“And a familiar’s purpose?”
“To help a witch grow, to stand by their side, to protect them as best they can. They are there as a companion, a confidant, the one being a witch knows they can trust. But mainly, they are there for a witch to funnel magic through, helping them build faster and cast stronger.
“A familiar’s magic always mirrors their current witch, which is why, even in practice, a witch with a familiar can build their magical pool and energy far faster than one without. Outside of practice, a weaker witch can double the effect of a spell by channeling it through their familiar.”
That all sounded great…well, it would if Ollie actually needed a power boost. Based on things so far, he did not. “I feel that me trying to channel anything through Red right now would be a bad idea.”
Red snorted. “A bad idea of epic proportions. But it’s not just about magic, it's also about growing your energy. Your magical pool has already proven to be expansive, but without the energy to sustain it, you get what you are dealing with now, which is many days of exhaustion after overextending yourself. Because the little bit of magic practice you do each day isn’t the cause of it.”
Ollie winced. “You knew?”
“Of course. I know we’ve mentioned the energy fueling your magic before, but the reality is…you have two energy sources inside you as a witch. One is reserved just for magic, and is something not all humans have, and the other is typically used for your everyday functioning.
“When you cast spells, you technically use both, even if the latter is only used after the first is empty. The second is much easier to build back up, while the first, I’m afraid, will just take time. Though, by my guess, you’ll be good to go in a few more days, which is when we can work on expanding that pool. Until then, we will just continue as we were.” Red’s gaze trailed over him before he added, “I feel the need to add that, physically, it would be good for you to get into better shape. In other words, eat more, and possibly work towards being able to lift more than just books.”
“Books are heavy, I’ll have you know,” Ollie huffed.
“I’m sure they are,” his familiar said dryly.
“They are!”
“Let’s put this energy towards something productive, shall we?” Annabel chimed with a giggle. “I think it’s the perfect time for Ollie to practice magic.”
“Here?” Ollie asked, doubt in his voice as his gaze swept the likely highly flammable room, filled with old books and wood.
She rolled her eyes. “You do have more than The Living Flame and The Endless Death to practice. Though…” She looked around. “The room is likely magically protected. So, I doubt even magical fire or rot would have much effect on it.”
Red made an odd, chirp-like noise he sometimes liked to make before saying, “While I wouldn’t suggest dropping a fireball into the room, a fire wouldn’t actually damage anything in here. The real worry would be it spreading beyond the room.
“Practice-wise, we’ve been pretty focused on your more destructive magic. For good reason, as they are the ones wereally need to be careful of when using them. But for today, let’s dive into The Ceaseless Hunter’s domain.
“One of the biggest benefits of having a connection with The Ceaseless Hunter is the, usually passive, improved physical senses that come with it. Though, while passive, they are not as automatic as some would want, and do take practice and focus.”
“As this practice is pretty uninvolved, and nothing I can really help with, I’ll leave you to it!” Annabel said, before blinking out of existence.
Ollie set his notebook and pencil down on the table. “Okay, Ceaseless Hunter it is. What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to listen. Really listen, and tell me what you hear.”
“Just…listen?” Ollie asked hesitantly.
Red nodded. “For as long as you think you need to, and then describe.”
“Okay…”
The instructions were simple enough. But as someone with possibly undiagnosed ADHD, focusing on listening was another task of willpower in getting his mind to do the thing, while trying to not do other things at the same time.
Taking a deep breath, he decided to just go for it, even though he wasn’t sure exactly what he was supposed to be looking for. Or rather, listening out for… Or hearing…
At first, Ollie’s ears zeroed in on the loudest noises in the room, which was his own breathing, followed by Red’s. Then,he was drawn to an annoying, fast ticking noise that seemed to come out of nowhere the longer he listened.
Frowning as he tried to place it, his eyes widened when he realized it was coming from Red, and now that he had, he knew exactly what it was. “Your heartbeat…I can…hear it? Which is bizarre, and not humanly possible, but somehow, I can still hear it.”
“Forget what is humanly possible and just keep listening. I suggest closing your eyes, it can help.”
It was kind of hard to forget, but he would try. Sighing, he closed his eyes and went back to listening, rushing to focus back on Red’s heartbeat, as that seemed as good a place to start as any. It took a while for Ollie to pull away from that noise, but eventually, he was drawn to a sound that was barely a whisper at first, before growing as loud to him as his cat’s heart.
His brows pulled as he tried to identify what the hell it was. Ollie was certain the sound wasn’t coming from this room but possibly the one next door, and for some reason, he felt like he recognized it, yet…couldn’t quite place the scratching, almost skittering noise, along with a random…fluttering?
