Speaker 1: Hello, friends from across the nation and around the world.
I'm Martin and you are listening to Dad's Bedtime Stories.
Tonight we're going to be jumping back into the Magic
Library series because I got a listener idea that we're
going to listen to right now.
Speaker 2: Hi, Dad's Potent Stories. It's me and JD again. I
want to suggest something for the Magic Library series. It's
like you are you are like a wizard, and do
you go on a quest to save a village and stuff.
It's kind of like RPG adventure type story thing, and
you like fight a dragon or whatever, like some classic stuff.
I love your podcast.
Speaker 1: Well, JD, that is a great and shout out to
Zeke as well, who I know left me some ideas
with you, don't. I don't know if I'm going to
get to the dragon fighting part or the village saving part,
because I kind of got carried away in the beginning
of this story, but it started based on this idea,
and frankly, we may just have to do a part too.
So yeah, let me know your ideas and what you
think of this part. JD, and well anyone else who's
listening to I love to hear your thoughts and what
you think should happen next. Maybe we'll do a part
two next week, what do you think about that. Before
we get started with a story, I do want to
give a couple big shoutouts. First of all, thank you
to a lease from Colorado for sponsoring me on Patreon.
That really means a lot and goes a long way
to keeping the lights on here at the Dad's Bedtime Studios,
which is my basement. If you want to support the podcast,
there's lots of ways to do it. First of all,
of course, you can sign up for Patreon. You get
to add free episodes of all of these stories as
well as Dad's Anytime Stories, my other new podcast, plus
some more direct access to me to chat with me
and that sort of thing. But otherwise you can also
leave me a rating or review. Five star ratings on
iTunes or Apple podcasts make a really big difference to
other people finding the show. Same thing on Spotify and
probably a bunch of other platforms that had ratings on them.
I don't know, I'm on everything, but now I should
probably get on with the story. Close your eyes, get
as comfy as you can in that bed, and imagine
yourself doing what the kid in the story does, because
after all, you are the main character here. Imagine yourself
sitting around in your room once again. It's not exactly
a bad day, nothing terrible's happened or anything like that,
but it's another one of those days where things are
feeling a little bit boring. You look at some toys, eh,
you look at some books maybe, and then you see
something else. The key, the old, ancient looking key to
the magic library, and suddenly you're sure the day is
about to improve. Because if there's one thing that can
fix a boring day, it's a secret magical library hidden
behind a door that can appear in the well, any wall,
any wall, anywhere in the world. You hop off your bed,
walk across the room, pick up the key, and carry
it over to a blank part of the wall. Just
before the key touches the wall, a key hole appears.
You slide the key into the keyhole and turn it.
There's a click, and then a glowing outline of a
door appears in the wall. You pull it open and
step through. On the other side are the familiar stone
steps leading downward, followed by a long hallway lit by
magical blue torches. The flames flicker without any smoke at all.
Somehow you make your way down the steps, through the corridor,
and eventually you reach the great wooden door at the
far end. You grab the handle, pull it open, and
step inside the Magic Library. As always, it's enormous. The
Magic Library is a place where every adventure ever written,
every story ever told, and every adventure ever imagined appears
in the form of a book, which means there are
copies of cards of power in there too. Somewhere. Some
books contain fairy tales, some pirate quests, some space battles,
dragon kingdoms, magical mysteries, and, as I said, books where
magical cards rule the universe. But the books here don't
just sit on the shelves waiting to be read. They
come to life, as you know, They pull you right
into them. They let you become a part of the adventure.
Shelves stretch upward further than you can see. Balconies circle
around upper levels, Winding staircases connect one floor to another.
Cozy reading nooks are tucked between the stacks with pillows
and blankets and chairs that look almost too comfortable. And
everywhere books drift through the air, flapping their covers like
little wings. Welcome back, says a familiar voice the librarian. Hey,
you say, well, what kind of book do you have
for me today?
Speaker 3: Hum?
