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Oceanside smelled of stone and the sea, with salt tainting the air flowing up from the Harbor District, as the sun shown down on the bustling city of learning.

Bright cream-colored stone formed open-aired hallways, while bookshops and bakeries hawked their wares to the mid-morning crowd. Towers and apartment buildings loomed, while kids and young adults, laden with books or bags, laughed and joked as they walked from place to place. But not everyone walked. Above the pastel blue or green or yellow or red roofs, some of the older students flew from the balconies of their residences with personal flight wards, or on platforms of Force, to join a secondary flow of traffic in the sky where the paths were delineated by lines of cream-colored light, instead of by the ground and the markings of the stone roads.

Here and there in the air around the city, floated the police and early warning system of Oceanside: cream-colored Robes, floating like sentinels, who watched and waited for trouble. But traffic in the air and on the ground was perfectly peaceful, today. The Robes would not get involved without justification, or at least that’s what Krigea said when Erick asked about them.  

Krigea had an answer for everything, as they walked around on a tour of the city, while Erick held only a fraction of the questions. Kiri had her own fair share of queries. Poi even had a couple of inquiries, asking for clarification on a few of Krigea’s answers to Erick’s questions.  

They toured the Low Market, where the roads were wide and items of every non-magical kind were sold under tents or in stone alcoves, from clothing to spices, and metal to meat, where voices yelled at each other, haggling down prices from gold to silver, or from 10 mana rads to 5 mana rads; from ‘marks’ to ‘chips’. They traveled through the High Market, where magical goods were kept and traded under the watchful eyes of a Robe every ten meters, and hushed voices spoke over enchanted items locked under glass. Prices were listed in dozens of ‘marks’, meaning 10 mana rads, though sometime the prices were listed in ‘Quants’; those were the expensive items, because ‘quant’ meant ‘grand-rad’.  

They walked through the town, from place to place. Food was sold on every corner, and the smell sent Erick’s stomach rumbling, even though he already had breakfast. The cuisine of Oceanside came from every part of the world; there were fried bugs and grilled fruit, glazed meats and raw fish. Breads and cheeses. Wines and beers. Tea shops sold pastries to a peaceful crowd.  

And everywhere, young people walked, or talked, or just lived. Every once in a while Erick saw an older person, but they were usually the ones selling the goods, or making them.  

Oceanside was a college town, and Erick loved it. Back when he was Kiri’s age, he had gone to a community college for a few years, but flunked out when sex and beer proved to be more interesting than studying and showing up on test days. It was only in his thirties, while he was taking care of 6 year-old Jane and completing part-time courses at the local community college, that he scraped together his old college credits and finished a bachelor’s degree in social work. That took years, though; much longer than normal. Erick was only able to take one course at a time. Work, and life, hit Erick hard for the choices he made in his youth. But now, looking all around him, maybe he could make a few better choices. Maybe he had another chance at a proper education. He certainly needed a magical education, at least.

Erick found himself looking forward to the student life.  

According to Krigea, the normal course of study that most students were required to learn included World History, Politics, Geography and the Underworld, Religious Studies, Warfare, Monster Ecology, and Basic Magic. From there, the course load bloomed into every other nuance that Erick read about in the course manual back at Windy Manor: Philosophy, Medicine, Engineering, Advanced Magic, all of that.  

Erick was skipping those requirements, but maybe he should look into some of them. World History and Politics, in particular, seemed like good things to know. If they had a Cultural Studies program Erick would have to take that, too, as well as a course on Law and Justice, if they had such a thing. Back on Earth, those sorts of courses were part of his Bachelor’s of Social Work, and he used that knowledge almost every day; especially when it came to dealing with the police.  

The only time he had ever been hauled before Silverite in a legal sort of way was just after the shadowolf ambush in the defunct Human District. Nothing had happened to him or Jane, thankfully, but ever since that incident, and because of what came later, Erick got the distinct, and correct, impression that Spur existed at Silverite’s discretion. Much of life on Veird seemed to be that way, with benevolent or otherwise dictators here and there, doing what they needed to do to keep their cities intact, but it would be nice to know what ‘law’ actually meant on this planet.  

Knowing the culture of some of Veird might not be what was immediately necessary for survival, but it would make Erick happy to not be a such a blundering idiot.

And then the tour was over.

Krigea walked ahead of them, into the square where Erick had set down his [Teleporting Platform]. Trees grew on the sides of the square, but the center was an open, grassy land; a bit of flat space without nearby towers, located in the south portion of the crescent-shaped, mountain city. Other people set down on platforms of their own, or took off, while cream-colored Robes hung in the sky around the airy, unobstructed square; watching.

Krigea turned back to Erick, saying, “I hope that helped to orient you.”

“Thank you, Krigea,” Erick said. “It was nice being a little anonymous, too.”

Kiri murmured, “Someone should have noticed you.”

Poi said, “They did. And then they purposefully looked away when the Robes looked at them.”

Kiri went, “Oh.”

“Yup.” Erick said, “I noticed them.” He looked to Poi, adding, “Some of them, anyway.”

Poi smirked.  

“I assure you—” Krigea stressed, “Oceanside is one of the safest cities in the world.”

Poi said nothing, as tendrils of thought continued to radiate from his head.

“I think so, too.” Erick’s eyes dropped from a floating Robe, to a gaggle of kids walking past, each of them joking with each other. Half of them were human, the other incani, with a short orcol to round out the group of seven. “I’ve seen a lot of human and incani getting along on the tour. It’s nice to see such a thing. Not much Quiet War here?”  

Krigea said, “Not usually.” She asked, “Is there anything else you wish to do today, that I may assist with?”

 Erick looked up at the sky. The sun was directly overhead. Normally at this time Erick would be occupied with raining on the farms, but that task would be postponed by 5 hours while he lived in Oceanside. Almost the entire day was his, and his alone. It was nice.

Erick asked, “Poi? Kiri?”

Poi shook his head. Kiri did the same.

Erick gazed up, to see Central Tower amid the other, smaller towers. He would be giving his lecture somewhere up there, tomorrow. It was a massive structure, a city block wide, twenty stories tall, and one of three. Balconies adorned the sides of all the towers; open-air platforms of stone that served as the entrances to each floor of the buildings. People flew in and out, on organized trails of light that snaked across the whole of the sky.  

The other two main towers of Oceanside were North and South, both of which were currently, mostly out of sight.

Erick pointed at Central, asking, “Up there tomorrow, then?”

Krigea looked to the tower Erick indicated, saying, “Yes, sir. That’s the one.”

“Then we can leave that for tomorrow.” Erick said, “I want to learn about Mana Sense. How would I go about learning this skill, here?”

Krigea nodded, then pointed to the tower left of tomorrow’s destination, one of the smaller ones, saying, “Then we should go there.”

- - - -

Erick stood in an airy stone room with private, small balcony, that extended west from the tenth floor of the tower. Far below, the crescent crater arms of Oceanside stretched out before him, laden with city and stone and people, encircling the dark harbor waters. Bright sailing vessels plowed those waters, in and out of the harbor.  

The room around Erick was rather spartan, with a few knickknacks on pedestals on the perimeter of the space and nothing else; stone spheres and little pyramids. The kick-up of the manasphere, as it struck the city, spilled into the room, though, like a second breeze, laced with possibility; a pleasant companion to the salt already on the air.  

