The Art of Movement

"Weight training?" Yuri asked Savos.

"Telekinesis is a spell like any other: more mana will give greater results. But Telekinesis gets exponentially more expensive the faster you try to move a heavier object, hence training for controlling heavier and bigger objects with ease." Savos explained.

"The stronger grasp you have on your spatial perception, the more control on an object, the less mana the spell costs. Your goal is to push each and every one of those plates forward 100 feet in five seconds. The range has been marked by those black lines on the floor and they will time your speed every attempt. Your teleportation range is 150 feet already, so you've already cleared one of the requirements. Here is the tome. Good luck" Savos didn't notice, but he was already acting rather lackadaisical with his teaching methods thanks in part to Yuri's quick learning.

Yuri opened the tome and saw a couple of buzz words he somewhat recognized. It appears this spell was operating on the notions of 'repulsion', 'attraction', and 'weight'. In other words, the entire book was trying to explain gravity without fully understanding it. Other than fueling the spell within yourself to support your spatial reach, there was not much else to be said.

As a child who grew up with Newton's Three Laws, the 'Force', and watched Pain use 'Shinra Tensei' to wipe out Konoha, he was already fairly familiar with gravity.

'I better tell Savos to skip the spells involving physical forces or I'll be here all day rediscovering fire'

Yuri aimed at the 10-pound slab to not seem arrogant and used the For... I mean telekinesis to attempt to lift it. At first, it felt as if he was the origin of a spell that was merely aiming at the general area of the slab and lifting everything around it as well as the object of interest. The slab was teetering like a helicopter driven by a man without thumbs inside of a hurricane while being surrounded by pebbles that were unamused by its antics.

He dropped it and recalibrated himself. 'Spatial perception. I need to use Spatial Perception to perfectly feel the entirety of the object, not just the area, then grab onto it'

His vision overlapped with his Spatial Perception and gave him more detail than even his enhanced eyesight could see. He made an outline in his head that perfectly captured the slab, and lifted it.

[Basic Natural Force Spell Learned: 200 RP]

It held straight enough to keep an egg on its surface while it rose, and Yuri knew he had done it. He messed with the slab a little longer, namely rotating at Mach speed and nearly creating a miniature tornado, before sending it hurtling across the 100-foot space while it was slicing through the air. The timer accepted it, and his slab came to a skid 400 feet later and ground into chunks.

The rest of the plates were nearly as easy. He had to supply more mana into his 'ESP' to maintain control over the 100-pound slab, but he managed. Before he decided to send it through the race, he wanted to test a few things.

This spell works on the idea of gravity. What else could he do with that very idea?

Yuri used his ESP again, this time observing himself with great detail and applying the lifting force to his own body. To his surprise, he rose from the ground little by little. He hovered a foot off the ground and glided forward and backward before he decided to go higher. 5 feet. 10 feet. 20. Yuri was in perfect control of his body but had no idea how to make himself go faster while also being safer. The spell was too simple and couldn't actually be called flight. More like levitation.

He had to eliminate the air resistance or friction in front of him while providing a higher thrust and lift to himself. He also had to shield himself against impact or spell tampering with a single ward. Maybe he didn't even need ESP to do it and he can lessen the load on telekinesis by controlling himself physically.

Yuri decided to form burn thrusters via a stabilized light-based formation on both his feet, then applied two more to his back and front that could be activated individually to adjust his height and course. He then created a ward with three purposes.

The ward would be outfitted to negate air friction by a spell effect he called 'slipstream'. He made a basic impact absorption effect on it that would transmit all physical force to the other side of the shield that it struck and disperse it. This ward would need to be telekinetically crushed on all sides to break, which would mean Yuri had a different problem than flying straight. Finally, he covered his ward and thrusters in a stealth barrier. The noise would be the only evidence of how he was flying.

He activated the foot thrusters and he rose quickly for 20 more feet before he decreased their force and slowed himself down. He let the thrusters and his ESP adjust while giving most of the load to his thrusters. Then, he turned his back ones on and drifted forward at a decent speed while keeping his feet steady. He could rotate these back thrusters in unison with his foot adjustments to keep himself steady. It took a bit of getting used to, but Yuri proved to be a good multitasker. He felt like Iron Man taking his first flight.

'Maybe I should add hand repulsors, haha'

Yuri turned around and decided to ditch class in style. He leaned forward while activating his thrusters at max capacity! He was at the halfway point down the practice field, and quickly approaching the balcony and FREEDOM! His back was already horizontal, his back thrusters now practically a jet pack acting in perfect sync with its foot-mounted counterparts.

It was at this moment that Savos heard a sound like a hissing snake was running away from rolling thunder. He frowned and looked up, before quickly leaping out of his chair and letting his eyes go wide as saucers!

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" His scream was all Yuri could make out before he flew over his umbrella-covered head!

"HAHAHA WHOOOOO" Yuri was trying his best to hear himself over the sound of a Fourth of July Airshow he was emitting from his back end. The slipstream spell was working perfectly.

Yuri dipped down right above the blue ocean and made a whitewater torrent along his path. He dipped his hand into the water and let it run through his fingers at over 400 miles per hour! Left! Right! Upside down! Do a barrel roll! Yuri performed roller-coaster movements like he brought the rails with him!

Bored of the water, Yuri took to the sky and faced the ever-distancing College as he rose past its height and accelerated!

500mph, 600mph, if Yuri knew how fast he was already going he would shout with glee, not that he wasn't already doing that. He was already burning 3 mana per second, which was like 30 Magicka to any other mage. He connected himself to the Eye once already to top himself off, which was one of the reasons for his carefree confidence.

