Rise in Revolution (Chapter Forty-One)
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Chapter Forty-One
Overlord
Magic training area, Sector ASQ. March 31, 2272. Time instance 842N.
Shawn rubbed his eyes sleepily as he looked around at the assembled spellcasters. Waking up at eight in the morning hadn’t been difficult. Dragging himself out of bed and halfway across the city was significantly harder. All of the other spellcasters looked just as tired as he did with the exception of Neves, who looked as bored and annoyed as ever. Geluu was sitting on one of the boxes, looking just as awake as the cyborg and glancing at his watch occasionally.
“Late,” he mumbled. “Where the hell are they?”
Sub and the last spellcaster showed up about five minutes late, which earned them a brief glare from Geluu before he got to his feet and cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention.
“Good job at least waking up this morning. Last time I taught a group of spellcasters, several of them skipped lessons because they didn’t want to get out of bed. They learned pretty quickly to not do that- ice creeping under your blankets is unpleasant, I’ve been told. Now, focusing on what we’re learning today. Magic is manipulating energy to do what you want, correct?”
Mumbles and nods of assent.
“And the key to doing that is control, practice, and imagination. The control to use your energy sparingly so that you don’t wear yourself out with the smallest of things, the practice to expand your skills and knowledge, and imagination to allow you to do things that others might not think of. This is vitally important in combat, because if you can do something unexpected, you have the upper hand. It’s harder against cyborgs, and a lot of your magic will be highly ineffective against them, but it’s no excuse not to learn how to use it. This war won’t go on forever, and once it’s over, you’ll be glad you know how to use your magic. I’ll be focusing mostly on combat applications but obviously you can use magic for non-combative uses as well.
“Now, what I want you to do is turn around and look at what’s there.” Shawn and the others did so, noting the wooden boxes that were set up, one for each of them except Scara and Neves. “I want you to find a way to destroy them with your magic. Do something creative- I don’t want any firebolts or ice spikes. If you need help, let me know. Scara, Neves, I have something different in mind for you, but we’ll do that after we finish with these boxes as it requires a bit of a field trip.” He paused, looking at them expectantly. “Well, get to it! We don’t want to leave these two sitting around bored all day!”
The spellcasters jumped into action immediately, forming magic in their hands and doing a variety of odd things to the boxes while Shawn just stared at his blankly.
What am I supposed to do that’s ‘creative?’ I’ve barely figured out how to form an ice spike.
He jumped when Geluu seemed to appear next to him, lowering his voice so that only Shawn could hear him. “You’re the most novice of the group and I know you don’t know how to do shit all so let me give you a quick tip. Ice almost always acts in some kind of spiked form or another. Launching a singular ice spike at your opponent is predictable and easy to avoid. But surrounding the ground around them with energy and impaling them with larger spikes from multiple directions is a lot harder to counter, especially once you can do it quickly before they realize what’s going on. Fortunately, a box has shitty reaction time. Try it.”
“How do I focus energy elsewhere?”
“Focus. A hand motion like this-” Geluu demonstrated- “usually helps. Hand motions aren’t required for magic to work, but, especially for beginners, they help you to focus on what you’re doing. Even grimoire users will use hand motions sometimes.”
“What if I can’t do it?”
“You can.” Geluu patted his shoulder and took a step back. “I’m just surprised you haven’t practiced much until now. Most kids use their magic too much and hurt themselves.”
“I wasn’t magical as a kid. I developed my powers back in January.”
Geluu stared at him for a moment. “Really? That’s interesting. Very interesting.”
“What? Why?”
“Usually people who develop their powers have a lot less magical potential than people who are born with them. It has something to do with a child’s growth or...something. It was explained to me once by a friend of mine that was well-versed with magic and lifeforce, and I never really understood. But you’re not like that at all. Hm. Anyway, enough questions for now. I want that box in splinters!”
Shawn nodded and reluctantly turned to face the box, trying to focus his energy on the ground around it and failing to tap into the magic properly. This is hopeless. How am I supposed to do this? He glanced to his left and noted that most of the others had succeeded in destroying their boxes, but Sub seemed to only be pushing hers around and one of the other mages was holding his head and shaking. Geluu stepped away from Shawn to check on him and the zombie forced himself to focus back on the box.
