The door handle had barely begun to move but Calian was immediately awake, he stayed put in his bed, back facing the opening door, pretending to be asleep.
“Hey Calian,” called Melody gently, shaking his shoulder, “are you awake ?”
Calian rolled over and looked at Melody, she was dressed in a white shirt and jeans, her coat in hand.
“Yeah, I’m awake Melody, did you need something ?”, he asked, his voice still a bit coarse since he was barely awake.
“I was just letting you know I’m heading to work, do you remember everything we talked about yesterday ?” she asked, watching him rub his eyes.
“Affirmative captain, I can watch TV and read books, I’ll cook myself something when I’m hungry and prepare something during the afternoon for dinner. I’m not allowed in your room, and I shouldn’t touch the computer without you,” he recited. “Ah and I have to prepare you a magic lesson too !” he chuckled.
Melody continued with a smile, “You got it all, I’m honestly impressed with your memory. I wouldn’t be able to remember so many things so early in the morning.”
“Uh, props to the academy, can’t succeed there without memorizing everything.” He shrugged, getting up.
“Okay you know the rules then, if you can clean the floor with some spells, I won’t say no but don’t go burning your mana anywhere !” she joked. “Anyway, I’ll head off, have a nice day !” she said, already by the door.
Calian barely had the time to wish her back a nice day before she left the house. He smiled, she was fun in a way, always going on with her ideas. She’d been similar the day before once she had relaxed a bit around him. She talked a lot during the evening and had explained to him her rules and why she set them. Calian was a bit more reserved and was happy to let her talk. He was especially happy she didn’t ask much about where he came from because he didn’t feel like he had the strength to talk about it.
While he was thinking about yesterday’s events the front door suddenly slammed open and Melody shouted at him, “And you better think of a way to recharge your mana, because I’m not satisfied with just your little trick from yesterday !” The petite girl then proceeded to slam the door shut and the house fell silent again.
Melody’s cat, probably woken up by her owner’s shout, came over to Calian who promptly offered his hand for her to smell. She rubbed her head against him, and meowed while putting her front paw on him, clearly showing she wanted attention. Calian couldn’t refuse the furry creature’s demand and lifted her off the ground and into his arms. While scratching her between the ears he moved toward the kitchen, his stomach rumbling. He barfed some food Melody had left for him on the table, shared some with the cat in fear of her annoying him all day otherwise, and decided it was time to get to work.
Work which involved… watching TV. He had decided with Melody he needed to watch TV and read some books to get more comfortable with how earth society worked. They’d agreed that after he’d taught the basics of magic to Melody, she’d answer all the questions he had about earth society.
So, he took one of his notebooks from his bag, and sat in front of the TV until a bit past noon. At this point he was truly bored out of his mind, so he went to eat again. He took some time to review his notes about what he’d seen. He wandered in the living room pensively for a bit, thinking back on his situation.
“Miel, I was thinking…” he said, talking to the cat. “I’ve always liked magical research, but my family wasn’t rich enough for me to devote to it completely. But being the only mage on a new planet could change things…” he continued pensively. “Oh don’t give me that look Miel, I know there’s no mana, but think larger, imagine it’s not a problem. Do you think it’s possible to make new discoveries on that new world ? I mean, every time the Empire conquered a planet the next two hundred years were always filled with new discoveries.”
The cat looked at him intently and meowed before sitting on the table.
“I’m glad you agree,” he said, giving her a head scratch.
After his chat he decided it was time to start his new project : Calian’s Notebook. He was going to note his ideas to regenerate his mana and his findings about earth society and its implications concerning magic in this notebook. He’d use it to document his findings and his efforts in going back to his world.
///
Calian’s Notebook – Summary of events :
Yesterday while repairing a teleporter platform with Gregor an unplanned activation teleported me to an unknown place. I had the extreme luck of staying alive, and strange event continued to happen. Some objects cause me a strong headache and an afflux of knowledge that does not belong to me. It is never advanced knowledge, but it is an overview of the object and it’s constituents as well as its uses.
