by Jay Boyce
Slightly unnerved, Jade smiled back as she replied, “It’s lovely to meet you, Melody.”
She was about to say more, though what, she wasn’t sure, when Shara clapped her hands, calling the class to attention. “Welcome to beginner lightning magic! One of the best magics, if I do say so myself.” Shara grinned conspiratorially at this.
She went on blithely, “There are many uses for lightning magic beyond just shooting it at someone, and I’m here to teach you what they are. Perhaps the most important thing to remember when dealing with lightning is the need for precise control. If you try to use it without ample control, you’re just as likely to hurt yourself as whatever you’re trying to hit. Left uncontrolled, lightning will follow the path of least resistance.”
Holding her hand up, Jade grimaced as she felt the air start to charge with energy. There was no lightning in the air, but it was filled with potential. “The smallest charge of lightning can fill the air, causing any larger spark to ignite and cause a chain reaction. What you’re feeling now is that charge. Any lightning fired into a charged area will be at minimum twice as effective and twice as uncontrollable. The air currents that shift the charges will decide where your lightning goes, unless there is something to attract it, such as metal.”
She began to reabsorb the energy in the air, and Jade curiously tried to mimic it, drawing energy in from the charge. She was gratified to find that she could indeed take the charge from the air like she had the heat last night. Shara sent her a curious look but didn’t comment. Once the charge was gone, Shara spoke again with a grin, “You might want to smooth your hair. One of the results of charging the air is that it tends to make things static, and hair is a wonderful example in that it will lift into the air.”
Jade glanced around, as did the rest of the class. Giggles broke out when they realized that almost everyone had hair that was lightly floating into the air. Jade was about to reach back and smooth her hair when she felt Melody do it from behind. Her keen ears picked up her breathless murmur, “It’s so soft…” She forced a shiver down. There was just something about the girl that was setting her on edge.
Shara had continued her lesson. “Lightning can be used with finesse, as long as your mental image is strong enough. Please remember that no matter how big or small, you must maintain control over the element. The most common use of lightning is to blast enemies, and it’s very effective at that. However, it’s also easy to lower the charge of the lightning, causing paralysis and stunning your target. On a much smaller level, lightning can be infused into your muscles, relaxing and invigorating them to perform better. If you try and run a charge through your own body without a healer nearby, however, I’ll skin you alive if you don’t fry your own brain. Currents in the body are a tricky thing, and you must keep in mind that it’s just a step away from running rampant.”
Pausing, she smiled. “So, now that that’s out of the way, let’s see what you can do. I would like you to try and create a small ball of lightning in your hand. Make sure you keep a firm mental picture to keep it contained.”
Smiling, Jade held her hand out in front of her, conjuring the energy in a similar form as she would light. She was gratified to see the tiny sparkling ball of electricity in her palm, and she started playing with it like she would a marble, bouncing it across her fingers.
She had a lovely feeling this class was going to be simply shocking.
Chapter Forty-One – Illusions
Two hours later, Jade was feeling pleasantly buzzed. No, really, she’d been hit by stray lightning bolts a few times, so her nerves were a bit frazzled. She was glad she’d had the fellacai stay behind because apparently, the most dangerous class she’d had so far was a bunch of untrained lightning mages. Shara hadn’t been kidding about control. On the upside, she’d scanned her profile and noticed that a skill called shock resistance had showed up.
Stretching out her abused muscles, she turned to look at Melody, who was the main offender. Several people brushed past her on the way to the door, and Melody was staring at her with nervous, wide eyes. She’d been concerned in her shy apologies, reaching out frequently to stabilize Jade after she shocked her, only letting go after Jade reassured her several times that she was fine.
Jade was ready to scold the girl, but seeing her puppy dog eyes, she couldn’t find the heart to do it. It was just a few potentially frying shocks to the system… Truly, it wasn’t even that. They had been light enough to buzz her but not do any real harm. She’d had a sneaking suspicion it was a ruse by Melody in order to interact with her. Still, as adorable as she was, being shocked from behind so much was making her antsy, and she didn’t want a repeat performance.
