Chapter 15: Magic

  Alex sat cross-legged on the floor next to Garret who was in a similar position. They were both in the middle of a circular glyph that Celeste had drawn for them on the shop's wooden floor. Despite them both doing the same thing, they each completely ignored each other. Their eyes clamped closed and no words passed between them.

  The sigils that sat under each of them glowed and thrummed softly, like a heartbeat of waxing and waning energy. The lines of the glyphs emitted an arcane light that followed the pattern of this heart. Alex and Garret had been sitting like this for the past fifteen minutes. Utterly silent, in a meditative pose, and just breathing deeply in a rhythm of their own.

  Feel the pull, follow it wherever it wants, and don't resist.

  Alex repeated Celeste's earlier statement inside his head over and over again, the only thought he allowed to break the mental tranquility inside himself.

  Was that it? He felt a twinge of something in his body, or maybe it was just a muscle twitch, he didn't know.

  That's got to be it. I'll follow that, and hope for the best. Alex was getting restless, even after such a short time. Normally he was capable and self-disciplined enough to stay focused and still for a few hours. He had done meditation before when he was younger and still in martial arts. This was harder though, since this exercise was supposed to determine his magical element -according to Celeste anyway- and thus the start of his journey to learning magic.

  Garret and Alex had gotten to this point after Celeste began her explanation of magic and magical cores. It was a road of information that both Garret and he were desperate to travel, and they had ganged up on the poor old lady with their relentless questions.

  "Magic Cores? Is that what lets us cast spells?" Alex had said once the word "magic" left the woman's mouth.

  "What spells can you teach us? Can I shoot boulders at people?" Garret chimed in, once again doing a horrible mimicry of what Alex assumed was a Chinese martial art of some sort.

  "No they themselves don't cast spells. And no- well yes if you have the right spell actually." Celeste said in response. Not knowing the can of worms she was opening between them.

  "How are spells cast then?" Alex asked.

  "What's the biggest boulder you can launch?" Garret added.

  "What are the elements you mentioned? Can you only have one element?"

  "Which element is strongest? Is it like a strengths and weaknesses system?"

  "Do the other stats enhance your magic somehow?"

  "Can I not be bug type? Bug types are always the weakest."

  "Enough!" Celeste shouted over them, stopping their barrage of questions.

  She set her teacup down and shook her head. Alex heard the woman suck in a breath between her teeth while she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Magic is more complicated than you kids seem to understand. So stop asking stupid questions for a few minutes and I will try to explain," She looked up at each of them in turn, her glare showed Alex that they might have pushed a little too far this time.

  "Sorry, please go on," Alex said. He hung his head in shame.

  Celeste then looked at Garret, her eyes boring holes through his head and straight to his soul.

  "S-sorry..." Garret stammered.

  Silence hung over the three of them for several long moments, like a thread between them that was pulled too tight. Eventually, the silence was broken by Celeste's sigh.

  "Alright then," She said. "Magic is broken down into six elemental affinities. Air, Water, Fire, Earth, Light and Dark. None of them are the strongest." She glared at Garret whose mouth was beginning to open again, promptly forcing him to close it with a snap of teeth on teeth. "Some elements oppose one another in various ways. Water and fire, air and earth, light and dark. But this is not always true, depending on the effect and intent of a magical spell, the outcome may surprise you." Celeste spoke while stirring her tea with a small spoon.

  As she did so, small droplets began to rise from the cup. They hung in the air while the woman began to chant a string of words in a language that Alex couldn't understand. Surprisingly so, as he still wore the magical ring that was supposed to let him understand other languages. It was nice to know that the ring wasn't infallible at least.

  Once Celeste finished her chant, the droplets of tea collected together in the air, forming an orb the size of a marble before darting down towards the table between the three of them. The orb of water hit the surface but didn't fall apart, instead punching right through the wood and into the floorboards beyond.

  Alex was amazed to see a hole the size of a nickel in the table and even into the floor below. The magic had accelerated the water to the point it just cut right through the material and kept going.

  "Wow. Now that's some tea to die for." Garret whistled. Alex shook his head. Celeste snorted derisively.

  "What? That one was gold, okay." Garret protested loudly, crossing his arms in front of his chest with a huff.

  "So the chant you just did, that was a spell?" Alex ignored Garret's pouting and continued to probe Celeste for information.

