3rd Person POV:
The sky's dark chest ripped open as a blinding column of azure lightning pierced through the thick curtain of murky dark clouds as it fell on the solitary metallic rod that was lodged in the middle of the battleground, right in front of the Queen's Guard and the right flank.
The sun that yet to reach its zenith was overshadowed by the stormy clouds and the column of lightning casted long shadows of the monsters in every direction.
The lightning column, however, was not directly absorbed and then nullified by the lightning rod. Instead of dispersing permanently, the column of lightning brightened even further and the place where the rod was lodged into cracked.
Huge splinters spiderwebbed all across the battlefield as they slithered like a cobra towards the Wujins.
A deluge of ions started to scatter in every direction, harmlessly touching- caressing the Wujin's bodies with a delicate touch. As if mocking Arthur, the Wujin Queen's gnarly lips turned into a smile-ish frown. The sail-like frills fanned out and like a drum it started to beat in a constant rhythm.
Arthur placed his foot over the edge of the platform.
The stormy winds flipped his grey hoodie back as it made a loud swishing sound, and the black shirt underneath it did little to mask the growing cold. However, his mind was not even focused on such trivialities.
All of his focus was turned towards the application of his Arcane Art that was the hardest to perform, even amongst all the other Phase 2 ones.
Humans – The Seven Syndicates basically – had classed their Arcane Arts using the Terms 'Phase.'
Which literally indicates different phases of progression. The Olvasens' Arcane Arts' Phase 1 is the same for everyone. Be it either Magnetic, Electric or any other wave on the electromagnetic spectrum, the Phase 1 stayed the same for them. For the lucky few who awakened more than one aspect, they had to learn phase 1 of each wave present on the spectrum.
It was the same for Phase 2.
Each Phase comprised of around 5-6 applications.
The way to tap into different applications was to have a staunch understanding of the application in question. The way it worked, its dynamics etcetera etcetera. And the jump from Phases occurred when a caster's body had reached the requirements to perform it.
A strong enough body. Since Adam was a one in an eternity prodigy, replicating his Destruction Type Arcane Arts – even if it's a mere shadow of what he used to wield – was nigh impossible.
Phase 2 – irrespective of the Family – was generally reached when a person reached 18 years of age when the nodes have been exposed to Arcanum long enough so that they had solidified and reinforced muscle fibres for the extreme stress that comes from the Phase shift.
And Arthur was around 2.5 years away from that.
However, since Arcane Arts were "Interpretation" of a "Concept," despite having the physical limitation, Arthur was able to open Phase 2. Since he knew how it was done. Or rather, the deep mechanics behind this specific application.
But the stipulation still remained. Adam's Arcane Arts were highly destructive. It was possible that doing this might rupture his organs. Or even tear him apart.
But there was a thought in his mind that steeled his resolve. The acceptance of reality that whether or not he decides to do it, he would end up being torn to shreds. It was better to die trying and surpassing his limits than inside the maw of a creature that couldn't even continue living without an order from the Queen.
To Arthur, dying such an insulting death was beneath him.
"Phase 2: Slipstream."
The chant was carried away by the blistering wind as Arthur's entire body, down to their very molecules vibrated.
The deluge of ions that had scattered all over the battlefield had still not dissipated, but was on its last legs. The ions were forming a net that extended backwards. The Queen's frill stopped vibrating and at the same time, the right flank attacked. Ignoring the harmless scattering of sparks that fizzled every now and then, they rushed towards the trio, their long tongues dangling out of their gnarly mouths.
The spell Arthur was about to perform was something that was argued to even surpass higher phases, unbefitting of the Phase 2. But due to how much stress it put on the user's body and how rarely it was used by the Olvasens, it never got ranked higher. Since Arcanum manifested 'concepts' formed by the caster's interpretation and insight into the Arcane Art they were born with, this spell never made it high enough. Because most of the Olvasens couldn't fully understand it.
'Focus.' Arthur prompted himself.
'Slipstream' was a tunnel passageway. A spell which caused the concept of Phasing. But a bit more complicated
A charged particle – like an electron – can be described by a wave function, which gives the probability of finding the particles at a particular location.
Arthur could use electromagnetism in a way that it caused a localised phenomenon where particles pass through a barrier that they theoretically shouldn't be able to, according to classical physics. This occurred due to the wave-like nature of particles at the quantum level, allowing them to exist in a probabilistic state on the other side of the barrier.
The barrier around the charged particles, which essentially prevented the concept of teleportation, was something that had its own unique signature. Normally it would be impossible to match a body's electromagnetic orientation with something else due to the physiological factor, however, there was an exception.
The exception was the additional factor of Arcanum. The way it works is that while electric fields that are naturally occurring and the ones that are either generated or manipulated via Arcanum are similar for the most part. However, the only difference – which also happens to be the key difference – is the composition.
And due to the presence of Arcanum around the barrier that encased the charged particles, those with Electromagnetism manipulation could take a hold of it and weaken it.
By supercharging the column of lightning that Arthur had summoned a few seconds ago, the particles were already close to decay, evident from how the sparks that scattered like a net across the battlefield were sizzling, extinguishing out of existence.
Arthur's senses had already enhanced as he started to detect unique electromagnetic fields around the individual sparks.
"Got it." He spoke out loud, his face impassive but his heart was beating like a war drum as he chose a target spark.
At the same time, Arthur influenced his own body's electromagnetic field to match the frequency of the chosen spark, aligning the two's quantum states with the energy of the electromagnetic field as it created a temporary, stable warp tunnel to the spark's location.
The tunnel was invisible to the naked eye; however, miniature bolts of lightning were visible inside his irises. Just like how they used to appear in Aksel's eyes.
Astrid and Michael looked at each other in bewilderment.
As if there was actually a tunnel, Arthur stepped into it.
His form blurred as it started vibrating, becoming semi-transparent.
Astrid gasped and almost reached out for him before Michael pulled her hand back.
"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND? THAT GUY IS SUPERCHARGED WITH LIKE A WHOLE FUCKING COUNTRY'S WORTH OF ELECTRICITY!"