Adrian stood just at the base of the tall tree. He wiggled his fingers in anticipation as he listened to the silence around him. The forest was quiet for the first time in hours. The sounds of the birds, the bugs, and all manner of critters had faded away. The wind ticked the grass below, creating a strange wave-like illusion that Adrian felt looked like the surface of a stormy ocean.
Then, he quickly raised his hand, his palm pointed to the tree. As his arm swung through the air, he watched as an arc of flame erupted from his skin. The red-hot flame fell away from his arm like water off of a drainpipe. Just as soon as the fire rose away from his skin, it became brighter and hotter.
The flame shot forward at the speed of an arrow, quickly puncturing the tree before him. Soon after, the flame disappeared, though it left a trace of its presence behind. Adrian stood still, frozen in amazement. Only after he took a few seconds to process what he saw did he step closer to the tree, his gaze focused on the massive hole carved into the bark.
The hole was the size of a basketball but shaped more like a cone. The center of the hole reached almost to the core of the tree. As Adrian came closer, he put the tips of his fingers against the bark and then rubbed a few particles of burnt sawdust away from the hole.
"I did it?" Adrian whispered in disbelief. He held up his hand before his face as a smile crept onto his expression. Then, he cheered, lifting his fist into the air in triumph. Adrian laughed and cried in joy before he turned back around and jogged to the grass behind him once more, "Again!"
He turned around and found another tree, this one undamaged and untouched. He clenched and took a deep breath.
"Just remember that feeling," Adrian told himself. He closed his eyes and then began to concentrate. He already knew the secret to performing Sorcery. The first step: imagination. Adian imagined an arc of fire the same as he saw just a few moments ago. He watched as his imagination flung the arc of flame forward, eventually turning its shape into an arrow. This arrow of fire struck the imaginary tree and bore a hole straight through it.
The second step: fueling. Adrian flexed the muscles in his arm, a trick he managed to create after reading the description found in his textbooks. He felt a strange warmth travel from his heart to the muscles in his arm. He knew this to be the magic in his blood flow. Because it gathered alongside his blood it followed the same laws. All he needed to do to gather it was flex the desired muscle.
The third step: action. Adrian quickly opened his eyes and looked toward the tree in front of him. The mental image in his imagination stood strong as Adrian began to move forward. He took a step with his left foot, then began to swing his right arm. He watched as his arm traveled through the air like a baseball bat. The bright red flame grew from his skin like feathers from a bird and followed behind like the mane of a lion.
As he pushed his arm forward, he eventually reached the furthest his fingers could reach. As this happened, all of the momentum he had gathered from his sudden punch forward was transferred to the trail of flame that followed quickly behind. He watched as the flame- fueled by the sudden momentum- shot away from his arm. The flame moved like a fighter jet through the air as it danced upon the wind like a ballerina.
Adrian strained his mind to focus as he kept his eye on the flame in front of him. He watched as the edges of the flame- once a wide arc- began to implode into itself. The flame grew thinner, but also longer until a massive arrow was formed from what remained.
The arrow tore into the tree like a javelin through a sheep- that's to say the tree didn't stand a chance. The flaming arrow disappeared on contact, but the tree already dealt with the brunt of the arrow's attack. A massive hole, half the size of a basketball, was torn through the center of the tree. The hole ran to the other side of the tree, revealing the other side of the forest like the view of a keyhole.
"I did it! I really did it!" Adrian smiled. He heard his heart beating with excitement from his ribcage and laughed. Oh, this is amazing! Adrian thought to himself.
Adrian smiled in glee, then turned to another tree. He repeated the first two steps, just as he had practiced for the last few hours. He imagined another arrow of fire, but this time he added more power. He wanted to see if he could make the arrow remain inside his target, after all. However, as soon as he began to move his arm, he felt a cloud of exhaustion cloud his mind.
Adrian stumbled forward, coughing as he fell to the ground. His throat ached and his stomach growled in pain. As Adrian fell to the ground, pushing himself to his side, he gazed up at the green canopy above him.
"You suffered from a condition called 'Mana deprivation'," Daniel explained, "I've never gone through it myself, of course, but the symptoms are common enough for even a simple mage to diagnose. You just need rest, that's all."
"I ran out of mana?" Adrian asked. His voice was raspy and frail, like somebody who had been bedridden for months. I am bedridden, Adrian realized. He looked around his surroundings. He was currently lying down in the carriage. His feet were kicked up on a pillow and a massive blanket was put over him.
He looked to Amber, then nodded his eyes to the backpack placed underneath one of the seats. Adrian hadn't had a use for his Record ever since he met Daniel, but now it was imperative that he got to use it. Amber immediately understood, then fetched the backpack for him.
"You'll be back up on your feet in a few days," Daniel told him as Amber opened the backpack. She fumbled around the textbooks for a few seconds before she pulled out a leather-bound book. Adrian recognized it as his Record. It was identical to Amber's in every way, yet Adrian was still able to tell them apart with ease.
"Let me see," Adrian said as he held out his hand. Amber nodded, then gave Adrian the Record. Adrian quickly sat up, much to Daniel's disapproval, then opened the book. He took the quill from its snug socket from the inside of the book's cover, then watched as the pages began to turn on their own. Eventually, he found himself looking into the pages designed to replicate his stats.
He turned to the right, where he saw his MP stat.
~
MP: 0/10
"Ah, shit," Adrian muttered. He leaned back and let the back of his head fall into the cushion behind him.
"Rest, Adrian. We're still a few weeks from the capital," Daniel said. Then, the man opened the carriage door and walked back into the outside weather. As the door closed, Adrian turned to look at Amber.
The two of them sat in silence for a moment. Then, Adrian turned to Amber and smiled.
"I did it."