Deus Ex Magica

Prologue They came at night, three of them. He had heard the sounds of their arrival and feared what was going to happen next. He went out onto the street to follow them. They were at her house and were just escorting her out. Alone. Her parents must have known what was happening as they didn't fight it and watched silently. They lifted her onto one of the giant birds and they left just as quickly as they came. He was nearly there when the huge hawk-like creatures spread their wings and started to lift off. He tried to run after them to the edge of their little village, crying and calling out her name. He didn't know if she heard him, but just before they were out of sight he saw her looking back, down at him while he sank to the ground overcome by his sadness. Now he was alone. This happened 8 years ago. Chapter 1 - A long journey's end Emerging from this last forest he was happy to be out in the open again and feel the warming sun shine on his face. He looked back at the road and glimpsed at the weirdly twisted dark trees one more time before shuddering and shaking off the feeling. He continued along the road and thought about the village where he got directions from. Those people… It's always just “one more mile”... It's not like I haven't been travelling for hundreds of miles anyway. But people should be more accurate with what they say. The road started to become steeper as it went up the next hill in from of him. With a silent sigh he tightly gripped his walking staff and slowly ascended this new obstacle like so many before. Ugh, another hill. You'd think they would want to make the road go around it. This better be the last... Yeah right, like it's right behind this one. Almost at the top he saw the mountains further away coming into view. These green and grassy giants seemed to be going all around. He saw small flocks of birds making their way through the slightly cloudy sky. He had a good feeling about this albeit getting out of breath. With his next step he immediately stopped. His heart jumped and a big shiver of anticipation went through his whole body as it gave way to a joyous warm feeling from the inside. He had caught a glimpse of a glimmer far away over the hilltop. This...this must be it! Drove by this positive energy he ran the last couple of meters to reach the peak of the hill and behold the magnificent view that set itself right before him. The valley between the mountains was vast, filled with meadows, forests and a small river flowing through the side of it. In the center was a huge city, surrounded all around by a massive entirely circular city wall. The city appeared to be divided into three parts. The first being the residential area filled with lots of houses and streets. The second one made room for barns and crops, while the last area only contained a forest, if you can call it that, with a small lake in the middle. Dividing these parts were the broad main streets that went from the entrance gates at the city wall straight all the way to the center where that stood, what he so unwaveringly had been looking for. The gargantuan building stood out above everything else in the city and was shaped like a hollow triangle. The outside walls went along perfectly straight and flat and merged at each of the corners of the triangle into enormously high towers. The top of all three towers was made of metal and tapered upward into a sharp tip, each of which was pointing inwards. It gave the impression of a bird's talon. The magaversity of the Talon. Dumbstruck by this beautiful view and the long awaited end of his journey he stood there panting as a smile filled his weary face. He felt a giant load being melted away by the rays of euphoria that shone from his heart; too much to be contained. With all his strength he had left he jumped into the air celebrating his accomplishment with a loud “YEEES!”. He landed with one of his feet on a loose rock and lost his balance and slipped. Trying to catch his fall with his hands he let go of his staff and with a non-acrobatic “Thud!” he landed on his behind and back. Though his backpack caught some of the impact it hurt to fall on the hard dirt road. “Ouch!...argh...gnn. Mental note: These sandals were made walking, not jumping. But I made it! Oh man. What a trip. ” Lying there recovering from the fall and catching his breath he looked down at the city and it's centerpiece and his head began filling with questions, answers, dreams and adventures. He knew almost nothing about this place but it enticed his mind to go wild just having found it. He shook his head to rid it from all these fictitious thoughts; he'd rather get there and make them real. Stemming against his walking stick to… Oh right, I dropped it. Where did it go? He looked around and saw it lying a couple meters away down the slope away from the path. He must have thrown it by accident and then rolled downhill. *Groans* “Too tired for another ‘detour'.” Still on the ground he focussed on where the staff was laying and slowly closed his eyes. The wind around him seemed to slow down and rather than blowing into his face the air moved around it, gently brushing his long hair and ponytail. A liquid-like connection began to form between his mind and his heart. As he felt the energy flowing inside and the air caressing him on the outside he opened his eyes again. He stretched out his hand toward the staff and with a breezy voice whispered the words: “Come..back..”