by Luka Petrov
Zagras completed a successful Dexterity Check, rolling a 10 + 8and hit the bullseye.
The team that Zagras was on erupted in a celebration. The students on that team applauded and cheered, excited to have won that round. While there was a small celebration, one of the members of the opposing team from Zagras came over to me.
“I saw you watching our game, do you want to play? You can take my spot, I’m up next,” the young mage in a purple robe said.
“Oh wow! I’d love to try,” I replied. I was certain that I could ace this game in no time. I wanted to show all of these older mages what Edward MacAra was about. I couldn’t wait until all of these mages asked me what my secret was. I couldn’t tell them, but I still wanted them to ask.
I took the young mage’s spot, while he went and helped the professor set up for class. As I stood in the classroom and looked at the target that hung on the opposing wall, I realized how difficult this game was. I set up the runes and watched as a dart appeared before me. While manipulating the runes, I did the best I could. Since, I had never played this game before, I did not have the spell prepared, but I tried my best to figure out the configurations.
As I moved around the runes, immediately, I had a barrage of fireballs shot in my direction. “Engage Shield,” one mage shouted behind me.
“He doesn’t understand how this game works,” another voice said behind me. “This is a test of magical output as well as defense.”
The miniature fireballs were aimed at the tower that stood behind me, but that was certainly distracting.
“Our tower is nearly destroyed,” one of the female mages said to the other mages behind me.
Edward cast shield.
Despite being caught off guard, I released the dart at the target and shut my eyes.
Edward failed his Dexterity Check, rolling a 2 (+1), sending the dart twenty feet from the bullseye.
I watched the dart hit the wall, far off from my target. Wow! That was difficult. I could not keep the Shield engaged, along with all of the movement from the attacks, and prolonged concentration to aim the dart to effectively complete this game. “Man, that was tough,” I muttered to myself in defeat. The other students had such an easy time managing all the actions simultaneously.
“Hey man, it’s alright. This is a tough game,” one of the mages who was on my team said as he patted me on my back. “Come on, class is going to start now,” he continued motioning to where I saw where the other students had funneled.
I took in the entire class now that all of the commotion was done. The first thing I noticed when I entered the classroom, was its size. This had to be one of the smallest classrooms that I had ever been in. Despite the game that we played by the door of the classroom, the remainder of the classroom was not much but an intimate space where we sat. Previously, I had my classes in large auditorium-like lecture halls. The same type of lecture halls that I was expecting to attend when I went to college in my other life. However, those memories and feelings seemed so distant now.
The other thing that stuck out in this classroom were the ice crystals that came from the ceiling and dripped down like shards of glass. These were either remnant from an ice spell or festive decorations for the class, Elemental Elements.
As I looked around, I noticed the class size was also much smaller than I was used to. The seating arrangement of the class was quite odd as well. I had followed my teammate over to where everyone was already seated.
Typically, the classrooms were set up in rows of desks, or auditorium-like seating with the larger classes. This classroom had twelve chairs, one put right next to the other in a circle. The professor sat in one of the chairs along with the ten other students. There was one empty chair.
“You must be Edward MacAra, please have a seat,” said the Professor. “My name is Kyna Lathurna, but please call me Mistress Lathurna. Welcome to Elemental Elements. I nodded in acknowledgment before pulling out the chair to sit in it. Before sitting down, I moved the chair back into its spot. What an odd way to sit, we were practically on top of one another.
“I was informed earlier today that Edward would be joining us, as this would not be his normal class,” explained the professor.
“Thank you, pleased to be here,” I replied, smiling at the other students who glared at me from their seat. “Sorry, I was late.”
“Let’s resume our discussion on what makes an evoker an evoker,” Mistress Lathurna continued. “Who can tell me from your required reading what is an Evoker?” Mistress Lathurna looked around the room and said, “Rachel. For Edward’s sake, what makes an Evoker evoking?”
Rachel took a breath and looked at me. She explained, “An Evoker is a causal relationship. Their abilities rely on conjuring elemental forces. It involves summoning the energy and using elemental properties such as fire, ice, and lightning. These are used in offensive black magic.”
“Thank you,” I replied. I already had known that information, but I played along.
“Now, everyone. Stand up, take your chair and move ten steps outward,” explained Mistress Lathurna. All of the students picked up their chair and moved as they were instructed. “Now, stand in front of your chair. We will work on quick casting a lightning bolt after performing a Magic Missile. This will allow you to render more damage on your opponent. Us black magic users always subscribe to the idea that a good defense is a great offense. I would like everyone to practice this sequence before we move onto more difficult spells.” Mistress Lathurna rubbed her hands together and put her palms toward the center of the room. Clouds of smoke came from her palms and clustered together, swirling, building on themselves. Finally, a large, barely clothed man appeared.
Mistress Lathurna conjured Seen Servant, producing a servant in the shape of a barbarian in the middle of the room. “You guys will hit Bradhammer the Barbarian in the middle of the room with your spells. Work quickly, we only have him for around an hour.”
