Chapter 3

After dinner, I finally got time to look at the new book my mysterious benefactor had given me. It was a far cry from the old magic textbook I had been reading, and I could see right off that it was going to be very useful!

‘So, you want to be a magic user? Maybe you cast a spell accidentally, or maybe you noticed the Ley lines that shine like rivers of fire?

Let’s get a couple of things out of the way first.

You are not the oldest child in your family. Magic users never are. You might be the youngest, but the normal magic user is a middle child.

You have no one in your immediate family with magic. Magic is not hereditary, and no one has been able to determine who does and doesn’t have the ability until it manifests.

You are not a virgin. Virgins can’t interact with the magic.

You are a bit of a loner. You have no close friends and very few acquaintances.

You are an avid reader. No idea why that is, but every magic user is.

You have a high sex drive. Sex and magic are like peanut butter and jelly, they complement each other.

You are not the smartest or the dumbest, the biggest or the smallest, the fastest or the slowest in your age group. You tend to be in the top ten percentile, but you don’t excel at anything in particular. Until now.

The book went on like that for a bit, and then segued into the first real chapter, ‘Shields For Every Occasion’.

The creation and uses of the various shield types in this chapter are for your safety! Not only can they keep you safe from harm and from prying eyes, they can protect others from you! Magic can be dangerous to innocent bystanders, so learn to love shields!

The very first shield in the book was one that would prevent spells cast from being detected by other magic users. The text talked about how each spell caused a ripple in the ley lines, and the more powerful the spell, the larger and farther reaching the ripple. They could be used to track back to a magic user. Most spells, except for some major enchantments requiring multiple magic users, could be masked so that the ripples were damped out at the source.

So that is what he was talking about! I made sure to memorize this spell, practicing a dozen different spells with this as the precursor, trying to get it to be second nature. I didn’t want to either bother or come to the attention of magic users who might not be as understanding as the cranky one.

There were shields for every occasion! Shields against sight, against sound, against smell. There were shields against projectiles and shields against power. The problem was, as far as I could see, was that each type of shield was vulnerable to other types of attack or damage. A projectile shield didn’t do shit against a fire spell!

The only all-purpose shield the book held was similar to the one I learned from the old textbook. It was power intensive, and the more power you poured into it, the more visible it became. It was theoretically possible to make it absolutely invulnerable to everything, including time, if you could pump enough power.

The weakness? It was airtight too! The bigger the shield, the more power it took but the more air was trapped inside. It was a calculation that had to be made on the fly and one that could have the direst consequences!

Because it was sometimes difficult to predict what shield would be the most useful for an emergency, the book stressed practicing often to speed up switching between shields! It pointed out that a shield against magic wouldn’t be all that helpful if a flaming barrel is what was headed your way!

The next section was ‘Everyday living as a Mage.‘

No one likes housework, and no one really wants to cut the grass, and why would they? Life is hard enough without making it harder on yourself than you have to. In this chapter, we discuss 101 ways to make life easier. BONUS SECTION: Don’t work your fingers to the bone for a salary, we’ll show you a better way!

I was stoked! I had already learned a bunch of the spells, but there were more that looked extremely useful. The one titled ‘Loaves and Fishes’ was especially cool. A simple spell would duplicate an item. Whatever was duplicated had to be all of a kind. For example, an apple was easily duplicated but a loaf of bread, with multiple ingredients mixed together and transformed by heat, was a whole other kettle of fish. So, duplicating a chicken before it was cooked was easy, duplicating a cooked and garnished Thanksgiving turkey was not.

You could do the loaf and the turkey, but you had to be able to hold each of the ingredients, in their proper amounts, and each action required for the finished product, all in your mind at the same time as you cast the spell.

Wow, I can’t even imagine duplicating a transistor radio much less a TV!

The catch? There was always a catch, right? The first half of the catch was that you needed to supply the mass needed to duplicate a thing. An apple, duplicated, would be halved and you would end up with two smaller, apples. On the other hand, you could use a rotten apple, or a rock, or a lump of mud for that matter, and end up with two identical apples as long as the mass was right.

Close enough was close enough for most things like fruit, but you needed to pay attention to the mass when the details were more critical. The second half of the catch in this spell was that it only worked on organic material. No cloning gold coins out of lead or diamonds from pebbles; that was alchemy, a whole other type of magic.

