Icarus Guild: The Renaissance Incident

TODAY'S LESSON : HOW TO SURVIVE A MAGICAL DIMENSION

What is the first sign that you are going crazy? Correct, it is seeing an animal every time you wake up. Last time, it was a chimpanzee. This time, Reno was face to face with an Ibis. ( Reno had seen the bird on Nat Geo). And that too in the middle of a dark void.
“ I'm surprised you made it this far.”, Mr. Ibis spoke.
The thing that creeped Reno out was that he was actually getting used to talking to animals.
“Yeah, great. Now let’s start the normal questions including.....1.Who are you? 2.:Why am I here? 3. Are you a cos player?” Reno replied.
“ As expected of my master. Always hungry for knowledge...”
“ Whoa there dude! I am not your master or anything. I don’t remember keep in an ibis for a pet.”
“ Indeed. And I can’t say I am all too pleased. But the chains of destiny are head to break. So we must be bound together. “
“ Oh, so I got an Ibis for a weapon huh? Can I change my order or upgrade you?”
“ I am afraid, there is no way to escape the Duaat without my power. And I cannot invoke my power without you summoning me by my name.”
“ So what’s your name? “, Reno asked, wishing he had taken a better look in the armoury.
“ I am afraid, as of now I don’t have an identity. But my purpose is to serve you. For us to fight together, you must call my name.”
Yup, that’s how its always with Reno. Could he have something easy, at least once? Once again, Reno searched up his brain........info circled around in his neurons.......the symbol of Ibis.....the image of a book. The name jolted up his lips.
“ Thoth.”
It was a small word, but the effects were dramatic. The black void burst out in a flurry of colourful streams. Somehow, Reno's vision sharpened. He was gazing upon the Duaat, the realm of magic. Veins of magic swirled around the ibis layering it with a new identity.
“Thoth. Yes, that was the name the humans gave me. “, The ibis spoke out.
“ Are you Thoth? “, Reno asked.
Laughter echoed through the Duaat. “ Thoth was a myth, formulated by humans who feared my power. My power is the essence of knowledge, the mysticity of writing and the blade of wisdom. My bearer has the power to peek into the past and to divine the future. With such a power, even you humans can ascend to divinity. No, young master , I am not Thoth “
“So, what are you exactly? “
“ Why? I am your weapon. It is my duty to obey your wishes.”, a surprised voice spoke out.
Magic swirled faster. Reno remembered Thoth now. The ibis- headed god of knowledge in Egypt. He was the patron of Hermopolis, also renowned as the inventor of hieroglyphs or ‘sacred writings'. The only god, who manifested by himself. The one who was as old as Atum Re, the creator of all. As the veins of magic reached him, Reno could vision himself as Thoth, standing over the golden sands of Egypt,, at the shrine of Hermopolis. Power coursed through him, the power of knowledge.Why shouldn’t Thoth be feared? He saw all and knew all.
A papyrus scroll landed in Reno's hands.  Reno trembled. The scroll radiated silent power.  It was powerful, because it was silent, silent because it was powerful. But it didn’t look to be of any use in battle.
“Great, um so.......what if I accidentally tear you up? Also, we need to leave this void.”
“ I am your weapon. Any harm to me is also your harm. I have immense power, beyond your wildest imaginations. I can destroy everything, I can create anything. But a weapon is severely limited by its master's skills. You must find the answer yourself. “
Reno wondered what kind of power a ten thousand plus year old papyrus scroll could have. It wasn’t meant for banging someone. May be  it was meant to be poked in the enemy's eye?
“ You are really naïve." the annoying papyrus commented, as if reading his thoughts.
Reno lashed back, “ And you, sir, have too much of an ego.”
“ Why shouldn’t I be proud of my strength. I was.......”
“ Yeah, yeah, same old story. You were awesome, blah, blah. But I don’t see any use in you. You don’t even come with a warranty card. Who will cover my insurance fees now?”
Reno  knew he was playing a risky gamble, but the only way left for him was to provoke Mr. Ibis.
