“Does the will attribute do anything other than the obvious for spell casters?”
Jadis felt rather proud about the way she had worded that question. Rather than display her complete ignorance on the subject, the phrasing made it seem as though she already knew will’s normal use and was just looking for an expert’s opinion on the stat. Jadis hoped it would only take a little prompting and Aila would simply launch into detailed explanations of the various magic attributes. She might not though, so she’d thought up a few different ways she could ask her questions without revealing how little she knew.
“No, just magic regeneration,” Aila said, settling back against Jay’s chest. “It’s just like endurance, but for your magic. The higher it is, the quicker you get your magic back to cast spells. No other tangible benefit.”
It was exceptionally difficult for Jadis to focus on Aila’s explanation when she wiggled her bum like that while getting comfortable on her lap. She wanted answers about magic more than lewd things for the moment though, so she held back her natural response through a monumental effort of restraint.
“There’s debate among mages on whether you should increase your will or focus though,” Aila continued, having settled into a comfortable spot. “Some say you should level your focus so you have a higher base magic point total, letting you cast more spells, one right after another, before you run out. Others say you should increase your will so you can recover your drained magic faster, getting you back into the fight quicker after you’ve drained yourself.”
“Which do you think is the better option?” Syd asked while adjusting a pillow behind Jay’s back so she could lean against the wall a little more comfortably.
“I think it depends on the type of spells you have access to,” Aila hedged. “If you have spells with a high cost, naturally you’ll need to have a high focus or you won’t even be able to cast them. If you have low-cost spells, it might make sense to have high will since recovering a small amount of magic points quickly will have you casting again almost immediately. There’s also something to be said for taking a balanced approach and raising both up as equally as you can.”
“So basically, go with what you think will benefit your spells the most?” Dys rephrased Aila’s explanation.
Aila nodded agreeably. “Yes. My focus and will are both at ten, which is already balanced, so I’ll probably keep them more or less equal, unless the spells I’m offered when I get my second class lean me towards one or the other.”
“What kind of spells are you hoping to get?” Jay asked curiously. “Actually, what’s even possible considering your focus on arcane? With seventy-seven points, I imagine whatever class you get will be powerful.”
“I suppose anything is within the realm of possibility,” Aila shrugged, “but I’ve always hoped for a wizard archetype, preferably one with attack spells. There’s no guarantee on what the gods will offer me, but I think you’ve secured me at least one good option.”
Aila turned her head to smile at Dys, a look of genuine gratitude and affection on her visage. Unable to resist the temptation, Dys leaned forward and captured Aila's lips in a heated kiss.
A few lovely moments later, Jadis broke the kiss and put her mind back on track to learn more about magic.
“I never thought I’d get a mage class,” Dys started, focusing Aila’s attention. “Having my eldritch stat start out so high was as much a surprise to me as it was for you. I know maybe a few basics, but since I was never going to be a mage, I don’t know much of anything about how they work from a practical standpoint. Would you mind giving me a rundown?”
“Don’t worry about explaining things that might seem overly basic,” Jay added, squeezing Aila a little tighter for a second. “I’d rather hear things I already know than risk missing out on something I don’t.”
“Also, I like hearing you talk about something you’re passionate about,” Syd finished, giving Aila a cheeky grin.
Aila was silent for a bit, thinking about Jadis’ request. She could practically see the wheels turning in her head as she considered the topic. Finally, Aila looked at Syd and shrugged her one shoulder a little helplessly.
“Give me somewhere to start,” she said. “Magic is a broad subject with a lot of nuances. I’ve studied it, but I’m no teacher. I’m not sure where to begin. What do you want to know the most about?”
“Okay,” Syd nodded, thinking about where she’d like to start the topic, “how about with the wizard archetype? Also, I know my secondary class is a ‘ritualist’ archetype, right? What can you tell me about those two? Are there many others? What are the differences?”
Aila’s expression morphed into one of greater certainty as Jadis laid out what she wanted. Straightening her shoulders, she spoke in the tone of someone who was, if not an expert, at least thoroughly well-read on the subject. As she explained, Jadis did her best to memorize the information she was being gifted with.
“There are many different magic-based archetypes, but when it comes to pure caster classes, there are six that are common enough that most scholars consider them to be the primary mage class archetypes, with all others being variations of them. To be clear, there are other, less common mage classes that have different mechanics for how their spells typically work, but those are rare and are also generally not combat oriented, like enchanters or alchemists.
