Cannon 1

[10:34] Blake Augustus asks, "Why are most men dumb as bricks?"
[10:35] Lemuria Augustus says, "I do not know what bricks did to deserve such ire from you."
[10:36] Blake couldn't resist chuckling at that statement.
(Blake Augustus)
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[10:36] Blake Augustus asks, "But yeah did you actually wannna do anything?"
[10:36] Lemuria Augustus says, "Yes. I wanted to teach you."
[10:37] Lemuria Augustus says, "Let us head into the bedroom."
[10:44] Lemuria tapped her fingers against the desk, thinking to herself on what would be next. Eventually, though, she came up with a perfect idea.

"What I intend on teaching you next is a skill that allows you to..."

Her player took a moment to consider what the IC of the skill should be.

"Place a kind of curse on someone that, while it doesn't bring misfortune, lessens the impact that good fortune has upon someone, if that makes any sense. Things such as healing become more difficult."

There we go.

"It is also an effective precursor to one of the later witchcraft abilities."
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[10:47] A kind of cursing technique? That could be effective. Mayhaps Blake could use it to effectively mindbreak people like Dillion into an effective puppet. Or perhaps a stronger variant. Regardless, they'd nod. A sign they were ready to take an even deeper plunge into the occult.

"Reminder--- you said my next lesson would include two cool things instead of one. Not that I'm being greedy. Or anything." But they were. Totally being greedy for more knowledge and more power. The more they learned the fundamentals of occultism, the easier in theory, learning the more complicated witch-craft spells would be.
(Blake Augustus)
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[10:48] Lemuria Augustus asks, "Psh, why would I forget?"
[10:48] Lemuria Augustus says, "It is in my best interests to make you as strong as I possibly can."
[10:49] Lemuria Augustus says, "Now then, this spell, despite being as easy to hit someone with as the last one, functions under fundamentally different principles."
[10:49] Lemuria Augustus says, "Observe, while I demonstrate on that conspicuously infinitely regenerating houseplant."
[10:54] Lemuria did just that, pointing her hand over towards the local houseplant. Rather than creating a gap for energy to fill, this time she focused raw negative intent into the palm of her hand. It took the form of a small orb that had black smoke radiating from it, but rather than directly attacking the plant... nothing seemed to happen, outside of it wilting, slightly.

"By strongly focusing your negative intent into a single spot, you can visualize that orb entering the target and effectively bend causality to make them have worse luck."

Standing up, Lemuria went over to water the potted plant. However, as she tried, water poured from a small crack in the watering can, allowing only half of it to go in.

"This is one of those spells that functions based on ideas rather than mechanics, so however you make it work is up to you."
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[11:02] Intent over mechanics. The ability to put such negative thought into something that it'd curse it. Give it bad luck? Blake had heard of Witches being able to curse something with the mere intent of their words along. But had never actually seen it put into practice. Still, eyes focused on the plant as the mentor and elder sister preformed the spell. Seeing the hand glow with a strange shadowy orb, a magic that was starting to become all too familiar to the younger occultist-in-training, Blake's eyes watched as Lemuria went to water the plant.

It's luck had been hexed. No longer could it feel the full benefits of whatever someone or something intended for it. Seeing a crack form in the pot it sat in and begin leaking water from that crack, it seemed this ability was a bit more useful than others.

"Huh, neat. So it basically strips something of some of it's good fortune?If it can prevent people from healing properly, this could be very useful for me."
(Blake Augustus)
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[11:03] Lemuria Augustus says, "Yes, effectively."
[11:03] Lemuria Augustus says, "It is one of the most powerful weapons occultists can use against holy magi."
[11:04] Blake Augustus says, "Or Nature magi, who rely on their healing."
[11:04] Lemuria Augustus says, "And nature magi, Dark Lord bless them."
[11:04] Lemuria Augustus says, "...did we just-"
[11:05] Blake Augustus says, "..."
[11:05] Blake Augustus says, "We just thought the same thing, basically, yes."
[11:05] Lemuria Augustus says, "Huh."
[11:05] Lemuria Augustus says, "That does not happen often."
[11:05] Lemuria Augustus exclaims, "Either way...!"
[11:05] Blake Augustus says, "It happens with us."
[11:08] Lemuria, this time, pointed her hand towards Blake. The same dark orb, black smoke, etc formed. A mild curse entered Blake's body, inflicting nothing in the way of physical pain, but giving them a feeling of ominousness and dread. Whether or not Lemuria held back or it was the ominousness that inflicted the damage in the first place was unclear; not that it mattered much.

