Magic elements can be broken down into fourteen separate elements. There are the Core Four Elements of Earth, Fire, Air, and Water. Then there are the ten elements known as the five Dualities. A Duality is made up of two opposing forces that form a whole, like two halves of a coin. A word to the wise is to never mix two opposing sides of a duality unless you know what you are doing without question or hesitation.
Day 3, Temporikday
I sat in what may very well have been my new favorite class, Mystech and Myst Fundamentals. The instructor was a middle-aged Human woman, Mystagogue Jenna. Her blond hair was a frizzy mess that looked more like a bush of silver-gold wheat than actual hair. Her eyes were an agate blue-green outer iris with a brown-tan inner ring. She was pretty, if not what I looked for in a woman. Her petite frame was completely enveloped in black and blue caster robes that must have been a few sizes too big. The way she taught was full of pep and vigor. Her energy was wild as she jumped around more like a child on caffeine than an adult woman.
"Myst is the GREAT fuel of magic. Myst infuses all things, both living and not. We are all creatures of the myst made up of a great flowing and burbling concoction of elements that form living things." She skipped across the stage of the lecture hall only to turn on her heel and march back across, one hand pressed behind her back, the other pointing to the ceiling. "There are fourteen elements that make up the whole of creation that can then be broken down. In a simple breakdown, there are the Lumina, or positively aligned, the Umbra, or negatively aligned, and neutral. There are the base four elements of Fire." She lit a flame in her hands that she danced between her fingers. "Water." she extinguished the flames and drew forth orbs of water to float around her hand. The orbs of water floated off over the heads of the crowd to burst into a mist that floated down. "Wind." She flicked her fingers, and a breeze drifted through the classroom, turning the mist into a shimmering cloud over our heads. "Earth." Stones formed from dust to orbit around her head, only to form into glass beads that floated to join the cloud overhead. "These are the core four elements. Each is of a neutral alignment. Next are the five Dualities. Each of these is made up of polar opposites. Each Duality comprises one Lumina Element and one Umbra Element." She bit the tip of her thumb before continuing.
"Well, that is other than the Duality of Being that we will start with." She spun on her heel with a flick of her hand at us students. "The Duality of Being is made up of the two things that make a person or creature separate from the rest of creation. The Elements of Mind and Body. It's explained in the very names of the elements. Mind Myst can be used to enhance, alter, or affect the mind. Body Myst is just the same. It enhances, alters, and affects the body. I dare not use them on my dearest students lest I make them lose their sense of self and world."
She spun yet again on her heel as she continued on her mad rantings of myst and magic. "Then comes the Duality of the Cycle. Life and Death are the same as the rest of the dualities, two halves of the same coin. Life is used to heal and grow, while death is used to wither and rot." With a flourish of her hand toward a massive pot beside her desk, a thread of vibrant green energy reached forth from her fingertips to slither into the soil. A sapling sprouted from the soil, budding leaves in a matter of seconds as it reached for the roof. She only stopped feeding the plant myst when it passed through the cloud of fog and glass beads overhead and began sprouting fruit. I didn't recognize the pink-skinned and fuzzy-looking produce, but they had a similar shape to a lemon. The fruit budded and sprouted in a matter of heartbeats before falling onto the students. There were exclamations of panic that quickly shifted into amused joy as the class understood what was going on.
One of the strange fruits rolled to a stop near me, and I took the opportunity. I snatched the hot pink thing and peeled off the plush rind. Under the strangely soft fur was an outer layer that felt closer to a grapefruit than a lemon. The flesh under was a yellowish purple skin was a definite citrus texture. Tentatively, I pressed my tongue into the wound to be pleasantly surprised with what I found. The taste was, as expected, akin to lemon and a bit of grapefruit but with a sweeter flavor rather than a tart base. The best way I found to describe the flavor was like drinking the citrus punch made in Sollarra nation to our south but with extra sugar added to the drink. Only later would I learn that the fruit was called a Geeka Lemon and was native to southern Eathra in the tropic region.
