The Mana Tuning Ritual is as much a curse as it is, a coming of age ceremony.
For the Children who remain Unblessed, there may be disappointment, but their lives will remain unchanged. They may find opportunities through other means, or even discover talent in another skill. To be Unblessed is to be alive.
For the Children who become Mana Blessed, there may be excitement, and their lives will irrevocably change. Expectations for success, prestige, and power will Skyrocket. They will be sought after by governments, armies, and wealthy families, all for their attunement over their Mana and prowess over Aether. However, their lives are no longer their Own. They have been Blessed.
-An excerpt found in a recovered Stone Journal at : Underrim Mountain Range, Gauslandian Ruins B-9, Archeology Site Q-5
—
Josh tried to ignore the jealous side glances from the boys around him as he wandered the Cathedral’s lobby with Felicia still clasped to his arm. For the first time, he found the paintings lining the walls incredibly interesting. They all depicted an important event from the Stories of Creation and The Divine Deeds, detailed in vibrant strokes of oil that glistened in the sunlight. A memory of an older Priest summarizing the scenes depicted in the artworks echoed in Josh’s head, before he stole a glance at Felicia studying the painting with an amused smile. She turned to match his gaze, shrugged, and tugged him along to move further down the hall.
The children back at the orphanage would giggle and tease him for months if they saw his situation now.
He had the assumption that his companion would wander off and entertain herself after they entered the beautiful space. It was still a while until the Mana Tuning Ritual started, and the Cathedral was quite fun to explore alone. There were dozens, if not hundreds of random rooms to be found, with countless numbers of people and objects to interact with.
Although, he thought to himself, I guess I’m the person who has a grandpa as a Cardinal.
“Ah, I can’t believe I forgot to ask this question sooner. Josh, what is your opinion on becoming Blessed?” Felicia snapped Josh out of his thoughts.
“Oh, me? Personally, I don’t really care either way, but I think I’d rather be Blessed to live up to the expectations of being The Last Son. Being Unblessed would be fine since I could still follow Gramps into priesthood and help out at the orphanage, but I could probably do that anyways as a Blessed. Oh, the part where I’d be forced to attend an Academy for a few years would suck, but Gramps was an alumni for one that’s close, so it’d be fine.”
Speaking of Gramps, wonder where he is.
“That’s rather flexible of you. Personally, I’d appreciate remaining Unblessed. My family hasn’t produced a Blessed heir in generations, and being the one to break that chain, as a girl no less… well, I couldn’t imagine what the family heads would do.”
Josh nodded to a pair of familiar Apostles To Be, Josiah and Sally, who were blocking the opening that led to the main auditorium. They nodded back before stepping aside, Josh swearing that he saw the corners of their mouths twitch. Another set of people who would inevitably tease him.
“Ah, that sucks. I figured being it would be a mostly positive thing.” Josh and Felicia stepped back outside, entering the main courtyard that preceded the auditorium. The marble floor of the Cathedral seemed to melt into the ground, blending into the manicured grass that sprawled across the courtyard. A singular walkway, one that could fit about six people standing side-by-side, struck through the center, the Eternity Vein twinkling around the glittering marble. While there were dozens of well dressed teenagers loitering around, it seemed that the usual frequenters of the garden were away — probably busy with preparations for the ceremony. Josh The two silently took a few paces down the walkway before a small realization struck Josh. “I just realized, you’re a part of the Tagetae house, right? I’m surprised you came so far out for the Mana Tuning Ritual. Isn’t your estate quite far from this area?”
“It is. I happened to accidentally be in the area due to a mistake in my planning.” A self satisfied look flashed across her face for a moment. “Unfortunately, I ended up having to break family tradition, and I’m now attending the ceremony here. My parents were quite annoyed in their letter, but judging by the fact that my guards didn’t whisk me home, they’re allowing me to stay here a bit longer.”
“Would you say that, based on first impressions, the Cathedral is more impressive than where the Tagetae usually go for the ceremony? If your fashion sense and your family’s reputation is anything to go off, I can only imagine that it’s held in a gorgeous building.” Josh waved to a familiar Apostle To Be, Alexander, who had slowly come into view as the pair traveled down the walkway. He got a stoic wave in return, before the gray mop plopped back onto the grassy field to continue reading the thick scripture in his hands.
