Maturation 8

October 8th, 2032.

I tapped a pen against my nose as I inspected my blueprints, working out dimensions, crafting techniques, material, and more.

It was the first basic blueprint for my staff, for a true Foci.

“Right, I've got a couple of different ways to do this. I need to create a staff. I also need to figure out which materials are best for each layer. Core, heartwood, sapwood, and an insulating layer of epoxy and wood. Plus which techniques I prefer to create such a tool.”

There was a dizzying array of methods when it came to creating wands, staffs, staves, and other magical instruments. Transfiguration spells and alchemical potions were one of the best ways, replacing concepts within the wood to change its properties.

Some witches soften the wood, then thread in the core and heartwood with a sort of needle. The wood parts are like a liquid, the needle releases the materials once they're set and leaves them embedded into the wood.

Transfiguration to make the wood flow around the core is another method, there’s impossibly intricate wood joinery, magically bonding the layers together with potions, or growing the wood around the core with Elemental magic.

A more mundane method involves whittling down a branch into a cylinder, then splitting it with a knife. The core is placed between the two halves, which are then glued together with a potion.

The core was meant to store a tremendous amount of energy, so gemstones were common along with… metaphysical organs. While in truth all materials stored magic, some were specialized towards storing incredible quantities of vast magical power. In most life forms, these regions were the focal points, what one would call the mendicants. Powerful, spiritual organs which can be extracted and formed into a core.

There are seven princely mendicants, and a hundred and eight ascetics, and don’t even get me started on fucking energy channels. It would be like trying to map out every single microscopic vein in the human body, stretching into the millions. Positions of mendicants of course varied between body plans, while their purpose and behavior did not.

Of course, you couldn't actually take a piece of someone’s soul like that. It was more like flaking off dead skin and shaping it into a usable material. The soul was gone… but the spirit making up the body remain. You took what was left, and made use of it. The same way you butcher any animal but on a spiritual level.

Which is generally why you need to be respectful when doing such things unless you want to get haunted.

In a sense, a true Foci was a replication of the anatomy of the soul, engines, and channels of metaphysical energy. Certain inorganic materials had similar underlying structures to these metaphysical structures. Stones and crystals were amazing at storing magical energy, while most metals were good at conducting magic.

This explained the issues with shaping metals the way one shapes the earth, even if there are ways to manipulate it more indirectly. Of course, like any form of material science, there were exceptions. Lithium, nickel, lead, cadmium, iron, sodium, aluminum, silver, and gold could store magical energy.

Iron needed to be used in tandem with nickel however to be used as a way to store power innately rather than being tempered by outside forces.

I was stumped aside from design, there were at least three hundred species of potential staff woods on just the organic end of things. Adding plasts and rigids was a whole other ordeal. The core had entire species of gemstones to choose from, plus other materials like glass, ceramics, and oddly enough rubber and oil.

Did… did magic work like electricity? Or am I making the wrong connections?

“So question, what is your staff made of?” I spoke up loudly across the room of my lab so she could hear me.

Ultima snorted. “Having a hard time with it?” I glared and she raised her hands in mock defense. “Sorry, sorry. My staff has a core of spinel-tourmaline, almandine, and black to be specific. For its heartwood, it uses drake heartstring, and elderwood from a cherry tree native to a realm of the Darkness. A perfect blend of the Spark and the Disparity.”

“That took a lot of time didn't it…? Wait, you can use more than one gemstone?” I hadn’t noticed that somehow.

“Yes you can, in fact it’s preferred. Rarely is there a simple core that’s a perfect match for a witch, when it comes from stone and mineral at least. Finding a spirit or beast to match your Foci takes some good hunting.”

“Huh… neat. Then I’m thinking a few variants of feldspar would be suitable for the core, the wood… I've been leaning towards elderberry wood.” I admitted with a shrug. “It’s suitably powerful, and I think I can fit it well with a heartwood made of ether clay.”

Ultima’s eyebrows lifted. “You want to make a heartwood out of the clay we use to create life?”

“Yep!” I nodded, pointing to some of my notes. “Ether clay appears to be a powerful manifestation of the void, of the stuff of magic and soul. It serves as a potent conductor of magic, and I believe it can be baked into a solid form, and shaped by runes and glyphs.”

Being that clay like this was how golems and other powerful entities in this world are made… I had a good feeling about it as a conductor.

“You’re fairly certain it's void stuff?” Ultima looked curious about my reply.

I tapped my fingers together as I spoke. “The element of the void seems to actualize all other magic,” I said, as I picked out things from my notes. “The field of possibilities upon which Light and Dark play. I can literally feel the void inside of these things, just like how I can sense glamour.”

Glamour was void touched by the primordial chaos, this was void embedded within the primeval order.

“You know it makes me wonder why void is a forgotten element if its source is literally one of the Pillars of Creation.” Ultima sounded almost wistful. “But I'm glad you're the one helping us relearn all this.”

I beamed. “Happy to help. I've got a lot to learn, and I want to share it where I can.”

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Knowledge was meant to be shared, not hoarded.

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I had my breath taken away when Althea slammed into me, lifting me up into a twirling hug.

“Oh!” I yelped while I was being squeezed tight, the firm affectionate hug making it hard to think straight.

I was spun two times before I was placed back on my unsteady feet, holding onto Althea’s wrists for support. I looked up.

Althea grinned at me. “Sorry for that, it's just been a few days since I last saw you.”

I snorted. “Althea we've been talking on our magic phones for the last couple of days.”

“Not the same as seeing you in person,” Althea murmured in my ear, and I felt the heat. “You’ve been working on crafting your foci haven't you?”

I nodded. “I’ve got a lot of work to do, on gathering the right materials and using the best methods for myself. Also documenting glyphs is a lot of work when there could easily be dozens if not hundreds of sub-glyphs.”

