《The Artificer》
Chapter 1 From Dusk to Dawn
Namar was woken abruptly when his father violently shook him out of his restful sleep; his dirty gloves leaving ashen markings on his skin.
"Hey! Wake up it''s your coming of age ceremony, you only get to do this once so hurry up."
"Alright, Alright." Namar slurred, trying weakly and failing to get up off his bed, at which point he''d decided to remain in blissful slumber. Unfortunately he''d really no choice in the matter as he was dragged off the bed like a piece of scrap metal and made to stand upright.
It was at this point that his mother walked in carrying hand made clothing specifically for this occasion, his mother, one of the finest tailors in their small village, had dark clothes with fanciful red embroideries. Namar was fully aware of the situation but he''d never been an early riser, still he done his best to work with his parents to get himself into proper clothing and moved as quickly as he could to get himself clean. Hurriedly his parents pushed him out the door and guided him through a crowd and onto a stage where he was... the first one there. As always they exaggerated just how little time he really had left, but they seemed to care little about any of his petty grumbling, instead they took their place at the front of the crowd where they sat, looking as eager, if not more so than a small child, they practically squealed with excitement.
It was only a few minutes longer when the others showed up, one in particular was his childhood friend Barlor Brown, the farmer''s son took his place next to him, wearing clothes made by Namar''s mother. They grinned at each other and shared a fist bump once settled into place. It must''ve been the crowd, the excitement, his friend or the presence of a mage that made him suddenly so aware, but it all felt less like a dream and he realized that the day had finally come, where he could follow in his father''s footsteps. The crowd went silent.
Taking his place infront of them the mage stood as tall and imposing as ever. He read them their rite of passage something he''d hear many times as a child, he had glossed over the rites of passage, only half paying attention to the familiar recitations.
"... and so it is, on this day... entry into a life of.... and wonder... may they have great fortune in all their journeys" The mage droned on.. And finally... it was over. It was at this point that he said something that put him on edge, he could feel the steady beat in his chest, sheer anticipation built up and bursting at the seams, he could hear every rustle of movement and every whisper in the streets
"And now it is time to determine who, if any, among you have the talent for magic."
The first two passed without incident, no flashy shows of power or glowy displays of magic occurred, in all his time there he''d never really seen anyone come of age with the ability to use magic. A couple more, then it was Barlor, he layed his hand on the gray orb. He seemed to buckle and shake before them eventually collapsing on his knees before the orb, it was instinct to turn and help Barlor at this point but before he ran to help him Namar came to a stop and realized the orb had started glowing with the light of the sun. He''d done it, the little farmer''s boy had really done it he was a mage! Namar'' pride swelled for his old friend, after all this years his wish just might come true.
"Impressive! Your reserves of mana are simply amazing, and to think I get to take the credit for discovering you!" The mage had a hint of greed in his eyes now, seeming a little impatient. "Let''s see how your mana reacts." this time he placed his hands on the orb causing the color to drain out from the orb. Lines raced downwards from the pillar which it stood on and on to the large circular stone pedestal that every town and city had. They surged outwards from the stone pillar, fraying and splitting here and there like lightning, they spiraled outwards forming a multitude of concentric rings along the way and eventually stopping to form a circle at its edge. The mage was grinning from ear to ear now. And the crowd was cheering with fervor that had gone previously unmatched
"Right, right, let''s get this over with, alright you next boy." he quickly gestured at Namar to place his hand on the orb. As always he took his time, making his way leisurely towards the orb. He stopped to look at the crowd, and then the mage, who was now tapping his foot. That didn''t matter though, the chances he''d have power too, were unlikely but he felt it nessecary to make something of a production out of the moment, he was after all, a craftsman, and enjoyed making things even out of abstract concepts. Raising his hand slowly and placing it on the orb he closed his eyes. As expected he didn''t really feel anything. He lifted his hand off the orb, or at least, that''s what would''ve happened had his hand been able to actually come off of the orb, he tried feebly to take his hand off the damn thing, but before he could begin to panic in earnest the orb began to pull at him.
He was getting tired now, his whole body felt like it was being dragged through a stream of water. He began to stagger a little, and then it was over; he. Namar lifted his hand off the orb and wiped his brow, he''d realized he was sweating profusely. He opened his eyes to stare at the orb. It too, was visibly glowing yet not quite as blindingly as when Barlor had placed his hand on the orb still it was there. There was cheering for him as well, just as loud as it was previously although a decent amount of that came from his parents telling rival families that they should, what basically amounted to: suck it losers!
Somehow grinning even wider than before, the mage walked at a brisk pace, practically running to where the orb was located. The lines had completely receded now, and the mage had placed his hand on the orb. They retreated to the edge of the platform, and again lines began to crawl down the spire from where the orb sat. Lines radiated outwards from the pillar in curves and swirls extending to a certain point before stopping and drawing inwards, the lines began to move again, boldening and compacting whilst creeping towards the center of the pillar, rotating now they swept around the center of the pedestal wavering and sweeping across it before finally fading.
The mage stood, hand on his chin thinking to himself; before turning to the crowd and raising his hands "Let the celebrations begin!"
*******************
The sky was arrayed in hues of red and pink, all around him the people were dancing, the hired musicians played on their guitars, violas, and violins, the four other celebrants were off drinking and dancing with the rest of the crowd. He''d done his fair share of dancing, although he didn''t drink; preferring to have control over his actions. He talked with others, shared terrible jokes, and told more than his fair share of stories, something which he''d always enjoyed even at the expense of himself.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Now, however, he sat, isolated from the rest but watching the festivities and the sun dip just below the horizons; beneath the distant spires of stone and marble to paint the far off mountains in shades of crimson.
He saw in the crowd a skinnier figure walking over to join him. With little decorum he sat right next to him, he was practically bouncing up and down in his seat.
"Enjoying yourself out here?" He wore a bright smile that practically glowed with happiness.
"Definitely it''s been an eventful day, and things seem to have gone right for you, about time I''d say." Leaning back to rest his hands on the tree behind him he closed his eyes and reveled in the moment.
"And what about you? You''ve also got magic."
"What about me, I''m a blacksmith and a craftsman, I want to make good tools and equipment, this doesn''t really apply to me."