I watched each student perform Magic Missile, where three glowing darts emerged from their hands and impaled the barbarian in unison. Right after, each student quick cast thunderbolt onto the barbarian. I already knew I was outclassed.
Mistress Lathurna stepped with her soft slippers, monitoring each student’s precision to manipulate the runes. Her black cloak skimming the surface of the floor. She wore a cloak that was similar to Hamon’s as it was embroidered with gold thread in the same design. Her hair was worn in a loose bun, the tresses of her hair pinned up in the back. She was at least half the age of Hamon and appeared to be fairly attractive, not that interested me.
She soon came up to me and waited. “Well?” she said.
“Mistress Lathruna, I cannot quick cast. Not yet. I’ve been wanting to gain that ability. I have been able to Silent Spell Cast and Duel Cast, but I haven’t been able to do those for some time. I have never been able to Quick Cast,” I explained.
She looked at me for a moment, appearing to be deep in thought. “I will show you how to gain that ability.”
My face lit up. I would gain a new ability already. This would be fantastic! “That is great! Hamon would never teach me.”
She seemed to dismiss my comment and continued, “How much magic can you cast before you run out of mana?”
I paused at that question. There were several times that I knew I was out of mana and needed to stop. “When I battled Lord Abraxas, I could only last for a few minutes. Thankfully we got very lucky and we were fortunate during the battle. Before I knew it, the Demon Lord had retreated into the portal on his way back to the Abyss,” I explained.
I could tell that Mistress Lathurna was processing what I told her. “It seems like Lord Abraxas retreated on his own,” she concluded.
“Oh?” I asked, needing clarification. Clearly, she did not understand that I had banished the Demon Lord. An obvious oversight.
She continued, “The Demon Lord could flatten you and all of your friends. I heard about the battle.” She bent down to look me in the
eye, “Ed, you were not prepared to do battle the Demon Lord. He knowingly did you a favor. Why? I don’t know. But him returning to the Abyss was not you’re doing.”
I was blown away by her assertion. She wasn’t there, she did not know what went on. She must have noticed my hesitation in her explanation because she went on, “Your magic pool is woefully short compared even to the other students in this class, let alone a Demon Lord. You may not believe me right now, but you’ll start to get the idea. Do you know how to cast Mage Light?”
I nodded and replied, “Of course.”
“Good. I want you to cast Mage Light over and over again from now until sundown,” explained Mistress Lathurna.
“What?” I asked.
“You not only heard me, you understood me. Now stop being obstinate because you don’t want to work for your magical abilities and start casting,” she said as she patted me on my head.
As she walked away, she said, “Casting Mage Light repeatedly will increase your magic pool and it won’t be dangerous to cast over and over.”
The patronizing infuriated me, but I did as I was told. I shouted, “Magicae lucis!” A glowing orb appeared over my head. Then I said, “Declinemus!” The Mage Light turned off.
I heard Mistress Lathurna say from across the room, “Very good Edward, and again. Also, do it while you cast the spells that we are practicing right now.”
I summoned the Mage Light. Then I cast Magic Missile. Attempting to then quick cast a thunderbolt, all I had were smoke between my palms. This was frustrating. I turned the Mage Light off, disappointed in my ability.
The nagging sound from Mistress Lathurna echoed throughout the classroom, “Edward, again.”
Mistress Lathurna interrupted everyone’s training and said, “Now class, we will go over a few more spells for today. Edward, you will not cast any more spells other than Mage Light over and over, you hear?”
“Yes, Mistress Lathurna,” I reluctantly replied.
She continued, “The rest of us will work on Ice Bolt, Ice Cone, Fire Bolt, and Fire Cone, and the optimal settings for each of these spells, both for single and multiple targets.”
All of the students stood in front of their chairs waring further instruction while I continued to cast Mage Light while she spoke. The barbarian servant had expired and vanished in a cloud of smoke. “Edward, since you are a little preoccupied with a separate assignment, just memorize the settings that I will be going over for now. Later, I will show you how to put them into your quick cast ability.” I found a moment to nod in agreement while still casting the Mage Light.
Mistress Lathurna went on with her lecture, “Class, in order for these spells to be effective, one must know how to manipulate the runes.” Mistress Lathurna waved her hand and brown runes appeared before her. I saw them from where I stood while I cast and turned off the Mage Light. As I watched this, I was transported back when Hamon taught me how to manipulate the runes down at the bolt range on his first day at Draererth. I needed to find Hamon. I really did. The only way I could see that happening was by learning as much as I could, having Mistress Lathurna teach me how to add Quick Cast to my abilities and be on my merry way to find Hamon.
Mistress Lathurna’s statements about my battle with the Demon Lord still puzzled me. However, I could figure all of that out once I found Hamon. All I needed to do, was to find Hamon.
“Magicae lucis!” I shouted, watching the orb come over my head. “Declinemus!” I repeated, watching the orb turn off and disappear. Now, I grew tired. Exhausted in fact. Casting the Mage Light over and over again did wear on my mana, quicker than I anticipated. I wondered if Mistress Lathurna was right.