If I can’t figure this out, how am I supposed to fight cyborgs with magic? They’re going to be able to deal with singular ice spikes, no problem. They might not be able to dodge this so easily, but only if I can do it!
The temperature around him dropped and he raised his hands, tapping into the magic and feeling it race through his body. One of the spellcasters who seemed to be watching him yelped in fear but Shawn ignored him, making the hand gesture that Geluu had showed him and grinning when a half-dozen five foot long spikes lanced out of the ground and speared the box from all directions.
He stumbled as the magical rush ended and his energy dropped and he could barely sit down before falling. He found himself breathing heavily despite the fact that he was pretty sure that he didn’t need air before the spellcaster next to him started to babble.
“That was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen what the fuck your eyes didn’t do that last time what the high flippity fucknuggets was THAT?”
“Was what?” Shawn demanded, looking up at him and wishing his vision would stop spinning. It was starting to come back into focus, but it was taking too long, in his opinion.
“Your eyes started to glow this scary bright red and you bared your teeth and it was terrifying and you just destroyed the shit out of that box! I use fire and I don’t know how I’m supposed to counter that!”
“My eyes glowed?” Shawn blinked in confusion a few times before Geluu stepped into his vision and held out a hand to help him up. Shawn took it and leaned on him for support momentarily until his legs stopped shaking.
“Yes. That was very impressive and extremely interesting. I’ve never seen anything quite like you before, Shawn. You’re a special case.”
“Wow, thanks.”
“That’s a compliment. Take it or leave it.” Geluu cleared his throat and turned to the group. “Good job. With a bit of practice I’m sure you’ll be able to do a lot of damage. Right now, though, we’re going over to the medical center and asking if we can take a couple of patients outside for Scara and Neves.”
“Outside?” Scara questioned. “Why outside?”
“Because there’s part of Neves’ powers I’d like to test, and I’d like to know if you possess them as well. Come on!” Geluu turned and strolled out of the area, the spellcasters tagging along behind him. Shawn silently noted that the ice sword was still at Geluu’s side and had, true to his words, refused to melt.
They reached the medical center quickly and Geluu had them wait outside while he went in and talked to Devan about allowing a couple of injured people outside for a class demonstration and healing. Both patients who came out only had minor injuries but Geluu seemed pleased with that, having them both stand on the grass.
“Neves, have you ever used your powers to transfer lifeforce from one living thing to another?”
“...Not that I recall, but it’s unlikely that I didn’t before I was a cyborg.”
“Do you know how to do it?”
“Yes, I’d just need to store the lifeforce inside of me and then transfer it from me out. I’d need two hands to do a direct transfer and, well…” Neves held up his mechanical left hand. “If I try to focus magic through this, it’ll fry every circuit on the way and probably some vital systems as well.”
“Don’t do that,” Geluu decided. “Just...show me what you can do. Heal one of these people using lifeforce from the grass around them.”
Neves nodded and stepped forward, kneeling down and placing his hand on the ground. His right eye glowed with bright purple energy and all of the grass in a several foot radius withered and died. Neves stood and his eye’s glow changed from purple to green as he wrapped his hand around one of the injured people’s arms, a faint glow emanating from where they touched as well as the wound. Neves shuddered and stepped back, motioning for her to remove the bandage. She did so and her eyes widened to see no sign of any injury. She thanked him over and over before he waved her away tiredly, eyes never leaving the dead grass, a clear look of sorrow in his eyes.
Geluu nodded and turned to Scara. “Can you do that?”
Scara didn’t take her wide eyes off of what Neves had done. “No. No, I don’t think so. I can’t manipulate lifeforce, only heal injuries. And I...I don’t think….” She shuddered. “I don’t think I’d want to be able to do that. I don’t want that kind of power.”
Geluu nodded. “Very wise. It’s quite a burden that the lifewardens bear.” He put a hand on Neves’ shoulder. “Go ahead and just heal the other patient. After this I want to discuss what it means to have this kind of magical power. It’s not something to be taken lightly.”