Such events lead me to believe a higher being has taken notice of me and bestowed upon me a gift. I still need to figure the extent of such gift if my hypothesis is correct.
While lost I met Melody which accepted suspiciously easily that I can perform magic. I wonder why she’s not more wary about a strange individual with powers unknown on this world, I’ll try to understand more why she’s so trusting. We agreed that she will house and feed me for a time, and as payment I’ll provide her with magic instruction. We’ll both work on possibilities of creating more mana, for her and me to use in magic.
I’ll try to keep this entry updated to keep track of events of notes or any events related to higher beings.
Calian’s Notebook – Societies of Earth :
I have discussed with Melody about life on Earth, the planet I ended up on. She explained the Earth is home to a lot of different countries, each with its own government and alliances. I landed in the one called Canada, in the city named Montreal. While I’m not interested in the politics of Earth, I’ll need some time to assimilate the inability to go anywhere on the planet on a whim. I don’t think the Empire is an example of greatness, but to be able to go anywhere on the planet with minimum time delay is useful, especially for visiting family or gathering special resources. Plus, different countries also mean different cultures and standards.
Our discussion led us to consider Earth and the Empire relative technological progress. While we may both lack some information, we established that the technological level of the Empire is lower than earth, and that while the standard of living is slightly lower in the Empire, it is brought up compared to its technological knowledge by the important use of magic. For example, she mentioned the use of electricity in households on Earth to provide hot water. The Empire also has access to hot water in households but with the use of temperature runes. The difference between our worlds needs to be further evaluated, I’ll write more on it later.
Calian’s Notebook – Magic research :
Melody asked me to explain to her the basics of magic. I don’t really know how to go about it. I think I’ll first have to explain to her how the mana works, how to detect it and shape it. But to train her in magic, I need to have atmospheric mana for us to see.
Melody talked about greenhouses, a covered space to grow plants in otherwise unhospitable conditions. She suggested to use that to grow plants with mana. I’ll have to see the feasibility of that, it’d need a transparent mana insulator, and I don’t know any material with these properties. If I were to find such a material, I could create a mana greenhouse. I need to research the subject further, that’s why I decided to research earthen materials that are unknown in the Empire. I’ll complete this section with what I can find in Melody’s house.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
///
After writing his notes in his notebook Calian decided to cook dinner. He found quite hard to adapt to the absence of magic during his meal preparation and earth ways of cooking. After all an electric stove is different from a wood fueled stove. He eventually managed to cook everything, it wasn’t great, but it wouldn’t kill a man either. He had barely finished cooking when Melody came back from work, looking excited.
“Hey Calian ! Wasn’t too bored all alone today ?” she asked, while hanging her coat.
“It was fine, the cat wouldn’t leave me alone until I fed her, but she was really helpful otherwise,” he answered, but seeing Melody’s surprised look he explained, “I had a cat growing up, and I would often talk about my problems to him. You know, they’re surprisingly attentive when we talk to them. So, I talked a bit with Miel about my issues today.”
Melody didn’t know how to react, so she simply shrugged, and moved on, “I’ve got great news for you however, I talked to a friend of mine, at the shelter. He can arrange for you to work with him sometimes, it’ll help you familiarize with Earth and give you some more independence. Don’t worry, I said you’re a refugee and that you wouldn’t be too happy to talk about your past. I’m sure Fred won’t ask too many questions.” She beamed at him across the table.
“I don’t know how to feel about it you know…” said Calian hesitantly, “I’m not sure I want to start working here. To me, that means I’m deciding to settle here. But I still have some hope to leave this place,” he explained. “I’ll work if I need to, if everything else has failed and that there’s nothing else I can do to go home. But I don’t know much about your world, and I have no valuable knowledge. So, if it’s anything like my world here, I’ll have no added value and end up working myself to the bone for peanuts,’ Calian said, determined.