I picked at the fruit and nibbled at it while I focused back on the Mystagogue. She spun around the tree with her hand hooked around the light-colored trunk. Clearly, she was enjoying the result of her teaching, though I couldn't tell if what she was enjoying was the fruit or the students. She released her loose clutch on the trunk and gave a single twirl on her toes before taking a dramatic stance and snapping her fingers at the tree. A bolt of purple energy shot from her hand and struck the tree in at its trunk. Black rot spread from the point of contact in a web. As the rot reached the upper boughs, the whole plant began to crumble to dust. The trunk rotted through where the decay started, snapped with a shattering crack and fell toward the class. Screams burst out as students fell from their seats and scrambled to get free of the crash zone. All this passed by in a flash as I just sat there in my seat like an invalid.
As the class panicked and I sat frozen in place, Mystagogue Jenna let out a light-hearted giggle before throwing a web of purple lightning. Thunder resounded in the closed confines of the room. The purple energy lanced into the cloud of mist and touched dozens of the glass beads. The mass of beads began to glow with a toxic purple light before hurtling into the falling tree. The small bodies of glass tore through the still-decaying tree, and from my seat, I got a perfect view of what actually happened. As the other students toppled over each other and clambered for safety, the beads, having been enhanced with what I could only assume to be more Death Myst, the glass bodies punched into the frail wood, the rate of rot was expedited to the point of dissolving the whole tree into black mulch.
The instructor clapped her hands to get the class's attention as they realized there was no threat. "Now, now, class. Please take your seats, and we will continue." After a long moment of shock, the class slowly organized and brushed the mulch off their seats. As everyone calmed down, I noticed that the room was now saturated with the scent of rotting plants. I wrinkled my nose at the stench, but even more noticeable was the look of complete amusement that the Mystagogue had at the escapade. I glanced up at the still-hanging fog cloud overhead and noticed glimmering dust and shards mixed in with the water. My best guess was that the glass beads shattered after shredding the tree. My main question was why the glass was still floating. Did she still have a use for the fragments?
"Now, where were we?" the instructor asked in an amused and almost mocking tone. "Ha, yes. The Duality of Choice." She snapped her fingers as she stepped back to the center of the stage. "The Duality of Choice comprises Fate, the Lumina, and Chaos, the Umbra. Fate is the element that sees all that is, was, and may yet be. Often used for scrying and seeing the smallest details of the current moment. Meanwhile, Chaos is the element of chance, probability, and what can be if only given the chance. Chaos is used to alter luck and chance in the moment. Will you win or lose the game of dice? That is decided by both Fate and Chaos." She reached into a pocket of her robe and pulled free a metal piece that, with inspection, turned out to be a copper deckra. She flicked it into the air and left it where it lay on the floor.
Mystagogue, Jenna turned her back to the class. "Then comes the Duality of The Dichotomy. A tricky topic. This duality comprises the elements of Light and Dark. Each element is made up of more than sunlight and shadow while each encompasses them all the same. Shadow, used to conceal or weaken." She spun in a dramatic circle, her body cloaked in shadows. "Light is used to illuminate and enhance." From within the shadows encasing her body, an arc of light shot forth, reaching into the cloud above. The light refracted through the cloud and back down to shine among the students in rainbows and shimmers made from the water and glass dust.
"Lastly comes what we often think of as the most dangerous duality, the Duality of Change, comprised of Arcane and Eldritch. Both are difficult to manifest and can be very dangerous if misused. Arcane is a stable energy that can be used to alter or augment materials, items, and even elements we infuse it with." The instructor then pulled a dagger from her hip. She brushed a single finger down a side of the blade. Trailing her finger, the blade turned from a shining metallic color to a matt purple plastic. She bent the blade to show that it was truly plastic. She brushed her finger back up the spine of the blade, and it began to glow a bright purple. "It's also used to bind elements to weapons like this dagger." She conjured a small flame on her finger and increased the intensity of the flame until it shifted from a candle flame to something like a tiny ember of a sun, a searing dot of light that hovered over her finger. She flicked her finger, and the yellow-orange ember faded to its own shade of purple. "You will notice that unless willed to do otherwise, anything infused with the Arcane element will turn a vibrant shade of purple." She then traced the length of the blade from base to tip. Wherever the ember touched glowed a bright orange-white. "You will also notice that there is a substantial amount of energy lost in the binding process. The average ratio of energy used to energy spent is about one to three. Therefore, most magic items are not nearly as powerful as the average caster. But there are the legendary class weapons and items that hold immense power because they are imbued by casters with reservoirs of myst that were almost unheard of."
