The Hedge Wizard

The training halls were impressive. Built underground, they were large enough to house six separate sparring circles, along with various targets, obstacles, and facilities to produce the various elements and magical materials. Essence stones filled the room with light, while others emitted power that created an atmosphere rich in magic, making casting easier. Inside the wall at the rear of the room, connected to the main staircase, was an empty viewing room shielded by glass windows that gleamed with an enchantment.

“What do you think?” Quinton asked.

“It’s everything you could ever ask for in training,” Hump said.

They stood together with all eleven of the other wizards, gathered by the entrance. Everyone had brought their weapons with them.

“You should see the one in Elenvine,” one of the guys said. “This is tiny compared to that.”

Hump inclined his head in acknowledgement. He could see why so few wizards outside of the Wizard’s Society ever manifested their soul when they lacked facilities such as these, not to mention well-educated teachers.

“Who wants to start then?” Quinton asked. “I suggest we save you for last, Wizard Humphrey, unless you’re in a hurry. Seems only right for the main event to go last.”

“Sure,” Hump said.

“I’ll go first then,” Brayden said, stepping up to a line that faced a number of targets on the far wall. He was a tall, broad man—no Bud, but certainly not the build Hump expected from most wizards.

His wand appeared to be made of silver and some sort of horn. He held it deftly in his fingers as he began to chant, calling upon the essence rich environment of the room. Power gathered to his wand, building in the point in an array of multicoloured light, each one a different essence affinity—fire, air, and light. Hump guessed it was a Tier 3 spell, which would mean Brayden was likely only a Rank 2 wizard.

“Prismatic Burst,” Brayden said, his voice resonating with power. He aimed at the target ahead of him.

A ray of heat erupted, piercing a hole straight through the chest of a wooden target. The target reformed quickly, but still, it was an impressive spell. Somehow, he’d combined the properties of three elements to produce a beam of high intensity heat.

“Was that impressive?” Celaine asked quietly.

“For a Rank 2 wizard.” Hump nodded. “I think so. I still can’t use three elements like that.”

The group continued to rotate, demonstrating their spells while chatting in the process. Each time someone finished, an enthusiastic round of applause followed. For the most part, Hump wasn’t impressed. He’d been crossing his fingers for some powerful spells, but as far as he could tell none of the wizards here had achieved Soul Manifestation yet. Still, lower tier spells had their use, and a few of them demonstrated abilities with some uniqueness to them.

One of the girls used a spell called Prism of the Arcane, which created a floating, spinning pyramid that she then directed a light spell through. It focused the light into a pinpoint beam. Another had incredible skill with illusion magic, creating a vivid illusion of the training hall, including all thirteen of them inside, even capturing their movements—a useful spell, but Hump wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to use it. Illusion magic just wasn’t his thing.

The entire time, Hump watched carefully, noting the runes and chants of each of the spells. His spellbook didn’t shake, but with any luck it would be able to record the spell formations at the very least

When it was Kabul’s turn, Hump was surprised to find that he had manifested his soul. He was the first of the ten that had gone so far, and Hump could sense it immediately in his essence. He held his wand in both hands, drawing a storm of essence to his wand.

“Zephyr Guardian.”

Wind erupted forward, blasting through the hall in an explosion of force, stinging against Hump’s skin like pin pricks. He shielded his face as the wind took form. First, it appeared as only a faintly white cloud, but it quickly took the shape of a giant wind elemental that towered to the roof. The elemental waved its arms, sending a swarm of wave-sharp blades of compressed air at the targets, carving through half a dozen of them with ease.

Now that was an impressive spell. He dismissed the guardian and walked back to the group, pushing his spectacles back up his nose, giving Hump a look that showed just how prideful he was in his own magic.

“He’s good, isn’t he?” Quinton said. “Many consider him a prodigy.”

Hump nodded. “He’s definitely good.”

But it was nothing that couldn’t be dealt with, Hump thought to himself. While it was likely Tier 3 magic similar to his Burning Wisps, the elemental itself only used some sort of Wind Blade. Power, especially considering it seemed to function beyond the attack so effectively, could fight as another party member while it was sustained by essence, but it didn’t strike Hump as particularly threatening.

Quinton went last, raising his wand overhead and pointing it upward. Essence poured from it in a rain of pure, blue light, spurting from his wand like a fountain in a perfect dome around him. Hump could sense the power contained in each drop in an instant. He was stronger than Kabul.

“Mosaic Aegis.”

The rain pierced the ground and began to stack, each piece layering with each other, building a dome of tiny streaks of essence all around him, until Quinton was fully enveloped. The moment it finished; the blue light turned almost translucent. Hump could hardly sense any essence from it now, but this was a barrier he wasn’t sure he could pierce. At least, not without time.

Now that’s a spell I could use, Hump thought. He studied it as best as he could. With any luck, his spellbook would be able to recreate it, but it seemed unlikely considering the strength. Perhaps he could recreate it himself. It seemed that Quinton was creating a layer of tiny, interlocking barrier spells, almost like plate armour but on a smaller scale.

