The New World
Copyright© 2024 by Dark Apostle
Chapter 37: Convergence
Fan Fiction Sex Story: Chapter 37: Convergence - The story follows James Smith, a man who dies and finds himself in a surreal afterlife courtroom, where his life is judged as "zero sum"—neither good nor evil, just utterly average. Dissatisfied with being consigned to eternal mediocrity, he manipulates the cosmic bureaucracy into granting him a second chance in a new world, where he is reincarnated as a child with his memories intact and perks... - edited by my lovely Steven.
Caution: This Fan Fiction Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa Ma/ft Mult Coercion NonConsensual Reluctant Slavery Lesbian BiSexual Heterosexual Fan Fiction Farming High Fantasy Rags To Riches Restart Alternate History DoOver Extra Sensory Perception Body Swap Furry Magic Incest Mother Sister Politics Royalty Violence
Sunday morning, James went to breakfast and was immediately joined at his table by the mothers, Christine, Jacky, and Jan. The three women had clearly been waiting for him, their plates already half-finished and their expressions sharp with purpose. They had arranged themselves on the bench across from him like a tribunal, and James barely had time to set down his porridge before Jacky leaned forward.
“Tell us more about the birth control spell,” Jacky demanded.
“Good morning to you,” James replied.
“James,” Christine warned.
James set down his spoon and looked at the three faces staring back at him. He could see this was not a conversation he could delay, so he gathered his thoughts and spoke plainly.
“Mathin told me about the spell. If I buy it from him and use it, it will render the woman sterile until it is reversed. No periods, no babies, nothing. But I do not know the price, and the spell mechanism is a little strange. I must cast it while having sex with the recipient. And it can only be reversed once activated while I have sex with you at a later date and specifically cast the reversal. If I die or don’t return, then the spell cannot be reversed,” James said.
“I don’t want more kids, and never having periods would be wonderful,” Jan stated.
“I am the same way,” Jacky added.
James looked at Christine. “Leave me out of this,” she exclaimed.
“Have you talked to the others?” James asked.
“No, they are too young for such a decision. None of them has had children yet and might want one in the future,” Christine said.
“Tonight I will talk to Mathin to get a price and exact instructions,” James stated. “Anything else I should be aware of?”
“No, the plans for the tourney are proceeding, and everything is under control,” Jan said.
“That is good news. No problems from the other merchants?”
Christine added, “No, I talked to the Captain, and he said he would drop a word with the merchants. It must have worked. I have not seen or heard anything.”
James nodded slowly, relieved. The threat from the rival merchants had been gnawing at him, and knowing that the Captain’s quiet intervention had been enough to silence them, lifting a weight he hadn’t fully acknowledged. He finished his porridge in silence, exchanged a few more words about the week’s supplies, and then excused himself to meet Kael.
As they walked to the field, the morning air was cool enough that James could see his breath in thin wisps. The training ground lay on the eastern edge of the city, a broad clearing ringed by old-growth trees whose canopy filtered the early light into shifting patches of gold and green. Kael walked with his usual unhurried stride, hands clasped behind his back, looking for all the world like a man on a pleasant stroll rather than a combat instructor about to begin a new phase of training.
Kael commented, “You have mastered the defensive spells much faster than I expected. I am not sure if this is because of your innate ability, the maturity you bring, or your will and motivation. Or maybe because I am a great teacher,” laughing, he continued, “But today we start on the first of the offensive spells.”
“Perfect. This is what I want,” James exclaimed excitedly.
“Control is imperative. While you can injure or even kill someone with a defensive spell, the offensive spells are designed to do damage. Like many of the defensive spells, an offensive spell is built of several small components. You must master each component before bringing them together into a single, cohesive strike.”
“Are the components dangerous?” James asked.
“Many are, but we are here. Let me show you the first spell, and then it will be your job to learn it.”
Kael pointed his hand at a fallen log and lifted it up ten feet in the air. The log rose without a sound, as if gravity had simply forgotten about it. He then rotated the log around its center, the massive trunk spinning with the effortless grace of a baton in a juggler’s hand, and then gently laid it on the ground. Not a blade of grass was disturbed where it settled.
“This will be your test subject for today. Can you lift that log with just your muscles?”
“No, that log is taller than I am. It’s old growth and weighs over a ton,” James commented.
