Week 3: Necromancer - Part 2

They did not want to give away too much, after all the elf was a stranger. A beautiful stranger, but those are the most dangerous. “I was going to be executed, but apparently I am very talented so they decided to give me another chance to prove I was just misguided and obviously between being killed and not being killed... It isn’t much of a choice.”

“Ah, interesting.” Aregoma got closer. “And what exactly is that makes you so special?” She smiled “If you don’t mind me asking of course, if I am intruding too much just let me know, no pressure.”

Those gleaming eyes. The night no longer felt as cold. “Well honestly I don’t think I fully understand the implications yet.” Lu sighed “My dad taught me a spell when I was very little, just like the motion and the words. I tried for many years and eventually I managed to do it. Apparently that is very impressive.”

“What was the breakthrough?” Aregoma asked. “What was that made you actually cast the spell rather than just saying nonsense and doing a silly dance?” She sat into front of Lu, looking at them in the eyes like she was looking for something.

Lu looked away, a bit intimidated. “I think it was... At some point I was in my room practicing and I head my moth... Caretaker walking upstairs so I rushed to do it one last time and I felt like a vibration in my chest, and it sort of just worked that one time. Since then I figured out that I have to feel a certain way to make the spells happen.”

Aregoma kept smiling. A bit too much, like a kid amazed at some weird insect she found. “So you figured out attunement on your own? That is indeed impressive, and that also means that you are not a natural resonator. I see why they wanted to give you a second chance.”

“Attunement?” Lu asked, tilting their head slightly.

“So you have no formal training at all?”

“Nope”

Aregoma stood up and gestured Lu to follow. They walked away from the campfire to the dusty road, just far away enough that they could speak at a reasonable volume without disturbing Helvia. With her staff she drew on the dirt of the road a circle, divided into four parts, with a smaller circle in the middle. “When we use spells what we are doing is taking essence, a form of primordial energy that exists everywhere, and shaping it into the effect that we want.” The elf explained, looking into Lu’s eyes to make sure that they were following the explanation. “But before we can shape it, we need to gather the energy from somewhere. The essence that exists in the world is not usable, since it is already shaped into things or other forms of energy.” Aregoma tapped the central, smaller, circle in her diagram “To get around this we have to access the Mirrors, which are... Sort of mystical realms made out of pure essence. Mages attune to the mirrors and then draw the essence they need and shape it through spells.” She made small arrows from the four slices of the big circle towards the smaller one that represented the real world. “There are four mirrors: the Mirror of Life, the Mirror of Death, the Mirror of Form and the Mirror of Matter. Each of them has a different type of essence that is used for specific spells, so in order to use magic you have to attune to the right mirror for the effect you want.”

“So, when I cast the spell I have to first connect to one of the mirrors and that is what I feel?” Lu asked.

“Exactly... It feels different for each mage, and eventually you get so used to it you stop feeling it. Attuning is the cornerstone of all spellcasting and is the first ability any mage has to master. It is really difficult to do the first time so the fact that you did it on your own without knowing what you were doing is noteworthy.” Aregoma smiled, satisfied. “I can continue teaching you some of the theory if you want so you don’t arrive at the academy fully ignorant and can catch up with the rest of the people in the gateway courses.”

Lu had to make an effort to contain a scream of joy. “Well, I was hoping to ask you exactly that. See, as part of my... probation, I need to be accepted as a mage and approved or something like that within six months, and I have already wasted two weeks and we are not even there yet.”

“It is a deal then! I will let you some of my books and we can learn the basics together.”

Books. Great. Reading is such a hassle. Lu went back to lay by the fire and Aregoma took her meditation position. They fell asleep almost immediately. A bit of hope and a friend go a long way in calming the nerves.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

*****

The following morning Lu and Helvia packed the camp while Aregoma set up her own sleeping bag on the back of the cart and pulled from her backpack a book for Lu. ‘Introduction to Arcane arts: a review on spell theory and other historic applications of essence manipulation’. Just reading the title took Lu almost a minute. They covered the fireplace with dirt, gave the mules some water and tied them back to the wagon. During the next few hours they continued their journey and eventually arrived at the river, pristine and about fifty meters wide. On a hill in the distance Lu could distinguish the shape of a small town, on the bushes nearby the river a gaggle of geese honked at each other. The party continued parallel to the river, heading south after giving the mules some time to rest, drink and graze a bit on the banks of the river.

