The first thing Loradine taught me was Nature magic since he knew I could learn it. He wanted to wait until my Nature magic training was complete before attempting to summon a spirit. He hoped that knowing Nature magic would help me to appear more like an elf in the spirit's eyes, thereby making them more likely to want to form a contract.
Nature magic was astonishing. I now understood why the elves were so tightly bound to the earth and why they were so fierce in their desire to protect their home. It made some logical sense to me before learning Nature magic. Now I had the illogical drive burning in me, just as they did, to make sure that no one harmed this planet. Being tied to the spirits of the animals and the plant life really made you feel like you were family with all that resided in Evanasia, and people all have an irrational drive to protect family that can cause them to do things they normally wouldn't. Now that I knew this feeling, it would take a lot of willpower to prevent me from lashing out irrationally to protect my new-found family.
Nature magic was an entirely different form of magic from traditional magic. Instead of incantations that were spoken aloud, nature magic involved incantations that could be spoken, sung, or recited silently in the mind. Elves never spoke Nature incantations. They tended to primarily recite these incantations mentally so that they couldn't be overheard when in combat, but when they were using Nature magic outside of combat, they sung the magic into existence.
Since I'd arrived, I hadn't heard the elves singing. Now I knew why. They were forbidden from voicing the incantations in case I overheard them prematurely. Now that I had learned Nature magic, the city was alive with voices in harmony. To me, it felt like weaving the spell together into a fine tapestry instead of clumsily reciting a verse of poetry, that wasn't always very poetic, which is how traditional magic felt in comparison.
I spent about six weeks learning Nature magic, which brought my time with the elves to a little over two months now. I knew that my time with the elves was drawing to a close. There were only two things left for me to learn. I had to learn to use Spirit magic and the elves also wanted to teach me a difficult practice called the Discovery of Magic. They wouldn't explain to me what it was. All they told me was that it was the most difficult thing they would teach me and because of that it would be the last of my training.
I had finished my Nature magic training last night and today was the day I would learn Spirit magic, if it was possible for a player to learn. Bartholomew followed me up to the canopy deck where we would begin the training. Loradine was already there, drawing a summoning circle. He told me that he would teach me to draw the summoning circle after the summoning was complete. It wouldn't be possible for me to summon more than one spirit in a single day and I would need to continue summoning spirits long after I'd left Valanesia.
“Welcome, Valkyrie.” Loradine was just finishing up the summoning circle. “It is about time to begin, but before we do a summoning, it is time you learned a little more about the spirits. Sit.”
He gestured for me to sit in the middle of the circle. When I took my place, he sat down facing me, just outside the black line, which had been drawn with the char of a burnt stick.
“Now then,” he began, “In order to summon a spirit, you must fully understand the spirit world. The number of spirits is still unknown. There are as many spirits as there needs to be in order to help govern the universe. Each spirit has its own domain and is in charge of protecting and maintaining that domain.
“At present, the elves know the names of one hundred and eighty-two spirits. We learn the names of new spirits by speaking to the spirits we currently know. Spirits rarely tell us the names of other spirits unless there is a dire need for their powers. It isn't part of the contract with a spirit and they only tell us at their discretion.
“The elves learned Spirit magic just as you have learned everything you know about this world, it was passed on to us. In ancient times, when the elves were still learning about Nature magic, a spirit who was intrigued by our devotion to the earth showed herself to us. She was the first spirit that we had ever encountered. Prior to that, we had thought that Aurora was the only one who had any influence over this world.
“It was then that the spirit explained to us the spirits' roles as Aurora's subjects. Their role was to protect their areas in Aurora's stead. Aurora made a vow when she created existence that she would not directly influence the lives of her children, her creations, like a puppet master, but would instead allow them to thrive on their own free will. That vow made it impossible for Aurora to intervene in the event of danger befalling her creations, so she created spirits to intervene on her behalf and gave them each a domain they were to look after.
“The spirits were created of all elements to create balance among the elements. The spirits do not stop the elements from occurring, they only make sure there is balance. For instance, if a forest fire starts it is the duty of the fire spirits to make sure that the fire doesn't rage forever. They monitor the fire, allowing it to consume as fire is meant to, but they will stop the fire from doing irreparable damage to the environment.
“The elements we currently know of are earth, wind, water, fire, and energy. There are probably others, but these are the most common. Energy is the element that controls things like electricity, light, heat where there is no fire, and sound.
“Now it is time for you to choose. Select the element whose spirit you would like to call, and we will begin the ritual.”
This was a difficult choice. I would have loved to make contracts with spirits of all the elements, and maybe someday I would, but there was no telling what each spirit would ask for in return for their contract. It was quite possible, if I was even able to make a contract, that I would only be able to make one due to the limits of what I could give the spirit. I sat in that circle for about twenty minutes in pure silence. Loradine wouldn't rush me or interrupt. He knew how important this was. Finally, I came to my decision.
