While heading towards a village named Erdcreek, I was busy reading on basic spell semantics for elemental type magics. Compared to the basic myth and folk tales that I had at the village with Mom and Dad, this was about true magic, and was written to help people like me learn, which I have my professor to learn.
Professor Michael is my magical teacher, which he accepted after I showed him my commitment to magic back at my village that he was passing through, (and convinced my parents to go with him). He agreed to teach me the basics of magic and then take me to his magic college, to learn to be a proper wizard. While he told me that not everyone was cut out to be a wizard, and that it takes an endless amount of studying and practice to gain even the simplest of tier 1 spells, I was willing to give it my all.
Now after many stops at different places to look at both small and large magical phenomena, we were currently heading towards a small village that had some sort of storm magic that affected their well during a particularly bad tempest. I didn’t think much of the places we went to, since I was busy reading and practicing my new magic (and practicing magic was soooooo much better than looking at it). My first spell I was able to learn, with the help of Professor Micheal, was the Message cantrip. While it’s not anything fancy, it was still amazing to learn how to, and it seems to be a common spell to teach since being able to be on the receiving end helps novices find how to form it.
Currently my spell list is only message, my next spell to learn was mage hand, a favorite cantrip of Professor Michael. After learning Message though, Micheal made me focus on learning basic magical theory while learning basic math, history, literature, and many other things. I guess that while he is a mage, Professor Micheal is still a teacher after all, so I ended up learning lots of different material, and also about his previous adventures in his path to find new magical phenomena.
Whenever we would end up talking together on certain topics, I would find a way to ask about his previous travels, and he would tell me amazing stories. Magical caves filled with mana crystals, infected plants that were cursed with blood magic, turning them carnivorous, and many other stories. My favorite one that he has told me was of the time he attempted to get into a Greatwood not far from here, which was called XXXXX.
He started the story off by stating that Great Woods were inherently magical, due to the nature of how they grew, and how each Greatwood had a Mother Tree that helped the forest grow. Wanting to look at the unique magical creatures and plants, he attempted to gain access to the forest but was rebuffed by the elves that guard it several times, even getting shot at once after attempting to sneak in. I laughed at that, having read that elven rangers are some of the best in the world, especially in the Great Woods and imagining my Professor trying to sneak by them makes me smirk anytime I remember that story.
Our current destination should be much safer than trying to get into a Great Wood, as it was inside a village. Although safer, Professor Micheal always stressed that anything magical can always backfire or overload, making even some of the simplest tools dangerous if used improperly. I have only been able to use the simplest of magical devices, such as mage lights and a mage hand substitute, which has been my way of learning how to create a mage hand.
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After traveling for several more days, which included mostly reading interspersed with spontaneous lectures and magical training, We finally reached the village of Erdcreek. Although just arriving, from several hours away we were able to see a rather intense storm that doesn’t rain? That was confusing but the Professor said that some types of magically induced storms don’t produce much rain, and are mainly just a tempest that rolls around through the air.
Getting closer to the village, a pillar-like vortex seems to come out of the well that connects to the storm clouds above, which made me guess that was both the reason for the clouds and for us coming here. I asked the Professor what was the reason for it, and he said it was rather some sort of magical artifact or a condensation of storm magic, although a well is an odd place for it.
Driving into the village proper in the wagon, we stopped near the entrance and waited for someone to come up to us, which didn’t take long since a pair of strangers with a wagon is, while not rare, uncommon enough to cause a little stir. The first person to come to us was an older woman who asked us what we were doing in the village. Stating that he was a mage looking at their magical well, he also asked if he could ask a couple of questions to some of the villagers about how the well came to be.
Hearing my professor state that he was looking into the well mater, she stated that she could take him to the village chief, to both have them talk to the chief and to put their stuff there for the time being. Following the woman in the cart, we came to the largest building in the village and parked the wagon to the side and went inside.
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Meeting with the chief, we were able to learn that during a huge storm that came across the village a few months ago, something happened to the well where this huge gust of wind suddenly came out of the well and started to sustain the storm above the village, at least the visual aspect. Rain seemed to still be somewhat normal, although they almost exclusively get huge amounts of rain all at once, instead of steady drizzles now.
