New world. New magic. Same goal.

[copycast]

Temple wakes up on a grassy hill. His body, he notes, is currently human and all of his equipment is human-sized. No big problems there, he looks around and tries to identify the closest signs of civilization and feels around for the closest signs of magic.

Comments

[witchwatcher]

A bunch of magic people are in the air above him...

[neuroihive]

...Fighting some sort of not magic THING.

[copycast]

That wasn't the welcoming commite he was expecting. That thing doesn't look like a person, and since it isn't magic...

...Temple reaches for a couple of small books in his pockets.

"WIND ARMOR !" he casts quietly to himself, causing wind to swirl around him, messing his hair " GLASS SKIN!" he casts pointing at the thing.

The magic people above should find the creature's exterior quite more fragile and brittle than before.

[neuroihive]

It dies in short order, shattering into a glittering shower of sparkling lights.

[witchwatcher]

The people fighting it look very relieved. They have a short conversation in midair. The 7 of them flying brooms and garden implements head for a large town in the distance. The one flying a horse-sized metal machine flies low and shouts some things at him.

[copycast]

Temple approaches smiling friendly. He casts a translation spell when he gets in hearing range.

"COMPREHEND PERSON" The words aren't spoken loudly but have a similar force to it, and they can be understood, not only like he spoke in English, but like he manage to speak multiple languages at same time and English was just the most understandable "Hello. I am Temple."

[witchwatcher]

"I am Grendyne. Not that I don't appreciate your help against that Neuroi, but what in God's name are you? You have ridiculously foreign-smelling magic. And boys can't be Witches."

[copycast]

"I am a Spellcaster and a Guardian," Temple replies, his lips don't match the sound of his voice "those are the terms for someone with the kind of magic I have. What the hell was that thing?" he points at the space the Neuroi was occupying.

[witchwatcher]

"It was a Neuroi. They come out of the giant hurricane over Ostmark every few hours and destroy things until a Witch kills them. I can do shields but a Guardian sounds much more useful." Hint, hint.

[copycast]

"A Guardian isn't exactly like that," Temple says taking the information with some shock "My specific form is meant to protect, preserve and nurture magic. I could do that in the form of shielding, but my prefered method would be a magic school." Hint, hint.

[witchwatcher]

"Your magic can be taught? Us Witches have to be born with magic, and it fades to uselessly low levels as we age. Hell, I'll be your first student if you like."

[copycast]

"That is unusually lucky for the world-traveling spell. I still will want to hang around you more before accepting the offer. And to answer your question, it can be taught. I have a spell that speeds up the process, taking it less than a hour instead of a couple of years. My guardianship might actually do something about the aging problem."

[witchwatcher]

"I'm a member of the Witch Wings. Organized magical military dedicated to holding back the Neuroi as much as possible. I've got enough back pay to put you up in an inn for a few days at least. I could show the 42nd wing's base, but you can't actually go in."

[copycast]

"How dangerous are the Neuroi? Also what kinds of things Witches do?"

[witchwatcher]

"Unopposed, they turn cities to ash. The one you just helped kill was a little one. Witches all get to fly if we sit on things designed for it, and do some basic shields and energy blasts and make our bodies stronger and tougher. All this takes mana which is not quite the same thing as physical stamina but the analogy is apt. We get one special each - mine is detecting and copying magic. I haven't tried to copy yours since I expect it will make more sense when you explain it."

[copycast]

Temple mutters a quiet "fuck" when she says the thing was a little one, but doesn't interrupt.

"Okay, I will explain my magic," Temple says "I come from a group of worlds where when you die, you are reborn in another, but only once per world. I took the offer to travel to different worlds and sort of... add them to the cycle of reincarnation. Spellcasting is human magic, and involves magical words, you have to memorize and then cast them, but each can only be cast once before you need to memorize them again. Unless you manage to find your own words, by a very long process that I am not going to reveal just yet. You can cast your own words whenever. Guardianship is giant magic, you gain some benefits and powers over protecting things... there is also Lordship, which is the same thing, but reversed, you have to protect something to get powers."

[witchwatcher]

"If there were a way to share Witchery I think it'd be well-known. Reincarnation sounds very nice, we don't know if we have an afterlife or not. But... I expect it can't recover people who are already dead?"

[copycast]

"We honestly don't know. It might go either way, and it might depend on your own afterlife situation, it will get everyone that dies after the world is linked to the cycle."

[witchwatcher]

"If we have one and this cuts me off from my brother when I might have seen him again, I will be deeply annoyed. But I can't damn millions to the black void for a vague hope, so I'll help you if you need it."

[copycast]

Temple flinches "Sorry about your brother... But if there is an afterlife, the plan is for it to catch souls without anymore lives to live, so you would see him again. You would just... live again and acquire more relatives."

[witchwatcher]

"I suppose... A Neuroi got him. If you were wondering. So! Am I flying you to the base and showing you the place, or going directly to an inn? I have to do one or the other soon, I need to go report this engagement."

[copycast]

"I am curious about the base," Temple says with a sympathetic smile "The way guardianship works, I will need to interact with more witches at some point."

[witchwatcher]

"I can fly you to the base, then."

Her thing lands on the hill. "I stay on it with magic, but you can grab on to the handles, or my waist if you find them too awkwardly placed."

[copycast]

"Sure."

Temple decides to grab on to the handles, unless they do prove themselves inadequate, the wind armor still causes the air to billow around him, but it is a gentle breeze by now. He actually has a flight spell memorize, but not use into wasting it just yet.

[witchwatcher]

The handles could be better, but they suffice.

Gren flies swiftly and quietly unless her passenger has stuff to say. The landscape is mostly pine trees and tundra and coastline and occasional pre-industrial towns. Then it's ocean.