Chapter 10: Choices And Circles
Armed with confidence and the ability to freely modify memories I boldly walked over to the library's guards. There was a soft smile on my face as I openly and confidently approached the human and her elven companion. They openly stared at me, waiting for me to approach and when I got close to them they beckoned me to approach them. As I did I began to speak.
"Good day magi! My name is Raul and I am a traveler who is in Jasper to take in the sights." I told them, freely offering a bit of information about myself. As I told them that I was a traveler their eyes narrowed curiously, even though they were free of hostility and were more curious than anything else.
I was choosing to be honest, to some extent anyway. I had the means to fix mistakes if I made them so it was okay for me to be a bit brave. The system was right when it said that if I wanted to master magic and my own powers I'd need to be bold and ambitious and I figured if I was going to live boldly I could have fun with it.
The male elf sized me up. He looked me up and down and since I was ambiently telepathic I could hear him silently casting a spell designed to ensure he never forgot my appearance. Inwardly I chuckled and committed to memory that he had cast that spell, just in case I needed to fix a mistake later down the line so I'd be sure to delete his memory of that specific usage of that spell. I still wasn't afraid though.
"Hello Raul, my name is Respen Goldentree, and this is Ashlen Soto. There are a couple of days a year where those of us from the National Arcane Academy like to offer free magical tests to the community, including to visitors. We're here today because we were just informed that today is one of those days. May I interest you in this opportunity?" He asked, keeping his eyes locked on mine as he spoke. He was a tall man, not quite as tall as me but considerably taller than the average human male.
I knew the truth behind his story. He and the academy were not doing random tests, though that was a convenient cover they used whenever they needed to do a manhunt, even if it was just a normal manhunt and not one as potentially high-stakes as this one was. Ashlen, Respen, and many other magi in this part of the city were being used as the academy's eyes and ears to try and look for me. I gazed at him and thought about what to say.
If I took the test I'd be giving myself an opportunity to learn more about magic, by willingly getting involved with the academy, which was one of my big goals anyway. That said, doing so certainly involved me running the risk of revealing who I was, or at least that I possessed some connection to the breeze the academy was investigating. I was quiet for many moments while I decided what to say to the man. In the end, the reason I made the choice that I made was that this was the surest way for me to achieve my ambitions and learn about an aspect of my powers. I decided to be brave, and live bravely.
The elf and the human gazed at me expectantly, curiously awaiting my answer. I gazed into the solid green eyes of the elf and nodded at him, before beginning to smile and speak to the pair.
"Well if you're offering these 'tests' for free, I'd be happy to take them. That said I ought to warn you not to expect much. I'm from a small town and even though I work as an adventurer I only know a few cantrips and a simple spell or two." I told the pair, speaking honestly. Upon hearing my words they froze and then turned to face each other, before laughing suddenly, in awe of something I had said.
I hadn't read their minds so I didn't know why they were laughing. I don't know what I said that to them sounded funny. I gazed into their minds, more fully this time, and was surprised at what I learned was the cause for their laughter.
A few moments after they stopped laughing they invited me into the library and explained why they had laughed.
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I was quickly learning, partially from the minds of the men and women at the local office of the adventurer's guild, and partially from the people of the academy that how I viewed adventurers was different from how others viewed adventurers.
I was from a small town where adventurers were often the closest thing to magi that communities could dare to count on. As a child, adventurers were the ones who taught me magic and who showed me what few magical tricks I knew before I became a grand adonis. It turned out that city folk, with the abundance of resources available to them, were using to a different kind of adventurer.
City folk, especially Jasper's locals, had both adventurers and magi in their cities. Their adventurers were not expected to be magi and often weren't. Magic-users in cities wanted to be affiliated with magical institutions and so sought the protections afforded by places like the National Arcane Academy, rather than the freedom that came with working for the Adventurer's Guild. Strangely enough, this also helped explain why it was that so many adventurers were impressed with my pitiful magical skills back when I was in the adventurer's guild's local branch office.
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I wasn't led into the public part of the library but instead taken to a small underground arena meant for tests like this. To get here we had taken an "elevator" which was a magically powered lift that let us travel in any direction, using energy supplied by a member of the academy.
I found myself in a large chamber perhaps half a kilometer long and about twice as wide. Magically powered lights illuminated the chamber, having been placed on various walls and built into the floor to provide people with the ability to see. A handful of other employees of the academy were milling about the arena, carrying clipboards, and watching various tests taking place in other parts of the place, sometimes watching behind what I assumed was arcanically reinforced glass, instead of just mundane glass.
Ashlen and Respen were standing a bit away from me, perhaps fifteen or so meters away and facing me. Ashlen was the one facing me directly, and Respen was scribbling notes onto a clipboard. Neither one of them was behind panels of glass.
"Before we get started with your test, allow me to thank you, Raul. I am happy you are participating in today's examination, and I am hopeful that we will all learn something valuable today. Your ability to use cantrips suggests that you have some spellcasting ability, the purpose of this test is to help us identify that spellcasting ability precisely so that we can teach you how to harness it efficiently." Respen explained, speaking quickly and professionally on the matter. Even without scanning his memories, I knew this was something he had experience doing. The delivery of his lines was done with practiced ease and confidence.
Ashlen was smiling at me, and though she was quiet she was also quite pleasant. She was one of those people who preferred not to talk much, which was fine and suited Respen well. He was a relatively chatty sort who enjoyed making conversation with people who fascinated him. I was one such person.
"To begin with, I would like to ask you to cast a cantrip aimed at Ashlen. She is a talented user of magic and is ready to handle whatever cantrip you hurl at her. When you're ready, fire away." Respen announced, before turning to smile at Ashlen and placing a warm, steady hand on her shoulder. Ashlen's grin widened and I sensed her readying her magic.
