Nick Smith

Adventurer Level: N/A

Human - American

"What the hell just happened?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"You destroyed the stone and a good chunk of the target!" Yulk exclaimed.

"Is... is that normal? Should I be able to do that?" I asked.

"Among orcs? Absolutely not!" he grinned. "I've never seen a brand new mage destroy a stone with any kind of spell. But who's to say what's normal for humans?"

I stared at the destruction I had caused. The severed arm of the statue lay in the stone-dust that now covered the dirt of the target pit. The sheer destructive power was staggering. Being able to destroy rocks whenever I want is cool and all, but I want to be able to go home and I don't see how this is going to help me get there. Or maybe it's a sign of how much magic I can use?

I replayed the events in my head. I had imagined wind, and cast a spell. When I cast the spell I had unwillingly said something, and the magic had flowed through my arms in a straight line. Then the wind formed and blasted the statue into pieces. I thought I had heard someone else say something too, but maybe it was the wind?

"Why was it so strong?"

"Who's to say," Yulk repeated. "I'm guessing that your magic core is a bit stronger than what's standard in a beginner."

"Stronger?" I questioned. "Why would it be stronger?"

"No idea. Also... maybe stronger is the wrong word. Essentially the more you use it the more effective it gets. It doesn't get bigger like a muscle, though. It just gets better at fitting more magic in it. It just squished it in there," Yulk explained as he moved his hands together in a squishing motion. "Anyway, you should now know the magical pathways through your arms and out your hands. Kind of feels like blood vessels with all the twists and turns, right? You have more magic pathways throughout your body, and there are certain spells that can be channeled through those pathways as well. You can also take in magic from those pathways to be able to cast spells faster."

"Wait, blood vessels?" I asked, confused.

"Yes," he replied hesitantly. "What's confusing you here?"

"The magic went straight from my core through my arms to my fingers," I explained. "Like it was following my bones."

Silence fell and a lot of emotions played out on Yulk's face. Confusion was first, followed by concern and then deep thought. After a few moments the grin returned and he slapped me on the back.

"You just keep getting more and more interesting, little brother!" he exclaimed. "The shape of one's channels often determines one's initial magical efficacy, so that could explain how you were able to cast wind spear so potently. Wish I knew why they were straight though. Never heard of that before. Oh well, let's move on. Back to the seats!"

We walked back towards the bench and Yulk took a seat. I sat where I had been sitting before. The orc set his staff in his lap and cracked his knuckles and neck. Confused, I did the same thing, which made him chuckle.

"As I explained before, the magical pathways in your body run both directions. Out from your core, and right back into your core. Do you still have some of your own magic in your core?" he asked.

I closed my eyes and checked. The only magic that was left in my core was my own. It felt the same as earlier, as if I hadn't used any of it at all. Should I tell him that? I already feel like a freak, but he can't help me if he doesn't know everything. Yulk stared at me patiently, awaiting my answer.

"Yes," I answered hesitantly. "It's like I haven't used any at all."

"Really?" he asked. "I had theorized that the reason for the potency of your wind spear was that you were using a lot of your magic, combined with the relatively short distance said magic had to travel, of course. Interesting. I wonder if it already regenerated, or there's just a lot of it... Well, no matter. We'll find out later. I want you to draw magic into your core using the channels that you felt when you cast wind spear. Just like with the breathing we did earlier. Oh, and don't mix it with your own magic quite yet."

"Okay," I replied, closing my eyes once again.

I focused on the sensation that I felt earlier and tried to imagine the reverse of that sensation. Nothing happened, so instead I imagined that my fingers were straws and I was using them to suck in magic. Oddly enough, this worked, and I soon felt tingling in my arms and the other magic filling up my core. Yulk was right, it took almost no time at all to fill it back up.

"Done," I said.

"Excellent," Yulk smiled. "Now, I want you to exude that magic back into the environment around you. The easiest way to do this is by imagining that your core is a sponge full of water and you're giving it a big squeeze. Pay attention to the pathways that the magic uses to exit your body."

I nodded and got to work. The magic travelled along my arms through my fingers and along my legs through my toes. There were exit points in my fingers and toes, but also in the palms of my hands and the soles of my feet. Strange that I hadn't noticed the exits in my palms before.

Stranger still, there was another pathway to my head. It began on the left side of my core and travelled behind my left eye, then curved back down behind my right eye and travelled back to my core. Unlike the other channels, it didn't seem to have an exit.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Alright, I know where my channels are now, but there's one that loops through my skull," I told Yulk. "It doesn't have an exit point. Is that normal?"

"It's normal to have channels that seem to be useless. What isn't normal is to only have one, and have the rest of your channels be as straight as your skeleton," Yulk grinned.

"Right," I replied.

"Anyway, you can fire a spell out of any pathway that has an exit. The type of spell depends completely on what you're able to picture in your mind's eye. That doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to do everything with magic, though. There has to be an actual spell for whatever magic you're trying to cast. Otherwise nothing will happen. Also, the amount of magic in your core will eventually run dry, and you won't be able to do any more spells until it regenerates."

"How does it regenerate?" I asked.

"Time. Sleeping will help it regenerate faster. So will a full stomach. Finally, there are three things that determine how much magic a spell will need. The first is your visualization. If you are having a difficult time visualizing the spell, it will cost more magic to cast. The second is complexity. The more moving parts to a spell, the more magic it will take. The third is the power of the spell. The wind spear that I cast cost a lot less magic than the one you cast," he explained.

