It was odd seeing Brand saunter his way into class. Up until a month ago, Mildrith was sure his skillful use of runes would propel him past the more basic mysteries. What she didn't expect was for him to reach her lessons in just under three years where it took her four.
She felt angry that he managed to catch up with her academically, but there was also a bit of joy. Brand's crass attitude and shameless demeanor. The sentiment lasted right up until he met her eyes with a rude hand gesture and a taunting smile.
Mildrith instantly lost her composure. She pointed a finger and from it came a blade cracking air with its speed and headed straight for Brand. He caught the blade easily with a grunt of effort and a bit of throttling mana stirring the air. Mildrith felt her control over the blade disappear as Brand twirled it around his fingers like a toy.
“Thanks for the meal,” he mocked, placing the tip of the blade in his mouth and snapping it off like a cracker as his fortress aura consumed it.
“Enough of that,” said the monk leading the class. “Keep your lover’s spat outside of my classroom.”
Mildrith’s face grew hot. “That’s not what this is! I would never be with-.”
“Please don’t blame her. This is my fault,” Brand said, noisily interrupting Mildrith. “I’m the one that wasn’t strong enough to remain faithful.”
Mildrith gritted her teeth to hold down a scream and created more blades to throw at Brand.
Alda stood, quickly grabbing her desk as if ready to throw it. “You lying piece of shit!”
Brand inched towards the door with his hands up. “Alda, I'm sorry if you thought you were the only one.”
Several students failed to hold back their laughter, making Alda look around in horror as she realized any action she took played into Brand’s game. Mildrith realized this too. She banished her blades and sat back down knowing anything she said would look like a desperate lie.
Brand took a seat despite Alda staring daggers at him. His very name brought anger to her spirit ever since her beat defeat in the forest. Mildrith had to literally pull her back to her seat before the class could start.
As the lesson began, Mildrith looked over at Brand realizing the book he carried was of a different subject; some kind of life magic it seemed by the cover. To study such a thing in a class devoted to controlling the elements was ludicrous. She couldn’t understand how someone who acted this way on the first day of a class could possibly catch up to her within a year.
“Why are you even here if you won’t pay attention to the lesson?” Mildrith asked, extending the range of her voice using a simple cantrip.
Brand responded using the same spell but obviously disinterested by what he read. “Maybe you should pay attention to the lesson instead of me.”
“Or maybe I should inform the monk you’re not lessening.”
“Not like it would matter if you did. The only reason I’m here is that this lesson is needed to qualify as a mage adept.”
Mildrith glanced over at Brand that was giving her a cocky grin as he continued speaking. “I've already read up on this class. Most of it is about control, which I already have, and the physical intricacies of certain elements. To be honest, I find the tower of elements boring. Most of the information could be found in the library and the rest through afternoon lessons from just about any monk.”
Mildrith was about to accuse Brand of lying when she realized he could absorb just about any element thrown at him that wasn't purely physical. How much of the elemental mysteries must he already know to accomplish such a feat. And he'd done it over a year ago.
Was he a man obsessed or a genius? Or a focus maybe explained his mage craft.
Her face grew warmer as he smiled, her expression saying all in her mind. She looked away as to not betray her thoughts.
After the lesson, Alda immediately confronted Brand. “I know you are avoiding me, you black skin bastard!”
“Oh look, she can rhyme,” Brand said, trying to walk around her.
Alda refused to let him leave, grabbing onto his arm to hold him in place. Brand turned, resting an arm against a wall, and loomed over her. “Have you learned how to turn yet?”
“No, but I-”
“Then I don't want to waste my time.” He paused for a long moment pulling on his thin beard to think. “Unless you’re willing to wager a few beast cores?”
Mildrith cut off Alda’s answer by getting in Brand’s face making him edge back by an inch; a small victory in her book. “What is your obsession with cores? First, you steal them from us-.”
“More like forcefully acquiring payment.”
“Shut up! Now you want to bet on them.”
Brand inch forward as he spoke. Mildrith saw his attempt at being imposing, but she held her ground until they were inches from each other.
“I need cores for high-level spells not taught in this class. And some of you nobles are willing to pay gold for a few cores to open their fourth gate. I’ve already gathered more than enough to advance, so why not make some money while I’m here.”
“What’s going on here?” said a girl from behind Brand.