She readjusted her grip on the blade and flexed her arm, aiming at the classroom door. She flung the blade with practiced ease. The plastic weapon tumbled end over end to strike the door blade first and sink in down to the hilt, wood blackening and smoldering around the blade. She strolled over to the door and plucked free the blade with a pair of fingers with ease. The orange of the blade faded with every second as she returned back to her desk. As soon as she reached her desk, she held up her hand, blade down facing the desk, hilt in two fingers. She snapped her fingers open, and the blade fell, passing through the wood halfway, cooling before it could sink to the hilt. "This whole example is a demonstration of the power of a mid-high level caster with moderate ability in enchanting. The higher the affinity with enchanting, the longer the element is able to bond with an item without additional reinforcement. Notice how powerful it was seconds after the binding and how quickly it faded. Any caster of the third circle or higher can enchant with that level of potency, but it's the affinity of the caster and the amount of Arcane Myst infused that determines how long the enchantments last."
A hand among the students shot skyward. Attached to the hand was the strange Human girl that was mostly metal. Professor Jenna pointed to the girl without a single word but with a nod as a sign to speak. The girl lowered her hand and spoke in a voice that was strong yet somehow held a note of timidness. "Mystagogue, could you please explain the magic circles for us? We have yet to learn about them."
The instructor gave a vehement nod with her hands propped upon her hips, "Certainly, my young disciple. Casters are ranked by circles based on the highest level spell they can cast without a ritual. Circles range from one to ten. Casters of the first circle are only really able to cast the simplest spells, known as cantrips. From simple spells, like making a candle flame on the end of your finger, they will rank up higher and higher. Second-circle casters can cast a fire shot with little effort. The Third-circle can cast a fire bolt in the same manner. At the Fourth-circle. You could cast a fire blast at the fifth. It could become a fireball at the Sixth-circle. It could evolve into a beam at the Seventh-circle. It could become a cone of flame, and at the Eighth Circle, it could become what is called an inferno or devastation class spell. The spells beyond the Eighth-circle are classified black because very, very few Mages pass the eighth circle. Those that do are so powerful they are put on watch lists. Now, you need to keep in mind that I only used the element of fire as an example in this explanation. Each caster classification has its own affinities and uses any other element to equal effect as the flame example, depending on their circle and their affinity. Any of the elements can be used to cause just as much devastation as fire if used correctly. Now, this brings me to the final element, the dynamic opposite of arcane."
With seeming ease, she plucked the plastic blade from the table, dispelled the remaining heat, ran her finger across it, and it turned back to metal as if it had never changed in the first place. She set the blade aside on her desk in an almost delicate manner before stooping. I heard some light-clicking sounds before there was the sound of a metal door depressurizing loud enough for the entire class to hear. There was a creek of metal that reminded me of a heavy door opening. Moments later, Mystagogue Jenna pulled free a cylindrical glass container. The glass looked to be an inch thick with metal casings on the top and base that appeared to have an almost jade-green hue to them. Within the glass casing was a ball of energy. Waves and patches showed shifting colors between black and green. A black of an endless void of emptiness and a glowing, acidic green that thrummed with a power that could be felt at the back of the room. Tendrils of this green light and darkest shadow spread out from the orb hovering in the center, reaching, seeking.
