Lee

  The chime was still echoing in Lee's ears when the tab appeared.

  Lee stared at it for a moment, processing what he was seeing. A new tab in the UI.

  [Spark]

  Type: Lightning Discharge

  Skill Level: Novice

  Range: 3m

  [EXPAND]

  "Okay," he said quietly, eyes still fixed on the floating text. "There's a new tab. Magic."

  Parmo leaned closer. "What's it say?"

  "There's a spell. Has to be what I just did." Lee's voice was measured, almost disbelieving. "It's called Spark. Says it's a Lightning Discharge. Novice skill level with a range of three metres."

  Paul stood beside him. "That's pretty specific. I wonder if the UI is going to track everything we do."

  "There's more," Lee said. "An expand option. Let me see."

  He focused on it and the tab opened, revealing the detailed breakdown:

  Effect Summary:

  – Short-range arc of lightning between hands

  – Minimal damage output

  – Low mana cost

  – Elemental signature: Lightning

  Activation Trace:

  → Conceptual focus: Multiple rapid ideations from external sources

  → Emotional state: Calm curiosity, exploratory intent

  → Intent: Visualization of spell manifestation and physical mimicry of execution

  System Analysis:

  – Mana pathway activated and stable

  – Elemental attunement confirmed: Lightning

  – Current power level: Foundational

  Potential Threads:

  [Further data required]

  Note: Elemental affinity does not restrict spell development

  Affinity: Lightning (Initial attunement)

  Mana Core: Active

  Lee scrolled through the entry in a daze, eyebrows rising with each line. "Woah," he muttered. "It's like a journal entry you get when you unlock a new thing in a game. Pretty cool."

  Ste scratched his head. "That sounds pretty helpful actually. You got all that from one spark?"

  "It wasn't just the spark," Lee said, still staring at the floating text. "It says here... it's reading how I did it. I was pretty much rapid-fire thinking of like, every anime, game, movie thing I could think of that had magic in it. It's got a record of that here. It's also got the emotional state I was in at the time as well as what I was actually trying to do."

  Paul looked pensive. "So the system watched what you were doing and thinking at the time it clicked?"

  "Yeah, I guess," Lee said slowly. "More like... it records what worked as well as why."

  Ste leaned forward. "Okay, so it recorded the emotional state when it happened. Calm and curious, exploratory. That was you at the moment it worked, yeah?"

  "Yeah," Lee said. "I'd stopped trying to force it. Was just kinda cycling through ideas, having fun with it."

  "And the intent part," Ste continued, thinking out loud. "Visualization of spell manifestation and physical mimicry. What does that mean?"

  Lee read from the expanded tab. "That was me picturing something and acting it out. Like, I was cycling through all these different spells in my head, and then I landed on this one—the Emperor using lightning. I pictured it coming from my hand, and then I just... did the motion. Raised my hand like I was casting it."

  Paul frowned. "The Emperor?"

  "You know? The dude from Star Wars." Lee explained. "Force Lightning. I was imagining that, and when I moved my hand..." He glanced down at his palm, where the spark had come from. "That's when it clicked."

  Ste nodded slowly. "So you knew what you wanted, the Emperor's lightning. You felt right about it, like it felt like the one you landed on while exploring, then you did the motion."

  "Yeah," Lee said. "All at once."

  Liam spoke up from where he was sitting. "So it's not just about knowing what magic is. It's about having the right emotion and the proper intent. How you're feeling when you're trying, what you actually want to happen."

  "Right," Ste said, already thinking. "The knowledge, that's the stuff you know about magic from games and films and that. The emotion is the state you're in at the time and the intent is actually picturing it working."

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Paul frowned slightly. "That's going to be different for each of us then."

  "Yeah," Lee said slowly. "That's what I was thinking. You lot aren't going to do it the same way I did."

  Parmo spoke up. "So what you're saying is we can't just copy what you did?"

  "Not exactly," Lee said. "But maybe you can use the same idea. Find what works for you, but keep those three things in mind."

  Ste stood, brushing grass off his legs. "Sounds good. Each of us is going to have something different even if the method is somewhat similar."

  Parmo cracked his knuckles. "Alright then. Let's see what happens when I try."

  Lee chuckled and stepped back. "Have fun. Just don't point it at me."

  ***

  Parmo

  Parmo stepped forward with a grin, already cracking his neck. "Alright, dudes. Let's see what happens when I give this a go."

  "Don't blow yourself up," Paul called.

  "I wouldn't worry about me. I'm gunna smash it." Parmo shot back.

  He planted his feet, raised one hand in front of himself like he was doing his best Thor-calling-Mjolnir impression, and whispered, "Crystal Arrow."

  Nothing happened.

  He looked down at his hand. "Right, okay. Cool. Just warming up."

  Paul snorted. "You're warming up by trying to do ice magic?"

  "I'm not taking comments from the peanut gallery at this time, please try again later."

  Parmo closed his eyes and tried again. This time he shouted it: "Crystal arrow!"

