The Wizard of Elsewhere

1.9 - Thy Circles and Tricks

I come from beyond the moon and sun

but not so far as to be undone

by the price of time and space between

these mortal realms and lands unseen

— Unknown

* * *

The things Wizards do for just a little bit of Mana. It was a subject that was covered almost to death. Literally.

Lessons and lectures almost unending on how to collect Mana. How to generate Mana. Obviously how to coax and glue and fit and spin and stir them into spells and into potions and into amulets and other devices.

How to glue Mana all together with globs of Anima and slice away the unwanted bits and fill them in with desired ones.

How to extract Time Enough for That from the barest glimmering of starlight, and draw Recollection of the Heart from a tearstained journal.

That last was not simple. You couldn't just burn pages and snatch whatever came out. You'd get something useless like Lamentation of very dubious quality and if you were really really lucky, and torched exactly the right journal while in precisely the correct state of mind, you might find the barest tinge of Ashes of The Bridges We Burn in quantities barely even worth the flame spell.

And don't even get started on Time Enough for That. If it was easy, every wizard would do it!

Thankfully, the Mana Barnibus was delving for now was far less complicated.

He just needed a few Nimble Footsteps and — Barnibus spun in a wobbly pirouette, sketched a skip-and-a step — and fell flat on his face.

Barnibus palmed the dash of Meager Footwork and sighed.

He stood tall and straight and studiously kept the chagrin from his face as he muttered the very specific servant animation spell Hat was dictating to him in his ear.

He substituted Meager Footwork for Nimble Footsteps where he had to and tried his best to fill out the missing umph — technical term — with the last of the fish Anima, and the barest dabs of his own.

Of course, different Animas didn't just mix nicely together by themselves, so he added in a little ditty in the middle of his own initiative with plenty of rhyming lines and shared consonants for some added connectivity and prayed the glue would hold everything together long enough.

For a wonder, Hat stayed silent with barely even a sigh as he worked, letting him enunciate and try to will-press and bind the odd mishmash of Animas and barely sufficient Mana together into something resembling a coherent spell form.

Thankfully, Hat had been right. His wizard's robe possessed plenty of Mana all by itself and was doing a large amount of the heavy lifting for him!

'It'll do.' Was all Hat commented afterwards and Barnibus was left with the sudden distinct impression that — was this... was Hat actually trying to work with him? Like a real Wizard's Hat?

The surge of elation was heady and set his mustache on end as he failed to stop a wide grin from spreading across his face and he almost fumbled the catalytic phrase — 'Rise Errant Minion of mine. Now is your surest time to shine. Tea I desire to heat by the fire....'