The council of mages' meeting room in the Tower of Magic was always relatively full. At minimum, there would be two or three arch-mages using the room to argue about something. There were always new findings to discuss, and new conclusions to defend. But over the past week, the topic of conversation always had to do with the anomaly that was currently living in Dorchester.
At first, the mage-council was watching the young man’s every move with interest, but over time their attention began to slip. It was difficult for any subject to hold their interest for a prolonged period of time. But there was still always at least one mage watching what the young troublemaker was up to. In fact, the council had a long-range scry-connection set up between the council chamber’s communication crystal and their leader, Arch-mage Jennings, who was currently in Dorchester, personally monitoring the anomaly.
But this morning, the mage council was gathering like ants on an apple core. Word had gotten around that the anomaly had received his first pillar, and it was said to be a doozy.
Large screens were hovering in the room above the large circular table, each displaying records of readings taken from Nero during some of his more interesting events. There were videos playing of the young man’s highlights, although if asked, the arch-mages would refer to them as reference materials.
As more and more random mages burst into the room as word of mouth spread, the conversation became more lively as those who had been absent were caught up on Nero’s life. From the side of the table, a mage shouted, “I found it! There was a record for an ‘adaptation’ pillar. Dammit! Give me control of one of the projectors!”
Taking control of one of the screens, she brought up the historical account of the only person in history to have an ‘adaptation’ pillar before Nero. The mages all quieted down and started reading the report currently displayed on the massive hologram. Quiet mutterings could be heard, but the room was relatively silent considering there were almost 35 mages and arch-mages crammed into the room.
One of the mages broke the silence by asking, “Is this everything we have? All of this is anecdotal. There was no data collected? No studies on the subject?” Angry murmurs started throughout the crowd, as the mob was unhappy with the limited information.
Arch-mage Mathers took control of the room by shouting, “Quiet down! Jennings needs to hear this. Everyone who isn’t on the council, I want you out of here. Feel free to take over one of the meeting halls and continue with your analyses and debates.” As the mages started filing out of the room, Mathers pointed to the mage who’d found the record and said, “Mage-adept Clancy, you can stay. You found the record, so you should be the one who presents it to the director.”
Mage-adept Clancy nodded with a smile, proud to be included. She straightened her robes, and tried to adopt an air of confidence. Soon, she was the youngest person remaining in the room by hundreds of years. Taking a seat at the table, she watched as the mage-council took their places while Mathers contacted Jennings through the scry-link.
The communication crystal lit up, and an excited Jennings appeared on a screen hovering in front of the mage council. “What did you find out? The records out here were useless. Tell me everything!” he said while bouncing in his seat.
Mathers smiled and waved permission for Mage-adept Clancy to share her findings. Coughing into her hand to clear her throat, she stood up and addressed the room in a clear voice. “1830 years ago, during the reign of King Marcus, a boy awakened while in a dungeon. He had been living in the dungeon since he was 6, as his older siblings had tricked him into the dungeon and then left him there. Lost, he went further in, and eventually forgot about the outside world. He stayed there until he was 23, at which time he was found by delvers. His story was so unusual that it was recorded and the man became a local celebrity in the nearby city of Connington.” She brought up the relevant holograms depicting images of the man along with his story, displaying them for the council’s evaluation.
Jennings said with obvious annoyance, “I’m assuming you’re telling me this because the man had the ‘adaptation’ pillar?”
Clancy didn’t seem to mind the interruption and just continued, “The local mage tower worked with him, recording his life story and observing his growth. Their findings were logged in the ‘regional oddities’ section of the historical archive. The man lived to 640 years old when he was killed by a marsh hydra while delving the ‘Pit of despair’ outside Connington. But his life was rather interesting, he -”
Jennings interrupted, wanting her to get to the point, he said, “Just tell me about the pillar, then send me the file.”
