The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage

[57] Greater

Helina let go of Tanisha’s hands; she wouldn’t be able to assist her in stabilizing the spell form since she didn’t have an affinity for Ionikinesis. The plasma mage specialization was tricky because some of its properties were similar to Starlight magic and their light constructs. There weren’t many elemental mages who could utilize the specialization so Tanisha didn’t have high hopes for it either. Not to mention that if she could use it there were so few teachers she would have to be self-taught.

“Are you ready?” Helina asked.

“Yes,” Tanisha said in a breath.

Tanisha closed her eyes as she repeated the words of power after Helina. She could feel her mana reacting to each word and could visualize the spell form in her core. The spell form was a mage's connection to and control of a spell. While it wasn’t literally in their core they could feel the mana expenditure and the shape it took as it left their core. Drawing out spell forms was an art onto itself; they usually took on geometric shapes in two and three dimensions. 

Manipulating the spell form in their core was a learned skill, one that took many years to master. The spells Helina and Tanisha were performing were some of the most basic aptitude tests, and luckily extremely eazy. They would have to be, in order for aspiring mages to find out what specialities they had. 

Tanisha felt her pure mana create the complete spell form, but felt it destabilizing by the moment. She panicked and dove deeper into herself; she felt imperfections in the spell form and had to act quickly. She didn’t necessarily see the spell form but visualized a three-dimensional spell circle. The innermost circle was spinning extremely quickly, not much detail could be made out. 

The second circle was made up of several interlocking rings; they spun in opposite directions to each other and contained the energy of the innermost circle. These rings were far clearer and Tanisha felt the word F̴̝̃̉h̶̲͠o̸͖̻̎ũ̸̡̥͝ḿ̸̜ü̵̦̇͜t̴͙͚̑̀ḣ̵̞  come to mind. It was a word of power she had never heard. She returned to the first circle and studied it for a few heartbeats when the word Ḏ̶͝o̵̰͌͂͜s̵͓̺͠h̸̜̭̍͒i̷̦͆̈n̸͈̅͆ą̵̕h̷̹͈̅ą̶̱͠  entered her mind.

She moved to the third and final ring; this one was a sphere covered in runic symbols. Several symbols were missing and mana escaped the spell from within at an increasing rate. The spell was destabilizing as the sphere cracked, releasing more and more mana. The spell form began to dim and Tanisha knew she had to do something. She pushed more mana into the spell form, causing it to reignite, but only for a second before the sphere began to crack even more.

She then decided to breathe in slowly and surround the spell form in maya. The sphere latched on to the infernal power, rapidly drawing it in. Tanisha panicked again when the draw didn’t stop. Slowly the missing runes appeared with odd shapes she didn’t understand. The infernal power redrew the spell and mixed intimately with the mana in a way she hadn’t seen before. 

No, she had seen this before. Earlier that day when she unintentionally used Blink. There was a sudden realization, and when she saw the new stabilized sphere she felt the final word of power, S̴̳̘̠̉̎i̶̢̘͚͗̕ḵ̷̌͜e̵̡͚̝̓ḁ̵͛ḏ̶̥̈́̊̃i̶̟̐̆ .  

“F̴̝̃̉h̶̲͠o̸͖̻̎ũ̸̡̥͝ḿ̸̜ü̵̦̇͜t̴͙͚̑̀ḣ̵̞ Ḏ̶͝ŏ̶̺͐ș̸̞̍h̸̢̙͠ǐ̷̲̭n̴̼̋͒a̴̖͌͜ḩ̸͗̽a̷̢̖͐ ̶̖̫͆S̸̱̿i̸̞͕̐́k̸̼̐e̵̛̼͑ạ̷͒d̸̝̉ȋ̴͓̘ ,” Tanisha said before she even realized what she was doing.

She felt heat kiss her skin and light flashed in front of her, causing her to open her eyes. Helina screamed as she jumped back from a pillar of plasma that shot over two hundred yards up into the sky. It took Tanisha a few seconds to recognize what was going on. The heat from the plasma was contained, it was her magic and maya to control after all, but the air felt electrified and dangerous. She stopped the flow of her energies and the plasma tower petered out without mana holding it together.

“What the fuck was that?” Helina screamed as she ran to Tanisha, looking over her worriedly. “Are you okay, Tanisha? You weren’t hurt were you?”

Tanisha felt the goblin mother’s tail wrap around her in a comforting gesture as she looked her over.

“I am fine, I’m fine,” Tanisha assured while signaling Helina to calm down. “I just fixed the spell form is all.”

“You did what?” Helina asked, exasperated. “How did you fix a spell form you’ve never seen before? You should have just stopped the spell, you could have caused a lot of damage to your core with mana backlash! You stopped repeating after me and started saying something else. Tell me exactly what happened.”

Tanisha went over everything that had transpired during the spell. Helina just listened, mouth agape the entire time, which made Tanisha less and less confident as she continued. She decided to take this time to come clean, explaining what had happened with using some version of Blink accidentally while she was running. Helina was shocked beyond words; she just kept her mouth wide open, sputtering something that didn’t quite form anything intelligible.

