“Aaaaand here’s your spell.” Cira handed Jimbo a napkin and rested her ink quill back in its place on the shelf. “Master this and we can talk about making some clouds. Be careful not to break your aura though or I’ll be gone before it comes back.”
“Geez, not too worried about dyin’, are ya? I figured a broken soul was a bigger deal.” He took the napkin and started squinting at the words.
“I am and it is, but no use in complaining. I have to think positive and keep the ball rolling, Jimbo. Eventually I’ll trip and fall right into the solution, as it goes. Anyway, work on memorizing the incantation today.” Cira snatched a couple apples from a tree and tossed one to her student. Taking a big bite, she continued while she chewed, “Have you cast any kind of spell before or channeled your mana?”
“I’ve used my mana to turn on lamps and cookin’ pots. No spells though.” The rest of the crew were waiting on the quick lesson to finish and peeking over Jimbo’s shoulder to see the spell. “What do these words do anyway? Didn’t you just wave your sword around? That’s the kind of sorcery I want to learn.”
Cira got a good laugh out of that, “Of course it is. Have you forgotten the sword didn’t even exist? It was all for show. Most the time I only wave my hand around or hold my staff so I don’t look awkward when I cast.”
“…Wait, what do you mean? Are you saying you could just stand there with a mean glare and, like, split a ship in two with a lightning bolt?” His eyes were glazed over with wonder.
“Yeah, pretty much, provided I actually had mana,” She shrugged, tossing an apple core off the edge, “Now, as far as incantations go, they help beginners grasp the concept of a spell and enforce your will. Usually dropping the words will come naturally, but there is a balance. Eventually, you’ll find at least calling out the spell’s name takes away some of the mental strain. I still recite them with basic spells when I’m feeling lazy or think they sound cool, and you won’t have to worry about complex spells for a long time. Are you following me?”
“I think so…” There were gears turning in his head and he scrunched his face up, “First of all, it seems we’re working off my complete lack of understanding in all this… And these words are supposed to help with that and make up the gap?”
With a grin, Cira nodded approvingly, “A better answer than I expected. When casting elementary spells, incantations can indeed pull most of the weight. Words hold power, but we’ll get to that. Conversely, committing the words to memory and speaking them will improve your mental image of the effect you wish to produce. Once you actually start casting, the latter will make more sense to you and the nature of the phenomenon won’t be so hard to grasp.”
“The nature of the… lightning?” Jimbo was seemingly on board so far, but there seemed to be a hangup, “It’s magic, isn’t it? Why do I need to understand anything?”
“Mist for now—water—but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. You pose an excellent question. Let’s see if our spectators know why you have to understand ‘anything’.” Cira raised her brow and scanned over the pirates’ blank stares, trying to put them to use. “Rocky, you’re not allowed to answer.”
Sadly, his face looked as blank as the others.
“Oh, I know!” Goon Three, is it? I should really get their names, but I kind of feel bad asking this late in the game. They’re practical core crew at this point though, I guess. Did they really shadow their way up the ladder that fast? “Magic’s all about power over nature.”
“Um, no…” Although dispelling storms or quenching wildfires is thrilling. Cira didn’t expect the answer right away, and called on the only face that didn’t look away. “James, do you know?”
“You’re just recreating whatever it is using mana instead of its natural source, right?” He had at some point helped himself to Cira’s orchard, pulling an orange out of his pocket.
“Correct you are.” A nice, simple explanation. Jimbo’s face said he understood completely—why he needed to understand anything at all to cast magic. “Alternatively, if you aren’t conjuring it, you’re manipulating the natural state of any given element—potentially against the influence of other elements. Which brings us back to Jimbo’s spell. Why don’t you read it aloud for the class?”
“Alright, let’s see here.” His back straightened as he shuffled in his chair and held the wrinkled napkin in front of him, “’Nary wind nor storm claim this mist. Veil of the Lost Cloud, gather before me, Looming Shroud!’ You even put the exclamation… Do I have to yell this?”
“It helps, but that’s not important. After reading that, what do you think it’s supposed to do?” She watched him read it over a couple times before he gave his answer with a look of uncertainty.
