Ar'Kendrithyst

Chapter 142, 1/2

Chapter 142, 1/2

“As I said yesterday, we will begin with a few preliminary tests to see where I need to start with my instruction, but almost all of that can be skipped.” Singer Kaffi said, “Let us move right along to the creation of the Rift that you have planned. Explain the tier work you have done and the goal of your final outcome.”

The privacy functions were off, but the stone amphitheater room was still exceedingly quiet. Ezekiel could hear his heartbeat. He could hear the heartbeats of Kaffi, sitting three meters away from him, on the same stone ledge as himself. He could even hear the heartbeats of his people, Julia, Paul, and Tiffany, sitting on the other side of the room. They were nervous in their own unique ways.

Kaffi was not nervous at all, which was normal, he supposed, for an Enforcer for a High Clan. If Ezekiel were to be even more exact about what he was seeing there, he would say that Kaffi was relaxed. As though it was finally testing day after preparing for so long. Which made sense. His own presence here was sort of like a test, and at least it was an event that Kaffi had said that the entirety of the Highlands had prepared for.

Ezekiel wondered, briefly, how nervous or excited the High Clans had been when they had found out that he was creating magic on the other side of the world by singing at the manasphere? A question for the future, for sure.

Ezekiel answered, “[Force Wave] and [Force Bomb] combined into [Prime Area] for tier 2, which I already have, then shifted to Firelight for tier 3 which I also already have, in [Firelight Shift]. The next step is to take [Firelight Shift] and a Rift-understanding of [Force Wall] to make a tier 4 spell. Alternatively, I could ignore my [Firelight Shift] spell and remake the Rift at tier 3, putting [Force Wall], Mana Altering to Firelight, [Prime Area], and the working for a Rift into one step.”

Kaffi asked, “Do you have a successful Rift version of a [Force Wall]?”

“No.”

“Explain your understanding of a Rift.”

“… Okay. Well.” Ezekiel considered, then he said, “Rifts are sort of like Shifts, but not... Shifts can only affect what happens inside of their own designated area, with minimal affect outside of the area, but a Rift’s effects linger as a buff or debuff well after someone has stepped out of its area of effect, only vanishing after the ‘cloying’-Shift has been used up. But a Rift is not a true buff or debuff, though, since it isn’t actually shifting a person’s aura into something else; it’s just stacking power onto the top of the aura.” He said, “A different way to work a shift is into a direction of personal control, instead of random empowerment. This other direction is known as a Domain.”

Kaffi paused, then said, “Though Rift, Shift, and Domain exist on the same axis, this is not how I would explain that axis at all. You have listed the breakdowns between each field of magic related to Rift work like some warband general fresh from the academy, listing out all the enemy’s forces before you attack, and before you have any experience in the field.

“There is an easier way to think of Rifts, and it is this: A Rift is the imposition of a resonance in the manasphere which causes the magics of everyone nearby to heighten due to harmonic sympathy. A side-effect of this magic is that spells which are harmonically opposed to the Rift are lessened. This resonance lingers on the people it touches, as opposed to Shifts, which have that resonance contained into a specific area.”

“Huh.” Ezekiel said, “That’s a more elegant philosophy, for sure.”

“Do you still want to make your Rift today? I can show you a few examples of Rifts if you wish.”

“Yes, and yes.” Ezekiel gestured to the large space in the middle of the room. “I’d like to see some Rift examples. The adjustments I need to make to my own Rift experiment will be minimal, I think.”

Kaffi gestured to the center of the room. A pulse of light appeared, like a crack in Reality, rapidly becoming a ball of ethereal water that cascaded blue glows into the rest of the room and kicked up a shimmering ripple on the edges of everyone exposed; outlining them in white-blue glows. The epicenter of the spell reminded Ezekiel of his own [Cascade Imaging] spell, but as seen from underwater.

Ezekiel felt like he was at the bottom of a pool, in a good way.

With a second gesture, Kaffi handed him a blue box.

Waterglow Rift, instant, medium range, 150 mana

Conjure a large rift of waterglow which empowers light and water magics, while hampering fire and shadow magics. Causes all affected to enter Rest. Lasts 10 minutes + exposure.

Kaffi said, “This [Waterglow Rift] is the spell I would teach healers or those looking to become healers. But this one—” She canceled the previous spell and cast another into the air.

The glowing water turned darker, but not shadowed. The various lingering glows of the previous spell vanished completely as the new spell settled in, giving the impression of the deep ocean. Ezekiel was still at the bottom of a pool, but he imagined turning around to make sure that the bottom was still there, and instead, he just found endless ocean depths. It was unsettling, for sure.

Kaffi handed out a different blue box.

Water Rift, instant, medium range, 150 mana

Conjure a large rift of water which empowers water essence creatures. Lasts 24 hours.

Kaffi said, “This is what I would teach someone looking to start and farm a Water Essence dungeon. But for us Singers, this is not enough. I know that we did not agree to go down this route, but I feel I should show you what we Singers can actually do with our chanting, and aura control.

“One of our main advantages as Singers is that we can mold the magics we already have into something slightly different, without creating new magics. This is a benefit because with our techniques, we won’t trigger the ten, hundred, or thousand day penalties for making a magic wrong.

“It is like using Mana Altering to make a new spell, but until you actually commit, you won’t make the spell. We have taken this phenomenon a step further, to apply this trick to all magic, which enables us to experiment a lot more than a normal mage.” She said, “Observe. Tell me what you feel after this slight shift in this magic.”

She pointed to the watery orb in the center of the room, dismissing it in preparation for the next to come. The air around her body flexed as she cast. Ezekiel wasn’t quite sure what she had done with her aura, but it was something.

The resulting cascading blue orb was different than the [Water Rift] from before. That feeling of being in the open ocean vanished. Instead, it now felt as though he sat on a boat in the open ocean, listening to the waves lap gently, Restfully.

He was at Rest.

He hummed, thinking.

She was either lying, or telling the truth, and since Kaffi was obviously trying to pull him deeper into the Highlands, to get him to consider staying, she was likely telling the truth.

The next concern was this: They were supposed to do aura work, and maybe talk a bit about his Rift concern, but here she was, showing him how to chant to change his already available spellwork into something adjacent to what it already was.

He was interested, for sure. No problems there.

… So he let it happen.

He said, “You made your [Water Rift] Restful.”

“Yes.” Kaffi said, “It is the same spell as before, but I have aura controlled the casting of the spell in order to shift it slightly away from the deep, watery depth it was, into something more calm and applicable to everyone. This is both a nuanced version of what is possible, and an application of the skills I have been working on my entire life. A much easier way to see this application of chanting control is to witness a spell like this in action.” She handed him a blue box.

