I’ve been trying to answer the question: What is Magic? So far, I’ve made far-from-satisfactory progress.
Magic in this modern (?) age is done using Sigils. A Sigil is a magical device that is implanted under the skin of a mage to channel their magic energy. Aspiring mages are tested and a Sigil is chosen for them according to their magical affinity. Or perhaps the Sigil chooses them. Not really clear on that yet.
Once the Sigil is implanted, usually in their chest on top of the sternum, the mage is taught techniques for channeling power to the Sigil and activating the many magical spells that the Sigil enables. In this way, a mage develops techniques and abilities very quickly.
Sigils are found in Dungeons. Don’t know how Dungeons work, to be honest. Asked for an explanation but what they told us seemed like total hogwash.
Prior to the use of Sigils, developing magical ability was a difficult, and sometimes dangerous process. At one time, there were numerous schools and academies dedicated to training mages. However due to the adoption of Sigils, not many of those are around any more. Certainly not here in this country. Or so I’m told.
Doesn’t seem right though. Knowing Magic has to mean more than just powering a Sigil and choosing a spell from the conceptual equivalent of a dropdown list. At least I think so.
According to what I experienced last night in my Trial, Magic is much more than they know.
I’ll figure it out. I’ll make it so. I will become a Sorceress of legend!
I wonder where I can find a Magic teacher?
Sir Aldo comes to us for a post-lunch meeting. He gives us the bad news we've all been expecting. There will be no training for us. No Sigils, either. Sigils are expensive and they've decided not to make an investment in us. Or rather, they see no reason to. We've been written off.
We are offered time. Three months to study and acclimate to life in this world before we’ll be kicked out. They also promise a payout of some kind - details kept vague. We keep our silence. Best to talk it out before we burn any bridges.
The biggest boon is access to the Palace Library. Limited access. Only two of us at a time and the maids will be responsible for keeping track of the books we check out. I make Saki our library rep and she puts together a short list of topics of interest before she follows Jane out the door.
I sit in a window seat looking out at the garden. It’s late Autumn here, and today is a bit rainy and cold. The pain has come back, finally. Took about seven hours. Usually I just ache all over but today I have shooting pains going up my legs from my ankles to my knees. I don’t want to walk and I’m feeling depressed.
I’d fallen into a light doze when someone came up beside me. It’s our maid Tara and she has a concerned look on her face. "Are you all right, Sir Rio?" She asks.
"I’m fine," I say, "I was just sitting here watching the rain. What are you doing?"
"I'm just taking a break," she says. "Soon it’ll be time to start getting lunch ready."
"Would you like to sit with me here for a bit?" I ask.
She sits and we chat and finally get on the subject of family. She’s the eldest child and has several younger siblings. It turns out that Jane, our other maid, is her aunt. Her father's youngest sister.
After about ten minutes, she says she needs to get back to work. I offer to walk back to the room with her.
We’re about halfway there when, without warning, she takes my arm, deftly opens a closet door, and draws us both inside. She’s smooth and fast, like a master of some kind of martial arts. Maid-jutsu or something.
She wraps her arms around me and I realize this has a lot more to do with her being a maiden than with her being a maid. Maiden-fu, then. She tilts her head up and I look down into her dark green eyes. Is it time to test out my new pain-killing technique?
"Sir Rio," she says. "It seems to me that you are always suffering. That you’re in pain."
I nod carefully. Not wanting to trigger an attack of pity.
"I'm suffering too," she says.
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I put one arm around her and with the other hand I gently smooth a lock of her hair back into place behind her ear. "How are you suffering?" I ask. Yeah, that’s me, Rio Suave!
"I’m suffering because I’m alone in a closet wrapped in the arms of a handsome boy and yet he hasn't kissed me. I was hoping that if you help alleviate my suffering, it might help you feel better as well."
I move my hand and gently caress the soft skin at the back of her neck as I slowly draw her face to mine. Our lips meet gently. Hers are soft and warm. She pulls me closer and the kiss becomes more passionate, almost desperately so.
It’s a long heavenly moment before she breaks off, turning her head and pressing her cheek up against my chest. "Are you still suffering Tara?" I ask.
"No," she says quietly. "But I hope there will be more not-suffering to come." Then she releases me with a giggle and pops out the door before I can say anything else. I’m not suffering any more either. The pain in my legs is completely gone. Success! I cannot think of a time when I was suffering less pain than I am at this moment.
