Chapter 90: Dimensional Magic 2
"The idea of teleportation was first born after realizing the limitations of flying. As you all should know, is impossible to move in such a way an army or its supplies.
It's not a matter of mana required, as much that it would take too much time. Not to mention it would offer a perfect target for an ambush, since non mages would be sitting ducks.
The first idea, was to just move a body much faster, but above a certain speed threshold, dust becomes dangerous as an arrow, insects hit like an avalanche. Adding a barrier strong enough to endure such hazards, would make the mana consumption prohibitive, even for a small group of persons.
So, some dumb idiot who read too many fairy tales, had the idea of teleportation, as in convert living matter in something else that could sustain high speed traveling, and reverting it back once arrived to destination."
Rudd laughed loudly, like it was the best joke ever, but when he noticed he was the only one laughing, his upper lip curled in an expression of disgust.
"How can you possibly be that dumb? Do you really not understand?"
He asked, without receiving any answer besides puzzled looks.
"In a fairy tale, it's great. But in reality? Converting living matter into something else, is just a fancy word to say 'killing'. How can you be sure that the thing that arrives on the other side is really you? What if a part of your body, your mind, or soul gets lost?
How do you think you could get it back? And more importantly, would the newborn thing even notice not to be the original? One thing is teleporting a rock, but living beings are much more complicated."
- "Interesting." Lith thought. "Is the same moral conundrum theoretical physicist had about teleportation back on Earth. Someone even made a Hollywood movie about it." -
"And don't let me started about the necessity of having perfect coordinates!" Professor Rudd continued.
"Rematerialize a little too high, too low or too close to a travel companion and bam! Instant death. Not to mention that the aforementioned insects, dust and even animals, are not bound to make space for your arrival. The tiniest hitch, and you have a fly for brains.
The last mage that attempted teleportation, materialized in the sky, hoping to avoid such issues, only for a flock of ducks to cross his path, making him die like the quack he was." This time, part of the class laughed at the dark humour.
"What I'm going to teach you, is the art of manipulating space itself, allowing you to arrive from point A to point B in complete safety in an instant, even if the two places are thousands of miles away."
Professor Rudd waved his hands in a circular manner, and soon two tiny black spots appeared. The first one between his palms, the second one right in front of the girl sitting in the middle of the front row.
With each magic word he spoke, the spots started to enlarge and stretch themselves in a specular manner, one extremity became almost circular, the size of a fist, while the other was so thin and small to be point-like.
They assumed the shape of a funnel, made out of energy, with both ends spinning at unbelievable speed.
- "Is that an event horizon?!" - Lith was shocked, to the point of standing up to better observe the phenomenon.
After just a second, the energy funnels had collapsed on themselves, leaving in their places two rifts in space. Professor Rudd extended his hand inside the first rift, making it reappear right above the girl's desk, taking the pen away from her fingers.
"Do you understand now? Bending space requires the same amount of energy and focus than teleportation would, but it's infinitely safer. Walking through a Gate is like going through a door. What gets in, gets out. No more and no less.
But do not get fooled by appearances. Even a simple trick like the one I just showed you has many limitations. First of all, it requires a clear line of sight, otherwise one cannot have a clear focus of the entry and exit points.
Secondly, even a small Gate requires at least the ability to triple cast, since you have to mix and control the energies of earth, air and water magic. Those are the most basic elements for a Gate.
Adding more elements allows to create bigger rifts, and it's the only way to make them stable enough to let more than one person walk through it. You will need to develop a deep understanding of these three elements, just for starters.
Despite what you may think, dimensional magic does not require enormous amount of mana, like some specializations do. The most important requirement is sensibility to small fluctuations of energy and space.
It's not something that you can brute force your way through. You must be able to feel the Gate growing, and adapt to its changes. If you don't feed it mana at the right time in the right place, it will never open.
Dimensional magic is not a specialization, it has no strict requirements that cannot be overcome with practice and hard work. On paper, is something that every good mage can do, even those with one specialization or none at all.
