The life of a mining camp guard is seen with both respect and aversion. While it is viewed as a necessary job for the nation, working at a camp while lacking an aptitude is attached to the stigma of a shorter life span thanks to magore poisoning.
***
As I made my way to the armory, my mind was torn between my two newest headaches; Nicole and Karla. One of them was emotionally taxing, while the other was mentally taxing. Before I could enter the armory, I heard an infuriatingly familiar voice shout out my name.
“North! Do you mind coming over to my office?” I turned to see Galen waving in my direction, the smile I’d known him for still plastered on his face. Nothing about today seemed to have fazed him whatsoever even though it had left a bad taste in the mouth of everyone else at the camp. I relented and followed him inside where he promptly sat himself down and offered me a seat. The chair was comfortable in a way that I was unfamiliar with. I took a moment to study the room a bit better than when I had first met him.
The walls were lined with small items and knickknacks, with a window directly behind his head which lacked glass, only with shades to block out light. There were a few small paintings and memorabilia that he had lying around him including a few pieces that I presumed were medals. My understanding of the military was limited, but the title of captain suggested that he’d been in the military for some time and had garnered some level of acclaim. The main thing that stood out to me was the plaque which held his igniter on my right. I’d gotten familiar with the piece after handling it and could tell that it probably had some sentimental value to Galen.
I still don’t know why he treats Elm so well.
That was a question for another day and time, one which didn’t force me to interact with a man who was entirely artificial. As I finally reigned back in my focus, I could see that there was a small glass of brandy which had been placed in front of me. I looked up to see Galen taking a sip of his own before setting it down. I decided to follow suit and took a sip only to immediately regret it and sputter, forcing myself to swallow despite my negative reaction to the taste. At the sight, Galen began laughing heartily at my very clear unfamiliarity with alcohol.
“Sorry. Just thought you might have had some experience with drinking. Corith must not have too much alcohol, I presume?”
“No sir.”
That was a lie. There was a fairly well utilized tavern in town that I’d visited a couple of times with my father. I wasn’t allowed to drink because Corith had a drinking age of 16. The only reason why I lacked experience with alcohol was because I was already enslaved by the time I was old enough to actually drink any of it. Galen obviously didn’t know this, and I thought that I was safer not telling him the truth than having the awkward conversation about why the sins of his people kept me from enjoying brandy.
“Eh, don’t think too much about it. I know today was a lot, especially with the new miner, but I just wanted to talk with you.” He leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling for a second while swishing the drink around in his hand.
“Captain Galen, is there a problem?” I didn’t know what was going on, but something about the atmosphere felt off.
“None at all. In fact, you’ve been doing great work. I was a bit hesitant, but I get what Elm sees in you. I never thought of the man as someone who could be a good teacher, but you’ve made a fine magore technician.” he said, his eyes watching the brandy swish around in his glass. “You’ve been doing so great, I thought I’d get you a little something.”
Wait, what?
Galen placed down his drink to open up one of the drawers on the desk, shuffling through the items in there until he pulled out a metallic, disc shaped object. He placed it on the table, sliding it across to me. I picked it up tepidly, studying it in my hand.
“It’s a timekeeper. You ever seen them before?”
“Captain Galen, why-”
“Just call me Galen. Think of it as a reward for all the hard work you’ve been doing. You’re doing double the work of any of the other miners excluding old Elm. Plus, you did the impossible and got him to take you as an apprentice.” Galen took a pause to take another sip of his drink. “He’s not the type to really take a liking to others. He definitely thinks about the other people here, but I’ve never seen him get attached to one person in particular. But something about you just caught his eye.”
I paused for a moment, taking in the words and the potential innuendo they might have contained. Galen, noticed my sudden worry over the subject let out another loud laugh in response, taking several seconds to calm himself down.
“Oh trust me, he does not swing that way, You don’t have anything to worry about.”
How do you know that?
“Anyway, take a look. It’s well wound, so it should last you for a while without needing to rewind it again.”
I took another look at the palm sized disc before flipping open the top of it to reveal the miniature clock face inside. The small hands moved tick by tick across it underneath a glass cover which had several small embellishments on it. It was a beautiful timekeeper that screamed professional artistry. Why Galen would give an item which likely had so much expense behind it to a slave was beyond me, but it was something that I couldn’t really refuse.
“Thank you sir.”
“No problem. The guards know, so you shouldn’t have to worry about any of them getting on you for having it. If they do, just tell them it came from me. I was hoping you could find some use out of it so you always know when to head to the armory at night.” He leaned back again, turning slightly to look at the igniter on his wall. It looked as though it was already wound up and ready to fire at any moment.
“You two did a good job cleaning this thing up. I actually used her in the 9th campaign. She got a lot of work done, that’s for sure.” He turned back to me, his smile having disappeared. “I’d hate to have to use it again.”
Before I could respond, he immediately shifted back to his normal chipper tone as he gestured towards the door.
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“You can head out. Just tell Elm that I wanted to talk with you, and that I’m sorry if I held up any of your work.”
I immediately got up and started walking out, my mind stuck on his ominous statement. As I closed the door, I could feel a shiver climb up my spine. The artificial nature of the man was still terrifying in its own way, and sitting around him for long periods felt like standing on a nest of knifebugs. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and headed into the armory, prepared for more work and another lesson in magic.
***
When I informed Elm of the recruitment of Nicole, his initial response was to laugh. The sight of my mentor mocking me for a decision which was forced on me was slightly disheartening, but I relented.
