Cursed Explorer of the Arcana

There’s an unusual peace and quiet in the kitchen as Mom prepares some tea with the smoothness of brick while Dad and I wait at the table, each of us occupied with our own thoughts. Me personally, I’m looking through a lifetime’s worth of knowledge in my head while my wise, decades-old father… I think I broke him.

Finally, Mom takes the pot off the heating stone and sits with us before opening the conversation. “Elyssia,” Ah, my full name, never a good start. “what you have is so unique we can’t even-”

“Sorry to interrupt but can we skip the ‘Keep it secret, very dangerous and you know how people are.’ speech? I know and I never planned on telling anyone.” I shrug. “Not that I can.”

My little interruption catches them off guard and manages to raise… one, two, three eyebrows but in the end they just glance at each other before moving on. “Can you tell us a little about… all this?” Dad asks.

That’s the real problem isn’t it, I literally can’t.

“So…” I try gathering my thoughts and running through options where Savant wouldn’t just take my voice. “You know how people can’t use arcane properly because they don’t know how?” The nod. “Well, I-” Fuck, this shit again.

I huff and puff looking for alternatives when I remember I can write unlike most of the population. Such a useful skill and yet neglected by so many.

“Wait here!” I get up and bolt into my room to get a crumpled empty sheet of paper before running over to the master bedroom for a quill and ink. “Now, I can’t really say it so I’ll try something different.” I get back in my chair and write the first few letters.

My Blessing tells- Then my fingers go weak and I drop the quill.

“Fuck!” I curse and try a different wording.

Knowledge about- Again my hand begins to shake but I grab it with the other and force the words onto the paper. …about the truth of elem-

The pain grows slowly in the back of my head after every letter, first similar to a mild headache before growing into what it feels like to sprint face-first into a wall. As soon as I drop the quill with a frown and start massaging my temples it all disappears without a trace.

“Are you okay Eli?” Mom puts a hand on my shoulder with a worried look on her face.

“I’m fine, I just… You’ll have to settle for just accepting I’m able do these things because there’s nothing I can say.” I shake my head while lighting the paper on fire.

It’s fun.

“No pyromania in my house!” Mom warns me and puts out the flames with an icy huff. “And you’re damn right about not talking to anybody about this. My race pales compared to what you just pulled off.”

“It’s okay Eli, we’re just curious and wanted to understand your situation a little better. Can you at least tell us a little about the Class you picked?” Dad has always been the more understanding and accepting of the two, that’s why I always told him the trouble I caused first.

I still love every bit of Mom, just… she can be scary.

I quickly tell them everything about Inept Magus, and as expected we bump into the same information restriction when it comes to the description and requirement. It sucks but again, I agreed to this when I made my choice. Their approving hums and nods tell me everything I need to know about how amazing I am, and the rain of praises only makes me puff out my chest even more. Another positive aspect of all the numbers growing… this might get addictive.

“Wanna go out and try it?” Mom asks with an excited grin similar to mine as I get to the end of my little report.

“You bet!” I bolt out of my chair and run to the front door before bursting out onto the street.

I can finally play properly.

***

The only thing that stood in my restless charge’s way towards the forest was a guard demanding to know what I was fleeing from and, of course, the presence of my parents. A real party pooper is what that man was, being all jumpy and serious when I just wanted to test some things without hurting anyone. Maybe burn down some trees but that’s all.

I’m still all giggles as we walk deeper into the army of trees to make sure I can practice away from any prying eyes and because it’s time I learned something about the world outside the walls. Don’t get me wrong, I love the walls and all the comfort hiding behind them, it’s just… the world is too big to live seeing so little.

“Okay, Eli let us see those Skills!” Mom crosses her arms like a guard and nods as if asking for my papers.

I know my Skills aren’t much. Let’s forget about my level for a second and just focus on how short and ambiguous those descriptions are. It’s not exactly a bad thing really because the Skills are less restrictive in their use, like size, shape, number… anything really, sacrificing some punching power in the process.

That’s just how things work really. Specialized stuff works wonders when used the way it’s meant to be and sucks at everything else. Some sort of lame golden rule.

Now, since Mom asked me to show off I’ll give her something special I cooked up along the way here.

