Chapter 42: Let's See These Spells, Hotshot

Before Sammy conferred with Carlisle about the coming forest excursion (and he had been very prepared for a nighttime raid, with tons of sentries around a camp on a hill), Bast woke up uncharacteristically early and queried her through the prayer channel.

“So, Your Majesty,” Bast began, in a manner of uncertainty and something of annoyance, “Did you… send me dreams of… sex with dryads? Because it feels like you sent me dreams of sex with dryads.”

“That’s where your mind went with it, Bast,” Sammy admonished with the image of a shaking finger at him emphasizing each word. “I was giving you inspiration for a painting. The goddess Redberry and her nudey dryads. See, this was a test. You claimed nudity didn’t have to be sexual. You failed, Bast.”

He sent something back like a roll of the eyes combined with a snort. “A man can control and channel his passions in reality, not in dreams. Hmm, Redberry. The Southlands goddess?”

“Yes, I’ve met her. I figured this would be a perfect channel for those… passions of yours you have such control over.”

“The dryads at least seem exceptionally sexual if you ask me, not just nude…”

“Why, want me to introduce you? Hmm?”

“Well… I wouldn’t exactly be unopposed to such a potentially elucidating-”

“Perv!” But this time, she was teasing in saying it. If he wanted to get freaky with some hot trees and vice versa, whatever. “I have no idea if that were possible. Think of it as a future thing to look forward to, I guess. With a big, fat ‘maybe’ label. A label that may stiffen or go flaccid. But in regards to the art, keep it in your pants, okay? My level of tastefulness. Redberry is beautiful but fearsome.”

“Of course. I get the idea. I do learn from my mistakes at a certain percentage level.”

“What, ten percent?”

“Maybe just a teensy bit higher.”

“Anyway, that reminds me: what did you do with the painting?”

“Do you truly think I’d surrender such magnificence? I’ve taken it with me in a special case. Sadly, it doesn’t fit in the pocket dimension satchel.”

“The what, now?”

“Pocket dimension satchel. Has a walk-in, closet-size space in what is otherwise just a mere satchel, but it has to actually fit through the opening. A gift from my mother. I’m truly her favorite…”

“Oh, so a bag of holding. Very nice.”

“A what? Eh, it sounds like you’re familiar, regardless. It allows me to bring a lot of books. Thank the heavens.”

“Right… did you bring some goodies along for me, hmm, hmmm?”

He got teasingly evasive. “Maybe.”

“Hey, none of that — I finished the runebooks! I’m a fu- I’m a level 1 Wizard now!”

“Ha! Well done, Your Majesty! Sounds like it’s time to copy over some more study material. I can advance you significantly by simply demonstrating spells slowly, but you need to have in your mind what you’re aiming for to see what will complete and arrange the helper runes.”

“Identify, first and foremost. I’m particularly suited to utilizing informational spells, after all. Alright, well, first I need to do something, then we can. Have your mirror ready.”

“Shit! I forgot to bring one! Gah!”

“What?!”

“Oh, no… now I can’t even… damn it! How could I forget?” A pause, a sudden deadpan. “... Got you, Your Majesty!” Laughter.

“Oh, you fucker!”

Sammy abruptly switched over to Carlisle to ask him about the path ahead and information gleaned by scouts.

“They found the remains of the battle, that’s for sure,” the lord related. “Most of the bodies were looted and left, but not all. They took Sir Thadeus’s body, by all appearances. There are two trails, one going north and another continuing east, leading to more trails that are clearly frogmen-centric. The north appears to be men and horses only.”

“So I take it you’re going to follow east, then.”

“Yes. The scouts noticed a frogman lookout but avoided being seen in turn, and the frogman eventually continued on. Rear scouts, I think. If they have stationary lookouts waiting, it is likely further down the path by all appearances. We’ll see. We’re doing all we can to avoid an ambush. What say you?”

Sammy quickly pinged the mirrors in the sacks she had access to. Still frustratingly stowed away as loot. East and moving, she thought.

