Eli

  Dinner was simpler than ever. It was a buffet style which was great as the place was practically empty save those like us who were not allowed to leave. With trays in hand, Robert led us over to Joanne and Janet. Those two stopped whatever they had been talking about before we got to them.

  “So, what did you guys do today?” I asked, taking a bite of my food.

  “We worked on our forging projects. Our professor wants us to get the piece done before classes resume.” Joanne said, gesturing to Robert who was stuffing his face with food.

  Janet was quiet as she spoke. “I just worked on my spell crafting. We were tasked with creating a single spell.”

  “How would he know if you created the spell or if you just copied it?” Robert asked between bites.

  “Each of our devices can show the progression and development of the spell. If it is too close to a spell that already exists, he can check to see if we came up with it and how that version came to be. When class first started there were a number of students that did that.”

  “What did he do to them?” Joanne asked.

  “I heard that they were forced to wash every building and sidewalk. He did say that anyone that was caught doing it again would be reported to the headmaster. Oh, speaking of spells. Eli, how is your shield spell going? Did that document help?”

  Finishing a bite of my sandwich, I answered. “Yes, thank you for that. Now I just need to figure out how to filter out unusable mana and expand the shield to cover me.”

  “Wait,” Joanne broke in, “Did your elective teacher not give you an assignment as well?”

  “He did, but I had been tinkering with an enchantment for the last week already. It fits what he assigned me.” I answered before turning to ask Janet, “But any thought to how to filter dark and light mana?”

  She took a few bites, thinking over the question. Joanne and Robert talked quietly between themselves. As soon as I figured out that they were talking about their forging projects, I tuned them out.

  “There really isn’t a decent solution that I can think of. Not something that you can use anyway. Your best bet would be to have a dump wire and put up with the loss of every other element. I can ask my professor after vacation if you want.”

  “How long will it take you to cast the spell anyway?” Robert cut in.

  “Probably a minute or two. It has dozens of components now.”

  “You have the mana to support such a spell for long periods of time?” asked Joanne, “Or do you think that you would have time to cast it before every fight?”

  I shook my head. We all knew that none of us could support such a spell for long periods. The professors had also beaten into us that any spell that took more than a couple of seconds to cast was not worth using in a fight. “I guess I need to figure out another way to power the shield for when I am not being attacked. But what could provide the power?”

  That got all of them thinking. Robert voiced a good point. “It would need to be something no one could block off. Something that is everywhere. Both here and on Earth.”

  Tilting my head up as I thought through everything I could use; I caught a glimpse of a skylight. The last rays of the sun streaking across the sky as the first stars started to show themselves. “Is there any sort of spell to convert sunlight to mana?” I asked.

  “There are a few to power some of the mana lights we have been designing to use on Earth.” Janet said, her mind thinking through the idea. “The spells are only designed to have the surface absorb and convert light. But if we were to create a panel that hovers high above, it might be able to supply the mana. At least during the day.”

  “What light does that absorb?” I asked, pretty sure of the answer.

  “All the visible light. Why?”

  “So, none of the higher or lower forms of radiation? Thermal? Radio?”

  “No, we didn’t think that there would be enough of any other form to make the effort worth it. The conversion doesn’t work with a large enough spectrum at one time. Adding a larger range would mean adding more and more converters. The professor said that it would never fit on the enchantment stones.” Janet said, probably trying to figure out how to make the spell work.

  “If I can learn how to hold whole spells or sections, then I could likely hold all the converters I could want. Also, I wouldn’t want to announce to anyone where the mana for the shield was coming from.”

  Robert nodded, “The thread would still be visible though tiny. Unless someone was looking for it, they wouldn’t see it. A darkened spot in the sky would give the trick away. Also, couldn’t you pull mana from it to cast other spells.”

  His words hit all of us. If we could create such a spell, we could power any of our magic without using any of the mana in our core. “The solar panels on their own would only provide fire mana, but a few other converters could provide mana of other types. Earth mana would be the most problematic.” Janet said, her fingers tapping the table.

  “Convert the gravitational force?” Robert asked.

  “Too weak for the mass.” Joanne replied, “How about a pseudo converter. Filter out the non-attributed mana from the air and the other intakes and use an earth input component. It should provide enough earth mana to run the shield.”