“ What? Fool, I was powerful enough to destroy the order of creation.”, the papyrus scroll answered. Yeah, it was a bit creepy when papers started to talk.
“ So, I have heard. But like I said, you are all talk. Don’t you weapons have a demo service?”
Veins of magic spurned out from the scroll, mingling with Duaat, altering its very reality. Blazing hieroglyphs flashed in front of Reno. Words, Reno realised. Words were the embodiment of knowledge. In other words, .......
“ Alright, I get it. You can stop your laser show now.”
“ Indeed? Do care to tell what you have comprehended?”
Can papyrus scrolls mock? Reno was pretty sure that was sarcasm....Anyway, that wasn’t important.
“ Thoth was the god of knowledge. But he was also the god of Hieroglyphs, the sacred writings. In a myth, it was told that the Book of Thoth contained spells that were divinised by the creator God Atum Himself. I am guessing, you can turn words into spells?”
“ Yes. However, spells are powerful stuff. Especially attacking spells like “Destroy” are chaotic. So a new user like you, must only use defensive spells for the purpose. “
“ If not.......”
“ Your soul will burn away. Magic is nothing but energy. Attack spells require a lot more power, once they consume the magical energy you get from me, they will harness your biological energy.”
Reno was not a big fan of getting his biological energy harnessed. He decided to stick to Thoth's advice.
“ OK.  But some legends say the Book of Thoth had outlined the entire fate of Egypt. Can you see the future?”
Reno couldn’t tell, but the voice seemed to turn a bit darker.
“Yes. I can see the future, but...”
“ That is so cool. I mean , seeing the future? Dude, we could make a fortune at gambling! “ , Reno giggled like crazy.
“Let me finish insolent boy......Looking into the future comes at a great cost. You can see the future, only when you have no other option left. Even so, every time you look divine your fate, you have to lose something important to you. A feat like making a fortune at gambling would be probably equivalent to the value of your itself. So, yes, you will make a good fortune but you will also die as quickly. That’s the way the universe equates things.”
Ever seen a pricked balloon? It was exactly how Reno felt at the moment. Kinda like you find the best app on play store only to find you don’t have enough space on your phone.
Also, Reno suddenly felt weird. He felt a ton lighter than usual. What was going on? To his alarm, he found his body steaming out bit by bit.
“The Duaat.”, there was no mistaking the urgency in Thoth’s voice, “ Its rejecting your presence. You need to get out.”
Reno felt irritated. Like he wanted to be here....
“Stop blabbering and do something then.”,he shouted.
“You must understand that I am unable to do anything on my own. You need to use me.”
Reno made a mental note to dump that scroll in a dustbin as soon as he found one.
Reno concentrated. Words. Words were power. He needed to think something up very quickly. A word that would get him out. Get him out.  Escape.
This time Reno’s hands moved instinctively. He knew what he was doing. Reno rolled open the scroll and began to chant. “Thee, who is the creator of knowledge, thee who is the beneficiary of wisdom, thee who whispers to the all- king and advises the commoners; I, through the power of this scroll channel your infinitesimal power into your sacred writings......”
The scroll glowed and floated around him. He could feel power forcing through him, waiting for his command.
“Dalet”, Reno’s voice echoed through multiple layers of reality. It was such a simple word, but...

The hieroglyph for Dalet scorched onto the scroll and then projected outwards from it, growing bigger. “Dalet” was actually the Egyptian for Door or Entrance. Magic swirled faster, revealing a door.
“Quick, jump!”, Thoth urged.
And Reno did. He jumped. For the first time in his life he was thankful for that train journey session with Elsa.
The journey back to the world wasn’t very good, unless you like emptiness. Reno gave the tour package a one star. And as for his entrance , he fell straight out from a ceiling. Thump. Surprisingly he had a soft landing. He was just about to thank God for his safe return when, something squeaked below him.
“Next time,”, Wallace’s voice croaked out, “ Look before you leap.”