It was a long quiet walk from the log cabin to the bus stop, with the waltz of brown leaves being my only solace from boredom. So I decided to break the silence.
" So... what was going on with all the fire and stuff"
"It's called magic. Behind the repetitive rat race of the world, lies magic, fantasy, and adventure that the average joe would only dream of. But for us magic casters, it's a reality."
He snapped his fingers and flames emerged from them. He continued.
" In this world, magic resides in 2 types of beings. One being humans, and the other being monsters. This magic is contained in the blood of both humans and monsters alike."
" Then what separates us from the monsters besides physical and mental capabilities?"
" Most species of monsters do not possess true intelligence that humans have. Instead, majority of the time they are driven by hunger and the need to survive, similar to animals. However, monsters have an insatiable hunger for magic that would strengthen them, and obviously they are not foolish enough to consume the magic in their veins if not there wouldn't be monsters anymore. Instead, they hunt other magical beings as sources of magic. They can cast magic as well, but they do this only as a last resort when fighting either rival monsters or strong enemies. Humans on the other hand are further separated into 2 groups, the normals and the magi. Magi, as the name suggests can cast magic because of the magic in their blood. Normals however, also have magic in their blood, but the amount is so minuscule that they cannot cast magic and monsters do not even sense them.
Now, in the magic caster group, there is one final separation: the magic sensitive, and the spell casters. The magic sensitives can cast only a small array of spells while the spell casters have access to the whole spectrum of magic."
"So, if this world has magic, how powerful is it seeing that it is so coveted by monsters."
"Unlike all those fantasy stories you read of where magic is seemingly an unlimited source of power, in reality it's different. Traditionally, Magic casters are able to cast magic by expending their energy. However, this way of casting spells is very ineffective as by genetics, magic casters do not have much stamina, leaving them being able to cast only 1-2 spells a day. But, magic casters of the past overcame this problem with 2 different methods. You could either carry a magical object which is essentially just carrying a battery for magic, or you could forge a familiar contract with another magical being. However, both ways have their drawbacks. A magical object would eventually run out of magic, leading you to try and obtain another one. However, magical objects are expensive in the market due to the difficulty in mass producing them. On the other hand, to gain power from a familiar, you would need to trade a vial of your own blood in order to gain their magic for a set amount of time. This would weaken you over time especially during long fights."
"But why do the familiars require blood to empower magic casters?"
Rona then cut in, " Familiars before forging a familiar contract with a magic caster are nothing more but mere monsters. And as all monsters do, familiars also worship magic as the ultimate delicacy which can be found in the blood of other magical beings. And of course as magical beings of higher intelligence than monsters, we wouldn't be so barbaric as to hunt other beings, so in exchange for magic in the form of a blood meal which is scarce in supply to familiars, we provide magic of our own which we have in surplus."
Then Rona licked her chops and looked at me with an expression that made me feel like a roasted pig on a plate.
" You look like a fine meal indeed to me"
Sota knocked her on the head with his fist
" OW! What was that for?!"
" Try not to eat our guest Rona. If you are hungry here..."
Sota took out a small vial from his coat pocket that contained a crimson red liquid. When I realized what it was I stumbled back, to Rona's delight.
" I was only having a bit of fun, but if you insist..."
She took the bottle out of his hands and stared at it like a child would at their Christmas presents. Man she was right when she said that familiars worshipped magic. She then popped the cap off the vial and drank it till the last drop. She then proceeded to wipe her mouth with her arm with a satisfied look and with the most adorable voice I heard come out of her, she said ," Thank you very much!" I giggled, which prompted her to stick out her leg and trip me, causing me to fall onto my crutch, and in the same way that I did, she giggled at my pain.
Then I asked as I picked myself up, " So, Sota. If you have that blindfold over your eyes how do you actually see?"
" I have developed and mastered a technique that allows me to sense even the smallest amount of magic in anything, allowing me to not only have practical uses in battle of sensing the opponent's strength but also to navigate in areas of low light."
" Can you take off your blindfold?"
"No ." He responded sharply which ended our conversation.
After the walk and a bus ride, I realized that we were in Slovenia after arriving in the town of Bled, a massive tourist attraction due to it being a resort town, according to Sota. The typical European style architecture with cobbled streets and gothic styled buildings paired with the cool wind blowing in from the nearby lake Bled made it feel as if we were in medieval times, at least while in the old town. The rest of the town though was like any other urban area, just without the skyscrapers. When we entered the police station, the heat wave from the heaters and the friendly greetings of the staff were a warm welcome from the chilly weather outside. I stood near the entrance as Sota began to talk with the staff in Slovenian. After a short conversation, he turned around and left the police station. I followed after him and asked what happened.
