EFate: An MMO Story Chapter 14: Magic

As the stars gleamed brilliantly above them, Arthal resumed his speech.
"This." Arthal said with satisfaction, "Is Arcane magic. The root of all magics, any magic you perform will be created with arcane magic as its basic form, and given another attribute to fill in the vessel that arcane magic can create. Today however, you will be grasping the basics of using arcane magic." Pausing, Arthal walked over to a table tucked against the corner of the room where he grabbed a small box. Making his way back he gave the box to Calyn.
"Please distribute these beginner's wands to the recruits." He instructed her, turning to retake his place in front of the group.
Calyn quickly handed each student a wand from the box. As Eric received his he examined it. It resembled a tapered stick, with a handle carved from the wood of the base. A small clear crystal adorned the tip of the wand, giving it a slight resemblance to a children's toy with a gla.s.s ball on the end.
"Ahem, now that everyone has received their wands I shall explain how to cast the most basic of arcane attack magics. While I would prefer to teach you something more practical such as a light spell, someone has deemed it necessary to begin with attack magic." Here Arthal glared at the ceiling of the tower before continuing.
"The name of the spell you shall be learning is Arcane Strike. It is the most fundamental of all attack magic, nearly every offensive spell you learn from this point on will have arcane strike as its starting point. That is because arcane strike as its core is simply the act of gathering mana and causing it to shoot outwards. Watch as I demonstrate."

Arthal walked towards the center of the room, unbeknownst to the students Calyn had set up a target dummy behind them while Arthal was giving his speech. Pointing his wand at the target, Arthal performed a quick circular swishing movement with his wand, upon the completion of which a ball of brilliantly glowing violet energy shot out and impacted with the dummy.

"Whoa." The students quickly gave Arthal a round of applause which he waved away with an embara.s.sed look.
"That is the most basic of attack magics, all you must do is create the form of a circle using the tip of your wand and then will the mana in your mana vessel to fill that circle. Once the spell is created you may direct it to shoot in any direction you please. I would ask that you all shoot it towards the dummy though. Now does everyone understand?"
Calyn gave a short cough. "Yes?" Arthal asked, perplexed by her sudden intrusion.
"Maybe you should tell them how to draw the magic from the mana vessel Arthal?"
"Ah yes," Arthal responded with a small blush. "Your mana vessel is located just below and to the right of your heart, next to your sternum. Simply imagine breathing only with your blood vessels instead of your lungs. You should be able to feel the mana moving. That is the mana moving through your mana vessels. The most simple explanation I can give you is that your mana vessel is the magical version of your heart. Easy right?"
Calyn sighed, shaking her head as she did so. Then she walked over to where Arthal stood and took aim at the dummy, her fishing rod clutched tightly in her right hand. Looking closer, Eric suddenly saw that her fishing rod had bits of crystal embedded in the tip, as well as along the sides.
"In order to cast a spell there are three basic conditions you must fulfill. The first is that you must create the magical formation using arcane magic. This is the vessel of the spell. The circle is the most basic formation and only creates a minor arcane attack. It is not even at the level of a single mana arrow."
Demonstrating, Calyn first created the circle that Arthal had created, firing an Arcane Strike at the dummy. Then she created a slightly more complex formation, a circle with a triangular head. No longer a circle the formation now resembled a teardrop. As she cast the spell, this time instead of a shapeless...o...b..of arcane energy, a much more powerful arrow of arcane energy shot out and slammed into the head of the dummy, sending it reeling backwards.
Turning back towards the group, Calyn checked to make sure they all seemed to understand before continuing her explanation, "The second condition is that you must designate an attribute for the spell, for arcane spells there are no attributes. And you may skip this step. But you must add a second formation to the first in order to meld the structure of the spell with a secondary attribute. The most common example of this would be an element. For example if I add the fire element to the Mana Arrow I used just now I would cast the Fire Arrow spell."
Turning towards the dummy, Calyn again formed that teardrop shaped spell. Only this time instead of shooting it instantly, she added a second formation around the teardrop, this formation resembled an enormous triangle missing the bottom line. As she finished the second form the arcane lines hovering in the air in front of her took on an amber hue. Aiming away from the dummy, Calyn pointed towards the window and released the spell. With a roar of burning flames a blazing version of the mana arrow soared past the players wide-stretched eyes.
With a smile Calyn turned back towards the group, "The final condition is that you must inject mana into the spell formation in order to cast it. If you do not have mana you will be unable to cast a spell. Also the more perfectly you draw the spell formation the less mana it will consume. To inject mana, focus on your mana vessel and focus on that mana you can feel. Bring that stream of mana and let it flow through your outstretched arm towards your wand, once it reaches your fingers imagine injecting that mana into the wand. If you reach sufficient levels of talent you will not even need a wand and can use any tools or even your own body to directly create mana formations. For now though just try it with the wand." Finishing her explanation Calyn walked back towards Arthal who was grumbling off to the side.
"Your explanation is far too simplistic," he grumbled.
"They're otherworlders, they know nothing of magic. You were teaching as if you were still at the Snowpoint Academy, teaching rich scions of n.o.ble houses who've had tutoring in magic for years," she chided him gently.
"Even so, the secrets of magic are deep and varied. One should not simply be taught how to cast a spell, but why the spell works as it does. There's a reason most mages are given a formal education." He muttered.
"The G.o.ds have decreed that they be taught in as quick a manner as possible. Your style is fine for those who know the basics, but these otherworlders know nothing about magic. For as much as you love to talk about the basics, you need to remember to also teach the fundamentals." Calyn responded gently.
Arthal sighed, "I just hope that these otherworlders will be up to the fate that the G.o.ds have in store for them." He muttered, looking towards the balcony and the wide open sky that stretched beyond.