Melody stayed silent for a moment, reflecting on what he said, mechanically scratching Miel when she brushed against her. Finally, she seemed to have made her mind, “Okay, I don’t agree with you, but your reasoning makes sense. You can use your room as a lab, or the backyard as you wish, to experiment and try to go back to your planet using magic. You’ll have to provide me with proof that you are making progress however, and in case you cannot make any progress you will work to provide for yourself. Do we have a deal ?” she asked, resolve in her voice. Before Calian could answer she quickly added that she wanted to be kept informed of his plans and ideas before he executed them.
“Okay that’s fair, I guess I wouldn’t want a stranger to make random experiments in my home too. I’ll do my best to keep your informed about my projects,” replied Calian.
“Perfect !” exclaimed Melody happily, clapping her hands, “Time to eat then, and you’ll teach me magic when we’re done then.” She declared, leaving no space for negotiation.
When both were done eating the slightly burnt food and Melody had finished teasing Calian about his cooking skills, she sat him down in the living room, staring at him intently.
“Alright Calian, enough with the chitchat, it’s time to pay your rent. I want you to teach me about magic !” said Melody intently.
Calian smiled at the impulsive women, “I knew you’d ask that, and I’ve prepared for it,” he said, a satisfied smile on his lips. He proceeded to hand her one of his notebooks and added, “Here’s my exercise book, it has an introduction explaining everything important there is to know about mana. Of course, you won’t be able to practice the exercises because there’s no ambient mana and you don’t have any mana nor mana core, but that doesn’t prevent you from learning the basics. And I hope I’ll be able to solve the mana issue soon,” he declared.
Melody barely listened to Calian once she got ahold of the book, studying it from every angle and flipping through it quickly. Eventually she closed it, gave it one last look and looked at Calian with a perplexed expression.
“Is there a problem ? If you’re wondering, the book is not magic, it’s just plain old paper,” he said, unsettled by her sustained look.
“Well, the no magic part is disappointing, but the real problem is that I don’t understand a thing that’s written in here,” she declared, confusion in her voice.
Calian stared dumbfounded, he’d completely forgot that his books were written in the Empire language, since the mysterious, headache-inducing knowledge had allowed him to speak and read English instinctively. When he realized his mistake and its implications he sighed, the evening was going to be really long…
Calian tried negotiating that he would translate the book the next day and that they should do something else, but Melody wouldn’t hear anything of that. She kept pestering him until Calian reluctantly agreed to explain to her how magic works. Calian was wincing inside the moment he agreed, what he had planned was an evening spent reading or watching television to understand the societies of this strange planet he was on. He was instead dragged in a magic lesson with no magic, a way too impatient person and a strong preference for alone time.
“YES !” jumped Melody, a big grin on her face. She brought a chair and sat straight, in front of Calian. “okay tell me everything !” she exclaimed, almost shouting.
“Yes, Melody, I’ll teach you everything I can, but we have to be calm about this okay ?” Calian, paused a bit, more for dramatic effect than any real purpose, Melody’s excitement was definitely not calming any time soon. “We don’t have any ambient mana to cast anything, and even if you had that it’s quite difficult at first to even sense mana, so we’re here for theory only today,” He continued matter-of-factly. “You’re good to go ?” he asked.
His only response was a frantic nod, and Melody concentrating on him fully.
“Magic is the physical interaction of mana and matter. In the magic community both terms are often employed to depict the same thing, but if we want to be precise, we have to differentiate them. But a good example of such misuses of the word would be ‘The magic is thin here’. The person who said that means that the mana here is thin, making it hard to do magic. You could summarize it that mana is the fuel of magic, and magic is what happens when you burn that fuel in different ways.” Calian explained slowly. “Does that make sense to you ?” he asked, unsure about his teaching abilities.
