Chapter 2: And They Were Roommates
Julian and I stood in front of the door, keys in both our hands. Linn had left us long ago – she was in a separate building. We both made a motion to open the door, though Julian took a step back when he realized I was closer.
As the door swung open, I stood awestruck at the room I’d be staying in for the next year. It was large for a dorm, almost the size of a small house. Two beds with silk sheets sat on either side of the shiny oak floors, with a dresser next to each. In the center of the farthest wall sat a kitchen. Of course, there were no bathrooms – the academy may have been able to afford absurdly large rooms with absurd amenities, but Eldest forbid we get private bathrooms.
That still didn’t detract from how amazing the room was… that much. I leaped toward the left bed – “I call the left bed!” – and sighed as I sunk into its silky depths. “This is even more comfortable than my bed back home. I’m in heaven.” I cast a small spell to bring my suitcase to my bed so I could begin unpacking as Julian made his way to his bed.
“Neat spell. Force mage?” Julian asked.
“Force and Crystal. Enchanting’s the family business,” I replied. “How’d we spend hours on a train and that never came up?”
Julian just shrugged.
“Actually, speaking of which, you’re a Royal adoptee. You don’t happen to have a Royal mana core, do you?” Royal mana was a blend – a mixture of multiple mana types, that occurred when multiple pools were near each other and pushed into each other through external pressures. Blends were pretty rare within the Aether, but not so rare that they were impossible to find. Additionally, they were extremely beneficial to society as a whole, so House Royal generally put pressure on Houses and individuals to spill the locations, though it was still legal to charge a fee for people asking for cores connected to blends. That being said, each House was entitled to one type of mana wherein it could keep pool locations secret. Not all House mana types were blends – Decimation mana, for example, was actually a rare variant of Force mana – but most were, and Royal mana was no exception. It was said to be a quintuple blend, though no one except the Royals actually knew what was in it. As one used Royal mana over time, they became stronger, healed faster, and, well, got prettier. Royals were pretty snooty about it. Royal mana wasn’t meant to be used in battle – instead, one used it in times of rest to passively enhance themselves. The most amazing thing, though, was that as their bodies strengthened, they became able to handle having multiple cores. Normally one’s body couldn’t handle the stress of housing more than one, but I guess when you have a cheat as big as Royal mana, the world stops caring how many bonuses you get.
“Yup, even opened up another one, Royalflame.” Royalflame was an esoteric attunement – an attunement for something that didn’t exist in the real world, but could still manifest through evocations. Royalflame was a really hot, golden substance that practically obliterated anything it came into contact with. Pretty easy to see where it got its name.
“Two cores in a year of having a soul? No wonder you were adopted,” I responded. “I thought the record was a year and a half.”
Julian snickered. “I needed a lot less than a year. But yeah, record beaten.” Julian curled his arm and flexed, while lifting the other into the air. “Fiyah powah!” He couldn’t stop giggling after that, but I didn’t get it.
His laughing was interrupted by a knock on the door. Julian rushed to get it, and opened it to reveal, by the Eldest, the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life. “Dohtor!” he exclaimed. I immediately recognized her as a member of House Royal because, well… she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life. “It’s so good to see you! Here’s that ring you ordered,” he said as he flicked a gold ring with a small, light gray gem into her hand. The gem was small, flat, and donut-shaped, with little roots squiggling out of it – it almost resembled a tiny bird’s nest.
“And here I thought you weren’t married,” I joked. “Turns out you were just engaged.”
Julian fidgeted nervously with a chuckle. “No, that’s a quickening ring.”
At that, I couldn’t feign a lack of surprise and let out a whistle. I knew it was some sort of Flowform enchantment from the shape of the gem, but quickening rings were enchanted rings that used Speed mana, a very rare variant of Strength mana that enhanced one’s speed instead of their strength. “Wow. Must have cost a fortune. I hope she says yes,” I continued as I couldn’t help cracking a smile.
That one, Dohtor laughed at. “I ordered it myself. I’m a battlemage, but I’ve got to be quick on my feet. I’m a bit of a glass cannon, relative to other Royals, since I’ve focused too much on preparing my body for more handling cores and not enough for actual raw strength and healing.” Interesting, so Royal mages could focus on different aspects of Royal mana. I filed that information away in my head as she continued. “I’ve got ways to be wary on the battlefield, but this will be a big help. Thanks again for picking it up, Jules.”
“Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Honored Royal. I am Balmung Decimation, of House Decimation,” I said, bowing low. I paused, before continuing, “And thank you, Jules,” I could barely stop myself from bursting out in laughter, “for introducing me to your friend.”
Jules’ face was flushed with red, and he stammered as he pushed Dohtor out of the room. “Where were those manners when you met me?”
“You’re unusually pale. She’s gorgeous. My father has a saying, ‘Pick your battles.’ Words to live by,” I responded with a heavy chuckle.
Julian rolled his eyes as he began to exit the room. “Alright, well I’m gonna go catch up with Dohtor. I’ve been gone for a few weeks while I waited for that ring to get finished, and I’m sure she’ll want to hear about all the nothing that happened. You wanna come with?”
I shook my head, “No, I’d rather unpack now. The sooner I get to unpack, the sooner I get to fall asleep in these divine sheets. I’ve never felt so amazing in my life.”
Julian gave me a questioning look. “Really? They’re alright, I guess.”
My mouth stood agape. “Julian Royal-Siegfried, adoptee of how many years? And already spoiled.” Julian rolled his eyes and left the room as I giggled to myself. “Alright, time to get started unpacking,” I muttered.
Not long later, my clothes were packed, my crystals stored, and there was just one thing left to take care of. I pulled my parents’ journal out of my suitcase and set it on my bed. It was leatherbound, with twenty metal prongs jutting out of the front cover in the shape of a circle. The moment I saw that, I knew for certain what this was.
Grandfather’s grimoire.
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I opened the cover and inside, I found thin threads of several types of mana crystals, and each page had several drawings of different ways to thread a string through the prongs, accompanied by a small description. My grandfather had had a project when he was young, one he became famous for – he could cast incredibly powerful spells without anyone knowing how. Runes would have been clearly visible, and he was always checked for enchantments. But on the battlefield, with nothing but this book and some string, he devastated enemy armies alone. It was what got him adopted into House Decimation – although he was more of a battle-focused enchanter, House Decimation wanted to know what he was doing, and how it could be used for the country. He never babbled, of course. He was stubborn like that. But when his children came of age, he told them exactly how he had accomplished it: the Threadloom enchantment.
Technically, it wasn’t an enchantment – it would be more accurate to call it a type of spellcasting. But he didn’t care. It was his invention, and he could name it whatever he wanted. He’d gotten the idea from his time spent in another country, Munstrond. They had poured lots of research into Dream mana, and were the only known power outside of Yppath with significant access to Dream mana pools. In that country, one of the most popular professions was that of the bard – you got paid to sit in a restaurant, or a bar, or a theater, and play music. It sounded mundane, but it was anything but. Bard instruments had Dream mana enchantments that activated through the vibrations of their mana crystal strings. The enchantments would make people happier, and keep them coming back. I had no clue how he found that out, but it inspired him to make his own form of spellcasting.
Rather than simply making an entire enchantment on the spot, because who in their right mind would subject themselves to that, Threadloom enchantments worked relatively simply: one takes a string of a mana crystal, threads it so it intersects upon itself several times in certain patterns, and slides it so that it vibrates against itself. The vibrations cause Change – and Change causes magic.
It was ingenious, and everyone in our family was sworn to secrecy. I myself had only learned when I was gifted a soul at fifteen, and Linn had learned two weeks before me – which, as usual, she never let me forget. Luckily, my mother was older than hers, and so the grimoire would eventually fall from my mother to me – which it just did. That, I got to never let her forget.
Obviously, I couldn’t let anyone outside of my family know I had this. But I had plans for it. Big plans.
[break]
“BOO!” Julian shouted, rudely waking me up. But, I suppose it was fair considering all the teasing I had done. Truth be told, I hadn’t intended to tease him so much, but I had grown more comfortable around Julian on the train ride than I had realized. “That’s payback,” he laughed as I groggily got out of my bed.
“Ugh… what time is it?” I asked, my brain still starting up.
“Dude, I was gone, like, an hour,” Julian said. “Had a nice beauty nap?”
