The Accidental Archmage by Edmund Batara (read out loud books .TXT) 📕

is a quest in your fate, Tyler. I can see it in your eyes. You will succeed.”

“Thanks? I guess?” stammered Tyler. With that unnerving speech, his spirits went down a notch. He didn’t mind the occasional pep talk but the talk of fate and destiny only

reminded him of what awaited him outside the forest. He remembered that on Earth,

most heroes become heroes only after they die, usually in a violent way. Then the

speeches come and the statues erected. Nobody remembers how badly the hero died.

Shit.

He knew he wasn’t a coward. But he was no fool either. He took the hard way out of

the problem not because he wanted to be a hero but because it afforded him the best

way to survive. With idiosyncratic and crazy powerful entities around, that was the only

way he could be assured of surviving and remaining himself. At the end of the day, he

was but a mortal within a chaotic and dangerous world stage.

The hints that he got about more powerful, violent and nuttier beings not yet known to

him made Tyler more eager to reach what Hal wanted him to achieve. From what he

could read between the lines, a lot of malevolent beings would love to do to him worse

things than the prodding and dissections done by rumored alien abductions back on

Earth. Even worse than he could ever imagine. The thought left a momentary chill in his

bones.

As the meal progressed, Tyler gathered that Eira might not be around to see him off

tomorrow. With that, he finally concluded that things are a lot more serious than the

forest guardian let on. Small battles must be going on right now on the two sides of the

forest. Whether these are preludes to a bigger struggle, only the next few days will tell.

Brovi was to be his guide to the edge of the forest. Then Tyler remembered his field of

craters.

“Uhhh, Eira, I have to confess something. I really hope you won’t get mad.”

“Oh? You got married to a forest nymph while I wasn’t around?”

The unexpected retort resulted in a tongue-tied Tyler.

“No, No. It’s not that…”

“TWO FOREST NYMPHS? Tyler, I didn’t know how energetic you were!”

“Noooo, it's just….”

“Oh, Tyler. You’re blushing. And cute when flustered too.”

“Huh?”

Realizing Eira played him, Tyler finally got to explain the crater field. Though at the back of his mind, he didn’t think Eira had that side of her. A naughty side, if he were to

be more specific. He liked it. Cute, huh?

“So, you were able to develop new spells on your own?”

“Ah…. Yes?” replied Tyler who was still wandering and fixated on the naughty side of

Eira.

“Hey, put your mind off the nymphs and listen.”

“No, no nymphs,” answered Tyler, flustered again.

Eira laughed. Tyler liked to see her laugh and the musical quality of her laughter. The

weird thing was, her laughter brought him back to the discussion.

“Hmmm, yes. I thought about it and finally had the idea to combine two basic spells to

create a new one. Three new ones actually.”

“That’s wonderful! Do you realize that of all mortals on Adar, only you can create new

spells the way you did? Everyone else is limited by the use of runes. To create a new

spell, a new rune or its equal must be first developed, then refined, and practiced

before being of practical use. That takes decades. A lifetime even. And that’s for one

spell. What spells did you make?”

Tyler explained. Eira was able to get the idea of what the results would be. But was lost

when Tyler started explaining about gunpowder principles, artillery, and grenades.

Ideas which enabled him to think of the new spells in the first place. He left the

discussion at that. There was no way for him to convey the modern concepts he had

discussed.

Eventually, Eira had to leave. She assured him she would fix the craters tomorrow and

think about what nature spells Tyler could use. She left behind a new sack of provisions

and a waterskin. Finally, she presented him with a short staff.

“A gift for the journey. A short staff fit for a mage. Convenient for traveling. It helps

your focus and channeling of energy. When one end is slammed against the ground, its

runic element creates a bubble of protective energy around its holder. Slam it twice to

turn it off. Thrice, a magical blade will come out on its tip. Four times and the blade will disappear. But you can only use one ability at a time. Now you don’t have to rely on

that useless sword too much.”

“Thanks, Eira. I really appreciate this.” Tyler took the staff. It barely reached up to his shoulder when one end is on the ground. It looked like a simple wooden staff, with a

wide band of some metal on both ends, each banded engraved with small runic symbols. The middle part was shaped for a hand to hold it and avoid slipping along the

smoothed sides. Two more wide bands were on each end of the molded center part. No

other ornamentation was on the staff.

“Oh, don’t think about it too much. It was an offering to me long ago. When people still

remembered the Lady of Fossegrim Forest as real. Unfortunately, nobody ever offered

armor so you have to make do with that sorry-looking leather armor. Here are some

baubles. Get a better set of armor. You do have to protect yourself better, you know.”

A small purse appeared securely tied to his belt.

“Thanks again, Eira.”

“If ever you need to talk to me, go to borders of the forest, whisper my name and wait.

The forest knows your voice already. It will tell me you’re here and where you are. But

the staff, I must confess, also enables me to know where you are. You don’t mind, I

hope?”

“No, Eira. I already owe you a lot for saving me, showing me the temple, sheltering me

and now these gifts. I may trust you yet. Of all beings on Adar, you’re the only one who

knows about the temple and what happened there. I have my suspicion that you do

know what happened while I was inside the tablet.”

“Let a girl have some secrets, Tyler. Good night and