Shaggy paused as he and Scooby entered the training hall in the castle—ordinarily, it was his and Daphne's workout room, keeping all of their home gym equipment for them to stay in shape with no actual gym to be found on the mountain. Vincent had decided it would be the best place for the mindfulness lesson he had in mind for them.
But Shaggy had taken a moment to watch Daphne, who had gotten there ahead of him, maneuvering the silver staff she had received from Vincent around in her hands. At first glance, it looked as though she was merely mimicking using a bo staff from martial arts training, but as Shaggy watched, it was clear that the staff was responding to her movements—it hovered in midair when she let go, turning without her having to touch it so that she could grab it with every new position she took.
"Rhwow," Scooby commented.
"Yeah, and, like, that's a good idea she's got—make it dual-purpose," Shaggy noted. "No one would ever expect her to use a mage's staff the mortal way and just go wailing on a monster with it."
Daphne grinned as she glanced back at them.
"I fully intend to keep my opponents guessing," she said. "I'll be casting spells, too, of course—but this will be nice to trip them up."
Shaggy nodded.
"That staff seems to respond well to you," he noted. "You've got it moving along with you, without even really trying."
"Rheah, rheven tho it belonged to Mr. Van Ghoul," Scooby agreed.
"Yeah, I noticed that, too," she said. "Maybe when he handed it over to me, it was more than just a symbolic thing." She smiled. "I'm going to take this as a hopeful sign."
"It really suits you, Daphne," Scrappy said, grinning as he and Flim-Flam arrived now.
"Yeah, I can see why Vince says you're a natural!" Flim-Flam agreed.
"She's also a natural because she takes to the parts of training that the rest of you don't seem to have the patience for," Vincent added, as he teleported in. "Exactly how much reading did you do these past three hours?"
"We read the scroll, Sir," Shaggy promised. "All of us!"
"…For the first of multiple times, I do hope," Vincent replied. "For now, however, we will focus on focusing."
"Rhuh?" Scooby asked.
"Magic requires focus and discipline," Vincent explained. "You have to learn how to get yourself to focus before you can cast spells effectively."
He conjured up a set of mats in a circle on the floor, sitting down on one of them; the others followed suit.
"Now, then…" he instructed. "I want you all to close your eyes and focus on your breathing—inhale for four seconds, pause, and then exhale for four seconds. And keep doing that. Try not to think of anything else."
"Uh, Vince…?" Flim-Flam asked. "Maybe I'm missing something here, but this seems more like yoga than magic."
"The basic idea of inner focus is the same for both, yes," Vincent agreed. "The more you focus internally, the more you'll be able to resonate with all that is around you—including mana."
They were all silent for the moment, focusing on their breathing; Vincent wasn't sure how long it would last, and so, he seized the moment to give them further explanations—
"Magical beings have mana within them," he continued. "But mana itself exists all around us—all mortals have the ability to resonate with it if they are able to hone their inner focus. A sixth sense or premonition is an example of a mortal resonating with mana in the environment. Of course, some mortals are gifted enough to resonate with mana more easily than others; those most gifted with this ability are the ones who become career psychics, mediums, and even mortal practitioners of witchcraft—though they are always self-taught." He glanced at Daphne, who was fully concentrating. Without her even realizing it, the staff in her hands was glowing with energy.
"Wow!" Scrappy exclaimed, getting distracted by the glow. Flim-Flam, Scooby, and Shaggy also looked, staring in amazement.
"Yes, I would say Daphne is somewhere in the middle of this scale of mortals—although she will have the benefit of my teachings to help her excel past the others." He glanced at the others. "Now, about that focusing…"
"Oh, oops…" Shaggy realized, trying to focus again.
The others followed suit, and, once again, Vincent had a feeling that it was only temporary. Sure enough, barely another ten minutes had gone by when—
"Rhaggy?" Scooby whispered.
"Yeah, Scoob?" Shaggy whispered back.
"Rhi'm hungry."
"So am I, but we'll have lunch after this, I'm sure."
"Rhokay…"
"Yes, there will be lunch after this," Vincent replied, calmly.
Flim-Flam was getting more than a bit fidgety, especially now that food was getting mentioned again.
"This whole 'focus on focusing' thing isn't as easy as I thought, Vince," he sighed. "It's really hard to think of nothing!"
"I'm not saying I told you so, but I did point out that you might not have the patience for it—not yet anyway," Vincent reminded him.
"Yeah, I'll say; like, all I think of is food," Shaggy sighed.
"Rhme too," Scooby whined.
"And I keep getting distracted, too," Scrappy lamented. "Sorry, Mr. Van Ghoul—guess we're not as gifted at this as Daphne is."
