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There was now little reason for me to continue to stand still, now the ability to move around without the curse running rampant was within my grasp, if only temporarily. Still, it hurt me a little to realize the only way to subdue it after the armor had broken was magic, meaning if someone else were in my place, without the soul and magic to tame the curse, someone’s death or murder was the only solution…
I am sure others have thought it before me, but the awesome power of magic couldn’t be fully enjoyed when you understood the price, it didn’t help that a majority of these people did not seem to be fully ready to embrace death, what would they have been like if they just lived ten more years? The questions circled around in my mind for ages as I finally decided to rise to my feet, for the first time in a few days. Even my cursed body wasn’t immune to the aches and pains of everyone else, and combined with not eating properly…, I only felt fatigue, for the first time in my life my armor felt heavy…
Though that last part was mostly because the broken parts had to be sustained with magic, a feat that required a decent amount of concentration as well as physical effort on the behalf of my appendix. But this was the only solution I had, and it would have to work, I would have to constantly keep this up or my curse would destroy the armor entirely, and from there… cause much more problems. I started by moving one step at a time, still focusing on keeping the fake armor intact as I moved, it was almost like carrying a huge bucket, filled to the brim with water, and being tasked with not spilling a drop….
It was unlikely that breaking concentration would make it fall apart completely, but if I left it alone for too long the replacement pieces would return to being mundane objects before I could react and try to fix it. Something about it reminded me of learning to walk for the first time…, only, I couldn’t actually remember the time I had done that, I guess my memory is still full of holes no matter what…
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
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“What’s wrong? it looks like you shit yourself.” Europa prodded me with a rather large stick as I was making my way out of the tent, she seemed to be eating a strange white cloud off of the stick as well, and talking with her mouth full. Something about that made me feel like I should correct her, but I was letting my focus wane for too long…
“I didn’t…, but this magic is too difficult to control and move at the same time, I don’t know how useful it’ll be…” I stumbled slightly as I spoke, trying to keep my balance with quick feet movement in heavy armor was no simple task, it took almost all my prowess just to stay planted. But Europa spoke again before I could fully regain control…
“Well it seemed like you were using it pretty well in that fight, it was only after you came to us and passed out that your replacement parts disappeared, I think it’s just your state of mind…, take my mantle for example, it should be always active when in a fight, but if I could only pay attention to keeping it active I would never attack…” Europa started to pause as I had a particularly difficult time listening to her and using magic. “The point is, even if it’s still tiring, you need to learn how to use magic subconsciously… like walking, keeping up your replacement armor should be as natural as breathing, and you can give it a rest when you have to sleep…”
Clank-
To be frank, I fell flat on my ass.
“Ow-” But what she said was right, looking at someone like Jupiter, his protection had never once failed, and it seemed to work at every distance, using that magic must be as natural as breathing, or even just existing. That was what it meant to be a true knight, a real hero, he was powerful enough to never give his magic a rest, that was strength. I wanted to be like that at one point, and I still do, but I didn’t know how hard it would be to get there…
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