The Silver Soul

15

"And why, Sans, do you think I can use skeleton magic?"

The cold wind (how do you even get wind underground?) slices through my gloves, almost stifling the flow of magic. I have to concentrate to keep the flame alive. According to Undyne, there will eventually come a time where my magic will be instinctive.

So far, I can barely control it, let alone use it.

Which is why Sans was brought in on this. Whilst Undyne taught herself the boundaries of her magic, (with a little help from a guy called 'Gerson'), Sans had it taught to him by someone else, though he can't quite remember who. Basically, what they're thinking is that if Sans uses the techniques that helped him learn on me, I might be able to learn faster.

Going through that though process in my head makes it more confusing.

"Because, Will, last I checked, humans had skeletons inside them. And basically, I'm just a magic skeleton. You're made up of magic too, just not as much as monsters. But you only need a skeleton and traces of magic to do skeleton magic. You have both. Now, stop stalling and focus." His sharp words make me even more sceptical. I lift my hands, stationing them above my soul, something Sans told me to do. "Kiddo, take of your gloves."

I lock eyes with him. "My fingers will literally fall off. So, no." The white pinpricks dim slightly.

"Kid." I hear the warning in his voice.

"Fine," I mutter, slipping the gloves off. Instantly, my fingers are attacked by the cold. I force magic into them to keep them from dropping off. Huffing impatiently, I reposition my hands over my soul, and concentrate. The theory is, that if I can focus on my soul and draw power from there, then I should be able to force it into the places where it would expel, releasing all the magic I can.

So far, it isn't working.

And the fact that I'm still slightly terrified of using it again, after what happened last time I tried to focus it, doesn't help.

Nevertheless, I close my eyes, and reach into the depths of my being. The fires inside roar in anticipation of release. I reach into them, and draw out a small amount. My fingertips start to burn. Slowly, carefully, I shift my hands away from my chest and hold them out in front of me. Opening my eyes a slit, as to not lose concentration, I see the whiteish mist envelope my hands. The fire burns brighter.

The flames now climb up the walls of my abdomen. I act quickly, and stifle them, whilst keeping the fire in my hands going. Now for the hard bit.

Adding on more and more magic at a time, I begin to shape it. For this particular task, I shape the magic into a human bone, long and thick. I open one eye completely to watch my progress, while keeping the other closed to make sure that the magic doesn't go out of control.

The white mist has begun to shift into place, forming the transparent outline of a thigh bone. I continue feeding it, stoking the flame carefully, until the outline starts to fill it, then solidify.

A fully formed magic attack hovers in the air in front of me when I open both eyes. Tentatively, I reach out and close my fingers over the thinnest part of the bone. It's cold and smooth, probably not how real bones are like, and kind of heavy. I finally lift my gaze to meet Sans'. He looks pretty happy with himself.

"Good job, kiddo. Now you have to do it faster." Sans demonstrates, waving his hand nonchalantly. At least fifty of the same bone it took me five minutes to create appear around him. I groan internally at the amount of work I have left.

"I can't be bothered," I say, putting extra emphasis on 'bothered'.

When Sans lifts his gaze, he fixes me with a stare that makes him seem so much older than he really is. A stare that belongs to someone who has had a thousand years' worth of experience. "When that flower attacked, I saw you lose control. I saw the explosion you made. Kid, if you don't get learn the proper way to use your powers, if you do the same thing you did last time, you won't just take out your enemy. What if someone else is in range? What if they're a child? If you do that again, well, you might end up hurting the child, maybe even killing them. And that's why, bucko, you hafta learn. I hear Undyne wants to spar for your next practice with her."