“Hello heroes. I am Gandalf, the royal magician. It’s an honor to meet the heroes who shall save us from danger.”
“The honor is all ours Gandalf. My name is Aiden and I have a-.”
“Fire affinity, correct?” the old man smiled. Aiden nodded in surprise.
“I guess the king already informed him of our abilities,” Jason mumbled to Arlo, who nodded in agreement.
“Now then, how many of you know how people cast magic?” the wizard asked, looking over the five of them.
“Throw mana with some words and toss it at the opponent?” Jason guessed.
“Hah, no. That is a way to do it, but a crude way and only if you want to send the most ineffective spells that do nothing. No, you have to manipulate the mana in your body with a clear picture of what you want it to do. Screaming at the mana is pointless,” the wizard explained, snapping his fingers. In an instant, dozens upon dozens of fireballs have appeared in the air around them.
“Now I want you all to sit down and close your eyes, and I will help you all get a feel for mana. I don’t want anyone talking, understand?”
The group nodded and closed their eyes. They could hear Gandalf walking around, his staff hitting the wooden floorboards. Jason heard him approach and stop at one of the heroes, followed by a gasp and a shifting noise. Jason opened his eyes and looked to the side. He saw Aiden with a faint red aura swirling around him. As he tried to get a better look, the aura faded away.
Huh, interesting.
Tina, Mia, and Arlo followed soon, with Mia’s aura glowing so bright, it almost blinded Jason. It was finally Jason’s turn, and he took a deep breath before he felt himself getting poked in the back.
The sensation was definitely not something Jason expected. It wasn’t like breathing in and out, or growing a third arm, instead it felt as if he was forced to feel the inside of his body. He could feel the blood circulating in his veins, transferring oxygen and other resources through his body. His whole body seemed to get stronger, and everything seemed to get louder. He could hear the slight rustling of clothes, the tiniest of footsteps from below the hall, some murmuring from outside the room.
But just as the sensation started, it disappeared as if it wasn’t even there.
“In all of my years of teaching, I have never seen people with such stiff mana channels. Well, I suppose it makes sense since your world didn’t have magic.”
“That felt so weird! Like I was seeing inside my own body,” Mia whined, trembling at the memory.
“It will feel weird at first, but you should get used to it eventually. I recommend meditation, while trying to recreate that feeling. It will help improve your focus and the ability to cast spells quickly. With this le-”
Bla bla bla, magic mambo jumbo. Man, isekai makes this look like such a magical journey, but this is basically just school 2.0. Unfortunately, it’s also a life and death scenario, so I guess this school is teaching something we will actually use.
“Please hold your hand out, and try to remember the sensation I am about to give you,” Gandalf said, poking Aiden with a stick. To everyone's surprise, several bits of flame suddenly shot out of Aidens hand.
“““““WOAH!””””” they exclaimed, marveling over the spell. Gandalf smiled.
“Yes yes, this is magic. Soon, all five of you will be able to do something like this, give or take a week's time.”
The wizard poked them all, forcing their abilities out of the heroes. He poked Mia several times, getting a different magic each time.
When it was John’s turn, a small orb jumped from his hand and hit Arlo in the face.
“WOAH WHAT THE HELL?!” he yelled, raising his hands to feel his face. But to his surprise, it was completely unharmed.
“Oh, you’re glowing dude,” Jason muttered, pointing to Arlo’s hands. He looked down for a moment and then opened his status.
“Woah! My defense rose!” Alro exclaimed, looking at his stats.”
“Huh. Support seems pretty cool. Guess I’ll just have to spam this a bunch in battle.”
And now a timeskip shows me just sucking at magic in so many ways.
[[[One Week Later]]]
Jason raised his hand and let out a small wave of magic, while pointing his hand at Aiden, but the only thing that happened was that his mana depleted.
I have jinxed myself… kill me.
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“I have failed my mission. I failed you as a teacher,” Gandalf muttered, slumped in his chair. His face paled and his beard and hair was messily pointing in all directions. His eyes looked as if his soul had already left his body.
While he managed to teach the other four heroes how to use their magic without his help, all Jason could do was throw his mana forward with no effect. Tina learned to summon a gust of wind, Aiden could throw a fireball, Arlo managed to raise a few stones out of the ground, and could even summon a whole wall when Mia used a support spell on him.
