The Hermit, The Tower, The World (Vol.2 Complete)

29th of Inandyl - 5th Isharil

Calas got ready quickly after he woke well before dawn with a burst of energy. He hadn't realized until he was eating breakfast that his mood was uncharacteristically chipper for so early in the morning and he checked the thread on his finger. It remained unchanged from the night before as far as he could tell.

He used the same method of mana manipulation that he had used the previous day in the east tower with Rea, and pushed his awareness to the knot of pulsing, living mana on the other side of the thread. It was a steady and rhythmic beat, but instead of a sound, there was more of a presence that he found, an awareness of something on the other side.

As Calas concentrated, his head turned back toward the Sanctum where she must still be and Calas smirked as he finished his meal. It felt exceptionally odd to smile at the vague awareness of her. He supposed that was one reason for his mood, but that thought only brought more questions, like why he was so content about it. That alone should have been alarming to him.

He knew that this situation wouldn't garner such a positive reaction if it were anyone else on the other end of that invisible tether. Not only because he would no longer be able to fully mask his presence from them—which still gave him a certain amount of anxiety, regardless of the "who" on the other end, but also if he had to work through it with anyone else, Calas felt the experience would have been more grating than faculty bitch work.

Thinking about that stream of conscious thought, that pulse on the other end, he wondered if he could keep that particular intention up nearly indefinitely, like he could with the wolf's added perceptions. On his way to the training hall, he tested that theory, just to gauge the difficulty of it. By the time Calas arrived and unlocked the training hall, he found it taxing to focus on two separate streams of consciousness.

He hadn't found it impossible, but it was a real challenge as he kept a certain amount of his attention on his own physical surroundings while also simultaneously trying to pinpoint something more ephemeral somewhere else. It took a dizzying amount of concentration. But, like he had done while learning to control the mana under his skin, Calas carefully balanced his focus between each aspect until he became more used to both sensations.

That had made it even more difficult to focus on the regulars who entered and Calas only noticed that Gael was warming up when Daz came in to greet him.

"Mornin', Cal!" the Drakari exclaimed.

"Hm? Oh, hey Daz." Calas shifted his focus from the thread that he could have sworn was getting closer.

"Man, happy to see you too," Daz's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Are you feeling okay?" Daz narrowed his eyes at Calas as his voice adjusted, thick with concern.

"Yeah, just fine." Calas nodded at Daz to prove it even though he was still monitoring the pulse that he knew was Rea. Was it getting stronger, or was that his imagination?

"Uh, alright," Daz started as he motioned over to where Reith and Kaori practiced magic together. "I believe you, it's just a little odd that you didn't even acknowledge our own dearest Kaori when she came in."

Calas glanced over to where Daz had indicated and was a bit disappointed about not having seen the athletic third-year. She flung spells casually with Reith at targets they had set up on one side of the hall.

The two separate frames of consciousness were going to take some more practice on his part before the next term started. The alternative was apparently being constantly distracted by a thread that he couldn't see, but felt always now in the back of his mind.

Looking in the direction of that consistent pulse, he found Rea at the door and sighed as he dropped his focus on the tether, relieved to not pay any more heed to it. She had her cloak over her arm and wore her normal combat garb from last term, a long, sleeveless top and black cloth leggings. Her hair was down, like always, and Chou hid among the wavy strands of sandy blond locks. Her too blue eyes met his and he grinned.

"Who is that?" Daz wondered aloud.

"I'll catch you later, Daz." Calas muttered absently as he met Rea near the entrance. From behind him, he barely paid attention to Daz's complaints to his back.

"You made it." Calas greeted her in an almost wistful tone. The timbre to his own voice sounded so odd that Calas figured that all of the mental strain from splitting his attention this morning must have really affected him.

"Of course." The smile in her eyes made it seem like she had been coming here all along and Calas gave a nervous chuckle before he led her into the training room.

He indicated where to drop her things, and she put her cloak among the rest of other personal effects that were gathered. Calas then pointed out the other features of the training hall, which honestly wasn't a whole lot. Gael was at the weapon's rack, Daz had wandered off to the dueling box area to find someone to gossip or spar with, and Reith and Kaori were still working on spell work on the opposite end.

Rea smiled with a sense of awe. "And you're here every morning?"

