Lord Lemming stood by, pensive and curious, listening as Lucia continued to speak and regaled her with stories of the potentials that the magic had and how she herself had used it in her origins. Making thoughts and ideas fester seemed too far a stretch for Lemming to comprehend, though most games did have things like "fear magic" that a caster could send out in large areas to diminish the will and strength of their enemies. Perhaps that was what Lucia had meant, and she was merely being more flowery in her choice of words, navigating away from gaming terms in order to let the mood stay... more pure? It was awkward for somebody like Lemming who had not played a multitude of games; her idea of a game had been poker or going to the tracks, up until recent years. But it was adorable seeing how "into it" Lucia appeared to be, and so she elected not to destroy the moment by simply asking for attack combos and cheat codes to the game's system. If Lucia wanted to be a literal mentor and train her slowly, that would be... perhaps annoying. But it also meant more time getting to eye up the woman and enjoy her shared ambitions. The mention of her pyromancy caused Lemming to smiled and outstretch her hands, focusing magic into them. "I'd given that some thought actually," she said with some good humor as flame began to leap from hand to hand in a small and shaking orb. It was difficult to control and keep stable, but she managed to do so well enough, focusing her attention on it. "I haven't invested much in it, but I've given some thought to the potentials. A fire that burns at you, while also removing your resistance to it, was my first idea. But there are other things that could be done as well... There's a temperature gauge which many people seem to forget about. It could almost be faster to take down an enemy by draining their gauge while increasing their temperature using the flames, rather than attacking just their health points. In that way, I'd be twice as likely to bring them down. I could also curse them to burn from within, I think, if I took the time to practice." She smiled and moved her hands apart, creating two more small orbs and juggling the flames carefully in front of Lucia, keeping her attention on the magic rather than the woman. "I've also seen people throw spears of fire. And it's possible to hex a small zone, according to what you've been telling me. So then, applying the two together, it might be possible to place a curse upon the ground that when entered, or perhaps exited, caused an explosion or a lashing of fire upon the person there. With geomancy you could make it a cage of stone; that would be interesting to trick people with! But warding a hallway with a hexed tile that will explode upon contact with an enemy seems an excellent tool to use in dungeons, when you need to draw a mob closer to you and pick them off. Of course, I don't think it would tell friend from foe... or even recognize the caster themselves, so once you placed it you would have to activate it to move past it. Still, several sudden jets of flame striking you while a curse temporarily stuns you?" She let all three orbs fall into her left hand and form into one larger ball, smiling. "It has a certain appeal. Assuming the game mechanics allow for it, of course"
Lucia nodded back, glad Lemming seemed to be into it as well, oblivious to the girl finding her own interests adorable. A mellow smile came to her face as she brought her own hands together with a soft clap of approval. "That's right~ Though if you're worried about game mechanics, I imagine it won't be too hard. Our skills aren't so cut and dry as a typical MMO might be. So many games have visible knowable skill trees that we would navigate and assign points to determine our techniques, but that's not the same here." She lectured with a mellow smile. They were given masteries which corresponded to their ability in their fields after all, exactly how they chose to use or develop their techniques weren't limited by the system; not by much at least. "I've met only one other Malefimancer, a strange girl who took this game a touch too seriously-- but her magic is vastly different from mine. We both took Malefimancy, and have studied and practiced it, but that doesn't mean we can't use each other's skills. It might be a bit irritating for me considering how she seemed to adore a particular gaudy aesthetic but I could use her black spears with some effort." Lucia explained, it wasn't a matter of assigning points or anything permanent. While there were no doubt skill trees, everyone's abilities came from effort and imagination more then any predefined skill. "Though grandiose traps would probably not be possible, I've no doubt exploding tiles and arrows are possible." She added after some consideration believing that other masteries out there corresponded with grand magical formations. "That said though, trial and error is no doubt the best way to make your own style. The more you combine though, and the more effort you put in it will no doubt get better." Lucia explained with a soft sway of her palms. Drawing a gentle circle in the air, one spreading a wisp of black fog, the other leaving behind lavender rays as one end of the circle met the other she gently gave it a brush to make it spin causing it to turn a deep purple. "It took me a long time to figure that out at least; Once I thought it was best to make one as strong as possible but in the end, the combinations are just far too useful." She said with a heavy sigh knowing most people focused on a single mastery rather then trying to string them together for more power. "How's that for a first lesson?" She asked with a bright smile.
Lemming rolled Lucia's words around her head and tested them against what she knew of things so far. It made a sort of sense that the game allowed you to... experiment. But everything had to be based on code, realistically, so there were obvious limitations. Still, that would take experimenting to discover, and there was no time like the present to do so. "I think I've got the gist of it," she spoke, holding the ball of flame in both hands and staring down at it curiously. She had planned to just steamroll one mastery or another rather than slowly building everything up, but Lucia seemed convinced that mixing magics was where the real power lay. Trusting her instructor's words, she began to coil dark energy around the flaming orb, hoping to corrupt it with her darker abilities. The coils began to waver and shake, and she gave a concerned frowned as she fought for control over it, only to be thrown backwards by a sudden explosion of smoke, flame, and crackling hex energy. On her back amidst the dead grass which had not been a comfortable thing to fall on, she rolled back and forth, shouting in fear and pain as she slapped flames from her clothes and felt her skin blister from the fire and the darkness.
