We set up camp soon before the sun set, hours from where we started. Len gathered a bunch of sticks and began the arduous task of starting a fire. Once it began, he blew on it, but blew too hard, causing it to go out. He slumped down with a sigh.

I waved my hand over the fireplace. A small burst of my own power set the fireplace ablaze. Panicked, Len began to throw more fuel into the fire so it wouldn’t burn out completely.

From his pack, he retrieved bread for both of us. I declined his offer. He needed physical sustenance more than I did. Though my body was human, I didn’t need food to let it function.

As he ate silently, I stared intently at his own body. His, too, was flesh and blood, nerves and capillaries, yet I knew there was more to it than just that. I was there, after all, when his ancestor from eons ago took the lion’s share of all greater sprites, empowering itself and its descendants even until now.

His magic potential was diffuse, but the magic structures, the remnants of how the ancestor’s body forcibly adapted to accommodate the power, how its offspring adapted similarly… it was still there.

It was limited, highly limited, but with enough training and a specific method to cultivate magic by activating the usable magic structures in his body; his meridians and his core, he could do as I did, summoning fire to suit his needs, or call upon other forces of nature.

Now… what stopped young Len from doing what I did?

“Uhm… may I help you?” Len asked, a little uncomfortably.

On a whim, I decided to shed some of my magic, keeping it around us in a tight sphere. Len didn’t seem to notice at all. “Yes,” I responded. “I would like for you to close your eyes, concentrate deeply, and take a deep breath.”

Len looked around a little suspiciously before sighing and complying. He closed his eyes, furrowed his eyebrows, and took a deep breath.

“Hold the breath,” I said, concentrating as well in order to perceive the magic which entered into his lungs. It was only a guess that the entrance of magic was through the lungs. The air as well as magic in his lungs diffused into his blood stream. The magic itself soon separated from the blood vessels, and entered into one of the body’s magic structures, the meridians. It didn’t get very far. The magic collapsed against the clogged meridians, and could not get to his center at all.

What clogged his meridians?

“You may breathe now,” I said as I noticed him getting blue in his face. As he gasped for breath, I focused my power on my eyes, doing my level best to analyze what ailed Len. His meridians were clogged by… something. Something that had no place in his meridians. His core was no better, a heavy, thick mass of that same something, swirling ineffectually and slowly. This was supposed to be the core of his magical talents, yet it was almost completely unusable.

The question, of course, was… how could we get rid of this stuff? There was a way, of course. There had to be. Ruman mentioned there being mages that had the power to control magic, and they could never have gotten started unless they had some way to eliminate the gunk in their magic structures.

Or… they just never let the gunk accumulate? It was obviously not of the body, it simply couldn’t be, so logic would dictate that it accumulated over time. Maybe they were trained from childhood to wield these forces?

That did absolutely nothing to help my people, though. It wouldn’t help Len, and it certainly wouldn’t help the elderly Ruman.

Even throwing more magic at the gunk wouldn’t cause it to disappear. It hadn’t when Len had just taken in some of my energy.

I needed more answers. Maybe after finding our blacksmith, we could take a detour to the City of Neulea to gather more data?

“The air was quite fresh just now,” Len observed. “Did you do something?”

“Yes,” I replied. “Len, I would like for you to spend some of your free time sitting still and taking deep breaths of air.” The solution of throwing more magic at the impurities wasn’t completely useless. Maybe the changes were too imperceptible to my senses? It was safer to test this avenue out.

Len didn’t even question me, continuing to take deep breaths from the air which now only had a trickle of magic. I watched him breath in and out for hours on end, watching as each solitary bit of magic was absorbed by a single nugget of impurities.

That nugget… finally began to collapse.

Remarkable!

I did a quick calculation in my mind. It was only a tiny nugget of impurities. If Len continued these breathing exercises at an area with denser magic, like the village, and went on it every day for five years, he would completely rid himself of all impurities!

Len yawned tiredly, lying down to sleep. “Good night, Astra,” he said.

I nodded and smiled. “Good night.”

While Len slept, I gazed up at the night sky, towards the stars that fascinated the tribesmen so much. Thanks to my slowly growing abilities, I didn’t need to lay dormant to conserve my strength, nor was there any biological requirement for it.

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Occasionally, I would fuel the campfire and relight it, so Len wouldn’t feel too cold, but otherwise, it was a quiet night.

That was, of course, until I heard a distant crack of a twig. My head snapped towards the sound and my eyes pierced the veil of darkness in order to see what it was.

A… wolf.

No. This one’s shoulders almost reached the height of Len’s, and the spiky, black bristles of fur informed me that this was no natural creature. A dire wolf, Ruman had once told me. It was a magical beast which usually travelled alone despite its namesake being a pack animal. Looking at it, I theorized that it was because the dire wolf was not a species unto itself, but a metamorphosed version of the common gray wolf.

As a result of its changes, the rest of the pack would shun it, and if the dire wolf ever had the chance to mate with another wolf, or even another dire wolf, then a mundane wolf would still be born, albeit with a higher affinity for magic.

The ensuing alienation would, of course, madden it and turn it into a beast much more violent than its timid predecessors.

This one took slow and steady steps towards us, and once it was just close enough, it pounced.

