Chapter 5

“So, meet me here at sunset and we can get started.”

“Why at sunset?”

“You’ll see.”

I left the barracks, thinking that I might as well check up on the others so I don’t fall too far behind. I have already missed a magic lesson after all. On my way to the castle I see hank doing his rounds.

“Hey Hank! Do you know where the heroes are gathered today?”

“They should be on the third floor where they are getting instructed in the use of magic. Do you need me to guide you there?”

“No I’ll be fine. I’m finally starting to get used to the layout of the castle.” I wave him off as I head inside.

20 minutes later I finally give up and ask a maid to direct me to the others. They are in a typical oversized room, as big as a basketball court. The room is not as extravagantly decorated as the others I’ve seen so far, instead it has blackboards and bookshelves covering all walls but one, which is reinforced with metal plates. There are a few targets and manikins there as well. Benches clad in leather and gold have been placed around the room for the heroes to sit on as they listen to the instructors who have spread out among the blackboards.

After I enter I take a seat near the door. Listening in for a while I can somewhat understand the situation. The magic instructors all seem to have their own specialty: fire-, water-, wind-, earth-, lightning-, healing-, enchanting-, druidic-, spiritual- and holy-magic. The heroes have been told to split up and learn what they want to rather than learn everything at once. It’s a really good idea in my opinion. This way we will become proficient in one type of magic to a great degree which will help us learn other types later with fewer problems. There is also the problem that every type of magic is different to some degree and learning them all will only make it more complicated than it is. Kind of like learning several different languages at the same time, it’s easy to mix up the grammar.

Most of the heroes have joined the fire and lightning magic instructors. Those have the most obvious offensive power. Water and healing magic is second most popular and most of the girls are drawn to those. Third most popular is the wind, holy and enchanting magic. Then there are some weirdos who cater to the druidic and spiritual magic. Lastly is earth magic, which is empty. Apparently dirt, stone and mud don’t really sound good to the heroes, can’t imagine why.

Personally I would like to learn some essentials for surviving before I start doing cool stuff. Since I have no intention of fighting I will most likely have to run away at some point. Learning magic that will make life on the run easier is probably a good idea. What I need is water, food, shelter and a way to avoid pursuers.

Water magic is obvious, food … not so much, shelter would be earth and to avoid pursuers would probably be something obscure like spiritual or druidic magic. I need more information about those but for now I might as well learn the more obvious. So I get up and go to talk to the earth magic instructor.

He is laying down on a bench next to a black board with the words “Earth magic!” on it with a book over his head. I take it that when no one approached him to learn he got depressed and took a nap.

“Excuse me?” I say as I approach him. Not getting a response I try to wake him up. “Hey… wake up.” Still not getting a response I do what I think all of us would have done and I pushed him a little. Not hard or anything just enough to make him fall down from the bench and with a panicked “Woahh!” smack into the floor.

Dazed he laid there for a little bit trying to get his bearings before getting to his feet, his face red with anger and shame.

“What the, who dares? You? Do you know who I am!? Eh!?” He angrily points his finger at me.

“Sorry, I guess I will just learn from some other earth magic user then.” I say and turn to leave. If he rather sleeps then teach then he can go back to his sleep.

“L-learn? O-oh! Wait, you are a hero? I didn’t see you at the gathering earlier.”

“That’s because I wasn’t there, I was busy.” Getting some sleep.

“I see. So you want to learn from me... my lord?”

“First I would like to know more about earth magic. What it can be used for and what makes it different from other magic.”

“Well that is an easy question to answer. Earth magic is the ability to manipulate and control earth.” He says with a satisfied smile on his face. I can’t help but give out a sigh. Please don’t tell me everyone here is an idiot.

“Okay what is earth?” I ask him in a slightly annoyed voice.

“Eh?” And I get a confused look back.

“Let me rephrase my question, what is it in the earth that you can manipulate?”

“Oh, right. Uhum! Well it depends on the spell really…” And he starts to list a number of different spells and what they do.

Seriously!? I am starting to think that this guy only knows spells and not how they work. Is this what a mage is in this world? Like a person who knows how to microwave fast food, but have no idea of how to actually cook anything or what’s in it.

“Okay stop, just stop. Let’s take a step back shall we? Since I was not here last time can you tell me what you guys talked about. Like what is magic really? Where and how did you people learn magic in the first place? Things like that.”

