After about half an hour of wandering around the market, I’ve learned a few things:

The currency system in this world is mostly coins. A copper coin is the smallest amount I’ve seen, and 10 copper coins are equal to an iron coin. 10 of those are equal to a green metal coin called a verdant coin. It continues in multiples of 10, and the next coins are blue and then crimson. I’ve also seen some bank notes exchanged, but those were mostly used in large transactions. The items being sold are entirely different from what I’m used to seeing, and most of them are enchanted. The exceptions seem to be food and basic materials, even the clothing is enchanted for comfort. Additionally, the price tags and product details are displayed with a spell similar to [Display Data] that seems to be tailored to commerce. Prices are in no way absolute, in fact most customers seem to haggle, and better deals are often given for higher quantities.

However, I have no money, so I can’t buy anything. I’ve noticed a lot of people dressed like magicians entering a store down one of the alleys during my walk, so I decide to go see what magic items they have there.

Upon entering the store, I can feel an intense atmosphere of mana from the customers and items in the store. Also, during my walk around the market I discovered that I can make my [Display Data] spell visible only to myself.

Although I entered a shop that looked ten feet wide from the outside, the inside is dozens of times larger. The inside of the store has the appearance of a fancy department store. The walls are all marble, with intricately carved pillars stretching towards the curved ceiling.

An employee greets me as I enter. She’s a cheerful young girl dressed in a blue skirt and vest with a white dress shirt underneath. Most of the employees seem to be wearing something similar. They definitely stand out from the customers who almost exclusively wear robes. I feel out of place in the plain pants and shirts I’m wearing.

“Welcome to the Magic Emporium! Is there anything I can help you find today, Miss?” The girl asks me.

“Umm… I’m just looking. I was curious but didn’t expect the store to look like this on the inside. It’s kind of overwhelming.” I tell her honestly.

“That’s perfectly normal, Miss. Most people react the same way during their first visit here. If you’d like, I can give you a tour.”

“That would be great. I feel like I could get lost in here.”

“Well, then if you’d please follow me. Oh also, what is your name, Miss?”

“I’m Mia. It’s nice to meet you.”

The girl giggles for a few seconds, leaving me confused until she explains herself. “Oh sorry about that, it was a little unprofessional of me. I just thought it was funny that our names rhyme. My name’s Ria.”

And with that introduction, she begins her tour as I follow her.

“Well, this is the first floor of the Magic Emporium, it’s a bit confusing, but I hope you can keep up , Miss Mia.”

“Wait, first floor? You mean there’s more?” I ask, stunned from the start.

“Oh, there’s a few floors below this one for more specialized purposes. There’s a large testing area, offices for identification, evaluation, enchanting, some meeting rooms, and smaller store spaces for the more unique items. There’s more, but most of it doesn’t apply to the ordinary customers honestly.

Anyways, on this floor, most of the sections are divided by magical element. The pillars have different colored stripes to annotate them. There’s also some sections of more general items or magic tools, as well as alchemy, enchanting, and magic book sections. Anything element-specific in those sections is also labeled for their element for the ease of the customer.

Do you have any questions yet? Or is there any element or section you’d prefer to look at first?”

“Ah, honestly I have a million questions, but I fear that most of them would make me sound like a novice. I don’t really know much about magic at all.”

“That’s alright. That’s what I’m here for. Although it really would be easier for me if I knew what your affinity is.” Ria says as she continues to smile. Her customer service is pretty fantastic.

“Affinity? Oh, right. Liz said something about that. How mages usually have a few elements that they excel at. Honestly, I’m not sure I should really say it in such a public space.”

“Is your affinity that strange that you’re nervous about it? I’m sorry for prying since it seems like you’re a bit guarded about it. I’m just trying to help.” Ria’s smile droops a little bit for the first time as she bows slightly towards me in apology.

“No, it’s not your fault.” I hurriedly say, uncomfortable due to her bowing. “I’d just prefer not to disclose it to everyone. I would really appreciate if you could help me learn more.”

“Well, in that case, I have an idea if you’ll come with me, Miss Mia.” Although she says it like it’s an option, she grabs me by the hand and pulls me with her. She only stops after pulling me into a dressing room.

“These dressing rooms are enchanted with absolute privacy. Although there are curtains on the outside, when occupied the entrance looks like an ordinary part of the wall. It’s soundproofed as well, since mages can be… quite weird sometimes.” She shudders a little bit with her last phrase, and I think it best not to ask.

