MODERN MAGICS

By Tianyu (Tony) Zhu

One is a young fighter for justice, relegated to a lower level in society and persistently trying to gain his people their rights. The other is an outcast from a notorious family, desperately trying to find her way in the world. In a modern, magic-oriented society, these two will meet, come together, and fight their way through the obstacles standing before them. With much on the line, the pair go on an action-packed adventure to overcome the mystery of their pasts and escape their unfair treatment. They will change along their intertwined journeys, make their enemies and allies, and find out who they truly are, and where they belong.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tablo Publishing
• Release date: Oct 2, 2020
• ISBN: 9781649692955

Book preview

Chapter 1.2

The harsh sun shone above the Roamers as they emerged outside of the shelter’s main building. Lunch had just started. Damian and the Roamers were making their way across the fenced-in campus, where the only things in sight were the tall security towers that stood high above them, armed with spotlights, which the Shelter staff used to scare the shelter kids into staying.

Even less acceptable were the tall, barbed fences in the distance that encircled the entire Shelter, which were built just a few weeks ago. They were precautions introduced by the Akarthians responsible for the treatment of all the Outsiders, in response to another group of Roamers who had run away in the middle of the night and who were now missing.

Ever since those metal bars in the distance were raised, Damian has been endlessly anxious about escaping. This new enforcement was the final straw that had led Damian and the Roamers to formulate an escape plan.

Damian knew what those despotic government officials were doing, and so did many other shelter kids: they were slowly increasing the confinement levels of the Shelters. Many of the people inside Damian’s group were too young to understand, who ranged between the ages of nine to fourteen. Nobody wanted to care for them, too troubled and timid in their own fight against the corrupt management, leaving the younger kids vulnerable.

Hey Damian! Where are we going? A high-pitched voice shook Damian out of his thoughts. He looked down as one of the little ones from his group approached him.

Damian smiled, That spot. You know - the secret hideout we discovered last time? The little Roamer’s eyes lit up in joy as he nodded and walked back to chat with his friends. His smile was replaced subconsciously by a cautious frown the moment he walked out of sight.

Minutes later, Damian approached the place where the Roamers have gone to eat lunch recently - an old and broken-down building at the far side of campus grounds, most likely to be removed sooner than later. Damian opened the door and coughed as a wave of dust scattered into the air. Inside, most of it has already collapsed, the tiled ceiling pieces scattered on the floor. The only part left standing were the rooms near the entrance, where Damian and his Roamers have spent their last few lunch periods.

They entered the room and dispersed into little groups. They were casually talking amongst themselves and were about to set down their lunch trays before they heard a loud sound.

Hey! A mysterious voice yelled, startling and quieting at them.

A few, unfamiliar, older teeangers emerged from the door across the hallway and started striding towards them, their intent clear in their aggressive stance.

Nice place ya’ got here. One of the more intimidating guys, probably their leader, said as he leaned on the door. Don’t mind if we take it, do you?

Silently, Damian cursed. It was one of those groups of Lesser students - ones whom Bierner favored. The phrase similar attracts was evident here: Bierner was known to cast favor upon the violent and rowdy Outsiders, which grew their arrogance even more. It had reached a point where other Lessers scrambled aside to avoid angering these unchecked bullies, which normally resulted in a harsh punishment from Bierner.

Relenting, Damian held up his hands. He had to choose between fighting or returning to that loud and dirty mess hall, so he chose the latter. Damian knew that if he messed with them, he would give more cause for Bierner to monitor him even closer. Right now, Damian did not want to risk raising any suspicion about their secret escape plan, which would jeopardize their freedom.

And so, Damian calmly replied, It’s fine, you guys can have it-

No! I want to stay here! Damian’s head whirled back, it was the kid from earlier.

Oh? The leader raised an eyebrow as Damian quickly put a finger over the child’s lips to quiet him.

