I moved forward into the second kata. My arms moved like a viper, the lines shooting out of my fingertips like silk from a spider. Two rectangle adjacent to each other were formed inside the circle, rotating clockwise.
I moved to the third kata, move both hands back, performing a complex movement that cracked my knuckles and nearly popped my shoulder. I thrusted my arm forward, creating a single dot in the middle of the circle.
WHOM!
The magical circle before me began to hum, I watched as it began to spin around, transforming before my eyes.
It became a circle with a web design inside it. Thousands upon thousands of strands that were all connected to the center. I found sanskrit words written around the borders of the circle, this was it. My magical focus, the thing I would use from now on to perform any type of magic.
"Very impressive," Strange called out.
The fiery red circle slowly vanished as I let my attention drop. I sighed as I felt the strange pressure of magic break away from me. I looked at him and nodded, "did I do okay?"
"You did well for a first timer," Strange nodded, "may I ask what happened that caused this?"
I looked at my arms, "I….I was thinking too much. Before I kept thinking about what would happen if I fail, or how I was never meant to be a sorcerer. I didn't realise...I didn't realise I was supposed to feel out the magic, I kept trying to think it out."
"And what made you forget all that?"
"The girl I loved," I sighed. Strange raised an eyebrow, "Felicia Hardy."
Strange's eyes went wide as he winced, "I don't envy you my Apprentice."
I rolled my eyes, "she's not that bad Master."
"She is, and you know it," Strange chuckled, "now, practise this once more. Next time, try and make do with without a focus. I understand it's useful, but right now you need to make this second nature to you, after all it is the bases of all magic you are now going to learn."
I nodded, I cracked my knuckles and got to work.
A day later:
"You did well with the exercises," Strange smiled at me, "as such, I believe you have earned these," he presented me with robes that looked like they were japanese in origin. Dull red with a black belt tying them together.
I looked at them, "ah...thanks?"
"They are Apprenticeship robes," Strange explained, "the represent that you have finally earned the right to be called my apprentice."
I blinked, "so all this while-"
"-No," Strange shook his head, "your discovery and mastery of a magical focus is the first step."
I blinked, "huh…..so do I have to wear these?"
"Yes, the organic material help channel energy better. Plus they look cool," he smiled.
"Right..." I blinked, Strange narrowed his eyes, challenging me to say something, "I love it!" Note to self, when leaving back to home dimension, 'accidentally' forget to pack these robes.
Strange smiled, "good. Here, you have also earned this," he passed me a cloth bag with my name embroidered on the front. It was the size of a normal duffle bag, but it could be rolled up to the size of my hand if need be.
"What it this?" I asked him.
"A storage pouch," he explained, "a soccer's greatest tool. And your first one. It can store any number of items for you, and will be weightless as well. And when not in use simply channel magic into it and it will react to your will to change shape."
I groaned as I did as Strange said, channeling what I once used to power my bio-electrical energy into the pouch, causing it to shrink down in size. I smirked, "this is so cool!"
Strange smiled, "I'm glad you like it, now go change. We will begin your first real lesson soon."
I did so quickly, putting on the red gi that ended around my arms in tight wrappings and my leg in comfortable cloth like slip ons.
"Now that you have finally mastered the basics, we can move onto your first branch of magic," Strange said as he walked around me in a circle, "as you now might understand, the power of the human mind can't be underestimated. It can do many amazing things. As such, one of them, is telekinesis," he snapped his fingers and suddenly every piece of furniture in the room began to float.
I looked around, "holy shit."
"Your mind can interact with the physical realm by channeling power into your brain waves, like you have learnt to do through your meditation and katas," Strange explained, "using this, you shall be able to move any object with just your mind."
I blinked, "wait, so is telekinesis magic? Does that make Jean Grey and other mutants magical?"
Strange smiled, "you caught onto that very quick Apprentice Parker. The answer to your question in half and half. You see mutant are just that, mutations to a normal person. As such they have access to certain things, such as energy fields and power, that we soccer's have to strive for through training and learning. Years of it."
"So...mutants use cheat codes while we have to do it the hard way around," I summarised.
Strange nodded, "yes, I suppose that's an accurate statement. So you see, mutants and humans aren't very different at all."
.
.
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