My mother had said and so helpfully spelt out for me, despite the unnecessity of it. Though she didn’t know that, so I wasn’t going to hold it against her. However, telling me what I was seeing was magic didn’t necessarily help me. I knew what I was seeing was called now yes… but I didn’t know what it was or how it was achieved. Guess I had to push a little further. 

“How… How do ma-magik?” 

God, I hated talking like this, but it was necessary. Soon I’d get to the age where I could start talking normally. But for now, I simply had to play the age I was.  

As I asked this question, the clown on stage who had floated down on the tornado, began to juggle with flamed torches, which had been set alight by another clown, a woman, dressed in a similar outfit by breathing fire onto the cloth wrapped poles. And I said juggling, but really that was the only way to simplify what the man was doing. 

The clown on the stage had all three flaming batons spinning around and around in a circle like a windmill, in a spherical, oddly visible bubble of wind which was able to carry the flaming torches around and around in circles whilst simultaneously not blowing out the candles.  

“His level of control with wind magic is astonishing. I’m curious to know why a man with talent like that decided to be a clown when there are many jobs out there that would cherish talent like that.” 

I overheard a man say with amazement from the row behind us. His supposed wife and what looked to be five-year-old daughter clapping along and cheering with the rest of the excited crowd. 

“Hmmm… how should I put this so a two-year-old could understand…” 

I faintly heard Jon whisper to himself as he glanced over towards a me, whilst still keeping an eye on the performance in front of us. 

Curse this child like form. This man was about to dumb down a needed answer to me based on my appearance. Have some faith in your own son Jon, I’m smarter than I look. 

“Some people can do cool things called magic, due to a… what’s a good way to phrase this so you may understand this… ah. Due to a sort of, battery in them, located in their chests. That battery allows them to do the sort of things that you see down there, and the more batteries you have, the more magic you can do… are you following me son?” 

Jon asked me. Playing my age to a fault, I cocked my head sideways in confusion, portraying that I had no idea what the man before me had said. But in truth. I did. 

“Come on honey. Did you seriously think that a two-year-old boy could understand that? I doubt he even knows what a battery is let alone how it works.” 

Mary said in an exasperated tone, her eyes flickering over to him then down to Me, a warm, motherly smile taking over her face as she mussed my messy wheat blonde hair. 

“You’ll learn more about it when your older sweetie. Now look, look at all the pretty bubbles floating around down there pretty aren’t they” 

Despite Jon’s rather lacklustre and childish explanation. Using my own understanding of this world and my past life. I was able to understand more or less what was going on. What I was seeing right now was this worlds version of spiritual power being put into actual use. Though it was far different to what I was used to.  

Spiritual power showed itself as an external aura. Some were able to fire it externally from their body, those were called conjurers, whilst others were able to coat their body in that energy, those were called reinforcers. 

For conjurers, as their spiritual power grew and became stronger, the more powerful their attacks were, they were also able to launch their projectiles faster, control the projectiles and the number of projectiles better, increase the amount of projectiles one could control, increase the size of their projectiles and more or less become a one man battalion of archers. Except with arrows that could destroy mountains and level cities. 

As for reinforcers, they were able to super enhance their physical capabilities, speed, strength, durability, agility, reflexes, vitality, defence, everything. And as you proceeded through the levels of strength, the state of the aura that warped around the physical form began to thicken. Starting off as a faints wispy aura and ending of as hard and solid as crystals. In my old world, I was a reinforcer. 

From what I had witnessed, this world had a similar phenomenon. Whereas the spiritual power in my old world was located in the solar plexus and existed almost like a small, burning, flickering blue flame. Here, the unknown energy, which allows one to perform magic, was located in the heart as a sort of spherical clump… at least right now mine was in that state. And Instead of a coating aura or projectiles or light. This worlds power presented itself in the form of natural elements such as fire, wind, earth and water… well, at least those were the four that I had seen today. 

From what I had seen, there were also two classes of those who could use magic in this world, just like in my old world. Those who seems to be able to conjure and emit the natural elements. Like the female clown who could spit fire and the clown who juggled with wind. And those who seemed able to reinforce and enhance themselves. Like the clown who used water like whips around her arms to evaporate flying balls of flames and the rather large looking clown who coated his fist in gauntlets of earth and was able to both create and destroy a pillar of stone with two simple punches of his fists. 

All in all, it had been a rather interesting and insightful second birthday. I had learnt a lot, and if it had ended that way, I would have left that circus with a mild curiosity and fascination for magic. Turning it into a sort of hobby like I had with spiritual power in my last life… however, life was filled with the unexpected.