Mistress Kyna Lathurna continued her lecture, “The runes or glyphs if you will, are only to use to change or rearrange based on the spell and your opponent. They are only a tool to activate the spell that you are casting. As you get more attuned to the glyphs and how to read and manipulate them the better spell caster you will be. The faster you memorize the correct angles that each rune must be placed at, the quicker you will increase your magical abilities. As you learn spells from spell books, it is extremely important that you memorize how to manipulate each glyph for optimal damage on the opponent.”
The professor drew her attention back to the runes that appeared before her. She added, “The system of our Order is based on the ancient dwarven race. They were the first to create and perfect rune manipulation. Our Mage Order built our system on theirs.”
“Magicae lucis…Declinemus!” I shouted, still exhausted, but could still cast the Mage Light.
We watched her move one of the glyphs over and rotated another. The professor continued, “There’s no right or wrong way to perform magic. This is how our Order performs it and we have found it to be most effective.” Mistress Lathruna was still not done rotating glyphs as she explained, “The more settings you memorize, the more precise your spells will become in different situations.”
“Magicae lucis…Declinemus!” I whispered, barely able to speak as my magic pool dwindled.
“Runes are metaphysical blockages in the ever-flowing, ever-present force that we call magic. When you exert your force or magic you can control the exact end result that you desire by merely moving the runes. The smaller runes describe the exact effects of the spell. Such as the distance of the opponent, if there is more than one opponent, then that part of the rune will need a separate line. One line per opponent.” While Mistress Lathurna explained the intricacies of the runes, she continued to manipulate them. “Another rune indicates the direction of the spell. You want the spell to head direction of your opponent,” she emphasized. “Too many times students neglect this critical point and the spell barrels off in the opposite direction. Do not let that be you.”
The professor outlined the diagram that appeared before her, “Before you cast, you must complete a few checks. The first is to ensure that the diagram is inscribed correctly on the vision that displays before you. Second, check and make sure the rune is written in the correct language. If you memorized parts of the spell incorrectly or confused it with another spell, most of the time the different spells are in different languages. You can catch this error by quickly doing a language check. Finally, to ensure all rumens are drawn with minor alterations, or punctuations, in their lines, this will require a knowledge check. You can repair and re-empower a broken rune. After all of the checks, you will need a trigger to activate the runes. This could be a spell word, a motion with your palms, or both. However, you activate your magic is your choice.
Mistress Lathurna finished her explanation on rune manipulation. She turned and threw her hands toward the back wall. A blast of cold air emerged from her palms. A sixty-foot cone of ice plunged toward the wall, forming a surface of ice crystals upon impact.
Each of the students turned and faced the wall, hurling the same cone of ice toward it. Soon, it felt as though we were encapsulated within sheets of ice as every surface in this classroom had to ice crystals around its surface. Thankfully I memorized the specifics of the rune settings as she explained the spell because I had to cast my Mage Light over and over.
“Well done everyone,” said Mistress Lathurna. “I will dismiss class now; everyone did a great job.” She paused for a moment. Then she said, “Edward, stay behind for a moment.”
I nodded as all of the other students exited the classroom. I remembered I was to meet Walter and Yves for lunch, but now it was looking like I would be late. I wondered what the instructor would want to speak with me about, seemed like she gave me my prescribed homework of casting the Mage Light until sundown. I couldn’t possibly have more spells to cast, could I? I had become worn out with the Mage Light; I could not handle much more.
After everyone left the room, Mistress Lathurna approached me. She started, “I believe you know more spells than you let on.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
“I have a feeling. Come with me,” she replied.
I stood up from my chair and followed her. She moved at a fast pace, and I found it difficult to keep up. I had no idea where we were headed, and I found it rude to ask and to question her, so I complied.
“Keep casting the Mage Light, Edward,” she commanded.
“Magicae lucis…Declinemus!” I said while trying to keep up with her. I did not know how I was going to make it through the rest of the day.
As we walked, I had not yet seen this part of Draererth since everyone gathered together to rebuilt it. The more I saw of it, the more and more I appreciated that we had the chance to rebuild and to make our school more opulent than before. I did not want to say anything while I was at Draererth before, but I thought we were in need of a remodel. Perhaps the Demon Lord did us a favor by making our school crumble into debris and rubble.
As we came outside, we passed the cathedral. I still found it fascinating that our Elders still thought it was necessary to keep a religious structure on our campus. I remember Hamon explained to me that the cathedral was on the campus of our wizard college not that we were to speak to the gods, but if they needed us. I chuckled as I remembered that.
“What were you snickering about just now,” asked Mistress Lathurna.
“Oh, a joke that my old mentor made,” I answered.
“It wasn’t about the cathedral, was it?”
“Yeah, it was. How did you know?”
“My mentor always made jokes about how the gods always needed to speak to us,” she replied.
“Hamon?” I asked.
“Right. He was my mentor too. He taught me everything I know. And now, Headmaster Wavernjack asked me to take you on. Since you are a journeyman now, I will guide you rather than mentoring you.”
After realizing that I will be receiving the very instruction that Hamon would want me to receive, I found myself excited. “Gees, that would be great,” I answered.