Favorable Wind, instant, medium range, 50 mana

A burst of wind hinders enemies and speeds allies in a large area. Lasts 1 minute.

She dismissed the watery Rift in the middle of the room and cast her new spell. White flows burst from a point, expanding into the entire amphitheater space. White wisps, like something less than fog, touched upon every person, clinging to them.

Kaffi said, “This is the base spell. I have designated that Odin there as an ally, but the other as an enemy.”

She spoke of the two extra Odins in the room, still fluttering about, as opposed to the one on his shoulder which just watched. One of the Odin flew faster than normal, with the wind always at his back, but the ‘enemy’ Odin was hindered, with the wind always pushing away from the direction he tried to fly. Odin played with Odin, like a quick bird tumbling around another bird that had an invisible weight attached to his wings. Odin seemed to be enjoying the novel experience. But...

Ezekiel said, “I’m not sure I appreciate one of my Odins being labeled as an enemy for your display.”

Kaffi smirked. “I don’t have many non-damaging spells with which to demonstrate the power of aura control and Singer techniques.” She lifted her hand again, and said, “And this is the same spell but altered wholly toward the speed of allies.” She cast again, flickering her control. Wind filled the room.

The ‘ally’ Odin began joyfully whipping around the amphitheater, buoyed by a fierce wind at his back, while the other Odin struggled to catch up. The invisible weight was gone, though; that much was easy to see.

Ezekiel said, “You’ve adjusted the strength of the buff, moving almost all of it toward the support of allies.”

“Correct.” Kaffi said, “With our Singer techniques and a proper aura control, you can adjust where the division of power lies within all of your spellwork that contains divisions of power.”

“Ah.” Ezekiel said, “I see how this would be useful for Rift work.”

Practically all Rift work had a division between buffing and debuffing.

“Exactly.” Kaffi said, “Rifts are intrinsically buff and debuff spells, which means that to know all of our Singer techniques is to be able to work your Rift magic much better. You can have double powered Water magics instead of empowered Water and depowered Fire, or you can shift that same Rift toward drastically hindering all Fire magic.

“You can also use this technique to get around some of the limitations of combining magic.

“Say you wish to have your [Fireball] do even more of its magic damage over time, instead of upfront. Or you want the large damage-over-time [Fireball] you’ve made to release all that power at once. Normally, you would either need to make multiple spells to do this, and in some cases, like [Fireball], you cannot use the same combination you already have so you would need to break the [Fireball] you have and start again, or use some esoteric, less-useful combination. But using our aura control techniques, you can use the same spell you already have and shift it as necessary in the moment, as battle dictates. No need to use a less-optimal spell in combat because the spell you want to use won’t fit the situation. No need to attempt to make a new spell in the middle of combat and put yourself at risk for a worthless spell—” She cut herself off.

Ezekiel watched as Kaffi realized that she was pushing too hard.

Kaffi breathed. She said, “I feel I am trying to sell you on the Highlands more and more, and have gone off on a slight tangent. Apologies. It vexes me that you are not willing to consider staying, permanently. But…” She blinked away her concern, then said, “Anyway. All that we teach is connected. All magic is connected. To know some unimportant facet of magic today is to understand next year’s issue. Thus, this exploration of Rift magic has taken me down a path you did not ask to go…

“Anyway. Would you like to try making your Rift now?”

Ezekiel said, “Yes. Do you have any pointers you wish to share?”

“If you have not made a Rift out of the base [Force Wall] then I suggest you do that today. The spell you’re looking for is something like this one.” Kaffi handed him a box.

Force Rift, instant, medium range, 100 mana

Conjure a rift to empower most magic in a large area. Lasts 10 minutes.

Ezekiel read the description, then he checked the Script for [Force Rift], just to be sure. He found nothing. This wasn’t one of those you could just spend a point and get.

“How would you make this one?” Kaffi asked.

He said, “Altering.”

“Most would guess Shaping.”

“I would have too, before I learned some tricks from a certain Archmage a while ago. Shaping changes the shape. The point of a Rift is, like you have said, to create a resonant reaction in the manasphere and touch the auras of all nearby. Altering is how you buff and debuff. Shaping does nothing for that.”

And that was a tip from Archmage Syllea, who knew all about buffs and Mana Altering; a field in which Ezekiel had barely touched, besides to understand some of the ideas behind it all. It seemed that he would be using much of that knowledge today, and it was about darn time!

Kaffi nodded. She watched and waited.

Ezekiel held out a hand and channeled mana through his [Force Wall]. An immaterial, magenta demarcation of solidity took hold in the protrusion of mana pouring from his palm. Instantly, he was annoyed. He could hear the perfect pitch of [Force Wall] and what it wanted to do, but his current Mana Altering for simple magenta coloring was tainting the vision of his magic. It added a… purple note to his spellwork; he wasn’t quite sure how to describe it other than by color.

He shook his hand out, dispersing sounds and feelings into so much broken, glittering mana.

Kaffi picked up on his thoughts, through his actions, saying, “That’s going to be a problem for delicate spell creation. Your rings, [Personal Ward], and every active spell on your person is also going to be a problem when learning aura control. Especially your [Greater Lightwalk], as that is using your aura, and you can’t be using your aura when learning aura control.

“We could always turn the privacy functions back on for this spell creation part, but for the aura control part, you would have to be a lot more trusting than you are, and I’m not going to ask you to do that. The most I am going to do is inform you now of what will hold you back.” She considered, then added, “I might inform you a few more times, in the future, if it looks like we’re not gaining any ground.”

Ezekiel considered for a moment. Then he had an Odin flit to the door and turn the privacy on.

The world beyond the amphitheater disappeared to Erick’s mana sense. He breathed, as his nearby Ophiel fluttered into their many-eyed forms. Then he stood up, shook his arms out, and held a hand up. He channeled mana through [Force Wall], producing a white flare; a solid spot in Reality. It was prevention and fortification; a demarcation between here and there and the power to keep separate.

Altering that idea was rather simple.

In his other hand, he Altered mana for openness. Instead of a demarcation, there was a door. Instead of here and there, he had flow from one to the other. An exchange. A breakdown of barriers, but not just that. A cascade of breakdowns that started in one location, but spread throughout, touching upon all the lives therein, empowering the possibility of Force to higher, purer magnitude.

He broke a Wall, and let loose a Rift.

He cast.

A white glow took hold of the center of the amphitheater, sending out flowing glows of magic, singing a soundless song of Force into the world.

A blue box appeared.

Major Force Rift, instant, long range, 100 mana

Conjure a large rift to empower most magic in a large area. Greatly empowers Force magic. Lasts 10 minutes + exposure.

