Mage Among Superheroes

It was rather difficult to test things on a group without a group, so in addition to Midnight and I, we got Sir Kalman, Calculator, Current, and Lustre to volunteer. It would have been easier to just get Squad Ten if we wanted a group, but he was also just one person so for this particular scenario that wasn't actually helpful. Ultimately, we got the people with nothing to do… and Calculator who wanted to be there for experiments.

"We'll be starting off with something simple," I explained. "Force Armor doesn't use a lot of mana and doesn't have a lot of risk if something goes weird. So we'll be attempting that."

"What's the purpose here again?" Lustre asked. If others had been free it would have been better to not have him, because his power literally involved distraction. But as long as he wasn't trying, the effect wasn't too bad.

"I want to cast a spell on multiple people."

"Can't you do that already?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Only one at a time. In a combat scenario, that means both the time to shape sufficient mana as well as the required downtime between casts."

"It might also use less mana total," Calculator said. "Given the potential that such a thing acts like a higher level spell. Though that's an extrapolation from… unreliable literature."

"He means fantasy wikis," I said. "Anyway, I don't know if crossdimensional inspiration will be right about this particular thing, but it could be. And I had a feeling that it might be possible. So, let's get started. Everyone gather round, please."

Force Armor and many other spells were best cast from close up. Often touching, but it wasn't actually required. I gathered mana for Force Armor, reached out and… a flash of light sent me staggering back. Well, that was better than when Midnight and I first attempted Shocking Grasp together. Which is why I had been trying Force Armor. But it didn't stick to anyone and kind of fizzled away.

I frowned. "Okay, clearly I need to be more specific with my aiming." I had been thinking of everyone at once, maybe I needed a primary target that it would sprout from? Like Chain Lightning. But without the lightning part. Just Force Armor.

I concentrated. Gathered a small bit of mana. Even before I cast, I knew it wasn't correct. Well, it technically worked, but only as a normal casting. Sir Kalman had the spell on him, but nobody else.

"You need more mana," Midnight advised.

"Well, yeah. It's obvious when you say it, of course," I shrugged. "Hmm, I suppose we have to remove that now."

Sir Kalman nodded. He swung his gauntleted fist into his own chest. The first swing cracked the Force Armor, revealing its form as mana trickled out of cracks in nothing. The second one shattered it, and it was gone. It was kind of terrifying that Kalman could do so much damage with such a bad angle. That was basically as much as cracking a skull right in front of your own chest. Then again, we knew he was strong.

"Next attempt," I said. I didn't want to jump too much at once, so I went for double the base cost of the spell, trying to target Kalman and if I got a secondary target from there Lustre. Once more, the spell affected Sir Kalman- but the extra mana intended for Lustre simply fizzled away. "Double wasn't enough," I frowned.

"I'd expect triple or quadruple," Calculator said. "Though in your case it might also increase to an odd number from where it is, given the wider range of spell levels."

I nodded, "It would cost a lot more to try every point of mana, but I felt like I was getting closer."

Midnight nodded, "There was something."

I pondered. Triple the cost was next. Triple the cost for two castings was less mana efficient, so unless I had vast quantities of mana and extremely little time, it would be inefficient. But maybe that was how things were going to be. Or maybe I was tricking myself, and this wasn't actually possible.

Triple. 6 mana, since I didn't want to assume the cost reductions from upgrades would apply in this situation. Sir Kalman and Lustre. I felt the spell take hold on the two of them, but between the three of us erupted a quantity of leftover magic that immediately shattered the Force Armor just formed- both theirs and mine.

"Ugh, what?" I held my head. "Double isn't enough, but triple is… far too much?"

"It worked though, right?" Midnight asked. "I felt it form on the two of them. Before it broke."

Calculator poked his head closer. "Indeed, I saw the visual effects. Mage, how many targets were you envisioning?"

"Well it hadn't gotten to two yet, so it was just them," I said.

"And what proportion of the mana would it have taken to cause such an explosion in the middle there?" he asked.

"I'm not really sure," I said. "Honestly, uncontrolled like that it shouldn't have been able to break the armor. Because magic should be less powerful when unintentional. I think. To be honest, a year ago I wouldn't have thought it could be… inexact."

"Regardless," Calculator said. "It should require at least one more target. And it may do you well to consider a fourth. I must ask, did you get an ability for this?"

Looking at my status window, I shook my head. "Nope, nothing. I probably have to do it right, first."

Fourth attempt. This time, it would be 6 mana again. Three targets? No, four was best. And one of them being myself or Midnight would be… a bad idea at the moment. So that meant everyone.

"Okay, everyone get ready. I won't be using more mana so the worst that can happen is… that again. But I'm including you two now also," I pointed to Calculator and Current. The two of them nodded.

6 mana. It should at least affect Calculator as well. Current was in my mind as the final target if there was enough mana. And if it split a weaker version between everyone, we'd still learn something. I held onto the mana for a brief moment before releasing it with my mental command. I was worried about another backfire or… something. But instead the magic settled in place without a fuss.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

A quick tap on everyone with something sharp confirmed the presence of Force Armor, though I could sense the active spell regardless.

"I guess it worked," I said.

Time to check this window.