“Yeah, I think I see why people use both words to talk about the same thing. Except if you’re working on something very specific, both concepts are almost the same, so you don’t need to separate them,” said Melody.
“Exactly !” praised Calian, before continuing “What we’re going to focus on today is not magic but mana. Before you can run you need to walk, and before casting spells you need to feel mana. It’s easier when you know what to look for. That’s why I’m going to roughly explain what the magical community knows about mana.”
At his statement of not casting anything Melody seemed to lose a bit of her enthusiasm, but she quickly hid it and refocused.
“I’ll go back a bit on what I explained yesterday, okay ?” forewarned Calian. Seeing her nod he started “Do you remember my explanation about how mana is created ?”
Melody nodded, “It comes from living beings right ? Something about cycling it if memory serves right ?” she answered, frowning and unsure.
“That’s right, mana is created by living being’s metabolism. The ambient mana is siphoned inside while some aspected mana is expulsed outside with a little surplus. And the more concentrated the mana is in an area the bigger the surplus,” Calian paused for a bit, organizing his thoughts.
“One of the properties of mana is to react to will. That means that anything remotely conscious can manipulate ambient or personal mana somewhat. And that property is the most important part of magic. Mana reacts to your will and thoughts, so you can shape it and give it whatever property you can think of. If I will mana to stay compressed in a tiny ball and become hot, I eventually get a fireball !” declared Calian enthusiastically, becoming more and more engrossed in his lesson.
He paused for dramatic effect, seeing he had Melody’s full attention, before resuming, “But there’s a problem. Ambient mana will oppose a resistance to your will. That means that only willing the mana to do something won’t do much, you’ll create a gust of wind at most.
“The trick is to use your personal mana. This special mana won’t oppose your will and can even transmit it around itself. So, if you shape the spell using personal mana, it will help you structure the spell and guide the ambient mana. A good way to think of it is that personal mana is the skeleton of the spell, it’s lightweight but it bears all the load of it !” finished Calian enthusiastically
“That sounds pretty easy actually,” exclaimed Melody, “I’m sure I’d be pretty good at that stuff !”
“I have no doubt, proficiency in magic mostly comes from work and repetition, so anyone willing to dedicate to it can become an expert,” said Calian, smiling. “Unfortunately, I have not found a way yet to make mana, so we can’t practice any magic. Best I can do for now is teach you the theory,” said a frowning Calian, sadness in his voice.
“I know Calian, don’t worry too much, you’ll manage,” said Melody reassuringly.
“You don’t know that ! Hell, I don’t know if I’ll manage ! I have an extremely limited amount of mana to work with, and no idea how to go about seeding plants with mana to make more. I have no idea where to start…” Calian rebuked, his voice breaking. He buried his face in his hands and sighed.
Melody not knowing what to say stood there for a bit, thinking silently. At some point she snapped back to reality, fist clenched and gaze firm.
“Hey, you know, you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. I wouldn’t be able to stay calm and focused as you are if I were in your shoes. I’d panic, cry and cower, I’m impressed by how calm you are. It’s normal to be lost and not know what you’re meant to do. Just… take it slow okay, decompose your problems into small steps that are more manageable,” she comforted, sitting next to him.
Calian took a moment to collect his thoughts, let out a long sigh and straightened himself, “You’re right, let’s get to work. The first problem we need to solve is the lack of mana in the area.”
“Okay good, the solution we identified is ‘seeding’ a plant to create more mana, right ?”
“Exactly, the challenge is that we have to find a way to contain the mana in an enclosed space, otherwise it’ll just disperse in the air.”
“And do you have any solutions to keep the mana in an enclosed space, Mister Magician ?”
“I have a few ideas, but they require specific materials…”, answered Calian while scratching his head.
“See ? If you know a way to keep mana enclosed we have a solution !” cheered Melody. “Now, grab a pencil and some paper, you have work to do,” she told him, a devilish smile on her face, too eager to see Calian make progress on bringing magic to her.