Prismatic Education Begins With A Spark 8 (MTG/Multicross)

Prismatic Education 8

“Alright, I’ve received the payment for holding your room for when term starts. Make sure to come back by the first day of the term, or you will forfeit your deposit,” The staff in charge of the dormitory informed me, “Do you understand what I’ve told you, Mr Staff?”

I nodded. “I understand.”

“Then I look forward to welcoming you back in the future,” The woman told me warmly. “You know, it’s good that you’re taking some initiative to travel outside of Strixhaven.”

I blinked at her, slightly confused, so she continued speaking.

“So many students just spend their entire time on campus, doing nothing but studying or interacting with their peers. Even with how big Strixhaven is, the world outside is still bigger. Quite a few graduates I’ve spoken with have told me that they learn their most important lessons outside of the school.”

“Oh…” Well, that does kind of make sense…

“Alright, don’t let me keep you any longer. Farewell!”

Somehow, now that I was going through with it, the thought of leaving Strixhaven, albeit temporarily, filled me with trepidation. Eventually though, I gathered enough courage, picked a direction, and started heading in that way. Once I was outside the boundaries of the school, I channeled my magic, and summoned the ride I intended to use.

Countless glowing green geometrical shapes formed out of thin air, morphing and adjusting as they fitted together to give rise to a solid shape. The fractal was Quandrix College’s mascot, and they were usually based on some living creature in nature, so they came in many forms. The one I made this time was based on a horse, and the formula involved in its summoning made it so that it came with a saddle and reins.

If I were to describe Quandrix’s mathematics-centered magic, it would be generally plug-and-play. Computational Magic classes were about crafting magic spells in the form of programs, to which the caster fed values, either directly or by having the spell receive it from a different source, and the result gets put to use. If it was in the philosophy of Theory, the effect could be an illusionary or mental effect, but that could be just as devastatingly effective. If it was Substance, it could be an augmentation of an effect, or the manifestation of a fractal like what I just did. 

I slung my staff on my back and mounted the horse, before I linked up with the control program and activated the behavior emulations. After that, it was just a simple mental command to have it move, which it did so obediently. Being one of the few overland travel methods I had collected, it allowed me to move without having to pay close attention to where I was going, as the other methods I had required more mental focus to maintain. This allowed me to plan my next step.

My plan was simple; I would find a secluded place and Planeswalk from there. Technically, I could have just done it on campus, given how widespread teleportation was, but I didn’t do so for several reasons. One big one was that I didn’t know what sort of effect Planeswalking might do around me, or who might detect it. Therefore it was best to play things safe.

Another reason was that I had no idea how to actually initiate a Planeswalk, and chances were that I might have to do some explosive experimenting to figure out the method.

Let’s see… I’m pretty sure I used Lightning and Arcane in that mix, and there were at least two other elements as well. I tapped the open page of my journal as I tried to recall the circumstances of my first Planeswalk that had originally brought me to Arcavios.

Looking up from my book, I watched the scenery flowing by from the back of my fractal horse steed. Just because my ride knew how to move itself, didn’t mean I could just let it run without supervision; I occasionally checked my surroundings in case there were any signs of danger. When such signs appeared, I either detoured slightly, or took an active hand in negating those dangers.

Without my staff in hand, I was restricted to practical applications of my magic lessons.

A hissed ‘Begone!’ deterred a would-be ambush predator, sending the beast fleeing in fear from the inky weapons I sent at it. 

The misty terrain that hid treacherous ravines were mapped out with my spinning balls, and some of them were traversed with help of solid crossings I wove out of the mist with waves of my hands.

When a humongous bull-like creature took offense to my unintentional entry into its territory, it learned just how its strength could be matched by Quandrix augmentation spells, and wisely backed down.

After traveling for half a day, I spotted another star arch nearby, and decided that I had traveled far enough. Dismounting from my fractal summon, I dismissed it and decided to take a short break to rest up. A quick burst of Life took care of my saddle aches, and I observed my surroundings while munching on a ration bar.

Judging from the twisting overgrowth and the roiling sensation of mana, there’s a snarl nearby. I could tell it was Green-aligned, and it took me a while more to place the other half of the mana combination. Ah, there’s a pattern to the wild-looking plant growth. So it’s Blue.

I recalled one of the books I had read regarding the snarls of Arcavios; a Green-Blue one, like the theme of Quandrix, was often called a Vineglimmer Snarl. As I slowly headed in its general direction, using my staff as a walking aid, I could see many examples of how it lived up to that name. Multiple vines grew around the place, stretching over and between the boughs, and there were pulsing flashes of light racing along them. Sometimes, what I thought were glowing vines were actually streams of glowing mist, and vice versa. The paradoxical sight really made one question if what they were seeing was real or not, or to quote Quandrix, Substantial or Theoretical.

