I love my affinity. Enchantress! So cool! I've come to a world with magic and been handed a super-cheat power. Sounds like it anyway. Wish it was that easy.
I can feel the Mana energy around me. But how can I manipulate it?
I'd been reading a book, but couldn't quite get it. Penny sat with me for five minutes and let me watch her work a spell. A simple light spell.
I could 'see' what she was doing. The flow of her Mana. The shape it took as the spell gave it purpose and direction. How it responded to her will. But what is that connection? Between the will and the flow? How can I find it?
I take a second and review my magical affinities: Time Lord {Space, Time}, Seeker {Light, Dark, Holistic}, Body Enhancement (Strength, Speed, Endurance, Constitution)
Sounds weird, I guess, but I could have predicted the Body Enhancement. I’m a very physical person despite my size. As a future Superhero, I should be able to fight. I guess? And I'm gonna be a brawler. No finesse for me. Just pure power and grace! Especially grace. 'Cause I'm a refined and graceful girl. Don't forget it or I'll thump you.
But Seeker and Time Lord? Well, I do collect things. That explains Seeker.
And a collector needs a place to store stuff. I'm gonna make me a bottomless bag. I'm gonna make myself pocket dimensions and hang out in them with my dragon frenemies! I'm gonna by the Gods teleport!
Yeah!
Body Enhancement Magic is a special type of Spirit Magic that is purely internal. Turns out I've got a pretty hot body. Woohoo! Good-bye low self-esteem!
Well, hot in the sense that I got all four types of Body Enhancement - Strength, Speed, Endurance, Constitution. Ha! I think I'm pretty hot even without it. If only he would notice.
Not that there's a HE who I want to notice. None of these losers here are up to my standards.
Wait. What was I talkin’ about? Oh, yeah! Stop watches. Or at least the Emulgren equivalent of them, which is a contraption with a bunch of interconnected glass bulbs full of water. When you want to start the 'stopwatch', you open a valve which slowly releases water from the reservoir on top into the first bulb. Fifteen seconds pass and that bulb gets full, water starts dripping into the next bulb down and so on. Each bulb holds fifteen seconds of water and there are ten bulbs. To reset it, you just flip it sorta catywampus to let the water drain back into the top bulb.
Wait, what? I'm actually all about hot body testing today. Rio and Tara are with me. Pulled Rio out of a closet to run the stopwatch and Tara came out attached to him. Guess she's bored.
We're at the 400 meter circle track in the training grounds. Looks like about 400 meters anyway. Rio says go and I run a lap; fast as I can. 67 seconds. Lots faster than I used to run back home.
Now I focus on my Spirit energy and channel my Speed Enhancement. Please note: I say that like it's some easy thing to do. It's not. I've been studying and practicing for days and I'm still not sure even if I'm doin' it right. Or at all. Dream Trial or no Dream Trial. Hence the testing.
Okay. Juiced up now! Let's give it a go! Rio signals and I take off. Straight into a wall. Ha ha. Moving so fast I lost traction and overshot the corner when I tried to turn.
Ow.
Reset and try again and I manage to make it around the track without falling out of bounds. Didn't expect I'd have to SLOW DOWN to do a lap of 38 seconds. We're going to call my Speed Enhancement a success. Coordination is going to be a problem, though. Hafta talk to Master about it.
Now to test Strength. I pull my sorta-willing assistants out from under the bleachers - this isn't a high school dance guys! - And head off to the gym.
I used to cherish my time alone. The library was my sanctuary. Only rarely did people come here. In truth, I was hiding here. Drinking tea and thinking, reading, learning.
Now my library is a madhouse. Five crazy people in and out all day long. Plus their two maids. Never a moment's rest. Never a moment's peace.
Why am I enjoying this so much? This isn't who I thought I was. I've become something different. I've become a friend.
And I have friends.
What's that mean? What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to act?
And why is Nix sleeping in the corner? And why do I think he’s cute?
A Dungeon. Or I guess I should say, another Dungeon. Can I put in a request for a little more variety, please?
Actually, I’m feeling a bit proud of myself. I’ve really made great strides with my ESP. I can sense the walls around me, the floor beneath my feet, and a variety of creatures around me. Great progress when compared to how the Dungeon kicked me around last time.
I’d fallen asleep in the library daydreaming about Penny.
So I carefully sense the environment around me. There must be a reason I’m here. Maybe it will help me with my current dilemma.
