Touch of Fate 119 Multi-dimensional

"You could say that. I found her egg by chance, and have been raising her ever since." Mike answered. "Despite her tendency to attack my summoned creature, she's quite harmless."

The three of them turned to watch the little dragon continue to violently claw at Red's tail, accomplishing nothing of note in the process.

"I see what you mean…." The sheep beastman replied.

They continued to watch the spectacle quietly, until Melinda finally arrived about thirty minutes later. She ran up in her now trademark fashion, and stopped to catch her breath. After taking a few minutes to get herself in order, she faced her students. "Good morning, class! I hope you are ready to learn. Before we begin, though, I'll need to speak to Mike privately for a moment."

She pulled him to one side, and explained to him animatedly, "So I did some investigation into that dragon of yours, and I have to say it is a miracle of magic."

Mike found himself a little overwhelmed by the intensity of her excitement.

"As far as I can tell, it's been unconsciously converting your supplied mana into its physical structure, bringing it more fully into existence. I don't know if it's the way your spell was cast, or perhaps some strange quality of the record that the spell drew upon during its casting, but this is remarkable."

"What does that mean exactly?" He asked, finding it a little hard to follow her explanation.

"To put it simply, the longer your conjured dragon remains here, the closer it will get towards a 'real' creature. It's almost like your Conjuration spell morphed into a long term Calling spell that allows for protracted mana provision rather than requiring it all at once. I don't know how you did it, but this could be the solution to a number of problems Summoners have been working to fix for generations!" She grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him a little in her exuberance.

Laughing awkwardly, Mike replied while being thrown around. "Haha…glad to help, I guess."

"So, I need to ask, are you able to sustain the spell for a while longer? I know the mana drain must be severe, and I think I have a solution. Thanks to a special research grant I was able to push through this morning, I got access to the department's treasury, so that I could secure these."

Melinda held up a small pouch as if it were a treasure of great value.

"Um, I suppose it's a nice pouch…."

"What? No, this is just a minor extradimensional sack. What's inside is the real treasure." She opened the bag, and drew out a small metal vial, handing it to him. "This is a mana potion, simply drinking it will restore a portion of your mana."

Mike used Appraise immediately.

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{Tier 1 Mana Potion}

Magic Potion (Tier 1, Rank 3]

An alchemical product that serves as a reservoir of mana. Individuals who are able to use mana can consume this potion to restore a portion of their reserves. The amount varies by the tier and rank of the potion.

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[I was wondering when I'd run into something like this. I guess I can make them with Alchemy at some point in the future.]

"Go ahead. Drink up! There are plenty more where that once came from." Melinda exclaimed pushily.

Since the mana he'd expended in his Elemental Magic class hadn't fully recovered yet, he went ahead and drank the potion. It tasted a bit like ginseng, and he found himself wondering if a mana potion had much in common with an energy drink.

A small surge of power flooded into him, almost topping off his mana reserves. It was a pleasant, rejuvenating feeling that he could get used to. Unfortunately, it seemed like the amount of mana provided by the potion was a mere drop in the bucket compared to his normal supply. If he had to express it numerically, he'd say it restored about 1% of his reserves.

"So? How is it? Do you think you'll be able to maintain the spell for a while longer?" Melinda asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I think I will be good for now."

"Excellent, you can go ahead and take the rest of these. They only gave me ten, but if you stretch them out, it should let you hold out for longer." She passed the pouch over, which he quickly appraised.

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{Minor Extradimensional Sack}

Magic Item (Tier 2, Rank 4)

A creation of Space Magic, extradimensional sacks are the most basic form of extradimensional storage, allowing their users to easily carry large amounts of material. The sack itself functions as a permanent portal to a self-contained dimension tied to the material realm. Storage space varies by item tier and rank.

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[Haha! I finally got my hands on one of these! With the power of extradimensional storage, there is nothing I cannot achieve!]

"Unfortunately, you will need to return the sack once we are done with the 'experiment.' They tend to get a little protective with those things." Melinda said in passing as she moved over to the dragon.

[Crap….]

"This seems pretty useful. Do you perhaps know where I can buy one?" Mike asked, holding up the bag.

"The sack? I think they sell them at some magic item shops in town, but I know they're pretty expensive. Unfortunately, Space Mages or Arcane Mages that can create Space Magic effects are rare." She said distractedly, while pulling out the lens from yesterday. "More importantly, what's with this small dragon that appears to be trying to eat your summon in an inefficient manner?"

