Test the limits and break through

[Deleted]

Jonathon stood in the middle of the plains around Fordeth, he was alone in the night air, no one else was around to bother him and that was exactly how he liked it. Nothing could be heard, nothing but the soft whistle of wind in the night air as it brushed the long grass around him, catching it and twirling it around yet never seperating it from the ground, the plant was to steady. 

Jonathon sat himself down on the ground, absentmindedly clutching at handfuls of grass and pulling it's roots from the ground, destroying the plant and then surrendering it to the breeze as he released it in the air, the grass flying around for several metres before crashing to the ground. It couldn't fly, it was only grass.

Jonathon hugged his knees together, a tide of emotions only being held back by an insane effort of self control on his part, two decades of pain and suffering struggled within him, with no faucet to release it he had held it back, locking it deep inside himself, weakness was beaten out of you any shows of it would only make it worse on you. Jonathon had learned to hide his feelings as well as any descendant of the Elkagr could. "Curse this race, why must I be so emotionally unstable, why must it be me. Why did they do it, why did they do it, what did they do." Jonathon muttered to himself, rocking back and forth in his curled ball, staying like that for several minutes before he returned to the world. 

Jonathon popped back into the world, a sudden feeling chilling him to his very bones, sending a shiver down his spine and causing all of his senses to almost scream out of him that he was in danger. He crouched cautiously in the grass, still unsure what exactly it was he should be fearing, it had felt dark, a great source of power dampened by age and hatred. Yet he could see nothing.

"Pull yourself together. It was nothing. Your stupid" He said to himself, it can't have been anything, there was nothing around that he could actually see so it couldn't have been anything, surely it couldn't have been anything. He needed to clear his head, he needed to immerse himself in his work, it would distract him.

Jonathon stood, albeit shakily but he got there. Holding his arms out in front of him the tortured mage extended his sense outward, feeling the small sources of power that signified the life around him, the interconnected jumble of small sparks that signified the grass and various other plants around him. Insignificent though they may be, they were still there. 

Jonathon ignored the life sparks of those plants, instead focussing on the darkness once again, it was an overcast night with very little of the moons rays penetrating the thick cloud barrier, it was perfect for him. Jonathon reached out as he always did, pulling smoky tendrils of darkness out of the ground around him, pulling them using his power. 

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Channelling I (5) Dark Arts I(5) Simple(30) Knowledge (10) 
5RAEfL83

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[Deleted]

Jonathon let out a primal scream of rage as the darkness receded back into the ground, taking all of the effort and power that he'd put into it right down with it. He had it, he had held the power for several seconds, but then it had wrenched itself free, how it had done so the young mage had absolutely no clue but somehow it had managed to to exactly that.

He would manage it, should it take him a thousand years or more at some point he would definitely master control over what he had, he would gain full access to his own strength and use it as he pleased, till no one could stop him no matter who or what they were. The shadows around Jonathon had resumed their normal positions, seeming completely natural to the point where if you hadn't seen it you wouldn't believe that anything had ever been done to them or that they would be able to move at all.

Darkness was his calling, he had other skills for sure but his true power rested in the darkness, in bending it to his will and using it to feed his own power and to do as he pleased. It called to him, like a child to it's mother the darkness called to him, a deep echo in his core, his gut told him he should continue it, he should go down that path and it would take him to the greatness he so badly wished for. Who was he to ignore his own feelings, his own thoughts, they all pointed him in this direction and now this was the path he had chosen to walk.

For now though there was still the strange sapping of his strength whenever he used magic, to his knowledge that shouldn't be happening, he should feel a slight drain in his magical power for sure when he used it, but not the drain of his vitality that he could feel slowly dripping away whenever he worked. There must be something wrong with him, for now it was nothing, a minor inconvenience and nought else, but if he were to ever get into a proper fight then it could be a serious handicap to him, he would need to either figure out a way to stop it and put himself back on track, or just learn to live with it and make plans around his disability.