“Is it interesting?” Asked Helvia.

“A bit too wordy for my taste, I am still in the prologue.”

“Haven’t you been reading for about four hours now? You know how to read, right?”

“Yes I fucking know how to read, thank you very much.” Said Lu, who had barely managed to get five pages into a book that had over eight hundred. “I am just taking it slow so what? I need to understand this well, I need to take things slowly.”

“I thought you were on a rush to learn.” Helvia continued to push.

“Since when do you care so much?”

Helvia took a deep breath. “Sorry if I have touched a nerve, and I hate to admit it but against my better judgement I care, I think...”

“Thanks.” Lu interrupted. “I know I am a poor choice but for me it is either this or dying and I have shit to do before I kick the bucket so if you have nothing good to say I would rather you do not disturb me, I need to study.”

They continued their journey in silence until Aregoma woke up not too long after. After doing some stretches and a bit of warm up while walking alongside the cart she sat with Helvia, leaving Lu on the back to focus on the book. The women talked about some of their past experiences on the road. Aregoma tended to travel on her own to do jobs when requested or when she needed the money. Helvia on the other hand rarely travelled alone as she had joined the military when she was twelve, became a paladin initiate with sixteen and fully ordained by twenty, joining the front lines soon after. Lu was still not done with the prologue. It was really boring and generally useless.

“How are you finding the introduction?” Aregoma asked when the sun was starting to go down and Helvia was arranging a place to spend the night with the guards of the current town.

“Well... It is.. Uhh... Dense” Lu said, avoiding eye contact.

Aregoma took the book away, then she flipped through the book until she found a specific page and showed it to Lu, pointing at the title “Can you read it out loud for me please?”

Lu swallowed and squinted their eyes “The... Re... Relic... Efficiency... Effect. The Relic effect also... And...” Under pressure the letters seemed to jump around, mocking them. This was not the first time they had to read aloud, Lu could swear that all their teachers got a kick from seeing them struggle.

Aregoma pulled the book before allowing Lu to finish “The relic effect and other consequences of long-term essence manipulation.” She said, reading with soothing voice. “You know, I have met children of noble families that get sent to the academy to learn, but they do not have the constitution for scholar work. All of them ended up giving up without learning any magic.” Aregoma sat closer, looking to meet Lu’s evasive gaze. “Do you struggle to read?”

Lu turned around, avoiding Aregoma and those unsettling eyes. “I do.” The crack in their voice surprised them. There was no reason to be sad. “I always have. It has not gotten better since I was a kid.” They took a deep breath to calm themselves, overwhelmed by the idea of having to force themselves through such humiliation every day for the foreseeable future.

“Let’s ditch the books then.” Aregoma said, putting both hands in Lu’s shoulders. “I can explain to you the important theory. You will have to do reading and writing for Sigilscript and there is a written exam but I know some of the teachers are willing to do it orally instead so we can try to convince them...”

“Why are you doing this?” Lu sunk their face on their crossed arms, hiding away. “Why do you want to help me? What do you get from it?”

Aregoma rested her head on Lu’s and wrapped her arms around in a gentle embrace. “Would you not help someone if you could?”

Lu did not respond, but they were very certain that their answer would have been a resounding no.

“You told me that you want, need to learn or there would be consequences and I can help so I do!” She chuckled. “But to be host there is a tiny bit of self interest in there. I want to be a Highmage, which means I will have my own pupils eventually and I will have to teach them, so practicing now is helping me!”

Lu found herself sobbing. Unsure how to even process the day so far. Maybe they were was something good to come out of all of this. Maybe there was some hope for themselves and their promises after all. “So if just accepting help is uncomfortable let’s make a deal.” Aregoma continued. “I will teach you and in return you will teach me to teach you so I can learn how to teach. Deal?”

In between tears and troubled breaths, struggling to not look like they were obviously crying Lu managed to squeeze in a response. “Deal.”

“Aregoma” Helvia interrupted from the outside. “Could you come with me? I think someone needs a mage.” She jumped in the cart and looked at Lu. If she noticed her tears, she did not show. “Lu could you follow the man to the stable and do the usual stuff? Leave the chests in, I will come back for them later.”