Roar of Dragons

[Luke – 13 years] – starts during Chapter 33

But if I adjust the pathways like this… and alter the power matrices like this… and then use the new alloy… would that work? Wait. I would need to move the fuel source input section over to here, and that would mean needing to adjust this part of the enchantments and that one. That would require adjusting things like this… maybe if I added in a swirl here?

Sometimes, random swirls can make things work and I have no idea why. No matter how much I research it, it seems that nobody can figure it out. Even though some bits of magic can imitate science, it's not a science and can act in funny ways that make no sense. Heck, it isn't even always consistent, like the time a lightning bolt I shot was randomly a blast of ice.

Rising from my seat, I walk over to my storage section and grab the materials off the shelves and out of containers, placing them onto the workbench beside the projection table I was making adjustments at, then get to work cutting, engraving, enchanting, and everything else that's necessary.

Once the device is ready, I place some mana crystals into the fuel box, then make sure the magitech device which reads heat levels is on and operating. Only then do I turn on the experimental generator, watching on my screens its various readings.

Even with the adjustments, there's still heat generated. Not only that, but the entire point of my adjustments was to try to fix the problem of something simply not working.

I watch with both my mage-sight and my ability to sense electricity and the screens. The device turns on, mana crystals are tapped into, mana is drawn out, mana is converted into electricity… and then the process ends, the generator shutting off due to too much electricity built up for the magic circuits to handle. At least I've managed to get the device to work fluidly between all of those stages, but that took me half the day to achieve. They would work fine when not connected to each other, and then fail once connected.

Ten more tests of the device yield the same result. I log all of what I've observed and noted with these changes, my thoughts on them, and then return to making adjustments on the projection.

"Is this hopeless?" I ask as I sense a familiar electrical signal approaching. "No matter how many adjustments I make, I can't get rid of the heat. I've nearly gotten the actual formation to fully work, though. It really does feel hopeless, though. Improving the conversion ability without increasing the size seems impossible, especially when factoring in that I also need to improve the actual draw rate and output at the same time to make it more efficient."

Power cores are much more stable than using mana crystals as a fuel, and they cost significantly less per unit of mana used than a mana crystal does. Part of that comes from their efficiency – the process of refining mana can be done more slowly and carefully, allowing for an easier optimization.

I'm attempting to replicate at least part of that for my generator. Since generators and batteries perform the conversion faster, there's a lot more wasted mana.

The power cores made from my mana cost $400,000, but they have significantly more than one thousand units of mana used for them. Each one was made with roughly eighty thousand units of mana – a cost of only $5 per unit, or only half the cost. Such a power core can fuel all of Dragon Falls for several days, too.

That's how much more efficient power cores are, though ones made with my mana are extra-special since they're even more efficient.

We don't tell the public, but there's one actually set up as a backup for the entire town. Just in case. They're usually bought by the military or government as backups.

"Remind me again," Mom says before I can continue. "What the purpose of making one which can fit into a cabinet is?"

"Well in part, it's to see if it's possible," I look at her and she hands me a glass of tea. "But that's not the full thing. Right now, there's plenty of wasted mana during the conversion process, when drawing it out of the crystals and converting it into energy which can be used in either magitech or scientech. Part of the goal is to reduce that mana waste, so as to optimize the amount of energy it can produce. That by itself would allow each mana crystal to last longer than they would in other generators. It's meant as a backup generator for homes in cases of emergencies. More specifically, the sort which can power the entire home and its functions for days or even weeks, if needed. Of course, buying mana crystals would mean it's more expensive than just getting energy the normal way, but this is meant for emergencies, such as if a disaster happened and the power lines were damaged. Even if improving the output on a smaller scale does turn out to be impossible, being able to make the conversion more efficient is good by itself. We can use that to improve pretty much every generator we produce. I can even get it to work with the generators of this size, I just have to reduce their output down to\-"

"Stop and take some breaths," Mom interrupts. "You managed to improve the conversion efficiency?"

"I just said that," I say. "I'm not economics expert or whatever you want to call it, so I don't know if that means mana crystals will become more or less expensive since they'll last longer, but we could even use it for the batteries we make for cars. How's the progress coming on the car that runs off contact, to let me put mana straight into it and power it that way?"

"We're an energy company, not a car manufacturer," Mom says. "We make batteries for magitech cars that other companies build, not the cars they go into."

"Well, yeah, but you can help with the design, right?" I ask. "Well, our company. Not you specifically. It'd be necessary in order to actually create the power flow. I've been working on a mock-up of that, by the way, and was wondering if you'd take a look at it later. But later. Right now, I want to try and figure out this problem."

