First and Second Circles

Ethan made his way out of Huangzhou on his own. With Litiya unavailable and already ahead of him he had no choice but to start training and practicing on his own. With the massive tome at his side floating he followed the instructions written down. Chapter five was a good place to start; practicing actual magic rather than trying to understand concepts would bring him closer to full comprehension. The first magic circle, the primary command that connected the physical realm and the spirit world together. This... Seemed to be both wonderful and dangerous at once.

With a careful hand and a steady gaze, Ethan began allowing his mana to spill out - forming a magic circle before his eyes. The green glow was a bit overwhelming. He didn't expect himself to be able to invoke it so easily, but then again having the instructions and the necessary glyphs to do so would make it much, much easier. The circle remained still, as if awaiting... Something.

How could the teenager know if he had reached the spirit world or not with this circle? Was the connection made? It seemed stable. He thought, remaining still for quite a while and maintaining the circle for now. There was no way he could be sure that he had made the connection, right?

... And that's when it came to his mind.

His hand shifted a bit, pages turning and heading straight towards the next chapter. With the second circle he'd be able to see if he got through to the spirit world - if anything connected him. Or so he thought. Turns out that without binding the two circles together, they did not depend on one another. Ethan found that out pretty quickly once attempting to cast forth the second circle and search for the spirit world - nothing came. Nothing at all. This wasn't this circle's purpose, after all, it could only search for a place it could reach; within binding everythying together a mere glimpse of the spirit world was impossible.

He shook his head, dismissing the second circle for now. He'd come back to it later. The first one was back to being his focus. Still green, still floating, still... Doing nothing. Knowing for sure that there was a connection seemed rather difficult. More ideas came to his head, though none seemed smart enough. A Daemon wouldn't necessarily react to it, either. It wasn't like touching it would warp it back there—

And there it was. The solution. The teenager reached out, attempting to touch his own circle - to make contact and... Feel. The amount of sheer energy and mana that was on the other side made him recoil. It was massive and heavy. It almost felt... Thick; like if the air on that side had been completely replaced by some sort of sludge. It was no wonder, after all, in a world made purely of energy.

Blowing on his fingertips to try and lessen the 'burn' he had felt, the boy decided to work on the second circle again. He could afford it; he had the mana to do so. His eyes peered towards the floating tome as gestures were made, aiding the creation of the circle in front of him. Before he even made an attempt at locating a spot the pages of the tome flipped again. Chapter 11. He searched for the right glyph, a sub-command that would put boundaries on his range, as to ensure he wouldn't overshoot it. The maximum distance glyph was found. He realized that one may just be useful for quick spellcasting in the future. He kept that in mind.

He carefully copied the glyph over, writing it right outside of the circle and along its edge. A short radius of one kilometer would do. A deep breath was taken before he nodded to himself, ready to make a clear attempt.

Green mana escaped his fingertips, feeding into the circle as he attempted to locate Huangzhou's square, right by the dojo. He frowned a bit as the hazy image flickered all over the place, unable to settle on one spot. This was going to be a process that'd take some dexterity, a bit of delicate touch and care.

His eyes went shut. He reminded himself of why he was doing this. Why he needed to learn. Shizuko's protection wouldn't remain forever and he didn't want to put her in danger anymore. He was going to be eighteen soon. He planned on getting married, too. Maybe have a kid with Vanika - who knows? This wouldn't be possible if he didn't master this art, however. Why? Because he had some self-made duties, because he wanted to stop the Nethradins from ravaging their world. Without his efforts, and many others, they won't be able to protect their plane of existence. There weren't any Wayfinders to his knowledge. He may very well be the first one in line, and that... Mattered. If he wanted his future kid to be able to hang around a village square full of undead without risking Helheim's beasts rampaging, then he needed to work harder.

He opened his eyes, a bit more relaxed. Meeting his girlfriend after almost two years of not seeing her had definitely affected the way he thought. He didn't need to make it about her, after all; his goal was noble on its own and understandable. Maybe love had overtaken a bit of his heart.

Regardless, with a more relaxed mindset he made another attempt. Green mana affected the world around him in a metaphysical manner, reaching through space and pulling from it. Like a gentle summer breeze, his touch this time was... Much clearer. Images of Huangzhou's center seemed to flicker into existence. Hazy, blurry, but... Present. An undeniable, recognizable image of Shen's hometown was present for a while, just in time for both the Qilin and his brother to admire his progress.
(Ethan Hawke)

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Ethan took a deep breath. He hadn't even tried to perform this before other people before. It wasn't like he should be afraid or nervous; failure was a possibility and no one would shame him for it, they probably wouldn't even know that he failed. Regardless, he wanted them to have followed for a good reason. He might've had an obvious weakness that made him powerless before a woman's threats, but he still had pride. He wanted Mikiko to see him as more than Jesse's brother or the guy who got enthralled. It was time to give some show for it, to show the Shogun what great project he had been working on and what it could do for the world. His latest battle against the denizens of Helheim only pushed the teenager to work harder.

