The entity that emerged wasn't a horned beast; it was a fractal of shifting darkness, a living void. It spoke not in words, but in a sudden download of forbidden knowledge into Aris's brain.
Suddenly, Aris could manipulate matter. With a wave of his hand, he turned a lead brick into gold, then into a swarm of flies, then into nothingness.
"Science is the study of the cage," the voice echoed in his mind. "Magic is the hand that unlocks the door."
But the cost was immediate. Every time Aris used this "New Science," a piece of the physical world vanished. A nearby forest turned to gray ash; a local river simply ceased to exist. To create magic, he had to delete reality.