Tomorrow, we will start with nothing more than a simple parlour trick."
Rudd opened two small portals, barely the size of a coin, one above the other. Then he dropped a small pebble in the lower portal, and it reappeared from the upper one, falling down in the lower portal in an endless loop.
"Forewarned is forearmed. Better if you start reading your book from today onward, if you don't want to start with the wrong foot. Questions?"
Yurial raised his hand, receiving permission to speak.
"Professor, you said that teleportation does not exist, but what was Blink then? I didn't see any Gate opening."
"Excellent question, young man." For the first time since he had entered the room, Professor Rudd smiled kindly. Many were cursing inwardly, asking themselves if the question was really good, or rather he was appreciating Yurial's father.
"Dimensional magic is not just a matter of logistic and transportation, in the right conditions is also a perfect tool to defend or attack. But in such scenarios, you cannot expect the enemy to be kind enough to wait for you to finish, everything needs to be fast.
Allow me to show you Blink again, this time slowly."
The academy ring at Rudd's finger tapped into the castle's magic, opening two portals, one in front of the Professor and the other in the middle of the class.
But unlike a Warp Steps, where both ends were still, the portal in front of Rudd moved forward, making him arrive to destination without having to take a step.
"That's how Blink works, just much faster. Using dimensional magic in combat is the final test of skill for a mage. Another useful, but even harder application is the following. Please stand up, young man."
Yurial did as instructed, but as soon as he stood up, he found himself watching Professor Rudd standing behind his desk, while he was now in the middle of the room.
"This spell is called Switch. The name is self-explanatory, and requires two sets of portals, that if correctly timed, create the perfect diversion. Sometimes even an opportunity to kill.
Back in my days, I once found myself surrounded by archers using enchanted arrows. Their commander did me the favour of standing still long enough for me to time Switch so that while I was running away, he had become a fine spill cushion."
A cruel smile appeared on Rudd's face, remembering the shocked expression of the soldiers when they realized what had happened.
"But don't get me wrong, Switch is even harder to pull off than Blink. It requires that both targets are still, within a ten meters distance and a clear visual. But I digress. Anything further?"
"Is it really possible for a single mage to open a Gate to a location hundred, if not thousands of miles away?" Asked a petite girl.
"Yes and no. A single mage can open a portal leading to a very further destination, but he needs to have either enough mana to support the task, or a magical item to share its burden. Also, one cannot go in a location he has never been before.
Visualization is a key element, and so is the knowledge of the exact coordinates. Moreover, opening such a gate requires a focus. Something like this."
From his dimensional amulet Professor Rudd took out a small sphere with many arcane red runes engraved on it.
"Dimensional mages usually plant magical beacons in their most common destinations, making the opening of a portal much easier and less mana consuming. As I said at the beginning of the lesson, my subject is really complex.
Is better to avoid filling your heads with useless notions. Focus at the task at hand. One must first learn how to crawl, then to walk, and only then can worry about his running speed. Dismissed."
Almost at the same moment, the gong signalling the end of the lesson resounded. Many students had a worried look on their faces, and Lith was one of them.
- "This is really bad. Not only I have never practiced anything like this, but sensibility is not exactly my strong point.
Whenever I encountered a difficulty, I either cheated my way in with true magic until I understood the true core of the problem, or relied on fake magic's auto pilot to understand the magic flow.
What's the average success rate per year for this course?"
"According to the academy's records, is a little less than 60%." Solus replied.
"How many graduated students managed to score an A despite failing it?" Lith was considering dropping the subject, to avoid it affecting his grades. He could always copy the book and study at his own pace later.
"None." The answer left him dejected. "Turn that frown upside down! Even the most experienced kid here has barely six years of magic practice, you have more than twelve. Not to mention the Hexacasting and true magic."
"I know, but practice is not all. This seems a discipline that requires quite a lot of talent, and we both know I am no genius. Invigoration and true magic cannot help me like they do for Forgemastering and Healing. I'm afraid I have just hit a wall."