>>5460106During the occasional rest stop, you ask Set if he’d be willing to help with improving your fundamental magical strength and technique.
To your surprise, he agrees without any hint of persuasion or bribery required.
This should’ve been your first warning that things were not going to go as planned.
You had originally envisioned it as a cooperative venture whereby you would cast a spell, Set would heckle you a bit, and then show you how to do it better.
Instead, Set demands that you do it “the traditional way.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcByktP-mdEAs it turns out, “the traditional way” generally consists of Set choosing a random piece of magic you know and throwing it full-strength at you. In return, you are intended to “block” it with a spell of equal or greater potency to avoid being struck.
In theory, you are being “encouraged” to pick up some good habits that’ll allow you to better utilize your baseline magical strength.
In practice, Set uses it as an opportunity to throw spells at you and laugh whenever anything embarrassing happens.
On one such occasion, Set’s chosen spell is Lightning Bolt. Despite it being one of the more powerful options in your arsenal, Set easily overpowers it and purposefully nails you in the face with it.
Thanks to the Xenothium infusion, it doesn’t hurt; but that doesn’t prevent you from spazzing out a bit from the excess current.
It also makes your hair point straight-up, a fact that Set attempts to document. He ceases when you threaten to direct Thoth his way for a lecture about the dangers of playing with primordial natural forces.
And seeing how it’s on-topic, you ask him an offhand question.
> “Are you surprised that I managed to convince Thoth to come with us? You know him better than pretty much anybody else here.”“Do I? Maybe not as well as I’d like. The Thoth I knew would only leave his books if it were a matter of life and death. I thought you were kidding at first when you said he might be tagging along, but that’s what I get for doubting.”
Set’s trademark smirk loses a bit of its strength for a moment.
“Maybe he’s changed. Maybe I’ve changed. Or maybe it’s just you, kid. As much as I like to mess around, you’ve gone and done something that nobody’s managed to centuries; having Thoth and I in the same room without anybody killing each other. Don’t think I’ll ever forget that. What I’m trying to say is thanks, kid.
Now, where was I? Oh, that’s right…”
He claps his hands together to form a burst of red lightning.
“I hope you noticed how I did that, because it’s coming your way in three seconds.”
Five seconds later, you find yourself flopping on the ground, bitching to yourself that you should’ve been a tad more attentive.