So, as kindly as she could bear to say it, she gently admonished the girl, “Melody, perhaps next time you’d better sit at the front so there’s no one in front of you to shock.” She inwardly groaned as she saw Melody’s eyes become watery with unshed tears. She didn’t know how to deal with crying people!
“I-I’m s-s-sorry.” Her voice was trembling as she made a visible effort to hold back the tears.
Unable to figure out what else to do, Jade reached out a hand, patting her on the head. “It’s okay, no lasting harm done. All you need is a little more control, and then you can sit wherever you want.” As long as you stop shocking me, she added mentally. Melody seemed to hiccup a little, and Jade removed her hand.
“Well, I’ve got to go to my next class… You’ll be okay, right?” Melody nodded tremulously and Jade knew she was lying but exchanged glances with Travis and beat a hasty retreat, pausing only to call out to Shara, “Thanks for the lesson!” Shara gave her a knowing look and smiled at her, making shooing motions as Jade complied with no further hesitation.
Travis laughed softly after the door closed behind him, most of the rest of the class having exited before them, save Melody, whom she’d seen Shara moving to comfort. “Not quite what you expected?” he teased her gently.
Looking to the right, where three doors down her next class would be held, Jade shook her head and started left. She needed to go back to her workshop for a moment to center herself again. “Not at all. Anyway, I’m just going to pop into my workshop, but you have a lovely evening, Travis.” He nodded, waving to her as he headed down the stairs and she moved, unlocking her workroom and slipping inside to the welcoming flutters of her babies.
She walked over to her little corner, slumping into one of the chairs and grabbing something to eat as they fluttered around her. Lavender landed on her knee, peering up at her as she sent, “Feeling okay?”
Jade smiled down at her gentle little queen, murmuring softly, “I’m okay, sweetheart. Just a little unsettled.” Holding her hand out for Lavender, she smiled as the queen flapped onto her hand, rubbing her tiny velvety head against Jade’s thumb. Holding her gently, Jade asked rhetorically, “What am I supposed to do, Lavender? There are so many people vying for my attention that I can’t keep pretending ignorance. But there’s only one of me, and I just don’t…feel anything beyond friendship for them. How can I, when I can’t be totally sure that it’s me they like and not the traveler? A week ago, none of them would have looked at me this way.”
She paused, sighing. “Is it all superficial? Just because I’m a pretty face now? Is my charm stat making me emit some sort of pheromone that says ‘flirt with Jade!’? How on earth am I ever to know for sure?” She laughed hollowly. “And it’s not like I even have the time to waste thinking about this, either. What point is there in flirting when I’m about to head out on a deadly mission? It’s not like I can go on dates right now.” She sighed. “No, I’ll just have to keep pretending ignorance until I figure out what to do about the whole situation.”
She smiled sadly at Lavender, surprised when all ten of her babies chose that moment to land on various parts of her. “We love you.” Their quiet words came through crystal clear, and she felt a single tear leak from her eyes as she smiled brilliantly down at them.
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�I love you too, my darlings.” She spent another minute with them, just soaking in their presence and love until she knew she needed to go. They fluttered off to the garden, leaving only Lavender behind, who perched on her hair proudly. She smiled gently. “You’re coming with me to illusion?” Lavender peeped assent and Jade quietly slipped out of the room, locking it behind her again.
The illusion classroom was basically on the exact opposite corner from her room, so she made her way over quickly, smiling at the two other students who were doing the same. She followed behind them to enter the classroom, stopping in surprise as she saw Victor. He grinned shamelessly at her, motioning for her to take the seat next to him. She slid into it, asking curiously, “What are you doing here, Victor?”
He laughed. “Well, you told me I had illusion magic, but I didn’t think I had any real aptitude for it before, so I came to see if I could learn.”
Grinning, she nodded. “I suppose that makes perfect sense.”
