An Inelegant Test of Magic

When Renji came to, he looked around in confusion, momentarily bewildered. It was as though his conversation with Tiamat were nothing but a hallucination, but he felt different. He could tell he was changed now, but “how” or “what” still eluded him. Illyandaril, however, did not fail to notice his momentary confusion, her smile practically reaching from ear to ear. “Already!? Come on, Renji! Tell me! Tell me who you spoke to!” The tone of the sanctum shifted instantly. That an outworlder was blessed, and so soon at that, was already a cause for commotion, but given every other extraneous circumstance it beggars belief. “My boy, please tell us what you saw.” King Roland stepped forward to put a hand on Renji’s shoulder, offering himself like a comfortable father, so that he might let out what he experienced, for better or worse.

It was an offer so jarring that, without thinking, Renji began to pour himself out to him. “I-it’s hard to explain. It was like everyone stopped moving, like time itself had frozen. Everything peeled away until I was left standing in a cave, and I saw…Tiamat.” The moment her name was spoken, the room grew cold. Tiamat’s earlier words of confidence had swiftly come into question. Renji could already feel accusatory glares burrowing into the back of his mind, but the king seemed as stoic as ever. “Tiamat? That is an incredibly rare thing, and you say you not only heard her, but saw her. Is that correct?” Renji, sensing the growing tension, nodded his head firmly.

“Hm, that is quite curious. Worship of Tiamat has declined a lot over the years, and she is very selective about those she visits. While it is those of the beastman clans that get her blessings, I have never heard of a human gaining her blessing. You’re not hiding a tail, are you, my boy?” Roland’s words were half-jest, he still desired an explanation—but why? “No sir—I mean, your majesty. There are no beastmen in my world, just humans.”

“I understand. Please, continue. What did she say to you?”

Renji considered his words carefully, though he understood that lying here would forever taint their perception of him far more than simply being chosen by a goddess they disliked. The truth was his only option. Renji went on to explain how Tiamat took his hand and offered her blessing to him freely, and asked nothing in return. 

He left out her altered form, or the kiss she placed upon him. “Truly!?” Roland stroked his beard in amused disbelief, his eyes wide with surprise. “My boy, I haven’t heard of anyone being allowed to touch a god, or at least anyone that lived to tell the tale. That she came to you and held your hand of her own will speaks to the faith she has in you, or perhaps how desperate she is for you to succeed. I think we can take this as Tiamat saying that she has chosen to side with us against The Dark Lord. What an auspicious day this has been!” The King patted Renji’s back hard, his apparent joy crushing the tension in the room.

Illya stared at Renji in shock. This man who just bested her in combat—even though she held back, was now blessed so directly by a goddess? She could feel something, a change in aura perhaps, but even one as dense as she was could feel the change in Renji. Something fundamental had shifted deep within him, and it would appear that only Tiamat knows what that would be so far. An unexpected ball of energy swiftly approached Renji, staring up at him with star-struck eyes. “By the gods, Renji, how did you manage to do it? How did you get Tiamat’s attention? Did you feel her influence when you were fighting Illya?” Nemi’s endless barrage of questions had begun. “She must be a follower of Soren,” Renji thought to himself. When he tried to answer at least one question, however, Hutch cleared his throat and stepped forward.

“Given the confusion on your face, it is clear to me that Tiamat did not explain what blessing she has given you. We are unable to directly tell what it is, but while we’re on this journey to discover your strengths, why don’t you follow me?” Leading the group back to the courtyard, Hutch directed everyone but himself, Renji, and Nemi to stand far back. One by one, Hutch conjured fist-sized orbs of many elements. Earth, water, fire, shadow, light, ice, lightning, wind, and something else—something that seemed gaseous, but flickering with many abstract colors.

“Renji, listen to me closely. Ordinarily, I would demand a more thorough test, but as you will not be staying here long before you must depart, I have prepared this test for you. It’s a bit brutish for my liking, and dangerous, but it’ll help us to determine your aptitude for magic, and what elements are more likely to listen to you. I will place one of these orbs between your hands, and you shall simply try and hold it there for as long as you can.” Lowering his staff in front of Renji, he waited. Realizing what he wanted, Renji held his hands out, putting the head of Hutch’s staff between his hands. “Now, focus. Reach out with your mind towards my staff. I will tell you when I feel you have—.” Hutch stopped speaking. Renji wasted no time, recalling the times as a child where he would try to see if he had superpowers in secret. While those failed, he knew the exact feeling Hutch was trying to invoke here, and it would appear that he was correct with how quickly Hutch shut up.

