Lee moved lighter than before. He'd lost a literal weight both physically and mentally, so moving about felt easier than it had for a long time. He jogged a few steps ahead, then turned to walk backwards with a grin.

  "Dude, I could actually go for a run right now. This is mad."

  "Please don't," Ste said flatly. "You trip 'cos your trousers have dropped round your ankles and faceplant, I'm not carrying you."

  Paul tugged at his left trouser leg as they walked. The fabric flapped with each step, stretched out from years of his leg being thicker, now just hanging loose and annoying. He yanked it up. It slid back down immediately.

  "These are doing my head in."

  "Your leg's finally not fucked and you're moaning about the trouser leg?" Liam said.

  "You know how annoying it is when you get your socks wet and they're just sat there in your shoes. It's like that, annoying as fuck."

  Liam ducked under a low tree branch. It was nowhere near him. He straightened and looked back at it, slightly sheepish.

  "Nearly took my head off."

  "It was a foot above your head, you doyle," Parmo said.

  "Dude, my POV is all messed up. You try going from a totally normal height to a giant overnight."

  Ste grinned. "Did you just say the word POV?"

  They kept walking. The town was getting busier as they approached the Civic. An older man carried a walking stick under his arm like he didn't need it anymore. A woman adjusted the collar of her cardigan, looking uncomfortable in clothes she'd owned for years. Everyone was moving about like they'd woken up taller, fitter or younger.

  Lee noticed Ste was talking and refocused as the other lad kept going. "It's like there was this fog over my mind and it's gone now," Ste said. "Didn't even realise there was a fog to begin with. Everything's all like, so much more clear now."

  The boys nodded, recognizing what he meant. They'd all changed, but not in the same way. Paul's leg worked. Parmo could breathe. Liam was taller and stronger. Ste's mind just ran faster, cleaner, like someone had wiped the static away.

  Parmo took a breath. Deep. Full. He did it again, just to make sure.

  "Man, by now I'd be knackered. But I'm good. Weird feeling."

  "Seems like your lungs are finally working properly," Ste said.

  "Yeah man, feels like I'm on the same level as everyone else now." He took another deep breath. "It's nice."

  Paul looked down at his jeans again, yanked the left leg up. It slid back down immediately.

  "This is bollocks."

  ***

  The Civic Centre loomed ahead. The area out front was still scattered with tables and desks, people moving between them in that same way the boys had noticed on the walk, kind of awkward but determined. Everyone knew the tasks they had must continue, even if everyone was slightly off-balance this morning.

  Mike Ellis stood at the centre of it all, denim jacket over one shoulder, hair tied back. He drifted between clusters, stopping to talk with one group. The people he spoke to grinned and nodded, already moving to handle whatever he'd asked.

  "Alright, lads," Mike called as they approached, giving them a once-over. "You lot look different."

  "Yeah, you're telling me," Lee laughed.

  "It's been a strange morning. People are showing up with no idea what's going on. We had that notice board set up here letting people know about the changes that might occur for those of them that aren't checking their UI as often as most people. Some of them apparently didn't get the memo." Mike scratched his chin. "This whole area's turned into a communal check-in. Didn't even plan it really. Just kinda happened."

  "You're looking better yourself," Parmo said. "Wasn't your knee dodgy before?"

  Mike bent his knee, testing it out. "Was. Not anymore. Got up expecting the usual click and grind, and nearly booted the nightstand instead."

  Liam nodded. "Makes sense. Seems like everyone's had their own version of that."

  Lee gestured down at his sagging clothes. "Speaking of, you wouldn't happen to know where we can get stuff that actually fits?"

  "Got you covered," Mike said. "We grabbed clothes from the town centre and the marina. Should do you alright." He gestured over his shoulder to a woman sorting through boxes near one of the tables. "That's Janet. Supervised at Ashton Industrial before all this. She's been organizing this since sunrise."

  Janet looked up as they glanced her way. She was in her late twenties, maybe early thirties, blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail under a cap, green eyes catching the light as she looked them over. She had a half-smile grin on her face, the corner of her mouth tilted up like she was already thinking of something funny to say. Shorts and a t-shirt, a thin jacket tied round her waist showed she was practical, but that didn't take anything away from looks, it just showed she wasn't worried about looking perfect. She took one look at their sagging clothes and laughed, already moving toward them.

  "Yeah, you lot definitely need a change of clothes or two. Come on lets get you sorted."

  She sized them up quickly. "Right, you're all gonna need Large at least." She started pulling things from the nearest stack, assessing, handing items to each lad with ease as she worked her way through them. "So, notice anything majorly different? You know, other than the obvious weight and height stuff? I can't remember the last time I felt so full of energy and that's without knocking back energy drinks constantly. Kinda wish I had this whole thing happen back when I was working 12 hour shifts none stop but what can you do?"

