Chapter 124 - Do Not Try This At Home (Redux) (2/2)
As Markus observed this reaction, he was brought back to his fight against Gaige. Back then, all of his attacks were easily extinguished and consumed by a curtain of avaricious darkness. The point was close, but it still wasn't the same! Something in his mind told him that it was only a weak replica of that attack, and insignificant compared to the black hole he'd seen before. He was overcome with disappointment at his spell's performance.
The moment of distraction was enough for his spell to waver. The small black point started to vibrate.
”Oh no!”
BOOM!
An explosion surged outwards as the point expanded instantly. The sonic boom that followed pushed Markus back and flung him into the flowing stream behind. Thankfully, Jean was at a safe distance away and quickly collapsed towards the ground on her stomach.
”S-Senior Brother!” Jean coughed out instinctively.
”I'm okay!” Markus groaned as he rose from the flowing stream.
A short second following that, the hurried figures of Al and Guy descended upon the scene, worry plastered across their faces. It didn't take long for them to put together the situation after observing the surroundings. Guy's face warped into a defeated frown before he growled, ”Markus!”
”I-I can explain, Master!” Markus quickly vocalised.
”Oh, you better! What the heck was that screeching sound? And the explosion?!”
”Teacher Larks,” Jean quickly interjected. ”Senior Brother replicated the spell Gaige used!”
”Not exactly-” Markus tried to explain, but he was immediately interrupted by an agitated Al. ”You did what? Quick, show it to me!”
Markus wanted to properly elucidate them about his spell, but Al was having none of it! Markus sighed in defeat and simply produced the spell circles he used from his grimoire.
With a maniacal chuckle, Al started to cast the spell. He didn't need to use a wand, nor did he need to use multiple hands. The entire ensemble was formed instantaneously in his right hand.
Markus inconspicuously shuffled away from Al and pulled Jean and Guy with him. Al followed up immediately by activating the spell circle. As he did so, a much louder screeching noise resonated from the spell circle, causing the others present to cover their ears in pain.
”HA!” Al exclaimed as a black point materialised at the centre of the spell circle.
”HAHAHAHAHA!” Al continued as he pushed the black point towards the ground. As it descended, the point consumed the soil and drilled further and further downwards.
”It works! AMAZING!” Al emoted.
As this was happening, Guy noticed Markus' strained expression.
”What's wrong? The spell works, why are you so distressed?” He asked.
”The spell is incomplete,” he confessed while screaming over the muffled screech. ”It isn't the same as Gaige's attack...”
”What do you mean?”
”Well... After some thought, I realised that Gaige's attack wasn't how a black hole worked. All the matter and energy that was consumed simply disappeared, releasing nothing. That's not what a black hole does. A black hole emits radiation and energy.” Markus explained.
”That makes sense.”
”I figured that there were probably other mechanisms at work there apart from just absorption. Maybe he dissipated the energy over the blanket of darkness after disintegrating the matter and energy. Anyways, I decided to pivot and focus on the principles of how a black hole works. You see this spell generates a point that absorbs all matter that enters it and compresses it infinitely. This process is sustained by how much mana a mage can continuously expend,” Markus continued.
”Sure.”
”But what happens when the mage runs out of mana? Or they stop the spell?” Markus concluded.
”Then everything that's within... Oh shit!”
Guy immediately grabbed his two students and rushed out.
”Heh? Where did they go?” Al commented as he noticed the missing audience. He shrugged and decided that it was time to cancel the spell, seeing as it was consuming exponentially more mana as it progressed.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
An earthshattering explosion blossomed from the clearing. A large swatch of the forest was overturned. The stream had been rerouted as well. Thankfully the explosion didn't reach the village. Yet the aftershock did cause a few structures to shift and collapse.. To this date, no one knew exactly what caused this because the only people complicit in this incident kept their mouths shut, and were prepared to take it to their graves.