Chapter 98: A Difficult Spell

"I don't have classes this afternoon, so I can help you plan what to work on next." As Marin spoke, he took several books from the bookcase behind his desk and laid them open on the table.

"Do you have anything in mind? Any spells you've heard of that you'd like to learn? We usually say interest is the best teacher. Plenty of new mages become mages just because they want to learn Polymorph. Children absolutely love it. Of course, Polymorph is one of the spells most likely to cause a disastrous accident on Azeroth. It's easy to learn and difficult to master, but practicing it really does help a young mage grow."

"What about you? Would you like Polymorph? Or perhaps Blink? Another very popular spell, though it's also easy to make a terrible mistake with it."

Jess wasn't especially interested in Polymorph. He already used Fear to control enemies. Choosing another control spell, and an arcane one at that, seemed unnecessary.

Blink, though... Jess had to admit it was tempting. He'd loved using it in the game. Imagine learning it in real life!

And in the abandoned fishing village on the northern coast, he'd seen just how powerful the sea witch's Blink could be. She'd suddenly appeared in front of him after being behind him a moment earlier. It had been terrifying.

"Unfortunately, apprentices at the Wizard's Sanctum aren't currently allowed to study Blink," Marin said, pouring cold water on his hopes. "Once, a thirteen-year-old apprentice cast Blink and fused his chest with a crate at the harbor. It took two days just to separate the body. After that horrific accident, the Sanctum became very cautious about teaching Blink. Even access to the Blink spellbooks in the library is restricted."

So that was why. Too bad Jess had been too far from the naga to hear the incantation while she was chasing him. If he'd heard it, he might have tried figuring it out himself.

Though after Marin's story, experimenting with Blink sounded even more dangerous than experimenting with shadow magic.

"Master, I've heard of a spell," Jess said. "I heard about it in Lordaeron. It's called Mage Armor."

Marin nodded. "Why do you want to learn that?"

"When I was on top of Stonewatch Keep, I was hurt by shadow magic," Jess said. "The scar on my hand still hasn't faded. Looking back, it was really dangerous. I heard Mage Armor can protect against shadow magic, so I'd like to learn it."

"Mage Armor doesn't just protect against shadow magic," Marin replied. "It can resist almost every kind of magical damage. You could call it one of the highest-level protection spells, Mr. Seso. Except for the Light, of course. Though if you called the Holy Light a kind of energy in Stormwind, the priests might catch you and give you a beating."

"Anyway, I suggest choosing your classes with Master Andromath first. If you want to make Mage Armor your goal, you can enroll in the school of Abjuration and study its principles. That will be a great help when you're finally ready to learn Mage Armor."

This version was taken from the author's official page without consent; reading the story there supports the writer.

"So I can't learn it right now?" Jess asked cautiously.

"Unless you're Medivh," Marin said. "When he was still an apprentice barely past the age of ten, he could have crushed a mage like me as easily as an insect. Fortunately, he was only a kind, innocent child at the time. With tens of thousands of living people all around him in the city, he left them alone and ended up accidentally killing only his father."

"That's why inborn magical power and great talent can be extremely dangerous, Mr. Seso. Learning magic beyond your abilities is more dangerous still. The Council of Tirisfal once placed severe limits on magical study because of abuses of arcane magic. Looking back, they went too far. But their original reasons were perfectly sound."

"But if I'm going to help with your research someday, perhaps deep in the Wetlands," Jess said, "I'll need protection from shadow and fire magic when we meet Dragonmaw orcs, Dark Iron dwarves, or even red dragons. Won't I?"

"Are you bargaining with me?" Marin said helplessly. "I don't think you understand. I'm telling you not to learn Mage Armor for your own good. You have to be especially careful with magic that acts on your own body."

"So what could go wrong?"

"Mage Armor works in a way similar to the Frost Armor used by frost mages," Marin explained. "Both use arcane energy to gather an elemental outer layer that absorbs or transforms some incoming magic of the same kind. And the dangers are similar. Frost Armor can easily give the caster frostbite, especially if they're inexperienced. A wrong word in the incantation or a wrong gesture can cause that."

"Mage Armor is far more complicated. Casting it takes a long time because you have to weave a shimmering, multicolored outer layer that protects against several kinds of magic at once. A mistake in any one color can set off a chain reaction. If something goes wrong, you might suffer the backlash of five or six different kinds of elemental magic at the same time. Compared with that, the mental energy required is almost a minor concern."

"I want to try, Master," Jess said firmly.

Marin didn't refuse again, as Jess had expected. He simply sat behind the desk and watched him. After a long while, he asked, "You've already made up your mind, haven't you?"

"Not that long ago," Jess said. "A day or two, after I felt I'd nearly mastered Light. So, Master, is there a rule forbidding apprentices from learning Mage Armor?"

"Nothing strict like the rule against Blink," Marin said.

"Great," Jess said. "Then Mage Armor is the next spell I want to learn."

Marin hesitated again, seeing how determined he was.

Perhaps he was thinking about the red dragons. Perhaps he was remembering how focused Jess had been while casting Light. Or perhaps he was wondering whether this young man would become another poor soul who died chasing limitless power.

Jess's reasoning was much simpler.

If his affinity with arcane energy wasn't as strong as he'd hoped, he could learn only a limited number of arcane spells.

He should specialize in one broadly useful protective spell and one truly valuable support spell, then practice them until he'd mastered them completely, instead of wasting energy memorizing a pile of spells that did more or less the same things.

Mage Armor was without doubt his best choice for protection.

What Marin said confirmed it. A lasting increase in resistance was useful in far more situations and could protect him from deadly harm in all kinds of complicated fights. Other elemental barriers demanded far more skill and mental effort by comparison.

"All right. Two conditions," Marin finally said. "First, you must learn Arcane Intellect before practicing Mage Armor. You may only practice while Arcane Intellect is active. It greatly improves the accuracy of your incantations and your mental reserves, which will reduce the danger. Second, you must never secretly practice when I'm not present. I have to watch you, in case something goes wrong and you can't control it—or you hurt someone else."

"I agree to both," Jess said at once.