Day 16, 17, 18, and 19.
—
Name: Phoenix
Attributes: 4 points
Strength: 6.3 Constitution: 13.3, Coordination: 13, Mentality: 21, Will: 17, Charisma: 17, Luck: 13
Magic: Earth, The Lie, Meld
Spells: Illusory Earth, Illusory Fire
Skills: Ritual (Worship Arachnae) 23%->30%, Meditate 20%->23%, Magical Theory 42%->45%, Intensity 42%->45%, Duration 42%->45%, Area 24%->27%, Passivity 42%->45%, Magical Shape 0%->20%, Magical Artistry 0%->12%
Magic Pool: 26 (28.4) [link leak, 0.45 per hour]
—
Phoenix roused himself from his meditative state and realized that his Magic Pool had been draining during the night. As pleased as he was with his new magical earth constructions, he had to do serious work on his link to patch up the tears that were bleeding out Magic Pool points on an hourly basis, overcoming his natural respiration. Thus, it made sense to retreat into himself and work on repairing the damage, consciously running magic ‘parallel’ to the tears, which seemed to smooth them out and cause them to shrink, at the cost of points. Much like his hands and knees ‘sanding’ mental analogy, this ‘daub and wattle’ masonry analogy helped him to fix the damage quickly, and by dawn his link was neutral or even a little positive in terms of respiration versus leaks, once again.
The weather remained awful, in fact it looked even worse, with the wind getting stronger and the rain hitting in sudden, gusting walls of water. He was worried now about the river flooding, so walked more and more in the tree line, which slowed his progress as he needed to navigate his bubble through the branches and tree trunks, not always finding a path of sufficient size easily. Around midday, at least so he guessed based on his panel, the swell of the river made his choice of the difficult path the wise one, but at least the rain and wind were tapering off, and by evening the sky was clear, crisp, and much colder. So cold in fact that he ended up putting his cowl on over the silk ‘underwear’ style outfit that Melite had given him. At least he was dry, and his feet were cozy in the new boots, and had a brief attack of homesickness for Annirith and the fae.
The next day was similar to the previous- repairing his link, marching through the trees while the river below ran wild, and generally making the best time he could during the daylight hours. That evening, he finally reached what could only be the edge of the woods, as a vast plain of waist high grass stretched out west and north to the horizon. This must be where he was meant to turn north, to search for Tiana’s home. He was still reasonably supplied, with about a third of the trail mix he had been given left in his box, but he was concerned about water now that he would be leaving the shore of the river. He had discovered, when trying to traverse the difficult terrain of the forest, that he could get the Illusory Earth to hover about as far as he could reach above his head, which was very roughly two meters high. He could easily make a reservoir in his little mobile structure he was trotting around in, but if he ever let it lapse all that water would go splashing to the ground, which was kind of a risk as who knows when he could replenish it or find more. Plus, water was very heavy, which would increase the resources he would need to dedicate to the size of his Illusory Earth in order to transport just the water.
The rough rule of thumb he knew was about one liter of water every two hours of hiking in cool weather like this, so if he was doing a pretty steady 10 hours a day, and could expect to reach the witch’s house in two days, that was a minimum of 10 liters. Double that, for when things went wrong and he had to hike back here. Some more math later, he judged that he could do it, and still have enough power left to cover himself and maintain the spell for a reasonable amount of time, about an hour and a half between refreshes. Definitely giving his Draw Breath spell a work out over the course of a day!
He made one last camp near the river, having filled his Illusory Earth bucket with water and boiled it properly, then began his northern hike, still working on his damaged link but seeing considerable progress now, with most of the tears completely healed and the jagged protrusions down to wavy bumps. Still more work to do but the end of the task was in sight, possibly, if he was diligent, by the time he reached Tiana’s home.
The plain was quite beautiful, in the morning light, the grass wind swept and bright green. The sky was only interrupted by the blur of what he presumed were mountains in the extreme distance, north of him. Closer, he could see herds of big deer-like creatures, caribou or moose or something similar. He felt no particular need to get too close, certainly not close enough where he might have a shot at killing one, given his current food supply. So he mostly just watched them roam, the young bouncing and jumping amongst the older ones. He wondered what would prey on these herds out here, some kind of bear, or wolves, or large cat? None of those seemed appealing to surprise in this tall grass, so he kept a sharper eye out after having had the thought.
As it turned out, the next two days were peaceful, boring even. He settled down that night expecting the next day would find him close enough to Tiana’s house that he could see it, or that she might find him, given that he hoped that she was expecting him. He had managed to completely repair the damage to his link, and was raring to go on learning new spells and enhancing his magic, so the timing was perfect to meet this new potential mentor.
Day 20
—
Name: Phoenix
Attributes: 4 points
Strength: 6.7 Constitution: 13.7, Coordination: 13, Mentality: 21, Will: 17, Charisma: 17, Luck: 13
Skills: Meditate 23%->35%, Area 27%->39%, Magical Shape 20%->32%, Magical Artistry 12%->25%
Magic Pool: 29
Weight 69.2 kg -> 68.8 kg
—
Rousing in the wee hours pre-dawn, as had become his habit, Phoenix was happy to see that he had finally regained a point of his Magic Pool. Counting back in his mind, he figured that it was about a week of solid effort, four or more hours a day, to get one point, so he had a couple months worth of work to do in order to fully recover the sacrifices he had made to date. He would have to ask Tiana if that was considered fast or slow or about average.
