Slang…. "again"
slang… “again”
slang… "again"
fumb… "okay that's enough for now" Shadow's voice sounded grumpy as Karl stood bent forward, with sweat running down his back. they had been going on since the sun rose, and Karl could hardly do any more. the worst thing was that the clock had just struck 12 and his mother was setting the table for lunch.
"How are you, darling?" Karl's mother asked when he had worked his way up to the veranda where a table had been set for lunch. before Karl managed to get air to respond growled Shadow sour “no better. I do not understand how he could pump so much mana in the ritual, but he can not shape a simple mana ball ”they have been working on the simplest mana manipulation technique for 3 days now, and it did not go very well for Karl. "He should with his reserves not be near at all to be so drained after such a short time" grumbled shadow sourly.
Before saying anything more, Karl's father came out with his arms full of soda. "What's the problem? How is he doing right now?" asked Karl's father. "As far as I can see, he makes the manabold and hits the target almost immediately." He continued.
"The problem is that he uses too much mana per ball, he takes too long to shape them, and then some of them break before they hit the target" the shadow replied and glared at Karl.
“It is meant to be a harmless toy that children use to play with. even the dumbest demons can use them when they are a few weeks old ”hissed Shadow angrily.
“I do not understand what I am doing wrong. it feels so weird to do. i have to push so much mana into them before they pull themselves together and make those balls. if I do not use so much mana, they blow up the air in my hand. ” commented Karl as he began to take off the food.
"Wait what did you just say" shadow asked quickly. he was sitting on a chair under an umbrella so he was not directly in the sun. The big ball of fire did not hurt Shadow, he just liked to hide in the shadows.
"I said it was hard to get it to gather in a ball if I use less mana" Karl replied, looking wonderingly at Shadow. before Shadow could say anything begin Karl's father and laugh out loud.
"What's so funny, Dad?" Karl asked quietly, raising an eyebrow. "Wait, I think I know what's wrong" he replied as he regained his laughter. with one Karl's father got up and went into the house again. The others at the table just sat and looked at each other incomprehensibly.
His father came back with a one bag of water belonger. "I think it's a question of a misunderstanding in theory." explained Karl's father. "How does the theory sound in short?" He asked as he looked at Karl.
"The theory is very simple." Karl started tired, it was probably number 100 the time he had been asked to repeat it.
“Mana collects in one's chest, where after I can carry it out in my palm, after that I have to imagine that I fill a ball with mana, when I have filled it completely up there is a ball out of it that I can send against a target. In the beginning I have to hold the ball while it is being shaped, but a trained person can make it freely on his body and only needs to use his focus to send it in one direction. ” Karl replied wearily.
"I'm pretty sure I know what the problem is," laughed his father. "Let me demonstrate." he started while fishing a balloon out of the bag. "You want to make a ball, but let's see what happens when we follow your steps." continued his calm. he took the water hose they used to water the flowers and held out his hand. ” you start by collecting the energy in your hand, ”he said as he began to pour water into his hand. "But hey, we have a problem here" Karl's father asked, and got a lot of sarcasm wrapped up in his words that it could almost be cut out of thin air.
"Of course, how could I be so stupid." exclaimed the shadow. "What am I missing?" Asked Karl.
"What the shadow realized is that he forgot to teach you how to make a container for the mana." replied his father smugly. “We start immediately again. Imagine a thin glass ball around the mana, it is this ball you have to fill with mana "explained shadow quickly. with renewed energy, from lunch and a short break, Karl jumped down and stood on the grass.
After a deep breath, Karl took and tried to invoke a mana ball. In an instant, the ball formed, much faster than anything before. Karl stood for a moment looking at the ball before suddenly throwing it at the target his mother had set up. The ball reached right out of his hand before exploding violently and scorching some of the grass in the garden. "Wh..wh..what just happened" stammered Karl in shock. "I have no idea" replied shadow.
