With his belly filled to the brim with steak and a good long night of sleep following up soon after, Gawain’s day of training had been bearing quite some fruit, of that there could be no doubt. But there was more to be done, as even for someone as prodigious as himself, time itself would not stand idly by and wait. He wished to become stronger, and for that wish to become a reality he would need to work hard right now. The other day, he risked getting mauled by mountain lions because a part of him feared what might happen if he began delving into his grimoire. A grimoire that had remained closed ever since the day he had first picked it up at the ceremony. Part of the realization that being given a grimoire with such special power came with high expectations was the idea that he might not be able to live up to them. And honestly, Gawain couldn’t give two shits if someone else thought less of him.

What bothered him was what he might think of him if he could not live up to the image he had in his head of himself once he opened this book of magic and it all ended with a sizzle. All things considered, there was no telling how hard that kind of letdown might affect his psyche, as so many people had been showering him with affection and praise during the ceremony that it had gotten into his head. More than that, the idea that his former mentor believed that he might be able to pick up where himself had left off made the weight on his shoulders that much less bearable. Regardless, today was the day that he was going to open this book and catch a glimpse of the information inside, as the spells it held inside had to be special and powerful. They simply had to be.

Wandering far from the village and heading out into the fields, no one other than your average small-time rogues passed through this area as no magic knights could ever truly be bothered to head this far out into the boonies. This meant that if his magic did end up being as spectacular as he hoped, whomever he hurt in the process of unleashing it would not be worth shedding a tear over. Opening up the book while placing it in one hand, a powerful gust escaped from it, blowing through his hair and sending ripples throughout the surrounding field, creating a small vortex of wind and blades of grass that swiftly settled down. Falling to the ground like rain, the grass fell back down to the earth as Gawain was left staring down at the first page in the now opened grimoire. To think that this much mana escaped the pages without even utilizing an actual spell got him quite motivated.

Not knowing full well how to unleash this magic in the form of the spell he wished to use, he just placed his free hand on the ground in front of him as he began reading the page. Allowing his eyes to scan over every word and sentence on the page, he didn’t so much realize that while he was doing so, he was pouring his mana out through his hand and into a specific spot along the soil. Perhaps if his actual mana sensory had been better attuned, perhaps if his Ki had been active, he might have been able to pick up on the growing amount of energy that was being channeled towards that location. With the mana focused into a single spot along the floor, Gawain got up and just stared blankly at the page, wondering why he didn’t make anything happen in that moment. For what it was worth, he did truly imagine he would have been able at doing better, at least being able to make some half-assed version of the spell take shape. But it seemed as though that was not to be.