“The usual ceremony is in a stuffy old building called The Gevach Library. If I took out my distaste for the old style, I could admit that it was an architectural marvel for its time. However, that time was centuries ago and many styles have been refined since. For some reason, the family heads have all agreed to continue pushing that original Gevach aesthetic in our education. All Tagetae children, whether they’re main or branch, are forced to sit in that dusty old relic for dozens, if not hundreds of events before they turn fifteen.” A new expression, a pout, appeared on Felicia’s face. “In fact, the Mesesik Garden was opened just a decade ago, and it’s possibly the most modernized piece of architecture in the country. Ah! I can’t even describe it, you HAVE to see it for yourself. Anyways, despite how beautiful it is, we never get to go into that building. It’s too modern for the old heads to give it respect, which is so ridiculous when it’s the pinnacle of the modern Tagetae aesthetic.”
She took a deep breath. They were about halfway across the courtyard.
“I mean seriously, we spend thousands of gold pieces in manpower and tens of thousands more on materials creating these beautiful buildings, and they aren’t even used for anything but political dances. Why did we design rooms for residency?” Josh heard rhythmic sets of irritated taps rapidfire against her leather purse. “Rooms for conferences, rooms for lounging, rooms for flowers. All of them, empty and collecting dust because the old farts are more concerned about maintaining the prestige of the old sites rather than praising the new.”
“I did think it was odd that the Mesesik Garden was never opened to the public. I remember reading about it when I was younger and being excited for all of the flowers to flourish so that I could visit.” Josh glanced at the clear sky, trying to tug some old memories free. “Now that you mention it, I never did see more reports about it. It faded into obscurity before it even had a chance to become a famous landmark.”
“Exactly! And because of its ‘failure’, the family heads have relegated all of the young ones to sticking to fashion and politics.” Felicia’s chest puffed a bit as she took a deep breath, before shaking her dress with her free hand and prompting Josh to glance over. “Speaking of, I did design this dress myself. I was worried that its debut would be at a family ball, so I’m happy I instead got to show it off in the Cathedral.”
“It is a really pretty dress. I’ll need some fashion advice from you, I’m an absolute disaster when it comes to outfits. In fact, I’m a bit suspicious that my chauffeur rearranged my closet so that I would specifically wear what I wore today.”
“I see. I will admit, I haven’t paid much attention to the gossip around your life, but I do remember one of my older brothers constantly insulting your lack of sensible attire. He might have already drafted a full outfit catalog for you. I’ll dig around and see if I can find it for you, if it exists.”
“I would appreciate that! Oh, let me get that for you.”
The pair had finally made it to the other side, the heavy door leading into the main auditorium slowly swinging closed as the door stopper was accidentally kicked away by a hurried looking girl.
Josh’s elbow was finally freed as he pulled away from Felicia to catch the door. She idly stood to the side after he returned the door stopper to its appropriate place.
“Speaking of your life, I just realized that I must have been taking time away from you to see Cardinal Crandall.” The girl curtsied, the golden flower on her dress glittering from the sunlight streaming in from above. “I’ll let you go do that now, we must not have long until the Mana Tuning Ritual is called to commence.”
“Ah, it was fine! I appreciated your company. I’ll see you later. Uh, here, take this if you want to. It’ll help me find you later – if you hold onto something I cherish.” Josh unclasped his pendant and stepped behind Felicia, fastening it around her bare neck.
“I didn’t wear an accessory for a reason… but I’ll allow your adjustment to my outfit. See you later!” Felicia spoke, without turning to face Josh, abruptly rushing away before he could return the goodbye. He watched as she fidgeted with the straps on her purse while she dipped into the growing crowd of Children.
Huh, wonder what that was about.
Josh pushed the thoughts aside, mentally searching around for where he felt his Gramps was. He felt the slight pull that led straight back to Felicia, and another sturdier tugging that led off to the side. He followed it, excusing himself to the assortment of Priests and Apostles that he more or less recognized, as he weaved his way through a few backrooms. If any strangers were confused as to why a Child was confidently walking around an area meant for the clergy, they didn’t care enough to question it.
