Alice watched as Spartacius walked away, the light from his torch slowly fading as he disappeared into the twists and turns of the cavern. He was marking his way with a piece of chalk, and she wondered if he would not end up losing his way, confused by the different markings from previous days.
She hesitated about whether to stop him or not but ultimately decided to let him go. After all, he had good reasons to search for another way out, and maybe he needed some time alone.
Alice let out a sigh and made her way back to the group.
She found them sitting around a small mound of boulders that Sid had overheated with black breath. It was now their favorite sitting place.
The first time they had tried this, a couple of stones had started to emit smoke, and they had to cool them down with conjured water and ask Sid to flap his wings to get rid of the toxic vapors.
In the end, they found suitable stones that could be safely heated, and Sid found the right balance of black breath flames to bring them to the right temperature without overheating them.
Sitting around the heated stones felt like sitting around a campfire, though they had to keep a little more distance from the glowing rocks than they would with a normal fire. Despite this, it provided more warmth than Alice's flame arrows. While she could conjure arrows that provided more heat, they were explosive, and that was not really suitable as a campfire. Tina would use her magic fires if they needed additional light.
They spent most of their time training; Tina had to complete her sports and magic hours daily, mostly under Alice's supervision and was progressing nicely. The magic density in the grotto was high, and that would allow for fast progress; that's why even Alice was training whenever the time allowed.
They hadn't heard any orcs lately, and Sid had mentioned that they rarely came to this part of the caverns and never entered except for the rare cases when accompanying Katan, but they had to remain careful.
Previously food was thrown in about once in ten days. As the last 'delivery' had been done relatively recently, they had time until the next, that is, if the 'prison-cavern' would still be functioning now that Katan was dead. Depending on if and when the orcs would find out he is dead. So many ifs.
Alice wondered if the camouflage that White Flower had set up at the entry to this part of the cavern was still active.
As she approached the group, she walked in almost complete darkness; they kept no other light except the shimmering boulders. They were speaking in a very low voice; only a murmur was heard as she approached the group.
She sat between the Lynx and Sid and looked at Tina, who was resting against the Lynx as usual. There was a point that was nagging at her, and she wanted to clarify it.
“One question Tina. The last time when I heard you talking about magic, you were outraged against everybody using it. Didn't you say that people use magic in an impure form, and with this, they pervert nature with their magic instead of living in harmony with it? That mages and witches pervert and destroy the natural balance of all beings!? Was it not so that even the use of potions was not natural and would build devilish flesh? That flesh gained this way is prone to wicked wishes and carnal desire!? That only the priests with their holy healing are the natural healing that does not pervert the flesh and thus the soul?
So how could you dream of becoming a witch when you thought like this?”
Tina did not stop from producing roasted beef filets that she distributed between the Lynx and Sid, four for Sid, one for the Lynx, and raised her eyes to look at Alice, letting the tirade wash over her. She looked guilty but, at the same time, betrayed.
“You listened to me talking to Cala in the coach?” - she asked in the end.
“Maybe!” - Alice acknowledged, locking her eyes with Tina's.
Tina sighed:
“True, this is what they say. Using magic is a perversion against nature. It is what they teach us in schools and what they chant again and again in churches, but it is not true.”
Alice raised a brow, surprised.
Stolen novel; please report.
“Ah? So you think they are not right? Then why did you say that to Cala if you do not believe it? You sounded very convincing to me?”
Tina swallowed and looked down.
“I did not know Cala well enough at the time. I was afraid she would send me back... I...”
Alice sighed. She did not know Cala well enough!? Did Cala not risk her life to free her? Did she not run away from home to stay under Cala's protection? That and more were on her tongue, but she did not say it. Instead, she only asked:
“So, you do not believe that!?”
“That magic destroys nature?” - Tina shrugged - “It is the church's official position in the kingdom. The church is one of the main pillars of the monarchy. I could not speak against it.”
“Is it not the same as what the academy of science says?” - Alice wondered.
