Chapter 6: Magic 101

The morning light washes over Trudid's walls, the jungle of towers thrive with bushy tree canopies and overgrown vines.

A few animals have found a home among the urban ecosystem. The morning birds singing to each other as rabbits and squirrels peek their head out of the many crevices, shaking off the cold of the previous night.

Humans and gnomes begin to wake up for their work days, the smell of breakfast wafting through the streets. In the tinkerer's shop, an elderly gnome prepares a few sandwiches, stuffing them in clear plastic bags and writing names on each of them.

In the other room, a half-gnome groggily sits on the edge of a dog bed, groaning in the aftermath of a restless sleep.

"Ugghh...."

Kathryne twists and stretches, trying to release the tension in her spine. She raises her hands above her head, feeling her shoulder blades rub against her back.

Wolfgang opens the door and steps into the room, bumping her head against the doorframe as she tries ducking underneath it. She had been awake for some time, having changed into a clean, blue bodysuit and dark cargo pants.

Underneath her arm was a heavy blanket wrapped into a long bundle.

"Good morning," Kathryne sighs. Even now she could feel the warmth of the bed beckoning her to slither back underneath the sheets.

"hm." Wolfgang walks past Kathryne, placing the bundle on the floor and letting it roll open, revealing an impressive array of slaying tools.

Kathryne yawns as she grabs her handysack, pulling out a water bottle and quenching her thirst. Her skin still felt grimy from last night's events.

"Can I borrow your shower?"

"Don't have one here." Wolfgang answers, tossing a wet cloth to Kathryne. "I'm going with Ermon for some errands. I'll stop by the church and see if they have a bathhouse there."

Kathryne pauses as she grabs the cloth. "Churches has bathhouses?"

She starts to wipe her arms, a thought coming to her head. "Well, I suppose they technically could. Create Water is a cantrip for most divine casters, so if they wanted to aid the hygiene of their community, they could provide clean water for free or donations."

Kathryne looks up from wiping her cheeks, only to find the slayer staring at her, perplexed. "What?"

"It's strange that you don't know churches have bathhouses, but how they can supply the water for it."

Kathryne freezes, stammering. "W-well, I guess I just have really weird gaps in my memory."

"Hm." Wolfgang stands up, holding up a worn leather jacket. Kathryne watches the slayer slip her arms into its sleeves, paying attention to her skin.

She has nice muscles but her skin is... weirdly pale, almost sickly. Does she not get enough sun?

Kathryne train of thought is interrupted as Wolfgang straps her greatsword to her back, testing its draw by slipping the blade of of a slit on the side.

Heh. It's a shabbard.

"I will return around noon." Wolfgang sheathes her blade again. "Errick has his chores here. What will you be doing?"

Kathryne takes another sip out of her water bottle. "I'm going to get dressed and search my handysack for clues. After that, I'll go over my sheet and see what I can do for work or information. Maybe I'll even practice some magic!"

"Hm." Wolfgang wraps her cloak around her shoulders, ducking underneath the doorframe again. "If you're going to cast spells, do it outside. Stay out of trouble."

"Okay!"

Kathryne waits for Wolfgang to close the door before standing up, fixing her bed hair as she thinks.

Yesterday, I was suddenly transported here into a foreign world for an unknown reason. If I want to know what happened, I'm going to have to learn more about this world.

Kathryne peeks into her handysack, spotting a large and bulky compartment where a spellbook would obviously be, smiling giddily.

Of course, that includes fulfilling my life-long fantasy of casting magic.

She reaches inside, her hand slipping past the tome pocket and grabbing a stack of neatly folded clothes.

And to prime myself to practice wizardry, I should dress like a wizard!

Kathryne spends a few minutes lining up all of her clothing on the bed, her mind mixing and matching for an outfit that a caster might wear.

However, all the clothes on the bed were plain and modest. Dark cardigans, neutral colors, a lot of business casual. There were a few casual outfits, but many of them had faded colors.

The handysack also had a single expensive earring, but three backings.

Kathryne inspects the items closer. There was a lack of any odor or stains, and any shoes had a surprising lack of dirt and mud. She notices signs of re-stitching and repair, and many buttons on the blouses and tunics have been replaced more than once.

"Is this all? I was hoping for something... More 'magic-y'."

