The wind ripped through the West Gate. The thirty blue-clad Revenants were pushed back, and the unassuming professor stood in the wind wall’s epicenter. About half of the Greycloaks retreated back from the gale. Tantalus himself had to grab a concrete barrier to hold himself in place. He had not buttoned his jacket since his fight with FullDan, so it freely flapped in the wind.

At the other side of the wind wall, Gator slowly moved toward Riemann. Gator was heavily braced against the wind, and he held one arm in front of his mouth to allow himself to breathe. As the leader of squad three approached Riemann, the effect of the wind was clearly growing with each step. Eventually, as he got within ten feet of Riemann, Gator lost his footing and rolled backward several times before eventually skidding to a stop.

Riemann reached up to his own head and scratched it. Tantalus could not read the expression on Riemann’s face at this distance due to his diminished eyesight. At this distance, Riemann looked like a humanoid shadow in the center of an ever-shifting canvas of wind.

Then, as quickly as it came, the wind ceased. Riemann was left standing in the center of a crowd of stunned Revenants, and the Greycloaks started regaining their composure after the spectacle that had just unfolded before them.

“Thank you for the demonstration, Lieutenant,” Riemann said, looking at GatorKing. “As you can see, [Wind Wall] prevents anyone from getting too close.”

“You’re welcome,” Gator said as he rotated his shoulder. His hands and arms had been marked by the concrete and asphalt ground of the West Gate.

“I’m glad that I was able to put on a show for all of you, but it seems that I accidentally empowered that spell,” Riemann continued. “I used all of my mana on that Wind Wall. Magic is more of an art than a science.” Riemann gave a good-natured chuckle and gestured toward the audience.

“I meant to show all of you the Fire Bolt spell, but I cannot until I recover my mana. To alleviate that, I’m going to need the help of Captain Tantalus, Redgrave, and Pixie.” Riemann made eye-contact with the three Revenants as he spoke. Tantalus quietly wondered if people were going to start calling him “Captain Tantalus” with regularity.

The three Revenants walked into the center of the crowd. Tantalus almost bumped into the other Revenants a few times as he approached. He tried his hardest not to squint in pain now that the audience was paying attention to him. He knew that such an expression would give the impression that he was annoyed with Riemann.

“So,” Tantalus decided to take the initiative, “you want us to show off the Fire Bolt spell?”

“Yes,” Riemann agreed. “Spells are much easier to cast once you’ve seen them.” He turned to the audience and said, “I showed these three the Fire Bolt spell last night. I’ll explain the visualization process to you. You should be able to cast the spell after a few tries.”

“You will?” Tantalus said, confused. “I was using it last night to increase my mana pool."

“You can cast the Fire Bolt spell?” Riemann said, surprised.

“Yeah,” Tantalus paused. “It took me a few tries, but it was easy once I figured out how it worked. Pixie, Redgrave, have you been able to cast the spell?”

“I didn’t try,” Redgrave shrugged.

“I recited the incantation a few times before I started to feel stupid,” Pixie said. “People look at you weird when you point a finger gun at the sky and recite magic words.”

"I didn't think it was possible for someone to cast Fire Bolt after only seeing it used once. Even I had to go to Mandelbrot University to figure out the visualization techniques," Riemann said. "How did you manage to figure it out, if I may ask?"

“I realized that each word in the Fire Bolt incantation has a discrete effect,” Tantalus said. “It works by creating a cloud of flammable gas, igniting that gas, and then flinging the resulting conflagration. I realized that the fire bolt appeared on the second word and fired on the third word. It’s the same principle with the Wind Wall we just saw. The first word summoned the wind, and the second word contained it. I’m pretty confident I could cast that spell right now.”

“You say that like it’s easy,” Riemann mused. “Either way, could you show us all the Fire Bolt spell?”

“Sure,” Tantalus said, “though, I’ll have to make sure not to empower it. I have an appointment at the East Gate in a few hours.”

Tantalus placed his hands firmly in his pants pockets and stared intently at a point on the blue sky above. Suddenly, he was concerned that he couldn’t cast the spell again. Apparently, magic was supposed to be difficult. He had no idea that was the case until Riemann had told him. It would be embarrassing if he couldn’t cast the spell after speaking so confidently.

“Sen.”

Tantalus imagined a ball of flammable gas appearing a few feet in front of his head. A faint smell reminiscent of a gas stove hit his nose.

“Drast.”

Tantalus imagined a faint spark in the exact same location as he had summoned the flammable gas. He had used this incantation many times to light his cigarette last night. As expected, a ball of ethereal fire appeared in the same location Tantalus visualized it would. The crowd gasped in surprise at the fireball’s appearance.

“Ignis.”

Tantalus imagined a great hand grasping the core of the ethereal fireball and throwing it at the location he imagined. In tandem with the image in his mind, the ball of fire shot off into the sky with the speed of a fastball. After flying about a hundred feet, the ball of fire detonated in a puff of black smoke.

It was a neat party trick, Tantalus thought, but the Fire Bolt spell had no real utility. In just about every way, the projectile created by the standard Fire Bolt spell was far inferior to a bullet. It wasn’t as fast, it had much less range, and it dealt much less damage. Theoretically, it could be useful in a situation where you’re caught unarmed, but Tantalus didn’t intend to ever get caught unarmed in this world.

