B2 – Chapter 26: Perfecting essence-weaving

Tristan got off the bowsprit and onto the main deck of the ship, “That was fun,” he said with a wide grin.

Captain Yokain chuckled, “You Elves seem to be natural sailors. Must be because of that island nation that sunk.”

Tristan shrugged, “Perhaps. I’ve heard of the story, too, but it was before my time.”

Yokain gestured for Tristan to follow him, and as he followed the man asked, “What is your age, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Eighteen,” Tristan replied. “I’ll be nineteen on the first of Freezing Season next year.”

“Thanks for answering – I can never tell you Elves and your age.” Yokain gestured to the interior compartments of the vessel. “If you don’t mind – I’d ask that for the first leg of the journey you, your companions, and the Pathfinders stay in quarters. Bad luck to have non-crewmen on deck when we first venture into the depths.”

“Making course for Maladonia first,” Tristan clarified. And when the captain nodded, he continued. “Then to the south of Klaktol, then Schlarz, and finally Yustat.”

“Yes sir!” The captain cracked a smile, “We’ll make for Rigger’s Cove. It’s the closest port. Eight days’ travel.”

Tristan turned and entered the ship’s interior. Going to his room, he closed the door and slid the small, metal slide-lock in place – not for security, but rather to keep the sliding door from banging around as the ship rocked gently.

Felicity hopped off his head and onto the bed. “Decently comfy. Not much room.”

Tristan sat down next to her and began taking off his armor and removing his weapons, “Mind putting these into the storage?”

She opened the space and Tristan began putting the various weapons and armor components into storage – but he kept his sword. Because you never know, he thought, and with my clothes, I can still use Scales of our Foe for some defensive qualities. Reaching into the storage dimension one more time, he pulled out the spell book with Ice Elementalism spells stored in it.

“Going to study?” Felicity asked as she made herself a little nest of a spare blanket near the head of the bed.

Tristan nodded as he cracked open the tome, “I have mastered every First Order spell in the spell types I have access to and knowledge of – minus smoke elementalism. I’m hoping we can buy a ton of spell books on Yustat.” He tapped the cover of the book, “I think it’s about time I moved up to the next Order.”

“I still don’t agree with your grandfather’s methods of slow and steady…but meh, he lived a long time for a human. Maybe he was onto something.” She curled up in place and began breathing deeply. “I like this rocking.”

Tristan began flipping through the pages, taking in the information about Second Order spells for ice elementalism:

Rime Blast (Second)

Spell Phrase: “Die eisigen Winde des Nordens treffen meinen Feind und lassen ihn bis ins Mark erfrieren.” (Frozen winds of the north, smite my foe and chill them to their core).

Spell Gesture: Hold your hand out in front of you – palm facing the direction you wish to launch the Rime Blast. Push all of your fingers together, except for the thumb which should be pushed into the palm, not visible from the back of the hand that you will be looking at. You must push forward as you say the spell phrase and push the essence into your palm.

Other Notes: This will spell creates a cone that is sixty-feet in length directly in front of the user’s hand. Not very effective against armor.

Armor of Ice (Second)

Spell Phrase: “Die gefrorene Hülle wird mich vor Schaden bewahren.” (The frozen shell will protect me from harm).

Spell Gesture: Place your hand against your neck – the crook between the thumb and index finger wrapped around your throat. The other fingers should be flat alongside each other – as if you are making a ‘chop’ motion towards your neck. Then, as you say the spell phrase, move the hand down to the center of the chest – rotating the palm to face your body – stopping just above the navel.

Other Notes: The backlash for this spell is separate from the spell’s effect – you may have more ice encrusting your body, but it is not easy to move around with it clinging to your body. And, the actual Armor of Ice will be like real armor, whereas the backlash is just random-shaped chunks.

Shape Ice (Second)

Spell Phrase: “Ich befehle dir, Frost und Eis vor mir, meinem Befehl zu gehorchen. Werdet zu dem, was ich mir vorstelle, und verändert eure Gestalt nach meinem Willen.” (I order you, frost and ice before me, to obey my command. Become that which I envision in my mind and change shape to my will).

Spell Gesture: Place both of your hands at your midsection and bend your fingers so that each is like a small crook. Put one hand on top of the other, and have the fingers pull against each other. Pull against the crooks made by the fingers as you say the spell phrase, slowly tightening your grip and rolling the fingers inward until the fingers of both hands are in the palms of the other.

Other Notes: Must be used on existing ice. Will not work on snow or sleet. Must be solid ice.

Tristan mumbled the spell phrases over and over to himself, practicing th spell gestures as he did so, but not spinning his essence crucible. I’ll practice tomorrow, he thought, when I can be on the deck without disrupting anyone. Practice every single spell. Make sure I’m not forgetting any of them.

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He spent the next hour practicing the spell gestures and phrases for every ice elementalism spell. Then, setting the book down, he practiced the spell gestures and phrases for all of the spells he knew – only having a slight problem when he got to the fire elementalism spells. I always did do better reading than learning from people talking, he thought. I’ll ask Obadai to give me a refresher tomorrow.

Putting the book aside, he got under the covers in the bed and nodded off to sleep; lulled by the rocking of the ship.

Morning came swiftly, and Tristan was woken up by a knocking at the door. Getting out of the bed, he went over and slid it open to find Shandra standing there. She looked very queasy and did not seem to have acclimated to the boat as well as Tristan had.

“Hey, Tristan. Got a minute?”