Chapter 30 - 30: A midnight meditation circle and unsafe magical practices.

As I laid in my bed,watching the moon rise over the horizon and thinking of what has transpired today and how much my life has changed, Voxea decided to initiate a conversation.

"So tomorrow begins your training, right?", she asked in my mind.

"Yup. Tomorrow I begin training in the binder arts. Everything from the binding ritual to battling with them and even how to support them. In essence, I get to learn magic", I responded.

"Ehhhh. Not true magic", Voxea chided.

"What do you mean"?

"Don't get me wrong, what you binders can do with the aether is indeed a form of magical power, but the abilities you use is not like the magic of old, rather, it doesn't defy reality like we did once upon a time. Although, you could make the argument that controlling the monsters make you more dangerous than maji like me back in my prime, but there's no way of knowing that for sure", Voxea said.

"What are you getting at?", I asked.

"I want to teach you true magic"

I jumped into a seated position as a surprised, "What?!", escaped my lips. I covered my mouth and listened for a few seconds, hoping nobody heard my sudden yelp. Thankfully, nothing happened.

"You heard me", Voxea said nonchalantly, "Your parents are trying to trick you their binder tricks right? I'd feel like a freeloader if I didn't pass on any of my wisdom to you as well".

"That's awful generous of you Voxea".

"Well I did say spending 800 years in an ice box does wonders to mellow someone out. Plus, for totally selfish reasons, I want to see if today's binders can do yesterday's magic spells", Voxea said excitedly.

"Huh...okay... when do we start?", I asked.

"Right now, but we're gonna need some things".

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So after gathering that weird magic disk from earlier, some ashes from the oven and stove and a large branch from a nearby evergreen tree, Voxea and I were now walking around the perimeter of the village menhirs.

Voxea this time around was floating a few feet in front of me leading the way. Her reason being out was twofold. First, she was getting bored being inside the drajule. Second, if she was going to teach me magic she needed, and I quote, "A quiet place where the aether naturally congregates"...whatever that meant.

"Voxea".

"Yes Silvia"?

"How much longer until we find...whatever it is were looking for? It's getting colder by the minute out here and I'm just lugging around this stuff".

"Don't worry girlie, we're getting closer. I can feel it in my...wait do I have bones?", Voxea began to ponder.

I rolled my eyes at her question and was about to ask her again, when she suddenly stopped and declared, "Ah-Ha! We're here"!

I rearranged all the stuff I was carrying to get a clear view of...nothing. "What am I suppose to be seeing?", I asked a little annoyed.

"Hmmm? Oh right you can't see the aether. Well you see the mushroom ring right?", Voxea sassed at me.

Taking a second look, there was actually a ring of mushrooms growing out of the snow. A little weirded out, I asked Voxea, "Ok so what's so special about of out of season mushroom...rings"?

Voxea shot me a look that screamed "You obvious fool" and proceeded to explain, "Mushroom rings like this are focal points of aether. Practitioners of the druidic arts often used them as meditation circles to gather aether into themselves and replenish their magical abilities".

"And we're going to...".

"Turn it into a refined mystic circle and pump you full of aether!", Voxea exclaimed with pride and excitement.