Arad walked through the city streets with the girls, looking for a calm place to sit and eat. “We’re in the middle of the capital. We won’t find a calm place.” Eris stared at Arad, smiling, “We could find a clean bench and take a seat.”
Aella looked around, “We can’t sit on the roofs in the human kingdom, can we?”
Mira stared at her, “You can do that in the elvish kingdom?”
“We’re mainly archers. Vertical movement is encouraged, so the roofs are public land,” Aella replied.
“I don’t think that’s the case here as well,” Arad looked around, “I don’t see anyone on the roofs. We best find a bench like Eris suggested,”
***
“Come here, go there,” A clown laughed in the middle of the plaza, waving his hands as the children gathered around, laughing.
Arad stopped and stared, “What is that?” He eyed the weird creature, seeing that it was a human, but failing to understand why he was dressed so weirdly.
“A clown,” Mira said as she saw Arad confused, “They dress like that to amuse people. Mostly children.” she explained, “You can say it’s a form of entertainment,”
Arad looked at her and then back at the clown, “Entertainment, you say,” He approached, looking at the clown juggling several balls.
The clown noticed Arad standing like a mountain behind the children. He smiled, and looked at him, “You there, big guy,” The clown said with a joking voice, “Want to come on stage? Show the kids a trick or two, lift them up with one hand,”
With Arad’s size, it wouldn’t be strange if he could lift a child with one hand. The children would see it as a fun trick, and this large man who has been so engrossed in the performance would get a chance to participate. A win for everyone is what the clown thought.
Arad stood still, lifting his hands and mimicking the clown’s movements.
The clown smiled, Arad’s movements were rough. A poor imitation of his technique. But they felt strange.
Arad’s hand movement quickly changed, getting closer and closer to the clown’s movements until they matched. It only took him a few seconds to learn it.
As the clown stopped juggled his balls, staring at Arad with confusion. Five crimson orbs of fire emerged ahead of Arad, and he started juggling them.
The clown started sweating, his sweat washing the makeup on his face.
The kids started cheering, seeing a man playing with fire.
The clown coughed, clearing his throat, “Ahem! A wild wizard has appeared, look at the magnificent magic!” He shouted with a smile.
Arad tried to step forward, but moving messed with his hands. He didn’t see the clown move, so he has no base to learn from. His mind looked for the simplest solution to move without shaking his torso, and he reached a strange conclusion.
Arad’s eyes glowed purple as his body levitated a foot above the ground. He started slowly floating toward the stage, and the clown lept back, leaving an empty space.
The children shouted in excitement, “He’s flying!” ．
Aella looked at Arad and sighed, “He’s still a baby, isn’t it…” She looked at Mira.
“I don’t think a baby should be able to do that,” She said, looking at Arad with a smile.
“Did you see his hands?” Eris laughed, “He copied that clown’s moves in the blink of an eye, and made the weird bastard shit bricks.”
The clown stared at Arad, sweating even harder, ^Flying magic? That’s a third-tier spell. No ordinary mage would be wasting his mana on a children’s show, who is this wizard?^
“We want to fly as well!” One of the children shouted, jumping in his place, trying to imitate Arad.
Arad’s eyes flashed, and his hands stopped moving as the fireballs started orbiting around his head. He landed on the ground, slowly lifting his arms up.
CRACKLE! A purple aura of magic rose from Arad’s arms, reaching the ground beneath the children, urging their natural powers to sleep. The Gravity slowly faded, and they started levitating.
Some children curled into a ball, some cried and most laughed, swimming in the air as Arad stood on the stage, his hands raised and an eldritch flame burning from his eyes.
The clown’s face paled more than how he was with the makeup. He wasn’t an expert in magic, so all he saw was Arad making over a dozen people fly, which was ridiculous. Even the archmages can only make up to seven people fly, not over fifteen.
The clown approached Arad, his knees shaking, “Sir, you can stop,” He smiled, “I’m sure you have done enough,”
Arad looked back at the clown and nodded, “As you say,” Arad didn’t know much about this clown thing, but if he said this should be enough, it must be so.
Arad slowly lowered his arms, putting the children back on the ground. The flames in his eyes faded alongside the balls orbiting his head, and the clown sighed in relief.
“Everyone, give a clap to our esteemed mage.” The clown started clapping, and so did the children.
With a smile on his face, Arad walked down the stage as the clown waved to him.
The clown resumed his show, thankful that Arad didn’t press him further. He then pulled his hat, showing it to the children, and then spun it on one finger. In the blink of an eye, he pulled a flower from it, and the children clapped back for him. The show was his once again.
But the clown’s reign on the show didn’t end, as he saw Arad glaring back at him once again. His hands lifting up and mimicking his moves.
For a moment, the clown felt safe. ^He has no flower prepared, nor a hat to hide it in. Is he here just to learn the tricks?^ But, something screamed in the back of his head, this man isn’t over.
As Arad’s hands mimicked the clown, his head tilted as the magic flew from his chest. His eyes flashed purple once again, and from behind his wrist, he produced a spruce tree.
The clown’s jaw fell to the ground alongside his butt, and he crawled back, both baffled and amazed. The tree cast its shadow on the children, carried by Arad with a single arm. This was no more a mere clever trick. This is true magic.
“Does it work like this?” Arad mumbled, staring back at the clown, “Using the movements of your hands to cover the magic to pull something out. It could be of any size, right?”
The clown stared at Arad, confused at the question. Neither of them understood the other’s intention. The clown was here merely to entertain the children, using his clever tricks.
Arad, on the other hand, misunderstood it as a magic show and thought it was a good chance to learn some magic tricks from a master. He was as impressed with the clown, as he was with him.
^Those hand movements, how did he use them to hide his magic?^ Arad though, was unsatisfied with his magic being visible.
Doma giggled inside Arad’s head. She knew the clown didn’t use magic and knew that Arad thought he used magic and hid it from him. But, she won’t say, letting Arad experiment with his power, and he might invent something.