Supreme Magus

"Don't worry, Dad. I've watched you use water magic for years and I know what you're capable of. Also, I'm not going to lecture you. You'll learn by experience. Put your hand above mine." Lith offered his hand open with the palm down.

"What now?" Raaz did as instructed.

"Now conjure water magic and I'll do the rest."

"Jorun!" Not trusting his limited talent, Raaz called upon the magic word and traced the hand sign.

As his mana core connected with the abundant water element of the lake, Lith activated Tiamat Fear and Domination. The former allowed him to tame the world energy and made it less resistant to Raaz's will while the latter hijacked part of the chore magic.

"I need you to relax, Dad." Lith said. "Don't think. Just follow the flow of mana and let me do the heavy lifting."

Raaz felt something taking over his mana and moving it toward the water. There, the chore spell found a big trout and surrounded it.

"I said relax, Dad." Lith had to stop the mana from attempting to grab the fish, generating a water current strong enough to scare it but too weak to capture it.

"I am relaxed. I'm not doing anything." Raaz replied.

"Yes, you are." Lith said. "Your mana is too thin, Dad. I can't catch a fish with it while also fighting you for control. Please, trust me."

"I don't even know what I'm doing wrong." Raaz shrugged apologetically.

"You are like a man who has fallen into a river. You are trying to swim." Lith replied. "You are not a man right now, Dad. You are the water and I'm the river. Let me carry you."
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It was a simple phrase but it struck a chord deep inside Raaz and another insider Aran.

As his father finally let go of his mana, Lith used it to form a bubble around the trout. It was as big as the amount of water Raaz could usually conjure but since the water was already there, the mana only had to move it.

The bubble moved slowly and gently to the point the fish didn't notice what was happening until the angle of the sun's reflection on the water changed, startling it. The trout bolted forward faster than Raaz's spell could follow and escaped the bubble.

Yet instead of diving back under the water, it slammed against a layer of ice. The spell was slow but mana moved quickly. The moment the trout had left the bubble, Lith had moved his father's mana to the landing spot.

Between the heat of summer and Raaz's limited magical strength, the ice cracked on impact but it held. The fish jumped again and so did the mana. The trout slammed its head against another layer of ice and then another.

"How is it possible? How do you know where the fish will land, son?" Raaz said while following the game of tag between the mana and the fish in amazement.

"Thanks to your mana, Dad." Lith replied. "The fish is drenched in water filled with your mana. We don't need to see where it jumps to, only to feel it."

Raaz took a deep breath and suddenly he could feel it too. The entire world around him disappeared and was replaced by an infinite darkness. The only lights were those produced by his mana surrounding the trout and the one freezing the water.

After the fish jumped two more times, Raaz had gotten the hang of his newfound perception. After another jump, he managed to predict exactly where the fish would land while it was still in mid-air.

Raaz left Lith's hand and grabbed the bucket, catching the trout on the fly now that it was close to the boat.

"I did it." Raaz stared at the panicking fish like it was a legendary treasure. "I caught it because I could see it with my mana."

"Congratulations, Dad." Lith offered Raaz his hand but he pushed it aside and embraced his son.

"Thank you, son. Just for a moment, I felt like a true mage. It was an amazing experience and the best gift you could ever give me." Raaz said. "The feeling of strength was intoxicating but the best part was becoming one with the water."

"Why just a moment, Dad?" Lith patted his father's back. "That was just one spell. You still have plenty of mana and our lesson has just started."

"Let's get to work, then." Raaz's smile and enthusiasm were those of a child discovering one of the great joys of life.

It not only made him feel younger, it also made him look younger.

From the second attempt onward, Raaz studied how Lith moved the mana. On the third, he managed to assist Lith without disrupting his control. From the fourth, Lith let his father handle the mana, intervening only if Raaz messed up.

Meanwhile, Menadion spectated the lesson from inside Lith's shadow. If not for witnessing Raaz's progress speed with her own eyes, she would have never believed it possible.

At the same time, Aran was lost in his thoughts.

'You are the water and I'm the river. Let me carry you.' He pondered. 'Dad's not really the water. Lith was referring to Dad's mana while the river is Lith's ability to form a current with it. It means my mana is also like water and I'm the river!'

Aran lowered his mana output and started to practice using the same fishing method as Raaz. Fish would now easily escape the bubble, forcing Aran to anticipate their movements and freeze the water surface without conjuring more mana.

He lost a few fish before getting the hang of it.

"Good!" He nodded with a satisfied smile and further lowered his mana output.

"Good? You're falling behind, Aran." Leria said, pointing at the gap in the fish held in their respective buckets. "Your control has become terrible for a while now. Did you get a heatstroke? I told you that you should have worn a hat!"

"I'm fine, thank you." Aran just glanced at her. He was using so little mana that catching a fish required his full focus. "I've already caught plenty of fish. Now I'm just training. You should try it too. It's fun!"

"Fun?" Leria studied Raaz's fishing technique for a bit while thinking back at Lith's words.

It took her a few minutes to compare how Raaz and Aran were faring and notice that her uncle seemed to have become even weaker than her grandfather. Aran needed more time and effort to capture a fish and sometimes he lost one.

'The water and river thingy!' Leria thought in enlightenment. 'Aran is using less and less mana, revealing the flaws in his mana control and correcting them. He's learning how to make up for lack of raw strength with finesse and he's doing a good job at that! I can't believe he thought about this on his own.'

She started to fish the same way as Raaz and Aran, giving her all to make up for the lost time. She could barely listen to what the others said for the rest of the fishing trip. Only when Lith spoke to give more advice to Raaz would she stop and take mental notes.

Just like Aran did.