“Especially since there are so few illusion mages,” the drawling voice came from the front of the room, and Jade looked forward with a smile at Count Morpheus Phantasos. A large, portly gentleman, his girth was barely contained by the chair he sat in. His gray eyes seemed to be perpetually half open, as if he was fighting off sleep. Those eyes were turned on her now as he smiled lazily. “Welcome to illusion magic.” He paused, looking the four of them over. “Illusion magic is unlike any other you’ve learned, in that it is entirely utility based, with no attacks other than mental intimidation or confusion, which, granted, can be quite useful.”
He steepled his fingers in front of him, staring them down. “This magic is a connector. It allows you to experience what is not there.” His voice paused and she heard gasps from around her. While she could still see the classroom, there seemed to be an overlay upon it, telling her she was in a forest and surrounded by wolf-like creatures. He seemed surprised that she was still calm and looking at him. Glancing around, the others were staring in awe around them.
“I can feel my desk, but the forest looks so real…” Victor’s hushed voice was tinged with wonder.
She saw the forest fade from view, and the others slowly turned their attention back to Morpheus as he spoke again, “As you saw, you can use illusion magic to alter someone’s perception of reality. It connects what you want them to see with their senses, tricking them. A more subtle version is constructing an image that can be seen with the naked eye.” Here, he gestured to the side, where one of the wolf creatures was growling at them voraciously until it slowly faded from view.
He went on, “Illusion magic can be used to read the profile of another person. It’s easier if they’re either willing or unconscious. Can I get one of you to come volunteer?” Jade and Victor exchanged knowing glances, realizing that neither one of them was going to offer. They looked at the other two.
Jade figured they were both second years, judging by the fact that they seemed her age, but she hadn’t ever seen them around The Green Dragon. The boy seemed well on his way to bulking up, though he hadn’t quite reached that realm yet. His intelligent blue eyes were on the girl next to him. She was a plump little thing, her chubby cheeks puffed in denial as her green eyes met the boy’s. He sighed, then stood up. “I guess I’m being volunteered.”
“And such a chore it is, I’m sure. Get on up here.” Morpheus harrumphed without any real anger, gesturing him imperiously. The boy walked up and allowed Morpheus to put a hand on his head as he urged him, “Think of your profile.” She could see his eyes go slightly unfocused, as if he was looking at something they couldn’t see, but then in the air next to Morpheus, a familiar blue box began to appear.
Name: Ben Rahler
Age: 19
Strength: 13
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 11
Intelligence: 12
Magic: 8
Charisma: 11
Luck: 3
Skills: Acrobatics, Appraisal, Archery, Armorcraft, Athletics, Axes, Bluff, Cartography, Cold Resistance, Deception, Diplomacy, Dodge, Fishing, Fire Magic, Haggle, Heat Resistance, Illusion Magic, Information Gathering, Insight, Intimidate, Mathematics, Medium Armor, Mental Fortitude, Pain Tolerance, Perception, Perseverance, Polearms, Reading, Riding, Running, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Small Blades, Stealth, Swimming, Swords, Tracking, Unarmed Combat, Writing
He gave them a minute to process, then waved his hand and the box disappeared. “We use that mainly to help commoners who wish to know what their profile says. You can sit down now, Ben.” He returned to his seat as Morpheus went on nonchalantly, “You can also use illusion magic to scry information from somewhere else you’ve been.”
Behind him an image appeared and Jade belatedly realized it was from the wall looking down over the wheat fields. She could see soldiers patrolling, hear the crunch of their boots against the stone as the day went on. He quickly dismissed the window, moving on, “Of course, most magically sensitive people can tell if someone is scrying near them, and protections can be put in place to block such magic in sensitive areas.”
Grabbing two mirrors off of his desk, he held them up in pudgy hands. “And obviously, you have the scrying mirrors which allow two way communication between people when the magic connects them. We’ve perfected the art so that when one person activates the connection, it alerts the other.”
