Zevruu had, once more, entered the magicka competition. But unlike last time, or the time before, he was actually planning on practicing his routine. Or, at least, practice different spells until he decided which ones to actually use, since he really had no idea. He was going to start with the easiest spells, ones he's used many times before, and then move onto the harder spells. He just hoped most of them would work.

He decided to start with what was most likely his easiest spell - glow. He closed his eyes and called upon his magic.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

It took a bit of work, but eventually, his fur began to glow a soft yellow. He frowned. That didn't work as well as he had been hoping. It should've been easier than that - this was his first spell! He sighed. At least he had still succeeded.

Next up, bauble. It didn't take long for him to find a small little pebble that he could bauble. He could still remember the first time he cast this spell. It was during the first olympics, his first spell during his turn in the magicka competition. He had cast it on a necklace, a necklace he still wore to this day. He pressed a paw lightly to it before continuing.

He crouched down in front of the pebble, concentrating once more.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

This time, nothing at all happened. He frowned. Magic was finicky, he knew that. But with spells this simple...Why was he doing so terribly? He wasn't planning on winning the magicka competition, but he didn't want to make a fool of himself like past years. Especially not like the first year. But with how things were going now... He scowled down at the pebble.

He wasn't going to stop until it was glowing! So he closed his eyes again and concentrated even harder, determined to do this simple task.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

He lashed his tail. Was he really this terrible? He scowled down at the pebble again. He couldn't even do this! How was he possibly going to do well in the actual competition? He'd only managed to do one spell, and it had hardly even worked! This time. This time it'll work for sure.

And if not? He'll just do it again. And again. And again. However long it takes.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

It took a lot of work, and he was sure he had failed again, but no - there it was. A faint glow. Hardly there, but...still there, all the same. He supposed that was good enough - it wasn't, not really - and moved on.

The next spell, he decided, was going to be prism. He hoped beyond hope he wouldn't fail this one. That he'd do better than just barely succeeding. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

This time, it came much easier, and he sighed in relief. He wasn't a total failure! He had been starting to think that meeting the Dreamstalker had affected his ability to cast magic. He opened his eyes to see the prism. It was strong, clearly seen. Good.

The next spell is one of his favorites. Though given how most of his spells were doing lately, he didn't exactly have the highest hopes for this one. Still, he planned on doing every one of them until they succeeded. Even if it was just barely.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

Nothing!

This was becoming rather infuriating. Was he going to have such shit luck during the competition too? He'd rather not make a fool of himself.

He just had to concentrate again. Concentrate harder! He will succeed. No matter how long it takes.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

Once more, it took a lot of work, something that really infuriated him. But it did work, and he moved the orb around the room before letting it dissipate.

With that done, he began to focus on his next spell, shadowplay. He wasn't sure if he'd ever actually done this spell, but for whatever reason, he knew he had it. And he was going to use it. And hopefully he wouldn't fail.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

This one actually worked, and pretty well. He was able to cast elaborate shadows. He smiled at that before letting them fall away. He had more spells to do. He might even retry ones he had failed multiple times...like the bauble spell. Surely he could do better than barely succeeding after many failures.

But he'd get to that one later. For now, he was gonna work on multishadow. This was one he had done during the last competition, and it had worked. He might do it again...And hopefully it'd work then too. and now. He was rather tired of failing. He was rather tired in general - all this spellcasting was starting to give him a headache.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

A lot of work. Too much work. Why was all of this so hard? Maybe he should take a break...

It worked, at least, although just barely. He watched the shadow, able to make it move around, but it hardly worked. It wasn't long before he let it go away. He decided he should take a break. Just a little bit, not long at all. Give his body a chance to recharge. He needed it if he was going to continue.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'