3. First lesson

James woke up with a start. Instinctively, he reached for his phone from the bedside table and came up with only empty air. He sat up immediately and surveyed his surroundings as the events of the past two days slowly came back to him. He was in a small room sitting on a bed made of straw. Moonlight was shining through a small window. The room seemed bare otherwise so he went up and looked outside.

He could see a decent sized yard out front. He was on the second floor and saw similar wooden houses spaced equally far apart reminding him of a medieval suburb if there existed such a thing. He could see a concentrated mass of buildings a few miles off which probably was probably the town center. He could see the shapes of a forest in the horizon.

James sat back on his bed and inspected his right hand and the 'tattoo' on both sides of his palm, the mark of a mage blessing. He knew it had something to do with why he was here and thus the answer to his return home also lay in this mark. He tried to mimic how Ava had cast spells and thrust his hand forward

"Dark Sleep!"

Nothing happened. He even tried doing fantasy spells from his own world, "Wingardium Leviosa!” Or “Abracadabra!” to no reaction. He was expecting more of a spiderman discovering his powers moment and feeling a little disappointed.

A few hours later, the sun was starting to rise and he was called down for breakfast. James had his first proper look at his hosts. Mary was a pleasant old woman, likely in her 50s. She spotted the same jet black hair but while Ava had a sharp and serious look about her, Mary seemed to live a simpler existence. She smiled at him as he made his way to the breakfast table.

“James. I don’t believe you’ve met Walher, my husband yet.”

Her husband seemed a serious man, the complete opposite to his wife. He wore spectacles and had a thin frame which gave James the impression of some sort of scholar.

“Nice to meet you sir” James extended his hand.

“Likewise.” Walher stood up after shaking his hand, apparently having finished his breakfast and left the room. James had the feeling that he wasn’t entirely pleased about a strange escaped convict in his home.

“Don’t worry about him, dear. Have your breakfast, Ava should be down shortly.” Mary put a plate of eggs and bread in front of him.

“What profession is your husband in Ma’am?” James inquired.

“He owns a store in town that sells warding equipment. You must visit it!”

“Err...what exactly is warding equipment? Is he mage blessed?” James hadn’t had the chance to inspect the man’s hands for a mark before he left. He needed to make it a habit now that he was in this world.

“Oh heavens no. That would be far too exciting a life for us. Certain mages across different blessings can enchant objects with different effects, I’m really not too sure how they do it, you’ll have to ask my husband.” Mary seemed slightly embarrassed at not knowing more.

“So err, is he a merchant that buys these items from one place and sells them in another?” James asked.

“Oh, it’s so much more than that! Walher procures the necessary ingredients, and sometimes these are really hard to get, for such enchantments and then collaborates with the mages to do the enchantments. They take direction from him or they’d end up with substandard enchantments. The mages do take a big chunk of the profit but we earn enough to provide a comfortable living for ourselves.”, Mary explained, a blush rising to her cheeks.

That still didn’t explain what type of enchantments existed on said warding equipment but James chose not to badger the poor woman about those.

Ava arrived shortly and gave him a short wave before diving into breakfast. He dare not interrupt her with the thousands of questions he still had about this world.

Mary cleaned up the table when they were done and after a look from Ava left the room, closing the door behind her.

“First off, I want to thank you for saving my life. I could not have pulled off that escape without you.”

James cheeks reddened slightly before repeating her own words back at her with a smile. “We helped each other.”

“Right. Now, even though we never had a trial, we’re both criminals as far as Selen guards are concerned. But our positions are night and day compared to each other. Regardless of what I said back in the dungeon, breaking an item no matter how precious is not grounds for an execution. They will not even attempt to search for you outside of the Capitol. If you had stolen the sword, that would have been another story. Regardless, in a few weeks, they’ll give up. You can live the rest of your life in freedom so long as you don’t go back and run into any guard with a familiar face.” Ava explained.

That improved things considerably. Maybe things weren’t as bad as he thought they were. He did not relish the idea of living on the run for the rest of his life. He could maybe build a life here and learn magic. After all, he did have some sort of mage blessing, even if he didn't know how to use it. James was brought out of his musings by the far out look in Ava's eyes. He noticed she hadn't continued.

"What about your situation?" he asked.

She raised her left hand and he noticed the skull mark on her hand for the first time. "They will not stop searching for me. Once you're known as a criminal with the death mark, they fear you too much to ever let you live free. By the end of the week, every Selen city will have my likeness reported. It will be as if they are searching for the next evil necromancer. My only hope is to get out of the country and fast. "

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"So, where are we going?" He had a few different questions bubbling in his mind, not the least of which was what countries they were and what they were all like.

She huffed a bit. "No, do you understand what I'm saying? You can be free and go back to your family. You could even stay here in Serna. I'm sure Walher could get you a job if you're short on money." Ava explained.

James gave her a serious look showing that he understood what he was asking. "Look. I know what you're saying. But I have no one. I have no home. I am not from here. I'm sure I'll end up back in jail again if left to my own devices. If you'll tolerate my company, I would love to travel with you."

She stared at him for a few moments before nodding and James was sure he caught the hint of a smile before it faded. "Very well. I can't say I wouldn't be glad to have someone to watch my back. Speaking of, show me your mage hand."

He had barely put his right hand on the table when she grabbed it. She turned it over both ways, inspecting the mark in detail. "Hmmm, I can't say I've ever heard of a crystal mark like this. The blue light during your wild mana expulsion in the dungeon implies it's likely a variant of a water mark." She looked up from her musing to see his confused face.