Kaffi’s eyes were wide as she took in the spell hovering before her. Erick handed her the blue box, and she began to smile as she read. She laughed, twice, then quieted to a small grin. Upon dismissing the box, she said, “If you weren’t such a well-documented Planar then even I would suspect you a secret, long-lost member of the High Clans. Especially after that display.”

Erick smiled at the compliment, then said, “What I don’t understand, though, is the wording between Shifts and Rifts. They read so similar, and yet they’re different.” He dismissed the [Major Force Rift] and handed her another box. “I got the ‘plus exposure’ on [Major Force Rift], so that’s different, but. Well. You see?”

Firelight Shift, instant, long range, 190 MP

Drastically empower your fire and light aspect magic in a large area. Shadow aspect magic turns solid. Dark and water aspect magic is greatly weakened. Lasts 1 minute.

Kaffi read the second spell then she dismissed it, turning professional as she said, “The answer as to why many magics read similar or improperly indicative of what they are, is a difficult question to answer. The shallow answer is this: Shift, Rifts, and Domains exist on an axis that is muddled. The deeper answer necessitates a bit of philosophy.

“Here is a truth: Magic, the binding of mana into myriad forms, is more multitudinous than what we living beings are ever capable of truly, fully grasping. So we divide the indivisible into Elements, with simple names like ‘Fire’ or ‘Air’.

“But magic does happen, and we can divide it however we please.

“And yet, here is another truth: Magic should not come easy. Not anymore. Wizards ruined an entire universe when they had easy access to unlimited spellwork and the whispers of Darkness in their ears.

“And if the story ended there, if we lived in a world without mana, then that would be a different world than the one we have.

“But in this world full of mana, the Darkness is an endless threat. Rozeta knows that we still need mages and archmages in the world, and so we have the Script. That is why she hands out tiny Truths in exchange for levels we gain from victory over the Darkness. This is why she hides the True nature of magic in the basic wording of smaller spells, but the larger, better, Truer magics are either so minutely worded that you would never understand anything from them, or they’re just not in the Script at all. Mana sense. Aura control. Manual spell casting. Enchanting! Gods above, enchanting. Darker and brighter magics of which there are no names, only Truth and Possibility. These are not covered by the Script, at all.

“No one gets free answers anymore.

“So when you see that Rifts and Shifts have similar wordings, what you are seeing is a base representation; the first page of two novels that are the same on their surface, but different in their depths. It is in the using and the understanding of these spells that one comes to understand more of mana itself, and what we have wrought out of it. It is through personal trial and tribulation we learn personal Truths, so that we can reach the heights of magic and power that are necessary to keep this world safe from those who would see it harmed.

“Because ‘those who would see it harmed’ are all too often the people who live here, twisted by the Darkness, just as he has twisted other life into monsters.

“So, to put it less charitably, and simply, most people shouldn’t have access to most magic. And those who can’t understand it? Even less. Thus the obfuscation.”

Ezekiel hummed once, as he considered Kaffi’s words. Then he said, “I can see that perspective.”

Kaffi acknowledged, “Not everyone thinks the same, this is true. Very few people can combine a Force Rift like you just did, either, so whatever your perspective is, it works. Will you be making the next Rift, now?”

“I believe I will.”

Ezekiel channeled [Firelight Shift] through one hand, producing a flickering handful of bright white flames. It sounded like a bright summer’s day. A time spent by a bonfire, celebrating something transient and important, while also sounding like pure radiant power.

Huh.

There seemed to be an option, here. He could shift the spell toward a bright, bonfire day. Or, he could go for radiant power.

… There was a third option, which he should have already considered. He could just Mana Alter for Firelight, instead of using the [Firelight Shift] spell he already had.

There were a lot of ways to go about this. The only real reason to include a [Prime Area] derivative spell would be to heighten his own spellwork, and not the spellwork of others; to give only him a benefit and everyone else the disadvantage.

Prime Area, instant, long range, 70 MP

Designate a large area as under your influence. For 1 minute, your spells are heightened and others are lessened.

Did it work that way?

He asked Kaffi, “Normal Rifts are universally empowering or depowering depending on what spellwork you choose to use. Am I to understand that to include [Prime Area] derivatives would restrict the buffing to myself, and debuffing to others?”

“Ah?” Kaff said, “Yes. Apologies. I thought you knew. Rifts which include a Shift in the working do exactly as you say. Otherwise, you can buff and debuff everyone the same, for cheaper. Rifts are universally affecting spells. Shifts are about control. Domains are about utmost control.” She added, “But a larger Truth is that the spectrum between Rift and Shift and Domain is not just a single line.”

Ezekiel nodded, then turned his attention back to his spellwork. He checked another spell he had.

Light Shift, instant, long range, 120 MP

Drastically empower your light aspect magic in a large area. Shadow aspect magic turns solid. Dark aspect magic is greatly weakened. Lasts 1 minute.

He decided to make two Rifts. The first was with [Firelight Shift]’s bonfire day, stretched out into an overflowing warmth that touched all, and yet empowered only him.

A thought clicked.

The joy of the day vanished from Ezekiel’s mind, for it wasn’t just hot outside, it was oppressive. It was forest fires starting without warning. Lakes drying. Mud cracking. Frogs baking in the light of day. The sun brought down to Veird. Ezekiel smiled, as another thought occurred.

A [Gate] that reached the sun would do the same.

But wasn’t the ‘Sun’ element part Air? Yes, it was.

He cast.

The manasphere ripped open the center of the room. Pure sunlight poured into the space; a heat and brightness that burned away as much as it blinded. Ezekiel stared at the brilliance before him for a mome—

The sun vanished as a Void Song tore it apart like waves crashing against a sunlit shore, drowning out that small part of the world. In seconds, tides of nothing surged over the sun, drowning it out.

… Huh.

Ezekiel turned to Kaffi like a man coming out of a daze.

And then he saw the ground. Stone smoked. Kaffi’s dress was singed on the edges. Odin fluttered on his shoulder, shedding burned feathers that turned into motes of magenta mana, drifting away on the Void Song in the air.

Here and there, smoke filled the room, hovering on steaming air. It was pretty darn hot in here.

Across the room, Paul, Julia, and Tiffany, were each standing, looking like they were defending themselves from a nonexistent enemy. Kaffi flicked a hand and thick air tore through the space. Paul, Julia, and Tiffany, each did the same, coughing briefly while [Cleanse]s turned smoke back into breathable air. The air conditioning [Ward]s in the room came back, plunging the space into cooler temperatures.

A stone bench on the other side of the room fractured under the rapid temperature change. A bit of rubble fell off of the ledge, crashing down into the silence of the amphitheater.

… Ezekiel had an Odin flutter over there and [Mend] it back together.

