Arrival

by William Dickey

  “I’m off the hook, right?” I asked.

  “More like the noose,” he clarified. “You’re not a fish, Mr. Stein. But yes you’re off of it.”

  I waited patiently as the crowd filed out. After several minutes, I was just left with the Archlord, the methodical Hesparian, and a couple of the guards. It was only then, once everyone was gone, that the Archlord addressed me.

  “So, what can I do for you?”

  “Huh?”

  “Thanks to you, we averted a major disaster, so I’m willing to grant you a boon commensurate with your service,” said Archlord Quewel.

  “Umm…” I was still in shock. Everything was happening too quickly. One moment, everyone is saying I’ll be executed and the next the Archlord wanted to give me a reward.

  “Not sure what you should ask for. Not to worry, that’s good. Too many people your age mistakenly believe they know everything. Just think about your long term goals and ask for something that could help you with them,” said Quewel.

  ‘Get more magic,’ Mai suggested, a bit forcefully. ‘This city is famous for it and you need to learn for your class.’

  Mai had a good point so I went along with her.

  “I’ve heard this city is famous for magical studies,” I began.

  “Yes,” Archlord Quewel agreed.

  “I’m interested in this world’s magic. Magic doesn’t exist where I came from. Do you think I can study at Crystalpeak’s Magic Academy?” I asked.

  “Hmmm,” groaned Quewel, reservedly.

  “Too big a favor?” I asked.

  “Perhaps… The other nobles won’t like it. They consider the Academy somewhat sacred. Most are mages, many attended school there and their children have done or will do the same. The rules have relaxed somewhat in recent years, allowing commoners with sufficient talent to attend, but they’ll be up in arms if I let in a foreigner. My position isn’t as all-powerful as many people would believe. And I’ll need the support of the other houses now that trouble is on the horizon. I can’t do something that might jeopardize our unity,” said Quewel.

  ‘That bastard,’ said Mai. ‘He’s trying to squelch on the reward. The city owes you big time. Don’t let that Arselord get away with it.’

  “I understand,” I said reluctantly.

  ‘Humph.’

  “Don’t think I won’t help you. You wish to learn magic. You don’t need to be an academy student to do that. Instead I’ll give you this.” Quewel reached into a pocket and pulled out a hand sized stone shield with the Archlord’s family crest emblazoned across it, a wolf howling at the full moon. “This will give you access to both the inner city and the Repository of Knowledge, the Academy’s library. You may not be able to benefit from the formal classes, but anything you’d learn there can also be found in a book, provided you possess the necessary discipline.”

  I took the emblem and reiterated my thanks until the Archlord ordered me to leave. Once outside Mai reappeared beside me.

  “So what do you think?” I asked her.

  ‘Not bad,’ she replied. ‘It’d be nice to see magical demonstrations, but the books are good enough.’

  “Yeah,” I agreed, walking down the street. A couple groups of people were openly pointing, apparently word traveled fast.

  ‘So are we going to the library now?’ asked Mai.

  “Now?” I yawned. “I was running around all night. I’m a man not a machine. I need some sleep.”

  Chapter 24: Library

  I awoke the next morning to a barrage of new system messages.

  You have completed the quest: †Herald of Northern Aggression†

  Your warning has been heard around the country and people are already on the move. For completion of the quest, you have acquired insight into danger and have been granted a skill in accordance.

  You have learned new skill: †Sense Jeopardy†

  †Sense Jeopardy Lvl.1 (0.0%)†

  Allows the user to detect sources of danger at all times.

  As familiarity with danger increases so does detection radius.

  Detects all danger within 10 meters.

  After the events of the previous day, I’d already felt confident, but it was nice to see the interface’s confirmation. A great weight lifted from my shoulders. The sacrifice of Mill Valley, all the people who died there wasn’t for naught. People were warned, such savage attacks wouldn’t be repeated, and once Archlord Quewel marshalled the northern forces, the people of Mill Valley would be avenged.

  After a solid breakfast, I returned to the inner city. I flashed the Archlord’s badge to get past the guards and headed for the Repository of Knowledge. The library was built right next to the Academy’s main building, but while the Academy was a grand spire rising dozens of floors into the sky, the library was almost entirely underground. Only a small cubical structure poked up, serving as little more than an entrance and a place to put a skylight that lit a central staircase that wound down nine floors filled with so many books the shelves had to be put on rails, so aisles wouldn’t be necessary.

  I found at the front desk a wizened old librarian struggling to repair the broken binding of an ancient text.

  “Those brats,” the librarian grumbled to himself as he brushed a layer of glue along the inside edge of a withered page. “Completely shameless. They have no respect for knowledge. If it wasn’t for their station I’d shove my boot up their fat asses.”

  ‘You’re preaching to the choir. If I had a boot, I’d do the same, old man,’ said Mai.

  “Excuse me,” I said, feeling awkward cutting into a thought the librarian would have preferred kept private.

  “Err… Yes, how can I help you?” said the librarian, choosing to pretend I hadn’t overheard.

