As the sun peeks over the horizon, I realize just how dire of a predicament I’ve created for myself.

In some dulled part of my mind, the morality of slaughtering everyone for as the eye can see starts bothering me, but I push that aside in order to figure out my next move.

I can’t hide, the spell made sure of that.

I’m certain that every mage in Meruth felt the disruption caused from such a large mana calamity, but my biggest advantage is that there are virtually zero mages in this backwater, and the only human ones powerful enough to travel quickly are based in the capital.

That said, I’m not powerful enough to use any movement spells either.

… Right?

Certainly, that was true before, but when the lifeblood flowing through my veins is none other than raw mana, I’d be willing to bet that I now have the innate capacity necessary for the task.

Regardless, it’s my only chance.

The problem is, I don’t have a single spell formulae or chant.

It’s a risk, but I’ll have to write a new one from scratch.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the research of magic was in its infancy, spells required long formulas involving complex mathematics that were single use, exactly like the scroll Nox used for his crystal. Every spell must be calculated differently, accounting for size, speed, mana conversion, and method of travel. A spell that shoots a fireball through a vacuum must account for gravity, while a spell that travels through the ground must account for impurities in the soil. As a result of these difficulties, and the single use limitation, magic had little to no combat potential. Through an immense amount of experimentation, magic scholars discovered that when pure silver is used as the base and the spell is engraved upon the silver with an ink mixed from lime and mana beasts’ blood, a permanent magic circle could be created. Due to this discovery, permanent portals linking the empires and cities could finally be created. The issue of static spellcasting was the biggest limitation for mages. Due to the limitations and lack of accessibility, being a true mage required immense amounts of schooling at a mage tower in order to train in the theory to become a spellscript, prior to being able to cast a single spell. This led to many aspiring mages quitting the job entirely, or studying until the age of thirty to finally cast magic.

That all changed with the mining of the first spell spine. These gems have the capacity to store magic formulas, and it opened magic up to the general public. Common magic spells such as Fireball, Gust, and Drizzle could now be created in large quantities, sold at stores across the kingdoms, and engraved into spell spines for repeated general use. Higher quality spell spines could store more spells at once, and owning multiple high quality spell spines, while extremely expensive, will lead to a high amount of versatility and utility in and out of combat. Being a spellscript became an extremely lucrative business due to being the only people able to create spells, and magic became a part of everyday life. Those families with an inherently large mana capacity or especially pure mana rose in power rapidly, creating the magic nobility known throughout the lands today.

Due to those powerful families having the highest war potential, all kingdoms gave them priority over the remainder of the population. They were gifted lands, castles, and lofty titles in an effort to retain their loyalty, and everyone else was thrown to the wargs. Nobles have been known to commit all manner of atrocities, but never enough to limit their income and never in a way in which other nobles would know.

Spell spines dragged magic users out of the dark ages, and into the modern era. Nox’s heart, were the public to know about it, would surely do it once more.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While finishing up the teleportation spell, I wrapped up my thoughts.

 I killed all those people.

Granted, I was never particularly close to anyone here, and I had no shortage of bullies, but that doesn’t excuse me from what I’ve done.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I could say that they got what was coming to them, or that it wasn’t my mana that did the killing, but I know better than that.

It was my spell, and it’s my responsibility.

As much as I hated Ash and everything he stood for, no one else deserved to die with him.

Due to the very obvious absence of a castle, I’d also be willing to say that the Duke died as well.

I need to get out of here.

The problem with teleportation spells is that they only have any real use as a single use spell, because every time they’re used, the location will be the same.

They must be specially ordered from a spellscript, and with the size of their waiting lists, it can take anywhere from several weeks to several months in order to receive it, and that’s without mentioning the rather steep monetary and mana cost. The result of this is that only noble spellscripts and very rich Dukes can use teleportation spells with any regularity.

…

After checking my spell over ten times for mistakes, I’m finally satisfied with the result.

Honestly, even if I wasn’t, I’m likely running out of time. Inquisitors are likely to be very close to this location by now, and if they find me here, I won’t be let off with a slap on the wrist.

I cut open my thumb and let my manablood drip down onto the scroll, watching with fascination as a pure white drop that seems to throb with power lands on the activation circuit.

The silver infused paper shines with vitality and pure mana coalesces around me, forming a roaring cocoon of magic, and with a crack that seems to split the world apart, I’m somewhere entirely different.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Being an inquisitor stationed this far away from the capital is the dullest job you’ll ever find.

I love it.

I don’t want to do any dungeon crawling or have near death experiences.

Sure, swinging a sword, shooting fireballs and saving damsels is probably pretty nice, but it’s also pretty dangerous.

I mean, I could die.

 I could be strolling around some catacombs in search of an ancient treasure only to get tied up and nibbled to death by a giant spider.

Or, I could be creeping through an abandoned castle to find a sword of legend and then get surrounded by skeletons and forced to join their ranks.

I could even…

Well, you get the point.

I’m not really interested in dying, but I am interested in money.

Being an inquisitor is nice.

The other commoners don’t exactly love inquisitors, but if I do my job well, by the time I’m thirty I can buy a small piece of land from the king and build myself a nice little house far away from everyone who threatens to burn me alive.

I’m living the dream.

I just sit around in the inquisition and pretend that I’m like all the other inquisitors who want to punish evildoers.

Every day goes the same way, and we never get any trouble around…

What?

There hasn’t been a mana calamity since The Dark Ages.

I grab my personally issued spell spine, cast a haste spell around my legs and run out the door along with the other inquisitors. This is big news.

The entire continent will want to know who and what could have caused a mana calamity that size.

…

Wasn’t there a castle here?

There’s not even any grass growing. It’s as if whatever it was took the mana out of every living being and used it to fuel a spell.

An entire province used as fuel…

Whatever it is, it couldn’t have created anything but a monster.

…

Who’s that? I signal the captain and bring it to his attention.

“This is the inquisition! You’re surrounded! Take off any spell spines you have and surrender!”

Is that white mana?

I’ve only seen mana that pure when mages combine their abilities to gather it for a full cycle, and even that will only get you a small drop.

“He’s teleporting! Don’t let him escape!”

The spell coalesces in an orb of white mana and he’s gone by the time our spells reach him.

The contained mana released from the spell sends us all flying, and by the time I realize what’s happened, everything’s gone dark.