Ezekiel said, “Whoops! Sorry about that. Sometimes it gets away from me, Kaffi.”

Kaffi sighed at him while a blue box appeared.

Major Sunlight Rift, instant, super long range, 500 mana.

Drastically empower your fire and light and air magics. Oppress all magics of all others, dealing WIL damage per second for each opposed active magic.

Lasts 10 minutes + Exposure.

“… Were you trying to make a damaging Rift?” Kaffi asked.

“Uh…” Ezekiel considered. “Not at first. But the ideas and sounds came together rather well and then I went for it. The only unexpected thing there was exactly how much damage it does.” And the size and the duration and the multiplier from ‘each opposed active magic’. He gestured out to the empty air of the amphitheater, and said, “This next one won’t be damaging, I think.”

He cast again, this time using [Light Shift].

The air tore.

Pure Light came through, to fill the world with glory.

Major Pure Light Rift, instant, super long range, 500 mana.

Imbue all who witness your glory with the power of Light, drastically empowering your own light magic while shifting to Light and possibly hindering the spellwork of all others.

Lasts 10 minutes + Exposure.

He dismissed his new [Major Pure Light Rift] and threw out a good dozen [Healing Word]s to each person as fast as he could think to heal. It wasn’t true healing magic like [Greater Treat Wounds] was true healing magic, but it would restore Health quick enough.

“That one was better, right!” Ezekiel asked, smiling.

Kaffi blinked to clear her eyes.

Ezekiel said, “Thank you for your assistance.”

Kaffi breathed deep, and with professional mien, asked, “Could I see both of these new spells?”

“Sure.” Ezekiel didn’t hesitate because he had already decided that if she asked to see them, he would show her. Later, he’d get the opinions of his own people. He handed her the spells, asking, “What do you think?”

Kaffi frowned, but as she read the spells, her frown vanished, replaced by respect. She said, “It is as I suspected; Super Long Range, and no listed spell size on either. These Rifts will have diminishing effects depending on how far you’re from them, but you could put them high in the sky and no one would be able to reach them to [Dispel] them, and you’d still gain their benefits.” She bowed in her seat, saying, “It is humbling to be in the presence of a true archmage. Thank you for this demonstration.” She rose, adding, “Shall we turn the privacy off, and begin to work on your aura control, Ezekiel?”

Ezekiel said, “Yes. Also… Sorry about the burning. That was… unintentional.”

Kaffi smirked, slightly, saying, “This happens a lot when dealing with competent casters like yourself. Hence, the Void Song, to disrupt any damaging spellwork before it has a chance to actually harm.”

Ezekiel nodded.

With a bit of telekinetic control, Kaffi reached over and opened the room, dispelling the privacy. Ezekiel glanced outward with his mana sense, and saw nothing untoward. There had been no trap; there had been no subterfuge. Yggdrasil’s [Scry] eye reappeared, and Ezekiel felt better about his time with Kaffi, even if they hadn’t even had a full session yet.

Kaffi began, “Aura control is the skill by which mages are able to manually cast spellwork, but everyone’s aura starts off small, in the same way that low levels of Light Essence gives you a low level Elemental Body skill.

“We can skip the small stuff for now, like [Light] or [Light Step], for while they are useful, there is no equivalent aura control skill. The only time you actually get any aura control is when you’re at the [Lightwalk] or [Greater Lightwalk] stage.

“Knowing this, you can likely guess why not many people have skill at controlling their aura.

“Anyway, with [Lightwalk], you are unable to manually cast most spells, for you need a large enough aura to actually manifest the movement of mana in the space in which your spell will then take place. One can cast [Force Bolt] with a [Lightwalk], or any of the other spells which originate from your person.

“But manually casting a [Force Wall] is different. You need range to be able to cast that spell ten meters away from yourself, and [Lightwalk] simply doesn’t have the range. [Greater Lightwalk] has the range.

“To gain control of the aura, first you must unlock or understand your aura, and then you must grow it to a suitable size for magic work.”

Ezekiel knew most of what Kaffi was saying, but every time he had tried to learn to control his aura he had never had the theory behind the skill presented in quite this way. He knew that the Headmaster didn’t teach proper magic in Arcanaeum, or about the Remake Quests and stuff like that, but he would have liked to have heard at least some of what Kaffi was saying in a traditional classroom setting.

Maybe other people got that teaching? Ezekiel never saw a single hint of it, though. But, he was only there for two months.

Eh. If he had been there for ten years, would he have learned all of what he had learned in this past year, alone? Maybe he would have. Maybe not.

Likely not. You don’t meet other archmages in classrooms at college, after all.

Kaffi’s lesson was definitely higher-level than the aura control lessons he had already known, for sure.

Kaffi continued, “To say it another way: Learning proper aura control is first about finding your aura and then expanding your aura. You must discover a limb you didn’t know you had, and then you must lift heavy weights to grow those ethereal muscles. Have you discovered your aura, yet?”

Ezekiel wasn’t exactly sure what she was asking, so he said, “I have used Aurify. I have used [Greater Lightwalk]. I have experience with controlling what I think is my aura, but, when I don’t use a spell I already have, I do not have any ability to move the mana around me, which is what I think I should be able to do if I had aura control.

“I have a fantastic mana sense, and all of the Sight spells, so I feel I would know if I was screwing up somewhere. I’m not sure what the problem is.” He added, “There’s not even an [Aura Sight] spell to help out, either. I have no idea why not.”

“There is no [Aura Sight] for there are no easy answers in magic.” Kaffi continued right along, saying, “Your problems with aura control are normal problems that every mage experiences, the world over; you are just in a better position than most to see your problem than most.” She made a small joke, “Even if you can’t see it.”

Ezekiel allowed himself a smile; it was a good pun.

Kaffi nodded. “Aurify is fantastic. But it is a crutch. Also, your [Personal Ward] directly interferes with your ability to see and feel your aura, and almost all mages end up in the practice of casting a [Personal Ward] at the start of every day, thus locking in their weakness and hampering their ability to ever overcome that weakness. Your magical items have a lesser, but just as injurious effect against learning to control your aura.”

“… Why is that, though?”

Kaffi said, “A [Personal Ward] is exactly the same as sealing yourself in a barrier. This barrier is an impediment to aura control for the aura is a naturally wispy thing that sits atop your soul, usually doing nothing. Maybe I should explain:

“The soul is the base of a person. The bedrock. But it is not a person.

“And then we have a trio of expressions of the soul, which come together to form a person. The first expression of the soul is the body, which allows the soul to control the physical. The second is the mind, which allows a person to understand themselves. The third is the aura, which exists in the mana and allows a person to control the mana around them.”

