《Transdimensional Apprentice》 Prologue. Midterms :edited A robed figure sat with his back hunched up as he fiddled with a few different items on the bench in front of him. He looked to be a young man just out of the worst of puberty. He had a thin face, a sharp nose and bloodless lips that seemed to be in a perpetual grimace. Absently the figure was vivisecting an eyeball, with a pair of tweezers and a scalpel. He was peeling back the conjunctiva the layer of skin and fat that protects the eye; slowly he dragged the scalpel along the cornea. He then took his tweezers and carefully grasped the limbus and lifted it and the cornea away from the rest of the eye revealing his prize. The lens laid bare. Carefully he scooped it out of the vitreous gel and set it into a clear solution next to a mixture slowly bubbling on a flame. Among all of the odd and disturbing apparatus in front of him, the most out of place was the winged cat that sat with a lazy smile on a shelf built into the back of the bench. It was a dark gray with splotches of dark green verging on black. With a silent stretch and flexing of its claws the winged feline sat up and purred ¡°Well done, though you did take a bit more time then you should have extracting the lens. Now do you remember the next few steps?¡± Shakily the figure breathed deeply a time or so and then replied. ¡± One pinch salt, a spoon of black ash and a handful of phosphorescent cave moss ground together then mixed together with a measure of oil.¡± He sneered. After a second of silence he looked up at the cat with a question twisting his face. ¡± right?¡± ¡°Well¡± the feline stated, ¡°If you had memorized the potion like you were supposed to for the exam, you would not be asking that question, now would you?¡± the cat slimed a cheshire grin. ¡°Blinx.¡± The figure demanded ¡°Did I get it right or didn¡¯t I?¡± ¡°I am fairly certain that the potion will not blow up.¡± Blinx deadpanned. ¡°As to how effective it will be at what it is supposed to do . . . that we will have to see.¡± With a slump and a mumble about useless familiars the figure returned his attention to the substances and tools before him. Taking a pinch of salt, a spoon of ash and some moss from a sealed jar he started to grind the mixture up with a mortar and pestle. After it was mostly ground together the figure paused. Hand out stretched to the selection of oils in front of him. ¡°crap,¡± he mumbles. ¡°Which oil was I supposed to use . . . . ¡° after a second or so he reaches out and grabs the oil from a salamander. Not sure he then puts it back. After a few moments of nervous twitching and foot tapping he turns back to Blinx ¡°um. Blinx. Could you ahem um. . . what oil should I use?¡± Somehow Blinx¡¯s grin got even wider. Now smiling from ear to ear the winged cat vaguely pointed towards one of the bottles, ¡°that one should work just as well as any other. Though do be careful and not let any drip out¡± With a shaky laugh the robbed figure grabbed one of the oils that he thought the cat had pointed to. Letting it splash a bit as he poured out a measure in a glass measuring cup he was too preoccupied with what he was doing to notice the wisps of smoke coming from the oil that had landed on the table.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. With a shaky laugh the robbed figure mumbles what a generous soul would say was a thanks. Next the figure poured the oil into the mortar and started to mix the sludge together. After getting a mostly smooth consistency though one that was not as smooth as it could be, the figure poured the gritty slop into the small iron pot that was over a magically heated array. Slowly he then mixed the resulting concoction for a minute or two in a clockwise motion with a glass spoon. ¡°Apprentice,¡± Blinx smiled ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be rude, but are you sure that that is how you were supposed to mix that?¡± After a brief pause the robbed figure scoffed. ¡°Of course it is, just because you are masters familiar does not mean that you know everything.¡± ¡°Oh of course . . . How foolish of me¡°. The grin on Blinx¡¯s face would have given the apprentice pause if he bothered to glace up from his work. After another minute of stirring in a clockwise fashion the apprentice selected a scooped implement from all those available and fished out the lens from the mixture that he had set it in earlier. Slightly holding his breath, the apprentice plopped the lens into the mixture. It changed from the dark gray slop that it had been into a angry red. The apprentice then grabbed a pair of tongs with curved brackets to securely pick up the pot and poured the mixture into a glass bottle with the aid of a funnel. Letting it sit for a second or so the apprentice then carefully placed a rune inscribed piece of paper and then circulated his mana into it. Slowly the mixture changed to a deep eggplant purple. ¡° . . . .so,¡± the apprentice glances to Blinx, ¡°did I pass?¡± ¡°Well,¡± The cat said in an amused tone, ¡°why don¡¯t you take a swig and see? After all the pest way to test a potion is to drink it.¡± Blinx lips twitched as he tried to keep from smiling while saying so. ¡°oh come on Blinx, did I pass or not? I know that I¡¯m supposed to drink it but I don¡¯t want any nasty side effects if I missed a step. Besides,¡± he glances at the potion, ¡° I thought that the potion was supposed to be black with fleks of light in it.¡± ¡°Well, you could go interrupt master and see if you did the potion right, though that will count as a failure if you go get him and he says that you messed up. . . ¡° The apprentice shudders remembering that due to a few things he had done. including getting drunk and trying to make a erection charm so that he could have some fun at the local brothel that had turned into a paralysis charm. Turns out the rune for stiff should not be used in that way. He was already on probation, his master had told him that if he fucked up any further then he would not like the consequences. After a moment or so of hmming and haaing the apprentice nods and grabs the bottle and drinks it down. ¡°hhoaa well so far it-¡° that is when he started to scream. Though it only lasted a few moments the agonizing sound that tore from his throat would have given most nightmares, all the while Blinx had a huge grin. Slowly the potion that the apprentice had obviously not brewed correctly at all, ate through his flesh turning him into a puddle of slop with a robe on top. Blinx started to purr in amusement and turned his head to a corner of the room that was draped in shadow. ¡°Master, I don¡¯t think this one was worth our tutelage.¡± Without a sound the darkness in the corner shifted and out came a truly ancient man. His wrinkles had wrinkles and he was absolutely hairless, aside from his truly awe-inspiring eyebrows. If one did not know any better, they would doubtless think that the pair were the wings of some bird of legend. With a sigh the figure stepped forward from the shadows revealing his black robes with geometric stitching in gold and silver. With a shake of his head the mage made a gesture and the puddle that was his apprentice was sucked into a small vortex. ¡°what number was he, 5-6?¡± ¡°No master he was the 8th apprentice-¡° Blinx chortled ¡°well attempted apprentice.