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Chapter 62

"Think of the fire not as fire but as strands of thread. It is fire, but if you think too hard on it being fire then you'll be tainted by your expectations. Fire burns. Fire is uncontrollable. If it helps, lie to yourself. Convince yourself fire is like cotton fibre."

Weiss dropped her hands and groaned pitifully. "That makes no sense!" After a brief wince, she added, "Arcanist Nikos."

"It's fine." The redhead smiled lopsidedly. "You don't need to call me Arcanist here. I agreed to help if you let me join in taking the rites of passage with you. We're working together."

Ruby nodded along with Weiss, both of them drenched in sweat but for very different reasons. Weiss was dealing with the sheer mental strain of tyring to wrap her head around magical concepts and patterns that were designed to boggle the mind. Ruby was physically fighting the threat of the surges bubbling away, whispering in her ear that if she just let go for an instant, she could conjure the fiery rope Pyrrha wanted and so much more, enough fire to engulf the entire Collegium.

Two different problems; two different approaches. Wildmagic and traditional magic were like opposite sides of a coin. The hardest part for her was not showing off something that should have been impossible. And Pyrrha made it all sound so easy.

"You're dealing with preconceptions. Fire is hot, water is wet, wind can't be caught in your hand, but magic is all about breaking those rules. You can make wet fire, solid air and dry water – so what challenge is thin ropes of molten fire? Don't let your thoughts about what fire should be get in the way of what you want it to be. It's yours to control. Like so…"

Pyrrha brought her hands up and whispered something under her breath, thrusting out a palm. A web of fibre-strand flame hurled out, expanding quickly like a net and wrapping around a straw dummy, closing over it. Despite being fire on straw, nothing burned, showing her control. It was a spell designed to incapacitate and capture – no better than a normal net, Ruby had thought at first, until Pyrrha pointed out it had the element of intimidation and threat. If someone broke a normal net, they got free. If someone struggled and broke hers, they would be badly burned.

"What is that chant you said?" Ruby asked.

"Hm? The incantation? Oh, that's really more of a personal thing. You don't need to say anything to cast a spell, but it can help for beginners to have some words or a saying – it can be anything really – that helps direct your mind. Like when you're first learning to dance, and you recite the steps out loud as you make them. The best Arcanists can get by with saying nothing, and it's a big advantage to be able to do so. Average ones might shorten it to `flame net` or `flame web` or whatever helps evoke the image of what they want in their mind. Novices tend to be more verbose, wanting to explain everything they're about to do as a way of reminding themselves."

That sounded like a waste. If you had to announce your magic before you cast it then whomever you were using it on would know what to expect. Then again, most Arcanists didn't fight other people, so it probably didn't matter.

"What incantation should I use?" Weiss asked.

"It's always best to try without one first and see if you can't manage it that way. They're seen as a crutch, but, if you want to, then I suppose it won't stop you finishing the rite of passage. Hopefully." Pyrrha shrugged and added, "Longer incantations may make it easier to cast but it'll take more time. If speed is of the essence in whatever the White has planned, it could hold you back. Try speaking what you intend to do – and focus on aspects of the spell you have trouble with and need reminding of."

"What is yours?"

"Expand and capture, net of flame." Pyrrha blushed as she said it, scratching her cheek with one finger. "My biggest problem was always getting the movement down. My net would be small and not grow as it's meant to."

Weiss continued to try without the incantation, working on Pyrrha's advice to find out exactly what she was struggling with. For her, it did seem to be keeping the fire contained into a rope-like form. Ruby's was the same issue, but for different reasons. Her fire wanted to burn wildly out of control. Trying once more, she shrieked as a great gout of fire erupted from her hand, burning grass and incinerating the straw dummy.

"Too little control," Pyrrha said, thankfully not seeing anything unusual about the power. Fire burned straw, after all. Nothing strange there. "Maybe you should try an incantation based around moderation."

The incantation business wouldn't work for her anyway since it was all intention based. Intent and emotion if her recent bouts of anger causing magic to burst out were any indication. It made her realise just how little she knew about her own power, mostly because the knowledge came second-hand from other Arcanists, who were about as genuine as a working girl's compliments.

Incantations could be a good way of masking my progress. If they're something novices use to get a leg up, then I should have one for every spell I use. In that case, best to get started right away. Stepping over to a new dummy, she rocked on her heels, thinking of the thin net she wanted. The kind she had been wanting for the last two hours without success. Not a big net. I don't want a big explosion of fireball. A thin, non-dangerous, net.

