Chapter 2
The two of them had no trouble finding clothes to fit them, as they came in a variety of colors and sizes. They even had holes for wings, courtesy of drake physique. The wingspan did not matter as much as if the part of the wings that connected to the back had the same width. Folding Arches massive wings to pull the shirt over them was still challenging, and in Rodgers opinion, largely pointless.
How someone with thick fur and feathers had the opinion that you had to cover as much of your body with clothes as possible, was beyond his understanding. Just cover your private parts and go to sleep! …But it was endearing that Arche wanted them to wear matching outfits, so he did not complain. And the reddish purple the Heoltor picked suited his darker complexion, which might have played a larger role.
Before going to sleep, Rodger insisted that they also prepared outfits for the next day. The clothes were for the most part light and airy, suggesting a warmer climate. Or a collective immunity to cold. It would be incredible if that were the case, but definitely disadvantageous for Arche and him.
Contemplating the possible cultural reasons for his clothing, Rodger slowly fell asleep.
ꟷꟷꟷ
A powerful gong reverberated through the building and Rodger fell out of his bed in surprise, hitting his head on the ground. While he was writhing in pain on the floor, Arche got busy flattening his fur and feathers, returning them to normal.
“Morning.” In a slightly bad mood after hitting his head, Rodger only gave a curt greeting. Arche nodded back. He had no vocabulary to base the language on, so the spell hardly worked on him. He still seemed to get the gist of what he was told, but that could be due to accurately reading peoples gestures and body language, or simply the soul link between them providing him with impressions.
Before they could put on their clothes completely, the door burst open. Two drakes were standing in the hallway. The older, brown drake was someone Rodger already knew. Or, more accurately, the only person he knew besides Arche: Vividren. Behind him was a younger looking drake with vibrant red scales, tapping his foot very lightly.
“I see the morning gong is still as effective as ever.” Vividren commented. “Unfortunately, I will be preoccupied for the next few weeks. As such, young Reywas here will teach you the basics. He is one of the many assistant researchers of this mage tower, and certainly capable. And the only one with no obligations or duties keeping him from helping me out, it seems.”
Reywas crossed his arms and stilled his foot at being addressed. “Nice to meet you, newbies. As it is a good place as any, I’ll teach you in your room. No need to waste time walking.”
“Likewise, it’s nice to meet you. This is Arche, and I’m Rodger. Thanks for taking time to teach us.” Vividrens eyes lit up in realization, but Rodger couldn’t figure out why. Vividren left after he introduced them, leaving them alone with Reywas.
“I’m assuming you guys know nothing about magic, besides elemental affinities and planes of energy. Is that correct?” Rodger nodded in affirmation, and Arche imitated him a moment later.
“In this world there exists a type of energy called mana. It’s found almost everywhere, pervading both the land and the people. Mages are beings who assimilate the natural mana into their bodies, cultivating an inner magical core, refining it further and further. And that’s where affinities come into play; it is only possible to absorb mana of an element you have affinity in. You might say that you could simply absorb neutral mana if you have no affinities, but that’s not feasible. Mana in nature is never neutral. Mana in nature always consists of a combination of the eleven types of natural mana:
The big three, Earth, Light and Darkness; The four positive elements Fire, Lightning, Life and Water; And the four negative elements Soul, Destruction, Wind and Ice.”
“Why are they called the big three?” Rodger asked. Light and Darkness were par for the course, but earth seemed unusual. To him at least.
“There are three main reasons: One, those three types of mana are the most common, and two, they are different from the other elemental affinities; they are dependent on the connection to the Planes of Energy. Having a Pure connection to either Plane results in either Light or Darkness affinity, and a Harmonic Connection, regardless if it is Negative, Positive or Neutral, results in the Dual elemental Affinity of Earth and Metal. And thirdly, those elements are not weak to any of the other eight elements, but how the elements interact with each other is a topic for another time.”
Easy to train in, comparatively rarer, and superior to the other elements. And there might be even more reasons, with those being only the main three.
“How would I go about absorbing mana? Or better yet, simply sense it? I can’t really absorb something I can’t feel, after all.” Even air was something you could feel to a lesser degree.
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“Non-mages can’t feel mana. Even a Mage like me has trouble feeling and controlling natural mana to absorb it directly. Several decades ago, the goblin Arcanist Eriyen the Perceptive discovered certain phrases that could manipulate and guide mana. Not only did her discovery revolutionize spellcraft, it also had the side effect of allowing aspiring mages to tunnel minor quantities mana though their bodies to work weak spells, passively absorbing the leftover mana. She later went on to become the first Magi, a feat only nine other people have managed to achieve since then.” Reywas spoke with fervent adoration, with an intensity that reminded Rodger of his Sumo teacher.
He felt listless then, thinking about a home he might never would return to, and asked Reywas another question to distract himself. “You keep talking about titles like, Magus, Arcanist and Magi. I have no idea how they relate to each other and what they represent.” An implied question, but a question nonetheless.