“Ah, young Joshua. Are you looking for Grand Cardinal Crandall? He should be in the room over, searching for the jam that the assistants set aside last night.” Cardinal Dorothy smiled at Josh as he poked his head into the kitchen, her oddly smooth, youthful skin contradicting the white hair bundled up in her hair net. He sniffed the scent of freshly baked bread and sweets, before glancing to the side table and noticing the ring laying on it.
“Got it, thank you Cardinal Dorothy!” He offered a quick smile and bow, and spun over to the pantry. The door was still cracked open as he heard the familiar humming.
“Hey Gramps! Promoted to Grand Cardinal already?” Josh invited himself into the well lit room, shivering a bit as the chilled air collided with his skin.
“Ah, Josh!” Crandall’s response came a bit faint, muffled by the numerous shelves filled by countless food ingredients. “Help me find the apple jam. It should be in a jar with a red lid somewhere, but I can’t seem to figure out which jar is the right one. Young Apostle Remy placed it with the other red lid jars on purpose. That child seems to enjoy these games of hide and seek…”
Josh sifted through the rows of shelves until he found Crandall. It was a funny sight, seeing his grandfather dressed in official Grand Cardinal robes hunched over a collection of opened jars of jam. The white folds now had the pattern of a lily stitched in a gradient gray, similar to the shades of the Eternity Vein.
“I must admit, my sense of smell is not what it used to be if I’m struggling to discern one type of sweet fruit from another.” Crandall looked up to his grandson, trying to maintain a solemn stare. They managed to hold the gaze for barely a moment before they began to laugh at the silliness of the scenario.
“The apple jam should be this one. I think it’s easier to tell based on how the light travels through it. The hue and consistency changes a lot depending on the fruit used… I think little Sal told me that mango is the happiest, apple is the grown up, and pear is really moody. Mmm, tastes like apple!”
The pair happily returned back to the kitchen, after haphazardly returning the rest of the jam to the shelves. Cardinal Dorothy nodded approvingly to the jar they had brought back, but did bring up the small dent that Josh had left when he scooped a bit to taste. He had to swear by the Creators that he used a tasting spoon, which was fortunately the truth. Even without a Blessing for it, he could feel the extreme danger emanating from the questioning.
Crandall explained at a much later date that Cardinal Dorothy had extreme protocol on food preparation hygiene, with severe punishments (in chores) for those who violated them.
The freshly baked apple danishes were delicious. To pair with the sweet and tart texture, the Grand Cardinal brewed a commoner’s brand of black tea, Koton. The tea leaves themselves were technically an exotic brand, since the trees that produced them were only found in a distant land. However, those trees were so abundant and prolific in those countries, that it was economically impossible to suppress the price, even with significant tariffs.
Not for the lack of trying, either. The country that exported the most of the tea leaves had attempted to raise tariffs to bump their treasury funds a century prior, and the underground market that spawned afterwards became so powerful, that the original government was overthrown and replaced. Shortly after, Koton emerged from the underground and dominated the black tea market, and likely the government, ever since.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The tea break went on for longer than it should have. Josh was meeting Cardinal Dorothy for the first time, and the trio quickly lost themselves in an animated discussion about where the best pastries in the City were. Josh and Dorothy agreed that the bakery in Commerce District 2C Zone 7S was a close first, while Crandall insisted that a small tea shop a few Zones down from the Cathedral had an unmatchable macaron selection.
It wasn’t until the Creator’s Bell rang the ninth morning hour that the group remembered the occasion. The two rushed out, Dorothy panickedly running to prepare the snacks that were meant to serve the Children after the ceremony. The halls were now empty of the clergy that was there not long ago, making it easy for Josh to make it back. Crandall had split off at some point to go backstage — he was supposed to be the main speaker for the ceremony.
“…To be here today. Our fathers and mothers, their fathers and mothers —.” Anthony, the red-head Priest wearing his signature purple glasses paused his speech to glance at Josh as he burst in. The rest of the auditorium turned to look as well, he hadn’t opened the door softly.
Someone snickered.
It was a colorful sea of other fellow Children standing and listening to the Priest. Since a small banquet was meant to commence immediately after the ceremony, chairs were not set out for the young adults to sit on. Some of the girls had exchanged their heels for significantly more comfortable looking slippers.