"Again, I think I know," it came cheerfully from the porch. Karl turned his head and looked at his father holding a water balloon. "Let's see what the next point was, something about pumping the ball full of mana" he asked as he raised an eyebrow.
Without saying a word more he begin and fill a balloon with water from the hose. Everyone watched quietly as the balloon began to expand, going from being the deep green color it started with, over to a pale and almost transparent light green.
"Shouldn't you stop before it explodes?" Karl asked nervously. "Well you said it should have lots of mana, and it can hold up to a little more" his father replied quickly. He stopped filling the balloon for the moment before it exploded in his hand.
"So far so good, I wonder how the next one will go." it sounded as if he was talking more to himself than the two standing down on the grass.
"Catch it!" he shouted, throwing the balloon down to Karl. the problem was just that it never managed to let go of his hand completely. It exploded in his hand before reaching away. "Can you see what was wrong now that you've got a shell?" asked Karl's father. "Yes" was all Karl answered with before he tried again.
Again the ball appeared in a split second and Karl threw it almost immediately towards the goal. There was a loud bang as the ball hit the target. before anyone could say otherwise shadows' voice sounded sharp "again" without thinking obeyed Karl and made a new ball that again hit with a bang.
"Again" a loud bang followed the command "again" another loud bang "again" another loud bang, the difference was just that it sounded faster than the last "again" this time they managed to see what has changed. the mana ball was shaped just as fast as the shadow could give the order and flew so fast that the others could not follow them with his eyes.
3 black spots appeared on the target. "All three at once" was all shadow said.
Without thinking, Karl changed his technique. Instead of standing slightly forward and his hand held out as if he was holding the ball, he straightened up and pointed down towards the goal. Out of nowhere, 3 mana balls appeared around Karl's drawn hand.
With a simple command, Karl's voice changed "mana ball" all 3 balls hit the target with an even higher bang than some of the previous ones.
“It finally came. I've been waiting for that sound all day. ”Karl stood looking from his fingers to the disc and back again. "What just happened?" He asked confused and turned to shadow.
“You just threw your first real spell. Now it will not be long before we can start teaching you something that can finally be used, ”replied shadow contentedly.
"Okay…. may I try something crazy. ”Karl asked cautiously. "Yes yes with what you know now there is not the great danger that you can do something dangerous" Karl just nodded and stood up in front of the goal again. out of his box pocket, Karl fixed a small knife.
"Magic often uses blood as a medium, so let's see what it can actually do" Karl mumbled quietly as he cut a small hold in his index finger. only just enough to draw blood, but that was also all it was supposed to.
"Mana boldt" Karl's voice sounded as he pointed down towards the goal. What had previously been 3 light blue balls the size of his hand were now 5 red balls, the size of his eye.
There was a bang as if a hand grenade had gone off in the garden and so much dust and dung was thrown up that no one but shadow, with his supersens, could see what was happening.
Shadow start laughing hysterically, his laughter sounded like there were some standing and pulling a few nails down over a blackboard. "How the hell do you manage to make a Category 0 toy, into something I would categorize as a Category 1 artillery spell?"
the target, which was made of some thick pieces of wood was gone and there had been a hole in the ground with a diameter of almost 2 meters. Karl and his parents just stood there staring at his little experiment.
It was Karl's mother who recovered first. "Category?" she started, but was interrupted by her husband “my beautiful lawn, what have you done to that kid. It's going to take several weeks before I can get it back to normal. ” he exclaimed in a voice trembling in shock.
"Sorry Dad" Karl replied weakly and was ready for a proper scolding. When his father saw him standing and looking down at the ground, the tantrum completely lost the gas. How could he be mad at his son when all he had done was practice his new ability.
“It's okay son, we just have to find another place to practice where you can not ruin anything. Maybe the old gravel pit would be a better place. ” continued Karl's father, as he put an arm around his son. "What was it you said about Karl's manaboldt, something with category?" asked Karl's mother.
