Magic School

by Phoenix Grey

  “I did not.” Lonnell seemed surprised. “That is certainly useful information.”

  “You can thank Janine for that.”

  “To Janine.” Uden raised his horn. “Quite the resourceful woman.” That last part was said with devious connotation.

  “To Janine,” Azure said hesitantly, raising his glass as well.

  “To Janine,” Lonnell parroted, and they all clinked their horns together before taking a long pull. “Speaking of which, I haven’t seen her around lately.”

  “She’s off doing Monster quests. I saw her here last night,” Azure informed them.

  “We should pull her in for our next bounty.”

  “I’m not sure she’ll be up for it.” Azure cast a glance at Uden.

  “Why wouldn’t she be?” The half-imp turned to him, looking innocent.

  Azure picked up his beer and chugged the rest, then wiped his mouth on his arm before standing. “Well, I’ve had a long day, so I’m going to bed. I’ll sleep on the floor tonight. One of you guys can take the bed.”

  Lonnell nodded at him in approval, and Azure left his friends to go upstairs and get some rest.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  THE REALM – Day 83

  Azure awoke before Uden and Lonnell and slipped out of the room to head down to the market. There was time to kill before he needed to be at Hawking's, so he ventured around town, restocking the supplies he needed.

  The first things Azure bought were another flint, a bolt of linen, and a small bottle of oil to make torches with. That all set him back 9 silver and 6 copper. He considered buying a Potion of Minor Stamina, but the price was too rich for his blood. Besides, purchasing a bedroll was far more important. Those, Azure found, sold for 20 gold. The price made his asshole pucker.

  About to be super broke again, he realized with a sigh, coughing up the coin. The bedroll would be worth buying if it fully restored his stats overnight. The item wasn't one-time consumable, nor did it have a durability, so he could use it indefinitely.

  You have received the following items:

  Flint

  Quantity: 1

  Durability: 10/10

  Item Class: Common

  Quality: Average

  Weight: 0 kg

  Uses: Used to make a fire. Each use costs 1 Durability.

  Bolt of Linen

  Quantity: 1

  Item Class: Common

  Quality: Average

  Weight: 0.1 kg

  Uses: Crafting.

  Small Bottle of Oil

  Quantity: 1

  Durability: 10/10

  Item Class: Common

  Quality: Average

  Weight: 0.1 kg

  Uses: Crafting. Each use costs 1 Durability.

  Simple Bedroll

  Quantity: 1

  Item Class: Common

  Quality: Average

  Weight: 5.2 kg

  Uses: Restores all stats by 1/8 per hour slept on. Stats cannot regenerate past their maximum.

  Azure sold all of his loot from the beetle quest, earning him back a surprising 7 gold, 7 silver, and 4 copper. Then he set back out for Hawking's.

  Deciding to save up his Stamina, Azure didn’t bother foraging. He had no idea what quest Mareike would send him on or how long it would take. It was best to be prepared.

  Once he arrived at the school, Miss Ogden promptly sent him back to Mareike’s office for his first lesson. The layout was the same as Elise’s except for that there was a hodgepodge of magical-looking trinkets lying all about, and her desk was cluttered with papers in a disarray of unorganized chaos. She seemed surprised to see him when he walked in, as if she had forgotten that they had an appointment.

  “Aster,” Mareike said, her blue eyes wide.

  “Azure,” he quickly corrected her.

  “Azure,” she parroted. “Oh. I’m so sorry.” Yet there was no sign of apology in her expression. “Today, you’re learning...” Mareike began shuffling through the papers on her desk. Azure could see that they were an even mixed mess of opened spell scrolls, quest sheets, and other various forms.

  “I haven’t selected what spell I wanted to learn yet,” he helped her along.

  “Oh. Of course.” She paused for a moment, cocking her head to the side as she read a paper turned sideways. Then she pulled a few from the pile and slid them toward him. “Here’s what I have available for you to choose from today.”

