43: Whiteout

Maiya gazed at the transparent orb in her hands, which reflected the afternoon light in odd ways she’d never seen before. Almost like it was cracked inside, but cracked in extremely regular patterns. Beautiful patterns. Nestled in between the cracks were a myriad of runic characters, arcing and crisscrossing inside—like a utility orb, but far, far more complex.

And, buried deep within the palm sized sphere was a black, straight line—the only straight line in the entire orb, ending in an arrow, pointing one direction.

“Guessing this arrow means the same thing it does on a utility orb?” She asked.

Tanya paced around her bedroom, arms crossed behind her back. “Indeed. What you hold is the C grade Ice affinity spell, Icicle. When charged and activated, it launches a deadly icicle at the opponent in the direction pointed. Short ranged, but can engage at medium ranges in a pinch, though aiming becomes a challenge at that distance.”

Maiya scrunched her brow, holding the orb in her hand. “Can you really hit anything more than a few paces away with this? Sounds really hard.”

Tanya plucked the orb from Maiya’s outstretched arm. “You can, though it takes a good deal of practice, even with the use of a mejai sight,” she said, retrieving a leather and metal contraption from a small wooden trunk near her bed.

The object had two leather straps that looked like it attached to someone’s forearm like a bracer. A thin iron plate connected the two leather mounts, and on top of the plate was a hollow metal ring, about half the width of a palm across. Within the ring were two tiny metal bars, each perpendicular to each other. One ran horizontally, the other vertically.

Maiya immediately recognized what it was. She’d seen these on the crossbows Brij guards carried with them. She didn’t really understand how they worked, but knew that they helped with aiming.

There was one more part of the device that caught Maiya’s eye—a hinged extension to the metal plate, which ended in a hemisphere that looked designed to slot an orb. She didn’t quite know how that was used.

Tanya donned the contraption, tightening the leather straps and securing it to her forearm as Maiya had suspected.

“Aligning the orb in your hand is key,” she said. “Veteran mejai instinctually develop a feel for how to properly aim their orbs, and some of the more powerful orbs affect an entire area at once, requiring less precision with their aiming. Similarly for mine spells.”

“Your spells?” Maiya asked, confusion all over her face.

“No, not my spells. Mine spells. Same spell, but designed to be placed as a trap for unsuspecting targets, triggered by proximity or time. Most combat spells have a mine equivalent, for example. They fire diluted copies of the spell in multiple directions at once.”

“Huh…” She said, her mind wondering what applications such a thing might have. She was sure Vir would have a million ideas when she told him. He was going to be so jealous about everything she was learning. She couldn’t wait to tell him.

“Still,” Tanya continued, “even veterans benefit from a prana sight when firing directional spells at faraway opponents.”

The woman slotted the Icicle orb into the device, carefully rotating the arrow within the orb until it matched up with the line etched onto the sight.

When it was all done, Tanya’s right hand remained mobile, and in fact she could even let go of the orb without it falling off… but the device held the orb pressed against her palm, so it wasn’t like she could easily use her hands to do other things… or so Maiya thought, but the woman managed to close and latch her trunk just fine, even with the orb and device hampering her dexterity.

The Mejai of Ash extended her arm and grasped the orb. “This is called a reticle,” she said, gesturing to the metal ring attached to the mejai sight—the one with the cross inside it. “With the sight, the average mejai can reliably hit human sized targets up to fifty paces away.”

“And let me guess… you’re not an average mejai?” Maiya asked.

Tanya scoffed. “Of course not. I can hit targets at a hundred paces. Easily.”

“Of course…” Maiya had learned that the woman loved to boast about her own skills. Not the most humble of people, her instructor. Riyan was in good company, but he at least had the skills to back it. Tanya had never once displayed her skills.

“When are you going to show me all this? I’ve seen combat magic used exactly once… and that was fire magic. You’re an ice mejai, yeah? Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure you’re good, but an icicle doesn’t sound all that strong next to a fireball, if you ask me.”

“Thankfully, the gods didn’t see fit to consult with you,” Tanya said with narrowed eyes.

“Mind showing me? You said you’d give me a demonstration, right?”