  “Could you point me to the 1st year curriculum?” I asked. I wasn’t sure if this would be a good starting point but wasn’t sure how else I could begin. Lilith had taught me some magic, but I hadn’t learned much.

  “I could,” answered the librarian with a confused look. “But why would you need that, didn’t you receive your books at the start of the term.”

  “Well you see my circumstances are a bit unusual. I didn’t receive any because I don’t go to class. In fact, I’m not a student here at all. It’s just that I was given special permission from the Archlord to access the Repository,” I explained.

  “Hmm…” the old librarian mumbled as he gave me a good look over. I didn’t look anything like the noble born mage students the librarian was used to seeing with all their attention-seeking finery. Instead, I had opted for a simple white tunic and beige pants.

  “You are the bell ringer I heard about?” the librarian asked. “The one who risked his life to warn everyone about the beastmen from the north?”

  “You heard about that?” I casually nodded.

  “Of course, everyone’s talking about it. Even this old man managed to hear about it. They say the Archlord is planning a campaign that will go down in the history books. It’s been less than a day and already the garrison started recruiting. I had the hardest time talking my grandson out of joining on the spot,” said the librarian.

  “Why, aren’t you worried about the beastmen attacking?” I asked. “They’re a problem for everyone.”

  “I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” scoffed the librarian. “It might matter to villagers or nobles who have holdings on the frontier, but to the common man here in Crystalpeak there are no worries. The beastmen would never have a chance to take the city. I told my grandson to stay here where it is safe, but he doesn’t care about safety. He’s more interested in adventure and glory, and while this war does provide an opportunity to rise in station, there is no way it’s worth the risk.”

  “You’re preaching to the choir. I don’t intend to get involved in this war either,” I said.

  “But then why’d you get it started?” asked the librarian.

  “Because the dead deserve vengeance and the living deserve a chance to defe
nd themselves,” I explained.

  “I guess that’s true,” agreed the librarian. “But you could benefit even more from going off to the fight and you are one of those otherworldly immortals. You don’t truly bare the risks faced by others.”

  “Yes,” I lied, not wanting to explain Mai or how her presence meant I had lost that superhuman ability. “But even if I can’t die, being chopped into little bits isn’t fun. I’d rather spend my days held up in here with a good book.”

  “I feel the same way,” the librarian agreed. “But we seem to have removed ourselves from the topic at hand. You were looking for the list of 1st year books.”

  I nodded and the old man reached behind his desk and pulled out an ink quill and sheet of parchment. He quickly scrawled out a list of titles he’d committed to memory. “Here it is,” he said passing me the list. “The library is divided by subject and difficulty. Different shelves focus on different subjects and the lower the floor the more advanced the books. You can find all of these on the first sublevel and most of them will be in the aisle labeled Fundamentals. If you have any problems finding anything, give me a holler.”

  I took the piece of paper and read it carefully.

  Basic Roots by Bea Greene

  Directional Based Restraints by Ed Cetra

  An Introduction to Shaping and Channeling by Rich Arond

  What About Time: A Guide to Duration and Delay by Timm Turner

  543 Mechomagical Movements: Magical Device Essentials by Rob Otto

  Strange Lands and Stranger Magics by Kaz Zaam

  Unsure of where to start, I decided to look at them all. Following the old man’s directions, it didn’t take me long to find them tucked away on the various shelves. Unlike Earth, the hand-written tomes were an expensive commodity and people weren’t allowed to leave with them, so I settled down in one of the small private rooms set aside for studying. The rooms were equipped with a plain wooden table and a couple of lumpy leather chairs, whose primary function was to make sleep impossible.

  Basic Roots was exactly as its title suggested. The volume was filled with diagrams of different root sigils some of which Lilith had already introduced including the fire sigil I had already ‘mastered.’ However, the book went further than what Lilith had taught. It was true that the foundation of all casting was on the memorization and accurate mental projection of sigils but the book did more than slap some shapes on a piece of paper. The book included a number of memorization aides to help remember more complex bits of the designs, tips like parts that are often forgotten, and references to useful restraints that were frequently partnered with the roots. This coordinated well with Directional Based Restraints and What About Time: A Guide to Duration and Delay, which focused on different restraints.

  An Introduction to Shaping and Channeling focused on an aspect of magic I hadn’t heard of before. It revolved around blending one sigil into another to alter a spell mid-cast. At the simplest level, it could be used to bend fireballs midflight or reverse a spell before it took full effect. At higher levels it was what I’d seen the Sagemeister perform to shift the complex scrying window from one subject to another.

  543 Mechomagical Movements: Magical Device Essentials was the one I found most interesting. Magical devices naturally synergized with both magical and crafting skills afforded to me as an Otherist. These devices, in many ways, reminded me of electronics. They were powered by mana imbued crystals (batteries) whose energies were directed through conduits (wires) to form a specific sigil. Switches alongside the devices could connect or disconnect the crystals, turning the power on and off, but otherwise the devices could only perform the specific spell for which they were designed. That was the great weakness of magical artifacts. They could each do one thing, while a mage could use any sigil in his mind or a combination thereof.

