Summer, age 5.

Today my father brought me with him to treat Emelia. He does this every now and again, and I always enjoy it. Not only is Emelia great company, but the things her father, Alfred, makes are rather interesting.

``Oh hello Nathan, where's your father? I mean, are you here by yourself?''

``He had another patient he had to attend, so he let me come alone. Is Emelia doing alright? Mind if I go talk to her until my father comes?''

``She's not doing so well this time, and I think she wants to be alone you know. I'd call for Sarah and Tony, but they're visiting friends. So I'm afraid there's no one but me to keep you company.''

``That is quite alright. Say, what exactly are you doing right now?''

``I'm imprinting this crystal with the magic formation that controls it. Hey, do you know how imprinting works?''

``Not at all, is it difficult?''

``To some. To imprint a magic on a crystal you have to be able to cast it chantless, which some find very difficult. Your parents, for instance, although very skilled have only few magics that they can do chantless. Because, you know, they have to put in a lot of practice to make it work, instead focusing on mastering a few magics. I'm lucky enough that I have little trouble with chantless incantations. I may not be a match for either of your parents in a fight,-

From what I've seen, few are. Seriously, what's up with how different those battle freaks are from the quiet and shy parents I'm used to?!

- but it makes it easier for me to work as an imprinter. Of course, there's more to imprinting than that, but, you know, it does make it easier. Say, are you interested in imprinting?''

``There's not a whole lot to do at home, so I often play with the wands my parents bought here. I always wonder how exactly they work''

``Really? Hmm, so young and yet so inquisitive.''

Well.. Not really though..

Alfred gets down on one knee to level his head with mine.

``Say, do you want me to teach you how to imprint a mana crystal? I can teach you whenever you come to play with Sarah and Tony, or when you come to talk with Emelia.''

``Sure, that sounds like fun. But I don't know any magic, can I still imprint it?''

``You can only imprint magic you know well enough to do chantless remember? But, you know, there are a few things you can imprint that isn't magic. For instance, you can make the mana crystal warm up, or make it shine. These kinds of magic tools are simple to make, so they are considered good beginner projects.''

Stolen story; please report.

``I'd like that.''

``Alright then, follow me. I usually imprint over here, in the corner of the shop. You know, so I can still greet customers. Here, take a seat, make sure you're comfortable because it may very well take a while.''

He pulls out a cushioned stool for me, which I jump onto. It's a bit tall, but I'll manage.

``Before I get a blank crystal, I want you to envision this, and listen closely because if I tell you anything while you're doing it, you won't be able to focus. Imagine a vortex, spinning around in a globe. There's a string extending from the middle of the vortex up to a sphere. Make sure you imagine it coming from exactly the middle of the vortex, or it's going to waste a lot of magic. Now focus on the sphere. It's glowing radiantly, with every part of the sphere glowing equally. Can you imagine all of this at the same time?''

I close my eyes and try to picture all of it in my minds eye.

``.. I think I've got it.''

``Good. Once I give you this crystal, you need to picture all of it at once and then thread mana through the shape that appears in your mind. It's a peculiar feeling, but don't try to push it away, just embrace it. Are you ready?''

``Yes.''

Alfred gestures for me to sit comfortably with my hands in front of me. He hands me a crystal.

The moment I touch it, everything turns grey and the world slows down, same as with all the other mana crystals.

I wait for him to retract his hands, after which he gives me a nod. I make sure to breathe while this is happening, which is weird with time moving so slowly.

I then turn my focus on the crystal. I imagine the vortex, the string, and the sphere. I imagine the vortex spinning, just like I saw the light spinning in the other crystals. I focus harder, I see the string conducting the stream upwards, running around the string itself. At the end of the string is a sphere. It's dark. I imagine the stream entering the sphere. The stream powers the sphere, it energizes it, and makes it glow.

My tension slowly dissipates, and my consciousness is pulled deeper into the crystal.

Small interconnected lines appear in front of me. The pattern they form doesn't look like anything I have ever seen. Is this what I'm supposed to thread mana through? How the hell am I supposed to do that?

..

Nothing ventured nothing gained. Might as well try something, anything.

First off, let's try pouring mana into it.

Ohh, something started glowing. So I guess my mana is inserted into the pattern from that end. Lets do this.

With much trial and error, especially because powering a line is like balancing two sticks at the same time, and going the right way in an intersection is like threading three needles at once when they aren't positioned in a straight line, i slowly push my mana through the maze of dim lines, lighting them up as mana mana moves throu-

The world snaps into focus.

I stare in confusion at Alfred for a second before-

GAAAASP!!

``Why the heck were you not breathing you little runt?! You're supposed to be taken in by it, but not to the point where you turn blue in the face!''

Still gasping for air, I don't really have an answer for that.

``Sigh.. Don't pull that shit on me kid.''

He mumbles, more to himself than to me.

Finally catching my breath, I send Alfred a cocky smile.

``Wanna try again?''

He looks at me with a bewildered expression for a second, before giggling to himself:

``This damn kid is gonna be the death of me.''

He looks up at me with a defying smile.

``Fine, but this time don't try to focus on finishing. You know, just try to breathe.''

He gets back up and dusts off his pants.

``Alright then, back up we go, and for the gods sake, remember to breathe!''

I spent the rest of the day turning blue and Alfred taking the crystal from my hands before I figured out how to breathe when fully immersed in the crystal. We were so into it, my father simply slipped past us and treated Emelia, before bringing her out to laugh at us.

We didn't even notice.