“It… kinda sounds like I’m callin’ dibs on the mist…?” He saw Cira nodding to urge him along and continued, “And like, I’m just pulling it in until it’s all around me?”
“Exactly! I bet you’re already imagining it, aren’t you?” She smiled at her student’s first step. “As I mentioned earlier, words hold power. Especially names. This also goes doubly so if the words mean something to the caster. Hence, why I snuck ‘Lost Cloud’ into the invocation.”
“Okay. I say Lost Cloud all the time though. Same with those other words. Why are they so special when you write them down on a napkin?” It was a fair question.
“Phrasing and sequence have a part to play, but it’s all about intent—your will. Rarely will a word do something for or to you unless you want it. We won’t be covering invasive language, but generally speaking, spells are comprised of three operations. The call—that bit at the beginning—is what grants you authority over an element, meager as it may be. It should assert your will and displace the influence of other elements over the subject. Calling dibs on the mist, as it were. Next, we have the invocation, which is usually two parts. Here is where you command the subject, mist, and state your will. Lastly, the spell’s name is also known as the trigger. When you drop the incantations one day, it has a better name, but I don’t want to confuse you. Are you still with me?” Cira snapped in front of his face.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“Uhhhh…” Sweat dripped down his forehead with glazed eyes but to his credit he had been paying close attention the whole time, “I couldn’t recite it back to you, but I think I pretty much got it. Ya got the call, the incantation, and the trigger!”
James pat him on the shoulder from behind, “I wrote it down for ya, sub-Captain”
“Thanks, former captain.” Jimbo put a hand on James’ and gave him a shit-eating grin.
He was proud of himself and nearly aced it, but Cira still had to correct him, “An incantation is the verbal activation phrase for a given sorcery. Invocation is only one part in the middle. The meat of a spell if you will.”
“Right, slip of the tongue… So, I can basically just say these words and magic happens?” The excitement in his eyes was starting to come back.
“Not so.” Cira wagged her finger, “You said the best you’ve ever managed is turning on a light. Until you can channel mana outside your body without an artifact to suck it up, you won’t be able to even attempt to cast a spell.”
“And you can teach me how to do that, right?”
“You can only teach yourself.” She let it hang in the air for a moment while his frown broadened, “But I have an artifact that can help.”
She tossed him a small, rounded cube of a metallic seafoam green. He caught it and the weight almost dragged him off his peg leg before he got a firm grip, “What the hell is this thing?!”
The rest of her crew’s eyes were glimmering like a crow’s at the shiny object and Shirtless Joe leaned in with surprising scrutiny, “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“It’s an alloy my dad made. What’d he call it, again? Titanite, I think. Huh…” Why’d he call it that? I admit, it has a nice ring to it. Quite pretty, too. “It’s about forty percent adamantine and sixty percent orichalcum.”
“Guh!” Standing still, Jimbo almost fumbled the artifact before it settled in his hands again, “Why am I holding something like this?! You know how much this is worth?”
“From what I’ve gathered recently, a lot. People sure love their shiny rocks.” She held her hands out like that was all she had to offer, “You’re holding it because a novice like you doesn’t know how to cast a spell. I presume you can’t see mana either, can you?”
He looked away sheepishly at the accusation, “No… I can’t. Can you still teach me sorcery?”
“Not to worry, my friend,” Cira put on a sly grin as she pulled another artifact out of her pouch, “I have come prepared. Wear these goggles for a few days without taking them off and that should fix your poor vision.”
He looked between it and the titanite cube in his hands a couple times before shoving it into a pocket and spreading out his legs so his shorts didn’t fall down. Then he took the goggles from Cira and inspected them with trepidation. “These are… also pretty heavy. Why…? What is this made of?”
Turning the thick wooden-framed goggles over in his hand, he seemed genuinely baffled. The frame was heavy and rounded in shape, and when he put them over his head, the thick contoured lens gave him bug-eyes.