Poi and Kiri stood around the room, both of them perfectly patient. Krigea stood to the side of the balcony. Erick continued to look out over the waters of the harbor while Ophiel clung to the railing, enjoying the breeze, letting his wings flutter loose and easy to tangle in the wind. It was a very nice day.

The door to the room burst open, a small woman already saying, “Sorry! Sorry! I took longer than I thought I would!”

Erick turned, smiling, saying, “Don’t worry about it. I’m the one imposing, here.”

The woman was almost a pure white incani, with pale skin, white hair, and white horns, but her eyes were bright red. She looked older than Erick, but not by much, while her strong bearing and nice tan and brown, though dirty clothes, told the story that she had been in a garden, planting, just minutes ago.  

Erick introduced himself, “Erick Flatt, of Spur.”

The woman’s red eyes sparkled like rubies as she smiled, saying, “Professor Rue Downs! Uh! Archmage, sir. It’s nice to meet you.”

Krigea stepped forward, saying, “The Headmaster wishes for this juncture of minds to go well, but he knows that it might take more sessions than one to impart the wisdom of Mana Sense. He has instructed that a bargain of trade would be prudent, even if this exchange is just a few questions.”

“I accept,” Erick said.

“Me too,” said the woman. “Please, call me Rue.” Rue added, “Archmage.”

Erick smiled, saying, “Erick, then, for me, please. Thank you for taking time out of your day, Rue. When I suggested this idea, I did not expect to take someone out of their life like this. I especially did not expect to be placed on the same level as people who had gone through schooling for all of this. It’s very weird for me to refer to a professor on a first name basis.”

“Nonsense!” Rue added, “Erick.” She said, “Okay so—” She turned to Krigea. “A bargain of trade? Really?”

“Yes.” Krigea said, “This is the price the Headmaster has set for situations such as this.”

“Which is fine.” Erick asked, “Anything you’d like to ask me, first?”

Rue instantly said, “I want to attend your lecture tomorrow. This is all I ask. In exchange, I will assist you in training your Mana Sense.”

“… Okay?” Erick agreed, “Sure. I’ll agree to that.”

Rue smiled softly as she breathed in, then out. She said, “Thank you.”  

“It only took my people a few hundred years to get to the knowledge I gave out.” Erick said, “With magic, it might take you far less to reach the same level. Though the Infinitesimal Ban is going to provide a very hefty block to most possible Particle Magic.” He added, “Y’all are going to have to do things the hard, non-magical way if you want to get past the sky, anyway. From my understanding, the manasphere is too thin up there to be workable.”

Rue smiled wide, saying, “I know. Isn’t it marvelous?” She quickly added, “I always tell students that some things are better done when magic is left at the door. Most of the stronger alchemical properties of many, many plants are only achieved when the plant grows naturally, in their preferred environment.” She said, “We might even be able to reclaim the Lost Planes.”

“The other planets?” Erick asked.

“If there’s a manasphere on them, at all.” Rue said, “Oh, sure. It’s going to be very hard work, but—” She said, “That’s two centuries away, at least. But it’s nice to dream. Maybe my great grandkids will be able to set foot on Yoril or Paal.”

Erick smiled. “Maybe.”

“Ah!” Rue looked around. Everyone was looking at her. She said, “My head is already in the clouds. It’s just that you grow up listening about people just casually visiting other worlds and you want to do this, but you can’t— Ah! That’s a topic for another day.”

Erick smirked. He liked Rue. Unless she was secretly planning on killing him, Rue seemed like a good person to know.  

“Let’s begin!” Rue conjured two large, mostly solid pillows onto the floor of the empty room. She folded her legs, taking an instant, apparently comfortable seat on one of the pillows, sitting with her knees forward and her feet under her butt, saying, “Places to be, both for you and for me, no doubt.”

Erick gladly took a seat on the other pillow, though it took him more than a second to situate himself. When he was seated, with his legs outside of the pillow and his hands on the pillow, he realized that Rue was a lot more flexible than he was. Erick missed the effortless ease of having a young body, but Rue wasn’t young at all. Maybe she had just kept her flexibility in tune as she aged, in a way Erick just never had time for. He needed to get that ability back, and sparring with Kiri did not cut it.  

He needed to do, like, yoga, or something. Maybe they had yoga on Veird? They had something, for sure; Erick just needed to find out what it was.

Rue asked, “How versed are you in the ideas of Mana Sense?”

“Almost zero.” Erick added, “Everyone I ask says that they’re either not proficient, or it’s like [Detect Magic], but different, or that it’s difficult. I only know one person who can do it back in Spur: Mage Ramizi Fieldsend.”

Rue smiled. “I must confess, I was likely tagged for this honor because I am the one who taught Ramizi. He told me something like this might happen, but I did not expect it to be today. Life just happens like that, sometimes.”

Erick had wondered when the first signs of whatever Ramizi’s hand in matters would show.  

Erick said, “Ramizi is a good kid.”

“He is.” She asked, “I will start from the beginning, then.”

Erick said, “Please.”

Rue nodded. “Mana Sense is not a skill to be bought in the Script, but a personal ability, like knowing how to read a language, or understand the stars.” She said, “[Detect Magic] is useful as a starting point. If you have not done so yet, try to Aurify your [Detect Magic], and then activate the resulting ability.” She looked completely embarrassed for a hot moment, her eyes darting to the ground then away, as she added, “Uh! But you probably already have?”

“I have not.” Erick said, “I just know a bit about stuff you all don’t know, and have gotten a leg up on the path of the mage. That’s all.”

Rue smiled softly.

Erick held out his hand, channeling mana through—

“What are you doing?” Rue asked, eyes alight.

Erick said, “Ah.” He stopped channeling mana through his hand, and said, “You channel mana through your Stats to produce a Stat item, but you never tried channeling through the skills themselves?”

Rue’s eyes sparkled as she said, “The people of the Songli Highlands of Nelboor have a rich tradition of using harmonics to influence their spell creation. This method is known, but not widely used, because mot many people are able to gain anything from this method, except to get closer to their Mana Exhaustion limit for the day.” She said, “But it helps you? That’s wonderful.”

“It does.”

Erick channeled mana through [Detect Magic], producing a sound of resonance. Like an echo, far removed. That made quite a lot of sense, considering [Detect Magic] was, well, all about detecting magic, or rather, about detecting intent imbued within the mana, which was another way to describe ‘magic’. From there, it was a short jaunt to Aurify the spell.

--

Detect Magic X, instant, medium range, 10 MP

Detect ongoing magical effects.

--

Became:

--

Detect Intent Aura, medium range, 8 MP per second

See the control imposed upon nearby mana.

--

The mana per second was high, but lower than what Erick thought it would have been. He barely had time to register that nuance, though, because when he used the skill, the world transformed.  

This wasn’t how Meditation revealed vague impressions of intent in the manasphere.  

The very air around Erick was alight with magic. His [Personal Absorption Ward] was a white haze on the edge of his vision. The area around Kiri and Poi were deeply influenced, with Kiri layered in pale green and Poi layered in blue, while Krigea was a brilliance of almost-teal. Ophiel, sitting on the balcony, was a splash of white, tangled upward, reveling in the rush of thick-air mana and regular air breeze flowing up from the harbor. Rue’s own magics were red, and wrapped around her like a second skin.

