Chương 226: 5.25 Dance lessons

After the spar, as onesided as it was, Dervish began to immediately give them evaluations and advice.

"First of all, Elizabeth. I have to ask you this: Are you wielding a blade because it is your best option, or are you wielding a blade because I do?" That gave the heiress a pause, then a frown. The older mage turned towards Irwyn before she could answer.

"Very competently done, Irwyn. You can use a bit more practice dealing with tricky and unpredictable opponents, but your reaction times were not bad, and probably would have been enough against enemies at your own stage. There are only a few small bad habits that need ironing out." He turned to their shapeshifter and continued.

"Desir, you need to learn from actual Fate mages with battle experience if you want to take on that kind of support role. Today, your stumbling attempts at Wresting have done practically nothing. Alice, teleporting far away was correct, even if it wasn't your own idea and mattered less in a contained space like this. I noticed that you had still done a basic routine of checking for disruption, even when pressed, and that is an excellent habit to be in."

Of course, that was just the broadest application of the feedback. Dervish was as eager of a teacher as Irwyn remembered him to be. He quickly figured out specific exercises to assign everyone. Even Desir, despite much harsh criticism landing on him, eagerly listened and followed. Irwyn in particular was instructed on how to intercept incoming projectiles better, which would involved him summoning both of the attacks and figuring out how to break them with slightly more efficiency.

A relatively niche improvement, but it would be potent against the many Void mages who fought much like Dervish had. While most of them practiced things not overtly noticeable, Elizabeth took a different approach. As long as Irwyn had known her, she had a tendency to use a blade of Void magic as her preferred method of delivering wounds with the occasional missile spell.

She had grown quite proficient at that during their Trial, figuring out ways to most efficiently use that alongside her extremely mobile battle style. But in truth… Dervish had a point. The difference in reach between using a long-ish blade and touching an enemy directly was practically non-existent at the speeds that battles at the peak of Conception took place. Nor had Elizabeth ever committed a dedicated Concept to manifesting a specific kind of weapon.

If she was already striking directly out of the Void and skirmishing in close proximity, what difference did it make what exact form those attacks took? She had clearly realized that too and was already experimenting with claws, fists, palm strikes, and twisting whips. Those attempts were clearly clumsy for the moment, but it would likely develop into a real improvement once Elizabeth found what actually fit her best. At worst she would return to the blade with renewed certainty.

They had the time, given that their current assignment was as low-risk as they got during an active Lich war. After what felt like several hours, the session was brought to a close. Irwyn had also made some notable improvements in his ability to react to 'tricky' opponents, as Dervish had put it, which mostly came down to trying to predict what was the next twist an enemy could pull and being ready for it.

There was a limit to how much of that exercise could be done with just one opponent, but that hadn't been reached yet. Everyone else seemed likewise happy with their gains, even Waylan, who had been brought back and practiced being a professional menace as per usual. Near the end, the conversation wound down from direct practice towards curiosity.

"You can already wield nine Concepts, which is far beyond what I could have expected," Dervish complimented.

"And there were hints of something even beyond that. You should still be proud, I set all of you up for a battle that could not be won, but you performed admirably."

"Were you not told?" Elizabeth asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Irwyn and I have been at the peak of Conception for a while."

"No. I have been mostly unconscious over the past couple months and went here directly from recovery. I assume Calm did not wish to discuss such matters unless in person."

"That sounds far worse than what you had made it seem like."

"They tried to break my Domain, your Ladyship. Even if I lived, the undead do not invest in casual attempts."

"That is hardly the first time, right?" Desir said.

"I saw the battle over Abonisle from a distance. It was eye-opening."

"That one was far less fraught," Dervish shook his head.

"The equation changes with Domains."

"How so?" Irwyn wanted to know. Dervish looked around, saw everyone equally curious, and thus explained.

"You have surely noticed in Conception that some Concepts are better suited at battling others. But for Domains, that becomes a harder restriction. A Domain is something refined beyond words, but from that refinement necessarily comes restraint. Take my Domain of BLADES, for example. As Irwyn had identified in battle, I can cut almost anything made by another Domain, so hard defenses are not much use against it.

It can then be stretched to also empower the bodies of the weapons themselves, but that doesn't come as naturally to me. Then to go further, if I wanted to empower an item that isn't a blade, like a ring, I would be unable to—unless I made a ring that summons a bladed weapon."

"What of VOID then, or other direct elemental Domains," Irwyn asked. He knew that the Shadow held such among his three.

"That Domain is far broader in scope, but that makes mastering it practically impossible. That is another important portion of Domains: Mastery. A Domain is more than what a single person can usually grasp. Understanding every nuance, every minuscule application, every twist of utilization… it is simply too much. For my Domain of BLADES, I dare estimate I have grasped perhaps 40 % of its depth before my injury, and that is far better than most. For VOID, it is less than 10.

The broader the Domain, the more difficult it is to master. And you cannot properly use applications that you have not mastered. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"For example, Voidwalking, which Elizabeth had just beaten me in, though she herself is a notch above what should even be possible with just Concepts. My affinity for the Void is not nearly as extreme as hers, so even after many decades of study, my understanding has not nearly achieved the limit of what a Domain can do. Even if I were to use VOID in that battle, I would still not necessarily have much advantage over Elizabeth when maneuvering there.

For a counter example, there is Oxen, if you still remember that Shadow, Irwyn?"

