361 The Verdict
The next day was just like any other for most people in the Sect... but not Shuri. Today was the day her creation would face the music - the Magi-Core, as she called it, which was an analogue to the wand she carried with her but for the visually impaired would finally find use by her target audience.
But before leaving to find Yohn, Shuri paused and considered her approach. She took a detour and visited the Maker-Space to fetch a few tools for arts and crafts. The first thing she did was use some tough paper to create a box just large enough to house the Magi-Core. She then sealed it with some adhesive and proceeded to wrap it in colourful paper, and a cloth ribbon. She let herself indulge in the petite and beautiful present before her and pocketed it inside her jacket.
As she walked towards the library, the place where Yohn usually hung out, she pondered over her earlier detour. There was no function to hide the product in a layer of mystery. Except maybe adding a hint of flavour and fun to it. But again, why did she do that?
She thought back to all the times the Sect conducted celebrations of achievements with cake, as well as the various birthdays where muffins and collaborative presents were gifted to the birthday person.
'Maybe this is the Sect getting to me,' Shuri hypothesised with a faint smile. 'A notion of celebration just adds meaning to even the most mundane of actions.'
The Magi-Core was an Automagic marvel per Shuri's admission. Nothing of this sort had ever been made before - it was a first of its kind. But what mattered more was the implication of this device: it brought magic to a segment of the population that would never be able to harness it in their lifetime. People who are either born blind or turned blind because of something no longer have to just accept the lot in life that they are assigned.
'An opportunity,' Shuri emphasised. 'This wasn't something I was afforded in the Palace. But it is totally in line with what the True World Sect believes: in giving fair chances, and being able to live the reality you want to.'
As she pondered on this thought, her palms worriedly massaged the pendant hanging around her neck. Her thoughts roamed on a matter she had hidden from the world, and herself. A matter she sorely wished to forget, but one that she wasn't sure would ever separate itself from her.
As she stood in front of the majestic library doors, Shuri shook her head to clear away all aberrant thoughts.
'The moment is what matters!'
She then opened the door decisively... while maintaining proper library etiquette. She didn't need to search around for long as Yohn was standing inside a nearby row.
She fought against the urge to yell out the boy's name and walked towards him briskly.
"Yohn!" Shuri called out as she neared him.
"Hmm? Senior Sister Shuri," Yohn responded with a bow in her general direction. "What brings you into these necks of the woods?"
Shuri didn't explain further and quickly shoved the present in her jacket into the boy's hands.
"Umm," Yohn mumbled. "I cannot see what it is."
"That's the point!" Shuri responded good-naturedly. But Yohn's face warped into a confused squint.
"What I mean to say is, you don't need to see it. You just need to feel it," Shuri reiterated after letting out an embarrassed cough. "Oh! Before you do that, I should probably take you to the practising fields."
"What's in this thing?" Yohn asked while trying to untie the ribbon, but the box was immediately pulled out of his hands by Shuri.
"Follow me!" She declared before grabbing his hands and leading him out of the Library. The blinded boy walked carefully down the stairs, one step at a time, while Shuri practically covered three or four in one leap. Her excitement was palpable, and it started to infect the boy as well, who increased his pace subconsciously.
"Alright, we're here," Yohn confirmed. "What now?"
"Open it!" Shuri demanded while shoving the box once again into his hands.
Yohn decided to drop all formalities and shredded the present, getting straight to the spherical Magi-Core within.
"What's this?" Yohn asked while carefully inspecting the device that fit perfectly into his palms. Yohn's fingers rubbed against a corner piece, "And is this Braille? This says... 'Up'"
"This is your wand," Shuri announced. "It's called the Magi-Core."
"What do I do with it?" Yohn asked, his voice faintly bubbling with excitement.
"Let me show you," Shuri said while positioning the ball in his palms. "You're supposed to hold it like this, with the corner piece labelled 'Up' pointing upwards, and the corresponding two sides oriented 'Left' and 'Front' where 'Front is facing you."
"The first spell we're going to cast is a simple |Fireball|," Shuri explained.
"Don't we need a piece of coal for that?" Yohn probed.