¡± He amended. ¡°Such a waste, both of my time and of his potential.¡± ¡°Yes master, it truly is a shame. Well it¡¯s not like you could summon the perfect apprentice.¡± Blinx sighed. ¡°Hmmm, now there is a thought, what if I summon the perfect apprentice to learn all my secrets, yes, I rather like that idea. I am after all the archmagi of conjuration am I not?¡± with a chuckle the archmagi walked away from the small workshop room into the rest of his apartments with a bit more pep in his step then Blinx had seen in over 200 years. CH.1 First Impressions : Drovak : Three years. For three years the damned array had been going and nothing to show for it. A self-maintaining multi-plane scanning conjugation matrix array. It had taken him two years to create the array. With the wording, spellcraft, and contingencies worked into it, not to mention the scarcity of the regents, catalysts, and the mana foci. Along with the fact that he had still needed to act in his capacity as the predominant Archmagi of conjuration at the collage and the headache inducing paperwork that he had to fill out to even attempt the array. Not to mention the fact that there were only three summoning chambers that would be able to Shield and Seal quickly and powerfully enough should the summoning matrix overload and destabilize. He still held out a bit of hope that the array would work. Today he felt a stirring. His awareness of the array at the back of his mind starting to give him an itch. With a bubbling bit of excitement. He realized that the array had found something. ¡®Blintx! The array is being active, I am in the middle of testing these journeymen for their midterms. Go check on the array. I expect we will be getting a visitor soon.¡¯ ¡®Of course Drovak. I will attend to the array. Any . . extra orders?¡¯ ¡®No, just watch. And if it should be a monstrosity, inform me and activate the Seal.¡¯ ********** : Jax : I hate midterms. No matter what the subject was, all the anxiety and pressure grinds you down. Thankfully I knew of a way to bolster my spirits, and to keep my head up, Demons and Dorks. It was truly one of the best means of working out your frustrations and inner murderhobo. That part of you that is a bit more primal then most people in polite company are comfortable expressing. The ugly little imp that rides on your shoulder and when someone starts to piss you off tells you to grab their thumb and twist it behind their back until they are kneeling in agony and pleading with you to stop. Of course, we all do our best to not talk about the little imp. But I found that meditation, watching anime, manga, reading and a gratuitous number of bloody videogames helps, but nothing quite scratches that itch like playing a table top pen and paper role-playing game with some disturbed friends. The more I played though, the more ideas I started to get about adventures and traps and challenges for others to try to overcome. This led to me asking my buddies if they would mind ME being the GM for once. Ever since, I am the GM. I went from being just a single little murderhobo trying to shank the world to a million different faces and voices all trying to test if the murderhobos were good enough. Giving out prizes for doing good, punishing them for being stupid and all the little things in-between. Then I found online Game Master help groups. And some sites to create and publish maps and other things. I was happy. I had just gotten through a shitty week of midterms and was able to go play with some friends to blow off a shit ton of steam. I had just finished a night of Gaming at the store that we liked to meet up at (Guardian Games in Portland Oregon), and was waiting for my ride (Portland Streetcar - B Loop). When I feel a most peculiar sensation, it started very slightly, gradually I feel my sense of balance start to fluctuate. As if I was bouncing on a trampoline. It steadily gets worse until I felt my hair stand on end. Then with a pop, I am . . . elsewhere. I don¡¯t know how to really explain it. One second, I¡¯m on the side of the street waiting at the stop, the next I know, I¡¯m in a gray . . . void. I feel at once weightless and as if gravity had been turned up from 1 to 2. Ok, maybe 1.5. I have the sensation of falling and of going forward at ludicrous speed. There is no wind but I can just FEEL that I am going down and forward at speeds that I am sure should kill me. Especially when I come to the inevitable end, if there is an end. After what feels like 20 minutes of lurching horror, my ADHD kicks in and I get just a little bit bored. Which does wonders for me as my mind starts to wander.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Did I die? . . . . . . . I hope not. Maybe I just passed out? Well if I did die I hope no one decides to look on my laptop . . . 67 gigs of porn is not what I want to be remembered for. . . . . . . What feels like hours pass. Until I notice the first change. I can feel myself slowing. Now just puke your guts fast, not your about to be a stain on the ground fast. Only now do I realize that I have not had to breath this entire time. . . . . Yep I¡¯m dead. ********* : Blintx : Well, this is boring. Master told me to come and greet the new student, but the array has shown very little activity. . . . I wonder how gullible this one will be? Oh it would be fantastic if I could get this one to somehow explode. That¡¯s how the second apprentice went. Tried to use dragonwort instead of drakefern. Made for a spectacular fireball. Hehehe. Or maybe I can get him to form a contract with a primordial spirit, they always cause their contractors to go insane! How much longer is this going to be? I have been sitting here for over an hour. Meh, I¡¯ll just activate the shield and have a nap. Blintx concentrates for a moment or so and a shimmering half bubble encircles the array before him. Slowly he drifts off to sleep. ********** : Jax : I think I can see it! The light at the end! Oh god, I hope I am not going to hell. With a static discharge and a pop I fall a foot or so from empty space into a glowing circle. I am disoriented as fuck. My head is pounding and my legs crumble almost as soon as I touch solid ground. My bad knee really does not like that and twinges in sharp mind splitting pain. I land on my backpack. Good to know that I still have that. I just lay there for a minute or so trying not to puck. Nope, no good. I¡¯m gonna hurl. As fast as I can, which is a very slow flop. I try to roll over onto my side. I almost make it too. But with a heave I puke all over myself and splatter the ground with my last meal. A party platter from Tacobell. Good god. The pain from my knee and now the pungent smell of puke inform my of one thing. Today was not a good day to get out of bed. After a few moments I pull myself together enough to try to sit up. My knee hates that idea but I do it anyway. Fuck you knee. Breathing a little ragged from the acid coating my throat and the searing pain from my knee I try to just breath. God I smell. A bit latter and many deep breaths, I open my eyes. . . . I¡¯m in a forcefield? And a summoning circle . . . . . I think. The forcefield is transparent but it is like looking through bright glowing hazy glass. I take a second and notice a few different things.
