Chapter 7

Shadowfire landed on my shoulder as we made our way into Artix’s office. Brayden pulled out what looked like quartz crystal about the size of my fist, “Now then, this will let us see what kind of spells you will be good at,” he said placing the crystal in the palm of my outstretched hands. “I want you to focus and channel your mana into the stone.” I breathed out my excitement, clearing my mind. I focused channeling my mana into the crystal. I watched as it immediately began to glow with a strong yellowish green light.

“A strong affinity for Illusion magic, very interesting,” Brayden said. The light from the crystal shifted dimming slightly and taking on a reddish orange glow. “A strong affinity for evocation as well,” he said proudly, the light from the crystal faded and a soft purple light took its place. Brayden’s eyes widened in surprise. “Now this is interesting, a weak affinity for protection magic, I have only ever met one other person with an affinity for three schools of magic.” The light faded once again only to be replaced by a soft bluish light. Brayden’s eyebrows practically disappeared into his hairline. “I weak affinity for Summoning magic, I expected that to be stronger,” he said in awe. The light from the crystal faded entirely and Brayden reached out to take it.

“Never in all my years have I met someone with an affinity with four schools of magic, true two of them are weak affinities but still very impressive,” he said in awe.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting that,” I said likewise in shock, “I’m guessing my skill to summon Shadowfire gave me an affinity for summoning?” I asked.

“Oh, yes which is why I expected you to have a stronger affinity for it. Tell me Derek, are you a Realm Walker?” he asked, and I stared at him for a moment before clearing my throat.

“What gave it away?” I said with a soft chuckle. He smiled back at me.

“When Artix first approached me about training someone in secret to use mana, I was more than a little intrigued. I have known Artix for years and I know what he is passionate about. I have never met a Realm Walker before, but you do not disappoint,” he said with a grin, “now then, I think it is time you learned some spells my boy.”

“How do we do that?” I said with an excited grin.

“I suggest you sit down.” I did so and he reached out a hand placing it against my forehead. “By the right of my magic I awaken your magic.” He said and an electric current shot through me. My whole body seemed to tingle with raw power, and I was glad I was already sitting. For several seconds power flowed through me, and my head began to swim. Just as suddenly as it hit me, the sensation faded leaving me ever so slightly dizzy. Notifications appeared before me.

Congratulations you have learned the skill Spell Casting level 1. Affect: Allows you to cast a number of spells each day equal to your spell casting skill level.

Congratulations you have learned the skill Illusion Magic Level 1. Affect: Allows you to learn Illusion based spells. You have learned 3 Illusion spells (1 source spell and 2 leveled spells)

Congratulations you have learned the skill Evocation Magic Level 1. Affect: Allows you to learn Evocation based spells. You have learned 3 Evocation spells (1 source spell and 2 leveled spells)

Congratulations you have learned the skill Protection Magic Level 1. Affect: Allows you to learn Protection based spells. You have learned2 Protection spells (1 source spell and 1 leveled spell)

Congratulations you have learned the skill Summoning Magic Level 1. Affect: Allows you to learn Summoning based spells. Your skill Summon Familiar (Shadowfire) has been turned into a spell. Special Ability: You may cast Summon Familiar (Shadowfire) as if it were a source spell.

Congratulations for earning five mana-based skills at once your Intelligence has increased by 1 point.

“YES!” I said excitedly throwing my fist in the air, part of me wanted to jump up and run around the room, but my head was still spinning slightly. Artix and Brayden laughed at me. ‘It’s about time’ Shadowfire said in my head.

“What spells did you learn?” Brayden asked. I refocused my attention on the notifications. I noticed a small spell book icon had been added to the bottom of my vision. I mentally clicked on it and another window appeared.

Spell Book

Spell schools known: Evocation, Illusion, Protection, and Summoning.

Evocation Spells:

Produce Fire (Evocation)

Source Spell

Casting time: Instant (channeled)

Range: Self/30 feet

Affect 1: Produce a palm sized ball of fire. This fire sheds bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet

Affect 2: Hurl the ball of fire at a target in range dealing 4-6 Fire damage and igniting any highly flammable substances.

Arcane Dart (Evocation)

Level 1 Spell

Cast time: Instant

Range: 100 feet

Affect: Summons 2 darts that strike your target or targets within range dealing 5-7 Arcane damage per dart.

