Whispers of the olympics (and a quick explanation from an older member of the Seven) had gotten Tahi-shei... excited, to say the least. For more reasons than one! He was a cycle older now, with a better handle on his ability to speak and his developing personality and body. So, he'd been more than happy to offer himself up to join in. The obstacle course had seemed like a natural choice, and so had set-up, but he'd also entered into the magic competition -- wishful thinking, perhaps, but Tahi-shei was eager to try and show off his magical prowess.

But he'd known that practice would be required, so he'd asked more experienced magic users in the group, especially Pride. The recommendation had been to go to Polaris and practice, because the Spire -- which was to be treated with great caution -- was a beacon of magic and the amount of energy he'd be experiencing would be enough to carry him through several attempts before he got tired.

The journey through Tunnel N had been more straightforward than Tahi had been expecting, though. Certainly, it hadn't been anything that frightened him. Stepping into Polaris by himself, though... well, that was another story entirely. Tahi-shei's limited world experience meant he was afraid of everything that was unfamiliar, and he was also absolutely alone at the moment. He'd taken some time to collect his thoughts while cowering with the golems, but then he'd mustered his courage and gone to get as close to the Spire as he dared.

He could feel the energy in his teeth. The air was thick with the smell of ozone and burnt hair, and he wondered briefly if that was him he was smelling. Tahi took a deep breath. Whatever this thing was, it was a beacon of absolute power. Tahi-shei was happy to take advantage of some of that power. He focused as much as he could, and attempted to make a field of mushrooms spawn around him -- specifically edible ones, because he wasn't trying to hurt anyone who might pass by here afterwards and he knew he might get hungry during this process.

Tahi-shei breathed out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, the mushroom ring had risen up around him with their steady, creeping style, and he felt immensely safer with fungus he'd created all around him. Not that the glowing mushrooms in the walls weren't nice, but... well, that actually gave him an idea. Tahi began to walk slowly, which might have looked like a silly model walk if it wasn't part of his casting process (since he had trouble making mushrooms appear anywhere he wasn't touching). He'd already spawned some under his hooves, so he needed a new place to work, but he hadn't actually gotten any closer to the spire.

Here, Tahi-shei breathed in sharply through his nose as he walked. Focused. He'd never made glowing mushrooms before, and he wasn't sure if they were somehow different than any other kind of mushroom, but he was trying to make some -- specifically the ones he saw all around him, green and blue and sometimes white. The colors fascinated him, and he wondered briefly if he could make any other colors appear. For good measure, he also tried to imagine some pink mushrooms, because he didn't think he'd ever seen those before.

He looked down and behind him, and preened a bit. The mushrooms were small and had a faint glow -- and there weren't any pink ones -- but he'd still managed to make some, and wasn't that exciting? He looked towards the Spire. "Hah! This was a good idea after all, wasn't it?" Then he decided that the rock probably couldn't hear him, and stopped trying to talk to it. Tahi took a few more steps forward, considering what his next attempt at magic would be. Finally, he decided on quality over quantity.

Usually, when he used his spell, it caused several smaller mushrooms to spawn around him. This time, though, he wanted one big one. He focused on the idea -- a massive mushroom, perhaps even as big as he was. He was returning to the safety of the white ones he usually made, though. They were easy to make, since he was intimately familiar with them, and he knew that if he failed this time, it was probably going to be because his ambitions were too great.

Not that he was expecting to fail, of course. Tahi-shei was just eager to try. Entering the magic competition had made him feel a little insecure. He only knew one spell, and was very new to using magic. But if he could reliably eek out a variety and make his spell more impressive, surely he could manage to wow the judges! Seeing the same thing over and over again might not have been very cool, but certainly if he could make a lot of different kinds of mushroom, it would be more impressive.

Tahi opened his eyes and sighed. He'd felt the drain on his magic, which meant the spell had certainly been cast, but apparently it had just fizzled out into nothing. It seemed as though he'd been aiming too high. Maybe at a later date making a big mushroom would work, but for now he tried something different. Since he knew that he could reliably make several different colors of mushrooms at once, perhaps he could even make a design.

He wasn't much of an artist, what with his limited dexterity and the fact that he didn't exactly memorize every detail of something, but he was still going to try. Tahi-shei didn't bother walking away this time and closed his eyes, focusing on a ring of white mushrooms with what was roughly the shape of his and Pride's bodies on the inside, made of glowing blue mushrooms instead. He was slowing down from so many attempts to cast magic, but Tahi-shei was not going to be deterred. He'd keep going until he dropped! (Or, more likely, he got frustrated or hungry and just decided to go home.)

He took a deep breath, the thick smell of ozone flooding his senses, and cast. Hopefully, this time it would work...

Now, several things could be said about Tahi-shei. He was a polite creature, sometimes even called mature. A bit distant at times, but ultimately a good fawn. But he was still ultimately a child, and the sheer frustration of this particular failure after he'd gotten his hopes up made him want to cry. He stamped his foot and let out a frustrated groan, starting to pace back and forth.

"What did I do wrong! Ugh. I wish magic were more predictable... everything is just so HARD!!"

