It was late afternoon, and I was in the garden doing my forms. I was reminiscing on my journey so far. My plan had been to come a town, set up a small shop and then quietly live my next 5 years of life, until my soul was fully recovered. But it seems Fate has conspired against those plans. From the first moment I set foot in town, chaos has been following me. First, healing the Earl, when I barely knew what I was doing, then getting Covern House, which meant getting a staff to maintain Covern House, then dinner at the Earl ’s, which turned out to be a life-threatening duel orchestrated by the Healer Guild. Defeating Jaster in the duel. Maiming, him in the process, while sparing his life at his father’s request. Foiling an assassination attempt on Jaster after his beatdown. Healing him and restoring his hands. Saving Jaster’s life again by neutralizing the assassin’s poisoning. Getting another house. Removing the curse on the Baron’s wife. Being attacked by assassins. Healing the countess and her unborn child. The most normal thing I did was open a bank account.
Wow, that was a lot for my first week in Forest Glen. I haven’t even had time to read all the magic books I bought. From now on, no more excitement for me. I am going to ensure I have time to study magic. I keep running out of mana and fall out (real men don’t faint they fall out). I need a way of storing more mana. Maybe in scrolls or something, so I would stop passing out. Suddenly, I stop doing my forms. I look down at my hands. There are two rings on my hands. One is my storage ring and the other is…. “I AM A COMPLETE FREAKING IDIOT. HOW CAN I BE SO STUPID”, I silently yelled at myself in my head.
The other ring is a spell storage ring. A ring to store 50 levels of spells. I never even thought about the ring since I identified it. Now, I just needed to see how many spells I could store. What was the key command to see that. “List of spells”, nope, “Spell Catalog”, nope, “Spellatharous”, nope. I tried a few more ridiculous combinations. Unsurprisingly, none of them worked, so in desperation I cast Identification on it.
[Ring Spell Storage
Level: Epic
Description: Store spell for quick recall and casting. User must bond with ring before using.
Usage: To store, simple think Store Spell and then cast spell. To recall think Cast Stored Spell “spell name”. Use “Spell List” to review stored spells and available storage.
Capacity: Can store 50 spell levels. May increase with levels.
]
“Spell List” for the win.
[Ring Spell Storage
Storage Point Available 20
Spells Stored:
Barrier 3 points
Chained Lightning 5 points
Meteor Storm 20 points
Teleport Home 2 points
]
Wow, a 20-point spell. That must be something. “Store Spell”, I said and cast Cure All.
[Cure All spell stored. You have 17 storage points remaining.]
I can feel the mana drain from me, as if I actually cast the spell on someone. “Store Spell” and cast Heaven’s Heal.
[Heaven’s Heals spell stored. You have 14 storage points remaining.]
Once again, the mana drains from me. Both those spells are level 3 spells. I am only a level 1, yet casting a level 3 spell is relatively simple for me. Apparently, magic is weird. I finish filling up my ring with Cure All and Heaven’s Heal spells. This has only highlighted my need to learn more about magic. I go inside Covern House and into my home office. I retrieve the Basic Magic Theory book and sat down at my desk. I opened the book and started reading again.
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Summarizing the basics of magic:
Magic is powered by mana. Mana is converted Essence. Essence is all around us. It permeates the air and the ground. We absorb it from the air. Essence is also released by dying monsters and some animals. Sapiens, animals and monsters convert Essence into mana. What Essence is nobody knows. Some theorize it is the fundamental energy of the universe. Others say it is the excess energy of the Gods. If the Gods know, they aren’t telling.
Magic breaks down into two categories: Instinctual and Learned.
Instinctual magic can be described as magic you know from birth. Animals use instinctual magic. No one teaches them to use it. Their magic just comes naturally. Even if they cast fireball, it wasn’t something they learned. Most of their magic is survival based. Passive abilities that allow them to find food, safety and shelter. Offensive magic is usually known by predator animals. There are exceptions, like the vorpal squirrel. Some Sapiens have been known to use Instinctual magic. We call them prodigies.
Learned magic is just that. Magic that has been learned. Whether someone taught you, you taught yourself, created a new spell. You learned how to cast the spell. Only sapiens can learn magic. It is theorized that learning magic requires self-awareness. After the Intervention, the first magic practitioners copied offensive spells from animals. Offensive, defensive, ritual, enchanting, curses, alchemy are all forms of Learned magic.
Ritual magic is focused on using diagrams to create specific results. This can be summoning a creature, raising a barrier, creating rain and anything in-between. Rituals take a lot of time and preparation. The diagrams must be drawn and then imbued with magic. The slightest mistake can have catastrophic results. A summoning ritual can summon a demon rather than a friendly spirit. The ritual can release all its magic in an explosion.
Enchanters use their willpower to apply magic to an object to perform a specific task. A drawback is the enchantment last only as long as the magic imbued into the item last. A magic wand of Fireball is an enchanted item. It can cast only a certain number of fireballs before it is powerless. Enchantments can be very powerful, but these will normally fade quickly, while smaller enchantments can last for years. One exception to the rule is the city barrier of Queslotia. This is an example of a powerful enchantment that has lasted years.
Curses are very powerful because they use the target’s own mana to power them after they are afflicted. Curses can be delivered by a host of different methods, including touch, potion, food, and cast magic. Curses may rebound if the curse is removed or fails to attach. This makes them a double-edged sword. The Litch King of Malforia was killed when he tried to curse the Hero Daphene. The curse rebounded and caused the Litch King’s phylactery to burst, thus killing it. Whoever cursed the Baron’s wife probably got the wasting curse, since I cured her.
Runes of Power are inscribed magic. Runes are etched into an item and then ignited. Once ignited the Runes last until their purpose is achieved. Runes pull in Essence from all around them, convert it to mana for their power. There are minor, lesser, and standard Runes known. Greater Runes are theorized, but none are known. Runes can be combined to create extremely powerful magics, but incorrect combinations create equally powerful explosions.
Cast (Silent or Spoken) magic uses constructs to induce the magic to act in a specified way so it can perform the required function. Spoken magic uses key words to form the constructs in the mind and then release the spell. Spoken magic spells can be directed physically after casting, but it does not change the functionality. A fireball is a fireball; you cannot change its shape or temperature after casting. This is the easiest way to learn magic.
Silent magic uses no vocal components. It can also be directed mentally both direction and functionality. Using Silent magic, a fireball can change direction, shape and temperature if the caster so desires. The caster could even cause the fireball to dissipate before it hit the target. This is called Directive Magic. The ability to change functionality make Silent Magic the most flexible of the casters.
Magic Sight is the key to magic research. Magic Sight allows the person to see the actual magic constructs and flows. Using Magic Sight, simple cast spells can be combined to create complex spells and complex cast spells can be broken down to its simplest components.
