Authors: Scottie Futch
Scott smiled at her once more, but did not answer. He was not sure what to say to that, and it was possible that anything he did say might be mistaken for something else.
After a brief silence passed, he changed the subject. They chatted about her people, and what little he knew about his supposed people. They traded stories about their lives and passed the time in a friendly manner.
At the next stop, Scott's temporary train companion rose from her seat then prepared to leave. She turned to him and said, "If you like, you should bring your fiancé with you to visit my family estate sometime. I am certain that my father would enjoy meeting you both. He has a certain interest in sorcery and in the natural magic of the elven peoples."
"I'll keep that in mind. It's out in the Salt Marsh region in the far western territory, right?" asked Scott.
"Yes, correct." Her tentacles swayed in a gentle manner that Scott took to be something again to a smile among her people. The expression of her eyes certainly suggested it.
"Perhaps we will see you later then, Ms. Amiscoototiloanosci."
"You remembered my name?" Her eyes widened slightly. "Most humans end up mangling it,
badly
."
"I'll probably live up to that reputation next time," he said with a grin.
She laughed warmly, her tentacles wriggling in a happy sort of way. "That seems a fair possibility. See you later then."
Scott's new associate left the train after that. The rest of the trip back was made in relative silence. He did not know whether they would indeed visit the girl's home, but it was nice to meet new people. "Hmm, Rhea did want to do more as a couple..."
Thoughts of coupledom dancing through his head, Scott left the train in a slight daze. He did not realize that three sets of eyes peered at him from the dark. One set of which was quite beady. In a not so subtle whisper, Beady Eyes said, "See. Told you we'd see him get off the train if we waited here long enough. Let's get him."
"This guy's AFK," said the elven girl while gesturing to the third member of the trio. His eyes were open, but he was obviously asleep.
Beady Eyes looked over to his lightly snoring companion and groaned. "Well don't that beat all!"
He set about slapping the guy around for wasting their golden opportunity. He'd have more than a few minor bruises when he returned.
***
Night in the city was a time of whimsy, of wonder. No one seemed to sleep in Valkovia. Scott looked down from the balcony of his hotel room, and spent time thinking about the people and vehicles moving down below. In many ways, at this distance, the city was like any decently sized town from Earth. Only closer inspection would show that the people were often made
different
than the normal mass of humanity he had been accustomed to throughout his life.
"I wonder what they would act like if they knew..," said Scott, a slight frown on his lips. The citizenry went busily about their lives. Many of them had no serious concerns in the world save for their current armed conflict with the Storm Tyrant.
The time for the board to act was well over a decade away, potentially. It was strange to Scott, even so. How would the people of Earth react if the situation these people faced was forced onto them instead? What if they were suddenly forced to fight for the survival of the human race? How would they react when they discovered that it was because a handful of people did not think the current world was profitable enough? Worse. The ones who might choose to end everything did so despite the fact that they lost nothing truly remarkable if they did not destroy the place.
Money was essentially meaningless to the gods due to the fact that they lived an immortal existence. The ones who might kill off the people of this world, would do so solely because it was in character for their particular human-like lifestyle.
Scott ran his fingers through his hair then took a deep breath. "How strong do I need to be to have a chance of taking down the Lords of Terror, anyway?"
Leveling required a great deal more effort in this world. Constant battle only took someone so far. He had to complete missions, interact with the locals, and train. For the next few years Rhea was going to be left behind when it came to such things. Most of their time together would have to focus on completing missions. It was necessary for the possibility of buying more time, but it was also problematic.
The biggest difficulty was the fact that his profession required more attention to detail. It provided incredible capacity for growth and customization, but he literally needed to build his powers from the ground up.
"Ero will be back with us in a few weeks. Rhea's going to be here for a few days." Scott bit his lower lip then slowly nodded his head. "I need a training plan."
He considered the possibilities before, but he came to the conclusion that he needed a definite training regimen. Scott went back into the room and sat down at a table. He spent a short time scribbling down training ideas.
Currently, his training was a bit haphazard. He needed to spend time trying different methods for creating spells. Now that he had done so for the most part, there were a few things that he needed to work on aside from that. He needed to work on his physical skills, but there was also one class of magical energy that he had ignored for the most part outside of limited study in the library.
The primordial magic he had access to due to events on the casual server was known in this world, but it was not the sort of thing that would be discussed at length in a book found in a public library. He would have to search for the answers.
Scott finished scribbling down a few notes, and then looked them over. Afterward, he chose the three things that he felt were the most necessary for immediate training.
"That should cut down on a lot of wasted time." Scott went back to the balcony and immediately began to train. He had already slept for a short while. He had six, perhaps seven hours before Rhea would once again walk the land. It was time that he needed to spend in training.
He focused on the lightning, the elemental spark that resided within himself. Electricity flowed along his limbs and then to the space between his palms. It moved from one hand to the other in short arcing bursts. After training his magical mastery to his current level, it was easier to control the flow of the elements. Now it did not require an extreme effort to coax the energy to flow between his palms.
Scott stared into the space between his hands. He watched the electricity arcing back and forth for a moment. The easiest victory he'd had against a machine monster other than the very first pile of scrap, had been the battle with the motorcycle.