  1. I am in a circle and the forcefield is inside the inner circle separating me from any of the . . . runes? That ring the circle.
  2. There is a cat with wings sleeping about a foot or so away from the circle.
  3. I really need to pee.
  4. I seem to have all of my cloths, backpack and my box of tricks (a tackle box that I use to hold all of my maps, minis and other items for D&D).
  5. I may or may not have shit myself.
I seem to be in a single room. I¡¯d say about 20ft by 20ft. the circle I am in is about 10ft in diameter. Now that I am not immediately in pain (I am still in pain but it is very much manageable), I notice a interesting thing. It feels like the air is charged with a shit ton of electricity. Ever stand underneath those super heavy duty industrial power lines? The ones that are made to handle and send 600 volts? There is a quality to the air when you stand under them. You can feel the thrum of the electricity in your bones. The air felt like that, charged. As if I was under a huge power line carrying thousands of volts. Freaky. As. Fuck. Because as far as I could tell, it was not coming from the forcefield, I felt as if the forcefield was holding it back. After a few more moments of bug-eyed wonder. I notice something had changed, the cat was no longer asleep. I started to study it and for some reason I almost felt like it was studying me. I mean more then the cat being a cat studying. He actually looked fairly cool. A sleek frame akin to a Siamese cat, but with dark gray fur and splotches of green. Oh and the wings. Yeah those were also noteworthy. They reminded me of owl wings. The shape and length of the feathers in relation to his body consistent with an owls (I¡¯m an animal nerd). Trying to see if he was a bit more of a chimera and had clawed back legs I approached the forcefield. ¡°Please, don¡¯t get closer. You reek.¡± . . . . ? I start to look around for the source of the voice. After a minute or so I shrug and take another step towards the cat. ¡°No, really. You stink creature.¡± With a start I realize that the one who talked was the cat. Of course, I was eloquent and professional. ¡°Holy shit a talking cat!¡± CH. 2 First Impressions part 2 : Jax : ¡°I mean you are a cat right? Not some sorcerer who trapped themselves into the form of a cat, or was cursed into the form of a cat . . . .right?¡± His tail starts to twitch in irritation, his ears are lying back a bit on his head and his wings are slightly flexing outward. I think I pissed the pussy off. ¡°Stop blathering you nitwit.¡± Yep definitely pissed off the pussy. ¡°you are standing in the presence of one of the most powerful familiars in all the realms!¡± he boasts with his head high and chest out, he is even puffing up his wings. ¡°No doubt you have heard of the splendor of Merlowins?¡± ¡°Um. I uh don¡¯t. hmmmm. Nope.¡± I shrug as I stammer my reply. The Cat Meowlwin(?), just stares at me. After a second or so he seems to shrug. ¡°Pity.¡± ¡°So ugh, um well. Agh um wa- what um. .*Deep Breath* . . is this?¡± so eloquent much wow. Way to go dingle dork. ¡°Hmm? Oh right you are likely a peasant yes? Not used to seeing such wonderous and fantastic sights such as one of the great summoning chambers of the Arcane Collage¡± he preens to himself obviously pleased he could boast about where we are. ¡°Ok. For one, I am not a peasant. I happen to be a descendent of a noble house (no seriously, not bullshitting). Two where am I? you said Arcane Collage like that is supposed to mean something. I have no clue what that is (did I get summoned to Hogwarts?). Three, um any way I can get out of here? I really need to pee (like really bad). Four, also I did not mean to insult you in any way or form. I just have never seen anything like you.¡± By the end of my little speech I have my legs crossed as I try to hold it in. With a snort and a shrug the damn Cat Merwowin(?). Haughtily lifted his head and started to circle me. Ok I don¡¯t care what he calls himself he¡¯s a fucking Cat. ¡°hmmm,¡± he . . . mumble-purrs? ¡°I would have thought that the spell that my master made would summon forth something more. . . . impressive.¡± Ouch. Also fuck off. ¡°Who the fuck is your master anyway? And why am I even here.¡± I try to be imposing but when you really have to pee and your covered in puke. . . . . not the most impressive sight.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°My master is the great conjuration Archmagi Drovak: the Maker of Chains.¡± You could hear the capital letters. ¡°Who?¡± He blinks in rapid succession for a few seconds. ¡°He who bound a thousand wild spirits.¡± At my shrug his face scrunches up and his hackles start to rise. ¡°The one who made a Demon submit to him, the one who called on and received the aid of a Divine,¡± he looks at me expectantly. Again all I give him is a shrug. ¡°I mean seriously, I have never heard of this dude.¡± After a few seconds of stony silence, and me fidgeting because of my bladder, he harrumphs and continues to walk around me. Fuck I need to pee. ¡°I really need to pee. Can I please be shown to a bathroom or something?¡± I plead while stepping from one foot to another. I swear that fucking cat is smiling. ¡°No. you are to stay there till the master is ready.¡± Fuck it. I plant my feet. Reach down into my shorts and pull out my cock. If I can¡¯t go in a toilet or other such thing I¡¯ll just go here. Ah yes! Sweet relief. I close my eyes while just letting it all just stream out. After a few seconds I hear someone clear their throat. Not bothering to look I hold up a finger. ¡°one sec, almost done.¡± ¡°You are urinating on a masterpiece of magic and knowledge, stop now or I will teach you why you should not do such a thing.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± I shake my head, ¡°can¡¯t stop.¡± I feel what amounts to a taser to the stomach. This has the unfortunate side effect of causing me to lose control of my legs and penis. I can feel my piss fountaining out and raining down on me. Though I don¡¯t look it, being a bit of a butter ball, but I can take a shit ton of punishment. Once the shocking stops I roll over onto my knees. Now I¡¯m mad. And just like Hulk, when I get mad I want to smash something. Regaining my feet I run head first toward the source of the shocking. Completely forgetting that I am in some sort of forcefield. The good news is that I learned that the forcefield has no extra things like frying me to a crisp. The bad news is that it is fairly solid and I am almost sure now that I shit myself. Other bad news is that I think I gave myself a minor concussion. Night night. : Drovak : Hmm. This is unsettling. The first time I lay eyes on the one who is to be my new apprentice, he is covered in puke and urinating on the floor. He is also much larger than I thought he would be. Both in height and girth. He wears what looks to be a shirt, vest and trousers. Though they are like nothing I have seen before. So many pockets. ¡°You are urinating on a masterpiece of magic and knowledge, stop now or I will teach you why you should not do such a thing.¡± I calmly state. ¡°Sorry,¡± he says with a shake of his head and a grin, ¡°Can¡¯t stop.