Chapter 4 – How To Be A Mage

Lee went home a little bit later in deep thought. He was confused for one. He was sure that he had been with Nanoha and Lance for more than an hour and most likely missed dinner which his mother would be worried, as confirmed to himself when he started home and looked at his watch, but he looked at the standing clock in the park and the one in the window of a local convenience store and both stated that only 35 minutes had passed since he first saw Nanoha battle the monster. "Must be magic," he told himself. He did not know how to feel about everything; it had all happened too quickly for him to really grasp it yet, even knowing it was going to hit him like a truck on fire when he actually sat down to think about it. He had been told by Lance that his powers were very rare on Earth and even those who had them usually never knew about it during their lifetime. He was wondering also about what his blue marble Haruno could do. As if to answer his question, Haruno lit up, "I am a magical device that makes your magic more effective and powerful. I am here as your tool." Lee thought for a second, "I don't think I want to call you my tool. How about I call you my friend. If you can think, you have feelings and should be treated like something with feelings." The marble didn't immediately respond, as if it was thinking it over, but then it spoke "Okay, master."

When Lee got home, his Mom asked him how his day was and that dinner would be ready in a few minutes. The rest of the night up to when he went to his room to do his homework passed by as normal. Then while he was in the middle of doing his homework he heard Nanoha's voice. He thought he was imagining it but he then heard it say "Lee. Lee can you hear me. If you can then come to the forest behind the park tomorrow morning." Lee was not sure if it was his imagination or not but it sounded real enough so as he went to sleep, he decided to go the next morning. That said he had a hard time getting to sleep, the realization of what had happened to him finally starting to sink in, so much so that it even made its way into his dreams that night as he finally drifted into unconsciousness.

Next morning he got up and ate breakfast quickly and said he was going out for a while. He went straight to the park and went towards the forest. He didn't see anyone but then he heard Nanoha's voice again, "Go to the clearing a little ways in." Lee had never remembered there being a clearing here, and he had played a lot in this forest when he was younger, but the fact that he had heard Nanoha's voice again assured him that he was not imagining things, so he started walking into the thicket, and sure enough a bit of a ways in, there was a rather large clearing. It looked pretty recent and in the middle of the clearing was a large tent, a weird looking box with fire coming out of a magic circle that Lee assumed was their version of a camping stove and Nanoha and Lance. Nanoha was the first to realize he was there, "Hey, I am glad you came. I realized after last night that you probably have never been contacted like that before and wasn't sure you were going to believe the telepathic message or not. Come on over." Lee, "I almost didn't until I heard it a second time a few minutes ago." Lee walked over and sat down. Lance, "We called you over here to tell you about the monster from last night, and how the problem that brought myself and Nanoha here began." Nanoha, "After how you helped us last night, we thought that you deserved an explanation."

Lee listened carefully as Lance and Nanoha told him every thing starting from the ruin with the Saren stones in it on their home world of Maral, to which Lee was surprised to find that Lance and Nanoha were technically aliens, though Lance assured Lee that they were also earth's definition of human biologically, which was apparently a dominant species even on other planets. They continued the story up to the point where Lee jumped in front of Nanoha shielding her from the beast's attack. Lance, "And that's pretty much what happened. Now we're here to do the job my dad trusted us to do." Lee sat there for a moment to think. In truth, he had thought about what to do the previous night, and had already come up with an answer, "Okay, Now that I've heard your story…" Lee took a deep breath, "I want to help you. This could be a major problem for everyone and you two after last night look like you could use some help, and I'm guessing that this isn't something ordinary people can deal with." Nanoha and Lance both smile and Nanoha turned to Lee, "We had a suspicion you would say that, which is the main reason we asked you to come today. We want to help you understand how your magic works, at least as much as we can teach you. As we've said before, everyone's magic is different, but we're both well known for our mage prowess where we come from, so we can help you with the basics at least. So are you up to it Lee?" Lee, "Sure, I would love to know how to use this magic properly." Lance, "Okay, lets begin."