Damian let out a forced smile. Don’t mind that, he’s just-

Ha! A little kid actually just said that to me! Can you believe it! He said with a strange eagerness as he turned to his friends behind him, who all were chuckling, knowing what was about to happen. From their hips and backs they pulled out an assortment of weapons, mostly long sticks pulled out of nearby trees and sizable rocks they gathered from the ground.

H-hey, Damian said nervously as the Roamers started to back into the corner, understanding their volatile nature and what they were about to do. We don’t need to do this-

As if! The leader said as he raised his weapon. Get’em! With those words, they charged at the Roamers.

Fighting erupted. The Roamers were not outnumbered, but outmatched. One by one, the Roamers fell to the ground until we were reduced to a huddling group trapped inside a circle of bullies.

Hey! Damian said as he was shoved into a corner, Leave them out of this! Some still were standing behind Damian, but most of the younger ones were cowering on the ground, nearly in tears. You can have what you want!

With a smirk, the bullies ignored Damian and edged closer to the fearful Roamers. The leader was about to snap his fingers at his group of followers, as if they were a pack of obedient, wild dogs waiting to finish the Roamers off, but he took another glance at them and fell suddenly silent. His eyes were filled with shock.

To Damian’s surprise, he started backing off, and the rest of his members followed suit shortly. They all seemed to be suddenly afraid of something.

Damian wondered what he was looking at when something jumped over the Roamers. It was one of the older kids, fourteen year-old Ceila. Something was off with her. Damian didn’t realise what was happening until he noticed the small details: how her body pitched forward every so often, as if she was struggling to stand, how she seemed emotionless, and how her face seemed limp without motion. Her glazed eyes stared into nothingness as a trickle of blood ran down her nose. It was then Damian realised.

Awakening! he shouted, Everyone get away! Then everyone started running away from her as they too started realising what had just happened.

An Awakening was when a Lesser first unlocked his or her own powers. Although the vessels in a Lesser’s body were dormant up until the moment of their first Awakening, they still passively store magic. When a Lesser first Awakens, the magic that they had been storing up all their lives would burst, leaving their minds completely overloaded and disoriented to the point where they would operate on basic instincts and relentlessly attack anything in sight. Only after this first explosion of magic would they return back to their normal selves. This rare phenomenon was one of the main reasons that the world saw the Lessers as threatening abominations, removing them from society.

The leader started shrinking back, wanting to stand his ground. But before anyone could even react, Celia powerfully charged at him, picked him up, and slammed him onto the ground. He landed with a loud crack on his stomach and a few broken ribs, rendering him completely unconscious. She kicked him aside and eyed at the largest group of people, charging towards them next.

With that display of strength, it was obvious what type of mage Ceila had become: a Tapper.

This type of magic tapped directly into Ceila’s magic vessels and transformed it into raw energy. While they lacked the grandeur and complexity of most other mages, they made up for it with brute force and untouchable speed. Even though Ceila had a tiny body and a slender frame, during her Awakening, she became unprecedentedly dangerous and lethal.

A sudden crash of metals and a rush of near silent footsteps brought Damian out of his thoughts.

Though he didn’t know what that noise was, Damian had to focus on the situation at hand. He scanned around and searched for anything he could disable Celia with. Damian’s eyes fell on a piece of metal irrigation pipe jutting out from the wall. He quickly grabbed it and quietly snuck up behind her, raising the pipe above her head. But, something paralyzed his arm from swinging it down.

Damian was one of Ceila’s first friends when she made it into the shelter. Would it be right to attack her? This behavior wasn’t her choice after all, was it?

She started choking one of their fellow Roamers. Quickly making the decision, Damian slammed the metal pipe onto her head, and she swiftly collapsed.

The uneven pants of breaths echoed through the building as he cautiously approached her. She was oozing blood from her head, her hair stained with a thick, red stream. As Damian was about to turn her body over, chaos erupted again.

Suddenly, men in dark blue uniforms burst into the room from the entrance. The Roamers panicked and yelled, thinking that they were here to punish them. But the Roamers soon quieted as the staff walked past them and towards the unconscious students, examined their wounds, picked them up, and walked out of the room. The last few finally picked up Ceila. Without another word, they assessed the wound on her head that Damian had caused and they hauled her up.

