Set the World on Fire (SSoDI-G)

[DanteMGalileo]

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about your soul burnin'. Unless, of course, you did something bad. ... Ick." Lark shook his head, seeming disgusted. Leanne perked up.

"Ooh, what is this somethin' bad? Will it make me stronger? What is it, anyway? Do you gotta set yerself on fire? Or-" Lark cut Leanne off with a raise of his hand.

"If you do an unspeakable act, your soul will be corrupted. Does it make you stronger? Yes. Is it worth it? Hell no." The white-haired man seemed dead serious on this. "That is all I will say on the topic of evil magic, aside from this: Don't. Fucking. Do. It." His face hardened into a glare for a moment, before returning to normal.

"Um, Mr. Mercury? Your face got scary for a moment..."

"Those of us who can use magic have a means of producing it within our bodies. If you don't make your own magic, you can't use magic. No exceptions. The feathery hypocrites known as angels can cast magic as a species trait, and most demons can also do this, although to my knowledge, there are some spells that us humans can't do..." Lark produced a flame on his hand. "Leanne has some demon heritage, so she may be able to perform some of the more demonic spells... Although, to be frank, I'm not sure if these same limits apply to those from other worlds..."

"So, this blood is good for somethin' after all!" Leanne stood up and tossed the goblet aside, seemingly back up to full power. "... What is an example of demon magic?"

"I've heard of a spell called Black Fire, and its stronger counterpart, Hellfire. They say that angels and other creatures of the light burn easily, but that these flames will not harm a demon or other dark creatures."

"Can you show me how to do so?!"

"Find a book or see if you can't find a friendly demon. I'm not a demon, nor do I have demonic heritage. How am I supposed to perform demon magic?"

[ColArana]

Ranuen understood what Lark was saying to an extent. So it might be impossible? "Impossible huh.... Well... even if it would be for me, that's just another barrier to break." Ranuen declared. "As for what you're calling evil magic, I wouldn't worry even if I could figure out how to cast in on my own. Which probably isn't super likely." Ranuen took a few steps back, drawing out his sword, and then seated himself on a tombstone, blade across his lap.

"If the problem's the way I use magic, then that's probably a good place to start. Good news Leanne! I'm not gonna be holding you back today!" He told her cheerfully. "I'm gonna be... working on trying to attune my magic. See if I can't get it to act similarly to yours. Worth a shot, right? I can already use magic, maybe I can adjust its nature or wave length or whatever." He said. Ranuen began to focus, staring at his blade, but listening closely to Lark's lesson, for any tips and advice that might arise that would help him focus.

The discussion about angels and demons and weapons effective against angels.... "Gonna want to remember that one..." Ranuen noted quietly, though just loud enough for Leanne and Lark to hear. "Be fun to set one particular angel on fire like that."

At Leanne's comment about demon magic, Ranuen joined in. "Maybe it's inherent? You might be able to figure it out on instinct as you go along?" Or you know.... there was always Imago? He miiiight be inclined to help?

[DanteMGalileo]

"Oh, who you wanna set on fire?" Lark perked up a bit, catching Raunen's words. "Now, I'm not one to advocate setting people on fire, but those feathery hypocrites? They were god's mistake." A chuckle, before he cut himself short. "But seriously, I can't help you with that kinda magic."

Lark returned to his spot on the tombstone, legs crossed. "Now now, Leanne. Let's see if Raunen can't see what makes our brand of magic different from our's..." A snap of his fingers. "I believe we were practicin' that Magma Burst, yeah?"

Leanne flexed her fingers, producing an audible crack not dissimilar to a firecracker. "Oh, this time it's gonna burst! Best get that earth wall ready, teach!"

As Leanne inhaled, a pink, vaguely fiery glow formed beneath her. "Kyah... YA!!!!"

A vein-like pattern stretched out on the ground, before erupting into a burst of magma. "Whooo!! I think I got it! Pretty cool, right!?"

"... I barely registered toasty campfire."

[ColArana]

Ranuen grinned at Lark. "No worries, once Leanne figures it out I'll ask her for tips!" He answered, before resuming his focus.

Leanne's practice seemed to be progressing and so too was Ranuen's. Independently, something like this would have been impossible. But with the goal literally in front of his face, getting an idea of what he was aiming for wasn't beyond his reach.

As Leanne's Magma Burst set off, Ranuen glanced up again with a grin. "I'm guessing Leanne either sleeps outside or in a room made out of stone." He suggested. Any room made out of anything else would probably have been reduced to cinders after her first night in it. Magma Burst, huh? Ranuen was gonna start practicing that one as soon as he figured out how to do the basic fireball Lark had already shown.

