That... was strange. I got different results... and a pile of ash. Some of that ash doesn't look quite right either. Covering my mouth with my sleeve I looked around for something to scoop the ash into.

Rummaging in the bag I brought along I found a sandwich bag I'd hastily packed this morning. Dumping the contents out onto a clean sheet of paper on the desk I return to my experiment setup. I really don't want to breath this stuff in.

It glittered with meaning in a way my head didn't want to comprehend. Perhaps I should bring some of those unused face masks along next time. If I kept on having these incidents I could inhale something harmful at some point.

Which reminds me, the alchemy lab seemed to have some sort of safety enchantment. Inside me warred a battle between excitement at my first success and worry that I was heading down a dangerous route. What if I caught some sort of magical cancer. Or the magic caused me to hallucinate. Or many many other horrible fates.

But my mind goes back to the photo on the desk. A small smirk forms on my lips as a strange conviction fills me. Life is unfair. It's unreasonable. But if I can claw back some of the unreasonableness with magic, it's my win. "Let this be my oath," I laugh at the ridiculousness of what I'm doing. "I swear to you, Mom, Dad, Clair, I will learn magic. Just you watch."

Health and safety be damned. I won't be scared off. I wouldn't delude myself. The health risks still existed. But I would take every precaution and succeed at uncovering the secrets of magic on Earth. I've been given this opportunity, I won't waste it. Even if... even if it means meeting my family early.

That though filled me with a strange calm. Even in failure there would be a sense of relief. Probably not the best conviction to have but... this was my driving force and I would keep it close to my heart.

I sweep the ash into the plastic bag. Vacuuming the remaining dust to get a clean slate for more experiments. Ha ha, this seems so anachronistic. Vacuuming up random magic gunk totally spoils the atmosphere.

Holding the bag up to the light I could see the arcane dust slowly loosing it's eldritch properties. So it fades over time. So much for using it as an alchemical ingredient. But it's probably better this way. Safer at least.

A full blown grin covers my face. I did magic! It worked! It finally sunk in that I was performing magic on Earth, even if it seems so unpredictable.

My hope wasn't extinguished at the first post. I had a thread to pull and pull it I would. But why was the first and second attempt different? I was under the impression that circles would have consistent effects even if the results differed between worlds.

I look at the now scorched shelf I had been using to draw the circles. A distorted version of the circle had been burned into the wood. Whoops. Nothing I can do about it now. However the imprint was rather strange.

Not only had it been warped as it burned into the wood, possibly from the paper crinkling, but it also had these strange streaks throughout it. Curved streaks bled from one portion to another. If I remember correctly that doesn't even match the angle I held the starter circle from. It was a conundrum.

Ah! Wait! I should be recording these experiments! I kick myself for forgetting to set up my phone before hand. If I remember correctly... I begin to rummage through one of the boxes I left with easy access. One that contains some of my old stuff from home, but didn't want to clutter my room at uni with.

I find what I'm looking for and pull it free. A poseable phone holder meant to be used to replace a webcam. Setting that up on the desk was simple enough.

"OK, I suppose I'll narrate some of my findings so far..." I start a recording and outline what I forgotten to record. Pausing and starting again when needed to save on space.

"Right, I'd better redraw that circle." Kneeling back down I grab a fresh sheet of paper and get to work recreating the earlier circle. The process is easier the second time round, but no less laborious. For several minutes all that can be heard in the room is the continuous scratching of pencil against paper and my own breathing.

Switching the recording back on I prepare myself to dash back, in case something else goes awry. "Attempt 3! Robust light circle." And twist the medallion and about half a second later I twist it off.

I watch, bated breath, as the multi coloured cloud settles onto the circle for a third time. And wait. And wait...

"Nothing." I comment a little peeved. Typical, as soon as I start recording. Looking over the circle I can't see anything wrong.

I shift a little, feeling uncomfortable from kneeling for so long. Right, might as well try again. "Attempt 4? Robust light circle."

Twist, untwist, wait... and wait. Yet again nothing happens. A little frustration bubbles up. I can't see anything wrong though!

Third times a charm? A quick twist. Another attempt that yields no result either. OK, definition of insanity and all I need to try something different. Perhaps I had done the order of the circles wrong? Getting up I switch the recording off.