Wait! Damian said as he came out of his daze and shock. Where are you taking her?

When they kept on moving, as if they didn’t hear him, Damian put a hand on a guard who was still behind him, I asked where are you taking her- The guard looked back and violently shoved Damian’s hand off his shoulder.

To an inner city in Akarthia, you don’t need to worry. He said, and he started walking. Before he left, he spoke again, And if you dare put another hand on me, I’ll snap your fingers.

He walked past Damian, but before he left, Damian heard him utter out two distinct words, Lesser trash.

Damian’s hand jerked for a second. He tried to calm himself down, not wanting to cause any trouble stemmed from impulsive anger. Damian felt that he should be used to these insults already, having faced them nearly every day from the day he arrived here since the age of nine.

So Damian endured once again, clutching his fists and clenching his teeth with his head held low as the guards brushed past him and strode towards the exit.

Damian knew that even if the Outsiders were to gain their powers, they would still not be free of this treatment. Their lineage was tainted with the blood of a magicless Outsider, and their magic was usually weaker than that of a normal mage, earning them a lower place in society, hence the name Lesser.

When the last of them left, the conversations of the people behind Damian were merely background noise, and all he could hear were those two harsh words, roaring themselves over and over inside his head.

Lesser trash.

Chapter 1.3

Damian sat on his bed inside his dormitory, anxiously waiting for what was to come. It had been an hour since the incident at the collapsed building. The Roamers had been disbanded by security, dispersing and returning to their normal schedules.

Meanwhile, Damian was summoned by one of Bierner’s cronies. Holding back a smile, the cronie couldn’t wait to see what would happen to Damian.

A few seconds later, Damian heard the door opening and footsteps entering into the room. Before he could even turn around, a rod crisply slapped the back of my neck, leaving a long, burning, red mark.

Well, well, well, sneered Sister Bierner, It seems one Awakening was able to bring you and your little dead-beats down. Ha! She laughed cruelly, And how long do you think you could last out there in the wastelands even if you did manage to escape, Asher?

Damian’s eyes widened, How did you know?

Oh it wasn’t hard, She responded, "I just had to simply…pry it out of them. It’s simple, isn’t?"

Why? He asked as he stared at her in disbelief, knowing with that tone, it was definitely more than mere prying, Why are you doing this? What have they even done to you?

She whirled on him and before he knew it, Damian was flat on his bed, his forehead now bruised with a new, red mark in the shape of her palm.

"Did you just ask me why I’m doing this? Bierner snarled as she hauled Damian up by the collar of his shirt. You think I want to be here? I was picked for this job. Do you really think I came here out of my free will? To waste my time with impure, Outsider garbage like you ?"

Damian gritted his teeth in anger at the heated words coming out of her mouth.

You think I like this job? You think I like to teach you or any of those damned runts I supposedly ‘favor’? She hissed out as she pulled his head closer and gave a breathy, maniacal laugh. The more miserable you Outsider wretches are, the better it will be for mages all around the world, free of your disgusting incompetence.

She paused as she panted for air after her loud rant with Damian’s head still in her hands. If you think there is any chance I’m letting you and your little band of Roamers leave this place, She said a moment later, You’re sorely mistaken. She threw his head down onto the mattress as she patted her clothing and began walking away with her head held high as if nothing of importance had just happened in the last minute.

Damian couldn’t hold on to his surging anger that had built up from her tirade of hatred. As she was about to open the door to the hallway, he let loose an insult. At least I can last longer out there than an old hag like you! he spat at her.

The atmosphere in the silent bunkroom changed as soon as those words left Damian’s mouth. As her hand stopped moving towards the handle, Bierner turned her head. Damian saw her eyes transform from a condescending, arrogant gaze to a hateful and disgusted glare. Her nose flared, as if she was a wild animal who had just been provoked. Her temper -- her unchecked, wild temper -- would unleash itself when the slightest mistake was made.

