The nature center was near the center of the city. To be honest, Alexander had only been there one time for a wedding and wasn’t too familiar with it. Traffic was light, so the drive fortunately wouldn’t take long. Not for the first time, he hoped there would be wind, water, and ice resources available.

  As he was a block away, stopped at a red light, Alexander saw a cloud engulfing the entire nature center. Rolling forward, the cloud expanded slowly. He felt he was about to hit a wall as his car entered the cloud, and the densest fog he had ever seen wrapped around his car, effectively blinding him. Using his spatial awareness, he felt he did a good job at least entering the parking lot before he turned off his car and carefully walked toward the building with his hands reaching out ahead of him.

  Finding the building’s brick exterior, he shuffled sideways, following the wall. He stepped over flowers and weaved around bushes, realizing he was in the front landscaping, which, he had to say, was exceptionally done.

  He found the glass doors and pulled them open, feeling like he had stepped into another dimension as he could see the interior of the building clearly, but the fog wrapped around the windows like a blanket. A crowd of twelve were all talking nervously at the same time, flustered by their current circumstances. As he waved away the fog he had brought into the building through the door, they all turned to look at him.

  Calmly, he walked to the information kiosk and grabbed a trifold map out of one of the displays. Opening it, he saw the layout of the gardens; it was organized by geographic origins. He wasn’t sure if that would be helpful in his case, but it was appreciated.

  He walked up to the counter and waited patiently for a staff member to check him in. The group looked about, confused, whispering, and one of them broke off. “Excuse me, sir, there is a bit of an emergency situation right now.”

  “I understand. I will not bother you if you need to attend to the other guests.”

  “Thank you for your understanding.”

  “I just so happen to have the cash for the entry.” Alexander put twelve dollars on the desk.

  “Do I need a wristband, or should I go on in?”

  “Sir, you do realize you won’t be able to see anything in this fog, right?”

  “Well, there is so much more than the sight of the lovely plants; there are all types of exotic smells to these plants. That will suffice for me.” He held out his wrist, and by instinct, the attendant ripped a wristband from her stack and placed it on him without the adhesive catching any hairs.

  “Thank you.” Alexander nodded and headed to the glass entryway on the opposite side of the room. As he passed the group, he nodded with a “Good day.”

  Upon opening the door, a deep harmonic scream echoed through the air, followed by the sound of a falling tree.

  “KRaaaaaagh Thoooow.”

  Turning back to the group, he comforted them. “I’m sure it is nothing.” Then he disappeared into the fog.

  Alexander had managed to strengthen several of his spells by reinforcing them with a hexagonal tessellation from his previous discovery. Now he pondered how to do the opposite.

  “Hexagonal tessellations are not the strongest form, per se; that would go to the triangle. The hexagon would be better for resisting torsion and shear, better flexibility, and weight distribution. Also, more coverage for less material. Shield.”

  Alexander observed his shield, holding it close to his face, rotating and thinking about why hexagons would and wouldn’t be advantageous, counting them off in his head.

  Load-bearing strength. Material efficiency, in this case, mana. Resistance to outside impacts. This makes hexagons perfect for the shield and floating disk. What would happen if I changed the shape again?

  “What is the weakest tessellation?” Alexander whispered, hyper-focused on the puzzle before him.

  He concentrated, staring down the shield like it was his next meal. He pictured in his mind and projected onto the shield a new shape. The glowing lines resisted for a moment but then shifted like water, rippling into the new shape.

  Squares.

  Alexander knelt down and slammed his shield into the concrete sidewalk.

  Wham, Wham, Wham.

  On the third strike, it shattered.

  ^

  You have discovered a hidden principle.

  The Shape of Magic V

  Rewards:

  -2500 xp

  +20% increased proficiency to all spells you cast.

  +10% increased control over your mana

  +10% increased success to all arcane creations

  Be aware that casting magic outside of the system established principles may cause unusual and unexpected results.

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  You have gained a level in the intermediate skill Arcana!

  Arcana level 5:

  You have 8 points to distribute to your Arcana skill tree.

  Tier 2 skills now unlocked in your Arcana skill tree.

  “Intriguing.”

  Alexander’s mind whirled at the implication that structural engineering might be foundational to magical theory. Now for the discovery he was actually trying to make.

  Alexander decided to integrate sign language and intent into the shape of his next spell. Piercing Winds was a terrible disappointment in his spellbook so far. You can’t look at the wind through a microscope, so he had no way of knowing if a tessellation was involved in the spell at all. That would not stop him from making an image and exerting his will over the spell.

  Wind, structurally, is molecules and kinetic energy colliding in a chain reaction. What might the structure of the magic that pushes the molecules look like? Perhaps it is hexagonal. Let’s make them squares.

  Image firm in mind, Alexander signed Forceful Wind.

  A gust pushed outward from Alexander in a straight line, creating a tunnel in the fog twelve feet wide and approximately a hundred feet long. As the fog billowed backward, the path cleared before him.

  “Oh my heavens!” an elderly woman exclaimed, falling slowly out of an iron chair as she swung her arms to balance herself.

  And that is why you don’t go throwing wind capable of cutting flesh to ribbons willy-nilly.

  “Floating Disc!” Alexander shouted, supporting the woman and pushing her carefully back into her chair.

  Alexander rushed over to help. “Ma’am, are you alright?”

  “I swear! Fog and wind will be my new profanity! And that’s saying something! Ever since my granddaughter ran off, I’ve been cursing using hookers and whores!”

  “That is quite colorful, ma’am. Can I assist you to the entryway? I don’t feel it would be pleasant for you to stay in this weather.”

  “You may indeed! All I wanted was to drink tea and look at some camellias. Then, before I knew it, the horns of heaven sound, and the devil’s anus descends… I think it says something like that in the Bible.”

