6 New Magic
"Ahhhhh."
Art woke up early in the morning, numb and drenched in sweat wetting his bed a little as felt like a walking corpse after exerting himself to the limit yesterday. He was tired and even lifting his arm was a difficult task as if felt like he was being pricked by a needle every time he moved.
Moreover, it certainly didn't help that Art had nightmares about yesterday's events. To see someone being killed right in front of him is something that he would never forget.
Any normal child at his age would have been traumatised, but Art was saved from such experience thanks to his mental age.
The only good news was that it was Sunday. 'Thank god I don't have to go to school today,' he thought, his gaze turning to the window, watching the raindrops roll slowly down the glass. 'I wonder what happened after I left yesterday. I did all I could to save as many people as I could.
Art shook his head as the more he thought about it, the more he would only blame himself although he knew it was not his fault. "It's no use thinking about it," he sighed. "I might as well use this time to practice my new magic."
After making up his mind, Art forced his exhausted body to get up and sit on the bed cross-legged. He needed to get his mind off yesterday's events and magic was the only way. He looked at his right hand and then the left, doubting himself if he could really use another type of magic.
It had been 6 years since he started using magic and his attempts to use other forms of magic had always failed.
Art mentally prepared himself not to be disappointed if were to fail again. He took a deep breath and exhaled. He closed his eyes and tried to remember that strange feeling he felt the moment he had almost died.
"Ball," said Art as one-tenth of the magic he stored within his body started to move. It flowed through and then out of his arms before he willed the desired shape in his mind to appear before him.
Even without opening his eyes, Art could feel something was in front of him. An invisible string was attached to that object which he could control at will. He quickly opened his eyes and saw a large translucent ball floating above his right hand, excitement coursing through his veins upon seeing what he had created.
At the same time, Art was confused. "Why couldn't I do this before?"
The number of attempts he had tried to use another form of magic number in the millions. He had consistently failed and blamed it on experience, lack of control and the amount of magic he had all these years.
"Was it because I needed some sort of trigger? Like a near-death experience," Art concluded, thinking about what the reason could be for attaining this new type of magic.
But, in the end, he could not come to a definite conclusion and decided to put such thoughts in the back of his mind.
No matter what the reason was, it did not matter to him at this moment. He could use another form of magic and it was no use to think of one as to how he acquired such an ability.
He brought his attention back to the transparent ball and wanted to touch it, but it started dissipating into the air like smoke. He tried his best to maintain the shape, pouring more magic into the transparent ball, only to fail miserably.
"What happened?"
He conjured another ball, but it dissipated again.
And again.
Again.
Ag...
"Fuck that took a lot out of me."
It was only after the sixth attempt and his mana running low that Art found out what was the problem.
According to his experiments, the magic was the fuel and concentration, his mind, was the key to maintaining and creating the form of the object. In other words, once he stopped concentrating on the object he created, it will destabilise and will cease to exist within a few seconds.
With this discovery, Art no longer needed to worry about the object dissipating and start with more important experiments. But first, it was time to sleep...
...More days passed since the failed uprising. It became a hot topic among the citizen of Piltover while the tension between the two cities became higher. The security between the two borders became tighter, and people from the Undercity who managed to get away from the life of poverty to live in Piltover were being persecuted more than ever.
But that wasn't all the people were talking about, the mysterious magician who saved the lives of thousands of Piltovans and the people from the Undercity had made people curious.
When the magician was mentioned, most people praised him as a hero, but some disagreed as the magician was criticised for not taking a more active role in ending the uprising faster.
However, Art, who was the subject of their conversation, could care less about what they were saying. He had done all he could, well, that is a lie. He knew he could have done more, but he was not selfless enough to put himself in harm's way for some people he didn't know.
He ignored what they were saying about him and dedicated himself to experimenting with his new magic for the past week. He skipped meals, even skipped school yesterday and gave the excuse to his parents he was sick just to continue with his experiments.
Because of this, Art was able to quickly learn the strengths and weaknesses of his new magic. He wrote them down in the notebook he used to keep track of the magic he has learned.
_______________
Creation magic
Strength
Able to conjure several relatively simple forms: rectangular planes, cylinders, globes, domes, cones, etc.
