239 Three Concepts of Magic

"I apologize for making the class wait," Lance began as he opened one of the cabinets via his bracelet. Notes flew out of the cabinet and attached themselves to the board in an orderly fashion. The bracelet flew back onto Lance's arm and the container clicked, locking itself. "As many of you may have noticed, we have a new recruit: Doevm. I didn't have time to fetch him a robe and fill him in like I have done with each of you because of external matters. Please excuse his appearance."

While the students' many over the shoulder glances at Cerlius now carried a hint of understanding, the previous scorn was still there. No explanation could distill the first impression: a man covered in filth, sweat, and dried blood, an outcast.

Lance rolled up his sleeve and glanced at a circular, ticking piece of metal. He grimaced as he rolled the sleeve back down. "I'll have to skip straight to the demonstration." As he fumbled through his notes, Cerlius scanned the students. He committed to memory; their position, mannerisms, their calm, relaxed postures, and adapted himself to match in an effort to fit in.

'I need allies and information. I'll have to rely on Lance or convince one of these people to assist me, however the later will be difficult. Fucking humans.' He paused. 'What an odd expression. I am human. Why would I curse my own race?'

The furious scribblings of quill on parchment pulled him out of his thoughts. Lance pointed up to the ceiling. On the very tip of his finger swirled blue particles, mana. A small connection formed at the back of Cerlius's mind. The sensation of a small, distant spark of life in the world surfaced a memory from deep in his psyche…

"Are you watching Cerlius? He taught me this water element spell, Ripple, in our first lesson."

"Yes brother. I might have started my studies later, but I'll surpass you someday and learn everything about magic."

"You'll try to but I'll have you know that I'm pretty good at this."

"Only because it runs in the family..."

Cerlius's vision blurred. He wiped his eyes, which had gotten watery for some unknown reason. He sat up like the rest of the students, hid the smile that had snuck onto his face, and shook his head: 'That was a memory. I had a family, a brother. I couldn't see him but he's there, deep inside of my memories. I can do this. I can remember who I was. Why did Lance think my name was Doevm if I was called Cerlius in my memories? I'll consider it later.'

The entire class flipped their respective parchments which were now full of notes, detailing anywhere from the circle's design to the way Lance had flourished his arm.

Cerlius looked to his own, blank paper. 'That…' he thought, his body shaking. 'was magic.' In the blink of an eye he watched his paper fill up, as if he had practiced writing this single page of notes for his entire life. An intense burst of energy nearly made him keel over his desk. He stifled a grunt, not wanting to draw any more attention to himself than he already had. 'Study it. Learn it. Master it. More. More. More…'

A second wave of mana shot out of Lance's arm, half of which condensed around the edge of the circle, forming a symbol. The other half of the mana threaded itself through the magic circle. What emerged this time was a single drop of water. It floated an inch from the magic circle and parted, forming an 'O' shape that expanded, thinning as it did so, eventually vanishing.

Cerlius's hand blurred and the smell of ink and paper rose into his nose. He leaned forward as if in a trance, thoughts of escape shifting to thoughts about the concepts of magic he had read off one of the plaques. 'Three concepts: Mana, magic circle, and characters. What do they each do? How did they change the spell?' The class faded away. All that Cerlius saw now was the intricate designs of Lance's magic circle becoming even more complex, and a thick thread of mana worm its way through.

This time the drop of water split into an 'O', which swept faster the further from its point of origin, eventually slamming into the walls and fading into a light mist. The students flinched back, most with wide eyes, before continuing to take notes.

"Mana," Lance said, the mana around his arm dissipating. "Is an internal force linked to one's mind. Magic circles shape the spell into elements such as the water element I demonstrated, and characteristics modify the output. These are the three basic rules, concepts of magic, which every mage understand from the moment they cast their first spell. These three concepts originated with the founder of magic, the Goddess herself, who gifted humanity with magic."

"Magic is not something that one does arbitrarily. It is a force of good, like the one who gifted it to us in the first place. Magic is not some fascinating phenomenon to be gawked at with awe. It is a force of nature. It is as natural as the water you drink or the food you eat, but only special individuals can handle this force, individuals like us mages."

'Doevm, remember.' Rang a voice in Cerlius's head.