The old (skeleton) hermit's lessons don't go as intended.

Learning magic was not exactly what I expected.

I mean, I didn’t really know what you needed to do in order to do magic like Mr. Skeleton, but I wasn’t really expecting to have to sit down and read a lot of books while Mr. Skeleton tells me to write down some stuff on a book.

He told Mr. Emile to go look for a blackboard from somewhere and went looking for something else himself, returning with several dozen books that were very big. He then told me to open one of them and start reading, and then he started jotting down things on the blackboard.

It was hard to follow, mostly because Mr. Skeleton wanted me to read at the same time I wrote things down, but I somehow managed to get a rhythm, however complicated it was. There was no actual spellcasting though.

This repeated itself for several weeks.

After Mr. Skeleton had talked with my parents about my decision to learn magic, they had decided it was okay for me to spend the days going to Mr. Skeleton’s cave to learn, after he promised to them that he wasn’t going to ‘teach me any dark magic tricks with zambambos’, whatever that meant.

I wasn’t really happy with what we were doing though, since most of it was just reading and writing and not spell casting. I’m pretty sure that by this point I at least should be able to throw a basic spell or something, according to the books, but Mr. Skeleton insists on me doing the same thing I’ve been for weeks.

I talked with him about it, but he keeps saying that I need to get the concepts down first, otherwise I’ll end up blowing up my hands, or my face, or my body, or something.

I didn’t really know if that was true, mostly because I don’t really have anyone else I could ask, and I couldn’t ask more to Mr. Skeleton when he wasn’t teaching me because he was so busy. Who knew magic skeletons had so many things to do?. He was also giving me more questions while teaching me so I didn’t get to ask more about that specific thing.

This was in the first few days I started learning, so after some weeks of nothing and frustration I decided to try doing magic by myself, just to try whatever and see if it works, but Mr. Emile always appeared right before I tried anything in order to stop me. He even appeared if I was back home! Dad almost had a heart attack when I found that out.

So when my patience ran out, I just asked Mr. Skeleton to teach me how to do a spell, actually do a spell and not write down more stuff.

I was happy when he said he was going to.

I was sad when he just taught me how to make a small light with my fingers.

I mean, it’s magic, but still.

He must have seen the look on my face, chuckling and putting a skeletal hand on my shoulder back then, and then saying:

“Don’t worry, the big fireballs and shiny streams of magic come once you get the basics right. Don’t want to burn your house down by accident, do we?”

And I just kept doing the same thing, day after day. At least this time Mr. Skeleton was actually teaching me how to do it rather than just telling me to remember things.

I learned a bunch of other spells after that, however basic they were. Things like levitating stuff, making a small light (with different colors) and so on. Simple things, but the fact that I could do all of that was good enough for me.

I also wanted to learn how to make fireballs, to which Mr. Skeleton said no and a couple of days later I was learning, under his directions, how to do a ‘wind spell’.

“Don’t ask me why it’s called like that” He said, sitting on a chair and gesturing to the board next to him “It’s not like you’re making wind out of nowhere, you’re just… pushing air in a direction.”

“So it’s like if I was blowing air on someone’s face?” I asked from my chair, staring at the blackboard and looking to Mr. Skeleton for an answer “What’s the point of that?”

Mr. Skeleton let a noise similar to a snort, before throwing the piece of chalk he had on his hands to the air as he stood and pointed to the blackboard next to him.

He drew some figures on the board to represent the different steps needed to do the spell, he always did this whenever I was about to learn how to properly cast, and although his figures looked more like my little brother’s doodles, they were simple enough to understand.

“Yeah, you’re basically blowing air, buuuuut-” He starts, pointing to the lowest doodle- er, figure- on the board, one that looks like Mr. Skeleton casting.

“If you put just enough power into it… it’s like if you were pushing someone with just air, more than that and you could punch them with it”

He stopped pointing to put a hand under his chin.

“In a couple of months maybe you could even cut stuff with it… Who knows?” He says, shrugging, walking over to me “It’s like I told you, a mage’s best tool is their imagination, even if your spells are basic, all that matters how you use them”

I, of course, stopped hearing when he said I could cut things with air.

My head snapped to Mr. Skeleton just as he stood next to me “Cut stuff with air? That’s so coooool! Lemme try, lemme try!” I was practically bouncing in place.

Mr. Skeleton chuckles and shakes his head “Of course that’s the thing you focus on”

With a snap of his fingers, followed by the now familiar cry of ‘Emile!’, Mr. Emile appears from a cloud of smoke, some distance away from us, carrying a small vase that he almost immediately places on a small table in front.

Mr. Skeleton points to the vase in front of Mr. Emile “You know the basics already, so try and do a simple wind spell to knock over that vase” He adds, after a moment “Emile should be able to catch it when it falls over, so don’t worry about putting too much power into it.”

With a nod, I get off my seat and put myself at some distance away from Mr. Skeleton. I’m now standing on the other side of the room, Mr. Skeleton is at the center right next to the wall and with a clear view at the two of us, and Mr. Emile stands on the other side of the room, opposite to mine, right behind the vase.

I take a deep breath and extend my hand, closing my eyes and focusing on repeating the same principles that Mr. Skeleton has taught me week after week. For a while, nothing happens, and that’s when I unconsciously clench my hand and try to focus harder.

Mr. Skeleton speaks, his voice kind “Remember, you’re still learning so take all the time you need. There’s no pressure, so take a deep breath and work calmly.”

I shift on my place a little as I listen to his words, taking a deep breath and starting again.

Remember what Mr. Skeleton said, feel the mana move inside of you, feel it reach every part of your body and guide it where you need it to be.

Another breath.

Move it where it needs to be, remember the proper flow it needs to have, not too much and not too little. Too weak and nothing happens, too much and it goes boom.

By the time I take my third breath, I can already feel the spell forming on my hand.

The moment I realize it however, the excitement makes me lose concentration. The energy I gathered releasing almost immediately.

I hear- no, more like feel- an explosion of air happen right in front of my extended hand. The sound of a vase breaking appearing alongside the explosion, a small but audible thud shortly after that.

“Oh my.” Says Mr. Skeleton.

When I open my eyes, somewhat scared to look at the levels of destruction I probably caused, I see the vase, cleanly cut right in the middle, the cut part laying broken on the floor.

I also see Mr. Emile’s upper body laying on the floor, his legs still standing despite not having a body connected to them.

“Gods I’m so sorry Mr. Emile!” I scream. A hand in my mouth as I stare at the… zombie bits leaking over the floor. Oh god I think I’m going to-

Mr. Emile, being a zombie, simply lets out an emotionless “Ugh” as he lies on the floor.

Mr. Skeleton, for his part, stares at the broken base, Mr. Emile and then myself, now emptying the contents of my stomach on the corner of the room, all the while putting a hand under his chin.

“…Huh” He says “Maybe we need to learn more control first.”

“Uuugh.”

“Yes, yes, I’ll be there in a moment” He pauses, looking at me.

“I do expect you to clean up her mess after I help you.”

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh.”