The Chained Watcher

✨Magic✨

This time, it hangs in the air like a gentle mist, noticeably thicker the nearer it got to his hang. It's a lot less obvious what it does just by looking at it, so he'll have to explain a bit more.

"This type of shield is a bit fuzzier around the edges, since it's not trying to be a solid immovable wall. It's also the type I tend to default to, since it is more easily manipulated to do what I want it to. You can have it push straight out, or spin in a circle, or even revolve at random angles. It might not stop an attack the moment it makes contact, but an arrow being thrown off to the side by a wind shield works just as well as stopping it."

Scar holds his hand out hesitantly, clearly wanting to poke it but not sure if he should. Grian nodded, and the wizard started pushing on the shield lightly. The first inch of progress was pretty easy, but got exponentially harder to bypass the thicker the 'mist' got. Grian swirled it lightly, and Scar's hand slipped to the side from the sudden redirection of force.

"Do note that shields aren't always easy to see, and are actually more often than not invisible when neutral. Some will only show when under duress, and others won't even have any visible signs when under attack."

Scar was thinking now, and was considering the shield thoughtfully. "Then which do you think is best? They both sound pretty good to me."

Ah, such a simple question, and yet one scholars would viciously fight about whenever it got brought up. His answer to this question is one neither side agrees with, but can't refute either. "Both."

"Both?"

"Both. Soft shield on the outside, with a solid core. It's something that requires more concentration to maintain, but the strength of the whole is more than the sum of the parts. If a mace strike would break the solid shield if it hit head-on, the soft shield can deflect it to the side enough for the solid one to tank."

"But which one should I learn first?"

He shrugged. "Eh, either works, but solid is the easiest to visualize. Just try to hold your magic in one place like you're using a shield, and we'll go from there."

Scar nodded, and started trying to pull out magic like Grian had done. This isn't really something that Grian can help with, so he brings his own magic back into a thin strand he played around his fingers. Magic might be a very useful tool, but sometimes it's fun to just play around with it, not worrying about getting some specific effect out of it. It's actually quite relaxing to him.

After a couple minutes, Scar is slowly making progress on holding a ball of neutral magic in the air without a medium. Someone was walking by, so Grian caught his wisp of magic in his hand, letting it dissipate back into his body.

Ten minutes have passed before Scar manages to keep the ball of neutral magic stable, or stable-ish, considering how it's rippling passively. Poking it with a finger, the magic jiggles like jello with too much water in it. "That's a pretty good time for just starting. Once you've managed it once, it'll come easier to you, so don't worry if it takes a bit of time to get going right now."

The next step is actually shaping it, which takes Scar another 10 minutes of poking and prodding the ball of magic, both mentally and physically. Eventually, he gets it roughly shaped like a plate, and flops back tiredly while it floats in front of him.

"This... is much harder... than you made it look..."

Well of course he made it look easy, he's been doing magic for... Well, he's not sure how long anymore. "Scar, I've had considerably more practice with magic than a lot of normal magic experts. Using me as a comparison is not an accurate estimator of skill."

"You still made it look easy."

"Hey, you're already above average, you'll get there. A lot of people with magic potential only barely have enough to make a candle flame, or a dim light."

A couple seconds of silence stretch out as Scar catches his breath.

"Hey, earlier you mentioned something about adding an element to a shield?"

"Don't think I don't know you're asking this so you can slack off, but yes I did. Different elements work best with different types of shields, but for a solid shield you'll probably want earth, metal, or ice. Earth and metal shields wouldn't float very well, but ice tends to work nicely."

"But how do you do it?"

Resummoning the little wisp of magic, Grian stretched it out like a lattice as it shifts color to an icy blue. The buckler it forms this time is made entirely of ice, though one can see a faint purple sheen when the light catches it just right. Hefting it in a hand, Grian tilted the shield to show the difference.

"One of the upsides of an elemental shield is also its downside, especially with the solid elements. With a shield of ice, it will be able to take more damage before breaking, due to its solidity. But that newfound solidity also slows it down. Here, try holding it."

Handing over the disc of magic ice, he watches Scar weigh it in his hands. "It's heavy now. Is that what you mean?"

Bit of a simple observation, but not untrue. "Yeah. The ice makes it stronger, but it's also heavier now, so it takes longer to move it. Oh, and a poorly shaped elemental shield also has to deal with more air resistance too, so that's another issue."

Withdrawing his magic from the shield, the now unsupported ice loses its sheen and starts melting as the ambient temperature reclaims its place. Grian curls the magic around his fingers again for a few seconds before catching it, going back to idling as Scar returns to working on his shield.

His communicator beeps as someone sends him a message, and upon checking it looks like he isn't the only one not really doing anything right now.

<Impulse>: Hey G, whatcha doin?

<Grian>: Making sure Scar doesn't blow himself up while trying to magic. Again.

<Impulse>: Again?

<Grian>: His crystals were not the most stable when he was first making them

<Xisuma>: You can say that again

<Grian>: >:)

<Grian>: "His crystals were not the most stable when he was first making them"

<Xisuma>: You know what I meant...

Eventually, Scar gets a shield he's temporarily satisfied with. It probably wouldn't do much of anything when faced with an actual attack, but it's a start! Knocking on it lightly, Grian watched the surface ripple slightly as Scar tries his best to hold it in place.

He nods. "You should probably spend some time practicing later, but it doesn't look like you'll blow yourself up with this."

Scar does a double take. "You thought I would blow myself up???"

Grian dismisses his concerns. "With a shield spell? Doubtful, but you can never be too sure."

"Then why did you mention me blowing myself up?"

"Because I wouldn't put it past you to find a way to blow yourself up with just about anything."

Standing up, Grian brushed off his pants. "Welp, I'm gonna go do other stuff. Don't forget to practice, but don't try adding an element without me there. That actually can blow up, after all."

Then he walked out, leaving Scar to work on his spell in peace.

~~~

I've got quite a few different scenes planned out for now, just need to figure out which comes when and how they got there.

Questions, concerns, etc, feel free to say them! I do my best to at least acknowledge all the comments, even if I don't reply to every single one.