Valentine was startled after witnessing his first spell. The extreme pain he felt and the seemingly fake room he had woken up in could all be explained as hallucinations and his body being hurt. But something that had such a tangible effect on the world around him could not be swept under the rag as a simple trick of the mind. Making that the very moment Valentine truly believed all he was told.
"Wait wait wait, you mean to tell me that-" Valentine uttered.
"You'll have plenty of time to ask questions later. Now let's get you into the proper position. Are you left or right handed? " John said, interrupting Valentine mid sentence.
"Right handed." Valentine replied.
"Okay. Step in front of a target, move your right leg a step ahead of the left, pivot your left foot to the side to maintain balance, raise your right arm to shoulder level, do a finger gun and grab your forearm with your left hand. Good. Now let me guide you through it." John instructed, moving behind Valentine and putting his hands on Valentine's back as he had done moments before.
"Close your eyes and follow the path my mana flows through. It will hurt a lot, so it will be quite difficult to miss it. Oh, and don't expect to blow a piece off like I did. The targets are enhanced by reinforcement magic." John continued.
Valentine tensed up the moment John's mana entered his body, the pain was intense but timid compared to the pain he felt just minutes before. He took deep breaths and tried to get his mind off the pain.
"Your mana circuit is just like a new arm or leg. Yours just happens to be quite atrophied at the moment. Controlling mana will feel weird at first but if you follow my lead you should be able to get the hang of it soon. But do not deviate from the path under any circumstances." John spoke.
Valentine did not give a reply to John, using all of his energy trying to perfectly follow his lead. Then the moment came when he felt the burning hot and freezing cold pain reach his fingertips.
"This is the most important part. You'll need to cut off the mana flow in a blink's worth of time, shout the spell's name at the top of your lungs while visualizing what you saw me do. 3, 2, 1, NOW!." John said.
"MAGIC MISSILE" Valentine shouted, his voice cracking halfway through.
With sweat dripping down his face, Valentine was able to cut off the mana and the result was a bright orb of mana the size of a marble being shot from his finger towards the target, grazing it on the shoulder and dissipating.
"D-D-Did I do it?" Valentine stuttered out, sweat pouring down his face and his breath rapid.
"Sure did. Now you have to do it alone." John replied.
"I, I'm a bit dizzy right now. Can I take a moment first?" Valentine said, taking breaths between words.
"No. It can't wait. You'll need to be able to cast this spell in the time it takes you to blurt out its name in order to have a shot at doing better. Now cast it again." John said. His tone was much colder than before and his eyes seemed lifeless.
"O-okay. I'll try my best." Valentine said, getting into position once more.
At first he took his time, following the lingering pain from John's mana but when it started to dissipate Valentine started to panic.
"MAGIC MISSILE!" Valentine shouted in desperation, the spell nowhere to be seen.
"You lost your focus, that's why you fucked it up. Such a weak magic missile is safe to mess up, but stronger spells won't just leave you a little tired. Using magic might be similar to using a muscle as they both become stronger with training but magical injuries cannot be compared with any injury a muscle might suffer. Now cast it again." John said.
"Okay." Valentine replied, trying to cast the spell from memory.
Valentine got ready to cast the spell again. He had lost all confidence in himself which caused his anxiety to reach critical mass.
"MAGIC MISSILE" Valentine shouted again, the spell failing once more.
"Cast it again." John demanded.
The cycle of failure continued even to the point Valentine's legs gave out and he dropped to his knees in sheer exhaustion. He slowly tried to stand back up again but his body refused to allow him to move.
"Again." John demanded.
"But-" Valentine said
"No butts, you won't die from being a little tired. If you don't manage to cast the simplest of spells, what makes you think you'll survive in this world? Cast it again. If you can't stand up, cast it on your knees. If you can't be on your knees, cast it laying down. If you can't move your arms, cast it again and again even if your arms are flopping around." John replied.
Valentine's hands started trembling but not in a way that would signify fatigue. He raised his arms slowly with conviction. He pointed his finger towards the target yet again. He closed his eyes. He knew he didn't have much left in him but he took a deep breath and gave it his all one last time.
For a single moment, Valentine entered a state of hyperfocus, a flowstate. And even though it was only for a moment, the way to cast the spell seemed clear as day to him and was etched into his mind.
"MAGIC MISSILE!" he screamed with all he had left, losing his consciousness before being able to witness his spell hitting the target in the dead center of the heart.
"You did well kid." John mumbled, moving him back into the office and laying him on a jet black armchair, letting him rest.
-
Valentine opened his eyes, feeling less fatigued though in great pain. On top of the constant pain he was through due to his mana hypersensitivity he also felt the pain of an extreme workout all throughout his body but not in his muscles. It was the first time he felt his mana circuit so vividly, it spanned across the entirety of his body without overlapping with any of his organs or muscles.
Valentine's nose picked up the smell of barbequed meat on his side. He turned his head only to see John sitting on the wooden chair Valentine was tied to previously, eating a large steak with his bare hands. John noticed that Valentine woke up and waved at him, the steak still in his hand.
"Oh, you're up. You did good. Next time you'll have to do it ten times in a row." He said while still chewing the steak.
"Is there anything for me to eat?" Valentine asked in a begging tone.
"Of course there is. I'm not a monster. Here." John replied, passing Valentine a plate of plain spaghetti.
"Th-This is just pasta. No sauce, no nothing. You are kidding right? You got a steak for me too, right? Right?" Valentine begged.
"It's just that. I don't know your allergies. You could also be vegetarian. How am I supposed to know?" John said with a shrug.
"I could be allergic to pasta." Valentine retaliated.
"Then it would simply be the work of fate. If you don't want to eat it, I'll gladly have it instead." John replied nonchalantly.
Valentine grabbed the pasta bowl and stared at it for a few seconds. He thought of ways he could show his annoyance towards the injustice he was faced with but any plans for an act of defiance were thrown out the window the moment he realized how hungry he actually was. He scarfed down the bowl of pasta with extreme speed, John looking at him in awe.
"You sure were hungry. Next time just try to breathe in-between bites." John said.
Valentine nodded in agreement as he swallowed his last bite of pasta. He fixed up his clothes a bit and started making his way out of the room with a confident stride.
"Ey, where are you going?" John asked.
"To the target room. You said I'd need to do 10 in a row right?" Valentine replied.
"That's for next time. You can go home now. Two of the boys will come pick you up tomorrow after school. Just wait for them by the gate. You need to rest now. It's nearing midnight. If you stay here much more this will arouse a lot of suspicion, the cops will probably get involved and we don't want that. One of our guys is outside, waiting to get you home." John said.
"Midnight? It's been that long? Shit. What's the way out?" Valentine spoke frantically.
"Wait a minute." John said. He then grabbed a backpack from under the desk and handed it to Valentine.
"I completely forgot about this." Valentine said.
John moved one of the file cabinets to the side which revealed a small door, barely enough for an adult to fit through.
"That's the way. Go straight ahead and you'll be out. Also, don't mention magic, don't use spells and don't contact Sean. You will end up killed." John demanded.
"Thanks John." Valentine said, making his way to the door.
"Wait kid. What's your name?" John asked when Valentine was about to cross.
"It's Valentine." Valentine replied.
"Very well then. Valentine, I need you to remember this. What you just learned today is only the tip of an iceberg much bigger than you can imagine." John said, walking away without waiting for an answer.
"I will." Valentine replied as he made his way towards the car.
The car was a jet black SUV with fully tinted glasses, making one unable to see outside in the dark of night.