112. History of Magic

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July 20, 2010.

We arrived in Salem just before midnight. So, having found a place where we could leave the RV, we immediately went to sleep in the nearest hotel. Oddly enough, today I woke up quite late, almost at eight in the morning. It hasn't been like this for a long time.

- Good morning. - Grandpa greeted me when I got out of the bath.

- Morning. So what's the plan for today? - I asked as I fixed my hair.

- Like I said, there's a big puritan fair in town. I think it will be interesting there. - Max answered with a smile, drinking fresh coffee.

- Understandably. Do you mind if someone joins us today? - I asked as I poured tea.

- Is this the girl that Gwen is mad at you for? - Grandfather asked with a grin.

- Khm… Yes. Her name is Hope, she is Hex's niece and the magic teacher I was talking about. Ever since she was freed from Hex's tutelage, she had immersed herself in books, completely oblivious to the real world. I think it would be good for her to get some fresh air. Moreover, I want you to get to know each other. - I answered, covering my embarrassed face with a cup.

- Okey, I do not mind. In any case, it would happen sooner or later. - Max agreed with a smile.

- Thanks. Then, I'll go and fetch her from the Castle. There is just time for the girls to gather. - I said, quickly finishing my tea and getting up from my seat.

- Good luck. - Grandfather finally said when I left the room.

Since the hotel was located literally in the city center, I could safely walk to Hex Castle in just five minutes of leisurely walking. I haven't done that in a long time. I'm completely lazy with all these superpowers ...

- Sesame, open up! - I said as soon as I got to the entrance.

- Lex! - I didn't even have time to walk two steps when a girl rushed towards me and kissed me on the lips.

- Hey. I'm glad to see you too. - I said with a smile as I kissed Hope back.

- You decided to visit me? - Hope asked, having had her fill of the kiss.

- It is possible, and so to say. Are you in a hurry somewhere? - I asked, hugging my girlfriend.

- I wanted to go into town to buy ingredients for a potion. - not holding back a smile, said the girl.

- And what's the potion? - I asked as we left the castle.

- Potion of Translation. I finally got some progress on your request. In my uncle's bins, I was able to find some ancient torn pages, in a language unknown to me. It seems to me that in these pages I can find a way to protect the mind. - Hope said as she hugged my hand.

- And with a potion, do you want to translate these pages? - I guessed.

- Exactly. So, did you come here for some business? - Hope asked, who this time was dressed in ordinary clothes without a witchcraft theme. It's probably not customary for wizards to wear their robes when they go shopping. It was unusual, but she still looked great.

- My family came to the city to visit the puritan fair. I thought maybe you'd like to spend the day with us? - I suggested.

- Do you think Gwen and Ashley won't mind? - the girl asked cautiously.

- Ashley won't mind, I'm sure. And with Gwen, I'll think of something. - I answered, thinking a little.

- Since you think so, then I gladly accept your invitation. - with a dazzling smile, said the Charmcaster. Probably, she herself was already tired of sitting in the castle without getting out.

- Also, I have one more request. - I said carefully. Lately, I've been relying too much on her help.

- Don't be shy. I'll be glad to help you. It's not difficult for me. - Noticing my worries, Hope instantly said, squeezing my hand tighter.

- You are the best. - I said kissing her on the forehead.

- Yes, I am. - With a satisfied voice, the girl said.

- The bottom line is that I got three alien artifacts in my hands. One of them may have a magical origin. As for the rest, I'm not sure. I wanted to ask you to test them with some kind of ritual. - I asked.

- Really? Then it's not difficult at all. All magicians have a set of rituals and spells that can be used to test artifacts of unknown origin that accidentally fell into their hands. If you want, I can teach you them later. And I need to pop into that store. - Hope said, then pointed to the spice shop.

- I would be very grateful. And if these are not magical artifacts, but technological ones? h I asked, opening the store door and letting the girl go first.

- The rituals, of course, will not give such a detailed answer, but still something can be learned. I think this will be useful for you too. - said the girl, and then turned to the saleswoman: - I came for an order in the name of Hope Evans.