Jade shot her hand into the air, and Morpheus nodded to her, obviously amused. “Can you connect multiple mirrors? Like have three different mirrors, and each one connects to the other two?”
Morpheus nodded slowly. “Yes, it’s possible, and we’ve done it. The problem is that with each mirror added, the magical cost to lay the enchantment doubles the already considerable drain. The most we’ve ever managed was one mirror connected to five others.”
Jade nodded thoughtfully, noticing that Victor was giving her a considering look as well. He was probably also thinking about the fact that her magical capacity seemed to be much higher than anyone else he’d met. She smiled at Morpheus. “Thanks for answering my question. Sorry for interrupting.”
He gave a deep throated chuckle. “It’s nice to see your interest. I suppose something to keep in mind is that for the mirrors to be enchanted, they must be together. Now then, let’s start with forming constructs…”
The next two hours passed pleasantly as Jade, Victor, Ben, and Lira, which was the girl’s name, took it upon themselves to create the most realistic and outlandish illusions, each trying to outdo or scare the others. Jade won that round when she made a ring of very realistic looking mesmer around them, causing the others to panic for a moment. She felt a bit sick afterwards and had apologized profusely.
They’d moved on to scrying at that point, each creating small windows into various places. Jade had quite enjoyed this because the other three had all explained where they’d opened their windows, allowing her a glimpse into the outer world, even if it was a small one. They’d finished with Morpheus giving them the basic principles of how to enchant the message mirrors. Victor was the first to get it right, grinning triumphantly at his success.
Jade watched him do it again using her mana sense, finally managing to succeed afterwards. It was a joyful, fun class that was stress free. Morpheus had seen the look in her eye as Ben and Lira left for dinner, while Victor stayed by the door to wait for her. She’d just approached him with a smile when he held up a hand to forestall her. “I know what you want. Go ahead and take them.” He grinned jovially at her, pushing a neat pile of mirrors forward.
Gushing gratefully, she scooped the mirrors up carefully. “Thanks so much! I appreciate it!”
He laughed. “I understand. Now off to dinner with you!”
She joined Victor at the door, and they stopped by her workroom to drop off the mirrors and pick up the rest of her fellacai, who greeted her joyfully and latched onto her ponytail.
Victor asked as they were walking down the stairs, “So, how many do you think you can enchant?”
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Jade shrugged, grinning. “I’ve no idea, but it’ll be as many as I can! I’d like to be able to keep in touch with everyone while I’m on the hunt.”
Chapter Forty-Two – Sure
They chatted companionably until they reached the dining area, where Victor went to order and Jade just waved cheerfully at Estelle. “That’s cheating,” Victor muttered as he walked to the line and she couldn’t stop her laugh.
Walking over to the table where Eric, Stephen, Camille, and Will were already seated, she plopped down beside them, studying Eric and Stephen for a moment. “Do I have something on my face?” Eric glanced at the others for confirmation, trying to figure out why Jade was staring at him without even greeting them first even as her pretties settled on the table.
“How do you spend so much time on campus? Not that I’m complaining, but all my other professors aren’t around much except for on the days they teach. How are you two able to be here all the time?” Jade’s voice queried them softly as she stared unblinkingly.
Camille answered from beside her, “They’re the vice-headmasters’ assistants. Most of the other teachers have other ventures to take care of, but Eric and Stephen help with the day to day running of the campus.” Jade glanced at her questioningly, and Camille shrugged. “They’re mom’s assistants’ assistants who get stuck with the grunt work.”
Jade giggled as she looked at Eric and Stephen, seeing them sighing at Camille’s blunt wording. They weren’t denying it, though. Sneaking a carrot off of Camille’s plate to tide her over, Jade crunched into it, frowning when she realized her enhanced senses made it seem like crashing boulders going off inside her head. Setting the carrot down, she glared at it.
“Did your stolen carrot do something to mortally offend you?” Camille snarked merrily from beside her.