“East, yes. I’ll be monitoring closely, ready to act. And don’t forget about the fact we have potential illusion powers, Lord Carlisle. The relics themselves can create a disguise, and I can do much more. Grill your man on everything about the appearance of that frogman. All the fine details, so our wielders can potentially pose as them.”

“A fine idea, Your Majesty. There’s the issue of language, but it could still be an edge.”

“Indeed. Well, godspeed, then!”

“What?”

“Nevermind.”

Briefly, she bounced the same idea over to Estara and Dax, so they could prepare and develop their own plots or general guile in how to use the new tools available to them. Dax was contemplative, while Estara seemed to bubble with ideas, wondering ‘aloud’ whether she could learn to croak convincingly. Sammy told her could certainly try.

With Bast, first things first were the book copies. He recommended Dolamashe’s Arcane Principles and The Big Fat Book of Runes for first readings. They were also tomes to always have on hand pretty much forever after as a reference and ponderous mine of potential spell constructions. He had various sections to list off that were best to start with, to skip the less useful areas and save them for later.

He also vehemently suggested A Wizard’s Meditative Foundations because it could add Mana Points to practice the specific ‘visual mantras’ which mimicked similar principles to the runebooks and were written by the Unknown Sage that designed the initial runebooks themselves.

Sammy was excited about that, as she had thoroughly enjoyed reading through them. The only disadvantage was time, and she had some of that when others were sleeping or everyone was traveling. Naturally, it took a backseat to the first two spells.

Bast had others, but the issue was how close she was getting to 1000 FE and her reluctance to reduce her progress to it too much. So she just took the three and planned on getting the rest sometime after the tantalizing future of what level 2 of Goddess looked like. She was pretty sure the class was a Big Deal to level in.

3 FE spent then. Now I have some study targets.

“What level are you, anyway, Bast?”

He had placed the mirror on the ground, leaning against a tree in the early morning light, to be angled up toward him. He was flexing around ‘getting loose’ for spell demonstrations, in one of his fluffy white shirts, along with riding breeches and boots. “Level 2 in Bard and Wizard, level 1 in that silly Noble class. Not a promising lord, that Sebastian, oh no…”

“No wonder the Dominion wanted you. I suspect the vast majority leave Wizard at 1, right?”

He shrugged. “You mean among the lordly dabblers with too much coin to throw around? Yes. You generally have to go and do significant things with it, or be an actual apprentice. I was in fact the latter! Unofficially. Under my mother. We did try to keep that under wraps but I suppose we failed.”

“Oh. Your mother. A wizard.”

“She prefers ‘sorceress’ though that is semantical… So, she’s been at level 3 for a long time. She did a better job at keeping it less obvious that she had the additional power. I suppose the Dominion finally figured that out too, but she’s not exactly of an age to be pestered by them, at least.”

“So you… partially at least… embraced the hapless image deliberately, huh? To make it seem like you were just level 1, as is common.”

Bast grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “You might say I fully embraced and threw myself into said role, yes. But I did in fact commit myself in recent years to mystical study. While avoiding marriage like the plague, as fit my aforementioned role. My mother helped a great deal there, of course. Otherwise, I’d be stuck with some ugly, boring, drooling specimen of humanity.” He shivered. “I can’t stand drooling.”

Sammy rolled her eyes. “As if you know for sure they’d all be unappealing.”

He flashed a smile her way. “Well, they wouldn’t compare to you, my perfect Goddess. I traded all of the lands and titles for that future glance, and I count myself as lucky to have even been so satisfied as that by her, attaining nothing more from here to doomsday.”

Sitting back on her throne and giving him a look, she took a deep breath, not quite a sigh — not quite smiling at him, nor scowling, either. “Alright, let’s see these spells, hotshot.”

Absolutely shameless flirt!

