Leo

Alea’s cabin, Germany

“What is wrong?” Leo asked, noticing that she was looking down at her knees. “We can try the exercises together, no?”

“Unfortunately, we cannot,” she responded, meeting his gaze. “I believe that no matter how hard I try, I will not be able to observe my core the same way you can. The runes on it will not allow me to do it. What is more, I cannot just will my mana around. The best I can do is to initiate a spell that will suck the mana through my channels and do the work it is supposed to do.”

“So what? You cannot interact with it in no shape or form?” Leo asked.

“Yes, that is correct. I told you this before - we are not free. Our cores are restricted - thus our magic. The best we can be is glorified mana batteries, able to process information and cast spells with simple gestures. Those gestures trigger mana in and around us, but we cannot observe the mana used. At all.”

Leo deflated and nodded, “I understand. So until we find a way to remove the runes, the seal, so to say, you will be forever stuck, right?”

“Leo…,” Heidi began. “Many have said the same thing you just did. They went to seek a cure for something they did not understand. The ritual is final, as much as my father refuses to believe it. There is no way for us to regain our freedom. Many have tried and failed. Most died, while others lost their mana cores and went mad.”

Leo looked her straight in the eye. Heidi did not understand his gaze until she saw the same thing that her father had in his eye. Determination. A point in life when you have found something to live and strive for. Resolve to achieve something no matter the cost. “Leo, it is a fool’s hope,” she stated with finality.

“Does not matter, Heidi. I know I am still green by your standards and have seen and know nothing of your world. But still… It is hard to describe what I feel right now. It is as if shackles I didn't know I had, were lifted from me. For me, magic changes everything. And it can change everything for you as well. The possibilities are endless. We have the time, right?” he asked.

“You mentioned that mages live for hundreds of years if they progress their cores?” Heidi just nodded to his question. “That means we have time to find the cure to your condition. To cure others. As you said, I am unrestricted in your ways. From the few lessons I watched, look at the result.”

Heidi had to nod again and recognize that the results spoke for themselves. In a couple of days, Leo had achieved more than some in her clan did in a decade. Was it the fact that he was a free mage? Or was he just lucky? She could not decide, but his enthusiasm - stuck.

“It is a dangerous thought to have, Leo. Not only because it can lead you to your doom but also because the Church will not tolerate you if you achieve your dream. It would wreak havoc among the clans. Hell, it would cause wars.”

Leo nodded, “I understand. But fighting for what you believe in and your freedom is better than living a life full of lies and slavery. To serve those who put themselves above you, leaving you no choice. I cannot stand it and will do what I can to give others the chance to choose for themselves.”

“Even if it will put you at odds with the Church?” she raised an eyebrow.

“I am already at odds with them, Heidi!” Leo exclaimed and laughed. “Look around us! We are in the middle of nowhere. We came here in the back of a truck, hiding away like common criminals. They tried to kill me, for christ's sake. Spinning some lies that I am a terrorist now. What will my friends think back home? That I went all Al-Qaeda in Germany now and blew up a house of some important people? Common,” he paused for a second to calm down. “I am pretty much all-in with this mage business. It's not like I can go back to my life now.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

It was Heidi's turn to pause and think about what he had said. It was true that they were at odds with the church with no way back. Her father was in their custody. God knows what was being done to him at this very moment. And what was she accomplishing?

She hid away, sulking at her fate of staying mediocre with no way to progress her magic and core. She turned down a hand with help, even if an unlikely one.

She nodded as if disagreeing with something and nodded, “I agree, Leo. We are already at a point of no way back. To give up now would be to admit defeat for you. The same goes for me. I must try and break this curse with your help despite all the risks.”

“I do not ask you to risk it all on fools' hope. I just ask that you keep an open mind for when the time comes. And continue helping me to study. Your insights are helpful,“ Leo finished and smiled at her.

Heidi blushed, not used to him being honest with her and so forthcoming. It was almost as if he had changed overnight. However, everyone knew that gaining a core did not alter people besides enabling them to cast spells.

“Well? Are you going to talk about a big game or do some actual training then?” Heidi scoffed and turned away from Leo. He just smiled at her and nodded.

“You are right. I am getting ahead of myself. I have had practically no progress today. It is time to get back to business.”

“Do we watch the next crystal?” she asked.

“No,” Leo shook his head. “I will try to work and apply more of the insights I gained on mana channels. I feel I need to apply them as soon as possible to cement the learnings. As well as test a few things.”

“Like what?”

“It is a secret,” Leo smiled and teased her. “I will tell you if I am successful.” Heidi just accepted his playful attitude and nodded.

“Please do. It was nice to chat with you, Leo. It allowed me to get to know you a bit better. You have to understand it is more than unusual for a mundane person to become a mage. The way you did in particular. I mean, without a ritual. It was not clear to Viktor what your intentions would be once you discovered more about your condition, though now it is. At least for me. I will do everything I can to help you,” Heidi said, determined, and got up to collect the dishes of their impromptu lunch. “I will see you later,” she said and walked away.

Leo looked after her as she entered the cabin and nodded to himself, ‘I did not know that she felt that way about me. No wonder she has been so uptight around me lately. Well, back to the training.’

Leo stretched his back and sat in a comfortable lotus position he had been using, and went inside his core space. Once there, he immediately zeroed on his core, willing it forward, and concentrated on his mana. He could see that the mana channel he pulled the mana through before was not invisible anymore. It had a faint outline, giving the same green tint as his core.

‘Hmm,’ he thought. ‘As I can notice the channel I tested my theory on before, it must mean that some mana is absorbed by the channels while passing mana through them. Strengthening them and thus making it easier to distinguish among all the others. Then all I need to do is discover all the channels and pass mana through them at least once.’

Leo took his idea and got to work. As before, he pushed mana out of his core. He discovered all the channels connected to it and chose another one to focus on. He repeated the same steps of flooding the mana channel with mana to a point the mana did not stretch any further, lacking, what he thought, was pressure and volume of mana.

Leo repeated this multiple times until he noticed that the mana which flooded back into his core from the flushing of channels became less and less with each cycle. ‘Indeed, some of the mana I cycle is used to strengthen the channels,’ he thought. ‘I guess the next thing I need to do is to learn how to convert wild mana.’