Trevor was still sat in his chair, and greeted the party with a smile, “I can see that the job is done. Thank you, my friend. I have a reward for you. Would you like to know magic?”
The old man grinned up at him, and Morgan met his gaze, “That would be great. Just to be clear, I have absolutely no idea about anything magic related. I hadn’t even used my mana until this fight, when I needed to use my animal healing skill.”
Looking thoughtful, Trevor spoke, “Then I shall start at the beginning. Mana, as it is known, was first bought to this world over a thousand years ago. The records on this are unclear, but it seems there was a cataclysmic event that bought the society of the time to its knees. There is a crater, miles in diameter, to the south beyond the sea which seems to reasonably be the cause of this event. From this crater has grown a fern like none you have ever seen. When I was a younger man, I did a pilgrimage to this crater. The fern is so large it touches the clouds, with fronds big enough to shade entire towns. All mana stems from this fern. More investigation has been impossible, as none who enter the crater have returned. Nobody knows how, or why it allows for what we see as magic, even to this day. My studies touched on mana theory, and while there are many guesses as to its cause and operation, there is nothing solid.”
The wizard paused for a moment, as if reviewing the theories, “Anyway, many living creatures of various sentience are able to store this mana within their bodies, us being no exception. It is popularly theorised that for humanoids the mana enters through the skin and is stored in the appendix. Nevertheless, you contain a store of mana, that will regenerate when depleted. This mana allows us to interact with the elements. The four core elements are water, earth, fire and of course, air. There are also those who can utilise mana in its purest form, and this is the fifth and final element; the arcane. Now, place your attention to that quill on the table.”
Trevor gestured at the table, and Morgan looked at the feathered quill. Before his eyes, the quill floated up on a shimmering carpet of air, stopping to hover half a meter over the table. He stole a glance at the wizard, who was concentrated on the quill, his hand outstretched as if pointing at it. Abruptly, the old man withdrew his hand and the shimmering air dissipated, leaving the quill to fall back to the table.
The wizard turned again to Morgan, “I shall teach you this spell. It’s a good place to start. Now, point at the quill, with your arm outstretched.” Morgan did as he was told, extending his right arm to point at the object.
“Now,” Trevor continued, “Imagine a disk of air under it. When you feel a sensation at the back of your mind, project that feeling into the imagined disk.”
Morgan stood there, pointing at the table, trying his hardest to visualise the shimmering air under the quill. It was slow, but he could indeed feel a strange sensation at the back of his mind, a sort of psychic tingle. The feeling took him by surprise, and he abruptly dropped his arm as he focused on the sensation. As soon as his attention left the imagined disk of air, the sensation faded.
Trevor laughed at the players surprise, “Yes, it’s a little odd to start. And no matter how you try, you’ll never be able to pay full attention to the sensation, as it’s a product of your projected focus. Try again.”
Morgan repeated the attempt, pushing through the surprise at the unfamiliar feeling, trying to channel that sensation down his arm and into the world. Suddenly, the quill quivered, before flipping over the edge of the table and falling to the floor. The pack of cats perked up at the movement, piling on to the fallen quill. Morgan blinked several times, trying to understand what had just happened. He turned to Trevor, “I... uh... think I just moved it. With my mind.”
Trevor raised his eyebrow at the player, “Yes, I suppose you could say that. Welcome to the world of magic. Skills are a shortcut to this process. Most rely on these skills instead of finding the proper understanding and appreciation of mana manipulation. For example. rather than imagining a disk of air, I have the skill ‘Levitate’, which is functionally the same. I can focus on using levitate on an object, which will provide the correct visualisation that fits the object I wish to float. This is why you could use your heal animal skill without understanding what was happening. Heal animal is an earth element skill, by the way. You and I, as humans, have a greater affinity for both earth and air magic. You can still manipulate the other elements, but with a much-reduced potency and efficiency. Still with me?”
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Morgan nodded slowly, digesting this information. So, technically, he could set things on fire with his mind, he just needed to work out how. This was going to be fun.
