Chapter 90 - Bottlenecks
“Would you stop treating it like a bundle of yarn made of glass?” the voice complained from the side.
Scarlett flinched. The tiny clump of fire magic she’d spent the last ten minutes trying to carefully untangle bundled up again. All those hundreds of mana strands she had only barely managed to separate into clusters were yet again blended into a dense throng where she could scarcely tell one part from the other.
She closed her eyes, letting out a long breath as she let the fire dissipate. So much for that attempt.
She turned to her right and the porch there, where the raven-haired woman was looking at her. “I was under the impression that you did not intend to give me any directions.”
“I wasn’t,” the woman said. “Nor am I planning on taking in an apprentice, or teaching you spells. But there’s a difference between that, and sitting here watching you make a mockery of my craft for two days. The least I can do is point out the basics. Things even a beginner mage should know.”
Scarlett arched an eyebrow. Neither Garside nor Kat had ever had anything to say about these ‘basics’ when witnessing her magic. They had seemed more impressed with her skills than anything. And both were pretty proficient with their corresponding schools of magic, so it wasn’t as if they were beginners.
“Then what is it you would suggest that I adjust?”
“I’m not ‘suggesting’ anything.” The woman shook her head. With the flick of her hand, a flame appeared beside Scarlett. “I’m saying that the way you are using your mana is fundamentally flawed if improving your control is what you’re aiming for. It’s the equivalent of tying a rope by first separating all its individual threads and then trying to tie them together all at once. No matter what you do, another hundred hands won’t grow out of your back just like that.”
Scarlett glanced at the flame that danced next to her head. Was she supposed to notice anything special about it? The flame faded in and out of existence in cycles, as though a glimmering light. But that was all.
“If you want more control, then learn to use the tools you have properly.” The flame disappeared completely with the woman’s words.
Scarlett turned back to her. “…I am not certain I entirely understand.”
“Then think about it for a minute.” The raven-haired woman turned away from her, returning her attention to the book lying on her lap.