Frowning in annoyance, Clancy replied, “From the records, the mages didn’t seem to be very impressed with the pillar. The man was a physical fighter and his pillar seemed to aid in his training. He was reported to have unlimited stamina, and could fight well past the point where others would collapse. He recovered faster from injuries, and could survive in any environment. The mages made note of the fact that the pillar just seemed to increase the man’s natural abilities. Reportedly, there were no special abilities that were gained, or powers that manifested. By all accounts, the ‘adaptation’ pillar was the least interesting thing about the man. Going back to what I was saying, he was a renowned bard who adventured into -”
Jennings interrupted again, even more annoyed, “Didn’t they do any level tracking? Essence evaluations? Don’t we know anything?”
Mathers, who had been looking through the file, said, “They didn’t seem to think his pillar was worth investigating. Most of what was recorded concerned his life and how he survived such an ordeal while growing up. I’m afraid that you’ll have to figure it out on your own. Have you noticed anything of note?”
Jennings shook his head and replied, “He just got the pillar last night, it will take some time before I can make any conclusions. I was hoping for some information on what to expect going forward. I guess it doesn’t matter. But, let me know if you find anything else.” With a wave of his hand, the connection winked out, and the mage council was left staring at the wall.
Clancy said, “Well, at least Dorchester hasn’t made him WORSE.”
The council chuckled, and one of the arch-mages addressed Mage-adept Clancy. “Thank you for your work. We’ll let you know if we need anything else.”
Clancy offered the council a small bow, then left the council chambers.
Another arch-mage from off to the side said, “While we’re here, did anyone see the kid’s close quarters combat training yesterday? If you missed it, it’s definitely worth seeing.”
Mathers said, “I was busy meeting with the Expansion commission about that Bloodwater thing. If you have a copy, throw it up. Let’s see what we missed.”
Along with nods from around the room, the sound of personal spaces being opened to retrieve popcorn were omnipresent. Soon the mages were chewing and wincing as they watched Nero being beaten to death by Cathleen, over and over again.
“The kid really is fun to watch, huh?” one of the mages whispered to the mage next to him.
His friend just nodded as she watched the screen while sipping her drink through a curly-straw.
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He tried to ignore Specialist Howard and Nick arguing about how battlefields affected large scale magical combat, while focusing on his spell work. Rather than attempting to stamp his spells, he was trying to conserve as much center as possible while rapid firing small fireballs at his target.
According to Specialist Howard, the trick was to inscribe the spell form into reality as quickly as possible, while keeping a firm hold on the essence from your center. If you were careful, you could collect most of the essence back into your center when you released the spell-form. ‘Stamping’ a spell-form made the recovery more difficult, but it could be done.
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The more Nero learned about casting, the more he realized that everything came down to control of his identity. His constructs would become extensions of his identity when he infused them with his center. And as long as he kept firm control of his center, it kept his identity intact. Over time, the world would overwrite his control, and the essence he spent on the constructs would return to being ‘the world’s’.
Standing with his left foot forward while crouching, Nero fired baseball sized fireballs from his hands like he was in an anime. Every two seconds, he felt a ‘thump’ as the essence was collected the ether then released as a shot. Trying to keep his breathing even, he blinked away the sweat while trying to concentrate. Although this wasn’t the kind of training he had been expecting, he understood its purpose.
“Nero, take a break and get some water,” shouted Specialist Howard.
Panting, Nero let his arms fall to the side after collecting whatever essence was left from his spell form. He stumbled over to a bench and took a seat. Grabbing a canteen, Nero took large gulps as he spilled water all over the place. Both Nick and Specialist Howard were impressed with Nero’s dedication. However, they also thought he was an idiot.
Nick sat down next to Nero and said, “Have you managed to infuse your center into your spells?”
Nodding, Nero tried to catch his breath. Nick just waited patiently for Nero to be able to speak again. Specialist Howard went over to the targets to inspect them for damage and check on Nero’s essence signature.
