The Dawn of the New World

Jin Wang turned around to leave without even waiting for her response. He was a hundred percent sure she would follow simply because of how 'subservient' individuals like her could be but to his surprise she stood her ground.

"I-I can't. There are a lot of people I need to help here, I can't just leave them..."

He looked back at her with a raised eyebrow, "What did you say?"

Even though he sounded a little incensed it was anything but that. That was just a facade to test her resolve. People like her all shared many of the same personality traits and characteristics most of the time and very rarely one would stray from the usual path.

They would be soft-spoken, hate direct confrontations, could be easily ordered around because of this, and usually disliked any aggressive behavior. But, that all went out of the window when someone got in their way of helping someone.

It was their 'nature' whether they liked it or not, helping others no matter the cost. Even without testing her abilities Jin Wang was already pretty sure of it now.

"What did you just say?" he asked again when she appeared to be tongue-tied after the first question.

'I c-can't go. These people need my help," she mumbled in a low voice looking down at her feet.

Jin Wang couldn't help but smile. She was still far too young and inexperienced if THAT was her only issue. She didn't ask where she needed to go or why, but that others needed her here.

"So you will come with me if all these people are healed?"

She looked up at him more than a little surprised, "Yes."

Jin Wang nodded while looking around. There were approximately 70 or so individuals here with the more seriously injured ones numbering in the late twenties. But the one good thing was that they were all normal people without any Qi or spiritual energy.

"Alright, this will do," he muttered under his breath and cleared a two-meter section of the ground.

Using his fingers he carved some symbols in a circular formation just big enough to hold one person.

"Come, stand inside," he said to Ma Jiang.

Although hesitant at first she still obliged if only to get him out of the way quicker. Jin Wang made a grasping motion and when he opened his hand there was a leather bag there. He opened it and took out a large pinch of a greyish powder before sprinkling it over each symbol.

A strong ammonia scent hit Ma Jiang right in the face and she had to physically close her nostrils to keep it out.

"OhMyGod what is that?! It smells so bad!"

Jin Wang chuckled, "It'd be bad if it didn't since it's the grounded fecal matter of a green horned ocelot. The smell means it is a very good alchemy agent."

She almost threw up right there on the spot upon finding out it was some creature's droppings but the part about it being an alchemy agent caught her attention.

"Why...are you doing this?"

"Even though you are a magician your knowledge and skills are lacking far too much. Didn't anybody tell you how closely knit the fields of alchemy, magic, and wizardry are?"

Having her skills questioned even this half-elf couldn't help but become a little defensive.

"Of course I know, even a baby knows that but magicians don't need the help of other items to cast spells."

"Yes, they don't NEED it but it can still be very beneficial if done the right way. A good teacher would have taught you to use everything at your disposal. For a magician like yourself being as efficient as possible is the biggest concern since at the end of the day, you only have so much mana. Even drawing it from the nature spirits won't help you if you're dead tired."

By the time he finished lecturing the circle was complete and every symbol had a bit of the powder carefully placed inside it.

Jin Wang nodded contently looking at his handiwork.

"Yup, still haven't lost my touch," he muttered before meeting the confused Ma Jiang's gaze, "Now cast your most powerful healing spell."

"....on whom? I need someone to cast the spell on..."

His brow furrowed, "Stop talking back and just cast it!" he ordered.

Startled, all she could do was follow his orders. She closed her eyes and vocalized the spell to the best of her abilities. Jin Wang was listening intently and could only shake his head upon hearing it.

There were so many mistakes in how she was casting but he didn't want to interrupt her midway. It took her almost a full minute to finish casting it at which point she opened her eyes and looked towards Jin Wang for further directions.

"Extend both your hands, pretend there is someone in front of you who needs your help. Focus on one spot and channel your mana, let it naturally flow outside, do not force it."

Although he clearly explained what to do, it was still easier said than done.. This was a technique called 'visualizing' which removed a magician's need to have a particular target in mind before finishing the casting process.