Yes, Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter turned prophet, was a Mage, or so the author asserted. It sure explained the loaves and fishes!

With that thought, I flipped to the section on making money and was disgusted. There was a spell that was originally designed for a forgetful person. You could link something to yourself and no matter where you were and where the object was, you could call it back to you.

The section laid out how to link money to yourself, then call the money back later. It was cheating the business or person out of the money you paid. Not something I thought was right at all!

The section did prove valuable to me though. It made me look closely at every spell I read in the book, looking for other unethical hooks and traps. This author was not the nicest guy in the world.

Probably the most helpful spell in the entire volume was the memory spell. Cast once, it would give me perfect recall. It was an intricate spell, involving several steps over several days, but it would allow me to remember anything I wanted in perfect detail, and to discard those memories that I didn’t need.

There was a warning in the notes at the bottom, that use of the spell without cleaning out old, useless memories, had been shown to cause dementia like symptoms if cast by magic users older than five centuries. If you were younger than that, evidently, you were good to go.

Holy shitballs!

Five centuries. Five hundred years! I could be almost immortal!

The first five chapters all contained spells I could learn and use now, but the sixth was gibberish, similar to what I found in the magic textbook. “Needing visceral glue hampered by persimmon gemstones verily flight abscesses... “

Sheesh!

I would obviously need more knowledge and more experience before they became available.

The next two weeks were a blur for me. School and ‘Magic for Dummies’. With a little loving in the mix when the circumstances allowed and through it all, I was never happier.

It was almost a month after registration day when I felt something odd. It was like someone was clearing their throat and trying to get my attention, but the sensation wasn’t sound, it was more like an itch. All morning long it bothered me to the point I was having a hard time concentrating in school. At lunch, instead of sitting with Maggie, Carrie, Lynn, Alicia, and Bernie, my usual table companions, I begged off and went out onto the school grounds.

Underneath the largest tree in the yard, I sat in the shade and I opened my senses, thinning the shields I kept around me almost unconsciously now.

‘Damn, it’s about time. I have been calling you all morning! I see you got the shield lessons down pat.’

‘Hey! Sorry, I just felt this ... itch, is the only way I can describe it. I had no idea it was you. What do I call you, anyway?’

‘Pat is fine. Listen, I have, well, an unusual request.’ he said, sounding uneasy.

‘Um... ‘ what was I supposed to say to that? He did do me a solid by sending the book. ‘What can I do to help?’

‘There is someone pushing me, someone impinging on my territory. I haven’t been able to identify who it is, but it feels like Atlanta. That cunt has been trying to snap up every bit of power around her for years. She doesn’t even do anything with it. I think she is just ... addicted. I contacted the council and they are sending someone, but your area is a problem for me.’

‘Okay, but I still don’t understand how I can help.’ I told him, not sure where this was going but sure I didn’t want to get between two Mages vastly more powerful than I was!

‘Here’s the thing. Aiken and Edgefield Counties in South Carolina are mine in addition to Richmond and Columbia Counties in Georgia. That is mostly the area around Augusta, so the city is completely mine, got it? I have never bothered to extend to anything other than the city itself. Now, you probably don’t know, but we are not allowed to touch military installations or federal property at all. Doing so would bring the whole council down on my head like a ton of bricks. On the other hand, we are supposed to be protecting the bases from magic attacks, and since I haven’t extended my range like I probably should have, I could be in a real pickle when the council investigator gets here.’ Pat sounded annoyed and alarmed, both at the same time.

‘Again, I don’t know what to say. How is it you expect a kid just starting out to help?’ I asked, getting frustrated. At this rate, I wouldn’t have any time for lunch.

He explained that he had been hurried when he went to Augusta and had set his boundaries along the 520 loop and Interstate 20 which gave him control of the city, but not the rest of the county. What he wanted was for me to claim the rest of the county in his name. In return, he would cede that territory to me for as long as I wanted to apprentice under him or until I was twenty-one, whichever came first. At twenty-one, evidently, I was on my own by council edict. I could claim a territory on my own at sixteen, but I could also apprentice, though it was rarely done until twenty-one.

‘So, this apprenticeship. How does it work?’ I asked, interested.