She flashes her ring and pulls up her inventory menu, scrolling through the list of items in her handysack. Hidden underneath the camping kits, she spots an item labeled 'Witch Outfit'.

Kathryne gasps in excitement, quickly opening her handysack wide and searching past the used twine bundles. She spots a piece of glittering fabric tucked deep into the magical pouch, immediately snatching it out and laying it on the bed.

Staring back at her was one of the most stripperific and expensive wizard robes she's ever seen. It seemed more like a sexy cosplay than anything representing the uniform of a scholar, with a brand symbol hidden on the small of the back.

The clothes were impeccably clean, although it also shows no sign of ever being worn before.

"I think I prefer the grandma skirts."

Kathryne sighs as she folds the outfit and sticks it back where she found it, disappointed. "Maybe I'll be able to sell it for a pretty penny."

In the end, Kathryne's wizard clothes of choice was a white, tailored blouse, combined with a high waisted skirt and winter leggings.

She lightly twirls, observing how the hem glides across the air. "This'll work."

Patting down her skirt, her fingers slip between the folds of the fabric, suddenly gasping aloud. "It has pockets!"

Kathryne feels how deep the pockets go, finding a neatly folded piece of paper. Unfurling the page, she looks over its contents.

"Friends of History by Calvin Keller. A Scrutiny in Salmon by Donan Kyle. The Planewalker's Guide to- oooh, I see now."

Printed in tiny letters were the names of a hundred or more book titles on both sides, with almost half of them crossed out by pencil lead. At the bottom corner, there was a 6 denoting the page number.

Kathryne folds up the page and neatly places it in her handysack, taking it with her as she makes her way out the door. Stepping into the hallway, she looks around for Errick.

I should probably let him know I'm going to be nearby.

Looking around for a few moments, she spots Errick near the store front, driving a broom around the floor. "Ah, Errick? I'm going to be out back, is that okay? I want to do some reading."

Errick looks up suddenly from his chore, as if he had forgotten Kathryne was still in the building. "Sure?"

Kathryne gives Errick a thumbs up, slipping away into the hallway and towards a rear exit.

Stepping outside, Kathryne feels the morning wind blow past in greeting.

The ground was covered in a pinkish dirt, with a rusted table and chair sitting quietly in the corner, shadowed by a tree whose purplish roots stretch over a fourth of the small area.

Dead leaves litter the ground, their aquamarine hue having turned into a dry yellow.

Kathryne walks over to the chair and drags her finger across its surface, inspecting how the rust clings to her fingertip.

"Gross."

She reaches into her handysack and pulls out a clean towel, placing it on the chair before sitting down. Taking in a deep breath, Kathryne closes her eyes and relaxes.

She listens to the sounds of birds whistling, singing for the new day as the leaves of the nearby tree whisper in the wind. Small beams of sunlight warm her skin through the gaps in the canopy.

Opening her eyes, Kathryne readies herself and finally pulls out the spellbook.

The grimoire was heavy with aged parchment, bound in an eerie black leather, as if light itself simply passed through its surface and disappeared into its depths.

Its very existence feels alien. Kathryne could sense that it was somehow monitoring the space around it, a chill crawling down her neck.

This book is a lot creepier than I was expecting. Is every spellbook like this?

She furrows her brow, resting the bottom edge against the table and placing her fingers on the cover.

Even if it's creepy, it holds power. And I'm going to need power.

After a moment of deliberation, Kathryne opens the book. Her eyes skim the first few pages to learn the grimoire's contents, but before long she begins to lose herself in its knowledge.

Hours are spent reading in depth as her mind slowly opens, feeling as if a lost understanding was beginning to return. As she reads along, she recognizes many of the terms and concepts from her Wrathfinder experience.

"In Merlin's theory, spells are categorized into 8 schools of magic based on their effects. The schools are Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment -hurk-, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy, and Transmutation."

Kathryne reflexively gags as she reads 'Enchantment.' Looks like Merlin's theory is almost identical to Wrathfinder's magic rules. The book goes in depth into the theory, but the same principles are there.

Abjuration spells are protective in nature. They can create barriers against physical and magical threats, and there are subschools based in counterspelling, dispelling, and banishing. A vital spell school for your adventuring wizard!

Conjuration is a highly versatile school, capable of calling creatures from other planes, conjuring objects on the spot, healing, and teleportation.

I would've liked to specialize in this school if I had a choice.

