029 - What Do You Know, And When Did You Learn It

As the days passed, The Sorceress taught Roxanne some simple magic, and began teaching the foundational rules of casting. With the spell that had been placed on her as a infant by Margot dispelled, Rox noticed her body was changing from human to elfin, as it returned to what it should be and was when she was born.

The spell that Margot had put on her, and that she had put on both of her children, had two main properties: first it affected a cosmetic change in features; taking the pointed elfin features and rounding them to human; setting the hair color and pattern to generally human. Second it restrained her physical structure to perceived human norms, at least as Margot’s grandmother had thought. For her predecessors this was fine, and part of why grandma liked the butt naked pictures. But Roxanne pushed to the physical limit in lifting weights, and was restricted by it.

The cosmetic result of it being lifted was that Roxanne began to show increasing definition on her physical structure; her fat thinning and smoothing more, her muscles bulking more and her features becoming a bit more angular and hard-edged in definition. At home, she had reached a ceiling in her weight lifting and body tone. With the spell gone, she was able to see sudden progression in her physical abilities and a noticeable increase in muscle mass and stamina. She did not balloon up, but was suddenly progressing again, like she has not in years. She was able to put together a lifting/exercising regime, and also martial arts practice. Her speed began to pick up.

Just as Caspian was seeing Steven struggling with mana, and adapting to Tywacomb’s environment, so The Sorceress saw the same with Roxanne. But with Rox’s hybrid origin, it hit her slower at first, but had the risk of ramping up exponentially, and seriously damaging Rox in many ways. The Sorceress, once aware of this, acted swiftly to head it off.

Roxanne had told the Sorceress about sensing magic organize during their lessons. But this time was not a lesson. Four days after taking Roxanne in, The Sorceress and Roxanne were back in the workroom. The Sorceress led the way in. It was just before lunch time, and the rest of the afternoon was scheduled for magic and other lessons.

“All right, strip and stand in the center of that circle.” Sorceress then busied herself putting together some components for another spell.

Roxanne obediently stood to the center of the circle, and started undoing her belt to take the rest of her clothes off.

Sorceress noticed, slightly annoyed at not being specifically followed. “No, stop. Come out of the circle, remove everything, and then enter the circle.”

Roxanne gathered her belt and skirt from the floor, without saying a word. She had quickly learned not to argue, especially when The Sorceress was dealing with magic. Once The Sorceress was ready, she was willing to explain. Roxanne already knew that things had to be done in a certain order. She just did not yet understand why. So she asked as she unbuckled the straps for her chains at her arms and legs.

“The circle is a neutral power base. Each spell involving it directs that power in a certain way. But until enough is understood to force outcomes all at once certain orders of actions must be followed to set the pattern for the desired outcome. I need you to enter the circle without anything on so as to deal with what spells are on you, and not on anything you are wearing. Entering the circle with even the slightest thing on could spoil that.

“I need to work a spell on you to fully unlock and adapt your potential. You will still need to learn and practice, but your full potential that has otherwise sat dormant will awake.”

Roxanne put off her loin cloth, and stood to center as clothed as a new born, which suited The Sorceress’s purpose. She was about to give Roxanne a new birth, to the innate magic that was her birthright.

“Now, lie down and tell the world: what do you see yourself as? Who and what are you?”

Roxanne thought for a moment. “I am Roxanne Caplan, a Mother, Wife, martial artist, instructor, housewife, daughter, auto mechanic, and many other things.”

The Sorceress stood at the foot of the circle, and cast first an anti-magic shell over Rox. Then she pulled all the mana out of Rox, watching as the nine swirls of energy about her body dimmed; this was similar to what Caspian had allowed to happen over an afternoon to Steven. The Sorceress then ran a trickle back in, paying attention to how the nine swirls of energy about Rox’s body reacted. She started with the swirl closest to her, below Rox’s feet. She fed mana into this, and watched as it fed mana into the next at the root of her spine, and so forth, running up Roxanne’s body, and then out to the secondary ones in her limbs. The seven swirls each fed the next one up. Finally the one at Roxanne’s crown fed to the one about as far above her head as the first one was below her feet. When this one was ‘full,’ its spill over wrapped around and fed into the first one below the feet, forming a spheroid around the body with a helical spiral through the middle, feeding the swirls in the body.

As this happened, Rox first felt herself getting tired and, as with Steven, the color seemed to drain from the world. Then slowly she felt energy return, flowing up her body, warming and energizing. As it built she realized some subtle new senses about her body. The one that would last was a sense, almost visual, of all living things about her emanating energy.

As she finished The Sorceress relaxed, and collapsed. This took more energy than she had expected. Rox moved quickly and scooped up the fallen woman, and carried her out of the work room, down the hall and into The Sorceress’s own bedroom.

When she took Roxanne as apprentice/slave The Sorceress deliberately shielded Rox from the harem. After all, she is already married, and The King has other outlets. However this did not mean that they were in rough quarters. Rox put the unconscious Sorceress on her bed, and then turned and pulled the Page bell. Then she quickly ran to the workroom and collected her clothes, and gold chains. She was half clothed when the page, one of the girls, showed up.

Within a short while, The Sorceress was awake, and eating a vegetable soup to rejuvenate her energy. By mid-afternoon, she was on her feet and able to begin teaching Rox a better way to have helped, through magic. A few days of instruction followed.