Her instructor looked like she wanted to wrangle Maiya’s neck, but Maiya had tested the woman’s limits—she knew exactly how far she could heckle the mejai before she lashed out. Sometimes, insults seemed like the only way to get her to bend her will, even a little.

“Fine. Follow me. I doubt Riyan would appreciate his abode destroyed by my magic.”

Right… don’t think you need to worry about that, lady, Maiya thought, obediently following her mentor out of the bedroom. Once again, she was surprised that despite the device attached to her forearm, her dexterity didn’t seem to be compromised much at all.

“Say, why’s that orb on your palm, anyway?” She asked, walking slightly behind Tanya. “Wouldn’t it be more convenient if it was away from your hand somewhere?”

“Don’t you have to hold a utility orb to activate it?” She retorted.

Maiya realized that was true. Some utility orbs kept functioning once activated—like Magic Cold and Magic Heat, but all orbs had to be physically touched to turn on. And now that she recalled, the knight scout in the Godshollow had been holding his orb when he’d launched his Ember spell at Vir.

“So it is with combat orbs as well,” Tanya continued,”Mejai must physically hold their orbs to activate their magic. Mejai at the upper echelons are an exception, and other exceptions exist with blood rods and such, but for the most part, if you want to deploy an orb, you must hold it.”

“Blood rods?”

“Some other time,” Tanya said. “You won’t need to think about any of this until you can sense and control prana. Focus on that for now.”

Maiya was actually somewhat relieved at Tanya’s reply. As she was discovering, there was an entire world surrounding the mysteries of magic. She didn’t know if her head could fit any more information right now.

The two made their way out to the Ash’va stable next to the abode. Bumpy and Grumpy—the other Ash’va Riyan owned—were there, along with Tanya’s own beast.

Maiya hopped on behind her, and the two rode in silence for several minutes. The entire time, Maiya couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched, but she couldn’t see any trace of anyone. It was more of a hunch…

She forgot all about that when Tanya interrupted her reverie. “Your childish delusions lead you to idolize fire affinity magic above all else, but you will find that there are no affinities that are ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than any others. If this were so, the strongest mejai would all have the strongest affinity, would they not?”

Maiya knew Tanya was leading her into a trap, wording it like that, but she was too curious to help it. “They don’t?”

“They are not. There are Mejai of Ash spanning all affinities of magic, all boasting impressive Balar Ranks. Though, Life Affinity magic is unfortunately not well incorporated into the Balar Ranking system. Those Kin’jals are all warmongers, you see. Life affinity mejai do not score well on a combat ranking scale, after all.”

Even Maiya realized how stupid that was. “Are they daft? Riyan’s magic brought Vir back from the brink of death!”

“Indeed, it is an unfortunate defect of their quaint system. Life affinity mejai can, and do, save the lives of entire squads regularly.”

“Wait,” Maiya said, comprehension dawning, “wouldn’t that mean Riyan’s powers are even greater than what he says? Since he’s a Life mejai, and all?”

“Yes, of course. Though he does not consider himself a mejai, despite his vast talent.”

“Why doesn’t—”

“We’re here,” Tanya said, cutting her off. A half hour trot under the searing sun had put them at the oasis she’d discovered with Vir months ago. They visited here whenever they felt a need to get away from their stern instructors… which was pretty often.

Tanya brought them to the pond that lay at the center of the oasis. Maiya immediately noticed several new additions. Dozens of wooden posts had been erected upon the shore, with a handful more floating on the pond, straw dummies attached each to them.

“You asked to see the true extent of my magic,” Tanya said, hopping off the Ash’va. “Watch. And learn.”

Tanya crouched low and extended her right arm, pointing the prana sight at the nearest straw dummy. The C Grade Icicle orb lit up within the blink of an eye.

Maiya gulped. She hadn’t even precharged the orb. That meant the woman could charge C grade spells faster than Maiya thought was even possible.

The spell blasted forth silently, skewering the straw dummy with a cone-shaped icicle two handspans long. It skewered the poor dummy’s heart, lodging itself inside.

