I woke up early, while the rest of the camp still slumbered. Rolling onto my back, I smiled. The night sky here was absolutely gorgeous. No light pollution to hide the stars, everything was just. Crisp. That’s the word I was looking for. I wondered what stories those stars told the native people of this world? I had heard of Selene Sureshot, but there had to be others. People couldn’t help but try and find patterns in things, and then explain them with stories.

Stories in stars. Man, that brought back childhood memories. There was an anime about people wearing armor sets based on constellations, fighting to protect a goddess. Artemis? No, Athena. They protected Athena and the Earth from the demons of the underworld. Of course the top tier armor was the golden armor of the Zodiac signs, but that wouldn’t stop the scrappers who had the weak, bronze armor from saving the day.

I think part of the draw was that they had to struggle. Their armor was smashed in battle, and they bled when injured. Despite being outmatched, they somehow found a way to improve themselves and pull through. Never give up, but without being annoying and in your face about it. Of course, they also had friends pull them out of the fire on occasion. There was a guy, who honestly had a broken power now that I think about it. Create an illusion so strong you get the other guy to attack himself? Yeah, you would be almost untouchable.

But that got me thinking. In a world of magic, could you link a story to an area effect? Tap into the collective faith of thousands of people that believe in a story, and somehow pass it on to people? You would need an image, something everyone would recognize. Something, like a constellation. Grinning, I carefully got up and headed toward the edge of camp. Didn’t want to disturb anyone. Now, to mimic a star. My solar sphere wouldn’t do. It was too in your face. Stars were subtle, a soft bluish white light. No heat necessary, just the light. That’s it. But it also seems, lacking. I mean, it’s just a little blue light. This needs to inspire, but in a different way. This isn’t the main character riling up his army with a fiery speech. Subtle. Subtle.

Why go with one image? This is meant to call to everyone, to let them know that they too can reach great heights. It all starts with a small step. The person holding a door for a stranger carrying a heavy load. Sending a meal to a family that lost someone. A surprise set of flowers sent anonymously. Sometimes it’s just a smile from a stranger on the street. Every day, there are a thousand little acts that make the world better. You don’t have to have any special powers or magic to perform them. But each one helps out. That’s what I needed. The feeling that you get when you are on the receiving end, that’s what I needed to evoke.

I couldn’t describe what happened, but something flickered. The cold blue light of a distant star suddenly held the warmth of a family get together. That everything was right, just trust and do your part. I smiled as I let the light drop, as the camp was starting to come to life. As I walked back, I angled to make a path towards Bribis.

“Good morning.” I said with a smile, sitting down next to him as we watched the cooks preparing breakfast.

“Morning! Didn’t realize you were awake.” He said, perking up a bit.

“Been up for a bit, and got to thinking of that story you told me about. Selene Sureshot. Could you draw the constellation for me?” I asked.

“Sure, but what brought that on?” He asked, finding a stick and marking on the ground.

“Just got to looking at the stars and wondered about the stories they contained. We have our own constellations back home, and I wondered if there was overlap. One of ours is Orion, the hunter and he seemed similar at least in form. His story is a bit darker.” Bribis just nodded, and I got to look at his drawing. The head was a triangle, fairly simple with no matching sides. The body was slightly thinner than the head, and dropped down to two stars at waist height before spreading back apart with a series of three stars forming each leg. A cluster of three stars formed the left shoulder, elbow and hand as the arm drew back her bow, which was formed of five stars in a nearly perfect arch.

“The biggest stars are on the top of her head and the middle of her bow.” Bribis pointed out. “The red on her head for her ruby tiara, and the blue in her bow for her favored element.”

I nodded along, committing everything to memory. The stars of the bow even pointed in the same direction as Orion, though it was obviously a different constellation. Something was nagging me though. I didn’t know enough about Selene herself. “Can you tell me any more about her?” I asked. “What did she wear, how did she look?”

“Oh sure. She was an oddity among the elves. Instead of the straight blond hair many of them had, hers had a slight curl to it, and hints of red in the brown that seemed to dance with her temper. She kept her wardrobe simple. Just a green, sleeveless tunic and brown pants. Brown wrist guards to protect her from the bowstring. It was said that she found such happiness with a bow in her hand, that every time she drew the string back she would get a small smile.”

“Here you go, sirs.” Our conversation was interrupted by a cook bringing over some breakfast, but that was fine. I was fairly certain I had what I needed. I practically inhaled the eggs and bacon, excited to try out my idea. While Bribis was still eating, I took one last look at his drawing and then made a copy of it in my hand. Move the shoulder a bit higher, the brow needs to be red not blue. That star needs to be smaller, that one a bit larger. Happy with my alterations, I let it float up above us and increased in size. When it reached the top of the trees, and the constellation nearing 15 feet in height, I stopped it from growing.

“Impressive.” Bribis grunted. “You’ve got it-“

He stopped as I added two things. First, that feeling that I had spent so long trying to pin down. The second was a very faint illusion of Selene herself, superimposed on the stars. I made the blue of her bow and red of her crown increase in glow, and her hair seemed to burn from within with its own light as it shifted in a slight wind. A curl of hair dropped down near her eye, bringing your attention toward that confident smile. No matter what, she knew, as did everyone, that this wasn’t going to miss. The arrow seemed to quiver with anticipation, just begging to be released to hunt for its mistress.

Confidence of Selene

All in this world recognize the shape of Selene Sureshot as drawn in the stars, and recognize her accomplishments. You have channeled her confidence and her abilities, letting all who follow her path know that while these stars shine above them they, too, may reach heights unheard of.

