Tales of magic: grimoire of transmogrification
Chapter 13
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Opening Arc- "Crow and Quill"
Chapter 13- "Companion II"
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There was once a tale of a never-ending battle. A silent war, waged with words. The fighters seemed very much like close friends, but beyond the surface they were worst enemies.
This is the second worst type of battle one could ever be involved in, because the brawlers wage a hidden war against their enemies, and none could know where and when the other would strike.
The worst kind of battle however, is a war upon oneself. That is the most difficult. ~ Philosopher, during his battle with The Beast, the goblins and the siren both summoned by the Crown. At that time Philosopher had chose to work with Beast to defeat the others knowing that he would have to challenge Beast later. 1874.
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30 April,1886.
Weidson.
Middlesworth Bakery.
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"Quill."
"What's that?" Lloyd asked. His brows were furrowed.
Quill repeated himself, whispering this time. His eyes were shut tight.
"Quill."
'The spirit world. The ritual performed to enter the spirit world as detailed in my Knowledge involves connecting my consiousness to my Title by saying it with intent and focus. It says I only have to say it twice or thrice, but this is the third time I've said it, and nothing has happened. This is getting embarrassing..'
'Good thing dad doesn't have a clue what I'm doing. I'm really not good at this.'
'If only it was a simple diagram, of words of magic I could write to go there.'
Journal don't judge me, okay? I need some help here. Do you think I'm doing it wrong?
"Jordan, what's going on?"
'Focus... Quill you fool! I have to focus on it. Forget everything else and try to connect myself to it. The problem is I'm thinking too much. I just have to stop thinking...'
"...Quill."
"Jordan!"
"Quill."
Lloyd had had enough. He stomped towards Jordan, and slapped him on the head.
"What is wrong with you?"
Quill tried to hold back his laughter.
Lloyd looked visibly angry. But to Quill it was very humorous seeing the plump man drag his big body around and scream with such emotion.
'I'm not being focused enough!'
"What's funny?"
'Dad. It's your fault I have to do this. You're the who just had to order me to stay here in the counter for the rest of the day, selling muffins. I'm supposed to have a break. In less than two hours, I'll probably get possessed by a spirit If I don't cast my spell. And I can't cast anything with all the customers staring.'
'So I've resorted to going to the spirit world. My body will remain here, so it'll look as though I just fell unconscious. Maybe this wasn't a good idea though. Now I think about it, I could've just went to the bathroom, and 'fainted' there...'
'But this is more fun.'
'It's the closest thing to bragging about my magic. At least some people will realise I'm different. Maybe showing them a full on spell is stupid, but with the spirit migration ritual there wouldn't be any special lights or blasts of energy.'
"Quill."
Risa had come out of the inner roon. She took a glace at Quill and raised her eyebrow at Lloyd.
"What's wrong with Jordan?" She asked to make it obvious.
"I don't know. He's just closing his eyes and saying the same words over and over again. He's being a brat."
"Maybe he's praying?"
"Can't be. He's not a believer of Tyr. He must be doing this to annoy me."
"Quill. Quill. Quill."
The writing mage felt something peculiar in his heart. A strange sensation, unlike no other.
"I'm about to get there."
"What are you even talking about!"
'Quill. Quill. Quill. Quill. Quill.'
Lloyd held his son by his shoulders and shook him thoroughly.
The sensation grew stronger. He stopped feeling anything from his skin and the rest of his body. The quiet whispers in his head grew louder all of a sudden.
'Quill. Quill. Quill.'
Quill stopped hearing. His perception of up or down felt messed up. At that moment, he felt as though he was spinning around, while standing still and stiff. His body was being pulled at and he was losing feeling in all parts of his body.
It was so fascinating.
'Interdimensional travel.'
"Greetings, Quill. Would you be kind as to let me into your Sanctuary? You see I'm a fellow Mage."