Not the usual mind-body-soul triumvirate that Ezekiel knew of, but it was interesting to hear of a different philosophy.

Kaffi continued, “By already controlling the magic around you, you are shackling your aura down to its barest self.

“You overcome this limitation every time you use Aurify, for the Script is a great boon and allows you to skip a large step toward learning proper aura control.” Kaffi said, “Now, I know you cannot do this around me or around anyone but your most trusted people, but the best way to learn aura control is to divest yourself of absolutely every magical protection you have and then sit out somewhere, preferably with as few clothes as possible, trying to feel the mana. Bugs, wind, sensory experiences of any kind can disrupt your ability to control your aura.”

Ezekiel frowned.

Kaffi said, “So unless you manage an unusual breakthrough while I am helping you to feel out your aura, I suspect you will have to do that naked search on your own. I will teach you all the best techniques for feeling the mana, though. One of those techniques is to use Aurify to make a decimeter-or-less radius aura spell, and then you switch the spell on and off, seeing if you can understand the aura by watching it in the spaces between the transformation from active spell to inactive rest. This is the primary technique that I will be assisting you with today. I have more than a few methods to help with this.

“The next method is to take a piece of Essence armor and wear it, absorbing it, to see where the essence becomes part of your aura. This is wildly expensive, and a great waste of resources, but it does work. You can even make tiny rings of Water Essence, for example, and even though you cannot gain [Water Body] through constant absorption of the same piece of ‘armor’, you might be able to get a feel for your aura in this manner.” Kaffi said, “A different application of this same method is to gain a water slime Familiar Form and eat the Essence that way. You would need to have a good mana sense to make up for the lack of senses of a slime, but you have that, and in this method, you could even eat enough Water Essence to gain [Water Body]. Either way, this method runs out of usability once you gain all six main Elemental Bodies.”

Across the amphitheater, Julia near-silently cursed. Tiffany grinned.

Kaffi continued, “A third method is to ask the gods for help. Most people can’t make use of this option, but it is a possibility. Aloethag, the orcol goddess of Beauty and Brutality, helps many learn how to control their aura, and all she asks for is millions of health in monsters reaped for her honor.”

Tiffany near-silently cursed. Julia had the good sense to remain completely silent.

Kaffi said, “A fourth method is to naturally awaken in the heat of the battle, when all your defenses are down and you’re about to die and you need more Script Seconds than you have. This is a terrible method. I only mention it for completeness.”

Ezekiel asked, “Any spell recommendations for the first option?”

“Something invisible, and small.” Kaffi said, “[Invisibility] is not a good choice, though, since it tends to make everything invisible; even your aura.”

“How about an aura that is large but I can make it smaller, and keep it that way even through flipping it on or off?”

“This is also an option.”

“Good.”

Ezekiel turned on [Physical Domain], keeping it small, barely larger than a layer that extended out from his skin to beyond his clothes.

Kaffi leaned backward, breathing in air, suddenly worried— She paused.

She narrowed her eyes. “What… Is that?”

“Would a Domain not work?”

“… What does it do? It seems— I’m not sure. Excessively violent? I wasn’t sure if you were—” Kaffi cut herself off, then said, “I would not recommend this spellwork. It is too… strange and powerful. You want something that is invisible and benign.”

Ezekiel turned off his [Physical Domain] and turned on [Normalize Aura]. “How about this one?”

Kaffi frowned at him. She narrowed her eyes in thought, then whispered, “And you’re sure you’re not actually some long lost member of a High Clan? Some branch family from somewhere?”

He was teasing her and she knew it.

Ezekiel grinned, politely, then said, “Pretty sure I am not.”

Kaffi looked at him while she thought, in silence.

Ezekiel began to practice ‘feeling his aura out’, flicking his [Normalize Aura] on and off a few times to see where the boundary lay between his real aura, and the aura granted to him by Aurify. Nothing. He moved on to inspecting with his mana sense active. Still nothing. And then he did it again with his hand held up to his eyes, staring at the back of his fingers.

He saw his active magic. He saw the edge of his [Personal Ward]. It was less like a layered defense, and more like a magenta sheen to his skin, but this was a deceptive look. The [Ward] fully extended inward, covering all of his interior in its magenta protection. It was like he was walking around in a personal-sized and constantly adjusting [Ward].

Which. Well.

That was why it was called a [Personal Ward].

… He did not see his aura. He flickered his aura active and inactive, and watched the ‘process’ of activation. The transition between active and inactive was—

Ah. He saw… something. It was like a wisp in the mana that curled active or inactive as he cast his aura, and turned it off. Or.

No.

That’s just mana becoming his aura. Not his actual aura. When he dropped his aura, the mana that had been under control and a part of his aura while his aura was active, went out of his control, completely. He tried again a few times, but got the same results.

Kaffi interrupted, saying, “Attend to me, and watch as I flex my natural aura. It might help. You cannot see it normally, so I will make it visible to you.”

Ezekiel dropped his hand and looked to Kaffi.

Kaffi was sitting with her hands crossed, atop her lap, and her back straight. And then she started to chime, invisibly, here and there. Tiny ripples from her shoulder, or from her left pinky finger, or from her toes, and then her nose. She said, “This is the flexing of my aura. In order to cast larger spells, I must stretch it out from my body, gathering the aura of the whole, in order to get the range to cast at a distance. Like so.”

Without moving her physical self, her aura stretched and molded, but the only reason Ezekiel could see it at all was because she was controlling her mana inside her aura, somehow, allowing him to see the movement.

Ah. She was showing him her intent. But it was thinner than the intent in other magics. Thinner than the intent-filled tendrils that Paul usually had around his head, for instance.

The intent-filled fog on her body shuffled around her body, to form a three-meter long tendril to the right, where she then flexed her aura, and cast a red [Force Bolt] into the ground of the amphitheater. The spell kicked up a tiny spack of dust.

She relaxed and her aura snapped back to her body.

She said, “The size of my aura is small, but it is more than enough to do everything I need to do. It has taken me decades to get this far, but it took me a year to awaken my aura in the first place. Awakening your own aura will likely take a lot less time considering your current success with mana, but I would not get your hopes up, yet. Continue with your attempts. I will observe.”

Ezekiel continued.

Kaffi let this continue for another ten minutes, then she asked, “Do you know the rules of aura interaction?”

Ezekiel said, “Yes. Two auras from opposing casters, brought into proximity with one another, will press against each other, deforming each other in a manner based upon the proximity of the casters to where the auras intersect, and on the power of the two auras. Assuming the same power of auras, if one person has a large aura and the other has a small aura, then the smaller aura will not be pressed in as much as the larger aura is pressed, until the same percentage of aura deformation would occur for both casters.” He added, “But auras imbued with magic cut through all natural resistance, and in most cases, auras just mingle.”