"You know there''s plenty of skills to learn when it comes to making things right? You know, they''ve got enchanting, alchemy and whatever other stuff they have out there."
"Well, yeah but I mean I''d have to learn an entirely new craft, I''m not sure I could do that when I''ve already dedicated my life to smithing." He sat upright. The music was hitting its crescendo.
"Pfffft you''ll be fine, besides you get to combine those skills to together, imagine it dude! All the possibilities how often does someone with your skill learn that they can also do magic, plus I sorta would rather have you there with me you know?" He ran his hands through his hair. "Big city seems kinda scary."
"Dude you''ve got tons of magic the host mage said it himself."
"Look, thats not the point, it''s better to tackle this with a friend, plus imagine how much you could create with those, magicky things." He gestured with his hands as if that might help get the point across.
"Magicky things?" Despite his tone his mind raced with possibilities; armor that moved with the user, shields that could spit fire. The possibilities were endless.
"Come on dude, do it for me?" His tone was pleading now. Namar dragged it out and pretended to consider it, although his decision was already made.
"Yeah alright".
"Hell yeah! Dude I can already see it you and me, mage extraordinnaires."
"Yeah yeah," that man, always so optimistic.
*******************
"So, you''re leaving the craft to become a mage?" Father sounded disheartened, Namar understood why, he''d been willing to give up almost anything to learn blacksmithing; from starving orphan to expert smith, he''d fought every step of the way for a stable life. He admired him, it''s why he followed in his father profession so vigorously.
"No dad I''m improving it, imagine for a second; Brandy''s magical arms and armor, think of all the uses rich folk over in the city have got for magical tools and equipment; we''ll be rich, famous even."
"But-" mom laid a hand on dad''s shoulder
"He needs to take his own path in life honey, just like you did."
"The city; it''s just so far away and-"
"I know honey, I know."
"Well, alright." Dad sighed he pulled us all in for a hug, father was crying now and mom wore a sad smile.
"I''ll write to you every month."
"Sure honey that''s what they all say." She was being smug now, Gods knows why but she was, she clearly knew something he didn''t.
Eh... Whatever
*********************
After both he and Barlor had said their goodbyes, they got in the wagon, and rode off towards the dawn; the sky streaked with rays of gold, the light bathed everyone in warmth as they rode into the sunrise, waving their hands at the gathered townsfolk, he would remember this day in incredible detail, from the dusty oaks that built the houses to the gilded fields of wheat and the lake which mirrored the sky in its image, every bit as beautiful as the heavens themselves.
The mage left them to their farewells for a while, he didn''t really have any attachments to this place although he saw how someone might''ve liked it, in a mundane, sort of way. They were a couple hours into the trip when he decided it was time to discuss how things were going to work.
"Alright you two, listen up and listen well."
This caught both of their attentions, and they visibly perked up to listen to him.
"The Academy of Arcane Core Teachings is one of the smaller schools out there and more obscure than others you''ve likely heard of before." He paused to consider his next words.
"It''s also more selective, focusing on students who meet a certain requirement, you''ll have access to more tools there but you''ll also be under more scrutiny so don''t screw this up you hear?"
They both nodded.
"You''ll be able to learn from your choice branch of magic after you''ve completed basics, and you''ll be able to choose what time to take your classes. Take the morning classes, they have better instructors during that time period. Dorm rooms are limited so chances are you won''t be paired up next to each other, women''s dorms are to the left men''s dorms are to the right. You''ve both got potential and are enrolling at a relatively new school so you''ll have plenty of freedoms; make use of it."
"The more you do well, the more you and I both will profit, make me plenty of money and I''ll be inclined to help you."
The thin one with the large mana reserves spoke up, his brown eyes gave him a questioning look.
"You''re getting paid to do this?"
"Yup, you think I do this for fun?" They were passing a set of lakes now, the waters were clear enough to see all the way to the bottom. They looked backwards, then at each other, and then to him.
These kids had a lot of learning to do. Might as well start now.
"Look, few mages are so generous as to do a task they would consider beneath them, even fewer would do so without pay. Some mages are paid by schools to host the coming of age ceremony, if they find people with mana; if said person chooses to come with, they are brought to that respective school and the mage who hosted the ceremony is paid, the more successful you are in school, the more I get paid every month and the more reason I have to... invest in your success got it?"
They both looked considerably dispirited.
"Look, it''s nothing personal ok? It''s just how things work."
It was then that a titanic, four winged brid swooped in from the skies to attempt to grab the horse. It''s long hooked talons wrapped around to grasp onto one of the horses. The mage leapt to action, a swirling jagged blue vortex burst into life in his hand he swung it at the silvery avian form before them, it was halfway to the lakes when the vortex approached the bird. It dropped the horse and with a flap of all four of its wings took off soaring into the sky like a silver lance.
The unfortunate horse however, was skewered a hundred times over when the vortex unleashing a storm of azure nails on the falling beast. The creature flicked a long fin like appendage on the end of its tail and made a sharp turn barreling directly at them, again he prepared a vortex, a larger one, a more unstable version, the spinning mass of energy appeared to vibrate moving more slowly this time, he released the vortex and it moved a few feet ahead of them when it collapsed and burst in front of them.
It unravelled all four of its silver wings, stopping just short of the blue waves fired outwards in rapid succession; fading before they reached it,and during that split second in which the creature had stopped to avoid the blast, the mage flicked his finger, firing a long blast of thin spiraling energy. The bird was speared through its chest, immediately arresting its movement. The bird fell, a glossy silvery mass that plummeted into the lake, painting it crimson, and leaving a bleeding corpse until it, and the blood too, was devoured. Leaving the lake as clear as ever, as if nothing out of the ordinary had even happened.
"Well shit, it''s gonna take us even longer to get to the capital now." Both the mage and the smith looked at the farmer boy.
"What? They took one of the horses. We''re going to be on the road twice as long now."
The mage looked at the smith, he simply shook his head and shrugged, both completely dumbfounded by the unassuming child''s apparent apathy towards a giant bird attack.
