“Yo, Noah, come on! We’re having a toast for Jenni’s thesis approval.”

“Sure, just a second.”

“Come on, Nay Nay, it’s my happy day-day! Drink up! Scream up!” Jennifer dragged me off the chair, hugging my arm tightly.

I followed her to the large table in the middle of the bar where all the graduates from our year had assembled, holding my beer mug in my right hand. Some faces were familiar, but others were quite peculiar to me. Well, it’s not like my social life was something to praise anyway.

The bar was buzzing with laughter and chatter, a mix of celebratory chaos and the clinking of glasses. Jennifer climbed on top of the table, having drunk to the point where she had no more regard for social standards. She waved her beer cup around, spilling it left and right. “Thank you all for coming, *hiccup*!”

If it wasn’t for Jacob nudging me to come, I would have rather stayed home.

“Today is my special day *hiccup*. I want you all to raise your cups" she said, barely able to hold her stance. “Cheeeeeeeee–uuuuuh.” Suddenly, she lost balance and almost fell off the table if not for Jacob, who was quick to the rescue.

Everyone laughed hysterically as I stood there, watching the clumsy Jennifer poke Jacob’s cheeks as he tried to lift her up.

*twitch*

Huh?

*twitch*

What’s happening? My vision is twitching—ugh. I rubbed my eyes and blinked a couple of times.

Alright, good. I must be drunk—*twitch*

Suddenly, the scene before me changed. Jacob was holding Jennifer's corpse, screaming and crying. Blood splattered everywhere, rendering the scene red. A pitch-black figure stood right behind them, its smile stretching from ear to ear, sending shivers down my spine. Then, just as quickly, everything returned to normal.

I held my head, trying to make sense of what happened, then turned around and went back to the bar.

What the hell happened there?

While contemplating the situation, a hand gently rested on my shoulder. “Yo, bro, what’s going on?” Jacob sat down next to me, looking at me with his annoying sparkling eyes.

“Is Jennifer okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, you know Jenni can’t hold her liquor. A couple of beers in and she almost dove headfirst into the ground.”

“Yeah.”

“Look at her now, flirting with Steph... oh... oh, are they gonna kiss?” said Jacob, his face all intense. “Aaaah, she turned him down.”

“Good for her.”

“That’s your take?”

“What take would you want?”

“Listen, man, I get that you like to sit alone and all that main character's mysterious shit. But if you don’t do anything. You will lose her. I’m telling you this for your own benefit. She likes you, man.”

“She’s a nice woman, but I can’t give her what she wants.”

“Alright, man, I won’t force you. You’re a grown-up now. However, why do you seem so down? Does your head hurt?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

“Don’t lie to me. You were fine a couple of minutes ago, but now you seem like you’ve lost the mortgage on your house.”

He would make fun of me if I told him anyway.

“It’s really not worth mentioning, Jacob.”

“Let me guess, you’ve seen something that bothered you.”

“Yeah, quite the detective.”

“Something strange but frightening.”

Exactly.

“Kind of.”

“It must be that old lady’s tongue play with her date at the end of the bar. I saw that shit, it was horrendous, aaaaagh.”

“Yeah, that was definitely it" I said, chuckling a little bit.

“Or should I say…” he continued.

“Come on, Jacob, that’s enough.”

“...that you’ve seen the devil?”

The devil, huh? “Stop it.”

“Or maybe… Death?”

“Huh? What do you—” I turned towards Jacob. A wide, creepy smile stretched from ear to ear. “I–found–you" he sang in a haunting, melodic tone.

“W–w–what?”

「Wake up, Luka」

Huh? I stood frozen in shock as light emerged from behind Jacob, flooding the space.

“We will meet soon, Luka Glynn" said the entity, its voice echoing as the last bits of Jacob's face disappeared into the blinding light.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

*HEAVY INHALE*

The blinding light dissipated, leaving me disoriented and breathless. Blinking rapidly, I struggled to make sense of what happened. The air felt heavy, my heart racing as remnants of his creepy face lingered like a faint echo in my mind.

“You’re finally awake, Lu!!”

Ariana's voice cut through the lingering haze of fear. She was sitting next to me, her eyes wide with concern. “Ah! It was a nightmare” I sighed in relief, then turned to Ariana. “Who sits still and watches someone sleep? Creep" I said in a mocking tone.

“WhO SiTs StilL AnD wAtCh….” Ariana exaggerated, blowing a raspberry. “At least I don’t wet my bed.”

