Chapter 1281 1281 Secretary Kat
--- Kat ---
Of course, just because Kat and Lily felt like they'd accomplished their goal, didn't mean it was time to end the conversation just yet. It wasn't time for the next event, and besides, none of them were participating so it was fine if they ended up a bit late, should worse come to worst. All this talk of training methods had Lily curious, "So what would you both recommend I do for my own training?"
"For paper affinity or for shadow?" asked Nixilei. "Both?"
Lily shrugged and said, "I'm happy to accept whatever wisdom you have for either but I'd like to focus on shadow if we can… though now I'm saying this I'm wondering if the reason I feel like my shadow spells are so weak because they're actually darkness spells. That might be something to look into,"
Nixilei shrugged, mimic Lily's own shrug as best she could while leaning forward, slightly blocking Asteodia's view. Asteodia was trying not to get caught looking down Nixilei's shirt. "That's not something I can really tell myself. You might have to ask Midnight to check the spells over… but even then he might not know either. There's also the chance that it's a combination darkness/shadow spell because whoever developed them didn't know the difference…
"As for training… I guess it depends what you want. Are you looking for more exercises you can do everywhere? Or are you looking for the really intense training? I know just before I was allowed to go off on adventures I was forced to practice healing people while running an obstacle course. I had to finish it in a certain amount of time, and the person I was carrying needed to be healed as well. It's come in handy a few times, but I only did it like… twice and that was more than enough for me,"
"Huh, I think you mentioned that Green's parents have a fondness for obstacle courses," said Kat.
Nixilei nodded and explained, "Yeah they do. The orphanage not as much. I mean, we do still have one, it's in their lands after all. Compared to Grey and Blue's manor though? It's basically a children's playground. I think it's how they still train to this day, running obstacle courses. They change too. So like, the oldest ones get torn down every so often to keep them from improving their times just from memorisation and not skill,"
"I'm not sure we really have the space for an obstacle course and I know for a fact we don't have someone to design one, so I think that might have to go in the no pile, or at least the 'maybe not' pile," said Lily.
*Pretty sure Callisto would be down to make you an obstacle course, though I agree about the space thing.*
[Huh, I wasn't think about that… but now that I have I find the idea horrifying and would really rather not experience whatever hellish contraption she comes up with for it.]
*I'm sure you could specify the hellishness.* Unaware of Kat and Lily's internal conversation Asteodia spoke up, Nixilei almost stopped her, as she did notice, but in the end, Nixilei just let it go. "Well if that's not on the table you have to decide what sort of things you want from your shadow magic.
"If you want the little details to be correct, maybe you should go for something like my own training. Get a light source that changes regularly like a fire and then put something in front of it and force your shadow to mimic the changes. That should get you good at the details… and I suppose if that's too easy you could get Kat to help by sitting nearby and swapping the object casting the shadows out for something else every few seconds, or just whenever you get a perfect match,"
"Not a bad idea… I should add that to my list. Wait, hang on I'm serious about that, I should get my bag from upstairs, I think I have a notebook in it," Lily was about to get up when Mint rounded the corner and presented Lily her bag. "Wait… how did you get this so fast? And were you eavesdropping Mint… I mean, thanks Mint but…"
Before Lily could figure out how politely word her question, Mint just answered anyway, "Yes I was eavesdropping, Thyme says it's a necessary skill for running an inn, even if it is considered impolite. I'm not good enough to listen to all of the conversations in the building at once, but you guys are my friends so I thought I'd pay attention to you.
"As for how I got your back so quickly? That's Thyme, or well, something Thyme set up. I just needed to move the bag to the correct spot in your room and then activate an enchantment and bam, bag magically appears in front of me,"
Lily glanced between the bag, and Mint, as she tried to figure out how to feel about the fact Mint was technically spying on her. Mint didn't seem bothered, and in fact, just walked back to the desk before Lily could properly get herself together. "Ok… so that just happened I guess," mumbled Lily.
While she did so, Kat plucked the notebook from Lily's hands and started to write down Asteodia's ideas. "Um, Kat I can do that you know?" said Lily confused, and definitely not pouting because Kat was leaning away to take notes without her arms knocking into Lily's body.
"Yes, but this is for you Lily, so you can participate in the conversation, and I'll note down the ideas. This way, the conversation doesn't need to stop so you can write things down. Plus, my handwriting should be a lot better and faster now I'm a demon," explained Kat.
lightsΝοvel.cοm "Well… thanks Kat. I think the obstacle course idea is one we table, but Asteodia's shadow idea is pretty good, I quite like it," said Lily.
"Thanks," said Asteodia. "If it ends up being not to your taste, the only other thing I can think of is to immerse yourself in shadows so… I dunno perhaps creating a cave or a dark room that has a bunch of lanterns around the edges that all have different objects and just… looking at all the different shadows? I don't know if it would actually help but it might give you ideas. Assuming you can't just find a shadow monster for them,"
"Wait… I thought monsters can just sort of… do bullshit that doesn't make sense," said Lily.
Nixilei stepped in and said, "Indeed that is the case. Monsters can usually do things that are much more advanced then there rank shows, or have insane control… but only over a very specific part of the ability. Even still, many people have cited monster abilities as inspirations for spells. Even if it's a lot harder to copy then it seems, watering it down might work, and it gets you thinking of the possibilities,"
Lily chewed on her lip as she considered it. [Do you think we could find a zoo in the Hub with shadow monsters? It's a bit of a specific request… but I feel like it might help me if what Nixilei is saying is true.]
*No idea if there is one, but I feel like it probably exists, if not as a full zoo then perhaps just as a section inside a zoo. I'm sure that Greed or Gluttony would have something set up for us. Though… perhaps Pride or Envy? I could see Envy having a zoo so that their members could try and imitate the abilities, or Pride might have a zoo to show off. Not sure if we could get in if Pride runs it though…*
"I'll keep it in mind, thanks Nixilei," said Lily. "Do you have any other ideas? Asteodia's are quite cool, and the first idea might be worth testing sooner rather then later, but so far everything has been about pure shadow manipulation. What about practicing spells, or making spells?"
"Well making spells is hard," said Nixilei. "Like… really hard. You can twist existing spells, and it's not impossible to force something together that works… but that's hardly a proper spell. A proper spell is cheaper, and more powerful then just using direct manipulation. As for making the ones you have better… either try and work out better sigils for the spell, or just practice casting them. It really is just a matter or practice makes perfect,"
"Boo," said Lily with a big thumbs down. "Isn't there any cool way to practice my spells?"
Nixilei and Asteodia chuckled with Asteodia speaking first, "Ah the bane of any real mage. Practicing their spells over and over again. It's why I barely count myself as a real mage and just focus on shape manipulation. Casting the same spell over and over again until you 'get good' at it is impossible really. You can barely measure your progress, and while it's noticeable for other people, for yourself it all blends together and can be mind numbingly boring. Good luck,"
Lily did not feel comforted by the bright smile on Asteodia's face.
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