Hunted Sorcery (Jon Oklar Book 2), B.T. Narro [digital book reader txt] 📗

mana, and that range has a set of notes to it. I’m guessing it starts with C?”

Leon looked surprised. “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”

“And fire and water have the same range, right?”

“They do, though I wouldn’t say they ‘have’ the same range. It’s more accurate to say that all the water and fire spells fall under the same range of mana, no matter how simple or complicated the spells are. You already said what that range of mana starts with, C. Can you guess where it ends?”

I knew a variety of spells, so I should be able to figure this out. Ice was one octave lower, starting with Lower C, but wind was higher, starting with Upper C. I doubted water and fire would overlap with the starting range of wind. So they probably ended right before wind started.

“It has to be one note before Upper C, which is…” I wanted to say Upper B, but I knew that was wrong. Upper B was too high to be below Upper C. Wait, was that right? I had the color chart on the other table, with my vibmtaer. I walked over for a glance.

“Need to cheat?” Leon teased.

“Yes.”

Looking at it again, I could see that I was right to second-guess myself.

“B is the note just below Upper C,” I said as I walked back to Leon. “That’s frustrating also. So the range of fire and water is C to B? It sounds like it’s going backward.” I put up my hand as he started to interrupt. “But I remember now it’s because octaves start with C, not A, and I’m just figuring out why that is. All spells of erto start with notes of C.”

“Not spells of erto, ranges of erto.”

“I understand. But I gave my answer already. Water and fire should be C to B.”

“Maybe they should be to you, but they are not.”

“What are they then?”

“C to uD. Now can you guess why?”

I was getting a headache. “I’d really rather not at this point.”

“Because some water spells have been discovered that require uD for them to be casted.”

I waited for him to continue, but that was it.

“That’s not a reason!” I said.

“I know it’s not, but it’s the best you’re going to get. You’ll just have to accept that some ranges overlap. Ice overlaps with water and fire. Water and fire overlap with wind. Wind overlaps with dvinia.”

“But that’s just wrong.”

“Saying it’s wrong isn’t going to help you accept it.”

“No, I really mean you are wrong, Leon. You’re wrong.”

“What!? How could you possibly dare to assert that? You know nothing about mana!”

I grabbed the color chart from the other table and held it up in front of him. “You can see here that nothing overlaps except for wind and dvinia, and ordia with fire and water.”

He started to reach for it, but I pulled it back.

“Don’t you dare destroy this,” I said.

“I won’t. Just set the damn thing down. I can’t read it with you flapping your arm around.”

I watched his eyes scan the large chart, but I wasn’t sure what he was looking for.

“Where did you get this?” he asked without taking his eyes away from it.

“From Greda.”

“Who’s that?”

“Pamela’s daughter. She works at the Enchanted Devices shop you sent me to when we first met.”

“Oh, right. Well, where did Pamela’s daughter get it? Who made it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Exactly! You don’t know, and you do know me…and I’m telling you something. But you’d rather believe this color chart made by who-knows-who? Why? Because it’s made up all fancy with some pretty colors? You can’t take lessons from this. Color charts and vibmtaers are designed to supplement training, not to teach you anything about mana.”

“Oh,” I said, deflated.

“Oh is right.”

“So this is wrong?” I gestured at the chart I had spent so much time staring at.

“No, it’s actually very well done. If I was to make my own color chart, it would look exactly like this. The ranges displayed here at the bottom don’t encompass every spell available for each specialization, but they do tell a sorcerer what specializations are within their range, and that’s more important for someone like yourself who is trying to learn what he might be capable of. But ignore the chart for now. Going back to before—thirds—do you understand that the third of water’s magic school is E?”

“Yes, I have accepted that. C is the first. I’m guessing D is the second. So E is third. And this is the case for all water spells?”

“Exactly, and the third is just as important as the first for all water spells. Together, the first and the third determine the nature of any spell. If you take the same spell of Water but you lower E to E min, you get Fire instead.”

Kataleya had explained that to me some time ago. But even she hadn’t known the answer to the question I’d asked after, which I would now pose to Leon.

“Why doesn’t dvinia have a third?”

Leon raised an eyebrow. “Did you figure that out somehow, or did Kataleya tell you?”

“She told me a while ago,” I lied. I had actually first read it from a scroll the princess had fetched for me in secret, but I didn’t like how that might sound to Leon’s ears.

“Technically, dvinia does have a third, like every school of magic.”

“Is a school of magic the same as a magical art?”

“School of magic, magical art, specialization—they’re all the same. They are a range of mana that has been named, and every note in the school has been numbered. You know them as ordia, ice, water, fire, wind, and dvinia.”

“What about mtalia, earth, and vtalia? What are they called?”

“Those are just notes of mana with special properties. Every note of mana does something when used individually, but those three seem to work the strongest alone without the combination of others. And when using them alone, they create their own spells. These spells need names: mtalia, earth, and vtalia.”

Charlie specialized in mtalia. As