That was when I saw something. A distortion of the natural magic around us, centered around the beast’s head. I stood up smoothly and shoved my hand through its skull, pulling out the object of interest.

With my power, I opened up the earth and buried the wolf absently as I stared at the core. Memories of that human ancestor all those eons ago, the vortex which it created, that sucked magic and sprite alike into itself…

This was exactly what I was looking for!

000

Len

When he awoke, Len was met with a veritable feast. A rabbit was cooking before him. It was spiced with herbs, the smell bewitching. Astra held the impaled rabbit over the now raging fire, smiling in that friendly fashion of his. In his human form, he seemed even more inviting, albeit less lofty. Len didn’t truly begrudge this trade.

“So, I found a magical beast,” He continued in that continuous cheery voice, much to Len’s horror. Astra stabbed the butt of his stick into the soil, away from the fire, keeping the cooked and skinned animal aloft. “It was on its way towards us, a rather large wolf. Ruman told me before that this was a dire wolf. I slew it, of course, but I found something rather interesting.”

From a pocket hidden beneath his cloak, he retrieved a shiny, gem-like rock. Len looked at it in awe. “What is that?”

“Its core,” Astra said. “I found it in its head. It’s thrumming with magic power. This thing may be very useful for you.”

“How so?” Len leaned forwards. “Will I also get magical abilities?”

“Not exactly,” Astra said. He explained the concept of magic structures, how it was a remnant from an ancestor that lived an uncountable number of years in the past. The magic structures would let humans manipulate magic, but Len’s structures were too clogged up with impurities to make use of them. “My solution was to have you eat this core.”

“Huh? Why?” Len asked. “You said it won’t exactly give me magic powers.”

“You’re correct,” he responded. “It will do the exact opposite. The core in my hand is not simply an inert gem of magic origin. I have not referred to it as a magic mineral. This is a core, as in, the core of the beast’s magic potential, and the core of its soul. Inside this rock, the dire wolf I fought still lives, albeit in a minimal fashion.”

Len stared at the orb in wonderment. This was truly the soul of a wolf? And…? “You said it would do the exact opposite?”

“Yes,” He nodded. “The core will, when confronted with your own abilities, ransack all the contents of your magic structures, taking with it any lingering magic, but also… your impurities as well!” Astra’s excitement dimmed a little. “Of course, it does carry the risk of continuously consuming magic which is essential for your survival, which can kill you. The objective is for you to throw up the core before it can do too much damage. For this to occur, your stomach must be completely full to the brim. This entire rabbit is for you, and when you’re finished, drink all the water that you have in your flask.”

Len’s mind was awhirl with the revelation. Excitedly, he tore apart the rabbit, eating as much of it as he could, and then some, in his bid to fill his stomach to the brim if it meant preserving his life. Once done, he almost couldn’t eat a single thing. The water he took was pleasant, but soon became nauseating as too much went inside his stomach.

He tried to put the flask down, but Astra tipped the end upwards. Len took several more gulps before coughing up a mixture of water and meat.

He drank up a few more gulps in order to make up for the lost contents, and when he was done, green in the face, he looked up at Astra in readiness.

The God, however, was… he looked solemn. “This may hurt.” He began. “I neglected to mention this out of carelessness. I was too excited with my revelation to consider this, but this could hurt a lot. You have never felt anything come into contact with your magic structures, and the violent vortex that this core will subject you to will create a pain unlike any other you have experienced. I want for you to carry through because you will give me valuable information, information which the tribe may make good use of, but I also want you to be aware of the costs.”

Len didn’t care. Not a single bit. What was a little pain in the face of wielding the domain of the gods, the domain of Astra himself? What was a little pain in the face of saving his tribe from a magical beast attack singlehandedly, walking in his grandmother’s footsteps?

He gave his hand out to the God, a determined face meeting worry. They had to do this. He had to do this. He was neither too old as to be too impure, neither was he too young to bite through the pain. He was the perfect test subject.

He took the core and swallowed it whole. The grape-sized gem slid down his throat coldly, and with an extra gulp of water, he set to waiting.

Something in his stomach then lit up. He closed his eyes and concentrated deeply, feeling the small heat continue to grow hotter and hotter. It was agonizing, like a hole was burning through his abdomen, threatening to fall out from his stomach.

He felt the vortex beginning to form, magic leaving the things Astra called his magic structures, through the pathways of his… meridians, stripping his entire center bare. He heard the muted yells of Astra, asking him to be ready when all the impurities would leave him, that he would be there to help when it happened.

When the final speck of impurities began to flow out from his meridians, Len coughed a raspy, agonized “Now!”

Astra’s fist impacted Len’s stomach, the violent gesture sending him doubling over, vomiting almost the full extent of his breakfast. He was almost entirely too weak to keep his arms straight while he was on all fours, vomiting almost a continuing stream.

The gem was out of his body soon enough, but before Len could fall face-first into the pool of vomit, Astra carried him up and sat him down, back against a nearby tree. The air soon turned crisp and fresh. Len took deep breaths, feeling the magic in the air enter his lungs and disperse around his magic-starved body before setting into the meridians. The magic ran a short circuit, almost too fast for him to follow, before depositing in his starved center. He took more and more breaths, filling his center as fast as he could.

When it finally became completely full, he opened his eyes to see Astra’s face smiling back at him. “Congratulations. You’re a mage, now.”