“Oh, yes, these sheets are like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I only regret that I didn’t have the sense to change into my nightgown before falling asleep,” I responded. I focused on my manasense to confirm that the grimoire was tucked safely under my bed. While I couldn’t feel the book itself, I could feel the mana crystal threads. They each gave off a subtle emotion to my manasense, and it was a bit confusing with them all so close together. If they were normal crystals, I still would have been able to feel them, thanks to my access to a pool of Crystal mana, but they wouldn’t have given off an emotion – it would have been more like feeling that something was there with my fingertips even though I wasn’t touching it. Although, the strings were made to be incredibly thin, and if it weren’t for the emotions they were giving off, and the fact that I already knew they were there, I probably wouldn’t be able to find them. “What sort of manasense do you have, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“That’s an odd change of subject. Got something to hide?” Julian asked.
Blood retreated from my face slightly, but if Julian noticed he didn’t give any indication. “No, more curiosity than anything. I’ve got visual and empathetic.”
Julian winced. “Empathetic, I hear that’s a tough one to manage.”
I shrugged. “No more than audial, from what I hear. My manasense can get confusing when there’s a lot of different types of mana in one place, but most of the time I’m fine. I like having empathetic manasense. I get even more physical clarity than tactile manasense, and I still know what mana types I’m dealing with.”
Julian laughed. “Yeah, that sounds useful. I don’t have visual, only tactile. I can tell you where every single scrap of mana in this room is, but I couldn’t begin to guess what the types are.” Crap. “Like, you have a bunch of what I assume is enchanting nonsense under your bed – neatly arranged mana crystals, some strings, some weird… doohickey, but I couldn’t tell you anything more about them.”
“That ‘doohickey’ is a crystal growth matrix. It’s a small enchantment designed to assist the growth of crystals, though it isn’t very effective. I’ve been planning some designs for an upgrade, but they’re nowhere near finished.” I silently thanked the Eldest he didn’t think twice about the strings – I supposed he wasn’t an enchanter, and wouldn’t question what the strings could be used for – there were some enchanters known to make Grindstone enchantments out of string, but they were incredibly rare, and the technique to create a Grindstone enchantment in such a thin string was something well above my pay grade. I decided I should probably separate them from the grimoire, just in case someone more inquisitive or informed decided to rummage around the room using manasense. If they came across the strings, I didn’t want them coming across the grimoire.
Admittedly, I was pretty surprised that Julian was able to see the threads at all. My grandfather had made them just thick enough that they would serve their purpose, but thin enough that mages would have great difficulty noticing them unless they had empathetic manasense. It was how he kept his secret for so long. Some people were born with naturally more sensitive manasense – something I heralded over Linn’s head incessantly – and one’s sensitivity usually didn’t change much as they advanced. You got a certain sensitivity when you gained a soul, and you were stuck with it. Julian must have been very lucky. Then again, he was a Royal adoptee. If “favored by gods” didn’t describe him, nothing did.
I made a motion to take out the mana crystals and “doohickey”, placing them on my dresser. I placed the crystals into a little compartment at the matrix’s bottom, and activated the enchantment. Two thick circles began to grind against each other, but instead of emitting a horrid shriek as a normal Grindstone enchantment would, they emitted a soft hum.
“Wow. That sounds nice,” Julian murmured.
“Yup. I’m Andwyrdan. Bit of a principle to make sure my enchantments sound good,” I explained.
“Andwyrdan, I’ve heard about that. I’ll admit I always found it weird. Most religions worship some sort of deity, but you worship… Change?”
I shrugged. “Sort of. We don’t worship it so much as think that all Change should be made beautiful. Some of us like to add extra flair to our runes or flowforms, others like to make music out of enchantments. It isn’t so much a religion as it is a set of rules to follow. If there’s anything we worship, it’s the Eldest, who founded Andwyrdanism.”
“Well, thank the eldest for me. That doohickey makes some nice ambient noise.”
I snorted. “Thanks. And it’s Eldest, capital E. I just know you didn’t capitalize it in your head.”
“What are you, a Dream mage?”
“Nope, but I’ve had this exact conversation lots of times,” I chuckled, getting back under my blankets. “I’m heading back to sleep, it’s dark out. See you tomorrow morning.”
“Remember to wake up early! We’ve got classes tomorrow,” he said.
[break]
“Yes, sir. They have no clue,” the voice said into the box. “Julian said something about mana crystal threads – threads I couldn’t feel. I’ll be investigating tomorrow, when they’re out of the room.” The voice paused. “One more thing. There’s a… an odd fog. Around– yes, sir. No, sir. I apologize, sir.” Silence. “Exiting now.”