“Will one of your... katas even work for me?” Teren asks.
“Not all of them. But we’ll start with a fairly general one. It won’t be a perfect match for your power, but once you’ve learned a few and gotten practice with them you’ll begin to feel how to modify them.”
“Can you make sense of the sages’ notes?” Teren asks.
“They still exist?”
He nods. “Oh yeah. There’s a great big tome at the cottage, full of knowledge that sages wanted to pass down. Nomi will show you.”
“In that case, I might even be able to find one that’s a better match for you.”
“Was there a Sage of Comfort in your time?”
I shake my head. “No. But some of our katas are more similar than others. Do you know what a kata is?”
“A pattern of movement, right?”
“Yes. This is a kata for focus. I believe it will be easier for you to start with, given your prior efforts at meditation. Mirror my movements, first.”
Facing Teren so I can watch him, I shift into the reverse of a form. This would actuallyunfocusme, so I make a concerted effort tonotflow my magic through the form.
His form is atrocious. I grit my teeth and move slowly to the next form.
“Follow as closely as you can,” I tell him.
“That bad, huh?” Teren says lightly.
Okay, direct approach it is. “What do you even do to condition your body?”
“Nothing?”
My eyes glow a little as I move into the next form.
Deep breaths, Yora.
“That’s going to have to change,” I tell him. “Moving atallis better for you.”
“I’m a knitter.”
“Learn to knit while you walk,” I growl. “This is ridiculous.”
Teren huffs in amusement. At least my comments aren’t hurting his feelings. “I am not the kind of person who can bulk muscle.”
“Nor am I, but I possess body awareness. You can see the difference between our poses, yes? You are used to following patterns?”
“Yeah. I don’t think I candoit, though. This is a basic kata? I don’t know if this will work for me.”
His worry is creeping back in.
“It will work,” I tell him. “Even a poorly performed kata is better than what you’ve been doing. It will simply be more effective the closer you can match the form.”
“I don’t feel any different.”
“That’s because I haven’t talked to you about magic yet. You’re getting ahead of yourself.”
“Are you sure this will work? It sounds like I don’t even have the foundation—”
“Teren,” I cut him off in exasperation, “I learned this when I was achild.Are you an adult or aren’t you? Stop whining about why it won’t work for you andmake it work.”
