Chapter 13: Yikes

Whoosh. A fireball whizzes past my ear and slams into the wall behind me. The acrid smell of singed hair, fills my nostrils.

“You’re late,” Chloe says, holding a finger gun to her lips and casually blowing away the, very real, smoke rising off of it.

“I’m very sorry,” Bridget says, throwing herself into a deep bow.

“I’m sorry,” I echo, following her example.

“Make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Chloe says, then she gestures towards a row of chairs that are set up facing one wall of the practice room. “Have a seat.”

Remember that time when Bridget spotted Samantha on the trail, and Samantha was trying to tell us something?

It turns out, Samantha was trying to tell us we were running late, literally.

Thankfully, we were only five minutes behind schedule. But, I didn’t get to eat lunch, and Chloe still seems to be angry.

I’ll be honest. Chloe scares me.

It’s not like she’s mean or anything, so far she’s been super nice. But, something tells me I don’t want to get on her bad side.

If I had to choose between getting attacked by Crew Cut and his gang, and getting on Chloe’s bad side, I’d choose Crew Cut any day of the week.

“Today, we’re going to learn about the history of magic,” Chloe says, from her spot behind the podium at the front of the room. “Most of this information will probably be review for most of you, but please bare with it.

“Thousands of years ago, evil filled the world.

“Corruption was rampant. Poverty was common. War was an everyday part of life.

“The five races, were constantly at odds with each other. No matter what they tried, they couldn’t get along.

“One day, the Goddess Aurora appeared in a small town called Bountiful Harvest. A town that would eventually become the Empire’s capital city.

“Aurora told the priest to summon all of the villagers to the church, and he immediately complied.

“Once everyone had gathered at the church, Aurora spoke.

“Humble villagers, she said, her voice echoing through the church. I’ve called you here today to bestow upon you an important task.

“Purge the evil from this world. Bring order to the chaos that surrounds us.

“Rise up and bring change to the world. Unite the four races under a single banner.

“Once she was finished, Aurora called upon one of the villagers. She designated him as the leader of the movement and bestowed upon him the title Mage.

“Historians believe, this was the first title bestowed upon a mortal by the Goddess Aurora.

“Once the Goddess returned to heaven, the villagers began discussing how to carry out the Goddess’ task.

“Most of the instructions were clear, but there was one part that didn’t make sense.

“In this world there were five races, humans, elves, dwarves, beastfolk, and demons, yet the Goddess had only told them to unite four.

“What did the Goddess mean? Was there some deeper meaning behind her words?

“The villagers tossed around many different ideas. Maybe she forgot that there were five races. Maybe she misspoke. But, try as they might, none of the explanations they came up with seemed plausible. After all, the Goddess was an omnipotent being, there’s no way she’d make such a silly mistake.

“For several months, the villagers prayed to the Goddess, asking her to clarify her words. But, the Goddess remained silent, refusing to respond to their pleas for help.

“Finally, the First Mage, the one the Goddess designated as leader of the movement, became fed up. He told the villagers that their endless prayers were bothering the Goddess, and proposed an alternate explanation for the Goddess’ words.

“The reason the Goddess told them to unite only four of the races instead of five, was because one of the races wasn’t equal. In other words, the Goddess believed that one race in particular was responsible for all of the evil in the world.

“According to the First Mage, the demons were the ones responsible, and it was up to the villagers to wipe them off the face of the continent.

“Wielding the Goddess’ words as a weapon, the First Mage set off to unite the four races. He swept across the continent, gathering an army of believers to support his cause.

“Once his army was large enough, the First Mage turned his sights on the demons. He marched his army to the edge of the demon’s lands and announced that he was starting a holy crusade in the Goddess’ name.

“The demons fought back, but they couldn’t match the vast resources of the First Mage’s army, and after a decades long struggle, they surrendered unconditionally.

“For the victors, this was a joyous occasion, but for the demons it was the beginning of a nightmare, because during his victory speech, in which the First Mage declared that his country would be named the Empire, he commanded his followers to purge the demons from their lands.

“What followed, was a systematic genocide conducted by the First Mage and his followers. They offered bounties for any information that led to a demon’s capture, and allowed the soldiers to kill demons on sight, no questions asked. This continued for twenty five years, until not even a single demon remained.

“After twenty five years, the First Mage, who by this time was dying of a rare disease, made his final public appearance. He praised his followers for bringing the Goddess’ vision to reality and named his son, the Second Mage, as his successor.

“The next day, while the capital city was filled with celebration, the First Mage passed away.

“For a thousand years after the First Mage passed away, the Empire was controlled by the First Mage’s descendants. They ruled the country with an iron fist, mercilessly silencing all who opposed them.

“Time passed and unrest grew among the citizens of the Empire. Finally, it reached the breaking point, and the citizens banded together to overthrow the government.

“Once they gained control of the government, the people called for the annihilation of all Mages. They wanted revenge for all the years of oppression they were forced to endure under the previous government.

“Witch hunts were organized, and magic users were killed on sight. It didn’t matter if they were related to the First Mage or not, anyone who could use magic was eliminated.