“Good. You’re ready. Stand still, and keep that focus solid. If you put too much power into it, the element may erupt. Too little, it’ll just drop, which may present its own set of problems. If you focus on it and your aptitude is lacking, the element shall simply fade away. However, should the elemental nodes take to you, you’ll find they tend to stick around. We shall see how long, if any, do.” Pointing his staff to the first node, the fire node, Hutch guided it gently to the space between Renji’s hands. As silly as this felt, Renji kept himself dead serious, especially since Hutch looked as nervous as though he were handling a live bomb.

It was by no means a swift process. Fire was quick to drop from his hand, though it stayed for a moment. Lightning was next, falling from his grasp nearly right away. Earth, however, remained. After a while Renji looked to Hutch in confusion, hoping to get some form of guidance, but Hutch’s face remained stoic, studious, and completely serious. “Incredible. From this, we here determine that you take pretty well to the earth element. See if you can move it.”

Renji was fascinated by the ease with which he was able to move the sphere of earth. He let his imagination take him as he rolled the sphere along his hands for a moment, before snaking the earth across his arms and shoulders, before forming back into a sphere on his other hand. It was like second nature, something he never knew was there but somehow used with the ease of moving his own limbs. Setting the orb of earth aside, Renji watched as the sphere returned to the loamy soil beneath him with wonder before extending his hands out again. He was ready for the next one.

Water went just as well. It was like a dream come true. He would occasionally flirt with the idea of controlling water, always believing it would be the superpower he’d choose. Now that he had access to the water element through magic, he knew now with absolute certainty that he was going to want to study up as much as he could, for this was an opportunity he wouldn’t dare leave to the wayside.

The remaining elements went well, but not nearly as well as earth and water. Ice would drop swiftly, wind lasted nearly a minute before falling, and light and shadow both lasted a few minutes before Renji lost control. Shadow dropped harmlessly, but the light orb began to react. Renji fought to control the shaking magic as it destabilized—then, it erupted. The light was bright enough to momentarily blind every onlooker, save those who were swift enough to look away and shield their eyes.

After a minute of painful recovery, there was one orb left. “This, Renji, is the last one. Please don’t let what happened with the light happen here, or it’ll be far worse. This doesn’t represent a traditional element.” Hutch began to slowly, carefully, lower it between Renji’s hands. “This is aether. Raw, hard to control. It is the essence of all things. One might even call it life essence given form, so please, do be careful. When left unchecked, it can be completely unpredictable.”

Renji could feel the sweat beginning to form on his forehead, the weight of a responsibility he did not understand was pressing heavily on him, but what happened was something nobody—not even Hutch—could have predicted. A few moments after the aether floated between his hands, the fragile cage containing the raw aether shattered, but in defiance of Hutch’s fears, it did not run wild. Instead, the gaseous form floated towards Renji’s chest, sinking into him. He should panic, he should run, ask what’s going on, but Renji stood there, fascinated, experiencing an odd satisfaction—as though he needed this. He felt invigorated, strengthened, like he could lift a small car, but as swiftly as the moment was there, it was gone.

Silence echoed over the courtyard, even Hutch seemed paler than normal before he took a long, deep breath. He composed himself as though he were a judge about to deliver a sentencing, and that terrified Renji. “Well, we at least know what one aspect of your blessing is.” Hutch shook his head in disbelief, cautiously patting Renji on his shoulder. “How did it feel?”

“Strange,” Renji muttered, staring down at his hands. “Like I could leap over the castle, but only for a moment.”

“I see. Well, I doubt you could, but that feeling is pretty close to what I believe the reality is. I believe you are able to absorb natural aether, or magic that is aether aspected, to give yourself a temporary boost. Be careful you don’t get addicted to that feeling. There are those who have learned to absorb elements like fire and get addicted to the feeling of power that they get from it. When it goes too far, though, catastrophe can happen, so please be careful not to take in too much aether. It’ll be a fate far too grim to describe if you do.”

As Hutch finished explaining what he believes Tiamat’s blessing to be to Renji, the others began to crowd him, staring at him with a sense of awe. “Just one thing after another, isn’t it? Are all outworlders like this?” Illya remarked, brushing some hair over her shoulders while she maintained her prideful mask. “Nobody has been able to absorb aether before. I mean, we all do when we breathe, but not like this. To be able to absorb such raw power like that, I can’t wait to see what you can do.” She laughed and put a hand on his back reassuringly, but Renji didn’t feel assured at all.

Looking up at the sky, he could see that sunset was nearing. Remembering something important, his head snapped towards Hutch. “Could I have a holy symbol? One for Tiamat, please.”