Chapter 2 Academia
Barlor always got up in time with the sun, so he was rather surprised to have not seen any sunlight at all upon his awakening. He took stock of his surroundings and realized they must''ve been in a really deep part of the forest, the dark trees stood tall and blocked out almost all of the sunlight from above and the few rays of light that could be seen caused the shadows to dance and creep along the trees. The path they travelled was long and winding, looking at the others along the cart he''d seen that the mage was still awake, he kept watch, gazing out into the deep forest.
"Where are we?"
"We''ll be there in a couple of minutes, you should wake up your friend over there." He resumed his watch over the dark forests glancing around for signs of movement.
He shook his friend, first gently and then aggressively. His face was as peaceful as ever, Barlor understood what had to be done. He propped him up on the side of the wagon, raised his hand, and with all the fury he could muster, brought it down with crushing force. The resulting sound echoed through the forest and drew the attentions of both their mage and the driver, receiving amused looks from both. Despite this slap Namar was still groggy and tired, the slap seeming to have only barely woken him up.
"Whaaa waaazzzzat?" Namar slurred. The mage gave him a small dark chuckle.
Namar felt his face and was rewarded with a sting from the hand shaped red mark over his left cheek. Somehow not completely awakened by a sudden slap to the face he felt his cheek only to be rewarded with a burning sting. Again and again he rubbed his cheek and the pain slowly began to bring him into awareness.
"You slapped me!" His tone was accusing, and he glared at his friend to no particular effect.
"It was the only way to wake you up." He shrugged and grinned at Namar
"I will get you back for this just you wait, when we learn magic I will kick your ass up and down the streets." He pointed.
"Dream on kid." They both grinned at each other having set an unspoken competition in place; they shook hands, determined to crush the other in the most friendly way possible. They came close to the edge of the forest and upon nearing the edge; were visually assaulted by midday''s sunlight. After both having rubbed their eyes, they saw from a distance, a multitude of long roads all interconnected, like the threads of a spider''s web, they lead to bridges passing over rivers that served as a natural moat, and channels for long stretches of farmland, where a multitude of crops grew. The large stone walls were daunting, they stood at an incredible height, while the main palace was built directly on to a mountain that looked as though it might reach beyond to grasp at the clouds themselves.
They both gawked at seeing such a city from afar, already they saw more people on the roads than they''d ever seen in their lives. They farmed the land and fished among the rivers, a few followed the caravans that lead an army of wagons along the many roads, and he heard, in the distance the children play, and the chorus of an alter''s song.
"Beautiful from a distance, isn''t it?" The mage looked backwards, wearing an amused smile. Both boys- men now, nodded at him. It was incredible.
"We''ll visit it soon but later, the actual academy is a little ways away, perhaps a few hours travel on horse back. So we still have a little ways to go." For the rest of the ride he watched, taking pleasure in the child like awe the two had experienced, strangely, it was somewhat satisfying to watch. Perhaps he did want kids after all. Something to bring up with the wife when he got home.
******
The Academy had pulled into the distance about an hour ago but it was now that they were able to see it in detail. There were six large marble buildings and a large portion of those buildings were made of a thick clear glass, there were pathways and benches around the buildings leading from one building to another. The three central buildings were arranged in a semi-circle surrounding a near perfect hole in the ground with concentric platforms leading downwards and inwards to a large stadium, a large number of doors and stairs lead in and around the stadium and there were seats positioned closer to the bottom platform, while the three other buildings flanked the central three, placed behind and in between the those at the core.
They were dropped off some distance from one of the central buildings to the right. Walking in through the double doors Namar had noticed the Arcane carvings at the edges and hinges of the the door itself, stopping briefly to examine them before being pulled away towards the counter.
"Hey, I''m here to register two new mages." He handed them the papers, the clerk looked over one and nodded; signing a smaller paper to the side. She looked over to the next paper laid out for her, this time she raised an eyebrow.
"You''re sure?"
The mage nodded. She picked up another slip writing a little longer this time, she handed it to the mage, who pocketed the letter.
He turned to them "I''m going to take this to the Archivist, this gentleman will be your new guide." He gestured to a taller man with blonde hair, he was reserved and difficult to notice, but hard to miss once seen. Masked, cloaked in white robes that thinly concealed armor and armed with a glaive. He spoke clearly and with confidence, while you could tell it was almost routine at this point, he didn''t seem outwardly bored at all.
"Greetings, I''ll be your guide for today, if you''ll accompany me I''ll show you know everything you need to know, and want to know by the end of this tour."
Now that they thought about it, they weren''t sure how they''d missed him at all, armed to the teeth, masked, and easily head and shoulders taller than they were, he was tall, threatening, and obvious, once pointed out to them. This small detail was quickly overlooked after the tour began; as they finally had a closer look at the gleaming marbled structures.
******
Namar was tired from walking for what felt like an eternity, he dragged his feet to the door and opened it using the mana signature engraved on a small card made from smooth polished stone. The signature was the same as the imprint at its peak shortly after he placed his hand on the stone. Opening the door he saw a couple beds with a drawer in between with one student already splayed out over the bed on his left. Looking around he saw a door that lead to the chamber pots and a couple tables out front for reading, and upon closer inspection the candle appeared to be a small potted plant that was on fire. Namar knew that if he wanted to be fully awake during his morning classes he was going to have to go to bed pretty early.
He extinguished the candle flame and watched for a few seconds as the plant appeared to regrow itself in a matter of seconds. A strange curiosity to be certain, Namar was sure to ask about it later on; after, he''d gotten some sleep.
