“Really? Oh lord, I'm pretty sure that's going to get me in trouble..”
LIES AND DECEIT LAY THE PATH TO RUIN.
“Shit. OK truth it is.”
Sam nodded.
“Rae couldn't find her inner life force so I, er.. I pulled a teeny, teeny fraction from her essence and then put it back.
"Well maybe just a little but more than I took, enough for her to give her the power to light the candle.
" I'm pretty sure it wasn't cheating, you never said we couldn't and H.U.D. explained how to do it, soo...and I was really, really careful. Honest.”
The Professor looked agog at Sam. “You siphoned off life essence from Rae and then put it back?”
Sam nodded. “Er..yeah. A teeny, teeny bit.”
“And Rae felt no ill effects?”
Sam shrugged and shook her head.
“Could you do it again?”
“Oh yeah! It's pretty easy. Just a pinch here and a sprinkle there, And done.”
professor Sampson eyed her warily.
“A pinch and a sprinkle?”
Sam nodded.
“Can you do it with me?” asked professor Sampson.
Sam shrugged. “Yeah I guess, you want me to try? “
Professor Sampson but her lip “Hmm.. so you take a pinch of my life essence and then sprinkle it back into it?” Sam nodded.
“Oh lord, well nothing risked nothing gained. OK child do it, but at anytime I tell you to stop you better dam well stop you hear me?”
Sam nodded. “Of course professor Sampson.”
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She smiled and closed her eyes. Sam felt for professor Sampson's life essence.
Oh..it was so small, Far, far smaller than Rae's and just a fraction of Sam's. She was very careful to take just a microscopic pinch of life essence.
Sam didn't want to hurt the professor and it seemed with so little essence she could accidentally do it easily.
Sam opened her eyes as she finished and saw professor Sampson looking at her with a squinted look to her face that straightened out as she realized Sam had completed the pinch.
A look of mild relief fell over her face. “I barely felt a thing. That's a very delicate touch you have there child.”
Sam nodded. “I was careful as I could be, your essence is low, I was trying not to harm you.”
Irene Sampson nodded. “I'll be 232 next birthday, there's only so much one can do to stay healthy, eventually you have to except you aren't going to live forever.”
Sam exhaled. “Wow 232? how old does the average Magi get?”
“300 is a good innings, but some make it to 400 if they're careful or particularly powerful.”
She eyed Sam. “I'm guessing 400 for you should be easy as long as you don't blow yourself up!”
Sam grinned. She liked the idea of living that long. 400 years! Then she thought of the professor, she knew she didn't have 70 years left, her essence pool was just too small.
“OK sprinkle time?” Sam said cheerily
Irene Sampson smiled and nodded. The girl had done the dangerous bit with a particularly deft touch, she wondered how she would feel after the child “sprinkled” her pinch of essence back into her pool of life force.
“H.U.D?”
MISS HOLDEN.
“I want to add more essence to professor Sampson's life force, she looks like she could do with a boost. Can I pull from the engines?”
IT IS POSSIBLE. HOW MUCH OF A “BOOST”?
“Well I don't want to burst into flames. Enough to help without hurting me?”
YOU DO NEED TO LEARN CONTROL. THIS COULD BE A GOOD LEARNING EXPERIENCE.
FOCUS ON THE ENERGY EMANATING FROM THE ENGINES AND ONLY OPEN YOURSELF TO IT JUST A FRACTION.
LAST TIME YOU OPENED FULLY. THAT'S WHY YOU WERE DAMAGED. YOU NEED TO ONLY RECEIVE A TRICKLE.
IMAGINE TURNING A TAP TO A TRICKLE. AS SOON AS IT STARTS TO BURN TURN THE TAP OFF.
“Right. A tap! I can do that. Thanks H.U.D.”
Sam closed her eyes and felt for the colossal power emanating from the engines.
She felt the enormous sensation of power engulf her as she focused herself. Just a trickle, Sam thought to her self.
She imagined a tap protruding out of the gargantuan power that were the ships engines and gave it an imaginary half twist.
She felt power starting to pulse into her body and turned to professor Sampson.
This time instead of a sprinkle, she turned the imaginary tap from her own essence and gave it a half turn.
She could feel the power from the engine filling her pool of essence while at the same time she felt another tap draining it out of her into the professor.
She could already sense her pool growing and felt a thrill course through her veins. It was working!
Then Sam's skin started to heat up, she felt her body's temperature increasingly rapidly and quickly turned to the tap and yanked at the incorporeal handle.
She felt a huge relief as her body started to cool down instantly and then she turned back to the professors pool of life essence.