His eyes went shut, both his arms rose in unison before him and... He exhaled. He looked at the world before his eyes for what it was and gave a slight frown as he began concentrating. Mana was freed from his circuits and brought out into the realm of the living. A magical circle spun to life, glowing with an eerie green color. Inscriptions ran along the edge of it, though a quick gesture from Ethan's right hand would erase them completely. Another motion made different glyphs appear. Distance. Direction. Size. They all would help this attempt; failing was no option right now.

A more determined expression overcame him as green mana gracefully escaped his fingertips, being focused upon the middle of the circle itself. Metaphysical magic began affecting the world before them. This was no illusion, nor was it gravitional or time magic, however. A much more different branch of magic was being used as the center of the circle began changing. The change grew wider and soon enough an image could be painted from it as space itself opened before their eyes.

There was no doubt about what appeared before them. The image might've been a bit hazy, misty and veiled, but the window depicted a place they all knew and silhouettes they might recognize. Huangzhou's square could be seen from where they were standing through the magical circle he had made. It was no portal and it didn't seem like anyone reacted to something appearing before them on the other side, indicating that this was merely a window towards a location; what a destination should look like.

At last, the boy's lips parted.

"So... do you guys see it? I don't know if I was just imagining it or if I've figured out the second circle."
(Ethan Hawke)


Onia asks, "Woah...what is that?"

Onia says, "...."

Mikiko says, "That's...actually cool."

Mikiko asks, "When...how?"
Faints from exhaustion and from not knowing what she just seen.
(Onia)

Usiel Anauel whispers something.

Celeste Anauel whispers something.

"Traversing with the stream?"

Words are murmured outwards, though they're no more than mere whispers all the while. The Shogun merely tilts his head over to the side, though, eyebrows knitted together into softest of frowns as he watched-- quietly so.

No-- rather, what they tome stated. Was it working alongside the stream? Much like that one person from earlier-- wayfinding, as they put it? He wasn't quite sure... but, surely enough, it was a great deal to master what the tome stated to these extends... if it actually was so.

Without proper training-- or a teacher, and simply by reading from the books, immense progress would be neigh impossible. In most cases, at the very least.

Even then, it was merely a view, not the portal in itself.

"If it's what Ohtli mentioned-- that's quite some progress, Ethan."

Another, quieter pause, and he'd blink.

"Learned directly from the tomes, I suppose? Do you possess it so, or someone let you read it through a while?"
(Zeriel Heifang)


Usiel Anauel says, "<I wonder if that guy ever found that house with that oscuri woman or if they are gonna get married... >"

Usiel Anauel says, "Here, I made this today while I was out."

Celeste Anauel says, "Oh! Thank you, Usiel! Hehe."
Usiel clinches Celeste's mouth shut.
(Usiel Anauel)

Usiel Anauel whispers something.

Ethan answered Mikiko's question first, after all she was the one that had been invited to this personally, right? It only made sense. A smile was offered to the Kitsune as he focused on maintaining the window through space itself open.

"Spatial magic. Using it, I think it's possible to close the rift that's open in the mountains. That's.. The second circle— Territory." He answered in a way that didn't tell much save for the first two words that had a cool ring to it.

Zeriel was met with a nod and a smile, too. The image of the square began shrinking while he spoke - eventually leading to the circle's stability completely falling. Just how much had he practiced thus far?

"Miss Elisheva called my name and offered her first copy to me." He revealed. This coupled with their reaction was good for his self-esteem and would let him accept his state of exhaustion. He fell to his rear before he could even finish talking to the Shogun, now speaking from the ground.

"I've got the easiest parts down, I think. There's still a lot more to go, but I've got a study partner."
(Ethan Hawke)

Celeste moves his hand out of the way.
(Celeste Anauel)

Celeste Anauel whispers something.


Zeriel Heifang says, "Not to close the rift-- but diminish the damage... would require so in large-scale, though."

Zeriel Heifang says, "But-- ys, Spatial Magic's quite a thing. Harder to master... good luck, I'm sure you'd do fine."

Ethan Hawke says, "I wanna think it's possible. She wouldn't have lied to me about it."

Mikiko says, "Not bad, I'm going to head to bed now."

Mikiko says, "Keep up the good work."
Mikiko gives a simple thumbs up and a smile before walking off.
(Mikiko)

Usiel Anauel whispers something.

Usiel rolls his eyes.
(Usiel Anauel)


Zeriel Heifang says, "It's a possibility, or so. It's traversion without harming the stream."

Usiel Anauel says, "Well, I guess I should get going."

Ethan Hawke says, "Yeah. Chapter two's all about that."

Usiel Anauel exclaims, "Bye-bye!"

Ethan Hawke says, "..."

Ethan Hawke says, "I should sleep."

Ethan Hawke says, "I haven't slept in too long."

Zeriel Heifang says, "Regardless, keep up the goor work. Let me know if there's any progress, or so."

Zeriel Heifang says, "--mmh, rest well."

Ethan Hawke says, "Yeah-"

Ethan Hawke says, "Later."