Ball of Nothing

"Took you long enough!" Freya snapped when Truen finally appeared. She'd been waiting in this dimension for far too long. Her shopping trip with Isis was cut short when Isis received a report about some problems from a messenger falcon. The Goddess of Time excused herself in a hurry and Freya was left to her own devices. Unable to find a better way to pass the time, she started making preparations for the basic magic and combat crash course. Once she was done, she loitered in the dream dimension for a long time.

Truen looked terribly exhausted even in a dream and Freya pitied him slightly.

"My apologies, goddess."

Nodding, Freya didn't pursue the matter. Instead, she conjured a table and two chairs with the wave of her hand. "Let's put the lesson aside. We have about a week here before you need to wake up again. Tell me, how do you find Earth?"

Truen recounted his story about Zero and his adventures at Endow Hill. There wasn't much to recount but he'd concluded it wasn't the same Earth that he originated from.

Freya laughed aloud when Truen explained how he panicked when Zero ate a mushroom that gave Zero colour-changing skin.

"You have a long way to go. Magic does not follow common sense, it follows the heart and is guided by emotions. As a living wood spirit residing in the body of a wood elf, you should be more attuned to magic. I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet even after visiting a place so dense in magical energy."

Ashamed, Truen apologised once more. It was true that he hadn't progressed much with his constant worrying over the brunet's well-being. Freya sighed wordlessly.

"In any case, I'll summarise how magic works. It comes in two parts. Something that is believed in and something that can be manipulated."

"Believed in and manipulated?" Truen parroted. His expression reflected no form of understanding. How was this vague summary meant to enlighten him?

Freya grinned. "Seeing is believing. Why don't you try it or yourself? This is the perfect space for it. Although it is a dream dimension, the experiences are real. Just like how I conjured the table and chairs, you should try creating things with your imagination. The more realistic your imagination is, the more tangible it will become."

Truen tried to imagine something that was very close to his heart. Of course, for any Chinese, the closest thing to heart will be rice. It was a staple food eaten every day from young to old.

As soon as he imagined it, a bowl of piping hot rice appeared in front of him. The elf caught it with both hands. The rice was exactly how he remembered it to be from smell to colour and texture.

Freya smiled. "Now give it a taste."

Truen did and was amazed by how real it was.

"This is the power of belief. Your belief in rice to be this smell, weight, texture, colour and taste is what allows you to create it. Of course, there are several ways of channelling magic energy. Illusions like this are basic and require no incantations as it is very familiar to the user. However, more complicated spells like creating causing physical changes to the environment can be more difficult. Incantations are used to facilitate the profound understanding of the laws behind it. For example, a lightning bolt..."

Freya pointed to her right and Truen watched in amazement as a bolt of blue lightning left her finger to the direction she was pointing to.

"I understand. What about manipulation?"

Freya smiled. "Let's use that bowl of rice as an example. Can you create that bowl of rice again?"

Truen closed his eyes and concentrated. Soon, another bowl of rice materialised and fell into Truen's hands. Nothing looked different and the elf wondered what Freya would do.

"Do you believe that this bowl of rice is exactly the same as the last?"

The elf frowned. "Yes."

"Are you sure there isn't a difference? Are you very sure it has the same weight, size, colour, smell, texture, temperature and taste?"

At this, Truen frowned. He knew for a fact that no two things in the world can be exactly alike. Even the same bowl of rice will always be different from time to time depending on the cook, the farmer, the conditions the rice was grown in and how the merchants packaged it.

"Now, I want you to taste this bowl of rice. Tell me what you think about it."

Truen did so without questions and this time, he found that the rice was indeed slightly different from the previous bowl of rice.

"How...?"

Freya grinned. "You doubted it. Manipulation is all about using the enemy's mind against themselves. For example, if one believes that a 'cloak of darkness' will conceal them, I can falter their belief by challenging it with a 'fire from hell' to burn that 'cloak of darkness'. If they believe that the 'fire from hell' is stronger than their 'cloak of darkness', the magic created will fail and backfire on them. That spell of invisibility will be interrupted and I will be able to see them again even if the fire doesn't harm them."

Truen felt mentally drained after listening to Freya's explanation. Where was the common sense in magic? Didn't that mean it was possible for a fool with an extra strong faith to win against an educated person with a weak faith?

Sensing Truen's thoughts, Freya chuckled. "Blind faith is also a kind of strength. Fortunately, those who walk the path of magic often possess high intelligence."

Hearing this, Truen wanted to cry. However, Freya was having none of it.

"Stop dallying! We need to get you familiarised with the law of magic before the week ends!"