Chapter 12: A New Way to Spell

What is magic? What is this ability that we have been granted?

The question raced through Wyn’s mind. That night was a quiet night. A small dinner, and off Magus went to the casino, to make the guild another gold coin richer. Wyn, on the other hand, returned to her room, with all sorts of bad memories welling up. It had been a long time since she last thought about her father— no, perhaps that was a lie. He was always on her mind.

It was a blessing. It was what denoted the difference between the wheat and the chaff, the mighty from the weak, from the patrician from the plebeian. It is Emjira’s blessing upon those who guide the future. That was her father’s words.

Emjira’s blessing, huh. She hadn’t prayed to Emjira in a long time. The adventurers simply didn’t revere their gods like they did back in Emijililan. They didn’t even have a church. Wyn supposed that she had gotten swept up into the adventuring life easier than she had expected. Would Emjira be mad at her for that? Would her father?

Did Magus believe in Emjira? He certainly didn’t seem to. Yet he was able to cast anyway, better than anyone else she had seen, perhaps save for her sister. No, perhaps…

She shook the thought from her head. Her sister was the most powerful magus she had ever seen. Not just her, everyone back home had said as much. Did she know about this strange style of casting that Magus did?

She held out a hand. Sparks sputtered forth, only to die out. With the amount of mana she was pouring into the spell, if it did work, she’d probably blow out the entire room, so perhaps it was better that it didn’t work. She hung her head in her lap, hugging her knees. If it was Roselwyn, she’d probably get it on her first try. The difference between a genius and a failure.

For the first time in a long time, Wyn found herself homesick. She missed the marbled halls of the castle. She missed the endless studying, pouring her days into books. She missed her father’s lectures. She missed the view of the knights barracks from her window, where she could watch her sister train. She missed her sister. But that was over. No matter how much she regretted it, she had given up that life. She shook her head. There was no point in dwelling in the past. She chuckled at herself. How ironic, coming from her. She pushed her open her window, and leapt out. Better to practice outside in the cool night air. No risk of blowing herself up, either.

Over and over, until the moon was high overhead. Nonstop practice. Progress was slow. A small fireball was all that Wyn had successfully conjured. But in another sense, progress was quite fast. After all, that single fireball took the creation of four new, never-before-seen spells.

The door to the party hall creaked open as Wyn snuck through. The place was as loud as usual, but Wyn found she could tolerate the noise a bit better. She scanned the room, trying to find Magus. She wanted someone to show off her accomplishments too, and Magus could at the very least offer poignant feedback. Who else could say that they created four completely new spells in one night? Her face puffed with pride, the anticipation of his praise dancing in her ears. Instead, she found him hunched over a poker table with cards in hand and empty glasses to his side.

“All in!” Magus shouted. A series of groans arose in response, with one confident “call”. Once the dealer unveiled the remaining cards, for once in his life, Magus looked proud. He swept all the coins on the table towards himself. He proceeded to flag down a waiter, order another drink, and lose the subsequent three hands.

Honestly, Wyn thought. Is this any way for an ancient being unsealed after millenia should act. It was easy for Wyn to forget, but Magus was not human. Not anymore, if he used to be, which Wyn also wasn’t sure about. In one night, he can be revealing secrets of magic that even the most prestigious maguses of the nation had no idea about, and in the next hour be drunk and gambling in an adventurers guild’s casino. Though, Wyn supposed, he wasn’t actually drunk. He was just an idiot.

“Would you like a drink, ma’am?” A waiter came up to Wyn, unraveling her thoughts. She waved them away, intently staring at Magus’ table from a few tables over.

“You know, you’re free to join them if you want.” The waiter glanced at where Wyn was staring.

“Huh?” Wyn exclaimed. “No way, who do you think I am?”

“Right. Well, I should let you know that stalking and harassment are behaviors that are frowned upon in this establishment.”

“I’m not—!” Exasperated, Wyn could do nothing but just shoo the waiter away. Though after an hour of observation, Wyn came away with no new information. Magus really was just a man who really enjoyed his cards.

As he ordered another drink, Magus cast a glance backwards. For the past while, Wyn had just been sitting there, glaring at him. He wondered for what reason could Wyn possibly be angry at him for, but nothing came to mind. He figured that if Wyn had a complaint, he’d hear about it sooner or later, and decided to pay her no mind. He watched as she let out a wide yawn, clearly up much later than she was supposed to be. By his observations, the latest hours that Wyn had been up have well since been past. Would she be okay? He had some trouble understanding the functions of those around him, but from his understanding, humans typically required sleep. But then again, there were currently five other humans with him, all seemingly wide awake.

“I have a question.” Magus suddenly blurted out. “Do you require sleep?”

“What kind of question is that?” An adventurer asked, as he moved a pile of coins to the pot. “Of course we do.”

“Then when? I find you often at these hours, no?”

“Well.” Another adventurer answered. “We don’t go back to back nights like you do. This is only like a twice per week thing for me, and I spend the next day sleeping in.” The other adventurers at the table nodded in agreement.

“I only work at night. I spend the day asleep.” Dealer answered. Magus nodded.

“Must be nice, not needing sleep, aye?” One of the adventurers quipped, to which Magus nodded. He glanced back at Wyn. Another yawn. Magus stood up from the table, throwing his cards into the muck.

“Apologies, but I’ll have to fold this hand. I’ll be right back.” The other adventurers shrugged, continuing their game as Magus left.

“Are you alright?” Magus asked, sitting down next to Wyn. Wyn jumped, blinking twice. Magus, who should be in the middle of a game of poker, suddenly right in front of her.

“Right, huh, what? Yeah, yeah.” Wyn mumbled, her eyes half-lidded.

“Did you have something you wanted to discuss?”

“Discuss…” Wyn yawned. “Right. Right!” Wyn shot up. “Watch this!”

In an instant, a tiny fireball goes flying across the room. Magus immediately blocked it with his hand, sending small embers onto the table.

“Hey…” Wyn whined.

“Um, excuse me…” A waiter came up to them. “But I don’t really need to explain why that’s not allowed, right?”

“Right. Apologies. I’ll excuse us at once.” Magus scooped Wyn in his arms, hurrying out of the party hall.

The two stumbled back into Wyn’s room. Wyn collapsed into her bed face first, while Magus went to close the opened window.

“Just what were you thinking?” Magus rubbed his fingers against his temple. Wyn didn’t move, her face buried into the mattress

“I just wanted to show you my new spells…”

“Right. Come on, lay down properly.” Magus pulled Wyn’s blankets over her. Her face was in a frown, eyes cast towards the shadows on the wall. Every once in a while, her eyes would dart to Magus’ face, then away again. Magus let out a sigh, before sitting down at the edge of her bed. He rested his hand atop Wyn’s head.

“Good job.” Wyn let out a small smile, drifting off into sleep.