Amber's Enchantment Ch. 06

"Actually, the laws of magic say that mana can't be moved. And I didn't say that mana was being destroyed. I said is was vanishing. It may well be going somewhere we can't detect."

"So, how can we determine what's happening? More importantly, how do we stop it?"

"We can't. It will take a wizard to possibly determine what's happening and how to stop it."

"Oh, that won't go over well. The only way we could tell them what's happening is to admit that we have current copies of the guide. They won't take that well; they don't take any infringement into their domain well."

*****

The portal that opened in the portal room was different from ones Garth had seen before. If he was to describe the difference, he would've used the word crisper. Most portals had a shimmer in the field that made the location on the other side appear to be out of focus. In this portal, there was no shimmer, and other than the energy field on the edges, there was no way to tell that what was on the other side wasn't just the other side of the room.

The person who stepped through looked as unlike a wizard as anyone Garth had ever seen before. She was wearing traveling leathers, well worn ones. In one hand she had a walking stick with a crystal embedded in the top. The slightly pointed ears indicated at least some elvish blood in her lineage, though the dark brown hair and hazel eyes denied that she was purely elf.

"Welcome, Silene, to House Grantlo," he offered as the portal closed behind her without a sound.

"You must be Garth. The message I received was intriguing. What is the exact nature of your problem?"

"I'm not at liberty to tell you, but I am to escort you to Inclon, who will."

"Very well, lead the way."

She followed at a brisk pace, her walking stick not being used at all, but slung over her shoulder. Soon they entered Inclon's quarters. Her eyes scanned the tunnels around them as they walked, taking in the mana patterns imbuing the caverns. Her head nodded several times in appreciation of the enchantments she saw; and a couple of times frowning at others.

"Silene, it's a pleasure to meet you. You come highly recommended. Would you care for something to drink?"

"Some fruit juice would be nice."

While Justilia fetched the juice at Inclon's nod, the aged advisor started to explain what he needed. "We have been having...not so much trouble, but issues...with one of our slaves. There's some background I can go into if you think it's needed, but the short version is that our memory potion failed with her and she recovered her suppressed memories shortly after collaring. Recently, however, we've noticed several other...magics...that are not working as they should with her. The collar's translation spell isn't performing in the same manner that it does with the other slaves." He paused to gather himself to offer the last piece. "And...she's been seeing magical auras for several months now."

Silene paused in the middle of sipping her juice. Setting it down, she replied, "I can see why you're reluctant to call in the guild on this one. If they had any idea that a slave could do magic, they'd act as if it were the end of the world."

"She's not doing magic, she's just seeing auras. We've made it clear she's not to try to manipulate auras."

"Oh, trust me, she's doing magic. Seeing auras is a very basic spell; so much so that 95% of all wizards use it without realizing it. Tell me, can she see auras on people? Other than from spells affecting them?"

Inclon frowned. "Yes, she started being able to see those a few weeks ago. We were trying to figure out what was going on ourselves."

"Then she's learned to cast her first purposed spell." She leaned back, steepling her hands, fingertips pressed together. "You see, incantations and hand motions aren't actually needed to do magic. What is needed is to be able to relax and concentrate at the same time. The incantations and movements facilitate reaching that state for most wizards. Eventually, at least for the simple spells, most wizards don't need them anymore. Apparently this slave has learned concentrating relaxation on her own."

"Amber," Inclon added in a distracted voice. He realized that she was describing the very state of mind a slave needed to reach to master the more difficult techniques, such as cunt control. "I see," he started again, as he shook his head a bit. "Anyway, she's described a difference in her aura from that of other slaves. No one at the house has the training to interpret this difference, and we certainly can't have a guild wizard asking how we knew there was a difference in the first place."

"Well, I'll need to see Amber, and another slave, for comparison's sake to help you. I don't expect it to take too long. I suspect it's something minor, given her lack of training. Small differences in temperament or enchantments can produce seemingly large variations in aura."