Exiting his little hut, getting ready to start a morning of spiritual practice or maybe play with some more spells before searching for the house in the daylight to come, he was pleased to see that the weather remained clear and the waxing gibbous moon providing plenty of light. What elicited curiosity was the dim shadow of a fox staring at him from the branches of a nearby tree. He only noticed it due to the shine of its eyes from the firelight in his hut, quite stark and a little creepy in the moonlight. Naturally he had seen several red foxes in the woods before, skittish and ephemeral, but they shied away and never remained near for long. This one was just laying on a branch, front paws crossed, observing him.
He went around a tree trunk to make his ablutions and other morning business, and when he returned the fox was still there and still staring. Sufficiently intrigued, he approached, and when it didn’t flee, called up to it.
“Hi, are you looking for me? My name is Phoenix.” He said, reminded suddenly of the stories of shapechanging witches or witch familiars. Could this be Tiana? Although apocryphal or even libelous myths from his world were a poor guide to the nature of beings in this one.
The fox got up and made its way down the tree, and then stood a few meters away, black and silver tail glowing in the moonlight. Almost like it was posing for him. He nodded to it, and summoned his cabin to follow him. He then walked after the fox as it trotted into the night. The fox maintained a measured pace, not so fast that he had to hurry after it or risk losing it in the night. For his part, he walked swiftly but carefully, head on a swivel searching the surrounding night. His alertness was rewarded when a rectangle of light breached the darkness ahead, a door opening in an otherwise carefully camouflaged building, and the fox, laughing with that breathy hehe fox laugh, raced up to wrap itself around the legs of the person standing silhouetted in the light. Phoenix stopped once he could make out their features, then gave a measured bow.
Manners cost nothing, right?
“I am Phoenix, am I addressing Mistress Tiana?” he said.
She gave a giggly laugh very reminiscent of her pet (familiar?), breathy and rapid, and then nodded.
“You are indeed. Polite, that is good, very young, younger than I was led to believe. Not taking the best care of yourself are you, too skinny. Well, you are welcome in my home, if you bring no harm to any within no harm will come to you.” Tiana’s voice was a strong alto, friendly and inviting, and she stepped aside and motioned for him to enter.
“I am grateful for the warm welcome, and I seek to harm none unless they seek to harm me.” He set his hut down, sealed it up, and entered her home. The inside was very homey, a large open space, two stories tall with a loft on either end. Fireplace and living room or workshop on one end, with desks and chairs and tea kettle over the flame. Kitchen and table with three chairs at the other. All constructed from pinewood logs artfully squared off and assembled, the chimneys for the fireplace and kitchen stove made of some metal, twin metal tubes that joined at the peak to exit the roof. Oval fur rugs lay scattered on the living room side, above which was a bedroom, while the kitchen side had cabinets and storage and what looked like a bathroom with indoor plumbing. Above that was more storage, hanging dry meats and herbs and vegetables in barrels, and a small area cleared out for what he presumed was to be his sleeping spot.
She closed the door after him, smiling, and clasped her hands in front of her, shrugging her shoulders. She was about the same height as he was, skinny too, with only a hint of breasts and hips. Her hair was black with threads of silver, and cascaded down to her shoulder blades, the color very reminiscent of her pet who had moved over to roll around in front of the fireplace. The silver hair made placing an age on her quite difficult, not young certainly but her face was unwrinkled and her eyes bright, her gait and hands steady and firm. She could be 20 or 200 and he wouldn’t know. She was dressed in simple and very soft looking leather pants and vest, her arms bare to her shoulders. She wore some elegant jewelry, jade and bone and silver, at her neck and wrists and ankles. A pair of slip on shoes, made of sterner leather than the rest of the outfit, completed the ensemble. She gave the impression of a rustic life, well made by hand and long lonely seasons between bursts of company.
“Well, I think we should get the most important thing out of the way first. Arachnae contacted me to request I guide you along your path and provide you with a waystop in your journey, both physically and magically. She even has paid a significant inducement upfront, which was quite generous of her. To have a goddess like her reach out to me for aid is quite the honor, so naturally I accepted.” She broke his contemplation of her form after a minute.
“I, too, am grateful. I feel quite lost and a little overwhelmed since I got here.” Phoenix replied.
“I can’t even imagine. Powerful magics, incarnating someone like yourself!” She nodded along. “Well, what did our common patron tell you of this relationship?”
Phoenix shifted a little, embarrassed and unsure if he should be totally honest. Still Truth was in Arachnae’s portfolio… “She said I could trust you, but she said you would ask for a price as well, for your knowledge.”
“All true, of course, all true. A little light on details but that is Arachnae’s way. Let me give you a clearer picture hmm? Ordinarily, I would take you on as an apprentice. This isn’t something I do too often, every twenty years or so, when the Free Elves or the Empire find someone in their midst who doesn't quite fit in anywhere and could use an outsiders gentle guiding hand. But obviously, you can’t spend the next decade washing my floors and carrying water in exchange for magical instruction, now can you? That is the normal term, you see, a decade of service, with an apprentice’s bond. Arachnae tells me that you learn fast, that you are a pretty smart lad, and that I’m meant to stuff your head with as much as I can until it becomes obvious it is time for you to move on. Which I am sure Arachnae will make totally unambiguous and clear to us both. So you see, my normal recompense, spiritually and physically, is lacking in this relationship. Yes?” She paused to let him answer.
“Ah, yes, that seems obvious.” he said.