. The energy flow inside him tugged at him and he felt it first touching, then enveloping the staff. Now flowing in the opposite direction the energy made the staff move slowly alongside with it towards his hand, accompanied by a soft and silent breeze. As it landed in his hand he grasped it and closed his eyes again. The flow subsided and the wind started blasting in his face again. He took a deep breath. Using magic always felt a little refreshing but this time it was invigorating even. He didn't know exactly how it worked, it just sort of did. It felt natural to him. Even so, this was the only magic he could use. He had tried it with other objects but the flow, this connection, never really formed like it did with his staff. There was no one that could explain it to him or teach him. Magic users, or magas, weren't that common. People knew they existed and had heard about them, but nobody seemed to actually know one. That was one of the big reasons for his journey, to not only find a maga but also a place where he could be taught and train. After learning about the magaversity of the Talon he started his journey here. He opened his eyes and with a grunt stood back up and brushed off the dirt from his travelling robe. With a happy grin on his face he began descending this last hill towards his finally discovered goal. The pain in his backside disappeared as he thought about what to do and where to go when got into the city. He quickly settled on finding a place to stay first as the sun would soon begin to hide behind the tall mountains. At the bottom of the hill the path joined the main road leading directly into the city. From the hill he had seen various people, horses and carts travelling on the road far off in the distance. The road must be rather busy as it was wide enough for two carts to fit beside each other and there were multiple tracks in the dirt. Turning towards the city the road was empty as of now. His heart was racing that after so long, he finally found what he was looking for. Or at least he hoped so. He would have to get in first, but that should hopefully not be a problem. Large cities tend to have higher security at the gates. He looked at the gate from afar and already something seemed strange about it. The large gate in the middle was open and it had two small towers on the wall surrounding it. He couldn't quite make it out from this far, but something or someone on top of the towers was moving. Maybe it's just from the dirt and heat? It doesn't look quite right… As he was squinting to make out what was bothering him he noticed that he had until now ignored the loud galloping sounds that came from behind him. First he thought nothing much of it but the accompanying shouting made him turn around. A horse was aiming right for him galloping at full speed. Perplexed for the first second he didn't know how to react. “ … out of my waaaaAAAY”. He should move. “MOVE!”. Too late to move, he should jump. “HEY!” He set to jump out of the way just when the horse suddenly stopped and reared shortly in front of him giving off a happily sounding neigh. The rider was surprised by the horse's action, slid off the saddle and hit the ground. “STUPID...GAH!” Seeing as the horse didn't want to run him over he wanted to help the rider. “Wha! .. Whoa! Are you ok?” The horse still approached him slowly and stood in his way nuzzling his face. “Ah!.. what? Hey..?” The rider on the ground was trying to get up and coughing from all the shook up dust. “WHO..? *cough cough*” He had an elegant looking violet robe on with bluish rims. The open robe was fastened around the waist by a same bluish belt with a bronze roundish buckle in the middle. “Hey *cough cough* HEY! *cough* YOU!” He shook the dust from his head and saw his horse kissing a complete stranger. HIS precious horse. The initial shock from falling made way for his growing anger. He got up quickly, still a little bit wobbly and shaking the dirt off, but keeping his eyes fixed on him. “Stay *cough* away from my horse! What have you done with her? She never acts like this.” “What? No, I.. ”. The rider approached him, his face partly hidden by the horse's head. “Hey! Show me your face!” The horse lightly pushed the traveller to the side, away from the rider, almost making him trip. “Hey, wait, I...”