Threads

I woke up like usual, took a shower, got dressed, and headed to the school food court to have my breakfast. The day went on just fine, but I admit that I couldn't pay much attention to what was taught, cause I was too anxious about something else. It was the day Nina was going to help me with magic for the first time.

After the classes, I ran to the school courtyard, and when I arrived, she was already waiting for me, with arms crossed and lightly tapping her foot on the ground.

"Sorry, I'm late."

"I hope this doesn't happen again."

"Of course, I'll be more careful next time."

It's not that I was late. She was just early, but it was best to apologize rather than reason with her. I'd never won an argument, so my best move was just to accept being wrong rather than risk a fight.

"So, how's this going to work?"

"First, I need to see how much you know."

"What do you want me to do?"

"A water bubble. I'll go first. You just need to copy me."

Nina pulled the crystal from her necklace, stretched her hands forward, and let the gem float in front of her. I paid close attention to her movements and how she did the magic, watching to see if there was something I was doing wrong. Her crystal quivered gently, like a ship rocking in a distant sea.

She then took a deep breath and began making circular movements. The crystal started to glow faintly, and fluidly, lines of water appeared from around it, merging into a perfect sphere. She smiled, pleased, and released the spell, making the crystal return to its original state.

"Your turn."

I pulled my amber crystal from my inner pocket, holding it in my hand and taking a glance at it, searching for a trace of confidence. It didn't shine like hers, but that didn't make it any less beautiful.

I paused for a moment and then started doing the same movements as her, in the same order and intensity. The magic energy grew in my body, flowing toward my arms and then my hands, until the crystal started glowing more intensely. First, the water lines cut through the air, followed by the sphere. However, unlike Nina's, mine trembled uncontrollably, and before I could stabilize it, it burst in the air.

"Again."

I repeated the same process, exactly as before, and the same thing happened. An uncontrollable sphere, exploding.

Nina sighed.

"It's worse than I thought. We'll have to start with the basics."

"More basic than this?"

"Yes. If you can't even handle the most basic thing, the problem is in the theory."

If I didn't know she was here to help me, I'd have imagined that her only intent was to insult me, especially when a subtle smirk formed on her lips, even as she tried to hide it.

However, what she said made sense. I had always struggled to understand how the threads worked and behaved. When I tried to do any kind of magic, I focused only on the final result, which always came out differently from what I had imagined. My actual issue was the process behind all that.

"You know about the threads, right?"

"Of course. The threads are what everything is made of. They're everywhere."

"Exactly, but maybe your problem is in how you imagine them."

Nina stretched out one arm, and as if it was nothing, she conjured a small stone in her hand.

"Take this stone as an example. If you want to create something like this, you need to imagine what it's made of. In the way the threads were woven and how they're bound together. Watch."

She began shaping the stone in her hands, transforming it into tiny fragments that floated in the air like dust. They seemed to dance above our heads. Then, slowly, the fragments merged, becoming the stone once again.

"You make it look easy."

She smiled, her ears twitching as if to remind me they were there. "But it is easy."

Nina put the stone in my hand, staring at me with those attentive eyes.

"Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Feel the threads that form it. Imagine then interwining, like invisible knots that hold everything together.'

I looked at the small stone in my hand, then closed my eyes, visualizing what she had just told me.

I pressed it against my palm, sensing its subtle dampness, weight, and rough surface. Even with my eyes closed, I could see it clearly, creating a vivid image in my mind.

"Now imagine you're changing its state, transforming it into something else."

I pictured the stone shattering into thousands of fragments, like stars in an endless galaxy. They orbited around me, dancing in the light.

"Keep going."

It was clear. The fragments moving, their velocity. I could see their form changing. My mind was working to make it possible. My eyes could have been closed, but inside my head, it was like all that really existed.

"Open your eyes."

When I did, the tiny pieces were floating around us, moving in sync exactly as I'd imagined. But it didn't last long. Each small fragment started to vibrate violently. Nina moved her hands, pulling the scattered pieces back together into a stone that landed in her palm.

"I don't know what I'm doing wrong."

"You just need to imagine tiny lines, almost invisible. That, when knotted together, gives shape to something."

To the inhabitants of this world, the threads were as natural as walking. Something they could comprehend and absorb since childhood. But it was different for me. I didn't see things the same way they did. To me, everything needed an explanation, something tangible. But in the end, what they explained was anything but tangible. It looked like a passage from a philosophy book.

"Tiny lines, almost invisible..."

I repeated the words as if doing it might reveal something hidden. After all, what did she mean by that? How could invisible knots of thread create shapes and things? To me, everything was made of molecules, atoms, particles in constant movement. Nothing compared to what they tried to say.

Wait.

"Nina, can I try again?"

"If you blow something up, I'll stop you."

I grinned and took the stone from her. Watching it closely and analyzing every detail. What if the threads were nothing more than tiny particles, like in my world, but magical?

It was natural that the people from here didn't have the same scientific thought that someone from Earth would. Their worldview was different, their conventions and origins were different, and they were named differently, like the threads.

I closed my eyes, feeling the texture of the stone once more. But unlike before, this time my thought process was different. Instead of lines and threads, I saw particles, atoms, and small elements.

A stone was only one thing: hard minerals, crystalline networks, piecing into each other with precision. If I thought about it, in its composition, I could dive into its structure, mentally focusing on each bond, being able to take it apart.

Free electrons dancing in the air, a mesh of molecules breaking down layer by layer. Like a brick wall collapsing.

I opened my eyes, and Nina was staring at me with a soft smile. Around me, stone fragments orbited me like an orderly swarm, dancing above our heads.

I had finally connected the dots. I had understood the concept behind the threads.

Nina tried to contain her sudden surprise. I couldn't blame her; just moments ago, I was struggling to perform a simple spell, and now I had fragments of dust moving in a coordinated, harmonious motion.

It was still basic, the beginning. I needed refining and practice, but at least I could leave behind the idea of limitation. I had discovered a new world with infinite possibilities.

And for the first time, I realized that the knowledge of my world might be the key to unlocking the magic of this one.