"C'mon dude, it's not that hard" Dylan said as Taka passed the controller back to his friend and threw his head into his hands.
Like most of their hangouts went, Taka would go over to Dylan's place, let himself in because with the key that Dylan left under the mat, and find him on the couch. Today, Dylan was trying out a new flight simulator, a type of game Taka found to be incredibly boring. Planes were cool, flying was cool, but Taka didn't enjoy those kinds of games on a controller. It'd be different if it was in VR, maybe, but it wasn't.
"I don't know, man. I just don't get it," Taka complained, grabbing the bowl of chips that sat between them.
"You like racing games, right?" Dylan asked.
"Yeah."
"And you love Dragon Rider--
"--yeah but Dragon Rider is way cooler, you can do way more tricks and it's not as fidgety with--"
"Whatever, dude," Dylan said as he finished another perfect barrel roll.
"I'm happy watching you play" Taka said, "it's not like I'll ever fly anything."
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Taka replayed the memory in his mind, trying to remember how Dylan flew so steadily. If he had known he would have to fly a flower pot in order to get around on his own in the world, he might've tried a little harder before giving up on that flight simulator. Taka missed his friend.
Taka was back in Syla's bedroom in his pot, which sat atop the same dresser the now-destroyed basket he had originally woken up on lay. It was mid-afternoon, Rhoz had brought him back to the room, which she had confirmed was Syla's bed chamber, so he could get some rest. She left before closing the window curtains, but Taka was able to use telekinesis to shut them. He discovered that using telekinesis to make an object perform a simple movement, moving something non-biological in a single direction, was fairly straightforward. Sustained, complex movement, such as making a flower pot levitate and fly around, was not.
Rather than sleep, Taka decided to continue practicing his newly acquired psychic magic. The telekinesis spell Taka had learned in the grimoire used mana to move objects, which seemed like it'd be extremely versatile, but in reality made sustained movement much more difficult. The spell worked like tying an invisible string to an object ad then pulling it in a single direction. He realized that if he wanted to levitate, he'd have to sustain the exact amount of energy it took to keep the object from following the pull of gravity. If he wanted to float up, more energy; go down, less energy. That made sense.
What proved difficult was moving around while levitating. When he first tried to move forward while floating, he adjusted the pull of the telekinesis spell to make him go forward, which worked for a moment, until the pull of gravity made the pot start to tilt downwards and fall. Taka was able to save the landing and brought the pot back to the table, but he realized that the magical spells of this world were not going to be as easy to use as he had hoped.
Taka had never been a math guy, which is why before becoming a worm he had chosen a career path that was focused on people and communication, but he still passed physics in high school. Telekinesis, or at least the basic telekinesis spell in the grimoire he found, used psychic magic to create a vector. He could control the direction, and the amount of mana he used translated to the magnitude. Gravity was constant, though he had no way of knowing if it was the same as it was in his past life, but that didn't matter: it was the concept that mattered.
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If gravity was a constant force, then in order to make his pot maintain equilibrium while floating in the air, he'd need to match that amount and use telekinesis to pull the pot up. Then, in order to manipulate the pot's movement in the air, he'd use the spell four additional times to make vectors that formed a compass level with the pot horizontally. If he matched the amount of mana he used on each, that would match their magnitude, which, if he was right, would act like string pulling on the pot from opposite but equal directions. Then if he added more mana to one side or put in less to another, he should be able to move with significantly more control.
The idea made sense logically, but Taka was not confident in his physics knowledge to be able to math it out at all, or even figure out if there was a more efficient way to move around using less vectors, which would mean less spells he had to cast at once.
No time like the present, Taka thought to himself as he lifted the pot into the air. He managed to levitate, and then began casting additional telekinesis spells. 1, 2, 3, and 4. Taka cast them all, maintaining an equal flow of mana into each of the 5 spells. He could feel the constant drain of sustaining all 5 at once, but he had enough mana to last for a little while. Taka slowly added a small amount of mana to the... the vector, he thought, facing the bed, and the pot began to float slowly towards it, not falling this time. Yes, finally! I can get around without crawling.
A knock on the door broke his concentration for a moment, and the pot started to lean forwards. Taka was able to recover, and the pot floated in the air above the bed, wobbling only slightly now. Syla entered, and Taka immediately used his TELEPATHY skill to establish a link as the elf let out a delighted yelp, seeing Taka in the pot, floating.
"Sir Filo!" Syla said, the delight in her voice warming Taka's heart. "You're flying!"
Not quite, but perhaps soon I will, Taka sent to Syla as he floated the pot into the arms of the elf. Syla caught the pot, and Taka released the spells: casting that many versions of telekinesis at once was not sustainable for more than a few minutes right now. He needed a way to improve his mana capacity... another question to add to his list.
He thought back to his list of questions, now that he would be able to flip pages with telekinesis, and that having skills, or Divine Arts, meant a god was blessing him, his situation had begun to change:
The immediate questions:
- How would one go about learning magic? How can I flip pages?
- Are the defined skills I have common, or is that part of the system unique to me?
_- What's the history between the retired demon lord and the god that summoned me?
-Which god blessed me?
The big questions:
- What was happening in that dream? How do I make sure that doesn't happen?
- Why am I a High Worm and not just a normal worm? / did some god bless me?
- Is the god who summoned me going to try to kill me?
Taka wasn't sure if figuring out which god blessed him would even be something he would be able to figure out in the immediate future, but it was important considering how much influence and power gods seemed to have in this world.
"It's a nice pot, Sir Filo," Syla remarked, brining Taka back into reality, "it suits you quite well."
Thank you, Syla, Taka sent, would you mind putting me down? There is something I wish to discuss with you.
Syla smiled at him and set the pot down on the dresser, then sat on the bed next to him.
"Of course, Sir Filo, what is it?"
Taka wasn't sure if it was a good idea to even talk about gods, but he trusted Syla more than anyone else, so he decided to go on.
I believe that my coming here is related to a deity, Taka began. I know that I am not in his service, in fact I'm quite sure that I'm at odds with him, but, what can you tell me about a god of creation? His name is... Taka took a moment to search his mind for the name and noticed Syla grow awfully still, Valish.
Syla's eyes filled with a desperate sort of fear that made him instantly regret asking. The elf looked down at the ground, head slumped in tangible sorrow.
I do, Syla replied in his mind, not looking up, all too well.
Taka said nothing, nor did Syla. They sat in silence for a while, Taka waiting to see if the elf would continue, but not wanting add any pressure. He saw a tear run down frosty white skin.
If it's too painful, Taka began, but was cut off by a sharp, breathy inhale.
"No," Syla croaked, pain tainting the elf's voice. "I will tell you my story, the story of the god that made me into... this."