True to her word, Keidra met me for breakfast in the dining area of the Hog’s Head. The only problem was the difference in our definitions of the ‘morn.’ I, as the sensible, logic-driven amnesiac, took it to mean the time in the day when the sun had just freshly risen over the horizon. As such, I roused myself shortly after the sixth hour and readied myself for the day, greeting the innkeep downstairs some minutes before the seventh hour. I then enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, with delicious blood sausage and flatcakes, before settling in to wait for my new acquaintance.

You might imagine my displeasure, then, that it was not until well after the ninth hour that Keidra trundle down the stairs into the dining area, hair still in disarray from her sleep. As I opened my mouth to give voice to my dissatisfaction, however, the lady in question sent me blood-chilling glare that left no question as to whether conversation was a before- or after-breakfast activity.

She pulled up a chair at my table and proceeded to dig in to the meal subsequently brought by the innkeep. As Keidra ate, in an attempt not to anger the grouchy lioness, I tried to divert my attention elsewhere, ignoring the reignited magnetism towards my fellow stormborn. It was still there, but seemed to be weaker now that I had acknowledged her existence.

I looked around the dining hall, and though it was much less packed than last night, there had been people going in and out in the hours I’d been waiting, and a certain thing had struck me about the clientele. Whereas everyone I encountered in Tattlebrook had been outwardly human, Platston seemed to be much more diverse in its population, likely due to the large adventurer presence. Indeed, I’d seen elves, dwarves, gnomes, demonkin, dragonmen, beastmen, and even a pair of purple, horned people whose race my amnesia must’ve claimed. That or they were unknown to me even beforehand.

What little I’d retained about the profession of ‘adventurer’ made this discovery of little surprise. The Adventurer’s Union was a multinational organization that had sprung into being via the collaboration of five of the largest guilds some centuries past. It had evolved in the time since, becoming a presence in any settlement of moderate size, such as Platston. The AU served as an intermediary between the government, the guilds, and the adventurers themselves, and resulted in interguild collaborations that would not have been possible in the AU’s absence. Not only could the government and guilds organize quests through the AU, private citizens and other organizations could request adventurer help through the AU as well.

My musings were interrupted by the clatter of silverware, and I turned back to my new companion to see her mopping her face with a napkin. She glanced my way, then said, “A moment, and we’ll be off.” I nodded in response.

Keidra then closed her eyes and placed her hands upon her head. I watched in growing awe as her previous bedhead suddenly sprang straight out of her head, as if each auburn strand had been pulled straight individually. After a brief moment of her having a halo for hair, the strands suddenly dropped, as if weighted down. Her hair was suddenly soaked through, clinging to her skull, but it was only a moment later that her tresses seemed to float into the air, as if propelled by a nonexistent breeze. By the time ten seconds had passed, and the false breeze had ceased, her hair was once again the perfect mane she had worn when first we met.

Suffice it to say my jaw had hit the floor about halfway through this demonstration. So when she reopened her eyes to my awestruck expression, a teasing smirk leapt to her lips. “What?” she asked as she rose from her chair. “It’s only magic.”

I followed after her out onto the street, mind still coming to grips with the Keidra’s little spectacle. I knew that Keidra was a storm sorcerer, and clearly I was, too, due to the aforementioned magnetism. However, my font of power only contained lightning magic, with some divine buried deep at its core. What Keidra had just performed had been a combination of lightning, water, wind, and maybe even fire magic.

How had she done it? Sorcerers were not like wizards or other spell casters - they only had access to that which their font granted them. A fire sorcerer could try for a thousand years and never conjure a drop of water.

But that was the thing. Every time Keidra had spoken of herself or her kind, she had referred to them as either ‘stormborn’ or ‘storm sorcerers.’ Storm, not lightning. And a storm was many things. Sure, there was the flashy lightning bits, but those were only present in thunderstorms. What about just good old rain storms, or even snow storms? Was it possible that a storm sorcerer had access to more than just lightning? That then raised the question of whether or not I had access to more than lightning.

“Keidra,” I spoke up, deciding to voice my question. Though we weren’t bound by contract, yet, there was still a chance that she might answer my question, considering she was planning on becoming something of a mentor to me if everything goes to plan. Still, I decided to hedge my bets, focusing on something even a normal storm sorcerer might ask if they did indeed have access to more magics than I. “How were you casting a fire spell?”

She looked back, slowing just enough to be within conversing distance. “Hoo, now that’s an interesting first question,” she said, one eyebrow raised. “Veeeery interesting. Also a question that you might ask regardless of if your story true or false. But, since you’ve already committed to following me to the notary, I’ll do you the service of assuming your tale is true, and give you a beginner’s lesson as we walk. Don’t worry, this one’s a freebie,” she winked.

“So, if you truly are new at this, then I’m guessing your font is probably just a giant pool of a single type of magic, likely lightning if your triggering event was the lightning strike you spoke of.” She glanced my way, and I nodded an affirmative, causing her to grin before continuing. “But a true storm sorcerer has access to to the full breadth of a storm’s power, not just the lightning bit. So how do you get access to all those other pieces? You convert them.”

She stopped and turned to me, holding out one hand. As I came to a stop, sparks leapt from her fingertips into the air, coalescing into ball lightning that floated just a few inches above her hand. “You’re actually pretty lucky that I’m your teacher in this case, as my base element is also lightning. One thing you should know, going forwards, is that your base element will always be the easiest element for you to manifest for spells. Regardless, as I said before, you have to convert your lightning magic into other forms of magic in order to access them. I’ll give you a demonstration, but this is largely just a practice-makes-perfect kind of thing.”

