To You It Is Magic

The white dwarf star that was locally known as the Eye of God had begun to close. Dusk approached as the caravan found itself suddenly besieged by a pack of savage weasel-like creatures known as the Minx.

Their beady eyes gleamed with malice as they charged towards the wagons, their claws and razor-sharp teeth glinting in the fading light. The sound of their snarls filled the air, sending shivers down the spines of even the bravest warriors among the caravan.

Fear gripped their hearts as they realized the danger they were in. Jarl let out a fierce battle cry, his voice echoing through the caravan as he charged towards the Minx.

The creatures lunged at him with their sharp claws, but he deftly dodged their attacks with his impressive agility. His oversized scimitar cut through his foes in wide arcs.

He cleaved through multiple Minx in one strike, sending cascading blood and chunks of fur flying through the air. He carved his way through them with ruthless efficiency.

Despite their numbers, the Minx were no match for the sheer strength and skill of the hulking warrior.

Cyrus's heart pounded in his chest as he watched the gruesome scene of Jarl's destruction play out before him. He was thankful that their first encounter was not one such as this.

Even the Minx directly in front of Cyrus paused at the screams of their comrades as they were torn in half by the giant serrated blade.

His foresight ability allowed him to anticipate the movements of the Minx with astonishing precision. It gave him a crucial advantage in the heat of battle.

He could see the creatures' every move three seconds before it happened, allowing him to dodge and weave around them with lightning-fast reflexes.

His crescent moon blade glinted in the fading light as he deftly struck at his enemies, slicing through their flesh and disemboweling his foes with ruthless efficiency.

The Minx's howls of pain echoed in his ears as he danced around them, moving with a fluid grace that belied his deadly intent.

His eyes locked onto each of his opponents with a fierce determination, his mind fully focused on the task at hand. With each passing moment, he felt his confidence grow, as he carved his way through the Minx with effortless precision.

As the fighting continued, Miranda emerged from the safety of the caravan, a determined look etched on her face.

She raised her arms, and the air around her began to swirl and twist. Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind roared through the battlefield, sending dust and debris flying in all directions.

Two Minx warriors found themselves caught in the vortex, struggling to breathe as the air around them disappeared. Miranda took advantage of their weakened state, sending another powerful gust of wind towards the trapped creatures.

The force slammed them into the ground, suffocating them and leaving them motionless. It was a brutal but necessary move, and Cyrus was utterly shocked at the sight.

Real magic was a myth, a tale of fairies and forests witches. He had heard Queen mention it once but he thought he had simply misunderstood her meaning.

This was incredible! This was utterly life changing, and that was from a boy that not too long ago was given system control to an entire star shell, whatever that was.

In his completely stunned reaction, he did not foresee the tip of the barbed spear that was about to penetrate his abdomen.

That is when a giant scimitar came twirling through the air and slammed into the chest of the Minx that was about to run him through. The furry creature howled as it was thrown twelve feet from the blow.

Queen responds, "Congratulations, Battle Quest complete. Congratulations, Secondary Quests successful. Experience distributed. You have enough experience to advance one level. You have bonus items waiting for distribution."

Jarl pressed his fist to his heart and bowed slightly, "If he were just going to kick you in the balls, I would have let him do it before I killed him."

Cyrus laughed, both from the excellent news and from Jarl's reference to the first day they met, "Well, then I'm glad that he was trying to kill me!"

Cyrus returned the warrior's salute. He had never seen that sign of respect before, he decided that he liked it.

The ground was slick with blood, bone, and bile The smell of death was overwhelming. Jarl stood panting, his chest heaving with the effort of the fight. His scimitar was dripping liquid maroon, and his arms were sore from the strain of swinging the massive weapon.

Cyrus was catching his breath, grateful for his foresight ability that had allowed him to dodge the creatures' attacks. Miranda was still holding the air around the two suffocating Minx, waiting for them to draw their last breaths.

Slowly, the commotion died down, and the caravan guard arrived to offer support.

The Minx attack was over, leaving the caravan in a state of pandemonium. The remaining Minx fled into the shadows of the grass, leaving behind the bodies of their fallen kin.

The caravan had emerged victorious, but the cost of the battle was heavy, and the group would need time to recover before they could move on.

"Queen!" Cyrus said out loud, making everyone around him turn his way. Then they all looked to Miranda who was just letting her control of the air seep out of her body.

She turned to look at Cyrus with a stare that could melt iron. She turned and went to her wagon.

Queen responds, "Greetings user Cyrus, I would suggest once again that you use our mental communication to speak with me."

Cyrus mumbled through gritted teeth, "I know."

Jarl pulled his sword from the dead Minx chest and looked to Cyrus, "Magic man, you are odd. You are a good fighter, but you are so odd."

Cyrus decided to walk down the road a little to get some distance between himself and any others that would think him even more odd to talk to himself.

He was very unsuccessful as they were all paying attention to him as they went about cleaning up and picking through the bodies of their recently deceased foes.

"Did you see that? Did you see what Miranda did? She controlled the wind with her mind! Is she a witch? Is magic real?" Cyrus could stop the flow of questions.

Queen responds, "yes, user Cyrus, to you magic exists."

Cyrus sighed, he seemed to do that a lot when asking Queen questions that really peeked his interest. "Let me guess, I don't have the cognitive capacity to understand so your going to have to dumb it down for me, right?"

Queen responds, "No, you could grasp the differences of what you would call magic and what is understood to be advanced technology of a genetically superior superintelligence, but it is just much more simple for you to think of it in terms of magic, for now."

Cyrus nodded in understanding, "Ok, can you teach me?"

Queen responds, "Yes, I have the capabilities to unlock this level of control from your mind, but I will not."

Cyrus went from elated to deflated almost instantaneously, "Why? I, I command you to unlock my brain! I am a controller and I want access to that part of the system."

The men a hundred feet away from him that were picking up the bodies of those that were slain could hear Cyrus arguing with himself and were absolutely perplexed. Jarl just shook his head and continued to help clean up.

Queen responds, "You, user Cyrus, are a User, not a Controller. If you survive, you may be a Controller someday, but that day is not this day."

Cyrus felt like he was getting lectured by one of the village Elders for overstepping his boundaries. It was weird but somehow comforting.

He knew that Queen needed him to advance in power, he didn't know why yet, but he knew that he had been chosen for something.

She wanted what was best for him. He just needed to convince her that learning these real magic skills would be what is best for him.

Queen responds, "I am in your mind Cyrus, I can see your schemes. There is a way for you to learn this skill before I am ready to teach it to you."

Cyrus smiled, "Yes! I knew that you would see it my way! Tell me what I need to do."

Queen responds, "It is quite simple, you get Mistress Miranda to teach you."