Lucia's smile brightened a little seeing Lemming try, but the volatile reaction wasn't unusual. Lucia herself experienced it as well, though whether or not it was for the same reason remained to be seen. With a few gentle gestures she swept her hand at Lemming causing the symbol of lavender light she formed to appear on the girl's mid section. The simple 'Regen' spell would appear in Lemming's hud as a shimmering green plus signs around a cartoony aura. Lemming would feel and see her injuries closing slowly but surely, the healing trying to fight back the burning damage that was threatening to spread as she slapped it. "You should be cautious though, combining is not the same as casting two spells simultaneously. Such a feat is beyond even me, to cast two spells simultaneously would be beyond even the Wraith kings and Vampire Counts I've learned from. Instead, it's casting a single spell, utilizing concepts from the separate masteries. This type of 'Spell Crafting' is a little difficult to understand at first, particularly if you're used to using very common and easy to define spells, but you'll come to grasp it quickly I'm sure." Lucia lectured a little, supplementing her lesson when she thought Lemming might have hurt herself trying to fuse separate spells instead of crafting a new one. With a gentle pat, she played with Lemming's hair gently as she tried to reassure her. Spellcrafting was a difficult thing to be accomplished at, Lucia though felt particularly fortunate that she had a knack for it. "My newest spell was 'Sacred Blight', aspects of draining with aspects of healing combined. It's something to that effect~" She explained with a soft smile trying her best to explain the process. "It's all about imagery, all of the possibilities are out there as ones and zeroes, we just have to uncover and excavate them right?" She tried to reassure and give the girl some confidence.
Standing, sighing, Lemming put out the last of the crackling flames that ate at her form, reciting a string of curses within her own head as the pain and frustration nibbled at her patience and calm. Her rising choleric was tempered by the magic that Lucia cast upon her, however, when its healing light spread across her body and began to patch up each bit of flesh that had been scorched. It even repaired her hair, for which she was eternally grateful, as having to shave it all off and regrow it would have been an infuriating pain in the real world. But here it seemed that everything was easily fixed and corrected by way of the masteries the game held. Or... well, most things were, at the very least. Apparently whatever Lucia's skills, she lacked the combined talent of weaving in order to patch up Lord Lemming's clothes that had sustained just as much damage as her flesh. With a sigh she shrugged her way out of the long blue jacket she wore like a mage's robe, listening with half attention to Lucia's cautionary tale and inspecting the holes and burns in her clothing. It was beyond ruined, and with a sigh and a huff she tossed it on the ground, then looked at her chest wrap and pants to see that they, too, had been damage. Not as extensively to be sure, but when you wore your jacket open and kept nothing but a wrap on your breasts, any amount of fire was a revealing amount of fire. With a shrug she began to peel the charred fabric off of her torso and threw it on the ground as well, standing exposed for a moment while she hunted down a new top in her inventory. Pulling it on, she glanced over at Lucia, who had stopped talking lessons. Was that all there was to learn for now, or would they be continuing? "I'll probably stick to one or the other while I work on that," she sighed, not wanting to blow herself up again.
Lucia crouched down beside Lemming, a gentle reassuring gesture as she spoke. Seeing her stripping the tattered remains of her clothing though, Lucia wouldn't do something as silly as glancing away. Instead, a wet tongue rounded her lips moistening them enough to glisten as her gaze only deepened briefly. When Lemming tried to pull it on, Lucia would only reach out a gentle hand trying to stop her. The gesture was soft, one that was easily shrugged off, ideally one that could be easily misunderstood if she didn't approve. With her other hand, she'd reach towards Lemming's cheek, gently trying to play with the hair at her ear as she spoke. Her voice soft and hushed as she murmured her words. "Now now, patience is a virtue." She whispered sweetly, close enough for Lemming to feel the warmth of her breath against her skin. "Or perhaps it's too cold?~" She tried to tease, her voice a coy whine as she drew her hand back, her fingertips brushing against her cheek as it slid away. Composing herself briefly she tried to swallow that sultry demeanor back up under her gentle exterior. Her sweet smile returned slowly but her gaze was still sharp and interested as she continued her lecture slowly and steadily. "You'll get it, little by little at least. It's something that takes practice; this game is made up of ones and zeros maybe, but we all have the ability to build spells using the most basic building blocks. You'll figure it out~" She reassured, her tongue making one last pass around her lips, as if her mouth had grown dry from her own interest before she reached out to Lemming's head to give her another gentle pet. Though the first lesson was more or less over, it didn't mean Lucia would just disappear though. "Now, since you've gotten your first lesson, are you satisfied a little?" She tried to tease wondering how she'd done but her choice of words was a little ambiguous.
