[https://i.imgur.com/VGCFMQy.png]
The next few weeks passed uneventfully, Refenial still making no headway with his progress in opening his soul's eyes.
"What's systemic magic like, Old Mother Hecate?" he asked one day as he sat on the grass at the end of another fruitless attempt.
"Hmph, why don't you ask something easy," Hecate said sarcastically.
"Short answer is it's a bit different for everyone. Long answer is systemic magic is a thing; some people think it's some older-than-time enchantment made from true magic, plenty of fools, like the Systemic Order, worship it as a god. Understand so far?"
"Uhhh," Refenial said uncertainly.
Old Mother Hecate's expression soured at his uncertain response, but she carried on. "Let's put it this way. Systemic magic comes from something called the system, and the system is a thing that exists, just like our souls exist. If someone uses true magic to connect a person to it, it gives them systemic magic. Once someone gets connected, they get a title from it, and the more they act like their title, the more powerful it makes them. I've seen masters of systemic magic destroy whole armies with ease. The problem is it only grants you the powers it sees fit to grant you and only when you act like it wants you to. For example, if you got the title 'lazy chef', it'll increase the level of power it gives you the more time you spend in the kitchen slacking off, and the abilities it gives you will all be about cooking better food with less effort."
Hecate glanced behind Refenial, then closed her eyes with a tired expression. "That idiot child is walking over here."
Refenial looked round and saw Obit confidently striding towards them.
He stopped a couple of feet away and gave a smooth bow before holding the book out triumphantly before him with both hands. "I have done it!" He proclaimed in a tone of melodramatic decree.
"You've learned everything in the book?" Hecate asked sceptically.
"Yes, and memorised every word, just like you've said." Obit beamed with pride.
"Ok, what's the first sentence on page 76?" She snapped back.
"To swear an oath on a sword is widely considered the most extreme oath a noble can give."
Hecate gave the boy an incredulous look, "Give me the book, boy."
Obit eagerly handed her the book, and she opened it, turning to the right page as fast as her shaky hands would allow. Her finger traced along the page as she read.
She looked up at Obit and down at the book again before opening it at a random page. "According to tradition, what is the most suitable flower to give a widow to signal you wish to court her?"
"A yellow rose, an Icuna is usually the best, but an Isle rose or Milin rose are also ok."
Hecate fumbled with the pages slightly in her rush to turn them. "What is the 3rd sentence on page 18?"
Obit counted with his fingers as he mouthed words under his breath before looking up. "That is why a position of privyman is highly contested even among the subjects of lesser lords."
She turned the page again. "What is the 14th sentence on page 94?"
Obit counted and whispered under his breath again before beaming with confidence, "There are only 13 sentences on page 94, on account of the pictures of proper ways to curtsey taking up most of the page."
"Gah!" Old mother Hecate spluttered at the beaming boy.
Refenial tried to suppress a laugh at seeing the old woman flummoxed but failed, earning a sharp look from her.
"I need to talk to Refenial about this. Stand out of earshot. We'll wave you over when we're finished." Hecate said, at last closing the book.
Obit gleefully ran well away from the pair and gave them an energetic wave to signal that he was far enough away to not overhear them.
Once he had, She leaned forwards, speaking in a low tone to be sure not to be heard. "that idiot child, I swear he'll be the death of me. You've spent more time with him, and I've clearly misjudged him. What do you make of him?"
Refenial considered the question carefully before answering, "He's smart a-"
"I can see that. He memorised a 200-page book," Hecate snapped before taking a deep breath and calming herself. "Sorry, there's something about that boy that really grates on me."
Refenial continued, "And he's really kind. When the trade caravan came, he shared out his sweets when he didn't have to. He sees the world differently, though, like it's all one big story, and he's going to be a hero."
"As much as it pains me to say it, he seems like a friend you should hang onto, Refenial. We need allies, and people like that, if properly handled, can be useful, at least until they get themselves killed by being stupid. Just remember not to indulge his delusions if they might get you killed." Hecate said thoughtfully. "Call him back over."
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Refenial waved at the other boy, who sprinted to them. "So, can I be your squire? Can I? Can I?" He asked Refenial as he stopped by them.
Old Mother Hecate smiled at the younger boy, although Refenial could tell it was forced. "We've spoken, and I think we should work together. Refenial still has his magic lessons, but after those, we learn about other things, such as history and the world. I'd like you to join us for that. Refenial is going to get systemic magic soon. If you study really hard, then maybe we can get you that too, and you can both become titled."
Refenial thought Obit might burst from excitement, but his conversation with Old Mother Hecate left a bitter taste in his mouth, and he struggled to feel the enthusiasm Obit felt.
"I could have systemic magic and be titled!" Obit squealed, "But no one in the whole village has a title!"
"Well, maybe you do, Old Mother Hecate." He added thoughtfully. "I'm going to get a title. I'm going to get a title!" The boy chanted as he began to dance around the pair.
"Only if you study hard enough", Hecate snapped, already back to looking annoyed by the boy.
Obit quickly settled down, and Hecate left them with a stack of books.
Obit read diligently, asking questions every few minutes. By the time it had gotten too dark to read, Refenial was surprised by how much Obit seemed to have covered. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous of how fast Obit seemed to learn.
