"There aren't wizards, just sorcerers."

He writes this down, too. Takes another deep breath.

He thinks for a little while. Preventing catastrophe, learning about and acquiring magic with the help of a slightly sketchy spirit thing. Or pretending he hallucinated today. There's really only one option, here.

"Let's do this, how do I become a cardcaptor?"

From the lock of the book, which is still standing, a small glowing ball appears, growing into a small key. "Key of the Seal, there is someone wishing for a contract with you."

Aha. Something he would have liked to hear a few minutes ago. He's beginning to notice a regrettable pattern. "What are the terms of this contract? Or is it just symbolic?"

"The terms are the Key gives you power and you use that to capture cards."

"Okay, sorry if I'm being annoying with all the questions, I'm just being careful. Is there any more detail than that? Do I lose the power if I fail to capture enough cards or anything? I think the answer is no, but should I be negotiating here?"

"You can't negotiate with the Key. Your power and the Key's will be one, and it will grow as you capture more Cards."

...He's mostly sure Cerberus is just bad at explaining, not out to get him. Mostly. "Okay, ready to continue."

He clears his throat and continues. "A boy! His name is Terence. Oh, Key, grant him the power. RELEASE!"

His surroundings are replaced by a black void, the only things present being himself, Cerberus, the Key, and a glowing circle much like the one on the back of the Clow Cards where the "ground" should be. A strong wind starts pressing against Terry as the Key starts glowing again, almost too bright to look at.

He stands, looking as confident in himself as he can manage, and staring determinedly at the Key.

The Key grows and changes shape, becoming a staff.

"Now, Terry! Grab it!"

The wind is stronger, coming from the magical floating staff in the middle of the circle, working against Terry's attempt at doing it.

Pink. What the hell, he'll take the artifact of magical power even if it's pink. Step. Step. Step. Grab!

The wind stops, the glowing circle disappears, and they're back outside. "That's it! The birth of a Cardcaptor!"

"Cool." He swings the staff around a bit, getting used to its surprisingly light weight. Then he reaches into his coat pocket and draws out The Windy and The Float, showing them to Cerberus. "So how should I start practicing using magic? The cards? Memorizing magic words? Meditation?"

"There aren't magic words, but meditation helps, and getting to know the cards well. You can use the card by throwing it in front of you and tapping it with your staff, then calling its name."

Any dire warnings to share? Of course not.

He tosses The Float forward, reaches out and taps. "Float!"

The card twirls in the air a few times before coming to rest on an invisible surface directly in front of Terry, facing him. When Terry taps it, it starts glowing and then becomes a floating balloon.

"Kero, Float can't answer my questions about how it works, can it?"

"No, it can't talk."

"What can it do? Can it make other things float, or does it just float itself?"

"It can make whatever you want float."

"Do I have to tell it to float things, or can I want them floated and have it work? ...Float, float my notebook!"

"Until it knows you well enough to anticipate what you want, you need to ask," the bear explains as the small ballon floats over to the notebook, becoming invisible and insubstantial as it does, and causing it to float without detectable mechanism.

He pushes the notebook around, then tosses it, trying to get a feel for how floated things behave. And having fun because MAGIC. That too. "Can Float make other cards float? They'd be a lot easier to catch flailing around in midair."

They behave as if gravity wasn't quite affecting them, the notebook booping around like in null gee. Should he ask Float to move the notebook anywhere, though, it will.

"It can, but what do you mean catch flailing around?"