Chapter Seventeen: Come with Me, Leave Yesterday Behind
Marc wasn’t sure what to do. He still didn’t understand how his interface and magic skills worked, and after hearing Rynan’s story he was more than a little concerned about the consequences of experimenting with things he did not understand. For now, he set the pop-ups to the side and continued to listen to his new teacher.
“Now that I had started to develop some magic skills and had built up my Mana core I began to experiment. At its center, magic is the manipulation of primal elements, directed by your will. It is a function of the power you can control, the imagination you have to formulate a plan, and the willpower you can muster to control the process.” As she spoke, her hands began to glow with the blue hue again. Another clear orb of water formed in the air.
“Water for example has infinite uses and forms. It is necessary to create and maintain life, can dilute and disperse contaminations, and can even change its form from liquid, to solid, to gas.”
As she spoke, the bubble of floating water flew around the room, first, it cleaned the soot and ashes that had blown out from the fireplace, leftover leaves from the herbs Rynan had used to make the tea, and in moments the cabin was clean and orderly. Then, it froze into a solid form. A perfectly clear dagger made from ice. It floated slowly into the woman’s hand and she used it to effortlessly cut a small piece of the cheese, which she popped into her mouth. Then she threw the dagger straight at Marc’s face.
“Argh!!” He screamed, but almost the instant the knife left her fingertips it started to dissolve into a mist. Before it had even come within a foot of his head, the dagger had completely disappeared.
“Sorry,” she giggled. “I just wanted to see if you were getting bored by my story.”
“No!” Marc protested. “I want to know what happened. How did you escape?”
“Fine,” she said smiling. “Over time I learned how to control my personal space. I learned how to create both illusions within it as well as to form objects made from pure Mana that could maintain their form. I would find out later that those objects I create in my space will dissolve into pure energy outside the space without constantly pouring Mana into them, but within the space, they would stay just as I formed them until I consciously ordered the energy to change. While Water magic gives me power over the element of water, Space Magic manipulates nothing physical, but rather time and space itself. Without any formal training, it took me quite a while to come up with ways to use it in the White space. Luckily I had plenty of time.” She said wryly.
“I spent hundreds of years like that. Practicing skills, building up my Mana Core, and trying to invent new ways to use my magic with the goal of someday escaping my prison. I wouldn’t age or even suffer from the mental degradation that often accompanies life-extension magic. In many ways, I was grateful that I had been given a chance to finally master my magic, something I had long ago given up any hope of being able to do. But I was also trapped. Trapped in a prison alone with nothing but my delusions fueled by my precious magic. Until one day, when I realized I was not alone.” Her look became serious again.
“I don’t remember what I had been doing at the time, but the shock of a change caught my full attention. I could feel a shift, but nothing specific that I could immediately grasp. Then I saw it. A form had appeared in the white space. I couldn’t tell at first, but as I rushed over to get a look at it, I realized it was a person. You can imagine how excited I was. I felt like my heart would explode from my chest, that my eyes would burst from the tears that came for no reason I could discern. I was as happy, angry, afraid, and sad as I had ever been in my life, all at the same instant. I rushed, ran, stumbled, and finally crawled toward the figure, but as I approached it I could not make out who, or what I was looking at. The figure was shrouded in some kind of distortion. I couldn’t make out any features, other than it was a sentient, although whether Human, Elf, Juujin, or Dwarf I could not tell. The figure held out a hand, palm forward to motion me to stay back. I must have been talking, maybe shouting, but I can’t imagine what I might have said. I was out of my mind with years of pent-up thoughts exploding out of me. Then it pointed at me, or to be precise, it pointed at the stone. Suddenly, the stone floated out from my robe and towards the figure’s outstretched hand.” A look of regret and sadness clouded her features as recalled the moment.
“I cried, I grabbed the stone and tried to save it. It was my only companion in this place as it had become part of me. More dear to me than family or even my own life. But the force pulling it away was irresistible. As it was ripped from my fingers I heard a voice in my head.”
“Do not fear, you will soon leave this place.” The thoughts simply appeared in my mind as though they were my own, but I knew the figure was speaking to me. I fell to my knees crying, unable to accept the loss of my precious companion. Then the voice spoke again.
“I need to take this, but I will send you back home. You have many things to do and you are finally ready for what needs to be done. I am sorry for your suffering, and for the suffering still to come, If I could spare you from it I would, but know that you will accomplish many great things in the future, it is your… destiny.” It said the last word harshly, almost angrily.
“I was still out of my mind. I thought maybe everything was a delusion. That I had finally lost my mind to madness. I cried and screamed and begged. ‘Who are you? Why? How?’ I demanded.” Rynan recalled the event like an embarrassing childhood memory.
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“Then the figure did something. What, I am not sure, but it was some kind of magic that had several effects. One was to infuse into my mind several spells that I could use. Powerful skills that would make me beyond question the greatest user of Space Magic the world had ever seen. Another was to block my Mana Core development. Instead, a new Core had been formed. My Water Mana Core. Somehow I had become the first Dual Mana Core holder in history. The voice explained that I would need to hide my Space Magic until the time came that it would be needed. That the knowledge could put me in danger before I was strong enough to protect myself.” As she spoke, her hands took on glowing lights of two colors. The Left hand glowed blue, while the right a bright purple.
