Chapter 39: F Wizards

“Thank you, Your Majesty! I couldn’t be happier to serve you. I will dedicate my life to this and make you proud.” Estara moved up to the mirror and placed her palm on it.

Smiling, Sammy placed her palm up to the portal in match, so that it was much like they were touching. “Indeed you will, my Falcon. Note there is a minor healing spell in the repertoire available… and now there should be some sort of illusion capabilities.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Estara said as she dropped her hand, then squinted her eyes. “Minor Image or Sound. One minute duration, the ability to make phantom sounds, or one isolated, illusory object that could fit into a one-meter cube! All within ten meters. Increasing with level. But can also be used in ‘instant’ form, which provides a one-hour disguise equivalent to a skilled disguise-maker at level one plus half of priestly levels”

She took a breath, then finished with, “And Flash, which can dazzle a single target temporarily.”

“Which is significantly more useful than the Mirror-based level zero stuff. Well, ultimately you can choose what you want for yourself.”

“Yes, Your Majesty… I will consider carefully, but of course, I will select healing.”

Lord Carlisle cleared his throat and said, “Be aware you will create questions by slinging spells. I suppose we had best begin claiming you’re a hedge wizard. As ridiculous as that sounds.”

“Witch,” Dax offered. “It’s more mysterious. Just claim you saved a wounded owl from a cat and it turned out to be a witch testing you. She taught you ciphers for common fairytale books that teach spells.”

“That’s… not bad, I suppose. It’s stupid enough that if it spreads elsewhere, no one will really take it seriously. There’s always hedge wizards and witches out there.”

“The key is to not drag actual spirits into it. The Dominion will not investigate anything out here that doesn’t sound like a spirit infestation or fae being obvious about who they are. Even a shapeshifting spirit, if it pretends it is a witch or the like, is just going to be ignored as long as it isn’t getting too big for its britches.”

“That’s fascinating!” Estara exclaimed.

“Me and the old man dealt with such entities before. He coached them how to play by the rules and survive, if they weren’t shitheads. They’re out here, hiding, being clandestine. Avoiding attention.”

“Mm, one hears stories,” Carlisle said. “Hard to say what’s true and what isn’t. Still, I’ve never heard of this from you. I’m amazed a sage would ever do that.”

“Not exactly something to advertise. But we’re serving the same royalty now, my lord. You’re my cult brother and I’m your cult sister. Best we accept that. Remember the 4th Precept. We’re family now. We don’t withhold pertinent shit from each other. Right, Luminous?”

The man looked at her a bit oddly, but nodded slowly, taking a deep breath. “Yes, Illumined. Right you are.”

Sammy practically squee’d inwardly in nerdy satisfaction at her terms being used. And Dax! She was fucking killing it instantly.

She knows about order and structure. She wants it. Not a knight? I think you always will be in your heart of hearts, Daxerris Stoneboro…

“That concludes the ceremonies, my dear subjects,” Sammy declared. “Do as you so judge for the rest of the night, but I believe you need to finish up prayers, Estara. And Carlisle, do bring one into our fold tonight if you can.”

“Right away, Your Majesty!” Estara cried, then rushed out of the tent like she had been sent on a quest.

With the ghost of a smile for the priestess, Carlisle said, “Will do, Your Majesty.”

1 FE (Mirrors, Illusion) obtained from [Devout] worship.

1 FE (Mirrors, Illusion) obtained from [Devout] worship.

1 FE (Mirrors, Illusion) obtained from [Devout] worship.

Sammy was not converting the FE to Illusion any longer, intent on getting to 1000 before too many other diversions. That was the new priority, which meant the completion of quests and the gains of Followers.

Orswyth and Canmore were already converting another in Orswyth’s tent. She was aware that Galynth was standing guard outside, making sure none could eavesdrop. Smart. Though she did wonder if the whole lot of them might not be converts. Questionable though. Best to take things slow and steady.

Like a relationship in middle school. Glances, eventual awkward conversations with awkward friends in-the-middle to act as messengers. Oh yeah. I know aaaaall about it. I was one of the awkward messengers. Psh.

