Chapter 125: An Uneasy Morning [bonus]
Hermes had already moved to the practice dummies.
A low incantation, and a thin dark-red thread shot from his wand tip, coiling around the wooden figure's neck, biting half an inch into the wood with a hissing, corrosive sizzle.
"A variant of Bone and Blood Stripping?" Regulus walked over.
"Weakened version." Hermes didn't stop. The thread split into three more strands, each binding a different limb. "I want to see if I can control multiple targets at once."
"Right idea, but your distribution's off." Regulus studied the strands. They looked the same thickness, but the one on the left leg was clearly underpowered. "You're still funneling most of your magic into the first strand without realizing it. Try splitting your focus. Imagine you have four independent hands, each controlling one."
Hermes released the spell. He stood thinking for a moment, then closed his eyes, brow furrowing tight.
After a while, he opened them and cast again. "Bone and Blood Stripping."
Four dark-red threads. The power distribution was more even this time, biting into the wood at nearly identical depths.
Training continued.