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Summary: Taylor Hebert wants to be a hero. Then she woke up with the power to do just that and more. By the magic of the White Realm, she can cast spells to empower heroes, inspire others, and summon mythical beings. Just perfect for an aspiring hero, or is it?

Background

This story is essentially taking a number of elements from the magic system in Master of Magic, an old 4x computer game, and bringing it into the Worm setting as Taylor's power. The White Magic, or Life Realm, as it is alternatively called, bears many similarities with the White Magic of Magic: The Gathering, which makes sense because all the colors are the same and they both trace roots back to an earlier predecessor. There isn't a whole lot of lore behind Master of Magic, so it gives me a lot of freedom to portray it differently, but many of the essentials remain. In that game, you played as a god, I mean Wizard whom people flocked to and saw as a leader, controlling cities and armies to conquer everyone else or learn the ultimate magic that let you become the true Master of all magic. You got mana from constructing religious buildings, capturing natural nodes, or (somehow) extracting mana from your population of certain races that produced it by just by living, and the Life magic in particular was oriented towards buffing up your own units and cities. If you're interested in the source, there is a pretty extensive wiki that's still surprisingly active for a game from 1994.

The story is taking the spells and the undertones of the MoM setting and White Magic seriously, with a nice helping of handwavium and various adjustments to make things more interesting.

Ultimately Taylor will find that her power is less than completely benign despite its thematic flair, and she, or perhaps the world around her, will struggle against the tyrannical influence of the Incarnation of White. However, it might take a while before we get to that point.

Also the story is set in canon Worm, for now, but I can't guarantee that there won't be any AU elements as I see fit eventually.

Prologue

The Supreme Pontiff delivered his sermon passionately. He stood atop a high pedestal, on a tower that overlooked the hundreds of thousands of faithful that gathered for the service. Millions were watching from elsewhere through cameras.

All was as it had been for hundreds of years, since the False Age of Enlightenment, when the extremist leaders of the Revolutionary Empire of Pure Reason were beheaded by their own guillotine invention and the word of God returned triumphant in The Theocracy.

"And now—"

He was cut off by the neigh of a horse.

A short armoured figure in a translucent aura riding atop a steed of pure white with a single sharp golden horn in the shape of a twisted cone appeared in front of him.

The unicorn turned its sparkling, judging, eyes to him disdainfully and snorted.

"Who—what are you? What is this?" The Pontiff demanded with a frown.

The armoured figure looked over the masses, then turned to the Pontiff. It nodded and in the voice of a young girl, said, "Yes, this should do," as if to itself.

"You are interrupting—" The Pontiff spoke but was again interrupted.

"By my Authority as Champion of the White Realm, I hereby declare! You will listen. You will kneel. You will repent. Behold, I am the messenger of truth and the glory of life. Submit and pray before me, for I speak the [Holy Word]!"

The Pontiff fell to his knees. His eyes were wide open, but his mind resisted the compulsion.

"There is but one true deity, and she is my master, the White Goddess TYLR!" The armour figure shouted.

"N-no! Blasphemy!"

LISTEN. KNEEL. REPENT.

The jaws of the Pontiff fell and his eyes became bloodshot as he foamed at the mouth.

While his mind tore itself apart fighting the spell attempting to subvert his faith, he couldn't hear the screaming cries of the god-fearing masses, even as the more dedicated ones clutched their heads in pain or ran away in panic.

The figure raised a hand slowly, removing an amulet from her neck in the shape of a white ankh and she held it high in the air.

It glowed ominously with unspeakable power, then it shone with a searing white light that covered the streets.

"You! Will! Submit! [Holy Word]!" The youthful voice shouted again.

This time, boosted by the [Artifact] in her hands, the masses below kneeled down in sync and tears flowed freely as they begged forgiveness.

The Pontiff cried tears of blood that mixed with the foam in his mouth.

The figure retracted her hand and carefully placed the amulet over her neck again, basking in the wonderful feelings it generated in her soul. She sighed contentedly, holding it tightly before reluctantly letting it go.

Underneath her helmet, she was smiling with giddiness.

She said to her steed, running a hand over its head, "We did it! Just a little bit more, and all of Earth Cheit will follow Her soon!"

"Neeigghh!" The unicorn replied.

…

Baptism 1.1

I woke up in a cold sweat with a gasp. Just a nightmare, I thought in relief. Even now, it was receding into the back of my mind, like all dreams did when you woke up you started forgetting. What was I even so scared of? The face of the man bleeding tears came up again. Other than that, I couldn't even recall what happened in the nightmare anymore. Something with a unicorn?

