Chapter 8 Magic?

“The pure who appeared in our village that day turned out to be a Magus like no other.”

-Halian of the Amal People

Amal Village, Forest of Despair

Vebrumma

“…He seems troubled. I’m afraid he’ll do something rash.” Dakei, one of our warriors came to me with a concern. It seems Mato still hasn’t let go of the matter. Sigh.

“Thank you for letting me know, Dakei. You may return to your duty.”

“Yes Wakan.”

Now, what to do… Daniel doesn’t seem to be a bad person but it’s still too early to completely rule him out as a potential threat so I can agree with Mato this. However, his heart is guided by his anger. I will have to have a long talk with him.

“Kana.”

“Yes Wakan.” A woman with green face-paint appeared beside me and bowed.

“Call for Mato. If he’s on watch, find someone to replace him.”

“Yes Wakan.” Kana stood and disappeared from sight.

…

Daniel

Aira seemed distracted today. She was fidgety and held the hourglass in both hands, giggling at the falling sand within. Either she’s broken or there’s something she really wants to get to soon. We’ve barely even finished one hourglass rotation but if she’s this eager to get out of here, I guess we can end it early. It wouldn’t hurt to watch the villagers working again. Maybe I’ll find something I could help with.

Once I suggested we end the session, the catgirl excitedly agreed and dashed out of the room. I sat, chuckling at her speed. Just what is she so excited about?

Clearing the dining table, I thought about the different work I’ve seen villagers do here and which ones I might be able to assist in without being a burden. Leather tanning… weaving tapestries… I guess I can only do manual labor for now.

After seeing a few people come in with injuries, I became a little interested in medicinal herbs. Perhaps I could ask Vebrumma or Hania to teach me in the future. Their medicine garden had a myriad of flowering plants which Vebrumma constantly pruned and nurtured. Based on what I’ve seen, Hania seems to be her understudy as I’d often see her receiving instruction while making certain medicine or when treating the more serious wounds on villagers.

Thinking of Hania, I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been alone for too long but I’m starting to develop a crush on her. I mean, who wouldn’t? She’s a very gentle and caring person. It’s totally not because she’s pretty and has amazing thighs… I’ve been wondering where her husband was or if she even had one. There are definitely couples here so she was probably married. Sigh. One thing at a time. Language barrier’s a bitch. Glancing at the woman I’m crushing on, she was busy bandaging a wound on a viking bunny. This village probably has less than three hundred people in it but with only two healers, they get pretty busy sometimes. She also has her daughter to care for so Hania has her hands full.

“Gallu bit Aira~ Kaya ~~ heal ~~” Kaya was playing with tools on the worktable. I really want to get her some actual toys. Maybe I should carve her something. Shaking away my idle thoughts, I stepped outside and headed for the fields.

The sky is overcast today, the clouds dark and heavy. Not minding the weather, the villagers continued working on their various tasks. A few elderly men sat at a table, just outside a home, playing some kind of board game. So they have stuff like that here too huh? Wonder if they’ll like chess. My eyes kept going up to their heads as some of them were bald. Though the ears were still somewhat furry, it contrasted with the baldness on the thin old men. Okay, stop staring.

As I was nearing the village square, a man with drooping wolf-like ears was walking in the opposite direction, his face downcast and scowling. The man was about a foot taller than me with scars all over his face. Don’t make eye contact. Just look the other way and keep wal-

“Woah!” The ground rushed up at me as my foot was hooked and pulled back. Throwing my hands forward, I caught myself and sprang up into a defensive position only to watch the back of the culprit continuing up the road like nothing happened. What the hell?!

Seriously, what did I do?! There seem to be people who really don’t like me here. I get that I’m an outsider and look a little different but… What the fuck?!

Dusting the dirt off my hands and knees, I glared at his back for a while, fighting the impulse to attack. I tried to reason with myself and calm down. If I attack him, he would probably die. I’m too used to using chi in my strikes and something would likely slip. If I’m lucky, I’ll just be kicked out, losing my connection to the only people I know in this world. And that’s the best outcome I can think of.

Calm down… FUCK! Breathing heavily, I slid my hands into my hair and gripped my skull for a while. If it’s something I did, then fine. But when people come out of the blue and attack me for no reason… Just breathe… *huff* *huff* …I need music.

Knowing that I am a little irrational with my anger keeps me from crossing certain lines but it’s a slippery slope. With my phone on limited power, I’ll need to find another way to get away from it before I make a mistake one day.

“Whew.” Finally calming down enough, I drop my hands and try to think of something else. Puppies… Kittens… Adorable Kaya… Filling my mind with everything cute I could think of, I headed towards the fields.

…

Halian

“Now, push your mana into the water and bend it to your will. Raise it up from the bowl and keep it there.” I observed the children concentrating on their bowls of water as they sat on the hay covered field. Each child’s mana glowed with various shades of red as they infused it into the clear liquid. A few successfully raise the liquid up and hold it in front of them but many are only partially successful. “Lito! Don’t stick your hand in there!” *whack*

“Ow!”