  “It is a trying time, ma’am.”

  The woman fussed like that for the few dozen yards to the entry. Alexander opened the door for her, making sure she kept her feet until an attendant was summoned by her squawking. Alexander turned back to the foggy pathway and got to work navigating the maze of gardens. Before he could get a second wind spell going, the ground vibrated from a monstrous baritone voice.

  “KRaaaaaagh Thoooow,” boomed the being once again. Alexander approximated the voice’s location before catching his bearings.

  I am in the Perennial Garden… I need to pass through the Rose Garden to get to the Japanese Garden west of here.

  Alexander spun on the grass, approximating west from the garden’s sidewalk and the map’s alignment as he couldn’t see the sun.

  Reasonably confident in his bearings, he was about to continue his brisk walk but had to pause.

  Chirp.

  “Surely it’s just a bird.”

  Squeak.

  “Birds can both chirp and squeak, can they?”

  Light was diffused too much for any strong shadows, so Alexander looked at the meager shadow between his feet. A pair of eyes were looking up at him.

  “Darn it, Flick!”

  Flick jumped out of the shadow and turned a circle but almost fell over dizzily.

  “Hmph. You are probably exhausted from hiding so long,” Alexander said, picking Flick up without complaint. “Do you perch on shoulders? Or is that too parrot-like?”

  Flick willingly moved to Alexander’s shoulder, trying to get comfy, but he wasn’t able to settle. He moved up to Alexander’s head and slumped on his belly. Fortunately, he had all claws retracted as he moved.

  “Flick, I’d like you to recuperate and hide when you see any monsters.”

  Flick squeaked several times indignantly.

  “Well, how about since you have the highest elevation, you warn me if you see any danger.”

  Chirp.

  “Good. Teamwork—as I have heard—makes the dream work.”

  Alexander lifted his arms and power-walked toward the next garden.

  Alexander attempted to move silently through the aromatic paths but didn’t manage to increase any sneaking skills. There were many lovely smells, though. Flick’s breathing made for an interesting environmental noise as every once in a while, he heard a tiny crackling spark go off.

  All in all, it didn’t take long for Alexander to find the lair of his quarry. He passed a completely out-of-place Torii gate, which was used as an archway entrance to the Japanese garden. As he did, the fog began to dissipate. He could make out a pond, likely full of koi fish. He crouched down low and—while pulling something from his satchel—took Flick off his head, replacing him with a purple wizard hat and begrudgingly wrapped his cape around his shoulders.

  “You have the choice to stay back here and hide or climb a tree to be my lookout. Which would you prefer?”

  Squeak.

  “No, no. You won’t be fighting anything today. We might be able to resolve this without combat.”

  Squeak Squeak!

  “Well, sure. If it’s smaller than you and aggressive, you may take care of it, but if I have to spend money on vet bills, it’s coming out of your meat budget.”

  Squeak… chirp.

  “Agreed. Be careful.”

  Alexander pointed out a tree almost completely free of fog and watched Flick scramble up it. He felt a small sense of relief with Flick out of harm’s way.

  In the center of the clearing, he saw a white gravel clearing with a few boulders. A Zen garden, he realized. In addition to the Zen garden was a large tree, but Alexander noted that trees didn’t typically stomp around screaming.

  “IIIgggh KRaaaaaagh Thoooow,” it shouted into the air.

  Alexander could feel the tree monster’s steps vibrate through the ground.

  Am I morally opposed to killing trees? No. Sentient trees? I suppose it depends on what type of tree. Mesquite is a terrible tree, but a wonderful cooking wood… I’d kill a mesquite, but not to the point of extinction or even rarity. Hmm.

  The monster finally saw Alexander, likely because purple was not the most discreet of clothing palettes. The tree started walking toward him, and Alexander wasn’t entirely sure what to do. He didn’t have any fancy plans, but he didn’t get the sense that he was in any real danger, either. His snap strategy was shield, web, then floating disk to throw the thing off balance, and escape.

  Nothing said he couldn’t come back later with some tree poison. To his relief, it didn’t seem necessary. The moving tree got down on one knee and looked at Alexander with oversized green eyes.

  “Um, hello, tree. What big eyes you have… and a mouth, which I suppose makes sense as you were shouting a lot,” Alexander rambled nervously.

  “Maaaajjjjjoooon.”

  “Pardon?”

  “Maaajjjjoooon,” it said, reaching out a hand that resembled a tree branch. It pointed at Alexander’s hat, then his cape. Then one of the branches reached out and touched Alexander’s forehead. A zap sent shivers down his spine when the bark connected with him.

  “Wwwizzzaaaard,” the tree groaned. “Wwwheeeeere aaam I?”

  Alexander was frozen in shock. He could understand the tree. He had to think a moment on whether the tree was speaking English or if he now understood… Treeish.

  “Where… did you come from?” Alexander asked.

  “Theeee Seeeendeeeerrrs Groooovve…” the tree groaned out.

  “The Senders Grove? I am unfamiliar with the name. I could google it for you,” Alexander said, pulling out his phone.

  “Goooooggle? Divvvinnnation sorcccery? Isss powwweeerfuuul?”

  “I doubt divination magic is as powerful as Google, but I suppose you can judge for yourself,” he responded, pulling up the search engine.

  “SQUEAAAK!” Flick’s alarm went up, startling Alexander.

  He was squeaking with abandon while flapping his wings and spinning circles. Alexander turned to look behind him just as a ball of oily hair smashed into his ribs.

  ^

  New Quest!

  Summoned Resentment - part 2

  An unknown entity is targeting you for capture with a clowder of Hell Cats.

  Objective: Avoid capture by any means necessary

  Quest rewards:

  1750 xp

  10 silver