“Before I show you the spells, let me describe each component. The first is drawing power, which you have mastered. The second is observation. This spell allows you to size up an object or opponent. The third spell is grabbing, which is self-explanatory. You can mentally capture the object with your mind and then be able to manipulate it. The fourth component is lift, which I just demonstrated. If you work hard, you will be lifting that log with your mind before dinner.”
“I can’t wait. This is what Ari used on me, the bastard.”
“Keep calm. Now here is the spell for observation.”
James quickly added it to his Spell Of Memory and then examined it in detail. The spell was elegant in its simplicity, a clean arrangement of glyphs that interlocked like the teeth of a well-made gear. He turned it over in his mind, admiring how compact it was compared to some of the defensive spells he had struggled with.
“This is simple. I was expecting a more complex spell.”
“That is why the major spells are split into building blocks. A simple spell is easy to implement and is quickly done. Now here is the activating glyph.”
After activating the spell, James realized he knew the exact dimension and weight of the log. The information flooded into his awareness as naturally as sight—the log was eleven feet three inches long, thirty-one inches at its widest diameter, and weighed just over twenty-two hundred pounds. He could sense the moisture content, the density of the heartwood versus the sapwood, even the places where insects had bored narrow tunnels through the bark.
“This is amazing. And it has a lot of use in commerce. Could I look at a wagon and know what was in it? Or know if a coin was gold or counterfeit?”
“Yes, but the spell is so intertwined with combat that only battlemages are taught it.”
“Bartholomew would kill for this. When he worked on the tavern, he was crawling all over measuring spaces for his devices. With this spell, he could have stood at the door and just written the measurements down,” James stated in amazement.
“NO! And let me make this clear to you. The spells I teach you are not to be casually shared. If Bartholomew wants to learn this spell, he must undertake the training to be a battlemage. Bartholomew will not freely share his spells. If you are lucky, he will sell them to you. Otherwise, you will be denied since you are not a member of the device mages guild. Do you understand?” Kael thundered.
The force of Kael’s voice hit James like a physical blow. The older man’s eyes had gone hard, and the easygoing manner he usually wore had vanished entirely, replaced by something cold and unyielding. James had seen that look in drill sergeants and combat veterans, men who understood that certain rules existed because people died when they were broken.
“Yes,” James responded.
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, I understand and will not share the spells,” James replied.
“James, this is serious. If you give away secrets, then you will be considered an outsider by other battlemages, and they will never form an alliance with you. If your transgressions become known, then you will be challenged on sight for the rest of your life.”
“I understand and will honor the guild restrictions,” James swore.
“Your life would be forfeit if you shared secrets. Now, for the next few minutes, practice Observation on objects around here,” Kael instructed.
James rushed around the field observing small items and then picking them up to see if they were measured accurately. Every rock, branch, or animal seemed to match the information provided by the spell. He observed a sparrow perched on a low branch and knew its weight down to the fraction of an ounce, could sense the hollow bones beneath the feathers, could feel the rapid flutter of its heartbeat. He turned the spell on a stone half-buried in the earth and instantly understood its composition, its age, the fracture lines that ran through its interior like a frozen river delta. Finally, Kael called out, “Are you done playing?”
“Sorry, I was like a kid in a candy store. So many distractions.”
“Quite understandable for a ten-year-old. I expect better control from you. Now here is the spell for grabbing.”
Once again, James stored and then learned the spell. Looking up, Kael gave him the activating glyph. He thrust his arm out and felt an invisible connection with the log. It was unlike anything he had experienced before—not a physical sensation exactly, but an awareness of contact, as though he had grown an invisible limb that now rested against the rough bark. He tried to move the log, but nothing happened other than the connection tightened, and with the observation spell active, he could detect where his grabbing spell touched the log.
For minutes, he strained, trying to move the log, adjusting his arm position, concentrating on the log, even walking toward the log. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the cool air, and he could feel the muscles in his outstretched arm trembling from the sustained effort. He stopped at Kael’s command.
“Stop. What are you doing?” Kael demanded.
“I grabbed the log and was trying to move it. I thought if I concentrated enough, then the log would move,” James admitted.
“Grabbing allows you to manipulate an object, but not move it. You can make indents, squeeze the sides, or alter the shape. A skilled and practiced mage could take the log and make it into a square beam. But moving it takes the last component—lift. Here is that spell.”
“Oops, I was too eager.”