I close my eyes and take a moment to savor the memory of her sweet lips, her body pressed up against mine, and the soft scent of apple blossoms in her hair.
When I finally open the door and step out into the hallway, I see Kari leaning up against the wall with a big grin on her face.
Oh, balls.
Excerpt from Saki's journal
I followed Jane through the hallways. Addie tasked me with the role of liaison with the Palace library. Jane was taking me there to meet the librarian. I brought Nix along because I didn’t want to leave him alone. His Trial, whatever it was, had hit him hard. He thinks it’s a secret, but Nix craves company. Human or animal, if he’s deprived of some kind of interaction with living beings he’ll get despondent and withdraw. He needs to get a cat.
The library was some distance from our meeting room, although the route was simple for me to memorize. It was behind a door that looked like any other door in any of the residential hallways. The only distinguishing feature is a small plaque laid into the wood.
The librarian's name is Penelope and she’s a stone cold fox. It's a good thing that Rio didn't get this job. He's such a horn-dog!
Penelope is not only pretty but she's smart too. And most interesting of all, she's deaf! Unfortunate, but cool from my personal perspective. We got right to it, scribbling away at each other.
The first thing I asked is if they have sign language here. But not really no. So I decided that I would dedicate myself to teaching her. She got into it right away. It's empowering - having a way to communicate.
Penny gave me a quick tour of what they have in their collections. Most of it is open to us, with some exceptions; mainly dangerous old spell books and documents that are politically sensitive.
The main thrust of my research was how to determine our magical affinities and other skill sets. Got lots of good information, plus Penny said she has a little experience in the field so she will help us. I was also able to find a couple of books for each of us on topics we have an interest in. I made a list of several dozen more titles that people can choose from next time I come here.
After a couple hours, Jane loaded our books onto a cart and we walked back.
I am the first to be pulled out of training and taken down to the Vault. It’s huge but I only get to see a little bit of it. The place they take me is a good-sized room inside the Vault that has multiple locks on the door. Physical locks I can see, plus magical locks I can’t. Or at least they tell me there’re magical locks. How can I know?
Inside the room are racks and racks of what look like charms. Discs about the size of a quarter, each one is on its own chain dangling from a hook. As they lead me down a central aisle I get a shock. A lot of the charms try to follow me!
They legit start lifting up and pointing at me like I’m a magnet or something. Which I guess I kind of am.
My guide explains to me that these are magical Sigils. What they want to do is find the Sigil that is best for me and then attach it to me somehow. Then I’ll be able to do Magic! Or start learning, at least.
They take me to the very back where there’s an old, bald, bearded guy in a robe waiting. With a flourish, the bearded guy takes out a golden key and unlocks a special rack way at the back. Since I’m a Great Saint, they’re gonna test me against the best Sigils they have.
There’s only eleven Sigils on this rack. Immediately when the case opens, two of them are pulled toward me. When a Sigil does that, it means I have an affinity for the type of Magic it does. One of them is especially energetic. The old man’s eyes light up when he sees that.
Light Magic. That’s my main affinity. This particular Sigil is especially strong and is for combat support. That means healing, giving people buffs like super-speed and super-strength, and most importantly casting barrier and shield Magic to protect people.
They’re super happy that I can use this Sigil. It needs a lot of power to use. The sort of power only a Great Saint summoned from another world can provide.
I guess I’m happy too. I don’t like killing. I prefer keeping people safe. Whatever God Blessed me did a pretty good job of reading my personality. Kudos.
So they grab the Sigil and sit me down in something like a dentist’s chair. The old guy unbuttons my shirt, sets the Sigil right over my sternum and presses his hand down on top of it. Pain hits me the next moment. Bad but brief. It felt kind of like getting hit with a sledge hammer and tased at the same time.
The Sigil is now a part of me, embedded under the skin of my chest in the bone. My guide picks me up and leads me away again. Off to learn how to do Magic.
Woohoo! Magic!
I met a new person today. A person who I have, perhaps, been waiting my whole life to meet. A person who is as dumb as I am deaf. My perfect counterpart. She is teaching me how to speak with my hands. She gives me a new sort of hope. She has promised to come back every day.
And she has friends. Friends who, just maybe, can become my friends too. I would like to have friends.
Friends.