The wood grew quieter the further Amy wandered in. Eerie silence replaced the sounds of nature, a mirror of the phenomena that had sent her investigating. The vivid green mana was still nowhere to be seen, but the Ocean was definitely becoming sparser the more she ventured towards the source of this strange event. Although the forest was always a bit dangerous and unknown to her, she had walked these paths before, hunting for berries and mushrooms when the village gatherers wouldn’t sell them to her. So it was all the stranger that she stumbled upon something she had never seen before.
An argument could possibly be made that she had simply gone in the wrong direction, Amy considered, but it was simply not possible that she had missed a massive Mage Tower in the middle of the forest path.
Primarily made of craggy stone, it was a grey obelisk that stood taller than any tree in the forest, a small clearing of overgrown grass hiding its base. It would’ve been a monument of the ages, the crowning jewel of any Mage’s court if it wasn’t completely ruined. Old wooden supports at the side of the tower were rotten and half collapsed, the obvious reason why half of the tower was missing from the top half up. Debris and rock - and even parts of the wooden roof - were strewn about the clearing below, crushing sections of the longrass, allowing glimpses into the entrance of the mysterious tower. Or rather, what used to be the entrance.
A hollow in the tower’s base encompassed more than a third of the entire structure, yet somehow it still stood tall. Grass grew into it from the hole, almost tall enough to touch the moss and vines that adorned the walls. What brought Amy out of her reverie was the sight of books, of all colours, shapes and sizes, just barely visible in a bookcase through that same hole.
Books. In an abandoned Mage Tower. And not looted.
It was with barely contained excitement that Amy made her way through the grass, ignoring her previous apprehension and worry. Even if she was still slightly anxious, the fact that this tower was the source of that mana tsunami and not a Mage fight was comforting beyond belief. She could deal with strange magical items and cursed artifacts. Definitely not hostile Mages though. And maybe not cursed artifacts either.
The specifics don’t matter, there’s books! She celebrated, trying to trick herself that not being worried for once was okay and not another cause for worry.
It was only when she had reached the hollow that she calmed down, stalking through the hole with trepidation. Despite the grass, the inside of the tower was beautiful: lacquered dark wood flooring; proper stone tiling on the inside; and masterfully made furniture - if it wasn’t broken - dotted around. It was here that Amy realised something else. This wasn’t just a Mage’s Tower. This was a Mages’ Tower. Maybe even a School.
Filled with even more excitement than before, she made her way across the room, navigating the ruin the best she could, and reached a bookcase. The oppressive silence of the ruin was cut through by her footsteps and breathing, sending not-so-excited chills down her spine. She grabbed the first book on the left, a blue cover with a gold frame, deciding not to check for traps just yet to conserve her strength. Scanning the room for an intact chair, Amy brought one over and sat down on the first one she saw, absently remarking at how comfy the in-built cushioning of it was.
Dust lined the book heavily but not quite enough to cover the words emblazoned on the front and the spine.
“Introduction to Wizardry,” Amy read out loud, it seeming appropriate to do so, especially with how quiet it was. Tracing her fingers around the words, she tried to think of a School of mages related to ‘Wizardry’ but came up with nothing. Must be ancient then.
Finally feeling ready to read, she opened the book to the first page and read the words the yellowed paper held.
“Chapter 1 - The Wizard’s Elements
Wizards. If you are reading this book, then you have probably heard of them by now. The students and teachers of the mysterious; the decipherers of the arcane; and the unearthers of forbidden truths. Even compared to the Angelic See on Ryuen, we are considered the most secretive among the Esoteric Schools. For good reason.”
See? Amy thought, trying to attach the School mentioned to a name she knew, Wait, the Holy See! Holy shit, they’re strong! And these Wizards are comparing themselves to them? I’ve struck gold…
“Our Elements are often the rarest to have affinities for, even among the Esoteric, and as such we are small in number compared to our power. It is no surprise then that we are as close-knit as we are. But fear not, young Mageling, we welcome all who wish to enter our circle; and what a circle of power it is.
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Illusion. Fae. Unknowable.”
“What?” Amy exclaimed out loud, confused at what was being mentioned. I’ve heard of Elemental Illusion but what the hell is Fae? Or Unknowable!
“A trio of seemingly unrelated Esoteric Elements that encompass all that a Wizard is. The way they connect is not for a Mageling to know and as such will be covered in later volumes, but be studious and they shall be revealed to you.