“But you enjoy it anyway?” Althea probed, gently poking my cheek.

“Yes. Been learning some interesting things about why certain glyphs are glyphs and blood magic as a whole.”

Althea blinked. “Really? What have you figured out?”

“Like I've said before, there are object and action glyphs, but it's more complicated than that. The nature of a glyph diagram is shaped by the forces you're invoking. The pillars of creation, the gifts of the occult.” I pointed out my bangles with a cheeky grin. “This is why the seven elemental glyphs that represent the seven forces of the metaphysical are primary glyphs. Like your ABCs. I think what's happening is that a glyph can be used to invoke the forces subordinate to the pillars. Whether elemental or conceptual, fire and mist, pain and love.”

“I can kinda see that when you use your magic,” Althea revealed with a shy smile. “Your spells resonate into the Spirit, filling the world with a concept made real.”

“The main puzzle is puzzling out what falls where, but some of that is more translation and reading textbooks on elemental and conceptual spirits.” It was not an easy subject, especially with the overlap between the forces. “The forces of Dream fall under the primordial chaos, the Blue. The forces of life, of spring, of pestilence fall under the primeval order, Nature itself. Glyphs are shaped into channels of those forces, then given pathways and waveguides through other runes.”

“Why is that important?” Althea asked.

“Language mostly, at least seven of the glyphs are root words of Cyfrinic and other magic languages. I suspect some of the named glyphs signify particular high pillars of creation, which is why they're major instead of minor glyphs.” My current theory was major glyphs would represent high-level forces of reality. “The glyph of Blood, of Adamu is more than just blood. It's bondage, pacts, agreements, and constraints both physical and not.”

Blood magic was an exchange between your spirit and the universe, sacrificing material things to feed one’s craft. It was the water of the womb and the blood of the covenant.

“Do… Do you think glyphs are why the Old Tongue has inherent power?” Althea whispered, tugging on my sleeve.

“Possibly, it's hard to say really with how ancient the language is. Luckily it has a lot in common with Romance languages, it's pretty close to Spanish. But with three grammatical genders and seven cases. If I used those in Spanish I’d be saying gobierno regionalo Araucaníe instead.” The genitive case basically replaced De in every Spanish sentence. Nouns have three grammatical genders, o is used for masculine, a for feminine, and e for neither.

There was a lot of gender shift in the language, leading to nouns with more than one gender or yielding doublets. Just a natural shift in meaning and natural randomness at play.

“You really have been working hard,” Althea whispered into my ear with a husky voice. “But I think it's time for you to take a break, am I right?”

I almost protested but ceased when I noticed the grip on my wrist, where sharp claws lovingly tugged onto skin and fabric. Her expression was soft, pale gold eyes melting with warmth and concern.

Oh. I can’t say no to that, can I?

“How long have I been working?” I asked bluntly.

She didn't hesitate. “Ten hours, Ultima called me since I can easily reach this place when the moon is up.” She pointed upwards to the smiling face carved into the flesh of the dead moon. “So I decided to visit you, keep you some company.”

My lips curled into a grin. “Well, I'm glad you did, even if you had to use emotional blackmail.”

Her smile turns sly. “Everyone knows you're a softie at heart, even at your most abrasive and prickly.”

I had to look away from her face. “Stop making that face,” I demanded, even as a part of me wanted her to look at me like that for the rest of my life.

“I can look however I want when I'm with the best friend I love.” She said those words as casually as breathing, bold and brash all at once.

It was like a kick to the chest, my stomach bubbling with what was either moths of indigestion. Her face was reflected under the soft twirling moonlight, eyes catching the light. There was a pleasant warmth in the moment, how she looked at me with such devotion like I was the center of the world… and yet also like a person worthy of respect.

The corner of my eyes stung with emotion, and I let out a shaky, incredulous laugh.

“You witches really are very dedicated huh? It's very inspiring.” I said with a wavery voice. “Saying mushy stuff like that.”

“Am I wrong though, to say it…?” She asked with a sly expression, eyes twinkling with bemusement.

“No,” I said. “You're not, you're my best friend too so I love you right back.”

I took great pleasure in the flustered look Althea gave me. The way her cheeks darkened even as she maintained her poise, the soft lupine puff of air that left her wide mouth as claws tangled into my sleeves. Her eyes reflected gold, while mine reflected black. My eyes darted to her pursed lips.

I want to kiss her…

I froze up abruptly, going back over my previous thoughts. As I realized I wanted to grab Althea’s face and absorb all of her. Wanted to know everything about the girl before my eyes, wanted to understand everything she felt. To hug her until she couldn't breath, wanted to kiss the constellation of freckles on her face—

Oh.

A deep croaky breath left my lungs as I lifted my gaze to her lips once more, and the sight of her sent shivers down my spine. There was a yearning, a desire for closeness under my skin coming awake. I want to kiss her down her neck, to know every facet of her being, glorious wolf and gorgeous witch.

I jerked myself out of my stupor, eyes snapping up the confused expression of Althea. Her face held a note of confusion or… disappointment? I had to get away, to step back from that sudden emotional stove.

“I—uh, I'm going to take a quick shower. I kinda sorta rushed out because I wanted to see you. Not that I was that much in a rush I just forgot, completely normal. Not indicative of anything at all— I should go.” I wanted to bury myself in a ditch.

Althea was looking at me with the cutest pout of confusion, it was making my brain glitch out with noise and a flood of feelings and vibes and— okay step back girl. Tan hermosa, mi loba.

I pulled myself away from the gravity of her smile and alluring wild beauty. Practically running the entire way until I was all the way up my room, inches from the shower.

My heart pounded, my hands were clammy, my stomach roiling like a singularity at the mere thought of Althea.

Well, well.

I was so screwed.