“Ahem, and their fathers and mothers have sacrificed much to allow us to exist in this space with the Creators. Allow me to offer my gratitude to our ancestors, the Creators, and those around us for giving us purpose in our existence.” The priest bowed his head in prayer. A few heads in the audience quickly bowed their heads to offer their own prayer. Josh precariously tiptoed towards a hopefully more conspicuous location during the silence, pulling along the thin trail that likely led him to Felicia.
Priest Anthony finished his prayer, surreptitiously glancing off to the side. “Please welcome Grand Cardinal Crandall, our adjudicator for the Cathedral of the Creator’s Mana Tuning Ritual.”
Grand Cardinal Crandall strode onto the stage as Josh found Felicia, who was still in her heels. She elbowed him and gave him a questioning eyebrow raise. He mouthed back Later, and she rolled her eyes with an exasperated smile.
“Greeting, my children of the Sky and the Ocean.” Josh looked up to the rare sound of his grandfather sounding like an impressive official. His outfit was still the same, but it was clear that someone had briefly gotten to him with a makeup kit before he went out on stage.
“I am not one to prepare many words, so I will be brief. As Crandall, I welcome each of you to the stage. On this blessed day, the Creators have given me the authority to Tune Mana for Our Children. On my authority as Grand Cardinal Crandall, I will offer this service to all of Our Children in attendance.
Our Children are Our Future. Our Children are Our Treasure.
If the Mana Tuning does not reveal a Blessing, do not despair. The Mana Blessing is simply a guide. If the Mana Tuning does not satisfy your dreams, do not lose hope. The Unblessed are still Blessed by the Creators.
If I may offer my own words, all are Blessed. Even those who are Mana Void are still Blessed. Mana does not define an individual or their future. It is simply another part of them, like their eyes, their hair, and their soul.
If you feel lost after this Ritual, please feel free to reach out to the Clergy. No Child should feel lost after today. If you do, then we have failed you, so please allow us to help you.”
He gave a deep bow, the silence managing to barely settling in before someone in the crowd gave a loud cheer. Josh wasn’t able to catch the cheerer before the excitement rippled through, and suddenly the entire auditorium was filled with echoing laughter and hooting. A smile grew uncontrollably as he saw his grandfather return to a standing position with an ecstatic grin on his face.
“Okay, Our Children! Please pick up a card from me. These will determine the order for the Mana Tuning Ritual.” Priest Anthony’s stern voice carried over the noise, just soft enough to not shock the Children into silence. “Grand Cardinal Crandall will attend to everyone backstage, so that you and him may maintain perfect confidentiality. Please take your time and enjoy the refreshments and snacks that the Clergy has prepared!”
Josh’s ears perked up and immediately searched the edges of the auditorium for the aforementioned food. He tugged at Felicia’s hand, who was peering over at the quickly growing line to the stage.
“Come on, you’ve got to try these pastries, they’re absolutely delicious.”
“But what about the — Oh! Fresh danishes, we absolutely must attend to those first!”
“Yep, they’re the reason why I was so late. Let’s grab some before they cool down!”
The danishes were glistening in a spiral arrangement, surrounded by a variety of other baked goodies that Josh had not seen in the kitchen. He excitedly offered Felicia one, who had equally as excitedly received them. Her gloves had already been stuffed into the purse she was carrying.
“Mmm, you weren’t wrong, these are delicious! Excuse me, young Miss Apostle, would it be possible to get the recipe card for these pastries? I need to learn how to recreate this experience at home.” Felicia turned towards an Apostle that Josh had not seen around.
“Ah, those? I believe there should be a few copies in the kitchen. I will ask Cardinal Simon if we are allowed to pass them out.” The Apostle hesitantly answered, her face almost entirely covered by her hood.
“Cardinal Simon? I didn’t know one was in attendance here — was he recently Called To Be?” Josh asked with some surprise over the new name.
“Uh, no. I’m actually part of his entourage, visiting from a different church located in Pzekia.”
“I see! I thought the Cathedral celebrated visitations from foreign churches. I’ll need to speak to Gram- Grand Cardinal Crandall about that later.”
“No need! We were just in the area and wanted to sit in. I must get to him quickly to retrieve that recipe card, now if you’ll excuse me.”
Before Josh could ask her for more details, the girl scurried through a nearby door.