Forgetting everything about her composure, she loudly stomped over, and before Damian could react, she raised a leg and kicked his stomach with all of her strength. He fell from his bed and banged his head against the marble floor, the stun, combined with the pain from her kick, made Damian unable to get up or defend himself. She stomped on his face, over and over again. Eventually, her consistent kicks and stomps became a blur as black spots danced in front of Damian’s eyes from the pain until he had passed out.

~~~~~~~~

Splash!

Damian woke up to the abrupt sensation of cold water on his face. He tried to sit up, but his body refused to move as his face winced at the sharp pains. With much effort, Damian moved his hand to his chest and felt a dull sense of pain there as well, as if there were bruises underneath his shirt. He moved his other hand to his nose and felt a pulsating pain as the memories from what had happened a few hours ago came back to him.

Sheer anger immediately followed. Damian bit his tongue to prevent himself from yelling out in frustration. His fists balled up the bed sheets. He wanted to unleash his anger on someone, but something stopped him.

Hold it in. He thought to himself. You can’t afford to mess this up. Others are counting on you.

Damian took a deep breath and exhaled, gradually calming himself. Eventually, his shoulders drooped and his anger subsided.

With another jolt of pain from his stomach, Damian sat straight up. He had to endure. There was no other choice, because the freedom of many depended on him.

When Damian wiped the water out of his eyes, there stood an intimidating person in front of him, sporting an annoyed face and threatening eyes. He wore a familiar caretaker uniform, spotted with fading dark green dye, which was partly concealing his very tanned skin. He hauled Damian up and dragged him over to the dressing room, where he was presented with a mirror.

Damian could see himself growing scrawnier as time went by. His cheeks were hollow, and his skin was a visibly sallow, pale shade from being confined. Damian’s jet black hair grew unkempt, down to his thin neck.

Damian was still looking into the mirror when he felt a nudge behind him. It was the caretaker. Without a single word, the caretaker held a folded set of uniform in front of Damian, which he reluctantly took. The caretaker then pulled Damian by his shirt out of the dorms and into the hallway.

Damian took a look around the familiar hallway as they walked, their echoing steps distinct in the silence. Crawling spiders roamed the corners, while unclean floors were imprinted by dirt, grime, and a few spots of blood. Holes littered the walls, where ants skittered in and out of, carrying drops of bread crumbs to feed on. The place looked filthy.

They took a right into a noisy cafeteria, where many students sat, eating their food.

That didn’t last long, as their chatter quieted to a complete silence upon Damian’s appearance. After a few seconds, he could hear them whispering to their classmates:

It’s the Roamer gang leader who stirred up trouble again.

He tried to fight someone who had an Awakening, can you believe it?

I heard that he fought against Bierner again. Look at his bruises.

Damian snapped his attention back to the caretaker, who was looking for a tray to give him. It caused an obnoxiously distracting sound, amidst the silence. Soon he found one, shoved it into Damian’s chest, and pushed Damian into the line. Everyone stared at Damian as he joined the line of people waiting to receive their meals.

To Damian’s relief, the noise slowly resumed as activity gradually returned to normal. Damian approached the first window in the wall. A spoon poked out and dumped some pulpy, unappetizing oatmeal into his bowl. Damian was shoved along by the impatient people behind him, waiting to get their fill. A jaded cook with an expressionless face stood behind the second window, sluggishly handing out milk boxes and stale bread.

Damian finally exited the line and went into the column of occupied tables. He was met with the students’ glances that all said the same thing: they didn’t want to associate with a Roamer, especially the leader, in any way.

A hand poked out of the crowd and waved at Damian. Damian looked over and saw the familiar faces of the Roamers. Biernier must have banned us from the other building, our usual lunch spot, he concluded. He quickly walked over and sat down, taking a seat at the end of the table. He scanned around. Everyone was present, except for Celia.

Of course. Damian thought as his heart fell, Why would she be here? Being newly awoken, she’s probably in a city now, living a better life as a Lesser.