There is a scattering of red auras. Most of them off in the distance, but one little cluster fairly close. Gathered around the only green aura within my range. Looks like trouble. I don’t know what I’ll do about them, but if there’s a friend nearby and under threat, I should go help.
I guess I’ve got a white knight complex. Which is funny ‘cause my skin is dark.
Or maybe not so funny. I’ve had a hard time laughing lately. Life here has been scary for me; despite how hard my friends work to help and protect me.
I make my way down the corridors, hands nervously clutching the paper animals in my pockets. They are my secret weapons. I hope they work ‘cause if they don’t I’m screwed. They’re my only offensive trick.
I’m close now. I can hear growling and screaming just around this corner. I pull out a paper frog and toss it forward. It grows and grows until it's almost as tall as I am.
At first there’s silence. Then with a ribbit and a hop, my frog enters the fray. My hungry frog. It shoots out its tongue and I hear a
I throw out another frog for good measure, hear another
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All I can hear now is a soft sobbing noise coming from a room just ahead. From where the green aura is. I slowly make my way forward and call out, “Are you okay? Can I help you?”
The sobbing stops and then I hear a frantic voice, “Stop! Don’t come any closer!”
I do what any reasonable person would do when told not to come any closer. I go closer. Possibly because the voice is that of a girl. And she sounds cute. Just sayin’.
“No, please! Stop! If you look at me, you’ll…”
“I’ll what?”
“Turn … to stone? Oh. You’re blind.”
“Yup. My name’s Nix. Are you okay?”
“Sintana. Nice to meet you. You’re human.”
“Yes. I’m human. Nice to meet you, Sintana. And … you’re not?”
“Oh! You can’t see. Sorry. I was really scared and my brain isn’t quite working properly. I’m a gorgon.”
“Cool! What’s a gorgon?”
“Um. Well … promise you won’t be afraid of me?”
“I promise. You seem very nice.”
“Oh! Thank you! I am. Nice, that is. But people are afraid of gorgons because … well, for a number of reasons.”
“Now I’m really curious. Perhaps you could just spell it right out for me. I want to know but I feel that we are unnecessarily delaying the part of the conversation where I ask you why you’re crying. That might be important.”
“Oh. It is. Okay. So a gorgon is much like a human girl. Except for we have vertical pupils in our eyes and our skin is covered in very fine scales. Here! Touch my arm.” She reaches out and grabs my hand and touches my fingertips to the back of her arm. Her hands are cool and her skin is very smooth but textured. I suppose like scales would feel?
“Your skin is soft. Why do I hear hissing?”
“That’s another major difference. I don’t have hair on my head. My hair is snakes. Venomous, I’m afraid. Please don’t try to touch them.”
“I won’t. Is that all?”
“Um… Well, if a human looks at me, they’ll turn to stone. Except you don’t because you can’t see. And I have fangs. Just small ones, though.”
“I almost wish I could see. You must be very attractive.”
“My mother says I’m cute. I think you’re cute too. I’m seventeen. How old are you?”
She said I’m cute! “Sixteen. Now, back to business. Why were you crying?”
Sintana pauses for a moment, gathering her thoughts. “The Queen is sick. They say she’s dying. But we can’t find a Healer who can help her without being turned to stone. I wanted to find someone for her but I got trapped here by those stone dogs. I couldn’t get away because my powers don’t work on them.”
“Oh. I guess that makes sense, if they’re already stone.”
“They’re not really stone. But close enough, I guess. Now I’m sad because I still haven’t been able to help my Queen.”
“Well, if it’s any help, I’m a Healer.”
“You are? Then please, come help!”
“I’m not trained, though. I can heal myself but I’ve never been able to get it to work on others.”
“Let’s try anyway! Pleeeeeeease?!? It’ll mean the world to me.”
“Of course, I’ll come. Maybe someone there will know how to help me make the healing magic work. Let’s go!”
Without another word, she grabs my hand and we work our way through the Dungeon. Most of the creatures there avoid us. Probably, more specifically, they avoid Sintana.
We travel quite a distance before coming to a huge cavern full of anxious people. Gorgons, probably. I’m guessing. We’re challenged immediately, but Sintana explains who I am and what I’m there for. Whereupon the guard draws his weapon and stabs me.
Okay, she warned me first and it’s just a test to see if I’m really a healer. Thankfully I am. I heal myself right up. Sintana gets so excited seeing it that she gives me a hug.
Which puts me in range of her hair which promptly bites me multiple times. That is a bit more of a challenge; healing both the poison and multiple (extremely painful!) bites all at the same time. But that works as well thankfully and I’m eventually brought to the Queen.
