Under the Light of the World at War: Early Chapter 24

“Just be polite Dorah, and if anything happens, you can just come home.” Mama whispered to me as she stopped me at the door, and tugged at my shirt and hair a bit.

“I’ll be home soon Mama. Nothing to worry about.” I said firmly, and she smiled a bit weakly, but nodded. 

Then I turned and there was a guard at the door, fancy armor, and a half sneer on his face. Although he simply walked away when I reached him, and so guided me back towards El’Tela’s home.

Time to find out what crazy nonsense was going on.

There were more guards around the tree home, and it was obvious something was going on. I was waved through and soon entered the same downstairs that I always reached, only El’Tela wasn’t in her breakfast nook drinking tea and a pastry like she always seemed to. Instead I was pointed up, and so I went.

There I found her, actually standing although for once she had a staff in her hands, something I didn’t even know she had, and the guard finally stopped moving me on and stopped at the door. Matching another on the other side.

“Finally. I grow weary of this test of my patience.” A Magistrix said, but not mine. She was younger than El’Tela obviously, but still had a maturity in her face that told me she was probably ancient. 

“Impatient as always Zan’Felanar.” El’Tela said criticizing but the woman sent her a harsh look. Then she looked at me, her face shifting to one of disbelief.

“You jest.”

“I do not.” El’Tela responded as calm as a placid lake, seemingly unbothered by all the weirdness. I continued to approach taking a stop not quite at El’Tela’s side because frankly, I had no idea what the fuck was going on.

“I don’t believe it, what game are you playing? You’ve been retired long enough, you have most of us believing you actually are done with it all.”

“I am.”

“Yet here I am.” Zan’Felanar seemed to mock. “One more prodigy, you know it won’t make a difference.”

“I have long stopped caring, but I have a responsibility that even I won’t hand off with my retirement. Go on, I know you want to prove me wrong. Test her.”

“Test me for what?”

“Silence.” The hiss was instant, and I felt myself do just that.

A Silence spell? Interesting! 

“Be polite Zan’Felanar, she doesn’t know why you are here.”

Yeah be more polite, and politely turn away so I can steal this spell, perfect. Thankfully the guards were on the outside of the room. As she turned away, I silently cast the Spell Steal and grabbed the stolen spell… I could throw it at her…

Ooh that was tempting. The idea of a Magistrix getting silenced by her own spell mid speech, ooh the desire was there.

Instead I looked it over.

Spell structure wasn’t familiar, but that actually made it almost easier to figure out.

The bubble of silence it placed on the user was small, but more than enough to keep any sound from escaping.

Perfect. 

[Spell Learned: Silence]

Yeah, keeping it and learning it was definitely the more valuable choice, even if I really wanted to just throw it back on this Magistrix who was still complaining.

“-I am honestly wondering what you are hoping to get out of this? Is there some boon at the end of your ancient life you still seek?”

Wow, that was rude.

“I am fulfilling my duty. Knowledge of the Arcane Mind is still a priority for you… Is it not?”

“I have enough examples. My Students are progressing well.”

“Then one completely set apart from your own paradigm will be extremely useful.” El’Tela responded calmly, and the Magistrix glared.

“Fine. I’ve spent enough time in this backwater, let me test your student, and see what tricks you have come up with… Well girl, step forward, do not make me wait another moment!”

“Okay.” I said without even thinking about it and walked over, and it seemed to take the Magistrix a moment as she did a double take.

She sent a glare at El’Tela who just calmly watched on, unconcerned.

Right you’re silenced Dorah, don’t make a peep.

The Magistrix sighed angrily, and reached out grabbing my arm, and to my surprise tugging me into the Glyph. 

She looked me over as I looked back at her just waiting for her to get on with it.

She looked at me for a while before sending a look at El’Tela.

“A paltry trick.”

“She is quite used to it. She trains inside my Glyph every day, Zan’Felanar.”

There was no noise, but I could almost hear the ‘tsk!’ just from the way the woman sneered for a moment.

Then she looked at me, deeper. 

“So, she has Arcane Meditation after all. Did you finally create an actual method to learn it, or do you still expect your students to spend a decade just learning how to gather mana?”

