Illusion 1

[00:03] Berkut had already shut his eyes to try and focus upon these circuits and his soul until he heard this greetings. His eyes open back up and he turns around briefly, spotting Hestia. His concentration wasn't even broken by her landing on the ground earlier, surprisingly. Giving a small nod of acknowledgement to Hestia, his gaze turns once more back to the pages before him, envisioning the body in such a form. Letting his eyes shut after, this form appears before him.

Windows open inwardly, shining light upon his internal self. Before him he now pictures himself in the form of this anatomical drawing, having these circles. His arms lift upward just a bit to be off the table, focusing on this feeling that's within him. He doesn't feel anything as he searches for quite some time, his brows knitting. His own frustrations are what's holding him back, concerned with his need to figure out magic to at least some degree for Ser Wano.

His anger will only hold him back. But such desire can eventually find something, even if the connection is weak. He touches the faintest amounts of this energy, these whisps within himself. One hand comes and grasps his forearm of the other arm, focusing all that he can into this particular channel of his palm. For him it's like flexing a msucle he's never known he had before. And it's a bit difficult. But slowly, small wisps of mana flicker across his palm. His gaze opens, teeth gritted some.

"It...shouldn't be...this difficult.."
(Berkut Morello)
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[00:06] The teen offered a wave in response, preparing to engage before a though took her, and she zipped back over the shelves, glancing through the titles before finally finding a book that seemed appropriate. 'Illusion: The Art of Deception', the title read, and the young woman moved over to the table, noting the lack of chairs and shrugging internally before casually pushing herself up onto the table.

She remained silent for the moment, instead focusing on the text in order to not disrupt the lesson. She'd speak when the fellow teen didn't seem to be focusing so hard. However, that didn't mean she wouldn't practice. Rifling in one of the satchels on her person, she produced a small silver-backed mirror. She'd acquired it for taking caring of her appearance -though she'd considered trying to use it to explore a flame-less brewing process through reflection of heat onto the vial of potion- but it would fit this situation.

Runningher hands over it, she followed the instruction of the book, extracting a quill from her satchel and placing it on the table. Holding the mirror so it caught the reflection, she closed her eyes, breathed, and pushed the mana through the mirror. It was a strange focus, and she could feel it heating up as a result of the magical energy pushed through it. Her eyes opened, and for a brief moment she saw it, a low-detail recreation of the quill. She marvelled at it for a moment before the heat of the mirror got too strong, and with a yelp she dropped it from her hands. It impacted the table, glass shattering as the illusion faded; a loud sound likely to provoke attention. "Oops."

Still, success, even if basic!
(Hestia Masalis)
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[00:08] And like that the concentration and struggle is broken. The shattering glass and the yelp makes it all go away, his gaze shifting towards Hestia with an look of some concern. He hadn't put any focus onto her until now.

"Is all well...?"
(Berkut Morello)
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[00:08] Gwenael Trawyn says, "I will let you practice into it."
[00:08] Berkut Morello says, "I'll clearly need some to impress Ser Wano...thank you."
[00:10] Gwenael Trawyn says, "It is no problem~"
[00:12] The teen glance up, eyes wide like a deer in the headlights. "Sorry! I didn't mean to bother you, I was just trying to...well, I made a second quill! Not a real one, obviously, an illusionary one, and its the first time I've ever done directed magic and I channeled it through the mirror because symbolically a mirror represents duality so the book said it made sense and then it got really hot so I dropped it." The rambling stopped abruptly, Hestia realising she was going on about successful magic to someone who apparently wasn't having much luck himself.

"Sorry. I'm Hestia, Masalis. Nice to meet you."
(Hestia Masalis)
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[00:14] Berkut seems a bit confused as she rambles on about the magic, her explanation making some sense to him, but not a ton. He knows lances and armor. And farming. The magic is still something he's struggling with some. He gives a small nod to the girl, letting one of his hands come to his hip.