"This is our last element. Dynamically opposed to the element of alteration and creation is the element called Eldritch. This is the most powerful energy source known to the Sophic Species and the most dangerous. Where Arcane is stable, Eldritch is just the opposite. A marble-sized speck of Eldritch energy dropped from a table could level half the room and break down the doors." She flipped a latch and twisted the top lid to the point that the whole class could hear the airtight seal pop or the more appropriate term would be crack, as it sounded like a giant had snapped a metal blade between two fingers with a sharp squeeze. She plucked up the now metal blade with two fingers and dropped it into the container. The tendrils of energy homed in on the matter, wrapped around it, and broke it down within mere seconds of contact. Without skipping a beat, the instructor dropped the rest of the blade in and pulled a syringe from her desk, dipped it into the cylinder, and pulled the plunger, pulling free only the tiniest of particles from the shifting mass of power.
I found myself wondering how she pulled the energy without breaking down the material of the tool until I took a closer look. I noticed the metallic tip of the tool was made of a metal with a jade hue to it. The so-called glass of the tool seemed to have a similar green hue. Before she could move beyond pulling the energy into the syringe, my hand shot toward the ceiling of its own accord. Her eyes met mine as one of her brows raised in either intrigue or annoyance. I couldn't tell.
"I'm so sorry to interrupt you, Mystagogue, but I was wondering what that syringe is made of. I noticed the green hue and how the energy didn't, umm, eat it and umm, you know, the knife and, umm. Sorry." The words rushed from my mouth so quickly they almost made little sense, but suddenly my voice hit a wall with the first 'umm', and beyond that, it was little more than stuttering and muttering. I quickly shut my mouth, face burning as I realized what I had just done, and panicked over all the attention I had just gotten.
"That is an excellent question, young man." The Mystagogue praised with a mad grin, "Most materials that are designed to handle Eldritch energy are forged with Arcane Myst while being shaped and are then infused with Eldritch energy to create a lasting tolerance." She tossed the syringe into the air to catch it in her opposite hand. The teacher, who I now was sure was completely dacker, spun on her heel to turn to the blackboard at the head of the room. She almost skipped toward the blackboard before drawing an unseen symbol on it with her free hand and pulling some hidden switch. The board raised on hidden rails to reveal a hidden bunker room beneath. With walls of concrete, several hands span thick that could be seen, I couldn't imagine what could break through them short of a siege cannon. The instructor stepped into the walled room with the syringe in hand. She tied it to a string that I hadn't noticed until she mounted the syringe to it. The Mystagogue pulled from her pocket what looked like red clay and pressed it till the stuff held firm to the cylinder. After the substance was attached, the instructor turned the syringe toward the class to show a minuscule black box with a blinking red light pressed into the clay-like substance.
"What I just pressed against the syringe is a small amount of malleable explosive commonly known as blast clay with an even smaller detonator. The amount of explosive could only be enough to blast an inch-wide hole or so into an oak door. The detonator attached will have no effect other than to trigger the blast clay." As Mystagogue Jenna spoke, she pulled free a hand-sized detonator from yet another pocket even as she flipped a switch to close the door. As soon as the door sealed with an audible sucking sound, she pressed the button on her trigger device. There was an almost inaudible pop, a hundredth of a fraction of a second before the sound of a crack like a gunshot.
She drew the symbol again and flipped the hidden switch. As the blackboard raised, we saw that the syringe was gone. Instead, glass shards were buried in the concrete walls, if only by a fraction of an inch, the walls marked with black spots like blast marks. Upon closer observation, I saw that the walls were completely covered in pockmarks that must have been from dozens if not hundreds, of examples just like this.
"Eldritch Myst is the most powerful element when it comes to raw, untamed power. It is often used for batteries or sources of single-use weapons. Eldritch Myst could power a War Machine for years, but one wrong hit to that core and the whole walker goes up like a Claw War Independence Day parade celebration all put into one spot."
