Tales of magic: grimoire of transmorfigration
Chapter 8
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Opening Arc- "Crow and Quill"
Chapter 8- "Migration"
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When the winter came, those birds decided to take the long trip, towards a place where they could be warm.
One bird-a strange one- was too lazy to take the trip, so he made the warmness of spring come to him.
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April 28, 1886,
Pridon.
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Book of Magic.
"Lancaster Speindel, you have agreed to the tenets of the oath, now tell me the Title you prefer."
'It's every bit as fantastical as I had imagined. But this guy talks wierd. I wonder why Will calls him a demon? He hardly looks like one, and when I asked him, he said he was more like a god, than a demon...'
"Which one....I can't really decide. What's the importance of having a Title ? Can't I be a Mage without it?"
The chained 'man' simply laughed.
"No. Your Name/Title signifies where you stand and where your Sanctuary is in the spirit world."
"You do realise that I don't understand sh*t, right?"
Lancaster's facial expression was blank, his hands behind his back. He was still wearing his favourite Green suit, wearing black leather boots, and his favourite hat.
"I shall explain. The Sanctuary is a home for your soul, as you shall be initiated into the world of spirits, you shall need a safe place, and a base of operations. Spell casting usually involves the act of communication with the denizens of the spirit realm. You're spirit would either move towards who you are communicating with or you will summon them to you. Either ways, No normal spirit can encroach on someone's Sanctuary. Hence, you will be safe from harm from most."
"The Title please. The relationship between the Title and the Sanctuary. And how the hell does it affect my use of magic?"
"Your Title is related to your Sanctuary as it's the location. Spirits close to your Title are the easiest ones for you to contact. Hence it is much easier to conjure spells related to your Title. Also, your Title grants you special abilities unique to you, that may or may not give you an advantage in the coming battles. Is that enough for you?"
"Hardly. But I hate wasting time. I choose...Bird."
"Why is that?"
"What's really good about magic, other than the power to fly?"
"You...have quite the character. Very well then. But I must say, Crow is more suited to you."
'So that's what Willy meant! He called me Crow once, and I didn't get it. Maybe it's related to all of this Fate nonsense.'
"Crow sounds like garbage. But tell me first what it can do."
"The Title of Crow, will grant you the power to curse. It would include most of the benefits of Bird, and the curse of the Crow."
"Curse... No wonder. That son of a dame wants me cursed."
"Pardon, son of a dame is not as insultive as you make it sound."
"I know. Can you tell me about some more Titles?"
"You don't need that information. I have given you too much already. I will not divulge any more."
'Nice one. I see why they call you a demon, now.'
"Give me Bird you numbskull! I'm not going to let 'Fate' decide for me."
"You have the guts to insult me. You have my respect, Bird. Now the ritual is complete. I have imparted Knowledge into you, and given you some of my Power. If you have any more questions..."
"Alright. So tell me, is it true that Will is really just 25, and Clock is some hot black lady? I didn't really believe it when he said it, and I need your input to be sure."
"What use do you have for this information?"
"Not much. Just curious."
"I can tell you. But It would cost you your..."
"Not happening. Now I'm completely sure you're a demon."
The thing laughed.
Lancaster smiled.
"This demon will visit you once in a while, and we shall have a little chat then."
And then the world around him disintegtated and Lancaster was once again standing Infront of the symbol in the Crimson Corridor.
William was smoking while standing, resting his back on the wall. Only the two of them were present in the Corridor.
"Now you're free to kill me, right?"
"Yes, I am. But I was thinking we could make a temporary truce, so that Quill joins the game first. I want to end him, before you."
"Alright. Temporary truce."
William got up from the wall.
"The Crown will want you dead, though. We talked about this before. Are you ready?"
"Of course I am."
'I know exactly what I can do. I might not have learnt any spells yet, but I can escape if I needed to.'
William walked towards the door marked CENTRAL CITY.
"Open it."
"Alright."
Standing infront of the door, Bird forced it open, not with raw strength, but with magical ability.
The moment the door swung open, Lancaster was face to face with the queen of Pridon, who looked at him with impunity. Lancaster returned that look, and got comfortable on one of the chairs.
Apart from the queen, there was also some strange looking man wearing a cloak covering most of his facial features, and the rest of his body.
"You have been given the opportunity to see the face of the queen of this kingdom. Bow your head and show your respect at once."
"What the heck is wrong with you. Man, you sound like some kind of puppet."
"How dare you.."
The queen looked at the cloaked man and he kept quiet.
"I want to make an agreement with you, Bird. We want you to leave your Sanctuary in the spirit world, and change your Title to Crow. In exchange for doing so, we will leave you alone for one month, as long as you don't attack myself and my people."
"With all due respect ma'am, I'm not doing that."
"If you agree to my request, you will not be harmed in any way."
Lancaster got up.
"What will you gain from me doing that?"
"You will be at a disadvantage when the one month period is over, and then you'll be easy pickings. Also, for the period of one month we have one less Mage to worry about."
"You're going to try to beat me, if I don't agree, right? All of you are so similar, using your powers to force people to obey you."
The queen was silent.
"What's special about Crow? Why do all of you keep telling me that I have to be Crow?"
"Because that Title has the most synergy with your soul. And without that Title, you will never reach your full potential. You must understand, you are weaker without it."