Speaking of Mia, she could summon fireballs, wind blasts, throw pebbles, hit someone with water, buff and even debuff the magic of other people. Gandalf beamed with light every time she was able to use a new element.
Jason however…
“It’s not your fault. Jason might just need more time,” Mia tried to consol the magic instructor. “Everyone learns at a different rate.”
“Yeah, and you managed to teach 4 out of five people who have never used mana how to use magic! That’s gotta count for something!” Aiden smiled.
“I suppose,” Gandalf muttered, still not looking up. The doors opened up, and Jason saw the king enter.
“Hello there heroes and Gandalf! How is the magic training going?” he asked, smiling. He looked around the room in confusion.
“Well, I am able to throw fireballs,” Aiden said, launching a fireball at a training dummy. Arlo raised his hand and a piece of the earth popped up out of the ground. Tina launched a blast of wind, while Mia began to launch all kinds of spells at the training dummy. They seemed to be a bit weaker than Aiden’s, Tina’s, or Arlo’s, but there were so many of them. The king smiled and turned towards
“And what about you young man?” the king asked Jasonm but he shrugged.
“I’m sorry, I got nothing,” Jason sulked, slumping in a chair next to Gandalf, but the king didn’t seem bothered.
“That is alright. Anyhow, I have a mission for you all!” the king said.
The heroes perked up at the news. With their magic training, and personal training, they barely got any time for new quests from the adventurers guild.
“Recently some weird noises have been coming from the mountains, and a lot of animals native to the mountain have started to disappear. I would like you to level up as you traverse the mountains and investigate this. I have sent several scouts but they all returned empty handed.
“Alright! Then we will go there and investigate. Hero team, let’s go!” Aiden exclaimed as he ran out of the room. Then he stopped and peaked back in. “So uh… where is this mountain we have to investigate?”
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The bags were loaded, the location was marked, and the funds were distributed. All of the heroes were given a bag that could shrink the contents that enter it, and reduce the weight, making packing that much easier. They were given some basic supplies, armor, and a bit of food, and were told to pick out anything they needed by themselves.
“So what are you going to do?” Mia inquired Jason, as the group started to split up. Arlo said he was going to look at the different armors, Aiden went for camping supplies, and Tina left without saying a word.
“Let’s see… I wanna look for accessories. Perhaps a ring?”
“A ring? Are you going to propose to someone?” Mia asked, looking at Jason with confusion.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“What? No? Who would even want me?”
“Eh?” Mia looked at him with concern, but he continued as if nothing happened.
“Nah, in this world different items have different buffs. So if I could find some accessories to buff my stats, I could probably keep up with you guys if the need arises. I mean, I suck at magic despite all the training, and I didn’t familiarize myself with any weapon. I guess I could get a crossbow or two like Tina? Maybe smaller ones to help from behind. But for now, I will try to overgear myself and stat bash everything,” Jason explained. “Then I want to see if I could get some potions for temporary stat boosts. That can help out a lot.”
“I see. Do you mind if I come with you? I could probably use a few mana recovering potions myself,” Mia said, following Jason.
“Sure. I think it should be around here somewhere?” Jason said, looking around.
“Found it!” Mia pointed to a stand with several accessories drawn on top of a sign. A handsome young man looked at them as he approached and smiled. He fixed his tie and stood up.
“Welcome, adventurers. Can I interest you in some accessories for the pretty lady?” he asked, gesturing to Mia.
“Wha? Ah…,” she blushed and rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, but Jason ignored the two. He looked at the accessories before him, and his brow furrowed in confusion.
[Ruby ring
Special Effect: Def3nse Up (L^l. 5), M-na Ud (Lvl.4)
“Found anything you like, sir?” the merchant asked, looking at Jason.
Is he using some kind of illusion magic to try to make it seem like you have better stats than you actually do? Is God’s Protection on my necklace negating some of the illusion?
“Ok, what’s the deal with these effects?” Jason asked, crossing his arms and glaring at the merchant.
“W-why, whatever do you mean?” he asked, sweating a bit.