"Controlled." she whispered to herself. "Controlled fire. No, not fire, don't think of it as fire." Ruby pushed her hand out, "Net of flame-"

The net burst out, startling her. It was a perfect net – exactly like the type the ratcatchers in the slums used, but glowing red and with flickering edges. Her excitement mounted a brief second before the thing burst into a ball of fire, burning up in the air before it got halfway to the dummy.

"Horse piss!" she swore.

"Ruby!" Weiss cried, aghast. "A lady should not use such language!"

"Quite." Pyrrha rolled her eyes. "That was good, though. Before it blew up, anyway. I definitely saw the net there. You must have been visualising it well. Did the incantation help?"

"It… it did…" She couldn't believe it had, especially since there was no element of control in her magic, but just saying `net of flame` had produced, for a moment, a perfect net. "I don't get it…"

"My instructor used to say words have a power of their own," Pyrrha said mysteriously. She laughed it off a second later. "I think it's just the way the human mind works, however. Don't you remember how we're always taught things? Even tying laces starts with words – a saying or a song. It's just easier to remember the details if we speak them out loud. I think the Azure even looked into it for a while, something about how to speak words, the mind must perceive them first, so when we say something out loud, we're not just speaking but thinking those words. That must help with spellcasting. Or just with concentration."

It helped her visualise a net at the very least. Maybe it could do more. Taking a deep breath and trying to clear her head of any excitement that might muddle things up, she faced the dummy again.

"Net of flame, controlled and even, ensnare that dummy!"

The power roared up and out again. The net returned, the same net as she'd been thinking of, and this time it moved forward without exploding. It travelled an unerring path toward the straw dummy and wrapped around it, instantly burning the thing to cinders before disappearing.

Ruby smiled stupidly. "I did it!"

"Better, but not perfect. You should be able to control it to not kill whatever it touches, and that incantation, I wonder if it would even work if you weren't aiming at a training dummy. If you're too specific, you can limit yourself. Last thing you want is to cast that on someone dangerous and have it turn around, fly back to the Collegium and hug a straw dummy."

Weiss snickered at the thought and Ruby laughed, too pleased with the progress to be upset. Pyrrha was probably right anyway, she'd basically made that incantation to do one thing and one thing only, but it still worked. Speaking it out helps even with Wildmagic. That must be because it helps shape my intent better.

Hadn't she done the same with her invisibility spell the first time? On hindsight, she'd been chanting – both in her head and without – the words `don't see me` over and over again. That must have acted like an incantation to better shape the spell.

"Your turn, Weiss. Try something that will help with what you have trouble with. Ruby seemed to get better with the word `net` since it helped her visualise what she wanted. Try that."

The white-haired girl swallowed and nodded. Having Ruby pull it off so quickly had put her on the spot, which hadn't been her intent. Weiss was incredible, though. She could pull it off.

"N-Net of flame-"

"Confidently!" Pyrrha interrupted. "If you don't sound confident then there's no way your spell will work."

"Net of flame, strands of fire, travel before me."

It was a net alright. One that was quite literally on fire and travelling forwards as expected. Weiss gasped excitedly, and that caused the spell to flicker out, burning up in the air, but it had been there and that was so much more than anything she'd accomplished so far.

"There you go," Pyrrha said. "You just need to focus on your control now. That will come with practice and not being surprised when you see it. Ruby seems to have that down. You must be a natural."

"Hah. Well, something like that."

It still blew her mind that most Arcanists had to constantly think to keep their spells going. The level of concentration required was honestly mindboggling. How could you focus that much on one thing? Still, she'd probably best start acting like she had to if she didn't want to be found out.

"That's not bad for how long we've been training together. The flame net is an intermediate spell in the Crimson Arcana."

"Intermediate!?" Weiss gasped.

"Of course. Simple elemental attacks are for beginners since there is less control involved. You don't need to moderate heat and force when all you want to do is set fire to something in front of you. Weaving the fire into a net is obviously much harder."

"Why did you start us on intermediate spells?"

"Because you asked for help preparing for the rite of passage. Not the basics."

Pyrrha planted one hand on her hip, tilting her head with a confident smile. It seemed she was much more forward when she was training or casting, and especially when talking about the Crimson Arcana. A big change from the mostly polite but kind of standoffish girl she'd been introduced to by Weiss.