“Wind,” I announced proudly.
Loradine handed me a list that contained all the names of the wind spirits known to the elves. It was my choice which one I would call. When I'd made my choice, Loradine gave me another piece of paper, this one containing the incantation for the summoning ritual. This incantation wasn't a poem or a song. It was a decree and petition. I read it through multiple times to make sure it was memorized before announcing in Elvish.
“I, Valkyrie, have come before you now, great spirits, in the hopes that you would find me worthy. In seeking your presence, I humble myself before you that I may form a contract with you. Take leave of your home in the spirit world and appear before me, I beseech you. Answer my call, Zephyra of the Arctic Winds. Come forth!”
A light formed at the base of my feet, spreading out to fully illuminate the magical runes drawn in the charred chalk. When the entire circle was lit, the light lifted into the sky, hovering before my eyes. It condensed itself into a large ball and continued to bounce up and down slightly as if alive.
The circle drawn on the ground had disappeared, consumed by the light.
The light began to change shape from the large ball, morphing into the shape of a large bird and then into the shape of a female elf with wings. She was almost as beautiful as Aurora. She didn't possess a physical body, but she appeared solid. Her entire shape was made of wind that swirled, looking like a person-shaped tornado. Her eyes opened and in them I saw the vastness of the universe with dots of light, small stars that shimmered in the blackness. She had no pupils. Her eyes were pure night sky.
“I have been expecting your summons,” Zephyra intoned in a whisper that road on the wind. “Aurora informed all the spirits that you would be making a summoning attempt today. It is not our place to help outsiders to this universe. We are the guardians of this world. We allow the elves to use our power because Aurora wishes it. Likewise, she also wishes for you to have this power.
“But I caut
ion you. This is a unique privilege that you have been granted because of your status as an honorary elf and your relationship with Aurora. You are never to pass along the knowledge you have gained in Spirit magic. If you attempt to teach another Spirit magic, any contract you have formed will be nullified. Understood?”
“I understand, Great Spirit.”
Zephyra gave a snort I recognized as a stifled laugh.
“There is no need to be formal with me at this point, Valkyrie. You may call me Zephyra. Now, what is it that you want of me?”
“To form a contract?” I turned the answer into a question as it seemed like I was missing something.
“But what kind of contract? What do you want to use my power for?”
“To be honest, I do not know what I want to use your power for. At least not specifically. My desire is to protect this world and the innocent people, whether they be of this world or from my own, from monsters and others who would harm them. I cannot say how I want to use your power because I do not know how your power would prove useful in that area. I do not know what powers you possess.”
“That is a dignified and just response. I did not require specifics when I asked how you plan to use my power. Your answer will suffice. My domain is the Arctic Winds. As such, I can use wind in any way that occurs naturally, whether it be increased wind speeds, tornadoes, or down bursts. I can control the temperature of the wind I use, but only from climate temperature to arctic wind temperatures. I cannot heat the wind up beyond the temperature of the climate I am summoned into. In addition, as wind is simply moving air, I can remove air from a given area by creating a vacuum around it.
“The contract I offer you is this: you will be able to summon me at any time you desire, and I will use my power to serve your purposes, as long as the request you make of me falls in line with your desire to protect this planet and the innocent who reside here. In exchange, you will give me something of value to you. What I want from you is your time. In exchange for my services, I want you to summon me once a week for a period of six hours during which we will spend time together in conversation. You will tell me of yourself and your adventures and I will tell you more of this world's history and the history of the races that reside here. These sessions will be between you and I alone, conducted in a place where no one will overhear our conversations. Are the terms agreeable?”
“I agree to the terms. I would love to spend time with you. I enjoy getting to know all the races of Evanasia and I look forward to getting to know you too, Zephyra. May I ask one thing, though? Why request time as the condition of our contract?”
I couldn't tell from looking into her eyes as they were a void, but her face appeared to fall slightly and so did the temperature around me.
“I am lonely,” Zephyra stated in a hollow voice. “It is difficult being the spirit of the Arctic Wind. Not many try to summon me because they prefer summoning a spirit with a warmer demeanor. It isn't that I am a cold person at heart, but my body is always cold. It comes from being who I am. I watch the other spirits with their contractors from time to time, always feeling left out. This is the first time someone has actually called me to a spirit summoning ritual.”
I stood up in my circle and put my arms around her. It was almost like hugging a large block of ice, but I refused to let go. I could feel the wind that made up her body shifting and flexing as it spun, but I didn't care. I understood loneliness. I hated that feeling and I didn't want her to have to endure it any longer.
I heard a sound like a whistle in the wind and realized Zephyra was crying gently in my arms. She put her arms around me as I comforted her.