“The latter.” El’Tela said flatly, sending a look at Zan’Felanar, that spoke volumes. “Some of course learn it faster than others.”

“I am sure the skill of the teacher has no factor.” Zan'Felanar sniped back, but she was starting to frown.

“What is this? Did you discover some ritual to implant the-No… This is wrong. This is completely wrong!” I was suddenly grabbed by my face and pulled very close, close enough I could smell what Zan'Felanar had eaten for breakfast. 

The woman's eyes, glowing blue with the Arcane as she used some spell, were so close I was worried her eyes were going to touch mine.

It was gross.

Then she ripped herself away, stomped across the room. In El’Tela’s chair there was a bag… Oh is that why she was standing, that was super rude.

Zan’Felanar, reached inside and rummaged around and came out with a scroll? No, she tore it open and walked back.

“Hold still. This scroll is worth more than your life.” She informed me through nearly gritted teeth as she pressed the scroll to my face…

What the fuck?

Sure just call me fucking scroll face or something. Yeah totally fun staring at the back-Wait. I could see lines spreading across the scroll on the other side. Cool! What was that? What did it do?

Then after a few moments it was torn away and I caught just a glance, it wasn’t my face thankfully, but something else just as intimate, the flow of Mana through my head. And there was the Glyph and Swirl, the internalized manifestation of what I had done to gain the Arcane Mind Skill.

It was impossible to not recognize I had made it after all

“This… This isn’t how you form the structure, it’s all wrong!”

“As I said. A completely different paradigm, and yet, achieving the same result.”

“This… I will have this examined El’Tela Arkhana’Shola! If there is even a hint, a faint whisper on the wind that this is some trick!”

“I do not, and never have cared about your project Zan’Felanar, I believe simply improving your available mana is the wrong course… But then, I also believed that the two manifestations were incompatible. So we both have had our understandings shifted. Isn’t the Arcane grand?”

“Miserable old washed up-” The rant ended with a hissed click of her teeth as she forcefully shut her mouth. Then she looked at me, and then back at El’Tela. “I will speak with you again, when I have studied the results.”

“And I will be here.” El’Tela said continuing to be as placid as ever. Zan’Felanar, grabbed her bag and rose and then stalked out without any further word, her guards following her…

“So?”

“Come, my breakfast was interrupted, and I believe yours was as well. Some children are simply too impatient.” El’Tela spoke, turned and tottering slowly out of the room staff holding her up.

“You okay?”

“Fine.” She remarked but just the fact she responded and didn’t just ignore me told me a lot.

“Want me to heal you?” I offered, and she slowed sending me a look but finally with a sigh she nodded. 

“Please. My back is displeased with me today, and standing did it no favors.”

I cast Holy Light, and a Strong one since I was going to eat after, and she breathed out a deep sigh of relief.

“Thank you. Now come, I wish to eat, and I believe you are wondering what just happened.”

“It ran through my mind, about the time she slapped a scroll across my face.” I said a bit dryly, and she huffed out a laugh.

“Then be satisfied that Zan'Felanar will be existing in a world of suffering of her own creation. The woman doesn’t like to travel, and she hates being shown she is wrong. The fact I am partially responsible means she is quite upset at the moment.”

“That does make me feel better… What’s her deal? With everything?”

She ignored me as we walked back down. She took her carpet lift and we returned to her breakfast nook, letting me see wings as the dragonhawks were already leaving. 

Guess Zan’Felanar, didn’t want to stick around. 

Not long after to my surprise food came out on a tray like always, but there was one for me.

“Eat.” I was ordered and so I did. The food was conjured, but was tasty. The pastry she always had in the morning was crispy and sweet, with a cinnamon crust. 

Very nice.

Do want.

I ate much faster than El’Tela so I decided to talk.

“I was really tempted to throw her Silence back in her face.”

“That would have been foolish.”

“I know… But I was still really tempted. Can you imagine her mid rant just going silent.”

El’Tela didn’t respond to my impish grin, but she did hide her face behind her teacup a moment later.

“Zan’Felanar continues to be difficult, but she is competent in her focus.”

“Arcane Mind?” I said, only sort of guessing. The context clues were fairly strong.