Lance proceeded to explain what magic was. Most of it went over Lee's head, but he understood the basic concept, that it worked based on desire and thought, and so was controlled with concentration and will and was generated inside a mage, though some smaller amounts of magic could exist in nature, but normally was something internal to intelligent species, most commonly humans. Lance explained that because of this, basic magic ended up being somewhat combat oriented, since at a primal level, people had two instinctual reactions to a situation, and that was what they could do to something, which instinctively resulted in an attack, and what could be done to them, which again instinctively resulted in a defensive spell. Thus unlike in the fairy tails Lee had heard growing up, the basics of magic were attack and defensive spells, though Lance did say that more complicated magic could do what Lee had heard about in the form of seals and transformations and such, and that combative magics were in fact only a small portion of known magic overall.

After a somewhat lengthy explanation from Lance, they proceeded onto the more practical part, "We'll start of with a very basic exercise that any mage can do. It is the act of telepathic communication like how I contacted you. All that's really needed is to focus on your thoughts with your magic, and for lack of a better term, broadcast it, generally while trying to target it at the magic of someone else. I was able to contact you like this because I got a feel for your magic when I met you yesterday. But since your new to this, I'll heighten the magic coming out of me temporarily so you can more easily feel it right now." Nanoha started glowing a bit in an electrically pink aura, but is was dim, and suddenly said telepathically, "Okay you try." Lee tried to say something, but not actually opening his mouth, and then focused in on Nanoha. It was weird at first, trying to feel her magic, since he had never done anything like it before, and couldn't relate it to any of his other senses, but somehow he found that it wasn't that hard, and after getting a feel for it found it easy enough to remember, and he suddenly said telepathically, "Like this Nanoha." Nanoha lit up in a bright smile, "Perfect. If you ever need to contact Lance or me at any time, you can always contact us like that. Telepathy is pretty cool in the fact that once you do it with someone, in your terms its like registering their number in a cell phone in that its much easier to contact them a second time, and its range it pretty large. Without even putting in any effort, that would probably be able to contact us anywhere in this country you call Japan. Now on to step two, let's see your attacks and defense. You will probably need to transform for this." Lee nodded and turned to his blue marble, trying to feel out his magic like last time. That said, he found it much easier. It was like whatever dam had been there had broken, and he found himself able to access it readily "Haruno, SET UP." He transformed once again, though this time he found that he had more control over the magic as it was not flooding out of him destructively like it had the first time. After his Barrier Jacket and staff formed, Nanoha pointed to three rocks, eager to see what Lee could do. She didn't consider herself much of a teacher type, but she was skilled enough to give some pointers. In any case, she knew before anything else, they needed to get a benchmark to start from.

She told him to blast one of the boulders with a weak attack, and that he should be prepared to need to try a few times since he was still new at this. Haruno suggested GLOWING SHOOTER. He chose that one and as he did a golden circle appeared under him. "GLOWING SHOOTER." He shot the blast of magic at the rock and first time blew it to smithereens. Nanoha was a little surprised that he got it in one, but gave him an approving nod, "Good, now try the bigger rock. You will probably need to use a more powerful attack, since this time I'll put a small aura around it." He already had an idea of what attack to use and as he prepared it, his staff changed into shooting mode and started to gather energy. "SHINNING BUSTER!" The wave of golden light that shot out of his staff disintegrated the boulder; Nanoha looked more than a bit surprised, "A Buster Class spell, that's impressive." Lee, "Buster Class?" Nanoha "There are many different types of attacks, but most can be put into some generalized categories like blasts or impact types, but busters are a specialized type and are considered some of the hardest and most powerful due to them being specially focused continuous streams. I also have a buster attack, my very own DIVINE BUSTER. It is a very powerful attack. Most Buster types are."