Speaking of. Ranuen focused on his new attempt. This time, it worked! A fireball blasted out of Ranuen's chest, using the same style of magic as Lark and Leanne, crashing through the air between them and hitting a gravestone on the other side. "Oh hey! It worked! That felt completely different!" Ranuen exclaimed eagerly.

[DanteMGalileo]

"Rude!" Leanne stuck her tongue out at Lark. "Raunen gets my brand of genius! ... Even if my brand of genius is blow shit up with a buncha fire." She put her hands on her hips, looking proud of the pink veins on the ground. "So! What's next after Magma Burst?"

"To someone who doesn't bother to practice the basic spells to perfection, drowsiness at best and death at worst." Ever the picture of cheerfulness, Lark was. "Leanne, I've said this many times before. You have a natural talent for magic, and you could even surpass me someday." The white-haired man frowned. "But you don't bother to practice outside of our sessions and you don't read. Natural talent withers if you don't hone it." He resumed smiling. "Now, I feel bad about yelling at you. Why don't you saw Mr. Sendo what Flame Dance looks like?"

"Ooh, this is one you won't yell at me 'cuz it's a really simple spell even I can't fuck up, right!" Leanne seemed perky, and Lark rolled his eyes at the comment, still smiling. "Alright, Raunen, remember how it felt to cast that basic fireball? It's just like that, but with a twist!"

With a jump and a twirl, Leanne cast a ball of pink fire from her palm, the flames forming into a humanoid figure, dancing as it charged against the gravestone, leaving a scorch mark.

[ColArana]

Ranuen nodded emphatically to Leanne's statement. "Burning stuff with fire is pretty much why most of us got into this in the first place!" And probably why there were very few old pyromancers.

As far as Lark's follow-up statement, Ranuen seemed to give it some thought. "I mean, Leanne. That's like an excuse to set stuff on fire in your own time too!" He chirped in amusement. "You just have to make sure you do it with the basics!"

Then Lark added in that she should show Ranuen a new spell, and Ranuen watched closely. Flame Dance, huh? Ranuen watched the flame emerge and fly forwards in the shape of a human-like figure. "Oooo... fire shaping huh? I can do--" Then Ranuen saw the dancing flame literally animate and move as it charged the gravestone.

"Could a spell like that.... change direction? Move and adjust as the target moves?" Ranuen asked. "I know a little about animate flames though..." He began to summon up his magical abilities. Converting them into the new magic he was learning. "Flame Dance!" Ranuen declared, launching a fireball. As with Leanne's it did form into a humanoid figure, but the movement was stilted, and jarred, akin to someone being obviously controlled by an external force, rather than moving fluidly and in synchronization. Even so, it still struck a gravestone, cracking the stone and setting it ablaze.

"Hmmm.... looks like I need more practice as well." Ranuen mused. "I can do animated flames with my own magic..." As if to demonstrate, Ranuen flicked his sword and a tendril of his normal flame emerged, twisting and wrapping in the air, spiraling up before dissipating. "But doing it while converting is tough. Well... I can keep practicing while Leanne works on Magma Burst!"

Ranuen's pre-existing mastery of his own fire magic was doubtlessly helping him learn at an accelerated rate, adjusting for the new type of magic he was learning. However, doing it in such a way was still taxing on the swordsman. Although Ranuen had a tremendous reserve of magical energy, the extra steps to use his magic was causing him to use it up inefficiently. Something he'd have to work on. As such, his actual reserves and power when using this form of magic were probably much more comparable to someone who was still starting out. Something he'd be realizing shortly.

[DanteMGalileo]

"Uh..."

"Now now, Mr. Sendo." Lark stood up from his tombstone, walking over to Raunen. "That was good for your first go, especially with a brand'a magic you're not used to." He turned to face the grave that they were using as a target. "Watch my movements. That's the trick to this one."

With a quick inhale, Lark jumped and twisted in the air, producing a ball of red flames similar to Leanne's, which too formed into a humanoid figure, charging and creating another, larger scorch mark.

"See? It's in the movements." Lark landed gracefully on the ground. "If you don't move for this one, it won't wanna move either."

"Fire likes to move a lot."

[ColArana]

So it was in the movements? Iiiinteresting.

"Hmm. I see..." Incantations and movements weren't nearly as important for Ranuen's brand of magic. His had been all about intent and control. Ranuen watched Lark's movements just as closely as he had been paying attention to the magic in general. Leanne's comment further helped.