"Hmm, that's just a pet of mine…" He trailed off as he noticed her expression. She was standing slack-jawed, starring at Audra through the lens.

[Whoops.]

Knowing it was probably too late, he threw himself in front of the instructor anyway, blocking her view while trying to stammer out an explanation. "Yep just found her somewhere, an acquaintance of mine thinks she's a Water Drake. Crazy, haha…"

Melinda gave him a bewildered look that slowly morphed into one of understanding. She leaned in close to avoid being overheard by the other students who were still patiently waiting. "I think you and I both know that creature isn't something as banal as a drake. Where in the twelve hells did you find it?" She hissed.

"Wyrmrest Lake…"

Melinda put a hand against her forehead as if she was suffering from a massive headache. She stood like that for a few moments before looking at him. "I'm not even going to ask how you managed to bind something like that as a familiar….." She sighed, "We're going to have to keep it a secret. If it got out that you have a Wyrm in your service, even a young one, people all over the world will try to monopolize you. By force if necessary."

"That certainly sounds like a lot of trouble." He mumbled.

She gave him a glare, "Honestly, the only other person that would command such attention would be the Hero. That's how rare and powerful these creatures are."

Mike tried hard to control his features at the mention of Hero, but something must have slipped out, because Melinda gave him a suspicious look.

"You aren't…..I mean there's no way….."

"What, me? A Hero? No way. I'm just a guy with a powerful dragon familiar."

The instructor continued to stare at him.

Hoping to avoid any more informational leaks, Mike quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, shouldn't we get class started? I feel pretty guilty taking up all of your time when you still have students in need of instruction, especially after how long they had to wait for you to show up."

Melinda blanched, "Oh no. I can't afford any more official complaints."

She ran to grab the other two. "Sorry about that, I just had a few logistical problems to work out with Mike here. Anyway, you learned how to do basic Conjuration yesterday, so I intend to continue in this mien. Carol, I didn't get a chance to ask yesterday, but was the scroll sufficient to unlock your skill?"

The sheep beastman nodded absently, eyes still fixed on the dragon fearfully. Of course Audra chose this moment to attempt to take a bite out of Red's left wing, something that was a little more sensitive than the rest of him, apparently. He jerked as if bitten by a flea, lifted his head, and gave the little dragon an angry glare. Unfortunately, the group happened to be standing on the other side Audra when he did so, causing them to fall under the full brunt of his gaze.

Carol emitted a short 'meep' and promptly collapsed, once again unconscious.

Melinda sighed, and looked over at Mike. "We'll need to find someplace for this guy to stay for the time being. He's starting to interrupt class a little too often. Oh well, I kind of expected this to happen, which is why I came prepared!"

She pulled a bottle of clear liquid from one of her pockets, opened it, and held it under Carol's nose. After a few seconds, the beastman snapped awake with a shudder.

"There we go, all better. Now, since you've all acquired the Conjuration skill, and we're running short on time, so I'll give a brief overview of Calling before we start practicing."

Melinda helped Carol to her feet before starting her lecture. "As I mentioned yesterday, Calling is one of the three types of Summoning Magic. To make it more complicated, there are actually three different kinds of Calling magic that vary based on their planned effect. The first of these is known simply as Movement Calling. This type works by attaching a magical signature on an object or creature, which will allow you to summon it to you with a spell. The farther the distance they must move, the greater the mana cost."

[Sounds pretty useful.]

"The second type is Gating, in which a summoner attempts to call an existing object or creature, without marking it beforehand. Unlike other types of types of Summoning Magic, this requires the use of a ritual circle and elaborate preparation. Otherwise the mana requirements would be prohibitive. When a summoner wants to bind a permanent servant, they have to use this type of calling to achieve it."

Melinda paused to take a breath. She was clearly trying to get this out as quickly as possible. "The last type is Creation, which is similar to Gating, but much more difficult. It works by pulling information from the System to spontaneously generate something. While this means that you can basically use this method to create almost anything, the mana requirements are astronomical, even with a ritual. This is almost exclusively used to create small objects, but there have been a few recorded instances of powerful summoners creating short lived beings."

She looked over at Mike, "However, researchers are finding new ways to use magic skills every day. Who knows what the future might hold. Alright, now that you know a bit about Calling, lets get you working on your Conjuration. We still have a bit of time left in the class, so I can teach you a few pointers."

Chapter end