Rebellion: Prince of Dawn

Chapter 10.4: The First Turning Point

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ILIAS VAN PAYNE

The skies this morning had a rather strange hue to them. It looked normal, but they had a tinge of every colour swirling among the dark passing clouds.

"It looks like a storm might pass later," Jaime said as she wolfed down her breakfast.

"It might be a storm," I said, "might be something else. But it's something alright."

"Oh, Ilias, since I'm good with Water Ball now, can you teach me your signature move? I want to be able to shoot Water Cannon too."

"You have perfected Water Ball. Water Cannon is the natural next step."

"If you're going to play around with that spell, please don't do so inside the village," Trisha said. "You destroyed half the house last time."

"We know, Mother. And we're not playing around, we're training."

"You know what I mean."

"Don't worry. We'll go to where Heloise used to take me and we'll practice there. That spot is good for destructive spells."

Since we were heading far out, I dressed in a similar attire to the one I wore when I was on the road. A thick brown robe, heavy leather boots, the satchel Camaro gifted me, and my oversized pointy hat. I had decided to bring my staff and wand as well, wrapping the top of the staff with a cloth and belt to make sure it didn't attract unwanted attention from people with sticky fingers.

Jaime simply wore the usual clothes she wore. Brown breeches with light boots, a once-white tan tunic under a leather chest piece, and the trusty sword she had been inseparable with hanging on her hip. She insisted her attire was enough, but Mother made her wear a light jacket with the top half lined in fur.

"You two stay safe," Mother said. "If things get bad out there, come home immediately."

We said our goodbyes and travelled thirty minutes to the field outside of Gilead. Other than the occasional tree every now and then, the meadow was completely barren.

Jaime sat cross-legged, prepared to listen to me.

"Water Cannon," I explained, "is a spell similar to Water Ball. There are two big differences. The volume of water and the force it shoots out in. Because of these factors, you will need more mana to cast the spell. More than what you've been used to."

I took off the cloth my staff was wrapped in and pointed it in the direction of the faraway forest. "Water Cannon!"

Water gathered into a ball at the tip of Aurora Ventus before shooting out as a powerful jet that dissipated fifty feet away.

I needed to tune myself to the staff but overall, it was pretty good. It takes so little mana to cast a spell.

"Woah." Jaime's jaws were on the floor. "I don't remember it being that strong."

"The volume of water and the force is set, but with simple physics, you can fine-tune the spell however you wish."

She raised a hand. "Will you teach me how to cast incantationless spells?"

"You will learn incantationless spells later on, but not from me. It'll take you a while before you're ready for that. Book!" Talking Book summoned in front of me and I had it hover to Jaime. "Here are the words to Water Cannon. Just read them out to familiarize yourself."

Jaime held out a hand. "Let the power of impact and force flow through my body and conjure into a spout of great strength. Water Cannon!"

She repeated the spell a couple more times but was only able to form the water and not shoot it out.