"I have very dumb basic questions about all of this. Are there books on this stuff?" James asked.

"There are, but they're not cheap. There are mage academies of course that let their students peruse their collections and similarly nobility guard their own knowledge among families. Regardless, ask and I will answer to the best of my knowledge." She responded.

"I think I know by now that children are either born with the mark or not. How many different marks are there?"

"Besides Death there's Life, Air, Water, Fire, Earth are the common marks. They may have variants but the color of your magic gives away the blessing. It will be some shade of Green (Life), Gray (Air), Blue (Water), Red (Fire) or Brown (Earth) for the others depending on the variant, your focus or even your skill level. For Death, the color is always the same black which doesn't help our image any. When I use magic, it's the same color as an evil necromancer raising an army of undead."

"And is that possible? What all can magic accomplish? Can you move mountains or fly or teleport or make yourself invisible?" Now that Pandora's box was opened, James was bursting with questions.

"I'm not sure anyone has enough mana to move a mountain. The rest are all possible in different ways. An accomplished air mage can fly unaided. They could even enchant an object that lets others fly for a short time. A different mage could make wing constructs that would let them fly. Teleportation is a closely guarded secret by fire mages. They run teleportation hubs in all the major cities but no one really knows how it works. Invisibility is not really true invisibility. There's always a shimmer and a high enough level mage can sense the mana. But I know both air and water mages have some form of illusion spells to help in that regard."

Understanding that the mark had a lot to do with one's abilities, James cast his mind back to his own blessing. "So how does one do magic? I have this mark that supposedly grants me magical powers. But what do I do?"

Ava sighed. "The basics are something all mage blessed children are taught at a young age. Well, not death marked children but I had other ways. It takes time and dedication. Magic is not a simple thing where you click your fingers and lightning appears."

"I'm ready." James replied. The possibility of magic was the most compelling thing about this world.

Ava gave a short laugh. "We have time today while I wait for Walher to procure a special item for me. Let's see if we cannot get your magic training started. But not in here. I don't want any wild mana releases causing any damage."

"You've mentioned that twice already. What is a wild mana release?" He inquired.

"Mana needs to be shaped in order to be useful. Spells accomplish that and manifest the mana into a physical effect. During extenuating circumstances, it's possible for mana to release without a spell of its own accord. This is wild mana and it could have any number of effects." Ava got up and motioned for him to follow him. They arrived in a fenced back yard area. Mary seemed to be growing some vegetables there but there was a grassy area they could do some practice.

"How much mana does a person have? And how fast does it regenerate? Is there an interface or something to check?" James asked.

Ava looked at him like he was dumb. "A what? How much stamina does a person have? It's a similar thing. It differs from person to person. Every person has their own sense of how much they have and how fast it goes back up. Trust me, you know when you're running low. And when you run really low, it starts to affect you in other ways."

"I remember that." James replied sheepishly. He'd be darned if he didn't put some numbers on these things however. His software engineer brain demanded no less. But first, to do some actual magic.

She made him sit cross legged in the grass and do some breathing exercises. "Close your eyes. Cast your mind inwards. Listen to the beating of your heart. The very first thing every mage does is their ability to light up their mark with mana. An artist with clever skill could replicate a mark on their hand, but they can never get it to glow with mana."

"As you feel the beating of your heart, you will sense something else pulsating within you. Focus on that. Imagine it too emanating from your heart and weaving in patterns all over your body. Imagine it flowing in rhythm with the flow of your blood. This is just as much a part of you as your own blood." Ava continued. "Now extend your mark hand forward and will just a little bit extra mana to your hand. Open your eyes when you feel it flow."

Ava's eyes were staring intently at his hand. It took a few minutes before James was able to isolate the feeling of the pulsating mana. Had it always been inside of him? It felt strange yet comforting. It was a part of him. He could feel the mana flowing throughout his body, including to his already extended hand. He willed a little bit more to flow to his mark hand and opened his eyes.

A bright blue light engulfed his hand and James stared at it in wonder.

"Less mana! You'll burn through your reserves!" Ava commanded.

James concentrated further. He was able to reduce it so the diamond shape glowed like a tiny neon sign the size of a quarter.

A smile spread across his face. "I just did magic!" he beamed.

"Don't speak. Keep your focus James. Now let the mana disperse back into it's regular rhythm. Do NOT seek to expel it in any shape or form." She stepped back a few paces just in case.

James found he couldn't get the rhythm of the mana in his arm back to the baseline. In an attempt to force it back, something shifted. Suddenly the blue light around his hand changed colors to red instead and started slowly getting brighter. Before long, he had to shield his eyes with his other hand from the bright red light.

Ava let out a gasp. "James! Remember the exercise. Focus on your breathing again!" She called out.

Her words cut through his rising panic and James attempted to calm himself down. Slowly but surely, the light started to decrease in intensity. It took a full minute more before it faded enough that it was barely noticeable and then vanished entirely. James inspected his hand closely.

"That. Was not supposed to happen." Ava exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I kinda lost control." James tried to explain.

"Not that! It is an impossibility for your magic to be both red AND blue colored. I don't know if it's an illusion granted to you as a quirk of your blessing but variant or not, fire and water magic are complete opposites! This goes against everything I understand about magic." She was pacing around now thinking to herself of a possible explanation.

"Why don't we try a spell?" James asked eagerly.