I was slightly slack jawed at the gargantuan size of the crystal. There was also some concern as to what was going to happen that would involve an object that could probably hold a monumental amount of energy. “What are you going to do with this thing?”
Sert was still busy grabbing a couple of other small instruments while he talked. “I’m going to create a connection of course.”
“But didn’t that break the other crystals? Wouldn’t it be a waste to have such a large one destroyed?”
“It will not be a long connection, just enough for me to try to glimpse the illusive form of this creature. This size of crystal should hold a connection long enough for me to complete this task and pull out before it is destroyed.”
“Is there any danger in that? What if it doesn’t just attack the crystal but you instead?”
“A risk, of course, but either of us can physically break the connection if it becomes too dangerous.”
I scratched my head a bit. This sounded risky, but I had to admit that I wanted to know more about what was inside of me. “Ok, just try not to blow us all up.”
“I shall endeavor not to.” He slipped a few rings onto his fingers and picked up a fist sized crystal with a plethora of etchings on it in his off hand. “The rings should provide an additional buffer against any sort of counterattack, and this crystal will facilitate the spell and start creating light should magic be poured into myself with abandon.” Sert chuckled a little to himself. “Feels like I’m preparing to face a great wyrm from the old stories I was told as a kid.”
With that, Sert placed his hand upon the crystal and motioned for me to do the same. Before I did, I looked over to Kala. “Take cover behind something, just in case.” Kala looked around for a moment. There wasn’t much to hide behind, so she took a chair and cowered behind it and a table.
Now that everyone was taking as many precautions as possible, I placed my hand against the crystal. Sert nodded and began explaining the procedure. “You may feel some discomfort from this. I will be entering quickly so I can acquire as much information as possible, it will not be gentle.”
“I’m accustomed to pain, I'll be fine.”
Sert nodded and took a steady breath in preparation. “I shall now begin.” His eyes closed and his face became serene with concentration. The feeling of something crawling under my skin shot up my arm. When it reached my head, I winced as a stab of discomfort similar to a headache bloomed in my mind.
Sert’s brow dropped a bit and he leaned forward. “Be angry all you want; I'm still going to get a look at you.” An unseen struggle of some sort took place inside my head. A brief bit of concern regarding brain damage was had, but it was far too late for that.
“Slippery little thing, it keeps hiding itself. I assure you my interest is professional, so please stop running.” I smirked as he tried to convince this thing to come out even though it likely couldn’t hear him.
My attention came to the giant crystal we were both touching. There was a glow that was steadily increasing in intensity. I didn’t know how to tell if it was approaching maximum capacity, but I could feel it start to gain some warmth. Ok, hurry it up in there doc.
Sert would twitch a brow or dip his head ever so slightly as he chased whatever was inside me down, causing me occasional stabs of pain. “Aha, got you now. Let’s have a look at you.” The glow of the crystal was starting to look like a giant lightbulb.
“Uhm, doc, wrap it up.” I urged him on but didn’t think he was paying attention to me. The crystal was starting to make me nervous.
“How peculiar, what made you take on that form?” The heat off the crystal was starting to become uncomfortable. “Easy now, let me just feel what you...” His body went completely ridged and the rings he was wearing exploded off his fingers.
Alright, that’s it! I pulled my hand away from the crystal and Sert gasped as the connection was cut. He turned to me, his look unfocused yet annoyed.
“Why did you break the connection?”
“You want me to start with the most obvious!” I gestured towards the crystal. It could probably serve to illuminate the entire camp. Sert’s expression dropped when he saw it. “Yeah, not to mention you completely froze up just a moment ago and the rings you said were to protect you decided they would rather be anywhere but on your fingers.”
I reached over to pick the pieces of the rings off the table for emphasis, but Sert shot his hand out and stopped me. “Don’t move, don’t touch anything.” He sounded deathly serious, so I obeyed, worry now peaking.
Sert slowly got up from his chair and walked over to where he kept a lot of crystals inside a box. He quickly grabbed an armful and brought them back over, setting them on the ground by the table. Grabbing one of the crystals he brought with him, he reached cautiously out towards the giant one, gently laying the tips of his fingers upon the surface.
The crystal he was holding steadily gained a glow of its own till he put it back down and grabbed another. He repeated this process a dozen times till the giant crystal had dimmed a little bit and he had a collection of smaller glowing ones. Sert released a sigh as he finished filling the last one, relaxing considerably.
“What was that about?” I asked him.
“That crystal was just about overloaded. In that state it was extremely volatile and could explode with enough force to destroy this entire room.”
