~ Sorry, info dump in this one. Read the start until Zek wakes up, then scroll down a bit to skip the info dump. The rewrite will have that separate from the actual story. ~
~
[Jack's POV]
I called out, "Come, number 2 of the Tarot High Arcana: [High Priestess]!"
*Vwoom*
A golden glow shone from my hand as a tarot card appeared in my hand, the picture of the priestess turned towards me.
Everyone turned back to see what that glow was and saw the golden light and the card in my hands.
"Holy Magic?" Orin muttered.
Suddenly, the skeletons rounded the corner. They noticed us instantly and started running at us.
If I were counting, I would have to say it was at least 50 skeletons, each wielding some rusted sword or club, with a few even having on some armour. Thankfully, there were no long-range weapons.
Ignoring the skeletons and their looks, I said, "[Holy Magic: Aura of Restoration]."
The card disintegrated into a golden light.
Behind me, the ethereal glowing figure of the High Priestess from the card appeared, her head bowed, and her hands joined in prayer.
A long white coat covered her body, a delicate face with a serene expression covered by a veil. She looked up and opened her golden eyes as light burst forth.
Everyone felt it instantly, our stamina and mana restored, exhaustion dissipated, and all injuries healed.
This spell created an aura around the caster, healing all inside from any injuries, physical, mental, and magical exhaustion, and could even restore one's mind from the brink of insanity.
This was the healing power of true holy magic.
But that wasn't all.
The skeletons that were approaching instantly stopped moving. The light from the Priestess burst outwards toward them, shining brightly and disintegrating many of them, causing the others to flee.
I maintained the spell for over 30 seconds, watching our surroundings and making sure the skeletons were far away.
Once I was sure they were gone, I released the spell.
The golden aura around us faded, returning the hallway to its dark walls, only illuminated by the lesser light spirits.
The Priestess then closed her eyes and bowed her head. Her form then started to fade, returning to her home.
The hall turned silent after that, and I let out a shaky breath.
"Jack... what was tha—" Ark started to ask.
*Cputch*
I bent over and coughed up some blood, instantly scaring everyone.
"Jack!" Ark ran over, worried and no longer caring about what had happened before.
"I'm fine," I said, spitting the blood out. "Just some backlash from ending that spell early," I placed a hand on his and gave a smile as I wiped the blood off with my sleeve and stood up straight.
Araki turned to look down the hallway the skeletons ran through and asked, "That was holy magic, right?"
I nodded, taking out a healing potion. "It was, though I wasn't the one to cast it," I said as I took a sip.
He turned back to me, confused.
"Let's wake Zek up first before I explain. Saves me some words," I said, feeling my mouth healing.
"Didn't you just say not to a minute ago?" Orin asked.
"I did, but that was a healing spell that restored us all to our peak state, refilling our mana and healing any injuries."
"Ah, I see," Orin nodded as he knelt down next to Zek and shook him gently.
Zek stirred after a second and opened his eyes.
"What happened!?" he shot up, looking around, confused and scared.
"Backlash from the clairvoyance spell. Seems the shadow had a countermeasure," I said.
Zek nodded. "How long was I out for?"
Araki spoke this time. "A little over a minute, and a horde of skeletons appeared after you passed out. But Jack used some sort of holy magic to heal you and chase them off."
Zek turned to me, confused, and asked, "Holy magic? I thought you hated the church?"
I smiled. "I hate the Holy Church, that is true. And I wasn't the one to cast the spell, I was only a medium. It was a spirit artifact i used known as the [High Priestess], from the High Arcana Tarot Deck."
Everyone turned to me, confused.
"Like the fortune-teller's deck we learned in class?" Araki asked.
I shook my head. "Yes and no. There is the deck we learned about in class and spirit artifacts with the same appearance but vastly different powers.
"Around the world, special items created or inhabited by spirits appear. These are called spirit artifacts. If someone picks this artifact up, they will enter what's known as a spirit trial. This is to help determine if that person is worthy to wield that item.
If you pass the trial, you can use the item's powers. If you fail, you are not killed, but cannot use the item's powers and forget about the trial. Like, if it's a sword and you fail the trial, you can still use it as a sword, but you will have no idea it has a magic ability.
