Irrational Summoning

Picking up the first magic book of the two, I yawned. Today has been one hell of a day to live through. Although I felt a little tired, I was determined to finish these last two books before I headed out.

I turned around in my chair to look out the window. The suns were setting, and the sky was almost dark. The rain that had bombarded me in the afternoon was gone, and the clouds had disappeared. It was truly a beautiful scene to watch. The kind of view that doesn't exist on Earth. 

After a moment of gazing, I removed myself from the distractions and opened the book How to Craft Magic Circles and the Language of Magic.

I had to be treated like a little child because I truly knew nothing about magic. Starting from the very beginning the first topic to learn is magic circles. Magic circles were created by using complex makeups of unique symbols and words. These symbols and words almost seemed to me to look like math equations. 

$09()*&T.?+=fgre###1/_(WATEr)__234(BLast). (I have put the final write-out of the water blast "equation" as an example. I translated some of the symbols into actual human symbols rather than giving nonexistent symbols. Also, the words of the spell being crafted are always found in the final result of said "equations".)

I couldn't believe it. In a state of shock, I put the book down. Magic circles were made using math-like formulas and equations. I had to learn hundreds of symbols to become good at using magic! Now it made sense why a lot of commoners couldn't use magic. It had nothing to do with any genetic reason or anything like that you would typically think of with magic. It had to do with education and intelligence.

A little daunted by how much I would need to learn to use magic I picked the book back up and read further. A fact about magic that made sense to me but wouldn't necessarily be obvious unless you heard it was the fact that the more powerful the magic circle the harder it would be to cast said spell. Some gnarly-looking spells such as the spell to tamper with the state of objects around you took pages of supposed calculations in the magic language. 

I call the symbols and formulas used to come up with magic the magic language because that is what the title of the book called it even if I believe it looks to be like an entirely new science similar to mathematics. But, back to the spell at hand which had caught my eye, the spell to change the state of objects around you. The size of the object did matter as the bigger the item the longer the written transcription to make the magic circle is, and the number of calculations one has to perform increases. An example of this spell in action is given in the book where wood is transformed into a liquid state and then transferred to a new location where it can be resolidified. What a fascinating way to transport lumber! People who practiced magic had an endless number of jobs. Magic truly changes the world. 

I flipped through the entire book and took the time to read about every spell and how to craft it. To put it lightly, the fundamental symbols and formulas that existed as a basis for the so-called magic language all meant very complex things and hundreds of them existed. Learning all of them was a nightmare but because I felt I was able to master the basics of how to operate the magic language; I was satisfied with the first book. 

My body reacted instinctively; it became like a routine after I finished each book to stand up. I pranced around just thinking of all the uses magic would bring me in the future if I could actually pull off casting a spell. Suddenly, my stomach dropped at a sudden, horrid thought that made itself known in the back of my mind. What if I couldn't cast a spell? 

What I know thus far about this world, tells me all beings have the potential to use magic if they have the skills and smarts to do it no matter even if they aren't human. But what if the fact I come from another world means there is some unforeseen rule that no matter if I know how; I can't produce magic? That was a scary thought that plagued my mind for all but two minutes. Rational thought could always be counted on as a reliable way to save yourself from the clutches of fear and panic. 

Remembering back about fundamental facts of magic the caster has zero to do with the magic and rather the magic has everything to do with the universe. In this dimension, the magic language is a fundamental core piece of reality just like gravity or time. The symbols are almost a sort of code that draws power from the universe itself to perform the command. My existence doesn't change the fundamental law from existing otherwise all magic would have ceased as soon as I arrived. Based on these truths, magic should work for me just like it could work for anyone else.

As my mind and body calmed down after such an anxious couple of moments, I was getting pretty excited to sit down and read through my second magic book. I sat back down stretched out my legs fully in the chair and made myself as comfortable as possible picking up the book titled Advanced Casting Techniques for Those Who Want to be Great Magic Casters. 

If I followed this book's instructions the hope, is I will be able to learn the techniques to speedily cast spells like the best magicians. I read the introduction to the book and apparently, only the top magic casters could ever fully understand and utilize the skills of this book. The book explained many could read it, but they would never improve their casting speed because they simply didn't have the brain power to do so. How harsh! I didn't think that was a very encouraging way to start a book but laying out the hard facts in the introduction told me that this book meant business and was not trying to play around.

Getting down to brass tacks, I learned something very interesting from chapter 1 of the book. Some magic casters who had enough training and skill could cast magic circles without even writing them out beforehand. They could simply see the formulas and symbols in their mind and write out the magic circle in their head. It would appear all the same as long as they did it correctly. Most people, however, when casting magic would use writing tools that would help them write out the transcription and circles. I believed these special tools to be unnecessary. I would simply write out the magic circle with any simple writing tool. I didn't need a special tool that offers guidance. However, Magic tools that help its owner make the magic circle does prove the difficulty of this magic system. Only the elite of society with the top education or geniuses could ever hope to reach the highest heights of magic craft and knowledge. 

Meditating over the book's advice was quite a fun experience for me. Tomorrow was a day that would go down in my life as one of the best as I was going to try to do something I never dreamed was a possibility that existed. I was going to try crafting magic circles and casting spells.

I decided to ease my way into this whole new field of magic and that is why I made the decision to start off slow and easy and not get fancy with it. On the first day of me using magic I would not try casting with my mind only or rapid-fire casting. Not because I was afraid to try and didn't think I could do it but because I wanted to live a slow life as long as possible before absolute chaos ensued like I knew it would inevitably do. When my peaceful life was uprooted, I would be ready for it and I did want the chaos to eventually come because it would be necessary, but I was going to enjoy every slow moment till then.

Warm downpouring rain, casual chats with local people, good food enjoyed with others, and many other memories and experiences were greatly rejoiced in as they came from a time of living that was different from the coming age. The key to this coming age was unknown but predictable. A possibility that I thought was not impossible but was extraordinarily unlikely was my summoner making an appearance and revealing why I was summoned here. A far more likely catalyst than that to change my life which I predicted was going to happen was a person coming from out of town with information that would compel me to leave and investigate further into the information they brought. 

I finished the second magic book and my daydreaming feeling very confident in what I had learned, my abilities to utilize what I had learned, and my planning of the future. I got up, headed to the front desk, exchanged pleasantries with Lily, and walked out into the clear night.