by Tao Wong
“A new wizard,” Shane said guardedly before he shut the door in our faces.
The pair of us traded looks while, within, we could hear loud movement. Just as I was about to knock again, the door flew open and Shane held his hand out. The hairball he dropped into my hand made me wrinkle my nose in disgust.
“This work?”
“Should…” I called upon the knowledge of the Link spell. A few hand gestures later, the hairball glowed, a line of red appearing before my eyes.
Link Cast
Synchronicity 63%
“Well?” Shane said, and I blinked.
“This way.” I turned to take the staircase down. The line led diagonally downward, showing the shortest route from me to the cat, I presumed. Which of course didn’t take into account minor things like floors, walls, and gravity. As I walked, tendrils of red would flash for a second from the hairball before dying. Each new tendril, each second that I held the original connection, drained my mana as I focused on keeping the spell tuned to Charlie.
We walked down the stairs and around the corner, though an alleyway, and out a side street to another alleyway. I barely paid attention to my surroundings other than ensuring there were no metallic death machines barreling down the road when I crossed. By the time we made it across the street, a slow-growing headache had begun to form as my mana depleted at an astonishing rate. Just as I was about to release the spell, I heard a cry of happiness behind me.
“Charlie! There you are, you horrid beast!” Shane shoved me aside as he ran forward. Charlie, rather than a feisty tomcat with a patch for an eye, was instead an elegant Persian who proceeded to snuggle into Shane’s beard, almost disappearing in the dwarf’s arms. “Thank you. Charlie always does this, but ever since those damn weres moved in down the street, I don’t dare let him run around outside. Never know when they’d get hungry!”
“Do werewolves eat cats?” I asked, and Shane looked me straight in the eye and nodded.
“Aye. And don’t let them tell you otherwise! Why, Mrs. Brindle down my hall lost her Angie just a week after those weres moved in.”
El made a face as Shane continued to speak, one that was lost to him as he snuggled his cat. “Well, we should get a move on. I need to show Henry around a bit more.”
“Of course, of course. I should get Charlie back in.” As Shane neared me, he looked up and said, “There a way to contact you, Wizard? If I need Charlie found again, I mean.”
“You can call me for now,” El interjected before I could say anything. Shane just nodded, accepting this piece of knowledge with equanimity. Only when he was gone did I turn to El and raise an eyebrow. “You’re not ready to let them know where you live,” she explained. “For one thing, you need some wards on your home.”
“Haven’t learned that yet,” I said, and El snorted.
“I would hope not. It takes years for an enchanter to gain sufficient knowledge to ward a building properly. Now, come on. Let’s get this over with.”
I followed along after the diminutive pixie, a half smile on my face as I contemplated the dwarf and his cat. It might not have been much, but using my magic for something other than killing rats or practice had actually made me feel good. Useful.
***
“El, why are we doing this?” I asked the pixie hours later. We were splitting a bowl of nachos for supper.
“Because I’m hungry,” said El as she waved a nacho laden with jalapenos and cheese.
“No, not supper. The meet and greet.” I nodded my head toward where our server, a long, thin praying mantis-like humanoid, took orders from a pair of frat boys. I had to smile internally as they goaded one another to hit on their server when she left. Unfocusing my eyes a little, I could understand why—the tall, leggy blonde glamour was quite the looker.
“Safety,” El said and waved her hand around. “We need to get you introduced and your story straight. Until you learn to control your aura, you’re glowing like a Christmas tree with all the arcane energy you’re giving off. Anyone with the sight—or who has an enchantment to let them see, which is most everyone—can tell you’re a new… wizard.”
“Oh.” I sat back and thought about it. If she was right and I did look like a floodlight, then there wasn’t a way for me to hide my magic. Since I wasn’t apprenticed, I couldn’t be introduced as a mage, so I had to be a wizard, a new one at that—which set up my story and let others dismiss me. “Thanks.”
“De nada.” El waved my thanks away.
“Why are you helping me, El?” I asked. “After the first time—”
“Oh, Henry,” El said quietly. “I didn’t want you to be part of this world. But since you seem bent on joining us, I might as well make sure you survive it. At least for a little while.”
The last few words were said softly, so softly I didn’t think El meant for me to hear them. I still didn’t understand her wariness, and Lily’s. So far, everyone we’d met had been nice and civil. Well, other than the orcs, but muggers were muggers. You didn’t expect them to be nice. Still… “Thank you.”
El flashed me a smile before she turned back to her beer and nachos.
Chapter 8
The next couple of weeks were filled with small, minor quests that were generated by the supernatural denizens of my neighborhood. Once El had finished introducing me around that evening, I’d become just another fixture, their very own wizard. What no one had told me was that wizards were relatively rare and occasionally useful to know. However, few magic users were approachable, often being the supernatural equivalent of shut-ins. After all, unlike me, most magic users had to spend hours memorizing and then practicing spells over and over again. Spending time running minor errands was the last thing on their minds.