"Through break, yeah pretty much." Calas confirmed. "Though I do get Serrin off."

"That's mighty nice of the professor to give you a day off." Rea's smile turned mischievous, and her tone was a similar shade of sarcastic.

"Ha. You're telling me. The only reason I get that day off is 'cause no one is sober enough from the day before to attend the session." It was kind of sad to Calas how close that was to the truth.

"So," Rea started, flapping her arms once at her sides, "tell me how to sneak up on people."

Calas laughed at the ridiculous request. "That's not what I said I would teach you today."

"But you do that, too. I've seen it." Rea's voice was confident until she averted her eyes. "Well, I couldn't actually see you at the time, but I know you were there just…invisible."
He chuckled again as a hand swept back the longer strands of coal dark hair. It was nostalgic for him now as he recalled their first bout together against Greyson and Sonya in which he had masked his presence and used Rea as bait for the other team's attacks.

"I don't turn invisible," he admitted. "It's just a mask, like a cloak of mana. Like this." He put a hand on her shoulder while activating the mana in the panther. As he did so, a film of mana like a black, silken veil spread across the both of them and inverted the light. The effect made them seem a part of the background, a piece of the training hall in this case, to any lookers on.

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Rea remained still for a moment, but then looked at her hands and body before she studied Calas. Her gaze was critical. The same mind responsible for all the notes about the stupid rusty beetle. Pursing her lips after a moment, she spoke.

"How, though? There doesn't look to be almost any mana signature on this magic, which is just strange to be perfectly honest." Calas' brows lifted at her shrewd tone. It was a reminder to him that her keen mind was sharp.

"I think I can help there." He muttered after a moment and willed the panther to move down his left arm in plain view for her.

"Oh!" Rea remarked and closed the gap between them to get a better look at the panther that sprawled the length of his arm. There were no sleeves to get in her way this time and Calas' anxiety only grew the longer that she studied the ink on his arm, tracing the lines of mana that he could not see.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" He asked after a minute or two, he had lost track.

"I think so," she replied slowly. "What do you think, Chou, maybe I could replicate it with light threads?"

Chou sounded a short chirp, "Conclusion: light based mana threads have the highest probability of successfully duplicating the cloaking effect at eighty percent."

Calas was stunned by this assessment, jaw slightly agape.

"Chou you can…analyze mana and spells?" He asked with obvious confusion.

Chou only trilled an excited, affirming noise.

"Since when?" He asked, still bewildered.

"It's a relatively new discovery. For me, too." Rea confided, a consoling expression on her face.

"Then why—" Calas cut off his own question as he realized just where he was. In the middle of the training hall, their presence physically masked, but the effect did nothing for sound. He had almost asked the butterfly why she hadn't analyzed the damned thread, but he supposed that would be a discussion for another time.

"Never mind." He mumbled and dropped the masking spell on them both. He took a step back from her and waved a hand in Rea's direction as an invitation. "How about you take a stab at it, then."

Chou took flight as Rea visibly concentrated on something Calas could not see. His attention to Rea was interrupted for a brief moment as the familiar perched on his shoulder like a branch, and watched the girl with intent. Calas also turned his attention back to Rea, crossing his arms as he waited for something around Rea to manifest.

Several times Rea made subtle somatic gestures, but no effect was realized.

"Don't think about it so much." He instructed as she tried again.

She answered by frowning deeply and set her jaw. After a few more attempts she went as far as growling in frustration and Calas frowned, too.

It troubled him that he couldn't see where in her spell that she struggled. Not like she could. Then a thought occurred to him.

"Chou," Calas grumbled under his breath as his eyes flicked to the small creature. "Can you describe what she's doing?"

"Of course! It looks like she's attempting to recreate the mana patterns in your large, cat ink." Chou's light and airy voice echoed in his ear softly and reminded him of the buzz of an insect.

"The whole thing?" Calas asked as Rea tried again, and Chou affirmed with a happy trill in his ear.

That seemed overly complex to Calas as it was something he had learned to do by instinct and over many trials. The key he had found was intent, but for Rea, her magic was more likely something she had developed through willpower and diligent learning. He thought about what had helped him understand this particular spell and if any of it would be useful to her.

His mind wandered upon the barrier she had made with his help using imagery. Through the Beast of the Eldwood, Calas later saw how it was that she actually constructed the barrier of brilliant golden light. It was as beautiful as it was complex and he had a feeling she was trying to piece this masking spell together like she had done with her stupid beetle and not the barrier.