. “What is this? *cough* Who are you? .. YOU are the cause of this! You cursed my horse. How dare you ?! Show yourself!” He became furious. The traveller now pushed the horse away to face this man accusing him of such absurdities. He had shortish hair, except for two long strands hanging down at the side of his face right by the ears. Albeit just being thrown off a horse and full of dust, he had a kind of air of nobility around him. Maybe not quite nobility. He recognised his attire to be that of a maga. While never really seen one himself, he saw paintings and drawings of them. “Wait, please. No, I have done nothing. I...I'm just -” “You're nothing but a peasant, are you?” The rider now got a good look at him, too. His cotton brownish robe was dirty and slightly ripped at some placed and had small holes, with only a simple strap as a belt. His bound hair was filthy and unkempt. He was holding a simple walking stick and wore only sandals showing his hairy and muddy feet. “W..What, peasant? No!” He was beginning to get angry as well. “A simple filthy peasant? Curse my horse? I think not. You could never be a maga! You lack the elegancy and talent obviously. Now, begone! And don't stand in my way or I WILL ride you over.” At the sight of him the rider lost interest in the traveller and didn't want to be troubled with the likes of him. He began to lead the horse away from him and getting ready to mount again. “I am NOT a peasant! My name is Rhince Vheras and I come from the village of Yastfah. I only look like this because I travelled hundreds of miles to enter the Magaversity of the Talon, and then - “ The rider turned around snapping at him. “What? You? Hah! Enter the magavesity? Preposterous. That is no place for the likes of you. Only those who are worthy may enter. Like me, the great Shā-mon Hyio. My family descends almost directly from one of the most powerful -” “Pfffhaha-haHAHAHAHA!” “What? What is it you laugh about, you dirty -” “WHaha-Sha-haha- Shame on you?? Your name is “Shame on you”. Hahahaha!” “Silence! It is pronounced “Shā-mon Hyio”, you ignorant buffoon!” “Oh, such a great name, for such a “great” maga” “I AM great. And soon you will hear stories of the powerful Shā-mon Hyio throughout the land, if you haven't starved to death by then in some gutter.” “Well, if I have, then “Shame on me”, right ?” “Grrrr. Enough! This is not worth my time. Come Shā-laya. We have to get back to the others. We shall ignore this unworthy creature.” With that Shā-mon mounted back up and rode the road back where he came from. Rhince looked after him for a short while, wondering if all his encounters in the city will be like this. Remembering there was something wrong with the city gates he turned back around and walked to it. As he got closer he could tell that the towers had something inside them that was moving, but it did not appear human. It looked like….his best guess was giant eyeballs? Giant eyeballs floating inside closed guard towers surrounding an open mouth gate. Like a hungry monster ready to swallow him. Just like in the paintings where you get the feeling the eyes are following you, this was worse actually, as the eyes were following you. Just in front of the gate he could tell the eyes turned toward him as he approached. They had spotted him and bobbed slightly up and down. A dreary feeling began instantly to fill from this head to toes. He hadn't expected this and didn't know how to react. The gate was open but there was nobody else around. These eyes are really creeping me out. Why are they watching me? What do they do? Are they the...guards? The tower guards? Nothing happened. He took a step to left, the gaze of the eyes followed. He took two steps to the right. The eyes followed. He blinked. The eyes did not blink. Ew..they don't even blink. “Uhm… Hello?” No response. He took a step forward. “Hello?!” The eyes fixated on him and bobbed up and down slightly faster. He quickly took a step back again. “Yes, hello!” It was a deep raspy male voice. “H-hello, Mr...eyeball, sir.. I..my name is Rhince Vheras and I would like to enter the city.” “Over here, boy!” “What?” The voice didn't seem to come from the towers directly. “Up here in the window. Behind the oogly eyes.” Rhince slowly approached the gate once more, bending his head to see behind the gate. There was a thinly bearded old man looking out of the window from the first storey. He was leaning on the window sill with a mug in his hand. “Oh...hello! Are you… the town guard?” “Town guard? Me? Nah! I'm more of a town watch. I watch the gate, in my spare time. Sometimes interesting things happen, mostly not. Oh, but the stories I could tell you… “Well then, Mr…” “Meeru” “Mr. Meeru, how