Chapter 17: Introspection

Chapter 17: Introspection

What? Harry sounded just as tired as he always did, and not exactly pleased to answer Callums call, but Callum decided to ignore that. If Harry couldnt sound enthusiastic when Alpha Chester introduced them, that was probably just the normal state of affairs.

Ive got some questions about instinctual magic use. Ive got a good handle on how spells are normally done, but obviously that isnt the only way it works. He was lying, a bit. He had a basic understanding, but compared to people like Gayle it was not a good handle. What he did have was a completely different way of going about things, and a vis aspect that was rare enough there wasnt any easily accessible literature on it.

Yeah? Harry said, after far too long a pause.

Well, young mages can obviously manifest things like fire, or light, or the like, without needing to make frames and twine vis together and all that. Spontaneous manifestations. Whats the mechanism behind them?

Huh. Thats a weird question. Harry sounded ever so slightly interested, but when Callum didnt explain himself any further, his voice dropped back to its normal tired cadence. For the most part its just agitation of a persons normal vis field.

Explain, please, Callum said, when Harry didnt elaborate. He swore talking to the man was like pulling teeth.

Well, for any mage, their body is suffused with vis, and one of the first things they learn how to do is how to project it out so they have full magical control over their immediate surroundings. But even before then theyll often shove it out unconsciously, putting enough vis into it that things start happening. It was the most Harry had ever said at a time.

Interesting. I think I understand. Why would a young mage fail to manifest any of this spontaneous magic?

I dont know, Im not a doctor. Maybe if they were vis-blocked or mana-starved somehow, but any kid growing up near other mages is going to be topped up just from the elevated ambient around.

Huh. Right, well, thanks for the information.

Yeah, sure, Harry said. Kind of sounds creepy though. Those questions together.

Im sure it does, Callum said noncommittally, having to forcibly restrain himself from explaining that he was asking for himself and he didnt have some mages kid locked away somewhere. Even though he didnt actually care what Harry thought of him, it was still his first impulse to keep anyone from thinking he was a bad guy.

After a few more deflections, Callum hung up and started to chew on what Harry had said. His memories of that first teleport werent exactly clear, what with the panic and the fire and all, but it was the first time hed managed any magic at all, instinctive or otherwise. Callum still wasnt sure exactly why hed never done any before, but his guess was that he just didnt have the vis. If most or all of it was going to reinforcing his senses, he never would have had enough to do anything with.

Not to mention, hed never really been in fear of his life before. When Shahey had done whatever it was that set the building on fire, it would have spiked the local mana high enough that he could actually metabolize some and for once had enough vis to work with. At least, that was Callums best guess.

The bubble thing, from the way Harry had put it, was actually pretty smart. At least, for anyone who didnt mind being labeled as a mage. Unfortunately, Callum did not want to be known as such outside of his interactions with Gayle, even if that did limit him. There was a certain amount of magical exercise that holding up a bubble took, which he was missing out on, so hed have to consider adding that to his rotation when he went out into the middle of nowhere to practice his portals and teleports.

Normally, he just took his motorcycle out into the endless farmlands. It was easy enough to find a place with nobody around for a few hours in any given direction, though finding a place that wasnt a big open field in the Midwest was a little bit harder. He tried not to use the same place more than once, either.

Based on what he read from his books, his best bet for increasing his magical ability was constant use. It wasnt a physical muscle, and it wasnt clear if it was a magical muscle, but the end result was the same. The more he practiced the better hed get, and only through constant repetition would he get to be any good.

He wasnt sure how much he could improve from his starting ability, but there was a certain aspect of mastering the basics where he absolutely hadnt put in the time yet. Out in the middle of the woods, he formed portals over and over, worrying less about the residue they left as the crispness of the outlines and the smoothness of the field between.

Whether or not he was getting better, he couldnt say. Not having a mentor to look over his shoulder and give advice was really unfortunate, but the best he could do was keep plugging away. Until and unless he met a mage that was classically trained and wasnt going to turn him in to GAR hed have to do it on his own.

Testing his intrinsic, instinctive teleport was rather weird. Hed already built up his ideas of having to frame everything with vis threads, so trying to work without them was a little backward. Probably, hed learned wrong. A lot of education targeted at younger kids was actually wrong, but useful for that level of expertise. Which made picking up advanced expertise that much harder.

If he strained, he could push his bubble out fifteen or twenty feet, about the length that hed teleported before, but trying to teleport within that bubble without forming his usual outlines and fields proved problematic. He couldnt really get into the proper perspective to do things ad-hoc, even if theoretically he couldnt really hurt himself.

The idea that people couldnt hurt themselves with instinctive magic use, and the immediate practice to curb it, was completely contradictory. Somehow he wasnt surprised. It didnt seem education in the world of mages was any better organized than on the mundane side.

The first couple days he gave up after half an hour or so at the beginning of each practice session where he didnt manage to do anything at all with his bubble. Instead of beating his metaphorical head against it he just moved onto forming, dispersing, and reforming his magical threads. It was monotonous work, but it also gave his mind a rest from trying to worry about GAR and the tyranny of bureaucracy.