Mildrith turned to find Azmina wearing an accusing glare. She suddenly was very aware of Brand’s closeness and how he leaned against the wall as if flirting with her
Brand turned from her before she could react scooping Azmina off her feet using one hand as a perch for her to sit on.
“It's nothing Mina,” Brand said pointing at Alda. “She just wants to lose to me again.” Then he pointed at Mildrith. “And she knows I’ll beat her by the end of the month.”
Mildrith laughed. “Just another empty promise.”
Brand started throttling his mana. “We’ll see.” He jumped to the next floor with Azmina in his arms avoiding the time walking would have demanded.
****
“And that’s the last bit,” Brand said, happy to be finished with his new set of tattoos.
This time he insisted on applying them himself. He couldn’t depend on Tanya after leaving the Hall, so it was best to learn now.
“Can I just say, this is a bad idea?” Tanya said, looking for someone to agree with her.
Brand waved away her protest. “You said that last time.”
“Last time you weren't trying to cause a spell-fail. The pain will be unimaginable.”
“And very temporary, like all spell-fails are.”
Tanya sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time. “You know she may be the strongest around our age, but she’s not even the strongest in the hall. After you defeat her, there will be someone else, so maybe you should stop fixating on her and just open your fourth gate.”
“I’ll do it right after I master this spell,” Brand said. “Opening a gate now would only mess with my control.”
“You can hardly call this a spell. Maybe an intentional mistake.”
Brand groaned. Tanya was simply scared, but she was also right and wrong at the same time. This spell would be awful, but so were his fortress aura and conjured weapons. They took their payment in pain but gave his so much more in return. This would be no different. A higher price for an even great reward.
Brand walked over to the open field where Cora, Rohaan, and Azmina were sparing.
Rohaan was trying to defend himself from attacks with mana-infused sand he controlled around him. Cora extended her sword's reach with a pillar of light while Azmina launched shards of ice at her brother from afar. It came to an end when Brand arrived with his new spell decorating his forearms.
“Are you sure about this?” Rohaan said a bit weakly from still being tired from training.
“You still doubt him?” Azmina said.
“No,” Rohaan corrected almost painfully. “I admit he’s strong, but that spell-fail made a crater.” He pointed to a depression in the ground made when Brand tested his new spell before applying it to his skin. “That could kill him.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Well look who doesn't want me dead anymore,” Brand cooed.
Rohaan coughed uncomfortably. “You have proven to be an indispensable part of our clan.”
“And now he’s complimenting me with the biggest Vellian words he knows. I’m going to blush.”
“Will you just shut up!”
Brand came to a stop in front of a large boulder reaching his arms forward with his palms out as if cupping a large ball. “Don't worry. I’ve got a mana shield woven into the spell and I’m not making it as powerful as I can.” Several of his tattoos began to glow a violet red. “Now let’s see if I can pull off a 48-spell magical cascade.”
He took a wide stance and a deep breath then rooted himself in place.
Brand activated the spell, slowly watching each part come to life as mana made its way down his arms. When the oh so familiar burning sensation began, a cone-shaped shield appeared in front of him in order to funnel the spell safely away from himself.
“I think I'll call this one Arc Blast,” Brand said as red energy crackled around his fingers.
With a deafening boom and a red flash, a wide torrent of energy shot forward tearing the boulder to pieces.
It had worked. The spell was devastating without a doubt. And like everyone expected, Brand fell to the ground back arching and spasming uncontrollably.
A gut-wrenching scream escaped his mouth as everyone waited for the backlash to subside. When he no longer had the breath to scream with only the sound choking escaped his mouth. Long seconds later, he still writhed, but he knew this would happen. And more time pain and the pain was still there. and more time again without end.
Something had gone wrong.
“Why hasn't it stopped yet!” Tanya screamed. “It's not supposed to last this long!”
Azmina rushed to Brand’s side trying to hold him still. That's when she heard a popping sound coming from his hands. “Oh gods, the spell hasn't stopped!”
Everyone's panic grew as they started shouting amongst each other for a solution. Brand could hear none of it. He was busy hoping the spell would hurry up and kill him. He couldn't think of what went wrong or which runes were misplaced, he just wanted it to end.
Magna’s focus, fighting without any way to defend himself against magic, and using runic tattoos all paled in comparison to the agony he was in now.
