Catherine
*Her concentration was suddenly interrupted by a knock at the door. Who would want her attention?*

*Sirdan??!! The noble of something, and an incredibly proficient spellcaster __and__ horse rider. What could he possibly get from-geomancy? Now that she thought about it, Garuda did have something about that in her book. And blood magic...*

*The mage stood up, pressing her face against the door. On Sirdan's side, he could see a pair of glowing eyes; the Organ Ward spell. So it was Sirdan, and not someone trying to imitate him. Cuo opened the door, looking up as the elf towered over her by over a foot.*

"You said blood magic and geomancy? Why? And why from me? Sol has Geomancy, no?"
Jennie
Sirdan would look down on Cuo, wondering for a moment how to... Talk to her properly. Is he supposed to kneel? A question he hasn't really thought of. He was holding a bag of something 

"Well, I want to learn how to extract mana from my enemies, allies, and swines in battle more efficiently. After all, the fireblast I cast was very effective and important in battle. And I want to build monuments, move stones and create buildings. And nothing's better than Geomancy for that." 

"And you seems to be far more approachable. You and Garuda." 

Sirdan would fish inside his bag, then take out some hard candies that he have acquired - some kind of turkish delights he found, multiple different types of herbs with sugar added with a complex favor. And some delicious crackers alongside an apple pie. 

"I come with tribute."
Catherine
*Yeah, his fireblast was incredibly effective. Unlike hers/Garuda's. Though there was that initial hit where she took out a crowd.*

"Ooh, so you want to suck mana from people. I wouldn't call Garuda approachable..." 

*The crow shot Cuo a look of judgement.* "But I guess Sol is a bit weird."

*Her expression changed from inquisitive to excited once she saw the various candies and sweets, something she rarely got to experience.*

"OOH CANDY! Is it... All for me? And Garuda?"

*The crow hopped over, taking a cracker for itself. A new friend appeared too; a black and red fox peeked its head out from under the covers, darting over and rubbing itself on Sirdan's calf.*

"Loki! You want some too, huh?"
Jennie
"Indeed. When you run out of mana, why not just take it from others?" *Sirdan would grin, and then looked at Garuda.* 

"Garuda's quite approachable compared to others. I like... His... Or her? Sense of humor." 

*Then, he would sit down on the floor and then laid out the candies in his bags.* 

"There's enough for both of yo-" *He blinked and then looked at the black and red fox, surprised, and then immediately patted its ears,*"Yep! All for you two, or three, might try some myself - I have not treated myself with candies or anything sweet for a long time. I'm a fan of savory food, you know. And the best sweet food are to be found in Kadho... Or Salvainia." 

*Sirdan said, knowing he will not be setting foot in that city for years. He would point at a group of strange looking, colorful and spicy candies,*"These are spiced hard candies - made from actual spice. It is rumored to have some medicinal property, but they can taste a bit... Mm, spicy, or strange. This one has a ginger undertone, and is good for cold, and this one made of black pepper, it helps clear your sinuses..."

"Then these here are the more indulgent option, they call it Siuian Delight..." The Siuian Delight were the majority of the confectionaries in his bag - with at least ten different color - all of them made of starch and sugar,"This one's for tangerine, this one for blackberry... Orange.." Sirdan started listing almost half of the edible fruits in this part of the world,"Got it from a confectionary that supplies the Duke's household. It should be pretty good." 

Sirdan then proceeded to pop an roange-flavored turkish delight into his mouth. There's twice as many orange flavored than other flavor. Bias.
Catherine
*Garuda then shot a look at Sirdan before speaking in a human voice.* "I'm a girl too, you know? Loki over there though is a guy. When he's not being an absolute goofball."

*The fox smiled upon having its ears pet, rolling over and exposing its stomach.*

C-"Should I save the medicinal ones for later then? Siuian Delight... Is it like Runran mochi?"

*Cuo popped one in her mouth, her face soon lighting up with glee.* "Issho good!" *She then promptly began trying to stuff her face with some of them.*

G-"You're going to choke if you eat them like that." *The crow then promptly took a delight for herself, before finding the treat in her beak was suddenly stolen by the fox. The crow shot a dagger-like look at Loki, while the trickster simply scampered around laughing*
Jennie
"I was not aware gender changed based on goofballness." *Sirdan chuckled, continuing to pat the fox and then belly rubbed it, smiling in delight, enjoying the soft fur* 

"Mmm, they are both medicines and candies, try some - although I'll say the Siuian Delights are better if you just want to indulge yourself." 