He said, irritation in his voice, " No lost posters of you here. So if there is no lost posters of you here, there's only one last place in this town to check."
" But what about other police stations?"
" There's no point, this is the central police station, all reports in the town go through here after being made"
"...ok then..."
We continued walking after that. To where our destination was, only Sota knew. Eventually we reached the bottom of a large cliff. On the side of the cliff was a steep path up it paved with cobble and between them, brown leaves blanketed the dirt beneath. At the top of the cliff stood a large castle of Romanesque architectural design, and the afternoon sun was high in the sky over it, casting a menacing shadow on us: Bled castle. As I stared up at the castle, the wheeze of a tour bus coming to a stop disturbed my admiration of the castle.
"Great, tourists." I grumbled
Our climb up the steep slopes leading to the castle was not made easier with the throngs of tourists, but our perseverance was rewarded with a breathtaking view from the upper courtyard of lake Bled and the town.
"Amazing"
The treetops were many tones of orange and brown, with patches of green being the last reminder of summer, and the naked trees testament to the coming winter. The water of the lake sparkled like diamonds under the sun above, and the mountain in the distance was like a sleeping giant overlooking the whole area.
"Genevie..."
I turned around. Sota was standing there waiting for me, hands in his coat pockets, looking as if he was completely at peace.
I walked over, and he pointed his palm towards the floor. A blue circle of energy appeared slightly above the smooth stone tiles in the ground and characters and symbols of unknown meaning started to form out of blue energy and enter into the ring.
" Sota what about the people around us?! Won't they see what you are doing?!"
"Relax, before we entered the castle, I casted a magical cloak over us that prevents us from being seen or heard. We are perfectly safe."
Another ring of blue energy appeared and enclosed the other ring, while the symbol and characters moved into their positions as if they were doing a dance. Eventually, the whole emblem formed by the magic was pushed into the ground, and the stone tiles under it sank into the ground, revealing a staircase. Sota climbed down the stairs and I followed behind closely. When we were deep enough down the staircase, the stone tiles moved back into place and Sota made a small fire to light up the stairwell.
" Where are we?" I said as we reached the bottom of the stairs.
He pushed open the wooden door in front of us, " Welcome to the magic district".
The bright light was unexpected for a subterranean cavern so I had to wince as he opened the door. But what was hidden under the castle was something out of the ordinary. Behind the door was a whole other part of the town, with streets flanked by the romanesque and gothic buildings that resembled those in the old town, but the people looked misplaced in the setting of the town with their typical garment of the normal world. The only people who looked like they belonged in the time period were the handful of people either clad in armor or armed with medieval era weapons, but I assumed they were adventurers.
The streets were full of people, rushing from here to there, just like above ground, except that here, instead of carrying a suitcase, the suitcase hovered close by and followed you, and magic made everything convenient. Everything that would seem out of the ordinary above ground would be found normal here.
As we squeezed through the sea of people on the streets, I could distinctly hear the shopkeepers on their loudspeakers, advertising their goods. It was like a marketplace. Eventually, we reached a huge plaza and in the middle of the plaza stood a large lighthouse that had a gigantic fireball in it, the source of light for the magic district. Then we quickly walked off into one of the many streets that led to the plaza.
"Sota, how did they make such a place?"
"Back when the castle was ceded to the Bishop of Brixen in 1011 by the German king Henry II, the town had already been established and globally, magi were fearing that society would begin to persecute them because of their misunderstanding of magic. As a result, the magic council ordered all magi to hide their magic, and practice only when there is safety. This prompted many magi including those in Bled to develop hidden magic districts where they could live out their lives without fear of persecution. Thus the development of magic districts globally as a sanctuary for magi."
After the conversation, we reached a large gothic cathedral that from Sota's information, had been repurposed into the main library of the warlocks. After clearing the entrance, Sota, dragged me through the library at such a fast pace, that I didn't even get to see any of the books. Finally, after reaching the end of the long hallway, we entered a room with a large mosaic taking up the entire back wall of the cathedral. It was beautiful and incredibly well preserved, and the tiles formed a giant family tree. Imbedded into the cold stone floor, was a plaque made entirely out of gold, and engraved into it were Slovenian words that translated to, according to Sota:, " the warlock family tree."
He slid the ladder on the side of the mosaic along the beam that stretched across the width of the whole room and checked the top branches of the tree. He came down after awhile and sighed, a sign of failure. I sighed as well.