"One of the few that I do." Irwyn nodded. It was hard to forget the man who had both assisted Alira and forced him to originally flee from Ebon Respite and then also technically captured him after the Abonisle incursion.

"He is an expert at Voidwalking. If we both used just VOID as our Domain, he would still easily run circles around me there. And that is not counting the presumed other Domains that further help him in that regard. On the other hand, I far eclipse him when it comes to manifesting tools and weapons out of Void magic, as that is where I excel."

"So you were well matched in Abonisle?" Desir returned to the earlier topic.

"It is more accurate to say neither of us was able to kill the other," Dervish said.

"The enemy was a necromancer specialised in controlling risen Souls. It puppeteered a massive cloud of disembodied undead to summon endless barrages of magic of various elements that were perfectly synchronised and unified in meanings, as well as often merging together into greater attacks. That fighting style relies on cornering an enemy and overwhelming them, or gradually chipping them down with a thousand cuts.

"I, at my best, become an ever-replenishing typhoon of dancing blades. I cannot be worn down because more weapons can always be formed. I cannot be overwhelmed by numbers, for I too become legion. In fact, this fighting style is broadly very similar to the lich's, except my BLADES make me far better at defeating certain defensive Domains. But in that battle, our specialities were evenly matched, and I would have likely lost to mana deprivation in about two days of continuous fighting."

"Is it required to fully master your Domains to attain a Truth?" Elizabeth asked thoughtfully.

"Who knows," Dervish shrugged.

"But I doubt it, I am not sure that even can be done by a mortal. As far as I know, there is no 'method' to gaining a Truth. Only chance and talent overcoming impossibility, and I have no such lofty ambitions. Perhaps your father would share his insights."

"Now that I think back to our opening fight, how were those spells you chanted so powerful?" Irwyn questioned. Even with what Dervish had said, they felt too strong.

"Weight, Irwyn, weight," Dervish explained.

"The very basics of chanting technically explain this. The power of the chant stems from several factors, some less obvious than rhyming. The one important here is how well a spell fits you as a person. Achievements will strengthen matching chants. Some spells can be outright cultivated that way: By placing them at the core of how you fight and leaning on them, their power only grows with further feats.

I personally have three such spells that had sprung from the very core of my being and have been nurtured for over a century since. When I embodied my first Domain, they grew into it with me."

"Basically a signature spell," Desir commented.

"I have heard it referred to as such, as well as other names," Dervish nodded.

"Maybe there is an official term, but I have never learned it. Some noble houses rely on similar principles to create hereditary spells empowered for their whole bloodline, though that will still pale compared to solely personal variants. This is a niche technique, usually passed on in person or naturally discovered, as far as I understand. There is no point even attempting to formulate these spells before you are at least halfway through Conception and the effort takes decades to bear fruit.

You are still young, but perhaps it is time that you contemplate if there is such a calling within you."

"Do you have suggestions?" Irwyn asked, nodding to himself.

"You will better reach something yourself. Or perhaps you have already done so and just don't realise it. A puzzle you can think about over the coming days." That was a fair point. Irwyn did try to sort through the spells he already used often. All is seen, which quickly came to mind, was a spell with great utility, but it did not define his fighting style. His favored offensive spells were usually some flavor of Starfall, adding adjectives or adjusting the chant to better fit the situation.

Perhaps that would eventually culminate into something. But the most hopeful candidate was clearly Empyrean blood. Irwyn was, after all, technically already Empyrean, as he had witnessed at the end of the Trial. Even if the shell around his Soul concealed that nature for the moment, it was still true. The current spell was focused on allowing him to channel more of his endless magical reserves than would otherwise be possible, but perhaps he should search for a way to expand that role.

Something that would be more relevant for the battle of Domains, though he had limited idea what that would be yet.

"I will come see you again at a similar time tomorrow, and then likely every day of the week," Dervish announced once they had left the training hall.

"We could spend more time with the training," Elizabeth suggested.

"You have still accepted the burden of vexing the Brightbeak heir," Dervish rejected.

"Moreover, you can figure out many things in your free time without my intervention. Farewell for the moment." In the following days, there were more encounters with the local nobility who were significantly more careful in how they dealt with their group. From what Irwyn glimpsed, almost no one had so much as a single Concept to their name, at least in their neighborhood. Not even the bodyguards. He also did not remember a single name.

Dervish came by every evening around the same time—though not the exact same time, as Alice complained about with great chagrin—to help with their training. It always felt fruitful in some ways, even if it was mostly just practice and insurmountable mock battles. The Shadow made it a point to focus on things that needed his assistance to be practiced properly. The progress was nowhere near as fast as when Irwyn had first been under his tutelage in Abonisle, but that was only to be expected.

He had gone a long way since then and ascending further would require more effort. On many occasions, he was also asked to "consult" with several mages he did not know nor was told the names of—an ideal arrangement by his reckoning as there was thus no expectation of remembering. They would either directly come to their abode or simply confer from a distance through magic and take five to thirty minutes of Irwyn's time at various stages of the day.

Sometimes they would ask his opinions on things that seemed vaguely strategic, though obfuscated so he couldn't tell even what Duchy they applied to. Other times, all that was asked of him was idle chatter or haphazard questions and riddles that seemed wholly unrelated to war. Then they had to attend a ball. On the fifth day of their stay, an invitation was delivered. They would attend a ball happening on the very next day.

It was not hard to guess if a certain inheritor from the Duchy of Yellow would be likewise welcomed there.