Accidental Mage

by Jamie Davis

“How come we don't have magic on Earth?”

  “For all I know, you may have at one time. It seems, though, technology and magic have a hard time existing at the same time and place. That was one of the hardest hurdles I had to overcome. In the end, I created a portal where magic existed on one side, but technology maintained it on the other using a series of surprisingly simple segments of the computer code.”

  “So, technology kills magic?”

  “Not so much kills as renders it unnecessary. I suspect the ability to use magic has been bred out of the people of your world. Only perhaps one person in a thousand possesses the innate ability to become a mage and harness the energies of magic. Of those, most would only be able to do the simplest of spells if they received any training. Without someone to train them, they never realize they have the spark of magic inside them. On the other hand, technology can be used by anyone without the need for a genetic spark. Once technology becomes ubiquitous, magic isn't needed anymore to accomplish great things. I fear the same may be happening here on Fantasma. The discovery of fire sand is one example of how technology can render a type of magic obsolete. Over time, other technologies will likely do the same to the other schools of magic here.”

  Tildi crossed to the hearth to check on the roast and vegetables.

  “Dinner is almost ready, I think. Help me set the table. It will be good to sit down and eat in the civilized fashion for a change. Tomorrow, the final lessons begin.”

  31

  Tildi woke Hal early the next morning urging him to get dressed so they could begin their training together. He grabbed some bread, sliced ham, and a small wedge of cheese for breakfast and made a quick sandwich to eat as he walked alongside Tildi. He listened while she described the basis of wind magic.

  “There is no place on Fantasma untouched by the winds. The air around us fills every void, even dissolving in water thus touching the bottom of the oceans themselves. For this reason, wind magic is considered by many the master of all magical forces. For most spellcasters this is true.”

  “But not all?” Hal asked.

  Tildi smiled and raised a finger.

  “There is another school of magic. It is very rare to find a caster able to master it because they must have the unique ability to control more than one school of magic. In the past, this has been limited to those who could master two of the elemental schools. These are known as the archmages. By mastering two schools, they could combine both magical sources into unusual and unique combinations.”

  “So you, Ragnar, Bronwyn, and Theran all have mastered two schools of magic?”

  “Yes, in all our cases we have mastered our primary school and one other. For myself, it was wind and earth. For each of the others, it was the school they taught you with wind as a secondary form. There are also archmages serving the Emperor. Most of them were our pupils or colleagues once upon a time. All are the same. They can control two schools of magic.”

  “What about me? I already have some mastery over three of the four primary schools.”

  “What about you, indeed,” Tildi chuckled. “Now you see the reason why your ability is sought after by the Emperor. He seeks to understand how you have this expanded ability. He doesn’t understand how the rules of the game in your world allow you to bend the rules of magic here in our world.”

  Tildi continued in silence for a few seconds, letting her words sink in as Hal walked beside her.

  “You, Hal, possess the ability to master all four primary elements. I believe this will allow you to unlock a hidden ability, one I call spirit magic. This magic transcends other forms and will allow endless permutations of spells across what are impassable boundaries for the rest of us.”

  “And that spirit magic is how you expect me to defeat the Emperor?”

  “Perhaps. To be honest, I only wanted to bring you here to disrupt things long enough to allow the rest of us who stand against Kang to organize ourselves against him. Your return this time and the higher stakes you face regarding your family adds a new wrinkle to my plans. I do not know if you will be the one to defeat him. I believe it depends on what you choose to do next.”

  “The only thing I’m focused on is rescuing my family and getting them away from that monster. I worry how he could be turning them against me."

  “Then you must master Wind magic and unlock the potential of the Spirit element. Powerful spells ward the Emperor and his palace. Archmages from all four major schools of magic created those barriers. The spell wards overlap and allow no magical penetration of the shield by anyone. Believe me; I’ve tried on numerous occasions to sense what is happening inside the palace. No matter what I try, I cannot get through.”

  “But I’ve already seen inside the palace.”

  “You have? When?” Tildi replied with a shocked look on her face.

  Hal described the two occasions he used the crystal in his staff to travel with his mind to the palace. He also related how the Emperor was manipulating his wife and daughter in the palace.

  “Hal, this is a major step. I had no idea the crystal possessed the power to penetrate the shields set by the Emperor’s mages. It means you’ve already started to access the spirit energy within yourself.”

  Tildi stopped and stood still for a second, a frown darkening her face. The expression filled Hal with apprehension.

  “I had hoped you would not develop this ability before you learned all four forms. There is a theoretical danger to what you can do with the spirit ability.”

  “The risk that I might kill myself in the process of using it? I think I’ve already figured that out. On two occasions, I’ve found I can tap into my in-game health levels to cast spells beyond the finite energy given to me by each elemental school. Does that sound like what you’re talking about?”

  “Yes,” Tildi agreed. “I hadn’t thought about it, but it is likely it would manifest in your game interface that way. It is very dangerous because if you are not careful, you could drain all your life force and die when trying to use that power.”

  “I figured as much,” Hal told the archmage.

