62 Not Alone (1/2)

I clapped my hands together, “Hell yeah. It’s about time.”

Torix nodded, “Indeed it is. You’ve progressed at a rapid pace for the most part…though considering your effervescent flow of mana and the kind of mana you wield; your progress is only slightly above average.”

I shrugged, “Eh, as long I’m moving forward, that’s what matters. No point in meaningless comparisons.”

Torix frowned, “Ah…I suppose your right. Then onto the gravity magic.”

Torix created a chair made of black, writhing mana for the both of us. As I sat down, his hand shook for a moment. He grinned, “You’ve gained quite a bit of mass recently, haven’t you?”

I grinned, “Eh, a little. I can stand if you’d like. Hell-“ I stood up before waving the chair of mana away. I then sat midair in a squat before curling my armor around my legs. After that, I created supports for my back. I leaned back into my chair, pressing against a telekinetic field on my back. At the same time, I created another wide field on the floor around me.

The result was that I looked like I was sitting on nothing in the middle of the air. It wasn’t too difficult to maintain either, though it did take some genuine focus. Torix raised an eyebrow at the sight of it,

“What is this? Hmmm…you used your armor to lock your legs in place then leaned back into a telekinetic field…Ah, then you dispersed it around you. An interesting application.”

I grinned, “Yeah, with my willpower being as high as it is, I can keep track of more things at once now.”

Torix frowned, “But wouldn’t it be simpler to stand?”

I made little armrests with my armor, laying my arms down on them. I raised my right hand, “For sure, but let’s think of this as training. One of the most important parts of having high willpower is just being able to handle more stuff on my plate. Any second that I’m not taking advantage of that is a waste.”

I leaned onto the hand with my head, “It’s kind of like if I had 10,000 strength, but I never end up using more than half of it. If I never need the upper half of my strength, then it’s just wasted stats. If I never use my extra willpower, then I’m wasting it.”

Torix cupped his chin and nodded. Sitting in thought, he pondered at the ceiling for a bit.

“I can see your point…I agree.” He raised a palm, forming a chair of mana for him to sit on, “Now, enough pleasantries. Let’s begin your course in gravitational magic.”

He pointed a finger, and a blackboard appeared behind him. After coughing in his throat for a bit, he spoke,

“The way you’re redistributing your weight is very similar to how gravity magic operates. The difference comes from constituting force that’s being manipulated. You are rearranging the kinetic force of the earth’s pull, but you aren’t actually shifting gravity.”

He pointed at the blackboard, flipping it sideways. In a checkered pattern and colored blue, lines appeared on the board. Torix put two fingers together, a ball of metal materializing in his hand.

“Do you see this grid? This represents both time and space. This metal marble in my hand is a blob of mass.”

He set the metal ball onto the blackboard. Like putting a bit rock on a trampoline, the blackboard bent downwards. Torix pointed at the depression caused by the ball,

“This depression is the influence that gravity has over both space and time. It warps it, bending it like no other energy can.”

Torix spread four fingers into the air. Four smaller metal balls appeared in-between his fingers. He rolled one towards the depression of the large ball. The ball rolled passed the ball before pulling back and circling it. Like a planet orbiting another planet, the ball fell into a steady orbit around the larger ball.

Torix continued, “I’m adding in some additional force to account for friction. In the absence of it, these objects can orbit for an indeterminate amount of time. Now, whenever manipulating gravity, you can’t manipulate the object at hand.”

Torix raised a hand, and one of the orbiting ball stopped moving.

“This isn’t gravitational manipulation. This is simply forcing something to stop with kinetic energy. Telekinesis in other words. In order to manipulate gravity, you must ignore the object, and see past it.”

With a flick of his wrist, he sent the ball orbiting again. Gripping with his hand, an area of the blackboards collapsed downwards. The circling ball’s orbit widened until it fell into the collapsed area.

“You must interact with this field that surrounds all matter. This dimensional fabric composes our universe, and bending it requires tremendous intuition, effort, and time. Over the coming months, we will enact a three-step program that will allow you to do so. ”

With a wave of his hand, the entire demonstration dissolved.

“First, you must learn to sense the field. Second, you must learn to mold the field. Third, you’ll master techniques to abuse what you’ve learned.”

I clapped my hands, “Alright, let’s do this. How in the fuck am I going to sense the fabric of our dimension?”

Torix raised a finger, “By leaving it.”

I frowned, “Ahh man. This again.”

Torix flicked a finger, snapping my nose.

“Yes, this again. Do you remember visiting the rift?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“There was an oddness in the air. A feeling like things weren’t quite normal.”

I lifted my head off my had, “I thought that had to do with leaving Schema.”

“Partly, yes, but the difference also comes from the difference in dimensions. The very laws of physics operate differently within that universe. Time, gravity, the most natural laws are different.”

I remembered how time slowed down whenever we were inside the eldritch dimension. I grinned,

“Ahhh, so if I can get a good grip on the difference between the dimensions, that’ll let me identify this uh…dimensional fabric and whatnot.”

Torix raised a finger, standing from his chair, “Precisely. During the next rift closing, you and Althea will be tasked with staying there for a week. I’ll discuss this with Althea after our meeting.”

I frowned, “She’s not gonna like that. Not one bit.”