"If there is a trial of combat then you're not going to pass it with basic spells," she continued. "And you can practice them in your own time. If we're going to beat this, you'll need a proper arsenal. Plus, if you couldn't master these then it would be proof that trying the rite would be impossible."

That was a hard truth to accept, though luckily one they'd avoided. They needed to become proper Arcanists, or she did anyway. Ruby only hoped they could get through this based on intermediate spells, because pulling out advanced ones would put a target on her back.

"Do you think it's possible, then?" Weiss asked. "For us to become White Arcanists so soon?"

"I think so. People called it impossible when I attempted to graduate from the Crimson. I'm sure people called the idea of the Collegium itself impossible once. Everything is impossible until someone achieves it, and then it becomes possible." Losing the lecturing tone, she giggled. "And if not, well, it won't cost us anything. We can try again another time and be better prepared for it."

It went without saying that Pyrrha had better odds than them, probably why she was so much more relaxed. If there was a specific trial based around combat as the Arcanist had suggested then she, as a Crimson Arcanist, would have no problem getting past it. Ruby only hoped having her as a tutor would make other people think the same about them. It would be helpful if they could assume Pyrrha's excellent tutelage was what enabled her and Weiss to graduate. Assuming they did.

Pyrrha had them practice the flame net for another hour or so, until Ruby felt practically buzzed from all the casting and Weiss had to beg for an end, gripping her head like she was dealing with the worst headache known to man. The contrast between them was jarring, enough so for Weiss to petulantly ask why she was so unaffected.

"Merlot says I have a different way of thinking of magic," she lied.

"Lord!"

"He doesn't care what I call him."

"That's no excuse. Ugh. My head is pounding!"

"I think that's our cue to take a break for today," Pyrrha said kindly. "You've both done well, especially to manifest the net as a net. That's the part most people struggle with, especially transitioning from the more uncontrolled fire we use in basic spells. Practice a little in your own time."

/-/

"I just don't get how you're not as mentally exhausted as I am."

"I guess different people handle magic differently," Ruby said evasively. "Leave it be. We did well. We mastered an intermediate spell."

"Mastered? We didn't even cast it properly."

"We made things happen. It's close enough."

"I don't think I'll ever understand your confidence," Weiss said with a shake of her head. "I suppose I am pleased with what we managed; I just… it's hard to feel I'm the only affected this badly by it. How do you do it? How do you avoid the crushing headaches?"

Uh-oh. Ruby laughed awkwardly, looking away to hide her panic. That was a good question, Weiss. How did she avoid the problems every other Arcanist had? Very good question. "I… I guess I just believe things will work out. Magic is magic, right? So, it doesn't have to make sense. Like that fire net. It's a net of fire, which makes no sense, but since Pyrrha showed it could be done, I just assumed it'd work out."

"Assumption…?"

"Like the incantation. It's used to trick your mind and ease concentration. I guess I just applied that wholesale. I put so much faith in it just working out that I didn't have to concentrate as much."

"Does that work…?" Weiss hadn't looked convinced before but was not intrigued. "Having faith. I can't imagine what difference that would make, but then I didn't believe in the incantation either. I'll have to give it a try. Ugh." She clutched her head. "After this damnable headache wears off. I'm going to go have a lay down. I suppose you'll be off for dinner."

Ruby's stomach grumbled. "Something like that."

"Knew it. Bring me back something light, won't you?"

"Sure thing. Have a nice rest."

Weiss parted with some muttering about people being too peppy for their own good, and Ruby skipped her own way to the Academy building's food hall. She could have eaten in the White Cathedral, and eaten better than at the school, but it just felt more comfortable in the loud and busy hall where people were less pretentious. It was already busy, most of the tables full, but she managed to load up a plate with meat, fish and eggs, then slide in next to Coco Adel, who was seated across from her fellow warden, Yatsuhashi Daichi.

"Delicate portion," Coco remarked with one look at her platter. "I'd ask where you put it all, but I think we can both see where you've been storing it." Her eyes dipped down and Yatsuhashi grunted.

"Coco. Don't be so crude."

"Sure thing, darling. So, gone from the Azure and into the White. Someone's popular. How did that happen?"

"Wasn't given much of a choice," Ruby said between mouthfuls.

"Oh. Popular indeed. A certain someone told me they'd seen you training with the Pyrrha Nikos earlier today as well. Youngest Arcanist as far back as anyone can remember. Quite the rising star."

