The day ended, and Ieros was once more within the confines of the Tower. He had long since refilled all of his mana but now that he was done with that, he was lying in his bed wondering what to do. He was tired from today’s events but that was not enough to dissuade him from wanting to fly. But he also hadn’t received permission to do so and he was too nervous to ask. So, he just lay there in bed, unsure of what to do.

As the seconds ticked slowly by, he finally made his mind, he would go outside and fly. Azorin was probably studying as he usually was at night and the elevator was silent enough that he shouldn’t notice. As long as he remembers to return soon, he should be fine.

Where are you going? Zofiar asked inquisitively.

Ieros said, “I’m going out to fly.”

Zofiar sighed with nostalgia, saying, Ah, it’s been a long time since I’ve flown. Well, more accurately, it’s been a long time since I remember my original going out to fly. I’ve always known that I did, but I don’t actually hold memories of the flight itself, those belong to my body’s shadow.

Ieros thought for a moment, and asked, “Is it possible for me to bring you with me?”

Zofiar went into thought and Atarum then said, Well, we are part of the Tower, unless you can move the Tower itself, unfortunately we cannot accompany you.

Ieros faltered as he realized that he’d have to do this alone, but his desire to fly was so great that he soon recovered and resolved to go out. But before he did so, he did turn one last time and, feeling somewhat sorry for Zofiar and Atarum, he promised that he would share his memories with them, as they had shared theirs with him.

He felt their silent gratitude as he made his way to the elevator and ascended to the first floor, his heart beating nervously but still determined to go. When the doors opened, he took a wary step out into the first floor, hardly feeling the oppressive mana as he passed through the first floor to the exit.

And even though he had stepped through these doors earlier today, it was still somewhat strange to not be accompanied by Azorin or anyone at all. All the times he had stepped out of this door, which was preciously few, it had always been with one of his teachers and he had found some comfort in their presence. But now, he would be taking his first steps outside with no one at all.

It would be his own decision, made without external influence and without taking into consideration what others may feel. It was his first major decision that was truly his own in seven years, although Ieros didn’t really care about that since he just wanted to fly. So he quickly made his way through the halls, retracing his path from this morning.

Soon, he was outside of the Academy and its winding halls, out in the air and sky. The stars shone high above, the crescent moon cast its waning light, and all was consumed in black. Memories of his first flight filled his mind as he ignited his mana, ascending towards the stars like that night so long ago.

However, this time he rose slowly, fully appreciating the beauty of his new vantage point, a view that was his alone. He saw the black forest beyond, dimly reflecting the Moon’s light; he saw the still Academy and city below, each building a stark contrast of black and white; there was the Royal Palace, its towers like giant spears which sought to strike the sky; and there was the sky itself, holding grey clouds that were lined with silver, countless stars, and the waning crescent moon.

His eyes set upon the dark heavens, he continued to ascend. He did halt momentarily by a passing cloud, stretching out his hand to touch it, expecting to feel a fluffy solid but no, his hand just passed right through.

He blinked, waving his hand through it a few times to make sure, his hand coming away feeling slightly damp. He eventually just shrugged, perhaps he could ask Zofiar later, he had some experience with flight too. But for now, Ieros put that aside, setting his eyes on a higher prize.

He continued to fly higher, passing by each layer of clouds until there were no more clouds above him. There was only the sky, the stars, and the moon. But it was here that he found it somewhat difficult to proceed, now that he had stopped, he noticed that his mana was draining faster than usual, he could still fly up but it was somewhat worrisome.

That and his head started to feel a little fuzzy, and he found that he was breathing quicker than usual, the air felt... empty. He looked up again and saw that the stars still seemed so far away. Somewhat wistfully, he raised his hand up to the sky, as if trying to pluck a fruit from a low-hanging tree only to find that it was out of reach.

Disappointed and running out of mana, Ieros began to descend, more curious about his more earth-bound surroundings such as the clouds and Agleon’s surface. Unfortunately, it was night and he couldn’t see too much so he resolved to obtain Azorin’s permission to do this during the day, he couldn’t really sneak out during daytime, even he knew that much.

But for now, he was satisfied. And since he returned below the clouds, and he still had some extra mana, he decided to fly around, not at the slow moderate pace he was limited to in the fifth floor but flying as fast as he could, expending his mana recklessly as he soared through the sky, unable to hold in his excitement as he laughed.