  Azure raised an eyebrow. “One of these is a quest sheet.”

  “Oh. Is it?” Mareike pulled all three papers back, removing the quest sheet and shuffling through her stack again until she found another spell to add to the mix. “There. That should be one.” She didn’t sound sure.

  Is she even qualified to do this job? He tried not to give her a judging look, but it was so damn hard.

  Withholding a sigh, Azure leaned back over the papers she had set in front of him to get a good look at them.

  Spell Scroll: Transmute

  Quantity: 1/1

  Weight: 0.0 kg

  Mana Cost: 10

  Range: Items in hand

  Cooldown: Three Minutes

  Magic Class: Enchanting

  Uses: Transform a piece of gold ore, silver ore, or copper ore into coins of equal value.

  Spell Scroll: Volatile Bolt

  Quantity: 1/1

  Weight: 0.0 kg

  Mana Cost: 20

  Range: 40 feet

  Cooldown: Three Minutes

  Magic Class: Enchanting

  Uses: Shoot a bolt that generates damage from a random element and creates a corresponding surface.

  Spell Scroll: Summon Mount

  Quantity: 1/1

  Weight: 0.0 kg

  Mana Cost: 20

  Range: 6 feet

  Cooldown: Ten Minutes

  Magic Class: Enchanting

  Uses: Summons a horse for 10 minutes. You cannot have more than one summon at a time.

  The first spell was the one he didn't particularly care to learn. As it was, he had never encountered a piece of raw ore. And even if he did, transmuting it into coins wouldn't benefit him at all when he could just trade the same bit of ore into a merchant for coins. It seemed like a completely useless spell.

  Summon Mount was the spell he had wanted the most, so he was thrilled to see it appear in the lineup. This was about to make his life so much easier.

  “This one!” he said with as much zeal as he was feeling inside, sliding the Summon Mount spell over.

  She twisted slightly to look at his selection. “Oh.” The tone of her voice rang with disappointment. “It’s a good spell,” Mareike nodded, “but there are a few things you should know.”

  Rarely anything good came after the word but, Azure thought. He waited a moment for his professor to continue, but she suddenly zoned out, staring at a patch of wall behind him. Azure turned to see what she was gazing at so intently, but there was nothing there. When he turned back around, Mareike seemed to have come to life again, her eyes moving around her desk as if searching for something.

  “What should I know?” he prodded her on.

  “What?” She perked up.

  “You said I should know something.” Azure gestured irritably under the desk, his hand hidden so that Mareike couldn’t see his mounting annoyance.

  “About what?”

  “About choosing the Summon Mount spell.” His voice rose an octave.

  Oh my God, this woman is going to drive me crazy.

  “Oh.” She glanced around the room again.

  What is she looking for?

  Mareike continued finally, “I was going to tell you that you can't use any of your other summoning spells while you are using this one.”

  That was on the spell itself. Azure's eyebrows drooped.

  “No familiars, slugs, monsters, dragonlings, elementals, or golems.” She listed them off o
n her fingers. “You can have totems and worms, though.”

  Most of those were things he wouldn’t have access to as a novice enchanter, so he wasn’t sure why Mareike was bothering to mention them now. “Got it.”

  “Also, if you don’t cast the enchanting magic to summon your horse before the ten minutes is up, it will disappear back into the void.”

  That went without saying.

  “So be careful. You don’t want to be at full gallop and then end up sailing in the air onto your bum.” She let out an awkward giggle.

  That, at least, was a good point.

  “And unlike a regular horse,” Mareike went on, “every time you cast the spell, the horse renews, so as long as you have enough Mana, your horse will be able to gallop indefinitely, helping you cover great distances faster.”

  Finally, some useful information.

  “Sweet! Anything else I need to know?”

  She glanced up at the ceiling and tapped her chin a few times before spacing out again.

  Azure gave her several moments before butting into whatever she was thinking. “Mrs. Nutlea.”

