Kibble scribble. Little late and i do apologize, unexpected chaos occurred. but were back, and that is what matters!

xxxxx

"Again."

"i'm, ngh, trying," Montmorency grunted as he knelt in the observation deck and was holding both of her hands out toward a small burner with a flame coming out of it.

"Then try harder," Talcu said as he sat across from Montmorency with both pairs of arms crossed as he watched her work.

"I, am, Trying!" Montmorency said through clenched teeth before suddenly just letting go and falling backwards onto the back on the floor. "I cant, this is impossible without a wand,"

"It is not,"Talcu stated simply as he held a hand out, a globe of water forming in front of his hand and then moving and snuffing out the lamp. " Magic is an understanding and manipulation of what is around you. A Focus is not required, it merely helps some, often those who do not understand it, nor themselves."

"Grrrr, I get it, Halkeginia is primitive, you don't need to keep rubbing it in," Montmorency said with a sneer as she sat back up.

"That was not my intention," Talcu said as the water disappeared from the lamp, leading to him to point a finger at the lamp. "What is fire?"

"What?"

"What is fire?" Talcu said again as a flame appeared in front of his finger and drifted forward, lighting the lamp once more. "What is fire. I'll not expectign a scientific answer you would barely understand, because that doesn't matter, but what is fire. Think about it for a moment."

Montmorency stared at the lamp, and then at the flame as she realized what the question meant. What was fire? Fire was heat and light. Fire was used to cook meals, to heat water and bath's, but what was it? Fire used by commoners was usually lumber, lamp oil or Tar and Pitch. Flammable materials that burned well. But when they ran out, the fire disappeared. Nobles made fire using magic, but even they could not do so forever. When a mage was too tired, they could not use magic so was it-"

"You're thinking about it too hard, go simply, like you started," Talcu suddenly said, pulling Montmorency out of her thoughts.

"Was, I talking out loud?"

"No."

"Then how did-"

"I know what you were thinking?" Talcu asked with a small grin. "I do not recall if I mentioned it, but my kind are Telepathic to a small extent. It is hard normally, but being the only ones in the room I can tell what your thoughts are to an extent if I focus. I cannot tell super deep thoughts, just focused surface thoughts, so do not worry, and focus on your thoughts. What is fire? You almost had it in a sense."

Montmorency looked at Talcu for a moment as she tried, and failed, to get rid of the thoughts that he could read her mind. She looked back at the flame. A fire, it was used by everyone in all things really, without fire, people starved, but keeping fire going was always the problem, which is why the use of charcoal and coal was important in many places. Was the question how it was different or why it burned when different things were used to . . . . . . . . . . . . fire, burned on many things. And usually looked the same, yet was started with different things. " Is fire, not the fire or the fuel, but like, a reaction like that of a potion?" Montmorency finally asked as she looked up to see Talcu smiling at her.

"Yes. Flames and fire are not a thing that exist on their own, but instead is a reaction connected to the proper amounts of various things, fuels, an ignitor, that sort of thing. What it is however is not what matters, what matters is how it relates to magic, to the path of a mystic, to our path. Fire is a combination of chemicals, reactions, and fuel, water is a combination of inert chemicals, metal is a combination of materials, a ship is a connected piece of martials, systems, and the wills of people. Even the planets and starts are all connected. Everything in the galaxy, in all of creation is connected, and in that we see a simple truth. That magic is simply an expression of this innate connection between all things. We can intuitively know this and tap into this to exploit the bonds between people, objects and things. Whether we bolster them, or break them, depends entirely upon our whim," Talcu said as he reached a hand over the lamp and snapped his fingers. Montmorency expected the flame to go out, but instead it turned blue and became very tall, whistling like a kettle for a moment before the entire lamp seemed to simply begin melting onto the floor. Then, just as abruptly, it was normal, and the fire was gone. " Do you understand?"

Montmorency stared at the Lamp for a moment before looking at Talcu again. " That flame, it wasn't even there in the first place, was it?"

"No."

"You, made me see it, with magic?"

"Yes."

"Because everything is connected, even knowledge, healing, and people, even if they do not know it?"

"If you were a healer, or know of it even with your cultures knowledge base, then you know the answer to that."

She did. Healing magic did require knowing how a body worked, but it also worked by using magic to circulate healing into the person body by using their own magic. Even potion making required knowing how things worked together, how they could be connected. "So, your magic makes use of these connections, to achieve a specified result?"

"Precisely. Do you now see why I said magic was not impossible without a wand? Everything is merely connections, and making magic go through another object just to reach your will is an extra step that is unneeded. In fact try it, try using magic you are familiar with alongside this new understanding. Without a stick."

Montmorency looked at the lamp before her. It was always taught that magic required a focus, a wand or a staff if one was skilled and powerful enough to need one. If, if it was so simple to cast without a wand -.

Montmorency took in a deep breath and tried to focus. She was a Dot mage, only good with water magic, mostly in regards to potion making, but it was still something she was good at. She focused her mind, thinking about how she normally cast magic, the words she would say, the meaning they would have in the casting of the spells. The words merely helped people focus, and in reality the words and the understanding of Halkeginia was not wrong.

Just not all the way there.

She focused, imagining everything connected, imagining creating water for means beyond her own selfishness, to quench thirst, to make potions with, clear, calm, water to-

"Very good, well done."

Montmorency blinked and looked up at Talcu to see him smiling and then looked around to find floating globes of water all around her. They were not where she expected them to be, as she planned for them to appear in her palms, but there was water floating all around her.

She had done it, she had cast magic without a wand.

"How does it feel?" Talcu asked with a smirk.

Montmorency looked at him for a second. " I, don't feel any different really but, good I guess?"

"Good. Are you ready to truly learn then?"

"Please."