Novice Metal Manipulation - Kinsley Dresden

efore Kinsley sat a group of seemingly random objects: A key, a crown, the head of a shovel, a small dagger and a pair of earrings. All had been found over the course of several months save for the head of the shovel, which had been salvaged from her mom's toolshack.

Overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things she had in front of her, Kinsley grabbed the key and shoved everything else to the side in a pile. The key was cold and foreign. She had found on the path she took every day towards home. Who knows where it lead? Who knows who dropped it? Oh well. It was Kinsley's now, and she was going to put it to use.

When Kinsley bonded her mana with the earth, she used whatever physical contact she had and began to channel her mana towards the part of her body that was closest to it. As if speaking to the earth, her mana would communicate and vibrate alongside the particles, before slipping it's way through the tiny cracks. Working from the inside of the earth, the mana would manipulate and move the individual particles, all working together as a whole like a flock of birds flying in unision.

As she turned this key over in her hand, Kinsley began to ponder as to whether or not it would be any similar. Metal was obviously more compact than earth, and was as sturdy and hardheaded as Kinsley herself. Forming a bond would obviously be harder, but could she achieve this feat?

Already, Kinsley was growing frustrated with herself and she hadn't even started to try. Of course she could do it. What couldn't she do? She was a member of the Inquistion, a messenger of Justice. She could do anything she wanted, whether it be climbing a mountain or forcing her mana to bond with this key.

Her eyes, the color of the gray key, bore into the object with intensity as she wrapped her fingers around it. Intense, determined and hardheaded, Kinsley began her mission.

She tuned in to her mana circuit, suddenly aware of the tiny ebbing and pulsing of the magical lifefluid within her. It stirred, and with her sensitivity and command over the mana, she redirected the flow towards the hand that grasped the key. The workings of her soul seeped through the pores of her skin, tiny blue particles that began to fight at the hardheaded metal workings of the key.

The metal protested, sturdy and unwilling. Several minutes passed before Kinsley's will proved to be stronger (as RNG gods determined). The blue fluid slipped between the tiny cracks of the key's particles, and in several moments, it was infused with mana.

The teenager's eyes widened in disbelief. Had she actually done it? ...

"MOM!"
(Kinsley Dresden)

Kinsley's metal magic training had started to get easier and easier, which means it was time to turn the difficulty up a notch. She had managed to form a bond with a key, a crown, a ring and a metal necklace. They all sat in her tiny little treasure chest, waiting for her to begin her training once more. She was going to try something new today: she was going to lift the crown in the air using her mana's bond.

She removed the coin from the box and set it on the table before her, staring it down with her steel gaze. Kinsley placed her hand over it, renewing the bond between the coin and her mana before focusing. The particles of the coin mingled alongside those of her infuse mana, she could feel it! If she focused hard enough, surely she could get the mana to lift the coin into the air.

After several minutes of intense, brow-furrowing focus, Kinsley began her first attempt. The particles of her mana began to shift and vibrate, slowly moving up into the air at her will... Like a paramedic stretcher moving a patient off the ground, the mana began to move the coin with it. Hesitantly and shakily, the coin floated in the air for a solid ten seconds before dropping.

Kraus damn, she did it! It didn't last long, but she actually did it! Reinvigorated, Kinsley was now determined to master the art of COIN LEVITATION. Holing herself up in her room, she set herself to practicing for the rest of the day, until her dry mana circuit cried for relief.
(Kinsley Dresden)



"Okay, watch this! It's like earth magic, but a lot harder because forming a bond with your mana to the material is a lot harder. It's hardheaded! I've been practicing bonding with coins and keys and scrap metal for a long time, and it's really hard to learn but I can float a crown now!"

Kinsley rustled around in her pockets fro a few moments before fetching a spare crown. The coin was dull and old. She placed it in her palm and screwed her steel eyes shut. An intense expression of focus crossed her features as she struggled to break through the barriers and bond with the coin.

After what seemed like far too long, the coin accepted her. Her eyes flickered open with a grin and she, in a swift movement, tossed it up in the air like a coin toss.

However, instead of falling down like all things should, it floated hesitantly. Her control was shakey but undeniable.