Scara nodded and easily healed the other patient’s wound, telling him to go home and get some rest. Geluu led the group of spellcasters back to where they had met, Shawn pondering the whole way.
What kind of world do we live in where someone can just drain the life right out of you and transfer it into someone else like that? What have I gotten myself into?
~~~
“Your dad is cool,” Scott decided as he followed Emma down the street.
“He can be,” she said tiredly. “I’d forgotten how exhausting dealing with a huge group of people who all demand your attention is.”
“I can’t believe your sister wanted you to jump right back into doing chores. Like, hel-lo? We’re in the middle of a revolution? You’re pretty important to our group.”
“Thank you for saying that but I’m not exactly vital.”
“The three of us are moral support,” Clash mumbled. “So we’re equally important.”
Scott turned to Emma, pretending to be offended. “He’s right! Does this mean you think we’re unimportant?”
“What? No!” Emma had to struggle not to laugh as she looked at Scott and took in the ridiculous color he’d painted himself once more. That had been fun to explain to her family, and a few of them had been very insistent that they were dating until Clash showed up. She wasn’t even sure why Scott had wanted to tag along, but she’d been happy to have company.
As they walked, Emma caught sight of Cataclysm and had to contain her laughter. Imagine explaining him to my family. “Yeah, this is my friend, he’s a literal demon and our fates are bound together somehow. Cool, huh?” That would go over well.
Cataclysm seemed to catch sight of her and noticed her watching him, frowning slightly. She waved to try and make it less awkward. He hesitantly waved back and she subconsciously started walking faster.
“Holy shit you two are so annoying, if all you're going to do is stare at each other instead of staring at me, then just make out already!” Scott shouted, just loud enough for Cataclysm to hear him.
“Scott!” Emma whipped around and glared at him. “What the fuck?”
“Fuck off, Scott!” Cataclysm roared from across the road. “That’s not how it is!”
Scott shrugged. “If you say so.” He exchanged grins with Clash. “We’re gonna go. Go have fun with Cataclysm.” He waved (a bit mockingly, Emma thought) before turning and leaving with the phoenix in tow.
Emma crossed her arms and stubbornly refused to cross the street.
Screw that.
no subject
Date: 2016-07-19 08:46 pm (UTC)I am now very interested in Shawn's powers and what his glowing eyes indicate.
-Observing Anon
no subject
Date: 2016-07-19 10:07 pm (UTC)“Yes. That was very impressive and extremely interesting. I’ve never seen anything quite like you before, Shawn. You’re a special case.”
Shawn is a unique snowflake, who has glowing eyes.....
Neves nodded and stepped forward, kneeling down and placing his hand on the ground. His right eye glowed with bright purple energy and all of the grass in a several foot radius withered and died. Neves stood and his eye’s glow changed from purple to green as he wrapped his hand around one of the injured people’s arms, a faint glow emanating from where they touched as well as the wound. Neves shuddered and stepped back, motioning for her to remove the bandage. She did so and her eyes widened to see no sign of any injury. She thanked him over and over before he waved her away tiredly, eyes never leaving the dead grass, a clear look of sorrow in his eyes.
That is an immense power, I'm not sure how I feel about that....
Geluu nodded and turned to Scara. “Can you do that?”
Scara didn’t take her wide eyes off of what Neves had done. “No. No, I don’t think so. I can’t manipulate lifeforce, only heal injuries. And I...I don’t think….” She shuddered. “I don’t think I’d want to be able to do that. I don’t want that kind of power.”
Yup pretty much how I would feel. It's like Katara and blood bending in Avatar. Neves has an incredible power but the dubious morals about taking the life force of one thing to restore another...*shudders*
As they walked, Emma caught sight of Cataclysm and had to contain her laughter. Imagine explaining him to my family. “Yeah, this is my friend, he’s a literal demon and our fates are bound together somehow. Cool, huh?” That would go over well.
Yup would definitely go over well with the parents XD
no subject
Date: 2016-07-20 11:09 pm (UTC)Glowing red eyes, huh? Sounds familiar.
no subject
Date: 2016-07-21 12:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-21 02:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-21 03:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-21 06:52 pm (UTC)