Professor Micheal went to take a closer look at the well now, and both me and the chief followed. While there were some onlookers, most people in the village were busy with their day to day things. The most numerous of people that were looking at us were children, since they didn’t have as many chores or jobs like the adults or older children do.
As we reached the well, the magic it displayed awed me even more, as the vortex of wind seemed to never end, and reached high into the sky. Although amazing to look at, it also didn’t allow us to look into the well and investigate the source, so we didn’t have much to go off of except for Professor’s magical knowledge.
I say that, although it seems that Professor has more than just mundane sight to look at, as he suddenly casts a spell I don’t recognize {which is most spells sadly :(. } and jots down some notes into his tome. He continues to cast spells on writing notes without speaking, and I don’t ask him questions since he’s working.
Knowing that this will take a while, since Professor is a meticulous note taker, I go back to the cart to grab my current study material and continue to work on some harder problems I’ve been stuck with.
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Several hours went by and the sun was closing into the horizon when Professor finally left the well, with what I suspect an entire journal of notes. What is in those notes are a lot of things I don’t know yet but I hope to understand someday. Coming back to the cart, the professor puts his tome away and we both find the chief in his house.
The Professor came to the conclusion that the well had some sort of storm affinity before the storm came, and after getting a condensed shot of storm mana from that one night, was what gave it that final push and sent it spiraling out of control. There wasn't much that Professor could do to fix it, as the core of the well was deep below the ground and the only way to get to it was through the strong updraft that came out of it. While the Professor did say that there wasn’t much could be done right now, and that the ways to get rid of the storm was rather expensive, any magical phenomena could be used as a source of wealth and this strong updraft could probably be used as a source of power for a mill of sorts, and the perpetual storm could be used to reliably gather some magical herbs.
The chief gave his thanks, and in the end that was for the best because the village has already started work on another well due to not having access for several months now. Some additional wealth and some magical exports might make this village a rather rich place.
Of course, that has nothing to do with us, but the chief was rather happy with that statement from the Professor, and started discussing with the other villagers about what will happen with the well. We weren’t going to stick around much longer, now that we’ve done as much research as we can but a sudden storm, an actual storm, not this magical one, made us have to stay the night instead of heading out.
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As we waited out the storm, Professor Micheal decided that this would be a good opportunity to watch how the well reacted with another storm, and stayed up most of the night. I stayed awake, if only because I couldn’t sleep with how thunderous this storm was, probably due to the well.
As the Professor and I were watching the well, the vortex increased in strength, speed, and with added lightning just like the chief said, something else was spotted by the Professor in the storm. I couldn’t see too well, but suddenly there was a huge shadow that seemed to dip down into the well, as a huge lightning bolt seemingly shook the ground.
The vortex went into climax, making strong enough winds to make the nearby buildings shake and even some trees were starting to lose entire branches. Lightning started to zap the ground around the well, making the smell of ozone spread through the entire village. The Professor was jotting down notes during all of this, although he was tense as well, almost like he was getting ready to fight. Nervous, I also started to get a bad feeling when the shadow from before seemingly left the well, and with a flash of lightning it went back into the storm, followed by a thunderous cry that announced the end of the storm.
The rain let up soon after that, and while the well’s storm still persisted it was the same dry storm that only blocked the sun. Taking the rest of the night to sleep, we awoke and grabbed our stuff, putting everything plus a few gifts from the villagers into the wagon. Food, clothes, and simple trinkets were kind gifts that we accepted, and soon we were off.
Snacking on a jerky that we were gifted, I watched the village slowly disappear into the horizon, with a book in one hand that was explaining the intricacies of mage hand, and how it could help you read while doing something else with your hands. Funnily enough, that was what Professor Micheal was doing, using mage hand to hold the reins as he continued to peruse his notes and compare what he saw to similar encounters.
The sun was high in clear, blue sky and a nice breeze made it a good day to rest and relax as we headed towards the next interesting place, that would show us new and exciting magic.