“Follow the numbers,” Emily mutters, trying to process the message. “Which numbers? Page numbers?”
She flips back through the diary from the start, noting next to each quote what page it was on.
Fourteen, twenty-six, thirty-two, forty-one, sixty-five, sixty-six, ninety-eight, one hundred and fifteen. Okay, let’s see where these lead me.
The bird on her head flickers to life, flapping its wings and quickly rising to the gap the diary has left in the shelves above.
“Start where you found me,” she mutters as the bird starts flying to the right, counting books. “These birds are so useful. I should remember to give Jules a kiss for reminding me about them. Maybe I can modify them to use thermal vision too to make scouting easier on our expedition.”
Emily gets up and follows beneath the bird as it goes. She quickly finds the fourteenth book along, a random study on the element of fire, and pulls it from the shelf. It drops into her waiting hand below, but Emily barely notices. Instead, her attention is taken by the glowing purple rune revealed on the shelf beneath.
Oh? Spatial runes?
She quickly sends another bird back to the diary’s original position, and finds a similar rune now glowing in place. A grin grows on her face as she turns her focus back to the first bird and continues counting along.
Book after book, Emily plucks them from the shelves, revealing glowing runes beneath. After reaching the end of the row, she moves to the shelf below and continues counting, but when she pulls out what she hopes is the fifth book in the sequence, there isn’t a rune underneath.
“Tsk,” she clicks her tongue, seeing the rune in the diary’s space vanish as well. “Shit. I need to reset it.”
Unwilling to wait for the books to return to the shelves on their own, which she’s found they do after ten minutes when removed from the shelves manually, she walks over to where the spiders are sat on the floor and uses them to carry the books back into place. After they are all replaced, she pulls them out in order again.
This time, when Emily reaches the end of the row, she drops down a shelf and moves along the length of the row to continue counting from the far left. This time when she pulls out the fifth book, she sees a rune light up beneath.
“Nice!”
She keeps going, following the sequence. Soon she reaches the last book. Standing directly below it, her bird plucks it from the shelf, and the rune beneath pulses. The shelf rumbles, and Emily steps away, watching as a crack appears before her. The shelf spins in on itself, folding into the space behind it and opening up to reveal a swirling purple mass of mana, emanating pressure and destabilising space around it.
“Woah!” Emily’s eyes open wide as she feels the space around her quiver under the influence of what she presumes to be a portal. “Where do you lead?”
A curious glint flashes in her eyes, but she holds herself back. Before stepping into the unknown, Emily recalls her scouts, deactivating them and curling them back into balls of metal. She places them all back in her storage pouch and pulls out The Clock, holding it firm in her hand as she approaches the shimmering air.
She reaches out with her spatial awareness, feeling the dizzying maelstrom of space overwhelming her as she gets closer.
Oh? Is this a fourth circle spell?
She frowns and gives up trying to understand the spell, instead reaching forward and pushing her empty hand through. Her arm vanishes up to the elbow. When she pulls it back, it comes out unharmed, so she takes a deep breath and steps into the unknown.
Her vision shifts as she passes through the portal, and her eyes are blinded by light. Emily flinches in surprise and looks around the small space she finds herself in. The room is only a few metres across, with intricate murals covering the walls. The ceiling is only a few metres high, with several glistening light crystals illuminating the room.
In the centre stands a plinth, holding a small, purple book covered in gold embellishments. Emily takes in the room, finding her eyes being drawn to the walls instead of the book. She approaches the wall closest to the portal, finding writing at the base, underneath an image of two men standing side by side on a castle wall overlooking an army charging towards them with swords and shields.
‘Gaius Longaeva and Arthur Modo at the battle of Herder’s Keep.’
“Arthur Modo... The first king of Modo,” she mutters, realisation washing over her.
So it’s the diary of the first king’s childhood friend. No wonder it was considered A grade. But who is Gaius?
She walks along the wall, taking in a glorified depiction of Arthur and Gaius rising to the top of the Rostan Empire and becoming the Emperor’s sword and shield, before heading a coup to topple the old regime. The last few images show Gaius and Arthur stood above The Dome and Chroni’s castle respectively.
