It took Nathan two weeks to reach the six-bucket mark, three weeks to dissolve four crystals at once, and a month and a half to be able to dissolve seven buckets worth of crystals.

#

“You’re picking up the pace quite fast, aren’t you?” said Grega with a neutral tone. “This is the first time a seer has been able to keep up the pace, you’re not so bad.”

“Thank you.” That’s all Nathan could say. He hadn’t forgotten the treatment he’d received when he first got here and didn’t trust anything which came out their mouths. It was only a matter of time before he stepped on someone’s toes and got a foot to the face.

From now on he only worked for himself, but neither was that for the best. The motivation one got from trying to avoid a beating wasn’t the same one got from self-improvement. He at least needed a better-defined goal, and so Nathan duped himself into thinking that his magical rank would increase if he reached the ten-bucket mark. He thought that with this power he would have enough strength to at least escape the mine. After all, he was a mage, not a seer, and he didn’t belong anywhere near here.

The only thing in his way was a tall ice wall which encircled the encampment and the eyes of the Overseer. As long as he was strong enough to beat them, he could escape without issue.

As his mind raced for other comforting thoughts, he heard a voice. A voice he didn’t recognize but trusted. A voice that sent him into a state he couldn’t pinpoint, a state he had hard times understanding.

The voice stood behind the shack’s door, where the Overseer should have been and at first, he thought them to be his. “Nathan,” he always began by saying. “Did you know that those who live in Bregva have to haul crystals from the warehouses to the port every day? There is no good life on this island.”

The next day, the voice returned. “Nathan, did you know that those in Bregva only eat fish, and even less than you? There is no good life on this island.”

And the day after he would say, “Nathan, did you know that the representative is a first-generation mage. When the other mages come to inspect the mines, they cringe at his Marian.”

At one point he realized that the words which rhymed with the repetitive pain of shards wasn’t that of any Overseer, but he neither cared to ignore it nor could. “Nathan, did you know that mages with thick accents when speaking Marian were once commoners? They only learned Marian later in life. They aren’t true mages like yourself. You’re special, and it’s a crime that you’re locked in isolation in these mines. There is no good life on this island.”

At one point, Nathan couldn’t differentiate the throbbing pain of crystals and the words of the being. “Nathan, you are here not by mistake but jealousy; not because you cannot, but because you can speak the true language.”

Yes, Nathan wasn’t alike any of them. He wasn’t a seer. He wasn’t a member of the Daquo. He was the son of a mage, a part of a family with an old lineage, he was one who stood above the rest … trapped by the jealous wrath of one lower than himself.

If only he continued to convert crystals and decipher the workings of glyphs, he would become a mage even stronger than the one who imprisoned him.

These thoughts blossomed deep within Nathan’s mind. Perhaps to cope with life, perhaps they were brought over by passing winds, or they were artificially inseminated.

#

Nathan threw four crystals in the liquid. His father hadn’t taught him the basic glyphs, but he knew how they functioned. Although magic was improved in laboratories by research magicians, it was done by trial and error, so he guessed he could do the same, especially when he had a near-limitless supply of Grenold crystals.

Nathan watched the crystals settle at the bottom of the copper bowl. He needed to find a way to increase the base effectiveness of his aura, else he’d be stuck at seven buckets for a year, and he didn’t intend to be stuck in these mines that long.

He had to take advantage of glyphs, which in more practical terms meant the favourable routes used when mana travelled. Glyphes often produced specific magical effects, however, the most basic of them could only better direct and conserve mana. And although Nathan didn’t know more than this, he had noticed that his aura clung preferentially to the Grenold crystals. They were mana attractors, the most essential part of any glyph.

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To take advantage of this, Nathan arranged the crystals in a diamond formation, with one crystal on the north and another on the south most point. The two others were in his hands on the right and left.

He proceeded to form mana in his right and left hands, ordering them to bridge together. Instead of expanding in random directions, they converged towards the two northern and southern crystals, breaking down the crystals faster than it would take to break two.

Next, he tried it with six crystals, and it was nearly just as fast as dissolving two.

But it had to be stated that although this method was faster than spreading a constant wave of aura, it also increased the heat of the liquid near his hands and the number of shards floating about the liquid.

Regardless of the pain, he continued to use this new method, and within the month he could dissolve up to nine buckets a day.

