Chronicles of a Mage, Book One

Chapter 17: A Lesson

 The next morning was quite the same. I woke up, left the cathedral with Liselle behind me and found an entry to the sewers all before she could say;

"Lookout!" We had been strolling along in the sewers when a kobold ran straight up to me and cut me in the calf, slicing through my robe and trousers. Feeling the unexpected pain of being knifed, I fell  onto the stoney ground with a distinct "thump" telling me Liselle had wiped the floor with my attacker. I then rolled over to see a second kobold who was busy taunting us in gibberish. I tried to stand up, only to feel the pain in my calf and fall to knees.
" Muro adhaerere mel" I chanted. A glob of glue shot from my hand and landed right where I wanted it to, on the kobold's feet. Anything larger than a human would've been able to break free with a bit of effort but a kobold would have no hope. The poor creature, now realising it's fate tried futilely to break free from the substance but not before I killed it with fire.
"Are you okay?" Liselle said
"They got me in the leg but I can manage." I pointed to the bloodstained part of my robe
" That simply won't do. Here, hold still. This may sting"
"What's going to sting?"
"Oh benevolent Yishna, I beseech thee. Grant me thy power and heal this person." Liselle said, holding her staff and pointing it at me. A ray came from the staff's crystal and onto me, different from the usual light it emitted. For a moment I felt warm and peaceful, like I was taking a nap in a field with only the sun to keep me company. The moment was ruined by the sudden sensation of my wound rapidly rejuvenating, leaving a scar in it's wake. She wasn't kidding, compacting weeks of the body's natural healing process in a couple of seconds is indeed very painful, but a little pain is preferable to bleeding out.
"Is this divine magic?"
"Well I guess? Magic is magic right? This is my faith in the goddess being rewarded. By the way, I can only do this a few times a day so be careful."
"Wait did the church not teach you about the four sources of magic?" I walked along the footpath and Liselle followed me
"The four sources of magic?" She asked
"It seems I have no choice but to teach you about the fundamentals of magic. Humans, elves and most other sapient creatures on earth cannot create magical energy on their own" sometimes referred to as mana "thus, mortals developed 4 ways in which we can draw magical energy from other places, known as the 4 sources of magic; Arcane, divine, sanguine and occult."
"Oh I think I remember hearing something about this.  Mages use arcane magic right?" Liselle interrupted
"Correct. Arcane magic is where mana is drawn directly from a different plane, usually through a combination of meditation, study, training and skill. Divine magic is when a deity decides to grant a little bit of their power to a mortal, usually if said mortal is very faithful." It is a known fact in this world that gods DO exist and most of them like to intervene in mortal affairs by granting them snippets of power "Then we have the last two, sanguine and occult, which aren't nearly as important or common as the other two but they go a little like this; Sanguine magic is possible when a normal mortal has the blood of a magical creature inside of them and occult magic happens when a mortal makes a pact with a magical creature. I am of course over simplifying but that's the gist."
Liselle yawned, as if she hadn't listened to a word I'd said "Well, thanks for the lesson, Professor Sorace."
"Professor?" I said
"Hee hee. Yeah, because you're all smart. You should be a teacher one day."

"Is that what you're going to call me from now on?"

"You know it." Liselle smiled
"Well it doesn't matter what you call me. Now hush, I see movement over there."
We continued our hunt for things to kill until we got tired and went back to the cathedral