“The lenses are mana crystals grown over a long period then copiously enchanted, and the frame is fresh spring growth from a low-altitude spirit tree. One sees mana by using their own to visualize it, which becomes subconscious once you get used to it—”
“Wait, no it doesn’t!” Rocky protested with offense clear on his face.
“Yes, it does. Don’t poison my student with your lies.” She shot him a glare and he backed own, “As we can all see, our rock mage is yet an amateur, but I’m sure his potential Is great. Moving on. Since you can’t see mana at all, Jimbo, these goggles will use your mana to do it for you. It will be faint at first, but you’ll get a feel for it once you figure out how to increase the effect. Hopefully, you’ll be able to do it with your own eyes before too long, at which point you’ll be able to make the goggles stop. If you take the goggles off at any time, however, it could cause an unpredictable backlash. Those are your eyes now, as far as your mind and soul are concerned.”
“Whatever the hell that is supposed to mean, I sure wish you told me that before I put them on!” Cira couldn’t help but giggle at the angry expression he made with his giant, glassy eyes.
“You’re the one that put them on in such a hurry. You get points for taking initiative though.” She tried to sound teacherly, “Well done.”
“Oh, whatever. What’s the damn cube do?” It seemed class was wearing on him now.
“Due to its composition, the artifact both conducts and resists mana. Once per hour, try to channel mana through it. If it starts glowing, you’re ready to cast a spell. If it doesn’t… Well, you’re not. Go ahead and give it a try now.”
“I’m totally ready now, just watch! Hnggh!” He grunted, huffed, and puffed, grasping the cube tightly in both hands while nothing happened. His face had turned red from the strain until he finally gave up, winded and probably low on mana. “What gives?”
“You’re not ready.” Cira dusted off her hands and turned toward the house, “And that settles that. Try to see mana through those goggles and make sure to memorize that incantation. Think about it thoroughly and imagine exactly what you want to make happen. I think it’s high time we head back to town.”
“Good, I think I learned enough for one day. But just you wait, I’ll light this thing up.” There was determination on his face which Cira was glad to see. It would have been a shame to scare him off after the first lesson.
“Okay, so I don’t want to walk that far again… Do you guys know any clearings close to town I can bring this thing down in? I don’t want to draw too much attention by parking in the middle of the city again.”
“James should know one.” He nudged the man in question. “Don’t ya?”
James let out a deep sigh, “Sure, of course I do… I’m still having trouble believing it moves, but are you sure it’s a good idea to bring this thing any closer?”
“Are there any mages here that could oppose a dragon in combat?” Cira asked the natural question.
“Um,” James thought about it briefly, “No…”
“Then no one should be able to get in. Some people may notice it, but the tradeoff is worth it if you ask me.” I should have kept that damn boat…
She left the others to dally in the yard while Jimbo and James followed her up the spire, gawking at the panoramic view and sparkling controls. “Whoa, it’s just like a real ship in here… but fancier.”
“That’s right.” Now Cira wore a smug grin. She pulled the rope for lift and put her hands on the cold metal wheel to steer. “Off we go!”
“Holy shit!” James grabbed onto Jimbo and they both fell right over.
“God damn, Dreadheart! A warning woulda been nice!”
“You knew what was happening. I even pulled the rope.” She pointed at it coming out of the ceiling.
“It’s usually not this damn rough!”
“Look though…” James stared out into the forest as the faint crunching of trees sounded below from relieving the weight of an island off them. “We’re really going up.”
“Damn right we are!” Cira feigned offense, “Now which way do I go?”
“Uhh, guys?” Jimbo pointed in a direction and Cira animatedly spun the wheel.
“That way it is! Onward, to—oh…” She now looked at the end of Jimbo’s line of sight and saw a full mob of heavily armored pirates wearing black and gold painted gear. They looked up at Breeze Haven menacingly as the first volley of arrows hit the barrier like a hundred misguided birds.
“That’s Captain Wick’s kill crew.” James’ eyes were wide as he looked down in horror. “You sure this barrier will hold up?”
“I am… but flying away from this problem doesn’t really work, does it?” It’s always something. Can’t a girl just go fix her damn soul already?”