“Crap!” Rym yelled. He was standing at the base of his reading tree trying to summon his Vibe Shield.  He’s been trying to summon the shield for two solid hours with no luck except a couple of sparks of electric blue energy. “Movements flowing, like water. Soul still like a rock, unmoving, focused, unaltered. Mind clear, and pure as light.” Rym listened to the babbling of the river while he tried to remember the Mantra he learned in some old mountain town on his travels. But as hard as he tried his mind kept returning to last night, the blue light, the vision of his parents, Dex’s whiskey. The whole point of this training was to keep his mind off of the one thing that he could think of. It obviously wasn’t working. He couldn’t get his mind off of it. Nothing worked. Meditation. Nope. Working out. No. Eating. Definitely not. The only thing he could do, was remember even more. His mother singing sweet, harmonious tunes while she cooked. How it sounded like she had a whole choir behind her but she was the only one there. His father, either reading the newspaper or smoking a cigar, never without a smile. His warm laugh and bright presence strongly contrasted with striking electric blue eyes. Rym seemed to be remembering more than he’s ever remembered. It’s like that ball unlocked a part of him, a part that he didn’t fully know was there. Rym shook off his thoughts and got up off the ground. Rym waved his hands out in front of him. Blue energy sparked in the air and the ground around Rym rumbled. Then all was still. “Dammit! I almost had it!” People passing by him gave him confusing looks. Rym turned and smiled “Nothing to see here folks! Just a mage and his FREAKING SPELLS!” A mother covered her daughter’s ears and moved her along. Rym sighed, “Great job, you’re scaring children now. Just….great.” Rym sat back down under the shade of his tree. “I can’t do this. If I can’t conjure a simple shield, what can I do?”
“Jeez, never thought I raised a pansy.” A loud voice said in a light manner. Rym opened his eyes and saw his father. It had to be a vision though, because he wasn’t completely there. From the waist up, it was Rym’s father just as he remembered him. But his lower half was completely mist. “Get up son.” Rym stood up to face his father.
“I didn’t raise you to be a mage, but I definitely did not raise you to be a failure either. Now start on that shield!” Rym quickly got into stance and waved his hands. Sparks flied and the ground rumbled, but greater than before. This was it. Rym could feel it in his bones. A slightly translucent electric blue shield appeared in front of Rym. He could sense the vibrations radiating from the shield. It was decorated with intricate spirals centered around a Lamia Scale crest. “This is what I’m talking about!” Rym said as he admired the shield. Rym dispelled the shield and felt a pain on his arm. He rolled up his sleeve and saw a black tattoo of a shield on his arm. “Alright. Cool. The mark of a defender.” Rym spent a couple more minutes at the river summoning and banishing his shield “So awesome.”

{Exit}