Divination is the best for gathering secrets and knowledge, foiling deceptive spells, and predicting the future.

Not the most practical school for adventuring, but it's far from the worst choice to specialize in.

Kathryne frowns as she reads through the next spell school.

Enchantments deal with charms and compulsions, affecting the minds of others and influencing their behavior.

Too bad like 90% of enemies in the Creature Codex have immunity or a high resistance to mind-affecting spells. There's even player traits that provide bonuses against Enchantment spells!

Kathryne sighs. Maybe I'm being too harsh. I'm sure there's probably like two spells that are actually worth casting from the Enchantment school, and it's 'effective' in dealing with most humanoid races.

She flips the page to see what's next, her smile returning. Now, Evocation, THAT'S a school of magic worth specializing in.

Evocation spells directly manipulate magical energy, allowing a caster almost any range of practical effects. Most offensive magic stems from this school, but there's plenty of other tools that Evokers can utilize.

Next, Illusion spells are made to deceive the senses. They can create and manipulate figments, and even utilize shadow energy to produce semi-real illusions that can have an effect on the world.

There's... technically some overlap between Illusion and Enchantment, but Illusion makes up for it by having more useful effects, like invisibility.

Kathryne huffs haughtily. After all, a well built illusion can work where even the 'best' Enchantment spells can't.

Necromancy is the practice of manipulating life, death, and undeath. It's home to many debuff spells and a few good buff spells, but its main draw is being able to create and control undead.

Lastly, there's the Transmutation school, whose specialty is changing the properties of a target. There's plenty of spells that can manipulate and transform objects, and it's home to a huge amount of buff spells! This school is a competent wizard's 'backbone.'

Kathryne closes the book, smiling confidently to herself. With my knowledge of spells and Wrathfinder rules, mastering magic should be a breeze!

The fledgling wizard quickly reopens the book to find her first practical spell: Presto.

"Presto is a cantrip that novice wizards use to practice their skill in magic and allow them to perform minor effects. Due to its versatility, it is a 'Universal' spell, meaning that it does not belong to any one of the 8 schools of magic."

Kathryne quickly flips to the next page to see what other spells are available for study, although notes something strange.

The book's contents up to this point is written in a neat calligraphy. However, all the pages after Presto are written in a different handwriting style. Still organized, but feminine and plain text.

Flipping to the last page with written contents reveals a bookmark, with the first author's handwriting on a plain background.

'To Kathryne Wyrm, I gift this tome to thee. Seek knowledge, and when you discover your calling, find me again. -M.M.'

Kathryne raises a brow, putting the bookmark in her pocket before standing up and laying the grimoire against the chair. Taking a few steps back, she reads the instructions for casting Presto from afar, holding a hand towards the table.

"One of Presto's most common uses is cleaning and soiling objects. To do so, begin by conjuring the Transmutation sigil..."

Kathryne takes in a deep breath, holding up a finger as if she were to begin drawing on a chalkboard.

According to the book, manipulating magic draws on one's mana to exert their will on reality, yet to actually do so was something that required years of practice and study.

But I've already one it once before, right? Kathryne thinks back to the wave of fire she set upon the gremlitoes. Is it some sort of muscle memory I inherited?

She focuses on condensing her mana into her fingertip. The air around her slowly begins to still as she draws her finger across her vision.

A bright, purple energy trails behind her finger, as if Kathryne is etching magic into the fabric of reality. She lets out a gasp, nearly losing her focus, but manages to steel herself and finish the rune.

With the arcane sigil floating in front of her, Kathryne envelops her hand in its energy. Pointing her palm towards the table, she mentally projects a command through her palm.

Clean the rust.

A beam of force slowly thrums from the wizard's palm, the rust blowing away in the shape of a handprint and revealing the shiny metal underneath.

Kathryne pulls her hand away, leaving the table with an oddly shaped patch of cleanliness. Stepping forward, she wipes her finger against its surface, hearing a light squeak.

"I... I did it?" Kathryne takes in a deep breath, cheering in excitement. "I did it! I cast magic-wah!"

Her celebration is cut short by an abrupt wind knocking her spellbook off her chair and onto the ground. She quickly picks it up, dusting off the dirt and making sure that neither the paper or writing was damaged by the fall.

Kathryne sighs in relief when she doesn't find anything wrong with the text, looking over the rusted chair.

"I think I found the perfect thing to practice on."