Sunset claimed the horizon, bathing it in beautiful oranges and purples, the day gone in what felt like no time at all. Amy sat at her table, munching on a slice of the cake her dutiful student had baked, enjoying it immensely. She would've wanted more if Felin hadn't already eaten it all, lounging on top of its remains. His expression was one of absolute ecstasy, crumbs lacing the edges of his wide, satisfied smile.
"I take it back, Amy. Baking is very much wonderful," Felin moaned from on top his spongy throne, licking his paws clean.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Felin, but you could've left more for me," Amy said, her lips curled.
"But- it's simply delightful, how could I have resisted this? You should've taken more," Felin purred.
"Just because you baked it doesn't mean I didn't provide the ingredients," Amy grumbled, shaking her head. "Oh well, it's too late now. Just make sure there's more for me next time."
"It's a deal," Felin nodded sagely, his eyes flickering green.
The pair returned to sitting there in silence, as they'd done while he had eaten, Amy watching the sunset in contemplation and ignoring her Familiar's displays of magic, while the cat continued his feast. By the time the sun was no longer visible, Felin had finished, a white-flamed candle brought out to illuminate the dark room. Even if it's no different from a regular candle, the novelty of it is nice; I'm glad I took it from the coffin in the end. That pointed hat's still gathering dust though. Unless Felin took it.
"You're ready now for the conversation?" The cat sighed, getting up and sitting down properly.
"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose," Amy muttered, the white candlelight suddenly seeming ominous.
"Alright then. Let's begin.
"Ascension is... trickier than I've let on," Felin explained.
"I mean... I've sort of gathered that already," Amy admitted. "You're so much more powerful than me that it makes sense you'd trivialise these things."
"Perhaps, but there's still things which have been understated. The so-called attunement of your mana is one such aspect. Although I never lied about it being correctable in future Tiers, it becomes more of an impossibility the longer you leave it. Eventually, this imbalance in your attuned mana pool makes it that you can no longer advance further than your current Tier by virtue of what ascension is.
"For example, an Apprentice who ascends to Journeyman without full attunement of their mana will find it difficult to ascend to Archmage and, if they haven't sorted out this imbalance beforehand, find themselves essentially unable to ascend to Monarch regardless of how skilled they actually are. In theory, this problem is solvable, but only as long as you don't factor time into the equation. Mages only live so long even with their enhanced lifespans at higher Tiers and their time would run out before they could fix their issue."
"Shouldn't many, no, most Mages be made aware of this then?" Amy asked, confused. "It seems cruel to just leave most Mages in the dark and... kill their potential because of it."
"You could say that it's cruel, my young Apprentice, yet I'd argue that it is a mercy," Felin said sorrowfully. "Ascension is a road... One that only few should dare walk. Only the dedicated can survive its tribulations. Power and patience is a necessity to advancement and without it, the Mage is nothing. You will understand this as you ascend. It simply... isn't something I can properly convey when you're this young."
"If you say so," Amy frowned, stuck between confusion and annoyance. I guess this is yet another secret he's hiding from me.
"To advance and become an Ascendant requires complete mana attunement before taking the final step. In some ways, this stage of being ready for Ascension can be a peak Tier too, similar to Master and Lord. Formally, it is known as the Demigod Tier. However, it earned a different name in recent times - or I suppose a century ago now. Monarchs who had not achieved this full attunement because of improper advancement in the lower Tiers ended up serving under successful Ascendants. Even those who did and simply struggled to do it in their current Tier served. In return for their service, the Ascendants... corrected their attunement, so that they could become Demigods and eventually Ascend. Some of these corrected Monarchs chose not to Ascend either way and simply continued serving. Taking inspiration from the messengers of the Holy, they began to be called Angels - messengers of gods, instead."
"How could an Ascendant even do that? Shouldn't it be basically impossible for any Mage to interact with the mana another one has?" Amy pointed out.
"Unlike the comparatively slow exponential increase in mana control that the advancement of Tiers previously had, there is an even steeper increase at Ascendant, to the extent that they deserve to be called gods. At this Tier all Spells can be casted as Cantrips, as the Ascendants are mana themselves and there is no need for Spellforms or otherwise. Change is simply willed into being. Battles change from those of power and might, to that of will and inner strength. So, if a Mage bears themselves fully before the might of an Ascendant, although it is still incredibly difficult, the attunement can be slowly, but surely, corrected.
"Unfortunately for you, there are no Ascendants around to do this. So you better get it right, my young Apprentice," Felin teased kind-heartedly.
"Are..." Amy struggled to ask, the question unnerving enough to send her into turmoil. "Are you also... an Ascendant, Felin?"
"Yes, I suppose I am," Felin announced, as if he hadn't said something utterly ridiculous. "But all creatures who are made entirely of mana are deemed Ascendants. Elementals are, technically, Ascendants. The system of Mage Tiers is consistent for all species, but there are holes in it. Despite many being called Ascendants, they are nowhere near the full power of a true one, such as Lesser Elementals. Only the Greater Elementals could be called Ascendant, and even then, there's several distinctions to be named. So although I am Ascendant according to the Mage Tiers, I do not have the same capabilities as a mortal who has Ascended. Even if you enter my domain in true, and surrender your self and your will to my true body entirely, I wouldn't be able to correct your attunement."
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"Then... if you were to compare yourself to a Tier, in terms of power that is, what would you be?" Amy asked, afraid that she already knew the answer.
"Oh, it would still be Ascendant."
"Of course it would be," Amy murmured, exasperated. At this point I'm pretty numb to it. This is just one more thing to add to the pile of ridiculousness that is Felin.