Increase to allied archer’s fire rate and accuracy

Decrease to enemy elemental magics (boosted if wind, water, or electricity)

“By Bruin’s beard, it’s like she’s whispering the secrets of archery in my ear.” Bribis whispered, and I realized that the entire camp had frozen to stare at the image above us.

“AAAH! THE BACON!” One of the cooks shrieked suddenly, breaking the spell’s hold on everyone. I let the spell drop, happy to see that I had a journeyman level celestial spell in my skills list, as well as gaining 250 experience for celestial sorcerer.

Inspiring constellation

Journeyman (10/50)

Celestial

Inspire allies and demoralize enemies as you write call forth the very constellations themselves to become your banners. Each constellation mastered will give 10 experience towards the spell mastery. In time, combinations of constellations will be possible.

Currently affects a fifty yard radius from the center of the constellation.

“What was that Sean?” Elendria asked as she walked up to us. “How did you do that? I nearly felt the bow in my hand, as I remembered learning it so long ago. How my teacher would slightly correct my stance, the hints to reading the wind.” As she talked, her gaze became unfocused as she delved into her past.

“I just tapped into what you felt about Selene.” I said with a shrug. “Though I think we need to add a few lessons on constellations in my near future.”

“That we do!” Bribis chuckled. “But we can do that at night. Today, you get to learn of earth magic. Don’t expect it to go as easily as unlocking three elements in a day.” He chided, shaking a finger at me.

“Of course it won’t.” I said in mock indignation. “I fully plan to devote a day and a half to mastering earth magic.” I chuckled, before standing up. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I should help the cooks clean up since I distracted them so much.” I left a stunned gnome in my wake, and the cooks were glad for the help. Though I did receive a few glares for distracting them during breakfast. At least cleaning burnt dishes was the same no matter what world you were in.

Two hours later, and we were on the road. I had joined the lead wagon with Gareth, Bribis, Dramitian, and Elendria. “Well, that was a nifty bit of spellcraft you managed this morning.” Bribis started off. “Though I think for earth magic, we will start a bit lower. If we weren’t moving, I could have you bless plots of soil to grow crops. Since that is out, let’s do something to protect your allies. Stoneskin is exactly as it sounds. You infuse the skin of your allies with the hardening properties of stone, increasing their defense. Though in this case, we will start with this apple as your ally.” He set an apple in a bowl in the middle of the cart, and looked at me as if he were expecting me to argue.

“I take it there have been mishaps in the past?” I asked, wanting to get as much information as possible.

“Indeed. While Dramitian or I could probably deal with it, I don’t like the probably. So we will do this until you get the skill up to at least journeyman status.”

I shrugged my shoulders, glad that they would be taking precautions. So they wanted me to turn the skin of the apple into stone eh? Feeling like proving myself, I decided to give them the strongest stone there is. One diamondskin apple, coming right up! So. Tetrahedral shape, basically a three-sided pyramid with an atom in the middle connecting to each end. Repeated over and over. That rigid structure is what gave it its strength. Concentrating on that structure, I formed some earth mana in my hand and gently sent it into the apple. I just wanted the outer edge to be affected. I pulled my hand away, confident I had succeeded when I looked at the apple.

“Well. A bit more literal than what I wanted, but not bad for a first attempt.” Bribis said. The outer skin of the apple was now a red crystal, and Bribis frowned as he tapped it. “Hmm. I figured you would have gotten quartz on your first try. What were you going for?”

“Diamond.” I said, noticing how drained I felt. “Holy shit!” I yelled, having looked at my mana reserves. That one spell had cost nearly 1200 mana!

“What’s wrong?” Bribis asked, concerned.

“That took up 1200 mana! I thought you said this was just a novice level spell!” I glared at him. That was just 210 shy of my total!

“It is a novice level spell, but only if you do it correctly. What were you trying to do?” He grumped back at me.

“Exactly what you said. Give it stone skin.”

“And there’s your problem.” Bribis said, pointing a finger at me. “I said give it the hardness of stone, not turn it into stone. You used a much stronger spell, and one you should only be using on enemies. Now, sit back and listen carefully while I explain where you went wrong.” I blinked at him, confused, but did as he asked.

“Better.” He said, pulling out another apple. “When you infuse your allies with the stoneskin spell, you are giving their skin the hardness of stone. Not turning it into stone.” As he explained, he touched the apple with a finger. Mage sight let me see a gentle brown glow slowly creep over the entirety of the apple, then settle in to the skin. Dropping the magic vision, and I could see that the apple had dulled a bit in color, but that was it.

“Watch.” He said, pulling a knife and sliding it across the apple. There was a bit of resistance, but eventually the knife cut through. “The skin can still be cut, it just takes more to do it. In addition, the skin isn’t stone. If you did that to your allies, they wouldn’t be able to move. That’s the basis of the paralysis spell, or its evolved crystallization spell. Be very careful casting these, as any magical resistance will make the mana cost skyrocket. I think we can end the lesson today on this. It took nearly your entire mana pool to turn the skin of an apple to a faux diamond. It’ll revert in a few hours, don’t think that it was permanent. But what would you have done had it been something bigger? You would have burned through your mana and possibly your life if you couldn’t cut the spell off. And that is without any resistances. That’s why most people who try and cast petrify go for a small area, usually an important joint like the knee or shoulder. Anything bigger would exhaust their mana and leave them defenseless.”

Damnit, the gnome was right. Trying to lock up an enemy with earth magic would be nearly impossible. You would have to use some sort of stone shaping to grab them, but even a halfway spry enemy would likely be able to avoid it. I breathed out a frustrated sigh, and sat back to think on everything he said. I guess this earth magic was going to be a lot harder than I thought.