“Good good, it is nice that we understand each other. Not looking to take advantage of you or anything like that, but likewise can’t afford to just be giving things away for nothing, this is my livelihood you see. So you and I, going to work out something a little more… intense. All very fair, just, squished down in the time span.” She pinched her fingers together to emphasize the point.
“Ok, I am open to that.” he replied cautiously.
“Such a good boy! We will get along wonderfully I can tell. Well, it will go like this then. At the beginning of the week, which would be today, you will consent to my using you to enhance my magical and spiritual practices. In case you didn’t know, and I am giving this bit of knowledge as a freebie, your spirit glows like the sun. I can harness that power for my own devices and plans. It takes the whole day, but you won’t remember anything and no harm will come to you. In exchange, the next six days I spend stretching that big brain of yours just as far as it will go and then filling it with facts and magical power.” She walked over to the kitchen table, where a parchment was lying next to a quill pen and inkwell. “Will write it all nice and neat so there are no misconceptions or misunderstandings, both of us sign, and get right into things, yes?”
Oh joy, more bargains. Well, she doesn’t seem as desperate for my aid as Arachnae was, but I wonder if there might be some wiggle room for negotiation anyway…
“Does it have to take a whole day each time, what you want to do?” He asked
She paused in the process of picking up the quill, then put it down and smiled at him. “No, not necessarily. But your Magic Pool will be drained afterwards and thus you will not be of much use learning magic after, as well as the physical toll it may take on you will make you tired.”
“I see.” he murmured. “Well, if you don’t mind, perhaps I can offer a suggestion? You see, I have developed the ability to refill my Magic Pool essentially at will in a matter of minutes. I would propose that night before, from evening to midnight, but no less than four hours, you extract your price. I then sleep and wake up at dawn, refresh my Magic Pool, and we spend the day, but not less than twelve hours, with instruction and magical practice. We can then repeat that day by day until such time as either one of us decides we have had enough.” He looked at her, and she at least seemed to be considering the offer.
“I don’t think you are realizing how much sleep you are going to need, after.” she said.
“I don’t need much sleep at all, so eight hours of downtime should be more than sufficient, plus it gives you time for other activities as you might need to perform? Which occurs to me, will I need to provide for food or other supplies during this process?” He said
“I may have you help me hunt every so often. I will cook for both of us, as long as you are not expecting anything fancy. Chopping wood will be in your hands, although as it gets warmer that task will get easier. Water I have in abundance, here in the house. You can sleep in the loft, there, I have a mattress and some blankets and a pillow arranged for you. Other things can be offered for specific tasks, such as perhaps a change of clothes.” she ticked off each point on her hand. “Can you demonstrate this ability you claim to have for me?”
“Certainly, let's see…” he remembered the wood pile outside, and motioned for her to follow him out there. Once in front of the uncut logs, he brought his hut over to hide the light show he was about to produce, which caused Tiana to raise an eyebrow. Then he Conjured Light for his halo, and started neatly slicing the log into equally sized sections, rolling them on to their side, and cutting them into four neat wedges. He spent a moment figuring out how to manipulate them with the Illusory Earth to get them nice and stacked up, but once he had that down he was able to get through the whole log. Then he took a long deep inhale of Draw Breath, and recharged his Magic Pool, turning at the end to smile at Tiana.
She was staring at him rather incredulously, and he was feeling pretty good about himself, when she finally nodded and said, quietly. “Yes, well, we certainly have a lot to learn here. Let’s get you inside and signed and sealed, shall we?”
They sat down at the table and hashed out the exact wording for the contract. One condition she insisted on was that, if he agreed to accept the price and her tutelage, he also agreed to obey her reasonable commands for the duration. He added that she couldn’t walk away from the agreement after taking a price the previous night, and that she couldn’t command him to do anything that would violate his contract with Arachnae, which she readily accepted. She then wrote the whole thing up, in small but neat and legible handwriting, including the division of labor of the chores she had outlined, and with a flourish signed the bottom of it. Pushing it over to him, she laid the quill next to and went to mess with the tea pot, while he reread the whole thing (just in case!) and then, nervous but excited, signed.
She came back to the table with the kettle and two cups, and poured them both a cup of tea. Holding hers in both hands, she waited until he had poured, then gave a firm nod.
“Ok, Phoenix, first do you consent to your first payment?”
“Yes, would you like to start right away?” he said.
“In a moment. Right now, I want to ask some questions and you must not lie, is that understood?” she watched him as she took a drink of her tea.
“Understood.” He was feeling more nervous than excited now. What was all of this?
“Have you killed anyone with magic?” she was staring right into his eyes.
“Yes.” was his flat reply, his heart racing now.
“Describe to me how you did that.” She wouldn’t blink, and he was finding it strangely difficult to look away.
He spent a few minutes recounting each of his kills, so to speak, from the undead priestess to the various goblins. He hesitated, then added all the animals that he had hunted as well, just in case the definition of anyone was broad.
She sighed, seemingly in relief, and he was starting to feel very confused. She must have seen that on his face, because she responded “I had to be sure. Arachnae left out three very key pieces of information about you. The first is that you are a man, which obviously complicates my obligation to keep you safe, but I was ready as soon as you stepped into the house to deal with that, definitely not a deal breaker. The second, more critically, is that you are a sorcerer. Your magic is fundamentally different from my own. This will put a limit on just how much I can teach you, but again, watching you cut wood, that wasn’t a deal breaker either, I know I can provide you with considerable value. Lastly, however, and most crucially, is that you know how to Draw. Sorcerers who use Draw on sentient living beings are rightfully anathema, regardless of any provocation or the circumstances. Arachnae should have warned you that doing so would have violated your contract.” She put down her cup and finally broke eye contact, and he sat back, sweating a little and strangely dizzy. “No right minded Magus would ever teach you Draw, these days, just to avoid you having the temptation.”
