NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 7.2 What Is Going On
“Now, As discussed earlier, all magic comes from one of six sources. More often than not, a studious individual can discern the intent of a spell formula, or at the very least which school of magic the spell belongs to, by observing which source it is derived from. To give you an example; nearly every fire spell known comes from the lungs. Many healing spells come from the liver, but a few have been known to be from the stomach. By next class I want a report detailing what each of the six sources specialize in and why certain spells in the same school would differentiate from the norm.”
The class filed out of the lecture hall. Within mere seconds only Sade and the professor who was previously speaking were left.
“Professor Armondo, do you have a moment?”
“Hey, just give me a bit of time to pack up and I’ll be right with you chica.”
“Sade, actually.” She was slightly embarrassed. She didn’t think she had left such a minuscule presence that one of her teachers forgot her name.
“What was that?” Professor Armondo said after he slid the last book off the lectern and into his bag. “Oh, of course I know your name is Sade. I apologize, a bit of the old tongue slips out from time to time.”
The old dwarf gave a chuckle that rumbled in his broad chest. The professor had an odd quality to his voice, that Sade couldn’t quite identify. It was husky to the point of gravel, but not quite. Perhaps a sandy tone? Sade supposed the description fit, since it matched what color his long hair had that wasn’t dyed gray. His voice was unique enough to make his long winded lectures somewhat entertaining. Few would suspect the laid back dwarf chuckling in front of her was one of the most powerful water mages in the kingdom.
“Alright, got everything all packed. Now what can I do for-...” He stared at Sade as if she was under dissection. He adjusted his spectacles further up his nose and stepped closer before suddenly exploding in anger. “What in the blazes are you doing girl!? Are you channeling spells from the same source in my classroom?” He stepped even closer, looking at her chest as though he could see through her completely. “And… is that the same spell on top of that? Yes, I see the mirroring formula. Are you really trying to double-cast the same thing?”
However Sade thought this conversation would go, being lectured for her attunement training was not what she expected. “I-I am sir! This is mainly for training my attunement though.”
“Attunement? Ah, I see how this could be useful for training.” He shot a baleful eye at Sade. “But I distinctly remember telling you in a conversation much like this one specifically why trying to hold, let alone cast, mirrored spell formula is dangerous.”
She nodded. “You did sir. But I feel that the benefits of training far outweigh the risks due to the extra layer of complexity involved. I have done a lot of experimentation before coming to this conclusion.”
This seemed to modify the man. “Should probably try it out myself. Very clever Sade. I’m glad you aren’t trying to actually cast two of the same spell at once.”
Sade didn’t want to correct her teacher for fear of being yelled at again. But a stronger, more proud part of her had to let the truth be known. She had accomplished so much in her short time at the university. “I have been successful in dual-casting actually. Both mirrored copies and spells from separate sources.”
Armondo looked deep into her eyes, as if trying to spot the lie to her words. “Show me.” He said simply before a wave of water erupted out of his hand and formed a wall taller than Tyr a short distance from the two of them.
She complied with his request. Twin streams of fire erupted from her hands and collided with the wall of water in a burst of steam. He looked at her with a new light. It was still calculating, assessing, but there was a hint of pride behind those pale blue orbs. “Impressive. What else can you do?”
Sade showed him everything. She alternated activations of her ‘flamethrower’, then used one hand to trace the formula for her mist spell, casting both at the same time. She tried to push herself to the limit. She twirled and danced in a magical ballet of sorcerous destruction, swapping between every spell formula she knew, all while casting a mirrored copy or in combination with another random spell.
Modified ‘elven claw’, ‘flame lantern’, ‘Ice spike’, ‘mage missile’, ‘fireball’, ‘ice ball’, and more. After five minutes of constant spellwork, she cut off the flow of her mana and kneeled on the floor in exhaustion.
The professor was stunned at her display. “Only in your first year and already able to weave spells with such elegance and precision. Your vocation must be quite powerful to grant you a skill like that at such a low level.”
“I, huff, I am not using a, huff, skill.” Sade gasped out.
The man’s eyes bulged and he quickly sat down on a nearby chair. “All that. And without a skill?” He stared at her in bewilderment. “It’s no wonder you can keep up with the likes of Ariwyn. I think you have what it takes to be the next great magus.”
Sade had to hide her wince at his praise. What would he think if he knew she could have been a magus? What would he say if he knew she chose something else? She doubted he or anyone else at Mya University would understand her choice. And with some luck and a lot of hard work, they would never know.
“As much as I enjoy hearing compliments from you, I actually stayed behind to discuss something else.” She said once she recovered her breath.
“Oh? Something you need help with? What is it?” He seemed to have recovered his energy at the prospect of helping his student.
Sade produced one of the books they found in the ruins. “It is some sort of spellbook, I just can not read the descriptions and I have not seen spells like this before.”
He gingerly gripped the tome, as if it was a precious child. He slowly opened the cover to the first page. “Let’s see here…” Sade saw him slowly trace his finger along the delicate script, line by line, page by page. “This is interesting.” He said as he got to the first spell form.
“In what way, if I may ask?”
He looked up from the yellowed pages. He had a particular twinkle in his eye. One that Sade knew meant answers would not be easy to obtain. “Tell me, what are the sources of mana in the body?”
“The mind, heart, lungs, stomach, liver, and the reproductive region. Called either the womb or groin depending on preference or gender.”
