Asher thoroughly lost track of the time as he and Hazel continued to work on honing their focus. Unaware of the passage of time he couldn't say how long it took but it felt as though he had been sitting there for a while before he felt anything at all.  He’d been trying to follow Edmund’s baffling advice. He had stopped seeking, stopped searching as best as he could, now as he sat with his mind quiet and open to anything new, he slowly began to feel what he could only describe as some sort of expansion of the space of his mind. 

He felt as though the size of his bubble of awareness stretched out beyond its normal limits, experience itself felt slightly wider, he felt more in tune with the world. Accompanying the shift came an uncomfortable light-headedness. In that fleeting moment of receptivity Asher felt it. He felt a gentle flow, of what he could only assume was mana, streaming through his body. 

Exhilarated, he leaped to his feet shouting. “I felt it!” Embarrassment promptly chased away his joy as he realised, he had scared Hazel halfway to death with his outburst. 

“Congratulations my friend, you have just taken your first step into the wide world of magic.” Edmund replied. 

“Uhh… Sorry.” Asher quickly said with a blush, “that was embarrassing.”

Hazel just grunted and returned to her practice.

“No apologies needed my friend; magic is exciting, isn’t it?” Edmund grinned approvingly. 

Asher grinned back and nodded. “For my whole life magic was… I don’t know how to explain it to someone who grew up with it. But for us magic is impossible, it’s the stuff of legends or children's stories. The kind of stuff you dream about.” The thrill of the moment had fully returned to Asher as he spoke.

“Quiet.” came Hazel’s reprimanding voice. She could do without all the noise.

Edmund looked back to Asher and silently gave him a thumbs up and a wink. 

Maybe 15 minutes passed before suddenly, it was Asher’s turn to be jolted out of his peaceful focus. “I did it!” Hazel shouted. Asher flinched hard enough that he nearly toppled to the ground.  

He righted himself in time to catch Hazle pumping her fist into the air in triumph. He swelled with pride in his friend. She’d caught up so quickly even after Edmund had implied that Asher had an advantage. 

                “Excellent my students!” Edmund cheered along with Hazel clapping for her achievement. “How did it feel?” He asked. 

“It didn’t feel like much honestly, but after sitting there feeling nothing for song any change felt exciting” Hazel replied

“It was amazing, really, I don’t know if I have ever felt as excited about anything as I am to learn about magic. But at the same time, I’m worried about how long this is all taking, I think we should probably get moving.” The urgency of the situation had been nagging at the back of Asher’s mind during the whole session, making it difficult to truly focus. Now that they had made some progress the feeling of urgency was becoming difficult to ignore. 

For all they knew Ben could be out here right now struggling to escape or dealing with a desperate injury, and here Asher and Hazel were, sitting down and practicing magic? They needed to move. 

“I agree, Asher. While these lessons are important for your survival, we do need to stay focused on our real goal. That is why you two will be practicing the next step while we walk.” Edmund replied cheerfully. 

Edmund went on to explain that they were to keep practicing honing our focus over and over again. “You will get distracted; it is a part of the process.”

Once they were able to feel their mana again, they were to try to experiment with influencing the flow. They were to do all this while also having to navigate the craggy, uneven path forward. 

When Edmund had explained their task Asher  had thought  that it would have been impossible. He just couldn’t picture himself being able to walk, keep an eye on the terrain, and simultaneously keep his mind quiet enough to sense his mana. That already seemed impossible and Edmund was asking him to influence its flow as well? Insanity. 

  By midday however Asher was beginning to find that accessing the particular part of his mind which enabled him to sense his mana was beginning to feel more natural. That place in his mind felt closer and closer to him with each attempt. 

He was still conscious of the sun beating down from above, he could see the dirt path in front of him, he was even aware of the trees passing by as they walked, but his mind was silent, these details were small things, unnecessary distractions.  Instead, his focus was internal, and as he began to spend more time learning to get a feel for his mana, he began to intuitively get a sense for how to influence it. It came naturally, as if magic were just another limb he had always had, but had never noticed until now. 

Asher gathered his will and pushed on his mana, driving it to flow faster, more forcefully. To his great surprise, the mana responded. He felt a surge of warmth, strength, and confidence flow through him, it was exhilarating, empowering, and all too brief. A moment later and it was over. 

Asher was awestruck, his heart was pounding out a savage drumbeat in his ears, deafening him to the noises around him. This was the kind of thing that only happened in stories, to have a secret source of power living inside of him, finally unlocked, was satisfying something deep down that he hadn’t even been aware of. Asher shook from the thrill of the whole experience.

                Allowing himself a break as a reward for progress, Asher spent a few minutes pondering how Hazel was doing. He knew she chose this, she had chosen to come here of her own free will, but he couldn’t help but feel some responsibility. If he hadn’t separated from Ben back at the beginning of all of this, if he hadn’t failed to save him at the end of it, she would still be at home right now, with her family. Where she should be. Asher hoped she was coping okay; she seemed fine but he knew not to trust his own judgement of people’s true feelings.

                Something struck Asher’s forehead. Startled, he was pulled out of his daydreaming to see that Edmund was standing directly in front of him, shaking his hand as if flicking Asher’s forehead had hurt his fingers. 

                “Asher loses.” He announced. 

                “What are you talking about?” He asked, rubbing at his forehead. 

                “You lost your focus first my friend, it seems that of the two of you Hazel has the more refined will.” Edmund teased. 

                “I was just taking a break, I thought I was doing well. How could you tell anyway?” Asher asked, finding himself genuinely curious. 

                “When your mind is clear and focused the waters of your mana are calm and clear. When distracted they become a choppy turbulent mess. In a way of speaking.” Edmund explained. 

                “That’s fascinating…” Hazel said. 

                Asher smiled, glad to hear that Hazel was also finding all this stuff interesting. 

                “Can you read minds by sensing mana?” She asked after a moment of thought. 

                Edmund laughed and joined Hazel, clapping her on the back. “I really do love the way you think Hazel. It might be possible, but if it is, I can’t do it. The most I can do is tell if someone has a clear focused mind or if their emotions are in chaos. I guess it has some uses but it's nothing like real mind reading.”

At that, Hazel smiled back at Edmund. “It’s a natural question, right?” She shoved him gently in the ribs. 

“Right you are.” He smiled as he agreed. He stepped away and took his place back at the head of the group.

                “Regardless, you have both made fantastic and speedy progress! As your professor I couldn’t be prouder. And just in time! We are just arriving at the edge of the Pathless Forest now.”