I smiled and took a deep breath. I began to make precise geometric shapes in the air, while willing magical energy to surge forth from my core to my fingertips. I wasn't sending out a willed reimagining of my "Fire dart" cantrip just yet and was instead opting to do the normal version of the spell. I wouldn't be helping myself if I went all out from the get-go, unprovoked.
Ashlen's eyes darted as she studied the shapes I was making with my fingertips and I felt her begin to will her own magical energy towards her own fingertips. We smiled at each other and had I had a beating heart it would have been racing at this moment, as I pointed at the mage and unleashed the tiny, yet potent, burning dart the spell was named after.
Ashlen's eyes went wide with joy as my cantrip sped through the air towards her. Without blinking and without fear, she unleashed her magic in the form of what my magically inclined mind automatically identified as a "Minor ward", an abjuration spell that defended against lesser spells. The ward took the form of a shimmering barrier of air, and when my dart hit it the dart slowed immensely and quickly faded into nothingness.
"That's a sharp cantrip! I'm a defensive mage, so a cantrip would have a hard time hurting me, but that's you make that spell look good for it being so low level. Do you know any other cantrips?" Ashlen asked, smiling joyfully at me. She was a magic-lover, through and through. I didn't respond to her in words and instead willed my arcane energy to my feet. Ashlen detected this through subtle shifts in the air around me and her eyes quickly descended, right as I readied myself to probe her defenses.
I had never seen or even heard of abjuration magic before. I could tell from the name and the ward that I had seen that it was defensive magic, but beyond that I had no clue what its capabilities were. The spell she was using had the word "minor" in the name so I had to assume it wasn't very strong, which made me want to test it.
I took a single powerful step, in the direction of the two magi, and using my magic commanded the very earth beneath my feet to shift and move at my command. I wasn't trying very hard so the effect was not very wide, but it didn't need to be. Ashlen and Respen felt and heard the earth beneath us begin to move, and the shifting began to head towards them. This time Respen's eyes widened, and he began to grin almost manically.
The earth beneath the floorboards at our feet began to surge towards the pair of magi. Ashlen stoically studied the mobile stones as they shifted and lifted the floorboards, threatening to break them but kept barely at bay by the powerful magic that infused everything here. Every centimeter the earth shifted my spell got weakened thanks to the countless runic sigils that warded this location from intruders. I felt their effects myself, but I couldn't be weakened by such magic, thanks to my invulnerability. By the time the spell reached Ashlen, it was easy for her ward to deal it a final blow and undo the magic altogether.
Ashlen was smiling at me, positively beaming actually. I could tell she was impressed by the magic I had used. And Respen's joy was even higher.
"Raul... Are you an elementalist? That 'Fire Dart' cantrip was fairly ordinary, but your cantrip that let you control earth... That one was superb. Are you sure you've never been formally trained? If you haven't and that's your level of skill starting off... Extraordinary." Respen stated, shortly after the earth-based cantrip I used was done away with. I looked at him and gave him a confused look. He studied the look on my face and began to laugh.
"Of course you wouldn't know what I mean. I apologize for making assumptions." He told me, before beginning to step between Ashlen and I. He walked towards me, boldly and I relaxed, curious as to what was to come.
"There are various spheres of magic. One of them is the conjuration sphere. The sphere of conjuration is a powerful arcane style that revolves around calling upon forces and denizens of other dimensions to do the bidding of the conjurer. It is divided up into distinct schools called 'circles'. The 'circle' I was mentioning when I asked if you were an elementalist was the circle of the elements." The elf told me, before extending one of his arms in my direction.
"Elemental magic is powerful. With elemental magic you can do wonderful things. It's not just that you can call forth elements of varying levels of power, it's that you can control the elements." He told me, shortly before his arm was magically set ablaze, powerful orange flames engulfing the long limb.
"Elementalists do not need to rely on the power of the elemental plane to enact their designs on reality. Those of us who are brave can harness the power of nature ourselves." Respen whispered, his voice booming across the arena, even though he was whispering his words.
"We can flood cities and create tornados. We are the masters of volcanoes and can cause earthquakes. Elementalists harness nature and command forests, oceans, and more." He uttered, as he began to fly in the air, a cyclone whirling around underneath him, carrying him as he calmly levitated and stared down at me.
"Your power to call to the earth is truly spectacular. I felt it rumbling beneath my feet. The way it answered to you was like the way that breeze earlier answered to someone..." Respen began to tell me before his last words caused Ashlen to react with annoyance.
"Hey! You can't say something like that. We shouldn't tell people about that freely!" She snapped, her words causing Respen to close his eyes and to blush from embarrassment. He chuckled awkwardly, as the cyclone beneath his feet began to slowly bring him back to the floor.
"Oh, shit. I suppose you're right. Well Raul... It appears that I've let something slip." He uttered, sheepishly. Behind him, Ashlen huffed in mild irritation.
"You've got that right! I thought if either of us let that slip it'd be me but instead it turned out to be you? All because Raul might be an elementalist... I swear Respen." She huffed, and her words made me laugh.
"Well... I can pretend to not have heard anything if you all tell me more about these... 'Spheres' you mentioned?" I asked, not planning to say anything anyway, but figuring I ought to go ahead and take advantage of the moment I was in. Fortunately for me my words did get a positive reaction from the two magicians. They both brightened when I asked about the other spheres of magic, and they motioned for me to head towards them, with Ashlen smoothly stepping forward and getting behind Respen, readying herself for a discussion of magic.
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