Chapter 8 "Übung macht den Meister" – Practise makes perfect
[January 1612]
[two weeks since Christmas]
Leonhard stood once again in front of the Mirror in the storage room. Because of his first accidental magical outburst he threw some old dusty cloth over it. The clean mirror was a trophy of sorts to him. Proof of concept.
It was clear evidence of his magical heritage. So instead of telling everyone about his success for bragging rights, he hid it away from prying eyes. Otherwise, they would have put it out for display again.
Mirrors were a rare commodity around this time. Usually, only nobles and the highest of officials were in possession of them. The one they had in storage was an utter rarity, but with the significant dark mark and odd smell it had, made them move it out of sight. Plus, it taught the young one's patience and discipline.
Additionally, Leonhard kept hogging cleaning duty, so nobody else was there to notice the change.
'New year, new me' he thought by himself.
'I wonder if I will manage to uphold these new year resolutions… going to the gym? Not happening. But offensive magic? That, I could believe in. Hell yeah baby I soooooo got this!'
Amped up, Leonhard faced the mirror like it was a rival. This was it. Time to practice and this time for real.
His goal? To reliably be able to control and cast one offensive spell.
The reason? He was very scared after Ezekiel's utter disgust at anything magical and he felt that for his own comfort he needed options… possibly violent ones. And his small body would not provide any advantage. So, magic it is.
Furthermore, he was quite freaked out that people knew about magic, so he asked around with some subtle questions and a child's brutal honesty.
To his immense relief, apparently nobody knew anything about whether magic was real or even existed. None of the other monks, nuns or strangers he came across. Only Ezekiel seemed to have real and personal experience in the topic.
Usually, they referred to the bible or laughed at his childish imagination.
In conclusion: people feared magic but knew literally nothing about it. Except Ezekiel.
He may not have asked the most important people or even a large amount, but he would have to accept that "no news meant good news".
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He stood by himself, facing a wooden cup he had placed onto a chair for target practice. Candlelight shadowed his form against the walls as he planned his next course of action in silence. He stared at the cup and raised his right hand with his palm facing the cup. He felt like a budget ironman.
'Alrighty then. Let's give it a try'
He tried everything. Words that he knew worked for wizards he had seen on TV in the past. He tried wand movements, even finger-pointing like some cursed musketeer. Nothing worked. The cup just sat there, unimpressed.
.
.
.
'Man, I really have no clue what I'm doing… could really use a teacher. Or a Wand. Heck would even take a potion at this point…'
After multiple failures in a row, he tried many different approaches, but nothing worked... the structured school of magic was not accessible for him. Had had no wand, no movements other than doing different things by flopping his hand around and trying things like spiderman casting a web for the first time by design. Even using his pointer stretched out like a wand and swishing and flicking didn't levitate any object. And that was mist best possible theory for wandless spells.
He knew no theory behind the magic other than his three-step plan. Which also wasn't quite enough. It seemed that the easy road was blocked.
But then again, what in life that is worth pursuing has ever been easy?
He turned around away from the cup and looked up at the mirror. The cloth he threw over it was starting to get dusty after a few weeks of no cleaning. Although it was worth the attempt of relying on a well-established assortment of existing spells, somewhere deep inside if him he always felt that it wouldn't work out for him. Maybe it was that mental block that prevented him from casting windlessly. Maybe it was something else.
Gathering his wit and aligning himself mentally in the proper way the was able to remove the dust from the large piece of cloth. All it took was the proper intent, an instinctive hand gesture and 30 seconds of time.
'Lovely, I already knew that I could clean magically. As much fun as that was, ill hardly be able to take someone out or buy time my cleaning dust. And any opposition will have gotten to me within that half minute time frame… so I guess I really have to lean into my natural talents. Mirrors.'
It was with that thoughts that he pulled the now clean cloth off the mirror. It slowly slid off to the side and now he could gaze at the clean and shiny reflection of himself with pride. This was his origin. This was his chance. If his plan with Edward didn't work out as he had intended, he needed this plan B.
His reflection blinked back, tired, frustrated, afraid. But still standing.
'Let's do this.' he contemplated with conviction.
He let his flinger just barely touch and move along the surface of the mirror, thinking about how he can combine reality and logic. Using the ancient forces of magic in combination with modern theory. Bending the rules of reality for his own purpose.
