> [Lifesight] - 4th circle spell.
>
> Element: Life.
>
> Type: Divination.
>
> Classification: Information. Support.
>
> Target: a Living creature in line of sight.
>
> Grants the caster the ability to "see" all the vital parameters of a creature. The status of health, diseases, afflictions, curses, buffs, debuffs, affinities and the general state of mind are visible. Information and relatively precise information about quantified values like age, height, weight, and body measurements can be known by focusing on that part of the body. The accuracy of measurements increases with wizardry proficiency.
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> [Regrowth] - 7th circle spell.
>
> Element: Life.
>
> Type: Eulogy.
>
> Classification: Healing. Support. Variable output.
>
> Target: a Living creature in line of sight.
>
> Heals all wounds and regrows lost limbs or damaged organs, restoring the body to a perfect state. The regrowth speed is dictated by the extension of damage, the amount of mana used beyond the base cost and the wizardry skill of the caster.
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The goddess of Fertility and Life is Ceres. She rules over the Life element, and to her, we owe our bountiful harvest and prolific offspring. She reigns over marriage and land laws. Her taboo is blighting farmland and to avoid siring children. Divine smite will fall on any mage using a contraceptive spell or herb. Blessings come to those that protect children, usually in the form of bountiful harvest or even more children.
Excerpt from The Twelve Gods.
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Astromelicus urged Aidan to calm down.
"And now you know the dire truth of the summoning ritual. In two thousand years since the ritual was first enacted, no otherworlder ever survived their summoner by more than a decade. The average expectancy is four years. Those that go rogue or become bent on vengeance and murder their princesses perish even sooner. This is kept a secret by the Magi Assembly for a disgusting reason."
"Money and power." Mumbled a stunned Pearl. She would know very well. Her father hired an instructor from the same Magi Assembly at an enormous cost in gold, cores, and artifacts to teach that ritual to her.
"Indeed. That is one of the reasons I am only a provisional member. Can I offer my student a calming tea?"
The archmage brewed tea without leaving his seat. The kettle, cups, and leaves just floated around and poured tea in front of them. He probably created the warm water on the spot.
"Thank you, headmaster."
"Before we begin, you two must swear to keep everything that happens in this lab a secret."
"Of course, we swear." They both answered.
"Good. Good. Now let's address the problem at hand." He walked next to the bed where Dawn was laying down.
"Lifesight."
Astromelicus looked at Dawn's status. The information came to his mind.
> Age: 16 years
>
> Height: 162 cm
>
> Weight: 51 kg
>
> Abnormal Status: Weakened soul, Crushed womb, Butterfly step, Tailwind.
He didn't care to look for the other measurements, like femoral length, cranial circumference, shoe size, etc.
"Dawn, why are you with two ongoing spells?"
"Because they are useful and their upkeep is less than my mana recovery?" The girl answered without opening an eye.
He laughed. "Don't rely on enhancement spells this much. Dismiss them."
"Regrowth."
Dawn felt an itching in her lower abdomen. It was like some balloon was inflating inside her.
"Well, I was expecting to see a possession status, but it seems you are right. The soul inside Lumina's body is by all accounts the rightful owner of the body."
Aidan grimaced. The memories of his hypoxia-induced delusions of grandeur and greed from the last night hit him. His whole mood for the day was caused by that conflict. Do the right thing, restore Lumina and lose Dawn. Or keep Dawn and condemn Lumina to oblivion.
"Your turn now, Aidan. Lifesight."
> Age: 16
>
> Abnormal Status: Weakened soul. Dual soul. Soul consumption. Mental corruption. Minor Insanity.
His condition was troubling, to say the least. Aidan could read the archmage's expression.
"It is as bad as I think it is, headmaster?"
"I agree that we should perform the ritual tonight for the three of you. And given your conditions, I will perform just a little experiment."
He waved his hand and a tome flew from a bookshelf and landed on a desk. Going to the desk he opened the book on a particular page and pulled a chair next to the desk.
"Dawn, come here and try to cast this spell."
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
She rose from the bed and sat on the chair. The spell was a sixth circle, Underworld element. With the grimoire, she could cast the spell tracing the diagram over the representation. It was risky if the caster didn't know what the spell did, but the opposing page had the spell entry in the standard Assembly format.
