Chapter 6: A colorful magic.

The day passed in conversation as the sun began to set, tinting the sky with orange hues as Armand and Master Kaka continued their training in the garden, which had all the makings of a modest exercise ground. Armand told him everything that had happened since his arrival. He is now in a meditative position, absorbed in the tranquility of the moment, while Master Kaka walks around him.

"Let your senses take over, empty your mind. Feel the magic infuse the air and brush against your skin," says Master Kaka in a calm voice.

Armand remains steadfast, his mind floating in absolute calm, determined to unlock the secrets of his magic. Gradually, a gentle warmth envelops him, caressing his being. When he opens his eyes, a solitary sunflower catches his gaze, and soon he perceives almost transparent ripples surrounding him.

"I... I think I feel it, and even see it! It's incredibly soothing," Armand murmurs in wonder.

Master Kaka stops, looking at him with a look of surprise on his face.

"You see it, you say? You're able to see the current of magic? It's very rare, even I can't," he replies.

He approaches Armand, still seated, who is contemplating the magic waves moving with the wind. The master asks him to look at him, having noticed something unusual in his pupil.

"Your eyes, what color are they normally?" he asks curiously.

"Ah yes, it's already been pointed out to me at the castle. They're gray, but it seems my power makes them change color. How do you see them?" replies Armand, pondering the change.

"Indeed, they're yellow now. Do you know how to control this change?" questions Master Kaka, intrigued by this peculiar ability.

"Not a clue..." he admits.

Armand thinks back to the previous moment and remembers that the sunflower was the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes. He points to the flower and says he thinks the color of his thoughts when he saw the sunflower might influence the shade of his eyes.

"That sounds logical. If that's the case, you should be able to change your eye color at will, simply by thinking about a specific color." 

He points to the twilight-tinted sky and suggests Armand stare at the orange horizon to see if his eye color adjusts accordingly. Armand nods and, standing up, turns his gaze to the sky. He no longer perceives the flow of magic, but notes no other particular sensation. He then turns to the old man to confirm any change.

"Indeed, we were right. The color of your eyes is now orange," he observes.

"I don't know what it means, but I can't see the magic around me anymore, although I can still feel it," replies Armand, intrigued.

"It could be that when your eyes are yellow, you can perceive the surrounding magic, and therefore potentially anything invisible to the naked eye," the master ponders aloud, stroking his beard.

"And in this orange state, don't you feel anything in particular?" he asks.

"My orange state?" repeats Armand.

"I can't see the flow of magic, but the aura emanating from people can be perceived by anyone with a little experience, and yours emanates an orange aura, in addition to the change in color of your eyes. It's strange, because when your eyes were yellow, you didn't give off anything like that," explains Master Kaka, carefully analyzing Armand's face.

Armand examines himself, turning around, but notices no change. He figures he's probably not experienced enough to take advantage of this state, as Master Kaka mentioned.

With a slowness that betrays the accumulated years, Master Kaka bends down and picks up a handful of earth, holding it out to Armand. He invites him to concentrate on its brown color. Armand stares intently at the earth, but there is no reaction. Worse still, the hue of his eyes fades, returning to their original gray.

"Interesting, this seems to confirm some of my hypotheses," comments Master Kaka with perceptible reserve.

"Has there been a new change?" asks Armand, intrigued by the discoveries being made.

"No, unfortunately. Your eyes are back to their natural color. Brown doesn't seem to interact with your power. Can you remind me of the colors of the bird you were talking about earlier?" questions the master, resuming his reflections.

"As I recall, it was rather large, with white plumage adorned with rainbow-like multicolored spikes. Do you think my power only reacts to these specific colors?" suggested Armand.

"It's a possibility. The fact that brown had no effect seems to support this theory. So we've identified two colors out of seven, although we haven't yet fully understood your orange state," explains the old man with a note of satisfaction in his voice.

He then calls to his bird: "Pica!" The bird quickly responds to the call, coming to rest on his master's bald head once again.

"Concentrate now on Pica's bright red plumage, paying no attention to her bluish crest," Master Kaka orders Armand.

Armand nods and stares at Pica's bright red plumage, concentrating until he feels an inner change.

"This time, it's different! I feel... heavier," he says.

The old man observes carefully and confirms that Armand's eyes have taken on a reddish hue. He also sees a red aura emanating from him, more intense and visibly more aggressive than the previous one. He then hypothesizes that this state is linked to physical strength and encourages Armand to test his power on one of the training dummies scattered around the garden.

Armand, trying to maintain that reddish aura, steps up to the dummy and positions himself with determination. He takes a deep breath, prepares himself as if channeling all his energy into his fist, and then delivers a blow of unheard-of force. The dummy is uprooted from the ground and thrown with such violence that it crashes against the fence, leaving Armand stunned by his own power.

"What... I did that?!" he exclaims.

The master is stunned; the impact he's just seen on the dummy shows colossal strength, and he's also noticed something unexpected. Just before Armand struck the dummy, he instinctively concentrated magic around his fist without realizing it, even though he'd only just begun to feel it.

"Looks like we're dealing with a prodigy, Pica.... No wonder he was chosen, I suppose," he murmured, his eyes scanning Armand.

He reflects, observing the damage inflicted by the blow. Quickly coming to his senses, he claps his hands and calls to Armand to come back to him. So Armand approaches the old man, his eyes back to gray, and stares at his hands in amazement, still unable to believe the power he had in that blow.

