“How do you know all that?” Hamil asked.

Astrid winked at him and answered, “I have my sources.” She then leaned back and turned to Damian with her head tilted. “That’s history. What’s next?”

“Basic magic? I taught Jaime how to use her warrior abilities, but nothing past that.”

Astrid nodded her head and leaned back as she scratched at her neck. She then smiled sheepishly as she muttered, “A-Actually, I skipped those classes. So why don’t you take charge?”

Damian slowly turned to Jaime and Hamil with an almost smug expression. I recognized that look. My wife and I had given each other that look when we were raising Callum and Levi. It was the look that she gave me every time one of the kids chose to play with her instead. Likewise, I did the same to her when the opportunity arose. It was a playful competition between the two of us.

If what Hamil had told Jaime about her new powers was a lesson, what Damian taught was a seminar. I wasn’t sure how well Jaime could learn, so I decided to listen in as well as I could. If Jaime forgot something in the future, I could help her remember if I knew it myself.

Anyone who can use magic, either a warrior or a mage, is known as a sorcerer. The source of all magic in a sorcerer is mana. Mana is slowly developed in the body, starting at the heart, and is pumped through the body with the blood. The color of the mana directly relates to its strength. 

It has been theorized that the color is derived from the purity of the mana as a cloth becomes brighter as the dirt is washed away. Along with purity, some believe that there are other factors that affect the strength of mana, as no two sorcerers are the same, regardless of rank. Rank is defined by the color of the user’s mana, from black to white and is raised through a special ritual performed by masters of the higher rank; so if a purple rank mage were to be raised to the indigo stage, an indigo rank mage would need to perform the ritual.

At this point, Damian started to list off the names of the people responsible for all the knowledge he’d shared. I tried to memorize the names, but some of them were so ridiculously abstract that they almost seemed made up.

Continuing, Damian explained how a sorcerer’s magic functions in more detail. When a sorcerer activates their aura, something opens in their body, causing the mana to react in waves until it reaches the head. From this point, Damian admitted he didn’t know much about how mages work, but he did know that things worked different past this point for both sides. For a warrior, when the activated mana reaches their head, all of their senses are elevated, the strongest reaction being sight. Next, the mana throughout the body flows out through the skin and wraps around the body, strengthening it.

“The rest of this is a little more advanced, so we’ll put this off.” Damian announced before turning to Astrid. “Miss mage.”

A bead of sweat fell down her cheek as she started to teach. She started off a little rough, occasionally stuttering, but even then I could tell that she knew what she was talking about. Jaime and Hamil’s patience definitely helped her get more comfortable.

For a mage, when the activated mana reaches their head, they become more sensitive to all mana around them. Everything produces mana in some way, though it is unusable to sorcerers as it is. From this point, a mage’s mana remains inside their body. They are, however, able to use the mana in their bodies to summon what is known as a magic ring. A magic ring is a blank template that allows a mage to control the mana outside of their bodies. By manipulating the ring by etching words into it, they are able to perform specific feats. This etching is the mage and the ring communicating to share exactly what it is that the mage wants it to do. The more elaborate and complex the spell, the more likely it is to succeed and the longer it will take to cast.

“So before, when I used my magic to stop that bandit, I told the ring to freeze him in place. What I etched into the ring, however, was much more detailed.” Astrid explained, turning to Hamil with wide eyes. “Be very careful with your words. Vague meanings can have terrible consequences.”

After she finished, Astrid turned to Damian who just shrugged his shoulders. Neither of them said a word for a short time.

I could tell that either they had forgotten where they were going with the lesson. Damian had mentioned something about more advanced topics and nudged Jaime about it, but surprisingly she ignored my words.

Hamil spoke up, “Are you going to teach us the more advanced stuff too?”

The two Freelancers exchanged another look before Damian answered the boy’s question.

“There are some things that you aren’t ready to learn yet, but we can share a little.” 

Astrid spoke up, cutting off Damian before he could start. Her voice weak and eyes distant, “The most powerful things in this world are emotions. Sometimes they can bring you greater strength than you knew you had, other times they cripple you, leaving you broken and twisted.”

Quietly, her companion put a hand to her back, gently rubbing it.

“She’s right. If you ever feel like your emotions are overwhelming you, close off your heart and do everything you can to regain control.” Damian spoke in a stern, hard voice. His tone was heavy enough to give me chills. And I don’t have skin.

He continued, explaining some of the ways that emotion can affect magic. How it grows stronger, more wild and destructive with intense emotions and how it can fail with darker emotions.

As they finished, Pert came in through the front door. He was leading a shorter, well dressed man whom he brought to the hostess before coming to our table.

“I’ve got our ride to Renae. He was ecstatic to hear that two Freelancers were coming with.”

“When do we leave?” Astrid asked, her voice still a little shaken.

“Tomorrow morning. After we get his carts loaded and people have been paid.”

We’d seen very little of Pert since the first night. I often spotted him doing various odd jobs for the people in town. He always looked to be in a hurry.

“I guess we don’t have much time left for training.” Damian stated before turning to Astrid, “How about a quick demonstration of some teamwork.”

“A chance to stretch?” Astrid pondered. “That should help a bit.”

“Hey, do you have any plans for all those stumps we’ve pulled?”

“We usually use them for firewood after they’ve dried out.” Pert answered.

“So it’s fine as long as we don’t burn them?”

“I guess.”