by Edward Brody
“We’ve finished our training today. We were just going to give Gunnar some reading material,” Darion said. “If you’d like, you can join him.”
“I’d rather not,” Liam said rudely.
Darion sighed.
“You should introduce Gunnar to the Omnicron,” Eanos suggested. “Training and knowledge are both vital, but Gunnar joined the Mages Guild to exceed us. If he’s ever going to do that, he’ll need to level up, get some new gear and spells.”
“Exceed you?” Liam’s eyes went wide as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Darion patted Liam on the shoulder again. “Perhaps one day you’ll exceed us too.” He turned towards Eanos. “And that’s a good idea, my friend. I suppose he’s ready to dip his toes into what the Mages Guild is all about.”
“I’ll stay up here,” Eanos said. “I’d rather not have to explain why I’m here to any other mages.”
“Fair enough,” Darion said. He bobbed his head slightly in my direction. “Follow me, Gunnar.”
I followed Darion down the spiral stairs of the Mage’s Guild, with Liam right behind us, until we stopped at a bright orange door a few floors below.
Darion pushed open the door, and a strange light emanated from inside.
The room was empty, save for a large, wooden table pushed near the far wall and a strange, rectangular, seemingly-holographic image that seemed attached to the wall somehow. The image was slightly curved and flush against the circular layout of the room but framed by a thin crystal material. I measured it by eye at around five feet long and four feet in height.
The hologram-like image was clearly a map of the general vicinity surrounding the Mage’s Hall, with translucent circles of colors overlaying various areas. I recognized Edgewood right away.
The device looked otherworldly and out of place in Eden’s Gate. There was a strange presence of magic emanating from it.
Another mage was standing inside the room—a tall man with flat, blond hair falling down past his ears. He turned when we entered. “Oh, Master Darion. Nice to see you.”
Darion gave the man a nod and smile. “Sorry if we’re interrupting.”
“No. No matter,” the man said. “I was just about to leave.” He glanced back up to the image on the wall and homed in on an area if he were trying to memorize it. He picked the pen out of the inkwell on the table and wrote something on a small piece of paper. He tucked the paper in his pocket and hastily drew a runebook out of his bag. “Have a good day, Darion.” He glanced at me and Liam behind our teacher. “You two as well.”
I smiled, and Liam gave a silent nod.
The man flipped open his runebook, focused on a page, and swiftly disappeared.
Darion stepped further inside the room and stretched his hands out. “This is the Omnicron, Gunnar.”
“A map?” I asked.
Darion nodded. “The biggest perk of being in the Mages Guild.”
“A map?” I repeated. “I mean… a magic map?”
“More than a map.” Darion moved in close to the map and pointed his fingers toward one of the colored overlays. “More like a concentrated magic sensor.” He pressed a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. “Fighters who join the Fighters Guild learn skills through repetition, self-discovery, or by example. It’s possible to become a powerful fighter without magic at all and skills are essentially free. And while mages increase skills through use as well, becoming a powerful mage requires much more resources. Powerful spells are hard to find and expensive to buy. And many spells cannot be cast without powerful reagents.”
“I think I understand,” I said.
Darion smiled. “It’s no coincidence that most of the master mages in the Mages Guild are well-off or wealthy. Omnicrons are homed in to sense dormant magic around Eden’s Gate. Usually, that leads us to finding powerful magic gear or caches of magic items without having to roam around aimlessly killing things that are not worthwhile.”
“That’s a huge advantage!” I uttered.
“A wildly advantageous perk of the guild,” Darion concurred, “but it only senses a small area surrounding each Mage Hall. Still, it’s a great way to get some direction in obtaining the magic items that are needed for a mage in training to succeed… or to just retrieve items to sell for profit, so you can buy reagents and spells that would otherwise be unaffordable.”
“Nice… How do I use it?”
Darion pointed towards an area at the far bottom of the map that had a small green circle over it. “Much like the belts that we wear, the intensity of magic detected is color coded. A green circle, such as this indicates a medium source of magic. It might be lower or mid-level monsters hoarding a few low-level magic items or one somewhat powerful one.” He moved his finger over a yellow circle covering an area of east of the Wastelands. “Yellow is stronger, which means more or stronger weapons. But magic items of this magnitude are likely being held by highly dangerous foes.”
I noticed a red circle placed directly over the peaks of Dragon’s Crest. “I’m guessing red is only from high-level mages.”
Liam snorted. “Hmph.”
“Even master mages rarely attempt a magic item recovery in the red zones,” Darion explained. “It could be the presence of very powerful items or gear. But if a weapon or spell of that magnitude is there, someone or something extremely dangerous is likely guarding it. Most mages prefer to keep their lives, and even yellow areas can produce great profit for master mages.”
I stepped forward and pointed towards a small red circle near the northern edge of the Wastelands. “The Fellblade?”
“You know of the Fellblade?” Darion asked.
I nodded.
