Virtual Me- Valkyrie

by Michael Ocheskey

  ​“In order to discover a missing spell, you need three things. You need the proper ingredients, an altar like this one, and an unused scroll or a book with unused pages on which the spell is inscribed.” Loradine gestured and I got to my feet, walking to the altar.

  ​“This altar is where the process takes place. It is a catalyst. You place the ingredients here,” he pointed at the large basin, this one made of ceramic, “and a scroll or book goes on this pedestal. Every spell has a very specific list of ingredients. The ingredients are used to create the magical ink which will transfer onto the scroll or book. The power of the altar will then turn the ingredients into the ink, if they are correct, once the altar is activated by turning the basin one full spin clockwise. If they aren't the right ingredients, you end up with a mess in a basin that has to be thoroughly cleaned before you can make another attempt at creating the ink.”

  ​The altar not only made new spells, but existing ones as well. It didn't really serve a purpose to create existing spells except that it gave you a stock to sell or keep in case you needed a magical refresher. Many spells were commonplace items that could be purchased at any store from item boxes, though they were expensive. These were the beginning level spells. Intermediate and advanced level magic was another story.

  ​There were a set number of scrolls in existence for intermediate and advanced spells when the SRU was opened and they were transferred around. People would buy them to learn the spell and either keep them until it was stolen from them or sell it back to a store where it would be sold to a new user. These spell scrolls and books could be duplicated by using Discovery of Magic to create more copies to sell, but it was difficult to discover the correct ingredients, so most people didn't bother.

  ​According to Loradine, it could take an entire lifetime to uncover a missing spell. That's why my training wouldn't be to uncover a missing spell, but to work with existing spells and attempt to create scrolls of them. Understanding the ingredients was the key.

  ​The ingredients used to make the ink had to be things that related to the spell. Each spell had a set number of ingredients that ranged from two to ten. You would think that the more advanced the spell the more ingredients it used, but the ingredients needed weren't based on the spells level so much as the spells purpose.

  ​A spell that had a very direct purpose such as a fireball or lightning bolt had fewer ingredients than a spell that had a more complex purpose such as healing a wound. Healing a wound wasn't a specific purpose. A wound could be anything on anyone. As such, the ingredients would be vaguer and there would be more ingredients needed, even for the simplest healing spell.

  ​The ingredients didn't need to be physical items either. They could be magic itself. For instance, if one of the ingredients needed was fire you could light a match and place it in the basin, rub sticks together until they caught fire, direct a fire spell into the basin or anything else as long as the end result was that it created fire in the basin.

  ​Some ingredients were obvious, like a fire magic spell requiring fire as an ingredient, but others were more difficult and that's where the puzzle came into play. The elves had a large apothecary full of different ingredients they would use as they attempted to uncover missing magic. Anything else they needed, they would go on quests to search for. Any of the animal parts they needed for Discovery of Magic they got from commonplace jars that came pre-filled with the particular ingredient. They would never have been able to bring themselves to cut open an animal to harvest its parts.

  ​They gave me tasks to recreate spells that only used ingredients found in the apothecary in order to make my training easier, but part of the training was for me to figure out which ingredients I needed. They would give me no help except telling me the exact number of ingredients I'd need for a spell. Even that, they said, was giving me more than I would have if I were trying to create a missing spell. Not knowing the number of ingredients needed was one of the reasons why it could take a lifetime or longer to uncover these spells.

  ​Loradine and the other elves left me alone during my training, telling me that it would help me think if I was alone. I didn't like being alone, though, so I had Bartholomew accompany me and would frequently summon Zephyra to my side. The three of us would talk about many different things while I worked. I found it much easier to figure out the ingredients for spells when I didn't focus all my attention on them directly.

  ​The first spell Loradine gave me to uncover was a simple one with only two ingredients, Fireball. The first ingredient was obvious, the other took a little thinking. I tried putting leaves and other burnable materials in, but nothing worked. It wasn't until I started thinking about what a fireball would be on Earth that I realized what the other ingredient was. A fireball on Earth would be a ball of flaming magma from a volcanic eruption. In the apothecary was a stockpile of small volcanic rocks. I put one of them and a burning match into the altar's basin and voila, a Fireball spell.

  ​As the spell assignments given to me got harder, I started cheating a little by having Bartholomew and Zephyra help me with suggestions of ingredients to use. It wasn't like they knew the answers, so it wasn't really cheating, but it helped to have more than one mind working on the problem. While we worked, we began discussing the possibilities of magic.

  ​As Loradine had explained it, anything that you could think of was potentially something that could be done with magic. This intrigued me because, if true, it meant there were actually an infinite number of spells that could exist as long as Aurora agreed that the spell was something she would allow people to have access to and created it.

  ​I became obsessed with one idea in particular. What if it were possible to create a spell that wasn't an active magic itself, but a magical storage device? It would constantly gather the magical power around you and continue to store it so that you would never run out of magical energy. My obsession sprang from my time with the elves. The elves seemed to be born with that ability. Unlike other races, they didn't have a magical power limit. They never had to recover after using magic.