Even from his seated position, Erick saw that the city outside the balcony was prismatic; a deeper, more vibrant color to compliment the rainbow pastels of the roofs.

Rue smiled to look at him, saying, “Looks like you got a good version.”

“I guess I did.”  

He did not say that his Meditation empowered regeneration was enough to keep his mana full, even with the 4 mana per second drain of [Detect Intent Aura], but it was a nice to know he could keep this up all the time, if needed.  

But there was a problem. Everywhere he looked, his sight was tainted with white; it was like looking through a snowstorm. In fact, having had the skill active for longer than a few moments, Erick realized he was seeing the [Detect Intent] aura itself, like he was truly in the center of a snow storm. He was effectively half-blind. This would not do at all. He cut the aura.

Erick said, “I can also see a problem.”

Rue nodded. “The color of your own magic, blocking half your sight.”  

“Yes.” Erick said, “Everything is white.”

Rue said, “This is why people do not use this skill save when necessary, but this spell is a good basis to begin to understand Mana Sense.” She said, “Those highest skilled in Mana Sense are able to see around corners, and understand spells as they are being cast. You will be able to see the mana inside of monsters, and understand the flow of fights against such creatures on an instinctual level. If you have any warrior inclinations, this will help with that aspect of your repertoire as well.” She said, “You will also be able to see those who hide with [Invisibility], or in other magical ways, like with [Lightshape] or [Shadowshape].”

“That’s what I’m hoping for.”

Rue nodded. “A properly developed Mana Sense will accomplish this.” She said, “It is best to be completely devoid of all ongoing magical effects while engaging in understanding the mana, but dropping your [Personal Ward] and your rings would be a bad idea in an unfamiliar location such as this. So you will simply have to make do, and try to learn the skill anyway.” Rue breathed deep, and relaxed, saying, “The order of steps to achieving Mana Sense is similar for everyone. Three steps, each more monumental than the last.  

“To begin: empty your mind of all thoughts. This is the largest hurdle, that most people are never able to achieve. Then, you must become a clear vessel for the mana to flow through you. When you have achieved this second step, you will begin to ‘see’ the world as mana sees the world, where the airy spaces are full of movement, and the solid spaces resist the transferal of mana. You will not be seeing with your eyes. You will be seeing with the mana. The last step is making sense of this shift in perspective.”

Erick smiled softly, saying, “I have never been good at having zero thoughts.”

“Not many people are.” Rue said, “It takes time, and practice. But know this: even if you were completely blind, be it in darkness or as a result of losing your eyes, a well developed Mana Sense will never leave you.” She added, “Some cultures in the Underworld even purposefully blind their children so that they may develop this other sense, for life down in the dark requires many different kinds of sight.”

Erick almost laughed, but couldn’t. Blinding children, even with the prevalence of [Greater Treat Wounds], seemed like a harshness that he was glad to never have experienced, but this was his world now. He still wasn’t going to blind himself, though.

Erick began to empty his thoughts, and instantly failed.  

He thought of Caradogh and trade with Portal. How were Valock and Apogough handling the problems there? How was Krakina?  

How was Krakina? Erick hadn’t talked to her recently. She was avoiding him, for sure. Should he force the issue, and confront her? Probably not. How was Jane? Likely killing fire monsters and eating them, no doubt.  

Erick tried for a minute to empty his mind, and failed miserably. He looked around. With Kiri, Poi, Krigea, and now Rue, all around him, even if most of them were looking away, he would never be able to accomplish an empty mind; at least not right now.  

“Thank you for the instruction.” Erick stood up from the pillow, a knee popping as he straightened out.  

Rue lifted gracefully from her own seat, saying, “Of course. I hope I was able to help.”

“In time. Probably.” Erick flexed his knee out, saying, “See you at the lecture, tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow.” Rue bowed, then left the room.

She seemed nice.

 After she left, Erick turned to Krigea, and said, “Time to head to the Manor. Thank you. See you tomorrow, too.”  

“Tomorrow,” Krigea said.  

Erick held out his hands to Kiri and Poi. “You two ready to go?”

Krigea bowed as Erick joined hands with Kiri and Poi. With a firm grip, Erick blipped out of there; a crash of white following them out.

Ophiel, still enjoying the breeze on the balcony, gave a surprised trill of cellos and flutes, before also blipping away in a much smaller white sparkle.

- - - -

Before Erick knew it, it was time to rain on the farms. From 12,500 kilometers away. Maybe more, maybe less. Erick still wasn’t quite sure about the distance.  

He was able to get Ophiel to the farms, though!  

Ophiel, three meters tall, with wings outstretched and eyes alight, hovered above the Harvest Temple. Erick channeled mana through his connection, to lift silver clouds from the ground, into the sky. Platinum rain fell, right on time. He watched as Valok, standing down by the temple, waved at Ophiel, then walked away.

 Erick came back to himself, sitting in the living room across from Teressa, and promptly puked on the floor. Teressa eyed him, but after nothing else happened, she yawned, and went back to reading her book. Poi just squeezed a lemon in the kitchen, then poured the fresh juice into his tea; not coftea, just tea. Erick expected that Poi had had enough of that bitter drink.

Kiri watched him from the kitchen, situated right next to the living room, stirring the round-bottom pan with a wooden spoon, searing the meat inside; she was making dinner. After Erick’s accident, she immediately asked, “That distance is pretty rough, eh?”

“You could say that.” Erick wiped his mouth, then cast a brief [Cleanse], as his mana drained away, into Ophiel, 12,500 kilometers away. He felt a sense of vertigo as he funneled mana across the distance. He looked at his Status, and saw his mana tick down, briefly, before Meditation filled it back up. Usually, his mana bar never drained for his auras, but Erick had to increase the flow to make up for the distance. He could already tell that the spell would turn splotchy if he lost concentration. “That’s a hefty drain, too.” He felt woozy, but he could manage this much.  

Poi grunted, nodding as he sipped his lemon tea.

Kiri frowned a little, as she stirred sizzling meat in the pan. She said, “I think…. I’ve decided on Scion of Focus.”

Erick smiled, and almost laughed, but a puke threatened to crown. He shoved that feeling down, saying, “It’s a good choice!”

Kiri paused. Then she blurted out, “What’s your— Sorry. Nevermind.”

Poi glanced at her, before walking out of the kitchen, to exit the living room through the door, to stand outside on the lawn. He liked watching the sun go down over the ocean, or maybe he liked the ocean itself; sunset was still hours away.  

Erick sat back in his chair, funneling mana across a vast distance, wondering if his nauseous feeling would improve, or if he could acclimate. He glanced over at Kiri. She was staring at the meat in the pan, stirring it with all the furor of someone whose mind was somewhere else, entirely. She was purposefully not asking him something.

Erick said, “Just go ahead and ask, Kiri.”

Kiri blurted out, “Does Particle Mage have access to reduced mana costs?”

 Teressa grunted a tiny, quiet disapproval.  

Erick smiled at Teressa. He chose to answer, “Yes.”

Kiri smiled softly.

Erick added, “All cost reduction, 5 percent. All magic reduction, 10 percent. All Particle spell cost reduction, 20 percent. Can only take one, of course.”

Teressa set down her book, saying, “What!”