Ha, how could unicorns be scary?

Oh well, nothing to be concerned about.

I got up and checked my mana reserves.

I couldn't kept the excitement off my face as I finished my morning routine.

Last night I had just finished my altar and it had been collecting mana for me all night long. As I stood in front of my creation, the spell I was most eager to try came to my mind.

The words of power flowed from my mouth like a hymn of war.

"Oh valiant warrior, take upon the mantle and feel the call of a just cause! Let justice be your strength and courage, for justice shall prevail! In the time of darkest night, step into the light and bear the burden of [Heroism]!"

My voice felt almost foreign to me as it rang through my ears and reverberated in my chest.

I was engulfed by the trepidation of my first true enchantment. This was the moment of truth that would reveal whether I had gone crazy or if I really had a power.

The mana in my soul burned away, its comforting presence leaving an empty void that was painfully conspicuous even though I only felt mana for the first time last night.

Even as my well of mana dried up, more energy flowed from the altar before me, trickling in slowly but surely.

But even as the comfort of mana left me, something even more wondrous replaced it.

The sun shone brightly through my window, but I felt as if an even brighter light was shining from inside of me.

That light was a searing star in my mind's eye.

It was a rush of fire through my veins and a torrent of overflowing strength.

I took a deep breath, and flexed my new lean muscles. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw a face that exuded conviction and confidence.

Was that really me?

Still the same awkward features but the person within was different. There was a pressure on my eyes that reminded me of when my prescription was lighter and I tried on my mom's glasses with a too high prescription for me.

I took my glasses off and blinked. My vision was perfectly clear. Not just that—there was a sense of awareness of everything around me. Not supernatural, just total.

It took only a moment before I identified the cause.

My peripheral vision had improved drastically. Every little detail at the corners of my eyes was being captured. I had been used to glasses that didn't cover the whole breadth of my vision, so I should have expected that. But I had the distinct feeling that it was something more. I could seemingly look one way yet focus in another direction with my mind, and I didn't remember being able to do that before, ever.

A smile found its way to my lips.

I closed my eyes and felt the cold breeze on my skin coming from the window. I listened to the sparse sounds of insects, crickets chirping and cicadas whining, the telltale signs of the end of winter and beginning of spring.

In this moment, my mind and body were in perfect sync.

It would only be temporary, but just then I felt as though I could do anything.

That was the power of the spell [Heroism].

All my fears and worries hiding in the corners of my mind had been illuminated by the light, and I saw them for what they truly were.

Winslow High, the Trio, the locker…pointless antics of immature children. They could bully vulnerable kids, but not a hero with a just cause.

Satisfied, I left for my morning run. A hero had to keep up her training, after all.

The run didn't even tire me after running faster than I ever had before.

I marched through the gates of Winslow with my head held high. People talked and pointed but their negative comments did nothing to the positive energy filling my body.

They were cowards that flocked together and put down others because they had not the strength to stand by themselves against the real monsters.

Classes went by easily as greater focus and clarity helped me to absorb the materials quickly.

A few times spitballs came at me but I noticed the attacks before they came and dodged them.

Soon, it was time for lunch. I grabbed my food but I didn't go into the cafeteria. Better to avoid trouble and find a place by myself.

But nor did I go to the bathroom like some bullied girl as had been my routine for the past little while.

No, I went up to the roof instead, and ate my sandwich while looking over the city, the light of the noon sun giving me warmth that countered the chill of early spring. I took my glasses off and enjoyed the flawless vision of a veteran warrior piercing through the battlefield.

This was my city, Brockton Bay. A city of gangs and crime, broken people, a graveyard of sunken boats, and forsaken hope.

I was born and raised here and in my memories it had never been a thriving city.

But I could change that. I had the power to do it. I didn't have the spells for it now, but I knew I had the potential.

My instincts told me there were powerful enchantments that could be cast on entire cities to make them prosper. There were even enchantments that could be cast on the entire world, I thought, but it would take immense power, far, far more than I had access to with just one altar and no followers. And I needed to figure out how to learn those spells, because my current repertoire was fairly limited.

Even if I never got there, I was a hero now. I could fight crime and make the city better one day at a time.

And I would do it. Whatever it took.

That was my just cause.

I was just passing by the girls' bathroom on my way down when the Trio came out of it.

Did they check every stall and fail to find me?

Emma had a surprised look as she saw me. Then it turned into a fake smile. "Oh, Taylor, there you are! I had been wondering if you got sick today when you weren't in the bathroom. Are you feeling alright?"