Lancaster was surprised.
'If I would be weaker then, it'll be a good thing for her. She should be happy.....unless me being powerful somehow serves her purposes better.'
"Why make this deal with me? Why not just kill me and end it completely. I mean I can die, right? Fate isn't protecting me anymore."
"I see you have been well sensitised. I might as well tell you the second reason. I want you to kill the Mages for me. I'll rather my enemies kill each other, than actually wasting energy and getting into the fight. Kill as many as you can, and for every Mage you kill, you will be granted an additional one month of peace between us."
"That sounds peachy."
'Agreeing with her was never the plan. Why am I doing this? Could it be that I really believe she can kill me...'
"I assume you have agreed."
"Yes."
"Let us shake hands, as a sign to the spirits that you have agreed."
'Damnit! Why? I don't want this! Two life changing promises in one day! That's way too much!'
The young man walked towards the queen, who stood up and stretch her hand towards him.
Lancaster still shaked her hand.
"It's done, You shall take your leave, Bird. You have until five days to change your Title, if you don't do it, the deal is off."
Bird nodded his head.
'Now for the fun part.'
He focused on hos Title, drawing Power from within, and activating his magic.
Lancaster feet left the ground. He started to fly about 2 feet above the floor.
The cloaked man- William calked him Seer- was jeering at Lancaster as he took flew away.
"Make sure to hit your head on the way out."
"Shut up!"
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'Life has gotten a lot more complicated. But...'
The gentle melody produced from the keys of the piano was soothing to hear.
'I can still do this.'
The pianist smiled. He continued to play.
'Jordan Middesworth is going to be Quill. Hunter said that.. It doesn't matter though. I don't exactly have to kill him.. After I become Crow, in the one month that follows, I'll have fun with this power.'
'I don't care about this war. Neither do I give two f*cks about the Book of Magic. All that matters to me, is my own life, and my happiness.'
'That's the only thing in this world I'm ready to devote to.'
'Never again will I see that happen.'
'Why am I even thinking about that. I'm playing.'
The tone of the song,that was once upbeat and happy, suddenly went down and moody.
'Mother.'
He stopped.
Lancaster cleaned off the sweat from his brow, using a handkerchief. He discovered that his eyes were damp.
'Tears..'
He cleaned then off as well, waving to the audience that was getting annoyed.
"It's alright, I'll continue."
And so he continued to play.
The music lifted up his heart once more, as he buried his feelings once more.
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April 29,1886.
Weidson, Pridon
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Lancaster was in the woods close to the Screaming Woods of Rimus. A
complicated symbol was drawn underneath his feet. He started to chant.
"Spirits of wind and the skies, converge and heed the call of Bird, your good friend, and do me a small favour in exchange for Power, and a more enriched relationship. Combine your powers to for ma sharp blade, an cut my target in two."(Words of Magic)
He pointed his hands towards a tree.
"Wind scythe."
And the tree , almost instantly fell.
"It worked. And there wasn't as much of a big hit to my Power as there was with the original spell."
'So once you understand the Words of Magic, you can change spells to suit your tastes. Also, It seems that I can offer Power as well as friendship to spirits instead of Power. I wonder what else I can offer.'
'My Knowledge allows me to access information on so many different spells of different categories. The Bird is quite knowledgeable indeed. But how is Crow any better?'
"Might as well check it out."
`You want to do it. You want to become Crow, right? I'll help you. I will not build a new Sanctuary for you, that isn't easy. Instead, you'll build a new one yourself.`
"How?"
`Must I teach you? You're carving a new path, greatly removed from the Mages of now, and the Mages of centuries ago. I cannot tell you what you should do. It has never been done before.`
"Building a new Sanctuary?"
`No. Living without a Sanctuary. You wish to change your Title, right? Doing so, is the same as destroying yourself, and picking up the pieces and then using those pieces to rebuild yourself in a different manner. For a while, you will not be fully whole.`
"There's no easy way to do this, huh."
"Once you destroy your Sanctuary, not only will you lose some of yourself, you will also lose your main connection to the spirit world. Sure you will not return to being innocent, but magic spells will be harder to perform. And this makes the rebuilding several times more difficult. Your soul will also be fragile, and easily attacked and violated by the spirits."
Lancaster scratched his head.
"It sounds dangerous."
`It is. But, you might survive, if you hold on to something.`
"Pardon?"
`Mocking the Crown? What I mean by holding on, is being around a Mage, and hiding with them for protection.`
"So If I'm going to do this, I'll need the Crown, right? This is what she was trying to do. She'll make me vulnerable and make me rely on her?"
`No, you could rely on some one else...I gave you some good advice.`
"You're a bit dense, demon. You didn't ask me for anything when you gave me the information for free."
`You are very right`
'Before I make my move, I need a Mage for protection huh? What if I don't destroy the Sanctuary?'
`What if you do what?`
"You can read my mind?"
The young man was genuinely shocked.
"I want to carry the Sanctuary along with me, on my journey to Crow."
`hehehehe! That has also never been done! You must be the strangest Mage I have ever Initiated. It might be possible still. But you must first obtain enough Power to uproot your Sanctuary, and carry it as you fly.`
"I'll try that then. No way I'm becoming some parasite."
And then the young Mage began outlining his plans to become Crow.
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