“It’s possibly the Fellblade,” Darion said. “Either that or the Scourge have something else with an enormous power up their sleeves. Though there is no telling… The board only senses the level of magic, not the source. If someone throws a huge cache of low-level magic objects into one spot, it could give a false positive of red. Also, it only detects items that are giving off an idle aura in the same area for an extended period of time. It prevents the Omnicron from detecting magic vendors or travelers actively wearing great gear.”
“It also doesn’t detect buried treasure,” Liam added. “You should probably tell him that.”
Darion smiled. “Thank you, Liam. And that’s right. If buried under soil, the magic isn’t sensed by the board. Lots of people bury their treasure, specifically so Omnicrons or similar can never detect it.”
The map was littered with numerous green circles, several yellow circles, and only a few red circles. If I had ever wondered if joining the Mages Guild was a good idea or not, now I was beginning to feel I had made the right choice. Instead of randomly searching areas, the Omnicron was a direct guide to where I could go next to maximize my rewards.
“You and Liam should choose an area and do a run together. Tomorrow, perhaps?” Darion suggested.
“Yeah, for sure! Let’s…” I paused as I considered my intentions for the next day. “Umm, actually I’ll be a bit busy tomorrow. Another day?”
“What could be so important?” Darion asked.
“I’m traveling to Barbarosia,” I said.
Trynzen had been hanging out in Edgewood ever since I broke him out of Highcastle’s prison. I had been waiting for the orcs who had been spilling out of the Wastelands to retreat, so I could take him home, but that had yet to happen. I finally made the conscious decision to take a risk and return him to Barbarosia the next day, regardless of situation. The gold reward for his return was badly needed to continue the expansion of our guild’s city startup.
“I can’t imagine why you need to go there,” Darion said, “but unless you have a rune, I’d suggest avoiding the trek. The tension near the mouth of the Wastelands is growing more intense by the day.”
“I don’t have a rune, but—”
“Is it not something that can wait a few days?” Darion asked. “The orcs will eventua
lly retreat after a while. They always do.”
I sighed at the thought of waiting on the 20,000-gold payday, but I figured a couple more days wouldn’t be the end of the world. Trynzen, while weird and annoying, hadn’t caused us any problems. “Alright then… I guess I’ll free myself up for tomorrow.”
“Great!” Darion said. He turned back towards the map. “What location would you two like to explore?”
“How do you know I’m free?” Liam asked, his jaw dropping low.
“You just got back,” Darion said. “And I know you’re always eager for more loot.”
Liam huffed and crossed his arms.
I scanned the various circles that overlaid the map and took note of one that was south of the Vale and East of Linden. I hadn’t been past Linden before, and if I recalled to the Vale, the journey wouldn’t take long. Further, I had yet to give a report to the Queen of the High Elves, so I could make a pit stop to see if they had returned from their trip. I might even have time to catch up with Adeelee as well.
“How about here?” I asked as I pointed towards the circle. There was no specific landmark on the map where the circle was, but it was clear that it was in a grassy, non-forested area. Perhaps on a hill. “I have a rune that leads to Mist Vale. It’s not a far journey from there.”
Darion cleared his throat. “Actually, Liam can’t recall.”
I turned to Liam, and he just smirked and raised his chin to me.
“Oh, well then…” I mumbled.
“Not every mage has learned arcane magic,” Darion said. “Unless he has an imbued scroll—”
“I have no imbued Recall scrolls left,” Liam said.
“Imbued scrolls?” I inquired.
Darion scrunched his brow. “I thought you were a scribe as well?” He shook his head, obviously remembering that I was still somewhat inexperienced to everything in Eden’s Gate. “A scribe who’s also skilled in a certain magic can create special scrolls infused with said magic. It requires a lot of inscription powder, but imbued scrolls allow anyone to cast the infused spell a single time, even without the spell knowledge or mana. It’s rare that scribes imbue anything but Recall or Recall Home spells into scrolls, primarily due to the high material costs. It would make little sense to imbue a scroll with Fireblast, for example.”
I raised my eyebrows. “What level do I need to do that?”
“Level 30 in inscription and the ability to cast the spell you’re scribing. You’ll also need to know the recipe—the rune pattern, the spell words, and the appropriate inscription powder.” Darion shook his head. “All rather complicated. It’s why I never chose to level my inscription very far myself.”
I made a mental note of the requirements. I was still way off from being able to create imbued scrolls, but it seemed like a great opportunity for me to someday contribute to the guild. If I could make ‘imbued scrolls’ to give guild mates, there was an opportunity that we could recall to specific locations together even without having to cast a portal. Of course, casting a portal was a far more efficient tool, but a single-use scroll offered more versatility. I could, for example, give a scroll to someone and tell them to meet me somewhere at a later time.
I turned to Liam. “Perhaps we can just meet outside of the Vale tomorrow or somewhere in Linden? I have business in the Vale. Perhaps in the afternoon sometime?”
“Gunnar,” Darion said pointedly.
“Yeah?” I asked.
Darion raised his eyebrow high but didn’t say anything.
“Yes, Master Darion?” I corrected.
“You’re both my students. I’d like you to do things together from now on. Traveling together would be one of those things.”
I glanced at Liam who still had his arms crossed. His eyes were scanning me up and down.