“As perfect an answer as if you transcribed it from one of my lectures.” He chuckled.
“It helped that you were discussing the same subject the moment before this conversation.”
“Indeed!” Armondo chuckled once more. “I guess this will help you slightly with the assignment I just gave as well. Don’t tell the other students. I would hate to be accused of favoritism.” Sade promised him that their conversation would not be repeated, so he continued. “You see this symbol here? That is an old rune used to denote the source of the womb. The first spell in an old book, and it is sourced from the womb. That is why I found it interesting.”
Sade was trying to follow his logic. She couldn’t think of anything about a womb spell that would stand out to an accomplished mage like Armondo. She admittedly didn’t know any spells that shared that particular source, but she also didn’t know more than a dozen spells all told, most of them simple cantrips she found in her father’s library.
“Why is that so interesting?”
“Because, dear girl, of the hundreds of spells I know, and the thousands I've at least heard of, there is only a single spell that is sourced from the reproductive region.”
“Only… one?” That sounded impossible. There had to be as many spells as there were stars in the sky. Each spell was different from the other by its source, path, and outlet. Sade’s ‘flamethrower’ shared a similar pathway and source as ‘freezing mist’, and the exact same outlet, the palm. The difference being that ice spells typically loop back around and touch their source, the lungs, a second time to invert the element. There were thousands of possible combinations and iterations on spells just using that same philosophy. So how had mages for thousands of years completely neglected to try one of the sources of magic?
“I see you have grasped the same conundrum I have.” The old dwarf said. “The best explanation I could find is that because we have no idea how the source works, experienced mages are more hesitant to try. The last thing anyone wants is to cast a powerful spell of unknown effects. With all the other sources, much of the groundwork has been laid for millennia, we have a solid idea of what a spell could do based on previous examples.”
“But… That…” That was just stupid! What mages would ever just disregard a sixth of all magic? She just couldn’t understand. Her mind, unable to comprehend the sheer incompetence of her forebearers.
“Relax girl. I said it was the best excuse I’ve heard. Not that it was even valid to begin with.” He put a broad hand on her shoulder. “But now we have a chance to rediscover something grand.” He gestured to the open book in front of them. “Someone had done the legwork. And maybe you can figure out why it was forgotten.”
He was right. Just the first page of this book was enough to advance the study of magic by leaps and bounds. “But we do not know what the spell does. I do not recognize the writing.”
Her teacher laughed and reached into his bag for a scrap piece of paper. He scribbled a note on it and handed it to Sade. “That’s a problem that can be fixed quite easily.” Sade took the paper and he smiled warmly. “My best guess is that you found a book written in old elvish.”
“Old elvish?”
“Indeed. Those prickly high elves switched their written and spoken language about, oh two, three thousand years back. No one really knows why, and they refuse to share the reason. But our library has a dictionary squirreled away somewhere.” His grin grew wide and a bit wild. “Just hand this note to Jenkins and he’ll find it for ya.”
“Oh,” He said almost as an afterthought. “I think it will be in our best interest if you don’t tell anyone about the dictionary or this little spellbook here.”
“You would just hand this back to me, and pretend you never saw it?” Sade stared at the book that lay right where professor Armondo left it. It was still turned to the first spell formula, as if begging for its myriad secrets to be uncovered.
“In case you haven't realized, I’m something of a ‘specialist’. I highly doubt many of the spells this book has are novel ways to use water.” He shook his head. “Nah, this is something best left to some talented lass who has the potential to shake things to their core.”
He grabbed his things and started walking towards the door. “Oh, and Sade.” He said while turning around to face her.
“Yes professor?”
“Please be sure to finish the assignment I gave you in class. I know how a good project can just take over all aspects of your life, but do try to stay on top of your schoolwork. I would hate to be the one who caused my brightest student’s grades to plummet.”
Sade laughed. “Of course professor Armondo. In fact, I think I should head to the library to research the topic immediately.”
It was his turn to laugh. “Good, good. I look forward to both the assignment and whatever you find in that spellbook in your spare time.” He began to walk towards the door once more. “Good luck Sade!”
A sudden thought struck Sade as she saw her teacher’s back. “That spell.” She said, unsure how to phrase her question.
“Hrm?” He asked, turning to her once more.
“That one spell. The only one you know that is sourced from the womb, do you know what it does?”
“Oh, that…” He scratched his chin.
Is… is he embarrassed? Sade couldn’t fathom what kind of spell would provoke that sort of reaction.
“Contraception.” Sade could only blink in surprise at the word that just escaped his lips. Thankfully he continued explaining. “The spell is one of contraception. Many of the whores down at the docks would cast the spell to prevent any unwanted pregnancies.”
Before his words could fully sink in, he practically ran out the door as fast as his shorter legs could carry him.
Sade’s head swam. It may have been because of the mana drain she suffered from pushing herself earlier, but she knew deep down that the problem was more complicated than that. Something was wrong with the magical community. Public sentiment for mages was at an all time low and mages were potentially being attacked out in the wilds. Somehow a whole magical school has been abandoned from research, and she had only begun to scratch the surface of what was truly going on.
Professor Armondo knew far more than what he shared with Sade, that much was obvious. But aside from the implications that her kind professor had visited ladies of the night, he had hinted that the information she found could potentially be repressed or outright erased if word got out.
“Just what is going on?” She whispered quietly to herself.