“Indeed. She gave up on Arcane Meditation as a student, deciding to forge her own path. She was moderately successful, and yet…” El’Tela looked at me. 

“Her Arcane Mind is different from mine?”

“Slightly. You had different starting points, and yet came to a similar conclusion, such knowledge is invaluable for someone studying the Arcane Talent, and so I informed her of your success.”

“A heads up would have been nice.” I said, not hiding my own critique.

She said nothing, and I could tell she wasn’t disagreeing with me, but wasn’t going to admit it.

Grumpy old woman.

“I should get back.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, having a Magistrix show up out of the blue and then send a guard to demand my presence freaked out Mama. Something that could have been avoided if we knew this was going to happen!” I chirped saying it as cheerfully as I could.

She again ignored my words, but nodded. 

“Then I will see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow.”

—--

Mage Armor, and Arcane Meditation.

I breathed in the heavy mana, which didn’t feel heavy at all anymore.

Mage Armor hitting ten had increased the amount of Mana I could continue to regenerate even while casting, but my Arcane Meditation was still just on the cusp of leveling to ten as well.

I was honestly really curious to see what would happen when I reached that level. Would it max out, and give me stat points, or a new skill? Or would it just keep going until I completely countered the mana repulsion?

It was today's focus. Using Mage Armor as the spell cast, to level it even more, and then just focusing on trying to alter the flow of Mana.

I glanced over, as usual El’Tela was watching. Today’s focus I’ll admit was partially to see how she’d react.

Arcane Mind, Arcane Meditation, it was a strange feeling to know that something more was going on and I just didn’t understand.

Of course I was also working on my Arcane Mind but that was less a spell, and more a mindset at this point. Syncing myself into the Arcane was an odd process.

But she was as tight-lipped as ever, so I think the only way to get real answers was to either make them for myself, or succeed.

I relaxed as the Mage Armor I’d cast faded, using a refined version that only last about ten seconds was all I needed, and it was light on the Mana needed which was nice.

I cast it again, letting magic flow through me, forming the structure, activating and the ethereal armor formed over me, before mostly fading from sight, and once again the feel of the mana shifted.

And then it clicked.

[Arcane Meditation Lv 10 Skill Mastered] [Mastery Benefit Evocation Unlocked]

I took in the surge of understanding. I breathed out, but not air, I spread out, touching the Mana in the air, and all of it could be pulled in. It would only take a moment, and… Well the Spell.

Evocation. The spell structure was there in my head, but with mastered Arcane Meditation it wasn’t even like my system was teaching me that much.

It was… The pinnacle of what I had been working towards. The ability to grasp all the mana around you and suck it in rapidly. 

Massive and nearly instant mana regeneration, all from a spell.

It was obvious. The swirl in my own Mana, was like a blueprint. I could just copy it down now, as it had reached the point of no longer just being an internal manifestation but the blueprints towards something more.

I rose up, El'Tela was still watching and rummaging around on her desk for paper and a quill, something that I was welcome to do, and then I just… Wrote it down.

“Evocation.” I whispered looking at the spell. It was rough. Even with all the work into Arcane Meditation to sort of build the blueprints slowly the spell still could be refined, altered, and changed. 

Still… It was a new spell that would need a whole lot more grinding…

“Heeheeehehehe!”

“Do you know your ears wiggle when you laugh like that?”

“Ack-!” I was so startled I inhaled some spit as I coughed to clear it and turned to see El’Tela standing beside me. “You startled me!”

“You were quite distracted. What has taken your attention this ti-”

She went silent as she looked at the paper I’d written the spell down on, and then she took it, taking it in both hands as she read through the lines of the spell, the swirls and dips, and the mathematical precision that created magical phenomena. 

“What is this?”

“A spell.” I decided and to my surprise I didn’t get a glare for my half flippant answer, which was actually more concerning than if she had. “It’s… Arcane Meditation, I didn’t notice, but the more I worked on it, the more I honed it, the closer it became to a spell… It’s Arcane Meditation, but as a spell.”

“I see that.” She whispered quietly looking it over.

I waited a while longer just watching her look over the spell, but the more I waited the more uncomfortable the silence stretched. 

“Is it okay?”

