«Uhum… Ajam!… I would like to address whoever may be listening.
My name is Aiden and, as ridiculous as it may sound, a strange and supernatural world; or rather, a facet of my world that I did not know existed where monsters, angels, magicians, alchemists, homunculi, fairies, psychics, and who knows what else exists: vampires, zombies, maybe other wordly creatures even!
Certainly, it's a free real state as of now. This is the kind of world that my encounter with her introduced me to.
Can someone listening, whoever you may be, please tell me how I ended up like this!?
Come on, I'm waiting… Delusions are the least of my worries.
Well, this is what my life has become. At present, I'm in what could be correctly called a training session. Maybe?
I may be young and inexperienced in life, or whatever, but this seems more like an induction course to join a cult than training that I need to receive to continue living in this irrational world».
—Haa…
Irrupting Aiden's desperate plunge into his mind, the beautiful girl in front of him let out an accentuated sigh, and continued where she had left off. Either to reflect on her frustrations about the future or about him, it could not be good news for the messy haired boy.
—I feel like an idiot, it's like I'm talking to the wind, you know? —said Maika, resisting the urge to pull the boy's hair—. Were you even paying attention?
—O-of course. Haha. Do you think I would be daydreaming while you're talking about such important things as… uh… this?
The young woman approached Aiden, who has making hand sings at random, piercing him from eye socket to cerebellum with her serious yet calm eyes. Such is the gaze of a hunter, activating the evolutionary vestiges of the reptilian brain of the human called Aiden. The surprised young man innocently tried to avoid eye contact, but with her face so close it was rather challenging.
"Is this some kind of Haki like in One Piece?" he thought to himself, of course, as he would never dare to say it out loud.
—In summary, you didn't understand my perfect explanation, and now I have to illustrate everything again… Ah?!
The sudden, though it would be incorrect to say unexpected, shout made every fiber of the young man tremble. Perhaps no one understood what it meant to make that girl angry as much as he did right now. Unable to do anything to pacify her, the young man resorted to hiding in his thoughts again.
«I, the 'normal' 16-year-old, Aiden, am currently receiving some kind of training from Maika, the mysterious girl in front of me.
Her brown hair fell softly to her shoulders and a natural elegant face, with her slightly plump pink lips and fine features.
Although rather sleek, she's defined in the important areas. It didn't look like it, but her punches and kicks imposed significant strength, certainly, I knew that better than anyone who lived to tell the tale.
Her piercing gaze that made him feel like he would be devoured the moment he let his guard down, and at the same time an appearance that generated a feeling of tenderness when you looked at her. She had a serious "few friends" expression often, but he knew well that she was someone who appreciated a bit of foolishness and jokes in the appropriate contexts.
Maika was a person full of contradictions. In the good sense, at least, I thought.
Her image under the clear blue sky kept diverting my attention, again, from the indispensable lesson. I couldn't help but think of how fine the school uniform looked on her. Yet, I found myself saddened knowing that the vision that once dazzled my eyes and, in some way still does, will soon come to an end.
If you ask me, I still find it hard to believe, and it's incredible that someone with such an innocent and cute appearance is actually a mage… or an alchemist? Well, whatever.
At the beginning of the semester, Maika came-in with the mission of exterminating some monsters that had infiltrated the city; and, of course, I ended up getting involved.
As it turned out, my condition, which I've had since I can remember, is actually some kind of power; thus, her new mission is to observe me and help develop that ability. The ability to see a kind of black smoke that shouldn't be there, yet, appears when something supernatural arises. To see the world's distortions.
Am I skipping many important details like that big fight? Shut up, consciousness! I would rather not remember it right now. Besides, since then, I've been having this horrible dream that I don't want to talk about…»
—Wait, hey, Aiden. Are you following? Or even listening to me!?
—You know? —Cautiously added the young man, putting his quick wits to the test, since he certainly wasn't following—. There's no way that someone normal until just a few days ago, for whom the supernatural was just another of many impossible fantasies, can learn the intricacies of such complicated things by the third class alone.
—You know something, Aiden? —Said Maika, in a continuous decrescendo of her voice—. I've known you for only three weeks, but I don't know what part of you to call normal, in several senses.
The last part, she said it murmuring, but with enough volume for Aiden to stitch it together, shaping a small burst of pain inside the young man. He knew perfectly well that they were purposefully crafted to be accompanied by any or all bad intentions. However, like any man his age, a simple comment from a girl could be world shattering.
For the young man, that was a horrible comment, ignoring the privilege that meant still being vulnerable in that way and the innocence that it implied, after seeing her world.
Of course, he didn't make a scandal of the matter because, in retrospect, it was 100% understandable what Maika had just said, in several senses.
Maybe that was why it hurt so much, but Aiden buried the issue, pretending that that part of him that had been hurt didn't exist. He could afford to be fragile and appear to be strong like any normal human being.
—But as you have no choice, I'm going to, kindly, explain all the basics about magic and what magic is in itself —she said with a mix of playful enthusiasm and seriousness.
She couldn't hide the stiffness in her body language, giving her best effort for the foolish young man, which for Aiden was adorable to see.
In a total contrast to her arrogant attitude and obvious intention to annoy him, Maika strode forward and turned back around with a warm smile.
—This time, try your best to keep up with me.
«You can be kind when you want to. See? It's true», he added internally. «You better keep that smile for a long time; otherwise, I don't have a purpose here. It's because of that smile, I can fight.
You know, Maika? I'm aware that I'm young and lack experience, and that I'm not remotely wise enough to talk this way, but… These are the moments that I want to treasure in my heart.
I wonder how we look from the narrator's standpoint.
Let's see, it would be more or less like this…
Without wasting time, Maika extended her hand, indicating to the handsome young man to do the same, then she held his wrist delicately.