*He pointed out some here,*"This one have a lighter taste - made out of rosewater, but you can eat them a lot. I've tried Mochi before... Mmm, not sure what they are like compared to Mochi." 

*Sirdan picked up a turkish delight, flavored with rosewater and then fed it to the crow.*
Catherine
*Loki seemed to enjoy being petted, but his preference decided to change on a whim between being pet and running around. Cuo takes a moment to chew the delights to avoid choking as Garuda said, before trying a ginger one.*

"I've never had medicine flavored candy before. I've only had honeyed ginger tea. Mochi is a bit chewier I think, and this is more jelly-like."

*Of course, Cuo had never had jelly. She was only going off observation.*

*Garuda graciously accepted the rose water delight, who bit off chunks in order to pass down her gullet. Loki ran up to try and steal it again, but was driven back by Garuda cawing and pecking at him.*

"I suppose draining mana is like taking a Siuian delight from someone."
Jennie
"Chewier and probably stickier? Would that make it a choking hazard I wonder? Maybe I could go over to Salvainia to... Nevermind, I'm never setting foot in that city in my life. Perhaps I will go elsewhere for Runran food." 

*Sirdan would look at the candies and then fed Garuda another turkish delight - this time one that was coconut flavored.* 

"That's a strange metaphor. But I suppose it works - I can purchase the animals we need to practice on... So, how can we start the training?"
Catherine
"Aw, Salvania seems like a cool place to visit too. Runra's the best place for Runran food though."

*Garuda accepted the coconut Turkish delight. It seems that she liked the rose water one more.*

"Well, first we need to see what mana stealing is actually like."

*Cuo dragged a table over, setting 4 Turkish delight on each side. Several candies were placed on each side as well.*

"Each delight is a mana. Casting spells uses mana sometimes. Say I cast Fireball."

*Cuo picked up two delights from one side and scarfed them down.*
Jennie
"Well, I am sure you are not wanted in Salvainia yet. But I wouldn't risk losing you by telling you to go there. You can visit my domain instead. I have a nice manor house." 

Sirdan said with zero shame, and then fed a rose water turkish delight to Garuda next. There was only four of them left. Then he looked at the corner, looking at Cuo putting the turkish delights in her mouth, wondering if it was an excuse. 

"Mmm, and that's two fireballs gone. But how do we... Connect to the other person's mana, and steal it more... Efficiently?" Mana draining was just such a basic technique, but doing it like Cuo? That was a different matter.
Catherine
"Let's go over a normal attack first. It should be a 0 mana spell. Hah!"

*Upon her exclamation, Cuo punched the air right above the delights. It was clearly a weak and ineffective one.*

"That's just a normal thing like Leech. But what if I-"

*Cuo punches the air above once more, but opens her hand afterward and sneakily grabs one, moving it to her side.*

"This is how to do it when the enemy is still fighting back. You need to learn this concept first. Take that regular mana drain and infuse it into your basic attack."
Jennie
"...Huh?" *Sirdan would be quite confused,*"Well, those are indeed, low cost spell." 

*Sirdan looked around the inn, worried about the idea of practicing here,*"How about we take it outside? There's training ground we can uses with permission from Agatha. I am sure she won't mind." 

Sirdan took in Cuo's movement and then led her outside, toward an empty training yard for archery and mage in Agatha's domains.*
Catherine
*Cuo soon found herself in the training yard, looking around.*

"Same thing. Garuda likes to use a different system. She's old like that. Anyway, it has to be a more precise low cost spell, like this."

*Cuo aims at a target, and a streak of dark energy is fired directly at it.*

"Spells like that are better for mana stealing because they're more precise. You can't do it with wide reaching attacks. Stand back."

*The mage's hand glowed orange, and a burst of flame blasted out from her hand.*

"If you try and reach too far, you won't end up grabbing anything. So you can only steal mana from one thing at a time."
Jennie
"Well." *Sirdan paused for a bit, switching to a grandfather, deep voice,*"You should respect your elders." 