A few nearby Children had also gotten curious and joined the pair at the table by this point, equally impressed by the quality of the treats.
“Oh my, my eldest brother attended this Ceremony just last year and would not stop praising the food provided for weeks afterwards. I see he was not joking!” A blonde-haired girl, Sally, enjoyed bringing up her brother’s experience with the ceremony. He ended up being Unblessed by Mana, but the Grand Cardinal Teresa had discovered his Blessing to commune with the Spirits of Aether.
According to him, through Sally, there were supposedly many safeguards this year due to an incident from the year before.
“The Grand Cardinal Teresa found a Mana Void! He threw such a great tantrum that the others around him fainted and he had to be taken away. But the best part is that Mana Void ended up joining the City’s police force! They managed to tame a Mana Void!”
“Sally… we’ve talked about this before, the Mana Void are still regular people. Can you not be like this around strangers?” A blonde boy, Nicholas, ruffled his hair in exasperation. “John was a Mana Void at birth, and he’s totally normal, isn’t he?”
“John seems normal, but have you seen his mom? She hasn’t had a child since she had him, because she’s all skin and bones! So he’s still weird!”
“Speaking of the Mana Void, Josh, the two you saw with me earlier were both Mana Void. I’ll have you properly introduced later over a meal before we depart back home.”
“Oh, I’d love that. Apparently Ryan knew them in the past. It’d be great to get some funny stories about him from them.”
Felicia frowned, but before she could speak, Priest Anthony’s voice rang out.
“We still have a dozen cards to hand out! If you have not received one yet, please come to the stage and grab one. We cannot start the Mana Tuning Ritual until they are all distributed.”
It looked like the Priest was staring right at them, so the group immediately scampered to the stage. Josh ended up grabbing the last card, which turned from blank to “713” as he examined it.
“Alright everyone, there should be a number on all of your cards.” A giant 1 appeared behind Priest Anthony. Josh squinted through the projection and saw someone manning a Lantern on the balcony above them. “If you see that you are within twenty placements of this number, please get into line. The sooner that Grand Cardinal Crandall completes the Mana Tuning Rituals, the sooner we can hold lunch, and then open recruiting opportunities for everyone.”
Mmm, am I the last number?
The auditorium was built to hold thousands of people. As he hopped off the stage, Josh mentally crunched the available space with the crowd milling about it. It was a bit of a rough estimate, especially since there were dozens of younger clergymen socializing with the Children as well, but Josh figured that he was pretty far into the queue, if not at the end.
“Seven hundred and thirteen? That’s pretty high. I ended up getting eighty two, looks like we’ll be split up again soon.” Felicia grabbed Josh’s wrist to check his card, her cold hand surprising him.
“I’m used to being last, it’s quite fitting to my title.” Josh chose not to shake Felicia off, letting the chill sink in a bit more. “How about you two, Sally, Nick?”
“Same number as my brother, thirty three!”
“I’ve got three hundred and six. Looks like we’re pretty spread apart.”
Josh felt a pang of emptiness echo in his chest as his connection with Crandall was cut off. This happened pretty frequently while Crandall was working in the Cathedra. Whether it was because his grandfather turned off the connection or if the structure of the Cathedral itself smothered it, his grandfather did have an obligation to certain confidential activities as a Cardinal.
The group ended up leaving Sally behind at the stage, since her number was so early in the queue. Their original table was occupied by a few new faces, so they decided to invite themselves to the ongoing conversation.
George, a plain-faced brunette, was the son of a merchant stationed in the city. He wanted to be Unblessed so that he could focus on helping his family with their business. Him and Josh got along immediately since George was also the oldest brother of a rather large family.
Shawn, an oriental boy who could only be described as cute (Josh and Felicia agreed on this later in the day), was a stowaway that had found refuge within the Cathedral. He wanted to become Mana Blessed so that he could avoid being sent back to his home country by earning a scholarship.
Laura, a pretty redhead, was the daughter of one of Tagetae’s rival family, which naturally meant that she and Felicia quickly bonded over their respective dislikes of their respective family’s traditions. Her outfit was an interesting blend of casual and formal attire – she wore a well-fitted white buttoned shirt, leaving the top buttoned to show her defined collarbones. A vibrant pink tie was loosely hanging down, matching the pink frame on her glasses. Instead of a dress or skirt, she wore a pair of velvet red dress pants, ending in a set of gold high heels that were tall enough for her to match Josh’s height.