[https://i.imgur.com/oMrGBK6.png]
Only a few days later, the weather turned as winter began to make its mark. The whole village slowed in its pace as people spent as much time as possible indoors, huddled around their fires. Refenial began taking his lessons indoors. As it got dark, Hecate would produce candles from whatever magical space she kept her possessions in; these allowed Refenial and Obit to study until well after dark.
Both boys were diligent with their studies and learned quickly, but Obit was quickly catching up, and Refenial had to accept that the younger boy would soon surpass him.
One afternoon as Refenial sat around the crackling fire wrapped in a blanket, a gentle howling of the wind audible outside the hovel, focusing deeply on opening his soul's eye under the guidance of Old Mother Hecate. For the first time, he felt a flicker of something, like the tremble of a butterfly's wings deep in his psyche, far beneath anything he could recognise as his mind.
He sat there, the sounds of the world drifting away from him as well as the cold of the air and the heat of the fire. Deeper and deeper, he sunk into himself until, in any meaningful sense, the world ceased to be for him, even the sound of his heart gently beating, lost to the surface.
Flicker.
Refenial looked around at where he was within himself and saw a brilliant crude orb made of colours no human eye could ever determine. he reached out with his conciousness to the globe before realising he was the orb and need not reach out, this was his soul, this was him. The orb's surface gently rippled and swirled, and Refenial felt its eyes open.
He could see the small room of old Mother Hecate's house again, even though his physical eyes remained closed. His sight wasn't limited to just ahead of him, but in all directions sight flowed to him. This vision was not like that of a mundane eye; the colours were myriad, each a different hue from those he could normally see.
He inwardly gasped in wonder. Around him and through the air, he could see floating particles, tiny motes of glowing, flickering light. He knew on some instinctual level that those motes were mana.
The motes careened through the air energetically, occasionally colliding or looping back on themselves as if caught in eddies of intangible air. He tracked the paths of a dozen disparate particles of mana at once, every one rushing towards the same destination, Old Mother Hecate.
He looked at the old woman, really looked at her and saw something deeper, something more inside her. He sensed another soul. Her soul was unlike his, though. Where his was an orb, hers felt like a lump of unmolded clay smashed in a fit of rage. Burns, scars and pockmarks littered its mauled surface. However, a mark viciously carved deep into its surface stood out. It looked similar to the black flowing script of his nightmares but as if someone had cut a hundred such characters one on top of the other. The jagged grooves glowed an angry colour.
He realised as he continued to watch that the mana wasn't flowing into Old Mother Hecate or even her soul. The mana poured directly into this runic open wound.
"So you can finally see." Old mother Hecate's voice came softly to him despite all other sounds being blocked out.
"I should have died long, long ago. I wanted to live forever, I still do. So as I aged, I crafted my greatest spell, something greater than any mortal I know of has achieved. This spell, this enchantment, is a masterpiece. It holds back age like a dam." She laughed darkly. "But with every year, it slowly slips away. This didn't give me immortality. It gave me a long death."
Refenial didn't think he could speak without losing focus, so he sat silently as he listened to her talk.
"There was a time when even immortals feared me. Now my hand shakes when I lift a cup to drink. I managed to avoid death long beyond its calling, but as a price, I've now grown weak and feeble."
As Refenial considered her words, he felt strange and alien lurching deep beneath the surface of his soul. Something that was not him gently pushed upon his soul from within. A Primal fear chased his focus as he quickly looked at his own soul. He felt a force apply pressure within, deforming the sphere into an egg shape.
"What's wrong?" he heard Old Mother Hecate's voice faintly ask.
He couldn't look away from himself as he felt his soul buckle and bend.
As he looked on, a feeling slowly crept upon him, and he realised through some ineffable sense that he wasn't the only one watching through his soul's eyes. Something else, the thing inside, sat in infinite silence behind his sight, watching him as he watched himself.
He felt a sudden and sharp pain as something hard collided with his face, and he closed his soul's eye and opened his normal eyes.
Old Mother Hecate stood over him rubbing her beringed hand. He could taste blood in his mouth; his lip split from her slap.
Hecate slowly lowered herself back to her stool.
"What-what happened?"
"Why didn't you fight, you fool boy? You watched and did nothing to fight back."
"What was that? Is there something inside me?" He asked in horror.
"Yes, probably something to do with those ruins and your dreams, but I'm sure you've already figured that much out."
"It was trying to get out, watching from my eyes," he said distantly as the event replayed over and over in his mind, his skin crawling at the memory.
"It was struggling but failing. Do you know what it was?"
Refenial shook his head.
"Whatever it is, people don't go to the trouble of locking souls away inside souls and hiding them in the ruins of strange temples because they're afraid it might give out free sweets and hugs."
For a brief moment, her expression softened into something sympathetic. "A soul is not so easily broken, especially when it fights back. I can teach you a trick or two, but next time some unknown horror tries to destroy your soul, don't just sit there, staring at it like a half-wit. Fight back. Fight back with every ounce of your being. Fight like your soul depends on it."
Refenial stared deeply into the fire, knowing the thing that watched him from within still lurked inside.
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