Despite Theo's 10,000 followers, the video would still take a few hours to get off the ground, so Theo decided to finally focus on something he was really looking forward to.
'How do these powers work?' he wondered as he searched the internet.
He was itching to try it out for himself, but he felt it would be better to do some research on the internet first to make sure he didn't make a mistake.
'This world is a lot more complex than I thought...' He thought in surprise as he watched a video explaining it.
In the video, a boy with blue hair tied up in a bun spoke animatedly to the camera with images illustrating each point.
"In this world, Idols aren't just singers. They can be actors, painters, writers, dancers... any kind of artist who can stir the audience's emotions enough to generate Flare."
As the narrator spoke, videos of different performances played in the corner: a violinist in the middle of the street, an acrobatic dancer, a painter creating a giant mural.
"Singers generate Flare through music. And the kind of power he'll use in his Piece is influenced by the style of music that generated that Flare."
The image switched to two examples: a young man singing something soft in a café and another jumping on stage with an electric guitar.
"For example: a Chill singer usually gains powers that calm the audience or even ice powers, peaceful things. A punk rock singer? They usually get more aggressive powers, which stimulate the energy of the people around them, usually with more aggressive attacks like fire."
Theo rested his chin on his hand as he watched.
"Music not only serves for battle, it can also be used in buffs, for example, a hype song can make people more energetic and powerful, a calm song can make people relaxed and peaceful, or even inspirational songs can make listeners more inspired and focused on what they want to do."
The video continued, now showing a theatrical mask on the screen.
"Actors, on the other hand, often have Pieces in the form of masks. And the cool thing is that they can use skills from the characters they've already played. So if an actor has played a superhero in a movie, they can use some of their powers against monsters."
A caption appeared below in smaller letters: "Power proportional to Flare accumulated".
The narrator added:
"Of course, playing an Invincible Man won't make Idol as strong as he is right off the bat. The power he can use always depends on the amount of Flare he has absorbed."
Images of ink wolves and hand-painted creatures appeared on the screen.
"Painters and sculptors also have an incredible resource: they can summon what they create. A painting of a dragon can come to life to fight, a sculpture of a warrior can move and protect the artist."
Theo straightened up in his chair. The possibility of so many art forms shaping Flare made the system more complex than he had imagined.
The video ended with the narrator looking seriously at the camera.
"There are Idols from multiple areas, yes... but it's very rare for someone to be good enough to move the audience in several at the same time. It's safer for them to focus on their main area and master it completely."
Theo paused the video and stared at the screen for a few seconds. 'So... if I mix musical styles, can I also influence Hope's powers? Or even create something hybrid in the future...'
On the internet, he saw that Idols used the arts in a variety of ways, not just focused on combat, but also to help people in their daily lives, whether with tranquil paintings to help treat people with anxiety, or actors playing teacher characters to help students learn better... anything was possible as long as the quality of the Idol's interpretation was good enough.
This influence of the Idols made the world much more advanced in some areas, or more backward in others.
There were neighborhoods that rejected cold lighting and digital screens because traditional artists convinced the community that it "killed the aesthetics of the place", which delayed basic projects. In the end, art here functioned as a public tool and a cultural brake at the same time, and that made it clear how big a responsibility an Idol carried.
Going to the back yard, Theo summoned Hope and looked at the sword more closely.
'Is her power a little weaker than it was this morning?' He asked himself in confusion.
The difference was minimal, perhaps not even 0.1%, but it made him realize that generating Flare constantly was very important.
Closing his eyes as he held Hope, Theo tried to sense what her power was.
Instinctively he began to feel something.
It started as a faint feeling, but the more he focused on it, the more he came to understand it.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a white flame burning around the blade, giving off almost no heat.
Curious, he felt the urge to reach out towards the flame.
'The flame isn't burning me...' He thought, surprised to feel that.
Instead of the burning that a normal flame would do, Theo felt only a comforting warmth when it touched his skin.
Closing his eyes and feeling it better, Theo began to understand what that flame did.
Basically, that flame had a weak healing property on those he meant well, being able to heal minor injuries, but it could burn internally anyone he considered an enemy.
To make sure he wasn't mistaken, he did two simple tests: first, he ran the blade very lightly over the back of his hand until a superficial scratch opened up, then he touched the flame and felt the heat spread under his skin until the burning disappeared and the wound closed, then he picked up a fallen, crumpled leaf from the grass, touched the white edge and watched the fibers return to their place, as if someone had applied an invisible iron!
Then he swung his sword in a horizontal cut, which caused the flame to detach from the sword and fly a meter ahead before disappearing.
'This... this is incredible!' he thought excitedly.
Using the Flare inside him, Theo made more flames appear on the blade and kept swinging the sword from side to side.
With each strike, the flames flew a few centimeters further away.