  “It’s just Miss.” Her eyes shot back down to him. “Just Miss,” Mareike repeated. “My husband died a few years ago in a horrible rottingling accident.” She didn’t seem the least bit sad about it.

  “I’m sorry...” It sounded more like a question than condolences.

  “So I suppose you’re ready to learn that spell now?” Mareike inhaled deeply.

  “Yes, please.”

  “Take the scroll.” She gestured down to it before standing and turning to the wall behind her. “Bibbity.”

  Did she just say Bibbity? Azure had to bite his tongue to keep from saying Bobbity Boo.

  The wall began to shift, the wood creaking as it forced itself aside. For all the random odd pictures and bobbles she had affixed to the wall, they seemed sturdily held in place, the magic making them warp as the wood moved to create an entrance into another room.

  Azure followed Mareike into the small space. It was about half the size of her office, the only thing inside a strange drawing on the floor in what appeared to be purple chalk. There was a large star inside an even bigger circle. Triangles were strategically placed in the center with some type of foreign writing scribbled all around. It vaguely reminded Azure of the drawings in the dirt back at the alter on Crescent Island.

  “Unlike most of the other types of magic that are summoned from only one god, enchanting is a blessing from all of the gods,” Mareike explained as she hugged the wall, keeping outside of the circle.

  Azure stood at the entrance, unsure if he was supposed to proceed forward.

  “You only have land magic, right?” She looked over at him.

  He nodded in response.

  “Okay. Leaning this one works similarly. You will place the scroll in the center of the circle. Then you will kneel and place one hand atop the scroll and another on that triangle.” Mareike pointed to one of the five triangles on the floor. “After that, just breathe and let the magic flow into you.” She took a few deep breaths, mimicking what Azure was supposed to do.

  “Okay...” He watched Mareike for a few seconds before letting his gaze fall to the floor.

  Careful not to step on any of the drawings, Azure maneuvered until he was in the center of the circle. He knelt as he placed the scroll on the ground, quickly making the connection. Closing his eyes, he began to feel something stirring beneath his hand. Similar to how it had been when he had learned the land magic spells, something started flowing up into him, beginning at his fingertips. This time, it was a tiny zing of electricity, over and over again, as if ants were crawling up his arms. He wanted to open his eyes and look but knew better.

  Another sensation followed. A wave of liquid, like his blood was undulating in his veins. It was a bit unsettling but not painful. Then there was the coolness of air. The tightness and stiffness of death. The briefest flash of black. Darker than dark. Cold gripped Azure's chest, filling him with momentary fear that passed almost the second it had come. And then he could breathe again. Life. Green. Something was filling him, renewing his energy. Faces flashed through his mind faster than he could place them, but he somehow knew that they belonged to the gods. The gods, then every living creature on the planet. Monsters. Plants. Animals. Insects. People. All of the races.

  Words came to his mouth unbidden. “I am one, and I am all. What I am made of belongs to all of the elements. I will give myself to create, and my creations shall be a part of me.”

  The sound of thunder boomed in Azure's ears. It was so loud and unexpected that he fell back, his hand leaving the scroll, the connection broken.

  Congratulations! New skill learned: Enchanting Level 1. Every creature in The Realm is made up of the same gifts from the gods. With enchanting, you can create and change things using the elements within you.

  Congratulations! You have learned the land spell: Summon Mount. Travel distances in a fraction of the time with your own personal steed.

  He opened his eyes, his gaze volleying around the room wildly. When it landed on Mareike, she was smiling at him.

  “Pretty intense, right?” she said in a way that reminded Azure of a stoner who had just watched their friend take a huge rip from a 4-foot bong.

  Azure stood and dusted the chalk off of his backside, sending thin purple clouds into the air. Gazing down at the ruined circle, he felt kind of bad knowing that she would have to draw it over again.

  Reading his mind, she waved his guilt away. “Ah, don’t worry about it. Happens all the time.”