“The big six are Wizard, Sorcerer, Cleric, Cultist, Witch, and Ritualist. Usually, if someone has a mage class, their class title will have one of those as part of the name, like ‘Ice Wizard’ or ‘Sorcerer of the Purple Flame’ or something like that.”
“Six main archetypes, got it,” Jay nodded along to Aila’s explanation. “And the kinds of spells they cast differ depending on the archetype?”
“Basically,” Aila said while raising one hand, holding it flat, and wiggling it from side to side. “But it’s also about which magic attribute is powering the spells. The title of the class can let you know how the spells are going to be cast, while the magic attribute will tell you what effects the spells will have. And you can usually guess what kind of spells you’ll get because each magic attribute, namely Arcane, Divine, and Eldritch, have two caster archetypes that gravitate towards them. But there’s plenty of overlap and it’s possible to get an uncommon combination.”
“Alright,” Dys said, frowning a bit. “This sounds like it’s going to get complicated, but I’m game. Keep going,” she motioned for Aila to continue.
“It’s not that bad, really,” Aila said while giving Dys’ hand a pat. “As long as you know what the three magic attributes govern and the method of spell casting each archetype uses, then you understand more than enough to get the gist of any caster class you might come across. Your secondary class is a good example of the rules at work, actually.”
“How so?”
“Well, the class is called ‘Perverted Ritualist of D’ which, like I said, has the title ‘ritualist’ in it. That’s one of the six main archetypes right there. If all I knew about your class was the name, other than the obvious implications of perversion, I could safely assume that the magic attribute your class uses to power its spells is eldritch, since almost all ritualist classes are eldritch based. It’s what that archetype leans towards. Also, since your class is a ritualist one, I can assume you won’t be casting any Active Spells, just Ritual Spells.”
“Active spells being ones that have an instant cast time and effect, while rituals take time to cast and have longer lasting effects, right?” Syd guessed.
“Correct.”
Jadis had figured that was the difference between the two categories of spells she’d been offered. Mirror Knight had given her the option of a few ‘active spells' in the past, not that she’d taken any of them since she hadn’t focused her stats in a way that would make use of them. And just like Aila had said, her ritualist class had only ever offered her ritual spells, all of which generally took hours to cast and had effects that lasted indefinitely.
“Do other classes get ritual spells?” Dys asked, curious about any overlap.
“Sometimes,” Aila shrugged. “Wizard and sorcerer classes don’t, or at least it's extremely rare for them, but I do know that some clerics and cultists get ritual spells. Witches do too, but their spellcasting is odd to begin with so it’s kind of an odd mix.”
“Okay. Starting to get confused again,” Jay laughed, giving Aila a kiss on top of her head. “I love that you’re explaining this for me but let’s take a step back. Go in order. What attribute do wizards focus on, what kind of spells do they cast, and how do they cast them?”
Aila truly was a font of knowledge, but trying to keep track of the alien notion of how the classes worked without being able to write any notes down was making it hard for Jadis to remember the details. It didn’t help that there didn’t seem to be definitive, hard rules but just guidelines. Aila also hadn’t explained what made the difference between classes that were ostensibly both casting active spells.
“Actually, can I borrow your pen and a piece of paper?” Dys asked Aila.
Aila nodded, a slightly confused expression on her face. “Certainly. But I thought you couldn’t read or write?”
“I can’t read or write Imperial.” Dys said as she crawled over to Aila’s backpack to retrieve another sheet of paper. “I can read and write my language just fine.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” Aila said with understanding.
Jadis didn’t elaborate that her language was the same as Aila’s, they were just using different alphabets as far as she’d been able to gather from her observations.
She also took her time finding the paper, enjoying the way Aila was both avoiding looking at Dys’ bent over ass as well as surreptitiously stealing glances at it when she thought Jadis wouldn’t notice.
Paper and pen acquired, Dys returned to her seat snuggled up against Jay and Aila, then took on the task of writing down some notes on what Aila was explaining. Aila looked on in interest at Jadis’ writing, pointing out some similarities to the alphabet system Imperial used, but otherwise she focused on explaining the differences between the different magic class archetypes and their spells.
It turned out that the three different attributes of arcane, divine, and eldritch all governed specific different forms of magic with different effects.
Arcane magic spells were elemental in nature, at least in the classical sense. Fire, water, wind, earth, and any of the various related subtypes like ice and lightning were all within the realm of spells an arcane powered class could cast. Arcane spells could also cast something called ‘force’ magic, which Aila explained as raw magic power, something with no elemental aspect.