It was obvious to her that after the useless academic-style explanation, Maika, the alchemist, decided that something more didactic would help him understand the complicated things she was about to dump on him, like a bucket of ice-cold water.
Gently, but firmly, like a diamond, she asked this rookie apprentice of hers to focus; his vision above all, which apparently is where this ability of mine comes from. Maika fixed her gaze on the palm of her hand that until that moment was facing the fluffy clouds of the warm June afternoon».
—Okay, Aiden, now visualize the smoke.
With Maika's command, the boy came back from that world in his imagination where, according to him, he was a great poet saying whatever came to mind.
Meanwhile, Maika continued doing her job, explaining to the wandering teenager about magic.
—I'm trying, but no matter how hard I try, it doesn't work. It appears when it wants —said the dark-haired boy with a voice covered in frustration. He focused twice as much attention without any change, then added—, and I can't make you see it either.
—Altering reality sounds like something impossible, and it is. It's like trying to cover the sun with a finger, it's simply not possible —said Maika, and let go of the inexperienced boy's hand to lift it over her head at about 45 degrees, pointing towards the suffocating sun—. It's not possible unless you cheat.
Maika closed one of her eyes with a wink to Aiden and turned her attention to the sky.
—That's when it becomes possible, with the right methods, techniques, and procedures. All kinds of tricks exist. Are you following?
—… Eh, yes! Of course.
The boy's response was rushed and uncertain because he had been captivated by the scene in front of his eyes. At that moment, the only thing that went through his mind was how pretty Maika looked when she gestured to him.
There was nothing more to say, as with any healthy teenager, that kind of thing is completely natural for someone like Aiden. It would be worrying if it wasn't, regardless of sexual orientation.
—Going back to the example of the sun —said Maika—. If you close one of your eyes and put your hand at the right angle, it's possible to cover the sun with nothing more than a finger. See? It's easy. But that's only your perspective, a part of the process; then, you have to project that unique reality of yours to the real world.
¬ To put it in a simpler way… I know, I'll explain it to you like my master did with me —she said as she took a few steps back—. Imagine, think, that it's like a delusion. The work of magic is to turn that illusion into something real. Start by deceiving yourself with your own lie and thus, following the correct procedures, you will deceive the world.
—A delusion, huh? I can think of a few that society has put on all of us, like a spell in its own right, but is it really that simple?
—As your precious society says, purpose is key. In my case, that of an alchemist, the purpose of my magic is the transmutation of energy or mana, as you want to call it, to achieve changes in nature at my will.
—Easier said than done, I have to regrettably report, my dear teacher.
—You don't tell, Sherlock.
—Hey, if any of us should take that role is you, Maika. Please be a better Sherlock, att: Your Watson!
Maika wasn't sure to either laugh or cry.
—Naturally, it's not easy at first. That much is expected, right? But that barrier can, no, it has to be overcome. To achieve it, you first have to learn to control your mind, and that's what I'm trying to teach you. To be able to project that illusion, you first have to believe in it yourself. That's what it means to be a magician, to control energy and manipulate it to achieve changes in the world. But it all starts with the conscious mind, with the ability to believe and visualize what you want to achieve.
¬ Alchemy is particularly difficult to master —added Maika, her inflection indicated that this was a personal point of interest—. Mainly, we use elements that we are more affiliated with, either by our personality or nature itself, until we gradually expand our understanding.
¬ Returning to the main topic: Think of reality like a sphere. With magic, we can alter the surface of that sphere in a certain area, create small ripples and tides in that flat reality. But even with magic, we cannot do something that was not possible from the beginning. The illusion must have shape, characteristics, and properties in common with the object or element that you are trying to materialize or alter. We use all kinds of symbols and materials that can be associated with the result we want, to facilitate the process and obtain a better and more powerful magic.
This time, Aiden made it his goal to pay attention. Between this desertion and the previous one he didn't quite hear, he somehow understood what Maika was trying to teach him.
Magic is the power to alter the surface, the material world. For example, by visualizing the sphere completely flat, when magic comes into play, irregularities may be created, and those irregularities are what allow a magician to have fire appear in his hand. And by extension, his powers had something to do with those irregularities in the surface. At least that's what he came to believe.
But even magic is governed, to some extent, by the laws of physics. Just as under normal circumstances it is not possible to light a match underwater, it is very unlikely that fire will appear in the palm of someone under the same circumstances. Or to throw a bolt without oxygen around you that carries the electrons without first having made the necessary preparations that satisfy the condition of the magic in reality.
Something that he also understood by personal experience, was that without a safety mechanism, intrinsic or external, that same fire would burn the magician's hand.
—Something you should always keep in mind is; let's see, the alchemists were looking to turn metal into gold, besides having some truth in it, for all we magicians care, that statement it's nothing more than a metaphor. Magic is executed by having a construction, a philosophy, even an ideology that is the foundation of the magician to distort the world. An idea that is the origin of the construction on which they base all their spell system, the source of their power.
¬ To reach it, "Metaphor and Metonymy" are the internal processes that weave a magical system. The source of power is the interpretation of the principles, the ideas, on which a magician builds his magic theory. An interpretation of the metaphor of gold could be that they wanted to learn the fundamental truth of this world; another is that they only sought to benefit themselves. Neither is the whole the truth, but it doesn't matter, that phrase contains a universal underlying truth that brings forth power; that is something I could work with to break down the spell of my target, remember that well.
¬ A magician is someone who only seeks to fulfill their desire; whatever it may be, that is the reason they began to learn magic. Everywhere in the world it's like this, as sad as that reality may be, that is how all magicians are and, of course, that desire will influence what type of magic a magician uses.
«Gold. Fulfill desires…» Thought Aiden, not daring to speak out load «If so, Maika, what is your desire?»