Speaker 1: Well, I thought you might enjoy something a little different,
says the librarian. Ah, a wizarding world. Perhaps you perk
up immediately. Magic, lots of magic, says the librarian. But
this is not an ordinary wizard story. This particular book
is what some readers call a literary RPG, or lit
RPG for short. Uh Ah, what you respond? A literary RPG,
says the librarian. It's getting rather popular lately. It means
a world of the story works a little bit like
a game, not necessarily a game itself, but where game
like characters often have levels, classes, skills, health, stammina magica,
inventories that are somewhat magical, quests and rewards, that sort
of thing. Oh, you say, slowly, So like a video game,
buck Ah in a way, Yes, except when you enter
it you don't simply read about the choices. You make
them yourself. Well, that definitely sounds interesting. So I get
to choose powers yes, and uh and skills yeah, and
maybe a dragon. The librarian pauses. I thought you might ask,
that from somewhere high above, a book flaps down through
the air. It glides in a circle around a staircase,
swoops over the reading area, and lands in your hands.
The cover shows a glowing blue portal in the middle
of a forest. On one side is an ordinary boy
wearing normal earth clothes, and on the other is a
village surrounded by mountains, towers, monsters, and a small dragon
flying beside him. The title reads World System the Mage
of Emberfall. Oh eh, that does look pretty cool, you say,
I thought you would approve, says the librarian. You head
down to the reading area and settle into one of
the big couches. You pull a big blanket over your
legs and open the book. Instead of normal pages, a
swirling blue portal glows inside the cover. You lean toward it.
The familiar pulling feeling grabs hold of you, and suddenly
you're sucked forward through the light, through wind, through something
that feels a little bit like falling and a little
bit like being sucked through a straw at the same time.
When you open your eyes, you're standing in darkness, not
like scary darkness or anything like that, more like waiting
room darkness. A glowing message appears in front of you.
Welcome JD of Earth. Oh, you say, I guess I'm JD.
In this story. The librarian's voice begins to narrate a round.
Speaker 4: J D had been an ordinary kid from Earth. He'd
gone to sleep in his own bed, in his own room,
in his very own, very normal world. But when he
opened his eyes, he found himself somewhere else, entirely, a
place between worlds, a place where choices mattered. Another message appears.
Select your class. Suddenly, glowing symbols flowed all around you. Warrior, Ranger, Engineer,
Beast Tamer, Shadow, Sneak, Star, Night Alchemist, Inventor, battle chef.
The battle chef, you say. A little description appears beneath
it uses enchanted cooking tools to defeat enemies and prepare
powerful meals. Huh think I'm gonna choose that one. The
symbols continue to rotate Time Adept, Crystal, Monk, mech Pilot,
Dragon Rider, Mage, You stop, Mage. Something feels right about
that one. You touch the glowing symbol.
Speaker 1: Are you sure you wish to select Mage? Yes, you say,
I've always wanted magical powers. Class selected Mage Starting attribute
points available fifteen three glowing bars appear in front of you.
Health red bar, stamina a green bar, and magic a
blue bar. The librarian begins to narrate again. J D
knew that health would help him survive, and stamina would
help him run crime and dull. But magic was well magic,
and j D did not come all away to another
universe just to be sensible, as he often did when
playing video games. J D stacked his points in the
magic category. That sounds fair, You say, you put two
points into health, because I mean you need a little
bit of health, three points into stamina, and ten points
into magic. The magic bar glows brightly. Interesting choice, says
a new voice. You spin around floating in the air
beside you as a tiny dragonling. He's about the size
of a cat, with red scales, golden eyes, and small
wings that flap quickly to keep him in place. Who
who are you you ask? Ah? The name's Zeke, says
the dragonling, proudly, your familiar guide advisor, you know, the
voice of reason. Do BY pick you? Or did I
pick you? Ah? Well you kind of already did, sort
of Your heart picked me anyways before your brain could
even look at the other options. Interesting, you say, familiar
selected dragonling, starting spells, unlocked flames, frost, lightning, healing and
energy sap. The darkness disappears. Suddenly you're standing on a
dirt road at the edge of a small village. Wooden
houses line the road. Smoke rises from chimneys. A blacksmith
hammer's metal so somewhere nearby, chickens wander around like well,
chickens do. Beyond the village are green fields, dark forests,
and mountains rising in the distance. A glowing message appears,
Welcome to Emberfall, Starter Village, Beginner Region, Starter Village. You
say that seems safe, Zeke snorts a tiny puff of smoke.