"Attempt to use the draining spell on me, so you can see firsthand what it does to your healing."
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[11:12] A hand thrusted itself toward Lemuria. With permission given, the spell would be attempted as requested. this was probably just to showcase the power of the technique that was in the process of being taught. Apparently having the ability to even distort even the healing that come from draining energy from others. Of course, Blake would not use the Draining technique to full effectiveness against their sister. Not wanting to hurt her too badly.

Once more was the suction applied to the hand, absorbing it's mana into their core and focusing on using this hand to draw forth energy from Lemuria's own mana. And yet--- for as long as Lemuria held this strange orb? It seemed like the small red wisps would regularly flee elsewhere. Some certainly did come off Lemuria but--- they wouldn't flow properly toward Blake as intended.

How strange. But the spell was only held for a short time before broken. Not wanting to hurt Lemuria anymore than what was already done. "Are you okay?"
(Blake Augustus)
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[11:16] Lemuria felt the pain from the technique being used on her, sure, but she was strong enough that it didn't inconvenience her whatsoever. She didn't even wince, and appreciated Blake holding back like they did.

"I am okay, yes. Now... I want you to attempt the spell on that plant, first, as it is much more difficult to hold back when using something for the first time."

She taped the crack on the watering can shut, both to give Blake a clear demonstration as to whether or not the ability worked- when they tried to use it, of course- and out of morbid curiosity as to what would go wrong with the watering can next.

"Do note that there is a small chance that the misfortune will manifest in the form of you over-watering the plant."

It wasn't too clear how serious she was being.
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[11:24] It was as if Lemuria was trying to turn Blake into a hater of plants for whatever reason. These poor house plants took so much abuse from the siblings and their training. And likely from any other students that Lemuria may have had.

Once more did Blake close their eyes. Trying to focus on the plant's very faint mana signature. Since it was one of two mana signatures in the room besides Blake's own, it wasn't difficult. Especially since all they had to do was 'feel' whatever mana source was in front of them. Once the plant was identified in their mind's eye?

Blake right hand expanded it's fingers, only to crush their hand together. Gripping their only fist tightly as darkened fog and tendril escaped between the gaps of their palm and fingers. Wiggling and worming about. What exactly was Blake thinking of that made it so easy to cast a spell like this without much difficulty? With such zeal? They'd stay quiet.Focused on maintaining the technique for as long as Lemuria desired them to.
(Blake Augustus)
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[11:28] As Lemuria went over to water the potted plant, the handle broke after a bit of water was poured in, causing it to fall to the floor and shatter. Lemuria could only smirk at that.

She loved random misfortune, sometimes.

"Okay, you may stop now. How difficult was it? Because the next spell builds off of this one, in a way."
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[11:33] The hand opened back up, and with it, the tendrils flickered through the air, evaporating back into ambient mana. The eyes of Blake opened up. They were dilated. Like a predator looking at prey. It seemed every time Blake used their dark magic. Especially a technique they had not fully mastered; the teens mind dove deeper and deeper into the shadows of human psyche.

"Not hard at all. All I had to do was want it to hurt. Genuinely want something to hurt. That's easy for me. To want things to hurt. All I had to do was channel my mana on top of that into my target." A look was then given toward Lemuria. One that was followed by a sigh.
(Blake Augustus)
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[11:34] Lemuria Augustus says, "Excellent."
[11:34] Lemuria Augustus says, "The next technique will require us to be in the farm so we can see how well it works."
[11:34] Blake Augustus says, "Fine."
[11:34] Lemuria Augustus says, "Learning how to weaponize negative intent is an excellent tool for an occultist in general."
[11:41] Luckily, there were grass, plants, and various other kinds of foliage everywhere in here. It was difficult to see the next spell manifest otherwise, because only the living could be damaged by the spell she was about to use. Lemuria created some distance between her and Blake, once more forming a focused orb of negative intent within her palm. Except this time...

"This is one of the primary spells that makes occultism so dangerous. It damages all those around us, sundering the land and rendering it uninhabitable for a time. A large number of sufficiently powerful occultists can turn a whole nation into a desolate wasteland through use of this spell."

...she flooded it with an immense amount of occult mana, her negative intent strengthening many times over. Lemuria casually dropped it like she was letting go of the ball, and it sunk into the ground, appearing to do nothing-

That is, at least until all of the plant life surrounding her died, turning to ashand withering away. Blake themselves would take damage from this, too, the occult miasma rotting their skin. However, Lemuria was holding back enough so that it wouldn't do much more than make some of their skin shrivel up, as if it were dehydrated. Nothing a bit of lotion couldn't fix.

"This is a curse you cast upon the land."
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[12:01] Blake followed their sister to the garden. Making sure to be observant of whatever it was that their sister desired to teach them. It was best to keep an open mind and an observant eye on their mentor. To make sure that not a single bit of important visual information was missed. Their ears as well, were focused upon Lemuria. Making sure all words spoken were heard.

