The year was 1919, a world of advancements and steampunk. Airships in the sky floating, people in the city minding their business, and inventors in their rooms being inspired.
A world where magic is very well known but not very accessible.
Marielis Maharshi was in a carriage with her father driving the horse and her mother sitting beside her, Hara sitting on the other side, looking out the window, staying to himself.
She was a very attractive woman. Her black hair was much longer, her golden eyes appeared far richer, and she still wore her yellow headband.
Her boobs were much bigger, and her curves were more captivating, with an hourglass figure.
She wore a white frilled shirt, with black pants, and black boots.
They would stop in front of a university for Marielis. This was the school she had been going to for the past 2 months, since she was 19, unlike her brother, who was 15 and was attending early high school.
Marielis stepped out of the carriage, kissing her brother on the forehead and waving goodbye to her parents. Her brother didn't do anything; however, he only watched with a stoic face.
The carriage went along. The carriage was now silent with only Haru and his mother inside. The mother didn't know what to say, and Karu had no desire to say anything. He watched like a lifeless doll as he passed the other kids who were playing on the street, people playing cards, and enjoying their lives, something he would rather be doing himself.
He arrived at his school and he exited the carriage, his attire revealed as uninteresting as he wanted it to be.
Wearing a simple black blazer with golden accents, a white dress shirt with a black tie, black pants, and dark blue slippers. As opposed to everyone else who had unique hairstyles and their own fashion, he was the most ordinary person present. No qualities for him to stand out, no hairstyle to show himself off, nothing for anything to be attracted to other than a cutesy and baby face.
He entered the school grounds, walking past everyone while holding a bag in his grasp. The chatter between students was something he drowned out to focus on what he needed. The school itself was quite large, holding a large number of apartments that people could live in, which was something that he was going to do soon to have more privacy to plan out his lines when he wore his persona.
Today's class is about magic, right? I don't really need to focus on that. I already know everything. Haru entered class, appearing very similar to a college classroom.
He walked to the seat near the window and looked outside through the window.
The perfect NPC seat. I won't stand out, and no one will bother me.
"Alright, class, today's subject is magic. Something that not everyone can obtain and something that is quite dangerous. I hope you take this as a warning that not everyone is cut out for magic. It is very dangerous and it brings many dangers not only to others, but also to yourself.
...
Every student focused intently. They all knew what magic was, but none understood it, which is what they were going to learn.
"First of all, what is magic? Many people believe it's just bringing imagination to life, and in a way, it is, but not entirely. You see magic, works under a scientific theory known as Quantum Box Theory."
I seriously hate that they call it that. But then again, it's like they would even know I know it as Schizolger's cat.
The theory suggests that when something is unobserved from all angles, it has a paradoxical existence. It exists in as many states as one can imagine. In the case of mana, mana is everything in creation as we know it technically, while within our bodies. This is known as the Schismana Field, a metaphysical space within our bodies, making mana unobserved from all angles. To use magic, one releases from their body something called an Observation Collapse Field. Users must force their minds to observe mana in a usable state, collapsing its probability. However, to actually unlock the power to use magic is where everything starts." The teacher turned around and began drawing on the board.
She drew a gun and a skull.
"To unlock the power to use magic, one must experience an event in which their entire perspective is changed in an instant and feel two contradicting feelings at once, and those feelings must be extreme; otherwise, it won't work. Of course, then you have the price for failure: either death, becoming a hollow shell of what you once were, or losing your sense of self. Got it?"
A sea of dread filled every student hearing such consequences. To think magic was far more dangerous made them less adventurous to try learning magic, for the price was far too high.
"But let's say you do achieve the ability to use magic, well, now you must understand the three states one can be in when using magic. The Paradox Field, The Probability Attack, and the Superstition Armor, each of them serving a different purpose."
The teacher drew a brain on the board using her chalk, and then drew a circle below it.
"The Paradox Field is accessible for all and is the easiest to use, being the default state all awaken in after becoming magic users. The Paradox State allows one to visualize anything that they want and bring it to the real world through their body, but a balance between specific and vagueness must be made."