Lightning Grasp (Evocation)

Level 1 Spell

Cast time: Instant

Range: Self

Affect: Channels crackling lighting into the palm of your hand. The next attack you make with your hand adds 6-8 lightning damage and has a small chance to stun your target for 1-2 seconds.

Illusion Spells:

Dazzling Lights (illusion)

Source Spell

Cast time: Instant (channeled)

Range: 5 feet

Affect 1: Creature a short but bright blast of light. This causes no damage but has a chance to blind a target for 1-2 seconds.

Affect 2: You may channel this spell to keep it active as a bright light. It sheds bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet.

False Image (Illusion)

Level 1 Spell

Cast time: Instant

Range: 60 feet

Affect: Creates the illusion of a creature that can by up to 7 feet tall. This does not create sound, smell, or give off light. You can move the image, making the creature appear to move so long as it remains within your line of sight. If it ever breaks line of sight the illusion fades. Any interaction with the image causes it to fade.

Throw Voice (Illusion)

Level 1 Spell

Cast time: Instant

Range: 60 feet

Affect: Creates the sound of a voice at a point within range that can be heard within 30 feet of that point. You can give the voice up to a 5-word phrase that it repeats once every 5, 10, or 20 seconds (your choice).

Protection Spells:

Protect (Protection)

Source Spell

Cast time: Instant

Range: Self

Affect: You touch one creature, this spell absorbs 10 points of melee or ranged damage and then fades.

Shield (Protection)

Level 1 Spell

Cast time: Instant

Range: Self

Affect: Creates a barrier between you and one target. This barrier absorbs 20 points of melee or ranged damage and then fades.

Summoning Spells:

Summon Familiar (Shadowfire)

Source Spell (Special)

Cast time: 1 minute

Range: 5 feet

Affect: Casts a Ritual to summon your familiar.

I read out each of the spells as I went over them. The sheer number of them was staggering, I certainly hadn’t expected to get so many spells all at once. I didn’t understand the difference between leveled spells and source spells or what channeled meant but who cares. I can cast spells now. I wanted to try each one right away, but Brayden was giving me a warning look.

“Now before you run off and try out your spells, you should know how many spells per day you can cast. At spell casting level 1 you have one spell per day you can cast, so use it wisely. For now, try sticking with casting your Source spells. Those spells can be used an unlimited number of times per day. You also have a few spells that can be channeled. This means you can keep the spell active so long as you are actively channeling mana into it. If for some reason your concentration breaks and you stop channeling mana into the spell, the spell will fade and must be recast. At all times be aware of how much mana you have. If your mana gets too low, you will start to get a headache if you run out of mana completely you will become disoriented, and this can last for a few seconds until your mana starts to regenerate. The last thing you want during a fight is to become disoriented, that is an easy way to get yourself killed,” Brayden said.

My excitement fell slightly, I had eight new spells to play with and I could only cast 1 spell, sure I had my source spells, but they didn’t seem as flashy and powerful as the other ones. I sighed slightly figuring there was nothing to do but train my skill up. I stood up and focused my mana into my first spell as I cast Dazzling Lights.

Light erupted from my palm momentarily blinding me with its sudden brightness. I heard laughter both behind me and in my head. ‘Next time close your eyes’ Shadowfire said between fits of laughter. I narrowed my eyes aimed my palm at him and cast the spell again. This time I shut my eyes before a flash of bright light erupted from my palm. Shadowfire squealed and staggered, completely caught off guard from laughing at me. He fell to the floor rubbing his eyes with his wings ‘Ha, that’s what you get for laughing’ I thought mockingly at him. He growled at me and flew up to land on one of the bookshelves.

I held my hand out again squinting my eyes slightly and cast my third spell. A ball of fire suddenly appeared in my hand, and I had to fight the urge to not panic at the sudden appearance of fire in my hand, but it didn’t burn my hand it merely felt slightly warm in my palm. I hesitantly reached towards the flames with one finger I touched the flames and immediately pulled my finger away looking at it in surprise. My finger wasn’t even warm, I stuck my finger back into the flames holding for several seconds. The flame passed over it harmlessly and I grinned shutting my fist and ending the spell.

The last spell I cast was my protection spell. A mostly translucent barrier about 2 feet in diameter appeared before me. As I turned it turned with me and I wanted to test it out. ‘Hey Shadowfire try and claw me.’ I thought to him. He leapt off the bookshelf claws outstretched. A half second before he struck the barrier moved to block him, his claws scrapped across it leaving large tears in the weak shield. It faded a second later and Shadowfire landed lightly back on my shoulder. I turned to Brayden smiling like a fool.