After spending a morning listening to bureaucrats, and their petty squabbling, The Sorceress carried a mildly irritated mood with her as she strode into the workroom to find Rox was practicing with the mop handle as a quarter staff, after spending the morning cleaning the room. The mop head was by the empty bucket in a corner. She watched as Rox swung at the jars on the table, passing just over top of them. The Sorceress winced as one wobbled a bit. Rox then batted at an empty one, sending fragments into the far corner of the room.

The Sorceress sensed magic about this jar, and watched as the pieces flew back across the room and knitted back together on the base. Rox came around a second time, and the jar flew in another direction, this time it shattered against the wall, and reformed on the floor.

Rox stopped, breathing a bit faster than normal, and stood with the mop handle upright in her hand, all but at attention, upon noticing the Sorceress.

“Very good. Have you ever had to fight for your life?” She folded her arms and shifted her weight to lean against the door frame.

“My Lady, not per-se. But I have been in, um… four fights that were real.”

“Did you win?”

“Two of them, My Lady.”

“The other two?”

“Mom treated my bloody nose. And I got brought to this world, My Lady.”

The Sorceress nodded, and moved to a shelf full of assorted things. She pulled a short staff from among the things there. It looked a little longer than a cane, and was carved along its whole length.

“Bring the jar.” She turned and went into the main hallway.

Rox picked up the jar from the corner, and followed into the hall.

About five steps down the hall, The Sorceress suddenly turned, holding the shaft in one hand, and swung at Rox’s head. She dropped the jar, and ducked the swing, as she swung the mop handle into play. They danced back and forth, banging at each other. The Sorceress magically shoved Rox across the hall, and took the staff in a classic grip. A field of magic sprang to life around it and beyond its ends, making it very long. Rox was not sure what she had, so she moved to knock staves a bit.

The sorceress kept her distance, and swung the staff, the magic ends coming at Rox. Its impact on her mop handle startled her. Shortly she was getting all she could handle with the staff.

“So,” Rox started between hits. “What’s,” “the,” “point?” Each word punctuated by a hit.

“To win,” the Sorceress blurted.

Rox was good at staves, but had always preferred shorter weapons. So she deflected a few hits, to get the Sorceress to do a side sweep. Rox let this come between her hands, and swung into it hard enough to break her mop handle in two.

Rox went a few hits this way, with underhanded grips before backing out enough to switch holds to overhand. Rox felt a magic spell blow around and past her, making her very cold; she responded with one of the few she had learned.

“Lights bright,” she yelled.

All the torches and candles in the hall flared for a moment, brighter than outside at noon day.

Rox moved in on the flash-blinded Sorceress with her two sticks and was quickly inside her range, and ready to start with body blows, when the Sorceress shifted her grip again. The magic extending off the ends evaporated and on the staff the field changed. Suddenly the Sorceress was holding two sticks, each being half of the staff.

The Sorceress was good at this. But Rox was better. Without realizing how hard she was hitting, she ran through a pattern of strikes that sent one stick flying away; she broke the Sorceress’s other arm, causing her to drop the second stick. Rox's last swing stopped under The Sorceress’s chin, just before hitting her throat. They both took a few deep breaths, then Rox backed off.

The Sorceress cradled her broken arm. “OW!” She yelled, and broke into a chuckle.

“You’re very good, Roxanne. But there are still things you need to learn. You did not stop any of my spells.”

Roxanne stepped back, put her hands and broken mop handles to her sides, and bowed. “Thank you for the compliment, My Lady. Sorry about the broken arm. I only remember two spells: one shoving me back and one getting me very cold.”

The Sorceress picked up the one end of the staff with her good arm. They both limped slightly back to the work room, the Sorceress picking up the second half of the staff as she passed it.

“There were two more: one attacking footing, but yours is good enough you did not notice; the other was supposed to shatter your mop handle, but I missed. Let me show you how to deal with broken bones. Get the door, please.”

They walked into the workroom and put the sticks down on a table. The Sorceress then got a small bowl out and talked Rox through brewing a quick potion.

Rox felt her sinuses clear at the pungency of one the ingredients. It was soon absorbed in the rest. “What is this stuff?”

“The ‘stuff’ is mainly a focus point, and catalyst. Once smooth, it’s ready.”

Rox was stirring the stuff with what to her was a wooden tongue depressor. It quickly smoothed to the consistency of runny sour cream, the color of caramel. The Sorceress put her hand to the edge of the table and pulled her arm as flat as she could stand to make it. She winced a bit.

“Now, spread that around the break, using the stick to paint the area completely.”

As Rox put the stuff on, the Sorceress rolled her arm slightly to help get it all around. Rox had noticed a buildup of energy in the bowl and more so, a buildup on the Sorceress’s arm as she worked. She used the whole bowl, and wiped the stick clean on the Sorceress’s arm, the stuff rubbing in like a fine lotion.

The Sorceress began a sing song chant. Roxanne felt the energy build, and flare briefly across the arm, and then dissipate. The Sorceress finished her chant as she gripped the edge of the table, and pulled her arm hard, resetting the bone, then let go with a relieved sigh. She worked and flexed her hand and wrist, while her arm was an angry purple, though otherwise intact.

“The bone is set and mended, but still weak, the magic encouraging it back to original shape. As soon as the bruises are gone, I should be fine. This salve was something I learned from a nurse as a girl. It’s useful for bones, and deadening local pain. But not much else.”

They cleaned up, as The Sorceress drilled into Rox the ingredients and recipe.

Rox doubted she would have means or time to use it, but filed it away.

At some point, while Rox was not watching, the Sorceress had reassembled the staff, and put it away. The mop handle was beyond use. Rox realized that if the fight had gone on much longer, the pieces would have begun splintering and splitting.