  “That would work, as long as the shield doesn’t require more than a tiny amount.” Janet said, “Give me the night to draw up the spell. I will send it to you when I am done. Work on the rest of the spell. We can go test it tomorrow at the lake.” She got up and left. Her tray was still sitting on the table, forgotten.

  I stacked it on mine and got up. “I should go finish the rest of the spell. Have a good night.”

  “Night,” they both replied. Their minds off thinking about something. Probably how they could use the spell.

  In my room, I pulled Sàga out and started to tinker with the spell. Something about how mana flowed tickled the back of my mind. Trying to figure out what it was, I looked over my list of components. The light component reminded me of how electricity worked. What I needed was something to increase the resistance to ground.

  “Sàga,” I asked, “Does any component work like a resistor?”

  “There is one, though it is rare as spells don’t typically need it. Mana tries to follow the will of the user after all.”

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  The component she brought up was a jagged line in the middle of a circle. I added it right before the open-ended thread. Last but not least, I modified the spell shape. Changing it from a small plate to a dome. All centered around the spell construct and whatever it was protecting.

  I practically passed out; my mind spent after working so hard on that spell. Robert’s knocking woke me up. Ignoring everything he called through the door, I walked into the shower. It was nearly half an hour before I was ready and heading out the door.

  The whole class was where I expected them. Outside, running in circles. What surprised me was the fact that all of them had their weapons. Jogging, I waited until Robert came up next to me before speeding up and matching his pace.

  “Why is everyone armed?” I asked.

  “Did you not hear what I said earlier.” he asked, a bit winded before shaking his head and continuing. “A group of people were attacked last night. All seven are dead.”

  I nearly tripped. “What are the professors doing?”

  “Nothing. Few of them even care as only two mages have died.” Joanne said, anger tinging her voice. “Here I am hoping that your shield spell works as well as we think. It would come in handy for if someone attacks one of us.”

  I had to agree with her. If it worked right, none of us would have to worry about a surprise attack. I just wouldn’t rely on it. Not worth putting all my eggs in one basket, no matter how nice that basket was.

  Instead of moving onto spell practice, Joanne and Robert gestured for me to follow them. The path they led me down was one I had never taken, yet it led to the same lake I had been practicing at. Janet was sitting at a nearby bench. A circular trench dug around her and the table.

  Paying it no mind, I smacked into a solid wall as I went to cross it. “Damn, did you encircle yourself?” I asked, rubbing my nose.

  “Yes,” Janet replied, not looking up from the hologram in front of her. “It is a decent way to defend yourself.”

  “As long as you are willing to stay in one spot and not cast any other spells that is.” Robert muttered. I had to agree with him. Circles were great in doing one thing, stopping things from crossing in one direction. But the moment anything crossed the circle in the other direction, it would break. That included mana and spells. Oddly enough, air and such did not count.

  “Anyway, I got your solar spell done. It should do everything you want.” She gestured in my direction and Sàga vibrated. A popping sensation accompanied the motion, indicating that the circle was broken. Stepping over it, I sat at the table. Pulling up my shield spell and her solar spell.

  There were nearly fifty components in the solar spell alone. Some of the combinations I almost couldn’t make heads or tails of. Pointing to one, I asked, “What does this part do?”

  “Replication.” She said nonchalantly, “It will allow the spell to create as many solar panels as needed. It will only stop when the generated mana is just greater than what is needed. Hence this complicated section.” She pointed to a set of components that encircled the mana storage component.

  Shaking my head, I tied the output of the spell to my shield. “This spell just keeps getting more and more complicated. Casting it is going to be a pain every time.” Right as I held my hand out to start creating the components, I realized an issue. “I don’t think I have the mana to cast this spell.”

  “How much do you think this spell will need?” Joanne asked, curious.

  “Four or five times the amount I can hold currently.”

  “Wait, I thought you were constantly increasing your capacity.” Robert said.

  “I have been, and it has been going well. But there are limits to how fast I can grow without doing damage.” I said, thinking over the problem.

  It was Sàga who proposed a solution. “Why not store mana into mana storage components.”

  Robert probably meant for no one to hear him. “Sometimes I wish there was something like a storage ring or such for mana.”

  I turned to him but spoke to Sàga, “Is there such an enchantment?”

  “Yes, though they are expensive for anything practical. The material needed is expensive, and the enchantment is finicky, so don’t go thinking you can make one yourself.” That shot my idea of charging mana storage devices with the shield and using them to cast it later. As it was, I had figured out two weaknesses of the shield spell. I just hoped that no one else would figure them out until I managed to find a fix.