Several of the Isi swordsmen ran over to the two ladies and inquired what the lights had been. Once Helina explained it was a mage aptitude test thing many lost interest. They couldn’t use magic since they were material users, and they had training to get back to. Once the crowd dispersed  Helina decided they would give the other aptitude tests a try later. Tanisha wanted to do it immediately, but realized her conversion of the spell had nearly drained her of all of her remaining mana and maya. She couldn’t believe it; she barely had enough mana left to activate Mana Armor.  She decided to look at her status again.

Status Menu

Name: Tanisha Scalebound
Species: Wendigo
Level: 17
Vitality: 15
Restoration: 10
Constitution: 25
Willpower: 10 + 1 = 11
Strength: 17
Dexterity: 25
Stamina: 16
Maya: 7 + 2 = 9
Magic: 26 + 1 = 27
Magic Regeneration: 25 + 10 = 35 (+100 from bond)
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“Well that’s new,” Tanisha blurted out.

“What?” Helina questioned.

“My mental projection menu has changed. It now shows changes to my stats with math,” Tanisha said. “I gained stats in willpower, maya, and magic regeneration.”

“Do you normally gain points like that?” Helina inquired.

“Not too much, but Joha said it was possible which is why we still train even though I’m a cultivator,” Tanisha responded. 

After Tanisha saw the changes to the status the higher numbers remained and the equations disappeared. She moved on to the next screen, excited to see if there were any changes.

Skills Analysis

Delta Familiar Contract
You are bonded with a delta class familiar. You gain +100 to magic regeneration. Your bond has grown, allowing you to convey emotions though your bond. Your bond is resilient against outside influences and can not be forcibly severed by outside parties. Your familiar’s life expectancy is extended by five years.

Mystic Wind Hands
Magic cost: 3
Speak the words of power and call forth mystic hands created from the wind. These hands can interact with the world and act out the caster’s will. (II) Infernal Hands, Maya cost: 1, infuse mystic wind hands with the breath of the Infernal Planes. These hands will burn any that oppose you.

Sage Core Manipulation / Maya is Breath < Arcanist Sage Core
Magic / Maya cost: Variable
The core of the Arcanist Sage is mana and maya allowing you to control, circulate and generate both energy types. You can use the tools of both forms of energy. You can exert your will over mana/maya outside of your body for a short distance and use ambient mana/maya to power your arcane machinations.

Mana Armor
Magic cost: 2
Push mana into your muscles and bones to temporarily increase your physical attributes. (II) Maya Cloak, Maya Cost: 1, the infernal energies within you surround your body, greatly enhancing unarmed strikes. Unarmed punches and kicks will produce a maya shockwave, increasing range of unarmed strikes a short distance.

+ Sage Spell Form Crafter
Magic/Maya cost: Variable
Use mana and maya to alter and twist existing spellforms connected to your core.

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Tanisha saw that there were now indications of new or changed skills. Her Sage Core Manipulation became Arcanist Sage Core. It apparently fused the abilities of that and Maya is Breath to become a more simplified skill. She also gained Sage Spell Form Crafter, which was apparently what she had done to the aptitude spell. She was about to close the menu and explain her new skills when she saw that she now had a new page. She quickly flipped to the final page to see what new changes it had.

Sage Core Analysis

Sage of the Infernal
Your core has attuned itself to maya and can now utilize maya to alter itself and spell forms connected to it. Arcanist Sage Core has broken all connections to Infernal Patron(s) and has established a permanent link to the Infernal Planes. You are now a demonic entity, species reverted to: Wendigo.

Nature Discipline

Specialties:

?Unknown?

Elemental Discipline

Specialties:

Ionikinesis - Creation and manipulation of ionized gas, wielding intense heat and electrical energy.
Aerokinesis - Control over air currents and atmosphere.
Electrokinesis - Creation and control over electricity and lightning.
Hydrokinesis - Creation and control over water.
Pyrokinesis - Creation and control over fire, thermal temperature and heat manipulation.
? Unknown ?

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“What in the Celestial Planes?” Tanisha asked, completely flabbergasted.

She hadn’t even noticed that her species just said wendigo again. She was now a Sage of the Infernal and a demonic entity? What did that mean? She wasn’t connected to a patron any more, either. She felt overwhelmed with the information, but when she finally felt ready to explain herself to the patiently waiting goblin mother another notification blocked her vision.

Racial Evolution Progress
You have met the requirements to ascend Racial Hierarchy. Your core has been touched by the Infernal Planes and where some would crumble you have thrived.

Current: Wendigo (Normal)
Evolution: Nature's Wrath (Greater)
Please assign Racial Hierarchy within 14 day(s) or evolution will be lost.
Evolve into Nature's Wrath (Greater Wendigo) [Yes/No]

“I have to go,” Tanisha said in a trembling voice. “Bjorn, Bjorn!” she screamed.

The familiar was already at her side, having felt her distress. He wrapped his tail around her and lifted her onto the waiting saddle on his back. Helina sputted for her to stop but Tanisha wasn’t listening. Her head was spinning with the information and she just wanted to go somewhere and think. 

Bjorn took off and ran out of the estate grounds. Hopping the metal fence around the perimeter easily, he picked a direction and ran, feeling that Tanisha just wanted to get some air.

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