One Step at a Time

Outside of Chance was the town of Anth. Anth was a small dilapidated town just fifteen miles away from the outskirts of Chance. With less than a hundred residents Anth was void of many people; the only residents were the old and decrypt left behind by their families to make it big in the city of Chance.

The house was a short thirty-minute drive from the outskirts of Chance. Pulling into the driveway Wesley walked in. He threw his keys onto the table and headed into the bedroom to get a change of clothes. I need to go take a shower, I should take some time to calm down.

Forty minutes passed.

The shower was well-needed. Wesley was more calm and rational. He no longer felt lost and confused.

"OK, Wesley remember this could all have just been a trick. Let's not get our hopes up just yet just because the librarian said the title was different and acted as if the book was about a detective does not mean that the book is real."

Calming his heart back down Wesley sat down and flipped open the book. I should find the pages with spells on them. Flipping through the pages he laid his eyes on the first page with a spell on it. This one says that this spell is used for making a small light. It looks like the simplest and the safest. 

"Ok, this will decide whether I'm crazy for even believing that Magic might be real and I'm just losing myself to impossible delusions of a better life or Magic is real and maybe living won't be so painful anymore" 

The first and most basic spell any Circle Mage should be able to cast is the Light Spell. The Light spell is the easiest and least restrictive of the circle spells I have created. Step one draw the magic circle located at the top of the page using a medium. The recommended medium for beginners is a piece of paper and pencil; for more advanced use your mana to replicate the circle. 

"OK, this shouldn't be too hard. I have a paper and pencil in the computer room"

Coming back with a pencil and paper he sat back down at the table. Taking a look at the magic circle he noted down the spell's main characteristic. A six-pointed star with a circle around it and a smaller circle at the center of the star. At each point of the star was a symbol. Starting from the top going right was a Circle, a Flame, a mountain, a solid circle, a water drop, and a gust of wind. 

"OK, I can use a bowl to make the circle and I can use a ruler to draw the star that won't be too difficult. But the symbols are a different story I won't be able to draw those exactly the same; I don't know how exact the symbols need to be hopefully not too much"

Using a bowl and a ruler Wesley started drawing the magic circle attempting to get as close as the one drawn on the page.

 Looking at his work he sighed with relief. The magic circle was almost a perfect replica of the circle on the page with just some minor differences. 

Taking a minute to stretch Wesley looked at the magic circle he created. It could have been worse; the only thing I dislike is the symbols they look off. Looking towards the book Wesley searched for the next step. 

Step two activate your circle. If you are a beginner just starting out you need to hold on to the piece of paper, imagine the circle in your mind, and think activate.

Taking a deep breath he picked up the paper. Breathe Wesley breathe. There is no need to be so anxious. The worst that can happen is nothing. Closing his eyes Wesley imagined the circle. Trying to remember as much detail as possible he spent five minutes just picturing the circle. Ok, now just think activate. 

Opening his eyes he looked at the paper and saw nothing. "Sigh… I guess not… What did I expect?" Closing his eyes trying to hold back his tears, Wesley took a deep breath. I shouldn't have even tried; my life will never change. It's always going to be miserable, full of pain and nothing else. He felt like he was suffocating, drowning in his own skin the pain was just too much for him to bear with anymore. 

It was then he noticed it, something was coming out of him. It was strange it felt like it was coming out from the very core of his being. The strange sensation traveled from his heart into his hands and left his body. But he could still feel it gathering in a single location.

Opening his eyes he saw it the magic circle was starting to glow. At the top of the circle, it was glowing with a vibrant magenta hue slowly making its way around to envelope the rest of the magic circle. 

When the last bit of the remaining circle glowed magenta, the spell activated. At the center of the paper, a white light started to form only about the size of a grain of rice slowly growing and expanding getting brighter and brighter until it finally stopped. The light was small only about the size of an egg; the light it gave off was weak barely lighting up a one-foot radius around the spell. 

It was beautiful; despite how small and weak the light was it was beautiful. Wesley sat there watching with each passing minute, a grin grew on his face getting bigger and bigger. It was a smile that hadn't appeared on Welsey's face in years. It was a smile full of excitement. 

He couldn't remember the last time he was this ecstatic. It had been so long that he couldn't remember the last time he was excited for anything. Everything had been so painful, so dull, and meaningless for so long that he had forgotten. But now it was like the clouds had finally cleared after a long storm and the sun was finally back, lighting the world up again once more.

"Magic is real… I guess you were right"