  The final book, Strange Lands and Stranger Magics, while very interesting, provided no actual magic. The book catalogued magical abilities and techniques displayed by monsters or foreign races. Little was known about how many of these worked since many of them relied on racial traits and the countries themselves didn’t have much contact.

  After a few hours of study, I was interrupted by the large click of the door as it was pulled open.

  “Sorry. Didn’t think anyone was in here. There usually isn’t,” mumbled a young redheaded woman with a familiar face as she peered inside.

  “I see you work all day as well as all night,” I said.

  The woman frowned for a moment, trying to understand where I knew her from, before her mouth opened wide in surprise. “You’re the observatory pervert,” she said, her face gaining color to match her hair.

  ‘She’s got your number,’ Mai snickered.

  The woman was the young lady Zelus had been with on the roof when I crashed my hot air balloon. I slapped myself when I recalled the origin of her comment. In order to get past her and Zelus I had intimated that I would have attacked her if Zelus hadn’t been there.

  “I’m sorry I was less than a gentleman with you the other night. I was only trying to get past as quickly as possible,” I said.

  “I heard of about you. You’re that otherworlder who made it over the wall, rang the sanctuary bell, and for the first time in a century wasn’t executed, all because you gave them a little tidbit about the beastmen. Now, people say war is coming. But none of those things explain why you said all those rude things two nights ago,” said the woman.

  “What do you mean? I just wanted to get past,” I repeated.

  “That doesn’t explain why you had to go so far. Why did you threaten to attack me when you could have simply gone?” she complained.

  “I was trying to help a bro out,” I said.

  “Excuse me,” she said.

  “The man you were with,” I said, refraining from using Zelus’ name to conceal our history. “I overheard some of your conversation and he seemed to be pursuing you so I thought I’d help him out. What better way to a woman’s heart than to save her from a pervert.”

  “Zelus wasn’t after my heart.”

  “So I take that to mean he wasn’t successful.”

  “I know the type of guy he is.”

  “Why do you let him hang around then?” I asked.

  She hesitated at this point. “Everyone likes company at least some of the time.”

  “What do you mean, I’m sure a girl like you has loads of friends around here,” I said.

  “Not so much,” she said, dimly.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Magical talent runs nearly exclusively in certain bloodlines, noble bloodlines. I am a commoner, while everyone else in my year is noble,” she explained. “Until recently, I wouldn’t have been even allowed to attend the Academy. All the other students look down on me, they shun me.”

  “All except Zelus,” I said.

  “Zelus is an odd one. Don’t get me wrong he’s not a bad guy, he just likes to show off a bit.”

  “A bit?”

  “More than a bit,” she conceded. “He does a lot of wild things, but his position insures he can get away with it. Unlike me, a single misstep and half the houses will demand my removal.”

  “So that’s why you choose to be in a library on a beautiful day like today,” I said.

  “Partly,” she sighed. “I also need the studying. The nobles hire private tutors and have secret techniques they share only within their family so they have an easy time with most of this stuff. I am forced to work three times harder just to keep up.”

  “Aren’t there other commoners. Maybe you could work together, try stuff out, share what works,” I suggested.

  “There are a few but they are all older and are too busy with their own studies to help out a first year like me,” she said.

  “You’re a first year,” I said, a bit surprised.

  The students of the Academy began at age 18 and studied for up to six years although most didn’t. Students stayed for as long as their desired specialty req
uired. Some only stayed for two years, learning the general ins and outs of magic. This was the minimum required before you were allowed to join the mage guild and were licensed to sell your magical services. Those who stayed longer took on an emphasis, a type of magic to focus on in the effort to gain proficiency in one of the magical professions.

  Battle mages focused on manipulating fire, lightning, and other elemental forces to generate large-scale destruction.

  Mentalists wielded illusion and trickery to either manipulate their enemies into disarray or provide entertainment. Providing realistic hallucinations that fulfilled a person’s every dream or their enemy’s every nightmare made many fortunes.

  Enchanters blessed normal items with magical effects, creating swords that never dulled or armor that never rusted.

  Diviners were individuals like the Sagemeister I’d seen during my audience with the Archlord. They used scrying to view distant places and deliver messages instantly across the country.

  Healers are self-explanatory. They used magic to heal anything from broken bones to poisonous ailments.

  Artificers were the rarest of the bunch. They were magical craftsmen who constructed artifacts, which non-magical people could use to cast simple spells. Since most mages were nobles and artifacts were mostly for non-mages, artificing was viewed poorly. This and the fact that any magical artifact could be completely negated by a mage with interference magic explained why artificers were so much rarer than the other types of mage.

  In terms of additional training, battle mages, mentalists, and enchanters trained an additional two years at the Academy, while diviners, healers, and artificers trained an additional four.

  “What are you planning to take your emphasis in?” I asked.

  “Not sure, I’m just trying to survive now. At the end of every school year, there is an exam you need to pass if you want to stay another year. I already have my hands full with that,” she said.

  “Well if you really need someone to practice with, let me know.”