Magic At The Deep End

 “AHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“Ohohoho! I told ya to stop yer squirmin’. If ya wanna be a member of my precious family, we hafta figure out what kind of grimoire ya are! I can't do that if yer keep wriggling around like a baby!”

“Right, okay, but the giant fireballs you're currently throwing at me play into this how!?”

“You'd find that out if you just stop movin’. Gods above, yer one of the most powerful things in existence and yer scared of yer own shadow. Just let me hit ya with one teeny fireball.”

“Teeny!? that fireball is huge! Are you trying to kill me!? Am I a failed summon after all!?”

I could feel the old man shrug. “Okay, one huge fireball, then. I told ya before, magic is a combination of visualisation plus mana. Since you are a repository, you don't need to worry about manner so much. Magic is innate within you, it's literally yer job! Most of the time, it's up to yer partner to write spells in ya, but my kids are special. If ya just let yourself visualise magic, this room will grant ya some spells of yer own.”

“Can't I just, I don't know, be a book that lets people conjure flowers or repairs chipped wood? I didn't ask to be tortured! Why do you have to be like thaaaaat!? I managed to squeeze myself in between two bricks, narrowly avoiding a bright blue and silver fireball. My body couldn't come with me, and just rested next to the wall. Remnants of the fireball dripped onto it, but no damage was done.

It seemed the old man was correct. I was powerful. Still, you think he could’ve been a bit more gentle, right? I am a newly formed hatchling, a delicate baby boy. I do not want to be fried within my first couple of hours of being a powerful magical object. Thank you very much.

“Didn't you say that ya wanted to learn every spell in the world? That can't be done unless yer willing to get hurt.”

“You masochist, That's a lie. You just want to get me to come out so you can zap me with a darkness laser and go Ohohoho! What happened to the kind old man that rescued me when I died, was it all an act? A trick? Well, I'm not having it. It's not happeninnnnng!” A blast of wind from inside the wall blew me back into the light. Stupid old geezer.

“You were the one who said ya wanted to have adventure, that ya need to give life another go.” The winds that blew me into the main chamber earlier reappeared. They manifested themselves as tendrils and gripped on to my spine. I tried to struggle, but these were much stronger than before. They were big enough that I could see wind currents within wind currents, like some kind of beautiful elemental mosaic. “Sorry about the namby-pamby voice, by the way. Official Auren takes away all my personality an’ makes me sound like one of those Godly folk, disgusting.”

“What? Old man, please! I’m scared!” I was still getting used to being confident enough to say my feelings out loud. I got the impression that this wasn't something that was going to sway the library. He knew my feelings after all. As fearful as I was of pain, and as much as I didn't want to admit it, I fear being nothing even more. “I’m scared…”

“I know, sonny boy. Unfortunately, this is what they call throwing someone in at the deep end. If yer not gonna come out of that shell, then I'll drag ya out!” the library collected all of the wind into a large ball. The inside of it rocked and jutted as if it was going to burst out of its own body. I closed my eyes tight. “Good luck, my child! I love you!”

From the ball about a dozen pellets of wind emerged. The spell wasn't as dramatic as I first thought, but I could still feel the sharp edges of the air as it came towards me. I knew I was afraid. I also knew that it's kind of cliche to think about all the things you've done wrong when you think you're about to die. You think of friends, family. Well…

I'd done that once before. They're gone now.

Thank the Gods.

The moment of clarity gave me time to think. What did I actually want? The old man said that the type of magic all things possess is based both on their mana, personality, and temperament. I was a blank slate. I could do an entire personality change and nobody would know. With the help of somebody strong, I could subjugate this land. Everyone would look at me then.

I remembered the magician’s face. The way he looked at me when I gave back my card and told me what a clever boy I was. He had a love for life and the desire to bring joy to others. If he was in this situation, he wouldn't be pitiful like me.

My world turned its back on me, but, as crazy as the old man is, I believe him when he says that he cares about me. He is trying to teach me things. He wants to spend time with me.

I have to be there kind of person who will live up to his expectations. I will be the kind of person who makes the world better.

“I want to help people."

As the words exited my mind, I felt a light bubble within me. I focused on it and let it move outside my body. It changed shape into a round green sphere. When the wind pellets hit it, they dissolved into nothing under a shimmering glow. I giggled as I felt a tingle inside me. I opened myself up to find that words had been written on my page in a glowing blue ink:

Minor Shield - protects against small amounts of piercing, slashing, bludgeoning and magical damage. Does not protect against Divine or Chaos magic. Force Defense Spell.