  The 5 lads changed quickly, not bothering to hide their new bodies, everyone else around them had seen weirder or worse things this morning no doubt. After a couple of minutes of trying things on and asking for slight changes, they found themselves happy with their new wardrobes. They each got a couple of different things in their new sizes and thanked Janet for her help.

  "Yeah, you lads clean up nicely, regular bunch of lady killers." She grinned again. Parmo grinned back. "Don't let our handsome new bods fool you, were idiot's..." She laughed again. gave them a nod and turned to the teenager that had just walked up.

  Mike raised an eyebrow. "You lot always seem to be first in line for this UI stuff. It's nice someone's taking the initiative."

  "We're not looking to cause a fuss or make people worry if something happens." Ste added. "Just looking for a safe place. In case of explosions or like, something freezes..."

  Mike's expression flickered between amusement and concern. "Well, we've already got a perimeter up near Murry Street. No one's been out past the edge yet. Maybe you lot are due for a wander."

  The group shared a glance.

  Then Paul grinned. "Sounds perfect."

  ***

  The road to Murry Street was the same as it had been a week ago, still quiet, not a person in sight. A week ago however, they'd been terrified, convinced everything they knew had disappeared and in its place stood nothing but nature. Now there was something else underneath that fear. An itch to see what they could actually do, a drive to step into the unknown.

  "Couldn't have imagined looking forward to getting to the edge of town a week ago," Lee said, slowing his pace to match the others. "Felt like everything was gone."

  Liam nodded. "Yeah, at first I was confused more than anything. And worried obviously. After we got that message though, I started to think. With everything that's gone on in the last week or so, with the Ui and the changes, then what are the chances this has happened to other places, or like, what if we've been transported to some island in the middle of the pacific or something? Could be anything really."

  "Yeah man. Who's to say we haven't been isekai'd into another world?" Said Ste.

  "Isekai'd? what's that even mean?" Asked Paul.

  Lee looked over and laughed. "Its a thing from anime and manga. It's where the main character dies cos he got hit by a truck and wakes up with his memories but in a new world with magic and shit."

  "And hot chicks" Grinned Ste.

  "And hot chicks" Lee grinned back.

  They all laughed. The closer they got to Murry Street, the more obvious the changes. Barricades made from pushed-together cars, wheelie bins, and old wooden planks blocked the street's end. Signs taped to lampposts warned people to keep back. A couple of cameras on makeshift stands pointed toward the grassland, someone probably watching from the Civic.

  The lads climbed over without trouble. Liam's reach grabbed the top plank easily, pulling himself up first. Lee hoisted himself over, landing softly on the other side. The others followed, no stumbling, making it over just as easily.

  Beyond the barricades, the road ended the same way it had a week ago with the same unnatural boundary. But standing here now, after everything, it looked more like a place to test what they could do, no longer a place that brought fear of the unknown.

  They stepped onto the open land, careful but curious. The distant forest hung hazy in the heat. The space felt empty. No footprints, no animals or any sign of life. Just grass waving in the breeze.

  Lee glanced back at the town, then forward again. "It's weird, but I don't feel scared of it anymore. Just... wondering what comes next."

  No one said much after that. Their footsteps stirred the grass as they moved forward.

  They didn't go far, walking for a few minutes at a slow pace until they came across a clump of rocks that offered enough space to sit and a half view of the treeline without feeling fully exposed. The barricade was still visible in the distance behind them, a comforting anchor.

  "This'll do," Paul said, dropping onto a flat stone. "Close enough to town in case we need to leg it."

  Lee stayed standing, arms crossed. "So, Magic. Any ideas on how we want to approach this?"

  "Well what did the UI say?" Parmo asked. "Magic seed reawakened. That's obviously part of it. You think we need to interact with this seed in some way?"

  Liam spoke up. "That reminds me, I checked the inventory earlier, when I was putting the new clothes away. Wanted to see how the clothes are stored. You know the starter item we all got, the unknown object? I think that's the seed. It still says unknown object but it's changed from inert to awake."

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  Lee pulled up his inventory. Around him, Paul was asking Liam why he didn't mention it straight away, and Parmo was going on about how he hoped the clothes folded themselves in storage.

  "Dude, do you think the clothes come out all straight? I kinda just chucked them in there. I fucking hate ironing..." Parmo complained.

  Lee ignored them, focusing on the grid of slots in front of him. There it was—the starter item.

  [Starter Item: Unknown Object]

  Status: Awake

  Lee thought about taking the item out. He'd done this already with other items over the past week, so it should be easy. However, it didn't budge.

