‘’Alterations’’

I climb up the wall, while my hands glow a faint bluish light. ‘I can barely see anything…’ I look down, but I haven’t made any real progress. It felt like I have at least climbed about halfway, but I am barely from the ground. ‘Well, I’ve got to keep goi-!‘ A strong gust of wind interrupts me and breaks my concentration, which blows the bluish light of my hands as I plummet down to the ground in spectacular fashion as I land on my back. ‘Gah! Aaahhh~ that hurts like hell…’

‘You…really suck at this…’ Evander looks down to me, while he’s sitting on the carriage.

‘I don’t see you climbing up a 10-meter wall, you bastard!’

[half an hour earlier…

‘Seriously, how are we supposed to break in? That wall is at least 8 meters!’ Evander looks up the wall.

‘It’s probably 10 meters.’

‘You’re not helping the case, geezer!’ Since we couldn’t get in the normal way, we decided to break in. There’s only one problem. ‘So, how are we supposed to break in?’ I ask my question again, while Evander strokes his beard.

‘We could burst through the gate.’ I grab my shoe and throw it at him, but he catches it flawlessly, and confidently throws it back.

‘Don’t be retarded! If you want to storm the city, go right ahead, but don’t involve me in your death wish!’

‘What did you say, runt!’ We start arguing again about nothing. We stay like that a little bit, until we grow tired of fighting.

‘Haah…haah…say Evander…let’s climb the wall…’ I can barely speak with this heavy breathing.

‘Alright…let’s do it…’

A little while later, we find a blind spot from the guard at the wall. ‘So, how are we going to do it?’ Evander asks me the ultimate question, something I’ve been pondering with the moment we decided to break through.

‘Do you have a wall-climbing spell or something?’ He looks annoyed at me. Figured.

‘You really think that magic is something that falls out of the air, don’t you? Listen, you know the basics, so I’m pretty sure you can think of something yourself, right?’

‘…’ I am silent. I have nothing to say to this but: ‘What basics?’ His jaw flies open. ‘If you mean about the fact that you need a magic item as a filter, then yeah, but that’s all.

He facepalms himself and groans. ‘I am stupid. I thought you already knew the basics for some reason. Argh, we don’t have time for a complete lesson, but just know that you are extremely talented.’ I scratch my head for a moment, completely clueless about what he is talking about. ‘Let’s just say that you can make magic ‘’stick’’ to things if you know the right spell and the right mental image. I don’t know if the Arc can do that though, so just take this for now.’ He hands me a small wand. ‘Given the way you’ve been fighting and taking the history stories about the Arc, I can safely assume it’s a Magic Item that can only convert Unique Magic.’

‘U-Unique Magic? What are yo-‘

‘Shush, boy. I’m thinking.’ I go silent. He’s like a teacher for the moment. ‘Okay, it’s time for a very rapid lesson, but it’s time for you to learn real magic.’

‘R-Real magic…?’

‘Well, what you have been doing has been real, but I guess this is going to be a little bit more creative. It usually takes quite a while to learn it, but when I said that you were talented, I meant it. You are extremely talented.’

‘W-What…?’ I quietly blush by his sudden praise. I have no idea what he’s talking about, but having Evander praise me…it’s a nice feeling.

‘Brandr…I’m going to teach you Alternating Magic!’ I gulp as I repeat the words in my mind. Alternating Magic… ‘You’re probably confused, but with that wand, I’m pretty sure you easily start making some magic that will literally make you ‘’stick’’! I stay silent as he starts explaining.

‘I’m sure you remember the theory of magic and the magic items. That they’re filters for our body to convert magic into something viable for us to you. It becomes part of our body, our system once converted, and it can be used to create whole new things.’ He takes a big breath and conjures a flame out of his hand. ‘Using the magic that has been converted in my body, and I use my own imagination to ‘’unleash’’ the energy in a new form. Like I just did with the flame. In the same sense, you can use it to create other thing beyond the mind of the elements.’ He releases the flames and with another big breath, creates a glow of blueish light in his hand. ‘It requires creativity, imagination, will, concentration, desire and the right amount of magical outlet in order to bring about fascinating things.’ Evander starts walking to the wall and places his glowing hand above his head onto it, and pulls himself up, supporting his body by putting his legs onto the wall as well.

‘I-I can’t believe it…you’re actually stuck!’

‘You haven’t been in Illuminia long enough if you’re impressed by this.’ He releases himself from the wall by fading the blueish light.

‘Quick question!’ I instinctively raise my hand.

