Jean's guide to magic

"Esmeralda, what exactly is a phantom lily?" I ask.

"Oh. They're basically one of the staple flowers that bloom around here. They're pretty common, but they're mostly known to make for a cheap but potent perfume. Their petals can also used in cooking, as well as an antidote. Why do you ask?"

"What happened to the people back at the theatre ? "

"Poisoning from the phantom lilies. It paralyzes you with its scent and poisons your insides, so it's probably the one responsible for the massacre. Jean told us that he smelled something when we were in the theatre. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yes. Why are their petals used in cooking if they're poisonous?"

"Not what I had in mind, but the poison can be found in their petals, so they extract its essence and they use strong Purity magic to get rid of the toxin. Right, Nelen?" She turns her head to Nelen sitting next to her. Their chairs are awfully close for some reason. Are girls always like this?

"I'm back, guys!" Jean interrupts the conversation. He places a newspaper in the middle of the table and Nelen instinctively reaches it. I move over to her to see what's been going on.

Turns out, the incident spread all over Stassi in the first day. Despite the media informing the people of the horrible event, the massacre inspired mixed reactions. Some demanded justice, while others defended the actions of the two. I would love to find out about it, why people are defending those murderers, but Jean ordered the three of us to sit by the house for a few days. Told us to let the situation cool off. I mean, I can understand Nelen and Esmeralda being on lock-down. I just don't get why he would hire a bodyguard and instruct it to guard the house. What am I, a dog or somethin'?

"Hey, Jean." I ask as we finish Esmeralda's homemade food. "Why don't you drag me along? I'm your bodyguard, after all."

"Perfect timing. I was actually waiting until the dust settled so we can practice outside. That time just happens to be now. How about that? You up for a bit of sparring, chief?"

"Definitely. Where should we go?"

"To the plains!"

"I figured as much."

"Nelen and Esmeralda. You guys wanna come? Sol, don't forget to bring your weapon."

"We're good. " Esmeralda smiles her sweet smile and holds Nelen's hand. "We'll just stay here."

"All right. See you guys later."

FINALLY! FREEDOM!

...

I thought the walk would take at least half an hour, but it didn't. There's a small exit just a few blocks near Esmeralda's shop, so Jean instructed that we take the route there. We pass by a few shops selling bread and drinks, so Jean took some money out of his pouch. Unlike the area where we came from, this part of the city is secluded. And for good reason. This part of the city is the perfect place for a murder.

"We're going to be doing three things for today: We're going to bind your weapon to you, I'll teach you how to cast a few spells and we'll spar for five to six minutes. You know, just so you can get the hang of it." Jean informs me while crossing his arms and chewing on his bread.

"Okay. "

"So... First things first. We need to bind your weapon. Can you kindly take your Armas out?"

"Got it. What do you mean by that? Binding a weapon? "

"Yep. You need to bind a weapon so that you can have access to the spells available inside of it. You can bind up to a maximum of three weapons."

"What if I want this new weapon, but I already have three? Is there some way of discarding them?"

"You can devour it."

"What?"

"It means you can absorb a weapon to get its skill permanently, but it will be gone. Forever."

"Are there instances where you get the same skill on two weapons?"

"Yes. When that happens, you can absorb the first one to make that same spell stronger. Comprende?"

"Can you infinitely do that?"

"Yes. That's the scary thing about magic. Are you ready?"

Jean takes a piece of scroll and tells me what to do. Apparently, binding a weapon requires three things: The weapon you're going to use, a blood contract ( which Jean gave me ) and... My own blood. The process is pretty simple. I just need to hurt myself using the weapon I'm binding with and get the blood on the scroll and chant something.

"Am I doing this right?" I ask as Jean held onto my drink.

"Yes. Now go and spill your blood on the contract."

"Alright."

...

"Done. What's next?"

"Now repeat after me: Nouvis Lega Are Nos!"

"Nouvis Lega Are Nos... Ah. Something's happening."

The air starts to shift lightly as I chant the spell. Multiple spell circles start to form around the contract as it starts to float by itself. The scythe also follows slowly, the smoky sheen on its blade shining brightly. Slowly, they go into each other, until they connect, forming a gray light. The light then charges straight into me and I fall back instinctively. I look at Jean only to see him raising both of his thumbs up.

"Good job, chief. That's it."

"That's it?"

"Yep. That's it."

"What happened to the scythe?"

"Look at your left arm. There should be a mark there."

"I don't see anyth-- Oh! You're right!"

"Touch it."

Wait. Will it come out if I touch it? I sure hope it does. No... It's gotta be it. Smoke starts to emanate from the mark on my forearm as I did what Jean instructed, and it was followed by the gray light bursting from inside of it. The gray light then turns into the scythe and falls directly in front of my feet.

"You need to catch it, Sol."

"That's so cool. How do you return it, though?"

"That's easy. You just touch the mark again. Now, we can't have you accidentally touching your mark on random occasions, so we'll have Esmeralda make something that can cover it."

"Alright."

"Here's your drink. Let's take a break for a bit, shall we?"

Jean hands me the drink and sits on the grass. I sit on a small piece of rock next to him, and we just stay like that for the first few minutes. The sky is cloudy, so I'm guessing rain is coming. A pair of birds soar the sky, but one of them falls to the ground for some reason. Was it sick? Oh, well. I guess the dead can't talk.

"It's been almost a week now. I was getting seriously bored. Thank the gods you came through, Jean. So, what are we going to do after this?"

"Oh, right. Heads up. We're going to help the Chimera Legion find the one in the bandages."

"Wait, what? Why?"

"It's part of the contract Nelen and I made. You'll get the cleansing crystals after we solve the case."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. You heard me. We start tomorrow."