"Is it the same thing as before?" Mom asks as I take a sip of the tea, which turns out to be a magic tea, probably because I've used a lot of magic recently and am always being drained on weekdays. "The issue with the heat generation and something not working, I mean.

"I did manage to get up to the conversion portion working in the process rather than just individually," I tel her. "Getting it to transfer out of that matrix and into the next one has some sort of block. I made some adjustments I thought might work, but they didn't, so it looks like I'll need to break the entire thing down into its parts again and keep tweaking minor pieces into I can get that to work. Though I did spend all morning doing that-"

"It's evening-"

"Oh, fu-"

"Language!"

"I didn't even finish!"

"Because I interrupted you," she ruffles my hair.

"Not the hair!" I quickly set down the glass so I can use both hands to fix my hair.

"It was already a mess, sweetie," she says. "You've been accelerating yourself off and on all day, so it's understandable you'd lose track of time. Your dad and I were planning on heading somewhere to eat in about two hours. You're invited if you wish to come."

Dinner with the family?

"Sure!" I answer. "But can I use the mana-reader first? Pleeeeeeease? I'm getting really stumped on what's going on and I'm starting to suspect that if fixing either of these is possible, it'll only be so with the use of a mana-reading device. The issue has to be on the mana-level."

"With my supervision," Mom says. "I'll bring it over."

"Thanks!"

Mom leaves and I return to examining the projection and comparing it to the actual device I've built. When Mom returns, it's with a rolling cart that has the device on it. While she sets that up, I make sure everything which needs to be exposed on the generator is, then step back so that Mom can use the device.

"You know how to use it," Mom tells me. "I'll watch just in case, but you should be fine?"

"Really?" I ask, almost afraid to be hopeful that she's serious.

"Yes," she answers. "Go ahead."

I plug the machine into a socket meant for high drains, then make sure to configure the settings properly, Mom correcting me on one error. Just as I pull off the scanner itself, Mom gets a phone call.

"Go ahead and run it," Mom tells me as she pulls out her phone. "I can still watch."

I nod, then turn on the device as Mom starts talking. First, I need to adjust the parameters set on the scanner itself to make sure it only scans the parts I want it to scan. That requires taking a "shot" of the generator with the handheld scanner and outlining the parts I want it to look at.

To scan the generator, I have to move in closer and hold the "wand" portion closer to it, letting it focus in on a smaller space. It will recognize the part I've outlined and only read the section in there, and only about a square inch at a time.

Then I hear Mom call me "Lucas".

"Mooooooooooooom!" Why does she struggle so hard to remember?

"Sorry, Luke," Mom corrects herself, then continues talking.

Okay, the first section is done, so I can move the wand over like this… and scan… and repeat.

"Xander?" I catch something Mom said. "He's there, too? Can I-"

"Focus on the scan, Luke," Mom says, and I turn my attention back to the scan.

After scanning everything that's exposed, I turn off the machine and then remove some parts of the generator, scanning additional angles and pieces, as well as things that were behind the parts I scanned originally. I'm not scanning the entire thing – just the portions where it's not working and the part where the heat seems to originate from.

"Total cost to scan," I say once I'm done. "Not very much, since we're using a power core from my mana. But if we used a normal source rather than that… uh… probably a quarter of a million?"

"Your total scanned area was twenty-three-point-seven square inches," she says. "So if we used the building's power supply rather than the power core hooked up to this room, it would have been around one hundred and eighty-nine thousand."

"And six hundred," I nod. "I know. I just hope the result works out because that's a lot of money. At least we used my power core for it, so it's only, like, thirty grand. I dunno, I'm not going to bother doing the math on that one."

Even if it cost us half a million, this generator would more than pay for it once it's on the market. Mom would have only allowed me to use the analyzer if she was certain we'd be able to make back the money from the project… but maybe she didn't mind it as much since it was with a power core from my mana.

Also probably because I figured out a problem that researchers have been working on for decades. This is the first time in almost forty years that someone has figured out a more efficient way to extract and convert mana via magitech. I can get it to work on a larger scale, it's the smaller scale that's the problem.

That means I've come up with something that's worth, well, billions in the long-term. And I'm only thirteen. I'm not a magitech genius for nothing, and if it's possible to make it work on a smaller scale, then I will.

"Do you remember how to convert the data to the projection table?"

"I think so," I answer.

"Go ahead and try," Mom tells me.

