Neighborhood Mage

Straight ahead of me, the glowing outline of a door suddenly lit up, ready to open. ‘Learned scholars, thank you for attending today,’ Grand Mage Ronan’s familiar, charismatic voice began from the stage beyond the door. ‘I would like to welcome one of our rising researchers to the stage. He joined the Thularis Research Institute as a recruit – now, in his mid-twenties, he is on the verge of what I consider to be the most important breakthrough in the Aetherform Class that I have seen in, well… Ever. Please make your anticipation known for Flynn Crawford.’ The door opened, and I stepped onto the well-lit platform of the stage. It was a wide circle, sitting below the hundreds of rising seats that completely surrounded it. The muted applause that followed was typical of the old scholars, and quickly faded as I took my place in the center. I probably didn’t look like what they expected. Isolated research had pushed my mind and my magic to their limits, had changed my body to that of a man who had lifted weight and was unable to hide the muscle it had developed. In the center of the stage, I looked around at the scholars as they looked expectantly right back at me. ‘Good morning,’ I began, clearing my throat a little. ‘I’d like to thank Grand Mage Ronan for that introduction.’ I took a pause, looking around and gathering myself. In the build-up I was nervous. Now that I was here, I didn’t feel nervous in the slightest. Even if the million-dollar Luminary Emblem Award was lying on the metaphorical table in exchange for the most impressive display of magical progress that was presented today. And I was the last to step up. ‘It’s common for many fields of magical development to be underestimated in this day and age when it comes to what they are truly capable of,’ I spoke. ‘With the amount of research carried out across almost every class, with the structure of leveling through those ranks, sometimes it can be difficult to imagine a world outside of the rigid pathways that we follow. ‘Today I’m here to show you that the common approach to Aetherform, the very same approach that magical scholars have taken for over a century, has been completely – entirely – misled.’ A rush of muttering and whispering went through the crowd. ‘Yeah, that’s the response that I expected,’ I acknowledged, ‘You see, as scholars and researchers we often find ourselves working from foundations, those that are established by the mages that come before us. We should be grateful for what they’ve laid down, absolutely. ‘And while showing off is the last thing I want to appear to be doing, I do feel that if anybody has the right to make such bold statements, it’s somebody who has spent a long time delving into the difficult reaches of their magical class to the point of mastery.’ Without even using my wand, I crafted a series of steps from raw aether, each of which formed before me, the previous one disappearing as I left it, taking me higher via constructs that hadn’t existed moments prior. Higher and higher I moved as the scholars watched with intrigue – moderate intrigue. This was nothing they hadn’t seen before. But as I reached the highest step, my eyes in line with those in the back row, at least 10 yards off the surface of the stage below, I stepped off the edge and into nothing. Shouts went out all around me, many got to their feet – until I threw my hand out and crafted a huge trampoline in a single instant. Its surface caught me and I bounced, hurtling into the air amid laughs, sighs of relief and some tempered applause. As my bounces became lower and lower, I dispensed with the trampoline – this time a couple of yards off the ground, causing a few more shouts – before forming a large armchair beneath me which I landed in comfortably. Another round of applause raced through the crowd, much more enthusiastic than when I had first arrived. I really didn’t want to show off, but demonstrating my abilities was the only way to really get these guys to pay attention to what I was going to do next. ‘Foundations keep us steady,’ I continued, ‘But what if those foundations were unstable?’ I dispatched the chair, standing up as it vanished, just like I had rehearsed. ‘What if something was discovered that sent fractures all the way through the class, right down to the bottom, shaking everything that it was built upon? ‘I didn’t believe it myself when I first discovered it. It was only when pushing into the depths of the Aetherform class – recreating the conditions, attempting it over and over, that I realized this was no mistake. I would like to demonstrate this for you all today. Now, it would be easy for me to bring out a mage who had already been prepped for this demonstration, to be accused of pulling the wool over your eyes. ‘So I’ll put the power in your hands: I need a volunteer from among you all. This volunteer must tick two boxes: they must be in possession of a practical magical class, and they must be okay with admitting in front of everybody here what aspect of their class they find most difficult to control. So can I get a volunteer?’ I looked around at the scholars. Finally, an unimpressed looking high-elf man in a checkered suit got up from his seat. ‘Why not?’ He smiled, ‘I’ll put myself forward.’ ‘Thank you, sir.’ The high-elf descended the stairs and joined me below on the stage. ‘Now, for clarification, and because I’m feeling more and more like a mortal magician the longer I stand here, could you please confirm that you and I have never met before?’ ‘We certainly haven’t.’ ‘And your opinion of my claims is that…?’ ‘That they’re complete and total nonsense, candidate. The reason I came down here is to prove this theory of yours wrong, and if volunteering myself is what it takes to get to lunch on time, I’d be more than happy to take up the mantle.’ Scattered laughter from the crowd. I wasn’t insulted. This was exactly the kind of pushback I expected. ‘Very well, let’s see if you can make that lunch,’ I smiled. ‘Your class, sir?’ ‘Frost Elemental.’ ‘And the aspect that you have trouble with?’ ‘Blizzard Conjuring. I consider myself adept with both focused and AoE attacks, as well as all of the practical elements, but concentrating my mana to create such a spell has always evaded me, even if I have unlocked it. I’m not ashamed to admit