"Well, you found out quicker than I expected."

"W-what?" Amy stammered, frantically looking between her own hands and her Familiar.

"Well, Amy, first thing's first, you need to calm down," Felin soothed, approaching her.

"Ho-how can I? I'm turn- I've just-"

"It's okay Amy," Felin said calmly, moving her notebook away and sitting on her lap, placing a paw on her shaky hand. "I had hoped we'd be doing this later on in your advancement, certainly not as early as this, but you're a good Apprentice and figured it out."

"I'm- I'm-" Amy whispered hoarsely, hyperventilating.

"You are fine. Nothing's wrong. You're not dying. You're not turning into something else. You are you. You will always be you. You will never change if you do not wish to. Nothing, no one, can change that."

"But-"

"No buts, Amy!" Felin shouted, firmly. "You are here. You are healthy, and you are whole. I'm the powerful Archfey from another plane, and if someone would know anything about magical health, it would be me. So, trust me, my Apprentice, when I tell you you're alright."

"O-okay," Amy muttered, not quite believing herself.

"Can you calm yourself down enough that you can speak properly?" Felin asked. "I can give you more time if you want, but I think it would be best if we get this over with quickly."

"I'll t-try," Amy murmured, clenching her free hand.

"Alright then," Felin nodded, looking out towards the window, "When you said that Mage Tiers are an adaptation to possibility, you weren't wrong. Certainly closer than your previous guess, but not the full picture. Ascension up the Mage Tiers isn't mandatory to keep casting Spells. A person can stay Mageling or Aspirant their entire lives if they so wish, and can even manage to cast higher 'Spell Tier' Spells if they work hard enough. Mage Tiers are the process by which a Mage takes on more mana, and, in doing so, becomes mana. Your mana pool needs to expand somewhere, and eventually, your body will be your mana pool. There would be no distinguishing them.

"In ascending the Tiers, you transform your physical self into your magical self, as a Concept. As your body is a body in Concept, it can still interact with reality physically, and has weight, needs, etcetera. These aspects are optional, however. Because, as a Concept, you can control what to keep as 'your self' and what not to. This is getting far into a topic that needs some more context so I digress."

"Alright," Amy said, feeling calmer but still unnerved.

"There are not only 6 Mage Tiers," Felin revealed. "I've hinted at it before this, but you might've not picked up on it. Monarch's aren't immortal either because they still have some aspect of themselves that remains physical. It's only when you ascend past Monarch, to the final Mage Tier, that you become fully magical. You become an Ascendant.

"In essence, you become no different from an Elemental. Instead of natural Elementals, an Ascendant is an Elemental of themselves. They are made up of and are an Element with a Concept of your self. This is often referred to as an Ascendant Element, otherwise the name's would get messy. Nobody wants to start calling my Ascendant Element Felin after all. There is also one other name that they're called. It's this that can be a bit shocking."

"I think I g-get it so far," Amy said, reeling from the implications, "So you can carry on. I- I'll pause you if it gets too much."

"Good," Felin complimented. "Ascendant Elements have another name. Divine Elements."

"Divine!" Amy exclaimed, sitting up straight.

"Ascendants are more than mortal. Not only are they immortal, but they essentially become gods. These are the gods you mortals worship. They're not unassailable beings, but simply Mages who have reached the peak of advancement. And... And this is why I was so concerned when you said that the gods have all disappeared."

"What do you- Oh," Amy said, realising part way through. "How...?"

"I don't know. I've tried to commune with them, sending special emergency signals into the Mana Ocean, but no Ascendant responded. The gods are all dead and I have no idea who, or what, killed them. And whatever did, left no evidence behind."

* * *

Sunlight peeked through the clearing storm clouds, shining the first rays of sunlight of the day through the windows of Amy's home. After Felin's revelation, she had moved to the table, working through some of her ideas about workings with the Familiar, taking her mind off of the obvious. Ascension. I suppose it makes sense that they call it 'ascending' through the Mage Tiers. Especially if the end of the Mage Tiers is becoming what is basically a god. Or a god-like being at least.

"Come on, you've been brooding for a while now," Felin complained, snatching her notebook away. "While I do admit you've done good work on making the Spellform, you deserve a break."

"I- I suppose I do," Amy said, looking down.

"I know it's a lot, but try not to think about it too much for now," Felin assured, "I know that's hard at the moment, but there's no use worrying about something you can't control."

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"It just feels so... wrong. To think that I'm not really... me. That I'm turning into something else."

"You're not though. You are a Mage, Amy, so you know better than anyone what mana can and can't do. Mana only does what you make it do. Nothing else. And if it doesn't? Then you've simply done it wrong. You will not change. You won't become anything you're not, if you don't want to. Trust me on that."

"I know, I know, I... I just need time." Amy frowned, rubbing her arms. "There's probably more you're not telling me too, no?"

"..."

"As I said, I need time. You can tell me more when I'm ready. Just... not now."

"Alright," Felin said, turning towards the window, seeming contemplative. Only, a look of what seemed like indecision crossed his face suddenly, making him seem clearly nervous as he fidgeted with his paws. Or is that embarrassment? Hard to tell with his feline features. "Do... Do you know how to cook, by any chance?"

"Sort of... why?" Amy asked, a ghost of a smile on her face.

"Well, I tried cooking in your kitchen when you were asleep to make some soup and it was simply impossible! How on Ryuen do you humans ever cook food?" Felin moaned, gesturing dramatically, clearly trying to take her mind off of the obvious and - somehow - working.