I run the program in the analysis machine, then withdraw the storage drive inserted and insert it into my projection table. Once it's ready, I call up a projection of the first enchantment set. Light blue lines weave through the air, forming the complex enchantment. There's more detail to this than just what I could tell on my own, however.

The way magesight works is by looking at the presence of mana or magic (converted mana); however, that's limited by several factors, including the strength of the mage's mageisght and the types of mana states present. Mana isn't in a single state but in several, and typical magesight can only view two of them. Some people focus on training so they can view another, but that's difficult to do and take a long time. In my case, I also have an innate ability to view mana in the magical energy state – the form used for powering magitech.That's innate to me, likely as a result of my deep affinity for lightning magics.

With a device like the mana-analysis machine, we can bypass our own limitations to some degree. It's more precise on reading the locations and strengths of mana states. When it comes to a type of mana state called "mana residue", it can even read the aspects of them to some degree. It's the most precise form of mana reading there is in the world, even better than ones high-end doctors use.

One thing it can do is read more slight interactions of mana and magic, pathways created, even the residue of mana and magic. But this readout…

"All of this looks fine," I say after looking through the projections. "Mom, there's nothing wrong. I've done everything perfect! This is flawless enchanting! It really is impossible, isn't it?"

"Maybe not," Mom tells me.

"But-"

"We can see that there's no flaws in the actual enchantment and flow paths," Mom says. "Nor that there are unintended interactions between them. This means it may be the types of magic that's the problem. You may need to tweak the formulas a little."

"I've tried adjusting those," I tell her. "But look – it doesn't even show results for magic residue that's causing the heat-up! And the connection from the conversion to the output should work, but it just doesn't. Unless there's something even the best piece of magitech at it can't detect, it's hopeless! And it's my first big project! Why does it have to end in failure?"

Rather than supporting me and making me feel better about my failure… Mom just looks thoughtful.

"I think you need a break," Mom tells me. "Try and come at the problem again once you've rested a little."

"But-"

"You never know what new perspective you might get," she tells me. "It's not quite been two hours, but I'm sure your father won't mind stopping now to go out for dinner."

"But I-"

"You've been working nearly all day, Luke," she says. "You need a break. Did you even eat lunch?"

"Uh…"

"I thought not," she says. "Get some fuel in you and see if something pops into your head, alright?"

"Alright," I grumble. "I just wish this wasn't a failure."

"You know what's going to be a failure?" Mom asks.

"My life."

"Don't be so dramatic," she snorts. "Come on, let's go get your dad."

"Let me get cleaned up," I tell her, then remember her phone call. "What did Mr. Trey want?"

"He wanted to know about making mana crystals," she answers. "Xander apparently got curious about that. It seems that the 'dork' he mutters about sometimes is the teleporter who takes power cores."

"He was here earlier, right?" I turn off the projection table, then begin putting things away. "The teleporter? I could feel his energy signals over at the storage. Well, and the mana he leaks when he teleports. Ain't no way he's a normal kid when he has that much mana."

"Yes," Mom answers as she makes sure the mana-analyzer is properly shut off. "I managed to convince him to speak a little, and it seems he's building a computer. He also mentioned Xander directly while we were talking."

"Wait, really?" I ask. "Xander knows a proper King? And they're friends?"

"Yes," Mom frowns a little. "The kid said something strange about Xander, and after what Xander said on the phone…"

Mom doesn't elaborate on that, just goes deep into thought.

"Moooooooom! You can't just leave me hanging like that!"

"Sorry," she smiles. "Xander said at the end of the call that he apparently eats leaking mana and didn't know that – which is why the teleport gate had an oddity both of the times he used it."

They've currently blocked teleports between the two cities because of it. A teleport gate requires two types of fuel for it – raw mana and converted magical energy – and no one yet knows what was going on. Our generator was having a high draw on it, but it's energy is used to actually direct the raw mana flow and shift the enchanting network around to set the destination gate. As it turned out, the actual mana cost itself is what had spiked.

"Are you saying Xander was eating the leaking mana that normally gets pulled back in?" I ask.

"That's what he said," Mom confirms. "He must have been sick afterward unless his body was able to quickly expel the mana."

I grimace at the thought. When I was little, I tried to eat raw mana and was sick for almost a day. Xander must not be feeling too good at all, since he would have needed to eat many more times what I'd attempted.

But at the same time… wouldn't the fact that he was able to eat so much that there was a significant increase in actual cost for the gate mean that he's got a ridiculously high capacity? Not necessarily as high as mine, since the gates are pretty efficient even with how much they leak, but probably higher than Tyler's.

