“To shielding practice?”Jarred ran his eyes up Wayla’s legs.
“Chrissy said it was stretchy.”
“I thought you were going to change here,” Marc said, feeling a bit confused.
“Change into what?”Now Wayla looked exasperated.
“Training clothes,” Marc replied.
“No.This is what you get,” Wayla said and then turned to Jarred.“So, what am I trying to grasp today?General shield or ice shield or power surge block?”
“I still don’t get how you can be so precise with water and wind but fail at a simple shield,” Marc groaned before Jarred could reply.
“It just doesn’t want to stick,” Wayla gave the same reply yet again.
“Okay,” Jarred jumped in before they could devolve into bickering.“Try to explain it to me again, precious.What is the issue?”
“I’ve told you a hundred times.”
“Humor me,” he said, and Marc nodded.
“Fine.I can construct the thing, I think, but the moment I try to pull it in, it… evaporates.”
“Have you tried building it directly on you?”Jarred asked.Wayla bit her lip and shook her head.She looked to the side and then sighed.
“Maybe we should just give up.Admit I suck at shielding and call it a day.”
“Absolutely not,” Marc almost shouted.Wayla looked guilty as she replied.
“I feel bad for wasting your time week after week.”
“It’s not a waste,” Jarred said.“You’ve gotten good at falling, if nothing else.”
“Ha-ha,” Wayla choked out and then shook out her limbs.“All right, let’s get to it then.”
“Sparkle,” Marc hesitated.“Could you pull up the flimsy shield?”
Wayla looked thoughtful.“Maybe?But it’s flimsy, wouldn’t it be just as much of a waste?”
“Maybe not.If you managed that, it gives us something to work from.Partial coverage is better than none.”
“All right, I’ll try.”
“I’m going to use wind again,” Marc said.Wayla nodded, and her forehead wrinkled.Marc could sense a minor change in the air around her.“Ready?”
Wayla nodded.
Marc pushed a small blast of air at her, and this time it ripped around her.Wayla’s dress swayed, but her hair stood still.
“Oh, wow.I think you got it!”Jarred cheered.
“Explain what you did, sparkle.”
“What you told me to do.I wrapped a simple layer around myself,” Wayla said carefully.
“Around yourself?Not into yourself?”
Wayla’s shoulders sagged.“Yeah.External.”