As the two teachers discussed quietly, the players were hard at work attempting to cast their first spell. Eric gritted his teeth as he tried to coax the mana flowing through his body towards the wand. For some reason no matter how hard he tried, the mana refused to leave, stubbornly remaining inside his mana vessel.
'Relax,' he told himself. 'Imagine it like meditation in Tae Kwon Do. Relax your body and allow the mana to flow naturally.'
Closing his eyes, Eric began to regulate his breathing, gradually shutting out the sounds of his fellow players beside him. Feeling the wand clutched in his right hand he began to circulate the mana inside his mana vessel. Rotating it clockwise he slowly coaxed it towards his arm. This time, instead of attempting to immediately infuse his wand with the mana, he allowed it to flow back towards the mana vessel, feeling it coalesce with the mana still inside. Before the mana could settle down he once again sent it streaming towards his arm, sensing the mana as it flowed down towards his fingers, reaching the fingertip before turning and flowing back towards his mana vessel. Again and again he repeated the process, like the tide impacting upon the beach. As the surge of mana became increasingly powerful he opened his eyes. Pointing the wand at the dummy he once more allowed the mana to reach his fingertips, only this time instead of allowing it to return along his mana paths to the mana vessel, he forced it towards his wand, infusing the crystal at the tip with his mana. Feeling it working he quickly seized the opportunity to draw a crude circle. As the shining form was completed he felt some mana disappear from his body drawn into the circle.

"Hyah!" With a shout Eric released the magic, watching as the circle glowed a brilliant violet before coalescing into that shapeless ma.s.s and shooting towards the dummy. As the Arcane Strike smashed into the dummy Eric felt himself collapsing on the ground, his knees quivering with the excitement of having just used magic for the first time ever.
Staring at the wand in his hands Eric quickly returned to his feet, not wanting to let go of this feeling of the mana flowing through his body.

This time instead of drawing a single circle, Eric was struck with inspiration. Infusing the mana into his wand once more, he drew three interconnected circles, the line not faltering but connecting all three seamlessly with two circles on the bottom holding up another circle on top. Following this he also recreated the symbol he'd seen Calyn use, that two sided triangle, using it to connect the three circles with lines beginning in the furthest corners of the two bottom circles and meeting in the middle of the upper circle. As he prepared to fire this spell Calyn and Arthal turned pale, the wands in their hands moving at lightning fast speeds to create a dazzling array of runes.

Infusing his mana into the formation Eric aimed once more at the dummy, ready to see the results of this formation. As his spell came to life, a series of dazzling shields suddenly surround the dummy, one of the shields was a shimmering curtain of water, creating an oval membrane directly between Eric and the dummy. The other had the telltale violet hue of arcane magic and was formed with multiple layers stacked one on top of the other.

With a powerful roar of flames, Eric's spell took shape, nine flaming spheres roaring to life and blasting powerfully towards the dummy. As they struck the shields they exploded.
'Boom!' The room was suddenly filled with smoke and dust, the sunbeams dancing wildly through the smoke. Creating tiny rainbows as they came into contact with the mist from Calyn's slowly vanishing water shield.