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All at once time begins to flow normally again. And the process of which combined with the chop causes enough pain to suddenly course through my head that I half collapse onto the ground in pain. Gabriel shows no real expression, just stares at me writhing on the floor.

"I've told you already not to talk of things that can get you into trouble. Next time you try to say something that will cause trouble I won't be so gentle," he states as if that conversation had never happened and walks off.

That is certainly not a nice spell to have to deal with but then it raises even more questions than I had before. That had to be a really powerful spell. But it isn't in the book. On top of that he looks human but the more human I had gotten the more trouble I had had in using spells. So, what is he that he's able to use potentially that powerful of magic and yet seem to be completely unphased by it? For that matter there seem to be a lot of spells not listed in the book. I know that it isn't a comprehensive list, but I wonder if spells are missing from it. After all, there is the simple fact that our books have numbers in English yet the rest of the writing is in that other language. Meaning that the numbers were not included in the original book, but rather it's been formatted for us and I'm sure it'd be only a simple matter to remove some of the more useful spells from the book to make sure we never learn them.

I decide I want to see just how much this understanding with magic I have goes and make a detour over to Ingrid's. She seems happy to see me and talks about the outfit she had made for me. Apparently, auctions are what they do with stuff like that. I suppose it makes sense. Have an outfit worn by a famous person that they likely won't wear again anytime soon? Sell it off on an auction, make as much money from it as they can get. And to Ingrid's sake it would increase her renown. But not there for clothing I ask if she has any large spell paper. At first, she seems confused but when I tell her I want to see what comes out of me trying to write out a spell she complies. Of course, I half lie to her in the process. Well not exactly. I didn't lie so much as did not correct her when she assumed I was going to try and rewrite the Projected Flames spell. What I intend on doing is a fire spell and it is possible it might be the Projected Flames spell but I don't really know what is going to come of it.

Either way she comes back with a really long scroll. Apparently, this is what people use to write spells and I guess putting them in a book is just a matter of reformatting. But I guess this makes sense when you don't know how long of a spell you're going to end up writing. I thank her for the paper and head off, finding it somewhat interesting how she doesn't ask if she can see the result afterwards. But I suppose I haven't really seen any of the imps use anything of the sort of elemental magic that the rest of us have been using. The imps mainly seem to use levitation and other such spells. Perhaps as a race that is what they are best at, manipulating objects but lack the intensity to do any real damage.

I return to my room and set my book aside to the way I want it and open the book, trying to find some sort of inspiration. I flip to the fire spells since I don't exactly feel like making a new healing spell even though if I could somehow write an anti-paralytic spell that would come in handy. About halfway through I feel that I have gained enough of a grasp on the general mechanics for how spells are generally written that I close my eyes for a moment, close my book gently and open the scroll. It is completely blank, though the outline and pattern on the page itself seems to be almost identical to the kind of paper in the spell book, which makes it different than the kind of paper on the Spell Papers. I guess the result of which is the fact that spell paper is supposed to be used and then erased after use. With writing a new spell one generally wants to be able to save it. So, this kind of paper will probably hold on to the spell really easily.

I pull out my pen and make an effort to clear my mind. I figured out the fix for Projected Flames not by thinking things through, but by merely listening to what my body felt is the right thing. And I sincerely hope that not abusing this sense of magic does not end up meaning a massive sign of accepting this body. If I could keep my real body and the ability to use magic I would in a heartbeat. So, I take my pen and with a clear mind go about writing up a spell not by thought, but by writing out what feels like it should be the best written.

All told it probably takes me upwards of a half an hour writing the spell. Thankfully it seems that the writing on the paper can still be erased so that I don't have to completely restart whenever I make a mistake. And I did make quite a few. But after all that work I have a spell that feels unique and complete. Once I have gotten to the point that it no longer feels as if there is more that needs to be written to the spell I put my pen down and take a good look at the spell. I apparently wrote a targeting spell. It is certainly a very complex targeting spell and seems in my biased mind to be a work of art but it is a targeting spell nonetheless. That is what my mind felt like it wanted to write. Oh well. It's unfortunately not of the type I can actually just try on my own. It's a very strange spell in the manner in that the person casting it can't be the one to take advantage of the targeting feature. And it is also entirely possible that the spell won't even work. I never had tried to write a spell before. I don't know how good I am. I don't think I've seen any sign of a spell like this being used, but our side of the portal doesn't generally care much about the state of such things.