Inclon sent for Amber, knowing that Justilia could serve as the comparison slave. Soon both slaves were standing in the office. "Amber, this is the wizard Silene. She's going to examine your aura and hopefully tell us why yours is different."

"Actually, I prefer sorceress. Wizard implied guild allegiance, which I most assuredly do not have." Silene looked at Amber as her expression seemed to soften. Then her eyes widened and she sat upright in her chair. She reached into a magical pouch and extracted a clear crystal. "Amber, tell me what you see here."

"Mistress, it's...pure white, just like in my chest." Without thinking, she added, "What does a pure white aura mean? I've only seen it three times now."

"Three times? When was the third? I assume the other two where in my seed and in your chest."

Amber looked to Inlcon for a nod before answering; a delay that Silene did not fail to notice. "Mistress, it was when the strange device's spark touched me."

"What strange device?" There was an edge in Silene's voice, like a mixture of fear and excitement.

"I had been placed with a wizard, and he was asked to find out what a magic device did. It activated and a spark jumped from it to me. The spark was pure white. I thought it odd since the device itself had a black aura."

"I see. Wait! You saw a black aura?" Amber nodded, trying to keep her own fear down. Silene turned to Inclon. "A white aura is the color of pure, unused, mana. Amber has a mana seed inside her body; something unheard of. Rogues, at least some of us, are able to store mana in crystals such as these."

"But, the laws of magic say that mana can't be moved, certainly not into and out of things."

"The laws of magic," the sorceress sneered. "Lame explanations for people who can't trust the evidence of their own senses. There is free floating mana everywhere. Mana flows from a wizard to the things being affected whenever a spell is cast. A mana seed such as mine," she held up the crystal, "allows me to perform magic that is stronger and for longer periods of time than I can without one. Guild wizards are taught that seeds are impossible, so they don't even try. I've personally violated half the laws of magic.

"What's of more concern is these black auras Amber is seeing. Theoretically, black is the color of no mana; the absence of any color from the mana in an object. It shouldn't be possible. You see, I can recharge my mana seed by drawing loose mana from the air around us. In a pinch, I could recharge it by drawing mana out of an object. But, the less mana in something, the harder it is to draw it out. I could, I suppose, empty something totally, but the energy I'd put into doing it would be so great as to be impossible." She turned back to Amber. "Amber, could you tell which direction the white mana in the spark was moving?"

"It was moving away from me, Mistress."

"This is not good. Inclon, there is a constant flow of mana into Amber's mana seed from the ambient mana around her. I suspect that the collar is, in some way, responsible. In fact, I suspect that's happening to all your slaves, though only Amber is actually storing it. I shudder to think what would have happened to Amber if she had been drained completely. Life without mana? The very idea fills me with dread."

"What would make that so bad?" Inclon asked.

"Our emotions are intimately tied to our internal mana. The relationship is very complex, with mana moving in response to our emotions and our emotions responding to the movement of mana. That's why spells can affect our moods. I suspect that without mana, a creature would feel no emotions at all; would be incapable of feeling anything. They would respond to their basest needs; hunger, the need to reproduce. Sentient beings with no mana could possibly act on internal logics that we wouldn't begin to understand; as there would be no emotional backing to them. They would seem insane without actually being insane."

"Great Gods! Why would anyone want such a device; one that would create such monsters?"

"Unless they were a wizard, they would have no idea what the devices did. Used on inanimate objects, all that would happen would be a stripping of the mana."

"Mistress, Master, I remember overhearing the wizard say that the devices were supposed to deal with the ore rat problem."

"I need to speak with this wizard. If these devices are being used, it could unleash a plague of mindless eating machines on us. I'd also like to see one of these devices. They're doing something with the mana; I'd like to know what." She turned back to Amber. "I'd also like to work with, and observe Amber. I suspect that the reason her collar isn't translating properly is that she's been altering its function in some way. It will be interesting to see just what other magics Amber has been performing."

*

Thanks to Sugaro for editing this chapter. Thank you for reading, and please let me know what you think.