The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage

[33] Bless the Forest Father

Tanisha originally thought she had decent flexibility. Her confidence in that quickly changed as the exercise continued. She never thought that stretching would tire her out. However these stretches required balance and proper placing of every limb. Not to mention her breathing, which Joha had to correct what felt like every other breath. Slow, deep and controlled breathing was an important focus of each position.

There was a fluidity to the motions that Tanisha could see her one day enjoying. That day was far off, as today she struggled to keep her breathing under control while also focusing on balance and placement. She felt like Joha had made her run several miles by the end of the hour and a half they trained. 

“That will be all for now,” Joha said as he corrected her posture on the last position. “We will start basic combat form this afternoon. For now…” He held out his hand. “Helina.”

Tanisha hadn’t even noticed the small goblin woman until Joha drew attention to her. She plopped down onto her butt as soon as Joha said she was done. She lost control of her breathing as she leaned backward on her arms, looking up at the sky for a moment before closing her eyes.

“Oh, my she looks tired,” Helina said as her soft footsteps drew closer. “You didn’t go easy on her at all.”

“All we did was light stretching. She is fine,” Joha responded. “Are you able to test her magic aptitude?” 

“Yes, but it won't be as accurate as what I am sure her academy did,” Helina stated, sitting down in front of Tanisha. “This is more like a goblin way to go about it.”

Tanisha sat up and saw that Helina held six orbs, each with a different color. She tried to copy Helina’s lotus sitting position as best she could, failed, and went for legs crossed instead. Tanisha was actually already familiar with this version of the test aptitude test. Each orb represented one of the six magical disciplines; nature, starlight, darkness, elemental, spellcraft and anti-magic. 

A mage would have a strong affinity towards one of the magical disciplines, causing that orb to float and glow. They would be able to master that discipline to its apex if given the proper training and time to explore it. A wizard, on the other hand, wouldn’t have any affinities and would find all disciplines equally as difficult to learn and impossible to master. 

“Everything alright?” Helina asked.

Tanisha was caught off guard by the question and realized she had been staring at the orbs in Helina’s hands for a full minute without speaking.

“Wh-huh? Yes, sorry I have seen this test before. I didn’t have an affinity,” Tanisha said. “After I failed the test Salstar’s patriarch put me through, he had me tested in every way imaginable.”

“Oh, I see. Well, this time we are just trying to see the best way to train you,” Helina stated.

Tanisha responded in an airy breath. “I know.”

Helina handed Tanisha the orbs, each one about the size of a grape and made from colored glass. There were fine ridges along the outside of each one, creating a magic diagram along the surfaces. Tanisha rolled the six orbs in her hand and waited for instruction.

“Okay, make your hand a cup with all six in the center.” Helena explained, and waited for Tanisha to comply. “Good, now focus mana into your hands. There is no need for incantations with this one.” 

“Like this?” Tanisha asked as her mana flowed.

The orbs rattled in her hands for a moment, then stopped with no further reaction. Tanisha sighed and lowered her head, reaching out to hand Helina back the orbs. She knew nothing would happen. Yes, casting wind hand and using her mana was easier but she wasn’t a mage after all. She swallowed her disappointment but it was expected.

Helina pushed her hands away. “More mana this time, try again.”

Tanisha’s shoulders drooped as she looked at the colored marbles, but she took another breath. She wanted to just drop them and walk away. She knew it wouldn't work; why try again when she was going to get the same result? She wasn’t a mage even if she wanted to be. That wasn’t how it works. You were born a mage or you weren’t. In the same way you could use magic or you couldn’t. 

Well, whatever, once more with more mana then we can put his whole thing behind us, Tanisha thought to herself.

She focused more mana from her core into her hands, this time saturating the orbs with it. The orbs rattled, faster this time, then one by one they stopped; white, purple, clear, black.  However blue and green kept moving; the ridges of blue started to glow, and it rose a few inches above the others. Tanisha froze, her eyes open wide in shock, amazement, fear, she didn’t know what she felt in that moment. She was a mage, she was a mage! She couldn’t believe it. 

“Blue-blue, blue! Helina, what does that mean?” Tanisha asked, bouncing up and down.

“Blue is… wait.” Helina stopped her explanation as she stared down at the orbs.

Tanisha looked down at the marble, and after a few seconds the ridges of the green one started to glow. It too rose in the air. The green and blue marbles spun around each other as if orbiting an invisible sun in the middle of her hand. Tanisha stopped the flow of her magic and they dropped. 

“What does that mean?” Tanisha asked.

Helina hastily took the orbs from her hand and in a moment the blue one rose in the air. Tanisha could tell that Helina was using far more mana than she had. The orb stopped floating, and she examined each one for something. After a few minutes of this she handed the orbs back to Tanisha and told her to try again.

Tanisha was confused but did exactly as she was told. This time she put even more of her mana into her hand, and the blue and green rose together almost immediately. Helina observed, but she seemed almost mad at the result. She snatched the  orbs out of the air then the remaining four from her hands.

“What the fuck?” Helina asked as she looked at the orbs. 

“Huh?” Tanisha questioned.

Joha bent down. “Is something wrong?”

“What does that mean?” Tanisha asked. “Am I a mage or what?”

“No one can have two affinities. Blue is nature magic and green is elemental. White, starlight; purple, spellcraft; clear, anti-magic; black, darkness.”

“Two rose, what does that mean?” Joha asked. “Two affinities?”

“That’s impossible,” Tanisha laughed. “No can have two affinities. That’s only talked about in myths and legends.”

“Why can’t someone have two?” Joha pressed.

Helina spoke while she again used the orbs herself. “A person’s magic core is uniform. It can grow in size, it can be manipulated, but you can’t change its nature any more than you can change the color of the sun. That is why it is difficult to impossible for someone with one affinity to learn magic in another discipline. The magics just aren’t compatible that way.”

“What would it take for someone to have two affinities, then?” Joha asked.

Helina stopped manipulating her mana and looked at the orbs in her hand.

“I am not a magic scholar or anything, but someone with more than one affinity would have a core that is so chaotic it would be a miracle to… use magic at all.” Helina looked Tanisha in the eyes. “May I see your magic core.”

“Uhhh yeah sure,” Tanisha stated. “I’ve always had a chaotic core.” 

The goblin woman stood up and placed a hand on Tanisha’s chest over her heart. Her other hand touched the center of Tanisha’s forehead. She closed her eyes, then after a second she gasped and stepped back.

“Wh-what? How can you use magic at all with that core?” Helina looked dumbfounded.

“I alway had a hard time with it. That’s why I was disowned,” Tanisha responded quickly. “It was only after I formed a contract with Bjorn could I use magic like I can now.”

“Let’s not say anything official yet,” Helina said as she pocketed the orbs. “I will ask some of the other wendigo to try the orbs. Maybe it is because of some difference in our species. These orbs were meant to test goblins after all.”

Helina quickly walked off towards the camp, leaving Joha and Tanisha in the field. Tanisha looked down at her hands. The test may have been off but she still raised the orbs, meaning she had an affinity. She was a mage, she couldn’t believe it. She was a mage, finally, after all this time and pain and rejection and ridicule, she was a mage.

“Bless the Forest Father!” she exclaimed as she jumped to her feet.

“Hmm. You still have so much energy?” Joha asked with a smirk.

The large, heavy bag she had to carry on her first day appeared in a puff of red mist.

“No.” Tanisha slumped. “I can’t just celebrate a little?”

Joha laughed, his deep voice sounded like rolling thunder “We will have delicious meat for lunch to celebrate, but you missed a day. This will make up for it.”