Now, Wind Wall was useful. It didn’t deal damage, but it controlled the battlefield in a way that modern technology could only imagine. With a single spell, you could completely prevent reinforcements from reaching a unit you’re engaged with.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Very well done,” Riemann clapped, and this was soon followed by a smattering of applause by the crowd of Revenants. “I see that you didn’t make use of a visual aid.”

“Was I supposed to?” Tantalus said. “I remember that you used one, but it just got in the way when I tried it.”

“Perhaps that method works for you, Captain,” Riemann said. “For everybody else, I will now explain the visualization techniques for the Fire Bolt spell.”

Riemann then went into a long explanation of the images one must hold in his head in order to cast the Fire Bolt spell. It was strange. Riemann’s method seemed to view Fire Bolt as one spell rather than three discrete incantations. Riemann spoke mostly in metaphor as he told them to imagine: a pool rising from the depths of the earth, a spark as flint strikes steel, and an arrow flying through the air. Tantalus just couldn’t understand how Riemann’s process worked. To him, it seemed like they were simply doing it wrong. Despite Tantalus’s doubts, however, Riemann’s method soon bore fruit.

Soon after Riemann had described the visualization techniques, an ethereal ball of fire appeared next to Pixie’s outstretched hand and launched itself into the clear blue sky. This spell was soon followed by dozens of other fire bolts flying into the sky. Sporadic cheers of joy and laughter filled the West Gate.

Tantalus watched as Pixie excitedly aimed and fired two other balls of fire into the sky. She held her hands clasped in front of her like she was holding a pistol. Pixie smiled widely like a kid on Christmas. Tantalus couldn’t help but smile in response. He was glad that the players could find moments of happiness, despite everything. Pixie hurriedly walked over to her squad to help them cast the spell.

Redgrave, on the other hand, was having some difficulty with the spell. He had recited the incantation several times with no success. His expression became darker with every failed incantation. The success of so many other Revenants seemed to only worsen Redgrave’s mood.

“How did you get it to work, Tantalus?” Redgrave asked, annoyed.

“I don’t think my method works for other people,” Tantalus responded.

“Well, maybe it’ll work for me,” Redgrave huffed.

“Gas, flash, fling,” Tantalus said. “That’s how it works for me. Now, the gas is the tricky part. It’s the kind of gas you get in a gas stove. Propane, I think. The incantation won’t work if you imagine it to be some other kind of gas.”

Redgrave tried the incantation two more times. On the third try, a ball of fire appeared and flew off into the sky.

“Well done,” Tantalus said.

“I'm not very good at that,” Redgrave admitted. “I’m honestly not convinced that I could ever get that spell to work every time I cast it.”

Character Sheet

Name Redgrave22 Level 8 Blood Points 130/130 Mana Points 8/13 Race Revenant Fortitude 13 Strength 18 Agility 12 Wisdom 6

Attribute Modifier: Strength Training (2)

“Riemann said that there’s also a kind of eastern magic that uses mana,” Tantalus said. “He called it Battle Aura. Ashcroft’s already following leads on how to learn how to use it. The only thing he’s found so far is that the phrase ‘warrior’s spirit’ keeps popping up. I bet you’d be really good at that.”

“Well, everybody’s gotta be good at something, I guess,” Redgrave complained.

“And you’re pretty good at gun fighting and sword fighting,” Tantalus said, looking down at the Orc’s longsword Redgrave wore on his hip. Redgrave smiled faintly at Tantalus’s words.

After a few more minutes of practice, Tantalus walked to the center of the crowd and began to speak.

“All right! I think that’s enough for Lesson Three. Congratulations, you’re all done with Introductory Training!” The crowd of Revenants applauded as soon as Tantalus was done speaking. “You will handle Basic Training within your squads. I will link my forum post with the Basic Training rubric to the various squad leaders in a few minutes.” Tantalus clapped his hands together. “Now! Before we end our meeting, I need to hand out the uniforms.”

Tantalus walked inside the barracks adjacent to the gatehouse. A moment later, he came out with a long clothing trolley, which held several dozen grey cloaks.

“If you’re in the Greycloaks, you’ll need to look the part.” Tantalus said. “Our blue uniforms frankly suck for camouflage. Right now, we’ll primarily be fighting in urban environments, so the grey coloration will provide at least a little camouflage. As we engage the enemy in different areas, we’ll be able to cover the cloaks in the local flora.”

There was great excitement throughout the crowd as they walked forward to pick out their cloaks. They had all seen the videos of Tantalus speaking in the central park, and they were all excited to have a piece of clothing to prove that they were followers of Tantalus. There were several reasons why militaries had uniforms. It created a sense of camaraderie within the unit, and it reminded the man in the uniform that he was a soldier.

Redgrave spoke. “Also, enemy snipers won’t know who to target if we’re all dressed the same.”

“That too,” Tantalus forced a smile. Sometimes, honesty isn’t the best policy.

As the Revenants of Tango Company picked out grey cloaks and tried them on, some of them showed off their new outfits to the others. Pixie spun in front of the rest of her squad and asked them how she looked. FullDan adjusted his cloak a few times so that it didn’t block access to his pistol. Elias complained quietly to Grim and Synth. VK and Jester spoke to each other quietly before both exploded into a fit of laughter. GatorKing swung his saber a few times to see how the cloak interacted with his sword arm.

Once they had all put on their cloaks, Tantalus stood off to one side and looked at the Greycloaks. The cloaks covered their silhouettes. Through the dim gloom that still covered his eyes, it seemed to Tantalus as if thirty ghosts now loomed ominously before him. Truly, “Revenant” was a fitting name.