8 - Perception
“I'm, er, Arthur. You can call me Arthur. My… Parents didn't send me here, but I guess our situations are similar. I was sent here to learn how Archê and Ark works.”
“Huuh? Like, ta get better at fighting, right? Same here!”
“I mean, yeah, that's also one of the reasons.”
So far, all of Arthur's interactions in this world had been with either grown people, such as Sol or the occasional guard, or Ayn, who, too, was quite smarter than his peers, and definitely didn't act like a child. Maybe being an elf had something to do with it, he wouldn't be surprised if they had a stupidly long lifespan.
Talking to someone that actually acted her age was refreshing, but more than that, it was… Overwhelming. He didn't like interacting with children all that much, and Irene embodied all the qualities of a kid that annoyed him. Too much energy, she was messy, kept talking without a stop, and was, overall, just really childish.
“Er, Irene, right? Are you any good at magic?”
She’d stop jumping around, turning towards Arthur and putting a slightly more expression on her face, however bearing a smirk.
“You bet I am! My momma said I was gifted! Or I had a great Gift? I can't remember, but you I’m GREAT at it!”
Somehow, he didn't feel completely reassured by her statement. Sure, she said she was great, but there was a pretty likely chance that she was just boasting, like children often did. He didn’t need someone with great talent, however, he just needed someone who could use magic at all.
Watching practical demonstrations was useful and all, but he found losing himself in the fight wasn't as useful for learning as it was to pass time. He had seen a lot of spells, flames burning through the air and crystalline bolts slicing towards their targets, but he couldn't focus enough on the inner workings of Archê.
The older child would inch closer to Arthur, stuck thinking whether she would be a good fit for a teacher or not. Anyone who knew how to use magic, and who could explain it half-decently, would be good, but he wasn't sure she had the latter skill needed.
“So? Ya wanna see? Ya wanna see, right? Ya don't believe I'm good, right? I'll show ya! I'll show ya!”
Arthur winced, annoyed at the loud voice. Though she was a child, judging from her appearance, she was probably slightly older than his current body. If that body was somewhere around eight years of age, in human years, then she was around ten years old.
Even for a ten year old, she seemed too energetic and enthusiastic, like a never-ending pool of energy was fueling her, and she was using it to shout and annoy the elf. Still, it was his job as the bigger person to bear with it.
He'd look up at her, there was a slight height difference between the two. Now that she had her hood off, and the corners of the room were starting to be enlightened by the clashes of magical aura happening in the ring, he could get a better look of her face.
“Heelloooo? Do you wanna see? Heeeey? You there?”
At the sides of her eyes, what he thought was makeup glimmered, like gold dust had been scattered on her face. He wasn't sure it was makeup though, he had seen his share of people with peculiar attributes by now. Ranging from sharp, long ears to goat-like horns, or even people whose body was fully covered in fur, as if animals walking on two legs. He had seen most of those inside the arena.
“Yeah, sure, you'll do. I don't need to see anything flashy, just-”
As soon as he spoke those two first words, the child flashed an enormous smile, before turning around on the spot and, quite literally, leaping onto the arena. Like a feral animal, landing on all fours before quickly getting up, cleaning herself from the dust.
Despite their… Misunderstanding on what the other meant for ‘watching her do magic’, this could prove useful, after all. Even just from that jump, he had managed to observe the way Ark flowed in her body- was she making it easier to notice?
“Not her again…”
One of the fighters in the arena swallowed hard watching the child hop against them, an expression of fear and annoyance appearing on his face. There was a match going on, so it was fair they'd be annoyed. But, ‘again’?
They made it sound like this was something that happened often, Irene interrupting fights to show off. But, at least in the week that he'd been there, that was the first time he'd seen her. Not to mention, supposedly she was there to learn, too. Well, getting some practice was a way to learn, too, especially for something like that. He wished he could fight, too.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
‘No, focus, look at her Archê, not her fighting.’
He'd squint, looking at the direction of the arena. Although he hadn't gotten any better at manipulating Archê, in the past week his ‘instincts’ had become good enough to let him perceive the flow of external Archê without needing to fully focus on it. The driving reason for this evolution of sorts, was that he didn't want to waste time and lose focus of the action by closing his eyes and focusing solely on the Archê, or focusing solely on the action and losing track of the flow of Archê.
Energy flowed through the child's body, her hair swaying slightly from the emitted aura. Like any other fighter, Ark was flowing naturally, strengthening her body passively just by having it course through it. The two other warriors in the arena stood still, tense, waiting for her to move. And move she did.
Scorching the ground underneath with sheer force, she jolted forward, towards the one that declared his annoyance initially. Energy gathered around an outstretched arm, leaping on her target like a beast pouncing on its prey. Something he hadn't noticed before, her arm seemed to be covered in some sort of golden, skintight gauntlet, shimmering with the light from her energy.
A drawn sword would meet her strike, sparks exploding from the clash. Immediately, Archê would form circuits and canals in the swordsman's dominant hand, a spell shot off to fend off the beast like child. Shards of ice cutting through the air, leaving small wounds on Irene's skin, but not damaging enough to have her back off.