“It wasn’t until the Monster Uprising that the public’s perception of Mages changed. During the final battle, when everything seemed lost, the Mages emerged from hiding and used their power to create the Last Defense, saving the Empire and retaking their status as heroes in the process.

“Which brings us to the present, a time where mages are in high demand and magic is celebrated. But, I believe we shouldn’t get to comfortable, otherwise history might repeat itself again.

Yikes. The Empire’s history is messed up.

I’d already heard parts of what she told us. I knew about the Last Defense. I’d heard about the First Mage. But, no one ever told me about the genocide of the demons, the people’s revolution, or the discrimination against mages.

I guess it really is true that history is rewritten by the victors.

“Now,” Chloe says, perching herself on the corner of the podium, “moving on to something a little less depressing. Let’s talk about titles and skills.

“Through extensive research, experts have made several discoveries about titles and skills.

“You can improve your skills.

“When you use your skills they improve, and the more you use them, the better they’ll get. Therefore, it is important that you use your skills as much as possible, so you give yourself the best chance of survival.

“Not everyone receives the same skills.

“Everyone knows that, as you grow, you receive more skills. However, not everyone knows that, two people with the same title can receive different skills. For example, it is common for a Knight to have the Blade Master skill, but not every Knight does.

“If you have a common title, but don’t receive a common skill, it’s easy to feel discouraged, because you aren’t the same as everyone else. Don’t despair. The Goddess never gives out skills that can’t be used by a given title, sometimes it just takes a little creative thinking.

“Does anyone have questions?”

Silence.

“Thank the Goddess, I don’t have to repeat myself for once.

“When I gave this lecture to Samantha she made me repeat everything three times, and even after that I’m still not sure if she understood any of it.

“If you only take away one thing from this lecture, remember this. Use your skills as much as you can, because even a small improvement can end up saving your life.”

“Many of the Adventurers who attend my lecture ask me the same question. Why should I learn about magic? I’m not a Mage.

“The answer to that question is simple. Mage and MSPDs

“If you know how to fight against magic, you’ll have an easier time dealing with both Mages and MSPDs. After all, an MSPD is simply an inferior Mage.

“The Adventurer Guild makes extensive use of MSPDs in its day to day operation. We use them for obvious tasks like heating water and providing light, but there are many other uses for them.

“This room alone has more than a dozen MSPDs in it. There’s an MSPD that keeps the room cool. There’s an MSPD that provides the room with clean air. There’s an MSPD that cleans the room when it’s not in use. The list goes on and on.

“If you’re lucky, you’ll never see an MSPD in a combat situation. However, while they aren’t cheap, if you have enough money, it isn’t hard to get your hands on an MSPD, so it isn’t uncommon for them to fall into the wrong hands.

“The Empire’s armed forces make extensive use of MSPDs as weapons. Use of these MSPDs is carefully monitored, but during wartime and due to corruption, some of these weapons have found their way into the hands of bandits and even Adventurers.

“Whenever you are fighting human combatants, always be on the lookout for MSPDs. This battlefield awareness will save your life at some point in the future.

“Now, let’s talk about some of the weaknesses of magic.

“The first weakness is cast time.

“If you find yourself in combat with a Mage, remember this. There is a significant delay between when a Mage begins casting a spell and when the spell manifests in the real world. During this delay, attack the Mage, they’ll be forced to cancel their spell, and if they don’t, you’ll injure or kill them.

“High level magic users, like myself, can cast spells with little to no delay, but even I am not invulnerable to the blade of an experienced sword user.

“MSPDs suffer from this weakness as well, so use this knowledge to your advantage if you find yourself up against one.

“The second weakness is mobility.

“While a Mage is casting a spell, they aren’t able to move. A few highly skilled Mages can cast and move at the same time, but that ability is extremely rare.

“Including me, there are only three Mages in the Empire who can cast and move at the same time, so as long as you don’t pick a fight with one of us you have nothing to fear.

“Note, MSPDs don’t suffer from this same weakness. MSPD users can move while casting, but the trade of is that they don’t have as much firepower as a Mage. In addition, MSPDs usually have a long cool between spell use, so if you dodge one spell, you’ll have time to attack them while they are preparing their next volley.

“The third weakness is physical ability.

“Most Mages aren’t muscle brained idiots like Samantha. We spend our time immersed in books, learning new spells and practicing our magic.

“Use this weakness to your advantage. Dodge the Mage’s spell and force them into hand to hand combat. Unless you’re against someone like me, you’ll be sure to win.

“MSPD users might be strong, but they have the added burden of fighting while carrying around a heavy MSPD. If you force them into melee combat they will have to discard the MSPD, at which point the MSPD is not longer relevant.

“The fourth, and final weakness is capacity.

“Magic requires a power source. For Mages, this power source is magic power, and for MSPDs, it is magic stones. If they run out of magic, both Mages and MSPDs become useless.

“Even if a Mage is skilled at hand to hand combat, running out of magic power takes a toll on the body. They will be exhausted, so you should have an advantage in the ensuing fight.

“Questions?”

No one speaks.

“Great. Let’s move on to the magic demonstration.”