Nanoha, and Lance for that matter were both immensely impressed with Lee. If it weren't for the sloppy nature of how he seemed to use his magic, they would both think he was lying about not knowing about it before yesterday, but they both knew better. That though just made them even more impressed with Lee. They both were considered beyond prodigious with magic themselves, but even they couldn't imagine doing what Lee did yesterday on their first try. In any case, Nanoha wanted to see how far Lee could go, "Ok, next try to destroy the biggest boulder without using the two attacks you already used." Lee didn't know what to do when Haruno chimed in, "TRY USING BREAK IMPACT, MY MASTER." Lee suddenly knew what to do, the general concept of the spell flowing into him from his device. He flew up into the air. Golden power began to surround his staff. "Okay, BREAK IMPACT!" As he said it, he dove at the top of the rock and hit the top of it with his staff with surprisingly amazing force. As soon as the staff made impact with the rock, it started to crack all over. Lee flew up hastily. The rock exploded with a roaring boom. Nanoha and Lance both sweat-dropped a bit. Lee had just demonstrated along his aptitude for ranged attacks, he seemed to also be just as good with close range spells. They were both really impressed. Nanoha, "Excellent Lee excellent. That is good; you have close combat and longer range combat ability. You seem to be a very well rounded mage when it comes to combat." Lee, "I'm guessing that's a good thing." Nanoha, "That's a bit of an understatement."

Lance walked over so he could teach Lee some other basic non-combative things that magic could do, "Okay, release your Barrier Jacket and staff. I'll be teaching you now, and I don't think you'll need them need them. As we've said earlier, while magic tends to lean itself towards combative arts on an instinctual level, there are many other things it is useful for outside of strictly combative uses." Lee released his Barrier Jacket and staff. "Okay Lee," said Lance walking over with what appeared to be a hurt rabbit, "I found this little guy earlier this morning. I want you to try and heal it. You might need an incantation for this. It should come to you if you look for it in yourself if you've got the aptitude for it." Lee went over to the rabbit and tried to think of an incantation to heal it and one came almost instantly, "Bestow upon me the power to mend. A light that can heal all wounds, HEALING GLOW." During the incantation a golden magic circle appeared under the rabbit. After he finished the incantation, his hands started to glow gold and he placed them over the rabbit, where light started radiating out of them. To both Lance's and Nanoha's surprise, the rabbits wound not only healed, but healed nearly instantly and fully, resulting in the rabbit hopping away the moment Lee finished. Lance was impressed, "Good job Lee. You're a natural healer. Though given your light attribute that's not too surprising." Lee, "Light attribute?" Lance, "Ah yes, I guess we forgot to mention that. Magic, among other things, tends to drift towards some kind of elemental affinity that if focused enough can give magic differing attributes, strengths and weaknesses. Yours appears to be strongly attuned to the light element, but more on that later. Now lets try something more complicated like teleportation magic."

Lance, "We will start with the quick but extraordinarily useful and much more common short-range teleportation. And though it's called short range, it can teleport you anywhere on a single dimension within sensing distance, but it can also be used in battle to move around an enemy quickly if you become advanced enough in it. It cannot go to other dimensions however." Lee had to put a hard stop there, since something similar came up yesterday and it was too big a deal to just gloss over, "Other dimensions?" Lance, "Oh, I guess we never went into detail about it, since its common knowledge where we come from, but according to Nanoha it isn't so on Earth. As a basic theory, there is only one large Universe, but within it there are theoretically an infinite amount of dimensions each with it's own finite space, which obviously includes other planets and life. The planet we come from is for instance located in another dimension." Lee's mind was more then a little bit blown, but he recovered quickly enough given all he had seen and done in the last twenty-four hours.

Lance though got back on topic with a detailed explanation of teleportation magic. He called it complicated, but apparently given Lee's talent, he said it probably wouldn't be that hard for him, "All you should have to do is envision the place you are going to and release a short burst of magic around you. Give it a shot Lee." Lee, "Easier said than done and it sounds difficult as it is." Lance walked to the other side and said that if Lee could get there, he could teleport anywhere on a world as long as he knew where it was and had a strong enough image of it. Lee envisioned the area right next to Lance and released some magic, but unfortunately it didn't work. Lance, "You need to concentrate more Lee." Nanoha walked over to them, "Its alright if you can't. I'm not the best at it but I still manage." Lee, "I'll give it another shot." He thought of and concentrated intensely on the spot next to Lance. He then released a nice amount of magic. There was a flash of light and when Lee opened his eyes, he saw Nanoha on the other side of field. He then teleported again and found himself right next to them once again. Nanoha, "Good job Lee. That was excellent. By the way, if anyone is touching you while you teleport and you actively cover them with your magic somehow, they will generally teleport with you to."

