“Are you sure about this?” Patrick asked me for the umpteenth time. I was starting to get annoyed.

“Yes.” I said exasperated. “Just shoot me already. Even if the armor doesn’t work - which it will - we both have heal. If you aim at my arm, I’ll be fine.” He still looked uneasy, but I looked to have gotten through to him. Hurray for peer pressure.

He aimed his hand at me and braced it with his other. With my new mana sight, I could “see” the mana travel from his sternal core up to his shoulder and down his arm. Once it reached his hand it was then expelled and shaped: shell, body, and propellant, all. He fired.

The missile streaked toward me; too quick for my eyes to follow, but my mana sense was up to the task. It struck my mana-armored arm and sunk into it. There was no bang, no cacophonous impact. The only evidence of the missile’s existence was the absence of a quarter of my reserves; less than it took to create a missile.

I don’t know if that is universal, if it's easier to defend than attack; but if it is, it’s a game-changer. It means that I wouldn’t need to fight fire with fire. I wouldn’t need to be an arms dealer.

I beamed with pleasure and laughed in delight. “Patrick!” I said reverently. “That took less than a magic missile!” Patrick looked at me oddly, but I didn’t care. I was too excited.

“Umm,” he didn’t know how to reply, “why are you so happy about that?”

“Patrick, can’t you see? Defense is easier than offense!”

“That’s…good?”

“Yes!” My hands seemed to have a life of their own as I spoke. “Picture it! You are accosted in an alley by a mugger. But! But! You have spent a couple days learning to defend yourself; you watched a Magic Man video. You have nothing to fear. You cast an armor spell, and suddenly they can't touch you. Guns are weaker than magic missiles; the mugger will run out of mana before you do. You’re golden!”

His eyes widened. He understood. This wasn’t two guys dicking around in a backyard anymore. This was a route to small-scale world peace.

“And this is just the beginning,” he breathed. “We're just getting started. Imagine when we can weave multiple aspects into a spell. Imagine when we can use a permanence aspect. A storage one. A selective one. We could create a permanent armor, one capable of storing mana. It would draw on the reserves of the caster throughout the day. It would only stop harmful things. It would be an Aegis, an impenetrable shield!” He got more and more worked up as he spoke, by the end he was shouting.

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“Yes!” I exulted along with him. “If we let light through - as long as it was below a certain amount - it would be invisible! It wouldn’t be noticeable until it was needed!”

We spent the rest of the day spitballing. We got nothing else done. It was one of my fondest memories; we were no longer acquaintances, but friends.

----------------------------------------

Everything was ready. We had rehearsed the script countless times, the fire pit was lit, and we had two bottle rockets ready. One we would use, and the other a spare.

I gave Patrick the go-ahead, and he pressed record. I had decided that this was to be a livestream. Why? Because of the importance of this video. I had to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this wasn’t faked.

Patrick gave me a thumbs up; thanks to the premier function sending out a notification an hour ago, the stream started with a hundred thousand viewers. Perfect.

“Hello, and welcome back. You may have seen the community post two days ago, or you may not have. Regardless you have heard me use the term aspecting. Now, because I was hyped up on painkillers the first time I used it, I had neglected to mention what it was.

Aspecting is imbuing mana with purpose. Vital for any significant spell casting. With it, you can cast heal, you can cast sedate, or you can cast this.” I smirked as I cast mana-hardened armor. Mercurial mana swirled around my feet, steadily rising. It crawled up my legs, up my chest, down my arms, until it encased my entire body neck down. It wasn’t usually that slow of course; I was showboating.

But I wasn’t just showing off for the visual appeal; no, I was showing off for the message it sent. This was the first man-made spell; this was the sign of human ingenuity; this was the proof that mankind can conquer magic. And I was the one to make it.

If Patrick’s manic grin was any indication, I was heard loud and clear.

“This,” I said positively radiating smug. "Is a simple armor spell. It can protect against magic.” Patrick took his cue and shot me with a magic missile - slowed so that it was visible - and it sunk into my armor harmlessly.

“It can protect against physical impacts.” Patrick hit me with a baseball bat, careful to stay out of frame. It didn’t even ripple.

“It can protect against fire.” I stepped into the fire pit. Flame licked my armor, steadily draining my mana. Not that it mattered; at the rate, it was going, it would take an hour for me to run out.

“It can protect against explosives.” Patrick lit a bottle rocket and I raised my armor to cover my face, blocking my vision. Nevertheless, I could hear the whistling of the rocket as it zoomed toward me. I definitely heard it go off. Ow.

I walked out of the smoke cloud, no doubt looking dramatic as all hell. Lowering my helmet, I said, ”I will be teaching you all how to aspect, and how to use this armor in my next video. Until then stay tuned.”