At some point he realized the isolation was getting to him. Even though it had already been months, he still had the occasional reflex to try and bounce an idea off some of his online acquaintances, which of course he couldnt do. It wasnt like when he was in Winut, where there were people around and he could head to the caf and chat. He definitely didnt want to unburden himself on Gayle, so there was only one person he could really talk to.

Whats up, big man? Lucy asked cheerfully.

Hey, Lucy, Callum said, feeling his own mood lift by osmosis. Mostly just beating my head against the wall here, trying to figure stuff out. You said you worked with GAR before; do you know much about how human magic stuff works?

Aww, not just calling to hear my lovely voice?

Well, that too, he admitted. Which was closer to the truth than he would have liked. But if I called without having a specific question you might start making assumptions.

And we all know what they say about asses and umptions, Lucy replied. Yeah, the rest of my family is mages actually, whatcha want to know?

Oof, youre the only non-mage? Thats rough. Hed seen how Sen, for example, had treated normal people, and he couldnt imagine it was any better among family. Probably worse, considering how highly those people thought of themselves.

Yeah, thats why my day job is gruntwork for GAR, Lucy said, though she didnt sound too broken up about it. They cant exactly boot me out since Im just slightly magic sensitive and know all about the supernatural world anyway. So they stuck me down in magical IT.

Well, their loss, he said. So what I want to know is instinctual magic. The stuff without all the threads and fields and so on. Im reading up on it and getting a lot of mixed messages. Just wondered if you had any input.

Oh, right, baby magic! What about it?

I mean, how does it even work if it doesnt use any structure? From what Im reading nothing should happen, but it obviously does.

Well, Im not completely sure since Im not a mage, obviously. He could practically hear her shrug. Let me think. Im sure dad mentioned something about it at some point. There came the sound of fingers drumming on a desk, and Callum waited patiently.

So, I think he likened it to, and dont laugh, how toddlers would just go wherever they were, whenever they needed to. Its only when theyre older that they learn how to control their bowels and didnt need diapers. And by the time theyre adults, well, most people would have to go through some serious mental exercises to just let go in public.

So its basically a discipline thing that mages dont do spontaneous magic? Callum frowned. That didnt exactly square with any of the other explanations, but he could at least see where it was coming from.

Very good, young mistress, he said, and withdrew. She passed by photographs of the portal worlds and curios from the same, from her dads time in the draft, and went into her wing of the big, sprawling mansion. The windows looked out on a picturesque view of the Catskills, House Hargrave being surrounded by thousands of acres of wild land.

She allowed her maids to peel her out of her town clothes and fit her into a more formal dress, her senior maid using the focus that Grandmother had given Gayle years ago to restyle her mistress hair in a few moments. Another one washed her face and then together maids applied subtle cosmetics with the ease of long practice. In no time at all she was fit for a formal dinner with Archmage Hargrave.

When she entered the central part of the mansion there were already a number of her relatives about, ranging in age from her two-year-old uncle to her eighty-year-old niece, thanks to the long lives of mages. Surprisingly, her dad was there, rather than stuck at GAR like usual.

Father, she said, inclining her head politely rather than hugging him, considering the extended family still about. Im glad to see that you were able to get time off from your duties.

Daughter, he replied, his lips quirking up into a smile behind his bushy moustache and beard. Our whole department got sent home to avoid the displeasure of certain archmages. Someone is still making trouble over the whole vampire hunter ghost thing, so were letting archmages bicker with archmages while the rest of us hide out. Even if grand mages like her father were only one step below archmages, they were still below.

Do you need to bring it up with Archmage Hargrave? She was only vaguely familiar with what her father was talking about, since vampire politics were not her concern, but if archmages had gotten into a spat over it, it might be important.

No, no. Someones apprentices friend was involved and now its personal and so on. He rolled his eyes. Nothing to do with us.

Oh, good, she said with relief. Do you know why the Archmage is here though, father?

Hes got some wild hair about Portal World Four. He rolled his eyes. As if the dragonblooded are going to let him poke around. Itll probably amount to nothing, but you know how he gets.

Ive heard stories, Gayle agreed. She pressed her lips together, then decided she might as well ask while he was here. Father, I have a favor to ask.

Oho? And what might that be, darling daughter of mine, he teased. It took all of her self-control not to pout at him.

You have a homebond, right? Can I borrow it for a few hours for my study group?

He sobered at the request, looking at her carefully. Gayle knew homebonds were incredibly expensive, issued personally by Archmage Duvall, and really werent supposed to be used except by people with the right licenses. She probably couldnt even activate it, not without getting more added to her tattoo.

You know you cant use it for your travel spell, he said, more a statement than a question, and she nodded.

I know. I wont even activate it, we just have some ideas and a homebond is the right sort of enchantment to study. Well just take a look next week and Ill bring it right back, I promise.