"By the way," Mom says. "You've been sparking ever since you got frustrated."

"What?" I reach up and feel sparks in my hair. "Noooo! Not again!"

"It's not as bad as it could be," she says. "Oh, and Xander asked if I'd be willing to let you know that he has some stuff he wanted to ask you about and some stuff to tell you on Monday when you go to his classes."

I was going to talk to her about that once I finished up for the day… I don't want to go to the classes anymore. Xander doesn't want to be my friend, he only sees me as a way of being protected from the teachers. On top of that, I hate being so low on mana all the time. It's an awful feeling, but necessary in order to keep him from freaking out when I start babbling a lot.

It takes me about two days or so to get full on mana at a boosted recovery rate, or about three if I don't stuff myself full all the time. I hate this and it's awful…

"Mom?" I ask. "Do you think we can go by Xander's to ask him about that? He probably just doesn't want to inconvenience us and I guess he'd rather talk in person. That's kind of like him."

I could let him know I want to stop attending the classes, too. I really do hate being so empty on mana and it's a huge problem for me. It's not me and I want to be me.

"Sure," Mom says. "Then we can let your dad finish his work and meet us at the restaurant after. You get cleaned up and I'll put this away, then let your dad know."

"Thanks," I say.

Mom takes the mana-analyzing machine with her as she leaves, and I finish cleaning up my work station, then take a shower in my office's bathroom.

Xander knows the teleporter… that's a huge surprise. I kind of want to know how they met, and if he knows about whatever it is the kid's working on that's using so much power. There's no way it's just a computer. I also want to know if he knows how we can get the other kid to stop teleporting in and taking power cores without permission… his electrical signals were in the storage room that holds some of our more upper-end ones, so I'm betting the kid took some of the ones made with my mana today.

Asking all of that would probably freak out Xander, and I'm already going to be saying something that'll upset him. Should I just bite the bullet, since I'm probably not going to see him around anymore after stopping attending the classes?

By the time Mom and I arrive at Xander's, I know I'm sparking again. This is really upsetting me even though I knew we couldn't be friends pretty much from the start. I hate my life and really wish I wasn't born into this family, with this stupid condition we can't figure out.

"Mom," I whisper when we walk up to the front doors, the guards having let us drive up after contacting Trey to let him know we were here. "There's another kid in there."

"That's Xander."

"No," I say. "I mean, they're a similar size to him, but I can't feel Xander's electrical signals unless I'm really close to him. His are almost nonexistent and it's a miracle he's alive with that. This kid's signals are strong, like a healthy person. Did Trey adopt another kid?"

"Maybe?" Mom seems uncertain. "But I doubt he would have done that, he's got his hands full with Xander. It could be that one of the other kids Xander hangs out with is here."

Right. Xander has friends and I only have Parker, who seems to be more aggravated with me by the day. He hasn't even mentioned the incident where he just… didn't say anything when his other friends started going at me.

Being moody can come later. After putting out my sparks, I knock on the front door. One of the guards opens the door a moment later and we enter, and I look around a little. The signal of the other kid is in the theater room, while Trey is in the kitchen with Katie, where we're directed.

"Hello, Luke," Trey says. "You wanted to talk with Xander?"

"He said he wanted to talk with me," I say. "But on Monday. I figured he probably just didn't want to bother us so late in the day. Is it okay if I ask him what's up? I forgot to ask before we left."

"I asked while you were cleaning up," Mom says.

"He's in the theater," Trey tells me. "He's had a bit of a weird day and I told him he could watch something and go to bed later if he wanted."

A weird day? Well, if he hung out with a teleporting ten-year-old who's essentially stealing power cores… I can understand why his day has been weird.

When I reach the theater, I find Xander doing something in the concessions area, all of his stuffed animals sitting on seats around where he normally sits. Something is up on the screen, though I don't know what it is and it's paused. The paused scene is of a forest… so looking at that isn't helpful.

What's strange is Xander… he is the one with the strong electrical signal. I've known him for three weeks now and his electrical signals have always been super weak, almost nonexistent, when I'm near enough to sense them. Now, it's as if he's any other normal kid.

"Interesting movie?" I decide not to ask about it.

"It's a documentary on a magic breed of forest fox," Xander looks over at me. "I paused it after starting it 'cause Mr. Trey said you were coming over to talk. I didn't want to bother you this late, that's why I said on Monday."

"It's okay," I say. "I wanted to tell you something, too. You go first, though."

"Oh," he says. "Um… Mr. Trey said that if you babble lots, I can just tell you you're bothering me and you won't be mad."

What is this about?