That's what Starter Villages wants you to think. Oh great,
come on, he says, before you do anything, aroic are
extremely foolish, and we should probably practice. Most people grow
up understanding the system and their powers. But people like you,
who well suddenly transport here from well other universes eh
often a bit at lost. Zeke leads you to a
fenced training area behind the village. Wooden targets are set
up in a row, along with a few straw dummies.
Magic is about affinity, focus and release. Just think of
the type of magic. You want feel it inside you
move it towards your hands, man, push it forward. Honestly,
it's more about what it feels like. Once you do
it once, it'll be easy, I promise. Man. If you
have any trouble, just say the spell name out loud
at first. That should help you lift one hand up
toward the target. Flames, you say. As you try to
focus on the idea of fire, Warmth gathers in your chest,
moves down your arm, and bursts from your palm. A
plume of fire shoots forward and scorches the target. Destruction
magic increased. Oh wow, you say, yeah, says Zeke. Now
try frost. You focus on cold this time. The feeling's different,
sort of sharper, like winter air in your lungs. You
push it forward through your arm, through your hand, and
a blast of icy mist hits the next dummy, freezing
it in place and coating it in a thin layer
of ice. All right, Try the lightning, Zeke says. As
you focus inward on the idea of lightning, Well, it
starts to feel a little jumpy and wild. Energy crackles
through your fingers. You aim carefully and release it a
bolt of lightning flashes from your hand and strikes the target,
blasting it backwards and leaving a twitching on the ground.
Did I destroy it? It's a target, says Zeke. It'll
recover emotionally. Don't worry about it. You try healing. Next,
a soft golden light glows around your hand and settles
into your arm, making you feel warm and steady. Little
pains that you'd actually stopped noticing over the years suddenly disappear,
and you feel better than ever. Well, the last power
is called energy sap, Zeke explains, But that one's designed
to pull energy out of enemies, and I'll form it
into a crystal. You need those for enchanting and that
sort of thing. But I'm definitely not gonna let you
use it on me, and it won't work on a target.
I'll just have to wait until you find something. Well living,
got it? You reply, honestly, it's a pretty good way
to make money. Well, I have no money, so that
could be useful. What do we do next, Well, it's
probably time to do a mission. Zeke flaps toward the
main road. Where are we going? The general store? He says.
Shopkeepers always know where the beginner problems are. Trust me.
You follow them to a wooden building with a painted
sign that reads Marlowe's General Goods. Inside shelves are packed
with ropes, lanterns, bread boots, potions, and you know, all
sorts of glowing crystals and things like that. Behind the
counter stands a round faced man with a must stash
a newer around here. He asks, is it then obvious?
You reply, eh, you still look excited. That usually goes away.
After the first goblin cave Zeke lands on the counter.
He's a mage, Zeke says, show him mapp something useful.
The shopkeeper brightens aw magic customer, very good. I've got
spell books, a fire bolt's eye, spike, explosive lightning, very
popular with people like making loud bangs and that sort
of thing. He places the three books on the counter.
You stare at them. Then he pulls out folded robes,
deep blue with silver stitching around the sleeves. And these,
he says, are robes of magica, protective enchantment that will
well protect you from damages, increases available magic, reduces spell cost.
Very nice for a young age. You stare at the
robes and immediately you know you want them. How much
are they you ask forty gold. You check your pockets
and well, nothing, Nah, we don't really keep gold in
your pockets here anyways. Most people absorb it into their inventory.
But don't worry about that. You don't have any You
look back at the shopkeeper. Sorry, I don't have anything yet.
Any idea how I could make some money? The shopkeeper size,
and then points reluctantly towards a door behind the counter. Well,
my basement has been overrun by elemental rats, fire rats,
frost rats, lightning rats. Started with two, and now there
are well a lot more than two. I can't even
go down there anymore. If you clear them out, I'll
give you the robes, plus you might find other useful things.