"Berkut. It's fine, if I can't manage with noise then I couldn't manage in the Order anyways."
(Berkut Morello)
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[00:14] Gwenael Trawyn says, "Hestia, Berkut, i will remember those names~ I am Gwenael Trawyn."
[00:14] Berkut Morello says, "...I just realized I never said my name before. You have my sincere apologies."
[00:15] Gwenael Trawyn says, "Berkut, find me here whenever you believe yourself able to perform the basics of the casting of magic."
[00:15] Firmly pressing a fist to his chest, he bows once more to the priest. "Of course, Gwenael. Thank you again for your kindness and for paying for these materials."
(Berkut Morello)
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[00:15] Gwenael Trawyn says, "It is fine. Although Hestia,, i actually find it interesting that you did it so well at the fiirst try. You seems quite potent~"
[00:16] Gwenael Trawyn says, "It is no problems~ I love teaching very much~"
[00:17] "I think it was just the focus. Apparently symbolic magic is a little easier, because the mana can more concretely feel what you're trying to do with it." At least, that was what the book said. She shifted her attention from the older man to the younger. "Oh, you're trying to join the Order? A lot of people want to do that lately, I'm not sure why. Seems dangerous, especially with those terrorists around."
(Hestia Masalis)
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[00:19] Berkut allows himself to rise up from his bow, turning towards the far more successful girl. "It's dangerous, but I want to make my life mean something. To do something impactful. I'll admit, I don't know much about the Syndicate. But from what I do know, the ideals of knighthood inspire me."
(Berkut Morello)
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[00:20] Gwenael Trawyn says, "However, i will leave you two here, i neeed some rest."
[00:20] Hestia Masalis exclaims, "Farewell!"
[00:20] Berkut Morello says, "Of course, thank you again."
[00:28] The girl frowned, almost imperceptibly. "So, the only way to make your life mean something is to join the military? That sounds like something you'd hear during a recruitment drive." She sighed, idly sweeping the glass into a pile as best she could without hurting herself. "You could do something less dangerous and still have your life mean something. Maybe you could develop a couple of new spells, or fundraise for an orphanage, or become a famous dancer!" The image of the latter was amusing, and a small giggle slipped from her lips.

"The First Light is an honourable and meaningful organisation, of course, but if you're joining because you think that's the only way to make your life mean something, that isn't the case. But if you have more concrete reasons, by all means, go ahead!"
(Hestia Masalis)
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[00:31] "Anything is better than that disdainable farm." He says with a disgusted expression, though he sighs shortly after and brings a hand upward to fix his hair. Compose yourself, Berkut. One who seeks noble status cannot go and show such moments, even with being rather tired and unsuccessful for the day.

"Dance is one of my talents, one might say. But I do not wish to be known for that alone. I want more from life. And if I have spent so many years studying the lance then I should put it into action, no? I feel myself most talented in that field."
(Berkut Morello)
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[00:37] Hestia blinked, her frown replaced by a soft smile as he explained his reasoning, which the young Alchemist found perfectly reasonable. "Well, in that case, I wish you the best of luck! Although farmers work hard to support the kingdom, so you should appreciate that, at least." Those who viewed with disdain the average worker confused the teenager, in truth.

She turned back to the book, reading a few more paragraphs to try and figure out what she did wrong with her first attempt at illusion magic. She was pretty sure the mirror was not supposed to become extremely hot.
(Hestia Masalis)
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[00:39] Berkut allows a small sigh to escape him, nodding once. "I do understand such. But a life of the same dull actions again and again is not one for me. My father and my brothers can handle it well enough without me anyways. And they'll be thanking me when I can lift them out of the dirt."

Truly Berkut sees himself as the hero in their story, even if he's currently poor and accepting handouts. But every story starts somewhere. Seeing her turn to the book, he figures her busy with her work again. And so he gives a passing wave as he turns, needing to find something small to eat and a place to sleep.

"Well, I wish you luck with your own magical endeavors. I must be off."
(Berkut Morello)
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[00:43] Hestia idly wondered if his family wanted to be 'lifted out of the dirt'. Sometimes people were happy with their lot in life, even if he wasn't. Still, she didn't say as much, instead offering a polite nod. "Thank you, and you as well. If you're having trouble with doing things the way you're taught, maybe try a different method!"

It seemed like good advice to her, at least, although as she flicked through the book and realised that she'd actually been poorly regulating her mana, causing excess to heat the mirror she decided that they component method worked well for her, for now at least. As Berkut made to leave, she offered him a parting wave. "Farewell, Berkut!"
(Hestia Masalis)
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[01:03] The teen continued the read through the book, noting that the duplication spell she'd been practicing was actually an extremely basic version of the clone spell, where one completely duplicated themselves, in detail. Apparently it was mainly used in combat, although that seemed like a waste of spell's potential to Hestia. Surely such magic could be used in performances, or any number of other ways, including conflict avoidance?

She sighed, continuing to read. Apparently, the mirror was a good focus, but any reflective surface would work. She picked up a shard of silver-backed glass, and used it to capture the image of the quill. Once more she focused, pushing mana through the shard but also paying more attention this time, relaxing the flow when it grew more than comfortably warm. Soon the quill's illusionary duplicate appeared once more, poorly detailed.

Following the instructions, she focused more carefully on the grains of the quill, the patterns of the feather, and slowly the detail of the illusion increased. Eventually it reached a point of being moderately detailed, at which point the teen had to stop, feeling quite exhausted from the effort. "I'll have to pick this up tomorrow..." she muttered, sweeping the glass shards into the satchel, before realising it was a poor idea. Oh well, she'd deal with it later.
(Hestia Masalis)
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