It was long until they stopped, releasing that Lemuria wanted to make a good bit of distance with themselves to ensure whatever was involved In this training exercise wouldn't damage Blake too much.

And so a step back or two was afforded Giving Lemuria even more space as they watched the occultic mana build up in Lemuria's grasp. This time however, the mana dropped to the ground. Dipping into it and seeming to fade into the shadows of the soil... nothing happened?

As soon as the thought cross, the ground gave off a shake. Dark tendrils made by Lemuria's magic ripped through the soil and caused Blake's entire body to shake. They felt the dark tendrils siphon power from them. Making their skin wrinkle as if they had been bathing for far too long.

A stumble back and an instinct desire to get out of dodge was employed. Jumping out of the field of corroded and desolated soils. Only to let out a sigh. "Great. I have to fix my crops now."
(Blake Augustus)
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[12:03] Lemuria Augustus says, "Necessary sacrifice."
[12:04] Lemuria Augustus says, "As I said, techniques like these are why occultism is seen as so dangerous."
[12:05] Lemuria Augustus says, "The world begins to die around us."
[12:06] Blake Augustus says, "Yeah, I get it."
[12:06] Lemuria Augustus says, "Good."
[12:09] With that, Lemuria actually came up with an idea.

"...I do wonder what would happen if I tried to focus that ability through a lens and fire it rather than drop it. Maybe the two of us could practice it together? I figure trying to turn it into something more outwardly offensive might give a clearer understanding of how it works, as dropping it into the ground does not show you what happens when it actually sinks in."

Besides, the two of them developing all new skills together could be a nice bonding experience.
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[12:14] Nodding, developing a technique together would be very nice. Something for the two siblings to do to not only further their bond but also their power, together. Yet a hand extended itself, once more charged with occult mana. Being able to conjure malevolent intent, darker emotions, and push it forward with magic was growing easier by the day. A charge of dark power built itself in the grasp of the young occultist. Their eyes turning to the sibling.

"Should I give the field creation a go, myself?" Asking for permission to continue.
(Blake Augustus)
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[12:20] Once more, Lemuria formed an orb of negative intent within her palm, and flooded it with occult mana. It grew significantly in both size and power, but rather than dropping it, Lemuria instead held it up, pointing it away from Blake. Occult had very little in the way of spells that launched outwards, outside of the first one that every occultist learns, so Lemuria wasn't quite sure how to go about this.

There was a moment of silence, Lemuria concentrating on the point she wanted to launch her would-be attack at. With one final pulse of mana, she fired the orb forth from her hand, but rather than extending outwards in the form of any kind of attack, the mana just... popped outwards. It lingered for a while, forming visible black tendrils, so at the very least, it served as a visual representation of what happened underground.

"Yes. You may try."
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[12:26] The mana building up in Blake's hand was looked upon and watched. With the magic being channeled as it was, it could become potentially dangerous even to Blake as it was focused. And yet... there was a certain beauty about it. "People are so afraid of this. Simply because it's honest with what it does."

Instead of allowing the orb to drop however, Blake did something different. Far more forceful. Desiring to make the impact last. Dropping to their hands and knees, the youth aimed to slam the orb into the grasp, pushing it down and into the already rippled land and force feed it into the ground.

"I'm so tired of people being cowards. So afraid of the truth. Stagnating as they stand around their stupid little peaceful park. Abandoning ambition and the true meaning of what it is to feel alive, just to feel safe in their stupid little stone cage they call a city."

The tendrils of darkness rose up out of the ground as Blake'seyes widened yet again, once more was the garden ripped nd shredded by an Occultist. Once more was the malice that was in Blake's heart amplify the intensity of their demonic arts. "I'm so tired of how weak they are."
(Blake Augustus)
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[12:34] Lemuria sighed in response, having heart and thought through every bit of occultism-related rhetoric she could. She had long since come to terms with what kinds of things occultism did to someone, and didn't fancy herself a victim, a paragon, an ideal, or anything. No, she was a witch. She was a witch. She was their enemy. She was better than them. Malice began to build up within Lemuria's heart, too, and she once more tried the same steps she did last time.

"I am well aware."

Her words were oozing, dripping with venom, as she once more fired that one final pulse of mana, causing the orb to explore outwards. It was more honed, controlled, and didn't disperse right away, unlike last time. The malice within Lemuria's heart was much more focused and honed, which was reflected in her magic. It didn't take much for her to weave her darkness into something else.

Unfortunately, she was still missing something necessary to make this work out correctly.

"They are cattle ruled by comfort. And the Order are dogs ruled by sheep. It is sickening."
(Lemuria Augustus)
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