Planning

Another week quickly passed. The fireball incident had taken place an entire week ago, yet he was still drooling over such a warm and giddy feeling that it triggered every time he cast such an anomaly. It felt similar to a drug at this point. He was obsessed.

Atreyu was paused on this feeling of wonder that oozed from the exotic flames. He simply couldn't get enough of it! In his mind, that single flame was more important than the world itself!

As a man who had been very serious his entire life, someone who had never believed in the concept of "magic" this phenomenon was incredible! It blew him away! He felt emotions he had always believed to have forgotten. It was like a break.

Being able to see that such a thing truly existed made him change as a person. He felt lighter, better, happier, and more carefree than he ever had.

That voice in his head always asking questions was overwritten and burned in the moments of amazement as he stared at the multicolored flames that swirled similarly to that of a hurricane!

He had been worrying, and for what? Why did anything matter when he had such a feeling and emotion at his disposal? Sadly, however, that feeling wouldn't last forever. And Atreyu could already feel the wonder and emotions fading, only by a little, each and every time. But that built up when it was something you did 24/7.

'This is only a tenth of what I felt that first time This couldn't even compare. The wonderous feelings he had experienced in those first moments couldn't be defined. And it seemed as though, they couldn't be replicated either.

'If I make another formation, even grander than the last, will I feel that again? It was like he was a kid again. Not burdened by social standards or the pressure of others. Free.

The only reason Atreyu suspected he underwent such a genre of emotions was because of how he had worked up for it. The satisfaction of pulling off a mechanic you had been honing for so long was the greatest in the universe.

So if he could replicate that, create another formation, and put in even more work, could he execute an even better torrent of sensations? He could top... That? He wanted to try! Oh, how he wanted to start right this moment.

Atreyu was becoming desperate. 'Is this what it feels like to be high? It's amazing!'

Creating a formation... Creating a formation... Something unique. This fireball was nothing but a copy of an instruction manual. All he had done was copy such a simple formation, and it had taken him the better half of a year!

'What would happen if I created my formation? Learned how to execute it? Gained control over aurora? He wanted to know! He wanted to know all of it!

'I've decided! I will create my own formation! I want to see the dopamine that will occur then!'

The only problem, what? What would he create? It needed to be something simple, tangible to his little experience, yet more advanced than the fireball to the degree that it would feel far more accomplishing.

'Hmm, well to be fair a fireball seems to be the most basic of concept in the fantasy genre' at least to what he could assume. He hadn't ever truly picked up a novel on the genre. Just basing it off rumors and this world itself.

'Well I need to put in even more work than this fireball, but I'm not sure I have the experience to create my own formation just yet. That's a process that would benefit to impossible for me with my current experience'

Thus, he decided to modify the fire! But to an extent that it would take more work to pull off, yet possible. The only problem, what? His last flame was around average in temperature. A little under 1700 Kelvin. But still dangerous if you didn't put up aurora protection as he had done around his body to negate the heat.

'I'll make it hotter, maybe 2000 Kelvin? It would be tough but I could go for it. And let's make it bigger as well as change the shape' of course, he had plenty more ideas but this project alone may take up the next four years. That would be enough, plus this would push him to his limits every day. And would drastically increase his pool of aurora.

Atreyu nodded. He didn't want to make to make to much of a complicated shape. For now, he'd start with a needle. Oh? What if he created a katana? A very simple one. Just a saber with no details, no guard, and no sheath. Yes, that could work.

It seemed possible, and wasn't that far off from a needle, in that stage at least. 'So shall I wield it or use it through telekinesis?' why not both? It would be a great exercise to get used to moving things through the space around him without actually grasping the object. That not only would give him a huge edge in learning it quickly but would probably ticket his aurora levels!

On top of this, he could get ahead in protecting himself from the flames through a layer of the aurora, which as well as using strings of aurora to guide the saber through telekinesis, would boost his aurora control drastically. And then after which he could be trained by Rukami. But to do that he'd probably need multiple sabers... Multiple katanas... 'Don't overthink it. Once you create the first, all you have to do is create it twice' yes. This could work! He had it all planned out.

In the next four- no. Three years, he would have two flaming katanas. Ready to be used. He didn't care if it worked him to death, what he had to sacrifice! He was desperate for that feeling again! That purity! He wanted the experience that emotion again!

If he wasn't born with abnormally good control over aurora, he'd just work for it!

If he could only focus on aurora for the following thousands of years? Where could that get him? Could he rise to the top? Sure, he had good genetics, but not nearly good enough to get to the top. His limits were far bigger than those who were truly great. But it was a world of magic, and he had thousands of years to look forward to! And 30 years of experience from the start!

Atreyu felt that if only worked hard enough, he could change! Get rid of his insecurities! And the only way to start such a process was to form these katanas. So how does he start with such a thing?

Well firstly, he'd use what he already had as a base. And what did he have? A fireball, only the size of his palm. But a fireball nonetheless. And that would be enough.

Now Atreyu just had to decide how to go about such a thing. He could either form the imaginary mold and then add the hotter fire property, thus creating the weapon, or he could raise the temperature of the fire and morph the katana within it. Either would work.

But Atreyu was leaning towards the first. It would be a lot harder to mold fire itself, rather than simply manipulating pure Aurora and adding a fire property to it.

However, creating the mold for an attack wasn't as simple as telling your circuits to give it "properties" no. The process required you to expel pure aurora from your exporters. Each exporter giving a certain string of aurora that connected with each other at a certain coordinate. And as thousands or millions of these strings connect with one another, they piece together to form something.

You then control that objects through telekinesis by controlling those strings. So in theory, you could create your own weapon with it's own properties that could change form whenever. But only if you have incredible control over the aurora. And of course, the more intricate the object you desire to create, the more control you need and the more difficult it will be to mold.

That is why Atreyu decided to make a very simple weapon at the start, as he doesn't have any experience in the subject, and that alone would take up to two years.

That didn't mean he wouldn't advance the design later however, he was curious about how intricate he could make the design. Why not learn a technique for every weapon he crafted? Why limit himself to just one or two katanas when he could control one thousand? He had two thousand years to look forwards to after all! And a lot of curiosity to fill.

'Let's start with the mold' similarly to art, you want to break your craft into the most basic of shapes to make the process as straight forwards as humanly possible.

At least what this book said is "a basic guide to Spacial Coordination" or in other words, a fancy way of saying "how to mold shit"

"You want to break up your desired object into the basic frequencies of what that object is. Such as triangles, squares, and circles"

'I see' Atreyu had snuck out to a bathroom in the medical center when he created the fireball. And as result, was put on time out and forbidden from the library for a week afterward. The only thing, he could do was be sucked into his thoughts as he stared at the fireball. So he hadn't gotten the chance to check out this book up until this point.

Atreyu imagines a rectangle as the grip, and another, far thinner and slightly curved rectangle as the blade. With a triangle on its side representing the sharp side.

Usually drawing would help, but for one, he was a terrible artist, something he dearly wished to change, and two he wasn't aware of where to get ahold of a sheet of paper and a pencil.

A good exercise, according to the book, was to draw something atop the paper and then attempt to export your mana to match the outline and fill in the object. A very good practice not only for molding a weapon but also for aurora control in general. You can also choose the difficulty of such.

'Well, I guess there's only one way to get my hands on some paper and drawing utensils

Atreyu promptly crawled over to his mother who sat in a rocking chair.

"Mama!"