"How do you cook in the Fae realm then, if you find using a simple kitchen so hard?"

"Well, my realm is a mix of the magical and physical, unlike this one's purely physical make-up. That means certain aspects of reality are more... malleable than over here. This makes cooking as simple as willing a change into happening through mana. Of course, there has to be some things already there. You'd still need fire to cook, and all the ingredients present, but other than that, you don't actually have to really do anything."

"Now that sounds boring," Amy commented.

"Boring? How could you ever find cooking not boring! It's just a bunch of menial work that makes you even more hungry than you already were. It's... horrible," Felin shivered, closing his eyes.

"Oh, now you're just exaggerating. It isn't that bad. And sure it can be annoying at times, but that's only if you're cooking the wrong thing," Amy said, shaking her head. "Cooking's plenty of fun, especially if you're baking. Though that's technically different."

"Baking?"

"Like, making sweet food," Amy explained, confused. "Cake, bread, stuff like that."

"Why would baking be different from cooking then?"

"It's based on the type of food you make. Cooking's usually about the savoury, and baking, the sweet."

"Seems like a pointless distinction if you ask me."

"It's a good thing I'm not then as they're very different. Baking is more like alchemy than cooking, in my opinion."

"Oh, how so?" Felin shot up, intrigued.

"Most of the time, when you bake, you mix in different ingredients and reagents into some sort of mixture. What you do with the mixture depends on the recipe: whether that's shaping or rolling out dough; pouring it into trays for cakes; or all sorts of things. You then bake it in the oven or something similar and there you have it."

"That sounds... interesting," Felin said, squinting his eyes.

"Oh, stop it, it isn't that bad! It's plenty of fun once you get the hang of it. I enjoy baking much more than cooking anyways; maybe that's why I went into alchemy when I was being taught at my old School."

"You know alchemy?" Felin asked, surprised.

"I can hardly say I know alchemy, but I dabbled in it, yes. Enough so that I can act as a basic herbalist, which was my cover here in the village."

"Do you have a lab or work station then?"

"I did, but it;s where I'm keeping the meat from the hunt so I doubt it's getting much use any time soon." Amy said, before becoming confused. "Wait... how did we even get here?"

"I asked you if you knew how to cook," Felin said. "...I think."

"You want to learn how to cook then?"

"...Perhaps."

"Just to let you know, I'm not at all the best cook, and am much better at baking. So anything you learn from me will be basic." Amy pointed out. "Want to learn to bake instead?"

"I suppose. Very well, my young Apprentice, it seems like the master has become the student. Please instruct me in the ancient practice of 'baking' so that I may impress my peers at home," Felin prostrated, speaking in a strange tone.

"Your request is granted, young one. Shall we begin your studies swiftly, my student?" Amy asked magnanimously, a slight curve at the edge of her lips breaking her act.

"Indeed, with our combined baking prowess, we shall take over the world with sweet baked goods!" Felin proclaimed, standing up on his hind legs, arms open to the heavens.

"Dramatic, much?" Amy laughed, mellowing slightly as the truth of ascension reared its head in her mind once more. Of course I'm reminded of it just as I've gotten away from it. Typical.

"What shall we begin with, honoured master, on our journey to world domination?" Felin asked seriously, not breaking at all.

"Hmm..." Amy pondered, trying to take her mind off of things once more. "A simple sponge cake would work nicely. That or a honey cake. I'd have to buy more honey though, so a sponge will likely be for the best."

"And how does one bake this... 'sponge' cake? Doesn't sound very appetising at all, to be frank," Felin commented, trying to hide his excitement.

"Come on, let's get to the kitchen, and I'll dig out the ingredients. It's pretty simple; you're just putting the list of ingredients and their amounts into one big bowl and mixing it all together. Of course, the order matters, but after that you simply put it in the oven at the right temperature for the right time and it's done. No extra work really needed."

"Simple enough, then," Felin grinned, hopping up to the kitchen counter as his Apprentice searched her cupboards for the right things.

"First, let's get the butter and the sugar..."

As the afternoon arrived faster than expected, Amy couldn't help but wonder how she'd gotten here. Felin, covered in flour, was frantically moving about the mixing bowl, folding everything in with a comically large spoon compared to his size, splashing it everywhere. The new Apprentice herself was left cackling at her Familiar's antics, leaning against the counter for support, laughing her worries away. God, I wonder how long it'll take him to ask about the baking time, considering his reason behind hating regular cooking. Working up a sweat like this and not having anything to eat for at least half an hour will drive him mad. Lord, what did I ever do to...

Oh yeah. The gods are dead. Amy realised, possibly for the first time properly since Felin had said it. Eh. Doesn't affect me. They've been dead far longer than I've been alive so what could they possibly do for me? Curse me from beyond the grave? Hah! They are only supposed to be powerful Mages too. I mean, Monarchs are scary enough to think of, but when the gods are only higher Tier Mages? It makes it seem less frightening. Either way, I have a lot of questions for Felin. It's thrown my whole plan into disarray too. I'll sort it out when I next get a chance though.

"Amy, I'm done! At last, the mixing has been defeated!" Felin exclaimed, puffing his chest with a smug smile on his face. Inspecting his work, the mixture was mostly consistent and it seemed that the cat had done some good work. Impressive.

"Indeed it has, my baking student. Now, the next step awaits. Pouring!"