Third Person's POV
[(ㆆ_ㆆ)]
Boon's questioning hum resounded in Alaric's head but he didn't pay it any mind until Boon actually spoke.
[Why… are you sulking?]
"Mother has the same picture…" Alaric sobbed dramatically grinding a blanket between his teeth.
[◉_◉ Well... your mother is a frisky and mischievous woman, so it's not that big of a surprise. Stop sulking now. We can move to the next stage of your training. Better use this time to do something more possible than that. The second your grandmother comes, you will be in for a new amount of physical labo- training.]
Alaric glanced at the panel who was heartlessly ignoring his agony, "I still can't use it. The spell."
[You can. Just try it.]
"I haven't even practic-"
[Just do it.]
Alaric narrowed his eyes at the panel but decided to do what it said, "Alright, I gu- Wha!"
Just as Alaric thought about creating a sound barrier and extended his hand, he felt mana surge out of him and a veil formed around him.
The sound barrier, a transparent veil, shaped like a sphere, is visible as a translucent blanket when it is still being set up but once it is in place it turns invisible.
"Ho-How did that happen? I didn't even chant or create a magic circle," Alaric tried touching the veil curiously and as his finger passed the barrier he felt like he was passing through a thin wall of water, the only way to tell if there was a sound barrier is present is to be very cautious about ones surrounding because this feeling could be missed very easily.
[It is because of the system.]
Instead of explaining, Boon decided it was better to simply show Alaric and so another panel blinked into existence.
[Tome]
[Simple Sound Barrier - Creates a soundproof sphere that traps all sound within. The barrier collapses if the creator steps outside.
- Range: 10 meters | Scales on Host's Mana stat.
- Duration: As long as the Host is inside the barrier.]
"Mana stat... so a point is equivalent to a meter," Alaric mumbled, processing the newly added information in the tome. He stepped out of the barrier, watching it as it shattered like fragile glass from the corner of his eye. The sight didn't bother him much. He simply shrugged and moved to his usual training spot by the window, taking a seat.
With a casual wave, he summoned another barrier around him, already settling back into his routine.
"Seems... natural. Didn't think I could do it without the chant." Alaric's eyes scanned the system panel, his gaze expectant. "How am I able to use it?"
[[Tome] allows you to use whatever you have already mastered with a single thought. Mastering a spell can be done in two ways. You did it in one of them.]
"But the magic circle was wrong. Isn't that why it failed?"
[Your drawing was fucking ridiculous.] Boon said loudly. [But if the circle was wrong, you wouldn't just fail—you'd have been the one that was torn instead of the paper.]
Alaric leaned back, his fingers drumming idly against the armrest of his chair. "So, even if I'm not actively using you, you can still... what? Watch what I'm doing?"
Alaric heard Boon chuckle.
[I wouldn't call it watching. It's more like skimming the pages of a book left open. Your thoughts, your memories—when they're unguarded, I just take a peek. Easy as breathing.]
Boon continued snickering, but his amusement faded as Alaric spoke, "Let's not do that."
[...]
Alaric tone was soft but Boon turned silent. The silence that stretched right now was so profound even a falling pin could've rung like a gong.
[I understand.] Boon said, its voice much lower than it has ever been, [I will only look through the segment of memories that you allow me to.]
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"Alright, let's start training," Alaric said with a smile, his voice dripping with an unsettling sweetness that could've rivaled ripe cherries.
[Uh-huh. Sure.]
Alaric looked at Boon waiting for the new instructions.
[Start creating the ball just like you always do.]
Flames flickered to life in Alaric's hand, swirling into a ball that grew larger as it hovered above his palm. A bit of scorching heat licked at his skin, but he didn't flinch, waiting for Boon's next instruction.
[Now calm the flames down. Compress the ball until it's the same size as when you used [Fireball] without training.]
Alaric blinked at the panel, staring blankly.
[...]
It was like the glassy panel was blinking back to Alaric.
"Go on, I can tell there is more."
[¬_¬]
"You just want to see it blow up like last time by intentionally not giving me proper instruction."
[So what? We have a sound barrier, a bit of explosion won't be a problem.]
"Yeah, because the concept of blowing my hands off is hilarious," Alaric deadpanned, shaking his head.
[Fine.] Boon's voice took on a more serious edge.
[Look, the problem is your mana control sucks. That's why the flames are so wild. Remember step one of this technique? You learned how to create a rotation in your skill. That spinning motion increases the skill's capacity to hold mana. In this second step we will be improving the former part, creating multiple rotations or as I like to call it, loops.]
"So I need to form multiple loops inside the ball," Alaric mused, staring at the flames in his palm. For a moment he kept pondering but then he looked up back at the panel. "I get it. If every part of this skill has a loop and all of them are swirling, they will form a sort of layer that will maintain the size of skill while the folds that will be created because of these rapid spins will keep the restlessness of mana in check and if the skill were to ever collide or the rotation is disturbed then the mana will break out with the combined energy from the spin and the skill itself. Simply speaking… I am learning how to compress mana until it becomes an explosive."
[Precisely. ψ(｀∇´)ψ]
"Great." Alaric snickered, Boon following him, both of them snickering like maniacs in the dead of night.
[Anyways,] Boon said after composing itself, [It isn't just about the firepower. Once you can do it in this skill you have basically mastered how to control mana inside any skill. That means you are not only improving your mana control but also exponentially decreasing the time it will take for you to learn any other skill.]
Alaric nodded and began.