“You little—it’s sweat from the heat!” I replied, pushing myself up from the bed. The cool air of my room enveloped me, contrasting sharply with the residual warmth of the dream. I glanced around, reassuring myself that I was indeed back in my familiar surroundings.

I chasing Ariana out of the room and through the corridor. Suddenly, we collided into each other. “Why did you stop so abruptly?” I asked, rubbing my forehead.

“I see you have restored your energy, young Luka.” I looked up to see Eleanor’s soft smile. “Now that a new day has blessed us, it’s time to start your training.”

“But it’s too early! I want to play more with Luka" Ariana protested.

“I understand, but I don’t think Luka shares the same interest right now. He has a promise to fulfill, after all, isn’t that so?” Eleanor said, glancing at me. My eyes sparkled with anticipation, my spirit ignited with commitment and determination.

We left the castle and hopped on the moving bridge towards a lower level of the tree. The tree felt like a synthetic condominium.

“Is everything here divided into levels?” I asked Eleanor.

“Yes, you see, the tree is divided into three parts: The royal level, the median city, and the lower levels" he replied.

“And everything is crammed into one giant tree?”

“It’s a mistake to treat the holy tree as simply a tree. You would be surprised what mysteries it holds.”

“I see, but if the royal levels are set on the upper branches, I can understand how that works. However, for a city to be hidden deep within the core of the tree, wouldn’t it be inconvenient? Like, no sunlight and all.”

“Aha, well, you’ll have to wait till we visit it. You’ll understand then.”

Would it have hurt him to answer me? I’ll drop it for now nonetheless.

“Alright, we’re here. The royal garden.”

“Garden? Isn’t this just another building?”

“Yes, since the royal levels are all built on the colossal branches, each block is a building, designed to fulfill a certain purpose.”

We entered through the gate to find ourselves inside a large grassy room with curved glass walls. All kinds of weird yet majestic flowers were scattered everywhere, with streams of water running between the fields.

“Amazing" I said, completely astonished.

But where did the water come from? Heck, we’re basically one kilometer above the surface. Magic is a frightening thing...

“Alright, focus, Luka. We’re here for training.”

I forgot about that part.

“I have a question, how are you so sure that I can use magic? It could’ve been just a fluke.”

“For starters, there is no such thing as a fluke. You used magic, so you are able to use magic” replied Eleanor.

“And you have an aura around you" added Ariana.

“Aura?”

“Yes, you know, you need aura to use magic" she continued.

“I get that, but what is it?”

“It’s the energy.”

God bless her for her inability to explain anything.

“Are you slow?”

“Come on, Ari, don’t confuse him" said Eleanor. “You see, the world runs on energy, a force emitted from the earth’s core which is connected to everything that exists.”

“And said energy is used to conjure magic?”

“Now hold on a minute. Magic is the art of controlling the energy and bending it to our will. However, one cannot control said energy directly as we are only a consequence of its natural flow.”

“To each cause, there exists a set of consequences. But the effect cannot affect the origin”

“Huh?!” said Ariana, her brain fried from confusion.

“Exactly" replied Eleanor. “Now you have to listen to this too, Ariana. It’s time for you to learn about it as well. Each being on this earth is born accompanied by a spirit created from the very essence of this energy.”

“Wait, wait, wait... you said that too fast.”

“I have a spirit?” said Ariana.

“Alright. First things first, from what we understand from the historic documents, the essence of the earth’s magic gives birth to spirits connected directly to it. Now, these spirits do not have physical bodies. The way things work, each being on this earth is like a vessel to the spirits, channeling their energy and bending it to their will to become what we call the arcanists.”

“So are they parasites?”

“What’s that?” said Eleanor.

Oh, they do not know about parasites yet.

“They cannot live on their own, so they feed on somebody else’s life force.”

“That’s a harsh way to put it, but you’re not totally wrong. We can say that it’s a mutually beneficial relationship.”

“I see.”

I looked around to see Ariana with her mouth open, spiked hair, and teary eyes.

“Ari, imagine you have a friend that you can’t see nor hear who is always by your side, helping you to do those awesome things with magic.”

“Aaaaah” her eyes lit up. “But why can't I see or hear her?”

..Her? She already decided that it’s a female.

“Since they do not have physical bodies, they cannot be seen but can be felt" explained Eleanor. “As for hearing them, I need to explain how magic works first.”