A student raised their hand.
"Yes?"
"How come? Shouldn't you be specific when visualizing?"
"Yes, yes, you should. But not too specific, as that can ruin the magical aspect. Magic is supposed to be magic, so if you are too specific, you can often ruin the supernatural strength that can come from an attack or a certain thing you are trying to do. By placing a balance between knowing what you want and imagining magic properties to it, vagueness, I mean, you can have a powerful magic, whatever. It sounds simple, but you need to have a strong mental fortitude, great focus, and zero doubt."
Some students were writing down information to use when they are older, while other students didn't, not wanting to learn magic at all.
"The next state is a lot harder to master, the Portability Attack. This is a lot harder to control and has far more setbacks. To keep it short, it's an attack that exists in a quantum state until impact, where it chooses to "exist" as it won't until it does. This attack is a lot harder to master as it requires concentration and being selective. If you overfocus, it will be visible always, but if you under focus, it may collapse and redirect elsewhere, maybe even hit you instead. It can vary depending on distance and the kind of attack, but this is the general idea of this state. And last of all, the Superstition Armor, an extremely simple state and is the easiest to use. It goes as follows. A barrier is placed around you, and its defensive power is based on your belief that it will protect you. If you doubt it will, it won't, and fear will destroy it completely."
Ring
Ring
Ring
"It seems class is over, everyone can head out now. Tomorrow we will go over the risks and limits." Everyone began leaving the classroom, and Haru left quickly. He wanted to go to his dorm quickly so that he could prepare for his job. His parents never paid him any money as they wanted their children to earn their own wealth, so he works as a clown in order to earn money, and he is quite famous as one of his personas.
He went on the train and waited for it to reach his stop. As he did, he saw one of the posters on the train:
Ghost of Vylica.
Reward: 10,000 Pounds.
Wanted: Captured or Dead.
This man has committed a lot of federal offences against the Capital of Vylica City.
Haru stared at this poster, and a smile developed on his face.
He reached his dorm and entered his room, which already had all his necessities as well as a lot of different boxes, his bed, a desk, an oil lamp, and a book.
He put his bag down and looked into the mirror. He stared at himself, looking himself in the eyes, and began to change.
A smile slowly appeared on his face, and his eyes began to change and glow a bright pink color. He began to laugh. He was acting, playing a character.
「Mr. Fool is here to entertain. I am the greatest entertainer in the city.」 He said, opening his drawer and taking out a jar of clear fluid. He began to apply the fluid to his face, slowly changing his facial structure.
This was the secret to showing he can use magic so effectively. He had learned that mindset is what determines your magic, but there was a way to bypass such restrictions, the Acting Method, he called it.
He changed his facial structure to be less cute and appear more like a teenager. He took more of the fluid and applied it to his hair, which slowly got longer until it reached his shoulders and past them, as well as transforming it into a dark pink color with white strands of hair.
He put the fluid down and entered his closet. Inside, he moved around the clothes until he reached the wall, opening a secret compartment, and two boxes within this compartment.
One had the word Mirage, and the other had the words Mr. Fool.
Haru took out the box that had Mr. Fool written on it and opened it, revealing a large amount of messy thread inside.
He put the box down and stood up.
"Come to me."
The threads began to wrap around his entire body. The threads would transform into a dark red top hat with cards on the side of it, creating a full-body clown suit of colors: dark red, black, gold, dark cyan, and white, wearing black fingerless gloves.
Alright, where's my makeup? He exited his closet and closed the door. He looked around his room, opening his desk and opening the boxes.
Come on, come on. I need my money! I can't be living broke like this.
He threw the boxes around frantically, opening them and rummaging through them until he found the makeup.
"Oh, thank goodness." He said, relieved.
He went to his desk and began applying his makeup in front of the mirror, giving himself a white face and applying a large diamond on each side of his face, colored gold and red.
「Today's performance is at the Stand District, right? I should try some new tricks today. If I can impress enough people, the princess may select me, and I can get a large sum of money.」