Kiri whispered, “Wow.”

Teressa mumbled, “20 percent is crazy.” She added, “You shouldn’t tell people which one you have, though. Sir.”

“I’m happy with my Class.” Erick said, “I don’t know how easy it’ll be for others to get, though. If Jane’s Polymage Class Quest is anything to go on… Particle Mage is going to be very difficult.”

“I’m just a basic Healer,” Rats walked into the room, yawning, saying.

“Juggernaut, here,” Teressa added.

“Good morning, Rats,” Erick said. “I’ve heard of Juggernaut before. But what’s a ‘Healer’? It sounds very basic.”

Teressa giggled.

Rats eyed her, as he said, “Healer is basic. Some Classes start off basic, only to be upgraded later after you’ve decided your truth.” He added, “Most non-religious healers you meet are ‘Healers’ because advancing to a final healing Class means picking a god.”

Teressa chuckled, eyeing Rats, asking, “Still can’t pick a god, can you?”

Rats said, “I could just get ‘Doctor’.” He mocked himself, “Doctor Rats! Has a nice ring to it.”

Erick smiled, as he channeled mana across the ocean, to Ophiel.  

He suddenly realized that there was something vital here; something important that needed to be understood. How, exactly, was he able to channel so much mana across such a large distance? Why the increased cost to keep the spell working like it should work? Was it a function of the physics of magic, or a restriction of the Script?  

But that was a problem for another day; one where he wasn’t so new at the process, and wasn’t about to puke every time he breathed.  

Teressa said, “Your bedside manner is terrible, Rats. You could never be a Doctor.”

Rats laughed, saying, “I could try! I can carve off a leg as well as the next guy! With [Greater Treat Wounds] I could even regrow it.”

Teressa said, “[Regeneration] is easier to get, you know.”

“Yeah but that spell sucks.”  

Erick channeled mana, listening to Teressa and Rats, as he blinked and concentrated.

Rats looked at him. After a moment, Rats asked, “You don’t look so good, boss.”

“Channeling over 12,500 kilometers will do that.” Erick added, “It seems.”

Rats nodded, silently watching him. Now Teressa was watching him, too. Even Kiri was glancing his way.

Erick changed the subject, asking, “What does everyone know about [Gate]? I think channeling mana this far is a part of the spell.” He added, “Probably.”

Rats hummed a little, then sat up, glancing away from Erick. “Sorry. No idea.”

Teressa said, “It’s a portal that takes you from one location to another, anywhere in the world. Distance doesn’t matter.” She added, “That’s all I know.”

Erick said, “Yup. Me too.”

Kiri spoke up, enthusiasm coloring her bright voice as she chopped vegetables on a cutting board, “[Gate] is an advanced form of [Teleport], though it’s not available in the Script.” She said, “I looked up the history of it, and almost every person who was able to produce such a spell found either great success in the Wayfinder’s Guild, or the patronage of a country. All of them were Spatial Mages, though, and at the top of their careers when they achieved [Gate].”

Erick listened, but mostly he channeled mana across an ocean and half a continent, thinking about the tunnel-like sound he heard from Yetta, and Atunir’s, [Gate].  

Kiri continued, “The Class quest to become a Spatial Mage requires that the applicant know at least 5 Spatial magics, but only two of them are in the basic Script. [Blink] and [Teleport]. [Teleporting Platform] is another one that’s easy enough to get. Beyond that, most people looking to become a Spatial Mage go to the Wayfinder’s Guild.” She added, “They’re not a very popular guild because Spatial Mage is a nuanced class, mostly all about moving around.”

Erick asked, “The body isn’t destroyed and remade as a part of the [Teleport], is it?”

Kiri laughed, saying, “No! Why would you think that?”

“Just thinking thoughts.” Erick asked, “How do you know the body isn’t destroyed and remade in a [Teleport]?”

Kiri said, “Well… We just do? Uh.” She tossed veggies in the round-bottom pan, ground meat flipping over the veggies as she did. “I’m not sure.”

Rats said, “There’s no soul-work in [Teleport], or body healing. Injuries come along with you. I’d say that’s proof enough that your body is not remade each time.”

“Yes.” Kiri said, “That’s how we know.”

“Okay. I’ll accept that. It’s not a dimensional, either, though.” Erick asked, “Because that’s Banned.”

“I’m not even sure what dimensional magic is.” Rats said, “It’s a Ban, but what does that really mean? What is a dimension?”

“Come on now, Rats.” Kiri said, “This Reality is a dimension. The one before the Sundering was another dimension.”

Rats said, “I’m just challenging assumptions, here!” He added, “All I know is that no one really even tries to work against the Dimensional Ban, but every crazy mage and their brother tries to circumvent the Propagation Ban. Now we got people bumping up against the Infinitesimal Ban, too, with Particle magic.”

Teressa got up, saying, “Too much magic for me. Sorry.”

Rats got up with her, saying, “Fine fine, I’ll stop!”

They walked off together, out the front door. Poi was still out there, somewhere. The sun shone through the huge picture windows of Windy Manor, coloring everything with warm yellow light.  

Erick thought, ‘[Teleport] has to be some sort of quantum tunneling effect. Too bad I have no idea what the heck ‘quantum tunneling’ even means. Maybe Jane would know.’

Erick sat in the sunlight, relaxing, pouring much more mana per second into [Exalted Storm Aura] than [Exalted Storm Aura] said it required, in order to get that mana all the way to Ophiel. If he relaxed for a moment, the silver clouds over the farm would vanish; he knew this, because that’s what happened twice already. A casual check with Ophiel’s [Scry] functional revealed the sky as spotty, until Erick doubled and tripled down, ramping back up to nearly 5 mana per second, on what was supposed to be a 1 mana every 2 second sort of aura.

He stretched himself thin, but his regeneration was able to keep up with the draw. Erick looked to the rings on his fingers. He could make some slightly better ones, for sure. That would help with the drain.

Yet another problem for later. Erick looked over to Kiri, who had gone silent.

Kiri set aside the cooked meats she had made, and began to make a dough. Flour, butter, eggs and salt came out of the cupboards and the cold box. With an expertly used [Telekinesis], she combined everything, then set it aside to proof.  

“Smells delicious already, Kiri,” Erick said.

Kiri smiled, saying, “It’s going to taste even better. This is haraah beef. It’s ten gold a pound.”

Erick said, “Oceanside is so damn overpriced. You noticed everything was in 5 gold increments, right? Marks, and other stuff.”

“Chips, Marks, and Quants.” Kiri said, “A magical education is crazy expensive.” She added, “Most students are expected to go out and kill monsters between classes.”

“There are monsters on this island? I thought it was safe?”

Kiri laughed a little, then waved a hand north, then south, saying, “Half this island is full of monsters. There’s a mana river flowing directly against the island from the west, so the monsters on the west side of the island are pretty strong. Levels in the upper 30s. On the east they’re only level 20, or so.” She said, “Striders, Hequals, a lot of slimes, too. Oceanside also has curated dungeons that are kept full of farmed slimes, too.”  

“Uh? Farmed slimes?” Erick asked.

