Abuse of Magic

Chapter 92: Compensating...

"What do you intend to do today, Master Joseph?" asked Stella as she sat his breakfast plate down in front of him.

"I want to try and see if I can find Selena in the world of flames. She should be with dad now," he said, taking a large bite of eggs. The chickens were laying much better now, since he had shown the people in charge of taking care of them how to sprout the seeds so they were easier to digest and had more nutrients available. It was pretty labor intensive, but they had enough people.

"How dangerous is that?" she asked, stirring her crumbled sausage in with her eggs.

"In theory it shouldn't be dangerous, but I'll be in a trance and waking me up from it might not be a good idea."

"I'll let the guards know. Should I notify Derek and Stephan?"

"That would be good. They can watch for outside magic to make sure I'm not attacked by any of the other mages."

Setting her plate down, she immediately went to the door, and spoke quietly to whichever guard was there. A few moments later, she returned and picked up her plate.

Finishing his plate just as Derek and Stephan arrived, Joseph explained to them what he was going to be doing. They quickly decided to take turns watching for the outside magic and watching him.

Joseph sat down on the floor, so that if he needed to lay down, it was safer, then focused on FIRE. The thought of how embarrassing it would be if he couldn't enter the realm after all these preparations, popped into his mind and he had to take a breath to calm himself. Circulating his mana through the rune, he opened his eyes and found himself floating in space.

Below him floated the realm of FIRE. To either side was AIR and EARTH. In front of him was WATER. His initial confusion faded as he realized this was the realm that had been foggy before. Because he had learned so many runes, the area had cleared up nicely.

Taking a moment to enjoy his progress, he finally dived towards FIRE. The realm of flames spread before him and when he looked down at himself, he found that he was almost a blob. This form was nothing like the beauty of Selena's form. Even though he was almost an intermediate FIRE mage, he still didn't compare to her. He had only to learn two more spells and go through twenty hours of FIRE practice to reach intermediate.

The realm was less aggressive this time, more curious than anything.

Using SHAPE FIRE, Joseph decided he wanted to be closer to twenty rather than seven. Giving himself a long coat with tails, he decided he needed to be a classy king. After his experience with Dominic, he really didn't want robes any more.

He gave himself just enough muscles to look nice, and absolutely no flab. He still needed to be able to dance with Stella. There, he was done. Looking down, he was rather pleased with himself.

"Are you done making yourself pretty, little Joseph?" asked a voice beside him.

Turning, he smiled as he saw Selena watching him, amused. He was glad his face was already too red to show his embarrassment.

"Miss Selena, a pleasure," he said very proper, and bowed a slight bow.

"You are much more comfortable this time. I can't even imagine what you must have gone through to have advanced this quickly." A slight look of concern flashed over her face.

"I killed a creature of evil and ice, the Cthulhu-sKreT. An avatar of the god NURKONG that had been sealed and was released."

The entire world of flame reacted to that name. Selena smiled.

"Excellent. It was a corrupted thing that should not have existed. FIRE and ICE are normal but what NURKONG did was twisted and dark."

"I was blessed by the god of all magic for it. I killed it by using PURIFY FOOD." He paused as he realized this realm did not limit his human abilities. He had proved it by taking this form.

Near the center of the realm, there was a roar that he could hear. Roaring back at it, the entire world of flames moved and shook. He couldn't control it and understood that. He would never be able to control it. That was not his intent, and it knew that. But it acknowledged him now.

(CONDITIONS MET, BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF MANA <MANA CONTROL SKILL EXCEEDS REQUIREMENTS>, COMPREHENSION OF 7 RUNES OR RUNE SET <BOTH ACHIEVED>, ABILITY TO HEAR ORIGIN WORDS <CURRENTLY MET>, ABILITY TO SPEAK ORIGIN WORDS <CURRENTLY MET>. CURRENTLY POSSIBLE TO STUDY THAUMATOLOGY.)

Turning to Selena, he quickly explained to her what she needed to tell his dad. He intended to stay here and learn as much as he could. This was something he couldn't do as a human and she understood. With a nod, she smiled.

"I look forward to seeing you in your real body young Joseph."

"Tell both mom and dad I love them. I hope they are proud when they see everything I've accomplished."

Selena faded away and he went to work.

Blinking, Joseph woke up a little groggy.

"Stella, how long was I out?"

"Almost 6 hours, Master Joseph."

Hmm. The system showed 5 hours. He didn't think he spoke to Selena that long, so he must have lost time redoing his looks. It was worth it. He hated being short for his age.

Stephan looked at him worriedly. "Master Joseph, are you alright?"

"A little drained is all. It wasn't a mage trance where I was invited. I went to that realm intentionally so it's more tiring. But if I can keep it up, I will learn Origin words the primal form of magic."

Stephan swallowed. Joseph just laughed.

"I can teach you and Derek, someday, but Origin words cannot be spoken by humans. Our voice isn't deep enough. I have to learn other spells that allow me to do it."

Stephan looked disappointed. "Must it be so hard for us humans?"

"Stephan, other races may be born with a head start, but learning and advancing through our own efforts is what it means to be a mage. Those who are given the power without the struggles, will never advance like we will. They will never have to discover new ways and experiment. They will never think of magic in all the wonderful ways we will. Stephan, we will be masters through our own efforts, and so much stronger than others at our level of magic from our struggles. We will crush the arrogant who are simply blessed. I look forward to the day dragons bow before my might."

With a smile he added, "Or I could just be compensating because I'm short."