I walked forward as if she wasn't even there.

Sophia came forwarded and cut me off. "Hey, she's talking to you."

I barely gave her a second glance before turning to go around her.

She immediately cut me off again, this time getting right in my face. "I said she's talking to you, Hebert."

I stopped as well, and stared into her eyes. I felt the same sensation from Sophia I had been feeling for the past couple of months since the locker incident.

Like a pulsing resonance in my soul.

There was something in her that my soul craved for. What it was, I didn't know, but the implications scared me a little. I knew I could do something with it. Something that could make me more powerful.

All I had to do was take her to my altar and perform the necessary ritual.

She wouldn't die, but whatever it was I took from her—potential, I thought—would be lost to her.

Nobody else in the school so far had given me the same feeling. I had to be up close, so that didn't mean there was nobody else. Still, I had to wonder what made Sophia special.

But today, I noticed something extra.

"Did you become deaf all of a sudden? Maybe she really is sick, Ems," said Sophia.

It was the way she held herself. Her posture and movement as she cut me off. Under the power of [Heroism], I recognized the signs of training and honed reflex.

She was on the track team, so she was athletic, but to my eyes, it looked more like she was prepared to strike at any moment. Strike me, that is, if I tried to escape. It was the kind of thing I would expect from somebody who'd seen real combat.

Of course, Sophia did actually get into fights sometimes, according to rumors I'd heard. And she seemed like the type to get up to dangerous things out of school, so maybe that wasn't really strange and I was thinking too much on it.

"I am sick. Of your childish antics. Stop wasting my time and get out of the way," I said.

"Hey, we're just showing our concern for you. I know you've been struggling with bulimia. Why are you being so aggressive all of a sudden? Is it that time of the month for you?" Emma asked.

Bulimia? Where did that come from?

"Emma…you're an idiot," I said, then I marched forward, directly into Sophia and my eyes dared her to keeping blocking me.

She didn't. Her eyes widened and by sheer reflex, she dodged me, as I expected. Nothing could stand in the way of a true hero.

I strode past her without a second look. For whatever reason, she didn't try to stop me again.

At the end of the day, I let the [Heroism] spell dissipate. It would have gone away on its own at the twenty-four hour mark, but dissipating it early returned some of the spent mana back to me—not proportionally, unfortunately, only a very small fraction was returned. But I did it anyway because I was home and I wanted to know what exactly would happen when it dissipated.

I almost immediately regretted it, as the strength given to me ebbed away. The muscles I temporarily gained also turned back to normal, the frail limbs of a lanky girl. I felt weak, vulnerable, and less sure of myself without the enchantment empowering me.

I sat at my desk, looking at my altar. It was a small, portable thing, about the size of a small notebook computer. It was square, and consisted of a flat wooden base with carved decorative patterns rising from the back. At the center-back was a raised area, and on top of it was a wooden ankh painted in white. In front of the ankh were two silver-coated candleholders. At the very front was a gold-coated round plate affixed to the wooden base, to put offerings.

My power was expensive. The altar needed the gold and silver components to work at all, and it was grossly inefficient right now, because I didn't have enough money to get more ornate jewelry.

My power obviously rejected the ascetic lifestyle.

I even cannibalized some of my mom's old stuff for this. If dad ever found out…

But now that I knew it was all real, should I just tell him? I could use the power boost from getting a follower to pray at my altar, but the thought of my dad praying to me was disturbing.

My power had a strange theme to it. Everything was fueled by mana—and I could get it in one of two ways, both of which revolved around altars.

After constructing an altar and casting the [Magic Spirit] into it, it would automatically collect mana on its own from the surrounding area, then send it to me. But if people, followers, prayed to the altar or to me while they were in the area the altar covered, it would also collect more mana.

Using that mana, I could cast spells. In theory, they would work on other people just as well as it did on me. In fact, I was pretty sure I was supposed to be using them on other people. They just had to be a valid [Friendly Unit].

I could turn regular people into heroes, and make heroes even more powerful.

If only I knew how people became [Friendly Units]. So far I was the only one. Apparently not even my dad was friendly enough, because he didn't have the indicative white ankh symbol floating over his head that I did, which nobody else could see.

I had a sneaking suspicion about it…but could I really go out and start a cult to worship me?

It seemed like that was exactly what my power wanted me to do. I even had a spell called [Champion Investiture], whose purpose was exactly as it sounded—to invest power into a worthy Champion sworn to fight for my cause.

I sighed.

What should I do?