"Woohoo!"

It echoed across the clearing.

"I. Have. MAGIC!"

Daire's hair stood up like quills. He shouted at the heavens all over again, muscles spasming and face twitching as he celebrated.

On the ground, steaming, Violet puffed. Failing to blow her frazzled hair out of her face.

A fuzzy face entered frame. Night sniffed Violet's smoking figure.

"Can you please bring me back to Willow?"

Night's eyes drooped in akin to pity.

"Don't look at me like that. Are you going to help me or just stare?"

Night gave a low yip, scooping, balancing Violet's body across her snout.

Trodding the distance to Willow, the canine curled up near its truck and deposited the frizzy pixie in her soft black fur.

Violet thought about objecting, but this bed was a thousand times softer than her own. Yawning.

=

Daire was ecstatic!

It was outrageously frightening to have been struck by actual lightning, even in the smaller form of Violet. Blacking out from shocking pain was a completely new experience. However, when he awoke, his entire world changed!

Taking stock, Daire felt... charged.

Touching his fingers together, they zapped. Not magic. Just a natural reaction. But Daire could feel the magic this time!

Closing his eyes, he could see.

In the darkness of his mind, it was as if he could see different colors. It took focused concentration, and he had to stay completely still, but Daire could clearly "see" the bluish-white sparks ebbing off Willow. Violet's "color" was obviously purple, mixed in with splashes of bluish-white energy.

Remaining in partial darkness, there were no glaring congregations of hues, only the vague feeling of color in the direction he "looked".

Daire tried searching for Fire, unsuccessfully. Searching for Water, he couldn't sense or see it despite facing directly towards the pond. What he could sense was the Wind mana flickering around him—light-green wisps.

There was also an abundance of Earth mana when he looked down. Over-stimulated from the massive blanket of earth tones, Daire fell on his ass. Laughing, he looked up at the sky, riding a high.

His revelry sobered at the sight of the setting sun. How long was he out for? That hellish nightscape would soon return!

Experiment quickly. Then hide in the hovel.

Smacking himself, he forgot the storm broke the hovel. Rebuilding it would be a hassle. Perhaps there was an easier way now? Earth magic could help him build walls.

Going the construction route is more my style anyway. Diggy Diggy Hole.

Daire studied architecture. He wouldn't create any amazing contemporary masterpieces that attracted tourists from around the globe, but he could make a functional dirt hut.

Mentally crossing his fingers, Daire tried reaching out to the solid brownish-gray mana, painting it upward.

*pop*

A small bump appeared.

"WOOOOO!"

Expressing his delight, he did a victory lap around the pond.

Two minutes later, wheezing, he conjectured that his celebration was too zealous. And the pond was larger than before...

Suddenly remembering Violet, he began to worry again. Was she sleeping off that huge discharge? Daire didn't have time left to cook more food, but he quickly scooped up the remaining sweet berries. A small thank-you gift and celebration meal.

Walking over to Willow, he found Violet resting in Night's fur, dozing off but still conscious. Her tiny head nodded at Daire and gratefully accepted the food. Seeing her nodding off, he whispered a heartfelt thank you with the most genuine smile he could muster. Seeing a thumb pop out from the fur was enough.

Leaving Violet to herself, Daire returned to his own area to continue practicing and potentially build a hut.

Daire had extraordinary concentration. When alone, uninterrupted, in good physical health, at a comfortable room temperature, while not itchy, and not currently fighting.

Daire had shit concentration at literally any other time.

He raised an earthen wall made of entirely soft dirt. It collapsed.

He raised a second wall made of entirely soft dirt and wrapped it in darker brown mana, solidifying it.

"Aha!"

The wall stood 4 feet tall.

Not bad for a second attempt.

Daire cackled, continuing to raise dirt walls. He was able to create a ten by ten by seven ft cube of a room. It had a doorway and a small off-centered window on the eastern wall, facing Willow.

The Cube sat right on top of his old hovel, backed up against Big Boulder.

He tried covering the walls in darker, grayer mana, or even silver mana, but they didn't even want to move. Something in his mind wasn't clicking correctly.

Daire smoothed the walls slanted The Cube's roof ever so slightly, so water didn't pool on top. Technically, removing its designation as a cube.

He rounded the corners, effectively childproofing them. Deciding that instead of making solid corners like a normal person, they were hollow, creating rain gutters.

Holy crap, I'm OP! Oh... wait a moment.

He hurled.

=

Waking up, Daire thanked lady luck for not landing him in vomit. Firmly ignoring the sky, he spent the majority of his remaining concentration raising a bed platform in the back left corner. He held back a headache and made a small shelf that extended out from the back right wall—a desk.

Feeling queasy. Daire stopped. Not wanting to be smited... Again.

Frowning, he worried he wouldn't be able to move tomorrow.

Moving some leaves and brush onto the stone slab, he tried not to reprimand himself for bringing so many vanity items instead of a decent blanket or pillow.

Hmm.

That gave him an idea.

=

Violet was dozing off, sinking into soft fur.

Her entire body was exhausted, and her concentration was slipping.

She kept trying to bring another berry to her mouth, lips stained blue.