Elias was the man’s name, and he was one of the men particularly fascinated and intrigued by what happened on the hill. Like most of the men, he was friends with Canmore. He was a big, jovial guy that kept a big, brown beard, kind of exactly what she’d think of when considering the Brute class.

Er, no offense, big guy...

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

Follower conversion successful. 1 FE gained. 1 Daily FE gained (total: 16).

“Three down, one to do, Your Majesty,” Orswyth sent to her sportingly. “Be sure to clock it.”

Carlisle was soon fulfilling his promise with a formidable-looking bald man in his prime by the name of Theron. He was quiet and withdrawn but grew more and more interested as Carlisle and he spoke, intent on unraveling the new mystery.

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

Follower conversion successful. 1 FE gained. 1 Daily FE gained (total: 17).

When the oath was sworn, his face broke with profound relief, and he immediately fell to his knees and prayed. He sought peace desperately, was an insomniac haunted by a great trauma that replayed in his head night after night, nightmares that robbed him of rest.

Samantha assured him she would bless him with sleepful nights, and that he would know peace again. Tears fell from his eyes as he thanked her.

Welp, that sure felt good. This is the sort of simple help that can transform people for the better. I don’t just have to swoop in to save people from mortal danger. There’s plenty of suffering in the grueling day-to-day.

18 Daily FE gained.

Being so close to completion, Sammy soon zipped over and back to her runebooks. She wasn’t long into them before she got another surge from nightly prayers, some sharp and practiced like Orswyth, Azure, and Estara, others awkward and raw like the new guys. Tashome was particularly vibrant, complementing her character and budding wisdom while meditating on his own goals, too, burning incense in seclusion as further honor and aid.

Incense. I like that. I wonder if it is too obvious for everyone to do it. Scented oils, maybe? Fragrant, yet disguised in purpose until it is burning. Illusory! Hell yeah.

Sammy tweaked the updating for nightly prayers to notify her when about an hour passed from the Daily gain, giving her the total by that point. And she could confine the individual updates to her subconscious.

12 FE (Mirrors, Illusion) obtained from worship.

A few hours later, in the dark of night of her mortal lands of influence, yet the perpetual sunlight of her forested home realm, Sammy ran through the last of the runes, feeling the power tickling seductively along the way. A doorknob into a new reality being grasped, and the light peeking through the edges of the beyond.

Then she flung it open as her eyes flashed over the end of the last runebook.

The quest “Wizard Apprentice: Runebook 4” is complete. 1 exp [Wizard] granted.

[Wizard] level 1 reached. MP 25 added. Special Skills [Read Runes], [Spell Construction], and [Detect Magic] added. Missing Runic knowledge imparting… stand by…

It was something like a bright searing laser or veritable explosions of lasers in her head from the flood of information, alteration, and automatic invoking of her new class that resulted. She had a brief cut-off yelp from the sheer intensity of it, then she just stared at nothing with her mouth agape.

It wasn’t quite pain, just on the verge and completely disorienting. Runes flashed through her head like each searing ray was packed with such runes, imprinting and imparting.

It’s like a fucking galaxy brain meme! Somehow, her Earthgirl mind, even in the midst of the overwhelming torrent, found it flat out shittin’ cool to be having a magical epiphany…

The whole assembled construct, everything she’d been working on, it was like it zoomed out, she could see they made up simpler, abstract runes. When fitted in a certain way, individual meanings still connected within, while the harmony of the greater runes persisted. In this way, vast meaning could be bound into the symbols that were actually used for spellcasting, tiny shifts in the utilization of the core runes able to do vastly different things.

One started with very specific shifts and setups learned by rote, then learned how to invoke closer to the core rune. Power and versatility both were the promises there.

“You’re a wizard, Sammy. Hehe…”

She found herself kind of just laying back in the sunlounger, staring up at the clouds, having lost a bit of time between the laser-beam wizard knowledge and the ensuing processing required after, like she’d just been laid out by her own ‘religious experience’ ala Estara’s first dousing. Or maybe a lightweight, not-quite-Neo getting the kungfu download in The Matrix.

Or like that first time I did weed… Bwow-Wow-Wow freaky-deeky town…

“Sammy okay?” A slightly worried cabbit mind-query.