With that said, she focused on the ball lightning above her palm. As I watched, from the bottom, a ripple passed through the ball, and where it passed, lightning turned to water. In less than a second, she had a globe of pure water floating above her hand. Then another ripple passed through the ball, and she had a miniature tornado sphere, before another ripple, this one much slower than the rest, and she had a ball of flame.

Keidra let out a breath after this final transformation, and then closed her hand, allowing the ball of fire to wink out of existence. She then turned and started walking again, and I fell into step as expected.

“As to your original question about fire, that one took me a while to figure out, and is easily the hardest transformation I know of. But fire is nothing but heat, and heat plays a large role when it comes to any sort of precipitation. I wouldn’t recommend trying to figure that one out, until you’ve got the others down, though.”

We lapsed then into silence as we walked, and I focused inwardly. Examining my font, I concentrated upon the lightning element, willing it into my hand. I manifested it upon my fingers, just simple sparks, but an obvious effect nonetheless, and then set about testing it. Willing it to change, simply imagining it as water element, was my first trial. I admit to not being surprised when I found that nothing occurred - had it been that easy, I doubt Keidra would have thought it difficult.

My next attempt was to manipulate the lightning magic in a pseudo-physical way. I pulled it apart, pushed it together, twisted, poked, and prodded it in any way I could imagine, but to little effect. By the time we reached the notary’s office, I had exhausted every form of manipulation I could come up with.

But I forced my mind out of this new conundrum as Keidra led me through the process of signing a magical contract. I admit, I had been a bit nervous about the whole thing, considering what i had been holding back around the origin of my powers, but the contract Keidra had drawn up didn’t seem to care much about what secrets I might have.

Magical contracts allow multiple parties to come to an agreement, and once all required parties mark it in blood, all parties involved will know if anyone worked in any way against the terms outlined in the contract. Here, we were using it as a bit of a truthsayer, in that the portion of terms I agreed to were that I claimed the backstory of having woken up on a seaside cliff with no memory and access to lightning magic, and should I be lying the contract would be void. Keidra even let me craft the details of my claim, allowing me to make sure that it was all true, though only half the whole truth.

One complete magical contract and a very pleased Keidra later, and we were heading out the gates to find a place more suited to my sorcery debut. Keidra led me to a small clearing a minute off the main road, then spun around. She was still beaming, her delight at having acquired a novice for her ensign obvious.

“Right! First thing’s first, let me take a look at your mark,” She gestured to my hands, moving forward to take them in her own. She held them up, glancing inquisitively at the runes upon my fingers. “Hmmm… I admit I haven’t heard of a sorcery mark such as this before.”

“A sorcery mark? You say that like it’s more than just a cosmetic feature of sorcerers.” I had retained some knowledge of sorcerers, but, while I knew that most sorcerers had physical changes such as my back tattoo or Keidra’s eyes, they weren’t anything other than cosmetic changes.

“Oh! Right, forgot that’s not common knowledge. Well, what you’re talking about is a vicious rumor that all the various sorcerer clans spread as much as they can. Now that you’re a sorcerer, though, you get to be let in on the big secret: sorcerer’s marks are more than just superficial things; they alter you at a physical level, in some manner. Most sorcerers have only one, some have more, but each one takes a distinct form and can reappear on other people, granting the same benefits. As such, they’re actively tracked by most sorcerer clans, with the first known bearer being able to name them as they so choose.” She pointed to her eyes, which even now sparked with blue lightning. “Mine, for example, are known as the ‘Kinetic Gaze’. They give me an enhanced perception, especially with regards to my dynamic vision. They’re a pretty strong mark, as far as visual marks go, in that they even allow me to track lightning as it is forming. It makes it fantastic for directing my attacks.”

Keidra then motioned down towards my hands. “But I’ve never seen anything like this in the clan’s archives, which means you’re likely the first storm sorcerer this side of the Valmerian Sea to possess such a mark. That’s a bit of a double edged sword, really, as it’s likely you don’t have a common, weaker mark, else the clan would have seen it, but it means we don’t really know what it does for you.”

I nodded. Truthfully, I already did know what it does for me, though I wasn’t about to admit it and attempt to lie my way out of how I came about that information in such a short period of time. But this did bring up the topic of my true sorcerer mark. Thinking about, I couldn’t find a reason not to sharing it with my new ally cum teacher. Not only would I likely learn more about it, but should I not mention it and she learn about it in the future, it would only result in souring our relationship in some way. The only reason she hadn’t seen it so far was because my long sleeves managed to cover the whole tattoo, but in combat, especially if I were ever wounded or around sharp, slicing instruments, that could easily change.

So I spoke up, “Actually, since you’ve mentioned it, I think I might have two marks. That or there’s more to the mark on my hands. It’s a little hard to tell, honestly.”

“Hard to tell?” she gave me a quizzical look.

I rolled up one of my sleeves showing off the bright blue tattoo on my forearm. “Yeah, they kind of go all along my arms and up my back, so I’m not sure if the runes on my hands are just an extension or not.”

Keidra’s gaze turned intense then. “Strip,” she ordered.

I was taken aback at the sudden change in tone. “W-what?”

“Strip!” she said again, this time even going so far as to step forwards and start unbuttoning my shirt.

I fought her off, embarrassed, saying, “Alright, alright! Give me a second!” I then proceeded to doff my shirt and turned around, spreading my arms out to my sides and looking over my shoulder at her.

Keidra screamed.