Eleanor stepped back a couple of steps, freed his hair from beneath his robe, and pointed his index finger to the air. “The first key to manipulating aura is to connect with your spirit.”

“Connect?” I asked.

“Yes, everything related to magic reflects how compatible the caster is with their spirit. The tighter the connection, the stronger the magic.”

“And how does one know the strength of his connection?”

“It’s visible in the aura around the arcanist" explained Eleanor, a faint aura enveloping his body. “This is what we call the first barrier, the aura is faint but visible.” Then, his aura intensified. “This is the second barrier, the aura is jagged, reflecting the strength of the magic but weak control.” Suddenly, the atmosphere changed, a sense of chill and calm enveloping the air. “And this is the third barrier, the aura is as smooth as candlelight but its strength rivals cyclones. At this stage, the level of connection allows for verbal communication between the spirit and the arcanist.”

Does that mean I am at the third barrier already? That doesn’t make sense since my aura is barely visible.

I gulped, observing the energy around him. I could sense that he was very strong... But I couldn’t shake the uneasiness that haunted me. If Eleanor is this strong yet he got overpowered by that monstrous soldier... Then, how strong was he?

I quickly shook my head. “I noticed that your aura gets greener with each barrier you cross.”

“Yes, and that brings us to my last point, the elements.”

“Ooooh, elements!” exclaimed Ariana.

“There are four elements in this world: Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire. Each spirit is attuned to one of these elements, granting the arcanist the ability to manipulate elemental magic. The color of the aura reflects the type of magic and its element; for instance, my green aura indicates my affinity for wind and my forest origin. In rare cases, spirits can be born from multiple elements, merging into a hybrid element. Well, I believe this provides a sufficient introduction, as magic is too intricate to fully explain in a single day.”

I nodded, absorbing the information. The concept of elemental magic was fascinating, and I couldn’t wait to explore it further.

Eleanor smiled, sensing my eagerness. “Patience, young arcanist. Mastery comes with time and practice.”

..He he he, young arcanist he said.

“There is one thing that’s bothering me though.”

“Do tell.”

Actually, there were two things. He said there are four elements, but none of which explain the light I used. Well, maybe it’s a deviation from fire? Who knows?

“My mother always spoke of ‘The Guardians,’ yet you have said no word about them.”

“We’ve only heard about the Guardians from stories passed around through generations. Although many people believe in them, I want to stay true to what’s right in front of us.”

“I see.”

“Nevertheless, there is always an answer to any question. Even if I can’t provide one, search for it yourself.”

Ariana, still bubbling with excitement, jumped in. “So, what’s next, dad? Can we start with some cool spells?”

Eleanor chuckled. “We will, but first, let’s work on strengthening your connection with your spirit. This will be the foundation for everything you do with magic.”

We spent the next hour focusing on meditation exercises. Eleanor guided us through various techniques to enhance our awareness of the aura and the spirit within us. I found it challenging to quiet my mind, half of my thoughts were still hanging on the dream I had, another part was questioning whether I was wasting time instead of going to rescue my mother.

As the session progressed, Ariana managed to produce a small gust of wind in her palm, her face lighting up with pride. “Look, Luka! I did it!”

“That’s amazing, Ariana!” I replied, genuinely impressed. Despite her playful nature, she had a natural talent for magic.

Eleanor nodded approvingly. “Well done, Ariana. Your wind attribute is strong.”

“...I can’t stop it” said Ariana, her voice wavering

“What do you mea–” Suddenly, the greenish wind on her palm turned gray, growing in size by the second. Then, it stopped.

“Oh my !” exclaimed Eleanor

“What’s that?” I asked

“She’s a hybrid, a storm hybrid of wind and water same as the queen”

I looked at Ariana who was surprised at herself, her eyes sparkling with pride. Maybe she actually was more talented than I thought.

Turning to me, Eleanor watched me squeezing myself trying to emit the tiniest bit of magic but with no result.

I looked at him, with a pitiful look, sitting on my knees. “Do I actually have no talent?”

Ariana approached me and patted my head “It’s okay, not everyone is born the same” she said with a smirk on her face.

“You little sh–” I suddenly froze, feeling Eleanor’s death gaze as I jumped on my feet trying to catch Ariana.

“Well at least I talked with my spirit and you still haven’t” I said to Ariana with an imposing tone.

..huh? Did I just say that?

“What do you mean by that” asked Eleanor

..I didn’t feel my heart aching.. How was I able to say what I couldn’t the last time I was with the councilors?