Divine magic had spells for healing and harm, defense boosts and debuffs. Powerful divine spells could heal injury, regenerate lost limbs, remove sickness and poisons, or even temporarily increase a person’s attributes. The opposite was also true for divine magic, as it could sap away health, disease and poison, or even lower a target’s attributes to hinder and harm them.
Eldritch spells were for making illusions or altering the physical form of the caster or target. Body and mind were the domains of eldritch magic. While no spells could directly alter or control a person's thoughts, false images and illusions could be cast upon a person, tricking or frightening them. The physical or attribute-based changes eldritch spells made to a person were also generally permanent or at least long lasting, unlike the temporary buffs divine magic applied.
“Wizards and sorcerers almost always use arcane magic. Clerics and cultists are predominantly divine powered. Witches and ritualists are eldritch magic based in most cases.”
“And the way they cast spells differs, generally?” Dys asked as she jotted down her notes on Aila’s magical lecture.
“Yes. Wizard archetypes cast spells via spoken word. They have to recite spells aloud to cast them, which takes time and requires the ability to speak, but they have great versatility. Most wizard classes can cast multiple different kinds of elements, some spells even having two or three different elemental effects that can be switched out depending on the words they use when casting, effectively getting two or three spells for just one skill.”
“Convenient…” Syd murmured. “Maybe a little unfair, even. Double, maybe triple the spells of other classes?”
“It’s a solid class archetype,” Aila agreed. “Though there are disadvantages. Even though they are casting active spells, wizards still have the delay of speaking the words of their spell. Some can be quite lengthy, scaling with the power of their spell. There’re also the spell effects to consider. Elemental damage is the most easily defended against spell damage type there is.”
“How’s that?” Jay asked curiously.
“Well, fire is fire. Whether it comes from a torch or from a spell, it’s still fire. The fortitude attribute makes the body more resistant to any physical damage, and fire is physical damage. The same attribute that makes you stronger against a blade also makes you stronger against a wizard’s lightning blast or rock spike.”
“Oh. So magic attacks are no different from mundane attacks in that sense? A wizard summoning a rock that hurls itself at a target is no different than hitting someone in the head with a rock I picked up off the ground?”
“That’s… not wrong,” Aila said with a wince. “But that only applies to elemental damage. In fact, that’s probably your biggest weakness, looking at your attributes.”
Jadis raised her collective eyebrows at that statement. She didn’t think she had any real weaknesses beyond a lack of proper equipment.
“What weakness?” Dys asked, a frown tugging at the corners of her lips.
“Your resilience attribute is a lot lower than your fortitude. Fifteen isn’t a terrible number, in fact it’s a lot higher than most would have at your level, but considering you three—Um, you and your three bodies?” Aila looked momentarily confused, then shook her head and pressed on. “You act the role of a vanguard in mercenary terms. You get in the front and stay there, attacking and being attacked constantly on the front line of a battle. Your physical defense is great, but against non-elemental magic attacks, you’re far more vulnerable.”
Aila pointed at the jar with the demon hatchling inside, the small bundle of tentacles mostly still now, its one eye staring unblinkingly in their direction.
“Remember the acid those demons were spraying at you yesterday? And from the wagon ride, that got Ludwas? Those were likely divine-based or eldritch-based spells, non-elemental. You’d have little defense against them, comparatively speaking. Any of those acid spells that hit you would hurt you far more than a fire-based spell that had the same amount of arcane power backing it.”
Jadis thought back to when the one twisted wretch had cast that odd bubble spell and it had popped all over Jay, nearly crippling her with its noxious gas. Would the spell have been less effective if she’d had a higher resilience? Apparently, according to Aila.
“Interesting,” Syd said with a small quirk of her smile. “That’s definitely something I’ll have to think about, finding ways to shore up the weak point.”
“But I think we got a little distracted,” Jay pointed out. “We were talking about wizards. What about sorcerers? What’s the difference between those two classes if they both cast arcane magic?”
Aila took a moment to reorient her thoughts, then continued.
“Sorcerers also cast elemental spells, or force spells which are non-elemental, except they don’t have to speak any words. When they cast a spell, it just happens, instantly. Some use hand gestures or the like in my experience, but it’s completely unnecessary. The other big difference is they lack variety. Not only do sorcerers not have the ability to switch out spell effects the way wizards do, but sorcerer classes are also usually mono-elemental. An individual might be a ‘cinder sorcerer’ and thus they’ll only be able to cast fire spells. They will never be offered any spells with any other elemental variety to them.”