  Hmm, that's weird. Maybe we need to cast magic first before it does anything?

  Lee spoke up over the lads. "I just tried to take it out of storage. No dice."

  "Yeah, I tried the same," Ste said. "I think it will do something when we manage to use magic. Otherwise I'm not sure what the point is in having it there in the first place."

  Ste pulled a notebook and pen out of his storage. "I think the best thing we can do is brainstorm some ideas, we can each try something different. We're going to look like idiots so I'm glad we're out here."

  "You realise we're still in view of the cameras right?" Parmo laughed.

  "Oh god. Mike's going to take the piss when we get back if this doesn't work isn't he?" Liam groaned.

  "Right, so we don't even know what we're trying to do. Is it willpower? Words? Gestures? All of the above?" Ste said as he began writing in the notebook.

  "Well it did say reawakened not awakened. No idea why that sticks out to me but maybe it's like flexing a muscle we don't know we have? Maybe the magic was inside us the whole time," Liam joked.

  "Maybe the magic is the friends we met along the way," Parmo said, getting an eye roll from the boys.

  "We might need to say something to trigger it?" Paul said as he pointed his open palm away from the group. "Fireball."

  The boys watched and waited. Nothing happened.

  "Holy shit, if Anth saw you try that you would never hear the end of this," Liam laughed.

  "I was going to say maybe we need a catalyst? That makes me think of the starter item but it's not coming out of the inventory so that can't be it," Lee said.

  "Yeah maybe. It's not like there's magic rocks floating about or anything though. I don't know, I feel like it's something we can do alone, no need for outside help. I could be wrong though, just feels like the way the UI has been so far, we should be able to crack it ourselves," Ste said. "OK, let's think about this systematically. Let's assume we have the ability to cast magic. Where is that magic coming from? I don't see a mana bar or anything in the stat screen on the system but let's assume we have a kind of well of mana to draw from. That feels like it would be right if we're thinking we can cast without aid."

  "I mean, we didn't know we had an inventory until Lee thought of it. He thought of that because of anime, maybe it's got something to do with what he would expect to work?" Liam said.

  "Yeah, the UI itself is something straight out of fiction, it's a staple in manga and games," Lee said.

  "Hang on, are you telling me I'm going to have to do some weeb shit to get magic to work?" Paul worried. "If that's the case I'm out."

  Ste laughed. "Man, there's nothing wrong with weeb shit. Let the weeb flow through you."

  "OK, so let's put this together," Parmo said. "We think we might have mana. We also think the magic is going to be tied to stuff we know from media. Does this mean I might be able to start throwing spells about like in League?"

  "Oh god, here we go," Ste moaned.

  "No listen. What if we have to like mimic what we know from media. Something like this." He stood up, jumped in the air, pulled back what looked like an imaginary bow and shouted "True Shot Barrage." Once again, nothing happened.

  The sound of laughter split the air, each of the other boys amazed at how stupid that was.

  "OK, that was far worse than my attempt at a fireball," Paul grinned as he wiped a tear from his eye.

  "I mean, that was obviously stupid as fuck, but maybe the thing about us trying stuff from the media we think of when we think of magic is right?" Liam said. "Speaking of which. Are we thinking we get to use any magic as long as we can cast it? How does that work? Like in games you have classes right? Maybe that's important. We already know Parmo is going to want flashy shit. Am I right in thinking you're going to want to be the ranged damage dealer, Parmo?"

  "You know it. If I can summon a giant ice bow and shoot giant ice arrows you know I'm going to do it."

  "I think I'd want fire," Paul stated. "Maybe like explosions or a fire sword or something."

  "Yeah that fits what I'd expect from you dude. I think I'd want to be a kind of jack of all trades, man in the middle. Both offense and defence. Like buffs, damage, maybe some AOE. Oh also, the ability to create terrain. That could be super useful," Lee said.

  "Greedy," Liam laughed. "I'm going to end up stuck as the tank aren't I?"

  "I mean you're an Amumu main and you've got his build. Short with a big head. Might as well go all in," Parmo teased.

  "Out of all of us, you're the easiest to picture as the dude wearing full plate with a giant shield like Liam," Paul added.

  "I like the idea of setting up magic traps. Control the fight before it even begins. Maybe throw in some debuffs," Ste said.

  "I mean that fits you to a T, Mr Dungeon Master," Lee grinned.

  "That's a solid party to be honest. We got Liam and Paul up front as the tank and melee bruiser, Lee in the middle as a kind of support damage dealer, me and Ste at the back as ranged damage dealer and trapper debuffer," Parmo said.

  Liam shrugged. "Yeah that'll work. I also want a magic pet. Like a cool flying dog or something."

  "Oh dude — what about magic mounts?!" Parmo shouted.

