A wave of golden energy washes over the people in their beds, in their chairs, awake and asleep. Those affected suddenly felt very sleepy and while not immediate, everyone obeyed a sudden urge to lie down.
A divine rest fell upon St. Johns as Ned watched the entire cancer ward fall slowly and steadily into the comforting arms of slumber. The young man told the panicking nurses and doctors the most he knew.
Before the words were halfway out of his mouth, however, the second wave of red mana washed over the building bathing the room in glorious pink light. Red cocoons wrapped themselves around the afflicted as multiple monitors went off, signaling the system shock that accompanies a magical cure for cancer.
Chaos reigned as the wave of cruel healing did its grisly service. Yet, not a scream erupted as through some turn of unforeseen luck every single unconscious afflicted would yet survive the night. The rampaging death magic kept in line by some unknowable golden-black glow.
This night would be known as the ‘night of mercy’ among hospital staff and necromancer alike. In later months and years, one being would take inspiration from these events and mold itself accordingly, but that is a story for another time.
As luck would have it, the magic of the wish had not dissipated along the way to its target.
A measurable wave of healing had washed along the continent until reaching the hospital and exploding outward for tens of miles. Minor injuries were healed and life-threatening diseases were given chances at remission.
Ned never finished telling the doctors what he knew about the wish. The chaos of the night led him to the gentle embrace of sleep early; immediately after seeing his sister’s signs stabilize.
After seeing the news the next morning, he decided it was better to let the world have their miracle instead of take what little credit he had for the event. The world’s a better place when miracles happen after all, at least according to his dad.
***
Billy Joe slumped forward. Out of breath as she felt like she had no life, the gigantic woman let out a long pained groan.
The tears had come, ready and willing. Like a dam made of ice; with the tiniest bit of warmth, everything had come flooding out. Her body felt numb and she truthfully had no idea how she wasn’t limp and lifeless from lack of energy.
Dr. Hawthorn leaned back in her chair, waiting patiently for her patient. Not many had signed up for Christmas day therapy, so everyone had double-time. On the house of course, after all, it is Christmas.
“I just… I never thought that me waiting would mean… Well, that I never would get the chance, you know?” Billy Joe leaned back in the comfortable if not cliche reclined couch.
The therapist nodded, finally back in her own element after so long. “But you’re worried your sudden brashness is changing you? That your magic might take over and leave you… someone else?”
Billy Joe nodded. “I asked for magic powers, like some idiot. From a genie! These things are terrifying, and whatsmore, I may have been like this already!”
Dr. Hawthorne quietly listened for another thirty minutes. Billy Joe, the massive, muscular, and undoubtedly strong woman cried openly one more time before the end.
With a sniff Billy Joe walked towards the exit, scheduling another appointment for next week. She couldn’t really pin down why, but she felt better. It may have been that she finally believed that she had no way of knowing. Finally letting go of a little self-blame. Or it could have been that as she had told Marc the day before, sometimes having someone to just listen, helps.
“Oh, Billy Joe. Before you go, I thought you might want to know about this.” Dr. Hawthorne handed her a small purple flier. Stars were set against the magenta sky as either dusk had just faded or dawn approached, it was hard to tell.
“‘Zippy Runs-On-Fire’s Introductory Course to Magic and Unique Abilities.’ Bit of a mouthful don’t ya think doc?” Billy Joe asked, cocking an eyebrow at the Wood-Elf.
“You mentioned earlier that you were afraid of your powers. That they concern you, well, I’m not one to be able to help with that directly. I mean, I’m just as new to this whole magic thing as you are. However, seeking the help of someone who knows what they’re doing may be in your best interest.” Dr. Hawthorn replied.
Billy Joe nodded at the wise woman and walked out the main lobby area to the exit.
The middle of town had changed exponentially in a mere day. Aside from Dr. Hawthorne’s office which had been a wish made by her son, there were some more outlandish changes.
The town hall, once a small building barely as large as a parking lot, was now gigantic. Built into the side of a rocky hill on the side of the mountain the four-story building had a grand stone archway and saloon-style doors at the entrance. The immediate inside was a check-in area as well as several sitting areas and three large job boards at the back. Behind the initial check-in office, there was an elevator to the second, third, and fourth floors.
A tavern stood flanking the road leading to the mine and to the forest. Well, it was supposed to be a tavern; it had been a cheeky wish by an adventurer who genuinely had not expected to succeed on her first day. Since the demand for good booze had been growing upon the more aged members of the community, it was a welcome addition. After the zoning had been taken care of however, the younger adventurers upon finding out they wouldn’t even be able to enter the establishment petitioned for a change. So the Miner’s Respite was a first-floor coffee house and second-floor bar; ran by an old moonshiner from the glory days of prohibition who had somehow as if by magic survived long enough to become barkeep of both floors.