"It's not that you can't do it; you just haven't had much practice in this, that's all," Vincent said. He glanced at Daphne. "With her martial arts training, I imagine Daphne has experience in mindfulness and focusing."
"Oh, yeah…" Shaggy realized. "I bet they weren't trying karate chops on the first day, either."
Daphne did a few more inhaling and exhaling cycles before opening her eyes again, the glowing of the staff in her hands subsiding.
"We definitely had to build up to that with focus training," she agreed. "I'm guessing you guys will have to, as well."
"Furthermore, Scrappy and Flim-Flam are incredibly young to be learning this," Vincent pointed out. "Formal mage training generally takes place at the age of 16. Families might teach a few basic spells to the younger members of the household in the years leading up to 16, but, usually, they spend a great many years just teaching mindfulness and focus like this. But your experiences against the 13 Ghosts and the other creatures we've dealt with will certainly hasten things—just be sure to keep up with your reading and taking some time daily to improve your inner focus. If you kept up with it, I honestly think that you, Shaggy and Scooby, could eventually train at the same level as Daphne if you wanted to—and so could Flim-Flam and Scrappy, once they're old enough."
"Rhou think so?" Scooby asked. "Rheven me?"
"You were the one who wielded the Wonder Wand against Maldor—and without any help from me," Vincent reminded him, slightly put out as he remembered how unhelpful he'd been back then, at the very start of their association. "With the proper training, you'd be able to wield it without accidentally turning the wand on yourself."
Scooby winced as he recalled how that had happened—that hadn't been pleasant.
"Rheah…" he agreed.
"Well, maybe we could, but the only time I can sit still and do nothing is if I'm asleep," Shaggy exclaimed.
"Believe it or not, Shaggy, doing nothing takes practice, especially when you're not used to it," Vincent assured him. "If you keep trying, I think the four of you could end up surprising yourselves. I won't deny that it'll be difficult—but it's not impossible. And I'll be there to offer my guidance, if you wish."
The four of them exchanged glances.
"I think we'd like to try that, Mr. V," Shaggy said, as Flim-Flam and the dogs nodded again.
"Alright—you can practice and read on your own schedules; just let me know what you wish to do," Vincent said. "And now, you can wash up for lunch—I just need a word with Daphne, and then we'll join you."
Shaggy and Scooby gleefully headed out, followed by Flim-Flam and Scrappy, who were now giving much more thought to what magic entailed.
"Well?" Daphne asked.
"Well, everything is exactly what I expected it would be," Vincent mused. "They need a bit more practice, a bit more studying, and a bit more discipline, but I have faith that they can pull it off."
"I think so, too," Daphne agreed.
"But I see no reason for you to wait for them to catch up," Vincent added. "I think you're ready for practical lessons."
"You mean the actual spellcasting?" she asked, trying to keep her eagerness in check once again.
"Yes. We could start this afternoon, if you wish."
"That's perfect!" she exclaimed. Though she had been patient enough to do all the reading and had done the focusing lesson well, that didn't mean that she hadn't been eager to get to the real thing.
Staff still in hand, she headed for the door.
"Daphne…" Vincent called after her, prompting her to pause and look back at him. He hesitated, however. "Nevermind; we can discuss it later."
"Oh. Okay," she said, and then she paused. "You won't be getting into trouble for this, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I am a mortal. Didn't Zeus punish Prometheus for bringing fire to mortals? At least, that's the story I heard," Daphne recalled.
"Lord Zeus probably wouldn't have ordained this to happen, but enough mortals have discovered means of utilizing magic in their own way that it won't be an issue," Vincent assured her. "And it helps that I just happen to be a prized acolyte of his most favored daughter. Through Lady Pallas, I know Olympus is aware of my choosing you as an heiress to my magic—and since none of the Olympians have attempted to put a stop to it, I think it's safe to assume we're in the clear."
"That's a relief," Daphne sighed. "But that probably means that they'll be watching my progress, too, huh?"
"…I imagine so," Vincent admitted. "Try not to think about that; you don't need any undue pressure while learning all of this."
"I'll try not to," she promised.
"That's all I ask," Vincent replied. "Now, go and join the others for lunch—it'll be on the table soon."
"Right," she said, headed out of the training room.
She was trying to be true to her word and not dwell on it, but the butterflies were soon back in her stomach with a vengeance.
Daphne sighed inwardly, glancing at the silver staff in her hands. He'd given her something that had personally belonged to him (for however short a time that had been) because he'd believed in her. He had trusted her with it—and was going to trust her with his entire magical legacy. And he deserved an heiress who was worthy of that legacy. There would be so many eyes of the magical community upon the both of them, and now, the Olympians, too—a lot of them were probably just waiting for a chance to ridicule him for trusting his legacy to a mortal.
She absolutely couldn't let him down.