Conjured objects grow or shrink as desired (small objects can be controlled at high speeds, and large objects are slow and consume more mana).
Certain characteristics can be added to the object (Make it sharp or make it elastic.)
Can conjure more than one object (limit: 2 objects, requires split focus.)
High durability (the more mana used the higher the durability, the darker the colour of the constructed object, the higher the durability. Blue hardest, transparent the weakest)
Weakness
Concentration: Once I stop concentrating on an object, it ceases to exist.
Mana consumption: very high.
Range: 5 meters
_______________
This was what Art had learned, but this did not mean that this was all his new magic had to offer. Even now, he was still experimenting and discovering the possibilities of what [Creation Magic] could do.
Sitting down cross-legged on his bed, his eyes were closed and his arms before him as if he was meditating. His breathing was steady and all unnecessary thoughts were gone. He was picturing a sword in his mind, and it was then he willed magic to emerge from his body and through his hands.
Something began to materialize.
"I did it!" Art rejoiced. "I actually did it."
For the one-hundredth attempt, Art finally created a sword. It was a simple blue long sword with a thin, lethal blade perfect for piercing and slashing.
However, Art was not excited because of this, but rather the possibilities it opened. He imagined himself creating a giant sword and slashing a mountain in half. "I need to calm down a little," he stopped fantasying when he was about to lose concentration, causing the sword in his hand to almost dissipate.
He reached out, grabbed the sword levitating in front of him by the handle and inspected the blade. His gaze landed on the ornate cross-guard before his little fingers ran across the blade's fuller.
He gave it a few swings, carefully trying to avoid damaging his surroundings, lest he wanted to get in trouble with his mother. It was at this moment that an old idea suddenly came to mind. "Now that I'm older, I should be able to learn martial arts now without it stunting my growth."
Upon thinking about what happened last week, Art realised how impulsive and reckless he had been last week.
His [Telekinesis Magic], [Body Enhancement Magic] and [Creation Magic] had their weaknesses. One was that if he used [Telekinesis Magic] and [Creation Magic], concentration was needed and all other things around him would almost go unnoticed. Although he was close to fixing this weakness, he did not want to be reliant solely on magic anymore.
He came to a realisation that if he had been slightly unlucky or distracted last week, a random bullet to the brain is all it would have taken to kill someone like him. And even if that weakness did not exist, there would have been no way to defend himself if someone were to catch him by surprise.
He wanted to learn how to fight up close, how to defend himself in situations where he couldn't magic and more importantly, gain muscles to avoid being called a soy boy in the future.
Bur, there was one problem with this idea. "I'm sure dad will agree, but what about mom?"
...Later that day, the Truefall family were having dinner when he nervously opened his mouth to speak. Art looked at Zalie then at Lilah. "Dad, mom," he paused as he got their attention.
"What is it?"
"Yes, darling?"
Zalie and Lilah simultaneously replied.
"Can I take self-defence classes?" Art continued on to say.
There was silence in the air for a few seconds which was later broken by his dad. Zalie put his cutleries on the table and looked Art straight in the eyes. "Is it because of the uprising last week?" he asked.
"No," Art answered without a slight hesitation seeing there was no reason to lie. "I just want a way to defend myself, and I want some muscles. I don't want to look like a flower boy when I grow up."
"A flower boy, you say? Where did you learn that from?" Zalie asked worriedly. "Is someone bullying you at school?
"No," Art denied instantly.
"Really?" Zalie asked again.
He nodded.
Seeing this, Zalie rubbed his chin and thought about it. He touched his Art's biceps and then patted his head before coming to a decision. "Your right, a man should at least have some muscles. I'll hire someone…."
"Darling, isn't he too young?" Lilah suddenly interrupted. "How about we wait a few years?"
"A few years? Mom I want to learn now," Art pleaded, putting his hands together.
"..."
But seeing how Lilah was silent upon hearing his words, he sighed and decided to pull out the big guns. He cleared his throat, used the secret puppy eyes no jutsu and said. "I also want the strength to protect you guys."
Lilah and Zalie started to tear up a little as if struck by an arrow to the heart.