“Ahahaha!”

“Ahaha!”

“Mana only!”

“But it’s haard.”

“Of course it is difficult. The best things in life is often difficult. But as I’ve told you all, with practice, you will grow stronger and possibly even bend iron one day! Think of failure as practice. Now try again and keep trying!” Lito, one of the younger children, gets easily discouraged especially after seeing what the older ones can do. Tapping the thin teaching stick on my shoulder, I watched the faint red glow of his mana form as the little boy properly reattempted the exercise.

“For those of you who were successful, form the water into an animal. It can be anything you want. If you’re struggling, remember what we were talking about. Think of what you know about water. It’s fluidity, how it gives us life, use words if- Hmm?” It seems sir Daniel has come to observe us. He stood on the road, watching with curious eyes. I wasn’t there to witness his clearing of the new field but heard it was impressive. Some claim to have seen his mana flash yellow, but he looks a bit too young to be a Magus. Even I myself am still stuck at the threshold of becoming one.

Though it’s possible to restore youth to a certain degree, that requires many charged mana stones and even greater amounts of gold to perform the procedure so it would be interesting if the rumors turned out to be true.

“Daniel! Come join us!” I waved him over, wanting to see his level of magic for myself. There are some who are wary of him but I sense a few of the Forest Shadows nearby. If he tries anything, I’m sure we can keep him in check. Let us see this rumored mage in action. Perhaps I can request a demonstration.

Once he stood before me, I asked, “Could you demonstrate some simple water manipulation for us sir Daniel?”

“What… water do?” It seems he doesn’t quite understand.

Pushing forth my mana, I formed a small ball of light orange above my bowl of water. Strangely, Daniel seemed surprised. His eyes went from the children and back to the ball of mana before me in quick succession. Indeed a odd response.

Continuing the demonstration, I infused the water and raised it up from the bowl, shaping it into a man.

“Whoa.” Daniel looked amazed. I thought he was a mage.

Returning the water into the bowl, I handed it to Daniel and motioned for him to try.

The strange man held the bowl for a moment then his hands glowed yellow as he formed his mana. So it was true. Just what kind of training did he do to achieve this level at his age?

Daniel pushed his mana into the water, giving it a beautiful glow, then pulled it out. The mana glowed above his bowl, not a drop of water held within. He pushed it into the water again and pulled it out once more. What is he doing? Daniel repeated this process, pushing more mana into it each time until the entire space between us glowed brightly with the power of a Magus.

“Ch-children, get up and back away.”

Daniel

Pouring more chi into the bowl, I attempted to lift the water again. I think I saw it ripple this time. Is the chi still not enough? I tried commanding the water to rise but still nothing. Even the children could do it so I started feeling a little self conscious. Why isn’t it working?

I had come in for a closer look after seeing the kids manifest a similar power as me and control water with it. The whole thing looked more like magic than anything else, bringing me to rethink my assumptions.

Their teacher, a slim man with high brows, had long brown hair in a ponytail and a neatly trimmed beard. When he called me over, I was glad, thinking I could learn more about this power. But he’s currently staring at me with a confused look on his face as I failed at a task that was essentially child’s play.

I started doubling the chi with each try but all it did was create ripples in the water as I pushed mana through the entire bowl itself. For the first time, I was actually starting to feel the drain, most of my chi floating outside my body. Then I had a thought. Magic. If what I’m using isn’t chi, maybe I’m thinking of it the wrong way. They each have a bowl… Did they create their own water? Is this not responding to me because I didn’t make it?

Emptying the bowl, I closed my eyes and started thinking of water. Life sustaining water… H2O. Two hydrogen, one oxygen. With that thought, I commanded my ‘mana’ to become water.

*PFFSSSSHHHHH* Startled, I opened my eyes to see the field partially flooded.

“Waaahahaha~”

“Aaaahahaha~”

“Water! water!” The children jumped around, splashing and kicking through the water.

“Whoa. I did it.” That’s a lot of water. The amount was enough to fill a small pond.

“Magus…” The magic teacher stared wide eyed and mouth agape, only uttering a single word.

I stood frozen, too excited and overwhelmed by what I just did. I created water. This is amazing! “I created water! Ahahahaha! Holy crap!”

Staring at my hands, I wondered what else could be done with magic. Wait… if I could make water with magic… could I make other things?

Pushing out a small amount of mana, I commanded it to become rubber. Suddenly, I felt a pull as more mana was taken from me, leaving me slightly dizzy. Then an off-white, lumpy thing formed above my hand. Taking hold of the thumb-sized object, it was slightly sticky and felt more like chewed up gum than the kind of rubber I was hoping for.

I have no idea what rubber is made of at a molecular level and for all I know, this could be its natural form. So this might be a success. But my mana was forcefully pulled in it’s creation. It wasn’t like that with water. Although I had more mana out, it created a much greater amount of matter than mana used.

