The class chattered quietly away while they waited for the professor, nobody paying attention to Murphy rushing in late.
He quickly set his heavy crystal ball into the stand at his desk, and pulled his grimoire, a small spool of thin copper wire, a special little hourglass, and a pocket sized pot of binding gum from the ledger box. One big advantage to being in Son-Gonkiruun, was his easy access to material. Anything he needed for his studies was readily available from a number of traders. That meant he was lucky enough to have a grimoire for every subject he needed them in. Most of the runes in his scrying grimoire were things that he'd just copied from the professor's notes. He didn't completely understand how some of them worked, but he knew what they did well enough. The grimoire had tabs of paper sticking from the sides of some pages. They were labelled with the runes name, a preparation he'd made in advance of today's lesson.
They would be making an attempt at astral projection. It was the real reason anybody elected to do this class in the first place, so the students around him were just as anxious to get started as he was. Scrying was something a lot of people could do with the right tools, since it didn't take a lot of effort. The true power in the craft came from being able to send your mind around the world in an instant. Murphy had a destination in mind, and he patted his crystal ball in anticipation. He'd made his own like some of the other students. The difference between his and those of his peers however, was that it was made of solid iron, and a sprinkle of something special to help the magic work in the way he wanted it to.
Most crystal ball's were made of glass and unique inks. The goal was to anchor the material making the ball to an identical compound somewhere else. A crystal ball made of pure glass would be able to see anything in the world made of the same thing. That was the reason most windows weren't made of pure glass, to keep out scrying eyes. The objective of the lesson was to scry in on something, preferably an anchor you placed somewhere, and then use a sequence of runes to separate and send the mind through the link.
There were dangers of course, but the chance of something going wrong was slim. Even Murphy figured the odds weren't against him too much this time. If his mind became lost, he'd figure out that problem then.
While he waited, he activated a rune in his grimoire and touched the ball with its power. An image rippled across the surface, showing the same old wooden wall it had the last time he made the connection. It was an easy link to establish, since the memory tied to his anchor was so strong. If he looked hard enough, he could still see the scar on his elbow from the old rusted shackle he was seeing through. It was Coil's father's stable, and the iron set into the wall still remembered the taste of his blood. The day he first made the connection was elating, but the view his anchor offered was a tease, since nothing ever seemed to pass by.
He wasn't surprised. The anchor was tucked away in the corner of a stall the Kir never used. The chief always swore to his wife that he'd fix it, but they all doubted he ever would. Murphy supposed that the fact he could make the connection at all was enough to prove her right about his laziness.
The professor strode into the room calmly, as if he wasn't fifteen minutes late, and dropped a heavy grimoire onto the podium at the front of the room.
"Settle down everyone," he insisted to the somewhat silent room. Professor Drish was a short man, so he had to climb onto a step to be better seen. He slid his thin spectacles onto his nose, and peered over his own crystal ball.
"I trust you're all prepared for today's lesson," he started. "This exercise won't be a simple walk in the park. For the duration of your travel, you'll be away from your power. There are many among us that can see a scrying mind, and you'll be vulnerable to those that can."
He gestured to the door, calling someone in. A large man clad in Son-Gonkiruun guards armour ducked through the doorway, and stood ready by the entrance immediately.
"As for your body here," the professor continued. "My good friend Crusher will see to it that you remain unharmed."
The students shared concerned looks with each other, but Murphy was already too busy setting up for the exercise to pay much attention. They had practised putting together the structure before. The only thing stopping him from attempting it alone, was the final component to the technique they were using. The spell required a leeching stone. It was a special crystal or trinket that was enchanted to draw in the power of what it touched. With enough effort, he was sure he'd be able to source one, but the implications of their uses made them a tabooed item. The professor intended to hand them out before they started, so he'd been patient instead of reckless for a change.
He used some of the binding gum to stick the end of a wire to a point in his basic scrying rune. The rune used glyphs mostly, so it only took up one page of the book thanks to less symbols. The gum was a daionic conductor, making it a suitable conduit to channel the power through. The other end of the wire was twisted together with another, then fixed to a termination point on an intermediate rune on another page. From the execution point of the intermediate, he ran two wires. One was wrapped around the holder of the crystal ball to make a Coil, and the other was fixed to the initiation point of the final rune. The final rune would be responsible for separating his mind from his body, and sending it through the execution point. The final set of wires were run from that execution point, into the hour glass, then joined to the coil from the other side.