“You know what. What’s up with these effects?” Jason asked, glaring harder. The man took a step back, trying to retain his smile. Mia looked at the two in confusion until she looked at the accessories and glared at the man.
“What is the meaning of this?! Are you trying to rip people off by selling accessories with a fake effect?! This could get people killed!!!” she yelled, drawing the attention of a nearby guard. He began angrily stomping over to the stand, glaring at the merchant, who began to grab what he could and run.
“How many times do I have to teach you this lesson, old man!” he yelled, running after the man, knocking the stand over. As the knight chased the man away, another knight walked up to the two heroes.
“Sorry about the commotion. That old buffon comes by every now and then with a new disguise and false accessories to people for an extremely high price,” the younger knight explained, as he gathered the accessories together. Suddenly, Jason got an idea.
“Do you need to take all of these somewhere?” he asked, picking up one of the accessories.
“Well, a few would be used as evidence of the man's crimes, but it's not like they could be useful to someone with their low stats,” the knight said, grabbing the rest of the accessories and putting them in a bag.
“But surely you wouldn’t mind if a few of these were to go missing?” Jason said, picking up a few accessories. The knight thought about it for a moment and dropped the rest on the ground.
“I suppose five accessories is all I could recover, and the cheeky bastard got away with the rest,” the knight responded, smiling.
“Since this isn’t his first time and all, I suppose he had a few escape plans to leave with the goods if need be,” Jason agreed, dropping the accessories into his bag.”
“As long as they aren’t sold to anyone, no harm is done, right?”
“Of course, of course,” Jason smiled, and put the bag onto his belt. Mia looked at the two in confusion, but didn’t want to interfere.
Hm, yes, speech 100.
As the two left, Mia looked at Jason again.
“So, what do you need the faulty accessories for?”
“I’m gonna run a few experiments later. I doubt it will work, but it’s worth a try,” Jason said, unrolling the map again. “Now then, I guess we should see where the potions are at.”
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“Welcome to the shop. How can I help you?” an old lady greeted them.
“Hello. I’m looking for mana recovery potions, and any other potions that exist. Could you tell me more about them?” Jason said, walking deeper into the shop. Mia began to look around the large glowing containers filled with colorful liquids.
“Woah. What are all these?” Mia asked in fascination.
“Ho ho. Those on the right are potions meant to make you stronger, or help you recover your health and energy. Those on the left are for your enemies,” the witch said, as Jason took a better look.
“Weakness… armor decay? Strength! Wow, how much are these?”
“10 silver per bottle,” the witch replied.
“Alright, I will take 10 of each, and 20 of the recovery potions!”
----------------------------------------
“Are you sure we’re even gonna need that much?” Mia sighed. After they left the shop, Jason went on a mad shopping spree and stuffed so many items in his bag that she was surprised it was even still intact.
“Better safe than sorry,” he replied.
“Oi! Jason! Mia!” Aiden yelled. The duo looked to where he was calling from and saw Arlo and Tina gathered there.
“Hey, are you guys ready to adventure?” he asked, looking at the pair.
“Yeah. We got everything we could ever need, and then some. What’s the plan?”
“The carriages will take us through two villages, and into the village next to the mountain. From there, we will stop at the village, make our way to the mountain, and look around the place. If we find the problem we can either take care of it ourselves, or go back and report it to the king,” Aiden explained, looking at the map in his hands. “We should be able to hunt a few monsters on the way there, and rest during the ride. Any questions?”
“Question! Are there any hot springs nearby?” Mia asked, raising her hand.
“Actually yes. At the third village, there is a stream that comes from the mountains that leads into the hot springs. We can also rest there if you gu-"
“YES!” Arlo, Jason and Mia chimed simultaneously. Jason looked around and frowned.
“Where is Tina?”
“I think she’s waiting at the carriage. Let’s go!"
And with that, the 5 heroes were off on their first mission.
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“I’m so boooooored!” Arlo groaned, leaning down so low that his hair touched the earth under them.
“I wish I had some playing cards with me when I died. We could play something while driving around the place. Aiden groaned, leaning on the wall of the carriage.
“Oh, I got some cards,” Jason perked up, pulling two small decks out of his bag.
“You do? Since when?” Mia asked.