*********************
As the class let out, I found myself even more fascinated by the topic of myst and its uses. To think that an energy that was so dangerous and harmful could be used to power those massive walking mechs that were War Machines. Or how the arcane element could alter or augment things at such a base level. I couldn't wait to get to tinkering with these new elements to see what I could craft. Oh, how I would craft wonders.
I was distracted from my daydreams of wonder and plans for marvels by a burning sensation on my left ass cheek. The sensation started as merely uncomfortable but quickly grew to painful. I turned to look at the rear of my pants to find a small hole burning there. A hole no larger than the tip of my pinky was burning into my pants, the edges smoking even as I swatted at the spot. And who did I find trying to hide their mirthful chuckles behind their hands but Mallrimor and his merry band of thugs.
"Seriously?! First my tail, now my pants? Why can't you please just leave me alone?" I tried to sound demanding, but it came out in more of a whining tone.
"Oh, come now. It was just some simple fun. Surely your parents can buy you a new pair of pants," Mallrimor taunted with a smirk. He must have read the look on my face, and I could see his sheer joy. "That is, unless they are too poor to afford pants. We all know how Darklings make their money through theft, drugs, and murder. I guess your parents aren't very good at being Darklings now, are they?"
"SHUT UP!" I wailed. "I was raised by a Wild Elf, and he was a good and honest man!"
"Was?! Oh, now that is rich. The only man willing to take you in is dead. What did you do, kill him? And what about your mother? Did you kill her too?" The bastard jabbed me again and again, not giving me a chance to defend myself until, finally, I lost my self-control.
I stormed up to him. "Don't you DARE talk about my parents like that, you winged freak!" I snarled in rage. The moment I got within arm's reach of him, I threw a punch right at the cocky bastard's nose. I knew I wasn't very strong, but I drew a great deal of satisfaction from watching the blond bastard take a few steps back with a bloody nose.
It took me a few moments to realize what I had just done. I was shocked. I'd never hit anyone before, and before then, I'd never even had the courage to verbally lash out, let alone throw a punch. But at that moment, I was fed up with the angelic reject's antics, and the sniping at my parents had taken it all too far.
"You just hit me?" He asked in shock. He brought a finger to his nose, and as it came away bloody, I saw his rage building. "You just hit me, you little vile-kin." This time it was he who snarled. "Kesher, Brecken!" He snapped at the Dracose and Orc. "Grab him. Gellar, show this freak what happens when he messes with those above him."
Before I could react, the two massive students flanked me, grabbed me by the arms and shoulders, and lifted me off my feet. Gellar, the High Elf, stepped up, rolling up his sleeves. I struggled to break free but to no avail. Then, there was a fist in my gut, knocking the wind from my lungs and causing my innards to churn. Another blow aimed at my face blackened my eye. Then, another strike landed against my jaw. I could feel that he had knocked a tooth loose from the hit, my left canine. The blows continued, striking my head and torso. Only seconds must have passed, but it felt like minutes of my whimpering, gasping, and moaning. Finally, I heard Mallrimor command the two thugs holding me up to drop me. I fell to the cold, hard tiles of the floor and thanked the gods that it was finally over. The group passed by, Mallrimor giving me as powerful a kick to the head he could manage before moving on. My world spun and danced with stars as I lay on the floor as students passed by like I wasn't there.
I lay there dazed for an amount of time only the stable-minded could have known. I drifted off into the darkness, the pain fading with my consciousness. Nothingness, blissful, painless, calm, and tranquil nothingness surrounded me. I floated in the darkness; waves of warmth and coolness washed over me one after another. Deep in that void of my mind, I heard a murmur, inaudible words in a voice of static. The voice was somehow both soothing and goading. From the static came a single word, "Rise, Black-blood child." in a woman's rich and sultry voice.
Slowly, I rose from the darkness. Pain rising in throbbing waves of burning replaced the waves of warmth and coolness. A groan slipped through my lips as I felt my body lying on something soft.