"Parker usually punches me," I say. "Or pinches my ear. Or flicks my nose. Just telling me is cool."

"Yeah," Xander says. "But I'm not so good with talking like that, so I might be really rude. I'm sorry if I say it rudely, I don't mean to. I just don't like noisy things… they really bother my ears and my head. And I can't help it."

Him not liking noisy things is why he doesn't like me.

This makes Xander uncomfortable enough that he looks back to what he was doing… which seems to be mixing up a batch of popcorn with caramel, sprinkles, and I think gummy bears. Not exactly the best thing before bed.

"That's fine," I tell him. "I mean-"

"But it's not fine," Xander tells me. "I don't like-um… sorry for interrupting. I don't like being mean, Luke. I don't want to be rude even if you're noisy and bother me lots if you're not super low on mana."

"I know, that's why-"

"Please let me finish!" Xander whines. "I'm not done! I'm sorry for interrupting you earlier!"

Xander looks ready to cry. Crap. I'm still going to tell him I want to quit the lessons and that's probably going to ruin his entire night.

"Sorry," I tell him.

"Okay," he sniffles a little. "Um… sorry for being a big baby. Getting my brain fixed didn't fix that. But I want to try and not bother you. Having to drain your mana before the classes probably bothers you lots. I… not being super low on mana feels lots of good… didn't know that-but maybe I should have-you're probably feeling-I'm sorry for not thinking 'bout you on that, Luke."

What does he mean by that? It seems like he's struggling to form his thoughts into sentences, which is really confusing.

"So um… if-if you want to stop, I understand," he says. "But, um… I want to try not being bothered. To… try and tell you if you're being noisy. That's what I wanted to tell you on Monday. That if hyper is… since Tuesday's holiday… Wednesday not… but not sure… 'cause brain's all fixed up… didn't see turtle today… so only half-empty… Monday, right?"

None of that made any sense, and what do turtles have to do with anything? I think his thoughts were getting jumbled up in his nervousness.

"Um… Xander?" I ask. "You didn't actually make sense there. You were saying something about Monday, Tuesday being a holiday, and Wednesday, and only half-full. And something about not seeing a turtle?"

Also something about his brain being fixed, which is the second time he's mentioned that. I really want to know what that's about, but I don't think asking right now would make him any less frustrated.

"Turtle," he says. "Not 'a turtle'. He's a dog that's up for adoption and has been for awhile. He's not found a happy home yet. He gets super excited and then his new owners don't want him and send him back and it makes him all depressed. I forgot about going there today so I don't know if he's found a home yet."

"Oh."

Xander nods, then looks satisfied with his monstrosity of a snack.

"What about Monday, Tuesday being Interception Day, and Wednesday?"

"Oh," Xander thinks. "But maybe Monday is fine? But I'm really sorry if I get upset and be rude to you, okay?"

"I still have zero clue what you're talking about."

"Oh," Xander's face turns bright red. "Um… I was trying to say that I want to try and be around you when you aren't being all drained. Because being drained probably doesn't feel good, right? For-for the classes, right?"

"What?" I ask a moment before I realize what Xander was saying when he kept shifting what it was. "Wait. Were you saying you wanted to try being around me with more mana, when I'm going to be more hyper? And that since Tuesday is a holiday, and so no classes, that you wanted to try it on Wednesday?"

"Y-yeah," Xander nods. "B-but if you wanted to not do that, i-it's okay. I-I can try w-when you d-don't drain. I-I don't want to be a bother. B-but I might accidentally be rude 'cause I-I'm not used to saying when people are b-bothering me. A-and if I'm able to… then maybe I can when you're not drained at all."

Xander wants to try and use me to get used to being around noisy things, isn't he? Then again, he's also using me to get over his fear of drowning… so I'm not too upset. It means he's wanting to try to be around me when I'm more me, too. Maybe there is a chance we can be friends?

"We can try that Monday," I tell him. "Mom said you were asking about making mana crystals with your own magic? I can do it, too! There's lots of mana wasted in the conversion process since I'm not that good at it, but I can show you if you want."

I'm going to hate tomorrow, but at least it means something good might happen Monday.

"Sure," Xander nods.

I hold up my right hand and begin to push mana out of it, condensing it in one spot to form the crystal. After a few moments, Xander lets out a yelp and jumps.

"Aaah," he gasps, mouth open. "Aaaah… oooh… aaah…"

"You okay?" I lose hold on the creation of the crystal, the mana I've already managed to hold together dissipating since it hadn't manage to solidify yet. "What happened? Did I accidentally shock you?"

