Abuse Of Magic

"Master Joseph, we have brought our best students, as you asked," said Stephan. He carried his mage staff with pride, and Joseph didn"t miss the jealous looks from the students.

He stared at each person as they were brought forth, and judged them based on the magic he could see in them. Some were kingdom mages, others were slaves, and Tekaun had brought a young boy with her. He didn"t have a spirit, and Joseph knew that it was incredibly rare for barbarian men to become mages.

"I am ready to recognize the leader of each school of magic, so you can teach the others who wish to know your specialty."

The looks of surprise, delight and excitement that crossed all of their faces, meant that no one had told them why they had been brought here. Each of them was at the second level of magery, and they were strongly focused on a single rune to the point it showed in their aura. Apparently, this was something the a.n.a.lyze, from Intermediate Mage t.i.tle, gave.

Pointing at Tekaun"s apprentice, Joseph said, "He is a necromancer."

Stephan and Derek jumped. The others looked startled as well. It made sense. Most of the shamanic magic dealt with NECROMANCY by contacting spirits and souls. The only necromancy spell Joseph knew currently was BANISHMENT, so if he came across a demon he couldn"t kill, he could force it out of the realm.

"Magic isn"t evil. I could have a healer keep someone from dying so that I could keep torturing them, and I could burn down an orphanage with the children inside. Similarly, I could use force on a ghost to manifest it so that I could kill it, or use BURNING DEATH to cause someone infested with parasites to be cremated before the parasites could escape. There will always be those who will judge your actions no matter what magic you use."

He looked over them, as they all mulled over his words, and smiled as they all settled down to wait for his next words. But before he could say anything, more people started to arrive. Selena and Stu arrived, carrying small hand pies, for everyone to eat, then they joined the crowd as the apprentices looked back at Joseph in confusion. Joseph had to admit, even the very young were incredibly dedicated. Every one of them had put in grueling hours of practice.

"I"m going to list off your name, with the specialty you will be teaching to others. Several, I have already awarded their teacher"s mage staff, but I have others for the rest of you. These staves will signify that you are a teacher for me. As I will be gone, periodically, with important tasks, you will be expected to step up and fill the hole that I leave during my absence."

(Author note: I have placed next to their name where they came from, as a basis for later referral.)

Tekaun, Shaman -SPIRIT MAGIC

Selena, Slave-FIRE

Stu, Slave-FOOD

Alex, Slave-AIR

Derek, Kingdom-EARTH

Anya, Kingdom-PLANT

Zack, Slave-WATER

Mira, Slave-WEATHER

Stephan, Slave-HEALING

Gregor, Kingdom-MIND CONTROL

Daisy, Slave-COMMUNICATION

Ollie, Kingdom-KNOWLEDGE

Nancy, Slave-MAKING/BREAKING

Julianne, Slave-BODY CONTROL

Issa, Slave-ILLUSION/CREATION

Blade, Kingdom-PROTECTION

Theon, Shaman-NECROMANCY

Lilly, Slave-LIGHT/DARK

Joseph-ENCHANTMENT, GATE, CIRCLES, MAGIC FORMULAS

"As more runes become known, and other students rise to fill the role of teaching them, I will award them with a teaching position. Make me proud."

As they each took their staff, a look of appreciation and determination came over each of them. Joseph was standing on a small box, so that he didn"t have to look up to any of them, but no one seemed to notice his effort, as they were all reverently examining their various staves.

Over the next couple of days, he practiced magic and prepared to head out and visit the gnomes. Because he could teleport, and Stella could grab him and run, he decided they could travel pretty light. If they needed anything, Stella would probably have it in her purse, or he could grab it from here, pretty quickly.

As he dealt with his second mind, more and more, they came to an agreement. The original mind would go by Joseph, but the new, second mind, would go as Joe. That made it far easier to understand who he was talking about, when he was talking to Stella, or his dad. Joseph preferred to control the body, and Joe preferred to cast spells and research. All in all, it worked out very well.

Stella still got confused, especially since Joe liked to crack jokes, to make Joseph break out laughing at random moments. When Joseph started laughing at the dinner table, and shot milk out of his nose, Joe was so amused, that Joseph couldn"t get mad at him.

"Ready?" asked Joseph.

Stella nodded, and he took her hand.

TELEPORT.

They were standing in the spot where he had been laying, just outside the elven forest. He gazed out to the east, and knew that he was no longer in the human lands. There was no telling who he might encounter on his way to the gnomes.

Feeling the warning, that the barrier behind him was giving him, he ignored it and they went to start walking. The great thing about it was, every other step, he would cast TELEPORT, and they would move miles further, to the edge of where he could see before the teleport.

The wild gra.s.s of these plains, grew taller and taller, until he had to stop teleporting because the gra.s.s was above his head.

"This is annoying!" he fumed, as Stella fought to keep a straight face. He glanced at her, knowing she found it amusing that he was shorter than the gra.s.s. Then he smiled, grabbing her hand, and looked up.

TELEPORT.

Stella wasn"t amused anymore, as they appeared far above the ground, high in the air. She freaked, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and fighting not to scream. Chuckling, Joseph looked ahead, seeing that there was a ridge of hills far in the distance, along with a ma.s.sive cloud bank on the horizon.

TELEPORT.

They fell into a pile, on the top of a ridge overlooking a hilly section of plains. Much, much closer, the storm he had spied before, was rushing across the land. As they picked themselves up, they watched in rapt fascination as the storm was lit up with different colored lightning bolts.

"It"s a magical storm!" whispered Stella in surprise and awe.

"Did you ever see one before?" whispered back Joseph, unable to rip his eyes away from the awesome sight.

"In my previous life, I was terrified of them. I never thought I would ever see one again."

They sat on the ridge, and watched as multiple tornadoes ripped the ground up below the ma.s.sive storm cloud, while techni-colored lightening ripped through the cloud. As rain began to pelt down on them, they stood, but continued to watch. It wasn"t until hail the size of pumpkins began to fall around them, that Joseph grabbed her hand and teleported them back home.

As they stood dripping wet, laughing to each other, in front of Joseph"s room, his mother stepped out of the shadows and crossed her arms. Based on the look on her face, she was not amused.