  Tildi stopped at the edge of the canyon opening leading out to the rest of the mountains.

  “Your training with the wind begins here. Feel the breeze here. It blows in a constant flow through this channel of rock. Once you sense it with your magical abilities, try to stop the wind. Succeed here in stopping the wind’s progress and you will have demonstrated a capacity to learn the elemental school of wind.”

  Quest accepted — learn to control wind magic.

  Hal stood staring into the stiff breeze blowing up the canyon. He blinked his eyes against the grit carried by the wind. How could he stop the wind from flowing around and over him?

  “Tildi, can you give me a hint at what to do to get started. This seems a lot more than a basic magical task.”

  When she didn’t answer, he glanced behind to ask again but the mage was gone. Only her footprints in the dirt remained to show she’d been there at all.

  Hal turned back to the canyon. He’d mastered control over the cold, over earth, and over fire. He could do this, too. It was a matter of finding the handles that let you control something like the wind.

  Raising his staff over his head in both hands, Hal called out for the wind to cease, directing all his will into the effort.

  Nothing happened. If anything, the breeze increased in force and velocity.

  He thought about the way he’d drawn on the water vapor with his ice magic and tried to use the same process to grab ahold of the air itself.

  This time he was sure. The breeze was no longer just a breeze; it had become a series of gusts of increasing force. The wind buffeted him as if telling him to stop trying to control it.

  When one gust hit him with enough force to knock him down to one knee, Hal’s fury boiled up with all the frustration of weeks of not being with his family.

  Screaming his rage against the howl of the gale force winds now buffeting him in the mou
th of the canyon, Hal pushed back with all his might, drawing on every ounce of his will to remain standing and not be knocked down.

  Burning pain flashed across all his exposed skin. The wind seemed to fight back picking up more and more sand and grit, driving it into him like a million tiny needles. The wind-driven sand whipped at him again and again.

  Health damage: Health -10

  Health damage: Health -10

  Health damage: Health -10

  Covering his face with his hands to protect his eyes, Hal bellowed in defiance. He refused to be beaten by the wind.

  Growling deep in his throat, Hal drew in all the magic he knew how to touch, earth, fire, and ice until he could hold no more. He filled himself to bursting and still tried to hold more.

  Then he saw it.

  In his mind’s eye, Hal sensed a gap, a place between the other magical forces where wind magic must fit if he could touch it. It had a distinct, multifaceted shape, like the shape of a diamond or other cut crystal.

  Hal took the shape and imagined the wind as a force flowing through the crystalline form.

  The force of the gale lessened.

  Hal, seeing success just out of reach, attacked the wind by sheer willpower. He used the multifaceted shape to contain more of the swirling air around him. It whipped at him but folded into the polyhedron in his mind representing wind magic.

  The gale lessened again. It became a stiff, gusting breeze.

  Yelling at the top of his lungs, Hal pushed with every part of his being until he’d filled every nook and cranny of that polygonal shape with air.

  And it was done.

  The hurricane of buffeting gusts was gone, replaced by the gentle breeze he’d felt when he first arrived at the canyon’s mouth.

  Inside him, amidst all the swirling fury contained within that single multifaceted diamond box in his mind, Hal found he could push and pull at the breeze surrounding him now with all the finesse of a concert violinist playing the most delicate of songs.

  Quest completed — learn to control wind magic.

  13,000 experience awarded

  Hal leaned forward, his hands on his knees and his chest heaving from the exertion of holding onto the wind. The sudden sound of Tildi’s voice next to him, made him jump.

  “Now you know why wind magic is the master of all. You must contain the fury of the tornado and the hurricane to do the smallest of spells.”

  Hal shook his head, awe filling him.

  “I would have told you that fire is the hardest to control because of the wild nature of a naked flame, but in the end, it’s just controlling the presence or absence of heat, just like ice magic controls cold. With wind, it’s like all of nature’s most destructive forces are pent up in one aspect of magic.”

  “This is why only a few who try to become archmages, succeed in their quest. The wind kills most who seek to control it.”

  Hal shivered at the thought of dying that way. He knew it was possible, judging by the tiny dots of blood covering his exposed skin where the granules of sand had pelted him. He could have been flayed alive if it had continued increasing in intensity.

  “Come,” Tildi called over shoulder. She was already walking back to the tower. “There is much we must do and learn to complete your training.”

  Hal reached out with his mind one last time. The breeze brushed against his raw skin, this time with the gentle caress of a lover. It seemed to bid him goodbye.

  He smiled. “Until next time.”

  Hal turned and followed Tildi to the tower.

  32

  For the better part of two weeks, Tildi drilled Hal in all the forms of wind magic. He began to gain more and more experience with each task she had him perform. He didn’t just spend all of his time studying wind magic; he also spent time expanding his knowledge of the other schools of magic.

  Now he'd gained some proficiency in all four of the elemental schools, Hal noticed that his character sheet had updated, finally identifying the unknown magical ability as the spirit elemental school. Hal hadn’t learned any spells from this school yet, but he knew that it was vital if he stood any chance of rescuing Mona and Cari.

