Of Guns and Spells

“Magic first and foremost requires cooperation,” the professor said. “Grandiose, beautiful spells require lengthy mana channels and so we need to buy each other time to cast them.”

It was one of the first things that Magician Tallow learned at the academy. The second thing he learned was a basic healing spell that every licensed magician was legally required to know. Duels often ended with injuries - broken bones, frostbite, cuts, bruises, and even amputation in the rarest cases (though there were spells to heal even that).

Tallow wasn’t traditionally a strong magician, but he knew many spells and he was friendly to his fellow magicians. He focused on spells that increased his speed and physical strength. During the duels, he made a show of them by closely dodging the explosive spells.

“I call upon the power of Zeus!” Magician Adkins shouted.

The spear of lightning started to form and Magician Tallow saw the destination of the spear form in his eyes. He ran towards it in a hurry, it’d be close.

Magician Adkins winded his arm, gearing up for a throw. His robe was flowing around him, hoisted up by the assistance of a minor wind spell.

“The Judgement of a God!” Magician Adkins yelled as he tossed the lighting.

Magician Tallow reached the destination and passed it right before the moment of impact. Jumping out of the way just in time, the crowd around them cheered.

The strongest magicians were the ones who were born with large pools of natural mana. You couldn’t increase the amount of mana you were born with and the amount was random for everyone. For Magician Tallow, he was born with a modest amount.

“He very well could be a magician if he wanted to.” the midwife said to his parents.

“A magician?” his father asked. “He has that much mana?”

“Look at the way he watches the world around him,” the midwife replied. “His eyes are shifting around because babies can see the mana swirling around them if they have enough mana in them themselves.”

And so Tallow’s parents raised him to be a magician. They read to him the tales of Magician Piro, the King of Magicians. They asked their only magician friend if she could tutor him, to help him get into the academy. After their first lesson, his parents were reassured that Tallow would have no problem getting into the academy.

“He can still see it.” she said to them.

“That’s not normal?” his father asked.

Not every magician retained the ability to see mana throughout childhood. Even though his mana pool was smaller than most of the top magicians, Tallow was the only one among them that could still see the streams of light dance to this day. He saw them clearly, he could identify another’s mana pool. At the academy, he learned about different spells, how they were formed and what that formation of spells looked like. With his ability to actually see the mana, it turned into one of his biggest strengths.

After the duel with Magician Adkins, it was customary for the ‘winner’ to buy drinks for the loser. The duels weren’t scripted and the pay differential from the academy wasn’t too different, especially not for the top magicians, but it still felt good to win a duel and it felt bad to lose. There were many magicians scraping the bottom of the barrel when it came to the world of professional magic and the drinks kept them sane.

That night, Magician Tallow saw a man with no mana.

“Ads, do you see that man over there in the corner?” Tallow said. “The one with odd clothing.”

Adkins took a swig of his drink and looked over.

“Are you asking about Magician Worthing?” Adkins asked.

“He’s a magician?” Tallow asked back.

“Apparently so,” Adkins said. “Master Rey says that he comes from one of the far corners of the world and has shown great magic. I’ll be dueling with him tomorrow.”

Adkins waved over to the man, who did not return the wave.

“He’s a strange lad.” Adkins said. He finished his drink and ordered another.

Tallow knew something was off about the magician with no mana. The day of the duel, he came to watch. Magician Worthing cared nothing about formality and the crowd that came to watch the duel sensed the coldness of Magician Worthing.

Magician Adkins rolled up his sleeves and flipped through his spell book, casually deciding which spell he should start the duel with. Magician Worthing had no book and the clothes he wore stuck close to his body, his clothes were all black and looked sturdy - like a knight’s armor.

“Are you ready?” Magician Worthing asked.

“Soon!” Magician Adkins yelled back. Some people in the crowd laughed. Tallow focused on the strange man, looking for any instance of mana. Humans always channeled mana, it was a constant, unconscious effort. The mana helped you breath, it helped you move. Mana was colorful, like fireflies and lightning bugs of different colors.

Everyone had mana, but not this man.

When Worthing pulled something out of his armor, Tallow witnessed the most concentrated force of mana he had ever seen in his life. No one reacted to it aside from Tallow, who had already begun channeling mana to cast a protective spell for Adkins.

“Gun.” the man said.

The force of the spell ripped straight through Adkins' spellbook and blasted his arm to pieces. Adkins yelled out in a purely guttural sense. The crowd yelled and some even started to run, nothing was right now.

“Erebus, I ask for assistance.” Tallow whispered. “Hide us now.”

Mist fell upon them, hiding them. It dulled the noise of the crowd, but Tallow could still hear Adkins screaming. He moved towards it, but Worthing was already there.

“Gun.” he said again, and again that spell. There was so much mana it nearly blinded Tallow. The spell hit Adkins’ heart and he no longer screamed.

“Achlys, I need help.” Tallow said, channeling more mana. “Snake bite.”

It was Tallow’s most dangerous spell. It was a quick jab of poison, with both immediate and long term consequences.

Worthing fell to his knees and started convulsing, he mumbled over and over.

“Gun gun gun gun gun gun gun gun gun gun gun.”

Thankfully nothing happened. The bite of Achlys nullified most magic, even this strange magic that Tallow had never seen.

The magician police had come in full force now, likely hearing news of the strange force of magic.

“What happened here, Tallow?” Chief Shim asked.

“This man has no mana of his own, but his spell is the strongest I have ever seen.” Tallow replied. “Adkins is dead.”

“What spell?” the chief asked.

“Gun.” Tallow said.

Magician Worthing laughed hearing this and all of the magicians looked at him.

“More of us are coming,” he said. “You can’t stop us from taking what’s rightfully ours.”

Tallow looked at him as the life left Worthing’s body, Worthing smiled till the end. When people died, their mana returned to the world. When Worthing died, nothing happened.