Samuel and Bango were prepared to start their match. As they slightly leaned forward, Donut said, “They’re going to begin now!”
Samuel quickly moved toward Bango. Before reaching him, he took a sharp turn to the left. Bango, tricked by this movement, accidentally revealed his ability. His shirt, which was on the ground, flew up and blocked Samuel’s path, but Samuel didn’t fall into the trap. Within a few seconds, Bango realized his disadvantage. His body was bigger than Samuel’s, thus his movements were slower. This realization unconsciously moved his body toward his shirt, trying to reduce the distance between him and his only defense against that sharp weapon.
“What would his shirt do against that sharp dagger?” Ansar said.
“I know, right?” Donut commented.
Samuel felt a bit more in control of the situation after he saw the frustration on Bango’s face. He ran directly toward Bango, without considering the threat of the shirt. When he got close, the shirt wrapped around his feet and caused him to fall to the ground. Defenselessly, he put his hands on the ground, and his weapon vanished.
Bango said, “I win.”
“That’s impressive,” Alia said. “Can you reveal your true ability, though, Bango?”
“You got me,” Bango said. “Wouldn’t expect less than that from you, Alia.”
The kids were shocked; they didn’t understand what she meant. Bango picked up his shirt and shook it. Suddenly, two magnets fell out.
“What are those?” Donut asked.
“These are two magnets,” Bango said. “They were hidden inside my shirt. When I threw my shirt on the ground and knelt down, I enhanced the aura around my hands and transferred it to the two magnets. It was intense, which is why you’d view it as if the shirt was what I transferred my aura to. Enhancing the magnets would boost their effect and add to them the ability to control them using my aura-controlling flow. By that, I gain control of these magnets.”
“I’ll explain it to you, kids,” Alia said. “Usually, it’s impossible to control an object by making it fly or move as you want. This would require a tremendous amount of aura. Bango took advantage of the properties of magnets and significantly reduced the amount of aura required to control them, as they both pull and push each other. And enhancing them would make their effect even stronger.”
“I don’t get it,” Donut said.
“You don’t have to,” Ansar commented.
“You’ll eventually understand it, don’t worry,” Alia said.
Zoeske whispered to Jacob, “What amazed me the most is his activation and deactivation of his aura.”
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“Indeed,” Jacob said.
“Speak louder, Zoeske,” Alia said.
Zoeske was taken by surprise. He said, “Oh, I didn’t say anything.”
“Come on,” Alia said. “Don’t be shy.”
“I… I just noticed the way Bango activated the aura around one magnet and then the other precisely,” Zoeske said.
Alia and Bango were surprised. He said, “Wow, how did you even notice that?”
“I did too,” Jacob said.
They ignored Jacob’s interruption. Zoeske said, “You said you enhanced both magnets. And they push each other when they are both in the positive or negative phase, and when they are different, they pull each other. So, it would be an optimal way to activate one magnet to pull and to push. Which means, the only way you controlled the magnets using magic was to flip them and make them fly. The rest of the movements were caused by the magnets’ enhanced force.”
“You’re a genius,” Alia said.
“MOM,” Jacob said. “I noticed that too.”
“Zoeske,” Bango said. He walked toward him. “At first, I thought you were a cheater and had already used magic. But now, everything makes sense to me. Right, Samuel?”
Samuel was lying in the tree, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. He looked at them and said, “Humph.” Then he walked away.
“Samuel,” Zoeske said.
He turned back and gazed at Zoeske silently.
Zoeske said, “I will change the color of my hair today.”
Everyone was shocked by what he said. Samuel said, “Huh?! Who cares?”
“I do,” Zoeske said. “Don’t ever connect me in any way to the kingdom’s people again.”
The class finished after Alia explained Bango’s ability again to Donut. The kids then went to work in the field again until sunset. On their way back, Zoeske, Jacob, and Leon walked to Jule’s house.
“You’re going to dye your hair?” Leon asked.
“Yes,” Zoeske said. “By the way, how do we do it, Jacob?”
“I don’t know; my mom knows how to do it,” Jacob said.
“It sounds weird,” Leon said. “I guess I’ll stay with you tonight.”
“You’re just curious,” Jacob said, annoyed.
“It’s fine,” Zoeske said. “It’s fun to have Leon around.”
At dinner, the family sat at the table, eating and watching Zoeske wrap his hair with a towel.
“Alia, what are you doing to the kid?” Jule asked.
“He wanted to dye his hair,” Alia answered.
“Actually, he changed it because Samuel made him feel he looked similar to the kingdom’s people,” Jacob said.
“You look funny, Zoeske,” Leon commented sarcastically.
“Can we talk about something other than me?” Zoeske said, his eyes closed.
“Next, you’ll make your skin darker?” Leon asked.
“Are you stupid?” Jacob said.
“He’s one of us now,” Leon said.
“Leon, one doesn’t need to change his look to be with us,” Jule said. “And actually, not all of the kingdom’s people are bad.”
“Appearances don't always reflect someone’s personality,” Alia said.
“Like Zoeske,” Jacob said.
“Huh!” Zoeske said, surprised.
“We’ve traveled multiple times to other villages,” Leon said. “People looked at us like they were looking at monsters.”
Zoeske felt shy from the attention. After dinner, he washed his hair while the family patiently waited to see the result.
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“Why does it smell off?” Zoeske asked.
“You look absolutely different,” Jacob said.
“He looks like a girl,” Leon said jokingly.
“Shut up, Leon,” Zoeske said.
“Aww, I want a daughter,” Alia said.
“Our next baby could be a girl,” Jule said.
“No, Dad, I want a brother,” Jacob said. “He’ll be a prodigy too.”
“Okay, go to sleep, kids,” Alia said.
“We’ll share the bed, Jacob,” Leon said.
“No, sleep on the couch here,” Jacob said.
“You can sleep on the ground,” Zoeske said.
“I guess I’ll sleep on the ground like Zoeske,” Leon said.
They extinguished the lanterns and went to sleep.