“So, I stumbled into some forbidden knowledge? Out of ignorance, I assure you.” he said.
“Forbidden knowledge? No, Arachnae does not believe there is such a thing as forbidden knowledge. Only forbidden actions. Using Draw to refresh your Magic Pool as you have been is relatively innocent, although it will alert and potentially annoy the local nature deities. But if you were to, say, Draw Breath from someone’s lungs? That is a style of murder that could not be forgiven. Stick to slicing them up with Lances. That said, not everyone is as… enlightened… in their understanding as Arachnae and myself. I would suggest that you be somewhat circumspect about who you alert to your ability to use Draw in the future.” her tone was quite serious and he nodded in reply.
Tiana stood then, and motioned him to follow. “In any event, there is no unlearning it. Come, help me set up the ritual space and I will begin with my price. I was going to save this till later, but we are off schedule, so rather than teach you today, I will give you a gift instead. Then tonight I will take the price for tomorrow and we will begin serious tutelage.”
Phoenix helped her move the oval rugs out from the center of the building, which revealed a marble slab with a pentacle etched into it in what looked like jade. He marveled at that, since getting the materials out here, properly laid out, then merging them without so much as a hint of a join line, must have taken considerable magical power. She put some cushions down in the center of the pentacle and had him sit. Then she extinguished all the lanterns around the room, leaving a single candle there just outside the pentacle.
“I want you to take slow, deep breaths for me, just concentrate on breathing and keeping a neutral body posture.” She lit some herbs in the candle, which filled the air with a pleasant fragrance as they burned. “Now, stare into the candle flame. Still breathing, Phoenix, slow… deep breaths. I want you to take all your worries, all your anxieties, and feed it to the flame. Inhale, nice and deep. Hold. Then exhale, all that fear, into the flame.”
Phoenix did as instructed, feeling a little silly, but the rhythm of her speaking soon got him in mind of the trances he entered as he resonated with a Glyph. Recognizing that, he was careful not to think of any particular use, just following her instructions to stare at the flame and feed it his worries.
“Good, now I want you to know that you are safe. The candle is burning away all the worries you might have, all the doubt, the self consciousness, any awkwardness. Into the candle, and then it is smoke. Exhale Phoenix… that's it. Now, I am going to blow the candle out, Phoenix, and when I do, all the fear will be gone from you, and it will just be you and I, in this safe place. Just focus on your breathing, and watch… as… I… “
The candle went out in a gentle puff, and he drifted for some time, just breathing slowly and carefully.
Day 21
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
—
Magic Pool: 1(29) [respiration, 17.1 hours]
—
“And now, Phoenix, you are coming back to me, gently and safely, waking up again. And you are opening your eyes, and you are awake!” Tiana’s voice called him out of the daze and he blinked rapidly in the light of the lanterns, which were once again lit.
“Woah, what… what did you do to me?” He wasn’t angry, just surprised and a little weirded out that he couldn’t remember the block of time that had just passed.
Tiana was picking up several odd implements whose purpose he could not immediately identify. “As I said, harnessing your power for my own projects and purposes. Come, help me put this all away.”
He moved over and helped her clean up, then returned the rug to cover the marble slab. She had him gather his things out of his magical hut and then dismiss it (letting the water splash harmlessly to the ground), moving him fully into the other loft. He arranged the chests and boxes in such a way that he had a limited amount of privacy while he slept, then joined Tiana back on the first floor.
“You being a sorcerer has many advantages, in terms of flexibility and eventually, power. But you also have some limitations as well. The first of which is, at least initially, getting a spell setup takes some time. The second is that there is a hard cap to how many Glyphs you can resonate with before tearing your mind apart. We will explore close to that limit I think, so I want to give you this.” She withdrew from her belt-pouch a brooch, wrought in bronze and depicting a fox curled nose to tail in a perfect circle. She took his hand and placed the brooch on his palm, then closed his hand around it.
“This brooch has been enchanted by me to heal whoever it touches. All you have to do is touch the brooch, concentrate on it, and say ‘Arachnae’s touch soothes my wounds’.” She smiled. “As we reach the limits of your Glyph resonance, it will be quite handy I assure you.”
“About that.” he said, hesitantly.
Tiana went quiet and still. “Is this another dangerous revelation you have for me?” she finally said.
“Well, to be fair, the danger is over?” He gave her a tentative smile.
“I should have done this first off. Phoenix, as master and apprentice, we would have a magical bond and you would know in your heart that I mean you no harm. Our daily exchange of power for service will build a similar bond over time, but right now it is weak and I don’t want to stress it.” She took his hand in both her own now, and looked into his face, while he dodged her eyes.
“See? You are nervous again and you don’t even know what I was going to ask.” she reached up and touched his chin, directing him to look at her. “Look me in the eye Phoenix. That’s it. Trust can not be commanded, but in order to teach you I need to know some things that you should ordinarily keep private. Please show me your panel.”
Well she is right about that, definitely nervous. I mean, I know she is bound by that contract to keep me safe in her care, but what about afterwards? She will know this stuff about me till the end of her days.