“Somebody hit me with something,” Quinton said.

“Oh, here we go,” Gordon said. “Let’s leave the honour for one of our guests.”

Celaine spoke before Hump could react. “How hard should I hit him?”

“As hard as you want,” Quinton said.

“You’d probably regret that,” Hump said. “Celaine’s a Chosen of the fourth circle.”

“I could… probably take it.”

“How about we stick to nothing above circle three strength, just for my peace of mind,” Gordon said.

Celaine shrugged her bow from her shoulder and plucked and formed an arrow out of shadow. “I can do that.”

She drew the shadow arrow back, infusing it with Power Shot and Predator’s Intent. There was no doubt that she was holding back quite substantially, but that killing aura never sat right with Hump. The hairs stood up on his neck, goosebumps prickled his skin. The others watched with wide eyes, a few subconsciously reaching for their own weapons.

“Are you ready?” Celaine asked, shadow streaking from the arrow on her string as a piercing silver light shone through the darkness.

Quinton spread his feet apart, appearing braced. “Do it.”

The arrow shot forward, silver and shadow trailing it in a spiralling array of essence. It struck the barrier, a wave of essence shimmering through it. Then, against Hump’s expectations, the barrier curved inward, dipping like a finger in clay. At first, the movement was quick, and Hump thought the barrier might just break, but then it started slow. The layers of essence shimmered brighter, essence pulsing from the point of impact and spreading out across the rest of the Shield, spreading the force. Then, the shield sprung back, sending the arrow harmlessly off to the side and leaving not the slightest hint of any damage.

Quinton let his Mosaic Aegis fade, recalling the tiles to his wand and reabsorbing the essence even more quickly than it had formed.

A shame he didn’t require a formation to wield it, Hump thought. His spellbook likely wouldn’t have garnered anything from the display, but perhaps he could still improvise a similar strategy. Perhaps with larger pieces of essence, rather than the droplet sized pieces that Quinton had wielded. While powerful, it was too slow to use in an intense combat situation.

“What do you think?” Quinton asked.

“I’m not sure I could easily pierce it even if I hadn’t been holding back,” Celaine said. “It seemed to absorb all the power behind my attack."

“It was very impressive,” Hump said. “Perhaps the most powerful personal shield spell I’ve seen. How big can you make it?”

“Not much bigger than that before it becomes significantly weaker. My master is a specialist in defensive magic. This is a Tier 4 spell that he invented. I take it you’ve enjoyed the show?”

Hump nodded. “Very enlightening. I’ve not seen many of the spells displayed here. It’s interesting what they teach here.”

“No demonic tree destroying white flames though,” Kabul said. “We’ve done as you asked, now are you going to hold up your end of the deal?”

Quinton gave him an apologetic look.

“Not sure I have much choice being trapped down here in the basement of the Wizard’s Society,” Hump said with a grin.

He stepped forward, only for Celaine to tap his shoulder. He turned to see her pointing at the viewing area behind him. Somehow, word seemed to have spread by the time it was Hump’s turn. From the sparring grounds Hump could make out more than twenty faces gathered to watch the display.

“Apologies for that,” Quinton said. “Word travels fast when something interesting is happening here. That’s what happens when you have too many wizards in a single space—there are simply too many variants of the Whisper cantrip.”

“You left me for last intentionally,” Hump said.

Quinton chuckled awkwardly. “You make it sound malicious. I didn’t mean any offence by it. You’re just rather famous, people want to see the spell you’re known for in action.” His smile dropped. “Is it a problem?”

Hump considered how much about his skills he wanted to give away to so many people, but in the end, it really didn’t matter. It was no different to using his spell on the battlefield—if anything, it was even less risky. Here he could keep it to an appropriate size. White Flame was a spell he’d learned only by falling into the pits of despair. It wasn’t something that could simply be copied.

“No problem.” Hump gave an indifferent shrug.

As he stepped forward, he took a moment to centre himself. His control over his soul had improved drastically since his time in Drakalyn. He was stronger, more skilled, and better at sensing and manipulating his core. Yet he was about to cast a spell that would influence it. With so many spectators, it would be a terrible time to accidentally reveal the unusual spellbook at his hip. After a few seconds, he felt confident to continue.

He faced the wall of targets, took hold of his staff in both hands, and envisioned a ball of white fire blazing before him. Essence surged through him, gathering to his staff. With it, he threw in his intent. In a way, it was similar to manifesting his soul. He had to purposefully release the constraints on it and let all the power within expand, only for this spell, it was focused only into the fire.

His blood became hot with the strength running through him, his dragon blood adding to its power. His staff blazed white, then the first sparks of fire appeared before him, an orb bursting into existence.

White flame roared before Hump, a furnace of searing heat and piercing light that filled the entire room.