Lars Eikeli (born April , 1995) is a Norwegian magic user, shapeshifter, and vlogger[1]. He is known for various stunts, including a performance at the New York 2018 new year celebration,[2] and his world-firsts of flying across the Atlantic in a shapeshifted form[3] and reaching space by magic and shapeshifting.[4][5][6] He is also an avid supporter of the uplifting[7] and rights[8] of intelligent non-humans.

-Excerpt from Wikipedia, read August 2nd, 2018

School starting back up after the summer is usually not something most children look forward to, but this year, after the various changes brought by the Upheaval and the year since then, countries all over the world have started pilot programs for teaching magic and/or cultivation, and for the students who happen to be in the right schools, this was definitely something to look forward to.

After all, who did not look up to Adrianne Fletcher, Lars Eikeli, or some other magic user or cultivator making a name for themselves?

Over the last year, a multinational project for funding and performing some much needed basic research had been formed by the EU and other european countries, and while much work remains to be done, it is clear that proper education regarding forms of magic and cultivation and the safe use of such is going to be important.

Thus, it was decided that a curriculum would need to be developed. Building upon the work of Eikeli and his extracurricular course, in partnership with a cross-disciplinary panel consisting of everything from pedagogs to psychologists and sociologist to frontrunners in the magic community, three separate courses were developed.

The first was made with those first entering school in mind, and consists of basic safety along with the use of magic equipment, and takes the form of nine lessons spread over a year. The second course was made for fifth and sixth graders, who should be mature enough to handle the responsibility and power learning real, albeit simple, magic, under guidance. Finally, fifteen and sixteen year old have the right combination of prior education and maturity to learn proper magic, and the principles behind it.

The focus of the study was primarily on magic, but through the assistance of a few knowledgeable cultivators and the Great Serpent of the Water Temple, a path for those attuned to ki rather than mana was created. With the current lack of knowledge, more direct, one-to-one guidance seems to be required to properly teach cultivation beyond the basics, though the Water Temple is willing to take both students and disciples. Due to location and travel restraints, participating schools in Oslo, Norway, has that opportunity.

The fact that you can either use mana or ki has been widely known for a while, and caused several debates until it was revealed that one can change from one to the other, assuming one hasn’t practiced to much. Further investigation revealed that most competent magic users can convert a non-practicing ki user to mana, but an advanced cultivator is required for the opposite. With that knowledge, all students of participating classes will be offered the choice to switch from ki to mana, or vice versa, under guidance from teachers and permission of their parents.

After reaching a fifty kilometer altitude in his first attempted ‘space-hop’, Lars and his partners at the space company researched and experimented with many options, and eventually landed on a three-stage plan. The sixth of july they were ready to execute it, to plenty of press coverage.

This time, Lars brought no thruster, instead carrying the communication equipment and a number of measurement devices in a flat, sturdy container, and a tank of air.

The first stage, as before, consisted of getting into the air with a flight-capable form, rising to an altitude of six point two kilometers.

While gaining speed in a wide circle, he shifted his body to a vessel that could take him to, and survive in, space. He started by growing a smooth, inorganic layer over his torso and the equipment as he shrunk his legs to nothing. The outer surface then grew over his head, leaving a crystalline cone to look out of, and over the now stiffened which, which soon also disappeared.

The V-shaped final form looked more like a miniature stealth bomber than anything human, and had a cylindrical shape at the middle of each wing - thrusters, and the magic contained within along with shifting the rear of his wings was how he would control the rest of his flight.

In the new form he rose to an altitude of thirty-five kilometers, where he yet again circled and gained in speed. After shapeshifting the thrusters twice, ground-based radars measured him at two thousand three hundred meters per second when he turned up and up and up, starting his long climb to space.

When he crossed the Kármán line, the crew back down on earth cheered, cheers that echoed a hundred kilometers above, within an inorganic shell around a limbless body.

“Weee, I’m in space. Space, space, spaaaaaace!”

What goes up, must come down (until you reach orbit or escape velocity, at least), so he did not spend long on celebrating, instead shifting back to his normal form, albeit covered in what could only be called a space suit, with a bulge on the back with the air tank and a dark dome around his head.

He fished out a camera, one of two he brought, both tethered to the equipment box, set it to record.

“Hello, world! I’m Lars Eikeli-”

He grabbed the camera, then turned it around, as if taking a selfie of himself with the earth in the background.

“And you are, unless someone on the ISS watches this, down there. Yep, I’m in space, but I’m not in orbit. For anyone who doesn’t know the difference, you can go straight up to get to space, but you will fall straight down. The trick to staying is moving so far to the side that you miss the ground repeatedly; that’s being in orbit.”

“In other words, I don’t have all that long before I have to pack and shift to a form that won’t burn up as I come back down. I will show you that form as well, but I’ll have to get that footage safely back on the ground.”

“Not that I have much to say. I just wanted to reflect back on what led me to this, the Upheaval, experimentation, managing to partner up with people who have the resources and will to research something like this.”

“I mean, isn’t this crazy? A bit more than a year after the Upheaval, and I’m in frickin’ space!”

“I’m usually not one for those kinda things, but thanks to the crew back at the ground, and everyone who worked on the technologies and techniques that got me here. Thanks to everyone whom I’ve learnt something from, and heck, even those who’ve learnt from me; teaching others remains a great way to strengthen your knowledge and realize what you don’t know enough about.”

The radio sounds: “You just passed your apoapsis.”

“Copy that. That was the ground crew telling me I’ve started going back down, so I’m gonna end things here. Again, thanks to everyone who’ve been with me so far, and I hope you’ll stick with me. The only reason I’m not shooting straight for orbit is that I wanted the record for doing this without a vehicle or external tools, just my body, as much as I change it, and magic. See you back on the ground.”