006: Spatial Magic & Beetles

September 11, 2020 - 7 minutes read - 1437 words

“It’s great to be able to move around on your own feet.” Al

After finishing my mid-morning meal, I wander around the mansion with light footfalls. A normal day has two meals, one at mid-morning and one in the evening. Growing children like Eleanora and I don’t get quite enough food with just two meals a day, so we grab some bread or leftovers most days. Eleanora is quite active, so she burns through the calories.

“Before I could walk, it was quite inconvenient to do interesting things.” Al

I appreciated my present situation, back when I couldn’t walk, I had a hard time procuring a book to read. I may have been regarded as an odd child due to my antics.

I guess I’ll try and finish up the book I was reading today in the study. As I entered the study, I noticed my brother Silvio. Eleanora is nine years old, Silvio is six years old, and I’m three years old…

Are my parents organized like that? Well, I’m three years old, but my mother doesn’t seem to be pregnant…

I think three children is just fine for a family.

Silvio is sitting in a chair and reading a book. He strongly resembles our father, Nord. Blue eyes and a soft personality. Finally, a nicely shaped face, he will leave some girls in tears in the future when he gets engaged. Eleanora is focused on swords, while Silvio focuses on books and academics. They’re like exact opposites. I guess Silvio can depend on Eleanora for the martial talents, so he is able to devote more time to academic pursuits.

Eleanora wants to become a knight in the future. This era doesn’t place women and men on a even playing field for knights, so she will have a difficult road ahead. Eleanora isn’t lacking for talent with the sword, so she will probably do fine. It seems Nord wanted to teach Eleanora more on domestic affairs and academics earlier, but Eleanora and him seem to have converged on sword training from their mutual interests.

At the moment, I seem to be considered as the magic-leaning child, according to Elna, our mother.

“Have you been reading?” Silvio

“Yeah, I can’t read all of the books, but the ones I can are interesting.” Al

“Yes? Al has a good grasp on reading, but if you run into anything you don’t understand, I’ll help you with it.” Silvio

Am I not the only ahead of schedule child? Silvio seems a bit older than his six years of age…

Unlike Eleanora, Silvio is quiet and gentle, we don’t have a rivalry.

After eating a snack, I move to the forest to practice magic. I would like to try some new magic today. It seems like there are monsters in the world, though Koriat village will rarely encounter one. I heard my father and the local militia do a good job of culling monsters before they become an issue. I thought they would be more like a game, but if monsters get out of control, villages can be destroyed.

I’ve read that powerful monsters are wandering around areas with high ambient magic energy or in special forests, those are too dangerous for me to explore.

I’ve arrived at my practice spot. There’s monsters deeper in the forest, so I’ll stay in the outskirts and not get into any dangerous situation. So I’ve been remodeling this spot, into a secret base like location. I’ve cut down some trees to open up the space and made some tables and chairs with Earth Magic. I’ve added a hut for shelter as well.

A man’s personal space. Did you ever try to build a secret base in your childhood? A comfortable space that only you know about?

By the way, I think it’s finally time to attempt some Spatial Magic. I have been working assiduously to increase my magic energy for three years. While I’ve experimented with other magic types, Spatial Magic has been my true goal all this time. I think I’ve finally gotten enough magic energy to attempt it. I don’t have a numerical measurement of my magic energy, but I figure it’s at least five times what I had when I was one. If I can’t do any Spatial Magic at this point, the efficiency is truly awful and I may never be able to use it.

So, let’s start with Transfer magic. Let’s start with something small, like a handful of pebbles. I’ll try transferring them from inside my hut to the table outside. By starting small and inanimate, I’ll be able to tolerate early failures. I’ve put in much more energy than an average magic, but the pebble is wrapped with a light blue glow. It’s time to designate a target, so I look to the table.

“Transference” Al

Suddenly, the stones disappear from my hand and fall onto the table. It seems like they disappeared and reappeared in a few milliseconds, if that.

Buoyed by my initial success, I grab more stones, twigs, and leaves, and transfer them to the table or chair.

“Wow! Great! This is just what I dreamed of, God!” Al

Wonderful! Even though there are some prerequisites, I was able to teleport things! With my power, I don’t need to clean up or carry luggage. I can use this to get away with pranks on Eleanora! It’s amazing. I’m not sure whether my reaction is peaceful or foolhardy.

Obviously, I could make plenty of money through the transportation industry. My peaceful slow life dream suggests this as a possible application.

OK, I’ve proved that I can use Transfer Magic, but what are the limitations and constraints to the magic? It seems that a stone takes more energy than a leaf, so weight looks to have an impact on the energy required. To verify that, I grab a larger rock with both hands.

“Ugh, this is heavy!” Al

This rock is a bit heavy for a three-year-old, so I activate Body Reinforcement by circulating magic energy throughout my body. I can’t do it for too long as it will cause muscle pain, and that would be a silly problem to have.

“Transference!” Al

Woo! The large rock has been transferred to the table using a significant amount of magic energy. Now I’ll try some leaves for comparison.

“Transference!” Al

Aha, it’s just as I suspected. The larger or heavier the object you’re transferring, the more magic energy is used. Well, that a perfectly normal restriction. It would be more odd if if was reversed, where the lighter load requires more energy than a heavy load.

I guess the next step is something living. I wonder if there’s something close at hand…

Walking out of my hut, I hear a bird calling from the trees. Can’t see anything though. I walk around the back of the hut and spot a beetle-like thing on the wall. I say beetle-like because it’s not quite like an Earth beetle. Instead of a normal horn, there’s a fork-like horn. Normal for a fantasy world?

I carefully grab the fork beetle (ad-hoc name). I do it carefully so I don’t get poked by the fork horn. After I grabbed it, he could flab his wings a bit, but couldn’t get away.

“OK, Fork Beetle! You’re the first creature in this world to experience Transfer Magic in this era! I’m honored by your fortitude! Transference!” Al

Just like the stones, the fork beetle is suffused by a light blue glow. Then the fork beetle appears on the table.

“Success! It’s a nominal transfer! Fork Beetle!” Al

As I rushed to the fork beetle to celebrate, something hits the back of my head.

“Eh?” Al

Did someone throw a rock at me? Am I being bullied at the tender age of three? This world is harsher than it seems…

When I turned around, another beetle (probably a female), with a spoon-shaped horn was flying around. Maybe I’ve commandeered her mate? Then been targeted by the jealous mate?

Women have a inner strength in all worlds.

My next 30 minutes were spent being chased by the spoon beetle.

After my chase scene had concluded, I was able to resume my experiments and teleport myself a short distance. My first attempt ended up with me appearing about a meter above the ground, I should have been more attentive. On my way back home that day, I used some short-distance transfers to save time.

Further experiments around longer distances, obstacles, and such can come later.

Someday, I’d like to travel all over so I can shop anywhere.