A black hard covered book sat on a just out post with about a dozen more copies. It had a few blank tabs jutting out of the side that seemed to imply it was some sort of organizer, however, the title said otherwise. On the front cover, in gold foil all caps comic sans was the title "SPELLS AND RITUALS FOR THE NEW AGE MAGE". The font sort of gave Gabe the feeling that it was a joke. Under the title was an inscription in the same gold foil comic sans but smaller that read "A complete guide for practical magic of any level mage!" And under that was a sticker that read "Buy Me to Try Me!", The kind found on porn magazines. Thinking this was a load of bull, he ignored the sticker and went to pull the cover up. As he did, a strand of light blue, ethereal magic chains appeared around the book with a similar looking padlock with the same inscription as the sticker, Buy me to Try me. "Okay, maybe this IS real." Gabe said. On the back was a picture of a burly ginger man with the name of Jonathan Rifty, which was weird, since the store was called Rifty's, yet the book supposedly came from some other store. Curious, he picked it out, along with some other odds and ends and some food. He checked out relatively quickly, but he female cashier stopped at the final item, which was the book.
"Ah, yeah. Top seller!" The woman pronounced. "Pretty soon, were gonna be out! Better get me a copy before it's sold out." His final total came out to be $67.31. In related news, he found out where the store made most of it's money: the food court ("$15 for one fucking hotdog?!" He openly exclaimed). The ethereal chains fell off and he could open the book.
On the inner cover was a slider bar that said "Select Lineup". Upon moving it from its original spot, the tabs retracted and replaced with new ones with new labels. There was a setting for Alphabetic, Type, Power, Random, Most Viewed, and Stealth (used to hide what spells you use from others). On the first page was a "this book belongs to:" line and a line of text that read "you may not proceed until fields are filled." To confirm this, he tried to flip the page, only to have the ethereal chains return and bar him from progressing. Gabe produced a new pen and filled in his information "Gabriel Isaiah Newfield" and the Chan's once again dissipated. On the next page was a note from the author which explains how the book works. It involved details about powers, levels, types, motives, and how magic worked in the first place. The first spell in the book was as follows:
Proof of Realism Spell
This spell will prove the abilities this book possesses and help determine what element you are skilled in. It is one of the simplest spells in the world and can be accomplished by any power lever.
How to cast:
Hold your hand out palm up and read the following incantation:
"Lords of magic and mayhem, awaken my resting magic abilities and reveal what had been long before unshown."
One of the following things will happen:
-Fire: Warmth/Heat or flames emmiting from hand.
-Earth: Rocks and dirt start floating/ vines grow from palm and wrap around hand.
-Air: Wind kicks up/ mini tornado appearing in palm.
-Water: Tiny water squirts from center of palm, puddle of water in hand.
-Ice: Hand freezes/ gets cold
-Death: Flesh and muscle temporarily vanish, leaving bone.
-Life: hand reverts to baby hand.
-Magic: tiny Sparks and fireworks emit from fingers.
Effects will vanish by shaking hand. Element dictates success you will have with certain spells. Note: "Magic" means adeptness in all elements.
Gabe performed the spell as requested. Tiny fireworks shot up from the tips of his fingers and went off with a loud snap. He was Magic, which meant he could do any spell with ease.
The inside cover hosted two things: the index selector (the thing that picked the layout) and the level progression bar. So far he was level 1, and had one spell performed successfully. It said he needs to do five spells to progress to level two. At level two he will have to do teen spells to progress to level three, and then twenty to go to level 4, and so on until he hits level ten, at which point it will just register how many spells he has ever done as ten was the max level. Gabe's attention was brought to the index selector. It was currently set at alphabetical, but he switched it to Type. The tabs retracted and we're replaced by tabs that read the types of spells in the books. Fascinated and intrigued, he decided to open to the...