- Just a minute ... - answered a rather simple-looking young woman, and immediately went into the pantry.

- Evans? - I asked with a smile.

- My mother's maiden name. - Hope said. Well, yes, it is unlikely that the ruler of the Magic Dimension has a surname. By the way, this means that Hex's full name is Gregor Evans. Ha…

- With you 12'180$. - said the returned saleswoman, carrying a large package in her hands.

- Thanks to. - Hope replied sweetly, handing over a thick wad of money and taking the bag.

- Quite expensive. - I involuntarily said as we left the store.

- This is a set of rare magical herbs and spices, and they are never cheap. In fact, that woman is a witch. To be more precise - a herbalist. She grows herbs herself and sells them to the magical inhabitants of the city. - Hope replied, hiding the package in her ugly magic bag, which she nevertheless took with her.

- Truth? I never thought she was a witch. And how many like her live in the city? - I inquired.

- About half of the city at least knows about magic. - Hope answered as we crossed the road.

- Seriously? It turns out that there is a real magical society here? - I asked with surprise.

- You can say that. Salem became the first settlement in the New World where magicians moved. But, you know what came out of it. During the witch hunt, many fled from here, but gradually, when it became calm here, those who wanted peace decided to return to their historical homeland. Now, neutral magicians live here, who want only a quiet life, away from the squabbles of dark and light magicians. - Hope said.

- How curious. What did they think of Hex? - I asked.

- They didn't like that Uncle decided to make his lair here, but since he was quiet, they left him alone. - Hope said with a shrug.

- Since we're on the subject, where are all the other magicians? - I asked anyway.

- Eh… After Addwaitya captured Legerdomain, he enslaved all its inhabitants. And since most magicians preferred to live there, because of the high concentration of Mana, their fate is clear. Only those who managed to escape at the last moment, like my uncle and I, those who lived outside the dimension or the same neutral magician as the inhabitants of Salem, remained free. - Hope furrowed her brows.

- But magicians must exist not only on Earth. - I objected.

- Of course it is. The ability to use magic has nothing to do with race, with two exceptions. Magic originally originated in a separate empty world, which is now known as Legerdomain, although this is not the real name. Due to the influence of magic, two opposite races were born in the dimension.

The Anodites, a race consisting only of women, they use pure Mana, which they themselves produce. And the Darkstars, an all-male race that couldn't produce Mana on their own, but they did have the ability to absorb mana from outside to acquire great powers. This process corrupts Mana and transforms it into Dark Mana.

At first, the two races lived in peace, but in the end it all ended in a terrible war. As you understand, over time, the Darkstars began to hunt the Anodites in order to take their Mana. The thing is that because of the Dark Mana, the Darkstars became addicted to absorption, and the more they absorbed Mana, the more they wanted.

In the end, the Anodites won. Although many of them died in the process, they were able to destroy almost all of the Darkstars by flooding them with too much mana, causing them to literally explode. True, and this did not end without consequences. The general explosion of the Darkstars broke through the veil separating Legerdomain from our universe, and Magic broke into the world, and with it the Anodites, and a few surviving Darkstars. - Hope said, in one breath.

- Wow. - I simply said, impressed by the story.

- Yes. I was shocked myself when I found out about it. Looking for information on your request, I found a lot of old books that my uncle managed to take from the Legerdomain Library before he escaped. In fact, these are ordinary history books, so uncle was not interested in them, but this does not mean that they are useless. At least it broadened my horizons a lot. - Hope said with a smile.

- And do not say. As I understand it, all magicians are descendants of Anodites? - I predicted.

- Right. As soon as the Anodites were in the outside world, they began to travel around the universe, getting to know its inhabitants. And as you understand, in parallel with this, they began to produce offspring. Some of the Anodite children had a "the Spark" that allowed them to gain the powers of their mothers and eventually be reborn into the real Anodite.

And other children did not have the Spark, but this does not mean that the heritage did not affect them in any way. Over time, the first generation of Anodite children without the "spark" independently learned to control Mana and created what is now known as Magic. - replied the Charmcaster.