When he made the rune signs and spoke the incantations, it was a lot different than before, because she understood it — she knew what he was doing. She felt what was in her head key and attune, like a magnet attracted to steel. She paid rapt attention as symbology unraveled and re-raveling in her head…

He did it several more times, targeting the mirror, and each time she was putting it together into her own thoughts, very much like a little laser writing something down directly into the brain, as each segment made more sense. Then he did a couple of other spells — “Forcedart” and “Pentagram,” which was a protection circle. These added more to her developing Identity spell construction.

But, gradually, she extracted less and less from his repetition. She still needed more examples and different formulations so she could make it work for her unique self. She felt like he’d moved it up to two-thirds complete from somewhere around halfway from the start.

“Thank you, Lord Bast. This was very informative and interesting.”

“Of course.” He seemed to have just worked up a sheen of sweat. “It was good practice, after all. We can do it maybe one more time, and you’ll squeeze maybe a tenth of that from my rune structures. After that, it would need to be longer instructions, which I don’t exactly have time for.”

“Understood, Teach.”

“Teach? Ha! I think I’m a long way away from apprentices. Sounds like work.”

“A tragic concept, hmm?”

“Indeed! If you know anyone else who can cast spells, do the same as we did. It’ll still be diminishing returns as you have to put intellectual study into it, but it helps.” He dusted his hands. “Now then. Time to hit the road.”

“Until next time, hotshot.”

Sadly, I can’t exactly bother Merril right now. Might ask Tashome, actually. Seems like someone that might’ve snagged a level for versatility.

Over on Orswyth’s end, he’d done it again. Roped another person out of the mass into the order, a man by the name of Bammondy, whom most just called Bamm. He was a scout, and a very observant fellow who’d started surreptitiously asking about the meetings. Being clever and subtle about such matters was already a good sign, but Tashome also recommended him as an open-minded sort and likely a good fit.

1 FE gained due to user belief/acknowledgment. Note: not yet a Follower.

Follower conversion successful. 1 FE gained. 1 Daily FE gained (total: 19).

“4 up! Clock it, Your Majesty!” Orswyth sent to her triumphantly. “My quest is finished and I can taste those level 1 spells on the air! Soon they’ll be at your service, Goddess.”

Chuckling, Sammy replied, “Well done. The record books have their entry. I take it you’re getting near your destination?”

“Near. It won’t be today. Tomorrow, likely.”

“Understood. Keep it steady. I definitely have some others of our ilk in imminent jeopardy.”

“I am sure you will lead them to victory and safety, Your Majesty.”

“I really, really hope so. Safe travels, Lord Orswyth.”

Soon after disconnecting, Azure connected with her. “Your Majesty, I have a request, if you are not too busy. I… we are soon to dock. The travel was a success and I am to be transferred into a smaller crate for moving. It won’t be comfortable, naturally, but it should all proceed fine, it’s just I… if you could….”

It was clear that Azure was just a bit anxious, even scared. Which was understandable.

Sammy answered assuringly, “I’m glad you warned me about this so that I can be present with you and supervise in case something unusual happens.”

With restrained relief, Azure sent, “That would be wonderful, yes.”

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Samantha, Virgin Goddess of Mirrors & Illusion
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Goddess Level 1; Fledgling Deity

Domains (2/2): Mirrors, Illusion
Faith Energy: 902/1000
FE (Illusion): 10
Followers: 14 (Daily FE Gain: 19 [20])

Devout: 3
Priests: 2

Brute: 0
Rogue: 0
Wizard: 1 [0/20]
Bard: 0

Special Skills: First Aid, Tarot Reading, Priestly Ordination, Holy Relic Investiture, Read Runes, Spell Construction, Detect Magic

Special Traits: Token User, Immortal, Demiplane Domain, Conceptual Body, Fueled By Faith

Powers: Faith Energy Utilization, Grant Prayer (Illusion), Mirror Sense (at will), Mirror Communication (at will), Create Illusion

Status: Token User Promotional Bonus (4/30), New Deity Grace Period (4/7), Free Priestly Ordination (1-use)