It was quite a bold fashion statement, especially when compared to the very straightforward and well tailored suit that George chose, and the ill fitting collared shirt that Shawn had likely borrowed from the Cathedral.
The girls left the group first, both having numbers in the eighties. Josh’s thread to Felicia was cut off the moment she walked backstage, satisfying a piece of his curiosity. After some time, the next two to drag themselves away were George and Nick. Shawn was good enough company, but Josh found him occasionally glare intensely at the stage.
“Erm, do you see something odd up there? I think Priest Anthony has noticed you.”
“This process… the speed of the Ritual is way too fast, no? We’ve gone through hundreds of people, yet it’s only been about an hour. Obviously, most people keep their Mana Tuning Ritual experience a secret from anyone that they don’t fully trust, but it’s been well documented that the process takes a few minutes at minimum.” Shawn took a sip of his sparkling apple juice. “Most locations that take in more than even a dozen Children for their Mana Tuning Ritual will have multiple Cardinals involved to make sure it doesn’t take all day, but we have just one Grand Cardinal and he’s progressing at a completely inhuman pace. It’s not like there’s a lack of Cardinals either, isn’t it just odd?”
“Mmm, that’s just how Gramps does things, especially when Children are involved. He’s always been the type to handle stuff by himself because he’s confident that he can do it the best. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Besides, you’re going up soon, right? You can just ask him directly then.”
“That’s true… but, will he really be okay with telling me anything?”
Josh blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you know — never mind. I’ll have to tell you another time. Looks like I’m up.” The number behind the stage flashed to 650, only five away from Shawn’s.
Josh waved goodbye to his last companion, watching him scurry up the stairs and briefly exchange some words with Priest Anthony. The Priest seemed stumped for a moment, before visibly chuckling to himself. He simply patted the short boy on the head and pointed him towards where Crandall was waiting.
Now that he was alone, Josh got some time to properly look around. The once crowded auditorium still had a good amount of Children waiting for their turn, but the enormity of the room now fully on display. The usual marble surrounded him, but the Eternity Vein seemed to paint pictures of The Creation, his favorite bedtime story when he was younger, all over the ceiling. Along the walls, the Eternity Vein weaved its way around dozens of beautiful tapestries of the Cardinals, illustrating the history of Those Who Are that served the Cathedral. Hundreds of smaller paintings littered the open spaces that the Eternity Vein left, keeping a meticulous record of the rest of the Clergy.
Josh felt a bit reassured as he walked around and got a closer look at the various pieces of art. Prophecies foretold that the Fall of the City of the Creators was destined for when the Moon Covered The Sun. While the research he read struggled to be conclusive, the general consensus seemed to agree that the Cathedral was an integral piece of the mystery. There was a superstition that the Eternity Vein continuously grew at a pace so slow that an ordinary human would be unable to see its progress, but would not stretch into a space that was occupied by an object. The cluttered walls of the auditorium doubled as both a way to delay the prophecy, as well as a way for the Cathedral to celebrate its Clergy.
“Josh, please come to the stage. Fittingly enough, you’re the last Child. Don’t take too long, the others may expect favoritism if you don’t exit quickly. Although, knowing the nature of the occasion, you’ll be fine.”
Josh jumped as Priest Anthony spoke right behind him.
“Ah! My bad, Priest Anthony. I was actually trying to find you among the portraits here. They go by order of induction, right? I thought I was getting close.”
“Hmm. Order of induction does make sense, but the pattern should be different today. I believe my entry would be near the beginning of the auditorium, since it’s alphabetical this time around.”
They both stared down the long walk back to the entrance for a moment, before Josh sighed and shrugged. “I’ll loop back later then. I’m sure Gramps is insanely tired after all that, so I’ll try to be quick.”
Anthony nodded, and they walked to the backstage door. Approaching it, Josh could feel something mysterious, some sort of power emanating in waves.
“See you on the other end, Last Son. Huh, I’ll have to jot that one down.”
Josh wasn’t able to respond to the fading sounds of Anthony chuckling as he popped through the doorway.