******
Namar woke up groggily as always and headed to the washroom located across from his room, after being throughly cleaned, he headed to the cafeteria and noted that the student that lay over the other bed yesterday was already gone. He pulled the strings on his robes so that they would fit more tightly over him; preferring that the robes not flap about as he walked. The robes were plain with white outlines, revealing to other mages that he was a novice and just barely starting out. The cafeteria food was nice, despite the nation as whole living in a time of prosperity he''d never actually had any meat, the food served to him was decent enough to start the day with a full stomach, some vegetables, a warm piece of bread and a couple pieces of jerky were placed on a tray and water was poured into his flask. He finished quickly, placing the tray on a neat stack and putting the flask away on his belt. He headed to room 120 located in one of the central three buildings on the right. From what he remembered the 100s, 200s, and 300s rooms were in the central three buildings on the right, left and center respectively.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
He was still a somewhat early so he took his time to bask in the cool spring breeze, watching the people as the went by. He noticed a girl walk towards a guy in the distance while her friend cheered her on, he saw some who stuck to the shade, their noses buried in books, while a crowd in the distance broke into fits of laughter; a few walked with purpose, focused on the task ahead while others meandered, wandering the campus aimlessly. He thought to himself, that if given the chance, he would know their story, from every great event to the most minute details. He approached the entrance, unfortunately the time for wondering was over now, there was a task ahead and he would see it through. It was his aim to learn as much as possible, and he would devour any and every scrap of knowledge sent his way, of that he had no doubt.
Finding room 120 just in time for class to start he joined the other students, taking a seat at the front of the class so could hear better and see demonstrations up close. A younger more handsome man sat on a table infront of the rest of the class. His robes were tightened so that few loose ends hung out, they were outlined in red and bore the insignia of the AACT over his heart; a stylistically designed pheonix who''s wings stretched out into a fiery circle surrounding it. He heared murmuring from the students and a few giggles from some of the girls in the back corner.
"Hey, I''m Mr. Allenbury" he waved at them.
"Now, I''m sure you''re all ready to get started learning how to throw fireballs and whatnot so let''s take attendance and jump right into it."
He took out a paper and called out some names; occasionally being corrected. Some "here''s" and a few "present!"s later and Mr Allenbury was ready to speak again, this time standing at the forefront of the class room.
"Alright let''s get into it! Now I''m sure everyone wants to get to the part where we start launching ice or throwing fire, but that comes much later. In order to manipulate or even create something, one must understand the magical essence of it, and that takes time and practice." He was pacing back and forth now.
"What you do have is a partial understanding of the essence of your own mana. You''ll be able to take and manipulate your own mana using some basic shaping skills, and no, you can''t use someone else''s. Every living being that doesn''t reproduce asexually has a unique essence that would require long hours of study to manipulate. The more you understand about an essence the better you can use it." He wrote on the black board behind them.
" So let''s start with basics then, you can manipulate mana in different ways by shaping it; other continents do it differently but this is how we do things." He drew a list with the words focus, burst, surge, waver, sever, anchor, and rotate
"Let''s go over what these do." He held his hand out.
"Focus brings mana into a single point." A small glowing dot manifested on his fingertip.
"Burst let''s you force mana outwards in a specific direction or just let mana expand outwards. You can do it at various strengths, sizes, etcetera." He shot off a small amount of mana from his hand in a short beam, making a thud as it made contact with the wall.
"You can combine these things too." The dot rapidly expanded into a ball.
"I just used burst to expand mana outwards and I kept it focused around the center so the mana wouldn''t fly off.
"Surge makes things more unstable and reactive." The ball lost its smoothness and began to grow rough, as he strengthened the surge it began to grow jagged and spikes began to grow outwards at irregular intervals rising and falling across the surface of the orb.
"Waver does pretty much the opposite." The random mana spikes began to dull down as the mana began to waver, once the surface was calm again; it began to ripple, as though someone had dropped a stone into a calm lake, even further and the orb itself vibrated and hummed.
"Sever allows you to cut your connection with mana. People can only effectively control and shape mana a certain distance away from themselves. Once severed, the spell will continue to do what it did before, except you can''t directly control it. If it was in the shape of a ball it''ll stay that way, if it was going in a certain direction it''ll follow the same path at the same speed unless it''s interrupted." He threw the wavering, vibrating sphere at the far wall, presumably severing his connection to it, the ball flew into the corner and lasted significantly longer than the burst did before fading.
"Sever is better for far away opponents. Within your effective range you can essentialy shape and control your mana with ease." Three spheres appeared around him and circled him, they went in loops, changed shape and hovered directly in front of students before fading. "My effective range is about half this classroom, for beginners your range is about a foot off of your skin, it''ll increase with practice."
"Anchor leaves a spell in place but maintains your connection to it. That spell will do its best to stay in the position you anchored it in and you''ll be able to shape it even if you''re out of range." Placing a sphere where he stood, he walked across to the other end of the room, well out of his range. The sphere began to surge with mana, spikes rose and fell across its surface.
"Finally, rotate, its self explanatory really." The spike ball began to spin first clockwise, then counter clock wise, and finally in every direction before fading.
"There''s more advanced techniques but these are the basics. Now I believe in a hands on learning, so go experiment on some dummies, then we''ll do some tournament style combat and we''ll call it a day."
There were murmurs of excitement, across the room people whispered in hushed tones while others spoke out ready to challenge any who might dare challenge them. Namar was lost in thought, pondering the various applications of technique, and what he could do to beat Barlor
********
Around Barlor people were throwing dense spheres at dummies, they fired lances and jagged rays- one kid even created a similar vortex to the one his host used, except the student''s vortex didn''t fire nails. Nearby someone fired a beam similar to a drill. He''d had some similar tricks up his sleeve but nothing he could really count on to win. He was lost in thought when he was struck by an epiphany, why not manipulate his mana while it was still inside his body? Closing his eyes he reached inwards and attempted to apply surge to his natural mana flow.
He opened his eyes and the world suddenly became more vibrant, his vision shook as he eyes flicked quickly from place to place, his mind sped up, and barraged him with an overload of information. He could feel himself moving faster, every movement felt sudden and abrupt and he could hardly focus. He attempted to shape a spell before him but it was too difficult to focus, it changed, shifted and distorted, before he could properly form the spell, continuing the mana surge was difficult enough on its own let alone forming another spell. He ceased the surge of power and fell to the floor exhausted. It was at least, interesting to find out the effects of whatever it was he tried to do to himself.
**************
"Alright keep it clean, I don''t feel like dealing with too much blood today, the first one to run out of mana and not have a spell on hand, surrender, or be rendered unable to move, loses. We''ll do this tournament style one moves on to fight the next."
He reached inside a box and shuffled some parchment around. He drew one number
"Alright fours, you two are up."
****************
Barlor walked up to the center of the stadium to greet his opponent. He was tall slender and sleek his blonde hair was long and combed.