I gaped a bit at him before pinching the bridge of my nose. “From what I can tell, half of magic is just knowing how not to make things explode before you want them to.” Sert just shrugged, which made me chuckle. “You're a crazy bastard you know that right?”
“Why do you think I hold this position? Magic can be volatile at the best of times, unknown magic even more so.”
I smirked and shook my head before getting back to the topic. “So, what did you see?” That got his attention as he jumped into the conversation. Kala also came out of hiding now that it was confirmed to be safe.
“It was extraordinary! The power of that serpent inside of you is unrivaled by anything I have ever seen.”
“Serpent?” I questioned.
“Yes, the form of that entity inside of you takes on the appearance of a serpent. It is quite unusual for magical entities to take on any form let alone one so easily recognizable. I don’t know exactly how to quantify its existence, but if I had to make an estimate, I would put its power at the level of a natural disaster, or an act of the gods.”
I think you basically hit the nail on the head there doc. “Is there any risk that this thing tears me apart, or makes me explode?”
“From what I can tell, you are at no risk. Your body is a host to this creature, meaning it either desires to remain a part of you, or requires being a part of you. If you were to die it would lose its host and either disappear or return to whatever force spawned it. The risk factor to others, however, is another thing. I tried to make contact with it inside of your mind and it lashed out, stripping away all my defenses and paralyzing my thoughts. An interesting experience I must say. I should write this down before I forget the feeling.”
He turned back to his book and started furiously scribbling in it. Kala came over to stand by me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?” She asked.
“I’m good, bit of a headache but it’s fading now.”
She nodded and looked at Sert who was busy sketching a crude outline of a snake. He seemed to be putting most of the emphasis on the eyes with the body being rather unfocused. Sert finished the sketch for now with a couple of notes at the bottom. Their written language was apparently not translated for me.
Now that Sert was done recording the event, he turned back towards me. “So, what I have learned thus far is that you are most likely telling the truth about being a ‘human’ as you claimed. I have likewise confirmed that you have a magical entity that has been either implanted or somehow found its way into your body through natural means. Perhaps it was attracted to your lack of magic, finding the void to be rather spacious for its needs? Still, its function beyond simply being a font of power that exists inside of you is unknown.”
Yeah, pretty sure I know exactly what it's been doing in there. I finally learned something regarding how I keep coming back to life. It was almost a forgone conclusion that this magical snake thing was responsible for keeping me alive. Kala gave me a knowing look and I shook my head slightly to tell her not to say anything about it. I’ve already been screwed over once by people knowing about the bitch’s ‘blessing;’ I'd prefer that not to happen again.
Sert was deep in thought, his gaze a thousand-yard stare as he worked over things in his head. I had no idea what mad scheme he would try next. There wasn’t much that could top almost blowing us all up just so he could poke at a snake essentially. Just that statement itself sounded utterly insane and devoid of all self-preservation.
Suddenly he blinked and his face lit up. The reaction couldn’t have been more like an epiphany striking if he tried. “I have an idea!” He said energetically.
Oh boy. “What’s the idea?” I asked cautiously.
“That entity seems to reject all outside intrusions, quite vehemently I might add. So, what if you were the one to attempt contact with it?”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“You want me to try to wrangle a magical snake when I have no magic of my own?”
“True, you have no magic, but it is none the less a part of you. There should still be a connection somewhere that you can utilize to make contact. If you are the one to do it, then it probably won’t attack you since you’re its host.”
“I heard a ‘probably’ in there.”
“Nothing can be certain with these things; you must be ready for anything.”
“Great, well if this bites me in the ass, I'm blaming you then.”
“I accept those conditions, now let us prepare for your self-analysis.” He grabbed a bit of fabric and started rolling it up. After he had a bundle created, he placed it on the ground and gestured towards it. “Please lay down.”
“Uhm, okay, could I ask why?”
“I plan to put you in a trance then guide your subconscious to where the serpent makes its home inside of you. You do not want to be standing or sitting for that unless you wish to crash to the ground.”
“Alright, alright, just wanted to know why.” I eased myself onto the ground and laid my head against the bundle of cloth, getting as comfortable as I could manage. Sert went around and collected a few smaller crystals and laid them down around me. One by my head, two by my shoulders, and two by my feet. This all felt very ritualistic, which was simultaneously interesting and worrying.
I turned my head to Kala who was looking on with mild interest. “Kala, if he starts doing weird shit to me while I'm asleep, could you please tear his arms off.”
Kala chuckled a bit before replying. “Sure, I can do that.”
Sert on the other hand was rather unamused. “I have already told you what I intend to do and will not deviate from this as it could throw off the results.”
