Chapter 7: A kind of magic

  It took Cam the better part of that first day to clean up his new home. Most of the lab area was covered with sheets. The amount of dust build up on them was sinful. The living space wasn’t much better. Cam found this world lacking in basic necessities, such as a vacuum cleaner. Thankfully this place had indoor plumbing and he had his own bathroom. The only oddity he could notice that was different from the world he knew was the lighting. Instead of having light switches leading to a light somewhere else in the room there was a crystal mounted to a candle holder where a light switch would be on the wall. Greg showed him how it worked. You turn the crystal to adjust the lighting in the room, which happened magically somehow. The ambient light just seem to get brighter, there was no one source like in the case of a lamp; the room itself just got brighter.

  Cam made a list of ingredients he would need to work on potions, based on the information he was able to glean from the books he took from the officer he robbed in the prison he woke up in the previous night. He also added a list of instruments his lab seemed to be missing. It had been a while since Cam had been in a Chemistry lab, mainly the high school chem class. The biggest difference he could tell was the lack of natural gas. This lab had no way to heat the products to make distilled anything. But it clearly had a set up for locations of flames to sit. Some locations still had burn residue from the previous alchemist.

  “This is a magic world, they probably just cast a fireball. Great, now I am going to have to find a place that teaches spellcraft.” Cam took out his notebook and added magic to the list of things to get. “Sorry honey, I am just going to step out real quick and get some more soap for the bath, and magic. I should be back before breakfast.” Cam mused to himself. He dropped his list back into his ring and headed for the door. On leaving the barracks he turned right, heading down the street, not heading back to the guild. He got a few blocks down then he received two notifications. The drum roll began.

  Ba Da: The traveler level 2

  Ba Da: Local map is unlocked

  In the corner of his vision a mini map appeared. It was like looking through a stained glass window. He could still see through it just fine, or he could focus on it. Using the mini map to get around was intuitive for Cam. He could zoom in or out with a simple thought, he could toggle on or off other people. They could appear as dots. He could turn on or off visual direction, for himself or others. He could focus on buildings and read off their names; if they were businesses. This is how he found his way to ‘glass and things’ where he was able to cross off his list of beakers, empty potion bottles and assorted vials he needed.

  Not too far way from there was ‘ceramics anonymous’ where he purchased the mortar and petles he needed for the ingredients. He got ten each just in case, it was costly but if he got on a roll with the potions it would be necessary. Besides, cleaning between each usage would slow him down; he would rather stop to clean when he was all done. Cam paused on his way out, thinking about his situation. He understood what he was doing, it was what he always did. Throw himself into the next thing, whatever it was, so he wouldn’t have to think about the past. Granted, lately he had more to ignore than normal. Coming to another world, meeting gods. Seeing magical imps, and now, of all things he was buying equipment to make magical potions. Cam just sighed and continued walking.

  ‘What else am I going to do? Break down and cry. No thanks, sadly I have to walk this world with new kid in the class energy. At least until I see where I fit in with all of this. Alright Cam, focus, what’s next.’ He kept walking but looked to his map. He noticed two buildings on the map across from each other. One, ‘Magical theory,’ and the other, ‘the third eye.’ Magical theory had a symbol of a book on the door. The third eye looked like a dojo, with shrine like half pillars, each with a different bust at eye level. Cam got the feeling magic wouldn’t be as easy as he thought. Outside of each business were two brothers. Clearly each had different views on their approach to magic. One was dressed nice with a neatly trimmed haircut and a nice pair of glasses shaping his face. The other wore a gi, he had long hair pulled back into a ponytail. They were clearly twins. They seem to constantly eye each other, like the other stole his breakfast. The awkward moment when Cam got to the corner seemed to stretch. Cam ultimately decided to cross the street and head for the book store.

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  “No you don’t!” He heard as he felt a tug on his arm. By the time he looked around he heard the bell chime above a door. He was already standing in the dojo.

  “You need magic, am I right? Names Steve, how about yourself?”