  Name: Hal Dix

  Class: Mage

  Level: 11

  Attributes:

  Brawn: 26 — +9

  Wisdom: 20 — +6

  Luck: 30 — +11 (Max)

  Speed: 16 — +4

  Looks: 8

  Health: 155/155

  Character Skills: Chakra regeneration - 3 (heal 18hp; 1/day)

  Mage Experience: 164,425/250,000

  Ice Elemental School:

  Resist Cold; Ice Shield; Ice Armor; Ice Darts; Ice Lance; Wall of Fog; Hail; Blizzard;

  Earth Elemental School:

  Plant Growth; Neutralize Poison; Heal Wounds; Deal Wounds; Detect Magic;

  Fire elemental school:

  Summon Fire; Control Fire; Fire Spray; Fire Resistance; Fireball; Wall of fire; Heat Metal;

  Wind elemental school:

  Wall of Force; Sandblaster; Vacuum Voids;

  Spirit elemental school:

  Multi-School:

  Lava Flow; Ice Boulder;

  Warrior Experience: 161,100/250,000

  Rogue Experience: 146,100/250,000

  During his training, Hal discovered he could make wind as hard as a pane of glass and use it to pick a lock. He found he could create pockets of vacuum in the distance, using them to move nearby objects as the air explosively filled the voids he’d made with soft pops of sound. All of this practice led to a gain of almost 10,000 experience.

  He continued to work on his skills until Tildi finally smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder.

  “Enough, Hal, enough.”

  “But I have more to learn, more to do. I have to master this.”

  “You have gone beyond what I could have expected from you, exceeded even my greatest pupil, Decimus, the man who now counts himself the Emperor’s closest advisor. The next task is one you must undertake alone. You must learn to combine all four forms until you have learned the secrets of spirit magic. I cannot teach you this. No living person can since no one has ever done it with all four primary schools before.”

  “Then how will I do it if no one can teach me?”

  “You have the necessary skills; you must practice and learn. I believe if you continue these things with all four schools together, you will find the method you must use to unlock the secret to spirit magic. You'll find it, I’m certain. Now I must teach you the final lesson of wind magic, how to open a portal to wherever you wish. While the other schools can open small, limited doors to other places, only wind magic masters can open portals sufficient to transport more than the caster themselves.”

  Hal listened with care, concentrating on Tildi’s next words. He wanted to be able to return home with his family once he found them. Having the ability to open a portal would be the first step on the road to traveling from Fantasma back to Earth.

  Tildi continued her instruction on portals and Hal discovered he’d already started down the road to this sort of magic. The vacuum bubbles he’d played with were very similar to what Tildi showed him next, only on a larger scale. Rather than pumping the air from the void created, she removed everything from within the portal’s boundaries and substituted the substance of wherever she wanted to go. In this case, she opened a doorway to the other side of the valley.

  Once she demonstrated the technique, it only took Hal a few tries to adapt the vacuum bubble method to creating a full portal. The first one he opened was more like a window than a door, but he was able to toss a rock through it and see the rock land from the other side a few hundred yards away.

  Hal cheered, he could almost save his family, but he knew his ability to open and create portals still needed work.

  With the ability to open portals, the bare roots of a plan tickled the back of his mind. He tried different ideas out in his head. In every version he could think of, the ability to open a port
al without any delay or warning figured heavily. That required hard work and practice.

  He spent the rest of the day and part of the next, getting that practice. He opened portals over and over, around the canyon valley. Each time, Hal stepped through to the other side and then created another to come back. After twenty-five or thirty tries, he'd almost reached the level of skill he knew he required. He had to be able to open a portal anywhere, anytime without having to expend conscious thought about the steps in the process.

  The time working on it was paying off. Hal could step through to any location within view in a heartbeat. Of course, it would take more work to open one to a location he didn’t know well, but the technique was the same in theory.

  Hal prepared to open yet another practice portal when Tildi appeared next to him, stepping out of a short-range doorway of her own. He recognized now that was how she popped around and disappeared without a trace all the time. It had added to the mystery that followed her wherever she went until you knew how she did it.

  “Hey, Tildi, I’m just working on refining my technique. I think I’ve found a way to moderate the energy used to open and maintain the portal. Watch.”

  She held up a hand to forestall his spell.

  “You’re going to have to work on it somewhere else. I just received word from the east. Kay has rejoined the army east of Hyroth. She sent a message via Theran. The army is marching towards the Imperial capital despite my warnings to stay away until you were ready.”

  “Damn.” Hal couldn’t decide if he was glad to be moving or angry at being forced into action before he was ready. There was no reliable plan yet in his mind. Going in without a plan could get everyone, including Mona and Cari, killed. He pounded his fist into his hand in frustration.

  “I have to join them. I need to find a way to break through the spell barriers and the only way I can do that is to see them myself.”

  “Remember, Hal; Kay and the others are being forced into action by the Emperor’s plans. Don’t fall into the mistake of reacting to him and not acting in your own interests.”