"Not with this," Shuri answered with a shake of her head. "The Magi-Core is capable of holding a fixed quantity of mana. Since you don't have the mana sense to observe it, I'll just say that it has exactly 5086M. It regenerates at 85.3M/hr. A |Fireball| costs 92M without coal as a fuel. With coal, it is just 10M. The Magi-Core will exhaust itself first before tapping into your mana, so you do the rest of the maths."
Yohn nodded affirmatively and focused while Shuri explained and turned the layers of the Magi-Core in his palms.
"You need to make sure that when you start jumbling the Magi-Core, you start with the corner piece in the exact location. This is important to set the targeting vector," Shuri emphasised. "The sounds you hear have special meaning. This one-" *TWANG* "-implies that the two combinations built a successful module." Turning the ball a few more times elicited a *BONG* "That means that you have a successful spell. Now if you stop, it will cast the spell, but we can still keep going-" *CLING* "But this sound means that there are no more possible combinations after this one. It also indicates that a successful spell will be cast."
As she moved away, a spell circle formed in front of the core.
"My goodness! I feel it!" Yohn yelled in surprise while a |Fireball| formed at the centre of the circle before jetting out towards the other end of the field.
"I-I did it?!" Yohn exclaimed as his face stretched out with an ecstatic smile. "I did it! Shuri did you see that? I just cast a |Fireball|, and I felt my mana too!"
Shuri controlled her face from succumbing to the boy's infectious smile and said, "Try it by yourself, this-"
Before she could finish, Yohn had already completed the spell with a melodious *CLING*, which was immediately followed by a tap as the |Fireball| struck a target at the other end of the field.
Shuri tried to approach Yohn, but the boy's face was elastic with a maniacal laugh as he fired one |
Fireball| after another.
After eighty continuous collisions of fire against the dummy, Yohn was hunched over while exhausted and sweaty. But none of it diminished the broad smile that cleft his face in two. If the boy had eyeballs in his empty sockets, they would be beaming with a bright lustre as well.
"Now that you've got that out of your system," Shuri said with an exhausted sigh. "Why don't I explain how it all works."
But right at that moment, the Sect Leader's voice interjected the duo's conversation.
"Yohn!" The man exclaimed as he arrived at the scene. Had he not been in the Core Formation realm, Shuri was certain that he would be panting right now given the frantic expression on his face and the hopeful glint in his eyes. "D-Did you just-?"
His eyes darted towards Shuri, and upon receiving an affirmative nod from her, he broke down into a peal of uproarious laughter. Shuri was also certain that a trace of tear descended past his nose, but was quickly dabbed away by the cuff of his sleeve.
Then, in one swift motion, the man rushed forward and raised Shuri onto his right shoulder. He then slid with equal swiftness towards Yohn and pulled the boy onto the other shoulder.
"YOU DID IT!" The Sect Leader exclaimed while tossing them up lightly in celebration. He then broke out into a run while whooping excitedly all along the way.
A resounding "WOOHOOOOO" echoed all over the mountain, drawing the attention of everyone in the Sect.
Shuri held on to dear life as the man's velocity rose drastically and veered towards the dreaded space in the entire Sect.
The Kitchen.
"GRACE!" The Sect Leader bellowed animatedly. "GRACE!"
"WHAT?!" A voice shot back as the door to the kitchen burst open. A woman wearing an apron and a hairnet stepped out with an annoyed expression on her face.
"Grace! Fire up the oven. It's time to make another cake," the Sect Leader declared.
"Again? Didn't we just have one celebration a few weeks back? Guy, all this sugar will ruin the kid's teeth, you know that!" Matron Reva reminded.
"I know, I know-"
"Why're those two on your shoulders? And what's with all the ruckus?" Matron Reva fired back with a confused frown.
"Shuri did it!" The Sect Leader exclaimed.
"Did wha-" At that moment, the Matron's mind put two and two together and her usual dour face turned into a relieved smile which then quickly brightened into a fully elated laugh.
The woman uncharacteristically committed to a happy leap and hugged the Sect Leader, nearly pushing Shuri and Yohn off of the man's shoulders.
At that instant, Shuri noticed a mischievous grin form on the Sect Leader's face, before the man pulled the Matron onto his back.
And amidst a fearful shriek, the man burst into a full-on sprint while whooping excitedly all around pulled the Matron onto his back.
And amidst a fearful shriek, the man burst into a full-on sprint while whooping excitedly all around the Sect.
"WE DID IT! WOOHOOOOOOOO!"
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