Kiri said, “In a place like Oceanside a lot of mages go out and dig holes in the ground to create spaces and environments for the mana to condense into slimes. Sometimes other monsters move in, but the owners usually try to keep only slimes around. In this way, you know the dungeon, completely, and can farm the slimes that spawn for rads.” She added, “Chips, in the beginning, but in a place like Oceanside marks will appear fast enough. For grand-rads you gotta go out and hunt bigger creatures, or make a large enough dungeon so that the ecology supports the rise of monsters over level 45.”

“You can do that?”

“Here you can.” Kiri said, “You could probably make one in the Crystal Forest, too. But Oceanside is a closed system. The monsters that live here are mostly easy pickings. The monsters you’d get in the Crystal Forest are true monsters.” She said, “Dungeoneering is big business in places like Oceanside, where the monster levels are low but the mana concentration is high.”  

“Learn something new every day.”

Kiri nodded, adding, “The sewers of Spur are technically a dungeon. It’s just one that is open to the public, where the majority of the rads gathered are from [Cleanse]ing the waters, and the slimes are left as incentive for people to come to Spur to get a start on becoming true adventurers.”

Erick smiled. What was it Jane talked about, with her games? A ‘Dungeon Maker’ ran those games she played with all those people? That was the word for it, wasn’t it? Maybe Erick could become a Dungeon Maker, too.  

No. Wait. That wasn’t the word for it. Erick would have to ask Jane after the rain was done—

His thread of mana to the Farms snapped. Erick quickly refocused on the Ophiel over Spur, flooding mana down the line to reestablish the connection. Kiri watched as Erick reconnected, then went back to making her meat pies.  

The Ophiel next to Erick slowly crawled down, on to his lap, his eyes blinking open in a lazy, quiet sort of way. He was obviously in distress. He didn’t seem to be too happy about being stretched this far, either. Erick petted the little guy.  

The connection to the farms stabilized, as Erick’s hand touched his [Familiar]. 5 mana a second became 4. Ophiel trilled in tiny violins, as Erick channeled mana across the ocean, guided by the connection already established from him to both of the currently existent Ophiel.  

… Erick summoned another Ophiel, and sent him [Teleport]ing across the ocean, to something of a halfway point between Oceanside and Spur. With this tiny experiment, a network suddenly came into being, and Erick’s drain turned from 4 a second, to 3.  

Erick smiled. This was good. He asked Kiri, “Did you know that you can piggyback a signal from one of your [Familiar]s to the other? I’m raining on Spur right now, and the cost has gone from 5 mana per second, to 3.”

Kiri stared straight at Erick. She frowned. She mumbled, “No. I did not know that.”  

Ophiel trilled, a bit louder and happier than he was before.

Erick patted his wings, saying, “And Ophiel likes the better connection, too. Don’t you, little guy?”

Ophiel gave a solid, affirmative violin trill. Erick smiled.

Kiri muttered, “Dammit. Now I need a [Familiar], too, don’t I?”

- - - -

Dinner was delicious. Kiri outdid herself with the meat pies. Erick needed to up his own food game, too, especially with all the strange and delicious things he saw in Oceanside. He also needed to find that fruit that grew in Nergal called ‘Tarip’, and see about making real coffee and actual chocolate.

But for now, Erick rested in his room, while five Ophiel held a chain of thought into the center of Glaquin. Jane was somewhere around there, for sure.  

‘Jane? Can you hear me?’

Moments passed.

‘Hay, Dad! Howsa joo ban? Yo woods song fungi.’

… Erick added a few more Ophiel to the chain.

‘Repeat that, please?’

‘Oh. That’s better.’ Jane asked, ‘What changed?’

Erick smiled at the ceiling of his room, sending, ‘Five Ophiel were supporting my message across the world, but now seven are. Did you know you can piggyback the signal like this?’

‘Nope. I did not know that.’ Mirth flowed through the connection, as Jane sent, ‘How’s Oceanside treating you?’

‘Oceanside is pretty great. Already met the Headmaster. I didn’t see him in his true form, but there’s no doubt that he’s a dragon.’ He asked, ‘Hey? What were those game masters called? The ones that created the games that you played?’

‘Game Masters.’ Jane laughed. ‘Why?’

‘Because people in Oceanside make dungeons to support the growths of slimes, and then they harvest the rads inside.’ Erick added, ‘Everything is stupid expensive, here.’

‘I’ve heard a little bit about that.’ Jane said, ‘The practice is illegal in the Crystal Forest, but that doesn’t really stop people, and enforcement is rather low. Al is technically a dungeon keeper, but he never uses the term.’ She asked, ‘Are you going to become a dungeon keeper?’

‘No. Well. … No. It’s just amazing that I’m learning stuff again.’ Erick said, ‘Oceanside is nice, Jane. I’m going to take classes and learn about cultures and laws and magic! I haven’t felt this way in decades.’

‘I’m glad.’ Jane sounded both happy, and a little sad.

Erick asked, ‘What’s going on with you?’

Jane said, ‘Hunting slimes in exposed, old lava tubes, funnily enough. They each only have a few Flame Essences, but its only a matter of time before I’m ready for the unicorn. Maybe another week.’

‘You’re not too lonely out there, are you?’

‘… I’ll be back in civilization soon enough.’ Jane quickly added, ‘Don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself. You’re the one with a target on your back.’

‘Yeah yeah. Speaking of targets:’ Erick said, ‘Caradogh Pogi, the Lower Trademaster of Portal, you remember him? Anyway: That asshole got Yetta and all those people who bargained with me for rains and gems, to destroy their gems, and tell me to go away. I’m going to make this [Gate] network and fuck Caradogh over, though. Just watch me do it.’

‘… You’re gonna make me start worrying about you again.’

‘I am well aware of the problems. This would be a catastrophic change to a vast majority of life on Veird, so I won’t do it right now. But if Caradogh wants an enemy, he’s gotten one.’ Erick added, ‘Though I know full well that turning Spur into a breadbasket is already dangerous.’

‘… Are you really aware of what you’re already doing, though?’

‘Yes. Spur prospers, so Portal has less trade, which means less money for those people in charge down there, which means I have a target on my back. This is very simple stuff, and I understand all of it. Doesn’t mean I won’t keep doing the right thing.’ Erick said, ‘I just wish there was more room for advancement, and less people on the top making that advancement difficult specifically because any advancements at all would upset their bottom line.’

‘That bottom line also supports militaries which drive back the monsters.’ Jane said, ‘Portal is home to a million people, at least, and their entire economy is based on trade across the Letri Ocean.’

Erick sent, ‘Well maybe I could just solve this entire problem with providing a [Gate] network for Portal to control.’

A moment passed.

‘That’s one idea.’ Jane asked, ‘You don’t really care about the money you’d make from the network, do you?’

‘Not really.’ Erick said, ‘What I want to do is kill all the Shades.’ He added, ‘Making Spur a launching point for the world to attack Ar’Kendrithyst is a good idea. But, of course, then you’d have a [Gate] sitting next to the Shades, and that would be a bad idea.’

‘I don’t think Silverite would want a [Gate] network in her town, anyway, for exactly that reason. I’m pretty sure she’s humoring the threat you made because it makes her look good and the people of Spur want the farms.’

‘Gods. I really shouldn’t have boasted about making a [Gate] network.’ Erick said, ‘[Gate] is a weird spell. Oh! That reminds me. What do you remember about quantum tunneling?’