Finally, I arrived at the center of the snarl itself, a glowing ball of light from which multiple sparkling streams of mist flowed. The sense of mana emanating from it wasn’t as strong as the one in the Biblioplex’s Hall of Oracles, but it was still powerful nonetheless. If I could bond with it, I would have more leeway for my spells.

Forming a mana bond wasn’t a new experience to me; I had done so with Strixhaven’s Biblioplex, and Quandrix Campus, and the mana they provided really boosted the power of my spells. However, those bonds took a long time to form, requiring powerful familiarity with the location to accomplish. Yet something told me that I could easily bond with this snarl, and that impulse drove me. I stared at it for a moment, before looking around to find a clear spot, upon which I sat and began to meditate. 

Growth and Potential, the true and the imaginary… Sometimes I wondered just how much of my memories were real, even if Death confirmed that I had an outsider’s soul. Were they really moments of a past life that I somehow carried with me even after multiple deaths and resurrections, or were they just my own delusions to facilitate a familiarity where there wasn’t actually any? In some way, I could identify with this snarl. All those growths I saw, some of them weren’t actually real, but just glowing mist pretending to be. Or was it the other way around, that the living vines were just appearing to be ethereal?

Something clicked within me, and I felt a connection form with the snarl.

Wow, that was unexpectedly easy. Now if only I could Planeswalk just as-

SPARK

And I was gone from the plane of Arcavios.

The same indescribable sensations of ‘discomfort’ ravaged me, far longer than I would have liked, before I crashed out into reality once more. Having been seated when it happened, I found myself pitching over to land on my face.

Not on soft plant growth, but on painful wet rock. It was slightly sandy too, which made it worse.

“Fugging owww…” I cursed, clenching my eyes tightly even as I called on Life to heal my injury.

Pushing myself up from the extremely uncomfortable position, I took stock of my entirely new surroundings. Somehow, I had gone from a verdant overgrowth to a damp, rocky cave. It would have been extremely dark if there wasn’t a slight glow coming from the puddles around the place, which didn’t reveal anything other than wet craggy rocks.

I took a sniff of the air. Salty. So this is some seaside cave? Alright, let’s see if I can find the exit to the sea.

Most people would think that Lorehold was the go-to for divination spells, but Quandrix did have a few tricks of its own. For example, a spell that quantified the largest collection of salt water and the relative direction it lay in, throw in a mapping function, plot it on a graph to derive the answer, which was-

I froze as the results came back to me. What the fuck? This cave… it’s in a giant airspace underneath the sea? And this energy… this plane is extremely rich in Blue mana!

“Intruder! Identify yourself! How did you enter this place?!”

I whirled around to see who had spoken, only to have my eyes widening in shock. 

The being that had spoken was dressed in a white, black-trimmed robe with a raised hood, but enough of its face was protruding out for me to get a good look at its features. Enough to recognize that it as the face of some strange aquatic creature. Bulging eyes, a humongous flat mouth, and multiple spikes sticking out from the sides and top like whiskers and horns. Compared to the tritons I had seen in Strixhaven, this creature was much more bizarre.

“...”

“...”

We stared at each other for several seconds.

“Well? Answer me! Who are you?!”

Nah, I’m not doing this. “Yup, nope. I’m out.”

I tried to Planeswalk again, but it failed. It felt like my Spark was temporarily spent, and wouldn’t start. So that left the manual way.

I whirled on one foot and sprinted in the opposite direction.

“HEY! STOP! GET BACK HERE!”

Lightning-Arcane-Fire, invoke! Haste! Effect extension, multiply by four!

The shouting of the strange creature faded as my accelerated footsteps widened the distance.

“HE’S THERE, CAPTURE HIM!”

Another white-robed figure stepped from around a corner, this one possessing a heavyset figure and another fish-like face, but with scaly skin, large nostrils and big jagged teeth. 

Another one!? I skidded to a halt, and altered direction to go down another tunnel.

Sensing mana being shaped behind me, I hopped and did a midair spin to face my second pursuer, and fired off my counterspell.

“What?! My magic got disrupted! He’s no ordinary person! Be careful, everyone!”

Everyone? Just how many of them are there?! “Lyric, I’m gonna need your help.”

My inkling shrilled, darting out from my hanging journal to float alongside me as I ran. My Haste ran out at that moment, and just as I was about to renew it, I heard a third voice.

“He’s using ink magic! Use water magic to wash it away!” 

So they know ink magic here? Alright, maybe let’s play the rest of my cards close to my chest. Just ink. I thought, before my honed reflexes responded to the incoming attack. “Splssshht!”