Lance, "At least for a short teleport. If you have enough magic and need to teleport between worlds, it is generally the same concept except that instead of thinking about the location, since in most cases that would be too complicated and cumbersome for most people, a plotting system was developed to make it easier to identify locations, called the Inter-Dimensional Coordinate System. So in this case you think about the world's universal coordinates, or for simplicity's sake most of them can be referenced with a corresponding dimensional code or it's exact locational coordinates as you chant it in combination with the general inter-dimensional coordinate system to translate it into an actual location, which should be accessible by your device, though it does take considerably more power and time than standard teleportation. The other thing is that as a general rule you cannot take people with you for long-range teleportation. You can only teleport yourself. Only the ultra rare portal types can generally take multiple people with them across dimensions, though with enough time and some really complicated magic, there are ways around this, like the setup I used to get myself and Nanoha to Earth, but generally you can only take one, maybe two other people safely even with those methods. Also for long-range teleportation, there is generally a range limit. Without getting into the particulars of dimensional theory, just note that dimensions have a sort of distance between them, though its not static, and depending on that distance you might not be able to get there in one go and will have to hop between a few first or if its close enough build up extra power. True portal mages are generally an exception, since their range is near limitless, which is why they are so sought after, but that's getting off topic I guess, so all I'll say for now was that me and Nanoha were lucky that at the time we left, Maral was within a single jump. I should also mention that while much trickier to do overall, long range teleportation consumes a lot more power and can even be physically exhausting if you do it all on your own."

Lance moved on to other types of magic, and became a bit relieved when they finally found something that he wasn't immediately good at, as it had been absolutely ludicrous so far. He had tried to teach Lee transformation magic but it just didn't seem to be his thing. When he tried to change his clothes into a tuxedo, he ended up in his underwear and Nanoha had to look away quickly as Lance repaired the damage. Lee got similar results when he tried support magic. The chains he was supposed to summon were too short and broke the second they were touched. He also could not make a particularly strong barrier of larger size, though as a small sized one around his immediate area it was passible if only average, though truthfully Lance thought that it could be improved to at least decent levels with some training. Lance, "Well Lee, no one is generally universally good at all types of magic, and even then and you still impressed me with your good healing and teleportation skills along with your amazing all-around combat skills. That there is still a much broader set than most mages have. And not only that, but the rate that you're learning all this is honestly ridiculous. Nanoha said she's curious to see what you can do with combative defense magic."

Nanoha, "Okay Lee, sorry about not teaching this earlier but I am going to give you the low down about battle defensive magic, or at least as much as I remember from when I was taught them by my father. There are 3 basic arch-types of defensive magic. The first is Shields. These reflect weaker attacks and block stronger ones. These shields are solidified magic, which makes them physical so they can block physical damage easily as well. It is normally summoned from your hand, though experienced mages can use other parts of the body as well like feet or shoulders, and really super good mages like Lance who has ridiculous magic control can just make them appear with their minds, but that's farther off. The second type is a field. These can appear anywhere around you without nearly as much difficulty as a shield and their shape and coverage is much more flexible. They can also be used negate an attack. They can block physical damage as well but not nearly good as shields, though they make up for it by being much more flexible and granting more coverage. Not being as rigidly physical, they can mold themselves into anything, and can be made sporadically pretty easily, unlike shields, which as I've said generally require some kind of center, like your hand. They are also more malleable, being able to be molded into any shape with enough practice, which has its own advantages. The final type is an aura. I should mention that these aren't purely defensive as they can have a variety of effects. That said, in their basic form, they can reduce the total magical damage that you are hit with during battle. These are like armor but they drain your magic constantly. This type does not usually help you as much against physical damage unless specialized to do so. And as I've said there are also special auras that have a wide range of abilities as well, so I couldn't go over them all even if I wanted to. So is there anything you're curious about?" Lee nodded his head, "Lots, but I've never been much of a book worm, so I think I'll understand it better if I actually try them out." It took about 2 hours but Lee got the hang of all of them pretty well, and though they didn't say it, Lance and Nanoha were incredibly surprised at the speed at which Lee seemed to pick up the information. When he finished learning what they taught him in what they could only believe was record-breaking time, and it wasn't a shoddy job. By the end of the day, Lee was using the skills like they were second nature. It was clear to them that Lee held an ungodly talent for magic, and coupled with his raw power, they knew with even the ultra rudimentary training they could give him, he would be a force to be reckoned with.