‘Uhh…’ Jane paused for a moment, then spoke as though reading a remembered sentence, ‘High energy quantum particles can sometimes cross thin barriers, where classical mechanics say they shouldn’t be able to cross. Not sure what that means, though.’

‘That’s a heck of a lot more than what I remembered.’

Jane sent, ‘I love you, Dad. I got to go. I see more slimes that need eating.’

‘You are taking care to remove the rads you might accidentally eat, aren’t you?’

‘Of course.’ Jane said, ‘Might have enough saved up to fund the rest of my trip, if it doesn’t get too expensive.’

‘Love you, Jane. Good night.’

‘Good night, Dad.’

- - - -

When Erick woke, it was a rapid morning of prepping his speech on blackboards in an unused room. He had given the lecture a few times before, and even expanded upon it with Kiri, but he wanted a cohesive set of words and ideas to present to the archmages; not a jumble of words.  

Kiri helped to organize what Erick was going to say, and Erick was happy for the help, even if he might have mentioned a few things he maybe shouldn’t have mentioned. But this was do or die time, and Erick needed to be prepared. If he couldn’t trust Kiri to do the right things with the knowledge she was getting from him, then he shouldn’t have ever accepted her apprenticeship, and he certainly shouldn’t have accepted these bargains of trade from some random archmages approved by yet another archmage who only allowed himself to be referred to as ‘the Headmaster’. This whole string of events was risky, but it was a risk Erick had decided to undertake.  

Poi came into the room half an hour to go-time. “Sir.”

Erick turned from writing on his fourth blackboard, asking, “Yeah, Poi?”

Teressa stood behind Poi, while Rats stood beside Teressa.  

Erick saw the group, and felt a sinking feeling. “What’s up?”

Poi said, “We cannot protect you from archmages. We will try, but we cannot. If something should happen, you must escape, however you are able.”

Erick looked to Poi, and Rats, and Teressa, and said, “You three should stay here.” He immediately turned to Kiri, adding, “You, too.”

“Hell and Celes no!” Kiri said, “No way.”

“That’s not happening,” Rats said.

Teressa added, “We’re going to try, sir. But the fact is, is that we’re nothing more than a temporary nuisance compared to the power of six archmages.”

“Six?” Erick asked, “Who’s the— Oh? The Headmaster, right.”

Poi frowned a little, then said, “No…” He breathed, then said, “Archmage Opal has decided to participate in this congregation of archmages.”

“Really?” Erick laughed a little, saying, “She’s actually here? I finally get to meet her?” He added, “That’s not important. If you guys are in danger, then you shouldn’t go. But I am going. I want that bargain of trade.” He added, “Unless you think I’m walking into a trap.”

Poi said, “I don’t believe it is a trap, but there is a danger. Opal is aligned with Spur, wholly, so we might have two archmages against the other five and the Headmaster, if that is how it turns out.”

Kiri must have finally had enough. She spat out, “I cannot believe that you all would think that the Headmaster would allow such a thing to happen!” Kiri said, “Honestly!”

“I totally think that he would,” Erick said. “He has to think of the rest of the world.”

Kiri just went still, like weights had fallen and she didn’t know how to pick them up again. She said, “I mean… Yeah. I can see that.”

Poi said, “We’re going with you, if you are truly doing this, sir. I just needed you to know the score.”

“Thank you, Poi.” Erick said, “You don’t have to go, Kiri, if you don’t want to go.”

“… I’m going,” Kiri decided. “For sure.”

Erick looked around at his people, and saw Teressa missing her head, and a hole in Rats’ chest, Kiri clutching her missing arm and Poi barely able to stand. And then he banished those thoughts. Today was either the end, or the beginning; he would either gather the power to protect himself, or they would kill him for the disruption he presented.

Erick held no illusions about what today’s lecture really meant.  

Hopefully, he could convince them of the benefits of Particle magic, or at least let them know that this magic was not going away. A door had been opened. The powers of this world needed to get some sort of control on the situation, and Erick was here to help.

Poi nodded, then left the room, with Teressa and Rats following him away.  

Erick went back over his blackboards, while Kiri helped him organize everything. As moments stretched to minutes, Kiri’s demeanor shifted from resigned, to strong willed. For her, too, today’s lecture would be an introduction to a small snippet of archmage society.  

A green fire lit in Kiri’s eyes; today was the beginning of the rest of her life. It was a little scary to see that fervor in Kiri’s sight, but it helped Erick get into the right mindset. He needed to be a little more ruthless than normal, for he had no doubt in his mind that these archmages today would each be just as ruthless toward him.

- - - -

Erick strode down the stone stairs of an amphitheater classroom large enough to hold two hundred students, at the very top of the Central Tower. The walls and floors and desks were cream-colored stone, while the ceiling was a stone and glass roof, and the sky beyond a perfect blue. The sun shown down, illuminating the room, setting the stone to slightly sparkle, as though diamond dust had been pressed into the rock.

Erick was the only archmage in the classroom right now, but others were there. Krigea, of course; she showed Erick the way. All of Erick’s party stood near the back of the room, while Kiri followed Erick down the stairs, holding his bag. Professor Rue sat in middle seats, to the side, out of the way, smiling and waving to Erick, as Erick looked to her. He waved back, saying “Hello,” as he continued to the professor’s podium and stage.

When he stepped down into the moat of space between the student seating and the professor’s stage, a blip of golden light revealed the Headmaster, near the podium. The ancient emperor of a man stood atop the professor’s stage with a wide, bright smile, and sparkling amber eyes.

“Good morning, Erick.” The Headmaster said, looking around; probably spying the [Scry] orbs here and there. Erick watched as a spike of intent from the Headmaster popped several of them with extreme violence, like he clapped the air and the [Scry] orbs responded by invisibly, intangibly, exploding. He turned to Erick, saying, “Others will be arriving shortly.” He stepped down the stairs, lifting a hand back toward the stage, saying, “Your show, archmage.”

Erick walked up the stairs, past the Headmaster, asking, “What are you looking for, today, exactly?”

Kiri silently followed Erick up, making herself small as she got out Erick’s papers and set some of them on the main podium. She went to work putting the diagrams up on the blackboards in chalk, exactly like Erick had drawn.

The Headmaster stepped to the first row of seats, turning to say, “Whatever you choose to give will be returned in trade, to be discharged at whatever convenience you individually decide amongst yourselves, before the lecture begins. I am merely here as an arbiter and to provide the platform for you to rise to glory, or to vanish in self-imposed hiding, before your knowledge is lost forever.”  

Erick went still. He looked out across the mostly empty stone amphitheater, then to the Headmaster. He asked, “You don’t believe your society could learn this stuff? On their own?”

“It’s not a matter of believing.” The Headmaster said, “It’s a matter of being alive for millennia and knowing that, for the very first time in known history, actual progress has been made in understanding this Reality.”

“But.” Erick said, “Other planar people certainly had this knowledge.”

“That might be true.” The Headmaster stood in the seating area, in the front row, saying, “But none of them were able to act upon such knowledge before you came along. We do have accounts from many planar people in the libraries, if you would like to look over them sometime, but I have recently reread many of them, and almost all of them either had no idea how their own magics worked— Ah. No. ‘Technology’ is the proper word. Many of the other planar people to pass through Oceanside spoke of Script-like entities governing the worlds they came from. Most of them had no idea how their accoutrements of daily life functioned. Most of them were completely unable to adapt to the Script, too.”

