Paths to Power: not-so-humble beginnings

by FelSpite

Chapter 9: a gift of Magic

Considering how much having a hangover sucked, anything that helped with it so quickly and decisive was really good. Sunset was already sure that Crash could easily earn a fortune with his magical healing alone, but that would likely expose his magic way more than he seemingly wanted. Selling magical potions on the other hoof ... that could work. Especially considering that no one even needed to know that they were magical in the first place.

She took another sip of her coffee going through the yesterday's events again. It started with Crash healing her in the morning (and she wanted to get some healing spells for herself), after which she went to the mall to look for a laptop, then returned for the party which lasted till late in the night. It was quite relaxing, all things considered. She couldn't recall the party as a whole, but some things do stood out. Crash's announcement at the start. A group trip to some big open-air concert that was mentioned. Her introduction and all the looks that she was getting after that. Some drunk ex-griffon trying to challenge Crash and failing miserably to the laughter of the crowd. That punk-rock griffon band and their surprisingly good covers they were playing. Good for a bunch of goofballs that is. And that scene of Crash actually howling like a wolf... Sunset chuckled. Well, if friendship and parties would come with this flavor and not some useless baggage... perhaps she could tolerate it then.

There was supposedly something else, but as she failed to recall it, it was dismissed as unimportant. Surely she wouldn't forget anything worthy of note.

Just as she started to consider going to her room to check her magic related notes, she heard a bedroom door unlock and open and a loud yawn following.

"Feels good" voiced Crash from upstairs. "As much as it can be, that is."

She looked at him as he casually strolled down. Well, apparently he really saw no reason to take much care of his appearance. At least he's not looking like a hobo, she assured herself.

"Good daytime" he greeted her as he moved to the coffee machine himself. "I'll start with a theoretical part while I'm bothering with a breakfast here. No sense to waste any more time here after all"

Sunset just snorted. She wasn't feeling like she should bother covering her emotions with him present anymore. "And a few previous days do not count?"

"Not really. It's usually best to follow theory with practice and we couldn't do that without your focus being ready... There was also some trivial organizational and money related stuff ... and also a matter of making a plan and some other preparations for this study." As a coffee-maker started to work, Crash switched to cutting himself some slices of bread. "Keh, it's definitely more difficult to get a good bread or butter here than one would think... Anyway, let's start with the very basics again. Do you remember what I said about mana and elemental affinities during our previous experimental sessions?"

Sunset sighed, before starting to recite in her best impression of monotone. "Mana is a general term for a magical energy of any kind that is used by mages to do any kind of actual magic. There are many types and corresponding sources of mana and it is important to make a clear distinction between them because some of them may be more difficult or dangerous to use based on your affinity, various circumstances or your skill. An affinity is a trait defined by being able to use either certain types of mana and/or certain types of spells better than others."

"Good. It may seem redundant yes, but unless one is a sorcerer or any other kind of lazy goof, it's a really good habit to check and question your basics as you learn them." As he moved to the table with his breakfast in tow, he continued: "So, a fact that you lack a natural focus may be a bit inconvenient for you and perhaps more than a bit unconventional nowadays, but it's merely a consequence of a significantly bigger issue. You see, your overall mana capacity is quite high, significantly bigger than mine, for example, and it's even full to the brim right now. But for yet unknown reason you are currently unable to control or even properly feel it. So far you are limited by the amount of mana that your bracers can hold, and it's only a tiny fraction of what you could be capable of."

That made sense. If taken as truth it explained her problem and if she was remembering his other speeches correctly could even bring a solution to them... "So, if we skip that astral body part like you said before, cause it shouldn't work that way, is all that mana just 'saturating' my actual physical body right now? And it's also supposedly a wrong type that I should somehow 'convert' to another to be able to use?"

"Precisely. It's always good to explain things to someone who actually listens to you, that's to be sure" Crash smiled and took a few more bites and another sip of his coffee. "There's only one complication here, but it's a very important one. This type of mana of yours seems to be aligned with our mysterious Canterlot source here, located somewhere at the CHS. And I have a very big personal interest to check it as a possible solution to the main problem of mine."

Now, that was sounding much less appealing. "So, does it mean that I should limit myself to a 'tiny fraction of my possible power' because you need it?" It actually took a significant amount of her willpower to hold back anger. In the end, even tiny amount of magic was better than no magic at all, and she was in no position to refuse a deal at this point anyway.

"No, nothing of sorts" Answered Crash, chuckling. "What I mean, is that while converting this mana or getting rid of a portion of it otherwise is perfectly fine and should benefit you in many ways, we still want to keep a significant amount of it pure for various experimental purposes. I even have a few of them in mind right now, though they would have to wait a little bit more. I would try draining some of it myself, but I lack both knowledge or equipment for it, so that's not an option here"

And that reminded her of a dark magic that she got a few glimpses of, before Celestia's banishment of her, that is. 'Well, isn't it a good thing that we do not have one to criticize our choice of magic anymore, is it.'

"As it seems that you have at least some affinity with fire, we are going to avoid any offensive combat spells for now. That would be too dangerous without a proper setup that we simply do not have"

"How dangerous do we speak here?" questioned Sunset.