"I''m Vaeris Woodbrim."
"Barlor Brown."they shook hands and moved to opposite ends of the arena.
"May the best man win" Barlor grinned.
Vaeris smiled "Indeed."
Mr. Allenbury stood nearby another mage standing at the ready. "Fight!"
Vaeris immediately responded by raising his hand. A focus point rose on the air before expanding to an enormous size, appearing as though a boulder was simply hanging in the sky. Hopefully that was all of his mana otherwise he was completely outmatched. Barlor wasn''t the type to hesitate, but what looked like a second blue sun hanging in the sky was definitely reason for pause. During his brief pause a blast fired out from the blue sun. The beam moved at a breakneck pace and closed the distance between them within a second.
Barlor had only the slightest of moments to activate and feel the surge course throughout his body, and suddenly the world felt like it slowed; as though he were moving through clear water, and his mind raced with the possibilities, and yet for every immeasurably small length of time spent on the beam, he focused three of them on the world that surrounded him. His focus split and fractured a thousand times over but rallying his will and internally screaming at himself to move, he managed to step within a hair''s breadth of the beam just in time to see it pass and leave a dent in the sand behind him.
*************
Vaeris watched as the more muscular farm boy demonstrated an unusually high level of reflexes. Sidestepping and ducking just in time to avoid the high powered bursts made possible by having the entirety of his mana located elsewhere. This one clearly knew how to conserve energy in combat, using only the minimum amount of energy to escape being pummeled instantly. A lesson he could stand to learn from, he stopped firing as he had wasted half his mana already, something that would be undoubtedly obvious to even the most hopeless of peaseants.
Never again would he underestimate his opponents, he learned this lesson once already, he deigned not to learn it again. He watched his enemy closely and saw how his eyes moved, they appeared to jump from place to place, watching, analyzing, and now, they focused solely on him.
Chapter 3 Aspiration
The incoming lances that had previously streaked the battlefield stopped. He immediately stopped the surge of mana throughout his body, and he felt his mind falter and stumble when trying to remember the events that took place seconds ago. Remembering what exactly happened caused more pain on top of the headaches slowly growing throughout his head. Still, powered by adrenaline he could ignore the pain, if only for now, and focus on the combatant before him. He stood in a basic fighting stance, arms raised and body facing to the side; the sphere above him had shrunk to be about half of its previous size.
He was ready, and waiting. Barlor circled him for a bit, ready to start dodging at any time. Rather than firing another attack however, it was Vaeris that rushed forward to attack him, leaving the sphere behind, he charged circling around him and running quickly to flank him. His steps were quick and he closed the distance quickly. Turning to face Vaeris he readied his hands to do close combat. Turning his head, he was instantly struck by one of the beams from the orb, the world spun and the colors blended together before ending abruptly with a shock and a view of the stone ceiling and a knee on his chest.
If he didn''t act immediately he would lose here and now, he focused a ball of mana at the center of his mouth, he attempted to have it burst outwards only to be interrupted by searing pain and immense pain in his jaw. He got up immediately trying to end the fight before the pain really got to him. He charged at Vaeris who was staggering to get up, only to notice far too late the smile on his face and the lack of a glowing blue sun in the sky. A number of of orbs hiding behind his back revealed themselves before striking him multiple times in the knees, body, and elbows, before finally striking him in the head. The world began to grow dark as the ground rushed upwards to meet him before finally smothering him blissful silence.
*******
Barlor woke slowly, his head was still spinning. He got up slowly and massaged his temples.
"Hey, your head feeling good, I probably went a little overboard with the whole knocking you out thing, you know, better safe than sorry, probably,"
"Yeah I''m fine." He really wasn''t; his head felt like it was being struck with a hammer. "Was I out long?"
"Not really, I don''t think, it''s only been a couple minutes, just making sure you''re all good."
"Yeah I''m good." They both fell into something of an awkward silence.
"Well, I should get going."
"Hey wait actually how''d you do the thing with the orb."
"I''m most likely not going to tell you that." He gave him a blank expression.
"No I mean how''d you do all that stuff so confidently, you seemed to have your shit down when you showed up. Those bursts were definitely faster than anyone else''s I''d seen and controlling multiple orbs fluidly like that looked like it would have taken a lot of focus especially after being thrown off like that."
"Oh, that; I''ve been learning for a little while, I didn''t really practice with it much, I spent my time learning theory and technique."
"Well that explains a lot."
"Hey, you almost had me on the ropes there, you did pretty good for your first time using magic."
"I almost came close to almost beating you?" He raised an eyebrow.
He shrugged "To be fair I have a pretty good head start on you; established noble families tend to pass magic and knowledge of it downwards, I may be part of a side branch but I''m still a noble nonetheless, you actually did really well, I was kinda relying on using a larger portion of magic to take you out more quickly and spend less overall; guess that didn''t work. Anyways my round is probably coming up soon so... see you later I guess."The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"See ya." He watched the noble walk out of the room. He knew Vaeris was being really generous, he got absolutely trounced. But for some reason he didn''t mind, in fact he smiled, in truth he only really became a mage to escape the farm. After today though, he felt a spark, the smallest inkling of ambition, it took hold and it coursed through him. He dreamt of one day catching up to the noble, to surpass him, but beyond that, he thought to leave a legacy to rival even the oldest of noble families, he thought to leave a mark, no an engraving, on history itself. Barlor wasn''t delusional; he knew that if there were even a chance to follow along that road it would mean suffering, pain and intense challenges, though none of this fazed him. In fact his smile grew even wider, it didn''t matter how many times he would fail or the hardships he might face, he had chosen his path, no matter how vague or undefined it might be.
Stepping out of bed and ignoring the pain he walked back out to the stadium, if he saw a few more fights maybe, just maybe, he''d be a few steps closer to closing the distance.