Was Pyrrha that well known? Apparently. Ruby shrugged and finished the ham and eggs before using the fork to flake off bits of the juicy white fish and dip it in the white herb and garlic sauce. "She's teaching us spells. Hm. So good."

"Private lessons with a Crimson Arcanist. Those are some powerful connections you're making. How did you afford that?"

"We had some information she wanted."

"Not going to tell?"

Ruby grinned. "It's a secret." Mostly because she didn't want anyone paying attention, but also because she was sure Weiss wouldn't appreciate people knowing they'd tried to take the rite of passage if they ended up failing. It was better it be a private thing. "Hey Coco, you're in the Amber Arcana, right? Making spells from scratch."

"That's an idealistic way of putting it. More spell theory than creation, though it's part of what we do. Why?"

"Pyrrha was teaching us about Incantations today and how visualising the spell makes it easier." Coco hummed along, eating her ridiculously small chicken salad with one elbow on the table. "We were learning to cast fire nets and they came out way better when we used an incantation."

"That's normal. The verbal component sets a routine in the mind. Repeating that routine refines the process, leading to word association with specific actions, mental or physical." Seeing she was losing Ruby, Coco said, "The words help guide your actions in casting the spell the more you use them."

"R-Right. It's just… doesn't that mean you could create any new spell just by having lots of visualisation and using different words? Like, if I tried to cast a flame net but told it I wanted water instead of fire, wouldn't that be a new spell?"

Wouldn't it mean that, with enough creativity, anything was possible? Could she point at a wall and say `make a castle` and have her magic do it? With Wildmagic, quite possibly, but she had to know if normal magic could do that.

"Yes and no. The first thing to keep in mind is that flame and water nets are the same spell. The spell is actually just making an elemental property into a net, so whether you use fire, water or sausage links, it's the same thing. Fire is used just because it's the best at doing its job. You don't want a captive eating their way out now, do you?"

"As for the imagination aspect," she continued. "Well, yes in theory, but it's much harder in practice. An incredibly skilled Arcanist – and I'm talking Grand Arcanist level – could probably understand enough about the flows of magic to switch his focus up at the drop of a hat. That's as much because control is second nature to him as knowledge, though. People can adapt magic, however. If you're experienced in it. Let's say you used flame net exclusively for a year or two and became a master of it, Ruby of the Flaming Net they'd call you, and you have it down to the point where you can cast it in your sleep. Because you understand it so well, you could probably make the net unravel, form a rope and climb said rope. Technically speaking, it'd be the same spell, just… utilised differently. You're still making rope out of fire, only you're shaping it as a rope and not netting. Understand?"

Vaguely. Ruby nodded.

"So, you can change and adapt spells if you know how to use them properly, but that's not creating a new spell. Actual spell creation is really hard, and the reason for that is as much originality as technique. Go back two hundred years and it'd be easier to make a new spell because there were less available back then. Now, a lot of the obvious stuff has already been solved."

"There are no new ideas?"

"Eh, there are ideas but also a lot of derivatives. I know a guy who wanted to create a spell to fly, and you'd think that'd be new, but when he managed to make himself hover off the floor by expelling wind downward, the instructors pointed out that all he's really doing is using basic wind spells. And technically speaking, they were right. Using fireballs to knock down a mountain doesn't mean you've created a mountain breaker spell."

"You're just tossing fireballs at it…"

"Exactly." Coco winked and motioned at her with the fork. "It's honestly a pretty big problem. People are saying the Amber Arcana might not even be a thing in the future because there won't be any spells left to discover. Or not enough to make an entire Arcana dedicated to the art worthwhile."

Could entire Arcana just come and go like that? The Shadow Arcana had been a new development for Menagerie, and one the White hadn't liked. Blake was probably one of the last members of it in existence. No, there'd been the invisible person in the outskirts who wasn't Blake. There was at least one other person, and they'd been watching her, Jaune and Merlot in the woods.

The White probably wouldn't care about Arcana failing. As long as the White remains, nothing else matters to them. The other Arcana were useful in their own way, the Red as muscle and the Black for enchanted items, but ones like the Azure and Amber obviously weren't seen the same way. Not if how quickly the White had shut down the Azure Archives was any indication.

"On the incantations, though," she said. "Am I right that you could make spells do different things by changing the incantation?"

"Sort of. The words aren't really doing anything, that's the important thing to remember. The words are helping you know what to do, so just changing them won't do anything. If you concentrated enough, had enough control, and wanted a different result, then yes, in theory, you could adapt spells like that. It wouldn't be easy to pull off, though." Coco grinned. "Any more questions?"

