in which things do not go as planned

[huaaaaagh]

Who: Kirito, OTA
Broadcast: Y
Action: SS Paisley
When: Today's fine!


( video )

[The view switches on to reveal Kirito in the Spriggan avatar, crouched low with the camera tilted up towards him. Looks like it's on the ground.]

Okay, I'm using the comm so I have a record of what this looks like. I tried to encrypt it to make it private, but that's not my augment, so who knows if it worked. Feel free to ignore!

[He finishes fidgeting with the comm, tilting it at just the right angle, then disappears behind it for a second before reappearing at a distance, one hand lifted above his head.]

Þeír hræða nótt dýpt, renn helvegr!*

[As he begins, the full spell materializes in front of him in gold text and rotates around his body; when each word is spoken, it flashes white and vanishes. Once the full incantation is done, his body is consumed by a tornado of dark smoke, obscuring him from view. There's a muffled roar, and a burst of fire immediately following, and suddenly the room rumbles, knocking the comm off-balance.

When the smoke is clear the only thing visible is the cargo bay ceiling. There's a moment of scuffling and an "ow, geez!" in the background before finally a thumping of footsteps, heavier than someone ought to have with Kirito's stature. Through the smoke, one might catch fleeting glances of curled horns, dark fur, and glowing red eyes.

When at last he speaks, his voice is oddly distorted, something off about it.]

Whoa, okay, uh- crap. ....Paisley crew? Maybe don't go to the cargo bay for a while...?


( paisley )

[Anyone who happens to feel like wandering into the cargo bay despite his warning will find a ten-foot-tall hellbeast hunched over in the corner trying (and failing) to look inconspiculous, chanting quietly and looking kind of pathetic, appearance aside.]


[*Kirito's spell is Norse. Meaning, "Frighten them, depth of the night, and chase them along the roads of Hell."]

Comments

Action

[complicatedliar]

You could do much worse.

[He begins to walk slow circles around Kirito, murmuring to himself a bit. Then he turns and walks the other way. Finally, after several minutes, he stops, points a finger at Kirito, and speaks a single, inhuman word of command.

The illusion shatters like glass.]

Action

[huaaaaagh]

[That... feels really trippy. Not unpleasant, really, but different from the magic he's used to. He's never seen anyone use a dispel like that. He glances down at himself, front, sides, back- yep, all back to normal.]

Whoa... you know your stuff.

Re: Action

[complicatedliar]

[Dryly:] God of Magics, Kirito.

It was an interesting spell, though. I haven't seen one quite put together that way before.

[huaaaaagh]

Right, right.

Is there, uh. Anything you can tell me about it? I mean, I can't guarantee I'll understand the explanation, but I should probably learn more about it.

[That was the gist he got from everyone yelling at him on the comm.]

[complicatedliar]

If you don't understand it, then best we remedy that. Playing about with things you do not understand is... a bad idea.

[He nudges a crate to a comfortable conversational distance and sits.]

I broke your illusion by finding an opposing resonance. Light is composed of waves, and can be disrupted just as one might disrupt a wave of water.

[huaaaaagh]

[.......Okay he's already lost and regretting this a bit, but he sits down, anyway. Magic was all fun and games in literal video games, but if this is reality, he should at least try to take it seriously.

Just sort of hard to wrap his head around it, that's all.]

"Disrupt a wave of water"? What, like driving a boat through it or something?

[complicatedliar]

Observe...

[He creates an illusion between them, of continuous waves.]

When one adds a wave of one's own into the mix, it might compound the effect... or destroy it entirely.

[He adds a wave of a second color in, shifting it so it cycles from constructive to completely destructive. (think this but way, way cooler)]

[huaaaaagh]

Whoa...

[Even if he's not so into the scholastic nature of the conversation, even he can admit when he's impressed. That's a pretty neat visual aid.]

How do you just... make all of that? I never heard you chanting spells or anything.

[complicatedliar]

Chanting and handwaving are... crutches. Ways to focus one's will and construct one's effect. They are not necessary.

[huaaaaagh]

[Huh. That sounds useful.]

Kind of wish the magic I know worked that way. None of the spells I know or have seen used could be done without the words to activate it.

[complicatedliar]

That is common among humans I have known. Though not all. But it could be that none know better, yes?

[huaaaaagh]

I'm gonna say yeah, that's likely. Where I'm from most people don't believe magic is anything but fantasy, so why would they bother to practice it?

[complicatedliar]

Perhaps, too, it requires too much time of practice. [Silly short lived people.] But if they do not believe, their will shall not be strong enough to break the world.

[huaaaaagh]

It's harder to believe something is possible when you never see anyone manage to do it.

[Seeing is believing, and all that. It's a popular phrase for a reason.]

[complicatedliar]

It requires far more imagination and will, to be certain. [Which let's be honest, humans lack.]

[huaaaaagh]

Will, I think I've got plenty, but I can probably stand to be more imaginative.

[He's literally hacked video game code with willpower alone, that part's not the problem. The downside is that you can't really force imagination, Hmm,]

I guess I should start with improving the spells I do know.

[complicatedliar]

That would be best. Work on your control of what you know, and seek the point where your understanding will let you break free of its strictures. Remember always it is a framework rather than the whole of the thing.

[huaaaaagh]

This is why I've never been good at magic...

[Uuuuugh, that sounds like so much work for the shitty spells that the Spriggan race are allotted. If only he hadn't chosen it for the aesthetic alone.]

[complicatedliar]

[He laughs.] With that attitude, you shan't turn that around soon.

[huaaaaagh]

Have I mentioned that I'm sometimes lazy?

[He certainly hasn't claimed to be otherwise.]

[complicatedliar]

[Deadpan:] I cannot believe such lies.

[huaaaaagh]

I thought you were supposed to be some kind of lie-wizard.

[He is admittedly a little bit full of shit.]

[complicatedliar]

That means lies do not work on me, for I have mastered them.

[huaaaaagh]

I mean, it's not exactly a lie. If you asked anyone who knows me back home they'd tell you how lax I am when it comes to magic. I always leave the tougher spells to them, they're better at memorizing the chants.

[complicatedliar]

You might be a bit lax when it comes to sarcasm as well.