A blip of bright red flashed to the side of the room, in the seating area.

The Headmaster reacted first, instantly saying, “Welcome, Ryul!”

The blip of red resolved into a feathered, winged man, much like Krakina, but this man was wearing airy, barely there clothing, and jewels. Lots of jewels. And gold. A bright red coat of feathers covered his entire body and his bird-like legs, while his arms were wings, with grappling fingers and talons at the final juncture of his longest wing feathers. His face was human, with bare skin from his eyebrows to the bottom of his neck. He was rather handsome, in a birdy sort of way.

And he seemed to like Erick’s attention.  

Ryul’s brightened as he smirked at Erick, saying, “Hello, Headmaster. Hello, Erick Flatt of Spur.”

“Hello, Ryul,” Erick said.  

Ryul took a seat exactly where he popped into the classroom, saying, “I flit around Nelboor, up and down all day long. Let me know when I need to come to Spur to return the favor of today.” He asked, “If that’s alright with you?”

The Headmaster smiled as he looked upon Ryul, but spoke to Erick, saying, “Ryul is a headstrong warrior, but he has quite a bit of honor for such a young man of 35. I have no reason to believe he would break this kind of promise.”

Erick said, “Sure. I suppose. Uh. What’s your specialty?”

“Force Mage. Pure Force, too. None of this Altering cow shit.” Ryul leaned back in his chair, to put his clawed bird feet onto the desk, saying, “Isn’t Syllea joining us today, Headmaster?”

“She is.”

“Good!” Ryul said, and left it at that—

Because two blips of two more people popped around the room. One was clear, like thick air, but not, revealing a tall orcol woman in leathers, with the most gorgeous long blond hair that curved around her shoulders, and rested upon her considerable assets.

The other blip was dark green. A wrought, human-shaped, but black with a green sheen. She appeared behind the front row, to the left side of the room. She immediately sat down in her seat.

Ryul taunted the orcol woman, saying, “Syllea! Glad to see your sorry face again.”

Syllea completely ignored the bird man.

The black and green wrought, said, “Please don’t be an arsehole today, Ryul.”

The Headmaster interrupted Ryul’s response with a raised hand. The Headmaster spoke, “As you can see, Erick, this community tends to know one another.” He nodded nicely to the orcol, saying, “Welcome Syllea.” He turned and regarded the wrought, “Welcome Tasar.”

Syllea spoke, with a warm, rich voice, saying, “Archmage Erick. I understand you wish to push back the Crystal Forest. I would like to offer my Bargain of Trade to assist you with this endeavor. It has long been my goal to retake the land from those mimics, though the matter is too large for all the magic that has come before. Perhaps with this new kind of—”

Ryul interjected, “Come on, cheepo! Giving a trade to do something you already want? That dishonors the entire idea!”

Syllea’s face scrunched, as she seemed to hold back a deep, deep anger. She let it go, and came back to herself, saying, “We can figure something else out, too.”

Tasar said, “I would also like to just ‘owe you one’. Though I will say that I want the Shades dead, too.” She asked, “Can we leave it at that, for now?”

The Headmaster said, “All honorable choices. But the matter of acceptance is up to you, Erick.”

Erick said, “Sure. We can leave it at that, for now.”

An orange blip interrupted further discussion. An aging, white and tangerine mottled dragonkin stood near the top of the room, near Erick’s companions. Poi visibly startled to see the dragonkin. The dragonkin didn’t seem to care about Poi, though there is no way he [Teleport]ed blindly into the room; he had appeared exactly where he wanted to appear.  

“Welcome, Hocnihai,” the Headmaster said. “One of Oceanside’s truest friends, and a Warder of great respect.”

Poi’s eyes went utterly professional. His stance turned solid. He watched, and did not react, as the tangerine dragonkin blipped again to a different seat, five meters away.

Hocnihai said, “I almost hit the right seat.” He sat down. He said, “The Wasteland Kingdoms would like to pledge support to Erick, on my behalf. Not quite sure how long these bones are gonna keep grinding along.” He chuckled at his own joke, before coughing a bit, and straightening up in his seat. “Damn age.”

Erick said, “Glad to meet you, Hocnihai. I’d love to see your country some time and help with some of your toxic monsters. But I would like assurances of non-violence before I do such a thing.” He added, “And personally, I would like help with both a [Prismatic Ward] and the [Reflection] suite of spells.”

Hocnihai smiled, to say, “I would love to help an Avowed Pacifist with these spells. How’s your [Prismatic Ward] come along so far?” He added, “Variable multiplier, permissions, and size. But if you’d rather not say here, we can talk later.”

Erick looked around the room at the interested faces, and decided to just answer, because Kiri had thought it impressive, and this seemed to be a test from the old mottled dragonkin. “Three-fold Variable, medium sized, and full range of permissions.”

Kiri cracked a chalk behind Erick. She quickly mumbled something small as she picked it up and went back to setting up Erick’s lecture; she was currently drawing water molecules on the blackboard.

“Ah ha!” Hocnihai laughed again, then said, “Good show. Too bad you’re not a Warder. I can work with this. Consider the bargain struck. I’m not allowed in Spur, so I’m afraid I’ll have to teach you while we’re both at Oceanside. I’ll be here for a while, maybe a week.”

“Sounds fine to me,” Erick said.

The air blipped five seats down from the Headmaster, revealing a small, floating opalescent orb.

Ryul frowned at the orb, saying, “Still can’t be bothered to leave Spur, can you?”

“I cannot.” Opal said, “I wish I could, but I can’t, and that’s all there is to it.” She said, “Erick. I’ll try to teach you that [Ward Destruction] skill.”

Erick said, “Accepted.”  

Honestly, Opal had already helped him out of some pretty awful jams there in the final assault on Odaali and she was a trusted ally of Spur. Erick was happy enough to have her along for the ride, even if she wasn’t truly here at all.  

The Headmaster nodded, saying, “One more person—”

The air near the third row of seats blipped with the color of dull stone; grey and brown and solid.

The Headmaster said, “Welcome, Tenebrae.”

A human man resolved out of the blip. He was pale with white hair, and wore slate-grey clothing. He sat down, silently, at his chosen seat. He frowned. He said nothing.

So Erick said, “You already owe me a bargain of trade, Tenebrae.”

Opal laughed loud; a singular sound to grate against the tension in the air like a knife through a heart.

Tenebrae glared at Erick. “I owe you nothing. I am here to take my recompense from your fuckup by participating in this farce of magic and hopefully getting something out of your stupidity.” Tenebrae’s voice was a harsh thing, “I would have gained so much from that Queen Daydropper, but then you intervened.”

“There was another.” Erick said, “You could have had that one all to yourself. In fact, that’s exactly what I bargained for you to do, but you failed to show up and claim that queen.”

Tenebrae shook his head, saying, “Bah! Who cares about some lowly level 50 shit. I had that level 90 kill in the bag. Full Participation! On my own! And then you intervened.”

Erick stood stunned.  

Now… Erick knew that Tenebrae was only after the experience gain from killing the Queen Daydropper; how else could Erick have gotten 0% from that fight unless Tenebrae worked after Erick’s intervention to secure himself a larger Participation. Mog had told Erick that it was possible, so that’s what Tenebrae must have done. But to hear it stated so openly, that Tenebrae was only in that fight for the Experience of it? Erick was appalled, down to his very core.

