Magical Engineering

Alex

“You’re sure you don’t want to join us planet-side?” Yorela asked.

It hadn’t been the first time she had asked, and I had turned her down each time before. As interested as nearly everyone else was in Vidack, I just didn’t see the appeal. It was one more delay in our hunt for William. While I did understand why we had to stop, I couldn’t bring myself to take in the sights, not when there was time for more training.

“No, thank you, I appreciate the offer. Just keep John and Maud out of trouble,” I answered.

“Suit yourself, but if you change your mind, don’t be shy. It will be good for you to get off the ship,” Yorela said before leaving the room.

I doubted I would. Instead, I quickly made my way to the training room that had been used for sparring against Mel. I wanted to catch the man before he had a chance to disembark. I needed one more training session before he left.

There had been something about the atmosphere here since we landed. It felt stronger than anywhere we had been so far. There was something resonating through me and into my mana orb, and it just felt right to put that to use before we left again.

I found him floating in the center of the room, a dozen halberds surrounding him. His eyes were closed, not that I was sure that meant anything. His physiology was still the most unique I had encountered, so what he actually needed for his senses or what those senses were, I had no real idea. Did Dad even know?

Each of the halberd’s tips glowed a different color as they started to rotate slowly around him. Small flashes of light, matching the radiances let off by the weapons, danced on the tips. It was nearly hypnotizing to watch.

Just as I felt my eyes start to grow heavy, the rotation stopped. Shaking my head slightly, I regained my focus only to see the weapons vanish, all of their energy discharged into Mel, and then flowed out of his body down through the small sapling I hadn’t noticed before.

It was the potted cloudtree Cecile had given Mel before we left. Was Mel helping it to grow with the energy, or was this how he rejuvenated his own body? One of the leaves on the tree vibrated just slightly as the energy transfer finished.

Mel’s eyes opened, and he looked directly into my own for nearly a minute before speaking. “Not gonna head down ta the planet?” he asked.

“No, but I was hoping to talk to you, and possibly try a fight before you left. There’s something about the energy of the world that seems to be interacting with my mana orb. Is that normal? I know Earth had a weak mana flow. Is that just what happens in places with a strong one?” I didn’t think that was the answer, but I didn’t even know the right questions to ask.

“Not really my area of knowledge. Pretty sure chaotic space and mana flows don’t mix right normally at all, though that may just be about forming the orbs. Been a while since I heard anything about that. What’s it feel like?” he asked, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked me over.

“Like something is singing, but I can’t quite make out the words. It almost feels like a dream that you don’t quite remember. Does any of that make sense?” I didn’t think it did. Even as I said it, it sounded like nonsense, and I was the one experiencing it.

“Use your mana orb,” Mel instructed, still giving me the odd look.

The only mana skill I had unlocked so far was Radiance. I had put all five ranks I had managed to gain into it. As I triggered it, I felt my core energy surge from my body. It wasn’t the first time I had done so, which was why I could easily tell the difference.

It burst out of me much more forcefully than it should have, blanketing the whole room with the energy. The singing I couldn’t entirely hear before erupted all around us. A harmony of sounds filled the air.

“That’s the sound!” I yelled, trying to get my voice heard over it.

“Yeah, kinda figured that out already!” Mel yelled back.

As the effect started to die down, a System notification popped into my view. It was one I hadn’t seen before. I smiled.