‘What is it?’

‘Why do you chant when you make magic if you can just make flames without saying anything?’

He smiles, so I guess he’s happy that I asked him that. ‘You are absolutely right. Why would I chant when I can easily conjure magic like that? The answer is…I don’t need to.’ He looks confused at him as he continues explaining. ‘I tend to chant when I use more difficult magic or magic out of my comfort zone. It’s to focus myself and saying my chants helps me build up a proper image in my head.’

‘So, it helps you focus…’ I guess that makes sense.

‘Now, it’s your turn to try.’

‘M-Me?!’

‘No, the tree in the background, of course you, dunce.’ He walks behind me and sits down while smoking his pipe. ‘Creativity, imagination, will, concentration, desire and the right amount of magical outlet.’

‘O-Okay…’ I clench the wand in my hand and close my eyes, trying to focus on…something. Trying to find the same feel as I grasp the Arc in my hand, the magic flowing around me. My body familiarizes once again with the surroundings, feeling the magic swirl around me. This is it, the magic I have been looking for. When I have the Arc, I always try to keep the magic inside my sword and never let it enter my body too much, but now I have to keep in inside me and convert it.

…

There! It feels extremely weird. Like another soul entering your body and occupying it. ‘Focus, Brandr.’ I can hear a familiar voice in the background, but I pay no attention to it. I lock the magic inside my body and without realizing, drop the wand on the ground, as I direct the energy towards my hands and feet. Stick. Stick. Stick. I shout it as much as possible in my head as I form the mental image. Luckily, Evander gave me a template to work with. A blue light, engulfing my hands and feet, until the image gets firm into my head and body.

‘Excellent work, Brandr. You keep on impressing me.’

Opening my eyes, I see and feel a blueish light surrounding my hands. ‘E-Evander! I-I…’

‘Don’t celebrate too much and focus, Brandr!’ He startles me as I return my focus to my own hands, as the light slowly diminishes away. I try to focus as much as possible, but the concentration has already faded. The light disappears completely. ‘If you lose concentration, it’ll disappear…’

‘But you were talking to me earlier with it!’

‘That’s because I’m over hundreds of years old with more knowledge than you can even fathom.’

‘Okay, o’ wise deccenia man~!’

‘What I’m trying to say, you empty vase, is that I have been using magic longer than you’ve been alive, so I am far more skilled in that and can keep my magic and concentration up for far longer periods that you.’

‘I see…I guess you’re right…’ He nods. ‘I’m not ignoring the fact that you just called me an empty vase, you geezer!!’ I throw my shoe once again, and yet again he catches it marvellously before returning it to me.

‘Go crawl like a spider!’ Evander tells me from the carriage he leisurely smokes his pipe and rubs his beard.

‘Alright.’ I pick up the wand from the ground and close my eyes again, focusing on the magic around me. Everything goes a lot quicker once you’ve done it before. The magic successfully gathers inside me as I lock it in my body. Without muttering a word, I start to guide the magic to my hands and form the same mental image as Evander’s example. ‘Hah…’ I slowly open my eyes again to see the light radiate around my hands and feet. ‘Like a spider!!!’ I put the wand in my pocket and run towards the wall, sticking against it with my hands and feet while I crawl up like a spider. It goes extremely slow and tedious as my muscles start aching after a meter or so. A strong gust suddenly blows me from my grip as I plummet to the ground.

‘Shoot!’ I get back up, but the spell has already worn off. I lost my concentration completely with that fall. ‘Again!!!’ I grab the wand out of my pocket and start focusing once more, closing my eyes and letting the magic channel through me.’

The light slowly returns around Brandr’s hands and feet as he charges to the wall. ‘I can’t believe that I would ever see someone as talented as him again…’ mutters out of my mouth without thought. Most people struggle so much with the basic steps of magic, using the magic item as a filter and converting it into their own. He didn’t even realise that he did it without the wand on his first try and now he conjures magic like it’s second nature. ‘This boy…he can save the world…I’m sure of it.’ I slip out of my mouth confidently as I stand up, only to see him plummet down again and start conjuring his Alternation Magic. ‘Too bad he’s stupid.’

I climb up the wall, while my hands glow a faint bluish light. ‘I can barely see anything…’ I look down, but I haven’t made any real progress. It felt like I have at least climbed about halfway, but I am barely from the ground. ‘Well, I’ve got to keep goi-!‘ A strong gust of wind interrupts me and breaks my concentration, which blows the bluish light of my hands as I plummet down to the ground in spectacular fashion as I land on my back. ‘Gah! Aaahhh~ that hurts like hell…’

‘You…really suck at this…’ Evander looks down to me, while he’s sitting on the carriage.

