Books in the Snow [Open!]

[Gwydion]

On a snowy mound in Ilia, Gwydion sat in quietude, cloak wrapped around him so as little was exposed as possible, leaving only the bare skin of his head and hands open to the cold. Tiny motes of flame danced around him, their heat helping a little, though he was cautious to not get them too close to his reading material, lest it burst into flame.

Strictly speaking, the staff at the academy Gwydion attended were none too happy about his...'excursions', but mostly let them slide provided he didn't stray too far out of sight. And so, here he sat, entirely enthralled by a book he'd managed to take out with him. It detailed advanced elemental magic - specifically that of Thoron - and was entirely out of the young mage's skill. He had no idea how to even begin casting something of such an awe-inspiring magnitude, and the fact that his instructors were capable of such feats was incredible to him.

It was comforting though, in a way. Every single master of the arcane arts began at similar levels as Gwydion, and one day he'd join their level of knowledge. One day.

Raising a hand, Gwydion sends small jolts of electricity arcing from one fingertip to the next, quietly smiling to himself.

"It's not quite what Thoron can accomplish, but..." One spark stops in midair, hovering and beginning to grow in size and intensity, before he makes a flicking motion and it fires with some speed into the snowy ground in front. He opens his mouth to finish his sentence, and...doesn't...know how to. Frowning for a moment as he tries to think of something, he eventually just shrugs to himself and continues exciting himself with visions of Gwydion, master of lightning.

[Kayla]

A snowy mound. Somewhere. Cold. Too Cold!! Kayla didn't particularly like the cold but Polly, her Pegasus, told her to return for some reason. Maybe it was pegasus mating season. It probably wasn't but Kayla had nothing better to do. The duo sailed through the air toward their homeland.

A spark of electricity sprung through the air. Was that an attack? Her eyes scanned and eventually caught sight of a kid. Wow!! The kid was even younger than she was. What was he even playing with. Didn't he know that electricity was dangerous? Did he know that lightning spooks Pegasus? Did he know that Pegasus were half of the economy of Ilia? Did he know magic blew us apart... not too long ago? Kayla didn't really care about all that. She was curious though.

"Kids keep getting younger these days. Hehee. Still, strong enough to spook Polly." Kayla spoke to her steed. The air borne horse circled for a moment before diving down toward the kid. Down and down. Faster and faster. She called out on her way down. "Dont just cast magic willy nilly! Stupid dumby!"  The young one could've hit us and then poof, were all dead. Kayla imagined the news. Messenger shot down by dumb child.

Polly reared up in front of the traveler. Wide wings blew snow in every direction. Polly took the time needed to land properly. Kayla hopped off her steed. The Pegasus stomped a hoof three times, calling Kayla's attention. "Relax Polly, he looks nice enough." Kayla bounced toward her new friend.

"Howdy. Name's Kayla. "

[Gwydion]

Gwydion continues to be engrossed in his thoughts, poring through the tome in his hands, entirely oblivious to the soft beat of pegasus wings as Kayla flies closer. As she yells out, he starts, thrown out of his own little world. The motes of warming fire flicker and waver as his concentration breaks for a second, before returning to their lazily drifting state as he grabs a hold of it once more.

"Ah! Oh, sorry if I scared you... or your pegasus," Gwydion says apologetically, turning to look at Kayla - though his eyes focused on her steed. They looked majestic up close, a winged horse white as the untrodden snow, with feathered wings that could take them into the clouds above. They were still animals, though... a sudden spell from out of the blue would probably spook them. Maybe it was foolish of him to have cast one. "I was just... uhm, practising, I guess."

"It's nice to meet you, Kayla, my name is Gwydion!" The boy beams, standing up to greet her properly. He tucks his book away and brushes off some of the snow that had decided to cling to his clothes. "I'm studying at the magic academy nearby, although I only really know the basics. There's a lot of stuff I haven't learned yet, all kinds of powerful spells and things the teachers can do... but I'm sure I'll get there someday!"

"What about you? Any particular reason you were headed over this way? Ah, I probably distracted you from doing whatever you were doing, right? Sorry about that."

[Kayla]

Kayla folded her arms. "No one was scared. I was just saying. look before you cast. You know?" The pegasus knight relaxed her posture as she studied the young one fully. Heheheh. A new student all the way out here? Kayla resisted the urge to rub her hand around the boy's head and mess with his hair. But she played it cool. She had a plan.

"Practice. It is important indeed." Was there a school out here? Kayla grew up in Ilia but schooling was never part of her youth. Nonetheless Kayla listened to Gwydion's words and started to do what she did best. White lies. She loved harmless tricks and such.

" Turns out I was called out here as a teacher at the academy. I was told to give the students a test of sorts." There was almost no way the student would believe her. But it was worth a shot. Maybe he would. Maybe, all of a sudden, she would have a student. One that she couldn't teach but.... whatever. It would be fun. If the kid got mad its not like he could shoot Polly out of the sky when they ran.

"I need to test your ..." Kayla smirked to herself. Patience... Clearly that wasn't a good trick. "Aptitude." The Pegasus knight tried to look as official as possible. She peered over her shoulder to see Polly with ice in the fur and feathers. She turned back toward Gwydion, still pretending to be a teacher.

" Survival tactics. Surely, as a mage, you can start a campfire even under these conditions."

[Gwydion]

So Kayla was... a teacher brought into the academy. And her first impression of Gwydion was him recklessly firing a lightning bolt. She didn't seem to be too bothered at least, but it still wasn't a great way to introduce yourself. Hopefully the test she'd give would help redeem him.



Or maybe this meeting was a blessing in disguise! Surely the professors would be impressed if he'd passed the test before anyone else. All he had to do was demonstrate his use of magic in a survival situation by lighting a campfire. The task seemed easy enough, just some basic fire casting. But maybe there was some hidden layer of complexity to it? It wouldn't be much of a test if it was that simple.



Preparing to cast a fire spell, Gwydion begins to excite the nearby spirits, before stopping. This was meant to be a campfire, so the fire would need some kind of fuel to keep it going. Taking a look at the overhead trees, he casts a blade of wind, setting free some branches that fall to the ground. Smiling quietly at his success, he moves forward to bunch the branches together into a pile. While it probably wasn't how a regular campfire was made exactly, regular campfires didn't call upon anima spirits to ignite them.



With the wood set up, Gwydion returns to casting his spell, releasing his mana as a fire flickers into existence, eating away at the wood. Satisfied with his performance, he turns back round to Kayla.



"Well, the fire would be a little bigger, probably have some more fuel if I needed a longer fire, but I think that's enough for a demonstration?"