For your first Spells that shall be taught to you through this book, they shall be primarily focused on Illusion. Fae is too tricky for a Mageling to cast and Unknowable is only for the brave or foolhardy. Before you even cast a Spell however, you should complete a small affinity test included in the back cover. As a Mageling Wizard, you have probably already completed such a test, though this is more general and can act as a guide for your magical pursuits or an explanation for a talent or lack thereof in one of the Elements.”
“It’s always affinities, isn’t it?” Amy sighed, putting the book down on her lap and sitting back, “Always those damn affinities…”
“But…”
I could try.
Picking the book back up, Amy flipped to the back and found the affinity test. A set of three glass tubes were embedded into the leather cover, connected via golden runes that linked to a small circular node at the top of the cover. Instructions were written on the other side of the page.
“Appendix - Affinity Test
Congratulations! You’re a Wizard! By the Ascendant Conclave guidelines, this means you have an official affinity of more than 20% in any one of the Wizardly Elements, and at least 10% in the other two.”
What the hell is the Ascendant Conclave? Amy almost said aloud, not recognising the name as a part of any country or Mage association. Definitely ancient then, or something lost in the Mage Wars. Ascendant sounds familiar though…
“For the test, simply inject your mana into the mana node at the top and the tubes will glow with brightness according to your affinities. Certain mana-fluorescent substances were specifically chosen to align with the Wizardly Elements to make this affinity test work. From the top down, you have your Illusion tube, your Unknowable tube and then your Fae tube. The Illusion and Fae test tubes are separated due to incompatible substances used in the tests themselves.
No glow indicates a baseline affinity of 20% or lower. A slight glow means a good affinity between 20-40%. A bright glow means a talented affinity between 40-70%. Finally, a blinding glow means a once-in-a-century affinity between 70-90%. If any other effects occur please consult with a senior Wizard, although you have probably already been informed if you had an affinity greater than 90%.”
“Simple enough.”
Focusing on her mana sense, she practised her Magecraft as she had been taught and collected a small tendril of mana from the Ocean. She knew some affinity tests needed specific Magecraft techniques to collect certain types of ambient mana but no such thing was outlined here so she stuck with what she knew: a focus on her mana sense, and the imagining of a whirlpool through her will.
Amy carefully fed the tendril into the node, pumping it piece by piece until it vanished from her senses. By the time it had disappeared, the mana node was glowing with a blue-white light, pulsing in strange ways. For a second she had thought the test was broken until the runes activated. Gold lines shined as they channelled the mana from the node to the tubes, slowly making their way into them. When the golden light first reached the Illusion tube, it glowed bright with a strange grey light, unexpectedly, but died down to a lower level soon after. Still decent though. Wait, isn’t Illusion an Advanced Element not an Esoteric-?
Before she could contemplate the thought further, the mana reached the Unknowable tube and the room lit up. Purple-white light erupted from the tube, illuminating the room so brightly she thought it was a Spell.
“What the-!”
And then, when she couldn’t even see it, the third tube was reached. In one moment the slightly dim room was illuminated by purple light, and in another, all Amy could see was vivid green. Like a verdant sun had been placed by her face, her eyes were forced shut by the light, too bright that they hurt. And then, with a shattering sound, all went dark.
When Amy was brave enough to open her eyes again, she stared down at the tubes and found them all broken. The golden lines no longer shone and whatever substances that the tubes had contained were escaping in small barely visible trails of gas. At first, she entertained the thought that she had a never before seen affinity in Fae, that being the reason it glowed so brightly, but reason and doubt won out.
“The test was broken,” Amy scowled, wafting away the gas with her other hand, “Dammit. Why did I even get my hopes up when it even has wrong information! Illusion can be combined into with Basic Elements. It's Advanced, not Esoteric… Shit, the gas!”
Pushing the book from her immediately, throwing it onto the floor, she cursed herself for not thinking of the fumes sooner, for her stupidity. Probably the Mind Blank. And maybe me being too busy daydreaming about a Fae affinity, whatever that is.
Even still, as she berated herself, she couldn’t help but stare at the book on the floor, the shattered tubes, and the broken glass on the pages of the book. As she continued to stare, she thumbed the ring off her finger, the blanket of ignorance slipping off her, the enchantment on it no longer taking effect. There were no hostile Mages here. Probably.
“I’ll have to wait a while for the gas to dissipate properly…” Amy said, glancing over to the back of the room where a large set of spiral stairs rose up, central to the tower itself and only half dilapidated.
With a bit more reservation in her step, she walked over and ascended up the stairs of the ruined Mage Tower.