“I died with them since I always carry around two decks. I got 52 normal playing cards, or Uno cards. Do we wanna have a good time, or hate each other by the end?” he asked, holding one deck in each hand.
“I’m sure Uno isn’t that bad. I played a few times and my friends didn’t start to hate each other,” Aiden said, shuffling the Uno deck.
“You clearly haven’t played real uno. Or had all the fun house rules turned off like Swapping Sevens or Rotating Zero’s,” Jason explained, putting the other deck back in his bag.
“Should we play normal uno for now?” Arlo inquired.
“Nah, let’s jump straight into the pits of hell. Load them up,” Jason said, picking the cards out of the deck.
----------------------------------------
10 minutes later.
“Yeah, I don’t really like this direction. Let’s change it up a bit,” Jason said, putting down a reverse card, making it Aiden’s turn again.
“No no my friend, I insist that we continue going this way,” he replied, putting down another reverse.
“No no no, I insist, really,” Jason shot back, throwing down a third reverse.
“But my friend, really, I insist,” Aiden dropped down another reverse and looked John in the eyes.
“Guy’s, I also want a turn,” Mia piped up.
“Of course, as soon as Aiden admits that I insist harder,” Jason replied, dropping down another reverse.
“No no, I’m sure they can wait, I insist,” Aiden retorted. Tina groaned quietly as she dropped her cards back onto her lap, while Arlo sighed.
“But I insist, Aiden. I insist,” Jason countered, dropping another reverse.
“How many reverses do you people have?!” Arlo yelled, slamming his hand onto his shield.
“Yes,” Aiden replied, dropping another one. Jason reached for the next card.
“Jason, I swear to god, if that is another reverse I will throw my shield at you,” Arlo said, raising his shield. Jason slowly put the card down and revealed it to be a +4.
“Oh thank go-OH YOU MOTHER FU-!”
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20 minutes later.
“STOP DUMPING YOUR GARBAGE DECKS ON ME, FOR F*CKS SAKE!” Arlo yelled, grabbing the hand with 37 cards from Aiden.
“DON’T EVEN TRY TO COMPLAIN!!! YOU DUMPED 4 PLUS TWO’S ON ME!” Aiden yelled back.
“TWO’S?! HE DUMPED 4 PLUS FOURS ON ME!!! DON’T EVEN WHINE ABOUT YOUR HAND!” Jason shouted at the two.
Tina angrily slammed her fist into the side of the carriage and muttered curses under her breath.
“I WAS TWO CARDS AWAY FROM WINNING 7 TIMES ALREADY!!!” Mia yelled, so loud that everyone was surprised.
“GUYS, WAIT!!!” Jason yelled, slamming his deck onto the floor of the carriage. “What have we become?”
“Huh?” Aiden asked, slowly calming down.
“We have let a card game divide us like this. We were summoned to save the world, yet we can’t even save out teamwork from a pile of paper,” he said in an overly dramatic voice.
“You are right. What kind of heroes are we if we can’t even beat up a deck of cards,” Aiden said, equally dramatically. Everyone else exchanged glances and gathered their cards in a pile.
“Excuse me, can you stop the card for a moment? There is something we need to take care off,” Aiden said, tapping on the front of the carriage. As the carriage came to a complete stop, the heroes walked over to the side of the road and put the cards into one pile.
“Aiden, do it,” Jason said, taking a step back. Aiden raises his hand and summons a fireball. He tosses it forward, landing onto the deck. Everyone watched as the cards darkened and crumpled, the ink on them fading into nothingness. The pile lit up the area and everyone looked at each other for a brief moment, their faces illuminated by the flames.
“Let us never let ourselves get pulled apart like this,” Aiden commanded, posing dramatically with the tip of his sword in the ground.
“Agreed,” Mia exclaimed, raising her staff. Arlo raised his shield and smiled. Tina nodded in response. Jason took one final look at the cards and sighed.
From that day on they have never played uno again. But the rumors of a card game that can tear even the closest of friends apart have begun to spread throughout the kingdom. People wondered and feared what horrible enchanted cards must have such power, checking every type of card for magic chants for centuries to come.
“So, who’s hungry?” Jason asked, breaking the atmosphere.