********
It was as though he was caught in a spider¡¯s web. Jagged flashes of light struck from every angle and left gouges in the shimmering blue aura of the figure caught in it. For Namar that meant doing his damnedest to maintain a mana field and avoid as many jagged strikes as physically possible. Escape was almost impossible, every time he approached the edge of his circle the nearby anchor points would explode. He was covered in cuts from the few moments where his field might''ve dropped. He was running out of mana fast and if he didn''t act now he would be drained of what little he had left, and while he wasn''t entirely sure how his opponent was doing; the fact that she was standing calmly with her arms crossed meant that she was probably just fine. It was then that an idea struck, he wasn''t sure if it would work, but it was worth a shot.
An azure wave rushed outwards and filled the arena where he was standing. Across from him his opponent lay, she was unfocused and dazed but quickly getting up. Some of the anchor points had destabilized but the few remaining had ceased firing. He made his way quickly to stand over her and pointed his hand downwards.
"Surrender you''ve lost." He attempted to summon some mana from his hand but the resulting sphere was gaseous and quickly faded. Namar pursed his lips and let his hand fall to his waist.
At first she looked confused, then she grinned in realization. She burst into laughter and between fits of laughter she managed to eek out a few words. "Ahahaha...you...totally ran out didn''t you?..." She continued laughing.
"It wasn''t that funny..." He grumbled. She only started laughing harder.
Allenbury called out "Amyra wins! Alright you two, get off the stadium."
"You gonna be a gentleman and help me up or what?"
Reluctantly deciding not to be spiteful he extended a hand. He tugged slightly and helped her up.
"Thanks." She dusted herself off. Placing a hand through her blonde hair she sighed. "This''ll be a pain to get out of my hair, eh, whatever." She walked off. Namar walked through to the only door in the combat stadium. She was giggling on the way up.
Namar was somewhat curious, and a little bitter about the situation. Only a little bit.
"I still don''t get what''s so funny."
"It''s just walking in you looked, aloof, you gave off this sort of cool guy vibe, you know?"
"No. Do I really give off that sort of vibe?"
"Absolutely, especially when you ignored any attempt at conversation. We just assumed you were the dark brooding kind of guy, or the silent but strong type."
"Yeah, no. In truth, I really didn''t even notice sorry."
"Seriously? Amanda was trying pretty hard to start a conversation with you and I think you even grunted a couple times."
"I tend to get lost in thought." He said rather sheepishly.
"Obviously."
They were at the railings now, atop the stone walls. Watching as both Vaeris and a challenger who won his earlier fight by indiscriminantly out shooting his opponent; exited the entrance and took their positions across from each other.
"So who''re you betting on? Five silvers on the skinny guy with a V name."
"Why would I bet against the guy who''s obviously going to win?"
"Fine I''ll bet on the other guy."
He hesitated, shifting from side to side. "Well... I''m not a big fan of betting anyways."
She stuck out her tongue "You''re no fun."
"Fine." He reluctantly pulled out five silvers from his pouch.
"Alright! Game on!" She called over a few of her friends and the betting began in earnest with most betting on the "underdog" as they called it. He wasn''t sure why they would bet on such an obviously poor choice, but it was their loss.
They exchanged greetings and a few laughs. He felt that he''d get along just fine with these people, to be honest though he had a hard time disliking anyone, he was simply too understanding to hold anything against them. Some would''ve called it admirable, some would call it naive, regardless of what other people thought, that was the way he was.
Chapter 4 Amongst Lords & Nobles
The previous fights had all been something of a challenge for Vaeris, but for now they''d rest. For the first month or so magical basics would be the only class they''d be taking, and Mr. Allenbury had plenty of time to spare, so he had allowed them a half hour break to recover their mana. It seemed Mr. Allenbury was definitely enjoying watching the students beat each other senseless; as he was grinning, clapping and cheering with the rest of them during matches. At least it looked like he took his job seriously, there were already several sheets of paper written down in a stack next to where he was sitting.
They all sat in and around the arena, which had actually subverted his expectations in that it was well lit. Various engraved plates lay on the ceiling and glowed enough to light the combat cell. From what little he knew of enchanting, he knew there had to be a power source somewhere, and it looked as though it came directly from the instructor. His mind was wandering again, father would''ve criticized him for it, but how could he not? The people standing before him were so dull, yadda yadda attempted political manipulation blah blah blah. Honestly one grew rather bored of it over time, especially when surrounded by such amateurs, it wasn''t as though they posed much threat.
There he went again, his unfortunate tendency, and from what he''d heard, the tendency of all the nobility to underestimate their opponents. It almost caused him the first match and it could be the end of him on the field or in the courts. He drew his attentions back to the brown-nosers and would-be deceivers, paying close attention to their every word. He was better than the rest of the arrogant nobles, he unlike many others knew not to underestimate anyone.
*******
The students were all gathered together in their own friend groups most were discussing their previous matches or showing off their magical abilities. He payed special attention to those that demonstrated the latter, if he couldn''t figure it out he''d get at least an idea of what they could do. A familiar voice in the distance called his name. Looking around he spotted Namar gesturing and waving for him to come over. He approached Namar and the group he stood by. It was Namar''s opponent, who spoke first.
"Hey, you''re the guy with those crazy reflexes right? That all you or was that magic? Oh, where are my manners, I''m Amyra." She held out her hand.
"Magic, and I definitely wouldn''t recommend it. The whole things a giant headache. I''m Barlor." He shook Amyra''s hand and noticed her grip was firm but not crushing.
"Huh, well these are my friends..." She introduced the others standing nearby, he did his best to commit their names and faces to memory but it was likely that he wouldn''t remember most of them.
"So where do you two come from?" Someone else spoke up, a taller man with chiseled features and a large grin plastered across his face.
Barlor saw Namar open his mouth, but he spoke up before he could stop himself.
"Oakswear, a village around about, three maybe four days from here by carriage."
The man''s lips pressed into a thin line.
Amyra shot him a glance before speaking. "Oof, sucks to be you guys."
Namar spoke up "Is the difference really that big?"
"Not that much, not right now. Most of us didn''t even get to really practice basic magic beforehand but..." She paused for effect. "We all have access to way more resources than you do, and in the future, well..."
"Wow, that... sucks."
"Yup." Amyra agreed.
Barlor shrugged. He didn''t mind really, in fact, the prospect of success in spite of that made it all made it feel that much better.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
The man looked smug now "Yeah, good luck."