Truthfully, even if for just a moment, both Lance and Nanoha had a thought that maybe turning a boy they had known for all of a day into a mage of his caliber wasn't the wisest of decisions. After all how much could they actually know about him in that short span of time. That said, for reasons neither could explain, they knew innately that Lee was a good person, and that they could trust him implicitly, and so their concerns left as soon as they came. Besides, there was some kind of awe and amazement that they couldn't ignore at seeing how far one person of Lee's caliber could go and learn in that addicting sort or way that made them unable to hold back for their own curiosity. In any case, they knew that there was at least one more thing to teach him before they were done for the day.

Nanoha, "Okay, this is the final thing you need to learn. This is how to use magic without the use of your device. This usually requires a chant for the spell or longer charge time so it is slower to cast but there are certain times where you cannot use your device, like if it is damaged, or more likely just not on you. To find the chant for any of YOUR spells, you just have to look in yourself. As you don't generally use a spell for flight, all you have to do is think about flying why giving off some magic to push you off the ground. Mage's that are as naturally attuned to flying as I believe you are find that instinct is generally the best controller for flying. Give it a try with some of your spells. You should try to fly and cast the attacks that you used earlier." Lee started to think about flying. He had only flown twice but he tried it anyway. He released some of his magic and to his amazement was floating in the air. That said, this was the first time that he was flying outside of a crisis, so it only donned on him now how amazing the sensation of it was, the freedom that he felt being able to move through the air at will. Not only that, but the whole of flying just seemed to click with him, like it was second nature. He decided that he really liked flying. "Okay now here is the hard part," he was thinking over and over as he landed back down. His spells needed chants. "Okay you can do this," he kept on thinking. Nanoha, "By the way Lee, your spells may be different when you cast them this way because they are not being channeled and shot out of a device. They may also be slightly weaker." Lee looked at three boulders that Nanoha had pointed to.

He knew what to do. He faced the first boulder and thought about the attack he wanted to cast and words came to his thoughts and a magic circle appeared below him. "Light that pierces my enemies. GLOWING SHOOTER." A light gathered at the tip of his pointer finger and when he thought of firing it, the blast of energy shot out of his finger but it was different. He discovered that this blast could be controlled by his mind when he concentrated. He directed it over to the boulder where it cracked it into little pieces but not demolishing it.

Next he thought about his SHINNING BUSTER and an incantation came. "Light that destroys all who stand in my way. Gather in my hand as I command you. SHINNING BUSTER!" Now energy gathered in his entire hand and he pointed it at the rock. He then thrust his hand with the magic in it forward and launched a semi-powerful ray at the rock, which did disintegrate. He found out that he did not need to use an incantation to use BREAK IMPACT. What happened was that when he thought of the spell, magic automatically gathered in his right fist and when he punched the rock with his fist, he made the rock crack all the way through and the crack extended along the ground into the woods as though an earthquake had just hit. The power surprised not just Lee, but Lance and Nanoha as well. Lance had been thinking about it since he had first seen Lee the previous day, but watching him up close he could tell that Lee was not an ordinary mage, his raw power was amazing, and that was saying something when his best friend was Nanoha, who had been famous for her amazingly large power at the age of nine and had only gotten stronger since then.