“Ehm, I guess I can do that.” He looks a bit upset that I interrupted his listing of spells.

In a voice like reading a textbook he starts to explain.

“Magic is all around us. It surrounds everything that exist weather alive or dead. There have been plenty of researchers who have tried to figure out the true answer to what magic actually is but as far as I know no one have found a concrete answer. What we do know is that magic comes in three different forms. The first is the dormant form. That is what fills the world. It can’t be seen or touched but if you have proper training you can feel it, like a heat source.

The second form is called ‘Mana’. Mana is condensed magic that we mages spend our lives collecting. It is the source from which we form our spells, the third form of magic. Mages use their soul as a vessel within them can collect the mana. The soul is almost like a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it become, allowing it to hold more mana.

However just like your muscles, there is a limit to how much it can grow. Over the years there have been several discoveries when it comes to alternative ways of holding mana for example the use of crystals. Precious gems are able to serve as a mana vessel after undergoing certain enchantments. There are also some who use living vessels like a familiar that can house additional mana within them. There has not only been advancement in the storage of mana itself but also in the way it can be used.

Before we could at most do some chants to increase the power of a spell but now we can use various tools to help our spell casting. Things like the magic circles which greatly increases not only the power of the spell but also the possibilities of its use. Then there are our magic robes that have been greatly enchanted to give us protection against magical effect, saving many a mages lives. There are the staffs we use to enhance our spells. Not to mention the greatest discovery of them all, the Grimoire. It is a way to prepare a great many spells beforehand that can be activated with much less effort and a much reduced strain on a mages mana reserve. It truly is the greatest invention in the history of magic, combining the knowledge of mana vessel’s and magic circles to form the ultimate tool.” The mage sighs and stares of into the distance as he dreams of owning such a thing himself one day.

I was a little impressed, even if what he had told me was pretty much what I expected. There were some small things that stood out from it all, like the three forms of magic, the idea of the soul being the vessel with which to hold the mana and the idea of a familiar being used as an additional mana vessel. Still I find his explanation a bit lacking…

“And how does one become a mage exactly?”

“Oh that is easy, first you need to gain the blessing of an elemental but since you are a hero you already have been blessed by all of them when you were summoned so you don’t have to worry about that. Then you have to become aware of the mana within you. Normally this process is long and tiresome, involving long hours of meditation and cultivation as the student have to condense mana until they can actually feel it. But we will use a shortcut where I will force my own mana through your body and make a space in your soul which can be used as a starting point. This will make you able to start condensing mana right away, skipping months of meditation.”

“…What’s the catch?”

“Well, if I mess it up then your soul will tear and you could die. There is also a risk that it will backfire and your soul will start rejecting mana. There have even been reports of a person’s mental state getting affected, changing them as if they were a different person. There is no need to worry though, I have extensive experience, and I even helped out with some of your fellow heroes.”

I’m not going to say I was all for the idea. In fact I did not trust this guy in the slightest and to have him tinker with my soul… I can’t help but having a bad feeling. However… the thought of learning magic trumps my fear, if only by a tiny bit.

All the other heroes went through the same thing the day before while I was sleeping and they don’t seem to have had any complications. I say that but I don’t know them well enough to tell even if they had completely changed personalities.

After reluctantly giving my consent he has me sit down on the bench as he take position behind me.

“Now then try to relax, and focus on the feeling of my mana coursing through your body.” He says and puts his hands on my shoulders.

The feeling was like suddenly jumping in to a cold lake. I felt my body contract and tense up. Remembering that I have to relax I take a few deep breaths. My vision is distorted, as if someone was playing around with different colored lenses I see in blue one second and yellow then next. All light sources in the room seem to have become like shining suns hurting my eyes. All I can hear is the sound of my own blood rushing to my head. My body tingles with hot and cold in waves, first only on skin level then going deeper.

I can actually feel my blood flowing through my veins. I can feel how it picks up the oxygen in my lungs and delivers it all the way out to my fingertips. Time seem to slow down as my senses are enhanced to their absolute limit. I imagine that I can even feel the electric impulses traveling throughout my body, telling my lungs to breathe, my heart to beat and my eyes to see. As if far away I hear the mage speak to me.