"Isn't that cool?!"
(Kinsley Dresden)

Kinsley stared at the shovel head that sat before her.

She had bonded mana with a key. She had lifted the key. This was the next step. A new type of metal was a new challenge, and Kinsley was all up for it.

She began the process as she had before; examining the makeup of the metal was no easy task. Kinsley placed her only hand atop the dirty, rusty chunk of iron and began to examine it using her mana. It was more complicated than the simple brass of the key.

More complex meant harder to bond with, and the harder the better! The farther Kinsley could take this, the easier the next hill on the way to metal magic mastery would be.

Kinsley used the probes of her mana to explore the phsyical makeup of the particles of the shovel. Every few discoveries she'd move to take notes and then continue her exploration.

After several minutes of intense research, Kinsley decided it was time to move on to the next step: bonding mana. She placed her hand on the head of the shovel once more, willing the physical manifestation of her soul to seep into the confines of the shovel. She had to be careful, or something could happen...
(Kinsley Dresden)

She fought to break through the barriers of the metal, to bond her mana with it's particles, but the shovel fought back. It seemed to shout, "No! What are you doing?" as she tried to seep her way through it's defenses.

Kinsley's mana continued to seep, continued to flow through to the shovel, but no matter how hard she tried, they wouldn't bond. Her frustration was growing evident. She was a patient person, but three years without an arm was growing annoying and she wanted to know how to make a new one now.

Too much mana, and she would...

...pass out.

Kinsley's grip on the shovel faltered and a dizzying feeling took held of her sight and stomach. Today's lunch rumbled up, and she tumbled down, hitting the wooden plated floor with a THUMP.
(Kinsley Dresden)

Kinsley awoke in bed with a towel on her head and a sandwhich next to her. How long had it been? She rose shakily. The shovel was still on the table nearby. Did she dare?

Hell yeah.

Within seconds she had the shovel in her grasp again and her butt in the chair. She was going to do this whether the shovel liked it or not. It wasn't violation, this was a shovel. Shovels dont care, right?

Obviously wrong. As soon as she tried to pour her mana back into the shovel once more, it fought as furiously as before. However, Kinsley was an Inquisitor! She did not give up! She did not fall back! She was going to show this shovel who's boss!

The mana poured in, and after several moments of intense, shovel-gripping focus, something in the shovel changed... It's defenses broke under the relentless attack of Kinsley's powerful mana. It flowed in, and the particles were stained blue with her soul. The shovel glowed faintly beneath her hand.
(Kinsley Dresden)

Next step: matter manipulation!

Kinsley was going to move this shovel whether it liked it or not. That's right, shovel. Kinsley is in charge! She could move some dirt, and she could move a key, so this shovel was no big deal.

Focusing on the mana she had infused within the shovel, Kinsley squinted. She could sense the atoms stained with her mana, could feel them and her control over them. They were packed together so tightly that moving them would be a hard task.

One particle at a time, she began to will the shovel to move. Just a few inches to the left would be enough to satisfy Kinsley. With tiny, grueling vibrations, she began to move the shovel to the left. In a chain reaction, each particle reacted to each movement, and within several minutes, the metal had moved far enough to tell a difference!

There was no time to celebrate, no, not anymore. Kinsley was tired and she had a sandwhich to eat.
(Kinsley Dresden)

A sandwich and a ten hour nap later and Kinsley rose and was ready to tackle the shovel again. She practically jumped over to the table and focused her steel gaze on the lunk of metal. This was the ultimate challenge.

This was the ultimate hurdle! She was going to lift the shovel... WITH NO HANDS! Hell yeah! She had moved it a few inches with no hands, so this would be no problem. Right?

A few moments were taken to reinvigorate her mana's connection with the shovel and she was ready to go. She had earlier used skillful manipulation of the particles and her knowledge of vibrations to shift the shovel several inches to the left, and now she was going to lift it several inches up. The stars are calling you, shovel!

With a bit too much eagerness, she began to vibrate the particles in an upwards movement. Hesitantly, the shovel began to lift. Several centimeters were achieved before the connection was severed.

The shovel clattered downwards. Kinsley's hand was shaking and a sweat had broken out on her forehead. This was too much. She was overworking herself, and it was time to take a break...
(Kinsley Dresden)