Mage Catalyst by Christopher George

I had perfectly dictated the movement of the bag. It was not like I was fighting for control with myself any longer. The wild uncontrolled thrashes that had previously been the limit of my control were gone. This was perfect. I hadn’t even rumpled the sides of the bag as my telekinetic chord wrapped itself around it.
It was a single perfect moment. My bag was floating about two feet in front of me. I leaned back against the wall and watched transfixed as the mana particles slowly pulsed from my outstretched hand to the corners of the bag.
I had done it! I had achieved the desired level of control and I had achieved it in the most ignoble and inglorious of places – a high school toilet block.
I had a reasonable wait before recess. I had thought about returning to class, but decided against it – instead I chose to go to the library. I needed to copy across the documents from the old disk anyway.
The library was relatively quiet when I arrived – but then again it’s always quiet. I selected a computer terminal and loaded up the disk again.
I opened up the last document I’d been looking at and scrolled down until I reached where I was up to. I also took the time to copy the files to my USB drive so I’d be able to read them later on my laptop. There wasn’t that much more on telekinesis left.
    The next section was entitled “The Principle of Detonation”. It detailed how to get particles of mana to leave the body in a tightly wound ball and then prompt them to explode. This would send particles scattered out in every direction. I had no idea what the potential benefits of this might be. Renee’s grandfather talked about the technique as if it were a standard practice and used quite commonly; however, I didn’t see the benefits. You couldn’t use it to lift anything as the thread would be far too sudden and uncontrolled. You might be able to knock something over with it, I supposed. I just didn’t get it.
It wasn’t until Renee’s grandfather began detailing a new spell entitled “Awareness” that I saw the point. This wasn’t about getting things to move. The awareness spell was fairly simple in intent. It would send out mana rocketing in each direction over a wide area. When the mana came into contact with human life it would burn with a luminance making people easier to see. The mana would pass through walls with little difficulty allowing the mage to see people that were out of sight or in other rooms. That seemed kind of cool.
    …with intent the mana vortex will expand and cause a reaction in the mana particles, the centre cannot hold and the resulting reaction will cause the particles to expand outwards. When they collide with the human force in the bloodstream they will recoil and burn upon themselves creating a light source that is visible from some distance away.
    Mana is a form of energy and thus can travel through solid objects, coming in contact with life on the far side of walls or columns. With practice a wide area can be spanned.
    “Hi Devon,” a familiar voice called out from behind me.
Tina was standing behind me. How did she keep sneaking up on me like that? She had a pile of books casually tucked under one arm and a curious look on her face. If she were here then it must mean that History class was over and it was now recess. It’s amazing how easy it was to lose track of time when you’re reading this damned book. She quickly pulled up a chair and sat down next to me.
    “What’s that you’re reading?”
“Nothing much,” I replied quickly as I closed the window with Renee’s grandfather’s document.
Tina actually looked a little nervous and bit her bottom lip. I was eager to return to my research, but also curious. “What’s up?” I asked, attempting to draw her out.
“You roller-skate don’t you?” Tina began.
“Blade actually,” I corrected.
“Do you think you can teach me how?”
“Sure,” I said. “Do you own a set of skates?” I was pretty cocky