“I see. So Gaius was the founder of The Covenant.” Nodding to herself, Emily turns to finally approach the book.
She checks the smooth, white stone plinth below first, looking for any magical traps. Only after finding no magical traces on the plinth, other than a preservation spell, does she reach out and pick up the book. It’s small and thin, with what looks like only ten or so pages within the rich, purple leather binding. The gold etching draws attractive patterns, but doesn’t give Emily any hint of the book’s content.
Gently, she flips to the first page and reads.
Well done on completing my test. Whether through luck or intelligence, you have met my minimum qualification.
I am Gaius Longaeva: founder of The Covenant and fourth circle mage. I leave behind this book with my account of the first to fourth circle in hopes that someone else will break the shackles and rise to the fifth circle.
I don’t know if the fifth circle really exists. But I want to believe.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Emily grins happily as she turns the page.
Perfect! An account of the ascension to fourth circle is more than I could have hoped for.
Her smile only grows as she flips through the pages, making notes tracking Gaius’ observations and comparing them to her own. After twenty minutes of careful comparison, Emily lays down the book while giving her condensed notes one last look over.
First circle: Fully awaken magical senses. Small mana pool. Weak, mostly contact, spells.
Second circle: Small mana pool. Range and power increase.
Third circle: Moderate mana pool. Passive regeneration and power increase. Vast improvement in the Spellweave.
Fourth circle: Large mana pool. Range and power increase. Start developing subconscious use of magic. Perfection of the human form.
“I need to kill fourth circle mages if I’m to become one, so understanding their power is crucial. It looks like the biggest problems will be subconscious casting and the raw power gap. If I can’t kill them quickly, they’ll cast defensive spells and there’s a chance I won’t be able to break through them. Looks like making the Whisper was worth it,” she mutters, smiling at the thought of her newest weapon sitting in her storage belt while turning back to the portal. “Thanks, Gaius. If you’re still alive, I’ll come give my thanks properly once I’m fifth circle.”
Emily activates The Clock, returning to the morning of the day before.
***
Emily finds herself sitting on the floor in the library, with all of her mechanical scouts still scouring the stacks. She recalls all of them, placing them back into her storage pouch and leaves the library.
Instead of heading to her room, Emily decides to take advantage of having set a reset point in the morning and heads to the information hub. She approaches a counter, waiting for the mage in front of her to finish buying some magic crystals.
“Hello, how can I help you?” the clerk behind the counter asks.
“I’d like to buy some third circle spells,” Emily says with a smile.
“I’m sorry. We can only sell third circle spells to third circle mages.”
“Oh? Why do you think I’m not third circle?” Emily asks with a raised brow.
“You only have a bronze crest,” the clerk answers curtly, clearly unimpressed by Emily’s questioning. “No family keeps a mage in The Dome as a vassal after they reach third circle. They either bring them in closer to the family, or the mage separates to form their own house. Now, please either purchase something else or move along so I can serve someone else.”
I see. So most families will try to deepen their relationship with a newly risen third circle vassal mage to stop them leaving. I guess he specified in The Dome because of families like the Mandragos, who keep third circle mages as vassals in their territories.
A small sneer parts Emily’s lips at the thought as she projects the pressure of her circles outwards, letting her dense mana bend the air around her. The clerk and a few nearby mages gasp and look at her with shock.
“I’m so sorry,” the clerk scrambles to apologise, dipping his head towards Emily.
“It’s fine. I’m newly ascended. Now, can I buy some third circle spells please?”
“Yes, of course! One moment, can I have your name please?” the clerk asks while grabbing his database access crystal.
“Emily Coldstone.”
He starts slightly at her name, a reaction Emily easily spots.
Oh? Does he know me? Has my name spread that much outside of my classes?
Chuckling internally, she waits as he closes his eyes and scans through the information The Covenant has saved on her. Having asked her classmate and nighttime clerk, Anka, how the clerks’ crystals work, Emily watches curiously as he scans a bank of information about the mages within The Covenant: including everything from their completed missions and points given in classes, to their elements and past purchases.
