The first test with his tiny amounts of braided mana barely shifted the cloud inside the boy. In careful increments, Pax kept increasing the power involved by small amounts. It took him another thirty minutes before he began to tax his mana stores with all the experimenting. The good news was that he was seeing results. Small results, but results just the same.
“So, the area where I bring my combined mana is settling down like it did with straight light mana.” Pax tried to explain what was happening to Incedis. “But the clusters of substances are not only settling faster, but also sorting themselves into groups.”
“Groups?”
“Like a dust cloud settles down on your desk and a pile of sand forms right next to it. Some piles are bigger than others. Then the piles arranged themselves on different sections of the desk with obvious boundaries. But it’s not a desk. It’s happening in a sphere around my influence.” Pax gave Incedis a helpless shrug. “I don’t know if that makes any sense.”
“How many sections? How many piles?”
“Too many piles to count. Plus, the further I push my mana, the more settles out of the cloud. But sections?” Pax visualized what he’d been doing again, his eyes moving up and around the memory. It wasn’t as hard as he’d thought, once he focused on his memories. “Five. There are five. What does that mean?”
A slow smile spread across Incedis’ face. “There are five classes, you know: Worker, merchant, crafter, warrior, mage.”
Pax narrowed his eyes in thought. “So, these piles of stuff are going to decide what class he Awakens to? What, by how big they are? Or how many different types sort out into the different areas? And does that mean the cloudy stuff in his entire body needs to be sorted?” Pax aimed a tired look at the boy.
Incedis shrugged, eyes gleaming with excitement, and none of the discouragement Pax felt. “Come on, Pax. Did you think we’d figure this out in a single afternoon? Replicate an Awakening when it usually takes four mages and an ancient device? A device our best enchanters could never duplicate.”
Pax gave Incedis a sheepish shrug.
“The optimism of youth.” Incedis laughed and shook his head. “I guess, with all the things you’ve managed so far, you expect miracles.”
“Kind of.” Pax grinned. “So, can I throw everything I have left at this now? Are we done tiptoeing around?”
Incedis glanced over at the boy, who had his eyes closed and had slumped back in the chair. “What’s your mana now?”
“If you’ve got a decent potion to bring me back to my limit, 146.”
“What?” Incedis did a double take. “How?”
“Um. I just got another point in Intelligence after negotiating with the rebels at the ruin and then all of Turgan’s mental torture training.”
“That still doesn’t explain—”
“Oh, and I get five points of mana for each additional element I unlock, plus another point for each level after that.”
Incedis’ eyes lost their focus as he considered the numbers. “And here I thought you’d become a skilled but weak mage overall. Maybe I don’t have to worry about you being vulnerable for much longer.”
Pax flushed with pride. He’d worked hard, and it felt good to have that recognized.
“Fine. Drink up and push everything in a last attempt and see how far you get.” Incedis pulled a potion rack from his inventory and handed one to Pax.
“And if I Awaken him?” he asked after he drank, enjoying the new flush of energy.
Incedis let out a quick laugh. “I’ll treat you to an outing anywhere in Salman. But in the more likely event that it doesn’t work, I’ll take some time to do more research, keeping in mind what we’ve learned today.”
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“And then I try again?”
“No.” Incedis tapped at his chin, looking thoughtful. “The next step is to bring together a group of four mages, and the five of you try again.”
Pax’s eyes lit up. “You’re saying that I’ll kind of take the place of the ancient artifact?”
“Exactly. And unlikely though it is, if we’re actually successful, I’d like to refine the procedure further. Perhaps come up with a way to do this without needing you, if possible, before we share this with the rebellion.”
Pax let out a disbelieving snort. “What? Do you have another light mage hidden somewhere?” His smile faded as he saw Incedis wasn’t joking.
“I meant we could experiment with mages who have multiple mana types, but more light mages would make everything easier.”
Pax stared at him, nonplussed at the idea. It seemed impossible that anyone else like him could survive the Awakening and the Inquisition's constant vigilance. But if they could? He leaned forward, the question soft and eager. “Have you found someone?”