Sheathing the sword once again, he'd keep his arm outstretched, a torrent of ice shards pouring onto the child. Attempts to block and weave the shards were made, but thanks to the sheer numbers, even if they didn't do much damage, it was hard to avoid them. Arthur clicked his tongue, despite this being a good opportunity to learn, the fight itself was kind of boring.
Focusing more on the Archê itself, he'd notice the ‘circuit’ in the boy's arm wasn't changing, instead only being fueled with more Ark. First, he had gathered Archê towards his arm, then changed the patterns of those circuits, somehow, to prepare for that ice shards spell, and lastly, the Ark made that spell into reality.
The Ark, was, ultimately, what made that last step possible. It wasn't anything like ‘summoning’ or ‘creating’ ice out of thin, air, no. He could tell, the Ark itself changed its essence to become ice, shifting from energy to a tangible, dangerously cold, projectile. Looking down at his body, he couldn't see anything like those circuits, only the Archê naturally inside his body.
Synthesizing Archê wasn't the only wall he needed to climb, he also needed to figure out how to form and shape those circuits, memorize which ones caused which effects, and become able to use them on the fly. And adding to that, he only had six months.
Ice kept raining down the arena, tearing through Irene's flesh. No, something was different, now. While she still kept a defensive stance, what looked like a thin layer of Ark covered the surface of her body, a makeshift armor which the swordsman didn't notice. With a smirk on his face, he kept firing off ice.
Not only that, but she was actively gathering Ark, for some reason. Arthur couldn't see any circuits being formed, so she wasn't planning to cast a spell. Did she mean to use all that Ark to strengthen her body? ‘Wait, it could make sense.’ he thought, thinking back on his own explosive burst of Archê.
Keeping one arm in front of her to guard her face, she'd stretch out the other, before charging forward.
“?! Shit, I'll freeze you to death!”
Arthur, and even more so the swordsman, were surprised by her sudden move. She wasn't using all that stored up Ark to charge, and she clearly wasn't forming any spell, so what was the reason for that move? Energy started to swirl from the inside to the outside, her Ark taking physical shape without the need of circuits as an intermediary.
Before either of them could figure out what had happened, the swordsman would be struck in the abdomen, thrown out of the ring, but without any serious damage. He was knocked out, though. In Irene's hands, a lance, the jousting kind, had formed. Was it some kind of conjuration, or creation spell?
No, that wasn't it. He was sure she hadn't used any circuits, nor did she have any way to cast a spell that quickly, from that up close to her enemy. Not to mention, the form of that lance was unstable, as if made out of a liquid held in shape. Arthur's eyes widened, could it be, she…
“You can give your Ark a solid form, is that what that was?”
Walking up to the edge of the ring, Arthur shouted at Irene, trying to catch her attention. With a surprised expression on her face, she'd turn around, hopping up and down while holding herself on the edge of the arena.
“Yep!! That's the first time someone guesses it without mom or pops needing to explain it!! Yer a real smart one, Arthur!”
“No, it's just, the logical thing, I think.”
Was it really that hard to believe she could do that? All around them, whispers grew in intensity, talking about her fight, what she had just done, and whether that elf was really speaking the truth. He could see a few people here and there trying to do the same as she did, flowing Ark out of their body without a circuit, only to fail miserably.
Some people were laughing and pointing at their friends trying her best to copy her, while others were just sighing and clicking their tongue, stating that clearly it was just a trick, and that it was a normal spell. Were they blind, Arthur wondered?
Most of them didn't even make a proper effort to flow Ark outside of their bodies, they just tried to extend the reach of the circuits to spread on the air itself. That was stupid, of course they wouldn't be able to do it that way. And it wasn't a spell, that was obvious, since she hadn't used any circuit. And he was the one coming from another world.
No, wait. Maybe the others weren't blind- maybe, he could just see something the others couldn't. The friends joking among themselves were looking at their friend's palm, where the spell would appear, not at the path the Archê traced. The one talking her down drew shapes and patterns in the air, trying to figure out a circuit to explain her trick.
Could no one, apart from him, visualize Archê that clearly? Even just by looking around himself, and focusing slightly, he could see the paths and patterns which that energy formed in the air, travelling through each body and using them as conduits to continue its path. Closing his eyes, he'd focus on the Archê which he could grasp.
He could feel it swirling around and inside him, he could see the lines it traced and drew clearly, and he knew he could grasp it if he tried, despite the risk that came with having a broken Core. He could feel his Core, too, now that he had more awareness of it. He could try to direct Archê into it, but like an open wound, it would just bleed out.
But what if, for now, he simply ignored that step? Instead of synthesizing Archê and flowing it through circuits to cast spells, what if he managed to manipulate Archê in its rawest, most powerful form, directing that limitless energy without any aid?
He finally understood what Sol meant, with finding his own way. Rubbing his chin, an excited expression found its way on his face. If he could figure out how to make the best use of this method, not only would he be able to reach the basic level of those who can use magic but, most likely, he'd surpass them.
‘Gather the Archê, use your body as conduit, and once it’s outside…’
In his open hand, shining bright with energy only he could visualize so clearly, a lance identical to the one Irene was wielding had formed. Not a single eyes was cast upon the boy, or the unperceivable glow.