Such speed, such freedom, for the first time he felt like he could go all out. There was only him and the sky, everything else did not matter, just him and the ultimate freedom of the heavens. But even so, the chains of gravity soon rose to reclaim him, his mana could not hold them off for much longer. He resolved to do this many more times in the future as he flew back towards the Academy, alighting on the ground.

Suddenly self-conscious about his appearance, he spent some time combing his wind-tousled hair and straightening out his robes, once he felt that he was done, he slipped back inside. His excitement faded as he made his way back, his ears slowly growing more acute, hearing his heartbeat, his footsteps, and an increasingly strange sound that seemed to grow larger and larger.

He paused to listen, soon identifying the sound for what it was, whispering. But it wasn’t just one whisper but thousands, each cascading and merging with one another, overall it was rather unsettling to listen to. But when Ieros used his augury, he saw no signs of magic being used, or anyone nearby so the true source of these voices was a mystery.

But as he listened, he soon noticed movement. But it wasn’t from a person, no, it was on the ground. On the floor which was lit up by the moon’s pale light, there was a shadow that did not belong, there was nothing on the window to be casting such a shadow. There was more movement and it was soon joined by another and as Ieros’s eyes finally adjusted, he soon found that he was surrounded by shadows that had no physical hosts.

He was a bit unnerved but he wasn’t afraid, he could tell from their whispers that they meant him no harm, they were just curious. But this was the first time he had seen so many shadows before, well, living shadows. There was Zofiar and Atarum but they were special, they were the shadows of some of the most powerful mages to ever walk on Agleon, other then that, Ieros couldn’t really recall a moment where he interacted with shadows.

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

And so, curious, he stopped to talk to them, oblivious to the passage of time as he listened to the shadows who all excitedly spoke to him, each telling their own story. There were the incomplete shadows of many mages, the more sentient of which were the ones which had dedicated more time to working inside the Academy Halls. Others were barely just a few scraps of vague memories of people who entered the Academy, mostly just mundane things such as entering the Academy itself as well as casual conversation that Ieros had no interest in.

In fact, most of the shadows were like that, as far as Ieros could tell, there weren’t any as properly formed as Zofiar and Atarum. But now that he thought about it, they weren’t really Zofiar and Atarum, they were only the Tower’s memory of them, although since they spent so much time in the Tower, their level of sentience matched that of most living beings.

The same applied here, all these living shadows were the Academy Hall’s remembrance of them, and since few if any mages spent as much time inside of a building as Zofiar and Atarum—at least in the later halves of their lives—they were not as complete, not as sentient. He even discovered a version of Zofiar and Atarum, although they weren’t as sentient as the ones in the Tower and they were almost nothing alike, very serious and solemn.

He laughed as he imagined how the Tower versions would react, suddenly noticing a far brighter night sky than when he had first sat down to speak with them. He turned to face the shadows to say goodbye only to realize that there were a lot less than before, only the more complete shadows remained, but even they were losing their individuality. The ones that still remained began to whisper again, the whispers fading as they did.

Ieros could only make out one word before it returned to cascading whispers: “Goodbye.” He nodded in farewell and resolved to return tomorrow, perhaps they would be here. But for now, he decided to return to the Tower, he had spent too much time outside.

Ieros returned without trouble, using augury, he saw Azorin’s mana still toiling in the ninth floor, meaning that it was likely that Azorin hadn’t even noticed that Ieros had gone. With a sigh of relief, he returned to his room, sprawling out on the bed as a wave of exhaustion rolled over him.

He wondered if he should sleep, but eventually decided against it, day was soon approaching and he might as well return to his book. He took the book and flipped it to the page whose corner he had folded, straightening it out as he reread the words to get back into continuing his writing.

While he skimmed through his past words, he noticed a mistake which he promptly scratched out, writing in smaller letters the proper spelling above it. He wetted his pen once more and dragged it along the inkwell’s walls to get rid of the excess ink and held the nib over the paper, searching for any more mistakes.

But he soon tired from that as his mind kicked into gear, writing down all that he had previously discovered when testing with the Lost Scripture.

“...there is indeed a pattern that I have discovered, although I’ve yet to actually test out if it is correct. But from what I have seen, it should be. I’ve seen enough of the symbols to predict the ones that should exist in between.”

He paused to record his predicted symbols using the pattern he found, scratching out the seventh one out, he accidentally just rewrote the eighth symbol. Then, making sure to write the seventh above his mistake, he continued to the next line.