  Still nothing.

  He opened one eye, squinted at his palm, then shrugged and tried something else. "Okay, what about... Ice Bow. Ice Shards. Frozen—" He paused, frowning. "What else is there? Icicle Lance? That sounds cool. Icicle Lance!"

  Nothing.

  "Maybe it's the words," he muttered, more to himself than the group. "Or maybe I need to like, visualize it better. Or—wait, do I need to be angrier? More intense? Lee was all calm and stuff, maybe I need to—"

  He trailed off, shaking his head slightly. His ADHD was running in circles, bouncing between ideas without landing on any of them.

  Lee watched from the side, recognizing the pattern. Parmo was all over the place, trying everything at once, jumping between theories, even if he knew what he needed to do.

  Then something changed.

  Parmo stood still for a moment, his eyes narrowing. He took a slow breath, and the hectic thoughts seemed to consolidate into something sharper.

  "No," he said quietly. "Stop trying random words."

  He closed his eyes.

  When he spoke again, his voice was different. Focused. Intense but not desperate.

  "What do I actually want?" he said, thinking out loud. "Not just... ice magic. What's the point? What would I use it for?"

  He opened his eyes, and there was a clarity there that hadn't been before. The hyperfixation had kicked in.

  "Damage and control," he said. "Distance. I want to keep people away from me. I want to be the guy at the back, putting the fear of god in anyone trying to fuck with us. I want to Lock them down before they get close. Range and suppression. Yeah that works."

  He pulled one arm back, while the other held what the others knew was meant to be a bow. He was mimicking the animation from League. He knew this. He'd played this champion for years, knew the motion by heart.

  One deep breath. One clean release.

  A puff of cold mist burst from the hand holding the illusion of a bow.

  Then a lopsided snowball, slushy and half-formed, fired out like a half full water balloon. It travelled about a metre before flopping to the ground with a sad plop, exploding in a spray of icy droplets that drenched his legs.

  Parmo stared down at himself, utterly soaked.

  Then a grin spread across his face.

  "Fear me," he said, deadpan. "For I am become winter."

  Liam burst out laughing first. Paul followed, wheezing, echoed shortly by Ste, who was both shocked and amazed by how stupid and brilliant that was.

  Lee wiped his eyes. "You alright, Elsa?"

  Parmo didn't reply at first. He just stared at his hands. His breath came in short clouds. He didn't look embarrassed.

  He looked amazed.

  Then came the chime.

  [Magic Tab Unlocked]

  Spell Registered: Snow burst (Type: Minor Water/Ice Ejection)

  Effect Summary:

  – Small, unfocused projectile of slushy ice

  – Low range, mild chill effect

  – Elemental signature: Water/Ice

  Activation Trace:

  → Conceptual focus: Strategic intent—spatial control and suppression

  → Emotional state: Calculated determination, focused intensity

  → Intent: Visualization of ranged suppression and battlefield control

  System Analysis:

  – Spell born from deliberate strategic focus

  – Elemental affinity: Water/Ice

  – Mana pathway stable

  Potential Threads:

  [Further data required]

  Note: Elemental affinity does not restrict spell development

  Affinity: Water/Ice (Initial attunement)

  Mana Core: Active

  Parmo let out a slow breath, reading through the tab twice.

  "Okay," he said. "Okay, I get it now."

  "Get what?" Ste asked, genuinely curious.

  "It's not about the words or the pose or any of that," Parmo said. "It's about what I actually wanted. I was throwing random spell names out, but I wasn't thinking about what any of them would actually do. Then I stopped and thought—what do I want magic for? And it clicked."

  He looked at the others. "Damage and crowd control at a distance is what I actually want. That's what I was thinking when it worked."

  Lee nodded. "Makes sense. An ADC style of magic is right up your street."

  "Yeah," Parmo said, still staring at his hands. "It's gunna be so sick when we get better at this."

  Paul stood up and dusted off his hands. "So we have lightning and ice so far. I wonder if the element matters? Like, I wonder if each of us gets an element and were kind of stuck with it?"

  "Doesn't look like it," Parmo said. "There's a message at the bottom of the expand spell bit. Says Elemental affinity does not restrict spell development."

  "Fair enough."

  Liam clapped Parmo on the shoulder. "If that was meant to be Ashe you nailed it. You shoot like a girl."

  "Yeah, well the spell came from a bow shooting motion, so I nailed the execution," Parmo shot back, grinning. "I'm clearly a sick ice mage. You jealous, Frodo?"

  "I'm the same height as Ste now..."

  Parmo looked over at Ste, who stood watching with an amused look on his face.

  "And? Just 'cos you're now the same height as Samwise doesn't change much…"

  He laughed like he'd just knocked that one out of the park. Lee laughing along showed he clearly agreed.

  He went to say something else, but sneezed.

  "Maybe I should give fire a try next," he muttered, wiping his nose. "Could do with warming up a bit…"