  "Yes. It's a spell of the water element, obviously, my element." She said this while she poured more tea into her cup. "All spells are cast with three things; energy, intent, and a medium. The energy is called by many names. Some call it essence, others, mana, or ki. The most common name for this energy, is Aether. Though, whatever the name, it is supplied by the caster of the spell, through the use of their mage core."

  Celeste took a drink and sat her cup down on the table. She paused for a moment, looking at the two of them. Alex realized quickly that this was a test to see if they would interrupt her with questions again. He bit his tongue, holding back the many inquiries her words had already formed in his mind. Garret seemed still too preoccupied with pouting and thus didn't say anything either.

  "Intent," Celeste finally continued, "is the desired outcome of spell itself. What you want the aether to do, how it is to be shaped and affect your surroundings. The intent of a typical spell is solid but bendable. Especially by those mages in the higher tiers. This is not always the case, but is the norm. Slight changes can be made to a spell's intent each time it is cast. Such as changing the shape of a water projectile from an orb, to a rod."

  Again she paused, and again Alex and Garret remained silent. The stalemate was shorter lived this time, and the woman continued speaking after only a few seconds.

  "The medium," she said, "is how you bear that intent to the system. The spell I cast had used a chant as the medium, to dictate the intent itself. It used the language of the system, a universal language -quite literally- that carries my intent. Other ways are also used though, depending on the spell and the culture." Celeste stood now and walked to a cupboard. Alex heard a clatter as the woman rifled through its contents. She returned with a few objects nestled between her arms and she carefully laid them out on the table.

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  Alex saw a crystal, an amulet, a gemstone ring, and what he assumed was a wand. As well as a couple of other objects he didn't recognize. They all seemed rather fragile to Alex's eyes, but then again, so did Celeste given her apparent age.

  "These are other forms of mediums for spells. Arcane-focusing objects, such as a wand, staff, crystal or talisman, are very common. Religious objects are as well, though only for specific elements related to that god of course." Celeste pointed at the two objects that Alex didn't recognize. Apparently they were religious items to a god in this world.

  "As I demonstrated, chanting, singing, or speaking also works depending on the spell. Hand movements or body movements can also be used," She looked at Garret sternly. "Though the movements are not random, but specific for the spell.”

  She sat down again, and picked up her tea to continue her lecture. "A combination of these can also be used. Such as chanting and a religious object. Or hand movements and chanting. None is better than the others, and some find one more fitting to their fighting style and culture."

  Alex looked down at the wand on the table and wondered if he'd have to get a scar on his forehead to start learning magic here. He shook his head at the thought and chuckled.

  "So the shinobi are actually casting spells then, nice!" Garret exclaimed loudly and began moving his hands in a series of displays that Alex vaguely recognized from an old-school anime.

  "Okay, so I think I understand all this, but how do we learn magic then?" Alex asked.

  "Well, first we need to find out which element you are aligned with." Celeste shrugged.

  Thus, Alex and Garret got to where they are now. Meditating on the floor with glyphs glowing around them. Celeste marked various points along the glyphs with strange markings, explaining that each apparently was aligned to one of the six elements she mentioned. This process was supposed to attract the mana, or essence in the area to the circle, and Alex needed to meditate and find a resonance with the energy of his element. Whatever element he resonated with the most was supposed to have a pull on him. Subtle, almost unnoticeable, but there nonetheless. He was supposed to find it and let his own energy follow that pull, and thus discover his element.

  It was a very boring and frustrating process. It didn't help that Alex was so excited about the prospect of finally starting down the road to learning magic, that it made the process harder. He was supposed to meditate and wait for the subtle pull. His heart and mind were racing with anticipation so quickly, it made the whole task difficult.

  That had to be it though, he thought to himself once again. That twinge he felt, wasn't just some muscle spasm, it was more. At least, Alex had to believe it was, he was going crazy at this point waiting to feel something happen.

  He tugged at the strange feeling with his mind for just a moment, then let go. Remembering he was supposed to follow it, not grab it. He let his mind wander in the direction of the feeling instead. It was a strange sensation like he was leaving his body behind and leaning toward his left while he did so.

  Gotcha! Alex thought as he surged forward, following along the pull of the energy that he had felt just moments ago. Once he got started, it was much simpler than he had feared. The feeling of leaving his body intensified, and Alex's mind imagined his own spirit floating out over one of the six sigils of the glyph circle that Celeste had drawn. There, that's the one! His thoughts screamed loudly in his mind, bringing his excitement to the brink. His concentration broke, and he was snapped back to his body like a rubber band, pulled to consciousness and opening his eyes.