“Those are the formal titles mages receive once they reach a certain stage in cultivating their inner mana core. Those of the first stage, the Mana Gathering stage, are called Mages, like me. Like the name implies, mages only gather mana inside their mana core during this stage. Upon reaching the second stage, mages condense the gathered mana to establish a foundation. Those mages are then called Magus.” Due to the remarkable similarities to cultivation of Chinese wuxia novels, Rodger felt somewhat at ease.
“Afterwards comes Tower Creation, in which mages construct something called an “Inner Tower”, and this “Inner Tower” influences and empowers their magic. Those of this stage are called Magisters. Magister Vividren is one of the 17 Magister of our Mage Tower, for your knowledge. The last relevant stage is called the Archsoul stage. During this stage, you empower your soul body with magic to such a degree that it can exist in the physical realm, independently of your physical body. We only have one such mage in here: The Master of the Mage Tower, Archmage Gamsun Lakesplitter.”
“Aren’t there at least two more stages? You know, like Arcanist and Magi.” Rodger reminded Reywas.
“Right, you wanted to know because of Magi Eriyen. I usually leave them out because I do not know anything further than their names and the respective titles, but I guess it is appropriate to tell you. The last three stages are called Magic Ascension, Crystallization and Absolution. Arcanist Archon and Magi. Most people fail to cross the threshold between Archmage and Arcanist, and due to that rarity, I have never met a single one.” His eyes narrowed as said so, and a hint of venom crept in his voice, but he quickly returned to his usual fierce and affable expression.
“But all that is not important for you at the moment. You want to take the first step towards becoming a Mage, and there is no need to drag this out any longer. I will now speak the simple Keyphrase for the spell [Earth Sense] and you will repeat after me.” Reywas then opened his mouth, but whatever he said was unintelligible and seemed to disappear from his memory afterwards.
“Could you repeat that? I didn’t quite catch that.”
The drake frowned and looked at him quizzically. Again, he repeated what he said. But it was the same as before, and Rodger had a feeling something was wrong. Reywas distorted expression of undisguised disbelief and pity affirmed this further.
Reywas sighed deeply.
“The Keyphrases Magi Eriyen has created are built on her understanding of magic gained during her times as an Arcanist, and unfortunately, not every soul is capable of understanding those phrases. Usually, all potential mages have the ability to understand those phrases, due to a subconscious understanding of the laws governing the elements gained to exposure to mana during their growth to adolescence. But among those who grew up in an environment with very thin mana density, their subconsciousness never developed sufficient understanding of the laws.”
“Since the modern method is not an option for you, you will have to fall back on the methods of the old mages. But therein lies another problem: due to your soul link, you possess a kind of shared soul, which has multiple advantages, but such a soul is difficult for others to pinpoint and influence. Normally a boon, this becomes a curse in your current situation. Directly transferring mana into you is impossible for most mages. Even the Archmage might be unable to help you in this case, but I don’t know. And it probably doesn’t matter, as he can’t afford to spend time on such a task.”
“The only other method available to you is consuming crystallized mana, but that is expensive and very inefficient. Becoming a mage is not possible for you under the current circumstances. I’m sorry.”
Seeing his distraught look, Reywas left to give Rodger time to digest everything. Arche put his arm around him in concern, and a hint of… confusion?
“Did you understand anything he said? Anything at all?” Rodger had been far too engrossed in Reywas lesson to consider Arches situation.
When Arche nodded his head in shame, Rodger burst out laughing. “You just stood there, for several minutes, and only ever understood the few things I said vaguely?” Another nod, and Rodger laughed even harder. “And instead of nudging me for a moment so I could tell you, you thought the best course of action was to stand there and act like you know what’s going on.” Slowly, with visible apprehension, Arche nodded again. Rodger doubled over laughing and for a while, simply lay there wheezing, while Arche crossed his arms and pouted. After a few minutes, Rodger told the now pouting Heoltor what exactly Reywas was telling them.
“No need to look at me like that. We might not be able to learn magic right now, but who cares? We have other things to worry about, like your little language problem.” Arche seemed to accept that, most likely only concerned about the whole thing because Rodger looked so distraught at first.
“And he didn’t say it was impossible. Making enough money to fund both of us would probably be huge undertaking, but who says we have to? If the current methods are unfeasible, I just have to create my own method. Replicating a feat of a literal legend with far more power and experience than me is most definitely a fool’s errand. But who am I to say it’s impossible? Maybe all that’s needed for a new discovery is a different completely different, from someone who lived in a different world? And ultimately, it would be a nice hobby and distraction, and give me a goal to work forward to. Nothing motivates more than a definite goal, don’t you think?”
Arche shrugged, and a loud rumble brought another matter to Rodgers attention: “We had no breakfast yet, did we?”