My words startled her a bit, El’Tela the put together ancient Magistrix flinched lightly seemingly realizing how distracted she herself had been.

“I need… You should cast it. I wish to see it.”

“Oookay.” I agreed slowly, and then just took a breath. I already knew how to cast it, so… I stepped back, gathered my hands into the correct positions, let mana flow into Arcane and then I felt it, my Mana Pool wasn’t full, I had been casting just before, but nearly instantly in a haze of Arcane, Mana rushed into me, Mana Lightning, flashing in my hands.

Mana gathered so quickly it was causing actual friction in the air and creating static electricity. 

“Aagh!” I cried out a bit startled waving my hands around, breaking the spell but also stopping the lighting… Only it hadn't hurt, more tingly than anything.

Waving my hands around a bit to get the tingling to stop I looked up at El’Tela and her face was stoic, but her eyes never left me.

“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting the static. It didn’t hurt though.”

“No, it doesn’t.” She agreed and then looked back at the paper. “Evocation is a rare art. A talent few Mages ever manifest. The discipline needed to properly train yourself to the art is painstaking, as you know.”

“Yeah it takes a long time.” I agreed, which earned me an almost baleful look.

Oh right… I’d done it in like months… Shutting up now.

“I’ve long argued that Evocation can grow from an internal art, into a full spell structure. I spent… A very long time working towards this goal. It is the duty of all Magisters to expand the knowledge of magic, Arcane or not. When we first came to this land, when we first formed our government, and the title of Magister was created… It was argued that in order to earn the title one must expand our knowledge of Magic.”

I listened, quietly taking in what she said, because I’d never heard her talk like this, and all the while she stroked a thumb across the paper she kept looking at. 

“It was eventually discarded, politics of course, and some acceptable reasoning. They argued eventually we would discover it all, there would be no more expanding done… Fools. But it was chosen. Magisters could be gained through other service. I was the first Mage of Quel’Thalas to discover Arcane Meditation. Mage Armor was just the idea, Arcane Meditation was the key. You have never fought before child, so understand well, running out of Mana is death. If you have Mana, you can escape, you can survive, but running out? It doesn’t matter how skilled a mage you are.”

I nodded slowly. Holy crap, she was the one that made Arcane Meditiation… Discovered it? Or would I say codified it?

“Evocation came later… Much later, almost an accident the first time I pushed it further, but it was an art, a skill that took far too long to master. I dedicated so long… A spell… You turned it into a spell, a functional spell. Rough. Very rough, and yet any mage that can read a spell structure can cast this now.”

“S-Sorry?”

“Fool. I am praising you. Attempting to get you to understand just how large an achievement you just made… I am proud of you.”

“Oh…. Heh?” I rubbed the back of my head looking away, this had suddenly went to extremely awkward, how do you even respond to that.

“Sign it.” She said then thrusting the paper at me, and I just blinked.

“Sign it?”

“If one does not understand something, repeating the question is not how one asks.” She said her strict voice in full effect.

“Umm… Why would I sign it?”

“Because we will be sending it to the capital. It will be added to the Halls of Theory.” She whispered almost lovingly as she placed the paper down and then looked at me. “Now sign it.”

“What does that mean?”

She gave me a look then breathed in and out. Surprising me by then actually answering.

“It means you have done something that has pushed our understanding of magic forward. It will be sent to the Hall of Theory and tested, and then accepted. Where you will receive a commendation from the Grand Magister for your work… You have nothing to fear Alah’Dorah, this is a moment you should be taking pride in your work. Not fearing the repercussions.”

“Okay… Okay, sure. Why not… I’m not going to like get kidnapped or something right?”

“No, that will not happen.” She said, sounding almost amused at my question.

So I shrugged and signed my name, my full name.

“Alah’Dorah Dawnspear.” I signed, and there was a definite ‘tsk’ noise as El’Tela heard what I said. “What?”

“Nothing. Circumstance and politics has robbed me of many things over my life, this is simply another. Now… Go home, rest for the rest of the day, tell your parents what you have done, you father will understand if your mother perhaps will not.”

“Okay… Okay Umm. Bye! See you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow.” She whispered slowly curling up the paper as I headed out.