Modern Mage – Chapter 3

This chapter is a little longer than the first 2, with a lot more explanation of what his world is and introduces some of the dangers the denizens of the world face. There is no sex in this one, it’s more character development. The primary point of this story is the morality of having power and how to use it. Please leave any constructive feedback or let me know what you think of the story. If you have anything you want to see PM me and if it fits in the tale I’ll see about including it.




After looking into my past and seeing nothing but the nature of time and entropy bringing me to Vegas I was able to settle my thoughts and focus on getting settled in. I began by pulling out my laptop and searching for a real estate agent to assist me in finding a new home for myself. After searching and finding a suitable agent I settled down to meditate and work on my next investments. I sat my computer on my lap with my hands on the keyboard. While investors are losing money in the current economy I was doing well by using my ability to look through time as well as to alter probability in small ways. I never tried to make large changes as there was a double backlash for doing so. The first backlash is very mundane; if I do to well I have authorities looking at me and my past. Mages like myself must not draw attention. There are men and monsters out there that would kill us for being what we are, as well as others that would want to use and control us. While this is important to avoid the other has to do with the nature of Magic itself. As I’ve stated before, the nature of reality is that for most of the world it’s consensual, where Mages can tap into Magick and alter the world at will. The problem is that the farther we push what people accept the worse the backlash. My friend and mentor Marcus had told me stories about backlashes where the mage had pushed things too far and had done so where Mortals could see. The backlash caused the mage to suffer painfully, some mages have even died. The worst backlash he had ever heard of was a mage that tried to bring Magick out into the open and it had shredded his connection to the Magick, he became nothing more than mortal who knew the monsters were out there. They also knew of him as he was abusive with his power against them, not hiding it and being careful. Rumors are told that he is now the mindless obedient lap dog of a Vampire somewhere.

Marcus’s first lessons to me were about what the Spheres of Magick were and how to sense all of them before teaching me to actively control any of them. Marcus told me that many mages each believed that one Sphere of Magick was superior to the others and focused their skills there, paying little attention to the others. His opinion was that they left themselves weak by blinding themselves to other areas of power. From the story I told him of my awakening, he said I had a natural talent for what he called Forces. Forces is the Sphere of Magick dealing with energy fields of all types. This meant everything from light and gravity to radiation and even kinetic energy. He taught me to sit and sense everything around me until I could feel the slightest manipulation he made of energy fields that surrounded us. That was how our training sessions went until I could sense each of the 9 Spheres of magic around me. He explained that the limits of my power we’re my own understanding of each sphere hence teaching me to sense all 9, the amount of Magick I could pull through my connection to it at any one time, and as important as the ability to touch Magick, the imagination to shape it. While I am fairly competent in manipulating all the spheres a little, my aptitudes are for Time, Entropy and Forces. Enough of the history lesson for now, I’ll tell you more as the story continues, but you must be getting bored of dry information for the time being.

After sitting there focusing my power through the laptop, I started typing and making a few small investments for my clients and myself. Keeping us all in a comfortable lifestyle, none of us would get rich this way, but this was more a way of showing an income as a competent mage has no need of money if they can manipulate their reality. It was just after noon when I went down to the Valet to get my car and look at a few of the property developments around the area. I wanted to see some of my options before I decide to either buy or build my new home here. I drove through the communities surrounding the hotel and casino I was staying in. I liked the neighborhoods I was seeing as I drove through but the houses were still crowded close, not allowing for the kind of privacy I’d need. I decided to get ahold of the real estate agent I found and arrange to look for properties where I’d be able to build my home; or for a community where the homes had larger plots of land and more space between them. Having made my decision about the property search I headed back to the hotel.

While I was driving back to the casino, my mind kept returning to waking this morning and looking into Sindee’s eyes. I’d never felt a connection to someone like I did with her. I realize only being 21 and having a tragedy dominate my life since I was 16 didn’t allow me to form many connections with others. The major problem with starting a relationship with Sindee, or any sleeper as we call those who haven’t been exposed to the greater truth, is that it would put her into great danger if anyone or anything came after me again. While we Mages are powerful we suffer from what weakness that most of the other monsters out there don’t. We are as mortal as any other human being, we can increase our chances of surviving things that would kill many people but in the end we can be killed. Most Mages don’t die of natural causes or old age. I liked Sindee a lot and knew I could easily fall in love with her if we spent more time together, but was it fair to put her into that kind of danger for my feelings.

These thoughts led me to one of the things Marcus said to me about the nature of having power and the morality of how you use it. Mages are no longer simply human and many gain the power to ignore society and it moral guidelines. This of course brought up the old adage: Just because you have the power or ability to do something, should you do it? The answer is as simple as it is complex; it’s up to the individual who reaches the decision. No person has ever seen themselves as Evil, in their mind and morality what they are doing is the right thing. This applies to mortals, Mages, Vampires and the other beings that exist in the world. This brings me back to the situation concerning Sindee. I could continue the relationship in many ways with her not knowing any more than she does now. Second option is to end it, do my best to break her heart so she never wants anything to do with me again, not an option I like; however, it would protect her from my world.