He paused his swirling thoughts then, and then gave a snort of laughter at himself.
Not at all unlike dating someone is it?
Focusing on his panel, he brought it up and then was stumped. He had never actually shown anyone before, and didn’t know how.
“How do I…?” he offered.
Tiana moved her chair over next to his, putting her chin on his shoulder. “It is simple, hold your hands together in the shape of the panel, yes like that. Then move the panel so it occupies that shape and there it is! Well done!” She gave him a squeeze around his waist while she perused.
—
Name: Phoenix
Attributes: 4 points
Strength: 6.7 Constitution: 13.7, Coordination: 13, Mentality: 21, Will: 17, Charisma: 17, Luck: 13
Boons: Arcane Adept, Perfect Memory, Prodigal Learning, Enhanced Decision Loop, Hero Soul, Enchanted Heart.
Flaws: Poor Grip Strength, Chemical Susceptibility.
Other: Contractual Commitment (Hero Soul)
Heroic Soul Power Stored 0 (1 used)
Magic: Fire, Air, Death, Earth, The Lie. Conjure, Dismiss, Draw, Manipulation, Meld
Spells: Conjure Flame, Conjure Light, Conjure Breath, Draw Flame, Draw Breath, Lance of Heat, Death Ward, Illusory Earth, Illusory Fire
Skills: Ritual (Worship Arachnae) 30%. Speak Language Tul’Lian 75%. Read and Write Language Tul’Lian 75%, Read and Write Empyrean 65%, Speak Empyrean 13%, Survival 30%, Meditate 35%, Fists and Feet 23%, Persuasion 25%, Etiquette 24%, Carousing 12%, Magical Theory 45%, Intensity 45%, Duration 45%, Range 42%, Area 39%, Passivity 45%, Magical Shape 25%, Magical Artistry 25%,
Luck Uses: 1
Hit Points: 14
Magic Pool 1(29) [respiration, 17.1 hours remaining]
Height: 178 cm. Weight: 68.8 kg
—
“Well.” she murmured into his ear. “You have been a busy little bee. All of this despite reincarnating only three weeks ago. It is quite impressive! You are going to be a serious challenge for my talents as a teacher, let me tell you.” She let him go and scooted back around the table then. “Tell me about unlocking your Glyphs.” she asked.
Phoenix spent a bit of time recounting each of the times he had unlocked them, including the last two which had brought on the mana burn and how he had nearly died.
Tiana gathered her thoughts, drumming her fingers on the table top and concentrating. While she thought, her fox came up and pawed at her leg. When she didn’t respond, the fox gave her up as a bad cause and shifted over to Phoenix, wagging its tail and making a ‘he he he’ sound with its mouth agape, like it was smiling or laughing at him.
Phoenix leaned down and put his hand out, curled over and palm down, like a paw. The fox immediately softly mouthed it, he wouldn’t call it a bite, then put its head underneath as an invitation for ear scratches. Phoenix obliged, wondering at how soft their fur was. “What’s their name?” He asked.
“Hmm? Oh that little slut is Chepi. She is hungry, no doubt, since it is breakfast time. Any pair of hands at all will work for you, eh Chepi? Haven’t known him for five hours and already getting ear rubs.” Tiana’s voice was warm and friendly, despite the words. “If you would like, you can make us all breakfast. There are eggs in the pantry, some bacon cut already and fresh raspberries, if you don’t mind cooking that up for us. Leave an egg raw for Chepi, but she can join us for the rest.”
He nodded along and got up to do the cooking. I suppose this is the labor part of things. She is just used to ordering apprentices around I am sure, even if our contract doesn’t really explicitly say that. In truth he didn’t mind. Bacon and eggs sounded wonderful after a week of trail mix.
He cooked and plated the food, putting a raw egg alongside two strips of bacon and a handful of berries for Chepi. Tiana’s only comment was that next time he should make twice as much for himself “You are way too skinny, need to fatten you up some.” Chepi had a chair of her own, a kind of high seat that put her level with the table top so she could daintily eat alongside the two humans.
After breakfast, Tiana said she had to work more on her ‘lesson plan’ for him, so he went outside and started doing the various chores around the place. The day was sunny again, yesterday's storm firmly forgotten. The area around the back of the hut was quite the miniature little farm. There was a chicken coop with half a dozen hens, two pigs, and a milk cow, along with various herbs, root vegetables, gourds, and berries in the garden.
Deciding he was probably adding this all to his list of chores along with the wood cutting, he went about feeding all the animals. The garden seemed fine to his inexperienced eye, it had rained yesterday so the soil was plenty damp and he didn’t want to risk pulling a ‘weed’ that was actually some kind of magically potent herb. He collected the day's harvest of eggs from the chickens and retreated inside. Tiana directed him to clean up in the bathroom, so he brought his soaps down from his box and heated a bath, disdaining the use of wood for the fire and instead using Conjure Fire. The water was piped in from a tank on the roof, so he could enjoy the feeling of indoor plumbing. Chepi joined him on the edge of the tub, biting at the bubbles from the soap and splashing in the water playfully while he scrubbed and rinsed. Then he settled in for a nice long soak.
Once all of that was done, he returned to find that Tiana had started cooking lunch, but that she had another gift for him. This was an outfit very similar to her own, long pants made of extraordinarily soft leather, a vest like sleeveless shirt, and a pair of slip-on shoes.
“Go ahead and get changed, In a week I’ll have another set just like that for you, no additional charge. In the meanwhile, I'm gonna explain some of what we will be doing, at least for the beginning of this relationship.” Tiana waved him back into the bathroom.
