Master of Magic

The noble devil stands before me. His presence is strange but a welcome one after that last ordeal.

“I am the great Almza Yoazu, Master of Magic. But a thief like yourself has likely never heard of such a wise wizard as of yet, I’m right, aren't I?”

His eyes smugly narrow with a slight smile creeping in. He seems very full of himself. But he’s definitely powerful. I think it would be best for the time being to cooperate with him.

Still sat crumpled on the ground, pulling myself up into a sitting position.

“You’re correct oh so great master of magic, never once in my life have I met such an individual with such a status. Dost thou have a means of magical healing?”

Almza laughs at King’s attempt at a medieval dialect, “Ahah, I do indeed. However before I perform such a miracle may I ask you your name.” Looking me up and down, Almza seems most interested in my hornless head and the shovel. Continuing his interrogation asking… “You’re quite interesting as well, may I ask where you come from, what roads led you to this patch in the forest?

I think about my answers carefully. I feel like it’d be wise to share the bare minimum. This person seems to hold a lot of power in this world, it’d be smart to hold onto what little knowledge I have over him, in case he ends up being evil.

“My name is King. And I’m just a lone wandering nomad from across the desert, I’ve just only recently stumbled upon these lands.”

Almza raises his hand to his mouth, thinking. “I see, you came from the desert. You’re the first traveler I’ve heard about that has traveled by desert but, I’ll leave my questions and curiosities there for now. Here, come close, allow me to remove the damaged areas on your body.”

Almza kneels down next to me, placing his full palm on my chest. His arms slowly begin to glow blue, almost appearing as if his veins were branching spiderwebs illuminating with his magic. A ripple of intense light hoops through his arm into my body. Almost instantaneously my damaged ribs and crushed arm are reverted to normal. However the cut from hours ago remains unhealed.

“You uh missed a spot”

“What my magic doesn’t just miss a spot…” Peering down at King’s arm still bandaged up in a rag soaked in dried blood. “Oh I see. Yes I guess it will miss a spot. That damage is above my pay grade.”

This leaves me almost dumbfounded. “So much for a master of magic, can’t even heal a simple cut.”

“SO MUCH FOR A–... No… no, phew, ok.” Calming himself down, not willing to be rage baited by such an inconceivable comment. “What did you expect, there’s no such thing as healing magic.”

“No such thing?! Then what did you just do to me??” I respond with confusion.

“I simply turned back time on your body, to a point from before you got hurt. That cut must have happened way before the battle here. That’s why it didn’t return to normal. Of course with a bit more time and effort I could restore your body to its best shape but, this is enough for now.” Responding to my question, in a more teacherly tone.

“No healing magic, what kind of rpg is this” I reactively mutter under my breath.

“What was that?” Almza responds quizzingly.

“Oh– Nothing” Climbing to my feet, my body now as fine as it was before the battle with the mega bear.

“Well then, wanderer King, may I ask that you accompany me to my home, along the way I can tell you more about magic if you’d like.”

Learning more about this world’s magic could prove useful and honestly really cool. And maybe he’ll be able to give me an idea on how I might be able to return home.

“Alright magic master, I’ll join your party. I’m ready to move out whenever you are, lead the way!”

“Ah divine, and please just call me Almza, no need to be so formal with my title.”

Following behind Almza we walk through the trees eventually reaching a dirt path. Just off the path rests his foraging basket. Retrieving it, we continue down the path deeper into the woods.

~         ~         ~

The dirt path twists and turns but it remains an easy hike. Almza’s golden staff has cooled down enough to where he begins using it like a walking stick, it makes me wonder why he would wield such a double edged sword of a weapon.

Almza seems to have noticed my stares at his staff. “Like what you see, King? I know I know it's a pretty magnificent rod, there’s no wonder in my mind as to why you went and yoinked it.” speaking with a playful jab at my previous actions.

“Yeah it's a pretty fire staff and all that, but don’t you think it’s kind of useless? After just one spell the heat of the staff basically made it unusable.” I ask.

“Nope, you just suck at magic. The staff only reacted that way because you don’t know how to properly channel magic through your body. What you did was basically cast a spell using the magic stored within the staff, causing it to overheat. That sort of thing would happen even if the staff shot out bolts of water.”

“Every creature in this world has a Soul within them, that Soul and its strength helps you create magic. A Soul’s strength can be nurtured through almost anything in life; through study, battle, community, and even acts of evil. The Soul can evolve and grant you powers beyond what you believe to be possible.”

“Every Soul has its limits, you were likely feeling your own nearing the end of that battle. As long as your Soul still holds just an ounce of strength you could bounce back from anything. My time magic helps keep the Soul in peak condition, it’s quite powerful.”

“Your shovel appears to be a good metal for channeling magic, it could even hold a little magic of its own. How about when we get a chance, I’ll teach you how to use your own Soul’s magic, no more needing to steal another wizard’s staff in the future, kay.”

“Um yeah, sounds good.” Gesturing my response with two thumbs up.

Soul magic huh. Anybody can cast magical spells. This still feels like a video game, but I don’t really know at this point. It all feels too real. I feel like if this was a game he wouldn’t have taken interest in the shovel so much. This could actually be real real. Or it's just a really cool dream. A dream I wouldn’t mind living in.

“Looks like we made it!” exclaims Almza.

Looking forward past the few remaining trees I see an opening in the woods, a village hidden in the leaves.

“Welcome to my home, King!”

END CHAPTER 4