A more informational chapter. I hope you enjoy!
As we reached the bottom of the spiral staircase, I pondered if there was anything I needed to say in response to Luna. Emotional things are not my area of expertise, as shown by how I responded earlier.
If I was being honest, I've never had anyone say something as sincere as what Luna had said to me. Sure, there were the odd conversations and words of encouragement thrown my way over the years, but... no one ever really sat down and told me something as meaningful as what she had said to me. I wanted to tell her thank you in a way that I know would seem sincere, but I could not find the right words to say to her.
"I need to go and converse with my sister before she retires for the night," Luna told me as she continued walking down the small hall we were in.
"Okay, that's... alright," I stuttered. Luna immediately tilted her head, noticing the fault in my speech.
"What's the matter?" she asked in response.
"I just... thank you. For what you said to me, it... it meant a lot to me to hear those words," I told her. She cast me a warm smile.
"Think nothing of it Daniel," she said to me. With that, she turned and walked away, dismissing our conversation. Before I could think much else, I felt the silent gnawing of hunger. I decided to make my way towards the kitchen, hoping that everything would not be shut down for the night.
Upon arriving, just before I could enter the mess, the door to the hall practically broke its hinges flying open, and I was met with the full force of the opening door. I reeled back in pain, before losing my balance and collapsing to the ground, landing hard on my rear. I shook my head to clear my vision, before looking up to see Austin standing in the door frame.
"Oh jeez, sorry Daniel, I didn't know you were there," he told me as he extended his hand to me.
"Yeah, obviously. But next time, please don't open the door so fast," I warned him, grabbing his hand and grunting as he pulled me to my feet. I stepped past him and into the mess hall as out conversation continued.
"Are you going to get some food?" he asked me, to which I gave him a completely deadpanned look.
"No, Austin, I'm not. I'm not going to the kitchen, based on how we are currently in the mess hall," I said in sarcastic response. Austin gave me a one-sided smile at this as we walked towards the order line. I stepped up to the counter, pulling my order card out of my pocket.
The way the food system worked here was rather simple. Every employee, soldier, or other affiliated person in the castle was given a small card that allowed us to get three meals a day as well as a few snacks whenever we felt the need to combat our hunger. I had yet to have my supper, and since I wasn't really hungry, I had just decided to get a small snack and immediately get back to my room to read some more.
I placed my order for a sandwich and a bottle of water, and stepped back while my food was being prepared.
"So how's the whole magic thing going?" he asked me. I turned and gave him a skeptical look.
"...it's going fine. I managed to start a levitation spell today, actually. Celestia was testing me, and she threw a book at me, which I caught with a spell," I told him with a hint of pride in my voice.
"Are you kidding me? That's really cool! Can you show me? Please?" he asked me with jovial enthusiasm. I looked around the mess for something small like the book that Celestia had thrown at me. There were many sets of utensils and place mats set out on the tables, and since it was so late at night, there was no one in the hall for me to disturb. I walked towards a table that was closest to me, and picked up a fork that was resting on it. Walking back to Austin, I placed the fork on my left hand's palm and held it up to him.
"Watch this," I told him with a smirk on my face. I felt out for the levitation spell that I had learned, and cast it upon the fork, trying my hardest to keep the spell active. My right hand became coated in a pink billowing aura, and I quickly felt a grasp on the fork. I lifted my right hand, and the fork mirrored its movements, raising into the air a few inches. I looked to Austin to see his reaction. I quickly found a smile creeping up on my face after seeing his.
Austin's mouth hung ajar, and it seemed that I had rendered him speechless at my newfound ability. I dropped my left hand, and the fork remained suspended in the air. With every passing second, I could feel the fork starting to get progressively heavier, and I tried my hardest to keep it in the air.
"That's... you... that's amazing!" Austin exclaimed as he walked around me, staring in awe at the floating fork. The fork was now starting to become almost too heavy to hold, and I was struggling to keep in in the air. What Celestia had told me about capturing neutral magiplasm was in the front of my mind, and I focused as hard as I could on keeping the fork suspended.
"Is it hard to to do that?" Austin asked me.
