Shards of Old

The age of magic in our world started a long time ago. A solar flare shook the foundations of the world we once knew. All of the technology that was using electricity was destroyed at once, which plunged the world into chaos. Since everyone in everything depended on power to work properly, whole countries got destroyed over a single night. The calamity also had some other, more interesting consequences.

Since most technology got obliterated, energy fields created by technology that used electricity, vanished. That allowed mana to start flowing again through once dried up leylines. Ancient history was always full of magic, and apparently, that what we thought was legends and myths, appeared to be true. Long time ago, when electricity and pollution was a non-issue, mana could flow freely. Thanks to increasing human dependence on technology, old rituals, spells, alchemy, everything that used mana as energy resource was replaced by the "superior" version.

Now it all went back to how it used to be, before the era of technology and pollution.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against technology, but that does not mean that I don't have an opinion on what should be done. Every year after the calamity I learned to appreciate the new state the world found itself in. We no longer are dependent on exhaustible resources, and now can shape our future into something better.

We have been given a chance to restart everything, but now with better knowledge and resources. I know it looks harder and resorting back to regular technology would be a lot easier, but don't you think this is better? If that is not enough of an argument for you, I don't know what to tell you.

Shortly after the solar flare and reforming of the mana flow in the environment, a new element was discovered all around the world. It started appearing as small clusters of white crystals. We called them the Origin Crystals. They were everywhere, cities, ruins, woods, mountains, it didn't matter. Thanks to them, the magic was rediscovered.

But first, let me say a bit about the magic itself.

I am sure you know that but, the mana split between person and environment. To draw from around you you need a gem. Gem also forces a color of magic or element if you will. They only allow you to channel mana into simple incarnations of the element. Without the incantation, that is. To create something else that's more complicated you need a spell. To cast something you use the Forgotten Script, developed a long time ago and rediscovered again along with the advent of magic.

Gems of different colors are not compatible with each other. If you use one color, the other will not be able to activate and be channeled through.

When you cast a spell, mana is converted to the color of the gem. The bigger size of gem the larger the field it has that forces mana to be of that certain color.

Meaning that casting multi-element spells is impossible with one person, and even with multiple people, mana in the environment can conflict with each other causing lack or abundance of mana of certain color.

The Origin Crystals were different. They did not change your mana to a certain color - you had a free choice of elements for your spells. You can imagine the explosive start that it gave the research of magic. Those years were called the golden era of magic, which is ironic since it was then, when people were still trying to rebuild after the solar flare and the destruction it brought. Yet the magic research was booming, and people were slowly getting used to the new world order, with magic in their lives instead of technology they used all their lives up till now.

To channel and convert mana to desired color is not very easy. To help beginners with their first magics there are a few methods, but two of them which are the most popular are coloring and bio-binding.

Coloring is as you expect, just converting an Origin Crystal to be just of one element, essentially eliminating the need to convert the mana by yourself, useful for newbies, but limiting in every other factor.

The bio-binding is a bit different. Gems can be infused with biological material of their user, making it easier for mana to flow from the user to the gem. It has a drawback though, or rather another useful feature. When the gem is infused, the only person that is able to use it is one whose biological material was used in infusion. That is why this process is also sometimes used as a security measure.

Sadly, the golden age of magic didn't last very long.

The MIRE was one of the centers of magic research. It was famous for creating many spells that would be widely used by everyone.

But one day the whole city was shaken by an explosion, followed by a shockwave so massive that most of the city ended in ruins. Before people could get to the epicenter of the destruction, an earthquake accompanied by explosions of mana started destroying everything in their path, spreading like a chain reaction. It did not take long before it reached the ocean, creating huge waves. An apocalypse has started, once again.

That's what people tended to scream. They were not completely wrong. The following cataclysm lasted for a long while. Whole continents were reshaped, creating a completely new world.

Or at least that's what my theory about the beginning of the new era is.

I was one of the magic researchers at The MIRE. Years ago we used to create first spells and to experiment trying to connect technology and magic, so we could rebuild our society that was shattered by the solar flare.

Three of us were in the epicenter of the calamity. Well, four. What we had there was a giant magic crystal, which was supposed to be the biggest Origin Crystal to be ever found, the source of mana and the core of all the leylines.

During one of the experiments, we made one crucial mistake. It was me who caused the calamity though. I'm the one responsible for all death and destruction that transpired on that day. My stupidity caused the shattering and destruction of the Origin Crystal and all the following aftermath.

In the crystal chamber, before the first explosion, three people were supposed to be present. But, my coworkers, Mike and Iloa, brought their daughter, Ilma, that day, since she was very curious about their work. The three of us were pretty much in command of the whole research group, so nobody opposed us when we wanted to bring a kid to the research center. We never intended to let her get even close to the Origin Crystal, but thanks to some unforeseen circumstances, she entered the room right when the failure occured. The crystal exploded.

You can imagine the pandemonium that it caused, even though the initial explosion was sort of contained. By contained I mean it did not destroy ALL the walls.

The crystal shattered violently, sending chunks of razor sharp pieces all over the place. The most unlucky one was, of course, the kid. She was the closest one, sneaking into the room, despite both his mother and father threatening her with a solid spanking if she was to get caught inside.

What would you do in this situation? Save the kid and risk your body being either riddled with holes or straight up vaporized by the massive wave of energy released by the explosion?

Well, Iloa did exactly that.

She jumped in front of the kid, saving Ilma’s life, but also sacrificing herself in the process. Her body disintegrated right in front of us, just after being pierced by a large amount of crystal chunks. The three of us who were left, including a kid who was now covered in blood from her, now vaporized, mother, were all lying on the ground stunned and still processing what just happened, when everything went from bad to even worse.

All the shards of the Origin Crystal now started glowing and before any of us was able to react, they also started exploding, like some sort of delayed firework.

Almost immediately I lost sight of Mike and the kid, got thrown into a wall, pinned by a bunch of crystal shards that pierced my whole left side and cut off my left arm.

Yep. Cut off. I didn’t even have time to scream, the mind went blank from pain and pure mana that was now being released once more around me.

Next thing I remember feeling was a massive earthquake, which I assume was just an aftershock caused by now unstable mana flowing through the leyline and exiting the chamber, leaving destruction in its wake. Then - another explosion. And another.

It most likely continued for a long while after that, but I was no longer present, my mind drifted off from the shock of pain and mana flowing uncontrollably through me.

When I came back to my senses I was lying under some rubble, with no one in sight. First thing I realized was that I was not in any pain. Well, maybe besides some chunks of rubble being wedged uncomfortably in my back.

Tossing them aside and sitting up, surprisingly I noticed that my arm was not bleeding, and the wound was now covered in solid crystal.

As much as that seemed like a very pressing matter I tried recalling what exactly happened first.

Explosions, pieces of crystal, vaporization… Oh right…

I stood up and took a good look around the rubble that was surrounding me. And a now large gaping hole in the wall.

The room where I thought I was, was supposed to be on the highest floor of the building, giving a nice view of the whole city and surrounding area.

There was nothing left of the city that used to be here. You couldn't even tell if those ruins were new or old. And besides that, everything was covered in a nice, thick layer of greenery.