‘I don’t see you climbing up a 10-meter wall, you bastard!’]

I recast the magic again with the exact same process and start to sprint (yes, sprint) up the wall, actually getting me farther than I thought I could get, but cruel nature blows another strong wind and I almost drop to the ground as I get released from the wall and try to grab the wall instinctively. I don’t drop down. ‘Huh, what the-!’ I look at my hands, were the light is slowly diminishing. ‘Crap, I need to focus!’ I completely forgot I also had the magic surrounding my hands and as I regain my focus, I start to crawl like a madman onto the wall until I make the top. ‘Hah…hah…phew, just made it…’ I lie on my back, completely tired of all that climbing.

‘You sure took your sweet time.’ Of course, for some damn reason, this idiot is already up. ‘I’m not even going to question this…’ My vision shifts to a familiar sound. Footsteps in the distance. ‘Crap, guards! Evander, what are we gonna do?!’ I look around, only to realise he has disappeared. ‘E-Evander?!’ The mist is really thick, so I can’t see where he went. ‘Crap! Uhm!’ I think as hard as I can. ‘That’s it!’ I grab the wand from my pocket and quickly focus the magic around my entire body. If I can make the magic stick to things, I can make it do all sorts of things. Evander said it himself. Creativity, imagination, will, concentration, desire and the right amount of magical outlet. I have the will, the concentration, the desire and creativity. I just need the right imagination…the correct mental image and use the right amount of magic to make sure I don’t self-destruct. ‘Lighter…lighter…’ The magic shrouds my body and feels like it hardens as I take a leap of the wall into the town. ‘Work!’ I descend downwards the 10-meter in a slow-fall and soon touch down to the ground, where I notice Evander already smoking his pipe as he sits on a barrel, like he just teleports wherever he wants to go to.

‘Well, took you long enough again. You really need to get faster in these things,’ he says annoyingly, while he cannot suppress his smile. I have no idea what’s going on with him.

‘You oaf, you should be impressed by the fact I did that! I should be showered in praise, but instead you keep vanishing when I need you most!’ I whisper as loud as I can.

‘Did you need me though? Seems like you’re doing just fine by yourself.’

‘Hphm!’

‘Anyway, better keep quiet from now. We’re in territory we shouldn’t be in. They don’t know us, and that works in both or advantage and disadvantage.’ He has a point, no one will recognize us, but if someone starts to question if we belong here or not, they’ll try to kick us out.

Evander starts to walk out of the alley, so I quickly follow him. ‘Alright, we have to be extra careful, and not draw any suspicion to us.’ The moment we walk out of the alley, Evander stumbles on someone. It’s a guard. That idiot, he’s already starts drawing attention. When we both look up, we look right in the face of the guards. They’re the same guards as the ones at the gate. We all stay silent of a few seconds.

‘W-What are you guys doing here…?’ The guard questions us. We’re only a few minutes in the city, and we’re already busted. We both don’t say a thing, and then:

‘RUUUNNN!!!’ Both Evander and I dash away as fast as possible.

‘W-Wait, you bastards!’ The guard shouts something, but we’re already far away. We’re both running as fast as we can.

‘Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit!!!’ We take as many corners as possible, trying to shake the trail.

‘Evander, you fool! You got us busted in seconds!’

‘H-How could I know they would be here?!’

‘It’s your fault to run in the open like that anyway!!!’ We’re not thinking rationally again, as we shout at each other through the streets of New Asonia.

……………….

After a long time of pure straight running, we halt in a nearby alley. ‘Haah…haah… I’m running too much out of breath today.’ This is all Evander’s fault. ‘So, what do you think what will happen?’ Evander, who looks awfully pale and in pain, raises his hand, telling me to wait. ‘Wow…Are you okay? You look horrible.’ He sits down, gasping for air.

‘They’re probably…going to search for us. Make us wanted or something.’ He forces himself to speak, but what I hear isn’t exactly reassuring.

‘I’ve never been wanted…this is kind of exciting.’ My fantasies go wild for a moment. ‘Brandr, the wanted Hero…it has a nice ring to it.’ Evander hits me with his staff before I completely get drawn in my fictional world.

‘Don’t forget our goal. I think it’s best to figure out this mist, and why the city is in lockdown.’

I nod at his proposal. ‘Let’s go.’