The rest were quick to bombard Damian with questions stemmed from fear, scared of what had happened yesterday. When are we gonna leave? Who were those scary people? We do have a plan right?

Damian waved his hand, as they all quieted down to listen and tune in.

Listen, Damian sighed, I know this seems hard, but we’ll have to wait it out a few days. He was immediately met with a number of protests, so he silenced them with a finger to his lips and continued, "We can’t rush this. Do you want to be caught by her ? Damian was quickly relieved when they all shook their heads and muttered, No".

Damian then raised his voice a little more, in hopes of rallying them. Well then, we’ll see. For now, let’s just make it through the day, yeah?

He looked around. He could see some frowns and wrinkled eyebrows begin to fade away from their grim faces.

The breakfast bell rang just a few seconds later and signaled the end of the break. Damian dumped his untouched oatmeal into the trash can, hungry but hopeful nonetheless.

It was time for history class. As Damian entered the classroom, he noticed the visible cracks in the ceiling and some ants milling around in a deserted corner. After he approached his assigned seat and desk, Damian began the familiar routine of pulling out the heavy textbook with the big bolded words The Founding Fathers of Akarthia .

Resting his chin on his hand, Damian barely paid attention as he was being spoon-fed lesson after lesson by a middle-aged nobleman. The nobleman was dressed up in a royal uniform that looked more like a clown suit than anything with its weird variation of violet and yellow. He travelled here from within a wealthy city in Akarthia to teach Damian and his students about the glorious history of witches.

And from what Damian could tell, this supposed history about how the oppressed witches who endured hardships, how they came to power after a successful rebellion against the sorcerers, was just a propaganda scheme to empower the Akarthia government.

As days rolled by, everything continued normally. Until one day at lunch, Damian spotted a few swollen bruises, shaded in violet, hiding underneath a Roamer’s short sleeves of his shirt.

Hey, Damian grabbed his arm from across the table, What’s that?

The Roamer winced as Damian accidentally pressed his fingers down on one of his bruises. I-its nothing, He pulled his arm out of Damian’s grasp, It’s just a little scratch, that’s all.

That’s Bierner’s doing, isn’t it? Damian hissed out. The little Roamer turned his face away as it grew red from shame. He nodded.

Damian’s anger boiled as he turned towards the rest of the Roamers, who were listening in to this conversation.

Has this happened to anyone else? Damian boldly asked.

They ducked their heads down, but a few shy hands slowly came up, mostly belonging to the younger members of the group.

This...I won’t stand for this! Damian slammed his hand on the table.

The bell rang. The Roamers quickly placed their trays on the tables and left for class, leaving me in silence.

Damian wanted to get out -- fast. And so, the very next day, he decided to finalize their escape plan.

Chapter 1.4

The sun was setting as the Roamers were dismissed from class, their very last at that. Damian and the Roamers and walked out of the classroom. They were done being disciplined -- and tonight, they wanted out. The night set on the Roamers as they walked across campus. Those harsh white lights from the security towers stood as a constant reminder of their entrapment.

Damian stayed up very late that night, holding an empty glass bottle of alcohol he had managed to snatch from one of Bierner’s drawers a few days ago. He then smashed the bottle, which shattered and landed all over the floor. Damian was answered with annoyed and confused groans from neighbouring bunkmates and a slap from the silent room manager, which left his right cheek stinging. After Damian cleaned up the bottle, he put the shards in a plastic bag, while the manager wasn’t looking, and pretended to go back to bed.

A few hours later, when the manager had gone to sleep and all the lights were off, Damian knocked his knuckles against the ground, not loud enough to wake anyone, but enough to get the attention of the ones who were awake. The walls were very thin, allowing the sound to be heard in other rooms.

He heard a knock on the wall response… pause… two knocks… another pause...then three. All the scattered Roamers residing in other rooms were ready.

Carefully, Damian crawled out of the camera views from two opposing corners of the room. Armed with the glass shard, he cut the wires dangling below the camera, and quietly snuck out of the room.