She scoffs to herself, knowing he has signed a magical contract forbidding him from using the access for his personal benefit, an agreement Emily can see several methods to work around.
“Nine elements,” the clerk mutters quietly in disbelief as he opens his eyes. “Sorry about that wait. I’ve confirmed the elements you can purchase from. However, I’m sorry to say, we only sell third circle spells for the four common elements.”
“Tsk,” Emily clicks her tongue in frustration. “Really? How many of those do you sell?”
“Only one of each,” the clerk offers apologetically, shying back from Emily’s scowl.
I guess I’ll have to make most of my spells without references from now on.
“Ah well. Give me all of them then please.”
The clerk flinches at her request, looking as if he wants to crawl into a hole and hide.
“What is it now?” Emily asks with a tired sigh.
“I don’t believe you have enough points for that. Each third circle spell costs one thousand.”
“Oh, that’s fine,” Emily says with relief. “That’s just one more rewind. Give me the fire and wind spells for now please.”
The clerk looks slightly confused by her comment, but quickly moves to follow her request. He places the payment slab before her, letting her transfer two thousand points and draining her stockpile to near empty, before turning around and grabbing several items from the drawers behind him.
He sets up a large parchment on an inscribing artefact, placing several crystals in to set it up and burning the first spell into place. He repeats this for the other spell before handing both large parchments to Emily.
She thanks him and leaves, heading back to her room. Sitting down at her desk, she places the two oversized scrolls in front of her and unfolds the first. As the crimson writing within is revealed, Emily’s eyes open wide in appreciation.
“Woah! What a beautiful magic circle,” she mutters.
The magic circle on the parchment is massive, with close to a hundred runes and dozens of intricately woven shapes slotting together to form a mass of colour. There are several equations written along the sides of the page: used for calculating the correct angles and sizes of the different sections of the circle that need to be formed in three dimensions to work. The equations change the circle based on several oddly specific variables, like the intended mana input, size, density, and even rotation of the spell.
Fireball. Such a simple concept for such a complicated magic circle.
Emily pores over the parchment, memorising every line, rune, and equation as usual. After ten minutes, a system window pops into view.
¯¯¯¯¯
Spell memorised: Fireball
[Fireball]
[Circle:] Third
[Cost:] 1500 Mana/cast
[Description:] Summon a ball of flames to wield at will.
_____
Emily looks up from the scroll with a smile.
1500 mana is 300 less than blazing arrow. Ritual spells really are just inefficient attempts to replicate higher circle spells. I’ll have to rework the arrow into a proper third circle spell later to keep using it.
She shuts her eyes, focusing on the new spell and casting it. Arcs of mana shoot from her body, forming into a rotating orb of glowing orange around her. Runes form in a twisting matrix as the crackling orange and white glow fills the room.
Emily’s eyes flutter open as she finishes the last calculation, placing a few runes into place and pulsing mana through the magic circle. The spell churns, rotating and compressing, shrinking down and morphing into a burning orb of searing hot orange and white fire hovering in front of Emily. The orb is the same size as Emily’s head, but the power compressed into the small, dense mana construct makes the air around it quiver.
After admiring the spell for a few seconds, Emily dismisses it, dispersing the gathered mana. She turns to the second spell, unrolling the parchment and committing the contents to memory. Soon, with wind slicer added to her spellbook, she rewinds time again.
***
Emily returns to her room again with two more spell scrolls held in her spatial pouch. As she sits down at her desk and pulls them out, she considers her drawstring storage pouch.
“I can upgrade you properly now that I’m third circle. I’ll have to work on something to let me carry all the supplies for our expedition. As much as I told Tom he’s invited to carry my bags, I’d rather have my supplies easily accessible for me,” Emily mumbles to herself before returning her focus to the scrolls.
The first one is a water spell named cascade: a large scale area denial attack spell. The second is an earth spell called tremor: the spell the wendigo, Rocco, used to cause small earthquakes in The Waters.
Hmm. They’re all attack spells. I guess I’ll have to work on my own defensive spells from scratch.
“Now,” she mutters, glancing down at her pouch-covered belt as she pulls out The Clock. “Let’s gather some data to improve you!”