'Who the heck is this person'
"My name is Lancaster. I will not mention my Title, unless we come into an agreement. Come on. It won't be a waste of your time."
"Alright. I'm done with the act, Jordan. Just let me in so we can talk."
'Lancaster? I haven't heard from him for quite a long time. To think he'll be a Mage..'
"Did you kill Lisa?"
"What kind of question is that? One of the Crown's people killed her. Now shut up and let me in."
"How? I don't even know where I am."
"You're in the Abyss. Continue to drag yourself there. When you arrive at the Sanctuary, open the door."
'The Abyss?'
"Don't stop thinking about your Title. Immerse yourself in it. If you don't, you might get swallowed up by the abyss."
'What?'
"You owe me. You're not even trying anymore."
'That jerk. I am trying as hard as I can!'
A spirit, floating aimlessly within a sea of nothingness was suddenly grabbed by a powerful force, dragging him away.
Alarmed at the sudden pull, spirit attempted to escape the flow. But it was inevitable. It was carried away towards the spirit world.
SPIRIT WORLD.
Opening his eyes, Quill was overwhelmed by the countless new sensations he was feeling.
'I think I've been reborn..'
"Get real. We're in the spirit world."
He jumped back when he saw Lancaster.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm uhh..A little scared..how the.."
"How am I here? I opened the Door myself. It's one of the only benefits of my Title, other than flying. Now quit pissing your pants and focus on the situation. There are six spirits inside this Sanctuary. And now you're here, they'll be hell bent on destroying you."
"..so how did you become a Mage?"
"Does that matter? I wasted my precious Power to open that door, so I could help you, and you're wasting my time too. Exactly how much of a loser are you?"
'I hate the way he's saying it. But he's right. I have to get my act together. I'm not a pushover. I came here for business after all.'
Quill started by Inscibing a complex diagram on the floor.
"They won't attack until they have enough Power. And they don't... they're also fighting each other. It'll make supressing them a lot easier."
"You plan on just supressing them?"
"I want to make it so they don't have a will of their own anymore. I want to make their Power and their abilities become mine..."
"You want to trap them... okay. But you won't get your name back."
'How does he know that?'
"I don't plan on it. I'll craft a new Name from their abilities. I've already thought it through."
"Good. Then I'm not working with a complete loser." Lancaster grinned.
"How long till the spirits get out? I'm itching for a fight."
'Who says that kind of thing?'
"About two hours. Enough time to cast a spell to trap them."
All the spell diagrams had been drawn by then. There were six in number. They were drawn in a circle.
Each diagram was a circle with a concentric circle inside, and a square bounding the inner circle. Within the inner circle, there was an equilateral triangle whose points were at the circumference. Several strange symbols that resembled a stars were inside, surrounding the inner circle. Nothing was inside the triangle.
'Inscribed flawlessly.'
"You need a more accurate way of measuring Power."
"Why so?"
"You can feel it, but you know it's not precise. I can give you that if you agree to help me. It's pretty simple."
"You're family, and you just saved my life. You don't need to exchange anything for my support. I'm here whenever you need me."
'Yeah. I wasn't there for Lisa though and I made the same promise to her...'
"...."
"Why are you so silent?"
"I didn't expect you to be this stupid. We're supposed to be fighting to the death...but I really don't want to win this fight in the first place. Hand shake? I hear the spirits love it."
Quill stretched his right hand towards Lancaster's stretched out hand. Their hands touched and then their palms connected. And they shaked hands.
"Our deal is sealed. We're allies, for as long as we're both willing to be." Quill smiled.
"...so, what exactly do you need help in?"
"Power. I want you to transfer Power to me on a daily basis. There's a spell for that. Also, I guess there's safety in numbers. The Crown is working with Seer for a reason."
"Alright. You'll be helping me too. I... really don't have anyone to talk to about this stuff..." Quill blushed, scratching his head.
"Stop being wierd.. here's the spell you need to measure your Power."
Then he tossed a small box to the boy. Quill caught it, almost dropping it.