“Correct, but also, in the mingling of auras one person might naturally feel out another.” Kaffi said, “I will attempt to touch you with my aura. See if you can feel your own aura in the mingling.”

“… Sure.”

Kaffi touched Ezekiel’s skin with her aura. He felt nothing, except a bit weirded out. It wasn’t the most comfortable position to be in; having someone able to cast touch-based magic without ever knowing they were touching you.

But, by that same measure, with her aura touching him he was ‘touching’ her, too. This ‘touch based’ vulnerability wasn’t a one-way street. Ezekiel supposed that made this a bit less worrying.

“Can you feel that?” Kaffi asked.

“… Nooo. Hold on.” Ezekiel flipped through his various Sight spells and his mana sense. He almost expected his [Soul Sight] to show him something, but Kaffi’s red soul was perfectly contained just under her skin, her Shroud appearing to be perfectly normal, and unmoving. “Nope. Don’t see anything.”

She retracted her aura, saying, “Continue using your aurified spell. Ask questions if you have them.”

Time passed.

He had questions. He asked them.

Kaffi had some answers, but all of her important answers had already been given. She mostly reworded what she had already said. Some of the rewordings were helpful, but…

Kaffi said, “It will be difficult to feel your aura as you are, but it can be done. By feeling out your aura right now, you might be building strength that you can’t feel, that will one day allow for the sudden manifestation of your aura outside of your [Personal Ward]… Or you might not be making any progress at all. Hard to tell.”

Ezekiel grunted and kept trying.

Half an hour later, the session was over.

This was gonna take a while.

Ezekiel bid Sister Kaffi farewell and left the Void Temple with his people in tow. As soon as they were at the Teleport Square, they left in a flash of magenta light.

- - - -

“So hey!” Ezekiel said, after they appeared in their rooms in the hotel. “At least Sister Kaffi seems... alright?”

He changed his statement into a question halfway through because of the looks he was getting from his people. Julia, in particular, did not look happy. But then she relaxed.

Julia said, “This is the Path we’re walking.”

Tiffany said, “True enough.”

“She seemed honest…” Paul said, “Aside from her blatant history of lying.”

Ezekiel smiled. “Aura control is difficult, and though she told me a lot of new ways to control my aura, most of the smaller aspects of her lessons line up with all the others I have ever received. But I won’t be dropping my defenses around her.” Even if he did drop his defenses around her, could she get through his Constitution? Likely not, or at least not fast enough where he couldn’t enact a [Defend] for even more time. Eh. He wasn’t going to take that chance, anyway; he wasn’t going to put himself in a vulnerable position around her. He switched topics, saying, “I’m putting up a privacy.” He cast a [Sealed Privacy Ward] in the room, and said, “I’m going to try and get Tadashi Intelligence today, and let him figure out chelation and chemistry and all of that, but if that doesn’t work, then something else is going to happen. But that brings me to this: Anyone else want one of the New Stats while I’m doing this?”

Julia, Tiffany, and Paul each turned concerned in their own ways. Julia, like she was facing an exam she had prepared for, and wasn’t quite ready. Tiffany, as though she was facing a big red button and debating whether she wanted to push it.

Paul got through his dilemma fast, saying, “Constitution.”

Everyone turned to him.

Tiffany said, “That’s completely unexpected.”

Julia asked, “Not Intelligence? Or Perception?”

“No.” Paul said, “I considered Perception for a long time but ultimately, Perception is a helping hand to do what I am already capable of doing. Constitution is something I am not capable of doing; it is a blanket reduction on all the damage you take, outside of Wards and temporary damage. But that’s the superficial effect. The true effect is that it makes every part of you tougher. You become truly resistant to damage, and when your [Personal Ward] goes down, that toughness truly shines. It’s the most life-saving of the Stats.” He added, “As for not getting Intelligence: My magic is not traditional magic. It has little bearing on the bonuses of Intelligence.”

Julia said, “Really? Okay. Supernatural spells; sure.”

Tiffany said, “I’m gonna do it, too. I want Constitution, too.”

Julia whipped around to Tiffany, saying, “Really? Not Intelligence? You’re already rather tough.”

Tiffany frowned. She grimaced, thinking. “Yeah. … Yeah. No. … I don’t know.” She flummoxed, “I don’t know, Boss. Yes. I want one of them. Not sure which, though. Ask me some other day.”

Ezekiel said, “Of course. Take your time.” He looked to Julia. “Do you want one of these New Stats?”

Paul interrupted, “I changed my mind. I don’t want any.”

Everyone looked to him again.

Paul shrugged, “I changed my mind.”

Suddenly exasperated, Julia rapidly said, “None for me either!” She added, “But I do want some more points anyway. Got any Quests? I need at least one more point for another Class Ability.”

Ezekiel paused. Then said, “I have some extra points.” He had 23 extra points and he didn’t need to use a single one at the moment. But. There were those Health-cost debuff Spells, [Blind], [Deaf], [Dumb], [Infection], [Cause Wounds], and [Weak]… They could be interesting to have, right? Maybe. But that was more of a ‘far off idea’ than a current idea. He was also looking at the 10 point cost to complete the Worldly Path, if needed, to get [Gate] right away. And there were other Restricted spells out there, like [Duplicate], that would cost him 5 points to get... Though he didn’t know of a single one. With all that in mind, he didn’t need all of his 23 extra points, and if Julia did, then the solution was easy. He said, “I can make a Quest for—”

“No,” Julia said.

There was another option.

“I still haven’t assigned those other two points from Tadashi’s Quest, either.” Ezekiel said, “I was waiting for you guys to play a game for them, or something.”

Julia frowned. Paul smirked.

Tiffany laughed. “I thought you gave them to yourself right after I joked about it.”

“I have no pressing need for them, so you three can figure out who gets them. Two points is basically a whole level!”

Paul looked to Julia and Tiffany, and said, “I would not use them at the moment.”

Tiffany said, “Eh. Me either.”

They all looked to Julia.

Julia frowned. “No. I’m not going to take them because I’d use them—”

Ezekiel assigned her one point, joking, “You will take your point and be happy about it!”

Julia sighed. Contentment, embarrassment, a little bit of anger, and some deep joy, all battled for a place on her face. A smile came upon her, unwanted, but she said nothing.

Tiffany teased her, “The young master gets all the bonuses.”

Julia scoffed.

Paul joined in, “Nepotism at its finest.”

Julia began, “Now that’s just unfa—”

Ezekiel assigned her another point, saying, “And you can have the third one, too. Wouldn’t want you to be sitting at 0 points, after all!”

Julia went rock-solid silent.

Tiffany laughed, as Paul chuckled.