"Stop... talking..." was all I could manage to say through my teeth as my reserve of magic was continually drained. I was not trying to be rude, but holding the object in the air was one of the most mentally taxing things that I have ever done in my life, and I was trying my absolute hardest to not let go. Eventually, the fork simply became too heavy, and I was forced to let it go. The fork fell to the ground, making a loud clattering sound as it did. I sucked in a huge breath of air as I did, and it was only then did I realize that I was holding my breath the whole time. Apparently, focusing your magic required almost your entire mental faculty to operate, as I had no idea that I was holding my breath.
I took huge breaths in as I doubled over in exhaustion. Austin looked at me concernedly.
"Woah, Daniel, are you okay?" he asked me. I made no effort to move, and suddenly a wave of pain washed over me in the form of a severe headache.
"I... I think so. Just, ugh. Just got a bit of a headache from that," I told him. I heard the sound of a bell as I stood back up straight, and I looked at the counter to see that my food was ready. I shook my head, which turned out to be a bad idea, as the pain in my head flared up again. I grunted in pain, but otherwise ignored it. I walked up to the counter, grabbing my lettuce, tomato, and mayo sandwich, as well as the bottle of water, and started to walk out of the hall. Austin joined me by my side after he placed the fork back on the table.
"What was that? Are you okay?" he repeated his concern.
"I'm fine, I just pushed my magic a little too far, and I got a bad headache, that's all.
"Why didn't you stop?" Austin asked with a tone indicating curiosity.
"I learned from the princess that if you push your magic past what is comfortable for you, you capture... well, it's kind of like working out. If you push yourself past your limits, safely of course, you'll get stronger, in essence," I explained to him. We exited the mess hall, and started making our way back to our rooms.
"That's really cool! Do you think I could learn magic?" Austin asked with excitement in his voice.
"I mean, probably, right? Yeah, that would make sense, you were affected by the elements too, so I would say yes," I told him.
"Cool! Uh... how do I start?" he asked me.
"By completing your schooling, first of all. Get that out of the way, and then you'll have all the time in the world to practice magic," I told him.
I quickly realized what I had said, and winced slightly at the thought of it. Before we could talk any more, we rounded the corner that led to our rooms, and I turned to Austin.
"Alright, well, I need to do some studying, so I'll see you tomorrow," I told him.
"Alright, have fun, goodnight," he said back to me.
I turned and opened my door, shutting it behind me. I threw the sandwich and bottle on my bed, and opened my closet, pulling out my copy of Magiplasm for Dummies. I sat down on the bed, and flipped open the book to the first chapter, at the same time unwrapping my food. I took bites intermittently as I read the first few words. The first chapter dove right into the basis of what magiplasm was.
Understanding magiplasm, or magical plasmatic waves is the best way to get a beginners grip on the accurate casting of magic. Magical plasmatic waves are the way that magic propagates through air, solids, and any other medium you are casting on. This can include things living and non-living, and the basis does not change based on this status. Neutral magiplasm sit static in the air around us until something disturbs them, or they are captured (see chapter 7). All magic goes through these waves in the air, and this is how magical spells are allowed to travel at all.
Realistically, all of this information consisted of things that I already knew, so I decided to quickly read through it, and see if there was anything of importance in the first chapter. I did not find anything except mentions to future chapters where the severity of the material covered increased to things like mathematical equations for the workings of magiplasm. I quickly moved on the second chapter, which started identifying and categorizing the different properties and parts or magic.
Magiplasm does in fact have a standard unit associated with it. Magiplasm, magical potential, and magical limits are all measured in the unit of Degrees. An individual capable of outputting 1000 units of magical energy is capable of outputting 1000 degrees of magiplasm.
The more I read about magic and the way it worked, the more I wanted to keep trying different spells and conjurations. Of course, all of these were impractical at the time. Commendable, but impractical. I would need years of magical experience before I could even think about casting some of the spells I had envisioned. Things like teleportation, healing spells, and transformation spells were all out of my reach at the moment.
I finished my sandwich and threw out the wrapper, taking a sip out of my half empty water bottle. I finished reading chapter two, and glanced up at the clock.
Eleven thirty seven...
Sleep could wait. Knowledge awaited.