do I enter the city?” “Well, the gate's open, isn't it? And you can walk, yes? What's the obvious solution here?” “Well,...yes, but.. These eyes won't stop following me. I don't have a good feeling about it.” “They won't do you nothin'. Unless you deserve it, then they will.” “What..will they do?” “They are the town guards. They will “guard” the town. Arguably they probably do more “watching” than me, but it they do the guarding, they… let's just say you don't want to find out.” “But how will I know, if I can safely enter?” “Are you a bad person?” “No, not that I know of.” “Well, then walk through and you'll find out.” “Ok,..uh didn't you just say I didn't want to -” “Just walk through the gate! If you're fidgeting like that you probably have nothing to worry about.” “Alright, alright.” Rhince stared up at they eyes again. He could swear one of them was twitching, however that may look like. He didn't do anything wrong, nothing big anyway. He should be safe. He took a deep breath and looked straight ahead through the gate. He was scared but his gut told him he would be alright. So he walked. And went through the gate. SPLACK! A short loud noise echoed between the buildings. Rhince looked around, back at the gate, panicking. But he didn't see anything. There was nothing. Just the cackle of an old man coming from above him. “Hahaha! Get's ‘em every time” “What? You?!”, Rhince untensed again, relieved. Mr. Meeru was holding a some kind of contraption in his hand, that looked like a wooden fan. He gave it a small bang against the wall. Splack. “They gave this to me to keep me entertained. Just need my splacker here and my tea and I'm good for the day.” “Why would you do that? You scared the crap out of me.” “Oh, let me have some fun, sunny boy. It'd be a lot worse if the guards had done something to you.” “I thought they did…” “Nope, just good old Meeru, here” “Now that I have entertained you at my expense, maybe you now feel so obliged as to help me.” “No, not obliged, but I'll help you anyway. What you wanna know?” “I'm looking for a place to stay the night. Not too...expensive… Just one night for now. Any suggestions?” “Well, there's three I usually recommend: The “Inn to the five bedposts”, the “Inn to the four bedposts” and the “Inn to the three bedposts”. Guess which one I'm gonna recommend to you. “.... Where can I find it?” “Just follow this ‘ere road, then turn right, go straight, second right, then left, straight, right, left and you're there!” “O..kay... thank you, I'll find it. Good bye” “Bye, boy. If you ever need some one to chat, you know where to find me. I like me some good stories.” SPLACK! The sound made Rhince jump again. Seriously, this old guy. Now that he was inside he looked around a bit slowly following the directions he was given. The streets were paved with cobblestones which made it a bit more comfortable to walk on. Altogether the city was a bit cleaner than you would expect from a city this size. The further in he followed the streets the more cramped the buildings felt. They were mostly built right next to each other with different sizes and styles. It seemed a little chaotic at first but as a while Rhince thought it fit together quite well. He took in all the different colors, patterns, roofs, doors, windows and signs, smells and sounds. He had never been to a city this large. Where he came from all the houses seemed to been built with the same color of grey and were boring to look at, with few exceptions. The people on the streets were busy with their daily work. Some acknowledged him with a short smile or a nod, others just ignored him completely. But he didn't mind. After his first two encounters today he hoped he didn't have to meet any more crazy people. Taking the last turn he realized there was absolutely no way the inn would be here where it was supposed to be. He asked a middle aged woman working at the side of the street for directions. “What? The three bedposts? That ain't here. Did old Meeru tell you how to get here? The poor fool can't tell left from right. Here's where you go...” Turns out the inn was in the complete opposite direction. That crazy geezer. I guess it's nice to see more of the town, but I really just want to rest right now. Thanks to some more friendly townsfolk he found the inn fairly easy. He took the cheapest room and went upstairs. His room was really small and only had a bed, a table with a small basin, some water and a wash cloth. The bed, indeed, only had three bedposts and was somehow fixated into the corner of the room. He carefully sat on it and it seemed sturdy enough to not suddenly tip over in the night. He took off his backpack and sandals and want to the basin to look at himself in the reflection. His hair was filthy and was covered in dust, as was his face. No wonder Sha-mon