  "I mean, you never know. Chocobos could be a thing?" Lee said.

  "Chocobos? Really? At least pick something cool. Like a Tiger. Or a shadow horse," Paul sneered.

  "Alright edge lord. Chocobos are fucking sick dude. Ste tell him Chocobos are sick."

  "He's right man. Giant chicken in armour. What's not to love?"

  "Yeah whatever, if you say so..."

  Ste stood, brushing his hands off. "So.. I suppose just try shit and see what sticks? If anyone feels anything or makes something happen, let the rest of us know."

  Paul cracked his knuckles. "You lot can meditate or whatever. I'm gonna try hitting something, that might work."

  "Classic Paul," Liam laughed.

  They stayed in the clearing longer than expected. The sun had shifted overhead, clouds drifting across the sky. Time kept moving but nothing was going the way the boys had hoped.

  Paul had made the trip back to town, picking up a punching dummy from the gym with the owners permission. He brought it back and was now punching it while occasionally muttering things like "power up" under his breath. By the fifteenth attempt, the muttering had turned to curses.

  "Fuck's sake," he growled, shaking out his hand. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

  Parmo paced, arms out like antennae, trying everything from whispered commands to dramatic anime-style poses. "Alright, Ice Bow! Focus Shot! Mana Beam!" He paused, waiting. Nothing. He tried again, this time with more conviction. "Glacial Prison!" Still nothing. He sat down heavily. "Man, this is bollocks."

  Ste had moved on to scratching things into the dirt with a stick he found nearby, each drawing tied to some principle he was thinking through. Fire needs oxygen, fuel, and a spark. What if magic worked the same way?

  He drew a sharp, deliberate circle in the dirt, thinking that maybe magic needed to be written down—a kind of focus to force it into existence. Inside the ring, he didn't draw a rune; he etched a chemical equation. He carved [O?] at the top, a jagged [?] for the spark, and the molecular shorthand for wood at the base. He connected them with a triangular flow chart, treating the ground like a blueprint for reality.

  "This should be perfect," he whispered, hovering his hand over the center. If the world followed logic, the energy had to manifest. "Ignite."

  Nothing happened. The circle just sat there, a collection of letters and lines in the mud.

  "Science: zero. Magic: also zero," Parmo chirped, glancing over from his failed 'Glacial Prison' pose. "Nice graph, though, Ste. Very professional."

  "I'm not going to take that from the dude trying his best to audition for an open slot in the Ginyu Force..."

  Off to the side, Lee Laughed.

  "Fucking weebs" Joked Paul.

  Liam sat on a rock, watching the others but not idle. His eyes tracked each attempt the others made—Paul's raw frustration at nothing going to plan, Parmo's theatrical poses and general idiocy, Ste's methodical diagrams proving the scientific method wasn't the way. He wasn't shouting commands or muttering theories. Just observing. Thinking.

  Every now and then he'd close his eyes, trying something internal. A breath held longer than usual or maybe a shift in focus as he tested ideas in his head before bothering to act them out. There was something there, in how the others were approaching it. Something he was almost catching, but it kept slipping away.

  Lee tried something different.

  He wasn't thinking about it the way the others were. Just... cycling through stuff. He'd picture a barrier, then a force push, then something from a game Parmo wouldn't shut up about, then back to D&D. Mixing it all together in his head without worrying if it made sense.

  He wasn't frustrated. Wasn't clinical about it. Just playing around, really.

  As he flitted from one idea to another he felt a tingle in his chest. It felt closer to the times the UI had done something than any natural body action or response.

  That was weird. Maybe that was the UI trying to tell me something? Am I on the right track?

  He kept going. He thought about screaming and straining like they do in Dragon Ball. He thought about how Darth Vader made a claw with his hands when he force-choked someone. He thought about The Emperor using Force Lightning.

  And then—

  Something caught. Like a nerve firing under his skin.

  A thin arc of blue-white energy crackled between his fingertips.

  Lee stared at his hand.

  "...Did anyone see that?"

  Paul looked over. "See what?"

  "It—" Lee stared at his trembling hand. "It sparked. Just for a second."

  Another tiny arc flared between his fingertips.

  The others moved without thinking. Paul abandoned the dummy. Parmo stopped pacing. Ste stood, leaving his etching behind. Liam left his rock, joining the circle.

  "Do it again," Ste said.

  Lee closed his eyes. He thought back to what he was doing before—barriers, force pushes, electricity. Dragon Ball screams. Darth Vader's grip. The Emperor's lightning. He cycled through them, different angles each time, trying to find that feeling again. Nothing. He kept going. Then—a spark. Stronger than before. The air crackled. Then came the chime.

  UI Update Detected: New Tab Available – [Magic]