¡± Well, lets see how he takes a minor shock. A first years spell yes, but I don¡¯t want to kill him. With a silent incantation I send the small bolt of electricity directed to his stomach. Gods above know he has enough fat he should be unharmed. With a sputter he falls to his knees and continues to urinate. Though now half of it is going onto him. At least I think it is a male. Hmm he has more strength then I thought he would have. ¡°RRAAAGGGG!¡± with a yell he rolls to his feet and runs towards me. *thump* Ooohhhh that had to hurt. I hope he did not just break himself. It would be a waste. ¡®Blintx, you did greet him yes?¡¯ ¡®Yes . . though he is an ignorant savage that did not know how great of an honor it is to be here.¡¯ Well, that explains a few things. I guess now all I can do is wait till he awakens. I don¡¯t want to accidentally kill him after all. CH. 3 First Impresions part 3 : Jax : Ugn. Why do I have a splitting headache? Am I sick? I also smell something rank. Wha- . Mmmgn. ow. Last I remember I was. . . . . at Guardian Games? Yes. Wait no! wait yes? I should probably open my eyes. Why is everything blue? I swear I had a dream or something like this. . . . wait. That fucking cat! I remember now. I pat myself checking how I am. Yep pissed and puked all over myself. Which means that was not a dream? Oh fuck. What now? : Drovak : Meditation is a wonderful and useful thing. It allows one to gather Essence more easily, along with allowing one to recall and observe certain facts. Such as the realization that the summoning, which usually only lasts for perhaps ten minutes if you are summoning a being from another plane, lasted for approximately 3 hours. Deduction and process of elimination wound then state that: my newest apprentice hopeful is from much further out then the furthest plane that we readily have access to. I had expected my newest student to be from this world. Not to mention this plane. But apparently, he is from very far away indeed. Mayhap that is why the scrying portion of the spell took 2 and a half years. Though the mana requirement to summon him was horrendous. If it had not been for all of the redundancies that I thought would be useful but not needed. I think my spell matric would have failed. ¡®Master he has awoken.¡¯ ¡®Thank you Blintx¡¯ With a deep breath in to help center myself I am reminded that my new student is currently not in the best of conditions. I stand with a little help from a levitation spell and simply observe. Whatever my new student is he is not of the races of Cor¡¯malin. He has the height of a elf, the shape and girth of a dwarf, but rounded features as a gnome has. No matter. Soon I shall find out who and what he is. ¡°Are you injured? That head on collision with the shield looked like it hurt.¡± A pained groan escapes his lips and he tucks himself into a ball. After a second or so he jerks back to laying flat. ¡°God damit, I thought this was all a fucking dream.¡± Hmmm. He seems to enjoy cussing quite a bit. Well we all have our quirks I suppose. ¡°Try not to thrash about too much. I am surprised that you were able to take a shock spell with little to no difficulty. Usually they are able to knock out those who have not trained in the use of Essence.¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know who you are, but where the fuck am I and why am I here?¡± he states while sitting up. He looks towards me. Impressive. Usually people can not see that well through a shield spell unless they have a fairly high perception. ¡°My name is Drovak. I am a conjurer. And I have summoned you here to be my apprentice.¡± A look of confusion and doubt passes across his face. ¡°Wait, you said conjurer? As in magic!?¡± I would not expect someone of his size to be able to get to their feet so fast. He almost seemed to just twist in place and suddenly he is standing. Hmmm, is he a former warrior? With his features I have no indication of age. ¡°Yes, magic.¡± I reply slightly confused. ¡°Holy Shit!¡± he seems excited. This is the first time I have ever seen someone so . . . . exuberant about such a common thing. ¡°So your telling me that that time in the void thingy and this forcefield here are all from magic!?¡± he all but stumbles over himself coming close to and stretching out his hands caressing the shield. ¡°Void?¡± what I did was a basic teleportation array combined with a specific search, along with a few carefully chosen commands to ensure I was not poaching someone else¡¯s student. ¡°yeah you know the void thing. The place where I was for about 2 or so hours after I was,¡± he pauses for a breath or two trying to think, ¡°Snatched? from the side of the street.¡± Most interesting. I have never heard of any sort of void. The closest I can think of is the outer regions of creation. They are said to be a pitch void that nothing except madness and creatures of nightmares dare to tread. ¡°Hmm most intriguing. But enough of getting distracted. Who and what are you?¡± : Jax : I can¡¯t believe it. Magic? As in honest to fucking god magic!!! Oh that explains a few things. But that also begs the question of so much more! Like what is the system? Is it just a swish and flick and say the words? Or is it a set of precise chants and long ceremonies followed by a sacrifice? Wait no I don¡¯t think that last one because I don¡¯t see anything around that could have been sacrificed. Oh My Fucking God Magic! I raptly start to poke prod and caress the forcefield in front of me. It seems a bit cool to the touch somehow. But it is also vibrating. It also feels solid but when I poke it slightly it gives just the tiniest amount. Almost like a few tarps kept tight and layered one over the other, keeping shape for the most part while being able to change should it need to. OH MY God MAGIC!!! Wait focus. The guy that likely zapped you here is talking. ¡°. . . . distracted. Who and what are you?¡± Wha . . . . I missed what he said. Fuck sometimes I really hate you ADHD. ¡°Sorry, I was not completely listening, this is quite a bit to take in. could you say what you said again?¡± I ask as nice and contrite as I can. He brings a hand up from his side and rubs his temples. I think I am giving him a headache. ¡°What and who are you?¡± Oh hmmm. ¡°Well, I am 26 years old, trained as a chef, I work for Amazon at one of their shipping facilities, I am also a Gamer, Otaku and a Dungeon Master of D&D, also I am a college student who took the summer off to raise some money and take a break ¡° Yeah that should explain things . . . I think. ¡°Hmm well those are all very interesting but what are you?¡± Is this some sort of introspective question or something? ¡°Currently your prisoner?¡± That actually gets a laugh. ¡°No, what I mean is what species of being are you? I have never seen your kind before.¡± Oh. Damn, ok. ¡°I am a human. From the planet Earth. If that helps at all.¡± I say a bit sheepish. ¡°Human? Hmmmm nope never heard of that one before.¡± He stands there on the other side of the forcefield stroking a magnificent goatee that morphs into a beard that was just. Wow. How long is that thing? Hmm looks like 3 maybe 4 feet long. Damn. The only beard I can ever grow is a patchy neck beard. ¡°Sooo . . what are you then?