  ​Lesley had shown me that everyone from the SRU and my world had limits to how much magic they could use. It was the limit of how much magic they could hold in their bodies and how effectively they used that magic.

  ​But the elves were different. They didn't have to worry about increasing their magical efficiency to allow them to cast more spells because there were no visual limits to their magical powers. A small child among the elves could cast a never-ending stream of spells for weeks without feeling the least bit drained of magical power. If the elves had such a potential innately, then perhaps it was possible for others to possess it too.

  ​I knew it was something that shouldn't be released to the common public. The restrictions on magic were what prevented most people from abusing magic and causing mass destruction. Still, there were some people, like myself, who devoted their lives to making this world a safer place. Perhaps these people could be trusted with that power just as the elves were.

  ​I debated with Bartholomew and Zephyra on the subject many times. They both seemed to be of the same opinion, that it wouldn't be good for that knowledge to be commonplace and that the number who truly wouldn't abuse the power were few and far between. In fact, of the people Bartholomew met while traveling with me, Queen Isabelle was probably the only other person besides me that he would trust with that knowledge, and he wasn't entirely sure that she would be able to handle the knowledge.

  ​If I did succeed in creating such a spell, Bartholomew and Zephyra insisted that I keep the knowledge secret, only releasing it to someone I trusted fully after having spent a significant amount of time with them.

  ​I'd gotten fairly confident in my ability to use Discovery of Magic as the weeks progressed. After two weeks, I'd grown rather tired of trying to recreate existing spells. It wasn't anywhere near as fun as trying to solve the mystery of the missing spells. I explained to Loradine that I felt my training
in Discovery of Magic was sufficient and that I would like to try my hand at uncovering a missing spell.

  ​He agreed but told me that I had a time limit. It would take about two more weeks for the robes Lanya was making me to be completed, and when they were, the elves would have the ceremony to mark the completion of my training and my status as an honorary elf. I would be allowed to search for a missing spell during that time, but after that, I would have to continue my journey.

  ​It wasn't that they were kicking me out of Valanesia. They'd given me permission to return any time I wanted, but we all knew that I couldn't complete my mission of protecting this world from the confines of this city. With that in mind, I put a great deal of effort into my research.

  ​From my training with Lesley and the dwarves, I knew that gemstones had the greatest capacity to store magical energy. That's why items with difficult enchantments on them had to have at least one gemstone and sometimes more than one. The gemstones absorbed magic in larger amounts and a faster pace than other materials.

  ​There really wasn't much difference between the types of gems except for chrystavite. Chrystavite wasn't really capable of holding more magical power. The difference was that chrystavite came fully charged with magical power and replenished its power almost instantly because it was the remains of the ancient and magically powerful race of Chrylonians. The other stones had to absorb magical energy over time, either from the caster or from the environment.

  ​Using the box that Queen Isabelle gave me, I created two pearls, a diamond, and a ruby to use as test ingredients in the spell. I didn't have time to create much more since it takes a while just to create one gemstone. Besides, I wouldn't have time for very many attempts at discovering the ingredients for this spell.

  ​Bartholomew, Zephyra, and I spent most of the next two weeks debating possible ingredients to use in our spell attempts. Eventually, the day before the ceremony arrived. I'd run out of time to guess. I spent the entire day in the laboratory doing my attempts and cleaning up afterward.

  ​I wanted to save the pearls for my last two attempts because out of all the gemstones, the pearl was the one I felt most connected to. If I was lucky enough to succeed, I wanted it to be with a pearl. I was known as the White Avenger from my white clothing and hair, by best friend was a pearl-scaled dragon, the pendant Lesley gave me had a pearl in the center, and the conical hair piece Isabelle gave me was full of pearls. It just made sense.

  ​My first attempt was an utter disaster. I used the ruby as one ingredient, water, dirt, a lit match, air that Zephyra blew into the basin, light from a light spell directed at the basin and a lightning bolt shot directly into the basin. I'd hoped that if I included an ingredient to signify each of the elements of magic it would work. What I was left with was the foulest smelling lump of hardened earth I'd ever seen. It was worse than, skunk, manure, rotten eggs, and rotten meat all wrapped into one. It was almost impossible to get out of the basin too, taking up a lot of time I could have been using on my other attempts.

  ​The second attempt was also a failure, but it didn't make you want to run and scream in terror. For ingredients, I used the diamond, a few drops of my own blood to represent life, a feather from a raven who'd died of old age a few days ago in the village square to represent the cycle of life, and a scale from Bartholomew, which he'd given me since he was a distant relative of the Chrylonians, the strongest magical beings in this world's ancient history.

  ​At least that sludge didn't smell or stick to the basin when we cleaned it out.

  ​For my third attempt, I had decided to try a different tactic. As it was the elves abilities that had inspired me to try creating this spell, I had asked Loradine to give me a few strands of his hair to try as an ingredient. He'd plucked a few strands from his scalp happily and wished me luck. I now placed those into the empty basin along with one of my pearls. Those were the only two physical ingredients I added this time. Then I placed my hands over the basin, and like I'd done while activating my pendant, I forced a portion of my magical energy into the basin. Only, as I wasn't activating a magical item, I only poured about one percent of my energy into the basin.