The hourglass wasn't connected in the centre, but had a small glass tube running along the side. This made it fill from the bottom upwards. Once the dust reached the centre, it would cut off the flow of energy passing through, breaking the loop. Once the loop was broken, the casters mind would travel along the wires until it found a home in their body again. The leeching stone component would be connected to the intermediate rune as well. He would hold the leaching stone in his hand, powering the rune system while he travelled. The other advantage to holding the stone would be the physical connection he'd be making to the system by the wire, allowing his mind to return home once the time was up.
A clink on the desk snapped him free of his focus, and he saw a fellow student placing the leeching stone in front of him.
"Count On you to be ready to go," The boy asked casually. "I don't know how you're not scared of this?" He said, rubbing at the charm on his wrist.
It wasn’t nearly as ornate as some of the charms the other human students wore, but Theodore wasn't the type to let wealth stand in the way of his magic.
"I've been told plenty of times that I'm already brainless. So I don't think there's much risk, Murphy replied with a smirk, picking the leeching stone up.
He felt a pinch when his skin met the crystal's surface. It wasn’t the kind of pinch he could feel on his body, but instead the kind you feel when your power is being taken from you. He'd felt the sensation once before, when Serril had drained the ugly-aspect from him when they fought. The sensation brought a bitter sadness to the front of his mind, so he stuffed it down as fast as he could.
"Why are you in this class if you're so worried?" He asked, trying to take his mind away from his own realities.
"It'll be nice to check in with my folks, without paying a double the rate mage. They put their prices up at tournament time, you know," Theodore responded.
Murphy shot the boy an embarrassed look. "Doesn't everyone do that?" He asked sheepishly.
"Aye," the boy responded, giving Murphy the side eye. "Doesn't make it right though. Potions for the fighters are one thing, but it's just wrong to keep people from their families like that."
"You’re being dramatic again, Teddy," Murphy said with a smile. "You'd have an easier time if you sold your trinkets properly."
"You’re as bad as them," Theodore scoffed. "Magic should be used to help people, not just for a profit."
"When I can buy my bread with nothing but good will, I'll follow your philosophy. Until then I'm afraid, I'm a hungry wizard," Murphy stated in a matter of fact tone.
"Don't you get fed by your master?" The student next to them interrupted, staring hungrily at the basket of leeching stones Teddy carried.
"Hardly," Murphy scoffed. "And that doesn't matter anyway. The point is that Theodore should be making more from his work."
"None of us will make any money at all if we're stuck waiting for you two," another student jabbed.
Theodore gave her an apologetic smile and nodded quickly to Murphy to say goodbye. Murphy held up a finger to stop him.
"See me after this class would you?" He asked. "I might have a job you'd be interested in."
The boy nodded again, and scurried to keep handing out the stones.
Theodore of Bardmire was younger than most of the human students, but his knack for arithmetic was unlike anything Murphy had seen among their peers. Born without any sensitivity to magic at all, he had to use tools to participate in every class he'd elected into. Without the money to pay for fancy tools after tuition, Theodore had figured out how to make what he needed on his own. He was a master enchanter in the making, and Murphy had a project he'd been working on for the past few months he thought could use a talented enchanter.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Once everyone was finished setting up their scrying structures, the professor tapped his rings hard against his crystal ball to get the room's attention.
"Very good, quiet please," he insisted to the still near silent room. "I trust you all set up your structure properly. If not, it's been nice knowing you."
The students muttered amongst themselves, several of them double and triple checking their structure.
"The first part is simple, obviously," the professor continued. "Focus your mind on your anchor, and activate the first rune in the chain. If you built your structure properly, your ball should show your destination without further intervention."
Flashes of light popped from crystal balls around the room, and Murphy quickly followed suit. His ball showed the same wall again, this time without him having to touch it. His grimoire was open on the page for the intermediate rune, and he saw a portion of the symbols start to glow, stopping at a gate symbol in the letters. The power would only pass through if he powered the gate with a secondary source, making it act like a switch on the page.
"Be sure that your hourglass is filled in its inert state. Once you activate the second part of the intermediate rune the melt in that chamber is all that stands in the way of sending your mind. You want to ensure your structure is functioning properly before you turn the glass."
Professor Drish demonstrated by checking his own hourglass, before moving on to activate his gate symbol. Murphy followed in the man's steps, and watched as the rest of the symbols in his runes lit up. He wondered what the colours of aspect must have looked like, and again found himself shoving down his sorrow. For now he needed to stay focused, he could mourn his losses later. That's what he usually told himself anyway.