- And the descendants of the creators of Magic became known as Magicians. - Nodding my head, I said. In general, we should have reached the hotel a long time ago, but we stopped in a small square to finish the conversation.

- And right again. After some time, the descendants of the Anodites began to gather in groups on their own planets, where they continued to study Magic, each in their own direction. This lasted until one magician, originally from Earth, decided to find a place where all Magicians could gather together, regardless of race or origin.

His search led him to the ruined dimension where the Magic came from. With the help of a strange being named Paradox, he was able to restore the dimension. True, he had to bind on the entire power of the dimension to the Alpha Rune in order to return it to its original state. This man became the first King of Legerdomain.

- And he's your ancestor, isn't he? - I asked with a smile.

- Yes. - with a little pride in her voice, Hope said, and then added: - As a result, Legerdomain became available to all Magicians.

- Time passed, the Anodites continued to leave descendants, who also left descendants, and so on. As a result, there were more and more people capable of Magic. - I added a logical chain.

- Yes. When a Magic adept became competent enough, he was able to open a passage to Legerdomain, which was ruled by my family and inhabited by Magicians from all over the universe. Although, as I said, only those who wanted it lived there. Of course, things were not so rosy, there were conflicts with the invaders, and wars with evil magicians, but everything was relatively good until… - Hope said, sadly at the end.

- Until Addwaitya stole the Alpha Rune and captured Legerdomain and all its inhabitants. - I said calmly, holding back my anger at that stupid turtle.

- This is true. Legerdomain is now closed to everyone. And in the universe there were only a small part of the Magicians who were lucky. And there is no one to train the new adepts. - Hope said unhappily.

- Don't worry, we'll fix it. But who would have thought that my grandmother's race had such an origin. It turned out to be very interesting. - I said, and then changed the subject.

- Yes, I was also surprised when I found a mention of the Anodite race. It turns out that you have a "the Spark" Although, this is a little strange, because you are a man. - Hope replied.

- Yes I know. I have already been told that I am unique in this regard. ; I said with a smile, and then asked: - What happened to the Darkstars?

- I don't know. Some of them survived, but they don't seem to be able to breed as easily as the Anodites. Dark Mana has a very bad effect on living beings, so the birth of a half-Darkstar is very unlikely.

- I do know someone who might be a descendant of Darkstar. - I said, remembering one Michael Morningstar.

- Truth? And who is it? - Hope asked curiously.

- I'll tell you later. It's time for us, otherwise they've been waiting for us. - I said, getting up from the bench where we had been sitting and talking for more than ten minutes.

- Exactly. I completely forgot. - Hope said as she caught up with me.

After a couple of minutes, we reached the hotel and saw that Grandpa, Gwen and Ashley were already waiting for us at the entrance. Noticing that Hope was walking next to me, Gwen grimaced and looked at us very unhappily, but she did not say anything.

- Grandpa, let me introduce you, this is Hope Evans. Hope, this is my grandfather, Max Tennyson. - I introduced them to each other as we got closer.

- Very nice to meet you, Mr. Tennyson. - Hope said politely, a little embarrassed.

- I'm glad too. Don't be so shy, I don't bite. - with a good-natured smile, said Max.

- Hey, Hope. - Ashley greeted with a friendly wave.

- Hey. - Hope replied with a happy smile.

Seeing that Gwen was not going to show even banal politeness, I asked Max: - Then we go to the fair?

- Yes. We are on that side. - said Grandfather, and led us forward.

- Why is she here? - Gwen asked indignantly, trying not to let Grandpa hear anything.

- Be polite, Gwen. - I said sternly.

- Pf. - Gwen said, turning away pointedly.

- You don't want to learn Magic anymore? ; I asked casually. Satisfied that I had her attention, I took out the two books Hope had given me long ago.

Silently snatching the books from my hands, Gwen put on a friendlier expression and quietly said: - Thank you.

- If you're a good girl, you'll get more. - Hope said with a cheeky smirk as she walked beside me.

- YOU… - Gwen screamed, angry at the provocation, but I interrupted her in time.

- Gwen!

- Okay, okey. - Gwen said unhappily.

Now that I've averted disaster, we can enjoy the fair.