Soon the true effect of the spell you casted came into view. Once pure green leaves began to shrivel and darken into a brownish mush dripping onto the dirt beneath it. Flowers beginning to finally bloom start to wither away into dust and the entire structure of the plant starts to weaken and deform.
Every last ounce of life within the plant is throughly wiped out as you watch with glee as the plant completely falls to the ground, now just a shell of its former self.
While originally you felt glee at the fact that your first attempt at casting a spell was successful, the strain it put on your very soul was agonizing.
Your entire body get numb and fragile, a prickling sensation all over your skin. Your sight was blurry and everything seemed to be distorted. You could barely even stand on all four feet as you vaguely look in the direction of Master Harauphar who looked at you with an neutral face.
"Mediocre at best Wraith, while the spell was powerful for a novice. Your lack in energy control was outright terrible." He said, seemingly giving no concern to your obviously weakened state.
"I-I apologize Master..... I did not expect the after effects t-t-o be so... draining..." you managed to whisper out. Some feeling was beginning to gently ooze back into your body, but you still felt exhausted from casting a single spell. The pangs of hunger were beginning to set in your stomach as well. You wanted a tasty soul right now, but you had a feeling Harauphar would not be so generous this time.
"The fact that you put in so much of your own soul into that orb is the reason why you must feel so weakened now. Fel magic is not something you play with. It requires precise control and without it, well chances are you'll eventually drain out your entire soul." Master Harauphar stated.
"I will... be better next time Master..."You said.
"Next time as in now."
"Wait...what?" You asked in a weak voice.
"Your hearing isn't that bad Wraith, I will have you casting spell after spell until you manage to precisely control your fel magic." Harauphar stated, no emotion at all.
"Master...., I am so weak as of now, how could I ever cast another spell so taxing?"
"Are you defying me Wraith?" Harauphar asked.
"What? No Master-" You were beginning to say.
"Then you will cast over and over until you manage to have some basic competence at controlling fel energy. When you use fel energy, whatever soul you use as your power source is being consumed in the process. You need to learn how to ensure you don't consume your own soul when using the most basic spell." Master Harauphar said, a trickle of anger in his voice now at your defiance.
"Very well Master..." you numbly say. Still quite weakened from last time.
Turning around you mysteriously see the old plant that had been completely dead and shriveled had been replaced by a fresh new plant in a different pot. If you weren't so focused, you would've wondered where the new plant had come from but for now, you needed to have all focus on your spell casting.
Channeling your fel magic again despite your weariness, you reach into the darkest recesses of your soul, drawing out the strange otherworldly energy that seemed to twist and burn away at your spirit.
This time you tried controlling the energy you channeled into your spells. Another green orb of flames began to build up in your open muzzle.
"If you did not know Wraith, you are using Curse Magic, the most offensive specialization of spell magic, used mostly for combat situations, it allows one to cast negative effects on your target, from making them hideously ugly or blind to outright killing them. Only those who use Divine Magic can heal those suffering from Curse Magic." You hear Harauphar say behind you.
This time you let the fel orb grow to the size of a golfball before shooting it at the plant. This time as the orb hit the plant, the difference in power was obvious. The plant unlike last time was only meagerly affected. The roots turned brown and saggy and the leaves began to rot away at the sides but other than that, the plant was completely alive.
Thankfully this time the immediate after effect of casting the soul was less impactful. However you still felt incredibly weak. This time you started shaking as you tried to keep yourself up on all four legs.
Your very soul seemed to twist and contort in agony as you felt the numbness from before begin to return.
"Too weak this time. You must find the perfect balance needed to cast a curse spell that will kill the target but not outright weaken you too much."
Harauphar said.
You gave a soft sigh and closed your eyes before saying "I apologize Master..."
For the next several hours, you purposely put yourself on the verge of death as you struggle to control your fel magic. No matter how hard you try, Harauphar says you put too much fel energy or too little. Your orbs ranged to various sizes and shapes as you try and find the perfect balance needed. Each period between spell casts, the plant is mysteriously replaced whenever you take your eyes off it for even a second.
Each time you cast it, your feel several moments of agonizing numbness and the feeling of your soul violently dying. Soon physical side effects begin appearing. Your fur had started thinning and turning a metallic grey, your muscles begin feeling frail and useless and your senses dull to the point of no use. You on the outside now looked like an old weary fox that had seen to many days, as if each time you casted a spell, you physically aged.
How were you supposed to go on? Surely this is supposed to be a training exercise? How could you after several hours have perfect control over your magic?
You started feeling a frustrated anger at your Master. He was literally killing you by having you do this. Yet you couldn't do anything about it. By now you couldn't even stand upright and needed support from the wall to prevent yourself from falling over.
"You are disappointing me Wraith. You are so close but you are letting such weakness take over your body." Harauphar calmly said.
"Master....I am on the breaking point, I need a soul to consume or else I don't think I could go on much longer...." You plead.
Harauphar shook his head.
"No, until you manage to obtain the balance I want you to, you will not consume a single soul."
You didn't reply back. You had no strength. Instead you looked at the plant in front of you. It was a new one, one with no signs of being affected by magic. You open your jaws and begin casting your next spell...