FMH ~ 16!

Before she could even scream, they landed and Taylor was able to see the illusion they had just passed through. Master Don started walking forward right away, more grim and serious than she had ever seen him. “Taylor, do you know why I call you a ‘Namer’, and not a ‘Mage’?”

“I really have no idea.” She took a deep breath. “Can we talk about how I thought we were falling to our deaths?”

“It’s because you have something just a little bit extra.” Master Don considered his words carefully, swallowing deeply before continuing. “Now, I took you here because I have determined that you are to be my successor, and that means I plan to give you everything I know. I’m not just training you like I would another. A Mage and a Namer are the same in all things… except one.”

Taylor had to try really hard not to smack the information out of him, remaining cool and aloof while he thought on how to teach her. Don mumbled, “Now I know why my Master had such a hard time doing this… can never practice explaining it to anyone.”

“A Namer is a Mage that can control a spell through another means. Specifically, there is a chance that they can ‘read’ a spellform while it is gorging on their mana. Similar to what happened with your Grimoire and you, actually.” Master Don paused and pressed an elbow against the wall, which swung open to reveal daylight. A small smile appeared on his face as he looked at the familiar surroundings. “You will be attempting to tame the spell in the usual ways, and all of a sudden you will be able to see everything about it in a manner similar to reading your status. When you speak that name…”

“You gain total control of that spellform.” He locked eyes with her, all traces of happiness missing. “You still need to empower it as usual, but it becomes what is called an ‘inherent’ spell. It is a spell that you will never need to re-tame after casting. It will always meekly return to your spellbook as soon as it can. If at all possible… train this ability and use it on every spell you ever tame. It must be yours, if you never want to fear losing it like your other spells, which are only bound to you via bribery and emotions.”

“That seems a little dark…?”

“Everything here is a step on the path to power, and if it doesn't join you, take its Potentia.” Master Don shook his head and grumbled, “If you can't make this moral leap, how would you ever cleanse an infected civilian town? You would never sleep again! Get used to making the tough choice now, Taylor. It only gets harder when you are the Archmage.”

“I-”

“Hush.” Don waved her forward, and pointed at gorgeous fluttering insectoid spells. “These are one of the best possible passive defensive spells, and they are very rare.”

“Butterflies?”

“Evil butterflies.” Don’s eyes shifted back and forth as she stared him down. “Fine, not really evil, I’m just trying to get you in the right mindspace for this. They are Nulli-flies, and with them you can create the spell ‘Nullify’. This spell activates when a hostile spell is cast on you, and it nullifies all incoming magic for five seconds while… basically screaming. An alert and protection all in one. Also… single use.”

Taylor winced. ‘Single use’ spells were spells that you needed to fully re-enter The Library and find again in order to retame. They tended to be powerful, but were rarely used, as they would be gone after doing so. Don waved at her, “Go, tame one by Naming it. If it doesn't work, move on to the next one. Don’t worry about getting all of them, a Nulli-fly will never stay in a Grimoire with another of its kind.”

“I obviously want them, but I need to ask… why the secrecy? I’m sure other people know about ‘Namers’, right?” Taylor remembered something just then, “You even talked about Namers in front of people back when we were tested!”

“Yes, other people know about Namers, but not often what that really means. Look,” Don waved around at the area that was enclosed by shelves on all sides, “when I said don’t tell anyone about this, I meant this area. This place is secret, and there is an abundance of Nulli-flies here for only one reason. This is the spawn point for this spell. This is the only place in the world where they come into being. They spread out from here, but are so small and rare that it is nearly impossible to find exactly where they spawn.”

“You’re a spawn camper?” Taylor blinked in surprise. “You called spawn campers the scum of all the worlds…?”

“Other people doing the camping should be put down. Us doing it is simply being prudent.” Don announced proudly, like the hypocrite he was. Taylor rolled her eyes, but she wasn't about to complain. She was about to reap the benefits, after all. “Oh, as for why this is so important, there are a finite amount of spellforms in the world. I am pretty sure that there are only ten total Nulli-flies at any given point in time. Ever.”

“Really? There are three right here!” Taylor looked at the pretty spells.

“Three of ten that exist at any time in the Multiverse.” Don informed her sharply. “Ultra Rare spells are that way for a reason. Either someone snapped up so many that the spell became rare, or there just aren’t many in the first place. This means that the more rare something is, the more it is worth. Yes, you can sell or trade spells so long as they weren't Named. That is what scrolls are for.”

Taylor nodded and moved. Her mana reached out to only one of the creatures, and soon it fluttered over to land on her finger. It was the size of a small eagle up close, and was draining far more mana than any spell she had attempted to capture before now. She stared at it, waiting for the moment when information would be revealed to her… and waited. Her mana was reaching the limits… it was gone. Her nose started to bleed, and Master Don called out.

She ignored it all. It was right there… she could feel it. There! “Destrueret totum industria. Comedent illud usque ut nihil supersit!”

“Holy cowbells chiming in the wind, you actually did it.” Master Don gasped as the Nulli-fly unraveled into a swirl of ink and a single page, all of which melted into her Grimoire. “Now, what have I told you about your health?

“Wait… you are surprised that I succeeded?” Taylor wiped the blood from under her nose, and it vanished as her Cleanse passive ate it away.

“I mean… we hadn’t ever tried doing this before, had we?” Master Don showed her a half smile. “It was the last test before you could be my apprentice for real, and you got it on the first try!”

“Test? Wait… that…” Taylor opened her Grimoire, flipped to the spell, and almost collapsed again. 

Spell Named: Nullify. (T4): 0/100 to level 1!

Effect 1: Release a klaxon call when a hostile mana source would hit you. Spells, abilities, and all other effects included. 

Bonus, at range: Effect 1 activates when hostile mana source is en route.

Effect 2: Block the first incoming hostile mana source aimed at you. 

Bonus, Multitarget: block all incoming magic for 5+.5n seconds, where n = spell level. This bonus maximizes at tier threshold. 

Single use (Overridden, Named.) 

Spell prerequisites: Body: 25. Mind: 25. Presence: 30. (Overridden, Named.)

“Are you kidding me, Don?” Taylor rounded on her Master. “I have none of the prerequisites! That would have killed me if I didn’t Name it!”

“I would have stopped the process on the first two, they are very fragile as a spellform.” Don told her calmly.

“But there are three of… oh. You would have let the last one kill me.” The last bit of her words were stated weakly. “Ah… that’s the real reason I didn’t get to have offensive or defensive spells, huh? In case I decided to fight back at this stage? How many people have you taken as ‘apprentices’ and told them that they were ‘definitely’ Namers?”

“Too many, Taylor.” Master Don intoned heavily. “Too. Many. I knew that I’d have to be correct eventually.”

“So that was why all those people gasped when you took me as a ‘Personal Apprentice’.” Taylor spat the words as if they disgusted her. “Not because they were shocked that you would do so… it was because no one ever survived before. Are you evil?”

He ignored the accusation, looking at the other two Nulli-flies that were in the spawn point. Lightning flashed, and they withered and faded; crumbling to the ground as waste paper. “There’s a reason there were three of those here, in their spawn point. They have a respawn rate of ten our-world years. That means I’ve either trained a new apprentice each time, or I couldn’t bear to do so, and simply made the journey to destroy them every ten years.” 

“This will become your responsibility when you succeed me.” Don started toward the exit. “If you ever see someone else with a Nulli-fly, destroy them or make sure they lose the spell. Otherwise, the person you train… will only get two tries to become a Namer.”