"Let's get to the basics." Cadmus looked at Ciri and spoke with a smile. The tent, which now looked more like a house with numerous rooms, seemed very large. "Show me your powers."
Ciri looked confusedly at Cadmus but spoke in a somewhat embarrassed tone. "I don't know how to use anything yet; they happen randomly."
Cadmus was not surprised by her words; he looked at the platinum-blonde girl and spoke in a gentle tone: "Ciri, before anything else, keep in mind that nothing related to magic is random. A trigger is needed to use your abilities; this varies from emotions, will, or even a sense of terror in a life-and-death situation."
"Knowing this, tell me what you were doing or feeling when you used your powers," Cadmus said, sitting in a chair.
Ciri seemed thoughtful; she remembered what she was feeling and then widened her eyes. Her beautiful green eyes stared at Cadmus with a bright gaze.
Remembering the fear she felt just before being captured and the sense of terror when she felt she would be hunted, she took a step forward and, under everyone's surprised eyes, a green light glowed around her body and, in an instant, she appeared on the other side of the tent.
"So simple? Am I truly a terrible teacher?" Yennefer, seeing the scene, couldn't help but doubt her ability to teach. However, it wasn't her fault. As a witch, Yennefer was taught in a solid power system and gained power gradually.
It was totally different from Ciri's case, who couldn't really use magic properly and had to use her own emotions and instincts to use her powers.
In short, Yennefer had a paved slate path before her; she only had to walk and gain power. Ciri was completely the opposite; she had no path to follow, she would have to confine herself within herself to develop her powers.
That was the difference between a mage with a legacy and a wild mage who had to explore on their own.
"That's good." Cadmus nodded with satisfaction; he already knew the girl was talented—after all, she was the bearer of the Elder Blood, a living weapon. If she weren't talented, this world wouldn't have talented people. "However, emotions are not the best trigger for using your abilities; they are too volatile, especially in a battle."
"So, what we will train first is your control over your own power," Cadmus said with a smile. Taking a coin from his bag, he made it spin around his fingers and continued speaking. "Your power is both simple and complicated: time and space manipulation."
Triss's eyes widened hearing such an absurdity. She looked at the small girl and couldn't believe someone was actually born with such abilities. Then came the feeling of envy; comparing oneself to others was the true terror of idle people.
(Note: that includes me...)
"Let's set aside time and focus only on space." Cadmus certainly couldn't just throw such a high workload at a girl who hadn't even begun her studies. Fortunately, Ciri's abilities were in her blood and not in books.
"Your teleportation is essentially crossing space from one side to the other, rather than following a path properly speaking."
Transfiguring the coin into a sheet of paper, Cadmus continued speaking while folding the paper. "You simply make a hole in the paper and cross through, appearing somewhere else. That is your teleportation."
Cadmus tried to be as basic as possible, as it was much more complicated, involving Ciri's own gravitational field, but the girl certainly wouldn't understand. Honestly, he was more curious about how Ciri teleported without coordinates.
"Understood?" Cadmus asked with a smile.
"Yes." Ciri was intelligent.
"Now that you know your teleportation, you have to train to cross space without using emotions, using your own thought and reason," Cadmus said in a satisfied tone; having an intelligent student saved him a lot of work.
Transfiguring the sheet of paper back into a coin, he tossed the coin to Ciri. "Obviously, using your own body as an experiment is stupid, so you will try every day to train using this coin. Your homework is to teleport this coin between your hands smoothly and naturally."
Looking at the gold coin in her hand, Ciri showed a determined look and nodded. The girl truly wanted to improve; the feeling of being hunted was one of the worst a human being could have.
Seeing this, Cadmus showed an even more satisfied smile. This desire for power was essential for Ciri to truly focus and train seriously. After all, what teenager isn't lively and looking for trouble at every moment?
Yennefer and Triss looked at each other and saw the desire for knowledge in each other's eyes. As witches, the craving for knowledge was paramount. Hearing such a refined explanation of space was simply very pleasant.
In their eyes, someone becomes a master when they finally manage to teach easily to others. This showed that Cadmus was indeed a very competent master.
"Go and choose a room." Still having a body to dissect, Cadmus spoke gently to the girl: "I will bring bedding for you and also some clothes."
Ciri nodded; she looked at Cadmus, then at Yennefer, and after a while, chose one of the rooms, entering it shortly after.
"Ladies, we have a body to dissect and study. Please note all your findings and anything out of the ordinary," Cadmus said, looking at Yennefer and Triss. Having two assistants was very good, especially observing beautiful women, which is a remedy for a man's soul.
Yennefer did not refuse the proposal; she also wanted to study the divine to solve her body's problems. As for Triss, she was still wearing an apron and her hands were covered in blood. She quickly went back to work with an excited expression.
The three quickly dissected the body and spoke of their findings. Honestly, to anyone else, it looked like a terrifying and chilling scene.
The next day,
Cadmus was drinking a glass of juice, missing his coffee, and entered the King's tent with Ciri, Triss, and Yennefer behind him.
The war council was already underway, and no one stood up for Cadmus's arrival, already accustomed to the mage's presence.
Rhaegar was surprised to find two more women beside Cadmus, one small and another grown, but surprisingly, all three possessed great beauty; even the youngest already showed signs that she would be a beautiful woman when she grew up.
Then, looking at Cadmus with a touch of suspicion. No matter how much one looked, seeing Cadmus with three beautiful women was very suspicious, especially being a married man.
Faced with the king's gaze, Cadmus sat beside him and whispered. "The two older ones are two witches from Aretuza, and the small girl is my new student. The red-haired woman is a witch specialized in potions..."
Rhaegar's smile widened; he looked at Triss as if he were seeing a mountain of gold.
"They will work for me, and we will protect the battlefield from any magic user," Cadmus added in a solemn tone.
Rhaegar raised an eyebrow and looked at Cadmus with a touch of skepticism. "Are you sure they aren't your mistresses?"
It was very normal for nobles to have mistresses; otherwise, there wouldn't be so many bastard sons and daughters on this continent.
"Mistress? If I have a mistress, Daenerys will probably burn her alive." Cadmus is not truly lustful; he thought with his upper head and not his lower head. His wife was truly dangerous to other women around him.
Rhaegar looked at Cadmus with a touch of pity in his gaze. He never thought his sister was so possessive; it made him feel he had made Cadmus fall into a trap of his.
"I'll tell Dany to be more... receptive," Rhaegar said with a smiling tone, making Cadmus roll his eyes.
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Read my other books:
House of The Dragon: The Pale Prince
Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos (500,000 words written).
Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.
Game Of Thrones: The King's Court Wizard