The last wish had been a commission from the Sheriff himself. Jerome had apparently paid the most capable adventuring group a large sum upfront if the leader agreed to wish for the Barracks. Not just a normal barracks no, this was a full-on sheriff's station instead of having to work out of an old pastor’s study. Complete with temporary living quarters and training area for deputies.
Billy Joe smiled at the out of place fantasy buildings with their unneeded swirls and stylizations. Her home was as weird and different as ever.
She decided to walk into the town hall and get the lay of the land. Walking through the saloon doors two people met her gaze from across at the registration desk. The man and woman both looked haggard as if asking for someone, anyone to relieve them of their burdens. However, the rushed line in between her and them made her quickly turn around and walk the other way. There would be time to explore the newly christened ‘adventurers guild’ when the glory-hunters were a little less plentiful.
She decided to walk up the slope of the mountain road for a while to see Zippy’s little school he’s put together. The glass building truly was a sight. The entire main room had glass walls and the upper floors were merely so heavily tinted it was impossible to see inside. Spires shot up from each of the corners of the building, giving the opaque building the look of a castle
However, the thing that grabbed her attention was the motley menagerie outside of the building. Daisuke stood at the front of a near thirty person group of different shapes and sizes.
Feminine beings, masculine beings, beings somewhere in the middle and nowhere near gender all stood in the level clearing on the side of the mountain. Zippy hovered above them with a small whiteboard with a drawing of what looked to be wind coming out of someone's hand holding a rock up.
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She slowly walked up to the group, slipping in near the back as she hunched down only slightly. Many of the reborn beings were near her height.
“So, to reiterate. Magic comes in two basic types. The formulaic and the artistic. With the formulaic, you will be able to create precise spells meeting your needs with anything between difficulty and ease, dependant on your talent and study-time, of course. With the artistic you will need to feel out your spell, trial and error are even more important in this branch of study as things may go awry far more easily.” Zippy spoke with some sort of magic to project his voice.
A blue arm raised up from one of the students, “Sir, what about our abilities? I don’t feel like I’m casting a spell or anything when I make waves of air. It just kind of feels like moving my body.”
Zippy nodded after the student finished, “Good. No, your abilities are not spells, merely spell-like in that they either take in mana or use mana in some way to create an anomalous effect on the world. Think of it as if you have a separate organ or function that allows your body to utilize mana in ways another may not. As I’ve shown you, every person has a certain amount of mana in them, differing from person to person.
“Mana made by your natural system is pure and without outside influence, to be used for whatever you need. However, mana cultivated from sources such as death or from precious stones, or fire will be tainted with the method or source that you obtained it. Let's say… You’re a battle medic, your main job is to patch up wounds and get your soldiers safe or back into the fight. You wouldn’t want to recharge your mana with, say, a distillery or fermentation, as that could induce rot on those you’re healing. However say you’re a necromancer or one of the new breed of oncologist; that heavily death and rot influenced mana may be needed to quickly destroy a tumor, a bacterium, or even a virus depending on their skill.” The gnome finished.
“What about when we’re angry or upset?” A masculine sounding naga from the front asked.
“Your emotions play a pivotal role in your magic. The more intense the emotion, the stronger the effect it will have. While normally a good thing for anger and say, fire; you would not want anger when trying to heal, or calmly calculate a large battle or army spell. You must always try to remain as neutral as possible, not in your emotions but how you channel them. If you become overwhelmed, the emotions might change your spell or even your personal ability wildly and without any way of prediction.” Daisuke responded wearing a massive red robe, walking to the front center of the class.
Billy Joe nodded, actually enjoying the lecture as she stayed. Sitting up a little more straight as she listened to her new teacher, she pulled out a notepad she used for her daily reminders. Taking notes on this class would be useful, mumbling to herself, “I gotta tell the rest of em about this.”
***
Gus pulled himself out of bed slowly at nearly eleven in the morning. “Ah, an hour before noon. I’m early!” he giddily said to himself after checking the clock.
Pulling on a pair of loose-fitting pants the young man darted down the steps into the deli proper. “Mornin Ma.”
“Get back here! I was up all night makin those darn effigies or whatever! Before you leave you better take that knife I got from Jamie and make me some meat.” Clarice nearly screeched as Gus had barely made it out the back door but not shut it yet.
“I would, but…” Gus said sheepishly.
“But what young man?” She replied, her tone sounding more and more annoyed.