‘As far as the council is concerned, it will be my duty to make sure you are aware of the covenant, but it is informally expected that I would mentor you as you grew stronger. Very few magic users will take the risk, since the student could end up more powerful than the mentor. But I could lose Augusta completely, and I have something going there that is critical to my plans. So, this is what I am offering. You get control of Richmond county outside of Augusta itself, I will give you unrestricted access to my library for one year and will answer a question from you, to the best of my ability, once a month during that time. No restrictions other than those imposed by your skill level.’ Pat said earnestly.

I couldn’t see a downside here, though I was sure there was a catch somewhere.

‘Look, Pat, I am inclined to agree, but I am so ignorant that I don’t even know what questions to ask in order to find the hook. You can see why I am leery?’ I told him honestly, putting the ball back in his court.

‘Check your book; look in the back for Addendum marked with a capital L. There is a spell there that will allow you to force someone to tell the truth. Test it out on a friend. You probably already have a couple of batteries, I know I did at your age.’

‘Batteries?’ I asked, confused.

‘Jesus Christ on a stick. I keep forgetting how new you are. Look, when I was your age, I had four different girls swapping nights in my bed. When you fuck a girl you care for, or even the same girl more than a couple of times, you start leaking power. Sex itself is powerful, and that leak starts to bind the women to you. Hell, sleep with them a dozen times, sometimes less, and they are totally loyal. Cool, eh?

‘Anyway, they absorb your power and keep absorbing the power until they can’t hold anymore. It doesn’t hurt them, and it gives you a power source when you need it. You just have to reach out like you would any other power source. Think of them as batteries. So, try your spell on them. Order them to lie to you, no matter what, then see if you can force them to tell the truth with the spell. Tomorrow I will contact you again and drop my shield long enough for you to use it on me.’

‘Okay. Contact me tomorrow.’ I said, agreeing to test the spell.

That night I did just as suggested. In the back of the Dummies book, I found a hand-written spell that I know hadn’t been there before. That made me realize that this was his book, loaned out to me, and not mine. It was connected to him and he could probably recall it at any time!

Before I tried the spell, I did a little research and found the perfect answer in the ‘Everyday Living’ section. Transcription!

I used a blank notebook I had gotten for schoolwork but would want to get something better later. I used the spell and copied as much of the book as I could read to my notebook, so even if he pulled the book back, I would have that much. I would have to remember to keep doing this as I learned more! I made sure to connect this version to me. Two could play at that game.

I studied the truth spell again, but I realized I had another problem. Maggie didn’t know about my magic. How would I explain what I was trying to do? Would explaining the whole thing freak her out? Could I play it off as a party trick? This shit was getting more complicated by the day!

The problem of asking Maggie to come into my room was solved when she came looking for me.

“Dad’s taking mom to his business dinner so they said we could order pizza.” she told me, coming in and sitting down on my lap. “You should invite Lynn, Alicia and Bernie over. You know you have to do something with those three, they have a serious case of the hots for you.”

“I know. They are in all of my classes, and they all sit near me. Alicia is the leader, and I think she has invited me to her house a dozen times already. I was hoping this infatuation, or whatever it is, would go away.” I told her, shaking my head.

“Come on, Hank. Tell me you wouldn’t want to fuck any of them ... Hell, you could probably do all of them. There are three more girls, two juniors and a senior, who have come and asked me about you.” Maggie told me with a big grin. She was getting a vicarious thrill about this whole thing.

“And you are not in the least bit jealous?” I asked, a little put off.

“Hank, you know I love you. Hell, Carrie would have your baby tomorrow if you let her, and we will always be yours; we already talked about it. Still, we are going to college, both of us, and we will be gone weeks, sometimes months at a time. You need girls here to look out for you.”

“Wait, always mine? Don’t you want a husband and family?” This was unexpected.

“No, not really. Hell, I was happy hanging around with Carrie. She’s awesome and didn’t date either, at least until that day at the swimming hole. Did you know that Carrie and Lynn...”

“Stop! I don’t want to know, not like this. If they want to tell me things, they can, but no gossip.”

“Oh ... um ... okay, Hank. Look, I didn’t mean to upset you, honest!” Maggie looked worried, probably thinking I was mad at her.

“It’s okay, Sis, but I chewed Lynn out for talking about what she heard. I would rather not hear any gossip. If Lynn and Carrie, or Lynn and whoever, want to tell me about themselves, they will.”

Maggie nodded and tucked her head down on my shoulder, kissing my neck.

“While you are here, I want to try something. I want you to close your eyes and relax, then I want you to tell me something. It should be a mixture of lies and truth, and I want to see if I can tell which is which.”