“This is awesome, I can’t wait to try out all of my spells,” I said happily. A thought crossed my mind, and I pulled a book from my inventory. It was the spell book I had looted off the Goblin shaman. Now that I had spell casting, I should be able to read it. I opened the tome intending to read it, but a window appeared before me.

You cannot read this book; your skill Spell Casting is not high enough. Skill rank required Basic. Your skill rank is Initiate. Level up your skill to unlock the ability to use this book.

I closed the window and slammed the book shut in frustration. Brayden noticed me and stepped over look at the book. “Most interesting, where did you find it?” he asked.

“I looted it off a goblin shaman, but I can’t use it for some reason. It says I need basic rank to read it. I have no idea what that means,” I said sullenly.

“Has no one explained skill ranking to you?” Brayden asked curiously.

“No, I didn’t know that was a thing,” I said my own curiosity growing. Brayden let out a sigh.

“You truly are from another world aren’t you,” he said with a slight chuckle, “there are 6 skill ranks, right now all your skills are Initiate Rank. At skill level 6 you advance to Basic Rank. Basic Rank covers skill levels 6-15, Levels 16-30 are Novice Rank, Levels 31-50 are Advanced Rank, Expert Rank is levels 51 to 75, and Master is skill levels 76-105. Some believe that Grand Master is beyond level 105, but no one has ever reached that high. Skills become increasingly more difficult to level the higher they are. At initiate rank you will find your skills will level quite easily. I am sure you will reach Basic rank quickly. Your Combat skill is already halfway there.”

My Draco Jitsu skill was level 3 and inching closer to level 4 each day I practiced with it. I would have to put some serious work into grinding my spell skill level if I wanted to read the book soon. “Is there anything else I need to do, to be able to use this book?” I asked, Brayden looked the book over again.

“No, I don’t believe it will prevent you from reading it once your skill is high enough,” he said simply.

“Good enough for me,” I placed the book back into my inventory, “thank you for your help Brayden, I couldn’t have learned spell casting without you,” I said offering Brayden a respectful bow. He gave me a small bow in return.

“It was my pleasure to teach you Derek, I shall enjoy watching your adventurer career. I doubt it will be boring.” He said offering me a knowing smile. He turned and he and Artix left the room. I headed for my room, exhaustion washing over me from a busy day of training. I showered and settled into bed with a contented sigh, Shadowfire curled up on the bed next to me.

The next day I dove into my training as usual, I itched to try out my new spells, but didn’t want to pull to much focus from my training. An idea occurred to me while Thord and I were practicing.

“Hey Thord,” I said as we stopped for a moment to catch our breath.

“Aye lad,” he replied wiping his sweaty face with a towel.

“I learned how to cast a few spells recently and I really want to try them out in combat, nothing harmful of course,” I added hastily seeing the worried look on his face, “I wondered if you might be up for a little extra training after dinner, help me work my spells into combat, you know?” Thord was quiet for a few moments as we began to spare once more.

“I have no problem with that, but ye will need to ask the Master if its ok with them.” he responded and swallowed dryly. Other than a few polite remarks I had never really spoken to either of the Masters before. Both Vorjun and Varja honestly terrified me. They both must have some sort of intimidation aura skill because every time I was near them, I got super nervous, and it wasn’t just me I noticed several of the other student's cower whenever one of the Master’s got to close. Still Thord was right I would need their permission to use one of the halls for extra training. We continued to spare moving through the forms as Master Varja called them out, until it was nearly time for dinner.

Several minutes later I was sitting at a table eating dinner with Marcus. Merina, and Thord they were arguing good naturedly other something, but I wasn’t paying attention. My gaze kept falling on the two Master’s seated at their usual place carrying on some conversation lost in the noise around me. After dinner I summoned my courage and nervously approached the Master’s as they sat on platform. They both turned to look at me and I felt my nerves rise. I offered them both a polite bow swallowing past the nervous lump in my throat.

“Masters,” I said nervously, “As you know I have been learning how to use magic. I would like to try and learn to cast my spells in combat and was hoping you would allow me to use the training room after dinner to get in a bit more practice. My partner Thord has agreed to help me if you allow it.” Both sat in silence for several moments as cold sweat ran down my back.

