A Band of Merry Men [CYOA]

Grab a spellbook magically powered by Dimitri's laziness... the ultimate weapon.

Preferably a scythe powered by Dimitri's coolness... A powerful weapon indeed!

"...Do we have any spellbooks?"

Tetra gives you an odd look at that, though at least half of it is amusement.
"What, is swinging physical weapons around too hard for you?"
"No! I just..."
"You just..?"
You look to the side, going red from embarrassment. "...okay, maybe."

"Ah jeez..." The rogue puts a hand on your shoulder, giving you a comforting smile. "You know I'm just teasing, right? I'm pretty sure that we should have a light book around here somewhere."
"R..Right. Okay." You nod, trying to force yourself to calm down. It's not especially effective.
Tetra squeezes your shoulder lightly, before running off out of the room. For the next couple minutes you're left with your thoughts, but instead of trying to process everything that's happened recently you simply sit down and wait.

---

"Found it!"
You're startled awake by the sound of Tetra kicking open a door, which... Wait, when did you fall asleep? Oh well.
The rouge runs over to you and places a book in your hand, although being only a few pages it looks a little more like a pamphlet. Opening it up, you see pages at the front and back covered in what must be some kind of rune alphabet sandwiching a complex two-page diagram, and...that's it. It certainly doesn't look like much, and definitely not what you imagined a spellbook would be like.

Tetra notices you staring at the pages in confusion and decides to step in, closing the book while it's still in your hands and pulling you up to your feet.
"So, this is a spellbook. I personally can't get much of a response from them, but most people with some magical talent can activate spells written on the pages and redirect them elsewhere." Taking the book out of your hands, she turns to the pages with the diagram. "This is the spell matrix. They're printed in a special kind of ink that's receptive to magic, and the shapes here sort of... Weave? Yeah, they weave your inner magic into a spell with the help of those runes printed on the surrounding pages. It's a bit like arithmancy, but with geometry instead."

You stare at the book as she hands it back to you, not honestly feeling any more educated about magic than you were when she started talking.
"...okay, but how do I use it?"

"I don't know. Like I said, I've never been able to get much of a response from them. Just... Do whatever feels natural, and see what happens!"

You stare at it for a moment longer before grabbing one corner of the open book and waving it around like a madman. Yes, this seems natural.

Unfortunately, all this seems to result in is a series of quiet cracking noises from the spine of the spellbook and a mild breeze. Tetra looks like she's not sure whether to laugh or to be concerned.

"Um..." She hides her grin behind one hand, trying to sound level. "Maybe try using the illustration instead of flinging it around?"

That sounds more like it.

Closing your eyes and taking a breath, you rest the book more naturally in one hand and place the other gently atop the page. From there, the movement comes to you naturally; a mental tug and a physical twist, as you draw your hand away from the page and feel something come with it. When you open your eyes again you see a ball of dull blue light sitting in (above) the palm of your now-upturned hand, and Tetra behind it grinning from ear to ear.

"Yes! I knew you could do it!"

You're pretty sure she didn't, but the response -- alongside the feeling of having just cast a spell -- is enough to get you to laugh gently.

...What's the next step supposed to be again? Come to think of it, with the ball just sitting here, it feels like your hand is going numb...

Oh yeah, you're supposed to throw it!
Swinging your arm forward, almost as if you're tossing a ball, the spell flies out of your hand a little faster than you feel like it should have, a trail of light streaking behind it, and impacts the far wall with a flash.

Man, that's pretty awesome.

"I'm keeping this."

Tetra's smile slips for a moment, as she's a little bit surprised by how quickly you made that decision, but it's quickly reborn in a more smarmy form.
"Sorry, I'm afraid not. That book doesn't do anything but make a fancy light and give people pins and needles."

Noticing your clear disappointment, she cuts you off by raising a hand.
"BUT! I'll let Alaster know, and we'll be sure to get you a proper book of spells as soon as we can."
"Aw. Okay."
"Chin up, we already planned to take you to the guild hall as soon as Alaster got back, so maybe we'll swing by a shop on the way and let you make a lexicon."
"Lexicon? Isn't that another word for 'dictionary'?"
"You'll see when it happens."

Such suspense. Oh no.
Eh, whatever. You're just excited that you can apparently cast magic spells!

But that begs the question:
"So... What now?"
"Now?"

Tetra takes that wooden dagger from its temporary home under her belt, standing up straight and moving back into a proper fighting stance about ten feet away from you.
"For now I want to see how well you can use that thing."