One type of these items are tarot cards. All the cards in the deck can appear randomly around the world, but always on their own. If you complete the trial, then you get the ability to use the card, which is like a magic scroll, allowing you to use some high-level magic, but only once.
The [High Priestess] lets me cast any holy magic spell regardless of my own religious beliefs or magical ability.
The spell I cast was [Aura of Restoration], a very powerful area-of-effect healing spell only usable by high priests. It fully heals all mental and physical injuries of everyone affected and restores stamina and mana to full capacity.
And since it was holy magic, all undead caught inside its range were destroyed, and all others ran out of fear."
(All undead, despite not having consciousness, fear holy magic as it can instantly destroy them. It's slightly modified D&D rules.)
"Normally, the spell lasts about 10 minutes, but I ended it very early so as to limit the chances of the shadow sensing prolonged high-level holy magic. But in doing so, I had to suffer some slight backlash."
After I finished my long explanation, everyone nodded, understanding the power I had just used.
Zek, however, did speak. "I get why you didn't use it until now, as it's a powerful item. However, you used holy magic to heal us that was provided by a one-time-use artifact? Why did you waste it here and not at some other point in time?"
I looked down at him and said, "With undead approaching and you hurt, I had no other options other than holy healing magic. Also, it's not like this was the only time I could use it." I smiled, knowing what they would say next.
"Wait, didn't you just say it was a one-time-use item?" Ark asked, confused.
I smiled, "A special thing about the tarot trials: once you find one card and complete its trial, you start finding the others too, though you can't find the same one again until after you use it."
Everyone paled slightly.
"So how many do you have left?" Zek asked.
"A few, though I won't say which," I responded with a smile.
~
They asked a few more questions before we returned to the topic of tracking Aaron.
Zek explained that while the spell was active, he managed to get a glimpse of some passageways that he would be able to recognize, but didn't remember the route to them. As for Aaron's location, he was knocked out before he could find out.
"If we can't track Aaron, how do we find the path he took?" Ark asked.
I thought for a second as everyone offered ideas, when I pulled out the leather book, and it started floating in the air.
(The leather book is Jack's notebook, one he can turn into other books.)
Everyone turned to me, curious about what I was doing, but I ignored them.
"Register a new book. Atlas," I commanded it, speaking in Latin [1] so the others wouldn't understand what I was saying.
It opened, and writing appeared on its pages.
"Transfer translated copy of the Second Academy Labyrinth to pages, register 3D image, and set default information storage as maps. Also, initiate a passive appraisal protocol to map out all current surroundings. For the future, set it as low priority unless it is unknown territory."
Giving it a moment, I pulled out the blue book, also having it start floating, and asked, "Can you trace the path a clairvoyance spell took?"
It paused for a second before writing.
I nodded, "And because most casters target individuals, counters are typically placed on the person. But this also makes it hard for people to realize you can target objects held on a person, going around the counter."
I raised an eyebrow and asked, "I can use pages as spell scrolls without needing the material components?"
I nodded. "Translate the formula."
It responded, and it flipped to a page showing me a magic circle, similar to Zek's but translated into my own magic dialect, one I created myself based on Latin, a language that doesn't exist on Primus.
I smiled, analyzed the circle, and made some modifications myself that the book missed.
I ripped the page out and turned to everyone.
They were all looking at me, confused, wondering what I had just been saying.
I smiled and said, in Common (the language we all speak), "I have a way to track Aaron."
~
[1]: Latin doesn't exist on Primus. When Jack realized this, and since he already knew some Latin from his life on Earth (he learned it for fun, no real reason), he learned the rest in the Library and can now speak it fluently.
He uses it to name spells or speak with Brakos and the books about things he doesn't want others to know.
Jack pronounces everything in the original Latin dialect and uses the 23-letter alphabet. The Latin we know doesn't sound the same as it did 2,000 years ago.
The 23-letter alphabet was the one used for the Latin language. It's the English alphabet, but without J, U, and W. Those three letters were created during the Middle Ages or the Renaissance.
He also learned that Latin was a language from many other worlds, but it always ends up as a dead language. This also works in Jack's favour, since even if he meets another otherworlder that might recognize Latin, the chances they will know the specific dialect he uses are incredibly low.