In the cozy tavern known as the Unicorn's Chamberpot, Sophia, Mike, and Altheack found themselves seeking solace in the bottom of their cups. Ever since they had received the letter with the dire news, they had been making the rounds of the taverns in Helm town, trying to drink their worries away amidst the loss of hope.
The new semester had begun at Helmhold Academy, and Sophia's magical studies were delving into the intricacies of transmuting elements—learning to turn iron into gold and mastering the art of manipulating matter at its core. It was a challenging yet convenient distraction from the information they had discovered in the forbidden books and letters.
"Too bad we can't just nuke that bastard," Mike drunkenly blurted out to Sophia during their first night at the tavern.
"If only we had one," Sophia replied, a mix of sarcasm and frustration in her voice.
As the night wore on, their spirits grew with each round of drinks. Altheack seemed to have a positive impact on Mike’s aggression as they drank, keeping him out of trouble and keeping him fun.
Amidst the cheerful banter, Sophia's inebriated mind fixated on a seemingly wild idea involving nuclear fission—the topic was similar to what she had been studying. While Mike and Altheack continued to engage in boisterous laughter and share stories, Sophia's thoughts were consumed by the untapped potential of manipulating atomic structures with magic.
Once home, in her drunken enthusiasm, Sophia decided to experiment, oblivious to the potential dangers. She secretly began to weave her magical expertise, focusing her energy on a small sample of uranium she had obtained through transmutation. With finesse and precision, she carefully rearranged the atomic structure of the uranium, increasing the concentration of the desirable U-235 isotope she learned about in her past life.
The rest of the school remained blissfully unaware of the danger posed by her experimentation. The implications of nuclear magic were far beyond the scope of their teachings, and they would have never considered the consequences of her bringing them into the atomic age.
Once the uranium was enriched to the desired level, Sophia secured it within a specially crafted magical container, it was for another spell but it still ensured the safe containment of the volatile material, Then she stored it in their pouch. Despite the effects of alcohol clouding her judgment, Sophia took precautions, Mike, in his intoxicated state, was blissfully oblivious to the gravity of her actions, trusting her implicitly.
On this night Amid their drunken revelry, Sophia's thoughts circled back to her impromptu experiment. She couldn't resist sharing her excitement with her ever-loyal friend, Altheack. "Hey y'all wanna see something cooool?!" she slurred playfully, mischief in her eyes.
"It's just me, Val unless you're doing that weird twin act again," Altheack chuckled, playfully bantering with Valicar.
"I promise, it's not that," Sophia giggled, leading Altheack to a secluded area deep within the dark forest. Trusting Altheack's owlbear form to carry them, Sophia placed the magical container on the forest floor with the utmost care, activating the containment spells to ensure radiation couldn’t escape until it was time.
Retreating to a safe distance, Sophia took a deep breath, excitement, and nervousness mingling in her voice as she began the incantation for the implosion spell, "Xurax."
In a display of magical mastery and drunken confidence, Sophia's spell sparked a stunning show of atomic resonance within the enriched uranium. The atoms hummed and pulsed with otherworldly energy, the likes of which this world had never seen.
As the implosion magic intensified, the uranium atoms coiled and split with tremendous force, unleashing a powerful chain reaction reaching critical mass. A blinding light erupted, forming a towering mushroom cloud that reached toward the heavens.
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The shockwave that followed was a force of nature, sending trees crashing to the ground like twigs before a tempest. The ground trembled as the earth seemed to protest. Debris and flames were thrown in all directions, creating chaos and destruction.
As the dust settled, a massive crater, fifty feet deep and twice as wide, now marked the once serene forest floor.
The surrounding foliage had been transformed into a fiery inferno, flames dancing and devouring all in their path. The once tranquil woods now echoed with the crackling of burning branches and the haunting calls of fleeing creatures. In the aftermath of the explosion, an eerie silence fell upon the devastated land, broken only by the distant echoes of chaos slowly receding.
Sophia's magical shield had been pushed to its absolute limits—a shimmering veil that protected them from the brunt of the explosion. Her hands trembled slightly with fear, but deep down, she couldn't help but marvel at the raw power she had wielded—a power that few mages had ever dared to comprehend, let alone harness.
The sight left Valicar and Altheack both awestruck and temporarily blinded by the atomic flash. Sophia quickly healed their eyes in seconds, preventing any serious harm. The whole incident was a chilling testament to the untapped potential of nuclear magic, and it had been an incredibly dangerous experiment. The gravity of their actions sobered them both up, and they realized the catastrophe it could have caused.
Except for Mike, of course. "That was fucking awesome! Can you make another one?" he shouted, his excitement evident in his voice.
To their horror, alarm bells began to ring, and they spotted griffons being deployed from the nearby city. "Oh, shit! We gotta get out of here!" Altheack exclaimed, grabbing Valicar before taking off around the outside of the city, attempting to avoid patrols and quickly return to the safety of the school by flying straight to the stairs.
"What happens if they catch us?" Sophia asked, her heart pounding in fear and guilt.
"You don't wanna know. You should have seen what they did to the last guy who dropped a meteor on the forest, the merchants were pissed," Altheack replied grimly, her voice tinged with a hint of amusement.
As they swiftly flew back to Helmhold Academy, Sophia's mind raced with the consequences of their actions. They had not only endangered themselves but also potentially revealed the existence of a dangerous new form of magic. The knowledge of nuclear magic, if it spread, could have world-ending consequences.
"Think they will track that back to us?" Sophia asked worriedly, her heart sinking at the implications of what they had just done.
"What the hell is left to track? You vaporized the entire area," Mike continued to laugh at the situation, finding humor in the chaos they had caused. "You got mad at me for looking into demonic magic, and you set off a fucking homemade magical nuke!" He roared with drunken laughter, blissfully unaware of the seriousness of their actions. Sophia couldn't help but roll her eyes at his reaction, even though a small part of her knew he had a point.
"Yeah, well, Fuck off! It's totally different. I knew it was gonna blow up; that's why we went into the woods," Sophia tried to defend their reckless experiment, but even she knew it was a weak and flimsy excuse. It boiled down to her curiosity, and them drinking far too much and avoiding the greater problems they faced. While they were here, getting hammered and engaging in dangerous magical experiments, Easton and the rest of their family were at risk of dying. They had already lost GG, the annoying bird that had become their first real friend in this life, and the guilt weighed heavily on Sophia's heart.
"We can call it even in the fuck up department," Mike teased Sophia, both of them lying on the bed. Altheack had departed earlier, and they had sworn never to speak of the incident again. The bed seemed to sway like a boat, leaving them both feeling a touch of nausea as they attempted to drift off to sleep. Despite the lingering effects of alcohol, they eventually managed to doze off, and the rest of the semester passed with relative peace. Though some school officials from Helmhold Academy probed around, questioning random individuals, they had no concrete evidence against Valicar. Sophia and Mike remained composed, carefully guarding any information about their daring experiment, regardless of how tempting the bounty for information might have been.
The aftermath of their reckless experiment had consequences, with the fallout and radiation heading towards the city. The city had to employ powerful mages at a high cost to push the radiation away, but this action only caused further harm to the magical forest and resulted in severe ecological damage. Guilt weighed heavily on Sophia, while Mike seemed indifferent and even expressed interest in setting off another explosive display.
Despite the temptation and allure of nuclear magic, Sophia knew that its power was far too dangerous to wield again. It would be a last resort, a trump card.