“Yes, ma’am. If we’re not to use our powers on other students how do we practice?”
“Practice is different. Training in combat techniques with a master overseeing happens all the time, though not until you finish your first year of training. What I’m talking about is unsupervised mischief or violence. Also your movements are restricted to The Tower grounds until you complete your training.”
As rules went those two seemed fair, after all the last thing they’d want is two boys fighting over a girl to blow up the dining hall. But it didn’t sound like he’d be visiting Jen and Lizzy anytime soon. “Is there anything else?”
“Not really. Want to try a basic technique?”
Damien’s heart fluttered. To finally tap his soul force was something he’d dreamed about for years. Now that it was going to happen his mouth felt dry and his hands trembled. “What do I do?”
“Imagine a bit of your power, about the size of a grain of rice, above the palm of your hand.”
Damien imagined the speck of energy flowing through his arm and out his palm. Nothing. His soul force remained as inert as ever. He slumped in his chair. It wouldn’t be any different here.
“Not like that.”
Damien looked up at his teacher. “Ma’am?”
“Don’t try to push the energy through your body. That’s the way warlords use soul force. Our power can’t travel through our bodies. Picture the grain of energy appearing just above your hand like it came out of nowhere.”
Damien frowned, held out his hand, and imagined the power just appearing. A blinding light like a second sun burst to life above his hand. He looked away and squeezed his eyes shut.
“Douse it, douse it!”
How the hell was he supposed to do that? Damien clenched his fist around the speck of energy and willed it to return to where it came from. He opened his eyes and spots danced before them. At least the light had vanished.
Ann gaped at him.
“Sorry, ma’am. What did I do wrong?”
She threw back her head and laughed. “Not a thing, Damien. In fact you did something amazing. You recovered your unused energy and returned it to your core. That’s a rare skill. The excessive light was my fault. You used the exact right amount of energy; I failed to allow for how dense your soul force is. I need to adjust my instructions down by at least four times when I work with you.”
She held out a hand and a ball of warm, golden light appeared above it. “This is what I expected. I used the same amount of soul force as you, but mine is so much less dense it only makes this little light.”
“I see,” Damien said, though in truth he had no idea what she was talking about.
“Don’t worry about it now. Let’s try something else. This is a mental trick unique to sorcerers that lets you see another’s soul force.” She held her hands together in a circle just above her belly button. “Focus here and try to look through my dress, skin, and muscle to the core of my body.”
Damien stared, trying to imagine the thin black cloth parting, then the skin and muscle under it. He squinted and soon a ball of golden energy became clear. He flinched and it vanished. It seemed so different from what he sensed inside himself. His power felt roiled and agitated while hers seemed smooth and calm.
When he pointed this out she said, “Everyone’s power is different. Yours will calm in time. Part of your problem is you’ve been prodding it to do things it can’t. Now that you’re using it properly it should smooth out. With time and practice you’ll be able to do more than see soul force, you’ll also be able to sense it as well. Now try again.”
He focused and her soul force appeared at once, smooth and serene as the surface of a pond on a calm day. Then it vanished. Damien squinted, trying to get the image to reappear.
“You can stop now. I raised my shield to block your vision. That’s another trick sorcerers developed to hide their power from each other. Of course, if you see someone with no visible soul force you’ll know they’re a sorcerer, just not how strong. Building your shield is the final thing I’ll teach you tonight. You’ll want to get your power hidden before you meet the other students.”
Damien nodded, remembering how Eli had stared at him when they first met. “What do I do?”
“Take a small ball of soul force, about the size of a marble, and imagine it turning into a liquid. Once you have that, imagine the liquid covering your whole body, always a little above your skin.”
Damien did what she said and soon a golden second skin covered him. “Like this?” He couldn’t be doing it right. Her shield was invisible.
“Exactly. I can’t see your core anymore. Now we just need to make your personal shield a little less obvious. Focus on the shield and imagine it turning clear, like water.”
Damien did as she said. The light vanished, but he could still sense his shield. It was wavering like it wanted to shatter. “The power’s running out.” He tried and failed to conceal his concern.
“That’s okay. You have to do one more thing to make it sustaining. Do you sense the power flowing into your core to replace what you used?”
He turned his focus inward and sensed a rushing power, like a river with no origin, flooding into