'It's heavy.'
"It's an old chronometer. It has been enchanted by yours truly to be capable of measuring how much Power a soul has access to. Insert a drop of your blood into the clock inside. It'll spin and tell you your Power level rather than the time."
'That's nice.'
"When did you make it?"
"Today. While I was at work. Now try it out."
'It only took him a day? Those Enchantments in the Knowledge take a lot of time. That's why I didn't learn a single one of them.'
Quill bit his finger and winced. A small drop of blood cane out. He opened the box and let the blood drip from his hand, into the enchanted chronometer. It started to grow red and then the colour suddenly changed to golden.
"Nice light show... wait a moment..It just came to me. How can you take things to the spirit world?"
"Why did you think you couldn't? As far as you have a home in the real world, an exact replica is made in the spirit world. My home is my old house, where I lived with my parents. Yours is this one. See, a replica of whatever is infused with a part of one's soul is a part of their Sanctuary. What I just gave to you appeared in my Sanctuary after I made it."
"How did you talk to me earlier? How did.."
"Look, Quill."
He turned his eyes to the box sitting on his hands. It wasn't glowing anymore. The chronometer's hands were spinning and spinning around in circles for a few seconds until they stopped at 1:06.
"That's 1.1. Quite low, if you ask me."
"What does 1.1 mean?"
"If the measure of Power capacity of a human being is 12, then any number on the clock is a fraction of that. If it was exactly 12, that is complete Power, as much as your soul can take- as much as the demon gives. The demon replenishes about 12 every hour. It'll take two hours for them to gain enough energy to fight back, according to you. But exactly how much energy do they need?"
"What's the point of these numbers?"
"You really are dumb, Quill. We need the numbers to be absolutely sure about what we're doing. Now, use your head here. If we seal one of them now, will they have enough Power to fight back?"
"I don't know."
"Then try, and we'll measure your magic afterwards and figure something out."
'This guy is on another level. How did he figure out how to do that? Is his Knowledge more innovative than mine?....Well, it's Lancaster. He's always been better than me. He's always been good at everything.'
Quill frowned, before he began to chant, saying words of magic he had memorized last night.
"Spirits of chains and bondage,wrap yourself around my target and do not let them go. In exchange for your work, I shall repay you with Power and if the strength of target surpasses the Power I offer, you may leave without any trouble."
A green light shone brightly, coming from Quill's hands. Quill held the power, but did not target anything. So the light stayed on his hands.
'Time for multi-casting. I spent hours studying my Knowledge for this. I bet even you can't do it, Lancaster!'
A complex symbol appeared to be drawn on the air itself, above Quill's head.
"Parasitic spirit, sleeping inside me, appear before me as I give you Authority to do so. If I subdue you, you shall relenquish your will, and If you subdue me you shall inherit my soul."
"Here you are, already learnt the Words of Magic too, huh. Good for you."
'He said 'too'? Does he mean he's also learnt it?'
A crimson red smoke appeared from somewhere in the bakery/Sanctuary. This smoke formed into the shape of a human, and then transmuted into something resembling a human male. This man had crimson eyes and dark hair. He also possessed black wings that resembled that of a bat.
Lancaster couldn't stop staring, the moment he saw the spirit.
Quill couldn't stop trembling.
'Now you are summoning me, child. You really want to test my patience. There is no need to use the Words of Magic on me. Even though I was a spirit, I have been changed by your lack of a name. I have had access to many of your memories. And now I believe I have mastered your modern human tongue.'
'That's wonderful. Cause I really don't know that many Words.'
Quill scratched his head, still shaking involuntarily.
'This guy is strong.'
'I shall announce myself as you Mages do. I am a Vampire. My name is Vlad Sinclair. I was once the Lord of the Ancient Castle of Vampires, now I am the lord of the local Spirits of blood, flesh and bone. Prepare yourself, human. I will do whatever it takes to take your soul.
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