Before I move on to other circles I recreate the robust light circle one last time. It did work once, so I reason the mistake was in this circle. Did I use up all the magic in the room perhaps? Is that how it works? Or did I use up the use of this particular circle? But the most likely scenario is a mistake I can't see.

Sighing as I draw the circle for a third time I wish I could just print the things off... Wait! Why couldn't I? We have the problem of drawing order. But that could be solved by printing several pages of circles over a single sheet of paper. Just feeding it back in every time. Yeah, that could work. It was worth considering.

But I don't have a printer. The printers I tended to use were the one at the hardware shop that Denis owns and ones at Uni. No way that could go wrong! Images of Denis's hardware store going up in purple smoke filled my mind. Maybe not yet. We need to figure out the basics of Earth magic first. We still hadn't seen whether there were Earth magic circles that could self start. That would be a disaster if a random phenomena happened right as it left the printer.

If I can lean a consistent trigger circle that would be great. I could restrict the activation until the required trigger was set off. But that was a concept decidedly not beginner in nature. I'll have to wait until I can either study ahead on circles or get taught the subject in class. So I put the printer circles on the back burner for now and concentrate on recreating this light circle yet again.

Eventually I finish. I compare the two and can't make out any mistakes in either. Switching the recording back on I kneel over the circle once more and attempt to start it yet again.

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"Attempt 6! Robust light circle. Agh!" As soon as I twist the medallion a bright flash lights up the room. A sickly hue paints every surface and I feel a strong revulsion to the sight. Ugh! A wailing whine follows.

Branches, leaves, crawling, devouring. Straining toward the light.

Images tease at the back of my head. Forgotten memories just out of reach.

Growing, healing, fortifying roots. Pain...

Rather than turn to avoid the light I find myself peering deeper. The keening sound from the circle makes me want to cover my ears but I'm ensnared by this mystifying sight.

Victory, loneliness, emptiness, void. The images stop. Disappointment flairs for a moment, before the nausea builds and distracts me.

The light crawls to a stop before slowly decaying away in patches. It releases me from its grip.

"Fua... Urp!" I gasp for air and hold down the wave of nausea. Ugh, perhaps I was underestimating magic?

It takes me a few minutes but I slowly recover. What the heck was that? Lying on my back I let my stomach recover. So magic is certainly dangerous. Am I sure I want to continue?

That was a close call. What ever that light did to me wasn't healthy by any stretch of the imagination. Ignoring the complaints in my stomach I get up to retrieve my phone. I finally stop the recording and begin to watch it back.

Several minutes of fumbling later I reach the part before the recent 'success'. I brace to stop the playback at a moments notice.

The me in the video reaches out awkwardly with their starter circle and medallion. After a quick burst of iridescent magic the circle below absorbs the starting mana. The room fills with light.

Phew. No bad effects seem to seep through the image but the indistinct scene is disturbing non the less. What the heck is that in my shadow! It's so faint I feel it could be my imagination but I peer at my phone with great interest to catch even a glimpse.

Indistinct images of vines or branches writhe in the dark. Razor leaves grow from odd angles. I get an ever present impression of hunger from the images. I gulp down the saliva building in my mouth. Holy heck. It's disturbing but.. Can I stop at this point?

Despite, what I can only assume is a near miss, I find myself drawn to the experience. I find myself wanting to continue even more. I don't think I could even stop if I wanted to at this point. I'm curious to the point of morbid obsession. I have to know. Even though I should probably stop here.

I've just had a huge wake up call but my grin just wont go away. This is so frigging cool!

Phew. OK, deep breath. First, what was that. I don't think I summoned something. It was more nostalgic. Perhaps a memory? But from where? The images sort of reminded me of the avatar given to me at the Academy. But why would I get that impression? Am I seeing someone else memories? Perhaps the proper recipient of the avatar?

Even with how frightening the imagery was I felt no immediate danger. It was like an echo, something that meant me no harm. But perhaps that was because it didn't notice me? For some reason I was convinced it was alive...

I shake my head to rid myself of the strange mood. OK, the problem may lie with using the starter circle. It seems to overcharge the target circle. Before I attempt activating another type of circle lets try a gathering array. A gathering array could be tuned easier.