Nero finally managed to say, “I’ve been doing what you said. But, it’s hard to give the spell’s ‘my meaning’. Infusing my center into every spell takes a lot of concentration. Is it really necessary?”
Chuckling, Nick said, “Yes Nero, if you don’t impart your center into your spells, they will just fall apart when they interact with another identity. Even a fireball wouldn’t harm a bush without you putting some of yourself into it. Remember, the stronger you are, the more of ‘you’ your spells can hold.” Gesturing at Specialist Howard, Nick continued, “Someone like him would barely have to make an effort, and he would obliterate your essence shield. Sentient species can add their will to their essence, but everything in this world has an identity. Magical combat is dependent on you enforcing your identity into your constructs. Every spell… Every. Single. Spell requires your full effort.”
Shoulders slumped, Nero could only manage to nod weakly. Even though it sounded like ‘jibber jabber’, Nero understood what Nick was trying to say. The material world was made up of essence constructs that had an identity. The spells Nero formed just made temporary, weak imitations. Unless he poured some of his identity into them, they weren’t ‘really’ there at all. They were just holograms without substance. It was weird to think about, but a 100 year old tree had a better natural defense than a freshly awakened human.
Thinking back to his arena fight, Nero realized just how lucky he had been. If his opponent were just a few levels higher, Nero’s laser would have been useless. And he had only won the noble war because his air bomb relied on the surrounding air’s identity, not his spell’s. Magical combat was so very simple, yet so very hard.
All of the books Nero had read were theory books. Even the household spells book was really just a list of spell-forms that were considered useful. Nero had learned more in the past two days from Specialist Howard than he had from all of hours he had spent reading. But it hadn’t really been the information offered, it was mostly the simple explanations Specialist Howard offered on how to properly cast. It was like Nero had been trying to learn how to drive from reading manuals describing how internal combustion engines worked.
Now that he understood the basics of magical combat, he saw why it was so difficult. The center requirements were harsh. If Nero didn’t have such a larger center, then he could only cast a spell or two before he would be out of energy. Stamina could be increased by keeping tight control of his center. But precision required practice, so any waste was disastrous.
Luckily, Nero had center to spare for training. It turned out that although the amount of center a person had was based on several factors, it mostly boiled down to how large a soul you had. And if there was one thing Nero had going for him, it was a ridiculously robust soul.
Checking, he saw his center was at 56%. It would take a while for his body to appropriate more essence from the surroundings and infuse his identity into it in order to replenish his reserves. On average, Nero was refilling his center at around 20% an hour. Both Nick and Specialist Howard seemed to think that was incredibly fast, but to Nero, it felt absurd. Why couldn’t he refill his ‘mana’ like a video game; 30 seconds while out of combat, and back to full.
While Nick watched over a recovering Nero, Specialist Howard walked up and said, “All right, let’s take a break from casting and work on some spell-forms. Nero, how is your personal space coming?”
After groaning in annoyance, Nero said, “I haven’t had a chance to work on it. The conceptual method for retrieval is easy, but I’m not comfortable with the creation spell-form. And I don’t want to screw it up. Who knows what can happen if I mess up the anchor? This is my soul we’re talking about here.”
Nick answered the rhetorical question. “I know what can happen. Nothing. If you mess up, the space will just lose cohesion and return to the ether. Show me your spell-form, I’ll be able to tell if you’re ready to cast it,” he said.
With a grimace, Nero said, “Fine. But I’m not actually going to cast it.”
Still sitting on the bench, Nero held out his hands and carved the spell-form for creating a personalized pocket dimension along with the anchor he could hook onto his soul. As it was solely comprised of his center, the spell-form seemed to glow to his senses. Nero was careful not to let any ambient essence be pulled into the spell-form, he didn’t want to accidentally cast it.