Sammy’s eyes craned upward. The cute face of Floofa was looking down from her forehead, front paws pressed down on them as the big crystalline cat eyes blinked at her.

Laughing, Sammy grabbed her pet and hopped up. “I’m more than fine! I’m great! I’m a fucking wizard!” She spun the animal around in her glee.

Floofa seemed to like it, very un-animal-like. A mental giggle. “Yay! Fuck wizard! Floofa happy!”

Bursting with laughter, Sammy said, “Well, no, f- that’s not-... nevermind. I can do magic!”

“Fuck magic?”

“Um, no. You don’t even know what fuck means, do you?”

“Nope!” The cabbit suddenly wriggled a bit in her hands. “Okay, Floofa down now.”

“Right.” Sammy complied, at which point Floofa sat down and began licking herself.

Looking down at her own self, Sammy realized she’d been in a swimsuit the whole time. “Bikini Wizard more like! Ha. I’m sure that would be quite popular.” She did a poor imitation of a horny guy's voice. “ ‘Oh please, yes, zap me with your lightning bolt, Bikini Wizard!’ Nope! Sleep spell for you! But I’ll throw in a Cold Shower Spray spell too.”

She sat over at a more upright patio chair under an umbrella, summoning a fresh pina colada to her hand and sipping, as she crossed one leg over the other and took a look at her new abilities.

Read Runes was self-explanatory. She could read magical runes and scripts. Incantations and signs as well. If something was a cipher or puzzle, Wizard level was relevant, but it was true of any such thing — one could invoke the class to aid with intellectual problems. It didn’t seem to help with memory or literal knowledge, though.

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Spell Construction

You may learn runic combinations of abstracted reality manipulation concepts that allow you to cast spells. Core spells are available and feasible to learn at level 1. The first two spell constructions utilize the introductory ‘helper’ runes built up toward by an apprentice. With advanced study, a student will learn what their runes ‘mean’ by their act of will to learn it, from teachers and/or spellbooks.

After the first two spells are constructed, all further spells must be assembled fully customized, utilizing examples as inspiration.

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Detect Magic

You can passively detect the use of overt magic or spell-like abilities (not including all supernatural abilities) within a certain range from the effect point and the casting point, with a vague understanding of its nature. Threats are quickly discernable, allowing reactions to avoid or counter, if available. Note that some magic is [Subtle] and ignores Detect Magic. Informational spells are also automatically exempt. In some cases, individual perception/alertness is relevant.

The base range is 10 meters for a level 0 spell by a level 1 Wizard — add 10 meters for each level beyond and 10 meters for the spell level of the effect. Halve this for obstructions between (such as walls).

Information about the precise details of the magic is not discerned and no analysis is available through this ability. Detect Magic cannot detect aura residues (spells already resolved). The above is only for casting and immediate, present spell resolution, and does not detect persistent spells at this range (i.e. ongoing buffs).

Magic items OR enchanted subjects can be detected by touch, or by range equal to (combined levels of Wizard and Effective Level of enchantment - 6) x 2 meters, minimum 0. This informs only of the Effective Level.

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Well. Wizard is kind of worth it for Detect Magic alone. But I’m definitely going to be hitting up Bast. I can feel these potential spells bouncing around in my head. Damn! He’s already left his library. Hope he brought magic book goodies with him as a gift to me. He knows I was reading these, after all.

Sammy checked, but Bast was asleep. She did, with a slightly mischievous air, decide to surprise him as requested. She gave him some artistic inspiration. Redberry, sans scar, and her gigahot, nude, horny dryads.

It was perfect for him. In fact, she wished she could introduce them one day. It seemed like a match made in heaven. He could make a calendar. Maybe do a fundraiser.

“All I know is, I’m a wizard and I’m a happy gal! Woo!”

Floofa loved to hear it. She somersaulted high in the air and at the top of the spin, splayed out gleefully, and did a kind of ‘psychic broadcast’. “Fuck Wizard!”

“Nhnt- no, Floofa…”

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« Chapter 38 | Table of Contents | Chapter 40: Shameless Acquisition »

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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: 901/1000
FE (Illusion): 10
Followers: 12 (Daily FE Gain: 17 [18])

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 Holy Relic Investiture (1-use)