The Choice of Magic - Michael G. Manning Page 0,64
your personal turyn for?”
Will thought about it, wondering if it was a trick question. “You told me it’s what we use to function. Walking, breathing, etc…”
“So if you can control it, and even increase it, what does that mean?” added his mentor.
Will gaped at his teacher as the meaning became clear. “You’re using magic to make yourself faster!”
“I’m teaching you to be a wizard,” said Arrogan. “That doesn’t just mean learning to cast spells. It means becoming a master of magic in all its forms, the turyn in your body, the turyn in your spells, and even that of your enemy.
“That being said, your body has a limit. You can use your turyn to make yourself faster and stronger, but not beyond the physical capacity of your muscles and bones. You can give yourself an advantage in a fight, but if you try to take on a master swordsman, you’ll still be gutted because he’s spent his life training to do something you’re just dabbling at.”
“If I can make myself faster and stronger than a normal swordsman, shouldn’t I be able to beat him?” asked Will.
“Magic is life,” his grandfather informed him. “Just because you don’t see ordinary people casting spells doesn’t mean they don’t depend on it. Athletes, warriors, people that train themselves to be the best at what they do, they’re doing something very similar with their turyn. And on top of that, they’re building their physical capacity at the same time. You can use your magic in a large variety of ways, including to give yourself a physical advantage, but don’t ever make the mistake of underestimating people who train hard at fighting, or you’ll learn a painful and bloody lesson.”
Disappointed, Will responded, “When you put it like that, it makes wizardry sound a lot less exciting.”
“I just want you to have realistic expectations,” said his teacher. “Wizardry is still far better than anything else you could learn. You might never be the best swordsman, or the strongest man, or the best climber, or dancer, whatever you name, but with conscious control over your turyn you can become much better at any of those things. Your power is much more versatile, and we’re only discussing the enhancement of your physical abilities—there are far more amazing things that can be done when you consider real magic.”
“Speaking of which,” said Will, “when are you going to start teaching me magic? You said it would be after I finished learning to compress my source, so…”
“You’ve already started,” observed Arrogan. “Creating an extended layer of turyn is the first step for much of what you’ll do in the future.”
“What’s the next step then?” probed Will.
“Learning the runes,” said his grandfather immediately. “But before I teach you that, you need to master what I’ve already shown you.”
With a sigh, Will nodded and began to practice ‘expressing’ his turyn again.
Chapter 22
After two weeks of practicing what he had already learned, Will was good and sick of it. “If I have to express myself one more time, I’m going to lose my mind,” he complained.
“Don’t get married, then,” said his grandfather.
“Huh? Why don’t you ever make sense?”
The old man laughed. “It’s a joke, but I suppose you’re too young to understand.”
As much as he didn’t want to listen to yet another weird lecture from his teacher, he was desperate to distract the old man from the repetitive drills. “Explain it to me then,” he said, choosing the lesser of two evils.
“For marriage you need patience, which is one lesson you’ll have to learn, but more specifically, you have to communicate well. You have to learn to express yourself,” explained Arrogan. “Now, let’s try it again.”
Disappointed that his grandfather had finished so quickly, Will decided to fish for more. “You don’t seem like the marrying kind. How did you wind up getting married?”
Arrogan paused, as though caught in a memory. Frequently when that happened, his eventual response would be, ‘none of your damned business,’ but this time he answered, “My teacher was determined to make sure I learned this lesson, so she took it upon herself to make it her life’s work.”
“Your teacher was a woman?” asked Will, somewhat confused. Then his mind clicked, putting together what his grandfather had said. “Wait! You married your teacher?”
Arrogan nodded. “She didn’t give me much choice, but then, she always knew my mind better than I did. Aislinn made that same silly joke about learning to express myself, then she spent more than a century reinforcing the lesson.”