Xander grabs a handful of his popcorn and shoves it into his mouth, eating quickly as if trying to get rid of a bad taste. After a few bites, he hurries over to his seat and grabs his lemonade, downing the entire glass.

"I'm really sorry!" Xander looks at me. "I didn't know I was going to do that! You were being all leaky with your mana, apparently! I just thought you meant you were using lots of extra mana, not that you were leaking it!"

"Huh?" I ask. "Wait. You really eat leaking mana?"

"I only found out today," Xander looks sad as he goes to the drinks fountain to refill his cup. "It made you unhappy yesterday 'cause you didn't get to finish hanging out with Tyler before he left, and probably had other stuff to do… really sorry about that. I didn't know I did that. Um… you can demonstrate again… if you're not upset and want to… I'll make sure my mouth is shut this time. I thought it was shut but I apparently opened it…"

That's what this is about? Xander heard me being upset with the tech yesterday and feels guilty over it because it was apparently his fault. Based on the report we'd gotten earlier, there was around 300 units of extra mana needed for each teleport, so Xander must have eaten around 600 units' worth total. He only just discovered he does that today, and he doesn't like bothering people.

So he's trying to bother me less by not asking me to be completely drained of mana for his classes… that's actually really nice.

"Wait," I say, and he flinches a little. "If you can really eat mana… what does mine taste like? It tastes different, right? If you didn't know until today and you had that strong of a reaction."

"Um… well," he says. "Your mana has little bits of lightning in it, so it's really that it gave me a big shock."

"Little… little bits of lightning?"

"Yeah," he nods. "Not like normal people's mana, which is just… mana. Or like Parker's, which, um… it's hard to explain in words properly, probably 'cause my brain only just got fixed and I need to learn more, but… Parker's kind of resembles lava? But doesn't? And your parents' is like that but with lightning. But yours is like your parents' mana, where it sort of seems like it's in tune with lightning. Except it also has little bits of lightning in it. And the more you have, the more there's there."

What the hell is he talking about?

"And it gave me a big shock," Xander says. "I didn't mean to eat your mana. Sorry! You were probably pulling it back to the crystal, right?"

"Well… I'm not that good," I tell him. "But here, let me show you what a crystal looks like when it's made!"

I hold my hand back up and demonstrate creating the crystal. Xander's decided that to keep himself from accidentally eating my mana, he's going to cover his mouth. So he can do that to himself without freaking out? I guess that makes sense since he has full control over the situation.

At first, there's nothing visible above my palm as I work. Then a sort of yellowish mist forms in the spot where I'm condensing the mana, the mist taking up a space around the size of mist. The mist thickens until it's a clear, yellow liquid, before solidifying into a crystal that's very faintly touched with yellow but is mostly clear. Its color deepens and continues to do so, until the crystal itself is no longer clear from just how much mana is within it.

"I had around 10,000 units' worth of mana," I tell him. "Since I've spent a lot since my last drain, and the crystal has around 5,000 in it. I can only manage to get half of it successfully used. The leaked mana should be dissipated by now. It does so rather fast."

"Whoa," Xander removes his hand from his mouth. "That was cool. Greyson did it faster so I didn't get to see it right. Is that what you do before classes?"

Greyson? Is that "the dork"? It doesn't surprise me that he could make mana crystals quickly, though now I'm curious about why he needs power cores.

"No," I answer. "I push my mana into a crystal orb, where it's stored. That gets used to make potent power cores since my lightning affinity is even stronger than my parents'. There's pretty much no loss there, so we can use the full amount. It's faster and more efficient. Greyson's the kid who keeps teleporting into our storage and taking power cores, right? How come he doesn't just make them on his own?"

"I told your mom that," Xander tells me. "He said he keeps getting electrocuted when he tries to make them, so he finds it easier to rob mobs and use that money to pay for the cores. But I told him that he needs to stop because it's probably bothering you guys, and he should try to buy them properly."

"He… robs mobs?"

"He's a dork…"

"Yeah…" I say. "Well, you probably know him better than I do."

"Probably," Xander nods, then shifts a little, clearly uncomfortable. "Um… is it… is it okay if I-I-you do lots of work and are only thirteen… made me curious-but generators don't normally eat… so I was wondering-"

"Might want to take a deep breath and sort out your thoughts," I tell him. "Because you're making zero sense there, Xander."

"Sorry," Xander's face turns bright red again and he takes his cup back to his seat. "Um… can I visit your workplace? 'Cause you work even thought you're only thirteen. And it's not like S.G. does, mowing lawns and walking dogs and stuff. It's like… bigger work. With magitech. Like what Greyson does, but for money. I don't think he really cares about money."

