Of Thousand Lives

Sincerely, Circulus - Chapter 17: "Dear Iazhioria,"

Almost a year has passed by in a blink of an eye. Despite not talking to others, Justice became one of the most prominent trainees in the base due to his newfound ability. He spent more time getting accustomed to the Thannatopian military and understood the ins and outs of this place like the back of his hand. This time, something clicked inside of Justice, as if the Song itself accepted the boy and his abilities. In no time, he became a novice Songmancer. Raven was still nowhere to be found.

"Welcome back, Justice. I was expecting you.", Hurlem greets the trainee. They are both standing in front of the training dummies. The young prodigy takes something from his satchel - a small dagger with its sheathe on. "Last time, you were able to manifest a simple plate. I figured it's time to step it up.", Hurlem gives the trainee the dagger and takes out a thick book. The kid flies past the pages while Justice takes a careful examination of the blade in his hands. "According to these books, your magic should be.. Reality magic. 'Knowledge is power, power is creation, creation is destruction.' is what the books say.. Cryptic, but I think I can figure some things out. The Song is in everything, even in a lump of dirt, you can still feel the magic flow in everything. Therefore, you can simply analyse an object just by touching it in addition to looking at it. Your knowledge of such things can then be used to serve your desire to create or destroy. Though, you have to understand it to every last detail to do the former or the latter.", the young prodigy settles down on the ground, putting his face impossibly close to the book as he reads. He has a strange way of reading, but what can Justice really say, he's good at doing what he's doing at least. "Okay.. I think I got it, boss. I don't even know how I got this magic, it would be better in your hands.", Justice sheaths the blade of the dagger and puts it down on the ground to do some stretches. He reaches his arm out and opens his hand wide. The air and space around Justice gets pulled into a vortex. A small shockwave explodes in the palm of the trainee's hand and then an exact duplicate of the dagger Hurlem gave to him pops straight into existence. The kid laughs a little, perhaps he's genuinely happy to be able to witness this magic work in real time. "Great, try to use it.", he says with a little smile on his face. Justice nods. He unsheathes the dagger. The handle, the pins that keep the blade in place, the handguard and the blade itself. Everything felt exactly the same as the one that was given to him before. The curve of the blade, the sharpness of it, even the pattern of the wooden handle, they are the exact same. He looks at a training dummy and lunges at it. Justice lets go of the knife and it stays there, stuck in the hay. "Fascinating. It behaves exactly the same as any ordinary weapon.", Hurlem closes the book and holds it by his side. He unsheathes the original dagger and stabs it into the practice dummy as well, but he pulls out when the entire blade was enveloped. He looks at the depth of the cut made by the impale. A few seconds later, the copy disappears into thin air, as quickly as it was created. The young prodigy takes out a pen and writes down something on the book he's holding. "The copy lasted a bit longer this time than yesterday's.. Good find..", he mumbles whilst writing. He then looks at the stab made by the copy, but he isn't tall enough to look into it. Hurlem frowns and turns to Justice. The child holds his arms out towards Justice, signalling to the trainee that he should pick him up so that he can take a better look. Justice nods and picks him up by his hips, raising him to the height at which he can see the stab well. "Exactly the same length..", he promptly writes it down. Then, the kid closes the book and puts it back into his satchel, as well as the pen and dagger. It wasn't until he closed the bag that he noticed that he was still being carried. The prodigy frowns and smacks Justice's arms, "Let me down, idiot anomaly.". "Oh, sorry. I was just waiting for your order, captain.", Justice chuckles and lets the little child down who soon lets out a small sigh and shakes his head. "You are dismissed. Thank you for spending your time, but do have a chat with me on the way to the exit, please. I don't get many occasions where I can talk to you as a friend.", Hurlem smiles as he makes his way through the big field.