He couldn't see her grin or appreciate her approval; the mermanta's attention was focused entirely on his magic within his element and her repeated attacks upon it. He built his column higher, inch by patient inch, until it was around twenty-five feet above the surface of the sea. He made no sudden lunges higher, content to push back the air in slow, steady increments and ensuring that the column remained strong and secure on all sides.
But the sheer quantity of water that he was controlling eventually grew wearying, even to someone of his prodigious endurance. It didn't show on his face; his expression remained as unchanging as the sunrise even under pressure, but slowly the column began to shrink. First it narrowed in small increments and then it began to shorten as Hadama began to slip it back into the ocean, drawing on the sea's power to augment his own.
But the sheer quantity of water that he was controlling eventually grew wearying, even to someone of his prodigious endurance. It didn't show on his face; his expression remained as unchanging as the sunrise even under pressure, but slowly the column began to shrink. First it narrowed in small increments and then it began to shorten as Hadama began to slip it back into the ocean, drawing on the sea's power to augment his own.