I opened my eyes to find a pristine white ceiling. Steel rails holding up ringed curtains of pale mint-colored plastic. My first thought was a very sarcastic 'Of course, I wake up to find myself in the medical facility yet again. Three times in three days, I'd need to cut this streak short if I wanted to live to see the end of the year. Either that or get a punch card. For every ten visits to the Medical Center, you get a complementary psych eval.'
"Oh, I see that you're awake." Came a voice that sounded distantly familiar, female, tinged with the wisdom of age, her tone calm, and resonating with a deep kindness. I felt a soft bed under my back and sheets over my body that felt a little scratchy, but the warmth they gave was still soothing.
I turned my head toward the direction of the sound to find an elderly Wood Elf with a shortcut bob and brown sclera sitting in a chair beside my bed. I recognized her but couldn't put a name to her face until I spotted her name tag: Dr. Brooksheen, the doctor who had given me my physical examination on the first day.
"Sorry to cause you any problems, mis- sorry, doctor."
"Doc Brook works just fine, child. And don't fret over causing trouble. All I've done is give you a few scans, highlighted all of your injuries, and gave you something to dull the pain. Don't worry about the injuries. They're all minor, some bruises, a few sprains, and a couple of minor fractures."
"Fractures!?" I said in a panic as I made to sit up. I got to my elbows before sharp stabs of pain lit up in my ribs, left shoulder, and left upper arm. I let out a hiss of pain even as Doc Brook pulled herself to her feet.
"Hold up there, child. I still need to get a healer in here to patch you up."
I eased back down with a grimace. "Are all the healers busy?"
"No, no." she said as she stepped up and checked my arm and shoulder, prodding with her fingers even as she looked me up and down, obviously scanning me with her therra-node, her eyes showing the blue-orange gleam. "In order to use Life Myst safely, the patient needs to be conscious."
"What?" I asked. "What about surgery when a patient is put under?"
"The only time surgery is performed is when Life Myst won't fix the problem. Things like organ failure, cancer, or disease. After surgery, myst is only used once the patient is awake."
"Why?" I asked, completely confused by her explanation. Wasn't Life Myst used to heal and mend? "Why do they need to be awake?"
"The subject needs a sense of self and their body when the myst interacts with their body. If the patient is unconscious, and Life Myst is used, there is a chance the life energy could have a… negative reaction."
"What kind of negative reaction?" I pressed, worry thick in my voice.
"What comes to mind when you think of life out of control?" She quizzed, her tone somehow playful yet with a hint of grim knowing.
I lay back, staring at the ceiling as I bit my lip in thought. Life out of control. A stampede? No, that had nothing to do with life energy. The jungle, perhaps? Life, but what did that have to do with a body? Then it hit me. "Disease?"
She gave a half nod even as she checked my pulse at my wrist. "Very good. I can tell that you'll make an outstanding student here. But disease is only part of the threat. If misused on an infection, it will only make the bacteria propagate or simply spread. The same can occur with viruses and parasites. But there is an even worse possibility. What happens when a cell with bad genes divides and keeps dividing?"
My eyes widened as soon as she said the words. "Cancer." I said in a numb tone. Just thinking of cancer filled me with dread. The illness could grow in quiet for months or years, only spotted when it was too late. While cancer was treatable, if you had enough money, it was well known to come back and sometimes not even in the same location in the body as the time before.
"Correct again." This time, her tone was nothing but grim. "You can't use Life Myst to cure cancer no matter what you try. It only worsens the illness. That is why healers never use Life Myst on an unconscious patient unless there is no other option. Troops on the front lines are more likely to come home with cancer than almost any other field, almost."
I could read the untold message in those last words. Adventurers were more likely than even soldiers to end up with the disease. She looked into my eyes, her eyes weighing on me like a sack of stones. I looked away after only a few seconds. Without another word, she straightened and passed beyond the curtain. No doubt to find me a healer. Knowing now the possible backlash to using Life Myst, I didn't feel comfortable using the energy at all. I'd rather heal naturally. But I doubted the doc would let me go before I got patched up. I'd have no choice, so I lay there and bit my tongue even as a young Human woman stepped past the curtain with the doctor.