So, I can wield water, right? And I was able to make heat just by increasing the vibration of mana. Yes, everything is in motion and I just increased it. So… what if I did the opposite?

Mana swarms out from my skin and slowly droplets of water appear in the air.

This is my first attempt at forcing mana into reality, aka the wasteful method. When there’s no water for example to wield, one can call on their mana all the same and… how to put this… solidify the image. Mana and matter are the two sides of the same coin and in case one is missing you can substitute with the other as long as you hold a tight grip on the whole thing.

So why wasteful? Maybe because I’m literally making matter out of thin air, even if just temporarily at almost double the mana cost. If this was stone or Gods forbid iron I was trying to make… yeah, maybe the size of a pea.

When a leaf-sized floating pool of water has finally gathered I initiate step two, cooling. Ice crystals slowly form on the surface of the water above my hand faster and faster before a part of it breaks off. I furrow my brows as I try to concentrate on both keeping the water… well watery and decreasing the temperature.

It sucks, I lose about half the volume but in the end, I have a small circular something made out of magic ice that would shatter and disappear the second I break my concentration.

“You’re full of surprises.” Mom whistles as she makes two similar disks to mine and makes them dance around me.

Showoff.

I try to up her by changing the shape of my little icy creation, only to struggle with rearranging the crystalline structure. It’s too rigid and stubborn. So I change my approach. Instead of messing with ice, I remelt the whole thing, create a ball of water, and repeat the freezing process.

To be fair it’s still pathetically slow and unimpressive but I’m getting a hang of it. That and maybe…

[The Class Skill [Arcane Mastery] has reached lvl 2 ->4.]

Yup, Skills help.

Instead of just gawking I keep on pla- I mean practicing. The ice turns to water, changes shape, and freezes again, over and over again until it doesn’t. The water slips from my control and disappears before even hitting the ground.

Ah, no more mana.

“Out of juice aren’t we?” Mom asks with a knowing smile and I just nod.

“This sucks, it hasn’t even been a minute.” I pout thinking that it’s all over already.

“Why do you think Mages aren’t the go-to option for every army, they’re expensive and much more difficult to train.” Mom makes her ice rabbits hopping around me in the air disappear before pulling out a shimmering white pebble from her pocket. “Take this.”

I grab the weird rock that feels both warm and cold at the touch making my skin all itchy as I hold it.

“What the hell is this?” I juggle it between my hands, uncomfortable with the sensation.

“A Hadron crystal, or mana stone as many call it. Remember how you always slurp up noodles?” Of course I do. “Try doing the same through your skin but with the stone.”

Slurp up a piece of rock… through my skin? I look at my parents, hoping they aren’t at that age already where their mental health degrades before giving it a try anyway.

It works. I don’t know how or why but a tingling sensation similar to when I got healed seeps into my body through my hand and before spreading out. A sigh similar to that of chugging a big glass of water on a hot summer day leaves my mouth. It was good.

“Not surprised you like it,” Mom chuckles. “I also love the tingles of mana, every celestial does. Now show us something else!”

Something else…Earth is only impressive when a lot of it is moved and fire…

I ignite the air above my shoulder with much more ease than when I first tried after waking up, stretching it into a shawl before trying to wrap it around my neck. Mom waves her hand and extinguishes my flames massaging her temples with Dad chuckling beside her.

“Eli dear, your flames might not hurt you but your clothes…” He looks towards my neck and I follow his gaze.

The collar of my new blouse… it’s ruined. Fuck, how could I forget, just because it’s my fire doesn’t mean it won't burn stuff.

An idea pops into my head so I make a new ball of fire. “Wait, let me try something.” I tell my parents who are about to open their mouths.

I get it I did something dumb and I’m about to do it again but have some faith, sheesh.

As I move the fire closer to my already burnt blouse I do my best to restrict it, to force back the heat radiating from the flames using my own clothing to gauge my success. And it works. Of course the closer the flames get to the white fabric the more difficult my tasks but it is a success in my book.

My mana is again doing the funny thing of hitting rock bottom so I draw more energy from the Hadron pebble before Dad snatches it from my hand. “Last round, then we’re taking a walk in the forest before heading home.” He tells me in a tone leaving no room for debate.

Yeah, running and dodging for almost an hour is all fine and dandy but doing magic, trying new things, and having fun? Nooo, not for a mage.