  ​I gave the basin a full turn and watched as the pearl and hair, the only visible items in the basin, melted into a black liquid. I couldn't believe it. This was the reaction I was hoping for. The ink in the basin was identical to the successful attempts I'd had recreating existing spells during my training.

  ​It was only a small puddle of ink, but that didn't matter. The scroll began to glow. The ink rose into the air. It hovered for a second and then shot onto the scroll like a bullet. Glowing golden text began forming on the scroll in elven runes. The spell I'd just created wasn't Nature or Spirit magic, so why was it in elven runes?

  ​When the text stopped forming and the glow from the text died, I picked up the spell scroll from the altar and read it out loud to Bartholomew and Zephyra.

  ​“This scroll has been written in elven runes in order to protect it from being read by others. It is the property of Valkyrie, the White Avenger, and is hereby presented to her and created for her by the authorization of Aurora Eventide. This spell is not meant for widespread use and only those whom Valkyrie and Aurora jointly authorize will be allowed access to this spell.”

  ​Zephyra shook her head in shock. “You just did what the elves said couldn't be done. You've created a new spell with Aurora's consent and assistance. I can't believe it.”

  ​I continued to read the description aloud, “This spell is an enchantment called Stone of the Ages. Cast this enchantment upon a gemstone of your choice and press the stone into your flesh. The stone will meld itself permanently to your body through a tattoo unique to the person the spell has been embedded in. It will begin to absorb the magical energy in your body at a slow pace, accumulating over time, to give you an increasingly infinite source of energy. Below you will find the incantation.”

  ​I stopped reading aloud at that point. The incantation was long and complex. It was similar to elven magic in its design, written in a paragraph format instead of poetic meter.

  ​Zephyra told me that she was tired and would be leaving to get some sleep, but I knew she was simply giving me time to myself. Bartholomew told me something similar and stepped from the laboratory.

  ​I was so excited that I couldn't wait to use the spell and the others knew it. I stayed alone for over an hour, reading and memorizing the spell. When I was sure it was memorized, and I wouldn't fail, I pulled the remaining pearl from my pocket, placed it on the ground in front of me, and began chanting.

  ​The finished product didn't look any different from when I’d started. The pearl that lay in front of me was just a pearl. I took the scroll, sealed it with the blood magic the elves had taught me that allowed only me to open it, and put it away in my purse. Taking a deep breath of anticipation, I lifted the pearl, an oval shaped pearl the size of my thumbnail, and pressed it into the center of my forehead.

  ​Everything erupted in fire. I thought I was going to pass out as I rolled around on the floor screaming. I felt Bartholomew at my side before I could see him through my hazy, tear-filled eyes. He was holding me against his chest and rocking me back and forth comfortingly. I had no idea how much time had passed.

  ​When I regained my composure, I smiled up at Bartholomew through tear-stained eyes and whined, “It wasn't fair of Aurora not to say how much that would hurt in the spell description she wrote me.”

  ​Bartholomew gave a choked laugh and I realized he'd been crying too. He kissed me gently on the forehead and chided, “Don't scare me like that, idiot.”

  ​He carried me to my room and tucked me into bed. I was too tired to even move. When he left, I logged out for a moment to remove myself from the lingering pain.

  ​Back in reality, I was breathing hard and shaking. I took off my SRU-visors and went to the restroom. After relieving myself, I stood in front of the mirror, staring at my forehead. There was nothing
there, of course, but it had felt so real when the pearl had burned its way into me. I went and got something to eat, showered to stop my shaking, and went back to my room.

  ​The calendar on the wall showed that it had been almost six months since the SRU had opened. I only had four to five months’ worth of savings left in which to get a job, but I still couldn't bring myself to leave the SRU. My journey was still continuing. I felt more alive in Evanasia than I ever felt on Earth. It didn't matter at this point. One more month and then I would start looking for a job. Just one more month to continue my journey full-time.

  ​I took some painkillers for the headache I had developed, stepped back into bed, switched the visor to sleep mode—I'd already begun to get my days and nights mixed up—and made my way back into my world.

  ​I stepped from the bed Bartholomew had left me in and walked to the mirror on the vanity cabinet in the corner. The face in the mirror was still my own, but it appeared all the more regal and fierce. The pearl in the center of my forehead looked like it belonged, like it had always been there. There was no scar tissue around it. It was like an extension of my skin in every way. Reaching out from the pearl, as if born of it, was a design of white ink. The design reminded me of an elven tattoo. It swirled around in a fleur-de-lis pattern on my forehead, with the pearl in the center of the flower and the bottom two stems reaching for my temples by route of my nose bridge, under and around my eyes, and coming to a swirling stop just beneath my eyes on my cheekbones.

  ​I opened up my stats window and noticed a constant fluctuation in my magical energy stat. One second it dropped to ninety-nine percent, the next it was back to one hundred percent. The cycle kept repeating every two seconds as the energy pulled from my body and stored in the pearl was replenished by my magical control. If I hadn't worked so hard to allow myself to restore used magical energy, the spell would have drained my magical powers in less than a minute. This spell wasn't something for an amateur magician. Only a master was capable of handling the drain and not letting it affect them.