I can't help but feel like Xander has some sort of other motive for wanting to see my workshop, but I doubt it's malicious. Xander's probably just got a lot of stuff he's thinking about, sort of like I do.

"He robs mobs," I say. "I don't think money matters much to him."

"Probably not."

"As for your question… I mean, I don't have an issue with it," I say. "I'd be happy to show you – but we have to get permission from my parents. We do give tours and stuff, but only for some parts of the building. There's a lot of secret stuff."

"That's okay," Xander tells me, then grabs his bowl of popcorn and carries it over to his seat. "I just wanted to see what kind of stuff you do. If… if that's okay."

"I can ask my parents," I tell him.

"T-thanks," he says. "Um… you said you wanted to tell me something? I think? Maybe I'm misremembering?"

If he's willing to try and put up with me without me draining myself of mana, then I'll stick around for longer. That means there's a chance we can become friends, too!

"I did," I tell him. "But don't worry about it, it doesn't matter anymore. Enjoy your documentary. See you Monday!"

"Bye," Xander says, then I head to the kitchen.

Mom and Trey are talking in there, and I noticed Katie leave a minute ago, heading upstairs.

"Xander wanted to tell me that he wanted to try seeing if he could handle me without being drained," I tell Mom and Trey. "He figured that Wednesday would be a good day to try it, since I'd have a day of recovery due to there not being classes on Tuesday for the holiday, but I offered to make it Monday and showed him me making a mana crystal, since he was curious about them. He also wanted to know about visiting my workshop. He's apparently curious about what I do, since I'm working and only thirteen."

"Not this again," Trey groans.

"What?" I ask.

"Xander overheard Katie and me talking about the food budget earlier," Trey tells me. "She just wanted to let me know that the account for food would need a larger input since Xander's eating more than we anticipated. I've told him that it's fine and not a problem, but he's insistent on finding a way to help. I don't mind if you let him look, but don't give him any advice on what he can do try to earn money. I want him to focus on just being him."

"My advice would only work for magitech geniuses, anyway," I say. "So no worries about that! Did something else happen? Xander usually has a really weak electrical signal, but it's strong enough now that I could sense him like anyone else. Made me think he had a friend over until I saw him and realized it was just him. And he kept mentioning something about his brain getting fixed?"

"His brain?" Mom asks.

"That's what he said," I shrug. "Said it three times."

"You can sense the electricity in a person?" Trey asks.

"Yup," I grin. "Pretty neat trick, right? It's gotten stronger recently, too! So what's the deal with his brain? 'Cause it's not like his Autism was cured, right? There's no magical cure for that."

It's not caused by damage or something, so "fixing" it would require actually altering a person's brain.

"Luke!" Mom exclaims.

"What?" I ask. "He is, isn't he? I mean, I wasn't told it, but it's kind of obvious."

"He is," Trey nods. "And no. Don't worry about the brain thing. It's just Xander being influenced by the teleporting kid."

"Oh, okay," I say. "Well, something happened, since his electric signals are normal rather than the barely-noticeable kind."

"I'll keep an eye on it," that's probably code for "not your problem", isn't it?

"Okay," I say.

"Ready to go?" Mom asks.

"Yeah," I nod. "Bye, Trey! See you Monday!"

"See you on Monday," Trey says. "See you, Melody."

"See you," Mom tells him.

As Mom and I get into the car, I get a text from Parker.

"Parker wants to know if he can come over," I buckle up. "His parents apparently have to do an emergency cover at a banquet. Seems some of their staff didn't show up and so they need to go. Can he stay the night?"

Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes, please say yes.

"Dinner with us or at the house?"

Yes!

"He's offering to order pizza."

"Alright," Mom chuckles. "I can drop you off, then go meet with your dad. You two have fun."

An hour later, Parker and I are lying on my bed, eating pizza and wings while watching something on TV. Half-watching, since Parker and I have been talking about our day. I just finished telling him about making the mana crystal to show Xander (Mom took it; it's going to be stored safely until I return to the office).

"He eats mana?" Parker asks.

"Yeah," I say. "But it was kind of funny because he apparently gets shocked by my mana. He claims it has lightning in it in addition to having an affinity for lightning. I'm not sure what that was about, though. It's like he was talking as if he could sense affinities, except he said yours had a lava affinity, not an earth aff-"

Parker stiffened up.

"…Parker?"

"Yeah?" He quickly recovers.