"Just one. What's the rite of passage for the Amber Arcana?"

Coco threw the question back at her. "What do you think it is?"

"Create a spell…?"

"Got it in one." The fork fell, the older girl sighing miserably. "It's why I'm still an Initiate when I could have been an Arcanist by now in the Crimson or the Black. Also why the Amber Arcana feels like it doesn't have much left in it. Everyone's competing for those few undiscovered spells, and when someone beats you to the one you've been putting your heart and soul in for years, it's crushing. Most join other Arcana when that happens. You have no idea how tough it is to put years of your life into something just to have someone else beat you to it, then realise you'll never get those years back."

It sounded horrible. Competitive, too. "Are you thinking of leaving them?"

"If mine doesn't work out, yeah. I'm working on a spell. Can't tell you what," she said, shaking her head. "If word gets out and my rivals get an edge because of it, I'd be throwing all my work away. But if it doesn't work or someone beats me to it, I'm hanging up my robe. I'll join the Black or the Emerald. At least they never run out of work, and the pay is good for those kinds of Arcanists." Smirking ruefully, she added, "The Adel family isn't doing so well financially."

Ruby winced. "Sorry…"

"Nah, it's fine. We're not poor or in trouble or anything. We're just not in a comfortable spot. My father wanted a male heir and went out his way paying for magical solutions to his inability to sire any, including divorcing three other wives before he married my mother." Coco chuckled. "Before the Emerald Arcana told him the problem was with him and not the women. He had to pay big settlements to those wives he besmirched and dishonoured. Their families weren't best pleased about that."

"Should you be telling me this?"

"Don't see why not. It's my family." She shrugged one shoulder. "Besides, every noble house in Vale knows it. Not like it's a big secret. He's pretty much abdicated in shame and left my mom in charge. Only good decision he made. Don't look so glum, it's not a scandal. Vale isn't so backward as to blame a child for the father being an idiot."

"It's a scandal," Yatsuhashi said calmly. "But it is his scandal. Not Coco's."

"Blame is laid where it's due." Coco yawned and stretched her arms above her. "Still, it is what it is. I'm after a job that pays, and maybe the Amber isn't it. Ah well. Not like I don't have time to switch up if I want to. There's a lesson there, squirt." She rubbed Ruby's hair, messing it up thoroughly. "Don't get married to the first choice you make in life or feel like you have to see it through if it ain't working. Sunk cost fallacy is a thing."

"Yeah, thanks." Ruby pulled away with a scowl. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Heh. I know you will. You're one of my favourites." She winked. "Say, you doing all this training and asking about the rites of passage is pretty telling. How about learning a thing or two from your friendly dorm warden? I can teach a thing or two myself if you're interested."

Yes. A hundred times yes! Ruby opened her mouth to agree but stopped herself at the last second. "What's the catch?"

Yatsuhashi chuckled. "Good question."

"No catch." Coco smirked. "Or not a big one. My family dabbles in fashion. It's our specialty. And I hear you just so happen to have a date with a certain Scion of House Arc. You let me design your dress and I'll help you out."

Was that all? Coco wanted to give her a free dress, instantly solving her money problems in that regard, and she'd then reward her further with spells and training?

"I'll ask again, what's the catch?"

"That's it. Keep in mind this ball will be one of the biggest events of the year. People are going to be watching, and they'll be especially paying attention to whom the most eligible unmarried bachelors and bachelorettes are going with. Having an Adel dress advertised alongside House Arc would be a big deal for us. Enough for me to offer to help with your training. So, how about it? An offer like this doesn't come around twice."

It really didn't. "Alright. As long as you don't go over the top…"

Coco chuckled darkly.

Just a heads up that I have possibly the busiest week of my year next week, so there is a very good chance I may have to take the week off writing just to handle it. It's far too much. I have Zoom conferences every day, have to go into the office despite lockdown, have to deal with loads of people. I'm going to be putting thought into it tonight, but there is a very real chance there will be no updates next week – at least on the weekdays, but maybe also the weekend.

Just a quick warning here. I will come and edit the date below if that happens or if I decide I need to. I'm just going to be chained to an event we have going on 29th Oct, that has been so poorly planned up until this point that I have to step in 1.5 weeks before it even starts to take over and fix it.

Edit Note: Have made the decision. No updates next week. Thanks all for understanding.

Next Chapter: 1st November (Two Weeks)

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur