A line lit up on the floor, and the Servant gestured politely. “Please exit the Scroll Room and the building. There is a small gallery outside where you might test your spell. Thank you for your time.”
Billy-Bob, wavering only a little bit, stepped along the line to the door out, and found himself in a walkway to the rear of the building. He looked right and left, saw the other four Hunters come through at just about the same time, and they all grinned together in spite of their wooziness, making thumbs-up as they saw the Stars joined together in their heads.
They half-ran to the door, piling outside with a laugh, and saw a small shooting gallery there, complete with various stone pillars and targets for them to try their new spells out on.
The Faerie Fire, Dancing Lights, Spotlight, and of course, his own new Laser flashed out, displaying the magic to a lot of hungry-eyed Light mages watching. Seth McDougal was the one lucky enough to get Ride the Light, and he simply vanished from where he was standing, a flow of Light depositing him thirty yards away.
The mages in the crowd at the back of the building all roared in excitement after seeing all that with their own eyes. The Hunters all looked at one another in glee, fists clenched as the Spells delivered on what had been promised, even Johnny-boy’s fluttering, fairy-like Dancing Lights that could move about as if alive.
There was new excitement in the air as the Hunters moved back to the front of the building. Part of their job was to display the new spells if asked, so they parked themselves next to the appropriate doors, grinning widely despite themselves.
“The Lighthouse will begin admitting Clients One through Ten in three minutes,” the calm, level voice of the Servants broke overhead. “Please have your Hunter ID’s ready.”
“If you’re over number forty, you’re in the way and wasting your own time!” Billy-Bob called out to everyone, waving at them. “Back it off and give the next people some room! One through ten, line it up here, and leave your damn guards behind!” He pointed, some of the more privileged people flushing, and the lucky and rich first group of people lined up quickly.
When the timer ticked over, and the signs lit up with Clients 1 to 10. “Keep it calm!” Billy-Bob called out immediately, even as the first five groups of ten mages hurried up to the Phantasmal Servant waiting to admit them.
The Lighthouse was open for business!
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Hours later...
It had been a long day, but Billy-Bob still hadn’t gotten tired of shooting off his Laser for those coming in later. The sun had gone down, but with this many Light Mages around, it was brighter than day regardless, globes of Illumination all over the place in countless hues and styles, every Light mage eager to demonstrate their own control and signature Casting.
But the crowds had thinned out despite their eagerness after the last group of 991-1000 was admitted into the Lighthouse. As the lucky last person stepped inside with sighs of relief, the steel doors winked and solidified. The Servants actually vanished from their positions, while the ID Readers receded into the ground they’d originally risen from.
Ted Smucker’s team was back, waiting patiently for their shift. The crowd was starting to disperse now, no reason to stick around, when the rumble of a number of trucks arriving drew everyone’s attention.
The military transports trundled up in long line as everyone watched, stopping as one. Soldiers piled out of the transports as their NCO’s barked at them, lining up quickly before marching into the parking lot straight for the doors, everyone getting quickly out of their way.
In remarkably little time, lines two hundred soldiers long were in place in front of each of the five doors.
Breep!
The Servant who popped up overhead suddenly had an ersatz military cap on above its faceless mask.
“The Armed Forces Spell Impressment will begin in five minutes. There will be a Hunter example preceding you. Pay attention to their progress and do not deviate from the pattern. This will be over quickly and smoothly.
“Hunters, to your positions.”
Ted Smuckers grinned as he got to the Laser position Billy-Bob had been the example for earlier, holding his Hunter ID overhead, and this time, he was the one to proceed through the line as everyone watched.
It was a good day. Billy-Bob was glad it was over, as sixteen hours was a damn long shift, but he’d have tomorrow off, so another Hunter could get a ‘free’ spell.
Ted’s night shift would police the premises, as would the cleaning crew, and they’d be ready for tomorrow. The pay was good for the job, and everyone leapt to it eagerly.
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The Chapter President had looked very happy. A quarter of a million dollars in straight cash, hundreds if not thousands of new sign-ups, and all the attendant hospitality services! The Hunter’s Guild was making really good money, and there was literally no way it wouldn’t continue to do so. A net two hundred people a day was not enough to satisfy pent-up demand for the spells, or even supply enough for newly Awakened students!
There was a growing movement by those who wanted the spells to be distributed faster and to more people, the ones doing the math easily working out that there was no way the spells could be distributed to everyone who wanted them. There were over five thousand Light mages just at Fort Hood, he’d been told, which was going to take months to satisfy.
He wondered how Lady Fae was going to satisfy the demand, and just shrugged. It wasn’t his problem. He’d get the spells, start working on them and using them, and that was it. The Ride the Light and Laser spells instantly turned Light-wielding soldiers into dangerous and mobile combatants, and those spells alone were forcing a rapid review of American training methods and dispersal of soldiers!