At this point, the College was at a 45-degree angle below him and could "fit" in the palm of his hand. He looked around and saw a white world filled with treacherous valleys and jagged mountain tops. The feeling of being airborne this high and in control of his fate granted him the biggest feeling of euphoria he had felt thus far. Silently, he said another 'Thank You' to Akasha for making this possible.

In the distance lied the Reach and in another direction, he could see the Capital of Skyrim, Solitude herself. From this distance, not much detail could be gathered, but the oceans and forests it sat beside looked far more magnificent than a game could do justice.

'A pity that I haven't left Winterhold yet. I'll have to drag the Dragonborn across the entire place, haha!' Yuri couldn't wait to arrive in the Dragonborn's 'time of need' and guide them through their fate while journeying through the lands he had yet to see in a new light!

Flying at this height gives one a certain closeness to themselves that can't be described in words. The sound of his propulsion method drowned out by his attention on the land that beheld the sunset's hues. At one point, a tear dragged down his face before he embarrassingly wiped it off.

But before he could thank his lucky stars there were no witnesses, he had risen too high. The air got cold and much too thin, and he nearly passed out had he not seen Iron Man and been prepared. He immediately stopped accelerating and entered a free fall.

'There's a quote about Icarus somewhere in there, but I digress. I forgot to add details about climate control, atmospheric protection, and oxygen supply to the ward. I'm even worse than Stark. Better take a closer look at this later and master the spell as a single activation.'

The air wasn't blowing past his face or hair thanks to the ward, but he appreciated the sound of the wind blowing past him and the scene of the world growing nearer as he let his limbs dangle in free fall.

Three minutes later, Yuri was preparing to fly again before he fell into the sea and couldn't use his thrusters.

'5,4,3,2,' Yuri activated his thrusters at full power and caved in the surface of the once still and deep blue water below him. Eventually, he escaped the pull of gravity once more with a screech and flew back to the Practice Field to accept his punishment. One had to admit, though. There is no better way to play hooky,

The College and the balcony far below it were visible to him and quickly approaching. Savos was hanging over it with his arms crossed in relaxation. A gentle smile hung on his face, he too dreaming of flirting with the clouds. It appears Yuri's mood was infectious even at that distance.

When Yuri landed, the reprimand never came. "How did it feel?" Savos asked, still staring at the horizon still basked in the orange and purple glow of sunset.

"Humbling" Yuri mentioned one of the many emotions that overtook him. "Freeing. Enlightening."

"Can I..." Savos finally turned his head toward him, "see that spell?" He pled with a hopeful gaze.

"When I perfect it, Master" Yuri smiled and nodded charitably. "The movement method is a bit mana exhaustive, but you can have the flight spell and remove the extra speed later"

"Thank you" Savos had never been more grateful. "Magic shouldn't be about crafting engines of war, methods of destruction, poisons, or diseases. To take Man and Mer to their greatest height. To put the achievement of creation and gain a new agency of exploration and enlightenment. That is magic. Never lose sight of that, Yuri, for you have a gift that will do exactly that."

"I refuse to lose sight of that, Master" Yuri affirmed. Savos had never seemed so wise till that moment.

"Now...onto the next spell!" Savos cut through the beautiful atmosphere ruthlessly...

"Can we pursue other mediums of Alteration? Physical forces are more or less something I can find out on my own." Yuri asked.

"Bodily Enhancement it is" Savos complied.

"The next spells I have for you are Stoneskin and Acceleration!"

───※ ·❆· ※───

Yuri and Savos delved into every kind of Alteration spell he could come up with while Yuri absorbed them and made his own versions at will. Yuri made his own 'Skin' spell that looked an awful lot like Armament Haki. His skin took a dark gray metallic sheen and gained the hardness of steel while sacrificing none of the flexibility. That one took practice.

Several detection spells were next on his list, which he also mastered quickly. Spells that made objects and himself lighter, increased his speed, sight distance, and other senses were quickly mastered. Changing one's own mana to vitality or stamina was a bit harder. Yuri only learned to transform to stamina, something about his vitality didn't feel right. Perhaps searching through Restoration spells would assist him.

Transmutation was fucking difficult. Savos had no idea what the issue was, while Yuri had thoughts of atom arrangement and proton count getting in the way of performing what he deemed as ridiculous even as Savos changed iron to gold right in front of him.

"It's a very simple spell..." Savos chided.

"It's NOT!" Yuri defended his honor as a prodigy.

Exchanges like this went throughout the night, even during their dinner, and Yuri could safely say he was nearly a Master Alteration Wizard. Savos guarded the Grandmaster title like it was his queen, however, and wouldn't admit defeat.

Yuri learned so many spells and made a few more that his RP count soared to 7550. He had more than enough for another body mod book from the Exchange but didn't want to go through another ritual so soon. He will look for ways to spend money later, muahaha.

Long after the candlelit field below the College and the Halls above grew quiet to sleep, Master and Student decided it was enough for one night.

"Come back in three days, Yuri. I need to take care of a few things and then I'll have a job for you to do. You can use the field at will and explore any of the School's books in the Arcaneum up to Master level except for Conjuration. I'd advise you to take classes for Illusion and Restoration at least once, but I know you might not need it. You are dismissed" Savos left off with, before teleporting himself out.

Yuri also used ESP to search for his dorm room and fazed through 700 feet of solid stone to arrive in his room. He had to admit, Teleporting felt fucking good.

Yuri drifted off to sleep after preparing himself to take a single class of Illusion and Restoration on the same day before visiting the Arcaneum and raiding it of all its succulent knowledge. He also couldn't wait for this so-called 'job' Savos would give him. A change of pace was entirely welcome.