Shadow looked at them for a long time before taking a deep breath and starting to tell.
"Magic is divided into 4 main groups. The first is manipulation, which is about controlling people. This can be done through everything from illusions to voodoo and all the way over to actively changing their thoughts." while he was telling this, the illusion of a mini Karl with a manabold flying around him appeared between his hands.
“The other is construction, which is about building shields or other constructions. It is also here that you can build golems or similar creatures that can help you along the way. ” this explanation was followed by a transparent bubble around the shadow.
"Try shooting a NORMAL mana ball at me," Shadow said as he looked at Karl. "Okay if you are sure" Karl replied cautiously, but he pointed to the shadow "manabold" it sounded fast from Karl and a single ball appeared and hit against the shadow bubble.
Karl had expected the shadow to be damaged, but instead the ball hit his bubble and disappeared, with a loud gong, and small rings moved out from the point of impact on the shadow's shield, like rings in the water.
“The third is destruction and is all that is actively trying to harm people. Manabold is usually not a magic of destruction, but you manage to turn it into an artillery spell, which is a subgroup of magic of destruction. The last type is ritual magic, which you already know. ” shadow begin to slide over the front porch again.
It looked so strange when he "walked" he could make real legs, but usually he just slipped through the air a my above the ground. "Shouldn't we sit up on the porch?" he asked calmly. "Well, let's do it," replied Charles' father.
When they had come up and side again and had received some refreshments, the shadow continued. “The four types of magic are further divided into 10 categories, from 1 to 10. 1 is the lowest and 10 the highest. If we were to use artillery which is a subgroup of destruction magic, then your reinforced mana ball would be category 1 based on how easy it was to throw it and its amount of damage.
Artillery is about destroying large areas with a big bang, so the bigger the bang the better. One category 8 artillery spell I know of would be meteorite which invokes a small meteorite. It can ruin a big city.
I know a legend about a category 10 which goes by the name supernova, which is said to be able to destroy the moon. Artillery spells usually take a long time to cast and require a lot of the thrower, but they also do damage afterwards. ” Karl's parents looked like some who had seen a ghost "destroy the moon" whispered his father quietly.
"Cool" Karl started happy, forgotten was his fear of his father's anger and only an all-consuming curiosity was left in his head. “You said mana ball is category 0? Didn't you just say that the list goes from 1 to 10? ” Karl asked excitedly.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“Yes I did, but there are two more unofficial categories. The first is 0 which is below 1 and is not calculated as anything other than toys and exercise magic, the second is category 11 which is said to be able to destroy entire star systems.
by the way, I forgot to mention that each category is usually 10 times stronger than its predecessor. ” explained shadow.
"It's so cool, will you teach me some cool magic?" Karl asked as he tried desperately to sound calm but everyone present could see that he was going completely out of his good skin of bare enthusiasm.
"Calm down now son, you should probably reach and learn it all, but now I think it's time to stop the magic of destruction for today, I do not think your father will be happy if you make too many holes in his lawn." interrupted Karl's mother, while Karl's father just sat and nodded gently with his head.
"Yes you are probably right mother" Karl replied quickly, "shadow can we try some of the other types of magic?" Karl asked hopefully. "Yes, we can, we need to find out if you have talents for someone other than the magic of destruction" shadow replied calmly.
The next 2 weeks were spent testing Karl's abilities in depth. they quickly found that Karl had great abilities in the magic of destruction and manipulation, but his abilities with construction magic could use some help. It was easy to test the 3 normal types of magic, but ritual magic required a lot more to test, although shadow did not think it was a problem based on how Karl had managed his first invocation ritual.
Before Karl had looked around, the 2 weeks had passed and with them, the summer holidays had gone up in smoke. The day he was going back to school had finally arrived, and for the first time in his entire life, he was looking forward to having to start school again.
"It's time to get up" was Shadow's voice in Karl's head. shadow could hide under Karl's clothes, and they could talk to each other telepathically, so there was no danger that some would hear them. "Thank you shadow, this is going to be the best day ever" Karl replied happily as he pulled a sweater over his head.