Now freshly clean, with new clothes, he was feeling pretty chipper as he sat and watched Tiana bustle about the kitchen. Chepi demanded a spot on his lap, which he obliged, happy to get a chance to pet the incredible softness of her fur. She was a silver fox, dark midnight black with a halo of silver fur along her back and sides and along her tail. The point of her tail was pure white, while her paws, nose, and ears were pure black. Now that he was looking for them, he could see a number of contrivances around the house which made the fox more a part of the family than a pet, the high chair, a rope on the door handle she could pull to let herself out, her own little bathtub in the bathroom. Gathering this into mind, he decided that rather than treat her like a pet, it would be wise to treat her like a friend, to mimic how Tiana was treating her. Who knows when Chepi might surprise him with her intelligence in the future!
Tiana left the stew to… stew… for a bit, and sat down to finally discuss the plans.
“So, you have four attribute points available, quite a lot really, and you have a heroic soul. But you haven’t broken through to the Journey Tier yet, despite all of that you have managed. Kind of backwards, really. In the normal course of your life, if you have been born in, let us say, the Empire, your big brain would have been noted around age six or so, and you would go to school to learn about logic, and math, and philosophy, and the theology of Glyphs and magic. So far so good, Arachnae said you wouldn’t have any troubles with logic or math, and only struggle with ignorance about magic. First lessons are going to be that then, discussing the four kinds of magic, why sorcery is different, and so on.” She paused to make sure he was still paying attention, and he nodded eagerly.
“Right, second, around puberty, you would be apprenticed to a Magus. They would help you resonate with two techniques, Manipulation and Conjure, and pick three Glyphs that are most appropriate for your personality and needs. Then they would spend your apprenticeship, ten years, expanding your Magic Pool and working on your skills, Magic Theory, Intensity, Duration, Range, Passivity, and so on and so forth.” she laughed a little then. “You are quite ahead of the game there, Prodigal Learning no doubt. Most Apprentice Magus would be in the thirty five percent range, by the time they were ready to graduate to Journey.” Here she poked his forehead, not hard “And they wouldn’t have any more Glyphs or techniques than those starting five, unless they were exceptionally smart and powerful to begin with! An exceptional Apprentice might have seven, going into Journey Tier, but that would definitely be pushing it.”
“So does that explain the damage I did, unlocking an extra pair of Glyphs? Nine, rather than seven?” he asked.
“Yes and no. There is a limit to how many Glyphs and techniques the mind can handle before tearing itself apart. This limit is different for every sorcerer, but it is tied to your Mentality in some way. As you approach the limit, usually within four or so, you start to experience mana burn. So yes, you pushed all the way up to your hard limit, but you made it many times worse by doing it all at once. Resonating three Glyphs at the same time is suicidal, and that is another thing we will be practicing and learning together, how to focus your spirit on just one Glyph at a time.”
“How many Glyphs are there?” he asked.
“Hrm, depending on your set of beliefs and exactly how you count, twenty four to thirty one. At least, those are the ones that mortal sorcerers have cataloged. Which is a nice segue into the second portion of my lesson plan for you.” She smiled at him. “And those four attribute points give me hope that we can get this done. Now, when an apprentice is done with their ten year term, their Magus helps them resonate with a special Glyph, Magic. The Magic Glyph guides your passageway, the means by which you build and refill your Magic Pool. You have already been working on that I see, which is good news. Once you resonate with the Magic Glyph, you will find a lot of the limits you have will expand, and it will grant you one boon. At that point, you are Journey Tier and ready to start working as a Magus.”
“So we are going to unlock a Glyph, graduate me to a new tier, and send me on my way? How many tiers are there?” he asked.
“Well, you make it sound quite easy! Some apprentices take a year or two to accomplish that step!” She stopped, then gave him a grin “Although I dare say you won’t be one of them. But yes, Arachnae willing we will have enough time to clean up your knowledge gaps, safely resonate a Glyph or two, and then take a stab at advancing you to Journey. As to how many tiers, well, there are seven that a mortal can hope to aspire to.” She held up her hands, raising a finger for each. “Apprentice, that’s what everyone starts as. Journey, then Master. Most people will eventually reach Master Tier late in their lifetime. Exceptional people, maybe one in one hundred, will reach the next tier, Glyph Tier, and they make up the leaders of our communities. Extraordinary people, extremely rare, will make it to Hero. The Empire has four Heroes, at least last that I heard. The Free Elves have three, other nations are similarly blessed, one or two each. A Hero can contest with a hag Sister coven on equal footing, and even fight meaningfully against a hag Auntie, should such a being make itself known.”
“So my Hero Soul boon means I am going to be a Hero?” He couldn’t keep the excitement out of his voice.
“Very possible, although not automatic. It is a leg up, an early taste of the power that a Hero has. It is going to accelerate you through the tier’s much more rapidly than someone else. Suitable, for the gift of a goddess. Don’t waste it!” she admonished him.
“And the other two tiers?” he asked.
“Prime, and Demigod. There are no known Primes in the world at this time, although history records a handful. The last Imperial Prime broke the Hag’s Grandmother Coven and saved the world from the demonic invasion, at the cost of her life, just over two thousand years ago. Rumors of other Primes have always just been that, rumors. Two Demigod Tier mortals, if they can still be called such, have existed in all of recorded history, and they each changed the face of Lia, for good or for ill. If the Lich-Queen Lilika still exists, she is likely a Demigod Tier, and has wreaked a horror of evil and pain for four thousand years. Before her, was the founder of the Empire, Tul, and he is said to have ascended to heaven after ruling for one thousand years, and married the goddess Lia.” She sighed then. “Nothing you need to worry about for now of course.”