For now it would have to be the latter, so trying again for the second time this night he closed his eyes, instead of wasting time holding as he usually did he instead would reach out with savage lust for the darkness, using more strength than he had before in hopes that this time something would come from it, pouring more of himself into it in hopes of grasping the slippery darkness. 

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Simple (30) Dark Arts I (5) Channelling (5) Knowledge (10) Threshold:50

nA8jj9LZ

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He could feel it, he could feel the strength he had put into the task working for him, engulfing the darkness and controlling it, Jonathon whipped an arm around and a tendril of darkness followed it's movement, lazily and with a highly obvious delay, but it was most definitely a start. It looked almost as if a massive branch off a tree was waving about in front of him, extending for several metres and moving with slow smooth movements even where Jonathon's where jerky and fast. 

For now though it was perfect, amazing that he had managed to come so far, amazing that he had actually managed to make the darkness do his bidding if only in such as basic task as this. 

[Deleted]

Jonathon waved his arm and it dissipated, he would need to practice the method of creating this arm and in no way could he do so without first dismissing it so that he could gather it once again, it was a highly inefficient method but currently it was all he had and so until he found someone with knowledge enough and a way to teach him otherwise this was most definitely the way he'd be doing it.

The arm collapsed, the solidified darkness fading back into a mist that slowly fed back into the ground, he would remember that feeling though, the power he had wielded, if only for a few seconds he had felt it. And he had liked it. Jonathon rubbed his hands together, partly out of glee and partly because he wanted to keep his hands warm, it was the middle of the night of course he was feeling the cold slightly, even if his happiness and focus on work had distracted him from realising this.

Jonathon imagined the look on his parents face when he showed them what he could do, what they had made him into, what they had essentially decided he should do. He thought of himself on the battlefield, he would be a fearsome sight for sure, surely there weren't many others capable of doing as he could, if there were then surely it'd be easy to find the tuition he needed, but there wasn't. He would have to grow stronger though, no matter how strong one was there was always room for improvement, always a way to get stronger even if he had to shed his mortal form to do so.

Jonathon felt for the darkness around him, this time rushing into the process, he had succeeded before he could do so again surely, both arms held by his side he slowly raised them with hands clawed, pulling the darkness up from the ground with an effort, it had become easier for sure after his practice but by no means was he a master so it was still quite a task to say the very least. 

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Simple (30) Channelling (5) Dark Arts (5) Knowledge (10)
r_0xpss2

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It came up once again, this time with relative ease compared to his earlier struggles, it was quite amusing how he had been struggling up to this point yet even with less than an hours dedicated practice he had accomplished so much, he could now call up his power with relative ease, he knew exactly where to look to access his own power at the very least and was quite adept at forcing it onto the shadows to control them.

It was entertaining to say the least, but he knew that it would soon grow monotonous and boring, simply controlling darkness, forming it and then dissipating it, but boring work was the least of his problems anyway 

[Deleted]

It was already beginning to lose some of it's excitement, the idea of having to raise up another one of these things just to crumble it and then reform it again, over and over again until he felt like he had obtained some stronger form of control over his manipulation and his dark arts. But the buzz of doing it, even if it was for the second or third time or more, he found it almost addictive. The power was addictive, it was calling to him to unleash it and use it, and he wanted to, he really wanted to.

Jonathon contemplated, surely if he could do something like this already, then if he refined his technique further then surely at a later stage he'd be able to shape it to his will in more complex shapes, maybe even change the properties of it if he worked enough. If he were to increase it's density significantly he could turn it into a projectile attack, or if he was really clever maybe even make a weapon out of it. Running around a battlefield with a giant spear or sword made from pure darkness appealled greatly to his incredibly twisted mind, ideas of the carnage it could cause already flickering in front of his vision.

Jonathon shook his head, that would come later, first of all he had to get the basics down, once he'd managed that then he'd be able to start dreaming and putting his dreams into action, for now that's all they were, dreams, until he acquired the necessary power that's all they were. But one day he would make all of his dreams come true, when he was strong enough that he could do as he wished that was the point where he would begin, but for now he had to slumber in the shadows, not allowing himself to be taken as a target in the state he was currently in.

