The Currents of Magic

Chapter Twenty

It took Meyer several minutes of winding through dimly lit passages in the Alchemy Building basement before he found Trant's office. The room was murky with no windows, and there was a dank smell that hung in the air. Metal hoops of varying sizes were lying in disarray at the back of the room, while the front of the room was occupied by a large desk, opposite which was a single uncomfortable looking chair.

Trant looked up from behind his desk as Meyer entered. "What's that you're carrying," he barked.

Meyer looked down at his hands; all he was holding was his green spell book. "My spellbook?" he said, looking hesitantly at Trant. The Planar's face was bent into a sour expression, his dark eyes small and squinting. His tangled black hair and patchy gray stubble only increased his fearsome look.

"You won't be needing that rubbish here," said Trant, and the book went flying out of Meyer's hand and landed on the his desk. It lay motionless for a moment before disintegrating into a pile of ashes.

"Planar—" began Meyer.

"I know," said Trant, cutting him off. "I just destroyed your precious spell book. Save your breath and go sit down."

Meyer pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth and walked over to the only other seat in the room.

"First, I'm Erdon Trant—Planar or Sir to you. Second, our training will surround Free Magic. Are you wearing a Talisman?"

Meyer nodded.

"Hand it over."

Meyer slowly reached into his shirt. No doubt his Talisman faced the same fate as his green spell book. He withdrew the chained locket that contained his Talisman, and gave it to Trant, who opened his drawer and placed it inside.

"You won't be needing this either," said the Planar.

Meyer allowed himself an internal moment of relief. His Talisman appeared safe for the present.

"Now in general," began Trant, "I believe in applied learning, not theoretical prattle. But to begin our first lesson, I will do a bit of the latter... Tell me, what is the difference between Free and Incantational Magic?"

Meyer hesitated before delivering his calculated response. "Most of the difference is explained in the names, sir. With Incantational Magic, you use an incantation, and with Free Magic you simply cast the spell."

"Terrible," said Trant. "Horrible answer."

Meyer stiffened in his chair.

"Have you learned about unbounded and bounded spells?" said Trant.

"Yes," said Meyer latching onto the familiar topic, which Adryn introduced in her lesson only a few days ago. "With bounded spells, the outcome moves along a single continuum, from failure to perfect success. For example, if cast perfectly, the Algarios charm will create a small blue flame in the palm of your hand. If cast unsuccessfully, nothing will happen. In between failure and success you might see a flame flicker and die out, or burn unevenly, but you will never cause the ground to spontaneously catch fire.

"With unbounded spells, the outcome is plotted in a two dimensional plane: along one axis, the success of the spell, along the other, the intentional variation. For example, the Algari charm, the unbounded inverse of Algarios, allows the spellcaster to determine variable outcomes such as the size of the flame, and the temperature at which it burns. A large, cool burning flame cast with the Algari charm is no more successful than a small, hot burning flame created by the same means, and so both spells will have the same alignment on the success axis. Of course, the spells produce different results, and hence will be located at different points along the intentional variation axis.