“We have heard of your magic training,” Master Vorjun spoke up, “I would be interested to see what you can do. You may use the advanced dojo for an hour each night. Some of the other students may want to watch you as well.”

“Thank you Master,” I said with a bow, “That is fine with me, so long as they don’t interfere.”

“I shall see that they do not,” Master Vorjun said with a smile. I bowed once more and walked away relieved that, that was over. I saw my friends standing off to the side, apparently watching my short conversation with the two Masters. I walked over and gave them a thumbs up and a smile. They simply stared at me for a moment apparently not understanding the gesture. “They said yes,” I said a moment later and they smiled. It was our turn to help clean up and do dishes and we headed to the kitchen. I was very eager to finish as quickly as possible so Thord and I could go practice. Several minutes later we made our way into the advanced dojo Thord pulled out our usual swords and we took up positions opposite each other.

“You’re nay going to hurt me too much are you lad?” he asked giving me a nervous glance.

“I don’t intend to use anything that will cause lasting damage,” I said with a smirk, Thord looked at me suspiciously. I darted at him swinging my sword in a wide arc. He easily parred it using my momentum to spin quickly and swing for my shoulder. I dodged out of the way and darted in again. Our swords locked and I raised a hand squeezing my eyes shut. Bright light erupted from my palm and Thord gave an anguished cry staggering back a step. I stepped in landing two quick blows on both of his arms. He blocked my next thrust aimed for his chest; I could see his eyes were slightly red.

We kept sparring for the rest of the hour and we both landed several blows on each other. Thord cursed every time I blinded him with my spell. I used my Protect spell to deflect some of his attacks, I wanted to try out Produce Fire, but I was hesitant to burn my friend. By the end of the hour, we were both sore and I was grinning. Using my spells in conjunction with my melee attacks was a nasty combo. I could only imagine how much stronger my leveled spells would be.

For the rest of the week Thord and I sparred for an hour after dinner, it took only a day for students to begin sneaking in during our sessions. I even noticed Artix, Serk, Zavra and Alvor sneak in a couple of times. They sat quietly at the edges of the room, though I heard the occasional gasp when Thord or I landed a solid hit. I began to figure out what forms to use to make the best use of my spells. Dazzling Lights was one of my favorite spells, though Thord still cursed whenever I used it. I kept Protect active whenever it faded, and it helped block some of Thord’s more vicious attacks. By the end of the week, I was awarded with a few notifications.

Your skills have improved, Draco Jitsu level 4, Spell Casting level 2, Illusion Magic level 2.

I grinned and waved away the notifications. I had been in this world for over two weeks and was quite a bit stronger than I had been before. True I was still level 2, but my skills were nothing to scoff at. With Spell Casting now at level 2 that meant I could use 2 of my leveled spells in a day. I was more eager than ever to true them out.

The next night Marcus, Merina, Thord and I head out for a night of celebrating. Since we had the weekend off, we hit up a couple of taverns, laughing as Merina scowled at the terrible Bards and applauded the good ones. Marcus challenged Thord to a drinking contest, which was a terrible idea Thord drank Marcus under the table and earned himself 10 gold for it. Merina and I were significantly less drunk than them and ended up carrying them home. I got stuck carrying Thord who weighed much more than Marcus. To our great annoyance it started to rain as we walked home. It was only a light rain, but the cool night air made my wet clothes cold and set my teeth chattering.

We stopped once so Marcus could empty his stomach against a wall. Thord laughed at this and nearly knocked me over. I propped him against a wall and caught my breath standing under an awning to avoid the rain. As I did a flash of light caught my eye. On the other side of the street, I could see blue light shining from a window that faded a couple seconds later. Curiously I moved over to it, my movements not as steady as they normally were with the drink in my system. I reached the window and leapt back as a hooded figure appeared in the window before quickly slamming the curtains shut. I starred for a moment, something about this didn’t seem right but my foggy brain was slow to react. I tried to push open the window, but it was locked tight.

“Derek what are you doing?” Merina asked as she approached me.

“I don’t know, there was a blue glow, and some hooded dude closed the curtain. I think something is going on. Maybe I should find a guard or something,” I turned towards her with a worried expression. She looked around for a moment.

“It’s raining and dark, he was probably just turning on a light or something,” she said with a frown.

