Chapter 97: Almost a Ridiculous Argument

Well, this time showing off really had come back to strike him like lightning.

Was that the first spell you learned? How could he tell?

Was there some harmless spell Jess could claim he'd learned instead?

Fear? Absolutely not.

Summon Imp? What a joke.

The demon-strangling incantation? Ha!

Life Tap? He hadn't even memorized that one.

The weakening spell? The naga's shadow magic?

No, no, no.

Why was Marin asking? Had he noticed Jess had studied shadow magic?

There was no way to identify shadow energy just by looking at him. Jess had come and gone from the Wizard's Sanctum plenty of times, and even the battlemages guarding it hadn't noticed anything strange. What were the chances Marin could?

If Marin had noticed before, wouldn't he have questioned him already?

Jess had learned Fear a month ago. If there were something obvious to see, Marin should have seen it back then.

So Jess decided the old mage must have noticed something in the way he'd cast the Light spell just now.

What could it have been? Jess guessed his experience casting other spells had influenced the way he cast Light. He simply hadn't looked like someone casting a spell for the first time.

Which meant Marin didn't know what he'd studied before. Maybe the old mage assumed it was arcane magic.

There was still a way out. He wasn't headed straight for a Stormwind prison just yet.

Think of an excuse. Come on, Jess. Making excuses is what you're best at. This is your moment!

How could past experience affect a new spell? Mana? Concentration?

Marin had said mana capacity took long, steady training to improve. Jess had only had a month, and he hadn't trained hard every single day. Could there really be a visible difference?

Then it had to be concentration.

Jess must be far better at concentrating than apprentices learning their first spell. So much better that Marin thought he'd trained specifically for it.

Most young apprentices rarely left school after enrolling, let alone experienced real fighting.

Jess, on the other hand, had dragged himself back from the edge of death several times using nothing but Fear. His ability to focus while casting had to be far beyond that of a beginner.

Once he'd settled on that explanation, he needed a reason he could give Marin. Why was he better at concentrating if he hadn't used shadow spells?

His mind raced again, and he suddenly found a fairly good answer.

Swordsmanship.

This wasn't entirely nonsense. Some of the sword techniques Gred had taught him, and the effort of calmly applying those lessons while facing an enemy, really had helped him stay composed in several fights. That had done wonders for his concentration.

That was it.

Gred, even when you're not here, please save me one more time!

"Well, Master," Jess blurted out, "now that you've said it, I'm almost wondering whether I learned some magic before and forgot about it. After all, the place I grew up wasn't far from the mage academies of Lordaeron. Maybe I came across something as a child... But however hard I try to remember, I can't recall ever learning another spell. What I do think helped me stay focused, and try to cast without wasting energy the way you taught me, was a lesson in swordsmanship from a dwarf warrior."

Marin stared at Jess with a complicated expression.

"Sword practice... can help with spellcasting?"

This unauthorized copy came from the author's NovelPhoenix publication; reading the chapter there supports the author.

"In my experience, yes," Jess replied. "When I first practiced Light, things went badly. The slightest distraction made me lose control. Or I'd maintain it for a little while and feel completely drained, so I didn't dare keep trying."

"Then in Westfall, after facing down a wild boar, I started wondering: why not treat the light I summon like an enemy? Like a boar about to charge and kill me. I'd have to take it seriously, watch it carefully, feel its temperature, learn its temper..."

At this point, Jess was almost losing track of his own logic. But that was only because he was nervous. Stay calm. Control yourself. Keep talking nonsense with a straight face. Everything depends on this!

"That's what my dwarf friend taught me, Master. Keep the tip of the sword aimed at your opponent, always make them feel threatened, watch every movement they make, and never let your attention slip for even a moment. I think that kind of discipline helped me maintain Light with a better state of mind. After I started doing it, I really could hold the spell longer. With the focus I'd trained through swordsmanship, I could almost feel the temperature and the temper of the arcane energy coming together. Not clearly, of course, but it helped me cast far more efficiently!"

Marin looked almost bewildered. A long time passed before he spoke.

"I have a feeling this could make an interesting research topic, Mr. Seso. Many elven mages are also excellent swordsmen. Partly that's because they live so long that they have plenty of time to practice martial skills. But perhaps there's another reason. Perhaps, as you suggest, elves understand that improving their bodies, their awareness, and their reaction speed can also improve their magic."