Maggie lifted her head to stare at me for a second, then shrugged. She laid her head back on my shoulders and closed her eyes.

I recited the spell silently, focusing on what I wanted to happen.

“I don’t want to fuck any guys at school, I just ... Hey, wait a minute! That, but ... I said I don’t want to fuck any guys. Hank?” Maggie lifted her head and stared at me, confused. I canceled the spell and looked back at her like I had no idea what she was upset about.

“Hank, I was trying to say...” she paused, looking determined, “that I wanted to fuck all the guys at school.” She stopped in confusion. “Wait. I was trying to say that, but it kept coming out of my mouth backwards! I tried to say I wanted to fuck them but when I opened my mouth, the truth came out!”

“I guess you subconsciously didn’t want to lie to your darling little brother.” I said in a teasing singsong voice, and then started tickling her. Before I knew it, we were wrestling on the floor, laughing and giggling, and then she had my pants around my knees with a death grip on my cock. My ploy had worked perfectly, and when Maggie swallowed me to the root, sucking like she was obsessed, I relaxed and just enjoyed the feeling.

When she was done, she sat up, licking her lips and smiling. “I win!” she proclaimed and danced around the room, pumping her fist in the air.

“What did you win?” I asked, laughing at her antics.

“The best prize of all.” Maggie said with a smirk, dancing out of the room. “I’m calling Carrie!” she called down the hall.

“Just ask her and Lynn, no one else for now, okay?” I called after her, but there was no response.

I sat quietly for a moment, clearing my mind. I thinned my shield in one section, visualizing it as a second skin riding very close to my own skin, but thinning, weakening a section near my lips. The visualization seemed to help, so I pictured how it had felt when I talked to Pat earlier. I had a question for him.

‘Pat, you busy?’

There was no reply, and I didn’t feel the connection we had earlier today. I tried again, this time visualizing the connection, the feel, as a streamer of bright green, reaching out, finding the path it had used before.

‘Pat, you busy?’

‘Hey kid, you try the spell?’ he asked, sounding distracted.

‘Yeah, but something came up I need to know. This battery effect, it’s permanent? I mean, are they like, enslaved or something?’ I asked, my conversation with Maggie still bugging me.

‘Not enslaved, though that is easy enough to do. It’s totally frowned on these days though, the slavery thing, so, you know, don’t unless there is no choice. Anyway, If you actually have feelings for them, the connection will stay for as long as you want it to ... you can actually break it if you want to get rid of one. I did that for my sister. She wanted a kid and I wasn’t going to do that to her.’

‘Thanks, Pat, that makes me feel better. I will do as you wanted, by the way. I don’t need the truth spell.’ I told him, realizing I needed him as much as he needed me.

‘Kid, lesson one. Never give away an advantage. I learned the hard way, and if you are going to be an apprentice, then listen when I tell you something. Use the damn spell.’ He told me, his mental voice acerbic.

I chanted the spell, pushing it down the ribbon I had created.

‘Not bad! You are pretty strong for a beginner. I think I will have to keep an eye on you.’ Pat said sincerely.

‘Pat, what’s the hook in your deal. You seem to be offering a lot and getting a simple task in return.’ I asked, getting to the heart of the matter.

‘You will owe me. You are going to be a strong Mage. I can feel it. You are stronger than I was at your age, a lot stronger. Someday, I will need a favor, and you will find you have no choice, really. A mentor can call on his apprentice for assistance in time of need, but that marker is gone once it is used.’ Pat told me.

‘Why didn’t you just tell me that? Why the spell?’ I asked, trying to make it all fit.

‘Would you have believed that was it, or would you have wondered, looking for another hook? This way, you are sure. You know that someday I will probably want something, maybe something you don’t want to give.’ he told me, and it made much more sense.

‘Okay, I can live with that. I want to know ... I want to learn. I accept your deal.’

Pat told me how to place a magical marker on the boundaries and where they needed to be placed. I could do it all on a Saturday, if Carrie would drive me. I had to place the spell, a sort of warning and alarm all in one, every five miles around the perimeter of the area he was claiming.

The spell he gave me had three parts. One was the warning to other magic users that the area was claimed. The second was an alarm that would alert Pat to any magical intrusions into his territory, telling him who, how and where. The third was an addendum, of sorts, to the first, telling anyone who could read it that there was an apprentice claiming this area on behalf of his mentor.