  “Why not power the solar section first? The point of it is to power the shield, after all.” Robert said. We looked at him before turning to look at Janet.

  She shrugged and redid a few components and added a section. “This should do what you want. Just push power into this component to start the cascade activation.”

  “I am guessing this isn’t the first time you have seen a spell that needed to be cast in parts?” I asked as I copied the changes to the shield spell.

  Watching me work, she vaguely answered, “One of the spell types we have been learning about has to do with something similar.”

  Taking my time, I formed each of the components and let Sàga hold them in place. This took me a while as I was working on each thread separately. Stopping where one thread met another. Only continuing that section when all the needed threads were up to that point.

  Seven threads. If I had to cast this spell on my own, I would have had to weave seven threads at the same time while also holding every component in place. My mind would have melted. This one spell made me appreciate Sàga all the more.

  When all the threads were done and all the components in place, I pulled power from nearby and pushed it into the component to activate the solar section. My eyes followed the thread of mana that spun upward. About thirteen feet up, it seemed to expand outward. Forming a hexagon about five feet across.

  The only reason I could see it was the threads of mana. None of the visible light was blocked. Looking away from the panel, I looked at the spell construct. Watching as the spell glowed brighter and the storage components filled up. As soon as there was a full charge, the components discharged it into the rest of the spell.

  I nearly panicked as the tsunami of mana rushed down the threads, afraid that the components would explode from the amount and pressure. Instead of exploding into pieces, the components snapped to life. The shield popping into place around us.

  While the majority of it was a light translucent blue, there were waves of iridescent colors that rippled across it. I was mesmerized by the view. A heavy axe bashing into the shield in front of me broke the trance I had fallen into.

  Robert was standing with his axe in his hand, bashing at the shield from the inside. “This thing is tough. It doesn’t even budge when I hit it.” Stepping back, he pulled his axe head up where he could see the edge. “It also is flattening the edge.”

  From my left, I heard a flurry of dull thuds. Looking over at Joanne, I watched as she struck the shield. Her knives striking out in a flurry. “So, we know this shield is great against physical attacks from the inside. What about magic?” She asked, turning to Janet.

  Janet smirked as she waved a hand. A multitude of spells constructed themselves as her lips moved. As soon as each finished, it flew out and struck the spell. The first three were absorbed the instant they touched the shield. As soon as they entered the spell, they were torn apart and drained of mana.

  Even though the shield tore apart the spells near instantly, multiple other spells managed to impact the shield. The only visible change to the shield was the fact that there were more iridescent ripples. Each originating from where the spells impacted.

  “How is the shield spell looking? Mana flow smooth? How about the solar section? Is it changing fast enough to keep up with the needs?” Janet asked as she kept casting spell volleys at the wall.

  It was probably her way of telling me to pay attention to the shield and not her cast. Blushing a bit at the oversight, I focused on the spell construct in front of me. Twisting it around, I checked each section. Watching as the amount of mana coming in would increase before decreasing again.

  Looking up to see why, I noticed that there was no longer just one hexagon. There were five layers of hexagons around the original one. Mana poured down the line and into the shield. The amount of which was enough to fill all of our cores in less than a second. Clearly, there was no need for the spell-containing section.

  Voicing my question, I asked Janet, “Your solar section is pumping out mana as if it was nothing. Is there a need for the section that strips mana from spells?”

  “For normal spells and typical use, not really. But that solar spell will not be able to provide tons of mana in an instant. If the first strike is large enough, the shield will collapse from a lack of mana to sustain it. That section will deal with those first strikes and act as a backup.”

  Stomach grumbling, I decided to accept her reason. Reaching for the shield, I tried to shut off the shield without destroying the spell so that we could go get lunch. The entire shield broke apart instead. The panels above releasing some mana before following the shield into nothingness. They all looked at me in question. I scratched my cheek with one finger. “I was trying to open a hole so we could go get some food.”

  “Maybe I should take a look at the structure part of the shield. I am sure I could come up with some way to allow the shield to shrink and reform. Maybe even replace broken parts as needed. Hexagon with triangles, maybe? That shape is strong enough for domes in harsh climates. It should be able to hold up as a shield.” Janet said, her voice trailing off as she spoke to herself about shapes and how to go about doing what she wanted.