the table.

“Just here by the basins, if you please. We shall begin with temperature manipulation.”

“Starting slow, then?” Ethan asked.

“Quite so – one cannot have the castle reduced to ash, after all.” She brought them to a group of unadorned metal basins arranged atop a table, each brimming with clear water.

Verna rolled up her sleeve. Her tone shifted ever so slightly as she started their little lecture. “Now then, let us address the fundamental principles of heat. Am I correct in assuming you are acquainted with its natural tendencies – how it seeks to equalize disparities between warm and cool bodies?”

Cole recognized it: basic thermodynamics. “Yeah, pretty much.”

She dipped her hand into the basin. “Good. Touch the water. Do you feel it? The chill?”

Cole submerged his hand. ‘Chill’ was probably the understatement of the year; the water was fucking cold; freezing. Almost reminded him of the good ol’ days of Arctic warfare training, or when he lost a bet and jumped into that ice bath. ℝ

“Yeah.”

Verna continued, “That is the warmth of your body seeking escape, eager to lend itself to the water. Now, focus. You should feel yet another warmth, distinct from the heat of your own flesh.”

The contrast was immediately apparent. The sensation in his hand revealed two distinct feelings, sure enough: the chill of the water and that familiar warmth of mana flowing through his system.

“Consider heat as though it were a fluid – one which instinctively flows from the warmer object to the cooler. The more energy you impart, the greater this caloric fluid will move through the water.”

Caloric fluid? That was a new one. Though treating heat transfer like a fluid wasn’t far off – it was just energy moving through the medium. But temperature manipulation didn’t transfer bodily heat; if that were the case, anyone performing ice or fire magic would straight up die. So… how?

Verna lifted her hand, water slipping from her fingers. Then, without a gesture or a word, the droplets began to steam. Thin wisps curled upward like it was the most natural thing in the world – though it probably was, at least, here in Tenria.

“Begin with something familiar – think of the warmth of a fire, the way it spreads outward and lingers in the air. Picture that heat now, but guide it outward from your mana and into the water.”

Cole directed his mana outward. Unlike barrier magic, he could feel exactly how the mana affected his surroundings. The water around his hand warmed up a bit. He placed his other hand in the water to verify; sure enough, it had gotten warmer.

“Now, for proper control, I recommend an incantation. It helps –” Verna stopped mid-sentence as steam began curling up from Cole’s basin. Miles and Ethan’s bowls started steaming moments after.

“Oh! Well then, it seems Sir Fotham’s praise of your visualization skills was no mere flattery. I should’ve expected no less. A word of caution, however, should you have any wish to wield this principle on a larger scale. The broader the effect you seek, the harder it becomes to visualize its workings. Boiling a cup of water, though it may seem the more laborious endeavor, is often simpler than altering the temperature of an entire room. The latter requires not only a vast store of energy but also precise mental control over the flow and diffusion of heat.”

“I reckon that’s why y’all got them air conditioning machines and heaters on the walls?” Miles tilted his head toward a unit similar to the ones they had seen at the infirmary.

Verna smiled. “Indeed. Now, I suppose you’re ready to move on?”

A bit more practice wouldn’t have hurt, but Cole wouldn’t argue with progression. “Yeah, what’s next?”

“Fire.” Verna brought them over to another table with a group of oil lamps sitting on it. “Given your grasp of thermal principles, this should prove but a trifle.”

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She pointed at the lamps and they sparked to life. “Most begin with woodfires or candle flames – familiar enough to picture, aren’t they? I’ve come across excellent studies on caloric theory for visualization, though I daresay it’s not quite suited to everyone. From the look of your work with the steam, I suspect you’ve a knack for a different approach, haven’t you?”

Cole glanced at the lamps. “Something like that.”

The flames sputtered out with a wave of Verna’s hand. Fire was just combustion at its core, but there was a hell of a difference between a shitty campfire and the white-hot burn of thermite or white phosphorus. All came down to how well the conditions were set up: right mix of fuel, proper heat, and oxidizer – be it air, iron oxide, or something more exotic. The better the balance, the cleaner the burn, byproducts aside.

Cole looked at the lamps again. Verna had lit them all at once from where she stood – a few meters away, perhaps. Interesting, given what he’d noticed with the manameter. Maybe the 1-yard mark was just there for standardization’s sake. “What’s the range on this?”

“An arm’s length ought to suffice. Though, as you’ve seen, practice may well extend that range rather handsomely.” She spawned a small ball of fire at the opposite end of the room, where a set of wind chimes and flags hung idly. “The principle remains the same – one simply needs clearer visualization.”

She paused. “Though I must confess, I am most intrigued. Your earlier efforts seemed unconventional. Perhaps a touch more discussion of control would be prudent? These are but humble oil lamps, after all, and I daresay we’d all prefer they remain as such.”

Right. Probably best not to apply thermite visualization to standard lamp oil. Cole focused on the nearest lamp. He’d seen dozens of fireballs form in media, but picturing a simple lighter seemed more fitting – a small flame; decent fuel-air mixture but keeping the reaction temperature well below anything that’d vaporize the brass. The flame ignited instantly, burning bright and steady with hardly any draw on his mana.

“Oh, brilliant!” Verna leaned in to examine the flame. “Remarkably efficient.”

Miles and Ethan hit their targets with the same precision, lamps lighting up the same way. Those looks on their faces – Cole hadn’t seen that in a while. Controlled, but with just a sliver of a grin underneath, as if they were testing out new badass gear. Pretty much how he felt too.

Sure, they were just lighting candles. But basic as this was, they were still manipulating fire with pure thought. Real fucking magic. Hard not to feel a rush from that, even for a bunch of jaded operators.

“Well then,” Verna said, “shall we attempt something a trifle more daring? Water magic is a curious thing; it never fails to surprise, even those well-versed in its mysteries.”