"Rea," he interrupted her, waving his hands in a negating motion as he closed the distance to her again. Frustration piled on her face and the set of her jaw. It was button-cute to see her so flustered, but he stayed on task.

"Chou says you are trying to duplicate the weave." He stated flatly and she nodded curtly instead of responding.

"You're making it harder on yourself. Close your eyes." Calas demanded.

He had expected her to fight him on it like she had the first time he asked her to follow this exercise, but to his surprise, she only blinked once before she closed her eyes with a wisp of a smile on her face. The sight of her chin angled up at him, her petite, heart-shaped face poised toward him as if she expected something with that soft smile on her lips made the pounding of his heart creep up from his chest. Calas swallowed the lump in his throat and found his original thought.

"Think of how you made the barrier from first term. This is the same concept, so think of a black silk sheet that is wrapped comfortably around you. The sheet is so thin, you can see through it, but opaque from the other side so others can't see you." He paused for a moment before she nodded and her expression changed as if her confidence had been restored. Calas took a step back to give her space.

"Try it now, and keep your eyes closed."

At first she had remained perfectly still, but after a few seconds, her hand made one sweeping gesture and she vanished from sight.

"Ha!" Calas clapped with a chuckle as Chou sounded an excited siren in his ear.

"Ah!" came a disembodied shout from the spot that Rea had occupied.

"You opened your eyes." Calas laughed softly with the words.

"Of course I did! It worked!" Rea exclaimed and Calas split his attention between reality and the thread to focus on where she actually was through their tether. It was more difficult than he thought it would be as she had already wandered off beyond his added awareness that the wolf granted him. He was getting the hang of it now, the direction, the presence on the other side of reality that merged with his own senses.

Calas took a breath and followed the invisible Rea with his eyes, tracking the spot she should have been from the sensations he got from the thread. He wondered if this was the kind of thing he subjected everyone else to with his magic, and had to admit that it annoyed him to be on this end of the hide-and-seek game he regularly played. It was much more fun on the hidden side.

"Hey, Cal!" Calas nearly groaned at Daz's voice that threatened to break his concentration from behind him. Instead he grunted a response, which Daz took as acknowledgment. "Oh, woah, cool butterfly. Is that an automaton?"

Chou's wings fluttered, the wind from it blowing against Calas' neck, and he could tell that the small creature was offended by that comment. Before Chou's mechanical parts blew a spring, or whatever Wen had built her with, Calas attempted to split his attention one more time to address Daz.

"She's a familiar."

"Awesome! When did you get a familiar, Cal? I didn't see it when I came in."

"Her. And she's not mine."

Daz was obviously confused by this statement as that was the only explanation his silence warranted. Thankfully, it was that moment that Calas thought he finally pinpointed invisible Rea and he activated his own masking technique through the panther.

"Hold on, Chou." He whispered as they left Daz to stand alone.

Calas stalked silently in a roundabout pathway to the spot he felt was correct. His focus deepened and a bead of sweat ran down his face as Calas expanded his awareness of the space around him. Cautiously and quietly he closed the gap and reached out to where she should be.

His hand connected with a solid body and he grinned. "Found you."

"Ah!" Rea exclaimed again as she dropped her masking spell. She was already in fits of giggles, staring in Calas' direction as he dropped his own spell. His grin showed teeth at the sound that made his heart lighter in his chest.

"I lost you somehow!" Rea admitted between laughs.

Calas blinked in confusion. "How?" Maybe what was she so distracted by would have been the better question, he thought.

"The better question is: how do you keep finding me?"

"I wanted to teach you that first!" Calas threw up his hands furtively as the echo of his own thoughts in her words caught up to him and gave him pause.

"Teach me now?" It was a more casual request than the first time she had asked, but Calas found that he didn't mind at all.

"Sure, but would you let me this time?"

"I promise." She crossed her fingers at him in confirmation as an overly sweet and playful smile bloomed on her face.

"Why do I get the feeling you are going to be dangerous with this spell?" He asked her as Chou fluttered back over to her shoulder. Rea only shrugged.

Calas took a deep cleansing breath to refocus his mind into one solid piece again before he explained how the wolf worked.