called him a peasant. Not that all peasants are dirty of course… He opened his ponytail and roughly washed his face and hair in the basin. He felt tired. The long journey, the excitement, all the new impressions in town, all the people. Lying down on the bed he tried to decide what to do next. He would have to ask someone about the magaversity. Would the innkeeper know? Wouldn't everybody in this city know? But how would he get in? With these questions circling through his mind he closed his eyes and slowly drifted away. --- He awoke later that night realizing instantly that he fell asleep. Huh? No! I overslept! How late is it? He stood up, looked out the window and saw the full moon up high. It must be about midnight if he remembered correctly. He sighed, stretched and got an apple out of his backpack which he began to nibble on. Ok, great, so my plan to do anything on my first day has failed. And I'm probably not getting back to sleep now. He pondered on his options while finishing his apple. He could either stay in his room and try to sleep. Or go out and explore the city at night. Maybe he could find a bar that was still open. Either way he always did enjoy talking walks at night when the moon was out. He picked up his things and went downstairs and left the inn. The inn wasn't that big and at this time of night there wasn't anybody there. There didn't seem to be any lights on inside on this street except for the occasional street lights. But the moon shone bright enough to be able to see fairly well. From here he couldn't quite see the moon to its full extent as it was covered behind some of the roofs. He went around the streets trying to find a nice spot to gaze at the moon. It was calming to just look up at this shining ball of light, which did not hurt your eyes or give off any heat. There wasn't anybody else on the street he could see, but he heard some muffled music and shouting (or singing?) somewhere off in the distance. I must be in the quieter part of town. Maybe I'll have a look what's going on there. He tried to locate where the sounds were coming from and navigated through the narrow streets to wherever it was loudest. When he turned into a small dark alley he heard a faint “... then die!” somewhere nearby. Somebody was getting attacked. He peered around the next corner and in the back against the wall he could make out three figures. One taller one was holding a man from behind and covering his mouth who was struggling and trying to get loose. The third one was shorter and standing in front of him threatening him with a dagger to his throat. Rhince froze, then without thinking shouted: “Stop!”. The thugs turned around, half surprised that someone did have the guts to call them out. “Who there? Whatyou doin' here?” Rhince unable to think of something just stood there firmly. The taller one mentioned to the smaller one. "Damn,Yul! Look at him, it's one of the magas. We should get out of here! " "You stupid, Mac? He's not a maga. D'you see a sphericon or insignia on him? Judging from his clothes he's just some beggar too drunk to be afraid. " Yul, the one wielding the dagger, was making his way towards Rhince. Great...Now what do I do? Run? I can't leave the guy get gutted by these thugs. Fight? I only have my staff and can't really fight with it. “Hey, there guy. You want a piece of this? It's probably more worth than everything you are wearing. “ Think, Rhince. Run? No. Staff? What to do..? I could.. “Here, let me show you up close.” Rhince took a step back and threw his staff like a spear towards them. The little one dodged it with ease while other used his hostage as a shield. The staff hit him straight on right above the stomach. He let out a muffled grunt, eyes wide open, then he slowly sank unconscious to the floor. “Oy, you throwin' sticks at us? You think we're dogs? Street dogs maybe, with sharp teeth. Let's get him, Mac.” “We bark and we bite. Let's see if you got some beggar money on you.” Rhince was now very nervous. Maybe he should have thought it threw better but in his mind he didn't have any other choice. A knot was forming in his stomach making him want to run away so badly. But he had to dome something. The thugs now left the man lying unconscious on the ground and were closing in on him. Rhince went back a few steps and closed his eyes. “If he runs, I'll follow him, you take the shortcut.” Focus, Rhince, focus! Only a few steps away. ...Now! They were just about to reach him when he opened his eyes and uttered the words “Come back”. “..What? “ WHACK! Rhince had conjured his staff from behind them to his hands and directed it in that way that it hit both thugs in the back of their heads hard before returning to his hand. Surprised by this attack from behind they dropped to their knees painstrucken. “Argh, that bastard” “Crap, told you he was a maga….” Rhince took a meaningful pose holding his staff up and his other hand open. “Now, begone! Or I shall transform you into..toads!” He knew no such magic, but he didn't exactly like toads, so it seemed a good enough threat as any. “Small and slimey toads, that … I will step on.” Are they buying this? I don't think I would.. ~Halt!