Vir experimented with different approaches. Instead of trying to grab hold of a single mote of prana, he clutched entire groups of them, forcing them back into his body. This worked better, and he spent several hours refining that solution, grabbing larger motes of prana, faster.
But it still wasn’t enough. It felt a bit like trying to plug a waterfall by frantically scooping up buckets full of water. It didn’t matter if the bucket was a small one, or a massive one, it wouldn’t make a smidge of difference. This was a dead end.
He needed a different approach. Ideally one that allowed him to concentrate on other tasks, too. After another hour of deliberation, he came up with an idea.
One thing that struck him as inefficient about his solutions was that he was attempting to grab the motes of prana reactively—after they’d separated from his body.
Was there a better way? Could he actually restrain the prana and keep it flowing within his body without ever allowing it to leave? So far, all it’d taken was an application of his will to control the leaking prana—what if he applied that same will to his blood instead?
Well, he knew what would happen. He could very well stop the blood flow in his body, and he’d already experienced what happened in that case. He’d need some finesse. If he controlled the prana in his body just enough to prevent them from leaking out, but not enough to alter his blood flow, then maybe he’d stand a chance.
There was no doubt about the danger here. He was playing with concepts beyond his understanding, and failure might very well mean death.
But to give up now meant stagnation, and that was worse. He took a deep breath and went for it.
Vir started small—just a single finger, concentrating his will upon it. His enthusiasm got the better of him, and he applied a bit too much pressure, causing his digit to flare with pain. He immediately aborted and waited for the throbbing to subside, praying to the gods that he hadn’t messed himself up badly enough to seek Riyan’s aid.
The sharp pain dulled to a muted throb, though his pinky swelled up a bit.
He’d need to be even more careful. Vir chose the same finger on his other hand, and this time applied his will with the weight of a feather. Imperceptibly, gently coaxing his prana to stop leaking.
The result was immediate. The amount of prana that leaked from this finger abated significantly. And yet, his blood flow remained normal, without deviation.
He continued ramping up the intensity of his will until the pinky leaked no more. But that was when he ran into his next issue—the amount of willpower required to prevent any leakage of prana from his body caused his pinky to hurt. Not a lot, but he wasn’t comfortable maintaining this over long periods of time. Vir backed off, and after some experimentation, settled at a point where only thirty percent of his prana leaked from his body. If he clamped down any further, his finger would throb.
Vir needed to sustain this technique, ideally indefinitely. He had a theory about what was going on here. If he was right… Well, it’d have many interesting ramifications.
The theory was a simple one. After spending endless hours observing Maiya and Riyan, and analyzing his own body, he’d concluded that prana sought equilibrium. The density of Ice and Wind Affinity prana in Maiya’s body exactly matched the density of those affinities in the air.
Riyan was slightly different. The density of the Life prana in his body matched the Life prana affinity in the air, but the Earth prana in his body matched the density of its underground counterpart instead. And interestingly, none of his Earth prana leaked into the air. It was as if the air and the ground were mutually incompatible. At least, as far as Earth Affinity prana was concerned.
Regardless, this theory explained why Vir’s own prana continuously drained from his own body—because there was no black prana in the air, and only trace amounts in the ground.
Vir spent the next hour expanding the area over which he exerted his will. From one finger to two, to all five, then to an entire hand. He worked his way up to his arm, both arms, both legs, and finally, his entire body.
The effort became harder and harder the more he spread his will. A decent chunk of his mental faculties had to be utilized to prevent prana from leaking out of his body, but it was doable if he concentrated hard enough.
It wasn’t perfect, not by any means. He’d reduced the leakage to a third of what it was before, but a sizeable quantity still escaped. He couldn’t completely stem the leak without crippling himself.
And yet, he already noticed a change. The prana in his body was denser than before. It was slight, but still noticeable. Which meant his body was now producing more prana than was being sapped away by the air and the ground. Vir had some ideas about what that meant for him, but he didn’t let himself get excited just yet. Not until he’d verified his theory.
Of course, the issue with this was that he had to apply a significant amount of mental effort to keep the effect going. The instant he released the prana from his mental grasp, the dissipation rate tripled. This was not an automatic process… yet. Vir had only been at this for a few hours. How would he have progressed by tomorrow? A week from now?
It didn’t matter what it took. He had to turn this into a subconscious process. And if there was one thing Vir was good at, it was diligence. He’d practice this day in, day out, until he mastered it. Maybe then, he’d be one step closer to manifesting a Talent. He couldn’t know for sure—he was in the dark, after all. Blindly messing with concepts he didn’t understand.
But if no one would teach him, he’d simply have to teach himself. Maybe he’d mess up. Maybe he’d injure himself. But in the end, he’d prevail.
Vir gingerly stood. He’d wanted to spend several more hours sitting there, practicing the ability alone, but the world didn’t wait for him. Maiya was due to have her afternoon lesson, and he had to be there.
The next best thing was preventing prana leakage while in motion, which he soon found was harder than it seemed.
Good, he thought. It’ll help me master this faster.
He stumbled to the doorway, stubbornly refusing to deactivate the technique, giddy with excitement. All he could think about was Tanya’s upcoming combat magic demonstration.
43WHITEOUT
Maiya gazed at the transparent orb in her hands, which reflected the afternoon light in odd ways she’d never seen before. Almost like it was cracked inside—cracked in extremely regular patterns. Beautiful patterns. Nestled in between the cracks were a myriad of runic characters, arcing and crisscrossing like a utility orb, but far, far more complex.
And, buried deep within the palm-sized sphere was a black, straight line—the only straight line in the entire orb, ending in an arrow, pointing one direction.
“Guessing this arrow means the same thing it does on a utility orb?” she asked.
Tanya paced around her bedroom, arms crossed behind her back. “Indeed. What you hold is the C Grade Ice Affinity spell, Icicle. When charged and activated, it launches a deadly icicle at the opponent in the direction pointed. Short ranged, but can engage at medium ranges in a pinch, though aiming becomes a challenge at that distance.”
Maiya scrunched her brow. “Can you really hit anything more than a few paces away with this? Sounds really hard.”
Tanya plucked the orb from Maiya’s outstretched arm. “You can, though it takes a good deal of practice, even with the use of a mejai aiming bracer,” she said, retrieving a leather and metal contraption from a small wooden trunk near her bed.