"Master, it's incredible, did you see the strength of that punch?!" he exclaims, his eyes shining with enthusiasm.

"Let's temper our enthusiasm, Armand. It's true that it was impressive, I'll give you that, but you're even worse than a beginner. No opponent would give you time to prepare your move like that," he explains calmly.

Armand frowns, trying to understand.

"What do you mean?" he asks, intrigued.

Master Kaka gazes intently at him, choosing his words carefully.

"It seems that, without realizing it, you've managed to channel the magic around your fist. For someone who's never felt that way before, it's remarkable. You have enormous potential, and we've still got four more colors to explore, if I'm not mistaken," he replies.

He points to Pica's blue-tinged crest and invites Armand to focus his attention on it once more. Armand watches him intently, thinking about his hue, and his eyes instantly change from gray to blue, as expected. The master points this out and asks him if he feels different again.

Armand, feeling an unusual lightness, takes a few leaps to test this sensation, without perceiving any other noticeable change. Meanwhile, Master Kaka watches attentively, noticing a bluish aura, calm this time, surrounding Armand. Although the latter seems unaware of this aura, the old man notices that his movements are noticeably livelier than usual.

"My boy, I'd like to try something," says Master Kaka in a curious tone. "Can you run to the mannequin embedded in the fence and bring it back here?"

Armand wonders briefly about this request before concentrating on the task at hand. Without further ado, he turns and sets off for the fence. He reaches the dummy in record time, his eyes widening in surprise at the realization of his own speed. Proud of his feat, he turns back to the master with a broad smile.

"Master! Did you see that?" he exclaims enthusiastically. "I've never been so fast, it's incredible!"

The master, stroking his beard with a smile, had been right: that blue aura greatly increased his speed. Armand returned with the damaged dummy and placed it against a wall in the house before returning to his original position.

They continue the experiment, this time with grass. The color of his eyes changes to green, and Armand feels heavier again, but differently than he did under the effect of the red. His aura seems dense and close to his body, as if wrapped in a layer of protective magic, which the old man confirms by throwing a stone at him unexpectedly, without causing him any pain.

"I never imagined my power was so complete, it's amazing," he expresses, his eyes shining. "Finally, I don't have to envy the others, I can match them even without weapons!"

Master Kaka nods with a slight smile. "And we haven't seen everything yet."

Crouching over a prepared mound of earth, the master buries a seed in it and places his hand on it. In an instant, a stem emerges and a blue flower with purple highlights blooms. He delicately plucks the flower and hands it to Armand.

"It's not the season, but I had no choice but to obtain this complex hue," he explains. "This is indigo, kid. If our theory is correct, your aura should be the same color."

Armand is dazzled by what he has just witnessed, finding it incredible that a flower can grow so quickly by the sheer force of magic. He then stares at the color of the flower the old man holds between his fingers and concentrates on it. It takes a little longer than usual, but soon his eyes turn indigo. The master observes his aura again and notes a significant difference from previous times. The indigo aura surrounds only his extremities and takes on a wispy form.

"It's strange, you are indeed in an indigo state, but it's only on your hands and feet," he remarks. "Try punching into the wind like you did before."

He nods and gets into position as he did earlier when standing in front of the dummy. He remains serene, concentrates on his fist and delivers a blow into the void. He watches his fist, but nothing seems to have happened. Then he straightens up and stares at something that wasn't there before, noticing an indigo-tinged smoke that seems to float where his fist passed through the air. Behind this mist, he glimpses a thin crack in the air.

"Fascinating! It looks like a sort of portal from which indigo smoke is escaping," exclaims Master Kaka. "Can you do it again somewhere else?"

Armand is puzzled by this phenomenon, but he steps aside and tries to strike into the void again, creating yet another smoking, indigo-tinged rift. The master then throws the flower in his hand through the first gap, and it emerges through the second, falling at Armand's feet. He begins to grasp that he has created interconnected portals of sorts, but doesn't understand how they work. He then turns to the master.

"I think I understand the effect of this color, but not the process. Do you have an idea, Master?" he asks.

"From what I've observed, the gaps appear when you throw your stroke. It's as if the gesture rips through space, from the beginning to the end of the movement. It's absolutely captivating. I've never seen anything like it, although I imagine you must have witnessed teleportation magic before, given what you told me earlier," commented the master.

"That's right! It's as if I had a more modest version of Gaspard's power."

The sky begins to darken without them realizing it, so focused are they on understanding his power. Shortly afterwards, the master comes to pick a stalk of lavender he had in his field.

"Well, it's getting late so let's not delay any longer, all that's left is the purple. Are you ready?"

"Ready!" replies Armand with determination.

The old man holds out the lavender stalk to Armand, who contemplates it as he has done all the other times. It takes him longer than before, perhaps because of the fading evening light that is beginning to fall? Suddenly, in an instant as short as a heartbeat, Armand's eyes turn purple before returning to gray almost as quickly, and he collapses to his knees, screaming in pain as he holds his face. The master drops the rod and gets down on one knee to support Armand, taking him by the shoulders.

"What's happening to you?! Answer me, Armand!" the master shouted desperately. 

After a few seconds, he said nothing, no sound left his mouth as his head was bowed to the ground. The old man straightened his head towards him, holding him by the chin as he continued to speak, and watched his face in horror. Tears of blood flow from his eyes and he lies totally unconscious in the man's arms as night falls.

End of chapter 6.