The mage continued, “Each of the five races have two elements that they have an affinity for. For example, a dwarf will be better with earth and fire manipulation. As for learning skills, aside from your own visualisations, you can learn them from correctly prepared scrolls and tomes, or they can be shared to you by others, with a little help from the gods. This latter option, I shall show you now, if I may?”
With an eager grin, Morgan accepted the offer, and the old man got up from his chair and moved over to stand in front of him. Trevor reached out a hand and touched Morgan lightly on the forehead, holding his finger there as he chanted, “By the grace of the gods, allow me to share the skill I possess named levitate with this man that stands before me. By the grace of the gods, let this be done.”
The incantation sounded familiar to Morgan’s ears, and while he was trying to place it, the chant ended, and his musing was interrupted by a blinding bright light that projected from the tip of the mages’ finger. He suddenly felt a little dizzy, and his mind felt like it was stuffed full of steel wool for a brief moment, before his mind snapped back abruptly into focus. Trevor took a step back, and Morgan eyed him dizzily, “Well, that was mildly unpleasant. How do I know it’s worked?”
The mage offered a conciliatory smile, “Sorry, I should have warned you. You can try it out, like with your heal animal skill. Be a good lad and levitate the quill back to the table, would you?”
Morgan returned a smile and a shrug, “I’ll do my best.” He stared at the quill for a moment, ordering the cats to leave it alone before outstretching his arm in its direction. He felt the sensation in his mind, and willed his new levitate skill at the quill. The spinning disk of air appeared below the quill, raising it off the floor a few centimetres. He stared at it for a long moment, before turning to the mage, his shift in focus causing the quill to fall back down, “Whoa. That’s weird. It’s a good start, but how do I move it?”
“Imagine the extension of mana as a limb,” Trevor answered, “the mind is the muscle of this limb, and like all limbs, it works with intention. If I was to ask you to pick up the quill with your hand, you would not exercise conscious control of your hand and arm directly, but instead you intend to pick up the object, and let the limb do the rest. I will caution you now, however, that also like a limb, there is a limit to how much force it can exude, and for how long. Going over the limit can strain this mental limb, and even break it. This limit differs from creature to creature, and it will be your responsibility to find it, and take care not to cross it. Now, try it again.”
Morgan did not react immediately, mulling over the old man's explanation. He assumed that this limit would be tied to his mana capacity, though it was interesting and worrying in equal measure that apparently you could severely injure your spellcasting capacity by overdoing it. He decided to ask for more information, “How will I know my limit? Could I damage myself with this exercise?”
Trevor nodded appreciatively at the questions, “A sensible thing to ask. You may have noticed you have a certain amount of mana points. Your casting, however, will not stop when this reaches zero, instead a toll will be extracted from your body, damaging the mana channels. Trust me when I say you will know when you have hit the limit, it is a most unpleasant sensation. As for this exercise, it is very unlikely you will reach your limit. Keep watch of your mana points just to be sure.” The old man gestured to the feather, “Go on, give it a try.”
Morgan outstretched his arm once more and willed the quill to rise, feeling the flow of mana rush from the back of his neck and down his extended arm. The quill floated into the air as it did before, and he continued to focus on it, willing it to rise further and move over onto the table. The mana did as commanded, moving the feather up and over, where it settled onto the table top.
“Good,” proclaimed Trevor. “I see you are a natural. It generally comes easily to you otherworlders. Practice this whenever you can. Now, it is time for my nap. One of the perks of being a hermit, you see.”
Morgan sensed his impending dismissal, peering out the window into the rain-soaked forest, then back to the mage, “Thank you for your help, Trevor. Would you mind if I bought a friend to see you? He would probably appreciate some magic training.”
Trevor smiled at the request, “Of course, I would appreciate the visit. I also need a few things doing around the place, and I’m sure your friend and I could come to an arrangement.”
He thanked Trevor, and opened the door of the shack, the rain still bouncing heavily off the roof. He looked down at the cats, who in turn looked outside and then back up at him. Morgan rolled his eyes and withdrew the Bag of Cats, and once the cats were all inside, he walked back out into the forest.