Chris was bleading heavily from the wound on his arm. Amelia rushed over to him. He had already fainted. She quickly wrapped his arm with some cloth, then she put her hands on his arm and prayed for his rapid recovery.
Amelia could feel how his flesh knit together again. The wound was serious, but not a problem for a healer as skilled as her. He had however lost a lot of blood and he had already been weak from not having much food or water, even if he did act strong. Even worse, he had probably been terrified by the wolf.
He would need to rest before he could go on. Amelia prayed to the Goddess to keep him safe while she went to fetch a few servants from the Temple to help.
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When Chris woke up, he was lying in a bed in a small room with stone walls. There was a candle on a nightstand next to him. Memories of what had happened came flooding back to him. He had been bit by a large and vicious Wolf. He thought he would bleed out right then and there.
Chris wondered what had happened and how he got to wherever this was. He then noticed that he could move his right arm and there wasn't even any pain. "Maybe I died and went to another world. It wouldn't be that strange considering what I have been through lately.", he muttered to himself.
Chris stood up and walked to the door. He opened it and it led out to a narrow corridor. The corridor walls were also made entirely of stone. There were strange luminous orbs along the walls that lit up the corridor. The light felt magical.
The corridor continued some ways to the left, but then ended in a dead end. To the right, it looked as though the corridor would lead out into a larger space.
Chris followed the corridor to the right and it led him into a large open space. It was a large round hall with a mesmerizing blue stone floor, perhaps some type of marble. The walls were covered in what looked like depictions of ancient major events. The feeling was similar to the Pantheon in Rome, which Chris had visited once on a school trip.
There were plenty of people in black robes scurrying around, paying no attention to Chris.
Then one of them came up to Chris. "You must be the stranger the High Priestess brought in yesterday. The Lady asked me to give you one of our initiate robes. The robe will strengthen your magic affinity and may cause you to feel a surge of power when you put it on."
He then left to join some of the other robed people at the center of the large hall. They were gathered around a large sphere of energy, hands clasped and praying together.
Just as Chris was pondering what they were praying for Amelia showed up. "Hi Chris, I am happy to see you back on your feet. Please go and change into your new robe. You can use the room where you rested earlier. Soon a servant will bring you food and water. Eat and freshen up, then come and meet me in that area over on the edge of the dome.", she pointed to an area maybe fifty steps away from where they were currently standing.
Chris went back to the room he had woken up in and changed into the all black initiate robe. Just as he put it on he felt a massive surge of power filling his entire body. A few seconds later he felt like he was back to his normal self.
This must mean that I have magic affinity. I wonder if and how I could learn some spells.
Soon thereafter a servant came with a generous amount of food and water. Chris took his time to eat and drink. It felt like ages since he last drank water and had a proper meal. There were peaches, some sort of melon, chicken drumsticks, a sallad, and bread. Once he was finished he went to the agreed-upon meeting place and Amelia was already there waiting for him.
"Hi Chris, the robe suits you.", she said with a warm smile. "Thank you Amelia", he answered.
Amelia looked at Chris with a serious face. "We have a lot to talk about. I have looked into the prophecy further and it speaks of an adventurer from a different world that will come to save our world from a great and dark evil.
Our world is facing plenty of perils and it is unclear what it is that you should be saving us from. However, it does give a clue as to how you will become powerful enough to be our hero and savior. The prophecy says that the adventurer will have the potential to learn anything."
Chris gives Amelia a confused look. "What does that mean? That I should study my way to become your hero?"
"I am still not sure what exactly it means, but I have an idea where to start. We will try to teach you the fundamentals of magic.", Amelia answers.
Amelia continues before Chris has a chance to say anything, "Do you know how to read and write? It is perfectly fine if you do not. That is usually the case."
"Yes I do, but I don't know if there are any differences in our written languages. I seem to be able to speak to you with no problems at all, but maybe the writing is different. Would you show me one of your books?"
Amelia fetches a book about the different known races in the world and shows it to Chris. "Can you tell me what it says?"
Chris answers, "Compendium of Known Races across the World".
Amelia was impressed and continued questioning Chris on his knowledge and skills.
"What else do you know? How are you with mathematics? Do you know physics?"
This line of questioning continued for a while until Chris had convinced Amelia that he was a full-fledged scholar.
This world was filled with magic and wonder, but overall it was still very primitive in comparison to the world Chris was from. He had also studied for most of his life and it did take some academic prowess to get into a technical college, which he had attended for the last two years. He was beginning to think that his knowledge would be of great help in this world.
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After Amelia had finished questioning Chris she retrieved a spell tome and started teaching Chris how to form a floating orb of light. The necessary requirements mostly consisted of drawing forth your inner magic energy and releasing it into the world in a calculated manner that would cause the desired effect. In short, it was all about math and physics as long as you could muster up enough energy.
Amelia also explained that energy channeling depended on the physical and mental strength of the channeler. It could also be boosted by various equipment.
Chris had already understood what he needed to do with his energy, much to Amelia's surprise and astonishment. However, he was still having trouble channeling even a small amount of energy. He could feel it inside, but he found it difficult to draw forth. Amelia would feel his energy start to gather but then dissipate. It was as if she was teaching a child how to summon his energy.
Amelia told Chris that she had some other matters to attend to. "Good luck Chris. Tomorrow I think we should head into the village and continue the lesson on the day after. Please practice your channeling on your own as much as you can and remember the breathing exercises I showed you."
Chris thought about what he was doing wrong. He could feel his energy starting to shift from all over his body and move toward his chest. It felt like he was slowly dragging something by a rope, but then the rope would just break. He tried again and again without making much progress at all.
After many hours of practice, Chris decided to go to bed. The sun had already set hours ago. Amelia had told him that the room he had woken up in would be his for as long as he needed it.