  "Oh, you did it eh boy?" Celeste was looking intently at him, her eyes narrowed, but not suspicious.

  "I think so, yeah." Alex's breath came deeply, swallowing huge gulps of air at once. Strange, he didn't remember holding in his breath at all.

  He looked at the sigil on the floor, finding that one of the elemental symbols that Celeste had drawn was now glowing faintly brighter than the others. He had actually done it after all. Yes! Finally, I can learn some magic. I'm going to shoot lightning out of my hands in no time. I bet I can electrify an entire badger in seconds. Experience points, here I come. Alex stood up and peered down at the sigil that identified his element. It was a strange maze of intricate runes that he didn't understand one bit. He looked over to Celeste, the woman still eyeing him bemusedly.

  "Well, what element am I then? Something good please, I don't want Light though, I hate being the healer." Alex squeezed the bridge of his nose as he said that last part. Memories of many nights up at his computer yelling at his guild during a raid on some old MMORPG came to mind. Yes, he very much hated being the healer.

  "Don't rush me kid," Celeste said. "Let's take a look here... it appears you are attuned to the element of... fire." She tapped the symbol on the floor, causing the runes to flare for a brief moment before they dimmed out completely.

  "Fire?" Alex almost felt disappointed. He really liked the idea of being a lightning mage. After seeing what Sylvaris could do with his spells, he definitely wanted to follow after the elf’s style. Fireballs were flashy and all, but they were the most common spells for mages in the stories of his old world. Lightning was just cool.

  It's not the worst though I guess. Better than water for sure. I'm not going to be hydrating my enemies to death. Alex reassured himself silently as he looked down at the previously glowing sigil. That first badger certainly was flammable too. The thing died rather quickly after I launched into our campfire back on that first night. Maybe fire isn't too bad after all.

  "Yes. Fire," Celeste said. "It's explosive, passionate, and fast to action. Have you been more quick-tempered at all lately? Maybe more prone to violent responses?"

  "No I'm pretty level headed actu- oh," Alex cut himself off as a few moments in the last week or so clicked into place for him. "Well, fuck me." He muttered, looking at Celeste with a raised brow.

  "Exactly kid," She pointed a finger at him as she spoke. "That's the elements playing their part. Like I said, they will affect you now that you live in this world and under the purview of the system."

  "I don't think I like that very much," Alex said. Now that he looked back on his actions and decisions, he certainly noted a few times that this system could have influenced him. Sure, it was still him making the choices, he wasn't exactly being mind-controlled. Though the influence was still undeniably there, no matter how he looked at it.

  Damned system is guiding my choices. Making me a character in its world? Like I am just one of its NPCs? Alex's hands tightened, his fingernails digging into the palms of his hands. If he was thinking about this correctly, this system was fucking with him by getting into his head. What kind of deal was this, you get magic but lose your true identity? No. He wouldn't, couldn't make that deal.

  Fuck this system and its influences.

  "Careful there kid," Celeste's voice broke through his thoughts and brought him back to the present. He looked at his hands, then back up to her eyes. "Aggression and action." She said again.

  Alex looked down, finding a few drops of red had pooled on the floor at his feet. He opened his hands, finding his nails had dug into the skin and drew blood. He didn't know he was squeezing that hard, that he had been that angry.

  Is the system making me even more mad about this than usual? Is it making me mad about making me mad? Damn it! It looked like thinking about this anymore would just take him down some kind of recursive thought loop. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. I'll deal with this later.

  "It's not mind control if that's what you are worried about." Alex looked up to find Celeste now sitting back at the table, her cup back in her hands with new wafts of steam rising out of the top.

  "It's not?"

  "No. Not at all. The system can't make anyone do anything. It will entice you, to press it's thumb on the scale so to speak. Control you, though, it won't do. It doesn't seem to have an agenda like that or at least not one that can be achieved through direct control of the people in this world." She looked him over silently for a moment before snorting softly. "Doesn't mean you shouldn't worry though. Separating your identity from your element is a step on the road of power you might need to take someday. It's a step that some find nearly impossible to take as well. So stay vigilant, but I doubt I have to warn you about that."

  "Noted," Alex gave her a quick nod in thanks, "Anything else I should know?"

  "Not right now no. I'd say lean into the changes at first, to get a feel for your element and what it's about. Build your mental walls later." She looked at Garret at this point. It seemed the guy was also starting to rise from his meditation.

  Just like Alex, he had a sigil now glowing in the arcane circle. Unlike Alex though, Garret actually had two of them glowing instead of just one.

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