Chapter 1: How to use Tome of Magic

An apprentice stands in the laboratory of his ancient wizard master. The youth's eyes stray across tables cluttered with alembics, retorts, beakers, bat wings, and phials, and beyond to shelves of scrolls and books. A musty old volume, bound in cracked green leather with glittering silver hinges, catches his attention. His master is elsewhere, so the curious student pulls the heavy volume from the shelf and, with a puff of breath, blows away a thick layer of dust. "Tome of Magic" it reads, spelled out in silver leaf on the brittle cover.

The apprentice can't believe his discovery. He's never seen this book before. What secrets has his master been keeping from him? What secrets will he discover inside? With trembling fingers, the apprentice opens the creaking cover.

"Ahem, O callow youth! Perhaps you are dissatisfied with my training and would like to seek another master!" booms the master's voice from behind the apprentice. The youth startles and guiltily slams the cover shut. Turning, he smiles sheepishly at his master.

The old wizard, bald and portly, takes the book from his apprentice's hands. "Before you can learn secrets like these, you must first master the basics, which I sometimes doubt you ever will. Now tell me, what are the three Greater Gesticulations used in casting a light spell?" The wizard deftly slides the tome back into place on the shelf as he speaks.

Flustered, the apprentice stammers out what feels like an elementary reply. But in his heart, he knows that someday he will read the secrets of that tome.

Someday is now!

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