“Here are the predicted symbols of the first 8 letters. When tested, it appears that these symbols relate to air, or rather I should say different parts of mana in the air. The difference is really faint, partly because the mana of the air itself is really faint, but, after I stared at them long enough, I saw it.

I can only describe it as density, the density of each were different, like different thicknesses of smoke. The very first one, which was one of the few that was luckily already recorded by previous mage, was the thinnest one and each of the following were thinner and thinner. Well, the ones that were also already recorded. Actually, I’ll find out right now, to make sure that the predicted symbols are correct.”

Ieros paused again, snapping his fingers, a single piece of paper flying free and to his desk. When it landed, Ieros pushed his notes to one side and focused on the piece of paper, grabbing the quill, once again making sure to rid it of excess ink before he held it above the paper.

Then, in one fluid motion, he drew a circle, clicking his tongue as he eyed its erroneous curve but it was only temporary and only he would see. It would still function as needed. He quickly finished the rest of the spell circle, using only a simple square and another smaller concentric circle. With that done, he wrote one of the predicted symbols inside, let the ink dry, and then directed mana to his forefinger’s tip.

In the same breath, he blinked, activating augury so that when he next opened his eyes, he viewed the world of mana. It was always a sight which he took a moment to analyze, even though he couldn’t hope to understand all he saw even if he spent a lifetime. At first, it didn’t really seem like anything special, at first it only appeared that everything now attained a slight glow, with living beings shining like stars due to the mana they possess.

In comparison, things like air seem to have no mana at all because theirs is so severely outshone by that of the living. Everything had its own unique mana, just varying amounts. In fact, it was something that once you have seen it, there is no way you can unsee it, now Ieros would always notice the mana of the air itself, which was exactly what he intended to do with this experiment, to see if his prediction was right.

So, almost bursting with anticipation, he tapped the circle, the ink suddenly glowing as it took on his mana. But he paid no heed to it, his eyes fixated on the air, searching for the slightest hint of change. Then, he saw it, the faint cloud of mana began to concentrate above the circle, glowing brighter and brighter as the spell continued its course.

He smiled, he was right! He quickly made a new section in his notes, of tested and true symbols and jotted it down as the spell circle quite literally burned itself out, ruining the section of paper he had used. He moved to a different section, drawing another circle so he could test the next. However, this time, he was met with failure, the spell circle had activated but he saw no change. He frowned, he must’ve gotten the pattern wrong, but why?

He crossed out the spell circle as well as the symbol in his notebook, pausing to go over all of them again to make sure he got it right. He studied each of the symbols, wondering just what went wrong. He paused, deciding to try and start anew by reviewing what was already known.

He looked once again at the first, second, and the eighth symbols, the first and eighth of which were the ones that had already been confirmed to be real, the second being the one he had successfully predicted. However, the third had failed, why was that?

He had written it with the circle at its center, as well as the dash on the top and the dot to the side, it should’ve worked. There was the proper amount of dashes and dots, since Ieros had gathered that it was very similar to numbers.

The pattern, as mentioned before, only worked in a set of 8, the first symbol was a circle with a dot at the top, the eighth was a circle with four dashes on all sides. It did take him some time admittedly, because he hadn’t realized that these were part of a set of eight symbols but he hypothesized that the dash represented two dots, and it was sort of like numbers. The dot represented one, the dash represented two, a dot and a dash would be three, two dashes is four and so on and so forth.

The second one was predictably right, he had just replaced the dot with a dash over the circle which was easy enough, but the third one had failed. It had a dot and a dash but why didn’t it work?

What hours that remained between then and the dawn soon came to pass, although due to the Tower’s eternal glow, he hardly noticed. It was only when he stopped briefly to take a break that he suddenly noticed his body aching all over. He yawned tiredly, and finally decided that worrying over it any longer wouldn’t help. He needed to take a long break, clear his head so he could return to it with a fresh mind.

And now, since his thoughts weren’t focusing on the Lost Scripture, he recalled the events of yesterday, he would now have to fight. There was still a week, well, six days now but he still had plenty of time to prepare. But, knowing Azorin, today would probably be filled with combat practice. He sighed and yawned again, suddenly recalling his promise to Zofiar and Atarum.

Zofiar harrumphed.

Now you remember us!

Atarum added, Well come on, get on with it!

Ieros smiled.

“Sorry sorry, I just got really sidetracked, it’s hard to explain, I’ll just share my memories...”