"Well, my direct magical offensive capabilities are quite poor, but in comparison if, say, I would throw a fireball at my best, the temperature of the fire in the explosion wouldn't be much higher than a hundred degrees, taking zero as an ice thawing point. It's quite bad, worth some burns but not immediately life threatening. You, on the other hand, if we account for the possibility of a flare, which may be insignificant but still is surely present, can reach a thousand quite easy. And would it, for example, accidentally explode in your hands..."

Sunset actually felt shivers down her spine. While thinking of such power at her disposal was great, she wasn't that reckless.

".. it wouldn't be survivable at this point. So, I think we should agree to focus on control and defensive measures first."

"Understood."

"Excellent! With all that in mind, I have three spells to suggest. Namely Spark, Warmth and a typical hard shield. Also, now that I'm finished, shall we move to the training room and continue there?"

Sunset nodded, even though it was a clearly rhetorical question. "Sure"

This time Crash went behind that metal door of his to "pick some essentials". Sunset still had her doubts about the efficiency of such measures to protect anything, but it was also likely that there were some defensive spells present, and there was no real incentive for her to focus on that any more.

In the training room itself nothing really changed. Not that it mattered much, but she was curious to any new implication of magic, with all the power and possibilities it would grant her.

"Our first spell to learn would be Spark." Crash started, as he entered the room with a bag in his hand "With emphasis on 'learn' and 'first', naturally. You see, that minor telekinesis or a light that you are able to use now aren't technically your spells, but a function of the bracers that you are wearing."

Magic granted by an item... this day was full of surprises, but surprisingly (heh) of a good kind. It could be a good idea to write down some of the more obscure equestrian magical theory, even the older more myth-related and perhaps even the supposedly disproven parts of it. She had a good memory, sure, but even she could forget it eventually and it could be actually useful...

"With that in mind I present you your first proper spellbook." Crash paused, taking a large leather covered tome form his bag and offering it to Sunset.

Sunset took the book with both her hands, but it was surprisingly light for it's size. Back in her fillyhood, when she was still in the magical kindergarten, that was exactly what she imagined as Her Own Very Magical Spellbook. Sure, back then, reality had shown her that it was merely a thing of past when the books were rare and expensive. And actually holding one now felt even more surreal...

"What does it actually do, outside of being a large book weighting way less than it should?" It may be rude on her part, but she had no use for sentimentality anymore, right?

Crash just smirked. "Well, to start with, it's durable. Being closed and locked it's significantly harder to physically damage than a piece of steel, and it's magical defense is even greater. Second, it's secure. While one of sufficient skill can force the lock open eventually, anything that is written by the complimentary stylus can only be read by you and the book's maker. Who isn't even alive at this point, so no one else. It's a thousand pages physically, but once you master the index, it would be five hundred times more. I had to lock off most of the material that the book already has, you know, maps, history and such, and some parts of it may be a bit out of date but otherwise the references are ready for use. And finally, as described in the detailed instructions on the last fifty pages, there are many other magical utilities that can be provided by the book, even if some of them wouldn't work here."

That was more than impressive. Though what did he actually needed from her, to give such 'gifts' so easily? She would take the book sure, and use it to it's fullest capabilities, but she had to be careful.

Meanwhile Crash continued. "I'd just add that it is quite valuable, so I do expect you to handle it with proper care. But let's move to the actual lesson." He took some kind of a metallic rod from the bag and showed it to her "This is a rod of Spark. Similarly to your bracers it allows you to use a 'Spark' spell. The difference is that it uses it's own supply of mana which should be enough for about a hundred charges. It can be used like this -" he pointed the rod to the wall opposing the exit and with a buzzing sound a small blue projectile erupted from the now glowing point and hit the wall a moment later. "or like this"

This time the projectile appeared as a tiny blue orb just above the index and middle fingers of his left hand that were pointed up. He moved his fingers around, moving the orb with them, before once again pointing to the wall and shooting the projectile there. Even though Sunset observed it more closely this time, she still saw no visible traces on the wall.

"A formalist may call Spark an offensive spell, but it was never the case. Being hit by one may sting a bit more than a mosquito bite, but this feeling goes away less than a minute after. It was purposely created to train one's control and aim, while also remaining as safe as possible."

He walked to the room's table and put the rod on it, followed by the four similar ones.

"I have written the appropriate theory for the spell on the first two pages of the spellbook, accompanied with the calculations that you have to complite for yourself. I expect you to be able to cast this spell on your own before all the rod charges would run out. Spark has some similarities to the Light spell, so focusing on that may help you. It's also perfectly normal to waste most of the rod's charges at first, while you get hang of it, so do not pay that much of a mind. I do have some minor things to do in the city, so you do have up to five to finish while I'm absent. And finally, I insist on casting the spell in this room only. Questions?"

"None so far" Even if she had some doubts about the calculation part, she was sure that she could figure it out in the process. She briefly wondered about reasons behind Crash changing his tone while explaining magic, but dismissed it in the end.

"Well, if you find some, you can always ask Lightning Dust. She learned this spell, after all. Have a good day."

As he left, Sunset looked to the tome that she was still holding in her hands. A wide and wholly sincere smile followed. It should be a good day indeed.

Author's Note:

Any feedback would be appreciated, as usual.