"When I use my magik, my eyes change colors," Emory explained, "But I'm not using it right now."
"Then why are they still blue?" Sam awkwardly asked.
Emory thought for a moment before redirecting Sam to a related topic, "I'm not sure, but answer this question for me instead. Can you read this book now?"
"Why? Did something change about it?" Sam questioned with confusion, "No, it looks the same as before. What's going on with you?"
"Interesting. I think I worked something out with these books. Can we try something? Then we'll go eat; I promise," Emory pleaded.
Sam's shoulders dropped as she huffed, "Fine, but it better be quick. What are we doing?"
"Charge up a Pull," Emory directed, "Then release it in a small pulse from your hands at this book." Sam did as she was told while Emory held open her parents' book. Spookily enough, the book seemed to suck up the energy again. This time, though, the text didn't change; however, they saw a note being written on the opposite blank page.
"This spellbook has been restricted to Arcane casters only."
Sam looked mortified, "Does it say Arcane or am I reading that wrong?"
"Yeah, but I've never heard of the Arcane sphere before," Emory shrugged, not fully aware of Sam's reaction to the book.
"Are you an Arcane practitioner, Emory?" Sam turned to her and asked grimly.
Emory was beginning to grasp Sam's reaction and honestly replied, "I don't even know what the Arcane sphere is. Should I know?"
"I figured with your heritage, you would have heard about the Arcane before," Sam sighed, "Come on, let's eat. This is going to be a long explanation." Emory put both books away and followed Sam out of the room. Sam was whispering to herself as they walked to the cafeteria while Emory thought to herself as well about the discovery she had made. Since both were deep in thought, they were lucky that Tana and Tethys were waiting for them.
Tana caught them, "Caf is this way, slowpokes."
Sam shook her head for a moment to clear her thoughts and said back, "Can we get our food and go back to the dorm? There are some things I need to tell you all." The girls looked puzzled, but all agreed. They went through the line, grabbed food, and returned to the dorm room. The room had four desks and four beds, among other necessities, so the group had plenty of space to eat and chat.
Sam started, "As you all know, I'm from a Council family. My clan has been on the Council of Witches for hundreds of years. Over that time, membership has changed several times, but the Council has always had certain families. One of those clans is the Aurelias clan; in fact, that clan has been in charge more than any other clan and has a permanent seat in the Council. This clan is very small, but they are the only wielders of the Arcane sphere."
"Sure, sure," Tana interrupted, "We all know that some Council families have chosen to keep their sphere secret. But why are you singling out this Aurelias clan?"
"The Aurelias clan and the Arcane sphere is special because it's so strong. You all know that a person can only use two spheres; while that is true to a point, the Arcane sphere breaks that limitation. Cassandra Black is from that clan, and she can cast Arcane, Earth, Frost, Flame, Gale, Storm, and Water magik," Sam emphasized.
Tethys squinted, "How can she cast from so many different spheres? That doesn't make sense."
"Arcane magik is almost like the parent sphere of the primal spheres," Sam explained, "Primal magik changes raw magik into a specific type that's easier to cast. But besides drawing it out and transforming, raw magik isn't potent enough to use. Think of it like liquid concentration. A small amount of raw magik can be transformed into an inferno or
blizzard. For the vast majority of people, raw magik works like that and can be used in general magik spells as well. But the average person can't build up enough raw magik to use it like a bolt or pulse.
"I'm guessing you're going to say except the Aurelias clan or Arcane practitioners, right?" Emory said, jumping to the conclusion.
Sam nodded, "Exactly. It's obviously a secret how they do this, but you're right. The Aurelias clan can harness raw magik to the extent that it can be used in a bolt or pulse or shield or whatever you like. And unsurprisingly, it beats every other sphere in a straight power contest. Worse, witches like Lady Black can absorb many incoming attacks and redirect them back with more force than they were sent with. For that reason, Arcane magik is closely
monitored."
"This is a lovely story," Tana said with a mouth full of food, "But why are you telling us? How does it affect us? We don't have the Arcane sphere."
"I might. I don't know how, but I can still read that book," Emory trailed off sheepishly.
Sam scowled, "What do you mean you don't know how?"
"I'm saying that my parents never taught me a sphere, and I didn't ever learn one growing up," Emory clarified, "Growing up, my mother practiced magik a lot, but it was just general magik. I never saw her use practical or battle magik. Then after they went off to war, I stayed with the military."