¡± I mean turnabout is fair play. ¡°I am an Elfin.¡± An elf! Seriously? Cool. I take a moment and take in my surroundings a bit more. Fuck I am rank. ¡°ugh, I don¡¯t know if you have noticed or not but, I would really like to clean up after my. . . mishap. Any chance I can clean up somewhere, somehow?¡± After a moment of consideration, he nods slightly and with a wave of his hand the forcefield deactivates. And I get my first clear look at him. ¡°Holy shit you¡¯re a Drow!¡± CH. 4 First Impresions part 4 : Drovak : ¡°Yes I am a Drow.¡± Most perplexing. Both how he knew what I was and his reaction. ¡°You, augh don¡¯t worship Lolth, do you?¡± ¡°Of course I do," What self-respecting Drow would I be if I did not worship the Fate Weaver? " I have always worshiped the mistress of protection and family.¡± Though I will admit I have not been as devote as I could or should be. He stands there staring a little over my head. Does he know Appraisal? If so it would not help him to see my status. If I had to guess he is someone with very little world experience. ¡°Mistress of protection and family?¡± he asks slowly. ¡°Yes, She who lovingly guides those who are under her care and protects the innocent. She who taught us to weave and to craft nets and cloths to feed and shelter us¡± He is very expressive of emotion. They seem to cycle across his face. Shock, then contemplation, disbelief, then he cocks his head and looks off into the distance again. ¡°Sooo,¡± he makes the one word last 30 seconds, ¡°Lolth is not the queen of the demon web pits? Nor the goddess of lies, destruction and chaos? She who loves to torture, maim and pits her followers to fight and kill one another for her amusement?¡± WHAT!? Such blatant sacrilege! Where did this human get that idea from? With a shake of my head I explain. ¡°No, She is the goddess of creation, love, protection, family and the keeper of laws.¡± I cannot help but to quip the old adage my mother used to say to me before tucking me in bed. ¡±After all, it takes dedication and time to craft a web, and the webs of the Mistress are made to feed her children.¡± He stands there for a few more moment thinking. Until finally he nods. ¡°Ok then. Seems the information I have about Her is extremely twisted and false. I am deeply sorry if I have offended you or Her or any others.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. At least he is courteous and diplomatic. Though with his current state of dress and various fluids upon him it spoils the fact. I really must learn more about him. ¡°though I would be remiss if I let you to wander about without knowing anything about the Spire and what I have planned for us. You are indeed a sorry sight to behold. Please, follow me.¡± With that I take a step towards the door. ¡°Um, sir?¡± Turning back I raise an eyebrow. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Well I really don¡¯t mean to be rude or anything. But why am I here?¡± . . . . . ¡°Blintx.¡± I spy him in the corner grooming himself. He stops, ¡°Yes, master?¡± hmmm his tail is lashing about. He feels guilty about something. ¡°Did you not inform our newest apprentice on why he was brought here?¡± With a rapid blink I can tell that he forgot ¡°my most sincere apologies master. But this . . . creature, decided to urinate on your Array before I could.¡± Oh sometimes I regret having him as a familiar. Yes, he is intelligent and has many uses, but he has always had a horrible attention span. Breath in, breath out. ¡°I am an Archmagi, do you know what that is?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± He states with a shake of his head. Breath in. Breath out. ¡°Classification of ranks of Mages goes as follows,¡± with a bit of will and some magic I will a simple diagram into existence.
Rank Mage Wizard Sorcerer Magi Archmagi Sage Archsage
Arcane knowledge 5 10 20 Gained a insight into a school of magic Crafted 5 original spells Crafted an original Array Master one school of magic
Mana 200 500 1,000 2,000 5,000 10,000 50,000
Level 10 25 100 150 200 300 400
¡°Usually in order to be able to qualify as a Mage one must know at least 5 different spells, have more then 200 points worth of Mana, and be level 10.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± he interrupts, ¡°Level?¡± ¡°Yes, a level, surely even where you are from they have levels?¡± it is inconceivable that they do not. ¡°Um, no.¡± with a shake of his head he brings into question everything that I and all of our order have always believed. CH. 5 First Impresions part 5 : Jax : Wow I mean magic, pifth. Any technology that is significantly advanced would be made indistinguishable from magic. Especially if said technology led to a closer integration of the technology and the minutia of life. Along with this, if a gradual or sudden decline in the knowledge of those who originally created it, . i.e. through war or plague or any other number of possible things. Any survivors or adjacent races or tribes that then unintentionally inherited the technology and could only interact with it in a set way, they would then come to the conclusion that the technology was in fact magic. Though the talking cat was and is a shock, parrots have been known to be able to mimic and learn short phrases and snatches of speech. It then would not be to far of a leap to then deduce that the cat was made slightly more intelligent and genetically altered as evidenced by the wings. What little magic I have seen (and experienced), could so far be attributed to advanced technology and survivors or scavengers piecing how to make it work together in order to be able to replicate the feats of ¡®magic¡¯. Teleportation, though way beyond everything that is currently possible on earth, is theoretically possible. You just have to have a more complete understanding of quantum physics in order for the possibility as we know to exist. Forcefields, though a little more complicated, could be explained as a more advanced and energy efficient means then what was already known and patented. A grid of intersecting lasers and a strong electromagnetic field are sandwiched together in order to create a seemingly solid piece of light. This can then be bent in upon itself with finely calibrated lenses. The lightning, tasers. The floating box of light was interesting, but I have seen more impressive things done by Penn and Teller. But levels? The only way I can think of, is an integration nanobots. Using them to create and reinforce the skeletal and muscular system: coating neurons, allowing for possibly faster reactions: creating false skin and flesh to facilitate faster healing. Though, what would the power source be? I could speculate that the thermal energy of a living being would be possible to power them, and when not in a host they could be solar powered or charged by ambient electromagnetic waves. Hmm, I seem to be able to think fairly clearly right now. I think I am in shock. Yeah. That sounds about right.