Karl stood in front of the mirror, and began to study himself. "Remember it's about a clear and distinct image," shadow interjected quietly as Karl studied his face
"After I made a picture, I just had to push mana out of my skin so that it covers my whole body, and then after that say the spell, and then it should become active" Karl asked as he started to let mana out of his skin.
"Yes," shadow replied simply. "Okay there is nothing to do but try" said Karl loudly "Fatamorgana" it was a simple illusion spell, which was intended to change his appearance a bit. it seemed as if the air was vibrating for a moment, as the shadow explained was the sign that an illusion had taken effect.
It was not a great illusion that Karl had made, but it was in the detail that that type of magic really did its great work. His skin had taken on a deeper glow, as if he had spent the summer taking sun and all the pimples and the like had been removed, even the little scar on his nose had disappeared.
His hair, which usually lay dull and flat on top of his head, had a deeper dark color, and a shine that made it not look dead. The hair lay in a way so it looked like it was messy, but at the same time it looked like something one would see on a hair model.
Karl had lost all of the puppy fat on his face over the last few weeks, but he had still tightened his jaw a little bit so that it had become a little more angular. Karl had gone for a bit of an athletic facial expression, and he had reflected that in his body.
He had defined his muscles a little more than they really were, but not much.
After he started having mana flowing through his body, he had started building a strength without having to train very much. All in all, Karl now looked like a guy who took good care of himself, but without it looking exaggerated. The changes were all some he could explain by the fact that he had spent a lot of time in the gravel pit and under the shower.
"Are you coming down for breakfast?" His mother shouted down from the kitchen. "Yes, come now" Karl replied and hurried down the stairs, it went so fast that it was only out of old habit that Karl jumped over the bad step.
His mother had also benefited from some more life coming into her son. She had recovered completely after Karl had found the book, and she had begun to regain her youthful glow and appearance. Karl also had the feeling that it had something to do with how active his father had become around the house, and how active they were at night nowadays. Karl was really happy that the one construction magic Karl quickly got to grips with was a soundproof barrier.
Shadow had commented that Karl had almost no talents for construction magic, but fear is a good motivation to learn, and Karl really feared having to listen to his parents' resurgent sex life.
"There is freshly made toast on the table and the jam is in the fridge" Karl's mother said calmly while she was washing up a cup of coffee. "Thank you mom" Karl replied happily as he began to find the jam. Karl's mother turned to him and stopped completely.
"You look really good honey, is that the illusion you were talking about you would use I can see?" she asked as she followed his newly defined jaw with her fingers. "Yes is it very clear?" he asked cautiously, fearing that he had done too much or that it was already fading.
"No no honey, you will be able to fool everyone who has not seen you all holiday, remember I have seen you practice on that one for the last 3 days, and then a mother can always see if her child has changed something" she replied with a smile.
"Don't worry Karl I'll say if the illusion fades" Shadow's voice sounded soothing in his head. "Thank you" Karl replied as he munched on his toast.
"Don't you think you're in a hurry?" asked Karl's mother as she looked up at the clock that hung in the kitchen. “SHIT!” exclaimed Kral, and was out the door before anyone blinked.
"You could have just asked me to wake you up sooner if you're having trouble reaching it now" Shadow's voice sounded calm in Karl's head. "Yes, I know that, but I enjoy sleeping for a long time" Karl replied as he ran down to the bus.
Karl reaches just around the street corner as he can see the bus going to close its doors. it was almost 100 meters to the bus, and Karl knew there was no chance he could reach it. In Karl's desperation not to be late for school the first day, he instinctively drew on his mana.
suddenly Karl's perspective changed. Time start to go slowly around him. the leaves on the tree at the bus stop almost completely stop moving in the gentle breeze, and all sound disappeared. Karl pushed mana into his legs in a desperate attempt to make his muscles stronger and faster. then it could be he could reach it. "Just a little faster" was all he could think of.