The quests offered to me never ranged into “Fetch ten silver-capped mushrooms from the Forest of Never-Ending Anguish,” but were more along the lines of “My walk-in freezer broke down. Could you chill my meat until the repairman gets here?” or “Can you please babysit my brood of a half dozen hyperactive ratkin?” By the way, if anyone ever asks you about that last one, the answer is “hell no.” There’s a reason Mrs. Umber had to ask an unemployed, newly developed wizard.
Unlike my rat quest, these minor quests—or errands, if you will—did not provide much in terms of experience gain. Spending an evening learning how to adjust my Light spell to cast different colored lights for a vampire-only soiree might not have been particularly exciting, once you got over the fact the vampires had no desire to drink your blood, but it was educational. And, if I did so say so myself, quite beautiful. Interesting fact—vampires were allergic to sunlight due to a specific curse by a sun god. It meant that light, even one filled with ultraviolet light, did nothing to vampires. It was why most vampires actually had a decent tan, even in winter. What better way to throw off hunters than not looking like a pale, gangly monster?
Unfortunately, Mend turned out to be significantly less useful than first envisioned. The spell actually encouraged previously separated pieces together, mending fractures and rips. It was, in some ways, very similar to the Heal spell. However, it also required a degree of finesse to work properly. A Mend spell on a broken button would fix the edges of the strings but might do so with the button on the outside. In that, like so many other things, magic was less useful than a little hard work with needle and thread. After weeks of working with magic, much of my initial excitement had worn away with the realization that magic was cool, but more often than not, mundane solutions won out. It was disappointing but at least partly explained why mages didn’t rule the world; magic was useful, but so was plain old science.
All in all, the next few weeks saw a slow but gradual increase in strength and ability as I pushed my own knowledge of magic. Whether it was learning to hit and maintain a specific temperature with my spells, altering the color of light, or avoiding concussions while babysitting—those kids were vicious—I had managed to actually gain another leve
l.
Class: Mage
Level 4 (12% Experience)
Known Spells: Light Sphere, Force Missile, Heat, Freeze, Chime, Breeze, Lesser Shield, Heal, Link, Mend, Ward
Unlike my previous level gain, there were fewer changes in my spells. I might have gotten better at controlling the spells themselves, but according to Lily, the major changes required me to improve significantly more.
Ward, on the other hand, was my first warding spell. It actually wasn’t a complete spell by itself; each Ward spell had to be combined with another spell before it could be activated, and it required me to physically carve the ward into an object. A Light Ward, for example, basically created a fixed light spell that could, with a small exertion of will, be turned on or off. At least until the spell charge died.
At my current level, all I could do was put up wards that could be triggered by simple events—an exertion of magical will, the opening or closing of a door, physical pressure. I could not even chain more than one spell together at a time, a prerequisite for actual, workable wards. Still, it didn’t stop me from spending half a day carving wards onto various pieces of furniture throughout the house. I only stopped when Lily promised to turn me into a lump of salt if I didn’t stop.
Over the course of the few weeks, perhaps the greatest gain I saw was in the understanding of the information Lily had downloaded into my mind. I began to understand mana and magic, and how mana was just a short-form placeholder for the power of creation itself. Mages were people who were able to manipulate mana, using incantations and spell formulas to do what they desired. In truth, after speaking with Lily and El a bit, mages weren’t even the most powerful or competent group. Clerics, shamans, and other faith workers could all manipulate mana just as well, though they were often restricted by the tenets of their faiths and their gods.
Furthermore, the incantations and spell formulas didn’t matter. It was why there were so many branches of magic to study in the world. It was not the words themselves, but the intentions and mental energy expended that dictated the formation of the spells. By focusing the mind and that “mana muscle” that mages had, they could cast spells, channeling them through their body as appropriate to their gift. Rumors were that the most powerful mages could cast spells with just a thought. Of course, I was miles away from anything like that.
All things said and done, the last few weeks had been peaceful and surprisingly fulfilling. Running deliveries for El when I had no other quests to do, helping out in the neighborhood and receiving pay for it all, it was fun. For once in my life, I actually thought I was getting somewhere.
I should have known it would never last.
***
The first sign of trouble was the shattered basement door. The second was the raised voices as Lily argued with a stranger in our home. I formed a Force Missile in my hand, holding it low so it couldn’t be seen easily, and stepped across my threshold to meet the danger. After all, that was what heroes did.
Lily was standing in front of her computer, hands on her hips and one foot tapping the ground, as she argued with my intruder. My intruder, who towered over the diminutive genie, was clad in grey slacks, a cream button-down shirt, and a long, black woolen coat. He could easily have walked around downtown and not drawn a glance, which made his presence in my rundown basement apartment even stranger.
“…you will come with me!” the stranger finished demanding when I stepped in. Like a trigger, he swiveled around to glare at me before his gaze fixed on my ring. Without even speaking, he raised his hand, fingers splaying around and twisting a few times before he jerked it toward himself. For the briefest of moments, I felt a tugging on the ring before I clenched my fist tight, and the tugging faded.
Out-of-level opponent encountered.
Please increase level before continuing encounter.
Unknown Assailant (Mage Level 187)
“No. You can’t take his ring away,” Lily said, snapping at the man. “I told you. It’s useless.”