Julia turned away, softly saying, “Thank you.” And then went over and hugged her father.

Ezekiel hugged her back, saying, “What level are you anyway? Want to hunt some big monsters?”

Julia laughed into his shoulder.

Tiffany proclaimed, “I want to hunt big monsters.”

Paul groaned; a small noise, compared to Julia’s second outburst of laughter.

She broke away from her father, saying, “I want to hunt a Thunder Bird or a Lightning Shrieker. I’m not sure which would be better.” She added, “And after today, I think I want to explore some archives and look for a Familiar Form that could help with aura control. There has to be one of them right?”

“Oh!” Ezekiel said, “That’s a good point. There probably is. Also, there are Shriekers on the Quest Board. I saw one yesterday, but I don’t think we should do this.” In a scatter of moments, Ezekiel had found the Quest in question, and handed it out.

Special Quest!

Kill the monstrous Lightning Shrieker located in the South East Tribulation Mountains.

This is a dangerous Quest.

Begin at the Desolate Harmony Plateau in the center of the Dry Highlands, then head east till you reach the South East Tribulation Mountains, then go south 3350 kilometers. When you spot a mountain that is desolation instead of green, you will have found the lair of the Lightning Shrieker. Kill it, and allow for Thunder Birds to once again nest in the area.

This Quest has been active for .

Reward: 2 points; optional meeting with High Clan Void Song.

Poster: Rozeta, Dragon Goddess of the Script

Lesser Poster: Grand Elder Lingxing Void Song.

While they read, Ezekiel said, “The Quest was uploaded with precise directions, meaning that finding the target is not the problem with this Quest. What are Shriekers?”

Julia’s smile came back in full force as she read. “They’re the monstrous form of the Thunder Bird. I don’t know much beyond that.”

Tiffany turned uncertain. She hummed, thinking.

Paul said, “No. Please, no.”

“I would go with Paul’s recommendation here. If it’s worth two points and has been active for 7 months, something is wrong with this Quest, or it truly is that dangerous.” Ezekiel said, “We can scout it out and ask around, though. No harm in that.”

“Hm. I’m gonna need to read up on those more than I have.” Julia said, “I need to get to a Registrar and get an Ability Slot Increase Quest, anyway. Anyone happen to know where they are in this part of the world? I’ve kept an eye out, but I haven’t actually seen any.”

“They’re at the Void Temple, down one of the side hallways.” Tiffany said, “Looked like long lines, too.”

“Ah.” Julia said, “Then… I kinda want to do that. As soon as possible.”

An Odin blipped into the space room, holding a ring. He dropped it into Ezekiel’s hand, as Ezekiel said, “I made Tadashi’s ring while we were talking so that’s where I wanted to go next, but we can stop over at the Void Temple, too.” He held the plain-looking silver ring up, saying, “Sure no one wants Intelligence before we head out?”

Julia briefly stared at the ring. Tiffany and Paul both glanced at it, and looked away.

Moments passed in silence.

“Alright then.” Ezekiel put the ring into a pocket in the sash around his waist. “Let’s head out to Star Song, then. Or the Void Temple, first?”

Julia said, “I can go to the Temple on my own. Let’s go see Star Song. We can ask them about Shriekers and such— Wait a second. What are you actually going to tell Star Song about chemistry?”

“Well…” Ezekiel asked, “What do you think I should tell them? I want to solve chelation for them, and for me, in case anyone should ever want to pull that sort of shit on me… Or against anyone, really. I have to say: I have a strong urge to solve this problem for the whole of the world, but… I’m not willing to walk over the Highlands to do that. Yet. They seem like decent people to me.” He asked, “Do they seem decent to you all?”

Julia went silent in thought.

Paul said, “They’re better than most.”

“This place is fine, I guess.” Tiffany said, “But I don’t like how the people around here are so willing to be limited. To voluntarily live under the Void Song and under laws that allow their higher-ups to kill them at a whim.” She added, “I haven’t seen any murders either, but I’ve seen some shit go down in the alleyways that would not be allowed back home. And the nobles are nobles, so that’s shitty, too. ...But they’re not as bad as the ones back home in the Wasteland, or the Republic.” She shrugged.

Ezekiel said, “I’ve kept a few hundred eyes out with Odin, but I haven’t seen any murders either. But, the nobility is nobility. Back where we come from, the nobility had mostly been abolished, but our histories paint a similar picture of the nobility we’ve found here in the Highlands, and even back home with the Viscount of Frontier and the Baroness of Kal’Duresh. I think this is just the nature of power, when you’re forced to be violently powerful to keep your power in a world of violence.”

Tiffany frowned. “They’re not this bad back in Treehome.”

Paul said, “Treehome is uncommonly good.”

“Ha!” Tiffany said, “True enough.”

Julia said, “I think the people here are progressive and good when compared to what this world does to people.” She added, “That’s my objective opinion. But subjectively, we can’t trust them yet, and you should limit what you give them.”

Tiffany said, “Okay. Yeah. I agree with that.”

“They’re better than most,” Paul repeated. “But they’re not anywhere close to perfect.”

Ezekiel said, “Fair point.” He added, “So I am thinking about giving them the bare bones of the Periodic Table along with a basic chemistry lesson about electron shells and chemical bonds. Do you remember the types of bonds, Julia?” Julia eyed her father, looking wary and questioning, then she shook her head ever so slightly. He continued, “There’s ionic, covalent, hydrogen, and Van Der Waals.” He said, “And the Periodic Table is not just a listing of elements, but of electron shells and free electrons and a whole lot more. If someone well versed in particles saw the Table they’d see a lot more than what other people see, so it would probably take years or maybe decades for anyone here to understand it, but it could be a great map to the future of Particle Magic! I figure if I give some deserving alchemists this sort of information, then this world will advance to a decent level of chemistry fast enough.” He added, “I could also talk about the chemistries I’ve heard of, but we never covered them in your homework or in any of the video or wikipedia jaunts I drowned in, and so I don’t really know much of them. There’s Organic, Inorganic, Physical, Analytical, and Biochemistry. I’d imagine that Veird chemistry would be different though; different categories. Or maybe they’d just add in ‘Magichemistry’, or something like that. Keeping ‘Alchemy’ as the name of the field seems rather primitive to me, but, then again, Alchemy is a science on Veird, so your guess is as good as mine.”

Julia frowned. She seemed unwilling to voice her objection; likely because she had so many that she didn’t know where to start. In a similar manner, Tiffany scrunched her eyebrows, thinking.

Paul said, “Maybe you should not do that.”

