Heian sat patiently at her mother’s feet and watched as her friends attempted to prove their worth. It seemed like a silly trial to her. The tests were narrow and specific, and seemed to be designed more to aggrandize the tiny sliver of cultivation that the arcane practitioners specialized in rather than to actually measure the abilities of the students.

As a spirit, Heian didn’t particularly like arcane arts. They felt so foreign and alien to her. It was all so rigid and uniform—simple patterns and structures that forced essence to be a certain way. The first time she’d tried to learn it, her teacher had tricked her into nearly trapping herself inside of a binding formation. She’d escaped that fate, but it left a sour taste, and Heian even learned later that the old man had used that incident to capture a fragment of her—one that was presumably still out there, somewhere.

She’d come around to it, somewhat. Iseul was someone Heian could begrudgingly call a friend, and she’d taught Heian how to inhabit spellforms without being bound by them. That was a much better way of using magic, in Heian’s opinion, as it gave the spells some much-needed soul.

It had also been fun to practice spellform drills with Haeun and Narae, though their need to actually physically draw out the formations was too much of a handicap for them to overcome against her.

Arcane arts had their purpose, but Heian still didn’t like how much the graduation exam emphasized them.

Ultimately, she didn’t care about the test beyond the fact that her friends cared about it and she cared about them. She was there to observe and support them, but that wasn’t all of her. A little manifestation of essence for her to channel power through was child’s play, and Heian hadn’t grown up as Yoshika’s daughter to focus all of her attention on one projection.

Heian’s awareness was always spread throughout Yoshika’s soulscape, maintaining and monitoring all of the little details that went into the expansive grand formation that held it all together. Now that was a formation with soul. Manifesting a physical space within the spirit realm was a huge feat, and there was no way that the narrow disciplines of the college magi would ever replicate something like it. Even after inhabiting the formation for over five years, Heian was still learning new things about it every day.

At the moment, however, she was paying special attention to the test. Not only was Haeun planning to turn the magi’s narrow viewpoints on their heads, but Narae promised to help Heian do something that no spirit had been able to accomplish in ten thousand years—she would be made whole.

She wasn’t even entirely certain what that meant. It was a deep-seated need that she’d had since before she was born. A natural part of what it meant to be a spirit, which had been cruelly denied to her kind by the whims of heaven.

Once she had a body, would she still be pure essence? Would she be able to continue residing within her mother’s soul? Jianmo hadn’t been willing to answer any of her questions, insisting that only she could define herself.

Whatever happened, she would adapt, but first, Haeun’s thesis presentation was starting.

The youngest princess bowed.

“Magi, mana theory teaches that mana is the source of all things. From life and the constitution of the soul, to everyday physical phenomena, all can be explained by the subtle and intricate interactions between the elements.”

The magi nodded along sagely, not anticipating Haeun’s next words.

“However, I believe that this is a fundamental error that has plagued our craft for generations, and without correcting it we will never be able to solve one of mana theory’s greatest puzzles—the so-called ‘esoteric’ elements.”

The examiners were too stunned to comment, completely taken aback by her bold assertion. Haeun pressed on before they could find their words.

“The core of my thesis is that life does not emerge from mana, but rather that mana is life itself. We can observe this directly in ensouled beings such as spirits and elementals, but today I will attempt to use the arts of divination and summoning to prove that even soulless essence can be transformed to produce phenomena that cannot be reduced to merely the interactions between their component elements.”

Haeun took a step back and held her arms out in front of her. Closing her eyes, she sang a silent song through her aura. One that only Heian could hear.

Heian had always liked Haeun’s songs. Long before she’d learned how to communicate with people and understand human thoughts and emotions, Haeun’s song had been able to touch her soul in a way that nobody else—not even Yoshika—could.

That song had been Heian’s first step towards understanding humans, and now the young princess was trying to bridge that gap the other way.

Mana gathered between Haeun’s hands, drawn in by her call. There was no will or intent behind it—just pure magic. Whatever purpose the elements might have had was partially overridden by Haeun’s request.

“I have often struggled to describe the art of divination, so I will address it later when there is better context. Summoning, however, is an application of divination that allows me to tune my aura in such a way that the mana responds to my intent without the need to absorb and refine it. Please use your mana sense to confirm the presence of a mana wisp in front of me.”

Seong Min and the magi furrowed their brows, probing at the gathered wisp with all the delicacy of a child poking at an animal with a stick. The older princess raised an eyebrow.

“Certainly I can sense something there. Though it’s no different from a formless mass of mana one might create with a rudimentary mana gathering formation. You call this a ‘wisp’?”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Haeun nodded.

“You can imagine wisps as sort of pseudo-spirits or elementals without enough power to become ensouled. Notably, this wisp’s elemental composition is completely unremarkable. It’s not particularly balanced or unbalanced, it simply matches the ambience of the environment from which it was drawn. However—”

Her aura sang again, and a ball of crackling flame appeared between Haeun’s hands.

“Imbuing a wisp with purpose can also give it form. Up to this point, my magic is not very different from orthodox spellcraft. Mana is gathered, refined, and made manifest through the nature of its elements. I would argue that the independence of this magic from talismans, formations, or incantations is already enough to prove its worth, but that’s not what I’m here to discuss.”

