“How did you suppress my mana last night? I’ve never heard of such a spell in these books.”
Mari glanced up from her bowl, a quizzical look on her face. Samuel’s question had come without warning, and she’d been focused on her food. “Sorry, didn’t catch that.”
Samuel tapped the thick tome of spells open on the desk before him. “This book. It doesn’t have any record of the spell you used to suppress my mana.”
“You’ve read the entire thing already? You only started that yesterday.”
Samuel gave what he hoped was an indifferent shrug. “I like reading.”
“So do I, but I can’t read through a thousand pages like it’s nothing.”
“So, how’d you do it?”
Mari flushed slightly, though Samuel couldn’t think why she should be embarrassed about the question. “Well, it’s something I picked up from someone in one of my study groups. He’s trying to figure out exactly how mana can be manipulated, and how that can be applied to enchanting.”
Of course, Samuel knew about enchanting. It was the process by which magical attributes could be applied to non-magical items. Spells that strengthened a material, made it more effective or gave it arcane properties that it couldn’t perform before. He only knew the basic principle, however. Archmage Lucian had given him a book, telling him to inscribe an enchantment on it that would allow it to serve as a focus, but he hadn’t attempted it yet. So far, he’d found no need to use a focus.
“Ah,” he said. “It seems like it could be useful to know, that’s all.”
Mari nodded but still looked uncertain. “You’re probably thinking that it’s counter-magic. But it’s not. I can’t stop you from casting spells. What I did is just make my mana surround yours, so you couldn’t hurt Arthur with it.”
“I’m also sure it wouldn’t help you come up with a unique spell of your own,” Mari continued with a smile. “Since it’s just normal manipulation of your manaand not an actual spell. I don’t think Master Astori would count it as a technique.”
“Yes,” Samuel agreed with a long sigh. “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. I’m trying to figure out exactly what others have done in their research. I can’t help but think that if I knew their process, it might help me make a unique spell of my own.”
“Well,” Mari said thoughtfully, setting her bowl down on a leather-bound book, “That’s certainly one way to go about it. But I think, for the most part, everyone kind of does it their own way. That’s what makes the spell so unique. It’s your own way of looking at magic. Just turn that into a spell.”
Samuel’s confusion must have shown on his face, for she let out a soft, tinkling laugh and explained further. “Let’s try to think of it this way. Why did you want to learn magic?”
He didn’t need much time to think of an answer to that question. “I just thought I’d be pretty good at it.”
“Well, that’s certainly true. But more importantly, every mage should have a reason for interacting with magic. What’s driving you so far?”
He stared at her blankly, not sure what she meant by that question. Did he really have to have such a clearly defined motivation for learning magic? Until now he’d assumed all mages, even the Archmages, simply learned magic for the thrill of it, to learn what they didn’t know. Magic was able to broaden your horizons so much, after all.
“I’m not sure,” he said slowly. “What about you? Why did you choose to learn magic?”
Immediately, her eyes sparkled, and she leaned across the desk. It was almost as if she were waiting eagerly for Samuel to ask her this question. “Well, actually, I’m hoping to be a bit of a historian! Magic has been around since Ahya first founded the world, after all. But a lot of what we once knew has been forgotten.”
Her words sent a chill down his spine. The world has forgotten. That’s exactly what that voice had said in his dream, the voice he’d mentally equated to Arcana, that mysterious figure that had approached him in his dreams on two separate occasions now. Well, more like pulled him to it, he mentally corrected himself. He wondered if Mari knew anything about the spirit, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask.
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“So you want to know all about the magic that used to exist?” He asked, impressed. He hadn’t expected such a grand answer. In fact, now that he knew she had such grand designs for her future, he felt as if his goal of traveling the world and writing books felt rather bland and uninspired. He wondered if he should try to come up with a more ambitious goal, if only not to get left behind.
“Well, not just the magic that used to exist,” she clarified, holding up a finger. “I also want to see how the old people of the world used it to live. I know what role magic plays in our lives now, but there’s almost nothing about older civilizations in the books.”
Samuel absorbed that for a moment, not sure what she was getting at. Mari had so much enthusiasm but never seemed clear just where she was pointing it. The energy that she displayed for things she found interesting was something Samuel could envy, but her brain often rushed off on tangents without warning, taking her attention, and the unfortunate ears of anyone nearby, along for the journey.
