Chapter 119: Mage Armor (II)

Jess obediently sat off to one side and watched Marin stand up and straighten his collar.

Finally. The moment had arrived. He was finally going to get a look at one of the most advanced protective spells in the human world.

"This incantation is in Draconic, and it's very long," Marin said. "Listen to it once. Don't expect to remember everything at once. Just get a feel for the words and pay some attention to how the gestures match their rhythm. All you need for now is a first impression."

As he spoke, Marin took down an old, dust-covered book. He opened it, quickly found the page he wanted, and carried the heavy volume to the middle of the room.

"Lokpotori, Arkanua..."

Even as Marin spoke, Jess could feel arcane energy spreading through the air. It moved in circles, almost like a flock of buzzing insects flying in rhythm. Points of ethereal starlight slowly gathered around Marin.

Jess had never seen a spell cast on this scale before. He could only stare. And just when he thought the spell was about to be finished, Marin kept chanting.

"Zlodatu, Unibersoaren, Inguruku, Izukutu..."

*It's that long?*

Jess was beginning to think the mages in movies and games had the right idea: carry a spellbook everywhere and open it whenever you needed to cast something. Especially a spell like Mage Armor. There was no way he could count on memorizing an incantation this long. If he got part of it wrong one day, he might end up setting himself on fire. Literally.

By now Marin's chanting was almost a song. His voice grew deeper and rougher. Jess could sense that arcane energy itself was taking part in the sound.

The energy washed the entire room in a very pale purple light. The glowing points around Marin scattered in every direction, some slipping through the windows and cracks around the door.

Jess knew what was happening. The arcane energy was searching for elements and reshaping them. Driven by Marin's incantation, it spread like a pack of hunters, seeking out the elemental forces Marin needed.

"Irementarak, Itakshi, Bediinkatu, Nazazuinsa!"

*There's still more?*

But this time, at last, it was over.

With the final words spoken, Marin snapped his hand shut. Every strand of arcane energy rushed back toward him at once. Jess saw a rainbow of light suddenly draw tight, gathering around Marin. Layers of colorful, mirrorlike arcane light settled over his robes, his cheeks, and the hair that stirred in the magical wind.

Jess grabbed the leg of the table and braced his feet to keep from being blown straight into Marin.

"Mage Armor." Marin let out a long breath and looked at him. "There. It's done. I haven't used this spell in a very, very long time. I was beginning to think I might fail this time."

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Jess could only describe the casting as spectacular. While Marin guided the arcane energy, the entire room had seemed to turn into some otherworldly ballroom.

And to think that in the game, Mage Armor was an instant-cast buff. Press one hotkey and you were done. What a wonderfully simple way to handle it.

"Would you like to try?" Marin asked.

"Can I?"

Jess took the spellbook and stood where Marin had been standing. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Marin take out his wand, ready to put out any runaway elements at a moment's notice.

"With Arcane Intellect helping you, I think it's worth a try." Marin pointed to the incantation on the page.

There was a line in Draconic, followed by a phonetic rendering in the Common tongue. Jess could see that a few of the sounds written in Common were slightly different from what Marin had just pronounced.

Perhaps that was because Marin had spoken genuine Draconic, while the written sounds were only there to help people remember it—just like the way Gakin had written down the words for Drain Life.

In other words, following the phonetic guide alone was definitely not going to produce the same result as Marin's spell.

Luckily, Jess had heard Marin's entire chant under the effect of Arcane Intellect. He had also listened with all his attention. With the written sounds to guide him and Marin's tone to imitate, he felt confident he could reproduce the whole incantation.

And the gestures, too.

"I'm ready," Jess said.

Marin nodded. "So am I."

Jess glanced at Marin, swallowed, and began to chant.

"Lokpotori, Arkanua... Molodatu."

As he spoke, he moved his hands through the air, copying Marin's gestures and drawing the loose arcane energy around him, calling it to obey.

At first, everything went smoothly. Jess could see tiny points of arcane starlight gathering in the air.

But as the energy grew denser, he began to struggle to hold it with his mind. It felt like a whole school of fish darting wildly around a lake while he tried to keep hold of seven or eight fishing rods at once. Every fish was unbelievably strong and desperate to escape.

Marin's attention was drawn to the drifting energy Jess had stirred up. He failed to notice that some of the faintly rainbow-colored light still clinging to his own body was peeling away in little specks, like pixels fading from an image, and following Jess's chant.

Jess coughed.

Marin's gaze snapped back to him almost instantly.

"Once you've reached this stage, don't stop halfway through, Jess. Keep going."

Jess nodded, looked toward the window, and said, "Unibersoaren, Inguruku, Zongzikutu..."

As he pronounced those words, his exhaustion began to grow much faster. Had he reached the limit of his strength? Was his casting wrong? Was the incantation wrong?

Or was he simply not concentrating hard enough?

*No.* Jess knew he had to stop thinking about all that. He needed to focus on finishing the spell.

The arcane energy was already streaming away from him under his guidance, flying and spinning. It was all going smoothly—far more smoothly than he'd expected. Even Marin stood up.

Marin seemed to notice how tired Jess was becoming. Several times he opened his mouth as if he wanted to stop him, but each time he slowly closed it again. He simply watched as the arcane stars turned the entire room into a glowing corridor of magic once more.

*Just one more line.*

Jess told himself to hold on for one more line.

"Irementarak!"

He drew a breath and forced out the rest. "Itakshi, Bediinkatu, Nazazuinsa!"

Jess copied Marin and clenched his hand into a fist.

His field of vision seemed to shrink. He could still see his tightly closed fist, but everything around the center of his sight was turning black.

A wild whirlwind of elemental energy wrapped around him. Brilliant colors came streaming in from every direction, struggling to light the darkness in his vision. But the darkness spread faster, swallowing the last little patch he could see—and then the last trace of light.

A piercing ringing filled Jess's ears, drowning out his final scraps of awareness.

His legs gave way.

And then he knew nothing at all.