You look at Zeke, who just shrugs, Eh, it's a
good beginner mission. Fine, you say, I'll do it, even
though you've always hated beginner missions. You just want to
go fight a dragon or something like that, but well,
elemental rats will have to do for now. The shop
keep or unlocks the basement door. You step inside and
begin making your way down the wooden stairs. The smell
hits you first dust, old boxes, burnt wood, frozen apples,
and something that's probably rat. You reach the bottom and
there are rats everywhere. Some have little flames flickering along
their backs. Some are pale blue and breathing frost out
onto the flower. Others crackle with electricity. Oh, you say,
that is a lot of rats. I can see why
he's offering the forty gold. One fire rat turns toward
you and hisses its cheeks, puff up zeke. You ask, uh, yeah,
what should I do them before they blast you? Obviously?
The rat spits a tiny fireball. You dodge it sideways, right,
good advice. You gather fire in your hand and unleash flames.
A plume of fire sweeps forward, knocking several rats across
the room. They squeak and tumble into a stack of crates.
But so that really did was make the others notice you.
A frost rad blast your arm with icy magic. A
lightning rad shocks your side. A fire rat spits another
little fireball at your chest. Light armor increased. A voice says,
light armor. You showed I'm just wearing normal clothes in
this world. Getting hits sometimes teaches your body how to
get hit better, and well, normal clothes are the light
is of armor, after all. That is both helpful and
very concerning. You fire lightning at a cluster of rats
in the corner of your eye. You see your magic
bar decrease a little bit. Electricity jumps between the rats
and they collapse stunned. Destruction magic increased. A voice says,
you turn and shoot frost at another group, freezing them
in place. Then flames again, knocking two fire rats backward.
But your magic bar is drop, and quickly a glowing
warning appears. Magic low. Oh no, you say. As more
rats rush toward you, you swing your foot and punt
one of them away. Another jumps at your arm and
you bat it off with a crate lid. Light armor increase.
As soon as your magic increases enough to unleash another spell,
you reach inside yourself and blast the rats with lightning destruction.
Magic increase to level two. That sounds good, you say,
but I'm still surrounded, and then another voice says you
have reached level two mage. A strange shimmer appears around
your body. Level two? What does that mean? Zeke flaps
wildly above you. It means you should level up quickly,
he says, How just think about leveling up? You do instantly.
The world well it pauses. You have a pause button
built into your head. Interesting. The rats free in mid leap,
Sparks hang in the air. A fireball stops a few
inches away from your face, which is both amazing and
not something you're looking forward to. When you stop the pause,
a glowing menu appears in front of you. Level two Mage.
Choose attribute to increase health, stamina or magic. Ah, I'd
pick magic, says Zeke's voice. Wait, you can still talk
to me in pause mode. I'm your guide. It would
be incredibly inconvenient if I couldn't. You select magic. Your
magic bar grows longer and refills part way. Then another
menu opens, Select perk. Most of the categories are dark.
Oh what's this you ask? Ah? Well, perk are kind
of special privileges you can select. You get one with
each level increase, although you have to have a certain
level in each skill to pick one. If that makes sense,
That's why only a couple of years are lit up.
As he said, most of the categories are dark, but
two or glowing light Armor and Destruction Magic. You focus
first on the light armor and see a number of
possible boosts, only one of which is currently available to you.
Novice Light armor is twenty five percent more effective. Okay,
you shrink that view and focus on the destruction magic instead.
You open up the categories, and again, one perk is
currently available to you, Novice destruction magic. Novice spells cost
half as much magic to cast well offense or defense.
You think, and I know which one I'm gonna choose.
You select Novice destruction magic. Power rushes through your body.
The world unpauses, and the fireball continues, flying towards your face,
singing your hair a little bit. How you duck and
blast flames. This time, the spell well feels easier, cheaper, smoother,
and your magic bar doesn't go down near as much.
A wave of fire sends the closest rats tumbling back.