She brought them back to the basins. “It is the very antithesis of fire, wouldn’t you agree? Water has its own peculiarities: its propensity to cling and flow, its resistance to division, as though it were loath to be parted from itself.”

Surface tension, cohesion, adhesion – basic fluid dynamics, essentially.

She dipped a finger in a basin, drawing a bead of water that followed her motion. She then flicked it, letting it flow through the air in a graceful stream.

It didn’t really click during the heat and fire exercises, but now it hit him. Maybe elemental magic had been coming easy because they had a damn good reference point. “Waterbending.”

Miles nudged his shoulder. “Told ya it wasn\'t a waste of time.”

Verna looked delighted at their enthusiasm, even if she couldn\'t follow the reference. “I take it you’ve seen similar manipulations before?”

Cole paused. He couldn’t really explain a tv show to her. “Something like that,” he replied.

“Now then.” Verna lifted her hand as the water arched into a flawless dome above the basin. “Imagine the forces that hold the water together, fighting the pull of gravity.”

He started small, mimicking her little trick with the stream. Miles and Ethan had the same idea, streams forming without a hitch.

Cole’s first attempt with the dome came naturally – after watching enough waterbending, the visualization was second nature. The dome formed smoothly, and what little he knew about fluids helped him keep the form stable.

“How about this?” Verna directed a stream upward and around her body, the water flowing like one of those gymnast ribbons dancing through the air.

Miles whistled as his water stream twisted through the air. “Shit’s wild.” His grin said it all. Cole hadn’t seen him this pumped since they’d gotten those new NODs.

Cole found this even easier than the dome. Of course, he couldn’t imagine the pressure gradients and velocity vectors like his brain was some MATLAB program, but experience with scuba and pipes rendered the physics familiar enough. The principles were second nature to him and his team; they knew the underlying mechanics of why things worked – far better than anyone in Celdorne or even the whole of Tenria, most likely.

“And, as you might expect,” she said, eyes lighting up, “the same principle applies in reverse. Rather than adding energy to encourage steam, we draw it away to invite the water to crystallize.” At her touch, the surface crystallized into ice.

“Now that’s just showing off,” Ethan said, despite his ice coming out just as clean.

Cole had seen enough freeze-thaw cycles fuck up pipelines to understand exactly how water behaved during phase changes. His attempt created ice just as clear, all the cloudy shit from trapped air bubbles absent from his basin.

“Why, I must say I’m rather glad to have happened upon such talent.” Verna’s dramatic gesture at the ice had to be at least half-genuine. “Some Slayers I’ve had the displeasure of working with have spent weeks just trying to manage a frost!”

Miles carved a small castle out of his ice. “Well, I’m glad to disappoint, ma’am.”

“Disappoint? My dear Sergeant, should this be disappointment, I must declare myself eager for more,” Verna said, amused. Yeah, she was definitely enjoying herself, though it wasn’t like Miles minded; he was smirking right back.

“Though,” she continued, “perhaps I ought not to praise you too highly just yet. Let’s see how you fare with air and earth, shall we?”

She brought them over to the wind chimes and flags from earlier. “It may seem elusive, being unseen to the eye. Yet surely you are acquainted with the marvels of steam? How it propels pistons forth and draws them back again, powering mighty machines with naught but its breath?”

Steam power… interesting. Gas was just another fluid – hell, steam engines were basically practical demonstrations of the ideal gas law. Just how much did they know? “Like… trains?” Cole probed.

“Ah, yes! Precisely so; steam harnessed to serve our will. Air and wind magic follow much the same principle.” She raised her hand toward the wind chimes, and a gentle breeze sent them tinkling. “A visual guide oft proves helpful. I shall summon some steam to–”

She paused as the wind chimes sang again, but not from her magic. Apparently Miles had already created his own current, sending a soft gust of wind over their heads. Pretty damn impressive control for a first try, though maybe Cole shouldn’t be so surprised.

“I– well!” Verna smiled. “That’s rather unprecedented.”

Cole created his own breeze. Simple enough visualization; no need to overcomplicate basic fluids. Ethan’s gust picked up stronger than his, sending the flags fluttering. Must’ve been thinking industrial scale rather than residential.

Verna scratched her head, standing speechless for a moment. “Well. Eager for more, then. Let us see how you fare with earth.”

She brought them outside to the training yard, the bare soil seeming perfect for whatever she had in mind. “Earth differs greatly from the other elements. Where water yields and air scatters, earth is resolute; it clings to its nature with remarkable obstinacy.”

Earthbending 101: dirt and rock were stubborn – that much was obvious. He’d dug enough holes to know exactly how tough it could be. Though watching Verna shape a perfect sphere of soil mid-air suggested there were better ways than grappling with a shovel.

“Watch carefully.” Verna reached out, willing the soil to form a small column. “Start small.”

Cole focused on the ground. Start small – just like she said. He pictured lifting the dirt like he was shoveling, but without the shovel. Break, then lift. The soil separated with a thought, about a cup’s worth coming up.

“Lady Verna?”

Some aide approached across the yard – Fotham’s office, according to that uniform. “Might I have a moment of your time?”

She stepped aside with the aide. Their conversation lasted barely a few seconds.

“Well!” Verna turned back. “It seems our lessons are to continue for some weeks yet. Sir Cullen’s office finds itself rather in want of hands, and so… I daresay we shall dedicate the coming days to refining these fundamentals – getting you quite at ease with the elements.” With a possibly magical flick of her wrist, the dirt vanished from her hands. “Next week we shall venture into proper spellcasting.”

Ethan perked up at that. “Combat techniques?”

“Indeed! But let us first master lifting dirt before we aspire to hurling pillars of stone at demons, hmm?”