Kitsune of the Blue Sun

Chapter 23- Magic

[Keeno POV]

When I made it back home, I found Pram sitting in front of the door.  Before I could even say hello to her, she jumped up when she heard me approach and grabbed me into a tight hug.

“OKAMI!!!” (Pram)

While wincing a little at her yelling, I moved one of my hands and started patting her head while Huginn was attempting to regain its balance.

“Hello to you too, Pram.  What did we talk about when it comes to you yelling like that when we see each other?” (Keeno)

“Not to do it so loud.” (Pram)

She let me go, grabbed her tail, and hid her face behind it.  I chuckled at that.

“No need to do that, I’m not mad.” (Keeno)

She slowly moved her tail away and then a look of confusion crossed her face.

“Where’s…Hug-” (Pram)

“Muninn.” (Keeno)

“Muninn?” (Pram)

“Keeping watch over Fia.  Now, let’s go to the back, I want to show you something.” (Keeno)

A look of intrigue and excitement bloomed on Pram’s face when I said that, and we both quickly ran to the back of the lodge.  We both sat down on two tree stumps that we’ve used as chairs for a long time now and Pram looked at me.

“What are you gonna show me?  Is it fun?  Is it a new game we can play?” (Pram)

“Not a new game, but I did manage to manifest my Soul Weapon.” (Keeno)

“YAY!  Whatisitwhatisitwhatisit!?” (Pram)

I once again made my Soul Weapon appear and stars immediately appeared in Pram’s eyes.

“Ooooooooooooooooo!  I wanna touch it, it looks so warm!” (Pram)

She then tried to reach out and touch my swords, but I made them vanish just before she managed to.

“No, I don’t know what they can do to someone, so I don’t want you touching them.” (Keeno)

“Aww.  Wait, does this mean you will finally get to learn magic as well?  Have you tried it yet?  Can I see it?” (Pram)

{Guess now is as good a time as ever.  Since Fia isn’t here, it falls to me to teach you the what’s and the how’s.}

‘I’m all ears, Ama.’

{Since it’ll be easier to stop you from gaining a dependence on chants, I’ll just start you on chantless magic.  Do understand that only people I either bless or, in your case, give my Divine Protection, can use chantless magic.  By using it you will stand out a little bit, but with you already being you, it won’t matter in the long run.  Anyway, we’ll start with your Solar magic, since it is the one that will be easiest for me to explain to you, and for you to understand.}

“Okami?  Why are you just sitting there looking into space?  Can you use magic or not yet?” (Pram)

“Hang on Pram.  I’m trying to figure it out.” (Keeno)

“Oki.” (Pram)

{Hehehe, cute.  *Clears throat*  Back to it then.  For you, Keeno, an image should be good.  Imagine a ball of fire, and then make your mana build the image.  After that it all comes down to control of your mana.  Your illusion magic will work the same, though that will need a perfectly clear image to work.  As for Death magic, I have no idea since it is the complete opposite of my Life magic.}

I nodded my head and closed my eyes.  I did my best to picture a ball of fire that looked like a smaller version of my sun.  When I opened my eyes, a ball of blue fire was floating in front of me.

“How pretty.” (Pram)

I nodded my head and the two of us got lost in staring at the magic fire.  Even Huginn was mesmerized, though that could have also just been because it likes shiny things.

{Oh, this will be fun.  It’s time to teach you everything I know about Solar magic.  I will have you so proficient in it that you can erase all of Falheim with a snap of the finger!  Keeno, I want you to condense that ball of fire to as small as you can make it, then make it float around you slowly.  Once you get used to that, increase the speed.  Eventually we’ll have you add more, speed them up, and add things that will distract you.  Like most of your past training with Fia, it’s all about control and how much you have of it.}

‘Isn’t it too easy?  I expected this to be way harder with the way Fia always talks about it.’

{Well, when I have you rapidly changing the shape of the fireballs while moving multiple of them all at varying speed while also doing my best to distract you, I doubt you’ll find it easy.  And besides, this is just the start and the most basic of basic spells.  It can get way more complicated.}

“Okami, how did you do that?  You are supposed to say words for magic to work.” (Pram)

“Let’s just say I’m a bit special.  I’ll tell you the secret someday.” (Keeno)

I was content to sit there and practice control like Ama wanted, but I got another idea that would accomplish the same thing.  I stood up from my stump and looked at Pram.

“I got an idea, Pram.” (Keeno)

“Uh huh.” (Pram)

“I’m going to move the fireball, and you have to try to catch it.  I don’t mean actually touch it since I don’t want to hurt you, so I’ll make it disappear when I know you are about to catch it.” (Keeno)

“That sounds so fun!  Let’s start now, Okami!” (Pram)

“Hehehehehe.  Ok, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand…GO!” (Keeno)

I started to move the tiny fireball around as fast as I could and Pram ran after it.  Since I was still extremely new to magic, Pram easily ‘caught’ the ball.  We continued to play like this until Pram was tired out and sat down before laying her head in my lap and falling asleep.  I was tired as well since concentrating on magic like I was is very taxing on the mind.

{…One day I will claim my rightful spot, on Keeno’s lap, so enjoy it while you can, Pram.}

‘Ama…no need to be jealous.  Hehe.  Pram is my friend, not my Fated One.  Let her have this since you have…everything else…I just wish……my body…was…older.’

{Oh Keeno, don’t think that, we may not be able to do adult things, but you are still cute and the perfect size to cuddle.  If you stayed that small forever, I wouldn’t care if we couldn’t do anything else as long as it was you that I’m spending time with.}

‘Mmm.  But being small………is inconvenient.’

{Hahaha.  Anyway, it’s fine to fall asleep now, Fia and Muninn are almost back.}

I was pretty much already asleep at that point, so with that statement, the final strand of consciousness slipped.

Chaos Realm:

Keeno: And now I’m here.

Luna: No rest for the fluffy after all.

Keeno: That’s fair.  But I need to ask, how much more do I need to learn?

Luna: We’ve only breached the surface of it.  We’ve covered most of the theoretical aspects of Fluff, so we’ll soon get to the practical part.

Keeno: Yes!

Luna: Also, want me to teach you how to cook while we’re at it?  If you end up going on a journey, you’ll need to learn since, unless you start out with a decent windfall, then eating out will be unsustainable when you can just hunt something and eat it in the field.

Keeno: Depends, how good at cooking are you?

Luna: Fufufu.  That’s for me to know, and you to find out.