Nua proceeded with peeling another tuber as fast as she could. In effect, it wasn’t looking better that the first one, but Anki still nodded in approval. He put on airs, she noticed, and she struggled not to chuckle. Faintly, Nua remembered how terrifying he was back at the temple, commanding his subordinates and operating ancient machinery. Now, though, all of it seemed unreal. Without any ancient weapons or goliaths around, he was just a ghost with an attitude.

“Let’s start with the basics.”, Anki proclaimed. “You already know that you need to have ether to use sorcery.”

“Yea.”

“What you don’t know, though, is the difference between a trained and an Awakened user. Even in my days the Awakened were a minority. You could be trained in using ether and never produce your own. Like, I believe, that mage-engineer in the street.”

Was the important guy from the city above not a genuine sorcerer? Nua frowned. He seemed like he meant serious business, though. Anki had knowledge from a thousand years ago, he could be wrong.

“How do you get it, then?”

“From different sources.”, said Anki. “You can buy stored ether – items that were imbued with it, or even the pure liquid form, pretty dangerous to use, by the way. You can find a place of power. They are rare and transient in nature, and wars have been waged over them. Lastly, if you have a teacher that has their own ether, they can share it with you. In fact, it’s the most common way to become a sorcerer. In my days, the Awakened surrounded themselves with apprentices who were able to practice whenever they could eke out ether from their master. Trained users without their own sorcery make decent soldiers and tech wizards. They can operate etheric devices and put minor spells to good use.”

He paused.

“If the user has more than a modicum of talent, they break through and awaken after several years of training - becoming mages in their own right. Those who have a master to guide them, get there quicker, although there’s no simple rule. I’ve known powerful people who were entirely self-taught.”

Nua tried to pay attention, but half of the words passed through her like spoiled porridge. She looked at the tuber she was still holding and examined her chipped, dirty fingernails. Am I really able to learn from that guy?

She made an honest attempt.

“Wait. Slow down. There are people who just use ether and people who can also make their own ether. One can become another, but I don’t think I got the whole thing.”

“It’s fine. I got carried away. It’s been ages since I had the opportunity to talk about the fine arts and sciences with someone outside my own mind. I might have become a trifle insular. I shall explain it once again until you understand.”

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Then he proceeded to repeat the message, stopping at every unknown word. Nua nodded along until it all clicked together.

Then, she almost jumped.

“Wait wait wait. You tell me it’s years before I get my own power?”

The spirit chuckled.

“You still don’t understand. The masters of old had numerous apprentices. The self-taught trained when they got their hands on some ether, one way or another. You’re probably the only person in the world that has an access to a teacher and his ether uninterrupted. Our souls are linked. I can’t even stop you from using my ether if you wish it so.”

An image of the great temple hall once again filled Nua’s mind. The soldier ghosts, bowing to their master. The shining crystals, covered with writing in gold. The goliaths – how did Anki call them? Ushumgars. “We were gods ourselves”, he had said. A feeling was building in her stomach. She failed to give it a name. Words formed on her lips then died away. She tried again.

“So… I have… all your power?”

“Potentially, yes. But, as I told you before, only as much as you can handle, which is not very much at the moment. There’s no use for reaching an ocean with a teaspoon.”

The feeling subsided. Nua raised her brow.

“A teaspoon?”

“A very small spoon for mixing tea and sugar.”

“You know”, said Nua, “Sometimes I forget you’re a king and then I hear something fancy like that. So I can use your ether all the time and this makes learning shorter. It’s not years then? More like months? What if I’m not talented enough?”

“Oh, I know you are. As I told you – all Unsagga have some talent for ether, and yours is at least moderate, quite likely to trigger an awakening. Until then, you might as well consider my power yours, to the degree you’re able to use it.”.

“So… that means… I’m actually… a mage already?”

“In a very roundabout and awkward way.”

She digested it for a while. Anki watched.

“You can actually focus when you’re interested.”, he said, finally. “Though not on the tubers.”

Nua shot a guilty look at the angular bulb in her stained hands.

“Finish another one and we’ll talk some more. There’s a lesson in what I just said, but I want you to figure this out on your own.”

Nua glared at the blue sprite. He looked smug, she could swear it. She sighed.

“I can use your ether all the time, so I can learn quickly. But to learn quickly, I need to use the ether all the time.”

“That’s right. Otherwise, you don’t reap the benefits.”

“Auntie Hala tells stories. You remind me of the ones about the desert demons that grant wishes, and those wishes always have a catch. Maybe I don’t want to work all day?”

“Then work a little and figure out if it suits you. If not, well, I will just wait and recover. It would be a pain to find a host with comparable talent, but it can be done. And if you reject me on your own, I won’t be the one breaking the oath.”

This feeling, again. All of a sudden, Nua remembered how she was inside the goliath and reached for the night sky. She had stars in her hand, if only for a moment. Then she fell.

“Say… I have an Autarch stuck to my soul, I can use all his power and I can train my mind to get smarter and help Hala. I’d be a total dolt if I don’t at least try, right?”

“Correct.”

Her palms were sweating. She steadied her voice to sound unfazed.

“Dunno why, but it’s more and more like the desert demon story. Give me something sorcerous to do.”

“First, peel another tuber.”