I let out a sigh and shrugged. “Alright, well, then… Let’s meet outside of Highcastle at dawn.”
Liam glanced at Darion then eyed me for another awkward couple of seconds. He pooched his lips and flicked his head slightly to the side. “Fine.”
Darion lightly clapped his hands. “Great. Now that you know how to use the Omnicron, and you’re both acquainted, I think I’ll go take care of some of my chores. Gunnar, you should return back to the classroom and spend some time reading about the different magic variations.” He turned to Liam. “You should get some study time in as well. You can never know too much.”
“Of course, Master Eanos,” Liam said.
Chapter Five
2/9/0001
I left the floor with the Omnicron and headed back up to my room, leaving Darion and Liam behind. I was surprised that Liam didn’t follow, but perhaps he had private matters to attend with Darion or was going to study in a different room.
The plain, winding stairs of the Mage’s Hall looked virtually the same no matter what level I was on, and the doors on each floor were mostly the same—leaving only unremarkable scratches and basic wear and tear to be the identifier of where you were. Without a keen sense of direction and awareness of your surroundings, it would be easy to get lost.
A chubby mage with a yellow belt cinched around his blue robe passed me as he was coming downstairs. As I adjusted myself to let him by, he turned and stared at me but didn’t say anything. When I was confident I had reached my room, I pushed open the door to see Eanos still inside, sitting in the chair behind the desk and smoking his pipe. Xandree was perched on his shoulder.
“How’d it go?” Eanos asked. “Do you understand the Omnicron now?”
I nodded. “Best I could. Liam and I will go explore a green area tomorrow. Darion told me to return here and read up on the various types of spells.”
“Wonderful.” Eanos stood from his chair, walked across the room, and pulled a book from the shelf. He took a couple big steps back towards the desk, and when he was close enough, he tossed the book, causing it to land on the top of the desk with a hard thwack. “There you go. I’m going to head back to my shop. I’ll check on your progress in a few days or until Darion summons me. ‘Til then, he’ll be able to handle your training.”
I raised an eyebrow as I eyed the thickness of the book. “Is there a specific page or section I should read?”
Eanos shrugged. “Just read it all. You can never have too much knowledge.” Before I could question him any further about the book, Eanos had whipped out his runebook and started casting a Recall spell. He seemed anxious to get away.
Once Eanos and his bird had disappeared, I made my way into the chair behind the desk and lifted the book, fittingly titled Magic & Its Fundamentals. I flipped the book open, scanning each chapter, until I found a section early in the book that went over spell variations:
“Magic in this world comes in various forms—some of which may yet to have been discovered. But there are four primary types of spells that make up the majority known magic—Directed, Projected, Channeled, and Internalized.
Directed spells are most commonly found in combat magic. These spells generally require you to direct your energy through use of a body part or foreign object. For example, a spell may allow you to release a bolt of energy towards a target, and you must direct the object via your hand, other body part, or in some cases, a weapon.
Projected spells are a type of magic that you project towards a target or in a certain location but require only your thoughts to conjure the spell. Healing and amplification spells often require projection to be cast on oneself or another target, for example. Many mages often use their hand or an object when casting projection spells, to more easily project their energy. This is especially useful during high stress situations with many potential targets, where you could inadvertently project a spell at an incorrect target.
Channeled spells require you to release magical energy over time to achieve the desired effect. Some channeled spells are ineffective without a certain amount of channeling, and others may become stronger or have alternate effects the longer they are channeled.
Internalized spells are s
pells that cannot be projected or directed towards another target or individual. These spells can be cast only on the caster, and often are enhancement-based spells.
Some spells are a combination of these types. For example, a spell may require both channeling and projection to achieve the intended result.”
I found the topic of spell types in the book mildly interesting and could conclude from it that I had at least one of each type of spell already. Fireblast was clearly directed, Fire Curtain was projected, Fire Bomb was channeled, and Boiling Blood was internalized. But was there any good reason why Darion wanted me to read it? Even if I knew all about the spell types, I’d still cast whatever spell was appropriate for the situation regardless of spell type.
I leaned back in the chair, stretched my arms high, and sighed. I didn’t mind reading, but reading definitions brought me back to High School—when I had been forced to memorize pointless information over and over again, then later tested on it. I, of course, had forgotten at least 95% of the useless things that the teachers had made me memorize, since they had never applied to my life.
But magic was new and actually did apply to me, so getting to know all the ins and outs did make sense, even if it seemed pointless on the surface. Who knew how I could apply it later.
I lowered my arms and leaned forward to take in the next page of the book, but as I was looking down, the spine of another book on the bookshelves caught my eye. The book was leatherbound, had a dragon image on its spine and the shiny etching running down its length read Of Reborns and Dragons—A copy of the same book Eanos had told me Solomon read when he was becoming radicalized.
I pulled back from my chair and bit my inner lip in curiosity. Reading about magic basics wasn’t bad, but reading about dragons and Reborns seemed far more interesting. Dr. Winston had built the world, so whatever was in the books had to have come from him or one of his subordinates. I wondered if there was anything interesting he had to say about Reborns… or dragons for that matter.
