Chapter 3: Chapter 3 – Magical gifts

Contrary to my expectations, my first conscious time travel was absolutely unspectacular. There were no visual or acoustic effects, no white tunnels, rotating galaxies or other impressive accompanying effects that such journeys have in movies, books or video games. I simply took a step and was on the other side. When I turned around, the portal was no longer there.

I looked around. It was the same grassy area around us, only without the devastation left by the battle. The knight, the dead demon, the two cars, everything was gone. Apparently, we had traveled through time after all, how far and in what direction I could not tell. In any case, the sun in the sky had hardly moved, it still seemed to be late morning, on whatever day and year.

Vaari hovered motionless above the ground to my right. I looked at her questioningly. “Here we are, and now? There’s nothing here, how am I supposed to...”

“Shh.” She interrupted me. “Shut up and listen carefully. I don’t have much time left. My stay in this world uses up magical energy and there’s not much of it left. First, I need some of your blood so we can form a bond. Take this.” Out of nowhere, a leather sheath containing a dagger materialized and fell to the ground.

How many more surprises did this day have in store for me? “How did you...?”

“Shh. All questions later.” Familiar commanded me. “Take this dagger and stab yourself in the fingertip with it.”

Ouch! I always hated this part of medical examinations. And the dagger probably wasn’t even sterile, who knows what kind of monsters it had been in. I pulled it out of its sheath. The blade was about 8 inches long and appeared to be clean. The metal shone in the sun. I sighed and stabbed the tip into the tip of my ring finger. Ouch! A drop of blood immediately appeared at the puncture site and slowly grew larger. Vaari reached out for it and the drop disappeared, to be immediately replaced by a new one.

“Is that it?” I asked sullenly, and when Vaari nodded, I put the wounded finger in my mouth.

“Now we’re connected and I can find you anywhere in the world. In order for you to summon me, however, you must have a certain amount of magical energy, also called mana. You’re not a mage and you can’t gather mana, so we’ll change that now.” The Familiar’s figure slid to me and wrapped itself around my torso like a misty band. I felt a warmth on my skin that spread inward, rapidly increasing in intensity so that I felt like I had swallowed some glowing coals, but before it got really uncomfortable, it was over. All that remained was a warm feeling in the stomach area that slowly subsided. Vaari moved away from me a bit and became the familiar human-like silhouette again.

I placed my hand on my solar plexus. “Am I a mage now? How can I do magic?”

“Easy. You have a magic core now, so yes, theoretically you are a mage now. But your magic core is still very small. In time it will grow, how fast depends on you. When it’s big enough that you can siphon of mana without taking damage yourself, you’ll be able to cast spells. And eventually, you’ll be able to summon me, too.”

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This all sounded very vague. “What do you mean, big enough? And how big is it now? How much mana does a fireball need? And how much do I have to have to call you?” The questions just flowed out of me.

Vaari sighed, “These digital kids, they always want to measure everything with numbers. Magic is not digital, it’s analog. But fine, that will make it a little easier for you...” She placed her translucent hands on my head. The touch was barely noticeable, just a touch of coolness. Then a strange thing happened. The world around me... jolted? Like a heavy cabinet that has to move a little closer to the wall and then, after a last effort, it’s finally in the right place.

I blinked. The colors of the world around me had somehow become paler, the Familiar’s semi-transparent figure now seemed firmer, the glow had intensified, and within it were various shades of blue running through it like ripples. “What is this? What have you done to me?”

“This is the Magical Gaze, with it you can see the magic in the world. Now look inside yourself.”

Look into myself? How is that supposed to work, please? I tried it. Nothing happened. I closed my eyes. Still nothing. I thought of my newly acquired magic core, directed my thoughts to it, and suddenly I saw a round glass container in front of my inner eye. Underneath it was written Mana 0/10. Wow! Surprised, I snapped my eyes open. The image was gone immediately. I closed my eyes again. Nothing. I tried to reproduce the sensations from before and - tadaa! - the jar appeared in front of me again, still empty. “Why is there nothing in it? How do I fill it?”

“It fills on its own over time. Meditating helps with that, if you can. The concentration of magic in the world isn’t always the same, in some areas it’s faster. You’ll figure that out as you go. Use your magic eye for that.”

I noticed that the world around me looked normal again. Apparently, the Magic Gaze wasn’t working permanently. “But how do you activate...?”

“Shh.” Vaari ran his mouth over mine again. “We don’t have much time left. You still need the language.” She put her hands back on my head. A flood of images and concepts rushed at me, my brain threatening to explode. I staggered, then it was over.

“Now you can communicate with the natives.” Said the Familiar with satisfaction. At that moment, I realized we hadn’t been speaking to each other in English the whole time. Even the conversation with the knight was in this language, which I did not know and did not know how to classify! Vaari must have noticed my confusion.

“We speak the primordial language. Anyone who has gone through a dimensional portal learns it automatically. Don’t ask!” she stopped my next question even before I could fully open my mouth. She paused for a moment. “Your clothes shouldn’t be much of a problem. They look high-end enough for this world to pass you off as someone from the middle class. Remember, you’re in a feudal world ruled by nobles and mages. It’s a class society where origin and appearance play an important role. Forget your ideas of law and order, the law of the strongest applies here! Here is my last gift to you.” A small pouch fell to the floor with a soft jingle. “I have to leave now. I’ll see you again as soon as you have 1000 mana!”. With these words, Vaari dissolved into thin air, leaving me alone in a strange world.

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