"Thank you." In hindsight he really should''ve thought that through. He looked over and saw that the man was practically seething. He face palmed. Mentally of course, very deliberately done in his head, and only in his head.
******
Her every step was steady and measured, each breath was natural and calm, and her steely gaze radiated intensity. Yet her training belied the emotions that lay beneath. Her heart roared, her muscles screamed, and her nerves were lightning. She looked across the stadium where a man stood, he was wary, but entirely focused on the match in front of him. There were no stakes, no bets on the table, but it was all the same, it was that constant, ever present rush of excitement, no different than a gamble, or a risky venture in her childhood. She stood with bated breath, and she heard him yell.
"Go"
She took off in a dead sprint, mana trailed her form and hung like a loose cloak leaving motes of light that fell in place behind her. Each of her lights intensified as a distant, rising star reached its zenith. She fired, each note of light shined more intensely before loosing a radiant beam; she was mere seconds late. The distant star expanded and a great azure sun hung before her, it''s wielder stepped back and lowered his hand; as if to crush an insect before it. The star arced downwards and fell between them, each of her racing lights collapsed ineffectually, glancing off it''s surface. A gust of mana rushed outwards from the sphere, one just like the explosion that nearly resulted in her defeat. She stopped, and braced herself for impact.
*****
It was far too close for Vaeris'' tastes, it could''ve ended very poorly if he wasn''t quick enough. Still, Amyra wasn''t one to be trifled with and neither was he. He stepped forward and halting the continuous gust of mana, lifted the orb in an arc back over his head, preparing to trap her beneath it and found to his surprise that Amyra hadn''t been knocked down, nor were her anchor points destabilized. Instead, they were all shrouded in a loose cloak of mana and each of her anchor points took on an almost ghostly, ethereal presence; the wisps behind her growing in intensity before launching a dozen jagged spears.
He leapt to the side, and rolled as he hit the ground, avoiding any potential injuries and placing himself in a position to distract her from the real threat. He pulled some mana from his orb, and fired two weak lances in her direction. She pivoted, repositioning her wisps in front of her and forming a large shield from the cloaks of all twelve, easily shrugged off both lances.
His orb was churning now, and it launched three spiraling pillars, two aimed at her wisps and one aimed at her. Yet she ignored them, and instead responded by firing twelve more jagged spears; these caught him by surprise and rendered him unable to dodge. Each struck, none were lethal, and the injuries imparted weren''t anything too serious but they were all agonizingly painful, he grit his teeth and did all he could to keep his sphere together.
While he focused on trying to stifle the pain and keeping his orb together he noticed that while her wisps were all destroyed Amyra had her hand raised; he tried to preempt her with a barrage of weaker blasts and while a few managed to hit, she still kept her arm raised. He tried to move out of the way, stepping to his left in attempt to mitigate any damage done. He was instead rewarded with a beam straight to his liver. He body instinctively crumpled in on itself, his breath left his body and the world went dark.
******
Amyra was barely standing, she felt battered and beaten, and she felt like her arm was dislocated, but above all she felt triumphant. She made a gamble and it payed off. She felt a little guilty though, wherever she hit him it looked really painful, and she observed as an assistant got him onto a gurney and carried him out.
Allenbury called out from the balcony "And it looks like we have our winner! You''re the one to beat now Amyra, good luck with that."
Allenbury then addressed the rest of the class "Now, You''re all going to have to strive very hard if you want that top spot, especially if you want the chance to go on a trip with one of the Grand Mage Guilds at the end of the month. You see, at the end of basics each of the four Grand Mage Guilds scouts out four of the best students in each class, and if you want that oppurtunity your going to have to work your little asses off to get it."
The class murmured and whispered amongst themselves, while a few particularly outspoken individuals declared that they would, of course win that position.
"Now, now, settle down students, I''m sure you''re all eager to practice what you''ve learned from our little games, but sadly class is over in about five minutes and the next class will be on glyphs and enchanting, if you are so inclined, come talk to me during lunch, I''m certain we can set a time for you in one of the practice rooms. Oh, also don''t worry too much about not getting a spot with one of the Grand Guilds, you can apply for a trip with a normal one at the end of each quarter and those are all perfectly adequate. Until then, class dismissed."
Chapter 5 Time Spent In Practice
The printing press was such a wonderful invention. It made the once illustrious libraries from something that only the wealthy could ever have access to, into a place easily accessible for any commoner in a large enough town. While he was from a small village, even he had access to a few books of his own. The once precious commodity was now something even he could get access to.
So he found every book in the library even vaguely related to runes and enchanting, and he tried to read them all, cover to cover.
MagicalProperties of the Mundane by: Kneel Strongarm
"Amongst the core principals of magic itself, is that all things be they living or dead. Animate or inanimate. Have a rate at which magic gathers and decays. A strange property of such is known as the threshold. As the mana gathers inside an object so too does the rate at which it gathers. Upon crossing the threshold; where the rate of gathering surpasses the rate of decay, said entity acquires new, magical properties. Depending on the essences gathered into the material, the properties for the same material can vary wildly. It is theorized, that such a method is how the republic of Lotharn produces massive battleships from steel and iron.
Beyond this, is a promising idea. The second stage..."
Glyphs and Enchanting; From a Foreign Place and A Foreign Ageby: LeBrawn of James
"It is well known that glyphs merely describe the patterns that magic should take, and that enchanted items are truly just trinkets with a core capable of holding such concentrations of one''s mana that even the Commonfolk could use it; should they spend enough time siphoning what little they have into it''s core. Yet other continents, places well traveled or hardly trodden have a different method, and it''s these methods that fellow "Intellectuals" ignore. Foolish I say! Have you not seen nor heard of the bone cast of the Qian Xi or witnessed the Prime Orchestra''s of the Zala, if you might consider yourself an intellectual like myself, and ignore such splendid methods, then I say ''Cast off his eyes, his hands, his ears! For they are better used elsewhere.'' To ignore such wonders, would be the pinnacle of hubris, and the inevitable downfall of our country."
Namar read, he found himself in a world of wonder. His questions grew and grew with each and every book read. Only when the light grew dim, did he look up to see the setting sun. Were he to stay any longer he would surely get no sleep. He checked out the most important books he had left, and took his leave for the night.