“I'm so sorry,” I told her. “You don't have to worry any longer. You are not alone. I will be here for you, but six hours one day a week with just the two of us in solitude doesn't feel right to me. I agree to those as the terms of our contract, but I would like to spend additional time with you outside of the bonds of our contract. Would it be alright if I summoned you without having need of your powers just to spend time with you? I would love to introduce you to my friends. In fact, let me introduce you to the friends I have gathered around me here.”
Zephyra hitched her breath a few times and stopped her crying. Then she nodded her consent, telling me she would like that, and I introduced her to Loradine and Bartholomew. We spent a few hours talking in a group on the canopy before Zephyra left.
Then Loradine announced that my Spirit training was almost over. I would not be summoning any more spirits under his tutelage. Once I understood the basics, I was to perform the ceremony on my own when and if I decided to form another contract. He showed me how to create the magic circle and gave me a magic book written in elven runes and enchanted so that only I could open it. I had to put a drop of my blood on the book so that it registered my presence and would not open except for me. The book contained instructions on creating the summoning circle and performing the ritual. It also contained the names of all the known spirits.
That marked the end of my Spirit magic training.
The Mark
The following day signaled the beginning of the end among my stay with the elves. The last stage of my training with the elves, Discovery of Magic, would mean having to say goodbye and return to the world outside Tetherwood to keep my promise to protect this world.
This stretch of my training was incredibly time consuming. I was glad they waited until I'd finished most of my training so that I could devote the bulk of my day toward just this one task. I was still working on my woodworking and fletching training, but my skill in that area had improved to the point where I was only training two or three hours a day on it, freeing up more time for Discovery of Magic.
The morning I was to begin my Discovery of Magic training, Loradine met me outside my guest quarters. He led me toward the outer edges of Valanesia where we stepped into a tree hole with a rainbow printed curtain. Each of the colors on the curtain contained runes identifying each color as a representation of one of the types of magic.
Inside reminded me of a temple and a library combined into one. The room was barren except for bookshelves that lined the walls and an altar in the middle of the room. The bookshelves were filled with books and scrolls. The majority of the books and scrolls in the room were magical books like you would buy at a magical store in any town. Some were the instructional books that explained the concepts of magic while the rest were practical books that were anthologies of spell incantations or scrolls that contained individual incantations.
The only other books and scrolls in the room were blank. I recognized one of the blank books as the journal that I'd been given by my language instructor. These blank books and scrolls were located inside item boxes. These were also commonplace items that were in infinite supply in the SRU.
“Welcome to our magical laboratory.” Loradine sounded like a greeter at a theme park. He marched around the room with his arms directing my eyes toward the books, scrolls, and the altar in turn. “This is where all of our work in Discovery of Magic takes place. This is where you will be training, for the most part. Now it is time you understood the purpose of Discovery of Magic.”
I sat down and listened intently. I knew this would be a long explanation similar to when he explained Nature and Spirit magic to me, but I didn't care because knowledge was power.
Loradine stopped in front of the magical books and continued to explain. “This is our collection of magic. These books contain every spell known in this universe, but not every spell in existence. Currently, there are a total of one thousand six hundred and seventy-two spells in traditional magic. This, of course, doesn't include Nature and Spirit magic as they are unique to elves.”
I couldn't believe it when he gave me the number of traditional magic spells. It was the exact number I'd learned. When Loradine had told me he’d taught me every known spell, I’d thought he’d meant every spell known to elves. I had no idea
he’d meant every spell known, period. I’d realized that the elves had taught me every spell they knew, but I hadn’t realized the elves knowledge of magic was all-encompassing. The elves had not only continued my magical training, they'd finished it.
“Now, as I said before, the number of spells we know doesn't constitute every spell in existence. Discovery of Magic is, at its heart, uncovering these unknown spells. I say uncovering because it isn't possible to create new magic. All magic was created at the beginning of time and new magic cannot be created. We do not know how many spells there are, but we continue to search. Discovery of Magic is the research used to discover these missing spells.”
I knew that what he was stating was true, but only to an extent. The residents of the SRU had preprogrammed memories that made it seem as though they'd existed for millennia when they had only existed for the four and a half months the SRU had been open to players, plus however long the SRU had been active during initial trials.
They believed that the spells they learned existed since the beginning of their creation, which I wasn't about to correct since it was true in a sense. The programmers of the SRU created a database of spells which consisted of approximately five thousand spells. The main error of their understanding of magic was that they claimed it wasn't possible to create knew spells. That was a half-truth.
It wasn't possible for the residents of this world or players to create new spells themselves, but Aurora Eventide could create new ones if she desired. For instance, if someone thought up a really intriguing idea for a spell, she could create it and turn it into a reality. Still, it was a rarity, and even if it was a new spell, no one but Aurora would know. Everyone else would simply think that they'd uncovered an existing spell.
“The core of Discovery of Magic,” Loradine continued, “is unlocking the mysteries of the past. You are basically putting the pieces of a puzzle together in the right order and once the pieces are in place, the new spell is created. Most of Discovery of Magic involves locating those puzzle pieces.
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