Electricity was a better deterrent against the mechanical junk piles than celestial energy. That must be a design choice by the monster designers among the gods. Otherwise, his celestial attacks would be deadly to those critters. They were not much different than the living armor monsters he fought before. If anything they were close cousins.
Lightning attacks, like so many others, eluded him. However, recently he began to suspect that it was because he failed to realize a still hidden truth.
The electricity arced back and forth between his hands for a moment while he contemplated. The patterns he worked with to date were designed for specific elements. They were highly useful, but the main issue for him was that they were not really designed for sorcerers. They were meant for the other types of magic wielders. Sure, he would gain basic patterns for developing his magical abilities, but they were just training aids.
Other professions used magic like a tool. A sorcerer existed alongside magic. He was supposed to be part of that flow. He had heard such things from Rhea on rare occasion, but most of what he truly knew about sorcery came from his brief time with the master who helped him achieve his current status.
"What was it that the master said about the elements ...?" Scott searched his memory. There were dozens of little tidbits, small hints mixed into the situation.
Scott took a breath then said, "Serene is Water before it flows. Fire is a furious blaze as all men know, but from small spark within does it grow. Wind is formed by gentle breeze or terrible will, always in motion and never still."
The words stuck with him for a moment, before he continued. "Earth is unchanging throughout time, unbroken, unbending, an element sublime. Lightning is the will of men, one to none and home again. Shadow is an existence within all kinds, a darkness that erodes even the strongest minds."
"The master said that a true sorcerer had to be what he was. He must speak his mind in a clear and simple manner until he knows enough to be silent." Scott tasted the words for a moment then made the tiny spark of lightning arc between his hands.
Scott watched the lightning arc for a moment. "One to none and home again... Lightning is the will of men ..."
He tilted his head to the side then his eyes widened slightly. "A true sorcerer has to be who he is... Speak his mind until... What if...?"
Realization struck the man like a sledgehammer to the face. "Could it be so simple?"
It was possible that he had fallen for a verbal trap. He had thought that the master had meant something else, but what if he had literally given him the key to the basic foundation of all sorcery!
The sorcerer watched the lightning arc between his hands once more. "One to none and home again... Lightning is the will of men..."
Scott did the one thing he had not thought to do before. Instead of trying to will the lightning or any element into place, he spoke up and said, "One to none and home again... lightning flow between my hands..."
Perhaps he had imagined it, but the next arc of energy seemed to flash brighter. Scott decided to try a slightly different tactic. He envisioned the lightning stopping between his palms to form a ball of brightly shining light. "Lightning flow from one to none. Do not fail to stun someone."
It was a terrible rhyme, but the result was a brief flash of light that did in fact stun
him
a little. Scott blinked his eyes rapidly, momentarily flash blinded. Despite the spots in his vision, he could not help but laugh. "I think I'm on to something!"
After his vision cleared up, he tried again. This time he left out the part about stunning someone. Instead he merely chose to create a little rhyme that that was designed to generate a bright flash of light.
The resultant flash of light lit up the area like a flashlight going on and off. "There's no way this can be so simple!" exclaimed Scott happily.
He spent his time studying patterns, like a mage, but the truth was that his power was fundamentally different. He held more in common with a monster than a mage. Animals and monsters used their magic by instinct. Monks and sorcerers were supposed to be closer to magic than any other caster class. Only those individuals with racial benefits could claim otherwise and still follow a different path.
"I'm supposed to be a twilight sorcerer, a
master
sorcerer. Yet, I failed to realize just what I really was..," said Scott.
Patterns were great things to study. They can provide insight into the way in which mana and the elements worked together. Yet, the truth was that they were meant to provide mages with a means of using magic. As a sorcerer, Scott was supposed to be
part
of magic.
The exultant sorcerer quickly gleaned his memory in search of the knowledge and hints the master had left him. There were many such tidbits to consider. In order to master his magic, a sorcerer must master himself. It was the sort of teaching one might expect from a martial arts movie, but it had real applications.
A sorcerer was magic. It wasn't something he used, it was part of him. It was like his arm or his leg.
"One to none and home again. Lightning is the will of men..," said Scott softly.
Scott lifted up his right hand, palm up. The power, the real power, was there all along. Developing it would be a constant act of self-discovery. The more he mastered himself, the more he could master his magic. It was not
the
magic. It was
his
magic.
"My dumb ass," said Scott. "I've been putting the cart before the horse, huh?"
Until now, he spent his training time trying to will magic into patterns. The truth was, that magic worked through him as an extension of his body and soul. He needed to use his words to evoke the power into the world, until he mastered that specific expression to the extent that he could simple do so as an act of will. The words were not a requirement like a mage or a priest. They were a training tool to focus his mind!
He thought carefully on what to say, and how to say it. His words needs to be confident and possibly a bit dramatic to make certain that he was not acting in a manner too casual to effectively change reality. It did not take long before he felt that he the needed words. "I am the light that illuminates the shadows. Let no darkness survive my presence."
A crackling sound emanated through the air at a point roughly one foot above his upraised palm. The crackling sound intensified. Scott suddenly felt a sense of weakness roll throughout his body, but he had expected something like it to happen. He was burning his mana at an incredible rate while focusing on the creation of his chosen power.