“What keeps someone from advancing?” He was curious, the great filter on these tiers was pretty harsh after Master.
“Interest, time, and luck. A Master Tier will have all their needs and most of their desires met easily. In terms of mundane challenges, nothing is too strenuous, but to advance to Glyph Tier, you must face mystical and spiritual challenges that are both dangerous and difficult. Why risk being killed or permanently disabled when you are perfectly comfortable at Master? The transition from Glyph Tier to Hero Tier is even more difficult. Unlike you, that is when people establish their hero soul, and then store hero soul power until they can make the jump. Each of those steps is risky, even lethal, and can take decades. Many just run out of time, unless they can unlock a form of immortality. After Hero, I do not know what the path is, but it is a safe bet that it is even harder than the hero soul. Plus, the life of a Hero is one of conflict and great deeds, which usually results in dying one too many times and being unable to return from the realm of the deities.” She stood then, and started serving the stew.
It was rich and tasty, and he wondered where she got the barley base that she had used. Traded with the Elves perhaps? One last question was bothering Phoenix, and he didn’t know how bold he wanted to be, but in the end…
“What tier are you, mistress?” He asked. Bold it was going to be.
Tiana laughed at that. “Cheeky! Well, I know quite a bit about you I suppose.” She suited her action to the word, patting his cheek in a motherly fashion. “I am a Witch Einar, and I am Glyph Tier.” She sat up a little straighter at that, and he could tell she was proud of her accomplishment. “And perhaps, If Arachnae is willing, someday a Hero too. Anyway, you have the rest of the day to yourself. At dusk we will repeat the price, and tomorrow I will begin my instruction. I will be going out for the afternoon, try not to burn the place down.”
Phoenix spent a few minutes deciding what to do with his afternoon. In the end, he gritted his teeth and decided on calisthenic body weight exercises and some high intensity interval training aerobics. The reasoning he had was that he was going to be getting quite a lot of mental stimulation, best to keep up some kind of exercise regime so that he could finish off that strength and constitution point eventually. He changed into his silk bodysuit, and the exercises themselves were straightforward, although Chepi thought he was playing and would constantly get in the way, bite his ankles and run away laughing, and otherwise be an amusing nuisance. He took it all with good grace, tickling her when he could catch her, and otherwise just factoring it all into his exercises. Towards the end, he went outside and used the hand pump to pump water from the well up to the rooftop storage vessel, then went inside and took another bath, enjoying the luxury of having clean water on demand and clean clothes to change into.
He was pondering if he could somehow automate the water pump with magic when Tiana returned. She cooked a nice dinner, including bringing out some warm bread from only she knew where. If there was a magic spell to conjure fresh bread, he wanted in on this secret, but she just laughed and told him to eat up so they could start the price ritual.
After eating, and waiting for her to finish her bath, which he spent playing with Chepi, they repeated the ritual. This time she wore only a robe, rather than her leathers, and asked that he wear his Arachnae cowl as well. The words were the same, as was their effect, and much later he vaguely remembered being laid down on his bed in the loft, before diving back into his trance once again.
Day 21
—
Name: Phoenix
Attributes: 4 points
Strength: 6.8 Constitution: 13.8, Coordination: 13, Mentality: 21, Will: 17, Charisma: 17, Luck: 13
Skills: Meditate 35%->38%
Magic Pool: 7(29.1) [respiration, 13.5 hours remaining]
—
Tiana was cooking breakfast when he came out of his trance, so he switched into his leather outfit and went outside and did the farm chores. Afterwards, they ate, cleaned up, and she started directly in on teaching him. Her style was purely an oral one, recounting history, magical theory, and any pertinent facts about the world as it was today that she was aware of, all in a melange. She would then digress into practical examples she thought would be appropriate to the topic at hand, before diving back into lecture once more. This didn’t bother Phoenix at all, as he just memorized everything she said and would spend any downtime sorting it and learning it in a more organized way. Bits stood out to him throughout the day.
“There are four types of magic users in the world, setting aside the nature of deities, spirits, and demons. At an apprentice level, it is entirely possible to practice more than one of these styles, but the more you climb the Tiers, the more specialized you tend to be. It's really just a matter of resources, your time, your Magic Pool available to sacrifice, and your available teachers. In order of how common it is to practice, they are spiritual, divine, mystical, and arcane. Each of these magical practices has a physical and a magical manifestation. A Witch is what the world calls anyone who has achieved Master Tier or greater in the magical manifestation of spiritual practice. A Master Tier magical manifestation of divine practice would be a Priestess, and the magical manifestation of the mystical practice is called a Knower. You will gain the title Magus when you reach Master Tier, as you are proceeding down the magical manifestation of arcane practice.”
This would explain why she is called a Witch with respect, while Vuiloa was prefaced with such vulgar terms. The faerie simply hated Vuiloa, not the fact that she was a Witch. But she is at least Master Tier, which makes her a very dangerous enemy for me. Also, guess they were flattering me pretty heavily by calling me Magus…
“Is it possible to practice both the magical and the physical?” The question came to him naturally.