~ He heard a calm yet firm voice from somewhere behind him. Or beside him? Or inside him? He turned his head jerkily around and could only see a large crow sitting on the edge of a roof. ~You have committed a maga-crime. As an unregistered maga you have used magic in a harmful manner and have threatened to perform further magic. I will have to take you into custody in the name of the law.~ The crow was not moving at all but it's eyes as black as they were seemed to pierce Rhince through his own eyes. He was certain that the crow was talking to him. Somehow. Dumbstruck Rhince couldn't quite grasp what the crow was saying. “What? But I … They… You...huh?” ~I am not interested in your story. The headmaster will concern himself with it. Now, will you come with me freely or do you feel the futile need to resist?~ “..Uh..yes, uh. No! .. I mean...and… what's with the other…” ~Them? They have been taken care of, for now. I will see to them again later on.~ Rhince turned around and could see both of the thugs lying on the ground sleeping. The tall one was even snoring a little bit. Not sure what just happened or what is going to happen next he reluctantly nodded to the bird and followed it as it took off. The knot in his stomach had disappeared and had now landed in his head. I didn't know anything about a law regarding magas. What did he mean by ‘unregistered'? Did he say headmaster? Does that mean I'm going to the magaversity right now? That's one way of getting in...but did I do the right thing? What will happen to me? Do I have to leave the city now? I just got here! The bird only few a couple of meters in front of Rhince pausing whenever necessary for Rhince to catch up. With his thoughts going round in circles he was absentmindedly following the bird through the streets. Around the next corner the path lead up some stairs which seemed a lot nicer than the other ones in town. After a couple of steps he looked up and saw that the stairs was going up for quite a bit. This shouldn't … be here like this? Should it? To his left and right there were paintings hung up on the wall with golden frames. The wall...was now violet-colored, wallpaper, not concrete. What is this doing out in the streets? How did it get here? He looked back to find that there wasn't an alley there anymore where he came from but a beautiful white marble floor belonging to a tall lit hall and giant pillars holding up the ceiling. His jaw just dropped. He didn't understand anything anymore. “Gah?” ~Oh yes, for you information. We took a shortcut.~ “This...this is a dream right? I'm dreaming. Yeah, I fell asleep in my room. There's no way I would fight thugs in the middle of the night with just my staff and a plan so stupid it actually worked and then a talking bird comes and arrests me and teleports me inside … wherever this is!?” ~I am not a “talking bird”, I am a crow using telepathy and I did not teleport you. We travelled through a convenient placed gateway. And we're inside the magaversity almost at the headmaster's office. If this were a dream, would it hurt if you hit your head with your staff?~ Rhince stopped and thought about this. He hit his head. Ouch! Damn! ~There you go. Well, we are here. Wait here.~ At the top of the stairs was a giant doorway with two massive wooden doors barring the entrance. The door opened just a small crack so the bird could fly in. Rhince stood there and waited. The archway was delicately decorated with stone-carved plants going up the sides of the door and mythical looking symbols or runes at the top, which Rhince had no idea what they were. A serene-sounding voice came through the open door crack as it slowly swung open completely giving off a heavy creak. “Please, enter!” Rhince went inside with careful steps. The room was tall and had the same white marble floor he had seen in the giant hall below. The walls were filled with bookcases, with mostly books inside, some standing upright, some lying around. Some shelves had weird looking gadgets in them, parchments or big glass jars. At the end of the room the headmaster sat at his wooden desk which had fine symbols of air and birds carved into the front. At one end there protruded a small round branch on which the bird was sitting now. There were several books and papers laying openly on the desk. As Rhince approached the headmaster he could there was also one of the weird gadgets on the table. It was moving by itself. It had a thin frame on the outside and there