Nocturnio (14.10.9973 AS)
Tristan was standing in front of his mirror. ‘It doesn’t look as bad as one might think. I can’t still believe these are parts of my body. They look so foreign on me…’ Tristan wagged his tail and clapped with his wings. “Can I fly with them?”
Nana, who was sitting on a chair next to his bed since he had woken up a few minutes ago answered. “Yes you can, but you can still fly while they are hidden in your body.” – “How does that work?” Nana smiled “I have no idea, but after the ‘Demonification’ every Demon is able to use the skill ‘Fly’. That’s why the wings are deemed as unpractical, since you don’t need them to fly.
“Can I change back to this form after taking this pill?” Tristan was hesitating to take the pill that would turn him to his Human appearance. “Yes, after taking the pill you should be able to control your transformations. So you should be pretty much able to use your Demon form at will. Not that one would ever need that form.” Nana smiled while blushing a little. The only use for the Demon form she knew off wasn’t something a child should know.
Tristan felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He had never felt so free before. Thus it was obvious he didn’t want to turn back into his Human form. After thinking about it, he came to the conclusion there was no way around it. He would stand out too much if he did stay in this form. ‘This feeling is also probably because I just haven’t slept so well for months.’ Tristan concluded. Indeed, in the past months, he wasn’t sleeping more than four hours a day. During the process of the ‘Demonification’ he had slept two days straight.
“Are you sure you aren’t hungry? I baked a chocolate cake just for you” –“No thank you, I’m fine.” Although the offer sounded tempting, Tristan didn’t feel like eating anything.
Tristan looked at the pill in his hand. Thanks to his ability, he was able to see the complex magical circle embedded inside the pill. The only time he had seen a more complex magic circle was while examining the direct communication device he had stolen from the military. ‘That’s how permanent transformation magic looks like.’
Tristan took the pill and went back to bed. “Good night, sleep well” Nana kissed Tristan’s forehead and walked out of his room. Tristan sighed. ‘Looks like another week passed without me finding a way to embed a magic circle into things.’ He turned around and closed his eyes.
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Laura and Tristan had come to school like nothing had happened last Friday. Entering the classroom, Tristan felt the hateful gazes of his classmates. Tristan and Laura walked towards their places. “Keep in mind what I told you” Annemarie, who had been talking to Abigail, turned around.
“What was that about?” Tristan asked his friend. “It’s none of your business” Abigail answered moodily. She still hadn’t forgotten, Tristan’s actions last from Friday. “Come on Abby, don’t be like that, we’re all friends aren’t we?” Laura butted in with a happy smile. “I’m not so sure of that and my name isn’t Abby!” Abigail said getting louder.
“I’m sorry!” Tristan said with an earnest voice, while bowing his head. “I didn’t mean to act behind your back! I also regret all the mean things I said to you! I wasn’t myself last Friday.” –“Trying to use the ‘I wasn’t feeling well card’, aren’t we?” Abigail acted like she had seen Tristan’s words coming. “No, I really am sorry for my actions!” Tristan insisted. “Yeah, sure” Abigail said with a disinterested voice.
“Trouble in Paradise?” Richard asked with a big grin. Before Tristan could say anything more Miss Doctri entered the room and started the class. She handed them like every Monday the plan for the week.
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“Erm… excuse me… you… You said the first tests are at the end of the semester, so we should have more than two months left before they start…” Leo said with a very quiet voice, only he and Miss Doctri could hear.
“Yeah, the real tests are in two months. The tests tomorrow, don’t count, they are just there to help you judge your abilities and to see where you have to work harder to pass the real tests.” Miss Doctri explained. “You should still take them seriously! I don’t want to see anyone from my class fail! Now, let’s start with the class.”
“I won’t be eating with you today.” Tristan whispered to Laura. “Why?” – “I have the feeling Abigail won’t eat with us if I’m there. And I know something bad will happen if she isn’t guarded by one of us.” –“Ok. I will try my best to keep an eye on her.” –“Tristan and Laura! I’m sorry to interrupt your lovers talk, but I’m the only one allowed to talk right now! So if you want to continue your conversation you are allowed to do it outside.” Miss Doctri said annoyed.
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During lunch break Tristan visited his secret base. He hadn’t been there for the past three days. He had missed his ‘Laboratory’ if one could call it one. It consisted out of a big table, a bunch of books from the library, gemstones and the item he had stolen.
Tristan ate while skimming through a book. ‘Nana told me the school nurse had made that pill. She doesn’t look like much, but to be able to create and embed such perfect magic circles is really respectable.’ Tristan thought as he suddenly stopped browsing his book. He reread the page over and over again.
The book passage he kept reading was about the ‘World of Magic Circles Theory’. This theory said: ‘All magic in the world is generated by magic circles. It doesn’t matter if you draw them physically or not. From our chants to our actives every magical process is activated by a magic circle.’ Since there was no proof to that theory, it was derided by most of the magic technicians. But Tristan knew this theory was spot on. With his abilities, he had seen the proof for said theory.
‘How could I have been so stupid?! Normal people can’t see the magic circles embedded into magic the items! So they don’t create magic circles and try to embed into the items! They just enchant the items during the creation process with different small enchantments; they know will produce the desired results.
The complex magic circles are created by the small enchantments that are overlaid inside the items. Later on they merge to one magic circle. This means they don’t create and embed new magic circles into the items! What I perceive as a new magic circle, are just a mix of ‘old’ magic circles!’ Tristan let the book fall from his hands.
Till now Tristan had always tried to create a completely new magic circle and then he tried to embed it into the item. His approaches had always failed.
The amount of information his magic circles contained were too high. Too much information would make the merger between the magic circle and the item instable and the whole procedure would fail.
Even the simplest magic circle Tristan had created contained too much information. This was because he could see the magic circles while their creation thanks to his passive. So he would always create perfect magic circles since he could remove all impurities while also adding stabilizers.
Tristan had been fixated to embed his magic circles into the test item; he hadn’t even bothered to use them without the test item. Tristan drew a magic circle on a piece of paper. Tristan changed the circle so that he would be able to activate it without the item.
The outer structure of magic circles created by spells; magic that could be created by the use of catalysts or the passives; was different to the magic circles created by enchantments; magic that could be used thanks to the items. The difference was minimal, but decisive. Magic circles created by spells would disappear right after the magic was activated. Magic circles created by enchantments wouldn’t disappear right away, since the purpose of the items was to reuse them.
Tristan took the piece of paper and poured his mana into it. After a few seconds an ear-splitting sound came out of the paper. ‘It worked!’ Tristan smiled, the whole purpose of this magic circle had been to create a notification tone. “It needs a little bit of fine tuning though.” Tristan said while holding his ears.
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After the successfully testing his self-made magic circle Tristan returned to his class.
Once again Tristan was asked to step in front of the class and to activate his active ability. This time everything went without problems. Tristan was able to summon his Katana.
“Wow, he can really do it. I was sure that the loser would faint again!” Seria noted while smiling maliciously. “Hold me, I feel dzizy!” Richard said, trying to act like he had lost balance. “You two cut it out!” Miss Doctri called them out. Both of them looked angrily at Tristan what brought out laughter from Annemarie.