“You’re a rather sad person, aren’t you.” Erick immediately added, “I demand full technical and magical knowledge of your floating castle as well as a [Teleport Gate] or whatever it is that the wyrms guard in the forests north of you.”

Tenebrae glared at Erick, then said, “Agreed. Arsehole.” He added, “Maybe you can figure the damned thing out. I’m done fucking around with that piece of trash. And you’ll get the plans to my City, and nothing else! No tours. No help with your spellwork. You hear me?”

Talking to Tenebrae was like getting punched in the face. Erick rolled with it. He said, “Fine. Deliver the plans to me here, and the gate can go—”

“I can’t move the shitting thing. Idiot.” Tenebrae said, “I know where a good one is, and that’s all the help you’re getting from me.”

Opal’s orb vibrated, “I’ll help with investigating the Teleport Gate.”

Syllea stood up from her seat, her long blond hair flowing around her leather-clad body. “I too, would like to help with this.”

The Headmaster said, “I would be very interested in recreating a functional [Gate] network.”

Tasar’s green eyes seemed to glow amid her black, metal skin. “I want to be a part of this, as well.”

Ryul flicked his red wings out across the table, relaxing, saying, “Not me! I got enough stuff on my schedule.”

“Don’t count on me for any adventures.” Hocnihai scratched at his orange and white scales, saying, “Busy busy.”

Erick looked around the room, from face to face. Some of them were friendly, others decidedly crotchety. No one seemed overtly hostile, though.  

This was good.  

Erick said, “Okay. Sounds good.” He turned to the blackboards behind him. They were filled with the diagrams Erick had made, along with Kiri’s handwriting, listing parts of the pictures. Kiri stood to the side, patiently waiting. Erick smiled, then said, “Thank you, Kiri. Looks good.”

Kiri bowed ever so slightly, ever so quickly, before stepping further to the side, almost completely off of the stage. Erick turned back to the podium, to look over the notes Kiri put there, and grinned again. He looked up at the faces in the crowd. The Headmaster had no papers or pens in front of him, but everyone else did. They were all seated; ready and waiting.

Erick began, “I’ll answer questions near the end. This might take a while.”

It took Erick two hours to get through the lecture he had designed with Kiri’s help. They all took a break for lunch, and then came the questions.

The questions lasted two hours, and soon became a round table discussion affair, with only Tenebrae opting to watch from the side. Rue, also, did not directly participate. Demonstrations were made of [Call Lightning] and [Exalted Storm Aura] and [Crystallize Diamond], which everyone was surprised to learn was not a Particle Mage only spell.

After that, the other archmages decided to show off their own spells.   

Erick gained five new particle spells, but they were nothing special. The Headmaster had a water extraction spell that could dehydrate a monster, but was demonstrated on meat to make jerky, while Ryul had a spell that magnetized iron. Hocnihai had a spell that weakened walls or could tenderize meat, while Syllea was able to make an object somewhat heavier than water, into something lighter than water, in a way that was not the levitate magic of a common [Prestidigitation].  

The only spell Erick learned with immediate practical applications was from Tasar.

It was a spell that drew the oxygen in a medium space into a smaller, concentrated space, maybe a foot across. When cast on a burning object, the object exploded, rapidly burning up. But there was a problem. And Tasar already knew the problem.  

When cast on a burning object, the object rapidly burned, sometimes fast enough to be called an explosion, but if the spell was cast on a free-floating fire spell, like on the tiny flame of a [Prestidigitation] fire held atop a finger, nothing happened. Only when something was actually burning, did this spell help to speed up the process.

 Erick had no answer for this.

The Headmaster watched the nuances of fire and oxygen, and did a little rhyme to make a Hydrogen gathering spell. Hydrogen was, of course, the other main component of Water, the molecule and parts Erick had already talked about at length in the morning.

Now that spell made a fucking fire.

And Erick got a copy of that spell; his sixth new spell of the day. He still had no idea what it all really meant, though. But the day was done, for now.  

By the time Erick was back at Windy Manor, he was both exhausted, and thrilled. As he patted a gently trilling Ophiel in his lap and channeled mana across the ocean to the farms of Spur, he considered the nuances of fire, oxygen, and hydrogen.  

And then it came to him.

“Oh! Right!” Erick said, “Oxygen is an oxidizer. Hydrogen actually burns, though. Oxygen does not burn.” He paused. He said, “Maybe.” He grumbled. “Ah? I don’t know if that’s right.” He looked over to Poi, cooking dinner, saying, “And can you believe that the Headmaster just went and made that spell, right there?”

Rats walked in from the front yard, carrying potatoes, saying, “I can’t believe there wasn’t violence.”

Poi deboned fish with a sharp [Telekinesis], saying, “Violence was never a possibility. The Headmaster had that locked down tight.” He looked over to Kiri, slicing lemons, saying, “You were right.”

Kiri shuddered, sharp knife in one hand, lemon slices on the table in front of her. “That was still terrifying.”

Rats agreed, “Hell yeah it was.”

Teressa yawned in her seat by the window, saying, “Glad nothing happened.”

Erick nodded, in complete agreement.

Kiri added, “At least not right then. I bet they’re all talking about a lot of dangerous stuff right now.”

Erick nodded, in complete agreement. Then he asked, “Why would a wrought want an oxygen creating spell?” He amended, “I mean. An oxygen extracting spell?” He added, “Well. Actually. If they can take the oxygen out of metal, it goes back to being metal and not rust. So I can see how that—”

“Holy fuck!” Rats said, “Really?”

Poi and Kiri stared at Erick, while Teressa giggled, looking off into nowhere.

Poi went back to slicing up fish, casually saying, “It wasn’t an oxygen extracting spell. It was an oxygen condensing spell. If oxygen makes rust, then what Tasar had was an assassination spell, sir. She had to know this fact about rust, though. Which means she knows a lot more about particle magic than what she showed today.”

Kiri said, “Now that’s unfair. It also extracted oxygen. It could very well be a spell that pulls rust out of a wrought.” She added, “If that’s really all Wrought Rust is. I don’t really know.”

Rats said, “Both sides are possible.”

Erick sighed out, tired and weary, as he channeled mana across the oceans, to silver clouds that dropped platinum rain across the only green land in the Crystal Forest. He said, “Syllea seemed nice.”

Teressa said, “She is. She’s the golden girl of the Wyrmrest Tribes, you know?”

Rats looked to Poi, and asked, straight out, “But who the heck is Hocnihai?”

Poi frowned deeply at Rats, saying, “One of the original activists of the Scaled Union, who became the Scaled Horns.”

Kiri gusted, “No shit! Really?”

Poi said, “That man has thousands of human deaths to his name. And thousands of incani. He is a locus of the Quiet War, and you would do well to stay far away, sir.”

Erick sank further into his seat, touching the Silver Star on his chest. It was cool to the touch. It hadn’t reacted at all, all day.  

Rats joked, “At least Hocnihai’s kept his numbers even.”

Kiri said, “Terrible joke!”

“Bad form, Rats,” Teressa said.

Poi just frowned and grumbled.

Erick whispered, “Fuck.”