“Icicle is fast for an Ice affinity spell, though it can’t hold a candle to Lightning affinity spells in that department,” she explained, calmly dispatching another straw man. And another, all within a few seconds. “But what it lacks in speed, it makes up for with physical mass. Icicle does well against most gambesons, but cannot penetrate plate armor or chainmail. Even so, it can effectively stall armored enemies. As for unarmored ones?”

She pointed a thumb at the dozen straw dummies, all with icicles buried within their chests. “They don’t stand a chance.”

Maiya’s heart pumped faster and faster. “This is the power of a mejai?” She whispered. With this kind of ability, Tanya could launch icicles at dozens of opponents with impunity. The knight who had attacked them hadn’t worn a full helmet—if Maiya had Icicle, she could’ve easily dispatched that knight in the Godshollow. And this was a C Rank spell!

“Oh no, little girl. This is the power of a mere Pranik. I am a Mejai of Ash. A full two levels above. This,” she said, retrieving an oversized orb from her satchel, “This is my power.”

Maiya realized she’d been charging the spell while she spoke, but the orb wasn’t nearly full yet. Maiya waited… and waited. A full minute later, the translucent sphere glowed with a brightness she’d never seen from an orb before. The orb was an entire handspan across, many times larger than the C grade Icicle.

“Did you know, little girl? All powerful mejai have special names. Titles of recognition, given by other mejai,” The woman grinned at Maiya. “They call me Whiteout. And this is why.”

The orb activated, sending a small shockwave rippling out. The light winked out from the orb… and nothing happened. At first.

Then Maiya felt a slight breeze. An oddity here in the desert. Then the sky immediately overhead grew dark. As if an enormous shadow had overcome them. She looked up.

“Clouds?” When did those appear?

The wind picked up. The sky grew darker and darker. At some point, hard pieces of ice had begun to fall from the sky, bruising her face. The gentle breeze had morphed into a gale, and Maiya had to crouch low to avoid losing her balance. Tanya’s Ash’va neighed in panic, and Maiya shielded her face from the sand being blown in all directions. She crouched low to avoid losing her balance.

But most of all, she grew cold. Maiya never knew the weather could turn this cold. This was beyond the worst morning chill she’d ever experienced in all of her years of life. She shouted to Tanya, but her voice was lost in the wind. She couldn’t even see Tanya anymore, who stood just a few paces away.

Just as her panic set in, the phenomenon abated. The wind stopped. Sunlight returned, and the air grew warm again. The storm had passed as quickly as it had arrived.

But what it left behind was an alien landscape that made Maiya’s breath catch.

For there was no longer an oasis in a desert. For a dozen paces in every direction, fresh snow covered the ground—a bizarre oddity in the middle of a desert. But what’s more, the pond had frozen solid, encasing every single straw dummy in the area in a prison of ice.

Maiya fell to her knees, her pants crunching against the snow. She looked up at her instructor, who stood like a goddess of ice, her silver hair echoing the chill that ran through Maiya’s veins.

Tanya spoke just three words. Three words that would forever change Maiya’s life. “A Grade. Blizzard.”

Maybe ice magic isn’t so bad, after all, Maiya thought, admiring the woman in front of her for the very first time.

But no one was more shocked than the third pair of eyes that observed the spectacle. The pair of eyes that belonged to the one who’d tailed them, all the way from Riyan’s abode.

What in the three realms was that!? Vir thought, half frozen from his vantage from the other side of the iced over pond.

He shivered uncontrollably. Not from the cold—that he could deal with. But from the realization that all of his efforts until now had been for naught. Leap? High Jump? What did those Talents matter in the face of such overwhelming power? How could he even hope to rival mejai with that?

It was so unfair he wanted to laugh. He’d thought that he’d finally made a breakthrough. That he’d finally overcome his abysmal stamina. But now? Now what?

Maybe the Lost Art Talents could compete with Tanya’s ice magic… but what were the chances he’d ever stumble upon those?

No. The truth was painfully clear. He needed Talents. There was no doubt about that. Yet Talents were not enough. It was time to take off the gloves. Until now, he’d skirted around the secrets of his prana, poking at it from safety. But if he wanted true power, he would have to plunge in, risks and all.

He might very well die in the process… but if he didn’t, he’d be a nobody forever.

Vir turned his back on the lake, his face set with newfound determination. He needed magic. Real magic.