"When you're sure everything is working, and you're ready to travel, turn your hourglass over and keep your hands clear of your structure. Make sure your leeching stone stays in your hand or on your charm. The connection should take a few seconds to establish, so you have plenty of time to calmly ensure your posture is proper. Good luck students, some of you might need it." The professor said, right before turning his own hourglass over.
Murphy did the same, and he calmly placed his hands palms up and to the sides of his structure. He took in a deep breath, and closed his eyes. Not knowing what to expect, he continued to focus on his anchor. For a moment there was nothing, and he wasn't sure if he'd set it up properly. Then in an instant, he felt his whole mind shudder. He opened his eyes to a blinding light, and tried to cover his face. No hand met his nose, in fact, there didn't seem to be a nose to meet at all. He had no choice but to ride it out.
The light settled, showing him an all encompassing view of the stable wall. He tried to look around, and was relieved to find that he could with no issue. It was strange, he knew he didn't have a body, but he still felt like he was moving as if he did. It was simple to leave the stables. At first he navigated as if he was walking, until it occurred to him that he wasn't entirely physical. The realisation struck him when he walked right through the gate at the stall. He was swivelling his head around at the time, taking it all in, so it didn't occur to him to open the waist high gate. After considering the implications, he easily walked right through the stable wall and outside.
The light struck him just the same, and he tried to cover his eyes from the bright dot in the sky, but found himself unsuccessful. It was going to take some getting used to. He had a sense of his body, yet it didn't exist. Astral projection was said to encourage madness in some of its practitioners, and he was starting to get an understanding of just how that may be.
He was standing in a familiar courtyard, looking down the front door of the house of the Kir of Malnir-Ronkir. To Murphy, it was better remembered as Coil's house.
The estate was small, sitting in the heart of the town, but the home took full advantage of that space. It wrapped around a courtyard in a symmetrical hexagon, connecting with the stables. On one side, the road ran straight through, accommodated by a tunnel built into the walls. The rooms that ran above the road belonged to Coil, at least they did the last time he was here.
Before approaching the house he went along the road to try and take in a sight of the town. He was overjoyed when he saw the familiar shops and homes surrounding the chief's land, but was disheartened quickly to see the looming wall of fog that cut off his view of anything beyond. His skill in astral projection, and the strength of his connection to his anchor were the limiting factors of how far his mind could wander. Given that he'd used his own blood as part of his ball and anchor, his connection was strong. If he'd used anything else, he would have been much more limited in his view.
A shiver ran down his spine when a weathered and familiar face rounded the corner of the building. It was Old Harry the stable keeper. For a moment, Murphy thought the man would recognise him. An irrational part of his mind could hear Harry raise the alarm at his being there, but his worries were eased when it was apparent the man had no idea he was there. He walked right through the Warlock's ethereal body, giving Murphy a sensation of pressure as he did. It felt like a magnet, repelling him away from the man, but the force was only just enough for him to notice. He wondered briefly if the sensation was due to Harry's own locked away power resisting his. He wanted to test it further, but considered his time limit in stead. In half of an hour the hourglass would empty its top chamber, and he would be torn back through the astral veil and back into his body.
Rather than walk all the way to the front door, he decided to in stead take advantage of his lack of physicality. He attempted to walk right through the wall next to him, but felt the same magnetic repulsion when he got close. He tried to push through, but the closer he got, the more intense the force became. Soon enough he could feel himself pushing against the wall as if it existed in the same tangential plane of reality he was occupying. Confused, he traced along the wall to see if it was everywhere. Soon enough, he was all too aware of a static sensation joining the push. The static would increase towardsthe door, but all but go away when he walked in the opposite direction. A series of five bricks a few feet from the door was the apparent source of the whole experience, and when he saw them, the answer to his puzzle dawned on him.
Carved neatly into the bricks, were a set of simple wards. He'd learned about the simple wards from his reading in the tower, so much so that he recognised a few of the symbols. The warding was done mostly with glyphs, the unique runic symbols that served specific purposes. Discovering a useful glyph was something he aspired too, since it would clearly imply his worth as a wizard. Anything he can do with a glyph, he could manage with his Dolmic symbols. The prospect of scratching one small picture rather than filling a book with complex arithmetic, was however a very enticing trade up.