“Good.. I will… now… enter your… soul… remember… to focus… on the… mana…”

As he say this I feel the waves of hot and cold start to gather within my stomach, right behind my navel. My senses grow duller once more and I feel the gathered mana start to travel deeper within me. At first I was thinking that it would penetrate my back but it seemed to continue deeper, as if I had no back. The feeling of the mana grew warmer as it slowly approached what I suppose would be my soul. As I felt the gathered mana get closer and closer to my soul I first thought it was very tiny. It gave of a feeling of a small glass figurine, hard and cold. Soon however I realized that it was not a tiny thing at all. It was only far away. Logic no longer applied. My soul which seemingly was inside of me was bigger than I could imagine. Shaped like a child in the womb it floated there, inside of me.

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As the mana finally connected with the soul I felt a jolt go through my mind, like a needle pricking my finger. A dull aching pain spread and I could not help but think that something might have gone wrong. The mana however did not stop but burrowed itself inside of my soul’s stomach right behind the navel. There it seemed to dig around, creating a small space for the future mana to rest, before leaving my body and slowly traveling back to my body. I focused on the path the mana took, on the feeling I felt as it traveled from my soul back to my body.

As the mana finally disappeared I opened my eyes, not knowing that I had closed them. My body was soaked in sweat and the dull ache was still there.

“Ah it was a success.” The mage said while drawing deep breaths.

As I look around I see that all the other heroes have left and we are alone in the room. A quick look out the high window told me the sun was already setting.

“Damn it! I’m going to be late.” I say as I get up a bit too quickly and stumble around a bit as blood rush to my head.

“Calm down its best if you rest…”

More than that I did not hear as I was already out the door. I had an appointment after all. Even if I am normally a rather lazy person I do not like breaking promises. While I hurry down the stairs I can still feel that dull pain from when the mana entered my soul. Hopefully it will heal and go away after I get some rest.

It would be quite some time later when I realized that something had indeed gone wrong.

When I finally make it out to the barracks the sun has already set at the horizon. I find Millie still waiting for me leaned up against the low wall.

“So you finally bothered to show, eh?” She is obviously a bit annoyed.

“Yea, sorry about that. I was hold back by one of the magic instructors.”

“It’s fine let’s just go. I was hoping to get there early but… it is as it is.” She sighed and started to take me away from the castle.

“So, where are we going?”

“If you want to learn how to fight there are a few things you should do first. We are going to do those things. Just shut up and follow me.”

I guess she really hates waiting on people. I mean I was only about 15-20 minutes late, it’s not that bad is it? Especially since they don’t have clocks around here.

I keep quiet and follow her. Since this is the first time I get a proper look at the city I can’t really complain.

The city in question is really a beautiful city. Everything is ornate and preplanned. The streets all create a constant pattern which is easy to follow and understand. All roads lead to the main road in the middle which in turn lead to the castle. It’s all laid out so that the biggest houses are closer to the main road and the castle while they get lower and lower the further they are from there. The roofs are all rather flat, only slanting a bit towards the castle. This would make them rather ugly if it wasn’t for the extravagant carvings in the stones everywhere. It was as if the white stone was alive and moving in intricate patterns. On ground level there wasn’t that much carvings but all you had to do was raise your head and a truly wonder’s sight would enter your vision. There stone trees, birds and angles was be depicted in various scenes.

The whole city was filled with them making it feel as an exhibition of a famous artist rather than an actual city. The theme of the carvings even changed depending on where you were in the city. The closer to the walls you found yourself the more the carvings showed devils and soldiers lurking among the stone, some so well made you wondered if they was real or not. On the other hand around the markets there were more lively carvings of flying pigs, laughing dryads and pixies playing tricks. Among the smiths there were Statues of dwarves and carvings of elves working at forges. Every carving was more fantastic then the next.

As we walked I found myself finding more and more enjoyment in the sculptures that was all over the place. So much so that when we arrived I felt disappointed that I could not continue walking among them.

“We are here.” Millie said and entered a one story building. We were in the far reaches of the city, as far away from the castle we could come. As I entered I immediately regretted coming here.

The inside of the building was rowdy, filled with the stench of beer and sweat and filth. The floor was covered in straw and the benches and tables made from rough wood. It was a tavern or maybe a pub.

After entering Millie walked up to the barman who seemed to know her and pulled him aside. After short conversation and a few coins changing hands, she came back and led me to a table.