The Queen is big. Nearly nine feet tall, as near as I can tell. She is lying on a bed, covered by a sheet. As I approach her she speaks, “Who comes?”
“My name is Nix. I am an untrained Healer.”
“You’re strong. I can feel your power. How are you untrained?”
I explain to her all about the summoning and that I’ve only been here two weeks.
“I am lucky then. You may be able to help me, if you’re willing. I can reward you greatly.”
“I don’t need a reward. I just want to learn. I’ve never been able to heal anyone other than myself.”
“Come I will show you. I too am a healer. I’m weak now from illness, but if you lend me your power I know what to do. If you pay attention, you’ll learn what you need to know.”
And so we did it. I laid my hands on her shoulders (got bit again and man did the Queen’s hair-snakes have ginormous fangs!) and channeled my power for her. She used her skills to heal herself. I really did learn how to heal others just from helping her.
Everyone was overjoyed! The Queen offered to marry me but I declined. Then she offered me Sintana as a bride which really embarrassed both of us, but secretly I wish I could have said yes. She smells really nice, like almond oil and cherries.
In the end, I was given a book about healing, a promise that I would always be welcome in the land of the Gorgons, and a stout magical staff that featured twin snakes entwined around each other. One had eyes of emerald and the other eyes of ruby. So I was told, anyway.
Sintana walked me back to where I’d started this adventure. And then guess what?!?
She kissed me! Yes! Right on the lips! With passion!
And accidentally bit me with her cute little fangs. Plus her hair snakes bit me all over the head and face. A bit of a mixed bag, really, that kiss.
But I’ll remember it forever!
Excerpt from Saki's journal
My big challenge for the day. Cast the Blessing spell. Turns out you don't have to go to the temple. If you can manipulate Mana and have access to a Blessing stone, you can cast the spell on yourself. Spirit mages can cast the spell as well.
Since I cannot speak, it's impossible for me to cast the Blessing spell like the book says. I have to find another way.
Yesterday, Penelope the librarian gave me a book that she thought would help me. Since she also has difficulty speaking she's inspired me with her ability to do magic. A disability (aka Curse) can be the elephant in the room, but as the umpire says, 'There's nothing in the rule book that says an elephant can't pitch.'
The book Penny gave me started out with a thorough introduction of how Mana magic works. In order to cast magic, the caster needs an ability to sense and manipulate their internal Mana. Without this nothing can be done, but once you have this you can do virtually anything.
Casting a spell has three specific requirements. First and foremost is the spell framework. This is like a computer program with specific instructions, parameters, and variables. Or another analogy is a story with a plot and a who, what, when, where, how, and why. Thankfully for me, this framework can take many different forms.
Second is an infusion of Mana into the spell framework to power it. Finally, a spell requires a trigger that initiates the action.
My problem with the Blessing spell framework is that it’s taught as a spoken chant. But as it turns out, there are many different ways to make a framework. Not only by saying the words, but it's possible to write the words, make an enchantment rune, use hand gestures, etc. And it can be in any language as well. So long as the words you use have the proper meaning to create the spell framework you want.
Even sign language. Fighting a rising tide of excitement, I translated the Blessing spell into sign language. When I was sure my translation was correct, I practiced again and again until I could sign it fluidly without any mistakes. I borrowed a Blessing stone from Kari and did it one last time, powering each gesture with mana and triggering the spell with a mana-infused finger flick. My Blessing popped up in front of my eyes!
I nearly cried. I had cast my first spell.
Booyah!
Okay. That was weird. When Nix finally woke up from his nap, his face was covered with bites and all swollen up. He seemed in good spirits as he ran out the door, though.
Addie showed up after that and asked about what was going on but I didn’t have any answers. It did give me a chance to show her a little bit of my Magic, though.
I have some special librarian Magic which has been passed down through generation after generation of my mother’s line. It’s a rare Skill for Mana Magic called Book Binder. With it, I can scan books to instantly know where to shelve them, scan people to know which books they need the most, and other more esoteric things. I can even use it to bind a book to someone’s soul or even create a copy of a book instantly.
I demonstrate some of these things for Addie and then we get to work looking for the books we need to fine-tune everyone’s affinities. I’m really excited about doing this. It’s rarely done without Sigils, even though a person’s Magic can potentially be much more powerful without them.
I end up with big piles of books all over my tables and the promise of a full day of hard work on the morrow. Just the sort of thing I enjoy!