“Finally it gave me some instructions. Things I was meant to do. Then, after bidding farewell the stone floated up from the figure’s hand and began glowing. A brilliant white light, somehow brighter than the white space we were inhabiting. It blinded me, and when the light faded and I could see again I was shocked to find myself outside the space at last. I stood near the Tower inside the Academy. Of course, I passed out immediately.” She smiled.
“As it turns out, I had missed no time at all. The years trapped in the Tower had all happened in an instant, the space I was in had no connection to the time in the real world. But I remembered every moment of it, an impossible weight loaded atop every thought. I woke up in the healer’s room the next morning. My body was completely normal, my immortality an effect of the timeless space I had been imprisoned in. By the end of the day I had gathered my things, resigned my position, and left the Academy. For over a hundred years I have wandered from city to city, country to country. Only a few have ever known my secret, and most of them have passed with time.” Her eyes again stared away, surely passing over the faces and events of the scores of years she had lived since her time in the Tower.
I hope that my story helps explain a bit more about who I am and will help you trust me. You will find that one of the things that is most feared in this world is knowledge, for good reason. Knowledge can destroy a person or a nation. It can be hidden where no one can find it, and it can be invisible in plain sight. You will have to learn how to conceal what can be used against you, and choose who you can trust to reveal your secrets to.”
“Then, why? Why did you trust me with your secret? Why would you trust a total stranger with something so precious?” Marc didn’t know how much of what she had told him was true, but some part of him told him that it was all true. He wanted to believe her and trust her. Not just because he needed someone in this world to believe in, but some part of him felt he could trust her, more than any of the friends he had growing up, more than his aunts and uncles, more than even his own father. He had never had any big secrets growing up. His whole life was an open book to everyone who crossed his path. He was white trash from a run-down trailer park in a neglected corner of the desert that even politicians didn’t care about. He never held anything valuable and never expected to. He stayed out of trouble, only because he didn’t even have the wrong kind of friends. Things were different now. Now he had secrets. These seemingly important secrets could get him in trouble if people find out about what he is capable of. But now he also had people willing to share their secrets with him.
“Why?” Rynan gave him a sincere smile and then sipped from the cup. “I was told about things I was meant to do with the powers I gained in that space. I have struggled over the years with those burdens. Not all of them have been easy, and some came at great personal cost. Still, I know that it was all for a greater purpose. What seemed like a random accident had placed me on the road to a destiny beyond my wildest dreams. I have grown, I have found love and heartbreak, I have done things that fill me with pride and some that I will carry the shame of until the day I die. In short, I have lived a full life, the type of life we should all hope to experience. But a story without an end is hardly interesting don’t you think? The force that holds us to the ground is important, but it is always present, so we hardly appreciate it. A person’s life is meant to be an event, not a constant.”
Marc wondered what purpose his life had back in New Mexico. Had he left behind anything more than a few unpaid bills and some leftover food in the refrigerator? He had helped people playing video games get refunds. He had never pushed himself to do anything, He had never taken any big gambles. He had never even traveled more than a few hundred miles from his birthplace.
“I told you this story. I offered to become your teacher. I have waited all these years…” Rynan spoke hesitantly, as though she wasn’t sure if this was the right time.
“It’s because I promised to. All the things the figure told me to do. The last thing I was to do was to find someone. A traveler. Find a traveler from another world. Find them and teach them. Teach them how to survive, become stronger, and live well. That is the last task.” As she spoke, Marc could hear the relief in her voice. She relaxed as the last part of her secret fell from her shoulders.
“I have waited for a very long time. Hundreds of years trapped in a never-changing void is nothing compared to a hundred years in the real world, full of drama and excitement. Because unlike then, I can grow old now. I use magic to revitalize my body. I can keep doing it for years to come I am sure, but eventually, there is a fatigue that builds up. I knew that soon I would need to begin my last task. I have been eagerly waiting to meet you, Marc Churchill, for over a hundred years. I am grateful that you have accepted me as your teacher and promise to teach you all I can.”
Marc was puzzled. Was this something Mary had arranged? But that happened ages ago. Was he the person Rynan was expecting? Was this really OK? He was unsure but also relieved that a person such as this was so willing to help him. Just when he needed information, guidance, and protection he was gifted with exactly what he wanted. The luck that had never been in sight in his old life had now dropped a jackpot on his head. The question was could he take advantage of the chance? Would he make it, or blow it?
As the young man in front of her struggled to take it all in, Rynan thought back again to that time in the Tower. She remembered her promise to use the gifts that she had been given and to take care of the tasks left to her by the mysterious figure. Her savior from the thousand years of prison that had robbed her of her life and her hope. She only spent a few minutes with that person. She had never heard their actual voice or seen their face. Every part of that short interaction was burned into her memory, despite the years that had passed since. That included that last message from the figure that she had not shared with Marc.
“I wish you well. I look forward to the day when we will meet again. Thank you for everything, my teacher.”