Jonathon focussed once again, although now it came so much easier to him, the tendrils began rising from the ground and the shadows on the ground quivered and pulsed.

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Simple (30) Dark Arts I (5) Channelling I (5) Knowledge (10) 
_cDVM8Jp

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Once again the darkness rose at his command, fluidly forming itself into the tree trunk that he currently used as it's form, there was no need for him to create a more complex or refined form for it right now as he was only training the basics, once he had advanced further he'd begin turning it into something he could actually use.

[Deleted]

This time Jonathon played around with the tendril a bit, trying to refine it a bit more, trying to make it more usable and improve his control over the thing. That and the fact that he just wanted to play about with it for a while, it would be entertaining for sure as far as he was concerned, and what was the point in working hard if you couldn't enjoy a little bit of fun along the way whilst you did it. There wasn't a point, most people either worked to hard or spent to much time on their own enjoyment and not enough on work, very few people could manage that perfect balance between work and leisure that was so desired, he had to admit himself it is a hard thing to manage but he somehow pulled through and managed to give himself a fairly decent balance.

Jonathon made the shadowed tentacle combust with a flick of his wrist, spewing darkness everywhere for several seconds before it settled back onto the ground, there would be no way of knowing that he had ever even done anything with it, and whilst he was legally allowed to use magic in public he didn't want to be advertising the fact that he could use the dark arts. If he did he'd have all sorts of people coming up to him, some trying to kill him and others hoping they can learn from him, he didn't particularly like the idea of being a teacher, it felt far to constricting for him and he wanted to be free for now at least. When Julgrava's armies called he would be chucked back into it all but for now he was free, and he intended to use that freedom to enjoy himself and get stronger, that of course being once a certain task had been taken care of.

The strain was beginning to get to him, the sapping of his vitality, he could feel his condition slowly worsening, he didn't have it in him to do much more of this without a rest and a serious meal but he had to push through, once you broke through the exhaustion barrier things became easier again for a while, if there was one thing he'd learned it was that.

Jonathon pulled at the darkness once again, the gesture seeming familiar now so he knew where to place his hands to get maximum effect and a very close to optimum power output so that none of his was wasted, he only used what was needed now. 

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Simple (30) Dark Arts I (5) Channelling I (5) Knowledge (10)
PaKIG8sX

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Jonathon carried on through, he could see the shadows crumbling even as he tried to raise them, he upped the juice, adding more of his own power to the mix in hopes of salvaging this one 

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Skill Roll to push through and do it anyway 

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He had failed, it came crumbling down, he'd been on a roll as well, he screamed out into the darkness in rage at it having gone wrong, feeling as if he had failed himself and at the same time failed his dreams. 

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[Deleted]

Jonathon screamed a scream up to the stars, the twinling masses and the red rings in the sky that circled the planet taking it rather well, almost as if they were used to it.

He had lost control, the pillars had crumbled, he hated losing control, he loved the feeling of having complete control over something, to him it was almost like a drug or an addiction, it helped him get by it made him more confident and more sure in himself. He had tried to do something, thinking he had figured it all out and at that moment it had all failed him, he had been abandoned by the very power he had been nurturing and it had come crashing down around his head.

Jonathon watched as the dark mist descended once again, he would do it, he had to do it otherwise he could not be considered a mage, barely even a man.

He didn't even let the mist settle, just ploughed onwards throughout the fatigue that was beginning to lay claim to his body, reaching deep within himself yet still picking off only tendrils of his strength, unable still to access the greater whole of himself, not even knowing if he was capable of even touching that ball of power that resided within him.

Jonathon grasped at the falling dark mist, grabbing it in an icy grip and attempting to pull it back up, to build it up into the tendril that he'd been so fervently practicing, if he couldn't even manage to get it in such a basic form as this then how would he be able to do anything at all. 