Im not sure what you could find out from a homebond, but if youre sure He peered at her a moment longer, then shrugged. I suppose so. Its not like Im using it these days.

Thank you, father! She actually did give him a hug that time, though a brief one, straightening her dress afterward. Im very close to being able to pass and fulfill my duties without help.

Im proud of you, Gayle, he beamed at her. I wish I could help more, but She nodded. The Hargraves were a bloodline of primarily force and air, though her mother was water. How that ended up giving her healing, nobody really knew, but it meant there was nobody in the family who qualified to take her as an apprentice.

Ill get there, she assured him. No Hargrave is going to be under the thumb of a Fane.

Thats my girl, he said. Now, weve been ignoring everyone else long enough. Gayle nodded, and turned to greet the rest of her family.

***

So I had to promise Father Id only bring it over for a few hours, Gayle said. I know its not much time but hes not supposed to let it out of the House.

No, its fine, Callum assured her, focusing his senses on the paired teleport the homebond and clicking through the modeling program on his laptop. I really just wanted to study it.

We cant even use it, Gayle said, a trifle grumpily. Its coded to dads ident. She rubbed her wrist absently and Callum stifled a grimace. It seemed the only reason he hadnt run into that issue more was that hed been buying used laptops, and that was the only magical technology he was interacting with. Everything else tied into the damn wrist tattoos, or at least, all the mage-specific stuff did.

If he hadnt already seen the official GAR teleporters in action, that would have killed his ability to study the homebond, but after spending hours poring over the various bits and pieces, it was easy to locate the parts of the enchantment that were specifically spatial magic. They were surprisingly small, but then, the homebond itself was a lot smaller than he was expecting. The GAR teleporters were big bulky things, but the homebond was just a plate about a foot in diameter and an ordinary-looking, if rather thick, ring.

It was a headache to push his senses through the mundane metals that covered up the wire tracery of the actual enchantment, but this was the only chance he was likely to get so he persevered. The ring actually had one of the things he was looking for, the enchantment that shaped the output to match a mages personal vis. At least, thats what he guessed it was, since it wasnt familiar but it was in the place where there was normally a control for a mage to alter size and shape.

The more important thing to locate was the way the pair were linked so that they worked over an arbitrary distance. The actual structure wasnt particularly special. While hed never be able to derive it himself, he could kind-of-sort-of see that it was a simple teleport, but it didnt seem to be pointed anywhere. Or rather, it seemed to point back toward itself, which made no sense.

Callum frowned, looking closer, and comparing the receiver plate with the ring. Without his spatial senses he would have completely missed the key to understanding it, because the evidence was hidden inside the metal that covered the enchantments. The ring that was meant to be worn was matched by a ring on the plate, where the spatial structures were identical, and when he looked closer he saw toolmarks inside both the transmitter and the receiver. Matching toolmarks.

The location portion was the only part that pressed up against the toolmarks, but it painted a clear picture to him. The enchantment was created, and then physically separated. Thats why it directed back to itself, because it was its own target. He didnt really understand how it all worked, but it frankly didnt matter. If he was right, he could make his own homebond.

Hello? Earth to Professor Brown?

Hmm? Sorry. Callum blinked as Gayles voice intruded in his concentration and he looked up at her. This is fascinating. He glanced at his watch and saw that hed been at it for three hours somehow. It had been a long time since hed gotten so involved in something.

Sure, but unless you know a spatial mage you cant make a new one. Gayle said regretfully. Callum almost, almost offered to make her one, but curbed himself just in time. Not only did he not have the resources for that, it would surely out him. If not as being a spatial mage himself, as knowing one, and there werent too many around.

Mm, no, but the enchants give me an idea. She had the terrible telekinesis version of movement anyway. What she was lacking was a shield, and with mage bubbles he might be able to figure out something that floated on the edge. He would have loved if the paired enchantment could be used somehow, but if mana or vis could be wirelessly transmitted with ease everyone would be doing so.

I know were cutting things short today, but I think Ive learned what I could from this and you said it was only for a couple hours. He pushed the homebond over toward her. Im going to do some experimenting on my own and hopefully Ill have something shield-ish ready for next time.

Sure! Gayle seemed happy enough with that, though he didnt know whether it was about having an excuse to cut the frustrating struggle with shielding short or the idea of him bringing something for her. While Gayle was far better with her control of vis, Callum still had the advantage of his spatial talent letting him grasp the geometries of enchantments. Plus, frankly, more practice at actually working at something.

He saved and double-saved the render hed made of the enchantments, and followed Gayle outside the bookstore. She went to her car and he went to his bicycle, the two of them heading in opposite directions. He mused on the fact that both of them were headed off to a place they could teleport elsewhere, though his home was at least in the area. There was no telling where Gayle was coming from.

Callum disciplined himself enough to keep from teleporting immediately, and instead waited until he was a sufficient distance away in a side alley before beginning to transport himself back to his motorhome. He had some experimentation to do, and the sooner he could get it done, the better.