“Just kidding, mostly. For your own health I hope you're telling the truth.”
“I will not intentionally take any action to harm you.”
He moved over and kneeled down by my head. I released an exasperated sigh. “You know, saying shit like that makes me more worried.”
“Then please stop second guessing my motives and I will not have to say, ‘shit like that.’ Now, are you ready?”
“Sure, put me under.”
Sert placed his index and middle finger on the crown of my head and closed his eyes. Shortly after that it became difficult to think straight. My eyes started to get heavy, and even though I knew what was happening, my body fought against it. Eventually I succumbed to the magical sedative and slipped into unconsciousness.
This unconsciousness was different from regular sleep, or even death as I knew it. It felt like a lucid dream where I was aware of what was happening inside of it. My body was present, and I could see myself, but all sensation was numb, creating a disconnect with my movements. It was such a strange feeling that I was sure that my mind would reject it and wake up, yet the dark around me persisted.
The emptiness of my mind was disturbed by a small light that appeared therein. The light flittered about in front of my face for a moment, clearly trying to draw my attention. I reasoned that this was probably Sert’s attempt at directing me inside of this dreamscape.
The light started to lazily drift off into the nothingness, so I followed it. It wasn’t difficult to keep up, though it felt strange to move without feeling any of the muscles in my body expand and contract. So far, the expanse of my mind was rather empty, which was sort of boring. No scenery, obstacles, or even color to be seen anywhere, just a light drifting along on an intangible breeze.
After a minute or two of walking I began to notice a change in the environment. The dark started to shimmer slightly, like a heat haze. It was difficult to notice, but it was certainly happening. I could almost feel a sort of energy radiating from the black and it was the only sensation that was tangible.
Suddenly some dark shape flew by just in front of me, swatting the small light out of existence. The shock sent me stumbling backwards away from whatever the hell that was while trying to locate the possible danger in the void. I spun every which way and could see nothing but the shimmering black wherever I looked.
After a panicked moment of searching, a piercing hiss shattered the quiet like a glass window. Out of the endless gloom appeared two violently green eyes that glowed in the dark. The longer I stared at them the larger they got until each one was about the size of my head.
My body didn’t dare move, frozen in place by the sheer awe of what I was seeing. I finally tore my focus away from the eyes to what they were attached to. The unfocused shape of a serpentine head so dark that it seemed to swallow all light was just barely made out. Following the shifting form from the head out revealed a disturbing fact. The shimmering black all around me was in fact the body of this serpent as it morphed like water trying to hold a shape.
This thing’s fucking huge! Why didn’t he tell me that it was huge? I made a mental note to smack Sert upside the head for leaving that piece of information out. The head of the shadow serpent came right up to me, large eyes staring into me with their sharp gaze.
The strange thing about this was that I was mostly paralyzed by the magnitude of this creature. Despite the harm that this thing could potentially bring upon me, I did not fear it. No feeling of unease came from this creature, no hostility, no interest, nothing. In fact, as we both stood there staring at one another, it almost seemed like the serpent was waiting for me to do something.
My limbs felt like they weighed twice as much as normal as I lifted my arm with my hand outstretched towards the snake. I didn’t know what I was doing, but it just felt like something that needed to happen. My arm was fully extended towards the serpent while waiting to see how it would react.
The maw of the snake parted open, revealing rows of giant fangs as equally undeciding of their shape as the rest of the body. Despite the mouth of the snake being so large that it could swallow me whole with little effort, I still did not feel in danger. The snake inched closer to me, its mouth of fangs closing in on my outstretched hand. It angled its head till one of the larger fangs was positioned directly over my palm. Then, with the slightest dip of its head, the fang pierced my body.
The prick of the jagged tooth made me wince in pain, though it didn’t feel as intense as I thought it should. That distinction remedied itself when a second later it felt like my hand was on fire. The molten feeling crawled up my arm causing me to be racked with tremors as it burned a path to my core. I felt it reach my chest, then all at once it exploded from within me, reaching every corner of my being. It was too intense; my senses were overloaded, and I screamed out into the void.
From the dark something grabbed onto my body, holding me down as I struggled against the unseen grip. I thrashed against the restraining hold as the burning sensation wracked my body. In the midst of my struggling and pain, a sound met my ears. It seemed so far off but got steadily louder.
“James, James, James, JAMES!”
My eyes shot open. I was back in the lab, awake, or at least I thought I was. The burning sensation was still cooking me from the inside out as my body involuntarily convulsed.