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Simple (30) Dark Arts I (5) Channelling (5) Knowledge (5) 
HjOv0B5K

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Again he had failed. He tried, the veins on his forehead burst into view as he strained himself, pouring what he had into this and trying to do it, trying to save it, this time surely he would be able to...surely....

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Skill save

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[Deleted]

Jonathon slumped down, his brute force tactic had only worked for a time, maybe he should approach it from a different angle, smaller amounts of power but instead of forcing himself onto it instead he should weave in and subtly take control, using the scalpel instead of the hammer, maybe it would work maybe it wouldn't, he had nothing to lose by trying it.

Jonathon considered this, subtlety wasn't his strong point so he'd have to work rather hard at suppressing the weight of his magic and instead only sending in a small sliver, espionage if you will, it would control the shadows in a much more careful way and maybe would provoke less resistance towards him, it was worth a try.

Jonathon raised his hands, this time holding out only his middle finger, a small bit of power trickling from it and mixing in with the shadows, integrating itself instead of smashing it until it broke. "Maybe this'll work" Jonathon muttered to himself under his breath, "Maybe it wont". He was a very optimistic person. 

Jonathon stood by and wondered, maybe if he could apply his magical espionage tactics with real espionage tactics he could make something for himself in that area, he considered it for a whole three seconds before crushing the idea, he was much more of a shoot them in the face kind of person rather than sneaking around and stabbing people in the back. He could be cunning and deceptive when he had to and in fact he rather enjoyed it, but his prime joy was a head on fight where he knew what was coming and what he could do. 

The darkness pulsed, much more violently than it had before, a small tornado had formed in front of him rising up, the darkness slowly thickening in that area, growing and connecting together to where it almost appeared whole. 

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Simple (30) Channelling I (5) Dark Arts I (5) Knowledge (10)
Rquqx_to

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This was it, this was the last of his reserves that he could spare for this task, if he didn't manage it now then sure he could come back to it later, but it would annoy him endlessly that he couldn't manage something so simple as this, his brows furrowed as he concentrated on the task at hand, pumping not power but concentration into this oh so simple working. 

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Skill save, 3 of 3 no more for thread 

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And he failed again, struck down by the light or the dark or whatever entity it was that decided they didn't want him to manage this, he could feel the fatigue creeping into his bones, he had expended far more energy than he should of, he was running dangerously low on energy, feeling as if he would pass out at any second.

He managed a new world record, crawling a grand total of three metres before he slumped into an uncomfortable sleep on the long dry grass, his work being untraceable due to it's nature so he had little to worry about. 



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[Deleted]

The young mage awoke several hours later, the first rays of sun were beginning to peek over the horizon and pierce the veil of darkness that currently consumed the land, yet it was still there, the sun being to low currently to wipe away much.

Jonathon stretched his neck, hearing the vertebrae pop, he'd slept at a funny angle and hurt his neck slightly, he rolled it around, lolling his head to all sides before rolling it again and rubbing at the affected part of his neck. He repeated this process for several minutes until the pain in his neck subsided, well now he knew that passing out in a field due to exhaustion was really not the best way to sleep, lesson learned.

His efforts several hours ago still had a small effect on him, he had expended quite a lot of strength so his body had forced him to hibernate so it could regenerate some of it for him, but now he felt much renewed. Memories of his failure flashed across his mind, he'd had such success for a while but then all of that had turned to failure and he'd been completely unable to replicate his earlier feats. Why exactly it had all suddenly gone so wrong he was unsure, maybe it was because he'd tried to attempt the magic to many times in such a short space of time, or maybe it was just that he got cocky and so his grasp on it became to weak. Whatever the reason was it still stood that he'd failed, Jonathon scowled at nothing in particular, more at himself than anything else, he needed to regain control. He felt renewed enough to at least attempt it again, or rather he forced himself to feel like he could. 

Jonathon stretched out both hands, going back to his initial method that had given him success, siphoning off small tendrils of his power and drawing out the darkness, the tendrils rose from the ground once again as he had bode them to, but would they stay.

