It hadn’t seemed like something he needed to know. After all, he was one of the tallest nightmares he knew. He was strong, he knew fire magic, and now he knew a little healing magic. But as he looked at his daughter, peacefully sleeping, he thought, Protection might be a spell he needed to learn. Neither of them had been touched by the monsters that had infected a number of nightmares and daydreams alike, but that might not be so true the next time something happened. He would protect Kanda, even if it meant less sleep than ever.
With that in mind, Vüsala gently shut the door to his little freshling’s bedroom and retreated to the living room. Sitting on his coffee table was a heap of books. Medical texts for his class, Kanda’s favorite story books, coloring books, and the pile of new spell books he’d brought home today. The texts could wait til later, but the storybooks and coloring books were put away immediately. When everything was put back in its’ place, he picked up the first spell book. Protection would, obviously, protect the target from magical attacks. Just one kind at a time, but that would be fine.
A fervor that belayed his typical expression took ahold of him. The chimera studied the spell as if someone were going to come in right this moment to attack his child. Kanda might be adopted, but that meant he loved her all the more for it. When he felt he had a good grasp on it, he turned to the set of figures he’d bought for this specific purpose. They were small, and easily replaceable, perfect for practicing this spell on. Since protection would only protected from a single branch of magic at a a time, he would cast it for Pyrestia. That was his offensive magic, so it made sense to use that instead of something that could easily get out of hand.
To that end, since it was never a good thing to be using fire magic inside a flammable house, Vüsala retreated to the small backyard. A candle would provide the flame needed for his other spell. He hadn’t thought he’d needed to learn ignite, and while he’d been in the Sceptres, he hadn’t. There had been plenty of other chimera who’d known the spell and given him practice with using Pyrokinesis instead. Now, though, it might be something he should learn. He could teach it to Kanda once she was old enough to have some use of her magic. He grinned at the thought.
But, Protection first. It didn’t take very long to set up. A couple figurines in the middle of an empty area, candle to the side. With a sharp word and the accompanying gesture, he cast Protection from the Pyrestia branch of magic on both figures. Now, to see if the magic actually worked. A new gesture, and a spoken command had the candle’s flame flaring brighter. He used a cutting gesture, aiming to scorch the figurines with his newly controlled flame. A few moments of sustained heat on them, and he relinquished his control, letting the candle's flame settle again. Another moment, to get his breath back, and he took the few steps necessary to pick one of them up.
A broad grin broke out on his face as soon as he touched it. If anyone he normally interacted with had seen it, they would have done a double take, not that he cared one way or another. The small figure was cool to the touch, with nary a mark on it from the flame. His first attempt had gone much smoother than he’d hoped. Not that that was enough to convince him he had the spell down pat.
It was another half hour of practice before Vüsala was satisfied with it. By then his mana was drained and he was sweating and fatigued. He gathered up all his supplies, absently putting out the candle, and carried them all inside. For now, they were precariously set on the counter. Food and then sleep and he would feel much better. A yawn took him by surprise as he pulled out the sandwich he’d prepared for this purpose. Rubbing his eyes, he ate the food without tasting it, zoning out as he did so. Then he looked down and sat there for a moment, surprised it was gone. He chuckled to himself, deciding anything else could wait til morning if he was that tired. So he got up and trudged to bed, not quite falling into it. He was asleep almost as soon as the covers were pulled up to his liking.
Word count: 779