Once again, James stored and then learned the spell. Looking up, Kael gave him the activating glyph. He thrust his arm out and, using his invisible connection with the log, caused it to rise off the ground. James was thrilled he could move the log, but every time he tried to levitate it more than a foot, one side fell back to the grass.
Turning to Kael, he asked, “What am I doing wrong?”
“Put the log down and listen. You need to perform multiple tasks at once. Are you replenishing your power reservoirs as we speak? — No, you are not! So start.” Chastised, James started to draw power from the closest ley line, a Green one. He felt the familiar warmth of magical energy flowing into his reserves, and he silently cursed himself for such a basic oversight. Kael had drilled the importance of constant replenishment into him during the very first week, and here he was, so excited by the new spells that he had forgotten the fundamentals.
Kael continued, “The spell has multiple parts for a reason. Observe lets you see the log as a whole. Grab allows you to seize the log at the best spot. Lift allows you to manipulate the log’s position.
In your attempt, you treated Grab as an extension of your hand, concentrating in one spot. You chose to grab the log toward one end, so when you lifted, the other end trailed behind, making the log unbalanced.
Here is what you should have done. Use Observe to look for weaknesses that might cause the log to break apart when it is lifted. Use Grab to repair the weak spots or decide to split the log into smaller chunks. Before you decided to use Lift, you needed to adjust the grab so that it encompassed the entire log or use Observe to find its true center.”
“I did not realize there was so much subtlety in the spell components. I thought they were simple building blocks,” James mused.
“Let’s try again,” Kael commanded.
This time, James took the lifting in stages, following Kael’s instructions. He checked for flaws in the log and saw where the weaknesses that caused the tree to fail. The observation spell revealed a section near the crown end where rot had softened the wood and moisture had crept deep into the grain, but he decided that the damage was only at one end, so it did not need to be repaired. He then determined the exact center of the massive log and established his grab spell connection there. The grab felt different this time—broader, more secure, like wrapping both arms around something rather than pinching it between two fingers. This time, when he lifted, the log went up smoothly and hovered at ten feet from the ground.
“Hey, it works,” James said proudly.
“Now spin it around the center,” Kael requested.
Laughing, James obeyed, and soon the log was whirling in a circle fifteen feet above the ground.
“Now move the log in a big square. Each side should be twenty feet,” Kael ordered.
James concentrated on the log and soon was drawing a large square with the bulk. Twenty feet straight up from the fifteen-foot starting point, then a sharp pivot at thirty-five feet to another twenty-foot side. Then he repeated the exercise for the other two sides.
“Now put the log down so I can give you more guidance,” Kael requested. “And check your power levels.”
As James lowered the log, he proudly commented, “They are all topped off.”
Kael motioned for James to sit on the log and began, “Just lifting is the first part. Here is what you can do with the lifted object—you can use it as a shield, clear a path, shore up your position, use it as a projectile, or, in the case of men, imprison them. All of the uses are straightforward except for the projectile. You must maintain your connection until the impact. Otherwise, another mage could seize control of the object and toss it back to you. That is why an alliance with other battlemages is so important. If you are concentrating on controlling the projectile, then you are open to attack.
You will have your personal shield up, but as you will see in future lessons, shields can be pierced. We will rerun the same exercises, only this time with your shield up. Once you have mastered this, you will split the log and juggle the pieces, all from ten feet away.”
For the rest of the morning, James used his new spells to perform what he felt was a circus act. Log tossing, log juggling, repeating with rocks, and interspersing rocks and logs. The physical toll was negligible—the spells did the heavy work—but the mental strain was immense. Maintaining his shield, his grab connections, his lift commands, and his constant draw from the ley line all at once felt like trying to hold four separate conversations simultaneously. By the time Kael called a halt, James’s head throbbed with a dull ache behind his eyes. He was profoundly grateful when Kael called a halt.
“A few more hints that I have learned over the years. Use Observe to check friends and enemies for weapons. You will be prepared for any eventuality. When you use Lift, use the object as an anchor and raise yourself instead. You can rise up to climb a building or a cliff or gain a better view of the battlefield. Experiment with each component and come up with new uses; they may save your life one day.”
“That is spectacular! I never considered this,” James said.
“This afternoon will be a major check of your abilities at this point. I want you to summon a wild animal with taming, lift it off the ground, and keep the animal calm. I will give you instructions and expect you to execute them immediately. If you can accomplish this, then tomorrow will be more offensive spells.”
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