Gestation, John Gold [good books for high schoolers .TXT] 📗

a separate conversation. Mind is mental magic, which impacts the way people think. Space is both the simplest and the most complex primary element. The final two are Light and Dark. Magic can also take a variety of forms: Light, Fire, Water, Earth Shield, and emanations of Death.”

“What about magic schools? Or specialties?”

“At Level 50. You pick a specialty and start developing in that direction. For that, you have to have the magic skill boosted to 50. There are Fire, Earth, and Life mages, as well as mentalists, wizards, artifactors…the list is endless. Then, there are hidden battle specialties that mix the paths of the sword and magic, or secret killers, astral attacks, magic sieges. That list is long, too. But those specialties are generally offered to the best students or to those whose achievements have earned them that right. Some specialties aren’t taught by any of the mages in the academy—blood magic, ritual magic, demonology, chimerology, malefism, necromancy, and all of those, everything having to do with black or dark magic. There’s just a general course at the academy that teaches students how to fight back against them.”

Some are born with a predisposition to one of the elements as a bonus to the damage they do. There’s also a family bonus for kids from mage families, not to mention hereditary mutations, family skills, and heirlooms. Your specialty is the choice you make for how you want to develop your magic. It boosts your magic in that area by 50%.

“Can you find a teacher or learn by yourself?”

He just waves me off like a pesky fly.

“So, what do you choose?”

Once again, Bernard’s mood changes.

“The dark side is intriguing, though I’m not a mage, and that would be worthless for me. On the other hand, as a way of going forward, I really like it. All I can do for now is learn simple spells.”

Bernard doesn’t even nod. He just stares at me like I mean nothing, his eyes practically shouting, non-mage.

“Okay, then it’ll be Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Space, Light, Mind, Life, and Dark. That’s all I can do…or is it? Could I get one more little spell?”

“A hundred gold, and you’ll have your little spell. Your winnings are enough to cover that.”

“Deal.”

I don’t know how father got what he knows, but I doubt I’ll have another chance. There’s a difference between money now and money later.

Bernard gestures me to sit across from him. Placing his hand on my head, he looks me in the eye. Suddenly, there’s a sharp pain, and I black out.

Spell learned: Weaker Healing

Description: Heals the wounds of whoever it’s directed toward. The effectiveness depends on your intellect.

Effect: Restores 100 health

Mana: 10

Life Magic: +1

Life spell effectiveness: +1%

Survivability +2

There’s the first bit of good news. I’m lying on the table in a pool of blood, an unpleasant fog just about all I can see. Bernard sits there happily, even singing.

“Use the spell, and we’ll continue. We have eight more to go,” he says, his malicious laugh echoing around the room. “Get rid of the blood, otherwise someone might find it and try to use it as part of some dark deed.”

The next few hours were hell—pain broken up by lost consciousness. Just by learning magic, I picked up another 12 survivability points. And then there was my shirt, which was sopping wet with my blood after using it to mop up the table so many times. Father’s going to beat me until sunrise. But that’s okay, I can heal myself now. I’m probably looking something like that guy with the plasma knife on the lower levels, just without the crazy look in my eyes.

“Oh, you survived. Nice. The experiment was a success, so let me teach you one more thing as the bonus for putting on a show: meditation.”

“What?” I can barely think, the bloody film covering my eyes unwilling to recede. “Why?”

“A mage’s most valuable resource is his mana. During meditation, you can restore it much faster than usual, the same way sword masters use battle trances. They can restore their supply of stamina right there in the battle. For archers, it’s concentration and a little added strength. They shoot more accurately and do more damage. So… Okay, sit down on the floor like me, relax, and let your thoughts just flow.” Bernard sits down in the lotus pose.

I follow suit and start to think about what to do. On the one hand, I picked up a huge advantage, since I can use my nine spells to develop my intellect, wisdom, and morale. Still, there’s that limit I can’t get past. I’m going to have to pick up more advantages over the next two years. For now, I’ll just get by on the fact that nobody else knows how I fight.

Skill learned: meditation

Meditation: +1

Mana restoration speed: +1%

∞ ∞ ∞

Bernard somehow knows that I just finished, reacting instantaneously.

“Your meditation skill will grow as long as you don’t run out of mana, which you get faster in places of power. You’ll figure out what those are. Okay, get out of here.”

“Hey, what about my money? My winnings!”

“Oh, right, here you go.”

Still in his meditation pose, he opens his exchange window.

Bernard gives you: 130 gold coins, 17 silver coins

“Thanks.”

Now, it’s time to dash off home, first, because I have a bunch of money on me and second, because it’s already getting late. I have to take my shirt off and stick it in my inventory, running naked from the waist up. I heal my butt to get rid of the debuff. Probably not for long.

Exactly right. As soon as I get home, I see father already standing outside with his belt in his hands.

“Where’s your shirt?”

“In my bag.”

“Put it on. Don’t embarrass yourself.”

I don’t have much of a choice, and father pulls me into the house. When he hears about my deal with Bernard and about how I learned the spells, he starts by laughing long and nervously. Then, he beats me until morning. It’s a