“James! Are you awake?!” Turning towards the source of the noise calling my name through the haze of pain, Kala was there kneeling on my right arm, pinning it in place as it strained against her weight. No words could escape me, my jaw was locked in place with enough force that I was afraid my teeth would crack. I could only grunt out something in her direction. “Sert, I think he’s awake! What do we do?”
I managed to turn my head the other way and saw Sert pinning my other arm in place. “I need to get a crystal!” He said, obviously straining to keep me in place as my body thrashed about of its own will. “James, I need you to try and stay still for five seconds, can you do that?”
Frankly, that was a big ask at the moment, but through sheer force of will I was able to clench my fist and press my arm against the ground, keeping it relatively still. I gave a jerking nod to Sert who jumped off my arm and ran to his table. He snatched a decently sized crystal from its surface then sprinted back over to me.
He practically slid to his knees and slapped a hand on my chest. Almost immediately I felt relief as the fire was drained out of my veins by whatever Sert was doing. My body slowly stopped thrashing around and my jaw unclenched, allowing me to take gasping breaths again. Kala cautiously got off my arm once I was no longer trying to throw her.
Sert finished whatever process he went through and was now holding a slightly glowing crystal. My body felt completely exhausted, like I just went through a ruthless workout session and was now suffering from muscle fatigue in every fiber and cord. The burning sensation was replaced with a constant warmth that radiated from deep within me.
Everyone was breathing heavily, evidently, they were fighting very hard to keep me still. I turned to Sert who had collapsed in a reclining position next to me. “Sert.” My voice came out like wispy air. He turned towards me in acknowledgment. My arm rose slowly, it practically felt like dead weight. Once up, I quickly brought it down and slapped him on the head before letting my arm fall to the floor once again.
Sert rubbed the spot I hit and looked taken aback by the smack. “What was that for?”
“For not telling me... the snake... was fucking huge.” I replied between breaths.
Understanding spread across his features as I gave him a disappointed glare. “Ahh, yes, I did seem to neglect sharing that information with you.”
I weakly shook my head and then stared at the ceiling. “What the fuck happened?”
Sert sat up straight again and started explaining. “I’m not sure what happened once you made contact with the entity; I was forcefully removed from your mind by it. A minute or so after that you started convulsing slightly, then suddenly you screamed and thrashed about. You could have injured yourself like that, so we took to restraining you and attempting to wake you up. It took another minute of fighting against you before you did, then you know what happened after that.”
“Okay, but how did it happen?”
“Well...” He began while holding up the glowing crystal slightly. “It seems you now have magic in your body.”
“What? How the fuck did that happen?”
“You tell me. What occurred between you and that serpent?”
“Well, it appeared, I shit my pants, I reached out towards it, then it poked a hole in my hand with its fang which made me feel like my blood turned to fire.”
Sert stroked his beard a little. “Interesting. The best I can tell is that it was transferring magical energy into your body. The side effect was the overloading of your capacity to hold it all. It certainly gave you a lot, and I’m surprised you’re even in one piece from absorbing it all.”
“So, it gave me all of its power?”
“Not all of it. From what I can tell you are now receiving a small portion of what it commands. If it did try to give you all of its power, you probably would have detonated with the same intensity as the large crystal there.”
“Right.” I thought about that for a moment before a realization dawned on me. “Wait, does that mean I'm a mage now?”
“In the loosest of terms, yes. You now possess magical energy, but none of it is coming from your body. Its flowing from the entity, through your body, and out into the world for use.”
I looked at my hands in contemplation. The feeling of the warm energy of the magic in my body was clear, and at times, if I focused on the sensation close enough, it almost felt like it was wriggling inside of me. “What do I do now then?”
“Now, you will need to take an accelerated course on magic control and have a few more tests run on you to make sure you’re not about to explode in the middle of camp. You’re stable for now, but if you feel any of that burning sensation again, then quickly locate either myself, or another mage to have the excess energy drained from your body. For now, I think you should rest before we continue. In the meantime, I’ll write up my report and submit it to the general. It should take a couple of days for him to read it then bring the findings up with the others once they convene again.”
“Sounds like a plan to me. Kala, can you help me up, I’m completely exhausted.” She nodded and then dipped down to assist me in standing. Even on my feet I had to put a lot of weight on her as it felt like my legs were made of jelly. “See you tomorrow doc, I guess.”
“I will expect your return.”
With that, Kala helped me out of the room and back towards our little corner. My body felt extremely weak after being put through the wringer like that. Why does everything in this world seem to be designed to cause pain? At least there was the learning to be a mage thing to look forward to. The very idea inspired some measure of childish anticipation. I wondered if I could blow off some steam by throwing a few fireballs around.