“What in the blazes?” the man growled and raised his hand, repeating what had to be a spell. This time, there wasn’t even a faint tug.
“Stop that!” I snapped at him and added, “And who the hell are you?”
“How—?” Eyes narrowed, the man stared at me and my hand while he ignored my question. With a shrug, he strode over to me and grabbed at my hand, coming to a stop inches away from my body. Reflexively, I swung the hand that held the Force Missile and watched the formed spell shatter a foot away from the man’s body, a rainbow of colors rippling from the point of impact.
“A wizard,” the man snarled, and he flicked a finger and pointed it at me. A Force Spear formed and shot toward my face faster than I could react. Before it reached me, the Force Spear disappeared as if it had never existed.
“What?” we both cried out in unison.
Out-of-level opponent encountered.
Please increase level before continuing encounter.
Again, the words flashed in front of my face, and this time, I actually read them. Out of level? Oh! Like the orcs.
“Genie! You did this.” The man turned and snarled at Lily who smirked at him.
“Yes, I did. Told you, you aren’t taking his ring,” Lily said once more.
“Who are you?” I demanded again, glaring at the man as I moved away from him, courage bolstered by the fact that he really couldn’t do anything. It seemed whatever Lily had done, it worked both ways and stopped me from hurting him too.
“I am Caleb Hahn, Magus of the Third Circle, and I demand you return that ring,” Caleb said, drawing himself to his full height.
If he thought to intimidate me by looming, he’d chosen the wrong person. I’d grown up my whole life as the short Asian, and after a while, you either learned to ignore the height disparity or just became totally screwed over by it. I glared right back at him, my hand clenched tight as I snapped. “No. Now fuck off before I call the cops.”
“The cops! You would call mundane humans on this, you unworthy peasant?” Caleb said.
“Well, yeah. You broke my door, and you are refusing to leave. I can’t hurt you, and you can’t hurt me.” I pulled out my cell phone. “Now, you leaving or not?”
Caleb’s eyes grew wide, and he spluttered a few more times, something about the sanctity of supernatural affairs, but his clarity was not helped by Lily giggling and holding her sides next to me. When I started dialing, Caleb finally threw his hands up and stalked out of the room, retreating with as much dignity as he could.
Asshole never even offered to fix my door either. Thankfully, with a little elbow grease and the Mend spell, the door was an easy patch since he had only busted the knob itself. It was after all that was done with that I had time to speak with Lily.
“So, what was that about?” I asked Lily, who was looking uncharacteristically serious when I turned to look at her.
“That was meant to be the end of this,” Lily replied, waving her hand around. “But now that we’ve thwarted them—I love that word, thwar-ted—they’ll have to regroup and think about it.”
“I know what it was. I want to know what it was about,” I said.
“Ah.” Lily paused, staring at me before answering. “The ring. It was previously owned by a mage in the order. You probably realized that. They wanted the ring and me back.”
“Finders keepers not a thing in the supernatural world?” I asked lightly.
“No,” Lily said bitingly, glaring at me till she realized I was taking this seriously. “They will be back.”
“Can they break the wish? Or am I going to be expecting a lot of, ummm… how many circles are there?”
“Seven. But they’d have to send an apprentice to deal with you,” Lily said. “You wouldn’t even qualify for one of their circles yet.”
“But, I’m level four!” I spluttered.
“Uh huh, and the minimum level to get out of being an apprentice would be around level tw
enty or so, I’d say. And to actually become a member of the council, you’d have to be level forty at least. Maybe fifty,” Lily said.
“Oh…” I frowned. “But my spells—”
“Are a cheat. You can cast certain spells because of what I’ve given you, but your understanding of magic itself is pitiful.”
“Hey!”
“Could you recreate any of your spells yourself?” Lily shot back.
“Umm…” I frowned, thinking about it. I focused for a second, trying to recreate the Light spell from basics. After all, it was the spell I used the most and thus should have been most familiar with. The beginning was simple. I could remember that part easily enough. About a third of the way in, I realized I was having to cudgel my brain to extract the necessary mental gymnastics required to continue casting the spell. About halfway through, I felt the spell fizzle, the feedback sending a spike of pain through my head like an icepick through my eye. “Aaarggh.”
“Told you,” Lily said.
I grunted, rubbing at my eyes as the pain faded. Fine. Perhaps I relied on the ready-made, intuitive spells she had provided too much.
“It’ll be a while before they actually send someone though. The council isn’t very quick at making decisions or changing their minds.” Lily fixed me with a glare. “However, that doesn’t mean you can slack off. Once they decide to move, they will move.”
“Yeah, but if I get better, my level goes up and they can throw more at me.”
“You do realize that ‘levels’ aren’t exactly accurate? I mean, it’s one thing to stop a Third-Circle Mage coming at you, but if they aren’t putting out magic like a sun, things start getting a bit more complicated. A mugger or a hitman, from my perspective, is only a few levels difference but from yours is significant,” Lily said, and I grunted.
She had a point. And rather more importantly, I hadn’t chosen to learn magic so I could hide in a corner at the first sign of trouble. If I was going to learn magic, I was going to learn it properly. Which meant… “I’m going to need better quests then.”