Just then, through telepathy, Haruno gave him an idea for a new attack he did not know of and he decided to test it. Lee, "Hey Nanoha, I have this urge to try out an different Incantation I have never used before. I am going to try it. I have the feeling you should stand back." Nanoha did just that. Lee recited the incantation, "Mythical surge of light combine your intense power, suppress your explosive flash unto the foe before me…" Suddenly, magic started to gather at the palm of his hand, but it was clearly more then before with his buster. Lee aimed it at a noticeably larger bolder as he continued the chant, "A ray to pierce the darkness, that which shatter's the void. FLASH BURST!" A torrential blast launched from Lee's hand. The blast was so powerful that besides not only disintegrating the boulder and creating a path of destruction through the forest a good 10 yards long, it blasted Lee back several feet. Lance and Nanoha were more then a bit surprised at the sheer power. "That was amazing Lee!" Nanoha was more then a little surprised, "Who knew that you could release something so powerful without your device." Nanoha though noticed that Lee was sweating a good bit and his hand had clearly gone numb, so she also gave him some cautionary advice, "I would be careful with it though. It looks like it drains a lot out of you."

Lance walked over, surprised both at what Lee had just done, but also with his progress in general, "Well I can't believe I'm saying this, but that is it. Honestly I didn't think you would grasp all this that fast. I thought you would need at least a few weeks. Despite the fact that you should obviously practice for the sake of experiential learning, you are effectively done with the basic training me and Nanoha can give you and you did more then excellent, you're beyond a natural quick study. I haven't heard of anyone getting the basics of magical combat down as fast as you just did by. Even more, you're strong in most areas, which is very good." Lee had the good graces to look a bit embarrassed, but inwardly he was pleased. It wasn't like he felt himself without any sort of talent, but truthfully he had been a free spirit and never really tried to apply himself to anything particularly seriously before, a fact that his father and older brother had often chided him about. That said, he didn't have a reason why, but Lee could feel that this was something he could devote himself to, and so to be told that he was talented at it made him feel great.

That said, he looked at the time, and saw it was about time to get going. Lance, "Then we'll see you tomorrow, but before you go, just a bit of advice. We aren't the law obviously, and even if we were it wouldn't matter on an un-administered world like earth, but it would be best if you didn't go showing off your magic in public. As citizens of an administered world that has magic, we are bound by law not to reveal it on non-magic worlds, but in general that rule exists just to prevent the obvious hassles that revealing it to the unaware would bring." Lee had to pause for a moment, originally he was going to tell his friends at the very least, as he didn't like the idea of hiding anything from them, but he wasn't so ignorant as to not understand the complications and dangers of doing so casually either, and so he nodded in understanding.

Lee was about to turn and walk back home when a thought occurred to him that he could teleport now and his mother was out for the day, meaning no one was home, and so Lee turned around and waved goodbye to his new friends and focued in. Lee tried and succeeded in teleporting back to his house, easily recognizing his own living room, "Okay, magic is definitely convenient, I'll give it that." He proceeded to walk up to his room and like being hit with a sack of bricks, the entire day's exhaustion seem to hit him all at once as the adrenaline of learning everything about magic and other worlds hit him like a tidal wave, and so before he even realized it, he was on his bed out like a light. Lance had explained to him that he had put up what Lance called a molecular acceleration field, which had the effect of somewhat speeding up time a bit for those inside it, though Lance was quick to point out that this didn't actually speed up time, but merely the movement of molecules inside the field, since no magic could actually affect time. It was the reason that yesterday his watch ended up being almost an hour ahead of every other clock. In any case, one of its side effects was effectively an accelerated loss of stamina since technically he had done twice as much in almost half the time, but it did allow for them to get more done. When he next woke up a few hours later, his mother had already returned and said that dinner would be ready in a bit. He went to his back yard to see something, checking to make sure no one was watching. He got an idea that Haruno put in his head about being able to gather a small amount of energy in his hand to shot without an incantation or transforming. He tried it out and to his surprise, a small golden ball of energy appeared at the tip of his pointer. He imagined himself shooting it while aiming his pointer at a trashcan. It shot straight at the trashcan and went straight through it leaving a small palm sized hole where it had gone through. He was experimenting with this little discovery when his mother yelled outside to come in for dinner, where he hastily made it all disappear before she could see it.