Pyromaniacs Welcome, Safety is Optional A Final Lesson pv

Reducio Interaction: None specifically but open to it Banner created by: Vivi Grace Word count: 594/500

Reducio Clothes: Outfit

Percival listened with full attention as Ara began to speak, wanting to absorb every word. He had been looking forward to this lesson all week, though now that he was standing in front of the dueling mat with three other students, he felt a lot less confident than he had imagined he would. Ara’s tone was calm but she seemed like a no-nonsense type of instructor as well. Though, admittedly, this spell could very easily cause a lot of trouble, so her words of caution were warranted.

The last thing he wanted was to accidentally set his dorm on fire.

Then, watching Ara’s demonstration, he realized just how much control it really took. The way she said the incantation and the exact precision in her wrist movement: it was all equally important to avoid disaster. When the flames finally erupted from her wand and spread across the dummy, he couldn’t help but stare. It was incredible to witness, and he couldn't wait to be able to do it himself.

Percival then took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down to focus. This was exactly the kind of spell he wanted to learn, but he also knew one wrong move could leave him with singed eyebrows or worse.

He stayed near the back of the group while the others took their turns. Karime went first, and he found himself impressed with how steady she seemed. Her flame flared a little bright, but she managed to hold it. Then Violence stepped forward, and though her first attempt nearly got away from her, she recovered on her second attempt. Watching them both only made him more determined to get it right.

When it was his turn, Percival swallowed hard and stepped forward to the mat. He adjusted his grip on his wand and remembered Ara’s words. “Alright,” he said softly to himself, as he lined himself up and tried to stay relaxed. He then lifted his wand and drew the motion she had shown them, but perhaps a little too stiff. “In-SEN-dee-o!”

The incantation came out strong and clear, and for a second, he thought he had done it perfectly. A burst of flame shot from his wand, hitting the dummy square in the chest... but then it split. Instead of forming one steady ribbon of fire, two smaller streams of flame spun off in opposite directions, and he had no idea how to stop them.

“Ah— Wait!” Percival yelped, his heart jumping into his throat. He quickly lowered his wand, staring wide-eyed at the dummy and his surroundings, hoping that the teacher would interfere and help him figure out where that went wrong. During his last Charms class, he had messed up his incantation and caused a little skeleton to kick him. This time, however, he was sure that he had gotten the incantation right.

So what went wrong?

@Ara Villa

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Incendio
Mentioning:@Percival Rocier, @Karime Lenior, @Violence Bloodthorn, @Paris Soliel

Reducio

RP Date 15 October 2025 Speech Reducio "Ara's Speech" 'Thoughts'

Outfit/s Reducio Clothes: Hair: down height for rp purposes: 5'5.4 (166 cm) Post date (GMT +8) 08 Nov 2025, 3:00am

Karime was the first to go, and though she had an unintended flare up of her flame, Ara'd observed how she maintained her concentration. Good reflexes.

She didn’t show any signs of panic -- at least, not the painfully obivious kind. The shaking of her body was very subtle, but she was very quick in regaining her poise. Ara gave a curt nod -- a sort of acknowledgment that said "well done," without words. For her, praise was a fragile currency. A little too much of it would make a person numb.

Then came Violence and Ara thought there would be a moment of hesitation -- but what she got was a question. A very sharp one. Ara had looked at her, raising one eyebrow just a little.

“Ah. you’d think so, right? Magic isn’t polite like that. If your focus wanders, the fire doesn’t just shrug and vanish -- it goes looking for something to obey. Without your attention guiding it, it might decide that your sleeve looks just as interesting as the target. ” she’d replied calmly, voice steady as the embers of her own flame.

"If you'd cast something perfectly but without looking at your target: the spell would be there yet your target won't exactly be the one receiving your flames y'know?"" There was no bite in her tone , just a fact delivered like stone set on stone(maybe a drop of venom but it's just Ara being Ara).

When it was Violence's turn, the beautiful flame had suddenly sprung -- in fact, much too beautiful. The girl's attention wavered. The fire was extinguished in an instant, and a faint gray smoke was rising in the air. She clapped. Once. Twice. One can say it was done mockingly, but too bad, it was for the dramatics.

Ara's mouth barely formed a smile at the apology. “Heat is part of the lesson, it's a fire spell.” she said, almost wryly. “You’ll remember to keep your composure next time. Try to aim a bit faster so the heat won't catch up to ya. Go again.”

And Violence had -- this time, perfectly. Ara watched as the flames wrapped the dummy in silk-like ribbons, blue flickers tracing the edges. Now that was control.

Then came Percival. A quiet one -- looked like the kind who thought too much before acting. Psh. Stereotypical self-concioues 11 year old. Ah, those times. Though it felt like some of her classmates now were stuck in them. She saw it in the way he adjusted his grip three times before even raising his wand. His stance was neat, his pronunciation solid, but his wrist -- too rigid. Man they looked like one of those Barbie dolls with no joints doing that.

The fire split before he could realize what had gone wrong. Ara didn’t flinch. The moment the second strand veered off course, she moved -- a clean, instinctive motion. “Well.” The word was soft but sharp enough to slice through the chaos. Both ribbons of fire vanished instantly, leaving only a faint warmth in the air and Percival’s startled expression.

“Not bad,” she said, turning toward him. Her tone was neither amused nor disappointed -- just "Yep, as expected"

“You said it well. Good posture, pronunciation, somewhat good focus. But your wand arm--” she stepped closer, lowering her own wand to demonstrate -- “was locked. Magic doesn’t flow through tension. You control it by guiding, not forcing. Try again. This time, breathe before you cast. Think of the fire as an extension of your reach, not as a baseball.”

"Remember that feeling. Your magic listens to your breath more than your command.”

Terrible Presence in effect

RP Word Count: 609/200
OOC: mb for the late mod, i've already given both vi and karime their spells and will mention them in the closing mod a week or two from now

Requirement: Posting a total of 500 words, including your character learning their spell in order to get the item (all at once or multiple posts).

Deadline: in less than a week!

Have Fun!!

Percival sighed, his heart still racing after he had failed at his first attempt to cast the spell. It wasn't unusual for it to take a few tries to learn a spell, but he had hoped his failure had been a little less... spectacular. With eyes on his teacher, he hoped for some pointers and she was quick to offer them.

He listened carefully as she explained, his gaze flicking between her wand and the motion of her wrist as she demonstrated how to fix his mistake. She made it look so effortless and easy with the way she talked about the spell. It made him think back to what Draven had told him about dueling when he had taught him how to cast Flipendo properly.

Once she had finished explaining, he nodded once and spoke,“Okay,” he said, trying to steady himself. “Guide the magic, don't force it...”

When Ara stepped back to let him try again, Percival adjusted his footing. He rolled his shoulders once to shake off some of the tension, then took her advice to heart and focused on breathing. His fingers then relaxed a little around his wand, and he drew the movement she had shown him with more fluidity this time.

“Incendio!” he tried again.

The tip of his wand sparked and a controlled burst of flame erupted forward. It struck the dummy squarely on the chest and lingered there, flickering as the heat came into contact with its body. Percival blinked, almost not believing it. Then, as the realization sank in, a smile spread across his face, “I did it,” he said proudly.

“That felt much better,” he then added “Thank you for helping me. I think I get it now... at least a little.”

@Ara Villa