Tina nodded. “True,” - then laughed - “our science academy has confirmed this finding and supports the clergy in this matter.”
Alice placed her chin in her hands and wondered: “And yet you do not believe it?”
Tina looked very uncomfortable, then she sighed and continued:
“To say this is heresy of the highest level. You know what happens with heretics, don't you? Haven't you seen or heard about witches burning? After every heavy storm or earthquake, some guilty witches are found and end up on those piles of wood. Burned alive. Sometimes there is a bit of public torture before the burning to soothe the masses. In my case, it may be that I would be pardoned and end up in a monastery for the rest of my life. That is, if I am lucky, or maybe I would be packed and sent to the emperor if he would still want me."
Alice's blue eyes locked in hers.
"What's spoken in this cavern stays in this cavern. So is it not true? Are they not guilty of causing those catastrophes? I sincerely ask it. I wonder why you don't believe it."
Tina sighed.
"Because it is too convenient to be true. Don't tell this to anybody, it is not widely known, but it has to do with the power the church can harness from believers. I heard when my parents were talking about this between them. Most of the divine magic that the priests have comes from the many believers that go pray inside their churches. That's why a priest without a church is so weak. My father was calling it 'milking the believers'. The mana of a mage, a druid, a shaman, or a witch, of all caster classes, cannot be harnessed by the church. Their magic is linked to their body and cannot be extracted. The believers have to be without a class to lose their mana like that.
Imagine the church losing all that power. This would weaken them tremendously, and that's why they fight so hard against what they call heretics. They have tried to harness their magic in many ways, but it does not work.”
“What about warriors, archers, all those fighters? What about them?”
“They are not casters; it is different for them. I am not good at magic theory, and these things are kept secret, but I think that only unstructured mental magic can be extracted and converted into divine magic. All those classes that cannot spell are usable. These people do not have much mental magic, only traces of it, but the numbers compensate for it. Probably high-level archers would be of no more use for them as they gain those faculties and can spell, thereby gaining control of their mana, but there are always trades off.”
“You mean that divine magic does not come from gods but is gathered from believers?”
Tina shrugged.
“I don't know. Possibly. My parents spoke in a low voice, and I did not understand everything they said as I was eavesdropping on their conversation. You see, this was the reason why I did not want to learn to use magic that is obtained in this way. I did not want to support their way of extracting power from people, and I didn't want to be one of those people they extract power from; this was another reason why I wanted to become a witch.”
Alice still wondered. “But the academy's results?”
Tina shrugged. “Money and power. Pigs at the trough, as pa said. Do you think it was so difficult to find a correlation between places struck by hurricanes or earthquakes and the number of magic users in that area? Depends on who was counting them, isn't it? You know that Theodoculus at the academy contested the findings? Do you know that he was himself found to use magic and was discredited? He retracted everything, of course, and now lives a poor's life, no longer a respected professor at the academy.”
She sighed again. She put her hand on Alice's.
“I hope you will not rat me out?”
Alice hugged her.
“You are with friends here. Me, the Lynx, or Sid to rat you out? No chance.” - she sighed at her turn - “This is all so incredible, but now that you say it, I see many things in a different light. However, I wonder what the clergy has against potions? At least that, they could accept!”
“Potions? - Tina asked and shrugged tiredly - “The same schemes. Potions are brewed by witches who learn alchemy. First, they lose the mana of those witches. Many peasant wives were making potions in older times. Now not anymore. That many believers mana gained. Then those who used potions did not pay the high fees for the healing priests, and they lost that money. No potions, more money for the priests. As simple as that.”
“Humans!” - the Lynx exclaimed, looking horrified at Sid - “They invent a religion and these rules; they say it is to keep nature clean, so they say, live in harmony with nature, so they say, but these are just lies said in order to extract power from their fellow humans? They do not care for the harms and problems that they cause?”
Sid shrugged.
"Well, dragons are at least more honest about wanting to extract money from you. They tell it like it is: give me that gold, or I'll burn you down. They don't need your mana; they have enough of their own."