“Of course, you are required to, in order to progress to Glyph Tier. Einar is what a Master Tier Physical manifestation of spiritual practice is called. Then you have Lady, for divine, Doer, for mystic, and Artificer, for arcane. Thus, as a Glyph Tier spiritualist, I am a Witch Einar. If you do eventually decide to practice more than one type of magic, I would highly recommend you wait till you achieve Glyph Tier in a single one first. The benefits are too desirable to put off.”
In a way, he wished she had some books for him to study. He could read reasonably quickly, retain it perfectly, and books tended to be better organized. Very much a complaint that expressed his entitlement by having the boons he had, but even so. Well, whatever, beggars and choosers and gift horses’ mouths and so on.
She switched him to ritual spiritual practices, nothing like the ones described in his books but accomplishing much the same effects. This was very welcome, a challenge not instantly solved by his ‘big brain’ and thus distracting him from his thoughts for a time. For his thoughts were starting to become intrusive, in a number of ways.
The primary worry he had was about the goblins, Vuiloa, and if they were still attempting to hunt him. He had flashes, during those moments when his mind was quiet, of Vuiloa showing up at the hut and dragging him away again, which was frightening and distracting. Less stressful but still distracting was the fact that he found Tiana extremely attractive. Embarrassing, really, to be ‘hot for teacher’. Awkward and unfortunate as well, since the obvious disparities in their age, power, and roles would make any liaison fraught. Melite had been attractive, but in a distant, ethereal way, so easy to dismiss as a potential partner. And the faerie had many challenges, since their obvious inhumanity definitely showed through. But here was Tiana, human (apparently) like he was (apparently), mature and wise, with a subtle kindness and quick to laugh. He was, in a phrase, crushing hard.
He tried to take it in good grace, letting the feeling flow through him. He let himself enjoy the electric thrill of her hand on his wrist, and then just let it go. Difficult, very difficult, and worse, he suspected that she knew as well, which doubled the embarrassment. She probably found it highly amusing, in all. She certainly wasn’t worried about him taking any liberties with her, given she was Glyph Tier and he Apprentice.
So he was happy, in the end, to dive into that ‘no mind’ feeling of concentrating on his passageway. She had explained that the Divine practices that he had been using were less efficient at increasing Magic Pool than her own Spiritual practices, but that eventually he would need to find a Magus mentor to teach him Arcane methods for the best results. Matching your methodologies and practices was very important, another reason why people tended to not diversify, as it would slow down Magic Pool growth, and thus how often one could sacrifice. During these hour or two long sessions, he apparently made the perfect bed, because Chepi would curl up in his lap for the entire time. This was close to peace as he was likely to get, in all, peace and even happiness. He was determined to hold on to that.
After Tiana was done teaching for the day, Phoenix would do his exercises, then spend a little time working out some uses for his magic. Outside, in the setting sun, he set up some logs he had cut previously, and used them for practice targets. He had two goals here, the first was to test how ‘tough’ he could make his Illusory Earth, in the hopes of creating a kind of shield or wall with it. The second was to channel Air into some kind of offensive effect that didn’t involve Draw. He well remembered how little apparent damage Vuiloa took from his Lance of Heat, when the goblins had been dismembered or instantly slain by it. Tiana’s thoughts were that Vuiloa had defended herself well against direct physical attacks such as arrows or spear thrusts, but that a more indirect style offense would bypass that protection and thus be more punishing.
He had a lot of wild ideas of course, summoning poison gas, increasing the air pressure around his target until it was crushed, some kind of shearing wind force that could cut like a blade. But they were either possible war crimes, impractical, or mimicked weapon attacks too closely. Given that she was Master Tier (at least!), he did not want to pit his will against hers in some kind of magical attack. He strongly suspected that was a recipe for disaster, even if he could somehow figure out how to produce such an effect. Tiana was confident he could, but she didn’t know the details of his magic well enough to guide him in the particulars. So instead, he was focused on the divine battle he had witnessed. Bolts of lightning from the sky, and bolts of holy light from the ground. He already had a light based attack, sorta, so he had at last narrowed it down to the lightning.
In his previous world, lightning was some kind of electrical discharge. He wasn’t exactly sure how a lightning strike would kill someone, but certainly heat was involved, so at first he had tried using Fire. After a few failures, Tiana had come out and explained how lightning, here, was associated with the Air Glyph, as an expression of the rage of the storm. Which was going to be an adjustment for him. Trying to deduce mystical processes from physics based laws, if that was even possible, was going to be somewhat dangerous and prone to error.
So now he was trying to capture that feeling of the storm, of the sheer might and rage of it, that he had sensed that night. This was not easy in the softening golden hour light of the late afternoon sun, out here on the edge of the green plains and forest. He recalled Annirith (another pang of loneliness in his heart there) being struck down by Vuiloa’s magic, and the quick hot rush of anger was easy to find, but such feeling quickly overcame his reasoned and careful mind, making casting the spell difficult or impossible. A very delicate balance was required, that roiling black angry power needed to be around him, not a part of him, and then he needed to focus it in the direction he desired, to strike the point he wanted.
He couldn’t quite get it that afternoon, before it was time for his role as ritual object that night. Still he felt it would happen soon, so he was happy and energized going into the house. Once again she had him bathe and change into his cowl, and placed several more candles around the pentacle during the start of the ritual, blowing each one out with a wave of her hand as she brought him deeper into the trance. And once again, he was brought out exhausted and magically spent, to curl up in his bed with Chepi lying against his back, and drift off to his lighter, more restful trance version of sleep.