I have told you this before but I am not the kind of person who have ever stepped foot in a bar before so I really felt out of place here. Everything stank and the people were not the types I would ever in my life want to associate with. From the looks some of them gave me I was sure that by the end of the night I would have been robbed of my clothes and everything else I have of value. If it wasn’t for Millie’s presence I believe that would already have happened.

“Why are we here?” I ask her in a hushed voice.

“We are getting a drink! Bartender! Four of your finest ale!” She shouts out.

A short time later the bartender comes up with four giant metal mugs filled to the brim with ale.

Millie puts one in front of me. “Drink!” Is all she tells me before she starts to chug hers down. I taste it and frankly it’s not for me. I know I know most people love beer and ale and stuff like that but I just don’t like the taste of it. Not wanting to be rude I force myself to drink half of it before I confront her again.

“So are you going to tell me why the hell we are here? I thought you were going to teach me how to fight, not drink.”

After giving out a big belch she suddenly roars out: “What the hell is this rat piss you’re serving!? You call this your finest ale? It tastes like you actually took a long fucking piss in the barrel!” It didn’t end there. As she loudly complains she starts to wave around one of the ale mugs, spreading ale all over the place.

What!? Don’t say that, you’re going to get us in trouble!

“Hey! What the hell are you doing!? Calm the duck down! We are drying to drink in peace here.” One of the customers gets up and yells at her. He looks like a true drinker, beer belly and all. However Millie…

“Shut up piggy!”

Oh fuck, I should have stayed at the castle…

And as you could expect that sort of set everything in motion. Before I even realized what was going on Millie sent her now rather empty mug flying in to the drunks face, causing his friends to immediately join in the fight. That was not the problem though. The problem was when Millie shouted: “come on let’s show these pigs how to dance!” while literally throwing me in the face of the closest one. I am not going to pretend that I was not afraid. I was terrified. My whole body froze up and my heart felt like it wanted to break out of my chest and run away. However that was cured after I got my face smashed a few times.

I remember trying to tell the man who kept hitting me to wait. That it was all a misunderstanding and that if anything I had nothing to do with the crazy bitch. But when all that failed and he wouldn’t listen I eventually started to get angry at the man and so I punched back. After that I can’t really tell what happened. There was fists flying everywhere, mugs were crushed against faces and chairs were broken over backs. Somehow I managed to stay conscious for most of it. That is, until Millie sent a giant of a man flying towards me and I lost my balance and hit my head on one of the tables.

When I finally awoke I found myself in the stables, next to a loudly snoring Millie. The sun had just risen over the horizon bathing me in its warm light. I slowly got up, my body ached everywhere and I was stinking of dried in beer. My clothes were ripped and dirtied, my face swollen and my body bruised. I checked to see if I had broken any bones but it seemed as if everything was more or less intact. Locking over where Millie was sleeping I could see that she was in a much better state. Apart from the smell she only had a small cut on her cheek to show for last night’s brawl.

“Fucking bitch, what was that good for? Dragging me to bar so I could get my face ruined?” I mutter to myself as I go and dip my head in a water barrel outside the stable. Seeing a bucket I let out a little smile and fill it up. I empty it over Millie’s snoring face and get a satisfying panicked outburst as she wakes up.

“What the hell was that good for?” She screams at me as she spits out water.

“That’s my fucking question! What the hell was that for yesterday? I thought you were going to teach me how to fight, not how to get beaten to a pulp by drunks in a bar! And why did we have to go at night anyway?”

“You wanted to learn how to fight so I took you out to fight, what’s wrong with that!? Learn by doing, it’s what I always done and we went at night because that’s when the good fighters gather. It’s not training if it’s easy, now is it?”

“You could have warned me! I told you before that I have never fought before, do you have any idea of how scary that was for me?”

“Hyahaha, yea I saw you shaking in your boots, that’s why I gave you a little help.”

“Help? HELP!? You threw me at the scariest guy in there!”

“Oh yea! Haha you kept telling him ‘Wait… sorry… please stop…’ while he kept punching you. I almost thought it would end right there, until you snapped. I almost didn’t believe it when you actually knocked that big pig out like that.”

“Well… it wasn’t as if he gave me much of a choice now did he? “

“Come; let’s go get our wounds healed. I happen to know a healer not far from here who can fix us right up. Might be good for you to know where he lives in the future…”

“Wait what? Are you planning on me needing to know where a healer is located in the near future?”

“Well…” She trails off and leaves the stable.

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