He scowled and sat down. Tahi-shei was out of ideas now, except maybe trying his two failed attempts over and over again. In fact... the deer thought for a moment and looked up at the Spire, considering. It wasn't like it could hurt anything to try over and over again. Perhaps this wasn't a matter of being too ambitious, but instead of poor luck. He stood up suddenly and closed his eyes again. He was going to make a picture in the fungi. Or, at least, he was going to keep trying until he couldn't try anymore!

Tahi-shei focused intensely. White mushrooms. Blue glowy ones. Deer shape. White. Blue. Deer. White, blue, deer... white-blue-deer. You've got this, Deimos. You can do it.

Tahi opened his eyes, and lit up like a Christmas tree. The picture was rough and the glow on the blue mushrooms was a little uneven, but it was still recognizable as a deer and wow, wasn't that a cool party trick? The judges would certainly be wowed if he could make pictures of them! He trotted around his new picture excitedly. Well! If his poor attempt at making a picture had been just the luck of the draw (or perhaps a lack of concentration), then surely he could replicate the same result with his "big mushroom" experiment.

Tahi-shei took a few more steps forward, still in the outer ring. Not getting closer to the Spire, but neither getting further. He was going to make a big mushroom. The trick was just believing hard enough, wasn't it?

Well, Tahi-shei was trying valiantly to convince himself, and it was almost working. He tried with his eyes open this time, because only casting with your eyes shut wasn't a very good idea. He stared steadily at the ground, focusing as hard as he could on imagining there was a mushroom there -- but not only that, imagining that the mushroom was tall. Very tall. He couldn't help it -- Tahi was holding his breath.

A massive, beautiful mushroom started to grow before his eyes. Excitement overwhelmed him, and he almost trampled the poor thing, rocking back and forth on his heels eagerly. Oh, this was extremely exciting! "I did it!! I did it! Oh my Stones, I actually did it! The only limit is my imagination!" And his own energy. The fawn wouldn't have admitted it, but he was seriously slowing down. He wasn't totally exhausted yet, but he was certainly getting there, and he figured he probably only had a few more really good casts left in him. But this was still a time for experimenting, so he decided to press on.

"Okay. What else can I do..." he wondered. Tahi thought back to his attempt at making a mushroom he'd never seen before. That was an option... but he decided against it. Playing with things he didn't understand could be dangerous, and he could very well end up making something toxic. Instead, he considered the opposite to his "big mushroom". He walked further away this time, and decided he would disregard size or complexity and instead cast his ring of mushrooms as far as he possibly could.

Keeping his eyes open again, because that had apparently been a good decision last time, Tahi-shei took a deep breath and visualized a ring of mushrooms significantly bigger than what he expected to be able to create. Surely he'd just end up making a ring of appropriate size.

Tahi-shei was breathing heavily by this point, but he watched as a ring of mushrooms much larger than he'd ever made before (about half of what he'd guessed at to be the largest possible circumference) had spawned. Any within a certain distance from the Spire quickly seemed to dissipate as if the mass of rock had consumed them, but Tahi-shei wasn't paying attention. His attempt had been a success, and he flicked his ears as he considered what he could try out next.

Perhaps the only thing to try was creating a new mushroom that he'd never seen before... He frowned, debating it. Ultimately though, Tahi-shei decided that he could just smash it before he left or kick it closer to the Spire, because who would be stupid enough to get closer than he was?

So he thought. Tahi-shei wanted to make a glowing pink mushroom that was safe to eat. He wanted it to have darker spots on its cap, and be short and flat like a table. He had a very clear image of the fungus in his mind, though he wasn't exactly sure if this was within the bounds of his spell. Taking a deep breath, he focused, and tried to create.

Nothing spawned from his attempt. Instead, the magic just fizzled out into nothing, and Tahi flicked his ear in annoyance. Whatever. He'd just have to keep trying, wouldn't he? No success ever came easily, and it wasn't like there was anyone except the Spire and the golems around to tease him (and he wasn't entirely sure that golems were sentient). He shook himself out like he'd gotten wet and focused again, staring steadily at the ground and visualizing the mushroom to the best of his ability.

Maybe this wasn't even something his spell could do, but he was still going to try. Tahi didn't think of himself as particularly creative, but surely if he could make pictures he could also make something he'd never seen? Wasn't that the very essence of drawing? Perhaps not with magic, but now Tahi was someone distracted in considering if it were possible for gembound to create new spells. He knew that group spells were a thing, but could an individual gembound make up their own spell...?

Tahi looked at his second failure and groaned, settling down onto the ground. He sighed loudly and sniffed at the stone, wondering how many times he should try this. He frowned, anxiety prickling at his chest, and he decided once and for all that he was going to give one last attempt. Just one. If he failed this time, he was going to stop and go home. Or maybe take a nap first, because he was seriously getting tired -- he wasn't just lying down because he was frustrated.

The deer focused again. Tried to cut out his distractions, and tried to act like the mushrooms were already there. He was pushing out with his magic, feeling the strands of it through the rock and echoing off of the Spire, and tasting raw magic and feeling it press against his skin almost as though it were tangible. He could feel it in his heart quite literally, and he could feel the warmth of the stone in his chest.

Magic was a pure expression of will and desire combined with skill, experience, and just a shard of luck. He definitely had at least one of those things, but the others were either a definite 'no' or still up in the air. So this would be his last attempt. But he was sure he could manage it -- after all, what was so hard about making mushrooms?