"I saw that face," I poke him in the shoulder. "And you tensed up. Why? You are an earth affinity. You didn't inherit fire from your dad, and it wouldn't have merged, anyway. The bloodline wouldn't be strong enough."

"It… kind of did," Parker looks guilty. "But I haven't told anyone. Not even my parents. I figured out quickly how to remove the different aspects, so I only show earth magics to others. But I have a lava affinity."

Parker never looks this guilty unless he's being honest.

"You're the first I've told," he says. "Xander could tell?"

Back when we first met… Xander gave us both strange looks – and an even stranger one when I mentioned Parker had an earth affinity. He knew from then that Parker had… wait, wouldn't that mean that Xander can actually perceive mana in some form? Not just in the way that magesight does, but in some sort of more refined manner? The way his magesight works must let him see the states of mana in people and their aspects.

"Hello?" Parker waves a hand in front of my face, startling me.

"What?" I ask. "Oh. Yeah. I think he knew from the first day we met. He made a weird face when we mentioned you were an earth affinity. How come you never told me?"

Parker flips over onto his back, his head now hanging over the edge of my bed.

"None of our classmates put you on a pedestal for your magical abilities or magitech skills because they find you annoying," he says. "You talk waaaaaaaaay too much and tend to be really hyper."

Ouch. Did he have to bring that up?

"Me?" He asks. "I'm a second-gen fire mage and a third-gen earth mage who comes from an ordinary family, and I have a magic bloodline from that. It was bad enough when classmates at DFMS found out I had an earth affinity… imagine if they found out I inherited a fire affinity from my dad? Or if they found that out and that the affinities merged and became a lava affinity? And then when we met… well, I didn't fully like you at first. Even after we became friends, I didn't want to tell. Like… I like you a lot, Luke, but I've never told anyone. I don't want it to be important or how people see me. As some sort of prodigy, like you."

I guess that makes sense. If my classmates at school knew just what I can really do, they'd probably ignore my hyperactivity and babbleness. They'd want to be my friends because of my abilities. I want to be seen as me, not my magic.

"Fair," I say. "Can I see some lava magic?"

"I'm not that good," he says. "Since I mostly just use earth magics. But… sure."

He works off his shirt for some reason.

"I know you're cute, but this really isn't the time for that."

Parker throws his shirt at me and when I toss it to the floor, I see him holding his hands up over his body, still lying on his back. He's lifted his head up to focus on his hands, which are held about eight or nine inches apart.

Molten stone begins to form in the space between Parker's hands, expanding and bubbling, a little bit of it dropping down onto him. My exclamation of surprise and terror is cut off at Parker's lack of a reaction to it… is he unaffected? Lava can't be cool at all, which means he'd need something to keep him from being burned, but that's not inherent to mages. They'd need special bloodlines like mine to have an inherent resistance.

Unless Parker's cast a spell on himself to resist the heat. That's a possibility. I can feel the heat on me and it's not too contained.

By the time he finishes casting, the orb is about six inches in diameter, more of a spherical blob, and quite bubbly.

He starts moving his hands back and forth, the blob of lava elongating and then compressing back into a spherical form as he does. More of it drips down onto him, but he makes sure to not expand it wider than his body.

After playing with his lava a few times, Parker focuses on the blob for several seconds, then the entire thing rapidly cools, becoming dark grey, almost black, stone.

"That is awesome," I say. "Are you casting some sort of spell to resist the heat?"

"No," Parker doesn't protest as I snatch the lava stone to examine it more closely. It's still warm. "I'm just… not affected by heat. At least, to a certain degree. I don't know what the limit is. And please don't tell anyone. Not even my parents. I really don't want people to know, Luke. I'm only telling you 'cause Xander outed me and you know me well enough I couldn't make up a story after you noticed my reaction."

"It was just us when he said it," I tell him. "I don't know if he's mentioned it to anyone else, but you can ask him to not mention it to others."

"I will," Parker looks relieved. "If we had more space and I wasn't afraid of getting in trouble for accidentally setting something on fire, I'd show you my lava shots. They're little bullets of lava I can shoot."

"That sounds really awesome!" I exclaim as he starts to sit up, but I put a hand on his chest and push him back down. "Dude, you are not getting up until you cool the lava on you."

Parker looks down at his stomach and chest, where the lava that dripped is still lava, then giggles. He'd taken off his shirt to avoid burning it from the lava drips, and used his body to avoid his lava burning my stuff. That'll be for nothing if he just sits up and lets it flow off of him.

"Whoops," he reaches down to poke the molten drips. "Don't want to set the place on fire!"