... But as you lie on your face catch Tetra off-guard with a magicy zoomy-zoom and give her the WORST pins-and-needles EVER!

Or, I guess, just get lessons.

You get into position, the spellbook resting comfortably where you can use it, and the two of you lock eyes.

Like a shot, the battle resumes. Immediately you feel more comfortable with your position as the fight becomes a game of keep-away while you ready and toss your training spell, holding onto them just long enough to try and find a way into Tetra's pattern. As the two of you get into the swing of it your spar becomes almost like a dance: Tetra dashes forwards to lunge and you dodge away, using Witch Time to dodge her slashes as they come in or casting a spell to force the rogue to where you want her, before you step forwards and try to hit her with a bolt of light. The both of you get a few decent hits in on each other in the coming minutes; three damage, five damage, two damage, four. Your weapons don't hit that hard as they're designed to safely chip away at the others' health, but this all feels natur-!

Out of nowhere, just as you're taking another spell from the book, Tetra manages to sweep a leg under yours and bring you crashing down to the floor, straight on your face! (6 embarrassment damage)

~Battle End!~
>>Solya: 22/35
Tetra: 28/40

And just like that, it's over. Tetra bends over and offers you a hand up off the ground.
"Hey, you did really well there. I guess finding you that spellbook paid off!"

Oh no. Solya Aurhart does not go down that easily.

Practically swinging yourself off the ground, you slam the still-uncast spell in your hand into Tetra's forearm and watch her expression transform into one of extreme discomfort as her entire arm seizes up as a result.
"Ow, ow, ow! Was that really necessary?"
"Yes. Yes it was."

The rogue (now holding her arm) gives you a pained smile through a clear grimace, going to put her wooden dagger back on the tool rack it came from as you grab the spellbook from where it landed and get back to your feet.
"I mean it though, you were giving me a real workout back there. With a bit of training you could turn out to be a really talented mage."
"Thanks, and I'd love to fight like this more. But I just did what you said and used whatever felt natural."
"That just makes it even more impressive! Old crumbling golems are one thing, but taking on a fighter with leagues more experience than you and making it a challenge? Most people can't do that just on instinct."

That gives you reason to pause. She's right, after all; there has to be something more to why you're already able to hold your weight, or why using a spellbook feels so natural...
But you don't have much time to think before Tetra's grabbing your hand and pulling you out of the room, somehow filled with even more energy than before now that the fight is over.
"Alright, come on. Let's get cleaned up, and after that it shouldn't be long before Alaster gets back!"

---

A couple hours later, Tetra’s made good on her promise, and you’ve found yourself escorted off to another part of the same town this odd group appears to have settled in. Thankfully it’s only about ten minutes walk from the warehouse-like building you were just at. The guildhouse is an impressive structure marked by dry stone foundations and a dark wooden frame, in the middle of a town square filled with all sizes of buildings in the same style. This one in particular stands out to you due in part to the large window that overlooks the street from the second story, but mostly due to the ornate carving of a dragon on the sign hanging out front. It seems the Adventurer’s Guild likes to advertise itself not in dramatic words but in the subtler language of hieroglyphics iconography.

Alaster breaks the silence formed by all of you standing unmoving in front of the building for no apparent reason with a low whistle.

“Quite the impressive building, isn’t it. What do you think, Miss Aurhart?”

“It’s… Big?”

“It’s big as well, yes.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you notice the local rogue stifle a laugh at your expense. Rude. You decide to change the subject as quickly as possible.

“So… What do we do once we’re inside.”

“Well, I’ve been told that you’re in need of a spellbook to defend yourself with. In addition, we need to see if we can work out just where you came from, and failing that… I was thinking we could get you registered.”

“Hold up,” Tetra interrupts, “registered? As in part of the team?”


“Exactly.”

“But it’s only been a day!”

“And what else are we supposed to do? You know how this place works.”

“Yeah, yeah, ‘all questors must be registered to the guild lists such that we can monitor their status and know where to send in a rescue team’ and so on. I still think it’s all unnecessary.”

“You know why they started doing it as well as I do, Tetra Larcen. No one wants a repeat of that incident.”

“And you know as well as I do that nothing like it has happened since!”

You raise a hand to try and interrupt the inevitable argument, but all you manage to get out is “Uh, guys?”

Tetra immediately interrupts you, hands on her hips, fixing you down with a pointed glare that challenges you to disagree with her just you try it!

“Solya, you’re with me, right?”

Uh...

I second Planet, but registering seems cool. What would we gain in the long run from being unregistered?

Solya: Hurry up and join the dang team I mean it's probably bound to happen anyway