  A thought came to him. “What would have happened had I put my hand in the wrong triangle?” He hadn’t thought about it before, but it seemed kind of important.

  “Oh.” Mareike shrugged. “You just would have exploded.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  THE REALM – Day 83

  Exploded?! That seemed like an important detail.

  Azure wanted to chastise the woman but felt he shouldn't bother. The likeliness of her processing his concern was slim to none anyway. She seemed like she was always off in her own world.

  Instead, he remained silent as they returned to her desk, listening as the trees creaked into place to form a solid wall again, shutting the room back into secrecy.

  Bibbity, Azure thought, shaking his head. Mareike was too busy going through her mess of paperwork to notice. After a moment, she pulled a sheet from the stack and slid it to him. “This should work.”

  Magic School Quest: Bearer of Bad News

  Yesterday we received news that the father of one of our students has been slain while performing a bounty quest for The Adventurers Guild. Unfortunately, Twahallul Frozentale has been tasked with a multi-day quest cataloging the animals around the Crypt of the Mystic King. Please deliver this news to her and return.

  Difficulty: Very Easy

  Success: Deliver a message to Twahallul Frozentale

  Failure: Cancel quest

  Will you accept this quest: Yes or No?

  Azure slumped in his seat. This did not sound fun at all. “Are you sure you don’t have anyone else who could deliver this bad news?”

  “It’s a Very Easy quest. I don’t see what the problem is.” She stared at him blankly.

  “It’s fine.” He waved his apprehension away, taking the quest paper and placing it in his Bag of Holding.

  Azure thanked Mareike and left her office, then stopped outside to pull up his World Map and look at the familiar path to the Crypt of the Mystic King. It hadn’t been long ago that he’d visited the crypt to fulfill the requirements of one of his land magic quests. The walk had taken him a full day back then. If his calculations were correct, it would probably only take him an hour or two on horseback. Using the spell cost 20 Mana, so to sustain it for a full hour would cost 160 Mana. Luckily, he had enough Blue Mushrooms to keep himself stocked up on Mana. Even if he ran out, he could alw
ays stop and Forage for some more. They were a plentiful resource in this part of Patheana.

  Azure moved several yards away from the school and shook his arms out before lifting his hands. Somehow, he just knew how to summon the horse. The spell took several seconds, weaving his hands in a slow articulate motion as he concentrated on fusing blood, bone, and muscle together in the proper shape. Tiny red specs, almost unperceivable to the human eye, floated from his fingers into his creation. He was pouring a piece of himself into it. Him mixed with the elements around him. Azure could see everything coming together to create the horse. The dirt beneath its hooves. The precipitation hanging in the air. It was a truly magical experience and one he hoped he would never take for granted.

  While the creation process seemed to take forever in his own mind, it was only about a minute before a fully functional, live beast stood before him, its hooves pawing at the dirt as it snorted. Azure was so floored by what he had just done that he couldn't help but waste precious minutes staring in wonder. The animal was as alive and real as anything he'd ever seen. And it wasn't just a pet to him. No, he felt a connection on a deeper level. An unbreakable bond.

  Though he'd never ridden a horse before, Azure knew that as soon as he climbed upon the creature's back, it would follow his every order. All he'd need to do was think about where he wanted the horse to go, and it would go there. Walk. Trot. Gallop. It was all programmed in through a psychokinetic link.

  Azure ran his hand over the horse's soft muzzle. The painted mare took a step forward, moving her head so that her nose was inches away from Azure's face and breathing on him gently. She was mostly white with large brown spots all over her body. A beautiful animal.

  Enough admiring. The spell will wear off if I keep wasting time.

  With a thought, the mare bowed so that Azure could easily mount her. He was admittedly clueless about what he was doing. In the vast majority of movies he'd seen, no one rode bareback. And he wasn't about to take a running jump with other students watching. Gripping a fistful of her mane, he tried to swing his hips over to no avail.