It was harder for him to push closely to the wards, but he managed to withstand the force well enough. The magnetic repulsion was far more intense at the source, and his ghostly body suffered a great numbness in pulsating waves. Ignoring the assault to his senses, he lifted his imaginary hand to the glyphs. The push was defined enough for him to feel the texture of the etched brick. Settling his hand on a glyph he knew, he attempted to empower it. His plan was to overload the glyph, and see what happens. If the power added to the ink that made the symbol exceeded its Daion carrying capacity, the ink would burn into Melt dust and compromise the wards. He quickly noticed his plan wouldn't work, when he realised he couldn't feel any power within himself. Without his body to make the magic, he had nowhere to get it from. Rather than give up, he took a step back to consider the problem.
He could feel the power of the wards, and though he couldn't see the aspect, in that state he felt as if he understood it well enough. It wasn’t the same as having his power back, but it was enough to make him smile at the memory of seeing magic. He figured for a moment that his ethereal state might be a good way to understand some of his projects better. It was close enough to what he'd lost, he thought. One of the things he could intuit, was the directional flow of the Daions. It was referred to as 'Daionic Polarity', and wasn't exactly the same as something moving in a linear direction. The Daions would flow from pole to pole, but any Daionic system could have anywhere from two to two-hundred poles and beyond, making the tracking of the flow remarkably complicated. In a complex system like a living body, the energy flows between all available poles, travelling through higher dimensions in most cases. 'Daionic Physics' was one of the subjects he'd elected to at the university, and he was never more proud of that decision than he was in that moment. He knew that all he had to do was find a way to alter the polarity of the wards, and it would alter their function. There was a chance for things to go wrong of course, but most uncontrolled Daionic systems had a way of burning themselves out before any damage could be done. If he had a crystal, the task would be easy. Adding another pole to an unprotected system would surely alter its function, ant these wards had nothing in the way to protect them from tampering. To the Chief's credit, there was no real reason for him to have stronger wards, their existence was more of a formality than anything. Most town or city houses were warded in some way or another after all.
Next to the front door was a burning amber lantern. The flame would burn nearly indefinitely, fuelled by the green crystal sliver that made the wick. Murphy had made that exact lantern with his grandfather. The glyph they used caused the lantern to burn with no heat, saving all of the energy for the light it gave off. The function of the lantern wasn't what drew his eye though, it was the crystal wick. The crystal would burn out immediately if it became an inefficient pole for the nearby wards, but it should last long enough to break the fragile system. The only challenge left, was to find a way to connect the two without the use of real hands.
Daionic flow was a near unstoppable force, and he was all too aware of what kind of things could be used as a conductor. Things of the physical were among the most inefficient conductors, besides some metals and biological materials. His idea was to use his own ethereal body as the conduit. In theory, it'd be a better conductor than even copper, though to say he had some trepidation about using his own mind would be an understatement. It would take some intese focus, but he was confident at least that it was possible.
Reaching out with his imaginary hands, he pushed against the lantern and the wards until it felt as if he was touching something again. With a concious assertion of his will, he focused on pulling the energy through his mind from both ends. It was slow to start, and each time his focus faltered, he felt the power retreat away from him. Eventually, he pulled the powers into his centre, and joined them with ease. In a split second, he felt a painful sting, and heard a sharp pop. Before he could prepare himself, the brick holding his chosen ward exploded outwards. It was akin to the brick being hit with a heavy swing from a hammer, but it was enough to make him flinch.
His hands throbbed, and he felt a tightness all over as the residual energy found its home in his mind. It was a notably uncomfortable sensation, but he still seemed to retain his senses. When he stepped towards the wall, he was relieved to find the magnetic repulsion had faded entirely. The glyph he chose was associated with clay. It was used in wards to define the object being enchanted, this time in order to include all of the bricks in the structure. Along with the lack of magnetic repulsion, he couldn't help but notice a new sensation. When he took a step, he felt the weight of it. Before pushing through the wall, he tested another fleeting hypothesis. He stomped into the ground, attempting to see if the weight was real. Nothing happened, so he jumped instead. Again, the dust below his feet remained undisturbed. Not one to give up on what he thought to be a good idea, he started kicking at the ground with all of the esoteric strength he could summon. The dust stirred slightly at that attempt, and he bounced in excitement. He wanted to share his discovery with Uundah, but remembered where he was.
The discovery could wait, it'd be better if he could discuss it with his O'jin anyway. For now, he had old friends to see.