Immediately it started to feel like there was fire in his legs and he was really starting to run faster than before but it was still not enough. "Exciting" thought shadow "So I do not have to teach him to reinforce himself with mana" although shadow was impressed that Karl had discovered it so quickly, he could also see that it would still not be enough for Karl to reach the bus .
Without Karl knowing why, he looked at the bus door and reached for it with his hand. “Stop!” cried Karl desperately. Karl would not be able to explain what he had in mind if asked, but he had just seen no other way but to use mana to reinforce his words, just as he had just done with his legs.
The door on the bus went in and Karl bought it, the few seconds he needed extra to reach the bus. Karl himself did not know how big what he had just done was, but shadow, would have lost his jaw if he had not hidden under Karl's clothes. "Damn can I choose them or can I choose them" muttered shadow quietly to himself. "Did you say something shadow" Karl asked as he sat down in a vacant seat at the back of the bus.
"Nothing I will explain later" it sounded quiet in Karl's head. "Ok" Karl replied as he tried to get air again. "Look up, I think the girl you were talking about just got on the bus" was Shadow's voice and Karl looked up carefully.
Of course, Shadow was right. On the way down between the old worn seats, Amira came walking. Her long black hair was pressed up into a ponytail, which caused all her features to be pulled all the way forward. Karl had spent countless hours daydreaming about Amira.
He had dreamed of holding her narrow waist as he stood disappearing into her beautiful green eyes. There was a broad consensus among all the boys at the school that she was the most beautiful they had seen.
Her green eyes, which always looked happy, were beautifully complimented by a cute little nose, and a pair of beautiful red lips. Her slender neck, led down into a pair of incredibly feminine shoulders, and out into a pair of long beautiful arms, and equally feminine hands. Today's clothing choices did not make it any easier for Karl to look away from her.
A beautiful light blue sweater that hung so low on her shoulders that they were completely bare, and at the same time took the deep cut easily and led eyes down to her well-developed C-cup. A neat pattern in the form of gold stripes, easily led one's eyes further down to the extra short tight-fitting skirt. Karl would guess that if she bent down, it would crawl on and one would be able to see her panties.
If you did not spend a few seconds there admiring the long beautiful legs, you should be completely ashamed. It may well be that she was only 165 cm. tall, but she could figure out to use all 165cm for their absolute best.
Normally this beautiful girl would not have given Karl a moment, but Karl was a new man and she was high on his list of things he wanted to achieve during the year and why not start now.
"Sound tunnel" Karl whispered and activated another manipulation spell, which was usually meant to make people unable to figure out where your voice came from, but Karl had other plans. "Hi Amira," he quietly said, waving to her.
She got a shock when it sounded like he was standing right next to her, "why are you not coming over and sides here, it's been so long since we've talked together" he said and clapped the seat next to him. Amira could not recognize him to begin with, but had to admit that whoever the guy was, he looked good, so why not.
She reached halfway down to the seat before recognizing him “Karl? Karl Vale? ” she asked as she raised an eyebrow.
"The same" he replied happily. "I could hardly recognize you" Amira admitted, following up with the question "What happened to you over the holidays?" Karl just laughed and answered.
"I've spent most of my vacation trying to get in better shape by working in the old gravel pit." Amira studied, Karl's new face and attitude, "I can hear that it also helped your self-confidence, it was really needed" she commented and smiled sweetly at him.
"Yes I know that, but I think now confidence comes from being able to capture such a beautiful girl's attention." he laughed and winked at her. With a jerk, the bus stopped, and their conversation stopped with it. Unfortunately, they had already reached the school and everyone had to leave.
"How did you say I was going to do it again?" Asked Karl shadow. Shadow had been looking forward to this alternative use of magic for several days.