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I mean I am taking all that has currently happened in stride. Hell I am even able to hypothesize the feasibility of magic after getting sucked though a . . . wormhole? And spat out with a talking winged cat to greet me. .. . . . . . Did I finally crack? Am I really here, in this space right now? Or am I still waiting for my bus and just fell asleep? The wizard guy has been a decent sort, he did fucking electrocute me though. Is this real? *Smack* Well that felt real. Shit. ¡°Well then. Before we get into any contracts or any other forms of binding. You my possible future apprentice, really are a sad sight and scent.¡± Saying such he turns back towards the door. ¡°I think that we both would rather have you clean and fully cognizant. Come we shall retire to my quarters and have you cleaned up and perhaps a meal to help us get into the right mindset.¡± Ok. Lets take it one step at a time. And just ignore the . . . unpleasantness of the fluids on you right now. I fallow along and when we come to the double doors I get my first real look at them. They are made of some type of metal. Smooth and shiny they are silvery gray in color with motes of blackness every now and then. I would almost swear that they are somehow a liquid as the flecks of black seem to shift in the corner of my eyes when I am not looking directly at them. There are no knobs or otherwise to indicate how to open them. With a wave of his hand the wizard (I really don¡¯t know what else to call him), causes the door to slide down into the ground in a puddle. Melt would likely be a better descriptor. He steps across the threshold and flicks his finger. His cat glides past me to his shoulder. Fuck that little beast is silent. I take a breath and step across. Its like night and day. The room I was in was dim and had very little light. Here in the hall that is very much not true. A vestibule about thirty feet around connects the room I just exited along with two other doors similer to what I just came from and a hallway directly across from me. It goes another twenty feet or so till another room that can just barly be seen from where I am. Three doors stand side by side each a different color blue, green and purple. The d¨¦cor of the area is nice. It is a cream colored marble along the floors and about three feet up the walls, there it meets with a dark marron ledge that runs all along the walls about six inches wide with every five feet a protuberance jutting out and up with a soft but brightly glowing blue bulb. At the end. When it would meet with the doors it instead arches up and frames the door then continues on after reaching the exact same height previously. After the ledge, it transitions into a orange gray granite that has been exceptionally polished, though it does not hurt to look at it is very bright with reflected light. Smiling a bit at the lovely sight I breath in deep. And immediately wish I had not. It burns! Oh god my lungs feel like they are on fire. And I can feel the air moving out from my lungs as it feels like I just breathed in acid. Oh god! My bones feel like something is drilling into them. I can feel something coating me outside and in. My skin is at the same time dry as can be and clammy. Why have I not passed out? This fucking hurts. I fell to my knees immediately after I breathed in and now my back feels like I¡¯m trying to bend myself into a doughnut. I try to scream, and a groan briefly escapes my lips. The wizard looks back at that and a look of horror distorts his face. It hurts worse than it looks. Each of my teeth feel like a student dentist that had way too much caffeine and not enough sleep is drilling into all of them at the same time with a huge drill. My eardrums feel like I just went from no pressure to 1,000 leagues under the sea. Just when I thought it could not get any worse my eyes start to feel like someone decided they would make a decent ashtray. How the fuck am I still conscious let alone alive? After what feels like a thousand years, darkness. Sweet blessed oblivion. CH. 6 A New Start : Drovak : Blintx had just landed on my shoulder and I had taken a few steps before hearing a pained groan. Turning back I watched in horror as the human was bent back in a curve. For a few seconds all I could do was stare in shock. ¡®Master! Look at him with Mana Sight!¡¯ Blintx sends with excitement. Quickly activating Mana Sight I am floored even more. Somehow the human had all of his Essence channels open! A feat that was speculated to be possible but never witnessed. I watch with trepidation as the Essence rages through his body. ¡®oOoh, that has got to hurt¡¯ An understatement if anything. Usually one has to meditate and open their channels over the course of days if not weeks. Working on different channels after completely opening the first. I shudder to think what he is currently feeling as my own experience was far from comfortable. The first time I opened my first channel I was bedridden for a week and it was the basic natal channel that everyone eventually opens. I watch on in fascination as the Essence continues unabated for almost half an hour. Watching with Mana Sight I am able to watch as his Cores start to form before my eyes. It is awe inspiring. With how much Essence he has been absorbing, I would almost think that he had never drawn in any. Slowly they form. But not the simple round Cores that are the usual. No, his Cores look to be almost crystalline in structure. Something that is seen only in monsters and very old beings.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. What is even more interesting though, is that each of his Cores are growing at the same rate. Usually one if not rarely two Cores are the dominant Core. Allowing for an increased growth and ease of use. Though all Cores are needed for life and multiple skills call on the use of two or more Cores. Usually one would need to specify and work on building up a Core to be able to use them. After an hour his cores are already the size of an elf¡¯s heart. Remarkable. My own had reached that size only after I had become a Magi. ¡®Well, dosent he have big balls.¡¯ Slowly the Essence starts to change from a raging torrent into a steady stream. His Essence rich Cores start to rotate. An advanced form of manipulation that if I had not seen it for myself I would have said was impossible for someone to do until they had reached 300 years of age. Another fascinating discovery, he seems to be circulating his Ilm, Houn and Vesz all along his system. After the flows stabilize like a puppet that has had its strings cut he falls bonelessly to the floor. Taking a moment to cast a few detection spells upon him I am astounded once more. His bones, skin, muscles and even his internal organs have all become similar to a 3rd tier warriors. Nodding to myself I grasp one of the tokens from my inner sleeve and Send for my servant. With a faint pop, Chaiak one of my more presentable summons arrives with a bow. ¡°You called master?¡± voice deep and grating as always. ¡°Pick this one up and follow me,¡± I state waving my hand. ¡°Gently please. He has just Awoken. And his seemed particularly painful. Try not to damage him, he is supposed to be my new apprentice.