Haeun waved her hand, and the fireball floated up to hover in front of her. She began to gather mana again, this time for a much more complicated spell.

“Let me demonstrate why I’ve chosen to call this art ‘summoning.’”

Her song took on a rich, beautiful tone that Heian wished the others could hear. Haeun’s techniques were beautiful to senses that humans simply didn’t have, or perhaps just didn’t know how to pay attention to. After all, if Haeun could do it, then surely others could as well.

The wisp coalesced before her—a floating sphere of ice surrounded by a swirling vortex of frigid water. Haeun released the wisp as she had the first, and it immediately blasted the fireball with a jet spray of water, destroying it.

“I no longer have any direct control of the wisp, but observe.”

Haeun made more fireballs, and each time the ball of ice and water extinguished them with perfect precision.

“No doubt each and every one of you could create a formation that replicates the behavior of this wisp. It would be trivial for magi of your experience and talent, but note that I did not craft it via spellcraft at all. Indeed, its behavior is not emergent from any set of rules or structures applied to the spell. I invite you all to analyze the elemental composition of the wisp now.”

Once more, the magi inspected Haeun’s construct, and the longer they looked the higher their eyebrows climbed. Seong Min gave her sister an astonished look.

“It’s a spirit. Composed entirely of a single esoteric element. ‘Dousing,’ if I had to give it a name.”

Haeun smiled and shook her head.

“Not quite! To my knowledge, there is no such spirit of dousing. Maybe with enough time and energy, one could be born, but based on my limited study of Yamato’s tsukumogami and enshrined kami, it would take a long time. At least a century of constantly using this same wisp, if I were to attempt it by myself.”

“Are you claiming to have created a novel esoteric element by sheer force of will?”

“Essentially, yes. That’s where divination comes in. It’s how I hear the voice of the mana, and after a lifetime of listening carefully, how I respond in kind. I’ll admit, it takes a lot of practice. Permanent wisps like this are extremely difficult to make, even for me, and most of the people I’ve shared this practice with struggle just to gather a basic wisp. But it can be learned, and I believe that with time it will completely change the way we think about not only spellcasting, but the nature of mana itself.”

With that, Haeun dispelled her wisp and bowed. Seong Min crossed her arms, tapping her index finger.

“An impressive proof of concept. No doubt you have done well to master this technique of yours, but do you have any evidence that it can be practical for those not blessed with your unique talents?”

“Master Yoshika and my sister-in-craft Lee Narae have both been able to learn the basics, and while I’m not at liberty to discuss the details, the Empress has even found practical applications used in Jiaguo’s research. Furthermore, while she is not here now, I can testify that Long Ruiling, of the southern isles, practices a similar technique passed down through her clan.”

One of the magi stroked his chin in contemplation.

“The Snake did mention he’d discovered unique magical techniques while he was overseas. We all assumed he’d publish more, but nothing came of it.”

The other nodded.

“This does have rather fascinating implications. I’d love to pursue it myself if I wasn’t busy with other projects. I wonder if any of my apprentices are interested in Jiaguo’s exchange program...”

Min pursed her lips, but didn’t rebuke the magi for speaking out of turn.

“While I’m not entirely convinced that the core premise of your thesis is valid, I cannot ignore the fact that you’ve created an entire field of magic in support of it. That alone is a sufficient contribution to graduate with honors. Congratulations, little cousin—you’ve passed.”

Haeun gasped with delight before rapidly reining herself in and bowing.

“Thank you so much, clan sister!”

Seong Min smiled.

“Hold your head high, Haeun. If I ever had any doubt that you were worthy to inherit my mother’s throne one day, you’ve dispelled it. You are a credit to your clan, to your academy, and to your master.”

She turned to address Eui.

“Empress Yoshika, I admit that I had my doubts, but on behalf of my clan and country, thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking such good care of our princess.”

Eui smiled wryly.

“You’re welcome, of course, but we’re not done yet, are we?”

“Ah, of course. Forgive me, I was caught up in the moment. Princess Lee Narae of Jiaguo, you may present your thesis whenever you are ready.”

Heian was practically vibrating with nervous energy. It was almost time! She hardly knew what to do with herself—she thought this moment would never come. But as excited as she was for it to finally be her turn, there was something she needed to do.

As Princess Haeun made way for Narae, Heian ran up and hugged her. Even though she was a formless spirit, Heian could still interact with the princess because she reflexively coated her body with essence—a trick she’d come up with when she was just four years old in order to pet Heian’s cat form.

“I knew you could do it. One day I hope everybody can hear your song the way I do.”

Haeun returned the hug and smiled.

“Thank you. I don’t think I’ve ever told you how glad I am that we met. You were the one who showed me what my magic can do, all the way back when you helped me sneak out of the castle. Thanks for believing in me, and for being my friend.”

Seong Min’s eyes widened.

“Aha! I knew it! Nobody believed me, but after all this time I am finally vindicated.”

Nearly everyone present looked askance at the princess, and she blushed slightly before schooling her expression.

“Ahem! Not that it matters now, of course—ancient history. Let’s get on with this, shall we?”

Haeun gave Heian one last comforting squeeze before letting her go.

“I know you can do it too. You and Narae are my best friends, and I believe in both of you. Good luck!”

Heian smiled and nodded. She appreciated the sentiment, but she didn’t need luck. She already had the faith of her friends and family.