“That’s also an option. Likely the one I’m gonna take, too.” Ezekiel said, “Honestly, I should spend some time learning chemistry on my own. But who has the time! I certainly don’t— Oh!” He had an idea, and said, “I have an idea. I could hand out Intelligence rings and the Periodic table to the top ten alchemists in the world. Make a Quest of it. Put some parameters out there to weed out the worst ones. Now there’s some scientific advancement for you.”

Julia stopped wrestling with her emotions and solidly said, “Don’t do that. For sure, do not do that.”

“Yeah…” Ezekiel considered; he’d likely want to give the Periodic Table to some people in Spur, or Candlepoint, or…

Maybe he should talk to Rozeta about that, first? Maybe… Maybe not.

He could at least seek Phagar’s opinion.

“Anyway! Want to see the spells I made?” Ezekiel handed out his new spells, saying, “They’re pretty great. You should make a Rift, too, Julia.”

Julia, Tiffany, and to a much lesser extent, Paul, each read, and each disbelieved.

Julia exclaimed, “Willpower damage per second ‘For each opposed active magic’?!” She looked at her father. “For each? Is that what I was seeing? Back in that room?”

Tiffany joked, “If you weren’t already on a watch-list, you would be now!”

Paul just smirked.

Julia said, “I only got a few ticks for 150, but then I put up a [Defend] and was still taking 150! This is why!” She deadpanned, “This seems like cheating, dad.”

“You haven’t turned those notifications off?” Ezekiel said, “I did that a long time ago.”

Julia barreled past his question, saying, “This means that Kaffi likely knows your Willpower.”

“Eh.” Ezekiel asked, “So what? There’s no way they didn’t know my Stats already.”

- - - -

Sister Kaffi walked up the spiraling staircase, crossing the paths of the occasional acolyte who shuffled to the side and bowed. Kaffi continued upward.

Eventually, she reached the office of the Grand Elder. The stately white-stone door stood at the end of a short reception area. Kaffi nodded to the senior acolyte on desk today while walking to the door; she did not need an invitation and thus she did not need to speak to the boy. The acolyte noticed, then returned to his paperwork; today was a normal day, after all.

Nothing special happening here.

Kaffi knocked on the door, then went in. She closed the door behind her.

Grand Elder Lingxing Void Song sat on a large purple pillow in the bright sun, her eyes glittering with the power of the black Void. Her stare reached across the Highlands to somewhere important, no doubt. Her skin was as white as Kaffi’s own, but a lot more wrinkled. No horns, either. Both white skin and lack of horns was a true sign of High Clan breeding, kept intact ever since the Compact of Songli all those centuries ago. Lingxing was lucky enough to be born with zero need for blood editing, which was one of the many reasons why she had risen so far in Void Song.

Kaffi was also one of those reasons that Lingxing had risen so far. A small, but important one. All the rest was Lingxing, herself. The woman was exactly who you’d want as a Grand Elder. Strict, but compassionate, exceedingly brilliant in matters of state, and not afraid to get her hands dirty to make her world a better place. She wasn’t a slouch on the power scale, either, but power wasn’t strictly necessary when it came to being a leader. Kaffi had power, but she was definitely no leader. Not at all.

Lingxing remained in her pillow, and did not react to Kaffi’s presence as quickly as she could have. Oh, sure, she was aware Kaffi was here, but this was her place of power, and Kaffi would do well to act like it. After ten seconds, Lixgxing raised a hand, a single finger, while she continued to stare out into the Void.

Kaffi waited.

Everything to keep up appearances.

Lingxing blinked, her purple eyes returning to her as the Void pulled back. She turned to Kaffi, then she cast the Void into the space around the room. The sky in the windows vanished, replaced with endless black. The world went away, and it was just the two of them.

Lingxing relaxed out of her pillow to stand, composing herself by quick increments, considering her age. She looked to Kaffi with a slight disappointment in her purple eyes. Kaffi waited.

Lingxing sighed, and said, “Give me the bad news.”

“There is none.” Kaffi said, “Ezekiel is Erick Flatt.”

For a moment the Void flickered; surprise and distress interrupting Lingxing’s control, but only barely.

Lingxing narrowed her now-violent eyes. “You’re fucking with me.” She started to huff, saying, “Don’t do this to me, grandma! I mean it! Is he a dragon? Some ploy by the Clans? Some body snatcher? Is Erick Flatt dead and we have an impostor in our—”

Kaffi burst out laughing. Great lungfuls of joyful guffaws. Sudden tears ran down her face for she could not contain her happiness at her trick, and at the truth of her news.

Lingxing’s frown deepened.

And then Kaffi said, “You should have seen the look on your face!”

Lingxing seemed to lose twenty years from her face as she realized that, No; Kaffi wasn’t fucking with her at all. Her purple eyes relaxed and her angry mouth turned into something much brighter. Then she went back the other way, back to calculating anger. “You’re truly serious.”

Kaffi was still laughing but she had controlled it down to small chuckles. “Serious as Soul Magic! Ezekiel is Erick Flatt.” She handed out the Rift magics the world’s maybe-strongest (non-wrought, non-dragon, non-immortal) archmage had just made, saying, “Look at this shit! He’s as good as Tixi or Erizod. You remember Erizod, don’t you?”

“Bah! I know who Erizod was, grandmother.” Lingxing read the blue boxes quickly, then looked up and said, “This Sun Rift. This does multiplying damage based on all active opposing spellwork?”

“Yes.” Kaffi said, “It’s a rare manifestation of that particular Element and it’s exactly as dangerous as it reads.”

“This makes me even more mad.” Lingxing was suddenly deeply disappointed. “Blast it all. I was hoping he was just another Scion.”

“Oh don’t be like that.” Kaffi said, “I know you’re disappointed that we didn’t get a new resource, but no one else is going to get him, either. He’s tied to Spur. We don’t even have to calculate around that mess anymore.” She said, “Though Star Song is getting some deep claws into him. Might want to step in there.”

“Our Tixi can probably do this Sun Rift if he wanted to. Have you met Nirzir yet? She could do this, too.”

“Oh? Who’s Nirzir?”

“Still young. Matriculated this year. Daughter to Erizod’s daughter.”

Kaffi’s eyes widened in genuine surprise. “Living in Holorulo?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I must go see them, then.” Kaffi rapidly added, “Some other time.”

“Yes. Some other time.” Lingxing paused in thought, then said, “He is doing well with Star Song, isn’t he? Hmmm.” She decided, “I want a meeting with Ezekiel. Make it happen.”

“As you wish. I will inform him tomorrow at our next session.”

“What else happened in the training?” Lingxing said, “You’ll have to tell me all about it. I shall make us tea, grandmother.”

Kaffi took a seat on a pillow in the sun, opposite Lingxing’s, and started talking. Soon, the scents of plum tea filled the air, as words painted ever more interesting pictures.