¡± ¡°As you will it master.¡± ¡®oh how fun this one should be!¡¯ Blintx sends. I try to keep my smile to a minimum. Yes, this one should be very fun indeed. CH. 7 A New Start 2 : Jax : I open my eyes and am immediately bombarded by a riot of colors and images, flashing one after the next. A glade of towering trees encircles a stone monolith covered in vines and runes. A fey child lounges at the base of it. Idly growing and twisting flowers into various forms of jewelry. A dead city made from mud and adobe stands on the edge of a desert. A fell wind constantly blowing. Figures stand ready. Maintaining an eternal watch. A cave that descends into darkness. Hundreds of stone soldiers stand in formation, still but not without life. Awaiting orders. A castle of shimmering glass stands resolute and lonely on a lone peak. A golem of black metal stands atop the tallest tower watching the sky. Counting the days. Hundreds of bison/elk like creatures trudge through ice and snow. A giant black one leads the herd. Searching for forage. a pyramid made of coral rests in the hidden niche of an islands bay. A slab of obsidian sits in the heart of the pyramid. A mask with glowing eyes rests upon it. A Japanese style classroom is in session. A girl in the back gazes out of the window onto a twisted red landscape. Her periwinkle blue uniform hugs her body as she sighs. A shepherd lays on a hill with his flock of goats the size of horses, watching the stars as they dance and twirl above. Twisting glowing traces of light into fantastical figures. A redheaded beauty mans a forge with sweat on her brow and a weary flick of her bushy tail. She is crafting a spear head, a spear head made of silver-blue metal. two huts stand side by side facing inwards to each other. A pair of old ladies work together to weave a beautiful tapestry. Gossiping together, they fall silent and gaze in my direction. A giant stands at a cliff scrutinizing the sea. His three eyes searching the roiling surf. With a start he notices me and blinks all eyes at once. Sitting upon her throne of webs, a dark and beautiful woman smiles, looking me directly in the eyes. ¡°Hello little traveler.¡± Voice husky as sin, it immediately snares my attention and will not let go. ¡°Hmmm, I like what I see. I hope you will have time for me little one.¡± A smile that reveals fangs glistening, together with her perfect pouty black lips. I know in that instant that I would do most anything to kiss and be kissed by them. She smirks a bit. ¡°Naughty naughty boy. I don¡¯t dislike that but do keep most of your perversions to yourself please.¡± Her laugh is like shattered glass tinkling on the ground. I ache to make her mine. ¡°Oh,¡± her eyes widen and her pupils dilate, ¡°Such a naughty boy.¡± She squirms a bit on her throne. Allowing me to notice her erect nipples through the gossamer webbing she uses for clothes. She bites her lip. I don¡¯t know how or why. but I need to kiss her. I will myself to kiss her with everything I am. With a gasp I feel her lips and then taste her cherry tinted breath as we kiss. It is not gentle, but filled with passion, she responds by opening her mouth and giving as good as she gets. ¡°Naughty boy.¡± She whispers after I come up for air a minute later. I feel her hand on my chest. ¡°Sleep, you really are too much for our first meeting.¡± I start to drift away but my gaze rakes across her body and I can see her shiver because of it. I look into her eyes and see the lust barely concealed in them. I make sure that they are the last I see before I fade into oblivion. **********The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Slowly I start to come back from oblivion. I Immediately wish I had stayed there. The first thing I notice. No. the ONLY thing I notice, is that my entire body seems to have been dunked in acid, lit on fire and then paddled with cricket bats by a team of angry roid midgets. Did I owe them tree fiddy? Ow. It hurts to laugh. I crack my eyes open and notice a few things,
  1. I am in a bed.
  2. I am in a room I have never seen before.
  3. I am not wearing anything and seem to have been cleaned up.
  4. I have a raging hard on that is actually really painful.
I whimper a bit as an errant breeze blows across my skin setting it on fire. Trying to breath shallowly and think I slowly start to recall what happened. The last clear memory is of me leaving Guardian Games. After that it is a bit blurry. I kind of remember a cat. A black dude. And a . . . . . The memories hit me like a football to the back of the head. Was that all a dream? I want to say yes but I am currently laying in a bed that I have no idea how I got into, in a room that I have no knowledge of entering. Where I am. Nor where my clothes are. . . . Dreading it, I decide to try to sit up. And I immediately almost black out from the pain. Come on man. Mind over matter! One more try! Oh. Fuck. This sucks! I manage to lift the sheets away from my body. Exposing the rest of my skin to that fucking breeze! Ow. I swear there has to be sand in that breeze. It just keeps scraping my raw skin. This hurts. And the hard on is seriously not helping. After what feels like an eternity of torment I am able to sit up with my legs dangling over the edge of the bed. I¡¯m huffing and puffing and I seriously start thinking of just passing out again and trying later. But I need to pee. I start to shift myself forward and learn of an all new hell. My balls scraping the sheets as I scoot forward. The worst part is that the slight masochist in me likes it. The rest of me pimp-slaps that bitch. With utmost care I slowly set my feet down onto the stone floor. It looks to be a cream-colored marble. My toes touch down first. I almost wish they hadn¡¯t. the raw nerves and pain makes them feel like they are on fire. The cold stone helps but god damn does it hurt. After breathing a bit more I gather the energy to try to stand. I relearn an old truth. Gravity is a bitch. With a grunt and cry I tumble forward onto my hands and knees. I want to just lay down but I feel that if I do I won¡¯t be able to get up for a very long time. With a grunt I get up onto one knee and brace myself for the task ahead. Clenching my teeth so hard I can feel them grind, I use the bed to stand up. Success! I feel so drained just from that little victory but I need to PEE! I look around the room and see only one door. Now that I look it is a decent room. Cream marble floors meet a speckled granite for the walls and return to cream marble for the ceiling. The only furniture in the room is the bed along with an armour and an open walk-in closet lined with shelves all made from a dark mahogany like wood. The bed only has a few basic white sheets on it and a maroon blanket. Though they felt like they were made of a very rough material based on how I currently feel I would not be surprised if they were comparable to some of the best Egyptian cotton. I haltingly walk to the door. Every step a new lesson in pain and fortitude. After about 30 halting steps that I know I can cross in ten if I was feeling normal. I reach the door. I grasp the handle