Unexpected Adventure

by WhooshieWoosh

Magic Is Hard

As we entered the library I looked around at the rows upon rows of shelves holding books of all sizes. The same lanterns from before hung at strategic locations in order to allow all books to be seen.

"Now then, what branch of magic would you like to learn first?"

I crossed my arms as I thought through my options. Honestly, all of them sounded cool, and I wanted to learn all of them. But... I didn't want to spend the next twenty years learning magic when I could be hunting treasure and going on adventures and stuff.

"Can you like... give me a crash course in all of them? Like, teach me some insanely useful spells from all of the schools now, I leave for a bit to go adventuring, and then I come back for more training after I've been using those spells for a while?"

He tapped his ghostly claws together before nodding.

"I believe I can do that."

"Sweet. So, what books do I need."

He held up a claw and said,

"We won't immediately start with spells, first you need to understand magic."

I took a seat as he straightened his robes before continuing.

"Now, I already told you what sorcery is all about. Using the magic present in us to control the magic around us. No other species can do this because no other species is as attuned to magic as dragons. All living beings in this world need magic to live, but whereas if you were to drain most of the magic from a pony they'd become weak and sickly. If you were to drain more than half a dragon's magic they'd experience fatigue, muscle cramps and pain, and if it prolonged until too much magic was removed, leave them comatose. Now, you might be wondering why it is that if we need our magic so much we cast spells. It is because we have masive stores of magic compared to the other races. An experienced sorcerer could reduce half a forest to ash without much more than a headache. Now, you won't be that strong until decades of training, but I'll get you started."

He motioned for me to stand and I did. I walked over to him and he cleared his throat.

"Now then, one of the most basic magical abilities a dragon has is breathing fire. If you thought that was a biological process, you are an idiot. How would a living being store fire within themselves? It's magic, and so instinctual that even dragons nowadays know how to do it. So, I want you to take a deep breath, and then channel your magic into your exhalation."

"How do I do that?"

"I don't know."

"What! You're supposed to be teaching me to be a sorcerer! How can you not know how to channel--"

"I know how I channel magic, this is dependent on you finding out how you channel magic."

Oh, that made sense. But... how do I channel magic?

"Is there anything more you can tell me? Any tips?"

He smirked and said,

"Just trust your gut. It usually knows what it's doing."

"Right, trust my gut. Very helpful."

My gut's saying I need a sandwich.

I breathed in and held it as I tried to "channel my magic." I thought I felt something and pushed as hard as I could. I felt pressure in my gut rise into my throat. Alright! Fire come out!

*Buuuuuuuurp*

I stood there with my mouth open as a flaming belch ripped out of my gut.

"Ah, like I said, your gut knows. Just keep working until you only get fire, without the burp."

I nodded and prepared to try again. Here's to hoping I don't screw up and have a "backdraft."

------------------------
(A short while later.)

"Now that you've mastered fire breath, I'll teach you how to control your fire. The words I am about to teach you are in ancient Draconian and are used in all spells for controlling fire. They are 'fyair' (fire) and 'stylo' (control). They mean fire and control respectively."

"Yeah, I, I think I knew that."

He looked at me in confusion.

"You did? How do you know Draconian?"

I shrugged which caused him to sigh.

"Whatever's the case this is a basic Elementalism spell. So basic a ghost can perform it. Now then, breathe fire please."

I did as told and sent a rippling tongue of flame shooting out of my mouth. As I did so he raised his ghostly hand and said, "fyair stylo." As he said this a glowing glyph appeared over his palm. It looked like a twisted flame surrounded by a circle and a pair of intersecting hexagons. The flames warped and formed a circle as he moved his hand like a painter would a brush.

"Wicked."

"Indeed."

He closed his hand and the glyph was snuffed out alongside the flames.

"See, easy. Now you try. Light that brazier," he pointed to a large wooden bowl in the corner,"and then pick up the flames."

I nodded before shooting a burst of flames into the unlit coals. They caught quickly and soon a warm glow suffused the room.

"Fyair Stylo!"

Before my eyes a faint copy of the glyph from before appeared above my outstretched palm. But, it was very difficult to maintain the spell. I tried to control the fire and saw the flickering flames spastically trembling as I clashed my magic against that of this world. I barely managed to pull a small orb of controlled flames out of the brazier before the glyph faded, along with the flames.

"Hm, not bad. I've definitely seen worse."

I slumped exhausted into a chair. It had been not only physical struggle, but a mental one too. I'd had to focus every part of my being on maintaining that spell for only a few seconds.

"I... I thought you said I had large stores of magic!?"

He laughed.

"Your magical reserves work like your muscles. The more you use it, the stronger it becomes. It will take practice, but you will prevail."

I nodded as I slouched over. That had been the most difficult thing I'd ever done. Harry Potter didn't know squat!

"Now, you mentioned an interest in swordplay?"

"Yeah, I figured that would be useful for my line of work. You know, treasure hunting and all that."

He nodded before motioning for me to follow him. He lead me out of the library and into the hall to the left of it. Inside was a massive room filled with boxes of all sizes.

"Before you learn to fight with a sword, I should teach you some basic Metraphistiation. All ancient dragon weaponry was imbued with some basic charms. Others had more complex enchantments for such things as draining magic, enhanced sharpness, or anti-coagulation. But all were given three basic charms, one to make then almost impossible to break, one to cause them to never lose their edge, and of course, the Armament charm."

"The what?"

"Pick up one of the knives in this crate."

I looked in and saw that inside were knives of all shapes and sizes. I picked up a single edged dagger that looked like a tiny buster sword. With a grip big enough for one hand, a small crosspiece, and a squared tip that looked razor sharp. It began to glow before disappearing... just like... oooooh.