It was during these moments that his mind drifted back to physics class, to a man named Euclid, a Greek Mathematician. To the most basic laws of optics.
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Intermission:
"Einfallswinkel = Ausfallswinkel" ist ein Grundprinzip der Optik.
Es besagt, dass der Winkel, in dem Licht auf eine spiegelnde Fläche trifft (Einfallswinkel), gleich dem Winkel ist, in dem es reflektiert wird (Ausfallswinkel).
Dieses Gesetz gilt für glatte, reflektierende Oberflächen wie Spiegel und ist zentral für das Verständnis des Lichtverhaltens. Entdeckt von Euklid in ca. 300 Jahre v. Chr.
Translation:
This is a basic principle from optics.
It means that the angle at which light hits a reflective surface (the angle of incidence) is equal to the angle at which it bounces off (angle of reflection).
This law applies to smooth, reflective surfaces like mirrors and is crucial for understanding how light behaves. Discovered by Euclid in roughly 300 B.C.
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"Ok then, how will I weaponize this? All light usually is reflected in equal angles to its entry. It's an ironclad rule, or rather, it would be if not for the existence of magic. Now I can see if I can change that. Freely manipulating light is way beyond me, but using the mirror as a conduit? Now that seems way more appealing." He uttered to himself.
He knew that light could be focused and bundled. Heck, his smartphone that he missed for its utilities, not so much social-media, had a flashlight on the back side. No, what he needed would have to be way more dangerous. He needed a laser pointer. It follows the same principles. Just to a way more precise point. Laser pointers worked at an atomic level.
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"LASER" = "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation"
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They consisted of light in the same wavelength (monochromatic), which caused its harmonious color. Leonhard reminisced about how all wavelengths of light combined becoming white. The very opposite of mixing all colors of paint, as he had discovered in art class. That turns into a muddy brownish gunk.
All the wave length also had to line up, as he recalled from the grating probe. Coherence.
And finally, all had to move in the same direction. To barely spread, they had to be collimated. A regular flashlight fades away after a few meters. Lasers don't.
This time he picked up a candle and held it to the mirrors surface. His shadow flickered visible to him in his reflection in accordance to the flames light. Uncontrolled fire, yet in angles equal to its origin.
Leonhard narrowed his eyes.
"Okay… think. Light goes in, light goes out. Always same angle. That's the law. But what if I shoved it? What if I bounced it back faster, and harder?"
He touched the mirror with his fingertips, very gently and barely grazing the surface. The candle flickered nearby, throwing shaky shadows around the room. In the reflection, the flame looked… stretched. Like it wanted to go somewhere. Like a snake dancing to the tunes of a flute.
He focused.
Light. Flash. Push. Shock. Sound. Blind them. Stall for time.
It doesn't have to be strong. Just has to work.
He didn't have a spell word, heck, he didn't even want one. This wasn't a textbook moment. This was desperation wrapped in physics and instinct. Magic and desire. Fear and will.
The mirror vibrated faintly under his hand. Like it was waiting for his command with great anticipation.
He pulled in a breath.
Then pushed.
FLASH.
A blinding burst of white light exploded outward. Like a car sized camera going off right in someone's face, but many times worse. At the same time a popping sound like a firecracker disrupted through the stillness. The air jolted. The candle blew out. The wooden cup went flying.
Leonhard fell to his knees, panting. His head rang. His eyes stung. One ear felt like the opposite of feeling the difference in air pressure. Leonhard thought it was very weird, but mainly painful.
"Okay. Ow."
He wiped under his nose. Blood. Bloody Fantastic.
He looked up at the mirror. It was still whole but also gave him this eerie feeling of watching him. Maybe that was just a figment of his imagination. He was after all in very much pain. Then again, without the candle it was hard to see much of anything.
No cracks. Just a faint shimmer in the glass.
"Alright then," he muttered, collapsing back onto the cold stone floor. "Prototype one: working title… 'Mirror Flashbang'... massive cooldown... 10/10, would not recommend twice in a row."
He shut his eyes.
His body hurt. His magic hurt. His brain hurt.
But even that could not wipe off the smile on his face.
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Thanks for reading!!!!!! Drop any stones and collections and likes pleaseeee
Btw: This completes one whole week of uploads. Think ill take the weekend off, really could use a break.
Love
Danfictions over & out