“Oh! Did you know how Divine magic was created?” She asked excitedly, proving his point rather quickly.
“Err, no, I don’t think I do.”
“It’s a fascinating story! I heard it directly from one of the Wardens!”
And she was off, rambling out a story of the first humans. Samuel did find it interesting, to hear about how the first people of Milagre created a new magic to chase out the ancient threats from the city. It was nearly enough to inspire another story, and he could feel that old urge to write the details down returning. But she couldn’t offer any more information on just how they came up with the magic, or what the ‘ancient threats’ exactly were.
“There seems to be a great deal that we don’t know,” he mused quietly, once she’d reached a pause in her rambling. “Why is so much of our knowledge lost? If we’ve had magic the whole time, why can’t we remember what happened so long ago?”
At that question, her face fell slightly, and Samuel was shocked to see a tear escape one eye. It was such a rapid change of emotion, it was slightly unnerving. “Well, that’s probably because we lost the one who kept that record.”
“Who was that?”
“I’m not sure,” Mari said. Now she seemed a little frustrated. “There are hints to their existence all throughout the College. If you read A Magical History by Archmage Peran, you’ll see the name Arcana mentioned a few times. He says that Arcana is alive, but lost to the world, and unable to fulfill his role as recordkeeper and witness to the world’s history.”
Arcana. There was that name again. Just how important was this figure, if he could still be remembered after so many centuries away from the world? He seemed to command the same degree of respect as the Divines of the world.
“Mari,” he asked, his voice so quiet she could barely make it out, “How much do you know about Arcana?”
“I imagine I know a lot more than most people,” she said simply. “But not nearly as much as I’d like to. Why do you ask? Do you also have an interest in magical history?”
“Nothing so grand. I’m just curious about him. I’d never heard of him before leaving Harlest, but now his name is popping up constantly.”
“Is it?” Mari asked, her face blank with surprise. “I don’t think people talk about him that often. If it weren’t for that fragment of Peran’s journal, I probably wouldn’t have known about his existence at all.”
She gestured to the wall of display cases he’d noticed on his first trip into the library. “Even Lord Bragg didn’t know anything about him. Well, I don’t suppose that’s so surprising, considering how little he cared about magic and research.”
There was a faint click from the far side of the study as the door opened. Samuel glanced past Mari, seeing the lean outline of Shigeru standing in the light of the hallway outside. Both he and Mari preferred when the study was a little darker, and hadn’t had many candles or lanterns burning. The light from outside was reduced as well, as it was getting rather late in the day. That probably had something to do with Shigeru’s reason for coming to see him.
“Seamus is calling us for dinner, I suppose,” Samuel said, beckoning Shigeru deeper into the room. “We’ll be just a few minutes more.”
There was a flash of something on Shigeru’s face, something like annoyance, but he covered the expression quickly. “I’m no messenger. I don’t care how long you take.”
Samuel saw Grimr slip into the study in his lithe cat’s form, almost escaping notice entirely as he wove his way through the furniture in the room. As usual, the cat seemed both indifferent to the presence of others but mildly interested in the details of the room. Grimr was such an interesting counterpoint to the grumpy, almost bordering on hostile warrior who was his constant companion. Did the two ever go their separate ways, even for a moment, or did the Ancient keep Shigeru within his line of sight at all times?
Their behavior couldn’t be any different as well, he thought, studying the pair now, but doing his best to be subtle about it. The proud warrior, and the lazy Ancient. It was an unlikely pairing, yet also unsurprising, as if they were perfect compliments of each other. He had no doubt that their mission, whatever it was, would be a success.
“Well, we should go and eat,” he said to Mari. “I don’t want Seamus to think I don’t like his food.”
Mari let out a quiet snort. “Oh trust me, he knows you like his food. You eat enough of it for him to be sure.”
Samuel chose not to reply to that remark, instead rising from his seat and leading the way out of the library. Grimr seemed displeased, having just found a comfortable place to sit, but stretched and followed, with Shigeru in tow. Just inside the doorway, Samuel caught Grimr’s eyes, and opened his mouth to ask a question, but thought better of it. He’d find a better time when he could be sure that outsiders - namely Mari - couldn’t overhear.