were several metal balls hanging down in the middle by some thin wires. The outer left and right ball were interchangeably rising to the sides and going back to the middle again, giving off a small ”tick” whenever it met in the center. Rhince wrote it off as a device clearly infused with the headmaster's magic. “Good evening young man. Now then, can you tell me what happened tonight?” The headmaster was sitting at his desk but Rhince had the impression the headmaster was about as old as he was tall. And he seemed very tall. His white beard must cover about half his body height yet his hair on top was mostly gone, except for some thick twirls that came out the front. Interestingly enough, these twirls were not white or grey but brown. Clearly, the headmaster's own hair was infused with magic. He word a robe in a similiar fashion Sha-mon did, with the same violet color, yet gold-colored rims instead of blue. The cut was different and with the more added little details it gave off an awe-inspiring aura. “Uhm, good evening headmaster. Well, I had just arrived in the city and…” “The short version, if you please?” “The.. the short..uh, Ok... I was taking a walk out in the moonlight when I heard somebody being threatened in a dark alley. I tried to help him but had no chance of fighting them off, so the only thing I could think of was my only magic spell I know, a..retrieving spell for my staff, if you want to call it that, to hit them in the head from behind. To make them believe I was a powerful magic user I guess I threatened them to turn them into toads? Which, by the way, I have no idea how to do. And… then your bird found me. And now I'm here.” “Archimedes, can you confirm this up to this point?” ~I couldn't sense the exact spell, it might have been an ETC. But other than that I believe it is correct.~ “And how did you obtain this retrieval spell of yours?” “Well, there was this incident some years ago, when I was still young. I didn't even know it happened till later on. It just sort of happened. See, there was this -” “Yes yes, that sounds exactly like an ETC, would you not say so?” “Wh.. what's an ETC?” ~A Emotional Triggered Cognition of Magic, a common first way for early magic usage.~ “Then….I guess so?” “And why have you come to this town?” “Why? To become a maga.” “For what purpose?” “Mostly to learn more about magic. But more importantly-” “Exquisite! Then that you shall. Return to the magaversity in two days when we will be accepting new apprentices. For now you are free to go, but you must remain inside the city. I will notify the guards about you. Guards.. *gulp* “Archimedes, escort this young man back outside.” ~Yes, headmaster.~ The headmaster then looked busily over his open books and documents. Archimedes rose and flew through the still open door. Not quite sure what to do Rhince was still rooted in the middle of the room. “Uhm, thank you? Good...bye” And sheepishly turned around and left the room the mighty doors closing behind him with a heavy creak and thud. The antechamber was quiet. While figuring out what had just happened and if it was good or bad he slowly started to descend the stairs again. That was unexpectedly really weird...Am I a culprit? Or not? The headmaster didn't want to seem to know anything. What happens when I come back in two days? I guess this is my chance? ~Let me clarify. The headmaster was busy with his research as per usual as this time of night. He tends to get highly impatient when he is disturbed. That and long stories bore him. But as per law, crimes like these must be dealt with immediately. But, it appears your motives here are well-meant and the headmaster could sense that so you were dismissed quickly.~ “I guess, I just expected something dif... di- did you just READ MY MIND? STOP THAT!” ~My apologies, it comes with the gift of telepathy.~ “And how come you can talk anyway? .. or use telepathy, whatever? I've never heard about animals talking! Are you even a real crow or a maga in disguise??” Archimedes landed on the corner of a roof to face Rhince. ~*sigh* Alright, I will explain it briefly. Yes, I am indeed a real crow. Some animals, just like humans, are magic sensitive. A small fraction of these, like me, are what is called magic aware. We not only feel magic, but we can understand it, in a way and with training can even use it.” “And… what about the language?” ~The headmaster taught me, along with using telepathy. But that, I'm afraid, is another story that I shall not recount tonight. Now then, we have returned at your resting place. I bid you good night. Fare well~ “What do you mean we returned? We are still -” In that moment it occured to Rhince what had happened just as Archimedes opened his wings and took off from the corner of the roof of the Inn to the three Bedposts into the blackness of the night.