Theron spent three days preparing for his next experiment.
He didn't rush. The last time he'd rushed, he'd wasted a week on tests that told him nothing. This time, he wanted to be precise. He wanted to isolate exactly one variable and test it properly.
The variable he chose was hand position.
He knew the ratio mattered — at least, he suspected it did. But his first experiment had failed completely, and he couldn't tell if it was because the ratio was wrong or because something else was wrong. Probably something else. There were too many unknowns.
So he picked the thing he could measure most clearly: the angle between his two hands on the circle's edge.
On a Thursday night, he locked his door, shuttered his window, and got to work.
He drew one circle on the floor. Just one this time. Ratio 1.618, measured carefully with string. He'd gotten better at drawing circles over the past two weeks. This one was clean and precise.
Then he marked six positions along the circle's edge with small chalk dots. Each pair of dots represented a different angle between his hands.
Position 1: 90 degrees. A right angle. Position 2: 120 degrees. The angle of an equilateral triangle. Position 3: 135 degrees. Halfway between 120 and 150. Position 4: 144 degrees. The angle he'd measured at the duel. Position 5: 150 degrees. Close to 144, but wider. Position 6: 180 degrees. Directly opposite each other.
He wrote his hypothesis in his notebook before starting.
Hypothesis: 144 degrees is the correct hand position for fire magic. Other angles will produce weaker or no results.
Method: Test each position once. Same circle, same crystal, same breathing pattern, same incantation. Only change the hand angle.
Prediction: Position 4 (144°) produces an effect. Others do not.
Clean. Simple. One variable at a time.
He started with Position 1.
Theron knelt in front of the circle. Placed his hands at the 90-degree marks. Held the fire crystal in his right palm.
Then he followed the routine Lycurgus had described. Stretch first — he rolled his shoulders, shook out his arms, flexed his fingers. It felt awkward, like he was copying someone else's movements. But he did it anyway.
Breathing. Four counts in. Two counts hold. Slow exhale.
He spoke the words during the exhale, clearly and steadily.
"Φλόξ, καῦσον, πῦρ ἀνάπτω."
He focused on the center of the circle. Imagined a flame appearing there.
Nothing.
He waited ten seconds. Still nothing. The crystal was cold. The air was still.
He wrote: Position 1 (90°): No effect.
Position 2. Same preparation. Same breathing. Same words.
Nothing.
Position 2 (120°): No effect.
Position 3.
Nothing.
Position 3 (135°): No effect.
Position 4.
Theron placed his hands at the 144-degree marks. He'd been careful with these marks — measured twice, adjusted once. He wanted them exact.
He stretched. Breathed. Four counts in. Two counts hold.
During the hold, something happened that hadn't happened before.
A warmth. Faint, barely noticeable. Starting somewhere in his chest and spreading outward, down his arms, toward his hands. It was subtle enough that he almost dismissed it as imagination. But it was there.
He exhaled. Spoke the words.
"Φλόξ, καῦσον, πῦρ ἀνάπτω."
He focused on the circle.
And the crystal warmed.
Not a flame. Not a flicker of light. Nothing visible at all. But the crystal in his hand was definitely warmer than it had been thirty seconds ago. Noticeably warmer. He could feel it against his palm like he was holding a stone that had been sitting in sunlight.
It lasted about two seconds. Then it cooled.
Theron stared at his hand.
He didn't celebrate. He didn't jump up or shout or do any of the things a person might do when something impossible just happened for the first time.
He did what he always did when he got a result.
He tested it again.
He reset. Stretched again. Breathed again. Positioned his hands at exactly the same marks. Same words. Same focus.
The crystal warmed again. Same duration. Same intensity.
A third time. Same result.
Three out of three.
He wrote it down, hand steady despite the hammering in his chest.
Position 4 (144°): CRYSTAL WARMED. Reproducible. 3/3 attempts. Duration ~2 seconds. Temperature: noticeably above ambient.
He underlined it three times.
He forced himself to continue with the remaining positions. Science meant testing everything, not just stopping when you got the answer you wanted.
Position 5. 150 degrees.
He went through the full routine. Cast the spell.
The crystal warmed. But less than before. The warmth was fainter, lasted maybe one second instead of two.
Position 5 (150°): Slight warming. Weaker than Position 4.
Position 6. 180 degrees. Hands directly opposite each other.
Nothing. Crystal stayed cold.
Position 6 (180°): No effect.
Theron sat back and looked at his results.
Six positions tested. One clear success. One partial success. Four complete failures.
The pattern was obvious. 144 degrees worked. Nearby angles produced weaker results. Distant angles produced nothing at all.
It wasn't random. It wasn't luck. It was precise.
He wrote his conclusion carefully.
Hand position is a critical variable. 144° produces the strongest effect. Nearby angles (150°) produce weaker effects. Distant angles (90°, 120°, 135°, 180°) produce nothing.
Combined with previous observations: Circle ratio 1.618 + hand position 144° + correct breathing pattern = measurable magical effect.
I am not of noble bloodline. I have never been blessed by any god. I have no magical training.
And I just made a crystal warm through magic.
The technique works. Without bloodline. Without divine favor. Without years of training.
It works because the method is correct.
He closed the notebook and held the crystal in both hands. It had cooled back to room temperature by now. Just a small, rough, reddish stone. Nothing special to look at.
But Theron knew what it could do. What he had just proven it could do.
He practiced for another hour after that. Not to improve — he knew one night wouldn't change much. He practiced to make sure it was real. To confirm that the result wasn't a fluke, a trick of his imagination, a one-time coincidence.
It wasn't.
By the time he blew out his lamp, he had produced the warming effect twenty-two times. Failed four times — all of them when his focus drifted or his breathing went wrong.
Success rate: 22 out of 26. Eighty-five percent.
Not perfect. But consistent. Reproducible. Real.
Theron lay in the dark and stared at the ceiling.
He had just done something that, according to every noble, every priest, and every person in Erytheia, was supposed to be impossible for someone like him.
And he had done it by understanding how it worked.
The next question was already forming in his mind.
If I can make the crystal warm, how do I make it actually produce flame?
End of Chapter Eight