Seconds seemed to stretch on into eternity. Thoughts like what was happening or where melted away as his entire existence became nothing but pain. For the first time in his short life, Brand could not fight. He just wanted to be ended by death or unconsciousness, it did not matter which.
When the pain finally ended, after what felt like an eternity, Brand curled up in a ball. He had the vague sense that people were around him but refused to move. Tears escaped his eyes for the first time in years and he'd soiled himself but had yet to notice. All he could do was tremble in place like some sort of beaten animal.
Not knowing what to do, Azmina called for help from the monks. They brought Brand to the tower of life examining him for injuries. Finding nothing wrong, they cleaned him up and gave him a bed to sleep in for the rest of the night.
Brand woke the next day to a familiar voice chastising him. “You really thought it was a good idea to force 48 spells to fail at the same time? The level of stupidity you displayed is almost impressive.”
Brand opened his eyes to see Merwyn sitting in a chair next to his bed. “What went wrong?” he asked in a raspy voice still sour from screaming.
Merwyn shook her head in disappointment. “What went wrong is that you almost killed yourself. I heard you almost suffocated from screaming so much.” Her voice softened as she saw a shudder run through Brand’s body. “I took a look at your designs. Combining that many spells did achieve the largest spell-fail I’ve ever seen but doing so will always channel all the mana available. Because the spell was linked to your mana pool by the runes on your skin, you experienced backlashes constantly until your mana ran out.”
Brand looked at his hands that were still shaking and felt somehow, unfamiliar. “Did I? Did I, break something inside myself.”
Merwyn placed a hand on Brand's hands, stopping his trembling. “No. You went through something traumatic, but I can assure you, you’re healthy as can be.”
“Good,” Brand said shuddering again the mere memory of it all enough to frighten him. “I’m done with that shit. Never again." He sighed. "Then its time to open my fourth gate.”
Merwyn made a slight cough, not so subtly asking a question. “Have you already decided on someone to open it for you?”
“No, but may you perhaps be a qualified life mage?”
“It just so happens I am.”
A day later, Brand sat in the middle of a large spell circle with Merwyn’s hands placed on his shoulders. The room they were in was specifically reserved to open one’s fourth gate. Unlike the rest, it could not be done without assistance.
Brand emptied a bag filled with beast cores around himself, winning a gasp of surprise from Merwyn. “You have a dozen B ranked cores and at least twice that many C ranked. How did you get so many?”
Brand shrugged noncommittally. “I'm a hard worker.”
Soon after Brand stole, no, acquired payment from Mildrith’s team he realized a better way to collect cores. He joined fledgling teams that were having a hard time fighting monsters. In exchange for his strength, he would receive a large portion of the cores they were allowed to keep. This arrangement offered more cores than if he randomly found a team in trouble.
“Well that’s more than enough to get things started,” Merwyn said, activating the spell circle they stood upon.
The beast cores began to break into dust, releasing the large amount of mana they held within.
The ambient mana in the air grew thick as it wasn’t allowed to leave the edge of the spell circle.
“Now start cultivating and I’ll do the rest.”
Brand started circulating his mana as fast as he could then slammed it into his fourth gate that refused to open. As he did, Merwyn guided the power in the air into him making sure not to place any strain on his mana channels. The added power circulated with Brand’s, gaining speed soon after entering his body.
When a blue aura of condensed magic appeared around him, the air was completely free of ambient energy. Merwyn then released the hold she had on Brand’s fourth gate instead adding her own efforts to his. The tangled mass of mana broke free immediately flooding his system with the power it held.
Brand clenched and unclenched his hands. “I know this wasn’t gonna make me any stronger, but I still miss the feeling.”
“Doubling your strength is nothing compared to the augments I can give,” Merwyn said, patting Brand’s head as if wasn't nearly a head taller than her. “Personally, I think you should take the scout or roguish build. You’ll lose some bulk and overall strength, but you’ll be easily twice as fast.”
“I don’t think so,” Brand said deadpanned. He was about to say more, but Merwyn’s words rushed out in excitement.
“Ok, how about the Steady Mountain build. I’ll enhance your muscles and organs. I’ve seen men with that build shrug off a sword to gut.”
“Except I don’t have enough mana to enchant armor and being stabbed hurts,” Brand groaned.