So it was a difference between versatile but slow casting, versus limited but speedy casting. There was probably more nuance to the classes than that, but Jadis felt like she got the idea.
“Is the difference between clerics and cultists the same?” Jay asked, moving the topic along so she could get a better big picture idea of how magic worked.
“No, actually,” Aila shook her head. “Clerics and Cultists cast their spells in exactly the same way, via prayer or physical touch. The main difference between the two is clerics only cast spells that help, also called benedictions, while cultists only cast maledictions, which are universally harmful.”
“That’s it? No other differences?”
“That and I suppose who they worship. Clerics follow Valtar or one of the other gods like Charos or Lyssandria, or maybe all of them as a single host. Cultists sometimes follow demi-gods, or Samleos.”
“Sounds like cultists are the kind of people most would want to avoid,” Dys mumbled as she took down her notes.
“Definitely,” Aila nodded her agreement. “I’ve never met one myself, but they’re the type you should stay away from. Any person who’d willingly follow Samleos is insane.”
“I can imagine,” Jay intoned, though she had more questions on the matter of gods. She supposed those were better saved for when she spoke to a priest, though, and kept Aila’s focus on magic instead.
“What about witches and ritualists?”
“Ritualists are, well, what you are,” Aila said with a small smile. “Ritualists cast exclusively ritual type spells. Long casting times, long lasting effects…”
“Yup, got it,” Dys confirmed.
“Witches are different though, definitely one of the most unique of the six main archetypes in my opinion,” Aila mused. “They’re almost like enchanters or alchemists, really. Sort of battle version of them, I guess you could say.”
“I don’t got it,” Dys said with a silly smile. “What makes them battle-worthy and not alchemists or enchanters?”
“Alchemists create potions that can be used to cure illnesses or heal injuries or other various helpful or even harmful effects—”
“Like the potion you just took?” Syd interrupted while she grinned slyly, making Aila blush.
“Yes, like that,” she said, pushing Syd’s face away from hers playfully. “Don’t tease me when I’m trying to be helpful.”
“Sorry, please continue,” Syd said while motioning for Aila to resume her explanation.
The moment Aila started talking again, Dys and Syd darted in from either side and kissed her, causing Aila to splutter in flustered indignation.
“Okay, now continue,” Jay said, holding Aila back from smacking her two other selves.
After taking a few moments to berate Jadis for being a troublesome student, Aila got back on topic.
“Alchemists can only make potions and those potions only have effect if you consume them. You can’t force feed potions to your enemies in combat and stopping mid-battle to drink a potion to heal yourself isn’t exactly easy either. Thus, alchemists might supply you for it, but they don’t get involved in direct combat.
“Enchanters can make magic items like the detection ring my uncles have or the mercenary identification badges we have, or they can make more combat-oriented things like magic swords or enchanted shields or things like that, but they still aren’t suited to combat. I mean, I suppose an enchanter could equip herself out with a fully enchanted suit of armor and flaming sword, but why would she? Better to sell that armor and keep making and selling more.
“Witches are like alchemists and enchanters because they can make potions and enchanted items, but the potions and items only work for them. A witch can make a wand that casts a water bolt spell every time she waves it, for example, but it’ll only work if she’s the one using it. Or she could make a potion that heals, but instead of having to drink it, she could toss the flask at someone and it’ll explode in a cloud of healing vapor, for example. The same potion wouldn’t do a thing if someone else tried to use it.”
“Wait, I thought witches were eldritch based? Eldritch magic can’t do ‘water bolts’ or whatever,” Dys frowned at the inconsistency.
“That’s true,” Aila allowed. “Most witches can’t actually do those spells, instead they do spells that create illusions or affect your body or the like. But remember, there is overlap. Some witches are arcane based, just like some wizards are eldritch based.”
“Right, I think I get it,” Jay said while Dys jotted down a few more notes.
“Anything else about magic you think I should know, oh wise master of the arcane arts?”
Aila gave Syd one of her patented deadpan stares before saying, “I can think of a few more things.”
The conversation continued into the night, with Aila providing various examples and explanations, the flood of knowledge only slowing when the well-read redhead finally ran out of steam and drifted off mid-sentence.
As Aila’s eyes fluttered shut, Jadis gave her a three-pronged kiss of thanks, one to either cheek and a third on top of her head.
“Thanks, Blue,” Jadis whispered fondly, settling back to fall asleep herself.
“And good night to you, too,” she whispered at the slightly glowing eye of the demon hatchling still watching from its perch on top of the crates.
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