Damian was the first to poke his head out into the hallway. He squinted his eyes in an attempt to see, but it was too dark. In the depths of midnight, with no lights. His surroundings were pitch black.

"Hey! You guys there? " Damian loudly whispered.

A moment later, Damian was met with a quiet chorus of affirmations from the other Roamers. After everyone had gathered, they opened the door and saw the crescent moon high above them, shining blue light onto the Roamers as they took deep breaths, preparing for the last part of their plan. Not wasting any time, the Roamers quietly sneaked out, further and further away from that wretched shelter until they came to the edge of the campus.

Standing in front of the barbed fence -- their last hindrance from liberty -- the Roamers took out stashed tools and went straight to work. Like alarmed prey, their heads ducked down every time a guard’s flashlight was nearby. They continued to saw, breaking through dozens of assorted tools, mostly broken knick-knacks they’ve stashed away these past few months.

It took longer than Damian had thought, but they had finally done it. It was their first sight of victory: the metal wires succumbed to their prolonged protests and fell down before their knees. Without further hesitation, they walked across the smooth, white concrete, where no student dared to trespass, and onto the coarse dirt, littered with trash and rubble.

The Roamers were about to sneak away further, until they felt something on them - something warm, like sunlight. They slowly turned our panicked heads and saw the harsh, white spotlights from the guard towers all directly aiming down at them. From a distance, Damian saw guards sprinting towards them, all carrying some sort of rifles in their arms.

Run! he shouted. The Roamers ran at full speed out of campus grounds.

Bzzt.

Damian glanced behind -- the guards fired at them, and Roamers began to fall limply to the ground one-by-one with tasers sticking out of their backs. The guards filed out of the crevice, and in no time, they caught up and surrounded the Roamers with their better physique as trained security. The hopelessness dawned in the Roamers’ eyes as they became prey in the trap.

Well I really can’t say that this wasn’t expected.

A shadow emerged behind the wall of guards and transformed into Bierner’s silhouette. Plastering a cruel sneer on her face, Bierner walked up and grabbed Damian by his hair and stepped on his face until he fell to the ground. She then looked at the other guards.

Should’ve just followed the rules, She said, Rough them up a bit.

Damian watched in horror as more fell to the ground, twitching and convulsing with tasers attached to their bodies.

Out of nowhere, a feeling churned. A flame lit inside Damian and began to burn brightly, surging energy and warmth throughout his body. It grew fiercer and fiercer until it was scalding hot. The pain was barely endurable, producing tears around the corners of his eyes as his vision became blurry and tinged. He wanted it to stop. He screamed -- a blood-curdling scream so loud he had never heard from himself before, and all fighting ceased. The cloudiness in Damian’s eyes finally cleared, and he saw the guards staring at him in awe with bewildered expressions - surprised enough to make them momentarily lower their rifles. Even Bierner was wide-eyed. It was then that Damian realised that my eyes were glowing.

A seer eh? Bierner showed a crooked smile, How wonderful for you, to be Awakened at this moment. The devious smile widened as she said, Lesser.

She stretched her hand out and a jagged piece of lightning appeared in her hand, showing her powers as an Elementalist.

Then something strange happened. Damian didn’t know what it was, but time slowed down and a voice inside his head whispered, she is targeting your head, dodge to the left and hit her stomach.

Damian did as the voice said. When the bolt of lightning was casted from Bierner’s hand, going at a speed that was almost too fast for the human eye to see, to the guard’s surprise, Damian somehow dodged it. The projectile completely missed, so Damian closed in on her and punched her in the stomach, much faster than what he expected. He watched her collapse onto the ground.

The guards stared at him in disbelief and confusion. One of them yelled, Open fire! and lifted his rifle.

Domain wanted to shield himself, but he never got the chance. Something strange happened again: the world faded so fast it made him nauseous. He was so dizzy he collapsed onto

Reviews for MODERN MAGICS

[Stella · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My personal favorite book to read within the science-fiction/fantasy genre