*****
Getting her shoulder relocated was a fairly quick affair. A drop of some alchemical mix beforehand and then another afterwards and her arm was completely fine. Vaeris however looked to be in a lot more trouble than she was, his skin bled and fractured where the spears made contact but it seemed the aide had him well in hand. She walked past, careful not to acknowledge his current state, stepped outside, found her friends and walked with them. She noticed the others were missing though.
"Hey, where''d the other two go?"
Amanda replied maybe a little too quickly. "Namar''s over at the library, said he wanted to study before the next class. Don''t know where the other one went though."
"The other one got a practice room arranged. You know, personally I think those two are little disrespectful and a a bit too over eager.
"Are you still upset about that? He said two words and those words were ''thank you''.
"I can tell when someone''s being snide Amanda. Look all I''m saying is that those two should learn their place and that we aren''t helping by hanging out with them."
"Really, that''s what this about?"
"Yes absolutely. Could you imagine what''d happen if I spoke to grandfather that way? Imagine what''d happen if they spoke like that with some of the nobles out there? They''d probably get hung! "Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Amanda rolled her eyes and did a poor imitation of his voice. "Look at me I''m Gamris and I don''t think we should spent time with filthy, disgusting, commoners. Nowe''re much too important to be doing that. Hurr Hurr Hurr."
"Oh come on it''s not like that."
"But it totally is!
"No, no you''re not listening-"
"Yes, yes that''s exactly what it''s like.
They argued during the entire walk. Most of it was just the two failing to listen to each other, and they kinda ruined the scenic route they were taking on the way to the lunch room. At this point it was pretty obvious that Gamris most likely wouldn''t get along with the other two and spending time with them frequently would probably ruin the group dynamic. It wasn''t much of a loss but still,everyone who showed up here was; in some way, naturally above average and she would have preferred to make as many allies here as possible. For that reason she was far more interested in lunch than practice. Also, admittedly she was a little excited to make a few more genuine friends and besides, practice and study was just soboring.
******
The practice room was fairly small, rectangular room, lit by an engraved disc on the ceiling; with a statue at the far end of the room carved in the likeness of a knight in full plate armor. He threw wave after wave of beams at the knight, trying to figure out how properly use his shaping skills. The way some of the high born manipulated their spells was beyond him, and by the looks of things probably the rest of the class. The most he could manage was a sphere and a beam, and even that was slightly less than what the others could manage. It was deeply unsatisfying.
He tried again and again to better use the basic techniques taught to him but it just wasn''t working. He couldn''t help but be a little jealous of his friends, Namar had an education that went a lot further than basic reading writing and math, the most he could do was tend to the crops and milk the cows. Amyra had a real formal education whatever that might involve and some form of backing. It was a little disappointing to find his little spark of ambition already wavering but he was committed to it. Whatever it takes, he''ll be more than a glorified farmer.
Wavering. That technique. He did the opposite inside his own body instead of trying to apply it outwards. What if he did the same just with that technique? He tried it. The difference wasn''t really obvious, if it was there at all but it was something. He wondered about the purpose of technique, over pure raw manipulation. He tried to grasp the concept in all of its little subtleties.
He thought about the little ways he felt the mana move when he didn''t even push it and how much it changed when he did. All the little changes when he even thought about moving or applying it somehow. He looked inwards and found that the waver felt lower somehow, slower. Almost like a ripple in a clear lake. Clear lakes, that brought up disturbing images. He thought back to how the wizard''s spell changed during the fight with that bird.
His thoughts followed in the same vein for a few more minutes until he felt a tapping on his shoulder. It was Allenbury.
"Alright it''s about time to go. Come on." He gestured towards the door.
"What? Why? It''s only been a few minutes."
"Let me guess you were doing inner manipulation?"
Is that what they call it? It probably is. "Yeah why?"
"That stuff can mess with your sense of time a little, since you passed so much time in what feels like five minutes I''m going to guess you did the opposite of what you did during class."
"How''d you figure that out?"
"I put two and two together, be careful with that stuff it gets easy to lose yourself completely if you aren''t aware at all times."
Wait. What? Allenbury must''ve seen the look of concern on his face.
"Now now its nothing that serious, at most you''ll get lost in your thoughts or distracted until someone snaps you out of it. Worst case scenario you''ll come to with a splitting headache and a need to readjust to regular time. It can be useful in some cases but usually it''s hard to control and while you might be able to think more clearly and more thoroughly you also think slower, and the rest of the world speeds up because of it. You can usually make more progress with regular practice, in your case I suppose it was helpful. In most cases though it isn''t really the most practical."
Well great, the two things he could do weren''t at all practical. Allenbury spoke again.
"Now now cheer up, tell you what, if you master both skills and achieve them both at once you can get the best of both worlds. Your mind thinks more quickly and more clearly. Top that off with a world that goes slower and a body that moves faster and more naturally and you get, at the very least a neat intermediate trick that if mastered becomes an insanely formidable skill."
His eyes lit up at the prospect.
"Will you teach me?"
"Nope."
"Why not?"
"Technically it''s an intermediate to advanced skill, so I can''t teach it yet, but there''s nothing wrong with me telling you it exists and then you somehow figuring it out on your own."
"Alright fine, thanks for watching over me while I sat down for about an hour."
"You''re welcome kid, besides it was a good chance for me to get some work done before I started procrastinating. I''d recommend you get some lunch and think about what you''ve learned so far, I think you''ll find it enlightening."
"Right, bye then Mr. Allenbury."
"See you tomorrow kid."
He left feeling a little more uplifted and optimistic about his situation, if he could get a least partial control over a skill like that he''d be at a major advantage. Not only that but he felt like he had a little more control now too, he made a sphere in his hand. It''s ripples were more like waves crashing against each other as though a boulder were dropped into a lake. So it probably needed a little more fine tuning but it was a start, not only was he finally able to get started but he had a few goals in mind too; achieve a greater control over magic, and acquire greater inner manipulation.
He couldn''t be any more excited to start his day tomorrow, so he grabbed some food and when he got to his room, practiced every basic technique he was taught and when the sun set, he went straight to sleep.