You spin and unleash frost, freezing three lightning rats before
they can strike. Then you aim both hands in unleash lightning,
shocking the final cluster until they call lapse in a
twitching pile. The basement goes quiet. You breathe hard, he
I did it. The rats begin to shimmer. One by one,
they start to transform into small balls of glowing energy. Zeke, Now, yeah,
this isn't normal in your world. Pre defeated enemies often
convert into energy and well whatever they tend to be holding.
Your job is to absorb it. How you ask, well,
use your energy SAP. Instead of focusing on pushing outwards,
imagine the energy coming in towards you. The energy will
form itself into crystals, crystals that can be used for
enchantments or to sell, or well that sort of thing. Man.
As a plus, anything in their inventory will be absorbed
into yours. You'll probably get a lot of garbage in
this case, but you may as well try it. So
you do just that, your hands begin to glow, and
sure enough, the glowing balls of energy and little floating
other things shoot towards you and vanish into your body.
A menu appears in your field of vision. Inventory updated
gold coins twelve, spellbook, firebolt, rat meat twenty three, Petty
energy crystals fourteen. You stare, I do not want rat meat.
You say, man, I would just sell it. It's not
worth much, but probably right at not wanting to try
it yourself to who mah, you'd be surprised the people
here by just about anything. You focus first on the
spell book and suddenly it appears in your hand. It
has a red cover and a symbol of a fireball
on the front. You open it up, the pages start
to flip rapidly on their own. Knowledge floods your mind.
You suddenly understand how to gather fire into a well
a tight little sphere, hold it steady and launched forwards,
so it explodes on contact. Spell learned firebolt. The book
turns to dust in your hands. Oh, you say that
seems wasteful. Man, it's normal, says Zeke. Bucks are just
the universes way of transferring knowledge around here. You and
Zeke head back upstairs. You're covered in dust, your clothes
are burnt and well I have holes through them, but
you're feeling pretty proud. The shopkeeper looks up. Well, uh,
the basement's cleared, you say, and only mildly burned, says Zeke.
The shopkeeper hurries downstairs, looks around, and comes back smiling. Oh,
very good. I honestly didn't think you'd come back from that. Eh.
Deal's a deal. He hands you the robes of magica.
You absorb them into your inventory, then focus on equipping them. Instantly,
the robes appear on your body. They fit perfectly. Your
magic bar grows slightly longer, and the spells inside you
suddenly feel easier to reach. Plus, you feel a sort
of protective aura around your entire body. You can see
it faintly shimmering, like a well, like a high tech
shield or melon magic shield. In this case, these are excellent.
The shopkeeper nods, I also have a room available one
gold for the week. If you need a place to sleep.
You check your inventory. You have twelve gold. I'll take it.
You pay one gold coin and he leads you upstairs
to a small but comfortable looking room with a bed
made of straw, a wooden chair, and a window overlooking
the village. You sit down on the bed. Zeke curls
up on the window sill. Well, I became a mage,
got a dragon familiar, defeated elemental rats, learned a fire bolt,
and got magic robes. Yeah, a decent first day, says Zeke. Decent,
well for a beginner.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: Probably time for a break, though, you say, realizing that, well,
you're still inside a lit RPG book. Where done, young adventurer?
The voice of the librarian says, it seems j D's
journey and Empophal has only just begun. A glowing portal
appears beside the bed, You sit up and look over
at Zeke. He doesn't seem to notice the portal. Ah
see as soon, you say, as you stemp through the thing.
After the normal sensations of being sucked through straw disappear,
you find yourself in the library once again. That made
me pretty tired. You close the book beside you. Chapter
two will have to wait. You lay back on the
comfortable cushion of the reading nook. A blanket flies over
and falls down on your body, as if the library
knows exactly what you need. You close your eyes as
the lights dim and slowly you begin to relax your arms,
let go of any tension, and sink down into the cushion.
Your legs soften, your shoulders relax, and even the muscles
in your face let go. With each breath, you sink
down a little bit deeper, and your mind begins to
wander off to thoughts of new dreams, new adventures, and
new magical powers to come. Good night, everyone.
Speaker 3: In New York, n no no thing, no more mo
union in one one man never w