"There, that dagger is bound to you now. You can summon it at will and dispel it as well. Unfortunately all Draconian swords were lost during the Fall so--"

I summoned my sword and he stared at it like I'd summoned a giant plunger instead of my favorite magic sword.

"Where did you--"

"I, uh... I stole it from Princess Celestia's vaults."

He stood stock still before grinning widely.

"You robbed that upstart Celestia?!"

"Yup. Got the sword and a whole lotta gold."

I swear he was crying ghostly tears.

"My pupil, if I had a physical body I would hug you right now."

"Aw... I appreciate your appreciation. So, is this some super awesome sword of legend? Like, with all sorts of nifty--"

"No, it's just a basic sword. But it will be far superior to any you could buy nowadays."

I looked at the sword in my hand as I once again appreciated its artistic design.

"Alright! Even if it's a no-name sword of no importance, I'll make it a legend!"

"That's the spirit! To the training hall!"

-----------------------
(Meanwhile, back with the ponies.)

Cadence looked up as Shining Armor and his troops walked back down the mountain towards them. She noticed that they all looked a little... embarrassed. She trotted over and asked,

"Shiny, what happened?"

"N-nothing. The dragon just didn't want to--"

Cadence looked to one of the soldiers who immediately spoke up.

"She spanked him, your highness."

"What!?"

"Put him over her knee and everything."

Shining Armor turned to the soldiers and started gibbering.

"Y-you weren't--"

"She SPANKED my Shiny!? Oh, it is on!"

As she flew towards the cave Shining dashed after her.

"Cadence! Wait! She's not someone you should trifle with!"

As she landed inside the cave she glared at the form of the dragon that had been trying to fall back asleep.

"Okay you massive, scale-covered whore! Nobody--"

"YOUNG LADY! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth! I thought the unicorn was bad but you! You're an alicorn! You should have better manners. You're a princess for goodness sake!"

"Shut it! If you think you can manhandle my Shining Armor than you're about to learn a painful lesson. LOVE HURTS B***H!"

"Oh my! How vulgar!"

She scooped up a pony sized bar of soap she had around for just the occasion and shoved it right into the alicorn's mouth.

"Hmph! Let's see if some soap cleans up your filthy mouth."

Cadence spat out the soap and began rubbing a hoof against her tongue.

"Ugh! Iz horribll!"

"Yes it is! How can you use language like that! Children look up to you! If you don't clean up your act I'll personally fill your mouth with so much soap you'll never get the taste out."

"But I--"

"No buts! Language like that is inexcusable. The most disappointing thing is that the soldiers under your command have had cleaner language than you. How does that make royalty look, hm?"

"B-bad."

"That's right missy, bad. Equestria looks up to you and the princesses. How can your ponies respect someone who has a foul mouth?"

"T-they won't."

"Exactly. I hope you think about what I've told you next time you feel like using that kind of language."

"Yes ma'am, sorry ma'am. I... I'll be going now."

As she left Cadence gulped and thought to herself,

Now I see why Shining was so flustered. It's like trying to argue with his mom!

--------------------------
(Three weeks later)

If you were to walk down the far right hall of Ra'avez Instutia you would arrive in a room full of training dummies and sparing mats. Of course, if you were walking down that hall now, you'd hear something before you saw the room.

*Thwak!*

"OW!"

I stood panting as the enchanted dummy Ra'avez was controlling dropped its ready stance. We were practicing unarmed combat because, apparently, "In order to have the strength, endurance, and poise to be a swordsman, you must learn the art of Talio Pez (It was apparently Draconian for, like, Claw Style or something). All our students who learned the way of the blade also learned to fight with fist, tail, and claw beforehand."

I groaned as I walked back over. This stuff was seriously difficult to learn. It was about blocking, hitting, and slashing your opponent with your tail, and your claws as well as various grapples and other more acrobatic attacks.

He nodded before getting ready again. This was by far my least favorite part of magic school.

--------------

After a while of hitting eachother, we moved on to the actual sorcery. All the spells were in Draconian which meant I had to learn a second language. At the moment I was practicing a push spell and a pull spell.

"Quoira!" (Push)

A blast of magic shot from my palm and sent the stone practice ball flying.

"Now retrieve it."

I raised my claw and barked,

"Dro." (Pull)

It shot back towards me and I caught it with ease.

"Very good. You now know the basics of each school of magic."

I bowed to him as he said that. Along with the sorcery and swordplay, Ra'avez had taught me about Draconian culture. He continued,

"I believe now is the time foe you to go continue your adventure or whatever you've been planning to do. It will be good experience and will teach you how to use what I've already taught you. Go, and return when you wish to learn more."

"Yes master Ra'avez."

I straightened up and went to go collect my belongings. I'd been staying in the old dormitory which was right between the practice hall and the exit. I can't say I particularly enjoyed learning sorcery given how difficult it was, but it had been worth it. I said my goodbyes and soon had left the place I'd been staying for the past few weeks. As I entered the outside world, I breathed in the fresh air and smiled. Now I just needed to find somewhere to go. Maybe a pub to pick up some gossip.

I pulled out my map and looked it over. The nearest town was in an area marked the Gryphon Empire. It appeared to be a collection of islands with the nearest being a short way away. With my destination set, I set off in search of adventure.

Author's Note:

Yes, I did make up a language. Yes, I am a nerd.

Comments

[Sornos]

Nothing wrong with being a nerd man!

[WhooshieWoosh]

8249705
Yup.

[Robot Sparky]

8249744
did you know that nerd stands for Never Ending Radical Dude? (Dudette if your female, mom's words not mine)

[Gravity012]

Amazing. XD

[StarzGecko]

Love the dragon Mom reactions

[Shadowshame]

I wonder if this dragon mum is going to keep schooling ponies in respect