“Yeah, maybe your right,” I gave the closed curtain one last glance. I pressed my ear against the window but couldn’t make out anything. The house seemed quiet. I gave a frustrated sigh and headed back to my friends. We slowly made our way to our rooms. I peeled out of my wet clothes putting on some dry clothes and climbed under the covers.

I woke the next day with a headache. I laid in bed for several long minutes trying to get my head to clear, it stubbornly refused too. After a while I made my way to breakfast certain food and drink would help to clear my head. I noticed Thord was in pretty good spirits despite the copious amounts of alcohol he had drank. Marcus was sitting with his head in his hands looking a bit green.

“Did I really challenge Thord to a drinking contest?” Marcus said glumly as I sat next to him.

“Yes, you did.” I said giving him a hearty slap on the back. He groaned and shot me a glare. Merina sat down next to her brother and began eating. We all ate in silence for several minutes. Merina turned to me as we were finishing up.

“Any plans for today?” she asked cheerfully

“I thought I might go check out that house we passed last night.” I responded.

“What house?” she asked confused.

“The one with the blue light in it, remember I saw a blue light and some dude wearing a hood.” I said, Merina frowned in concentration.

“I vaguely remember something like that, last nights a bit of a blur honestly.” she said with a shrug. “Was it not raining last night?” She asked a moment later.

“Well, yeah it was, so what.” I shrugged back at her.

“So, someone probably just got home and hadn’t taken there cloak off yet.” she said nonchalantly.

“Yeah, but what about the light?” I asked pressing the issue.

“A lot of people have magical lights in their homes, it’s safer then lighting a candle. You probably just saw that.” She said with another shrug.

“Maybe” I said defeatedly, though my gut was telling me something more was going on here.

“Look I am not an adventurer, at least not yet. If you are that worried about it maybe you should talk to one of your adventurer friends. That half orc friend of yours might know if something strange is happening.” she said.

“Holy crap you’re right,” I said in amazement, “I should have thought of that.”

“This is why I am the brains of our group.” she said with a smile.

After breakfast I helped clean up, then headed for my room. For the first time in nearly two weeks, I put on my armor and strapped my sword to my side. Shadowfire landed on my shoulder as I left the room. I made my way out of the library and headed for the Lucky Gnome where I hoped Serk, and the others were still staying.

The streets were bustling, and it took me much longer than I would have liked to reach the Lucky Gnome Inn. I pushed open the door and stepped inside. Most of the room was empty, the breakfast crowd had left, leaving only a handful of people scattered around the room. I noticed Serk and the others sitting at a table in the corner and headed straight for them.

Serk noticed my approach and greeted me with a smile. “Well look who decided to join us. Good to see you boy, have a seat.” He kicked one of the chairs out for me and I sat down in it. “You look like a man with a purpose, something on your mind boy?”

“I wanted to talk to you about something. I saw something last night, there was this weird blue light coming from a house and when I went to look in the window, some dude in a hood shut the curtains. That isn't the first time I have seen a blue light like that, at least I think it might have been the same light. A week ago, I saw a similar light coming from a window on a second floor. Both lights faded after a few seconds. What do you think?” I asked hopefully.

“Blue light can mean a lot of things, there are a lot of magic effects that produce a blue light for a few seconds,” Zavra said after a few seconds of thought.

“I haven’t heard of anyone reporting mysterious blue lights in their homes.” Serk said slowly a couple minutes later. “That don’t mean this is nothing, but you also have to remember your still new to this world. What seems strange to you, might be normal here.” My face fell slightly, but he held up a hand. “Now that don’t mean I will ignore your instincts; you got a good head on your shoulders. We can ask around see if anyone has seen anything. It will probably take a couple days to learn anything. For now, though I think a bit of adventuring might do you some good put those skills you been training to use.” He said with a smile.

“What did you have in mind?” I asked curiously

“We got a quest, about a mile or so outside of town. Not sure what's going on exactly. Farmer is complaining something has been stealing his chicken eggs. Wants some adventurers to come look into it. You interested?” He asked with a knowing grin.

“Point the way.” I said smiling back at him. Serk handed me a sealed scroll and as before as soon as I touched it a quest notification appeared before me.

You’ve received a Quest:

A farm in danger

A local farmer is having trouble on his farm and has requested the aid of adventurers.

Objective: Find out what is happening at the farm. 0/1

Eliminate the problem. 0/1

Reward: 20 Gold and 70 XP

Accept: Yes/No