"That makes sense," I responded.

"Good. You must be mindful of your magic reserves, even though they appear to be quite large. Running out of magic in a time of crisis could be fatal. That's how I broke my back, and I was very lucky that Nash was there."

"What happened?" I asked gently.

Yulk sighed and shifted in his seat, his grin fading into melancholy. He rubbed his chin for a time, and then his bright green eyes met mine.

"This is not a tale I tell freely. Bad for one's reputation, you understand. But since we are now brothers you should hear it. Perhaps the unfortunate events that led to my injury will end up doing some good as a lesson for you," he said. "This was back when I first became an adventurer. Five years ago or so. Nash had already been one for a year, and I ended up being the same level he was. Being tied with Nash when he had such a year long head-start served to boost my ego."

I nodded.

"I began adventuring with him. We explored the wastes, performed good deeds for other villages, and sought out challenges to test our might. I considered myself one of the strongest mages despite my level being evidence to the contrary. I believed that the reason I didn't have a higher level was because I only knew a few spells at the time, but I could use those spells more effectively than anyone else. To be fair, this was true. Even the higher level mages couldn't put as much intensity behind their attacks that I could. Where they could burn down a house, I could incinerate a forest."

He paused, tapping his finger on his staff.

"The Delver's Dungeon changes its layout somewhat frequently, spawning new monsters and treasures that support the village's economy. However, sometimes it doesn't change for a long time. This is problematic because the deeper you go into the dungeon, the stronger the monsters become. You end up getting less return for your effort."

"Right," I said.

"It was during one of these stagnant periods that Nash and I joined a party that was attempting to open a deeper area of the dungeon by defeating a boss. I was warned that this boss was difficult and resistant to magic. They wanted me to perform healing as necessary, but there was another healer in the party so I got it in my head that I would go on the offensive. You see, the other healer was Rira, a girl I quite liked. I wanted to impress her," Yulk said with a sigh. "I was foolish. The boss attacked Rira at the start of the fight and I got angry. Instead of healing her, I launched a very powerful wind spear right into its eye..."

After another pause I asked, "What happened?"

"It blinked. That was it. I had burned through all my magic, and it had resulted in a blink. The monster launched me across the dungeon into a wall, snapping my spine in several places. Our party took three other casualties before we retreated. Nash carried me out of the dungeon, and of the casualties I was the only survivor."

We sat in silence as I digested this information. Of the casualties... Rira got attacked at the start of the fight. Oh no. Yulk's expression had changed to one of deep shame. After a few moments, he stood up and walked over to the targets. I followed him.

"I am much stronger now than I was then. Magically speaking, of course," he said with a chuckle. "But magical resistance is the bane of a mage. Let me give you some context."

"Context?" I asked.

Yulk raised his left hand toward one of the statues and said, "Raeps Dniw Tsac!"

The wind that blasted from his hand was much more powerful than what had come from my attempt. The statue was immediately obscured by a cloud of dust, and when the dust settled the only part left was the legs. The brick wall had a very clear hole and the grass behind it had disappeared, leaving a trail of dirt that stretched for a few feet. I looked at the orc in shock.

"That was the level of spell I hit the boss with. Now I can launch these all day, and I can use Wind Spear at a much higher level as well. But I know that it wouldn't be enough against the monster that killed Rira and did this to me," he said.

"Oh... fuck," I managed to mutter.

"YULK! DID YOU JUST BREAK THE FUCKING RANGE AGAIN!?" came a shout behind us.

We turned to see Nash jogging up to us, looking angrier than usual. Yulk greeted him with a smile and a shrug, and I shook the shocked expression off of my face.

"Naomi will fix it," Yulk said.

"She shouldn't fucking have to!" Nash replied.

"What's the point of a range if you have to hold back?" Yulk asked.

"All sorts of things! Practicing new spells, practicing spell repetitions, there's literally tons of things you can do without breaking the damned thing!"

"Honestly, Nash. It's not like Naomi has anything better to do. Her entire job is to repair the range!"

"You should be more courteous! Her job being very specific doesn't give you the right to make it harder!"

"Umm..." I interjected.

Both orcs looked at me, shocked by the interruption. Their shocked faces gave me the courage to continue.

"Yulk was demonstrating the importance of keeping one's ego in check. The destruction was necessary to show me the level of power he had compared to my own, and he did hold back quite a bit I think."

Nash's shock turned into a glare. I maintained a straight face, not backing down but also not escalating. We remained like this for what seemed like forever, but Nash finally blinked first.

"Fine. But you're apologizing to Naomi," Nash finally said, turning back to Yulk.

"Deal. I'll buy her dinner," Yulk said with a grin.

"So. Difference in power, huh? Does that mean you're a mage, Nick?" Nash asked.

"Yeah. I've figured out how to use Wind Spear and where my magic pathways are," I said with a bit of excitement.

The excitement was due to my accomplishment and the fact that being a mage meant I wouldn't have to spar with Nash. I had been dreading the thought of fighting the giant orc, even if it wasn't a serious fight. One slap from him would probably end me.

"How about we check to see your martial prowess?" Nash asked.

"What?" I asked.

"Yulk said that you might be able to do both."

"Indeed," Yulk replied. "Your build suggests a certain level of physical combat ability. Only one way to find out!"

I felt the blood drain from my face as my orc brothers both began to grin at me.