Dozing in and out of consciousness, she finally succumbed to peaceful slumber—a soft, warm cloth enveloping her.

=

Daire returned to The Cube after making the terrifying trip under the night sky.

There were plans for that handkerchief. Daire was going to throw it in a certain snob's face, challenging them to a duel.

Daire's eye crinkled, liking this idea better.

=

Slightly past midnight, Daire was still awake, standing at his desk going through his notes.

One journal is filled with bullet points of all his previous plans, nearly full. A second journal lay open. Daire promised to share this one with Violet, so he left space while writing in it.

This journal was the one he planned to document his adventures. Confirming his findings, altering plans recording his research into magic, serving as proof that he isn't in a lucid fever dream.

Using a ballpoint pen, Daire jotted down his theory that magic was actually external.

Daire felt stupid for not trying it sooner. It was one of the first questions he asked Violet, and she had even said it was instinct for her. The problem he ran into was that he didn't know how to sense mana. Whenever he closed his eyes, he was looking internally, searching for a core of magic or meridians. He never turned his attention outward.

Earth magic came naturally to him. Similar to how Violet instinctually flew. Earth contained shades of browns, grays, and metallics. The lightest of browns, nearly yellow, was sand. Going darker was: mud, dirt, mulch, and clay.

Grays were different stones. Metallics were predictably metal. None of them responded to him for whatever reason. More research was needed to provide conclusions as to why. For now, his theory was that dirt was easy because he's handled most dirts and clays personally. He knew their structures and how they mold/form. Unlike stone and metal.

Noting his theory, he moved on.

Wind magic is green. Mostly fresh and light. There were pale greens, moss greens, emerald, viridian, teal, turquoise, and more. Never quite reaching blue. Should he try smelling it? Would the smell correspond to a color? Maybe later...

Water, he couldn't see at all. Daire wondered why.

Maybe he didn't have an affinity for it. Did he share Violet's affinities now? Was he stuck with these affinities? Would he never be able to breathe underwater?

Daire was a fish. He loves water. Clean water.

With no fish.

Or seaweed.

Or crustaceans.

Or salt.

...Daire likes pools.

He didn't want to go his entire life without being to breathe underwater! Daire constantly tested himself but could never go longer than thirty seconds.

Lungpower was not Daire's forte.

Anyway...

Water was a no-go, but he guessed it was blue.

Fire... Fire is red. It had to be. He would be distraught if it wasn't.

Daire didn't have any fire to test his theory. He didn't bring a lighter and refused to play with flint and steel. Writing by moonlight was scary enough. That beholder was still in the sky after all!

Daire wished he had a stove.

He could make one... but it would just be a glorified fire. Or a kiln. Which was overkill. He wanted a fully powered electric stove and oven where he could bake.

Cookies. He missed them dearly.

Soft fluff of warm, delicious melting chocolate.

"Uhh."

Daire shivered.

He realized he had an unhealthy obsession. So what?

At some point, Daire associated cookies with happiness. Every good moment, happy family gathering, childhood memory, chat in the cafeteria, or long relaxing night was accompanied by a chocolate chip cookie. It wasn't his fault. It had never affected his weight, and it was impossible to be depressed while holding a cookie. It was basically a cure-all drug.

That was why Daire wanted an oven.

Although I don't have any sugar... or flour... or butter. Or chocolate!

Daire admitted to himself.

Or cookware, bowls, metal trays, oven mitts...

Daire had absently drawn cookies and an easy bake oven in the corner of his notebook. It was accompanied by "Yum-Yum" written in fancy cursive.

Snapping out of his daydreaming, he went back to his notes.

Since he had access to three major elements, Daire believed he could potentially create another hybrid element like Magma. Earth and supposedly Fire were both open to him. So one day he could create flaming meteors and have them plummet from the sky.

While that would be cool, it's not really my style.

He was all about creating, not destroying. He did have an amazing idea of using fire to propel himself into the air!

Daire was all about utility. He believed being able to maneuver and control one's environment was always better than explosive power.

Although, power is nice.

Daire imagined himself several inches taller, covered in rippling muscles, being able to defeat the toughest of foes using his physical strength alone. This evolved into an image of him being a blue giant with four arms wielding earth magic, forming and toppling mountains.

Shaking his head, Daire refocused

He was torn between testing his concentration limits under natural circumstances and broadening his abilities.

The Jack of All Trades vs. The Specialist

It was a classic debate. Did he want to create large monumental structures and be able to work for days straight without running out of steam?

Or did he want to branch off and cover a broad area of study? Work on synergy and combination skills.

Versatility vs. Raw Power

A healthy mix of both was likely the best answer.

Daire thought he could cheat if he branched off into multiple areas at once, wouldn't that itself extend his limits of mana usage? One day he would use all his different elements equally. The next Daire would use all of his concentration solely on Earth mana. He could be both The Specialist and Jack of All Trades.

Would it actually work that way, though?

Daire was a dreamer. His theory was one countless people have thought of before. It never worked out unless the main character had boundless plot armor. It would never work for him. He wasn't like all those people he looked up to.

Gripping his pen, Daire whispered.

"I am not the Main Character."