3 Explosive Potential Part I

All around me were tall shelves filled with books. I was currently sitting on a soft carpet in the middle of the library. The book in front of me was titled The Element of Water.

Inside it was all types of information about water and how to use it. Various topics such as its capabilities, potential uses, basic compound possibilities, and the theory behind summoning it versus manipulating existing water.

The topic I was most interested in though was about how to control the intensity. The section started out by explaining intensity. Intensity is quite the complex concept. However, my knowledge from the science classes I took on Earth really helped.

In simplest terms, intensity had a lot in common with temperature. Temperature is the measure of how much kinetic energy is held by an object or space. This kinetic energy is in the form of the particle vibrating.

Intensity is similar in that you can adjust the power or form of an elemental spell by manipulating the flow of mana. This is different for each element but the core concept is the same. For water, slowing down the flow will turn it into ice. The book explains this phenomenon by stating that slowing the flow until it becomes almost the same as earth will turn the water solid.

Since this book was about water, it did not explain how the other elements work but this was a great place to start. 'I hope that this same guy wrote books about the other elements too. His explanation methods are great!'

I decided that it was time that I try to manipulate some water. This was the first step in practicing the water element. It takes more skill to be able to summon water as that involves extracting the water element from your own mana.

I ran to the checkout desk and placed the book in front of the librarian.

She was an old woman. She smiled at me. "Callum, I see you are reading. That brings joy to these old bones."

I smiled back at her. "Mrs. Warren, you're too kind. How have you been?"

She nodded. "I am well. My research is going swimmingly. I'm so glad I took the path of a scholar rather than remaining nobility. It is a humble life but a rewarding one!"

I laughed. "I'll bring this book back later. I'm learning magic!"

She raised her brow. "Really now. Thinking about it, this book is about the water element. I thought your mother might have decided to resume her studies."

I laughed and shook my head. "Nope. She is too busy. Maybe once my sister, Tina, starts her apprenticeship."

She nodded. "I hope so. Please tell your sister that I wish her luck as a seamstress and your parents that I send my regards."

I nodded. "Sounds good, Mrs. Warren. See you later!" I grabbed the book and rushed out of the library.

She called from behind me. "Remember! We close at sunset!"

I turned around as I backpedalled. "Got it!"

Running through the town was always a pleasure. All of the guards know me because of my late father and now James so we always wave to each other.

On the sides of the street were countless houses and store fronts. One the way to my destination, I passed a butcher, blacksmith, and emporium. Stores that sold items related to magic were called emporiums. I had yet to go in one.

My destination was a pond on the far side of town. It is surrounded by trees and bushes so it is quite secluded. This was the best place to practice my magic without garnering too much attention. After all, a nine year old practicing magic would be quite the shock to most.

I reached the pond and sat down on a rock that sat next to it. I opened the book to the section that explains the theory of manipulating water.

It was quite interesting actually. When manipulating existing elements, you are only limited by the amount of mana you can control. Using the connection between all things through mana, one must impose their willpower onto the mana that exists in an element.

I'd say I'm pretty stubborn so I think I have good willpower. Also, whatever is wrong with me might actually help make this easier.

I closed my eyes and felt my surroundings. The mana moving through the air, into the leaves and out, through the trees and flowing down to their roots. It was a beautiful feeling. I focused on the pond in front of me and felt the flow of the mana.

The book stated that one needs to grab hold of this flow using your willpower. This does not exhaust your own mana but will still lead to mental fatigue nonetheless.

I took a deep breath, in through the nose, out through the mouth. As I exhaled, I slowly moved my hands, attempting to guide the mana flow of the water on a path of my choosing. As I did so, I felt the flow of the mana in the water moving differently than it was before.

I opened my eyes and was shocked. On my first try, I had successfully manipulated the water. 'Oh boy, this can't be normal.'

I sighed as I continued to move the water around. I made the jet of water snake around in the air slowly. Watching the flow of the mana follow my lead was empowering and exciting.

After doing this for a few minutes, I decided to see if I could take it to the next level. I slowly stood up and steadied my stance. I pulled my left elbow back and kept my palm facing upwards. I then had my right hand extend across my body with that palm facing the ground.

I took a few deep breaths, synchronizing with the flow of mana. I predicted that the more in tune I was with the natural flow, the better it would follow my commands.

Taking one last breath, I followed the flow using the sway of my body and whipped out my right arm, pointing it straight forwards. I couldn't have been more correct. The water quickly whipped forwards and put a gash in the tree I was aiming at.

I sat down on the rock and shook my head as I let go of the water. It splashed back into the pond. 'This is too easy. I thought magic was supposed to be hard! Well maybe it is. I'm not even at mom's level yet.'

I decided to put my natural talent to the test and see if I could manipulate intensity on the first try just like the other things I've done thus far.

I reached down and manipulated a small orb of water to float above my hand. I closely analyzed the flow. It almost felt as if there were multiple flows within this orb that resembled convection currents.

I raised my brow at this. "Hmmmm, very interesting. Well, here goes nothing!"

I grabbed hold of the flow and forced it to stop. The orb immediately froze. My eyes lit up at my success but the glee did not last long. The frozen orb quickly developed cracks and then shattered apart.