*Then, he watched Cuo-Garuda cast the spell at the target, and then followed up by pointing his index finger, firing a lightning bolt at the target, leaving a nice little scorch.* 

*He stood back then watched Cuo.* 

"Mmm. That I understand, but how do you... Imbed the way you steal energy from them, so to speak?" 

*Sirdan would lift his palm toward the sky, and then formed a pattern of mana in his hand that resembles a vortex of some sort - designed to draw mana from a dead army.* 

"Can you perform the movement for me?"
Mary
"I'll be taking over from here. You're on the right path."

*Garuda formed a similar looking vortex out of death magic, eldritch and grasping almost like a hand.*

"You basically combine the two. This way you can damage your opponent and drain their mana at the same time."

*Garuda then fired it out at the target, and the 'hand' closed its fingers around it, though with no effect as the target wasn't living.*
Jennie
"Does Cuo like this? I wonder." 

*Sirdan then combined the vortex with another sigil formed - one signaling a lightning bolt. An unstable clash of mana mixes together, and it fails. Then, he would try again, and again, and again...

....Until he fails after ten times, staring intently at Garuda's hands.

"I think I'll need a few more times to imitate it properly."
Mary
"Hm? Like what?"

*Garuda promptly watched as Sirdan proceeded to fail ten times in a row.*

"You just need practice. If Cuo is able to do it, so can you. You know, up until about a two or three years ago, the only magic she could wield for combat was fire magic, and some force magic for everyday stuff."

*The mage then formed the hand again.*

"Don't infuse too much mana into it. Use just enough to conjure both that vortex and the spell itself. If you overload it with mana, then you aren't able to steal any. It's like taking candy from someone while you still have some in your hand."
Jennie
"Like the whole body takeover. It must feels weird. To be in possession of your body but not." 

*Sirdan nodded, continuing to form the vortexes while eyeing Garuda's intently,*"Indeed. It take a lot of practice to become good at magic. But imitation makes it much, much easier. It was probably much harder for the first mage than for the one after, after all." 

*Then, he would forms the two vortexes into one stable sigil, before sending it out violently toward the target bale, the projectile impacting and then making the sound of a hundred bug zapper at once, along with a much more subtle tone of some kind of vacuum, or air drawn violently.* 

*Sirdan smiled.*
Mary
"Eh, she's sometimes annoyed. Generally speaking, she's totally unaware of what's going on, unless I explicity want her to see it or I'm under stress. Like when we were fighting at the castle. Right now she's aware and-"
Catherine
"-and now I'm taking it back! Hmph!"

*Garuda then manifested as a crow on her shoulder.*

"You know you can't do that in combat right? The sudden transition will knock you out cold for a bit."

"Yeah, but we're not in combat!"

*The crow proceeded to look done with bothering with the mage, soon commenting on Sirdan's technique.*

"Good. Now do it a thousand times until it becomes natural. Or as many as you need."
Jennie
"Huh?" *Sirdan sounded a bit confused at the two's transitioning shenanigan. Then, he would understand that Garuda didn't mean to refer to him, but to Cuo instead.* 

"Aye. With the practice of a thousand times. Well, let's try a hundred first, and then we can move onto Geomancy. I can control my hands with telekinesis and lift things up, and I know hwo to manifest fire, but rock is another matter. I wish to learn by imitation from you." 

Sirdan started practicing the leech bolt over and over, alteranting his two hands until he gained some kind of mastery. 

"Great, before we go we'll have roast pork, and I'll buy a swine or three to practice this on. I'll cook - and Myhan will supply the spices if the gods will it."
Catherine
"...Geomancy? About that-"

G-"At the moment, Cuo doesn't know Geomancy. She possibly could if she expanded her contract, but she's been wanting to stay self sufficient for a little longer. Cuo, open the grimoire and go the Geomancy chapter. It should be written by Chroma."

*Cuo obliges, picking the grimoire up with an invisible magic hand and flipping it to the appropiate chapter. In it was details about geomancy, for combat and for general use. A small pebble would begin to float in front of Sirdan's face.*

G-"Right now, I'm using force magic in order to lift this pebble. Basic geokinesis is similar; in fact, all kinesis works this way. Cuo only knows basic telekinesis, because she prioritzed learning the techniques for combat first. I myself plan for Cuo to use the Aero and Geo schools next."