"Now, shall we start our training."
Thalien gave a serious nod
"Since you we are focusing more on combat, our main goal is to learn 9 different advanced combat/support spells to aid you in battle"
"And depending on how you well you perform in those 9 spells, I might even teach you a whisper level spell"
Thalien eyes sparkled, a Whisper level spell is not something a normal 17 year old would learn, he had asked his mother before but she strictly refused saying, no matter how talented he is he needs to build a foundation, before moving to that level.
"Don't get so happy yet if you don't meet the expectations with the first 9 spells, you will not get it, understood"
Thalien nodded.
Seeing his still sparkling eyes seraphyne smiled and moved on.
"But we have another goal"
"Remember how you said that we can't store natural energy in our body like we do mana"
Thalien nodded and said
"Yes, because to store natural energy you'll need to keep in resonance at all time, otherwise it'll go out of control inside your body, and that can be lethal"
"But what if I said you can"
Seraphyne ignored thaliens confused look and continued.
"What you said is right, outside of the natural energy inside your soul-providing balance to to the elemental energies-which you can't control, you need to keep in resonance at all time to store natural energy"
"And the people who tried that either died of natural energy going wild inside their bodies, or the people who managed to keep going a little longer ended up going insane, and turned into wild beast, completely succumbed to nature"
"But archdruid Nathan clay solved that"
"Nathan clay? The professor?"
Asked thalien.
"Yes, you see professor Nathan believed that not being able to store energy is druids' and elementalists' main weakness"
"While mages can just command the already obedient mana inside their bodies, druids and elementalists need to form a connection with outside force before they start casting every spell, which makes for a much slower casting time"
"And mages also have the ability to control mana density, while druids and elementalists depend on the environment, casting a spell in a natural energy dense environment like this grove boosts its power, while casting it in an undead domain where natural energy is very sparce makes it harder to cast and overall less powerful"
"Which is why he researched for ages, trying to find a way to solve that, and very recently he made a breakthrough"
"When a druid casts a spell They resonate with natural energy, matching it's rhythm, until they become one with it, giving control over it like a limb you didn't know you had, in this state you can manipulate natural energy however you want to form your spell"
"Professor Nathan made a technique that allows you to change the very nature of natural energy, making it resonate with you, making it match your rhythm"
Seraphyne sat down cross legged.
"You first start normally you enter a state where you are one with natural energy, and once you take control, you start changing it to match your natural rhythm, and you start to slowly go back to your original state, carefully replicating any change to your soul as it returns to normal, and slowly but surely you make it resonate with you"
"Once you are done"
Seraphyne took a deep breath.
"You breathe it in storing it in your heart, he calls it "Verdant heart Binding""
Thalien was dumbfounded, something like that was unheard of, for thousands of years druids have never been able to manipulate natural energy to that degree,
'changing the nature of natural energy, how is that even possible'
"this technique is not entirely complete yet, which is why it's not known to the public, professor nathan only shared it with a few archdruids hoping for them to help him simplify it"
"As it is now this technique is only achievable by druids with the highest talent and nature affinity"
"It's still amazing, but not the ground shaking discovery he was hoping it to be, as only about 1% percent of druids can actually practice it"
"I believe that with your talent you can not only master it, but help us improve it"
Thalien looked uncomfortable, and said
"Will professor nathan be fine with you sharing this with me"
Seraphyne smiled
"Don't worry, he was the one who asked me to do it, he wanted the perspective of a young talent like you"
Thalien relaxed and nodded.
"Now, our goal is for you to master "Verdant heart Binding" by the end of the month, after which you will go to the academy where professor nathan will take over your training, while you work together to improve it"
Thalien nodded, and they finally started the training.
Seraphyne started teaching him about the actual technique, the formula to changing the very wild nature of natural energy.
The theory was very complicated, and it didn't get any easier when they moved on to the practical part.
At first he would lose control once he started manipulating the energy's nature, but with time he moved on to the next step which was to return to normal while keeping the energy in sync, and it was much harder, by the end of the session he could only go fourth of the way before losing control, which had him quite disappointed in himself.
"Why are you feeling down"
Asked seraphyne noticing his state
"I don't know, I guess I expected to be better than this"
"Your progress rate is already incredible, by this rate you could probably master in two weeks, which is something nobody expected"
Thalien looked up at her and said
"How long did it take you to learn it mother"
"About a day or so, but i'm an archdruid my ability to resonate with natural energy and control over it is much better than yours, so don't compare your self to me, when I was your age I was miles below your current level"
"Don't raise your expectations too high, and don't push yourself too hard, be patient and confident, understood?"
Thalien nodded
"Good, now, it's time for your session with sir Thomas, he's probably already waiting for you back at the training grounds"
Thalien stood up, and bowed slightly, and when he received a nod he turned around to the training grounds, while thinking.
It was incredibly frustrating, trying and failing hundreds of times, his mother was patient and incredibly supportive throughout the session, but it didn't make him any less frustrated.
This never happened to him, he always succeeded at any spell from the first try, and he could breeze through dozens more if his mother didn't focus on the basics, and the theory that much, he never really found anything about druidic arts that challenging
And it was an incredible boost to his confidence, and he was expecting this to be the same, but his mother was right it was an unreasonably high expectation coming from arrogance and not confidence, he needed to lower his expectations, 10 talent points in druidic arts doesn't mean he's going to instantly become a God at it. He needs to be patient and lower his expectations.
With that he took a deep breath, and reached the training grounds.
Before sir Thomas could say anything, thalien immediately greeted him and said
"… May I take a bathroom break before we start"
"of cour-before sir Thomas could finish he immediately ran to the nearest bathroom.
For 5 hours he was too embarrassed to ask his mother for a bathroom break.