But as he swung that sword, Theo realized that he was attacking in a very clumsy way.
Having never used a sword in his life, his lack of mastery of the weapon was showing clear signs of how bad he was at it.
'I'll have to practice this if I want to fight monsters...' he thought determinedly.
So he took out his cell phone and searched for a video tutorial on how to use a sword.
There were hundreds of videos on the internet about it, but there was one that caught his eye, a video of an Idol actor who was playing a master swordsman.
Curious, Theo clicked on that video.
The screen showed a man in his thirties sitting in a simple studio with white walls and a stand with three practice swords behind him.
The man was dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans, with neat, stylish blond hair.
"Right..." he said, looking straight into the camera. "To get started in sword training, first of all, forget the exaggerated scenes from the movies, the essential thing to control a sword is technique."
He picked up one of the wooden swords and turned it slightly in his fist, showing how much control he had over it. "Pretty, flashy sword moves only work in the movies, in a real battle, the fewer flashy moves you make, the better. Today, I'm going to show you three fundamentals that any beginner needs to know."
His tone was relaxed, almost casual, until he took a deep breath and picked up a white mask.
A golden light began to spread from the sword to his body, down from his face to his feet, until his face and posture changed completely.
His gaze became sharp, his posture upright. His hair, once falling in his face, was now tied up in a high bun, like that of a samurai master, and a dark blue cloak with gold embroidery appeared over his shoulders.
Even the timbre of his voice had changed, becoming deeper, laden with authority.
"When you hold a sword..." He said, now sounding like a true master swordsman. "Remember: it's not a piece of metal, it's an extension of your will."
He positioned his feet shoulder-width apart and showed the first move: raising the blade to face height and, with a firm step, descending in a clean cut.
"This is the ichimonji. A simple cut... but lethal. I didn't use any brute force, I just aligned the sword correctly and focused on what I wanted to do."
The second movement was a quick spin, with the blade passing close to the body.
"This move is to redirect attacks. If your enemy comes at you from the side, you don't have to fight his strength... you drive it away."
As he spoke, every gesture showed the confidence and control of someone who had fought a thousand times.
The ordinary man from the beginning had completely disappeared, and in his place was the master swordsman from the drama, not just acting, but embodying the role as if it were real.
During the video he showed a total of five essential basic moves, which Theo paid close attention to as he watched.
The camera zoomed in, showing the intense glint in his eyes.
"These fundamentals are the basics that a true swordsman should practice thousands of times... don't try to replicate flashy attacks, focus on these moves until it becomes natural for you."
The golden light began to dissipate and, as if nothing had happened, he returned to the casual tone of the beginning.
Seeing that change in the Idol from the video, Theo was even more excited about it.
The feeling of being taught by a real warrior made his blood boil, so he started practicing.
Focusing on the first move, Theo began to swing Hope in the same style as the master in the video. Every 20 times he repeated the move, he would go back to the video and look for what he was doing wrong, correct it and try again.
Feeling that the environment was too quiet, Theo had the idea of looking for music that could help him learn.
There were several interesting songs, some were good songs by ordinary people, but the best were by Idols.
One caught his attention the most, a song that increased the focus and spirit of whoever was listening.
When he tried practicing again with that song playing, Theo felt that his learning speed was higher than when he practiced in silence.
'These Idol songs are like cheats!' he thought excitedly.
The more he practiced, the more he improved and the more excited he became to keep practicing.
At some point Liam also appeared, curious to see what Theo was doing.
Seeing his brother swinging Hope from side to side, the little boy pulled up a chair and sat in the shade of the yard while he watched Theo practise.
After three hours of practice, Theo finally began to feel tired and stopped.
Comparing the last move he made with the first swing he made with the sword, the difference was like night and day.
'I know I'm still far from being considered a qualified swordsman, but being able to learn with cheats from a master instructor and listening to music that magically motivates me... I should reach a qualified level much faster than if I were to learn in my previous world!' He thought excitedly.
The only problem was that after listening to the same song for three hours on a loop, Theo began to feel that the music didn't sound so good.
In his previous world there were some very good warrior songs, songs he liked to listen to while training in the gym that, even if they weren't sung by Idols, were considerably better than this one.
'Wait... can't I re-record some of those songs?' he thought excitedly. 'Since those songs don't exist, and they're amazing songs, as long as I can feel those songs well and sing them with passion, those songs will be very successful in this world, right?!' He thought excitedly.
"THEO, YOUR VIDEO IS DOING REALLY WELL!" Liam shouted excitedly, interrupting his internal monologue.
Hearing that, Theo looked at Liam in surprise and remembered that he had posted the video a few hours ago.
"Really?! Let me see that!" Curious, he quickly went over to Liam to see how the public was reacting to the video he had posted.