“Then, then,” Merwyn paused thinking through the dozens of augments she had available while Brand waited for her to finish. “You’d need a lot more beast cores and of a higher grade, but I know the Mist Walker and Raging Flame elemental builds. That would solve your armor problem. If anyone hit you, you’d just burst into flames or mist.”
“Until I get cut to pieces by a sword aura because I’d be too slow and weak to survive a hit,” Brand said with a droll.
“But,”
“No,” Brand said. “I’m not choosing any of those.”
“Why,” Merwyn asked, the passion gone from her voice replaced by a teacher about to scold her student.
“Fucking hell. Don’t look at me like that. I’ve looked into several augments, but none fit me very well.” He shrugged. “My mana pool is just too small.”
“Brand,” Merwyn said softly. “You need a build or there is no point to cultivating.”
“Then I just won’t cultivate for now. It's not like anything I can is tied to how many of my gates are open.”
Merwyn looked shocked for a moment but her expression slowly changed as ever build she thought of died. None of them worked and applying any would be a waste.
“But what about the Hall?” She said. “There are no better life magi on Midgard. Finding what’s best for you can only be found here.”
“Then I’ve got two years to think it over,” Brand said with a noncommittal gesture. “And I’m on my way to being a life mage anyway so for now I’ll just take the basics we talked about a while back.”
“Really,” Merwyn moaned in disappointment.
Brand just nodded.
As soon as Merwyn finished her preparations, a tingling sensation swam down Brand’s back as she replaced his spine with a mana construct. A broken back took several months to heal unlike a simple severed limb so Brand wanted to make sure such a setback would not be a problem. Next, he felt his neck enveloped by the same sensation making it several times harder to injure the vital area. Lastly, the sensation ran through his head, augmenting his mind and skull so head injuries would almost never be a problem again.
The entire process took almost a full day to complete and would be impossible without someone like Merwyn to perform the augmentations. Without highly skilled life magi like her, getting past the fourth gate would almost be pointless for someone without a large mana pool. Cultivation across the world would come to a screeching halt without the magi that were true masters of life craft magic.
That was one of the many reasons Brand intended on taking up the profession. It required very little personal mana and was rarely studied making it highly valued in every part of the world. The Akram clan apparently only had three such magi which cemented Brand’s decision to study the unique form of magic.
“There's something not right here,” Merwyn said as she finished her work. At seeing Brand’s troubled face, she laughed. “Calm down, it's not anything bad. It's actually good. Your mana channels tend to take on the shape of whatever spells you're using making it easier to perform them over time. Those runic tattoos for example won’t hurt a bit after about 40 years of constant use. It’s also why a mage's corpse can help recreate the spell they used in life.”
“And the problem is?” Brand asked in concealed terror as he thought back to the complete failure of his Arc Blast spell that may have injured his body. He still didn’t feel right a full day after being declared healthy.
“The problem is the shape of your mana channels, what we usually call channel refinement, is all over your body. There should be no reason for it to appear along your spine and cranium. I also checked the rest of your body. It's spread out almost equally except for where your arcane tattoos have been used. They're significantly more affected in those areas.”
“Am I sick or something!” Brand asked in a near shout of panic.
“Heavens no,” Merwyn assured. “In fact, you're better than ever. Channel refinement helps your mana circulation. It makes spell backlashes affect you less. In your later years, things that would rip you apart now will barely be felt because of this. The strange part is, you should not have this much at your age. By the looks of it, you've been using magic for around 20 years. The only thing I could think could cause this would be.”
“My Arc Blast.”
“Exactly.”
Brand stood up and slowly circulated his mana. He now understood the strange feeling that would not leave. His mana circulation was better than it should be like shaving one's head after wearing it long for years. It was a feeling that could not be understood until experienced firsthand.
He started laughing with a tinge of despair along the edges. “I found my hanging tree!”
Merwyn, now wearing a worried look on her face, grabbed hold of Brand, shaking him out of his stupor. “Brand, calm down. What are you talking about?”
Brand looked at her like a man resigned to the gallows. “Merwyn. Oh, gods, this is gonna hurt but I have to do it. Make sure I don’t stop breathing.”
Red mana crackled across his body as he activated Arc Blast, this time only letting free a small pop like a balloon bursting. Like last time, the spell started channeling and Brand released a scream so incense Merwyn thought he was dying. Within his mind, he knew he would not die but wished this discovery was found when he was a third rank cultivator. Now the pain would last twice as long, he just needed to remember to breathe.