I opened my eyes and saw my spear in my hands, a magic circle wrapped around its shaft just like every other time I had summoned it. Strangely, for a moment after opening my eyes, I could have sworn I had seen a red thread connecting my hand and the spear, but after focusing my vison nothing was there.

“That was a trip,” I joked.

Suma, still sounding amazed, interjected, “do you know what you just did, Jake?”

“Summoned my spear,” I said.

“No... well, yes, but that is not what I meant. You just shadow cast on your first attempt. No one has ever done that, at least not as far as I know.” Suma told me.

“Really? It was pretty easy, though.” I said confused. Suma cocked her head and ruffled her feathers.

“Jake, I have a question, you said Humans cannot do magic, but you know what shadow casting is and performed it on your first try. Not only that, but you figured out how to summon your spear in less than a minute… How?” Suma asked sounding extremely confused.

“Well, I know what shadow casting is from watching anime, which is a form of entertainment like a play, and as far as I know Humans can’t do magic. Maybe since your world has it, the rules of my world don’t apply, or perhaps since you bonded us, I developed the ability? In truth, I have no clue, and we could spend all day guessing.” I explained.

“I cannot say I have ever heard of a species without the ability to use magic, suddenly developing into prodigies. There has to be a logical explanation…” Suma’s voice was thin, questioning, as she attempted to figure it out. I admit I was confused as well, but without any solid evidence, guessing was all we would be doing. “Jake, I want to try something,” she said.

“What?” I asked.

“I want you to try and cast a spell, something you have never been exposed to before.” Suma explained.

“Okay, but how will I know to do it if I have never seen it before?” I wondered.

“I will show you it once, then I want you to try it.” She said.

“Okay, I guess I’m ready,” I said not fully understanding why.

“No, we need to go to the academy that I first summoned you to. There is something we require.” She told me. We started walking to the academy, and on the way, I asked Suma why she wanted me to do this spell. “I want to see if you can perform any magic, or only spells that have been bonded to you like the summoning spell. Since you have never seen this spell, and it is not a bonding type, it will be a good test.”

“Bonding type, I take it that means there are more kinds?” I asked.

“Quite a few. There is bonding, which you have seen, these include summoning and dominations, and can either be rites, or rituals.” As she spoke, she fluttered along beside me, switching from hovering like a hummingbird to flying like a dove. “Then there are creation types, where you take elements from nature to make something new, like taking dirt, water, and wood, then reshaping it into something usable like a building. Then there is transformation magic, this is causing something to change from one form to another, like water into ice or steam.”

“Oh okay, so which one will I be doing?” I asked.

“We are going to have you try to do a simple transformation spell, water into steam. It is the type of magic beginners learn.” She said.

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“And what are we getting from the school,” I wondered, “is it something I need to perform the spell?”

“No, simple magic like this does not require any additional ingredients. We are going to need something to see whether you are controlling magic around you, or producing magic yourself.” She said. We walked for a solid twenty minutes, and my feet began to ache. Once we arrived at the academy, I plopped myself down on the floor and took off my shoes. Suma flew off down the halls to retrieve her items. I removed my socks and checked my feet for blisters. I didn’t see any, but my feet were still sore. Suma come back carrying several small stones and a tablet in her feet, and a moment later another nymph, a darker blue and slightly larger, flew up behind her and landed. “Jake, this is my old professor. He said he would assist us.”

“It can understand us?” The other nymph asked curious.

“Yes, it can.” I said jokingly. The nymph backed up slightly, then calmed down and stepped a bit closer to inspect me.

“You keep strange familiars, young one, but knowing you I suppose I should have expected it. You always were an abnormal student.” The nymph said sounding amused.

“Jake, what happened to your feet? You removed your coverings again.” Suma said finally noticing my removed shoes and socks.

“Yeah sorry, we have just been walking so much lately. My feet are sore. We really need to get horses or cars or something.” I said rubbing my foot.

“I do not know what a horse or a car is, but we can take a rest if you need to. After we do this test I can send you home again, you have been here long enough; half the day at least.” Suma said. I hadn’t been keeping track, all I knew was it had been a while. She had summoned me each day for training, but I never felt the need to complain as I was always put back right when I left… although a bit more tired. On the bright side, these longer days have helped me get back on a normal sleep schedule.

“Thanks, okay, let’s do it.” I told her. I stood up and leaned Destiny against a wall. I had been carrying it this whole time. On the way to the academy, Suma mentioned that I could send it away as well as bring it back, but I hadn’t tried that yet. As I wondered where it would go, Suma handed me a stone with spirals of blue and streaks of red, then told me to repeat after her. It wasn’t very heavy, no more than a pound, but it was the size of a baseball, so it felt too light for its size. Suma placed a bowl on the floor then used magic to fill it with water. Then she took her place opposite to me about three feet away on a small perch.

She began to speak and I repeated after her, “Ang nol dosay om peasa.”

“Ang nol dosay om peasa.” I said. Nothing happened and Suma looked disappointed. I glanced at the stone expecting some kind of reaction, but none occurred. “What was that supposed to do?” I asked.

“Well, if you had produced the magic yourself, the blue would have turned green, and if you controlled the magic in the area, the red would have gone black, but neither happened.” She said. She shook her head and waddled back and forth on her perch for a moment before sharply saying, “Oh of course, you said it in my language and not your own. Try it in your native tongue!”

“Um, okay,” I said, “but what does all that mean?”

“It is a command of sorts, you need to channel the magical energy to accomplish a task, then describe what needs to happen. For turning water into steam, you would say boil the water.” Suma explained.

“Okay, I think I understand,” I said. Suma gave me the go ahead and I tried to imagine what she told me. Basically, I need to channel this magical energy stuff, then use it to accomplish a task. To do it, I need to describe the task. I wondered to myself if that was all, how did this magical energy know what to do? I figured it had to have been some kind of mental image that the energy used as a kind of building block. If that was the case, then magic could be a kind of extension of a person’s thoughts. I had a theory, and was ready to test it. I focused on the feeling of when I summoned Destiny, there was a kind of gentle, yet fierce power lurking nearby whenever I did it. Like a monster hidden just under the surface of a still lake. I needed to make that monster come out of hiding, so I focused on looking for that feeling. In my mind I imagined standing on the surface of a pool, then reaching a hand into it. I felt that same power begin to flow. Soon, it was as strong as when I summon Destiny, but I didn’t stop there. I imagined reaching further in, all the way to my elbow, and that feeling became much more tangible.

“JAKE!” Suma shouted urgently.

I broke the image when I opened my eyes, and saw both nymphs looking concerned, then I looked around the room and understood why. Planks and stones that had been stacked on shelves were on the ground, like a windstorm had blown through in an instant and gone just as fast. I looked down at the stone, the blue had turned green, and the red was black.