> [Soul Jar] - 6th circle spell.
>
> Element: Underworld.
>
> Type: Soul.
>
> Classification: Debuff. Support. Forbidden.
>
> Target: Touched Soul Receptacle
>
> Places the caster's body in suspended animation and transfers the soul temporarily to the receptacle. From there the caster can see, hear around the receptacle but cannot talk or cast spells. Living beings with a soul are clearly visible around the receptacle. If the caster concentrates on a living creature, an attempt at possession is made. If successful, the target's soul is temporarily swapped with the caster. The caster can return to the receptacle with a thought as long as the distance to the possessed body is no more than 100m. Killing the possessed body sends both the target and the caster's soul to the afterlife, killing both bodies. Breaking the receptacle kills the soul inside and the body owned by that soul. Killing the caster's body forces the soul in the receptacle back to its original body.
>
> This spell is incompatible with Undying Resilience.
Astromelicus returned with a necklace, a huge ruby set in a pendant. "Put this around your neck and cast the spell targeting the ruby."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, just do it and don't try to possess us."
She slowly drew the mandala for the spell using the book as a reference. This is where the tier-A affinities kicked in. Dawn could see what each glyph was supposed to do. It had a striking resemblance with the spell they created to swap.
"Soul Jar."
She felt as if all her blood vessels were being pulled through her skin all at once. The same feeling assaulted Aidan and both screamed an ear-shattering unearthly wail.
Astromelicus immediately triggered the laboratory wards and all structured mana inside the room was dissipated.
"Regrowth." - "Regrowth."
He threw a couple of regrowths on the couple.
"Sylph's Hands"
And placed both unconscious students on the bed, retrieving the necklace.
Pearl was pointing at her bleeding ears.
"Regrowth."
"Cleansing Waters."
As soon as the tinnitus passed, she glared at the archmage.
"Are you sure it was a good idea?"
"Yes. That spell has several safeguards. They are only unconscious from mental shock. But now we know that separating the soul in Dawn's body will kill her and probably force Aidan into a permanent vegetative state."
"And what about Lumina?"
"We need to find an alternative method to bring her back. Or retrieve that diagram and finish Aidan's spell. I'm afraid that spell would require three years of research to finish. And there is another bigger problem."
Pearl caught on. She was a natural-born politician and a trained mage. She pointed at the grimoire still open on the spell Dawn attempted.
"This spell is temporary, requires a receptacle and is rated as forbidden at the sixth circle. Aidan's spell was a seventh circle, still incomplete, requires no vessel, merges the affinities, and allows the caster to control both bodies, permanently. The Assembly would not allow such a spell to exist. Every archmage in the world would hunt them. To either destroy the spell or to acquire it and use themselves."
The headmaster cleared his throat, a somber gaze locked on Pearl.
"Forgive me. Almost every archmage."
"Correct. This boy and girl are like nephews to me. Now, student Pearl. While our soul-crossed mages recover from their ordeal, it is time to evaluate your skills in spellcraft and wizardry."
Pearl groaned.
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Palace gardens. A beautiful summer morning. His friend ran ahead, dressed in a beautiful red dress with golden embroidery, wooden sword in hand. She ducked behind a topiary shaped like a dragon.
"Prepare to die, dragon!" She yelled.
"Wait, wait." The boy asked, running after her and brandishing his own wooden sword. "I want to fight it too."
They began to laugh and hack at the topiary, breaking leaves. Small children with not a care in the world.
"Oh, no! Mighty Grazznazar the fire dragon was defeated!" Her mother cried from behind them. "Stop breaking the topiary, you can't hit the plants or the royal gardener will be angry with us." She laughed.
"Yes, your Majesty." The boy saluted.
"But hold. You two brave heroes that defeated this dragon, you will receive a prize for your efforts. Scones and fruit juice!"
"No raisins!" The girl cried.
"What kind of adventurer are you that can't eat raisins?" The boy mocked the girl. "Didn't you know they are dried slime cores and they enhance your mana?"
"Liar! Raisins are dried grapes."
They began to exchange blows with their wooden swords.
"Slime cores!"
"Grapes!"
The woman stopped them.
"And may I know the names of my two adventurer saviors?" The queen asked.