The only difference between the creation of water and rubber was knowing what they were made of. If that’s the case, as long as I know how something is made, could I pretty much make anything?

Splashing through the quickly draining water, I ran back to the infirmary.

…

“Okay, chicken pen, ink, blank leather roll…” I set up everything I needed to start copying the periodic table and looked around, eager to start as soon as possible. “Do I need anything else?”

The viking bunny was gone but Vebrumma was in the back, working on some concoction while Hania was reading a story to her daughter. I probably look pretty silly right now, pacing around the dining table with a wide grin. Even Kaya was giving me a curious look. But I was too excited to care about my image at the moment.

Since my phone battery is limited, I tried to calm myself and plan this out more carefully. Sitting down, I started thinking of other materials that I should try creating. Medicine would be nice but my knowledge in that area is near nonexistent. I don’t know if there’s enough battery life to research which ones do what. Maybe I’ll look up penicillin but besides that, my mind is blank in this area.

Picking up the pen, I started listing things I thought would be useful. Depending on how complex the molecular structures were, I may have to give up on some of them.

“Here we go…” Powering up the phone, I waited for it to load then frowned. The battery power was at 39%. The freaking phone was off! Why is it at 39%?! Okay, calm down. Clock is ticking. The phone was already three years old so I guess I shouldn’t complain too much about the battery.

Switching the device to power save mode, I opened one of the chemistry apps I had and brought up the periodic table.

…

“Whew.” There was 7% battery life left when I stopped. Thankfully, the leather rolls were a meter long and half as wide since the pen didn’t allow for small writing. I ended up completely filling one out with the table of elements. The leather I was using for my language notes was also filled to the edge with structural formulas and explanations on how to read the periodic table.

I should have gotten another roll from Baglin. I underestimated the amount of space I needed and couldn’t go through everything I wanted. Though I could write on the back, I would risk smudging the ink as it takes a while to dry. This is fine too. It’ll give me a chance to go back if I missed something. Even without all the materials, if I can create elements, the periodic table alone will give me an edge in this world.

Switching off the phone, I looked over the molecular diagrams drawn on the soft leather. The simpler ones didn’t take up much space like graphene and fused quartz. It started to become more complex with ethanol and synthetic rubber but the diagram that took up a good portion of the leather was penicillin. There were several types so I just picked the newest one I found.

I doubt I’ll be using the penicillin unless death was certain. There’s no telling how the body would respond at the slightest mistake in its molecular structure.

Now, what should I try to make first? The food here was always bland so I decided to try making sodium. My mana regenerated enough to try making a small amount. After doing the math, I came up with 11 protons, 12 neutrons, and 11 electrons. Forming a marble sized ball of mana, I commanded it to become the corresponding element. What materialized was a golf ball sized silvery lump of metal.

Grabbing the item out of the air, I turned it in my hand, wondering what I did wrong. Salt is sodium right? Dangit.

Picking up my phone again, I thought about whether I should look this up or save the remaining battery life. Considering how the power kept draining, I mind as well just use it up here.

Powering on the device once more, I searched the various apps and finally found the issue. Table salt is sodium chloride. Huh. Lifting the corner on one of the leathers, I wrote in NaCl on the back then returned to my phone. There was 5% power left. Once this turns off again, it’s going to be off for good.

I felt a little emotional. This was the only connection I had to my original world. A modern marvel I’ve taken for granted. You served me well.

I mind as well listen to some music one last time. Holding the phone in my palms like a dying pet, I closed all the running apps and tapped the music player. Scrolling to the album granpa Kwan first let me listen to, I played it one last time. Chopin’s Four Ballads.

Walking next to my bed, I sat on the floor with eyes closed, like the first time I heard this album. I replayed the scene when grandpa Kwan taught me to be human again.

Close your eyes. Breath slowly and deeply. Listen to the sound of each note. Follow it, chase after it with your ears… Child, you have every right to be angry, but anger is a poison. Do not hold it for too long lest it turns you into the very monsters that hurt you. If you have trouble letting go, listen to this and let it carry you away from your anger.

I thought of everything that happened since that day. My life had many twists and turns, some leading into very dark places. But ultimately, I was saved by Grandpa’s guidance. Suddenly a lot of things clustered my mind. The fact that I can't take care of grandpa's grave anymore. The few people I cared about leaving the world before me. Feeling lost and alone in another world… Am I crying? I felt hot tears streaming down my face and soon struggled to keep the snot in my nose.

I sat until the phone finally lost power during the last ballad. Placing a hand on the device, I took a moment to wipe away my snot when someone pushed a cloth in front of me. Following the hand, I looked up to find Hania as well as Kaya, Yamka and a few others sitting around me. Well this is embarrassing.

“What was that? It was nice.” Hania smiled.

“…Chopin… my teachers favorite music.”