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Simple (30) Dark Arts (5) Channelling (5) Knowledge (13) 
JfNEf3hf

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Maybe he'd simply worn himself out, as now the tendrils moved at his every instruction, following his aims and this time they came out as well as they had before, it could be the fact that he'd allowed himself some sleep and the chance to take a break from it. Well he hadn't really allowed himself some sleep he'd passed out but that didn't need to be counted so he chose not to count it, easy as. 

The tendril formed as was now becoming normal, moving around with agonising slowness, but he didn't care now, he knew how to do it and he could manipulate it as far as he wanted to, he had gotten his channelling of magic and usage of the Dark Arts to a reasonable skill level which was what he'd initially set out to do here. 

Unfortunately the sun was rising, and as it rose he felt the darkness slowly take more and more to sustain itself, he couldn't afford to give it more, Jonathon released the spell and the darkness faded instantly in the rays of the sun, that was the main problem with using shadows, you couldn't do it in the light. 

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Channeling II! +2 Stat Points --Xynestro
Dark Arts II! +2 Stat Points --Xynestro

[Deleted]

And of course, seeing as he was outside away from any real cover, a fair walk from Fordeth city, it began to rain. It began first as a drizzle that Jonathon walked through, hoping that it would fade out or it would stay as only a small drizzle until he could get back to the city and reasonable cover. 

But then of course as luck would have it the rain developed, it developed into fat drops that seemed to go straight through his clothing, no more a minor annoyance now the rain was actually soaking him, penetrating his clothes and hitting him hard, it was only rain for sure but not very many people enjoyed being soaked to their core and Jonathon really was not looking forward to the point when he would be that soaked, he was to far away from shelter to take cover before he got to that point so he just continued walking at quite a pace for himself.

But then a thought hit him, would it be possible for him to create a magic barrier around himself that would keep the rain off, it was something that he hadn't tried and for sure it was something that he would never have been taught in an academy that revolved around using magic to kill. It was a thought of his own, one that he was quite proud of having, and grateful to himself that he'd had it as if he could manage it then he would be able to keep himself fairly dry. 

Jonathon reached into himself, drawing out a chunk of power and attempting to create a sheet of magic above him, extending out from him on all sides a square of solidified magic that would hopefully keep the rain out, the centre of this square glued to the point over his head so that as he moved it would as well. If it worked this could be very interesting. 

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Simple (30) Thamauturgy I (5) Shielding I (5) Knowledge (15) Threshold: 55
2llFJ4R|

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The barrier flared into existance, for now it was a highly visible floating square of white above his head, in the future he would definitely be needing to make it transparent as it could turn out to be highly useful. He doubted that the barrier was incredibly strong as if he was honest with himself he barely had any clue how exactly he'd managed the task but it definitely did the job of protecting him from rain well enough. 

[Deleted]

Jonathon continued for a good distance like this.....until his shield gave out and the rain pounded back into him. In the time that he'd spent cowering under his shield away from the rain it had infact grown stronger and now he was incredibly quickly becoming drenched. Sure the city wasn't far off now but still it'd be much better surely if he didn't get any colder or wetter than he already was. 

Jonathon considered it for a second, what he wa about to do surely couldn't be considered illegal magic, it was only the source of power that he drew on for this spell that was illegal, not the actual effect of it.

Drawing into the familiar tendrils of his strength he plucked one out, the sudden feeling of having just ascended a few steep flights of stairs washed over him, the fatigue, he paused for a second as it settled before once again weaving it into a barrier, shaping it and moulding it with his thoughts into a barrier that would sit above him in the same way the last one did and protect him from the rain. 

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Simple (30) Shielding I (5) Thaumaturgy (5) Knowledge (15) Threshold: 55

5_fSfCQK

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The barrier fizzled into existance, and then left straight away. It appeared that he just hadn't shaped it in the same way as last time, it hadn't held together properly and had broken instantaneously.

Cursing under his breath using words that would cause a lady to faint he resigned himself to walking back in the rain and increased his pace, if he couldn't protect himself from the rain properly the least that he could do was speed up so he'd get there quicker.