  “Ah, Cam, nice to meet you.”

  “Yes yes, so! What kind of magic are you looking to learn?”

  “A simple fire spell, you know, one I can use in alchemy.”

  “I think I can be of help, please head over to the fire podium.” Steve motioned to one of the pillars on the floor. “Please remove your shoes first if you don’t mind.”

  Cam complied, placing his shoes in the cubby off to the side of the entrance. The two walked over to the fire pillar.

  “Now, before we begin, I have to get the sense of you. Hold still.” Steve opened his palms and waved them in front of his chest before inhaling sharply. He held his breath and placed one hand on Cams chest. His hand seemed to shimmer as Cam felt a warm glow on his chest. Even though Steve never touched Cam he could feel his heart beating in his chest, like someone was pressing down on it. “You’re new to this world, aren’t you? A traveler. New to the ways of magic, it’s good that you came to me. Trevor would have filled your head with nonsense.” There was an awkward pause, as Cam looked at Steve.

  “Anyway, the basic thing you need to grasp about magic is that magic is simple. Here you will learn how to form magic naturally. The podiums hold a solid reference to a type of magic, this one is fire. To use magic one must be one with the concept of the magic they use. Fire is more than something that burns. Fire is a catalyst of change, the heat can melt or meld metals, the light it gives causes innovation. The warmth it gives can sooth a soul at a hearth, and bake the tastiest pies. The question you have to ask yourself is, ‘how do you reflect fire from your own heart out to the rest of the world?’ Go on, touch it.”

  Steve stepped away quietly and observed from the other side of the room.

  Cam stuck out his hand and touched the top of the podium. He closed his eyes and thought about what Steve said. About how he wanted to use fire as an alchemist. ‘Fire was a catalyst of change’ especially how Cam wanted to use it. Mostly to distill, change a plant into a potion. He felt the essence of fire, it simply was. He thought about how candles worked, one lit by the fire of the next, simply by proximity. The fire was never taken, yet it passed from one to the other. He opened his empty hand and looked at it. A small blue flame appeared in his hand. He stepped back from the podium, too busy feeling the connection to the flame to notice the bell on the door from going off.

  Ba Da: Essence of fire learned

  Ba Da: A path to magic has been unlocked Mana +10

  Ba Da: New title “Mage?” is applied

  The messages pulled Cam out of his thoughts, ‘Mage?’ ‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’ He looked back at his flame. He closed his fist and the flame went out.

  “Damn it! Now, I will never hear the end of this.” Cam heard from the door. He looked over and saw Trevor, Steve’s brother. “Well, come on, we don’t have all day. You need spells, am I right? Well lets go.” Trevor waled out without another word. The bell sounding off as he left.

  “He is mad because he has to pay for lunch today.” Steve said. “Speaking of. I don’t charge for basic magic lessons, like this, but I do have a donation box on the counter if you wouldn’t mind. Honestly, whatever you feel it was worth to you will do. For me just helping is enough.” Steve bowed and stepped into the back room. “until next time, Cam. May your path of magic be a good one.”

  Cam put his shoes back on and stared at the podium of fire for a second before dropping two silver coins into the donation box. He gave a slight bow and left the dojo.

  ---

  Trevor talked a lot. Cam’s time in Magical theory was a whirlwind. He got out of there as fast as he could, for the first time he left a store with a canvas bag with four books tucked in tow. Trevor said that, “the magical tomes could offset the storage ring or the ring could siphon away the magic contained in the books.” Most likely Trevor just wanted everyone to see a customer leave his store with books, but Cam didn’t mind. A little advertisement never hurt anybody. The four books were: ‘dividing your magic and your time’ ‘Math and magic’ ‘a beginners guide to spell-craft’ and ‘watch out, it’s going to be hot.’ With titles like these Cam wondered if Trevor wrote them himself.

  Cam thought it was time to head back home and finish setting up his lab. He got about an hour in when his stomach began to growl. So he grabbed his copy of ‘dividing your magic and your time’

  and headed for the morning brew for a good meal.