He paused.

"I've thought about that myself, in fact. I just never made up my mind to spend the time learning a martial skill, and I haven't met many students who've truly tried both and could share their experience. Perhaps the masters in Dalaran have already tested the idea."

"It's only my guess, Master," Jess said. "After all, when you first suggested I'd learned another arcane spell, I had no idea what you meant. I haven't learned any others. Light was the first. If I'd learned another spell, I wouldn't have thought I couldn't connect with the ley network."

"True. I was worrying too much." Marin patted his shoulder. "I was only concerned for you. Learning arcane magic from the wrong people can be dangerous. Some wandering mages who understand spells like to change them according to their own tastes, then pass the altered versions on to their students. That can bring disasters no one can control. That's what I was worried about."

"I understand." Jess nodded firmly.

The back of his head was slick with sweat. After surviving Marin's questions, he almost felt as though handling this one conversation had sent his life down a completely different road.

And perhaps it had. What would happen if a high-ranking mage of the Wizard's Sanctum forced him to admit he knew a whole string of shadow spells?

He might be questioned and searched, and eventually forced to reveal all the warlocks gathered at The Slaughtered Lamb. Jess wasn't confident he could withstand medieval torture.

Maybe his future would be that of a wandering warlock banished from Stormwind, drifting around Elwynn Forest with an imp. Kill him, and you'd receive a spellbook called Summon Imp, which taught you the first warlock spell.

In other words, he'd become a class-quest NPC whom players killed over and over every day. A gatekeeper at Northshire Abbey...

His thoughts were wandering off in every direction when Marin interrupted them.

"Come with me, Jess. I'll keep my promise. Now that you've mastered Light, I'll teach you a second spell. This time, you can choose it yourself."

Marin turned toward his study.

I get to choose?

Jess wanted to learn a protective arcane spell, ideally one that lasted a long time. It would help cover his greatest weakness: he had almost no way to defend against magical attacks from a distance.

So far, only a small fraction of the enemies he'd faced had been spellcasters. Yet nearly every time he met one, it became a deadly threat.

He was physically fit and had some fighting experience. Against big, slow, clumsy enemies, he could dodge and stall for time. He could also use Fear to hold them off and create an opening.

But against spellcasters?

On the beach, when the naga sea witch fired Arcane Missiles at him, Jess had only one real defense: luck.

His quick reactions had let him jump aside from the first missile. But the second? That had been pure luck.

If that arcane projectile had struck him squarely in the back... Jess had no idea what taking an Arcane Missile felt like, but he was sure he'd have died. The naga wouldn't have shown him mercy.

He had only one bottle of Shadow Protection Potion left. And the thought of gathering Grave Moss again made his scalp crawl.

In Redridge, he'd also seen a shaman use fire and nature magic at the same time, drawing on wind and lightning.

The naga sea witch could use water and frost magic, arcane magic, and shadow magic. That meant even within the Kingdom of Stormwind, enemies who could cast spells were everywhere.

Worse, many mages knew how to interrupt someone else's spellcasting. Fear might be of little use against them. Finding an opening to frighten a skilled mage could be harder than simply killing one.

Was he supposed to carry several different elemental protection potions every time he left the city?

Or should he stop adventuring altogether, fight nothing but wolves and bears, and give up on doing anything worthwhile?

Absolutely not.

That left Jess with one choice.

Mage Armor.

In the game, Mage Armor was a powerful magical effect that increased resistance to all kinds of spells and improved mana recovery.

But what would it do here?

Judging by the other spells he'd seen, Jess guessed its effects wouldn't be too different.

The question was whether it would be hard to learn.

In the game, Mage Armor was a high-level spell learned much later. Would Marin laugh at him if he asked for it now?

But the more complicated a spell, the harder it was to control—and the more powerful it could be.

Take Summon Imp. Because Jess rarely cast it, he still hadn't memorized the incantation. He'd even forgotten how it began. Yet that one spell had brought him a loyal companion.

He wasn't nearly as good at learning arcane magic as he was at shadow magic. So he needed to study fewer spells, but study them well, spending his limited time on magic that was truly useful and powerful.

Lost in thought, he followed Marin into the study.