Nodding to myself as I make my decision. But first a quick lunch break.

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After devouring my sandwich I continue drawing out circles in a sort of meditative frame of mind. Listening to music as I go. That last incident kinda made me hungry... I feel like I could do with another three or four sandwiches...

Ignoring the grumbles of my stomach I happily continue scratching out another beautiful circle. The circles spiral smaller and smaller until I can no longer draw them. Using a pencil rather than chalk gives me an advantage though.

I admire the fractal pattern that emerges as I approach the end. Universal gathering array... is... finished!

This was perhaps the most complex one yet. But a frown forms on my face. I should have seen a reaction by now. We know that pencil and paper is a valid medium for circles on Earth. Yet the gathering array isn't working...

I didn't have enough knowledge to figure out the reason but... Earth's magic is so fickle! This should absolutely work. The book at the Academy guaranteed that if the robust circle light worked this gathering array would too. Arg!

I'm left twiddling my thumbs as I wait for the circle to show some form of reaction. I'm still waiting for my hit of dopamine. I grumble to myself as I inspect the circle yet again.

It should also be quite robust. Even if part of it was wrong the other circles would still gather mana. I'm running out of immediate options. It was looking all the more likely that I'd simply have to wait until I could do some more research or simply continue my classes. Earth had me stumped. But there is magic, that much is certain. If only I could see what was going on...

Wait! I could do that. There was another circle I could spoof. But it required me to make my circle on something see through. I couldn't use this one before because I needed the starter circle. Hopefully this will reveal something, not just a blank page where no mana is gathering.

Rummaging yet again in the pile of boxes I find an old binder my dad used to use. A few empty sleeves are contained in it. Taking one out I place it down to draw the new circle. Hmm, can't use a pencil this time. Finding a ballpoint pen in my stationary I taped the sides of the sleeve to the shelf and begin drawing out the circle off to one side.

I couldn't help but shake my head as I drew the circle on plastic with a ballpoint pen. Luckily the compass was one where you could swap out the drawing implement. A little more care was needed because of the slippery surface but the circle started to take shape.

The circle looked somewhat appropriate. Like a looking glass. Two parts overlapped to make an angular oval shape in the middle. Hmm, perhaps I should have just made it large and look through this portion?

I end up cutting the circle out of the larger plastic sleeve in case I needed it to make another one. This seemed like an appropriate start but... It's too floppy. I eye the boxes in the corner. Nice rigid card just sitting there... Now which of you do I sacrifice?

"OK, recording on." After having cut out a square of card with a hole in the middle, the circle taped rather nicely on top. Keeping it rigid and giving me a spy hole through the centre. Perfect. I remove my phone from the stand, so that I can point it through the hole in the card.

Oh, right, it'll need spoofing too. This was an Academy circle after all. I kinda wanted to record the activation but no matter how I wrangled it I had to put something down. I end up putting the 'looking glass', as I was taking to calling it, on the ground and twisting the medallion on. The circle lights up from the point of contact before each section becomes dormant again. The central peep hole becomes slightly distorted. It works! Great! But...

Time is of the essence! I lift the looking glass up to look at my latest gathering circle. And what I see causes me to gasp. The circle is lit. Magic does flow through it. Could this work? Was I just missing an output?

But no. Something seems wrong. I see tendrils of mana coalesce onto the gathering circle. They seem stretched, they wave in an irregular pattern. I'm unsure what the correct behaviour should be. However when they grow too long they seem to snap away. But it's not that behaviour that brings the most concern it's the 'colour' that sets off the alarm bells in the back of my head.

It can't be made out through the camera lens. But with my own eyes I glean meaning. The stifling colour gives impressions. Like when I hear people talk in the Academy, It's as if the meaning is transmitted to my intuition. A vague sense of understanding slowly forms.

Stagnation, impedance, restriction. All concepts which aim to slow and restrict. The mana gobbles any of the other colours that come in contact and the circle remains painted in that one mixture of tones... A quick glance at the other circles reveals the same colour, over and over. Even the ones I hadn't activated yet...

Well fudge, maybe that explains it.

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