“Well, I heard it’s best not to mix magic with magic and…” Gus started to say.
“MAGIC?! You didn’t have no magic yesterday!” Clarice boomed.
To illustrate his point Gus formed a small green flame over his arm, it slowly grew and grew until it became the form of Esmerelda the emerald phoenix.
Clarice stumbled forward against the counter. “Wh-What in the?!”
“Anyway, gotta go do more magic stuff, byyyyyyyyye.” Gus said, quickly darting out the door.
“He left… Didn’t he.” Darius said from the corner, finishing a remarkable beet and carrot sculpture in the shape of a large oven-sized turkey ready to be thrown in.
“Yep.” Clarice said, handing her more responsible son the priceless magical artifact.
“Oh come on. It’s nearly break time.” Darius chided, bags under his eyes.
“Mhm, looks like six minutes till. Just give a couple of those birds a nic while I take orders. Won’t need too many at first, I suppose.
***
Marc waited, leaning back in a chair watching an old episode of Mr. Rogers on a VHS with bad tracking. Her green skin reflecting a hint of sun in the corner giving it a soft bluish tint. A drink umbrella hanging from one of her tusks.
“So, when we headin’ out today?” Marc asked Jamie.
“I’m not. It’s Christmas and I have a shop with roughly forty magical items or so. I’m right off the road to the dungeon. This is premo business hours if I’ve ever seen them. I’ve got a meeting later today, but that’s it.” Jamie said, rubbing their hands together.
“Then what am I waiting around here for?” Marc asked, bored of the skipping episode.
“Well, I may have used one of those items to put a note on his alarm clock,” Jamie said with a smile.
“Wha? I mean, wait… What item did you use that let you do that?” Marc asked, curious.
Jamie held up a small bell. Holding it with only their forefinger and their thumb they rang it softly.
A sticky note appeared on the corner of the tv screen.
Hit the tracking button.
“Huh?” Marc asked as she picked up the note, pulling it free of the TV.
“Yeah, it only lets me do requests and apparently I need to have spoken to them in the last day or so. But damn if it’s not useful.” Jamie said with a grin.
Billy Joe walked through the front door of Jamie’s shop as the old fashioned bell on the door announced her presence. “Mornin’.”
Behind her walked Gus, jumpy and on his toes as ever with a big grin on his face. “Opened your class yet Mark?”
***
The now wave of blue energy sat in the corner of ‘Savvy Scavengers.’
It liked this Rogers fellow… Using the last of its trickle of red mana the wave of energy made a sweater vest out of mana. Donning the green and brown vest the wave formed itself into it, resembling a bacterium or cell trying to wear clothes.
The wave slowly moved over to the pile of ‘tapes’ in the corner, gently pressing itself against each one as images of a kind, older man speaking slowly filled its soul. Yes, soul, the being now knew well that it had a soul, for it’s seen those who have not.
After the seventh tape, some of the episodes are different, no, they’re a different soul. A man with an australian accent is hopping around as he holds a snake by its tail as it tries to bite him, “Ain’t she a beauty?”
The wave of energy absorbed this too; finding worth and love in the man’s work.
***
The newly transformed buck plodded toward the town. Hatred in its eyes as the barest semblance of sapience began to kindle.
The people who come… Come from here…
Fire danced between the points on its antlers as drool falls from its bone encased mouth. The exo-skull covering it has large fangs and teeth, those that would make even prehistoric predators jealous. Green energy crackles along its antlers down to its hooves
Why do they come? Do they eat us? ...I bet I could eat them…
The grass freezes with his every step as he singes the leaves above his head. The first vengeful beast of the forest has been birthed.
Far behind the beast, a snakelike rope of green mana slithers further into the overgrowth. Its job done and on to find another.
***
Billy Joe smiles at Jamie. “How’s business?”
“Not too bad today honestly. Sold a pair of magical canes, convinced the wizard LARPers that it would increase their DPS.” Jamie beamed.
“You do know that’s not a swindle right? That’s likely entirely true since they’re magic freakin relics,” Billy Joe replied with a chuckle.
“Yeah, I guess so. Still, five hundo a piece. Christia’s notes say she bought mosta these for twenty, fifty at the highest; so all in all a good day. On top of all the Damascus, I bought from adventurers who wanted a quick five or ten bucks, I’m sittin’ pretty.” Jamie laughed only vaguely maniacally while counting their money and eyeing the pile of legendary ingots in the corner.
“So… anyone going to explain the weird slime-cell-thing in a sweater?” Billy Joe asked, pointing right at the invisible blue wave of energy as it flopped off of the third stack of tapes.