"What about the one with the blue eyes? What do we do about him?"

"Don't worry. He'll be there. That thing..."

"That thing?"

"Break's over! Let's get this over with before it rains!"

Oh. Jean noticed the clouds, too. That's... unexpected.

"Onto the phase two of the training session! So... Like I said before, there are lots of types of magic, but they're always bound to one of the Six Systems: Element, Beast, Purity, Dark, Tyrant and Holy. There are currently four common ways to get it, but there could be more: Either by a weapon, by items, from your parents or you can learn it a spell book, or as we like to call it, a Compendia. The black wolf you saw when we fought the bandits. I got it from my father's handsome genes."

"How do you use it?"

"You need to chant a spell for each to work. That means you'll need to study the alphabet of this world. There are Compendia inscriptions in the scythe. Let's see what it says." Jean takes my weapon and inspects it for a few seconds. "You need to chant Ignys for it to work."

"Ignys?... Oh, shit! Jean! The scythe's on fire!"

"Extra damage. Pretty cool, right? Catch."

Jean throws the scythe at me, but I let it fall to the ground. It's on fire! How am I going to.... Oh. Only the blade's on fire. I can wield it just fine. Okay. Let's do this again. I make a few practice swings with the weapon. Each swing is light, but the flames spit from every direction. This is very destructive. And an eye-sore. A few patches of grass burn as I further practiced with the blade, all the while thinking of other ingenious ways to use it. I can't think of anything other than using it against monsters and people.

"Are you done?" Jean asks in a hurried manner. It must be because the clouds getting a bit darker.

"Why is my magic sloppy?"

"Practice. I'll explain some more later. Are you ready for phase three?"

"Oh, uhhh... Okay."

"You sound skeptical. We're going to fight, mind you."

"That sounds boring."

"How about we make a little wager, then?"

"I don't think I have anything to offer."

"You don't need to give anything. Just give me a good fight. You'll get three chunks of cleansing crystals if you win."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"How do I know I'm not wasting my time here?" I ask skeptically. After all, his rewards could be exaggerated. He grabs something from a small pouch on his waist and throws something at me. It's a small azure rock, not more than a size of a thimble. Maybe even tinier. That was close. It almost slipped in the grass. This would've been impossible to find.

"I'm guessing this is a cleansing crystal?"

"A fragment of it, yes. Eat it."

"Say what now?"

"Eat it." He commands in a matter-of-fact voice. I look at him to see his expression. He's wearing a helmet... Alright. I guess I'll do it, then...

...

"Get him out of here! NOW!"

A harsh voice. A woman. The room is dark. Too dark. I can't see anything. There's the sound of shuffling in the front, but I can't see anything. And then there's nothing. I open my eyes. I'm back to the plains, and my head feels like heaven. Like I'd just woken up from a century of sleep. It's kind of addicting.

"W... What was that all about?"

"That, my friend, is a glimpse of your memories. The higher the dose, the better its effect will be. It's VEEEERY EXPENSIVE, but using a cleansing crystal makes the process easier."

"How expensive are we talking about?"

"A piece is much more expensive than the Void Stone I gave you."

"You said you'd give me three if I win, right?"

"Right you are, sir."

"Okay, then. Let's do this. Is there a time limit?"

"Six minutes. Are you ready, runt?"

"Where did the name-calling come from?"

"Are you ready?"

"Of course I--"

"Runt."

"You're smaller than me, Jean."

"Let's put you in your place... Runt..."

Despite his amusing choice of words, the smug grin on his lips tell a different story. Is he taunting me?... Who the hell am I kidding? Of course he is... It's kinda pissing me off for some reason.

With both hands, I swing the scythe directly at him, but he easily dodges by jumping ten feet into the air. He throws his light sword at me and I swat it away, but he creates a replica from his hands and throws another one. I catch it with my right, made a 360 degree turn, and threw it back at him, following it up with a wide swing from my scythe. For some reason, my movement seems fluid. Muscle memory, perhaps? Jean returns to the ground just in time and dodges the throw, but he barely manages to evade the scythe. It has a long reach, after all. The upper blade grazes him in the right arm as he takes a leap backwards. I think I can easily win as long as he doesn't get too close.

"Not bad." Jean starts coolly while picking the copy from the ground. "Not your first time with the weapon?"

"Can't you tell?" I sarcastically remark.

"Let's see what else is in your sleeve."

"There's only the mark AND my strong arms."

"Haha. I like you."

"Thanks, I can s--"

"Vocca Nygrum Lupi."

"... What? "

He conjures a black ball from thin air and lobs it in the air. Using that as distraction, he charges with his blade and launches a swipe from his right. The way he moved seemed slow and it suggested a follow-up, so I can only guess what his next move will be. Another swipe from the left. I prepare to parry the second one with the handle. Just as I expected, he brings the sword back up for a left strike, but I block it with the chunky handle of the scythe. Using that as a chance, he quickly dashes to where his original weapon on the grass. That was... Wait. What the hell is this huge shadow coming from?... Oh. Shit.

The earth shatters as the two-headed wolf stomps and strikes the ground where I used to be. One of the heads bares its teeth and swipes its huge axe on a wide arc, and I dodge by hopping sideways. Bad idea. The axe hits me in the side of my gut and seizes me in the air for a millisecond before I stumble roughly on the ground. It's a good thing the soil is soft. Dammit. That really hurt. The bastard's faster than he looks. I try to get up, but metal slices on my side again. It's Jean, and the bastard's going for the injured spot. Jean makes another replica and cuts me down from behind, and I see the wolf charging towards me. Am I going to... Lose?

...

No.