"Even though I'm an Ascendant, I don't have the same abilities you humans do, so I still can't correct your attunement. Even if I did, I wouldn't dare attempt it. I'm not well versed enough in human anatomy, both the physical and magical kind, and trying to mess with something as delicate as that would be disastrous. That would also have to be in front of my true body too, not the one constructed by this low Apprentice Tier Spell."
"Well aren't I lucky," Amy said, rolling her eyes.
"Never mind all of that, I have the utmost trust in you to not ascend before I deem you ready. Either that or until you get to the Tier where you can determine your own attunement."
"I'll probably never ascend without your council Felin, oh mighty Ascendant, one above all," Amy praised, poking fun at the Familiar, rolling his eyes in response.
"You should never say never, Amy; there might be a time where you're forced to ascend. If ever a time like that comes, I hope you can rely on me for support before doing something so drastic," Felin said, turning serious.
"Alright Felin, I will," Amy smiled.
"Good. I've probably not covered everything in our little talk, as there's things I might've overlooked by virtue of it being common knowledge to me at this point, but I'll make sure to tell you if or when I recall. Any questions?"
"Not about this, no, not really," Amy said, rubbing the back of her neck. "Rather, you said you'd teach me about Unknowable early, didn't you? That and Fae. Is that offer still on the table?"
"Of course it is, I wouldn't lie about that. I do remember talking about it, and that all the interesting Spells come at Apprentice," Felin grinned with knowing eyes.
"Alright, I admit it's more about the Spells than the Elements, but I still want to learn," Amy retorted.
"That wasn't a rebuke, my young Apprentice, there's no need to get so defensive," Felin smirked, looking awfully smug. Probably getting back for how I teased him earlier.
"Can you just get on with it then," Amy begged helplessly.
"So disrespectful, such a shame-..." Felin tsked, shaking his head as he cut off his words. "Well, let's begin with Unknowable."
At his words, the room became imperceptibly darker, the candlelight more oppressed by the darkness, and the shadows deeper. Wisps of something strange danced in the air, unseen except on the periphery of the light and Amy's vision. When she glanced towards them, the wisps were gone, all that remained being shadow. What- what is this?
"This is an Unknowable Spell," Felin proclaimed, seeming intimidating in the way the invisible tendrils of something curled around him. "It conceals the area within it from the outside world, making everything that happens within it 'Unknowable'. This is on the simpler side of applications of the Element.
"You have already heard of the more complex applications; erasing someone from existence. In some ways that can also be considered one of the simpler sides. It is far easier to achieve using crude methods than, let's say - for example - carefully concealing parts of reality to achieve the same effect. All in all, Unknowable is both extremely limited as an Element and very versatile in what it can do within the constraints it lays out for itself. It is far more akin to an Advanced Element than an Esoteric one, yet it exists as Esoteric because, ultimately, it is a Concept integral to reality... somehow. Elemental Unknowable was never created by a Mage so we can't say that it was introduced to the mana and became a part of reality, but since it was 'born' it must be natural in some way. Some Wizards theorise Unknowable represents the Concept of what is beyond the universe, of what cannot be known, because it doesn't exist. No one, not even the mightiest of magical creatures, is completely sure, however. Which, I suppose, makes sense for an Element called Unknowable.
"You are aware that Mages can create Elements, yes?" Felin paused to confirm, turning unsure.
"Yes, I know they can, but I don't know much about creating Esoteric Elements, only Advanced," Amy admitted.
"Advanced Elemental creation is constructing buildings of new shapes and designs out of already existing materials," Felin explained. "Esoteric Elemental creation, on the other hand, is creating, or rather, discovering a new material to build things out of. When mana 'learns' of this material, it becomes a part of magical reality, versus its previous existence as either something purely physical or purely conceptual."
"Can new Basic Elements be made then?" Amy asked, contemplative.
"We've gotten off-track so I'll try to be brief but yes, as that is what Esoteric creation is. The only reason a distinction between the Basic and Esoteric Elements exist is because of some preconceived notion that one type is more 'natural' or 'primordial' than the other. In a way, this notion is correct, as the Basic Elements were the first to be 'discovered' and 'introduced' to the mana. Practically speaking though? There's no difference."
If I were to translate this into my own analogue, Amy thought, then it's like Advanced Elements are new topics of discussion, the pillars or structures that stand on top of the foundation that's already built. Esoteric Elements though are new parts of the foundation, expanded outwards, to provide new ground for new talks and diplomacy to occur. Basic Elements then are the start of the foundation, where it all began. Fundamentally, there's no difference between new foundation and old, but it feels like there is.
"Moving on then," Felin continued, "Unknowable is perfect for making things unknown, in a sense. This may sound obvious considering the name, but it's pretty easy to overlook once you venture into the advanced applications of it. To make something 'unknowable', though, is far trickier than simply making it 'unknown'. It is the difference between something not existing and being undiscoverable. Truthfully, in the world of magic, nothing is undiscoverable by virtue of being magical, hence only the 'unknowable' is really 'unknown'. Unknowable does indeed cover both the 'unknowable' and the 'unknown' but it is far better at the former than the latter.
"The first Spell I'll teach you is the one I'm using right now, though at a lower level and scope. The one currently on display is called Concealment," Felin described, gesturing at the unnatural darkness and the strange unseen tendrils, "Whereas you'll be learning Concealing Shield. It creates a small bubble around you that will hide whatever transpires inside. It is nowhere near the size of this Concealment, or on the same level of 'unknowable' either, but it is more than effective enough for an Apprentice.
"Want to try?"
Looking around at the strange darkness, and what she now recognises as the invisible, or rather, Unknowable tendrils of the Element around her, Amy gave her Familiar a long stare.
"You should know me better than to question if I'd want to learn a Spell like this by now, Felin.
"Of course I would," Amy grinned.