The library wrapped me in a warm, breezy hug.

“See?” The old man winked. “Easy as that.”

***

“So what happens now? Do I just sit here forever?”

“Whazzat you say? As if I don't give you enough already. How spoiled!”

“Well, technically, I'm a grimoire now? Or at least I assume I am? How am I supposed to go on some kind of grand adventure if I'm stuck in here? What are you going to do? Just throw me out into the world? You know, dust in the wind and all that.”

“Oh right! Nah, yer not ready yet. Who in their right mind would want a spell book with one spell in it. I have enough energy for three. Two more to go and we can see about getting you into the big wide world.”

“But that's not fair!” I know I sounded really stupid for the childish behaviour, but it was something I never got to do when I was alive. I was also getting kind of restless at this point. I didn't know how much longer I could stay cooped up in here, especially if it meant more of my grandfather's tests.

“Rules are rules, kiddo! Besides, what kind of responsible parent would I be if I let ya go out into the big, wide world with only a minor shield spell? Anything stronger than a spit from a campfire and you'd be dead. Still, I am impressed that ya could conjure a defensive spell on yer first try. Most people wanna go flashy with lightning strikes and such. I like someone who thinks of others.”

“Offensive? Defensive? Are they types of magic?”

“Well, ain’t I dimmer than a torch in fog. I forgot to explain it to ya! Basically, magic is separated into two categories: Type and Use. The Type determines the origin of the magic. The origins are: Elemental, Force, Spatial, Divine and Chaos. Elemental, Divine and Chaos would be pretty easy for me to explain to somebody like you I'd imagine. Anything involving yer fire, ice, water, or earth and such. That. Healing and holy magic come under the Divine. Anything that decays, corrupts or manipulates, that's Chaos magic.”

I figured as much. There was nothing outside of anything I'd seen in an RPG. I had prepared a few pages in my back to scribble down notes, but it didn't look like I was going to need them. Mostly.”

“All of the others seem pretty self-explanatory, Grandpa, but my shield was a force spell, and it just came out like a glowing green orb. How does that differentiate from say, an earth shield or a lightning shield?”

“That there is an excellent point, newest grandson of mine!” he took a pause, thinking about the best way to explain this to me. “Force is the inner will. It is the only type of magic that can be used by non-wizards. Everyone has it, everyone can use it, but very few can use it to a high standard.”

“What is required to use it at the highest standard?”

“Self belief.”

Oh wow. I was surprised I could even muster a small shield given that my self-esteem was in the toilet. If I had hands, I would have given myself a pat on the back."

“Now.” Grandpa continued. “Use makes up the second part of the spell. If type is the style of spell, use is the reason you are using it, the task the spell was created for. These can be split into four categories: Offensive, Defensive, Movement and Summon.”

Nod nod.

“So that’s why it listed as force defensive? Because force is that component and defending was the task?”

“Bingo!” This grandson o’ mine is a genius! An’ that there wind spell I cast on you to activate the spell is Wind Pellet. And it is a…?” He held the answer in the air. I had it.”

“Elemental Offensive! Wind, an element, was the component and to attack was the task!” Grandpa, getting a little teary, meant I got the question right.

“I am…So…So darn proud. That still doesn't excuse you doin’ yer tasks. Back in the circle we gotta get these spells outta-”

The room’s defences were up before I even heard it. All the doors had closed and the wind barriers were up. Then, I heard the footsteps. Light and slow. I didn't know enough about the world to know what constituted a threat yet, but that a small, shambling figure could penetrate our defences just by walking was very odd.

This was the perfect time to show my resolve to grandpa. In my flame form I could deftly get around the traps by exploiting gaps in the brick, just like when I was hiding. Whoever this was, they were about to get a taste of my new confidence.

What I saw immediately sent chills throughout my entire magical body.

“Shut the traps off, Grandpa!”

“What? What yer talkin’ about? If something is powerful enough to penetrate through most of my walls, we need to be scared. What in the world has gotten into you-”

“JUST DO IT!” I used all the urgency and rage I could find. The old man must've sensed my desperation, because without question he shut down his magic. When all of the colour and the residue had cleared, we saw him.

A young boy collapsed on the ground. Grandpa's eyes went wide with shock. He used his wind to pull into my feet.

“Ferd- Don’t just stand there boy! help him!”