"Of course, your Majesty. My name will be engraved in the annals of history." She curtsied. "My name is Dawn and I am an adventurer."
"And you, brave knight?" Asked the Queen, a smile full of mirth.
The boy whispered with a hand cupped next to his mouth. "Your majesty, it is mage-knight!"
The Queen laughed, full of mirth. "Brave Mage-Knight, how art thou named?"
"You may call me..."
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'Mom...'
Aidan and Dawn woke up at the same time, feeling sadness and longing for a lost loved one of their soul tenant.
They felt dazed and confused. What was that?
A fragment of forgotten memory of a time when there were no worries. When they could run free and laugh under cerulean skies.
Aidan knew who was by his side even without opening his eyes. He turned on his side and looked at the face next to him. Beautiful. Perfect proportions. A face that could be kind or fierce, forgiving or demanding. He wiped tears off her face, caressed that cheek with his fingers, feeling the rugged skin of his swordsman's hands from the other side.
'Hello, Dawn. Here we are again, living yet another adventure.'
She didn't speak. It wasn't the real Dawn, just a figment created by his own mind. He could make her speak but what was the point.
His hand kept exploring that face. The round delicate nose. The lively and well-drawn lips...
"I loathe to interrupt your creepy molester moment, but what are you doing?" Pearl asked him from behind.
The question jolted him fully awake. Both sat up. He was about to speak but she interrupted him.
"Wait, wait. Don't answer, I don't want to know." She put her hands on her waist and bent down to stare at him. "Because if I know, I'll have to tell Sora."
"But if you want to share, go ahead. Everyone here is bound by an oath of secrecy about what happens inside this lab anyway." Astromelicus joked from the other side of the lab.
Aidan groaned and stared back at Pearl. "Still want to know?"
"Don't do anything you'd regret later. Just that." She answered with concern.
Aidan decided to disarm Pearl. Dawn crossed the bed and hugged her.
"Don't worry. We are not going to molest Lumina."
"I'll ignore the double entendre."
Dawn felt a little dizzy. "Whatever you mean. How long were we out?"
"A couple of hours."
Pearl seemed tired. What was she doing with Astromelicus while they slept?
"Are we done for today, Headmaster?"
"No. We still have one hour and a half of private tutoring, and I got some advanced spellcraft exercises for the three of you."
The three teenagers groaned.
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Lunchtime arrived and after organizing the laboratory, the three left Astromelicus alone. Gone they were, with a permit to access the undead dungeon underneath the city. Aidan was going to harvest cores to use as boosters for tonight's ritual.
Astromelicus used a distant communication spell.
"Rita, prepare ritual room 4-B for use tonight and ask the dorm mother to clean up the princess' chambers and make sure there are five beds on the auxiliary rooms. Thank you."
He sighed. Aidan's condition was worse than he thought. He would loathe being forced to choose between those two children. Prudence dictated he should save the healthiest one. But that means killing the princess.
The old man remembered a haughty girl barging into his office demanding him to expel a student for no good reason. She even singed his beard despite his magical protections. Maybe he should've expelled Aidan that day. He would be healthy now and the princess dead.
No. Those dark thoughts will lead to nowhere. Lumina can still be saved. They would need some very unorthodox magic combination, but they were already doing forbidden magic.
"At least I have clearance to do it." He talked to himself. "And speaking of forbidden magic..."
He returned to his office. Sealing and locking the room, he opened his dimensional vault. Inside he took a sheet of paper.
You could see by the pressure and thickness of the strokes that it was a magic circle drawn in a hurry. But the precision of the drawing was a testament to the skill of the author.
An incomplete spell. Filled up to the seventh circle. Full of intent.
"But lacking in parameter control, mana flow regulator, fail-safe safeguards, tampering and dispel countermeasures, aetheric feedback protection, mana overflow automatic shutdown switch. Nobody else but that boy could pull this out without them. Maybe it is time to explain to him how he did it."
This would open another whole can of worms. One that killed many of the boy's ancestors.
He stored the diagram back in the vault. It must never see the light of day.
"Pearl was right. This is too dangerous. A shame. This could be your magnum opus, Aidan. The first eleventh circle spell in centuries. I'll make up for it somehow."
He locked the vault. It would take a task force of archmages a decade to crack this vault open.