I huff before smirking with an idea popping into my head. The next element I wanted to give a shot is obviously wind and what does the wind do besides blowing? It whistles.

I’ve often wondered why this happens, why the air, which is basically nothing, can make a sound. Well, let’s just say Savant enlightened me on the subject. So… the whistles… it’s actually just wind and something rubbing against each other, friction, but let’s put that aside for now. Sound is the air vibrating-

[The general Skill [Savant] has reached lvl 11.]

Nice. So if I make the air vibrate I can theoretically make whatever noise I want. Instead of messing around and wasting my mana, trying to find out how all this air resonation thing works, I turn to the source.

Gently grabbing the mana just at my mouth I start humming, feeling the swift yet minuscule movements of mana in the air. It’s not all that different from what I do to make heat, except this movement is more even, like a wave. Short waves, long waves, tall waves, and waves of slightly below-average height. It’s okay little waves.

Now my turn.

I begin to move the air, to wave it like a flag as fast as I can and… the wind blows. No sound, only wind.

“Eli?” Dad asks with a raised eyebrow.

I’m surprised they kept quiet this long while I tried to figure things out.

“Almost there.” I mutter. “Why is this shi- stupid wind not working?” I catch myself just in time.

Smaller Eli, much much smaller. Frustrated with my failures I just blast a mix of how I make heat with the tiny waves of air I observed in a frustrated growl. And the growl echoes across the forest.

My parents draw their weapons and even I jump back in fright, quickly realizing it was me who made that sound. I repeat the growl with an impish grin on my face. I get busted right away to no surprise as both parents’ heads whip my way with frowns promising little good.

“So that’s how it is, young lady?” Dad asks in a cold voice. “Let’s see how long that smile lasts. Start running!”

Oh fuck…

***

An unconventional game of tag is what my parents dubbed chasing around their daughter in the forest. They held back of course but every time I lost meant another day of washing duty.

The final result is five days and only five because I completely ran out of breath towards the end. I’m not saying it was all bad, we laughed a lot, and getting used to the new terrain had its charm but… I could do without the unjust punishment for such a small prank. They were kinda mad because what I did was apparently extremely stupid and dangerous in beast habitats.

At the end of the day, I had fun and that’s all that matters. I’m also super satisfied with my Class and can’t wait to show… I can’t show it to the gang. Damn, that’s gonna be a problem.

As we walk through the same gate manned the same guard with the same grumpy look smoke catches my attention above the rooftops.

“Uhm, do you see that?” I ask my parents who are in deep conversation about tomorrow's practice.

“Should we-” Mom already hurries down the street even before Dad could finish his question. “Of course, it’s easy money.”

We hurry after her, Dad scooping me up since I can’t really keep up the pace, and after we round a few corners we arrive at a house engulfed in flames. Mom is already at work with snowflakes falling around her as she brings down the temperature and pushes the flames back.

“Wait here!” She tells us before walking past the crumbling walls to fight the fire inside the building.

It doesn’t take long for the embers to die out completely and for a soot-covered Mom to emerge from the flames with a frown I know so well.

She was cool, walking in there so fearlessly and fighting the flames like a hero… So why is she grumpy?

“Dead?” Dad asks and Mom just nods.

“Bodies in their beds, all three of them.” She adds before sitting down and emptying her waterskin.

“Are you sad they died?” I ask because that would be rather unusual of her.

“Of course she is sweetie, and because none of them survived they can’t show their gratitude for putting out the fire in their home.” Dad quickly explains.

“Ah, so she did it for the money, and since no one is around to pay she got dirty for nothing. Understandable.” I shrug and start kicking the ashing wooden beams on the ground.

Nothing is free, even I know that, so the fact she took the effort to get here as quickly as she could to fight the flames when no reward was guaranteed is heroic enough in my eyes.

As I’m about to kick another pile of ash something moves beneath it so I crouch down and start digging. Two tiny ears, a pair of pretty blue eyes… a kitten.

As I try to scratch its chin the little fella hisses and lunges at my finger, only to back away at the last second.

“Spicy kitten.” I mutter.

I try the same thing again, using one hand to keep the tiny terror busy while the other grabs it by the scruff.

I happily return to my parents with my prey and ask with an innocent smile. “Can we keep it?”