"Well maybe we can learn more from these books. Do you mind reading them aloud?" Tethys suggested. Emory was nervous but didn't see any harm in reading the books. Although these girls were new friends, she felt like she could trust them.
Emory opened her parents' book and read aloud, "Arcane Sphere. Lesson One: Arcane Bolt. To create a bolt, focus magik between your palms until it is dense enough to blur the space behind it. Think of shaping a ball in your hands. Then release the ball with Push."
Tana, having finished her food quickly, exclaimed, "That's easy. Let me try." So, she focused her power in her hands, shaping it like a ball as instructed. Except a curious thing happened as she was building it up. The harder she focused, the more crystalline the ball became, and after a couple minutes, the ball began to give off cold air. Eventually, the frost ball became too cold for even Tana; she jerked her hands, and a frozen ball of ice smashed onto the ground.
Sam laughed, "Easy, is it? Tethys, can you build up that much raw magik? My sphere isn't a bolt, so I'm not proficient in building up power like this."
"Not really, I'm not a bolt caster either, but I'll give it a shot," Tethys replied. She tried as well to build up magik, yet after a minute, her ball was quarter sized, and she was breathing heavily. Then all eyes turned to Emory who didn't need to be asked. She began shaping the raw magik into a ball, rotating her hands back and forth as if she was molding clay. As she did, the glow from the ball grew brighter and brighter. Emory could feel it become self-sustaining after ninety seconds or so when it leveled off into the size of a baseball. Slowly she
took one hand away and held the ball in the other outstretched hand. The room had gotten quiet
enough to hear the little hum coming from the glowing ball.
"That's amazing," Sam gasped, "It's so bright."
"Open the window, so I can fire it off" Emory panicked. Tana quickly pulled up the window and Emory released the ball. It flew off like a shimmering comet and exploded into a nearby tree. She smiled, "Well I guess I picked a sphere."
Tethys grinned, "It seems like you were destined to pick it. Or it's in your blood or something."
"Wait. If you can read your book, what about the school's book? Can you read it too?" Sam asked.
Emory opened the other book, now appearing in English for her, and said, "Hexbloods: Mortal Fae."
"Fae? Like faeries?" Tana questioned. The other girls all turned to look at her, and she felt herself get a little red. "What are you looking at? I read a lot of fantasy books," she tried to hide her embarrassment.
Tethys started, "I guess magik is pretty new, but I have wondered since it was revealed to be true if there were other magical things out there."
"As far as I know, there's no other race here on Earth," Sam interjected, "But that doesn't mean that they couldn't be somewhere else. After all, even the ancient history of magik is unknown to the Council."
"Given that we're not Council families, would you mind telling us more about it, Sam?" Emory asked, knowingly full well that her family could have been a Council family if she had this sphere.
Sam winced as she replied, "Honestly, I don't know a lot about the history of the Council, but I do know their general structure and current operations. The Council of Witches was founded a long, long time ago. Even though membership has changed, all witches followed their decrees. Right now, eleven people sit on the Council, and it's been at eleven seats for a few hundred years. One of the members is elected Supreme Witch; Cassandra Black is
Supreme Witch currently. Hmm, what else can I say?"
"How many spheres are still kept secret; well, I mean how many spheres are there total?" Tethys piped up.
"Technically, there are twenty," Sam answered, "However, three clans have mastered the mixing of two different spheres, creating three sub-spheres. That's not including general or specialized magik."
Emory interrupted, "Specialized magik? What is that?"
"As you already know, raw magik is more flexible than practical magik like Healing or battle magik like Frost," Sam quietly elaborated, "Well, specialized magik is raw magik being used for specific purposes like transportation and communication. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know all the ins and outs, but I know we have magik with similar effects to teleportation and telepathy. Another example is the main residence of the Council is completely hidden unless you know how to get past the illusion."
"What about the Council? How strong are those witches?" Tana asked with a smirk.
Sam rubbed her chin, "Well they're really strong, I can tell you that much. Mostly tens I bet. I heard a rumor that Lady Black is a fifteen when you include her Pull strength." Tana's jaw dropped to the floor as someone who prided themselves on their strength. The girls continued to talk throughout the night about all the things they thought they were experts on. Tana was a Kendo martial artist and had lots of knowledge about different martial arts styles. Tethys was a musician of many instruments; oddly her favorite was a small flute like instrument
called an ocarina. And Emory had grown up around both agriculture and cutting-edge science, lending to a wealth of knowledge about biology. Finally, they all laid down to sleep around two in the morning.