"Yeah, that's pretty true. Alright then! Flame Dance!" Ranuen declared, attempting to mimic Lark's movements. He kicked off the ground, spiralling in midair, and a ball of orange flame formed in front of him, which shaped itself into the humanoid figure again, just like last time. This time, the movements however, were much more natural, if not quite as much so as Leanne's or Lark's. The figure spiralled and danced through the air as it struck another tombstone, at the same moment Ranuen touched ground again.

"That was.... better! ...I think?" Ranuen mused. "Whoever keeps this cemetary's gonna be pissed as fuck at us though." He noted. Way too cheerfully for the fact he was actually providing.

After a moment or two, however, the consequences of Ranuen's inefficient use of magic caught up with him. With a quiet 'poof'-like sound, the world around Ranuen suddenly grew again, leaving Ranuen in his shrunken form. "Agh.... damnit." Ranuen had expended most of his magical energy and lacked the power to actually sustain his usual height.

[DanteMGalileo]

"Oh well. They'll live. The caretaker slash caretakers, anyway. Now, if the dead start to rise, then that might be a problem." Lark, as usual, seemed way too calm for the situation. Even Raunen's sudden shrinkage didn't result in any more than a blink from the white-haired man. "But hey, should the dead rise, you either be too small to notice! Or you'll be crushed underfoot. Either way, you're not getting zombified or consumed." Way to make the kid feel better, Lark...

Leanne sweatdropped, picking up the now-tiny swordsman and placing him atop her hat. "Man, this seems to go off at the worst times, huh? You don't mind hitchin' a ride on my hat, do ya? You can see the world and learn 'bout magic from up there, and there's no risk of gettin' stepped on! Just, uh, hang on?" After confirming Raunen's security, she turned to face Lark again. "So, uh, Mr. Mercury? You acted like you knew what was up?"

"Oh, yes." Again with the eerie serenity. "Mr. Sendo got on the bad side of a curse some years ago, resulting in the shrinkage. Now, I could try to remove it, but this curse is kinda silly. 'Sides, my cure could backfire. I could make you even smaller. I could make you unable to even temporarily regain your real size. Or you could just explode." He shook his head. "I don't like cleaning up piles of organs and guts, thank you."

[ColArana]

Ranuen grumbled as Leanne picked him up. "It's less that it goes off at the worst times.... It's tied to my magic. Along with my fire magic, I use enhancement magic, which I can use to temporarily fight the curse off. Only thing is I have to be constantly expending magic for it. It's done wonders for my overall pool of magic that I can use-- when I originally tried this I could barely fight it off for one second. But it means that when I run out of magical energy I can't prevent it anymore..." He muttered, as Leanne put him on her hat."Means silence spells are an absolute ass though."

"I appreciate the elevation though." He noted, taking a cursory glance around. Fire could cause a lot of air pressure and motion, that could easily blow someone like him off of Leanne's hat if he wasn't careful. Getting blown around to the ground or a tombstone wouldn't be the end of the world, but Ranuen had found his luck was terrible. All it might have taken was Leanne possibly bringing a change of clothes to deal with the sweat or damage her outfit might have taken, and Ranuen could easily get blown off into a shirt, an extra hat, a shoe, or get blown off to other more dangerous places. Like the area they were actually practicing magic. A constant hazard of his height. One he had been forced to become acutely aware of.

Ranuen gave a quiet gulp as Lark mentioned the potential problems with breaking the spell on him. Shrink even smaller? "Any smaller and you'd never be able to find me..." He added nervously. As did the idea of not being able to regain his size even temporarily. Ranuen had no intention of living the rest of his life as a bug. With the idea of such long term problems on the table, oddly enough, the idea of exploding caused him less concerns, because hey. At least that wouldn't be a long term problem for him.

"But yeah, you two keep going and I'll take notes!" He added, cheerfully.

[DanteMGalileo]

"Alright, back to the lesson!" Lark took his seat back on the tombstone, kicking his legs back a bit. "I believe you owe me a good Magma Burst or two, young lady? Consider Mr. Sendo your incentive to not screw it up."

Cracking her knuckles, Leanne focused, as if preparing to blow something up. "Oh, this time I've got it down! Now... uh, be prepared to be blown away?"

"Wind magic is next week, young lady."

"Right, right! You ready for this?! Kya... AH!!!!"

The sounds of magic practice and fire spells faded into the day, accompanied by shouts and gentle criticism.