“Sir, what’s funny about it?” I said, handing him a wrench from the toolbox. Elm took it, a little bit of laughter still coming from him as he started to tighten the bolts on another burner. It had been a few minutes, yet his laughter hadn’t subsided.
“Sometimes, I forget you’re a middle of fucking nowhere Corithian.” Elm was speaking more calmly as he shifted his focus to the burner in front of him and less on my apparent misfortune. “They ever tell you how Pluma joined the empire?”
“No sir.”
Wait, did he say “joined”?
“Pluma wasn’t conquered. They don’t even have a holiday related to their campaign, because there was no campaign. Right after the 5th campaign their oligarchy shit its pants and decided the best option was to become a part of Arlin than get trampled by them later on. The emperor was so fucking grateful that they didn’t have to do another war, he let them become fully fledged Arlinians after a couple years.” Elm’s tone was almost mocking, as if the history itself frustrated him. “That means that bitch Nicole ain’t like the rest of you. She’s technically a penal laborer.”
Oh… wonder how she ended up here.
“Anytime I talked with the bitch she talked like an aristocrat, so whatever fuckup she did, it probably wasn’t simple. Even if you got aptitude, nobility doesn’t tend to end up in shitholes like this.” There was a level of resentment in his speech when he talked about aristocracy. He’d probably seen or heard about nobility getting out of punishment due to their status. It was also fair that, from what I knew, he was also a penal laborer.
“Huh. Still, she sounds like she can help us.”
“Anyone with a silver tongue like her can sound helpful.”
That’s true.
As I was tightening the primer into its plate, Elm went and grabbed the lantern hanging from the ceiling and placed it down in front of me on the table. When I looked up, I saw the familiar stern face which always seemed to precede any of his lessons.
“Today, you’re going to learn how to manipulate mana outside of your body.”
***
My progression in the study of magic had given me a lot more control over mana than when I started. According to Elm, I was “still shit, but was learning fast” which I presumed to be a compliment. I’d figured out how to focus the light to more specific parts of my body and hand more consistently. That was a good step, but the main thing was that I’d gotten control over the output. I now had a much better sense of the flow of mana throughout my body and was able to manipulate it to a greater degree.
In the center of the room sat the lantern, the singular light source which he’d left working. The vent had also been closed in order to keep people from looking inside and seeing me mess with light. Elm had also covered up the box of magore in order to stop the mana from radiating throughout the room and had put away all items that contained any of it.
“When we started, you said that you were able to sense the mana in magore. That means that the first step will be a lot easier. I want you to close your eyes and try to focus on the lantern. Because you’ve gotten pretty damn comfortable with the mana that you release when you transform it, I want you to try and search for it in other objects. Specifically, the lantern in front of you.”
I listened and closed my eyes, tuning out all other distractions. I listened to the flow within my body, remembering the distinct sensation that came with transforming mana into light. As I extended my thoughts to the rest of the room, there was a spot which felt as though it was calling to me. When I focused my mind on it, I could feel the same sensation of light that I felt whenever I used the mana within me.
“I feel it.”
“That’s one step done. Next, I want you to try and connect with it. Because your body is attuned to light, you should be able to make it listen to you.”
“Make it listen to me?”
Even with my eyes closed I could feel the disappointment emanate off of Elm.
“Remember how our bodies are attuned to the element? Mana connects us, and your body has the ability to transform it. Mana wants to connect with other things, to flow through them. Your attunement makes you directly tied to it on an innate level, so it’s going to want to connect with you specifically. Imagine the light in front of you as an extension of your own flow, and try and see if you can change it. Try and spread it out.”
I took a deep breath before regaining my focus, singling out that sensation of light and imagining it as a part of my own flow. I lifted up my right hand with my palm opened towards the light, praying for some level of connection to occur.
Light, please spread out.
When I opened my eyes again, I noticed that the light of the lamp was unnaturally dim. As I looked around the room, the light of the lantern seemed to have dispersed and caused the room to darken. When I turned to Elm, I could see a soft smile on his face.
“Well I’ll be damned. You actually managed to do it.”
“Sir?”
He looked at me, his soft smile not having faded. “Good job kid. Head back to the bunks, get some sleep. We’ll work more on this tomorrow. Plus, you gotta deal with that Nicole bitch, right?”
“Thank you sir.”
***
As I laid back in the bunk, my left hand toying with the timekeeper, I couldn’t help but feel a little bit better about the situation. I’d gained a bit of clarity about the world thanks to Elm. It was rare to see such a genuine smile on his face. I hated to admit it, but Galen was right about one thing: Elm had warmed up to me. He may not have intended to at first, but he was starting to trust me. There were still 2 headaches I had to suffer through, but I had more tools to deal with them.
I stared at the timekeeper, watching its hands move in a rhythmic pattern. When I put it next to my ear I could hear the quiet ticking of gears turning in small increments. It was a simple yet fascinating object that gave me some peace of mind knowing that things were going forward in a way that I could see.
Wait…
I took a moment to think back to Elm's lesson about mana. I could control light that wasn’t created by me by attuning to it. Although it was dark, I could see the faint outline of my hand thanks to the moonlight and the lanterns that surrounded the bunks.
What happens if I disperse the ambient light?
I closed my eyes again to focus, feeling it. Although it was much fainter, I could still feel the same sensation of the light that surrounded my hand and gave it an outline. Because it was closer to me, it seemed a lot easier to sense. After focusing, I felt the connection and asked the light to move away.
I opened my eyes, unable to make out my own hand. Still focusing on the dispersion, I let out a soft light from my right pointer finger.
I couldn’t see the timekeeper.
My left hand was gone.