“Well, I guess that solves it. But you also have to swear not to tell anyone else about this. I had my magic tested yesterday at the Mage’s Association. Levi-er, the Director of the Association himself said that the only conclusion he could come to is that I have an affinity with all magic.” I tell her nervously with no expectations that she’ll believe me.

“Your face doesn’t look like you’re joking or trying to trick me. And you said the director said so too.” She goes silent for a few minutes after that. “I guess I understand why you were so hesitant to say anything before. You realize that has never happened before, right?”

“…yeah. They said that too.”

“I’m afraid I have no idea how to help you at this point, aside from answering your questions. You could realistically use any item in the store effectively.”

“Just your help answering questions would be enough. And don’t forget, you can’t tell anyone about this. I don’t know what would happen if people found out.”

“Nothing good, that’s for sure. Especially with your lack of knowledge right now.”

“Exactly. Pretty much all I know right now are a few utility spells, and a rough concept of using some common elemental spells like fireball.”

“So what you really need is a magic teacher, huh? I’m not really qualified to fill that role, but I might be able to teach you a thing or two so you can protect yourself.”

“That would be appreciated. I’m still at the point that I don’t really know what I should be asking.”

“Alright, follow me to the basement, we can use one of the training rooms down there, and I’ll try to think of some things to teach you.” Ria says as she pulls me out of the dressing room, again not giving me a real option but instead pulling me along.

We head down a flight of stairs, and she talks to a man sitting at a reception desk quickly. He hands her a key, and she leads me into a training room the size of a basketball court with it. She tells me that these rooms are also soundproofed and magically reinforced to be nearly indestructible.

“You gave me the impression that you really only know offensive spells, is that right?” She asks as she pulls a wand out, seemingly from nowhere.

“Well, that and circle spells for trapping opponents, I suppose. By the way, where did that wand come from?” I ask as I tilt my head in confusion.

“Oh, that’s a spatial spell. It’s also kind of a utility spell I guess. It’s called [Void Storage], and it’s a dark element spell. Most intermediate level mages can use it, though the size of the void depends on your ability though.”

“Hmm, the more I learn, the less I understand the whole ‘elemental affinity’ thing honestly. It’s dark element, but widely usable?”

“Wow, I guess you really weren’t kidding about being a novice.: Ria jabs at me. “How do I explain this? Most mages with a decent amount of ability can use other elemental spells, but it’s more difficult and less effective. For example, an ice mage could use a fire spell, but in most cases, their fire spell would feel like sitting to close to a campfire.

There are also many cases where a mage can’t use the opposite element at all. This usually happens with much weaker mages or very strong mages. They either just don’t have enough ability to make up for it, or the scale is just completely tipped to one side.

For example, air is my major affinity, so trying to use earth magic takes two or three times the effort to use. Also casting time is a lot longer, because I’m trying to channel magic through a much smaller tunnel in a sense.”

“Well, it makes more sense when you put it that way. So what about the magic teacher that I saw this morning using all four elements, how would you explain that to me?”

“She’s probably able to use three elements effectively and then using an item to increase affinity for the fourth element. I know it seems like a cheat, but items like that are rare. It’s also not practical outside of teaching.”

“I think I get it now. So how big is your [Void Storage] then?”

“Well, I’m primarily an air mage, with water and dark affinities, so right now mine’s about the size of a closet. Also you can’t put anything living inside there. Well, some dark mages are at a high enough level that they can, but it’s a very hard thing to do.”

“Why can’t you?”

“Well, it’s a void. There’s no air in it. You have to hold your breath to look inside, and even then it’s just darkness.” She tells me as if it’s common sense.

“Then just put some air and some light inside.” I tell her as her jaws threatens to remove itself from her face.

“Y-y-y-you can’t just do that. Can you?”

“Hmm. [Void Storage].” I say, as a large black portal opens up in front of my right hand. I close my eyes and direct my mana to send air and light in. And then I stick my head in the portal. There’s definitely a slight breeze inside and I can see as well.

“Look inside my portal real quick,” I say, popping my head back out.

Ria looks nervous for some reason, but her curiosity wins out, and she looks in.

Once she comes back out, she drops to her knees. “How is this possible?”

“I went overboard again, didn’t I?” I say, scratching my head nervously.

“I thought you said you were a novice. How are you doing this? I thought I was going to teach you something today.”

“Hmm, I mean, you already have taught me something. I didn’t even know [Void Storage] was a spell before you told me. I’ve never used magic until recently, so I have no foundation. I don’t know the rules, so I tend to break them without trying, honestly. Also, I’d assume that the high-level mages do something similar, they just aren’t sharing their secrets.”

“I guess so.” Ria says although she still seems disappointed.