No longer were Lightning and Fire mages going to be the main offensive forces of Human armies! The far more numerous and now just as deadly Light mages were already being reassigned new roles and training in anticipation of getting the new spells. Spotter roles, signaling, and scouting roles with their new mobility were all on the board.
Light mages all around the world could hold their heads up high, if all they could do was gain the new spells!
The international outcry was also starting. America alone having access to these spells was naturally something the other nations of the world would not tolerate, especially with such basic magic. Of course, anyone who wanted to come here and pay could get a Slot and learn the spells, but that placed the spells out of reach of the common man who would benefit from them the most...
---------
I was on my way to Detroit by midnight.
Everything had gone well. The Chapter President being there had certainly helped, but the fact the process was automated had worked wonders, too. You don’t try to bribe or throw influence at an illusion, it was as dumb as trying to bribe a rock. Too, the fact the Impressments actually taking five days or they would kill you was not a lie. They really would melt your brain with your own magic.
That said, I’d just made over fifteen million dollars, so I wasn’t feeling too bad.
The problem of getting the magic to everyone was a different one. There was plenty of online outcry and speculation over what was going on, people totally able to work the numbers and realize they might never get the spells in their lifetimes. Overseas money was making sure the auctioned positions were being bid up incessantly, a process that was simply not going to stop. Those doing so getting their visas and the like was on them, of course.
Cancellations were issued in batches at the start of a new day, so someone trying to sell their ticket to someone else to snipe was going to have problems, another thing making scalpers unhappy. Someone trying to chain-purchase and then cancelling their tickets for someone else might be barred from buying one, too... our website manager was tracking that kind of activity closely, but the five lifetime purchases was definitely helping keep greedy and opportunistic idiots from trying things.
“How are you going to get the spells out to everyone, Lady Fae?” the Mick asked from up in front with Driver Sam. “We all know you don’t need the Impressment to learn them...”
“The Impressment instantly teaches the optimal method, which is what I taught you, Mick,” I replied calmly. The out-of-order linking of Stars had been another new and novel concept to the boys. “I can release the standard order at any time. It is only eighty to ninety percent as effective, exactly like the common Novice Spells you all were taught. The Lighthouse and its successors will thus end up being ‘pay for the best’ vs. ‘buy the standard cheap’.”
The Mick blinked. “You’ll add the sixth spell when you release the other five...”
I nodded once.
The Mick took a deep breath. “This... uneven, custom Star Trail... does the same thing apply for Adept, Mage?...” he asked carefully.
“He asks the wizard...” I replied leadingly.
He and Driver Sam looked at one another, thinking the same thing. “Are you, uh, going to release the Adept versions, too?” the Mick inquired.
“Yes. But the custom versions are only going to people who follow me. I don’t mind everyone learning the basic spell, but I also have no problems giving my own people an edge.”
I could hear their fists clench again, and smiled slightly. “I only have the Light Adept spells at the moment, it’s taking time to work them out.” As in, Exemplar Surging for them at the rate of one a day. “But I’ll have them all in time.”
The Mick exhaled in a whistle. “I’m almost afraid to ask what the difference in the spells is...”
“The spells alter, expand, and grow more flexible because more Startrails are included in each one. Each expansion increases both the power and flexibility with the number of Startrails. The reasons Archmages have such flexible spells is because their Palaces hold 343 of the 720 possible Startrails.
“Sage spells hold them all, thrice over, and so there’s really only one spell at the Sage Levels. There’s only the ease of changing the Spell from the starting point you pick.”
“That... makes sense?” the Mick agreed, thinking about it. “Light really changes a lot as it goes up...”
“Well, the focus on battle magic is all part of that. There’s probably six additional Light Adept spells per Novice spell at the core, each with minor variations on the core spell.”
They both flinched in shock. The Mick exclaimed, “What?” as Driver Sam had to suddenly correct a sharp veering.
“That surprised you?” I asked, arching an eyebrow at the two in the front seat. “Like you said, Light changes a lot from Novice to Adept. That’s because it’s being bent towards a combat use. What if it was bent towards a utility use, instead? Like an extremely long-lasting, independent light source? Circular vision? Infrared or ultraviolet emissions? Transparency or invisibility?
“The current mindset towards all magic is for combat usage. That is a mere tiny fraction of what magic can be used for. Yes, that means there are not six Adept spells, there are thirty-six of them!”
“But if that logic applies to Mage and Archmage spells...” the Mick protested.
“The multiple Star Trails make it mostly moot... but again, the focus on combat spells, as everyone who makes it that high generally does it for the purposes of combat. Utility is ignored. Remember the Schools of Wizardry, and consider just how many ways your Element can actually be applied specifically, and without needing to be a Mage for it to happen.”