I ponder how I'm going to even carry this around with me. The page is longer than would simply fit into the book and I'm not sure how it'll be affected if I did something like folding it. Probably couldn't do anything good for the spell, especially when considering that it would make it all the harder for someone to read. I'd rather not just walk around with a rolled-up scroll and I look at my spell book for a bit and consider the notion. I suppose I could potentially still fit it with the book if I wrapped it around a section. I flip over to the element of magic I'm least likely to use, lightning and put the bottom of the scroll to be lined up with the bottom of the page. I have nothing against the element itself, but the level of control needed is far more than what I'd really want, especially since I could probably do a lot more with an element I'm more suited for, like fire. And it's not like I'm sealing away those spells anyway, I'm just hiding a scroll around them. I flip to the other end of the lightning magic and put the rest of the scroll onto this side of the page, making sure I leave enough slack at the top so as to not create creases in the scroll.

I then close the book and take a look at the handiwork. It doesn't look too badly. It is obvious that something is there but it shouldn't get in the way of anything. Satisfied I pick up the book and decide to go ahead and drag it over to where we do our mission briefings, figuring I can browse the book while waiting for it to begin. Though I do like fire magic there is a part of me that knows that I should eventually learn other forms of magic beyond just what I'm good at. Figure ice or earth magic could do well enough for me, though ice isn't really an element that meshes well with fire. There seems to be a bit more intensity in the air, especially as the time for the briefing draws near. Curious I ask someone but the only answer I get is that there is going to be a special today. Once everyone has arrived there someone I don't know steps out and addresses the group.

"Now for those that have been here for a while you'll know what today is. For those that do not, today is going to be marked as a Special. Once every other month there is a special mission where there are no criminals participating. This is strictly a volunteer only battle, so if you can, avoid killing anyone. Force them to surrender and let them go. This particular one, as it is on a major holiday over there is going to be even bigger than usual. For this particular Special we're taking in everyone. Everyone from around the globe will be participating in this one battle. The battlefield is one that is being chosen to be large enough and open enough to allow for so many combatants. Now, they're prepping the scrying means as we speak. This time the battle will be held on their side of the portal in a site of their choosing, supposedly for the significance of that particular site. They've been hyping up this battle for weeks apparently. Now as this is a special, I must also remind you that there are no reserve teams, there will be no one staying back. Anyone and everyone that is still capable of fighting is expected to do so with no exceptions.

"Each and every one of you will be provided with a special marker and a special pair of goggles. These goggles will highlight anyone that has this mark on them. With this in mind do not fire on any of these individuals. If one of them surrenders, the mark will be applied to them automatically, thus also making it very clear that they are no longer valid targets. Now remember that this is not normal combat. You will still operate in small squads for most effective use, but you will all move and coordinate as one unit. Today we are an army facing against an army of their side. We will fight as one. It is perfectly okay for you to surrender as well in this battle. There are not supposed to be any major casualties in these specials. This is just so that they can pool all their resources into one big, spectacular showing.

"In the center of our side of the arena there are a series of rather large towers. We will be positioning all of our long range and healing specialists in these towers. Here they will also coordinate the battle. Each tower will have a map of the battlefield but will have one other feature. The map isn't just an ordinary map. Anyone that has been marked will show up as a small light on the map, blue for our side, red for anyone that has surrendered. If a light flashes brighter then that simply means that that individual is actively engaged in combat. For those that are in the towers, if you see someone fighting and another nearby group not currently engaged, it is your duty to inform them of such. We will be providing you with the spell necessary to communicate using the map.

"Finally remember that this battle is not just for fun and games. There is a lot at stake here even if we aren't going there to kill anyone. This is about bragging rights. We need to show them the power of the Earth forces and that we will triumph over any obstacle they give us. To further facilitate this, no additional missions will be scheduled for a few days, so you are encouraged to go all out tonight and make sure that you make your world proud. And because there is an anniversary situation in this mission, our own side will have some reporters that will document what it's like for you draftees and help show our side of the world just what all you are fighting for us. I will now hand it off to your normal director as they will set you off into your individual groups."

Naturally I end up being put into one of the towers. The same one, in fact, as Jack. Hammer, Glass and Tower are involved in the battle but since two of their members are in the tower they're more relegated to patrolling the area around all of the towers, making sure that they can keep anyone from getting in. Since the maps are extremely valuable, if an enemy were to get a hold of one of our maps it would be a very bad sign and would make it extremely hard since then they'd know exactly where we all are. But to be fair I'm not too concerned with the notion of being in the backlines. I'm still not quite yet skilled enough with close combat fighting. I'm not sure I would like doing something like that just yet. But with my improved Projected Flames spell I can still potentially help out even without having to be one of the healers. And since there are going to be a lot more of them, ones a lot more experienced than I am, I shouldn't have to worry about it anyway.