By now he was very well aware of the fact that this training was quite an arduous process and failure was the most common thing in all this and he was met with one as soon as he stepped in this new territory of his training.
The ball of flames bulged like a water bubble, the energy inside out of control.
*Boom!*
The explosion was anything but subtle. The force sent Alaric flying backward, his chair skidding out from under him as he tumbled to the floor in a heap. The air was thick with the acrid smell of burnt hair and singed fabric.
"Argh!!!" Alaric wanted to scream in pain but he clenched his jaw, every single muscle in his face tensing and keeping him from screaming. He had forgotten about [Sound Barrier] in the haze of pain and the panic of the thud his fall had created. He lay on the cold floor for a few seconds, suffering from the pain while praying that no one had heard it.
Opening his eyes, tears slipped down his cheek. He hissed in pain and tried to lift himself with his arm but as he tried to move them a shock ran throughout his body.
He looked at the source of pain. From the tip of his middle finger to halfway up his forearm, the skin was charred and cracked, revealing raw, red flesh beneath. Blood oozed from fresh fissures, pooling in small, sticky droplets. Every tiny movement sent a fresh wave of agony ripping through him, as though his nerves had been set ablaze.
Alaric shot to his feet yanked a healing potion from his stash, and downed it, cursing the delayed effects. He was quick to bend and use his good hand to grab a used and tattered cloth from under the bed. Running to the bathroom he drenched the cloth before coming to wipe the blood that was on the floor.
[This is exactly why the spell was a requirement.] Boon said, its voice smug as if patting itself on the back for foreseeing this turn of events.
Alaric realized two things after hearing Boon's voice in his head. One, no one heard anything. Two, how easy it was to miss the barrier. He had shattered the barrier while running to the bathroom, it wasn't a problem though but he still didn't realize anything until he was explicitly told about it.
He sat down, his temples sweaty as he looked at his arm which had started to heal only now.
Alaric had been injured numerous times till now but this kind of pain was a first. A pain that forced him to contemplate his next moves, showing him that what Boon said was in no way an exaggeration. The more he improves, the more fatal his mistakes will be. For himself.
Staring at the chair that he always uses to train, fallen, he took quiet breaths. It took well over ten minutes for the wounds to completely heal, Alaric used the wet cloth to clean all the blood from his hand before throwing the damp cloth under his bed again.
[Oh,] Boon would certainly be smirking if he had a face, Alaric created another sound barrier and placed his seat back near the window. [You are going for it again?]
Alaric clicked his tongue and sat back down. [It's explosive, no doubting that.]
[When I said, equal mana, I didn't mean to divide the mana already present inside.]
"Yeah, I get that already. I need to add more mana."
[Yes.]
Alaric sat down, his expressions much more solemn after realizing the gravity of his mistakes.
He tried to do what he had figured out. Adding more mana, and it really was much easier, Alaric easily formed a new loop this time but his eyes were focused, not blinking for once. He wasn't satisfied with just a small improvement, he started adding more mana and trying to form another loop and it seemed to be working. He could feel mana slowly seeping out of his core, reaching the skill and going into the swirling mass of flames.
Just when he felt another loop about to form, a sudden throb in his sternum caused him to lose focus. The pain was so intense and sudden that the previous injury felt like a joke, his body jerked before he bent ahead, his eyes bulging out as Alaric found it hard to breathe. He reached for his chest with his free arm but he didn't realize that he had already lost control over the [Fireball] and—
*Boom!*
Once again the ball of flames exploded but this time it was even more severe.
Alaric lay on the floor, his hand bleeding, his face burnt. He was in a state far worse than before. This time, though, there was no cry of pain, no sound at all. Alaric had passed out it seemed.
Sweating profusely, skin pale white, Alaric was on the cold floor of his room breathing in ragged gasps.
[So, two times is the limit, huh?] Boon's voice echoed faintly, laced with a peculiar tone—thoughtful and… maybe a bit of concern mixed with it. [I'll keep that in mind for tomorrow. For now, though—]
Cold air, evidence of the quickly approaching winter, came through the window. The curtains fluttered violently before settling as the gust stilled abruptly, leaving the room in an unnatural hush.
"Time to hit the hay."
Alaric's eyes opened. Azure and luminous, they gleamed in the moonlight filtering through the window. He pushed himself to his feet, his movements languid but fluid. A quiet sigh escaped his lips, and as it did, the sweat coating his body evaporated, vanishing like mist in the morning sun.
"Nngh~" Alaric stretched, his arms reaching high above his head, his joints popping softly. As he did, the burns on his face faded, the charred skin of his hand healing in an instant, leaving no trace of injury behind. His hair, singed at the tips, darkened and lengthened, returning to its original state.
Alaric snapped his finger and a pale, translucent blue ripple expanded from where he stood, spreading outward in gentle waves. The ripple moved similar to one which can be formed by touching still water, growing in size and touching the [Sound barrier] spell and shattering it like glass.
The ripple didn't stop even after shattering the barrier. Its continuous increment in size only slowed as it reached the room's boundaries, fading into nothingness after touching the walls.
It was like a restoring pulse.
The chair that Alaric was blown away from was arranged neatly in its usual place as if it had never been used at all, the floor was clean without any traces of blood. Even Alaric's clothes that had holes from the flames were restored to the point where they looked brand new.
With a final smirk, Alaric turned toward his bed. The faint smirk lingered as he slipped beneath the sheets, settling into the plush comfort.
"Good night, Alaric," he murmured and closed his eyes. The windows rattled lightly as Alaric drowned into slumber.