A Curse of Competence

10

^^ Rhino/Tauron ^^

Beyond terrifying my mother and getting some small petty revenge for the training I'd been forced to overcome for the past few months, my experiment with falling on a barrier had two further purposes; 1: to test the ability of my Skill to spread to the barrier that was wrapped around my feet, and 2: to measure of gravity and air resistance were the same on this Jupit-Earth type planet. If they were, my calculation for the size of the kite would be correct, and we would fall in a controlled spiraling pattern until I attempted to direct us; if they weren't, we would flip out of control and fall to our deaths if Demos didn't catch us.

I was pleasantly surprised when the kite began to soar properly, spiraling tightly downward while mother held on to the edge and Demos effortlessly held himself in place with his staff, which seemed to have attached itself to my Barrier; clearly gravity was still 10m/s^2, and air density was still 1:1 to earth... that meant that this planet, which was much larger than earth, was much less dense, resulting in an equivalent amount of gravity and an equally heavy atmosphere; an incredible concept, but a worrisome one as well, due to the fact that that would mean the atmosphere had to be shallower, due to its increased surface area without an increase in volume. This could manifest as a simple lack of an exosphere, but considering there was a secondary planet in orbit around this one whose gravitational pull would allow for this planet's atmosphere to be within range of its own, it was possible they simply shared their atmospheres, and there was a permanent bridge of air between the two planets, interrupted every once in a while by the two moons. Certain extremely tall mountains would thusly be only climbable at night or with oxygen equipment or Magic of similar function, and were it not for the fact that the Zeres Tree created tonnes of its own oxygen every minute, it would likely be difficult to breath in the canopy as well.

Eventually the screaming of my mother quieted as she realized I wasn't going to drop her to her doom, and the kite began to soar over the bridge as I gently exercised my Skill to push the wind behind us and move it out of our way at the front. Commanding air to push against the bottom of the barrier to correct its positioning was easier than I thought, and required little to no effort, compared to pushing myself through the air. In fact, I was recouping all the mana I lost because the barrier was absorbing some of the gravitational energy from all three of us and the atmosphere above us pushing down, completely nullifying the cost of the Skill and Spell. "It would seem my Skill can be used to interact with magical barriers as well... so long as they're connected to me, they're not fixed-point, which weakens them but also allows me to manipulate their positioning in real-time... I wonder if barriers can be used to power my Ship, Demos? If there's an explosion inside of a barrier, it will be absorbed and sent back to the caster of the barrier as Mana, yes?"

Demos was busy gawking at the gorge flying by swiftly underneath us, muttering numbers under his breath as he attempted to measure our speed, but I caught his attention, so he turned briefly to me to acknowledge me before returning to his gawking. "I... yes, most probably, however that would thusly invalidate your designs, as you'd be required to be at the helm constantly or the entire ship would be destroyed?"

"Whoever said I would be the one creating the barrier?" I smiled wickedly at him as I drew the Wand of the Alicorn and slowed us to a halt in front of the brambles barrier, dissolving the barrier and allowing us all to drop a few inches to the ground while I approached the border and touched the wand to the dirt in front of the brambles. "Ancient Zeres, your daughter asks passage of thee, that she may hunt the beasts of the Forest beyond, and return with her spoils."

As a doorway big enough for all three of us opened, mother raised an eyebrow at me in shock, but followed me and Demos through. "When and where did you get a Silver Dagger? Or better yet, how did that Wand count as one?"