The shadows were not usually aggressive, but instead playful jokers. So when Karl had asked if shadow would help him make fun of all his old thugs, and then maybe score a girl or two along the way, shadow had just laughed out loud and asked when they should start.
"just make one with the absolute minimum amount of mana" shadow replied
"Manabold" whispered Karl as he was already reaching out for Amira. the ball hit her in the back just before she took the last step out of the bus, so she lost her balance immediately.
Before she could hit the ground, Karl had his arm around her. With a quick movement, he had turned her in the middle of her fall, so she ended up looking him in the eyes as he grabbed her.
Here they stood, Karl bending down over Amira with her hold in one arm. "Are you okay?" Karl asked quietly, while everyone stood and glowed. "Yes, thank you for grabbing me" Amira replied quietly and turned completely red in the head,
"May I come up now" she asked quietly and became even more flow. "Yes of course" Karl replied happily and pulled her up again, without letting go of her waist.
Some fool from the herd whistled and followed the sound with the outburst, "Then find yourself an empty room" and then the mood was ruined, Amira writhed free from Karl's arm, and rushed into the school while Karl stood and started counting to ten.
"We can punish him later" was Shadow's voice "Yes you are right, you caught who it was" Karl's question was answered with a picture of a random sports fool who had just reached Karl's shit list.
On the way to class, Karl thought that shadow had promised to explain what it was from the bus stop later, and Karl knew he would not get much out of the Danish lesson until he found a way to compensate for his problems.
"What was it about the bus you commented on?" it took a while before the shadow answer "You remember how I told you that there were 4 ways to use mana" started shadow "Yes it was manipulation, construction, destruction and ritual"
“Well you are not completely stupid." "Hey!." "It's not entirely true, there is a 5th method, but there are no incantations, it is called reinforcement, and was that what you did with your leg muscles, to come forward faster. ” Explained shadow while Karl found his place by the window where he had been sitting all last year and planned to do it again this year.
"That explains a lot, but why didn't you just tell me that?" Karl asked confused as their teachings entered the room.
“There is more, usually these are the 5 options you have for using magic, but a very small amount of warlocks, can use a 6th type. Called tales or command magic. Those who can use this kind of magic are able to fill their words with mana, and the world obeys what they say. You did it with the bus, instead of trying to come up with a way to use the few incantations you have to stop the bus from running, you just literally put it to it. ”
Karl sat quietly for a while, pondering what this meant for him. Before answering, the teacher's voice was loud, "Karl Vale?" Karl could not afford to play stupid. "I know I'm not your favorite student, but that you can not remember me after the summer holidays is quite depressing", Karl replied loudly.
His teachings came to a complete standstill and glared at Karl for a long time. Everyone else in the class also managed to rise up on Karl, and wonder if it was the same Karl that they had gone to class with before, him they knew was a weird guy without any confidence, unless you met him in physical fight and he looked like something that was a lie, but him here had enough confidence, to be cheeky towards the teacher, and his also looked fresh and most had to admit good. but there was nothing to be mistaken of, when one looked for then it was clear that it was Karl Vale the violent under whom he was known.
"Yes yes, good to see you" replied the teacher, and continued to check the list. "So I can just give an order full of mana and reality obeys me?" asked Karl shadow, it sounded too good to be true.
“Yes, besides of course that mana consumption increases depending on how much you want to change. You were lucky this morning that the bus was old and worn, if it was brand new you probably would not have had enough mana at the moment to be able to overcome the door, with such a loose command. ” okay it made sense, then that ability was not as overpowered as he thought.
“You will almost always be able to get more out of a formalized and well-thought-out spell than a command you threw this morning. You can already easily make category 1 artillery spells, with your little blood tram. If you had to do the same amount of damage with a free command, you would have to use all the mana you can have in your body at once. ” explained shadow. "Okay so it has great options as I do not need a solitary spell, but in return it requires more mana?" “Yes absolutely right”
Karl spent the rest of the hour pageing and planning who his next number was going to go beyond, and how he most easily got Amira home.