Both Specialist Howard and Nick were studying Nero’s spell-form. They were both looking intently and muttering to themselves. Nero felt like he was showing a drawing he had made to his parents and was now patiently waiting for their approval.
After waiting for almost a full minute, Nero got annoyed and said, “Well? Is it close enough? How hard is it to just tell me what I did wrong?”
Nick’s eyes snapped to Nero and he said, “Not everyone can actually see spell-forms Nero. We have to feel around for them, and then build an image in our head of what the spell-form actually looks like. Just be patient.”
Nero raised his eyebrows in surprise. While he focused on keeping the spell-form stable, he thought about what Nick had just said. Nero knew that he had very astute psychic senses, but he hadn’t realized it was that out of the ordinary. In a way, this was game-changing, while also changing nothing. It was an advantage that he had been taking for granted. He decided that he should spend some more time watching other people cast, and start mentally studying their spell-forms.
Finally, Specialist Howard said, “It should work. I don’t see any issues. But I have to ask, why did you make it so small?”
Nero replied, “What do you mean? This is how the spell was in the book. Should I make the spell-form bigger? Why would that matter?”
Nick said, “He means why do you have the size component of the spell form so small. This is a beginner’s pocket space, you should be able to manage a much larger one. Do you know which part of the spell designates the volume of your personal dimension?”
Nero looked at his spell and said, “Um… yeah, I think so. I just need to change this part.” As he spoke, he shifted the spell form to quadruple the space. If his guess was right, it would make a personal dimension around 4ft by 4ft. Which should be plenty of space for all his books and spare clothes.
Both Nick and Specialist Howard nodded, and Nick said, “Yeah, that’ll work. Just cast it, you’ll be fine. Stop being a baby.”
Frowning, Nero gave in to peer pressure. The moment he let the spell-form activate, it started dragging in space essence along with numerous others. Nero watched as it seemed to attach a tendril to his chest, then expand quickly and vanish. Yet, Nero could still feel it. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but he felt like he added a tab to his identity panel. It only took a thought, and it was like his mind could see a very small room. Even though it was completely dark, he could feel the emptiness waiting to be filled.
Smiling, Nero said, “I think it worked. I can see a small room in my soul waiting to be filled, that’s just wild.”
Specialist Howard asked, “What do you mean when you say you can ‘see it’?”
Nick responded, “I think Nero has achieved soul mind unity. Don’t worry about it. It’s most likely because of his unique history. From what I understand, it usually happens around level 75 for mages, sometimes later. I’ve read about it.”
Nero looked at the two with confusion, and said, “Huh?”
Specialist Howard looked shocked, but snapped back to reality quickly. Turning to Nero, he said, “Don’t worry about it. Look it up on your own time. Now I want you to show me the spell-forms that you know. Keep hold of your center, and try not to let any escape. Cast nothing, just carve the spells. We’ll see what you remember from yesterday.” Turning his head to look at Nick, he said, “And you should go actually get some training in. Standing here watching Nero work his ass off doesn’t count.”
Nick huffed at the implied insult, but still got up to go get some practice in. Although he did manage to convey his disinterest by walking away like a child being told to go to his room.
Ignoring Nick’s petulance, Specialist Howard crossed his arms and said, “Alright, Now start with the basic elemental series I showed you. Start with the 10 earth spells I showed you, then we’ll move on from there. Hold them one at a time. I’ll tell you when you can release them.”
Sighing, Nero stood up and returned to the training circle. Checking, he saw that he was down to 53% center. Mentally, he scolded himself for having such poor control. He’d have to get better at holding his center. Focusing, he cast the first earth spell Specialist Howard had shown him.
As the spell-form for creating a blast of pebbles formed in front of him, he heard Specialist Howard bark, “Focus Nero! Stop leaking your center. Hold onto your center like your life depends on it, because at some point, it will.”
Nodding, Nero furrowed his brow and focused. ‘Time and Effort… that’s all it takes. Time and Effort,’ he told himself.