and turn it, opening the door to a round room similar to the one I first crossed out of the chamber I was summoned in. Only this time I seem to be coming from the leftmost room instead of the middle one. I take a few steps and then realize I have no idea where anything is. Looking to my right I haltingly hug the wall and make my way to the closest door. Trying the handle, I find it locked. Continuing on I try to open the next door. It opens up into a library/workshop as near as I can tell. Definitely not the restroom. Continuing on I start to head down the hall. By the time I reach the next little vestibule I am shaking with fatigue. Here a small 10x10 square room has five doors. Three like the ones I saw before. Again blue, green and purple. However two other doors are to either side. Slowly I make my way to the first one. Trying the handle I find another room that opens up into a study. Turning around I walk to the last door. Trying the handle I open the door. Sweet merciful jeebus! A halfway modern bathroom greets me. I slowly walk over to the toilet and bend my still far too erect cock down so that I can take a piss. God damn it hurts. But it also feels so very good to finally go pee. My inner masochist rears his head again. This time I let him have his moment. After about ten minutes of straight pissing. I finally start to feel an end to the stream. Still stiff as a board though. With a sigh I finish and try to shake my stiffy of any lingering urine. Taking a moment, I walk over to the washbasin and try the valve. Warm water starts to pour from the spigot. Hesitantly I start to wash my hands finding that the warm water is actually helping with the pain. With that revelation my next step seems obvious. Time to take a bath. After finishing with the sink and shaking the excess water off my hands, I walk over with a bit more pep in my step and find the tub big enough that I could get into it with little problem and even a bit of room to spare. Slowly I settle in and then turn the valve. Warm soothing water starts to gush out and soon I am up to my chin in delightfully warm water. Turning off the valve I just lay back and let myself float a bit in the heaven-sent water. CH. 8 A New Start 3 : Jax : I open my eyes and am both suddenly in a cave and standing up with no pain. Looking about I find that I feel like I am here but I also don¡¯t? Odd. Glancing about i see a few clusters of nests. And I know they are nests as each has at least one occupant curled up asleep. Each of the figures looks to be reptilian in overall nature. Slightly like a humanoid alligator. They have green scales and scutes of a dark brown. They are not wearing anything, but they are dubbed with paints and a few even have bone piercings. I¡¯m not sure how but I can tell that all of those here are male. After a few moments of just watching the figures I notice a light coming from a bit further in the cave. Naturally I walk towards it. The cave seems to be ovoid. About 30ft or so. With a few different ledges and paths coming in and out of the cave. For some reason things feel a bit off. Then it hits me, the only light I see is coming from this one passage. There is no other sources of light. But I was able to see even the minute details of the sleeping figures. Approaching the passage with caution I notice that I¡¯m not in my body. Or at least that the body that I am in is not my own. It looks to be one of the gator people. This one has purple staining his forearms and red squiggles on the back of both hands. Looking down I notice that each of his claws are well maintained and sharp. Shrugging at this oddity I continue forward. After entering the passage and walking for a bit I see a hide curtin over the mouth of another passage. Walking forward I brush it aside and find myself before a group of female gator folk. A few are in front of a very large pot talking quietly. More are lounging about on simple but neat nests. In the back of the room I notice another room connecting to this one with sand on the floor. As soon as I am seen a hiss sounds out and a burly female with a few orange streaks along her snout quickly comes forward.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Kriss, what are you doing here in the females room?¡± she is soon joined by a few other females with orange along their snouts. ¡°Ugh. I uh. . . . .look this might sound odd but I¡¯m not Kriss.¡± I start to blab a bit. ¡°I mean I was just taking a bath a moment ago and now I wake up here and I don¡¯t mean to offend you or anything but. I am not one of you.¡± They narrow their eyes and then one of the females that were at the pot comes forward. ¡°You say that you are not of us?¡± she has graying scales and her eyes are milky. My best guess would be that she is an elder of sort. ¡°hmmm yeah. I¡¯m actually human.¡± The guards look to the elder as she contemplates this. After a moment or so she seems to comes to a conclusion. ¡°why are you here, and what is a human?¡± she asks while a few more females start to gather around. ¡°see, that¡¯s the thing.¡± I say with a shrug. ¡°I don¡¯t know why I am here. I was just taking a bath and the next thing I know I wake up in the cave over there and I am in this body.¡± I gesture down. ¡°Kriss was one who was supposed to develop magical talent but as far as we know never did.¡± ¡°Well I¡¯m new the whole magics thing. Heck before I was summoned I had no idea there even was magic.¡± With my mention of being summoned the elders eyes widen and then next thing I know the orange guards have me on the ground. ¡°Begone Spirit!¡± with a shout and a few quick hand signs the elder forms a ball of white glowing magic and slams it into my chest. Fearing for my life I just stay still. After a few moments the elder looks at me expectantly. ¡°umm. . . . yeah . . . I¡¯m-I¡¯m still here . . . . . ¡° With a narrowing of the eyes the elder makes a gesture to the guard and I feel a fist impacting the side of my head. * * * * * * * * * * * * * With a start I wake up in the tub. I suck in a breath between my teeth at the pain. For the most part the water seems to be helping but I am still in pain. Ok. . . . . . that was odd Why? Was that a dream? And why do I still have a raging boner!? Im not dead (yet)! Heres a brife little glimpse into what I have been working on. ELEMENT STONES type - weakens -- negates [color/gem that most resembles it] = quality {largest size} Fire - wind [Ruby] = 1-10 {10} Water - earth [Saphire] = 1-10 {10} Wind - water [Emerald] = 1-10 {10} Earth - fire [Amber] = 1-10 {10}Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Lightning - metal -- earth [Topaz] = 1-10 {7} Ice - wood -- fire [Quartz] = 1-10 {7} Metal - ice -- Water [Hematite] = 1-10 {7} Wood - lightning -- wind [Jade] = 1-10 {7} Death -- Life [Jet] = 1-10 {10} Life -- Death [Perl] = 1-10 {10} Darkness -- Light [Amathist] = 1-10 {10} Light -- Darkness [Opal] = 1-10 {10} ENERGIES Eldritch [Ammolite] = 8-10 {20} Aether [Diamond] = 8-10 {20} Void [Obsidian] = 8-10 {20} Force - soul [Auqamarine] = 1-10 {20} Soul - blood [Lapis Lazuli] = 1-10 {20} Blood - force [Blood Garnet] = 1-10 {20} Map of Cor''Malin