My hissed onomatopeia, echoed through Lyric as well, summoned a rippling shield of ink, which scattered the water bolt aimed at me. The force of it was immense, and the few droplets that managed to get through stung my skin. Dropping the shield once it had done its job, I caught sight of the one responsible. It was dressed the same as the others, but its face was that of a seahorse, and it had a large grimoire floating in front of it.

Instead of retaliating, I signaled Lyric with a two-note whistle, who dove down at the base of my staff. Kicking off the ground, I stepped on the rippling board that formed, and let it carry me. Leaving the navigation to my inkling, I made use of the stable footing to defend myself against the magical attacks my pursuers were aiming at me. Counterspells shattered the powerful attacks, leaving my inkomancy spells to defend against the weaker ones, if I didn’t outright dodge them with my ink surfing.

At the same time, I was also analyzing the spells they were using, drawing on my experience with mage duels. One common aspect I noted was the floating books they had with them.

Those grimoires are the source of their stronger spells. Lorehold- no, they aren’t summoning spells from the past, those books are like physicalized mana! I’d love to get a closer look at them… if I can get out of this.

This whole experience was making me regret my optimism of meeting friendly people through Planeswalking. If not for the lack of killing intent, I might have started responding with deadly magic instead of just trying to find my way out of this enormous natural labyrinth.

There were tunnels that headed upwards and downwards, caves of varying sizes, some with multiple ponds and others with a single small lake. I might have admired the scenery a bit more if not for the persistent pursuers after me, with more showing up as I continued to outrun and evade them.

“[Tentacle Magic: Binding Grasp]!”

The ink shield bent under the force, before tearing open as it gave way, an octopus-faced mage with giant striped tentacles extending from its long sleeves radiating a sense of triumph.

“I have you now! Surrender and-” The mage paused, staring at the green ball attached to one of the tentacles. “What?”

The ball was spinning despite being stuck in place, as though friction had no impact on it. The next moment, the surrounding tentacle, and the rest of them, all twisted up, the effect spreading all the way back to the mage in an eyeblink. For a second, the robed figure looked all wrenched up, before it was suddenly launched into the wall as the tension released.

“GAGHK!” It let out a cough before going still, knocked unconscious by the impact.

Expressionless, I shifted my staff, and Lyric obediently altered its course to go in a circle. That put me in position to catch the green metal ball as it returned to me. Along with the impact, came the vibrations carrying the information recorded.

…those were just masks. How the fuck did I not realize- Ah, must be because I got too used to seeing all those races in Strixhaven. I frowned as I sensed the odd sensation again, one that I had been feeling for a while. Yeah, enough of this.

Too often, these white robed people had been able to track me down, even when I used some of my tricks to try and cover my tracks, or to hide from their searching. This only meant that someone else was keeping track of me, letting them know where I was. And since I just used the Spin, that person had to have noticed.

“Alright, enough games,” I spoke out loud, trusting that my observer was paying attention, “I admit I intruded, but it was unintentional. But I’m not going to surrender, I tell you that now.”

“Oh, so you’ve had enough of playing, is it?” An old man’s voice echoed from somewhere around me. “Fuwahahaha! Fine then, I admit that it was fun watching you escape from my Temple Knights in a game of tag! But I can’t end it without a clear winner!”

Temple? Knights? Something about this seems familiar, but I don’t have time to think about it. I looked around, but couldn’t find the source of the voice. “What do you mean?”

“My magic imposes rules. You couldn’t escape because no one is allowed to leave until a clear winner is decided. But,” The old man chuckled, “The game can be changed! I’ll make it simple for you!”

“Simple? How so?”

“A single battle to decide it all! You will face my strongest fighter, and if you win, I will grant you a single request in my power! Lose… well, you better hope you don’t.” The last part was said in a foreboding tone.

Maybe I could have talked things out instead of running, but it’s too late to undo what’s been done. Besides… A grin spread across my face. This seems kind of fun. Let’s see what sort of magic I’m going to face.

“Alright, I accept.”

“Then let’s have the fighters assemble!”

A sudden light engulfed me, which I recognized as a teleportation spell, so I let it take effect. When it faded, I saw that I was now standing on a rocky platform in the center of a large cavern, facing yet another white-robed person, one wearing a mask of a hammerhead shark. He had a grimoire floating in front of him as well, and the intensity of his mana was the strongest among all those I had seen so far. 

“Now!” The old man’s voice spoke from above, sounding clearer now. “Final match, begin!”

A humongous hammer of water came rushing at my face.

Afterword: First new alternate world, and I’m sure a few anime watchers will recognize this one. The potential for magic is immense, and while this visit is temporary, there will be subsequent returns for further growth. Also, there are gonna be students for Roy to teach, since that’s the theme I plan to go with for this fic.