#

At night, Nathan was lying on his little hump of snow thinking over how to arrange a glyph with seven crystals amidst snores and more, when a hand grabbed a hold of his collar and dragged him towards the exit. Nathan reached up to punch the aggressor but looking up to find the person’s face, he found the Overseer … it didn’t look like he was going to do anything, so he remained silent until he was under the moon. He didn't want to wake up the miners and give them a new reason to assault him.

In the night’s cool breeze, he struggled and hit the hand grabbing his collar with his shackles.

The Overseer let him go and Nathan rolled over.

“Aren’t you a lucky guy?” said the Overseer. “Your request has been approved.”

Still half asleep, Nathan struggled to his feet. “What request?” He sneezed from the sudden change in temperature.

“It’s your request to be moved to another group.”

Nathan’s mind chugged, and after unearthing old memories, he remembered the talk. “NO! I’m fine! I don’t want it anymore.” He had settled into his group and wasn’t being assaulted anymore, they’d even begun to give him space. He wouldn’t gamble on having a better group than he already had.

“Are you okay with the way you’ve been treated? You shouldn’t let yourself be pushed down like that. You’re a Seer. They should be listening to you, not the other way around.” The Overseer didn’t hide his grin.

Nathan didn’t remember the voices, but their emotions and will had stuck to him, integrating themselves as a part of him. They were his suppressed emotions and desires, but this didn’t explain why the Overseer was helping him.

And so, Nathan asked, “The mages want us seers to dissolve more crystals so that the miners can exploit the mines faster, the miners want us to dissolve more crystals so that their rations of food aren’t cut, but your job is only to look over me. What is it you want from all of this? What are you gaining?”

The Overseer frowned and grabbed Nathan. The boy hit the man’s wrists, bit his hands, and kicked, but the Overseer didn’t let go. He dragged Nathan across the snow before throwing him on a small icy hill.

“Just look over seers? Since day one, I’ve babysat them. Twenty-eight years ago, I was the guardian of my village, fighting back the invasion of trolls alongside my Seer, a boy no older than you. Fourteen years ago, I was ready to lose my life against the mages, but tired of constant wars with beasts and other villages, he gave me up in exchange for a cushy life. After that betrayal, I mined crystals for three whole years.

To say I’ve just babysat seers is disgusting. I’ve only lived through their mistakes my whole lie. If it were up to me, I’d have you killed, but here I am forced to…

All I have to tell you is that just like you, all seers are meek, shallow, and worthless creatures.”

“That’s why I’m not a seer!” cried Nathan. “I am a mage discovering new glyphs, and soon I’ll be able to advance to the second rank!”

“How clueless can you be? Look, you’re a kid, so I can somewhat understand, but at the end of the day you’re a seer working your ass off to help those who put you in shackles. How can you help those who killed the Spirit of the North, the guardian you’ve sworn to protect? Whatever you may tell yourself, whatever you may hear, it means nothing if you don’t live by it.”

Nathan had had enough, “I’m not being meek! What can I do? The mage was too strong, and I can’t even use magic! And that mage is the one at fault. I should have been granted passage to the Towers, but he’s a jealous piece of shit who can’t even speak Marian. The only reason he’s here is that he doesn’t qualify as a real mage. Soon I’ll be able to overpower him and break free.”

“Sure kid, tell yourself whatever.” The Overseer straightened his back and broke eye contact.

Nathan’s face turned red. “If there’s anyone, I should hate, it’s you and the miners. Weren’t you also put here by the hands of other Daquo or whatever tribe you eastern ones are from? The mages are only extracting the crystals they got from conquering this wasteland, the ones we should really hate are the others who beat each other up instead of the main culprit. And that’s who I’m going to take care of for all of you who can’t do shit!”

“Then show me what you got. This is your second and final chance.”

Nathan followed his gaze. There, behind him, stood another giant igloo.

“The miners you’ll be with are even newer than you. Don’t disappoint.” The Overseer brought Nathan over to the igloo, but before pushing him inside, he grabbed a piece of sticky paper covered in blood glyphs and put it on Nathan’s cuffs. “Channel your mana through it,” he ordered.

Nathan stared at the Overseer, trying to see through his face and words, but he found nothing. He released his aura and wrapped it around the paper and the next thing he knew his cuffs melted.

He was free.