"The trouble with mixing magic and curiosity is that eventually, one tries to swallow the other."
Kai stepped back into his dorm with a faint sigh, his mind still replaying the bizarre events from earlier that day. The second the door closed behind him, he noticed Leo hunched over a circle drawn with chalk and runes on the floor, mumbling incantations under his breath with a candle flickering beside him. A faint haze clung to the air like incense.
Kai plopped face-first onto his bed and groaned. "Dare I ask what new form of insanity you're working on this time?"
Leo didn't even flinch. "Séance. Or, well… something like it. Some final-year students said it's a shortcut to euphoria. Apparently, the spell causes a delirious effect which puts you in a state of half-bliss. Half-dead. A spiritual high."
Kai turned his head on the pillow to squint at him. "So… you're trying to talk to ghosts and get high at the same time? Peak multitasking."
Leo grinned and shrugged. "You gotta admit, that's some bold multitasking."
But Kai was already half-listening. He reached beneath his bed and pulled out a thick leather-bound book, Leo took notice of it and was sure it was one he was certain hadn't been on Brakebills' standard curriculum. The cover bore no title, but its weight and aura definitely spoke volumes plus it looked weirdly old. Still, for some reason, he never questioned it. It felt… right.
"I need something in my stomach before I try decoding witch LSD rituals," he muttered, tossing the incense he was holding onto his mattress before heading out.
With Leo gone, Kai was able to focus on the task at hand.
—
Back in the room a while later, Kai settled cross-legged on his bed with the grimoire in hand. He opened his notebook and began scribbling.
Spirit Harnessing Spell:
'A spell typically used by witches with massive power reserves, invoking spirits to focus their magic through them. The spell is usually performed at a site of mass witch death. The spirits, if willing, grant the witch amplified abilities and if terms are agreed upon.'
Kai scribbled a note in the margin:
'But in our case, replace "spirit" with "magic source"... Like a generator.'
'No need for violent graveyards when we've got the Niffin box.'
He glanced at the small wooden box on his bed beside him under an invisique spell. The box actually looked so ordinary to most people who'd look at it but for a magician especially a siphoner who was more sensitive to Magic, he could feel the pulsating hum within it radiated raw magical energy.
"Who needs ghost juice when you've got a portable nuke?" he quipped aloud.
The book listed an incantation:
(Sa vas est cure est vos facultas...)
Kai frowned and muttered, "Yeah, no. Needs tweaking. Make it about magical flow, not possession."
He then began adjusting the phrasing, refining the spell structure to harness raw magic through the Niffin without inviting spectral contracts.
Turning the page, he found a section that caught his eye:
Metamorphosis Spell:
'An extremely rare and uniquely powerful biological magic. At its peak, allows full transmogrification. Requires equivalent magical power. The most advanced biologically-influenced spell known.'
Kai scoffed, "Yeah... That I have in spades."
He quickly jotted in his notes:
'Use the Metamorphosis Spell as the framework to re-engineer the Aetherphage for symbiosis rather than parasitism. Think magical parasite with benefits.'
'Host must be willing or enchanted into acceptance. Maybe fold it into spell weave as an ingredient...'
He flipped to a different section, pacing now as he cycled through several books from the Brakebills library. Titles ranged from Runic Blood Theory to Magicks of Instinct and Intention. He dropped one on the floor in frustration.
"There's gotta be a way to stabilize this without overengineering it…"
And then it clicked. He smacked his forehead.
"Of course. I'm out here reinventing spellcraft when I could've just used a Linking Spell."
He opened a new page in his notes and began feverishly writing:
Linking Spell:
'A binding spell that links individuals, objects, or energies. Commonly used between living beings (witch to witch, vampire to human). Injury, pain, or death to one affects all connected.'
'Adjust to merge spell components: Aetherphage which will be the control agent, magical current from the box and containment structure which shall be the spell itself. Must install a stability enchantment. Link into singular weave, not chain.'
"Simple, elegant, painful if botched of course and perfect."
He grinned, proud of the sudden breakthrough. "Hell, I should start teaching classes."
He paused as a thought returned to him one of the books in the Brakebills archive had hinted at it that all magic, no matter how foreign, shares at least one common trait. A thread.
He sat back, staring at his notes spread across the bed like pieces of a chaotic puzzle finally forming a picture.
'Well then, this had better work out. I don't think foggy would be generous enough to give me another Aetherphage'.
Just then, Leo returned, holding a small plate of cookies, grinning like a child with a secret.
"Want one?" he asked.
Kai raised a brow. "I'm not exactly in the mood for carbs."
Leo chuckled and held one up insistently. "C'mon, it's my mom's recipe. She used to bake these every weekend before she passed. I promise no ghost séances involved."
Kai rolled his eyes, but relented. "Fine. What's the worst that could happen?"
He took a bite. Then a second. His eyes widened. "Holy fuck, this is good."
"Told you. Magical, right?" Leo beamed.
Kai grabbed another, barely chewing before reaching for a third. "These are laced with crack, aren't they?"
Leo said nothing.
As Kai moved to return one of the specific books from his bed, his vision swam. The air felt heavy, like it was folding in on itself. He reached out but the book seemed… distant?.
"What the fuck...?" he muttered, blinking.
A wave of warmth and dizziness swept over him. His muscles relaxed too much. His heartbeat slowed just enough for him to notice.
"I'm fucking high?."
'A magical high if it can affect me to this point. And I just kept on eating the goddamn cookies'.
He turned to Leo, whose face looked faintly guilty as he said something Kai could barely make out.
"S-Sorry, Kai. Margo… Margo put me up to it…"
The last thought that crossed his mind before the floor tilted and the darkness took him was
'Well fuck me… Margo'.
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