I started at the chunks of ice in disbelief. 'Where did I go wrong? I shaped it just like mom did and then stopped the flow just like the book said.'

Suddenly, my eyes lit up with an idea. What if this was similar to how metals weaken when they rapidly cooled after being casted.

I repeated the process and acquired an orb of water. I grabbed hold of the flow and gently tugged in the opposite direction to slow it down gradually. I felt the water quickly plummeting in temperature as it neared the freezing point. As it reached that point, the water slowly froze into a solid orb of ice. This time there were no cracks.

I then launched the orb of ice at the tree and it didn't break like I thought it would. This was the most interesting part about it. Ice that is properly created through magic must be quite hard. The question being, how hard?

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a small multitool that James retrieved from my old house. It was apparently made in the dwarf kingdom so it is super high quality. He received it as a gift for his promotion to captain. James replaced him after his death.

I repeated the process to make another ice construct. Rather than retrieve the one I shot at the tree, I decided that it would be better to practice so I can get better. I shaped the water into a brick and then turned it to ice.

I then flipped out the knife from the multi tool and tried to scratch the ice. After dragging the knife across the ice and applying quite a bit of pressure, there was no mark.

My eyes lit up with an amazing idea. I would take a page out of my mom's book and use ice in a new way. I grabbed hold of the mana in the brick and forced it to flow again. Unfortunately, it cracked and shattered as I did so.

It turns out that the same thing can happen when melting the ice as freezing it if the process is forced. I sighed at my stupidity before repeating the process and getting an orb of water in my hand.

I first manipulated the various flows into one and then shaped it into a cylinder. I left about four inches of the cylinder remaining the same but shaped the flow of the remainder into a blade. Once I achieved my desired shape, I attempted to freeze it. The flow gradually slowed until the water froze solid.

I let the ice knife drop into my hand and grinned. I then thought of something. Can I be hurt by my own mana? I decided to test it out.

I gripped the ice knife in my right hand and stuck out the thumb on my left hand. I slowly and gently pushed the point into my thumb. I felt the pressure of the knife as the tip punctured my finger and a drop of blood came out.

I flinched slightly from the pain but then sighed. It would have been cool but I guess it doesn't work that way. I looked up at the sky and noticed the sun nearing the horizon. It was time to be done for the day. Which element should I play with next?

I returned the book to the library and rushed home. Sonia greeted me from the kitchen. She was using fire magic to light the stove.

I smiled and rushed over to the sink. "Mom! I have to show you something!"

Sonia turned to me. "Did something happen, Cal?"

I filled a cup with water and nodded. "You bet your ass something happened!"

Sonia nearly choked. "Watch your language, young man!"

I coughed. "Sorry. Won't happen again." I rushed over to the table and sat down, placing the cup of water in front of me.

Sonia raised her brow. "Now what do you have to show me?"

I grinned as I raised my hand casually and lifted the water out of the cup in a steady stream. Glancing at Sonia, her mouth was gaping in surprise. I didn't care to stop there. I then shaped the water into a knife and slowly froze it from base to tip. After I finished that, I launched the knife at my bedroom door.

Sonia couldn't handle it. She dropped to her knees and started to cry.

I tilted my head. "What's wrong, mom? Is this not good?"

She shook her head. "It is good. It's great actually! But what have I done? I've created a monster. What is your father going to say?"

I laughed. "Come on mom. He'll be thrilled to have a mage in the family even if I'm not your blood."

She laughed as tears continued to roll down her face. "I have never heard of anyone that progressed this fast." She then got serious. "You must keep this hidden. Many people will want to take advantage of you. Don't go trusting strangers with knowledge of your abilities."

I nodded. "What about Mrs. Warren? She is a magical researcher, right?"

Sonia's eyes lit up. "Cal, I wish I was as smart as you. That's a great idea. Show her what you've got after you practice a bit more. Let me teach you something else before dinner. Cooking can wait."

I smiled excitedly and nodded. "Thanks, mom!"

She came over and hugged me before kissing the top of my head. "Of course, sweetie. Let's sit."

We both sat at the table across from each other and she placed down the diagram she drew earlier. "Remember this? Well this is how mana is broken up. Raw mana is the combination of all the elements. By expending your own mana and extracting the elements from it, you can summon the elements yourself rather than being limited to manipulating what is around you."

I nodded. "I read about that briefly in the book I borrowed today. It had a whole section on the theory of manipulating versus summoning."

Sonia smiled. "Good. That means I won't need to explain more. Do you know how to do it?"

I shook my head. "It had an explanation in the book but I wasn't able to wrap my head around it. All I was able to get from it is that you manipulate your own mana rather than the existing stuff."

Sonia nodded and smiled. "Exactly. The same way that you control the flow of the water's mana, you must control your own. There is one step that you are missing though. Go ahead and feel the mana inside you."

I nodded and closed my eyes. I took note of the huge flow of mana within me but didn't think anything of it. Honing in on a particular part of the flow, I noticed how there were 6 different flows within the general flow. They all varied.

My eyes lit up as I understood. "The raw mana in my body is made up of all the elements. I just need to grab hold of the part of the mana I want to manipulate."

Sonia nodded. "Good. Now try it."