“I’m sorry. I really do want to learn more from you. I just get carried away. I was hoping you might be able to teach me something I can use to defend myself or run away.” I say, bowing like she did earlier. It feels especially awkward to do due to the cultural difference.

“Alright, fine. I’ll help you out some more. But don’t do anything crazy again. I don’t think my head or my heart can handle anything more.” She says as she gets to her feet again.

“Thank you so much, Ria. I appreciate it more than you know.”

“Okay, okay. Let me think. For defense, some basic spells are Wall or Armor spells. I’ll show you. [Ice Wall].” A wall of ice suddenly shoots up in front of her. I do the same thing and get a similar wall.

After that she shows me a spell called [Mana Wall]. According to Ria, the benefit of it is a lack of elemental affinity, so it can defend against any element. An ice wall will melt when met with a strong fire spell but will be more effective against other elements.

Afterwards she shows me [Ice Armor], and her body suddenly becomes encased in plate mail made from ice. According to her, it’s adjustable once you get accustomed to the spell, so you can have more effective armor depending on the situation or your own personal style. I simply copy her. The feeling of wearing ice as armor, even if it’s magical, is quite strange. I think I understand why she said you had to get accustomed to it.

“As for running away, you’re most likely going to use transport magic for that.” Ria tells me after we practice the defensive spells for a little while. My face goes pale as she says that and she notices.

“Are you okay? Is it too much for you? We can stop if you’re tired.”

“That’s not it… I just have a bad experience with transport magic.”

“Oh. I see. You’re just full of mysteries, Miss Mia.”

“You don’t have to call me ‘Miss’. It’s kind of weird, honestly.”

“Oh my bad. I didn’t realize. It’s just common courtesy, you know?”

“I get it. Anyways, what were you saying about transport magic?”

“Well, transport magic gets a little weird. It doesn’t really follow rules very well. There’s [Teleport] which is a light spell, and the dark variants of it, which are [Banish] and [Blink]. For the most part, they’re what they sound like.

However, if you have an affinity for light at all, you won’t be able to use the dark spells, and vice versa. Also, teleport can only be used on yourself or consenting participants. Banish can only be used on others. Both of them also require the mage to designate a destination in advance. So you can only use it to go to places you’ve marked, or send someone there.

Blink can only be used on yourself and has a distance limit. Strong dark mages can increase the distance, and also sometimes bring another person with them, but from what I’ve heard, the magic consumption increases exponentially the farther that you push the limits of it though. Do you want to try any of them?”

“Sure, I’ll give them a try. [Blink]” I feel myself fly through darkness for a split second and then in the next moment, I find myself slumped against the wall, and in an immense amount of pain. “Ugh, I think I overdid it and hit the wall.”

Ria laughs at me, and then uses [Blink] to move over to me, with a lot more control than I had. “[Heal]. I should have warned you that it takes more precision than some of the other spells you’ve used. But don’t worry, most people do something similar the first time they try it.”

Ria helps me to my feet and gives me instructions to learn it better over the next ten minutes. I start with short distances of a few feet, and gradually learn how to control it somewhat.

She also teaches me how to set destinations for banish and teleport, although teleport is a little harder to learn since she can’t use it as an example for me. She also warns me not to use either if I don’t have any destinations set, as it can send someone anywhere randomly, which is dangerous.

She also teaches me how to use [Heal] like she used on me earlier. To my surprise, healing magic isn’t an element by itself. The basic [Heal] spell has light, water, and air variants, and other healing spells are scattered throughout most of the elements, aside from dark magic.

The closest thing dark magic has to a healing spell is [Dispel Curse] according to her. Only dark magic can cast or dispel a curse, and it gets tricky, because every curse has their own variant of [Dispel Curse] that is the only guaranteed way to remove a curse.

I’ve really learned a lot from Ria today. However, she’s starting to approach her limit, so we decide to end our little training session. I thank her for everything and get ready to leave.

“Hey Mia, before you go, I have a favor to ask you.”

“If there’s something I can do to help you, sure. You’ve helped me tremendously today.”

“Well, there’s sort of two things. It’s nothing big but before you go… do you think could pour some light into my [Void Storage] for me?”

“Of course, that’s such a simple request. What’s the other one?” I ask while doing it.

“Umm… would you mind coming back and visiting me sometime? I had a lot of fun today.”

“That’s also simple. Of course, I’ll come back to hang out with you.” I tell her with a smile.

We head back upstairs, and Ria heads back to work. I leave the store to go meet with Liz. I walk halfway down the alley before everything turns black.