Growing up 2

'It seems that to use magic there is a resonance with something inside of the body. I have not been able to classify what this existence within the body is but it is like a thin replica of the body that isn't physical. I know that sounds a bit confusing but I can assist with sensing it within your body. Once you are able to feel this nonphysical version of you we will be able to start working towards adjusting the frequency to call the magic particles into action.'

'Okay... you lost me. You mentioned before being able to record scenes where my family has used the particles can you play those for me and help to point out what you are talking about?'

'... Jerod! I hadn't thought about being able to play them for you. The goddess said we would share senses so it only makes sense I should be able to. Let me try to play them for you.'

Lindsay went through her videos to find the one that would best show what she was talking about and started working on how to share the videos with Jerod. After some trial and error they were finally able to get it to work when Jerod sat still and kept his eyes closed. Lindsay was able to help Jerod see what she was talking about and assisted with seeing his own.

'Don't they call this like an astral body or spirit or something? I think some of my students used to talk about this from the tv shows they watched.'

'Maybe that's it. For now we can call it your spirit. So now that you can sense it within you we should see if you can connect to any magic particles. What appears to happen when your family is connecting to them is a slight vibration on the finger tips calling the particles. Let's focus on the time your sister was using the wind particles to sweep the floor. We don't want you to burn the house down once you finally succeed in calling the particles right?'

'Uh.. I guess that could happen... ha.. ha.'

'You wanted to focus on fire particles didn't you? Jerod!!'

'No, No wind particles makes perfect sense let's do that'

Over the course of the next few weeks Jerod watched the recordings of the wind magic and tried to connect with the green particles of magic when he was left alone during the day while his mother did chores around the house. Late at night he finally had his first successful interaction with the green particles. There weren't many that came to his hand but when he directed them he was able to see the hair on his mother's face move around.

Months continued to pass while Jerod continued to familiarize himself with the process of connecting to the magic particles. Through his experiments he was able to correlate his MP with how long and how many times he could get the particles to follow his will. With more experience using the wind particles he was able to make stronger gusts of wind with the same usage of MP.

Jerod was able to familiarize himself with the water, earth, wind, and fire particles during the spring and summer months when he was allowed to be outside. He learned that using less particles with the fire element he could just make a space warm instead of starting a fire leading to new discoveries of strength. He could utilize less particles to have less strength and more to be stronger with the action he wanted the particles to do.

Jerod continued his experiments until he was two. By this time together with Lindsay he was able to put together the language his family spoke in. Not knowing the development speed of children on this planet he played it safe in how much he talked. When his parents felt he should speak more they would continuously repeat the words and if they started to seem worried he would finally say it back to them. Now he was able to speak in small three to five word sentences in front of his family without causing any scenes.

Speaking with Lindsay as he usually did each day he started to inquire about moving the spirit more than just adjusting the frequency. The experiments so far allowed them to adjust the frequency in different parts of the body allowing them to display magic in those areas instead of just the hands. So far they were only able to project the particles on appendages such as arms and legs. When gathering the particles in other areas such as the back or stomach they could only cover the area but couldn't do anything with them from there except let them dissipate.

'Lindsay, I was thinking, when we are calling the magic particles we are adjusting the frequency of the spirit. When doing that essencially we are moving the spirit at a high speed that creates an attractive force pulling the particles towards us to utilize. This buildup can be slow if we want to use more particles for a stronger effect. I was wondering if you thought it was possible or had observed anyone using the spirit outside of the body.'

'That is a good question. So far I have no records of seeing spirit manifestation outside of anyone's body. However, we are still limited to our experiences with the family and the few visits we have had with Madam Zell. We will have to add it to our experiments. Since we are stuck on calling out the white particles we can start making attempts.'

And so Jerod continued with his experiments with using magic particles and trying to move the spirit more than just high speed vibrations. Another six months passed before he was able to come up with some results.

'I don't think we can get any more information at this time Lindsay. So let's recap what we know so far. The spirit can stay inside the body and attract magic particles by vibrating at the right frequency. It is possible to use the spirit outside of the body but only in strands at this time. It can be used then to physically affect things around us, such as grabbing a spoon and moving it according to our will. We can lift roughly my body weight for about one minute before my stamina runs out and I have to rest'

'I think that covers it so far. I guess we can just call this spirit magic until we can learn more about it.'

'It will be spring soon. Now that I am three I seem to have a lot less supervision. I think we should do some practical use of our skills soon. Father has talked about some woods with small game in it that we can try to hunt. I think so long as we don't go too far we can do some more testing and see how effective magic is in a combat sense.'

'Okay, I think it is a good idea since we are at a bottleneck in the research so far. I can scan the surroundings and let you know where small game is when we go and keep an eye out for anything that could be dangerous.'