“Not yet, but a few of our most trusted are keeping an eye out. We also have plans in place to monitor the upcoming Awakenings for someone with responses similar to yours. It’s a heavy burden you carry, being the only one we can rely on for so many critical elements to the rebellion’s success. I’d love to take that burden from you, or at least share it with others.” Incedis sighed and shrugged. “But with the war, who knows what the future will look like?”
“Still.” Pax leaned back, visualizing what it would be like to work with another light mage.
“Yes.” Incedis gave him a look of understanding before clearing his throat. “But that’s for the future. How about we finish for the day and see what happens?”
Pax nodded quickly, glad Incedis took his welfare into account despite how valuable his abilities were to the rebellion.
Incedis dropped the silence field and waved Pax back toward the boy before addressing him. “Last try today, and then we’ll send you off with your pay for the day. I’ll send you a message the usual way when we’re ready for another go.”
The boy nodded, eager to be done. Or maybe it was the food they’d promised him. Pax figured Incedis wasn’t giving him much coin, as it would make the boy a target by others or even a mean crew boss who might confiscate whatever he found. And now that he thought about it, a daily bag of food would also help more in the long run without attracting too much dangerous attention.
Pax focused, drawing on his Meditation skill and pulling up his newly replenished five types of mana. Thankfully, he had meager stores of secondary mana types to prevent him from becoming mana drained.
This time, he separated the collected mana into two columns of vibrating energy and sent one to each palm before placing them carefully on the boy’s head. Taking a deep breath, he pushed.
Like a fresh wind scattering smoke, his combined mana swept into the boy. It imposed order on the storm. Components sorted themselves out, zipping away from him into collections that grew the further he moved. It was a matter of moments before he shifted down from the head and into the boy’s torso.
He could finally see the boy’s internal structure. He could easily distinguish the heart, lungs and other organs now that he’d imposed order. Anticipation filled Pax at discovering the boy’s class and allowing him to advance outside of the supervision that would trap him as an indentured.
As soon as Pax got back to Thanhil, he’d do the same for all the Viper littles. Vitur, he’d do it for every street rat he could find. Visions filled him of armies of newly Awakened street rats bolstering the rebellion. The empire wouldn’t be able to stand against all of them.
Then a stab of pain shot through his head as he reached the boy’s lower torso. As soon as he stopped his forward progress, the sorted piles drifted back together, rejoining the remaining chaos and pushing back at his efforts.
A quick check of his center made the bad news very clear. He didn’t have the mana to do this on his own. Full of reluctance, but pragmatic enough not to continue a hopeless task, Pax pulled free. He sagged back and took a few weak steps to collapse into his original chair.
Incedis gave him a questioning look.
Pax shook his head and answered as vaguely as possible. “Closer. But not hardly enough.”
Incedis got the point and pulled out his potion rack again. He handed another one to Pax. “Take it now if you need it, or let your mana recover naturally if you’re not too drained. Taking two of this rarity close together is your limit for the day.”
Pax nodded, taking the potion and deciding to add it to his rack for later. He didn’t have plans for using mana this evening and would save the potion until he did. It was also good to realize the rebellion couldn’t just push him into a room, feed him unlimited potions and have him Awaken kids all day.
Getting a few trusted mages to work with him would be a much better way to streamline the process. In fact, with the mages in his crew, they just needed an air mage, and they’d have a full set.
Thinking of other sources of mana brought another idea to mind. What about their pets? They were growing in skill and instrumental now with new Tamings. What if they could help provide the needed elements of mana? Maybe even both Horrid and Eris could work together to provide the air needed.
Pax worked to keep from blurting out his ideas as Incedis finished with the boy and escorted him out the back door that led to more discreet ways of exiting the building. The genuine progress they’d made and the possibility they’d succeed countered his disappointment at failing on their first attempt.
He let out a half laugh. I guess it isn’t the end of the world if I don’t have another magical breakthrough on my first attempt.