Asters Between Wizard Tower Cracks [Revised 8/27]

 A pale hand reached out before I could rush over.

“Sorry about that, are you alright?”

A man with silver hair and fin ears revealed himself as he bent over to help my companion up. Another merling, the first one I’d seen after meeting her.

“It’s not common to see another merling so far from the coast. And you are a friend, I presume.”

He turned to me.

I am a local wizard and a teacher of arcane, resident of the tower near the library across the river. It’s nice to meet you two, what brings you here?”

Kneeling down to pick up his thick leather-bound tome, clapping it close slowly but still making a loud thump, then extending a hand out for a handshake.

“We came from a quest, we’re adventurers.”

“Would you like to pay a visit to my tower? If you two have time, we could have a chat as well, I don’t get to talk to my kind too often.”

He let out a soft laugh, waiting for our answer. I turned to my companion for her opinion, this seemed to be more about her anyway. She looked back at me, eyes already sparkling, clearly interested but was waiting for me to give the final decision. I gave her a nodding approval, and her head snapped back to the elf, drawing in a breath ready to reply with a “Yes!”.

We followed him, crossing the river again, this time from the fountain park, weaving through the crowd at the market circle, picking up a few fruits and berries on the way before circling back to the foot of the castle hill.

“You’re a mage, am I correct? Dressing in a robe, what school of magic do you practice in if I may ask?”

“Healing, and also know a little about warding magic.”

“A mage of restoration then, it’s good people still practicing it, when some colleges and academias are even starting to consider it an invalid school of magic, not worthy of study.”

Going around the library, we stood before his tower, asters growing in between the cracks formed in the tower wall. The wizard waved a magical gesture and the heavy metal door levitated open, letting us in.

“My teacher was also a restoration mage, he was a master and tried to teach me it, unfortunately I was only able to learn its basics. Turns out alteration was more compatible with me, and after learning it I gave warding magic a try. Even though it’s a sub-school of restoration, the casting process is a lot more like alteration. And now, I’m a master at both.”

Spiraling up the tower, we stopped for a moment at a window slit. Moss crawled on its edges but it was a perfect view down at the library. The wizard waved his hand more, opening up a couple bricks for a better view.

“That building might be called the Grand Library, but it's used as a worship site. It’s separated into two sections, you first enter into a church when going in from the main entrance, and behind that is the actual library.”

With a few more circles of stairs, a hatch was all that was left. Pushing open, we went into a spacious circle cut into four open rooms with a practice ground in the middle. Bedding and a small kitchen were on one side, a personal miniature library and scholarly desk on the other. Staves and wands hung on the wall, and a magical barrier made up the large windows, giving it an incredible view of the whole city.

“Welcome, and please make yourself at home.”

She went for the magic items and gave them a feel before slamming herself against the window to admire Citra from a top-down perspective. I had no magical knowledge so his books were the only thing I could relate to, but even so, most of them are magic studies and lore. The only other book on his shelves was a short story titled “To a Boy in Green”.

The two of them chatted for a while, I sat slightly out of sight with aloofness. Then mid one of their conversations on magic, one entirely unrelated to me, she turned to me with a face saying she had just thought of a great idea.

“Why don’t you try learning magic, since we have a teacher here?”

The wizard was a bit stunned having their talk disturbed so suddenly, but he recovered quickly and gazed at me with a soft smile.

“So what say you friend? I could try and teach you a few spells.”

It was startling to be brought back into the conversation just like that, when I thought as though I had gone invisible, but it also felt reassuring that she still had me on her mind. It would probably be quite upsetting if I turned her down, after she was this attentive.

He clapped his hands together as I agreed, got up and went to his desk. Scouring through his drawers and bringing back a tiny crystal.

“This is an anima crystal, a catalyst. Almost all mages need it or some other inherently magical item to cast their spells, and since we are so high up in the sky where anima is naturally more dense in the air around us, it should make the casting a lot easier than on the ground.”

He held out my hand and placed it on my palm.

“Grasp it in your hand, and I will teach you an alteration spell that forms water from magic alone. Since this spell evokes magic directly, there's no need for a material component, a great spell to learn and feel magic.”

He instructed, giving the air a simple wave, and a ball of water formed on his hand before fizzling out into steam.

“But remember not to drink it, after a while the water will return back into anima, pure magic. Drinking it will be like overcasting and magic poisoning. Now, keep a calm mind and follow my movements.”

A few attempts later and not a single drop of water. He then instructed me to try imagining a tranquil lake, with a surface so still that it reflects the blazing sun, but still no hope.

“Try it like this…”

She came from behind, holding my hand and dragging the pattern as the wizard showed. Her hands are warm… was the only thought I had as my heart rate paced. Then a perfect ball of water formed, floating for a quick second, before plummeting into the stone floor.