Purple whirlpools swirled, inhaling the surrounding void as if devouring space itself. As the purple grew larger, it got louder and more menacing, threatening to swallow more than just space. Eventually, the purple spiral was all that could be seen, it was too late to run, to escape, to seek preservation, there was only surrender.

Tepi woke up sweating, his new bed drenched through to the mattress. His mind still recovering from the purple pressure that had pressured him so realistically in his sleep. After double checking that the surroundings were stable, he opened the window. It was still dark but he could see small tendrils of light slowly consume the darkness in the distance.

Taking into consideration his current state, going back to sleep was not an option, instead, he chose to bathe and clothe himself. Then he practiced magic. He had the basics down to a tee, and he couldn’t help but feel like he was limiting himself somehow. Every time he let the mana flow from his body he felt a jolt, something blocking him from releasing any more.

Today he focused on that jolt and tried to plow through it. Nothing was accomplished except bursting a blood vessel and accumulating more stress. If he was already an entire term behind, how was he going to catch up if he couldn’t even manipulate elements, let alone pure mana.

Eventually, there came a knock on his door which he already knew to be Fila.

“Good morning, Tepi,” she smiled.

“Morning, Fila,” he replied hesitantly, trying to be polite like Beau had taught him. Luckily he’d been taught manners as part of his previous job, albeit, manners that suited a vastly different situation. The two of them ate some bread and cheese for breakfast. Fila was silent as she seemed to be working on something, Tepi could read quite well and knew how to count but the concept of maths currently escaped him.

After breakfast they walked, leaving the orphanage behind and heading up the main street, at the top where the University was, on a side street was where the secondary school was. Where Fila was currently in her last year. After separating, Tepi continued his slow amble to the building thankfully pointed out by Fila before she left. He had also been instructed to meet someone outside, a girl with dark blonde hair. Tepi looked around at the entrance which was crawling with students, most gazing at his bright blue hair. He was panicking, hard. The amount of girls that had dark blonde hair was staggering, over half at least.

He chose to walk to the side of the gate and stand in a corner in a desperate attempt to hide from the attention. It worked to some extent and life went on as usual for a minute. Just as Tepi was settling down his world was shattered yet again by the most stunning girl he’d ever seen.

“You must be Tepi, Beau has told me all about you!”

It took a minute for him to realise she was speaking to him, and another to formulate a coherent response. As a slave child, he’d never been exposed to such a normal interaction with a good looking girl who was the same age.

“I am.” Was all he could muster, and not without coughing.

“Perfect, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Marianne, I worked with Beau at his shop.”

“Yes, he told me about you.”

“Nothing bad I hope!”

“No.” He said bluntly, still slightly dizzy. He looked up at the sky and shook his head, determined to be rid of this stupid hole he’d dragged himself into. He’d never been so flustered and he did not like it.

“No, unfortunately not, he left that up to you.” He smiled mischievously.

He’d overdone it, he reprimanded himself silently.

“There are none, I’m perfect!” She responded confidently. “Let’s go to class, we’ll be late at this rate.” Tepi sighed, and followed after her, thankful she took his statement as a joke, as intended.

On the way Marianne rattled on, pointing out places he should know and recounting some old stories that she found relevant. She also updated him on the class and who to avoid, most notably the comedy duo at the front who had still not settled down.

Tepi absorbed all the information, staying silent partly because he wanted to learn as much as possible but mostly because he didn’t want to speak.

They arrived outside a wooden door with a brass handle, heavily worn down but polished clean. Marianne burst in unhesitantly, Tepi followed with much more trepidation. The students were already seated, the only vacant seat being Mary’s and a couple of seats at the back. One of them was in between two people and the other was next to the window and a pudgy bot, so Tepi chose the latter. Marianne happily introduced him to the class but he only waved and made his way to his seat, everyone’s heads and eyes following him like owls. After a moment a few of them resumed their conversation, allowing Tepi some breathing room.

The pudgy boy used this opportunity to introduce himself. “Nice to meet you Tepi. My name’s Mark.”

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“Nice to meet you too, Mark.”

“Do you know Marianne?”

Tepi looked over to the boy and studied his face, which looked mostly innocent.

“We just met outside.” The answer made Mark release a breath he did not know he was holding which was noticed by Tepi.

Mark awkwardly turned to the front, clearly at odds with how to continue the conversation. Tepi paid it no mind and let himself be absorbed by the view of the city, sprawling before him. Class started for the first time after the holiday. Tepi was thankful for the recap that the teacher did, allowing him to take notes of what he’d missed so he could take them up with Beau later.

The day rolled to a close, due to it being a University there was only 1 lecture today, the subject was magical theory. Tepi was surprised at the simplicity of it all, he even managed to answer a question although, not out loud.

Tepi spent the walk home pondering his dream that had rudely awakened him that morning. He had no reasonable explanation for the purple void so put it up as an anomaly.

Although this explanation did not satisfy Tepi, it was all he had for the moment. He stopped by Beau’s shop on the way home to go through the things he’d learned that day. Many things just required a bit of time to learn and understand, rarely did he even need Beau to further explain something.

Late afternoon rolled around and Tepi walked to the orphanage. Generally underwhelmed with the events of today. He had fully expected more excitement and adventure. He smiled, even closing his eyes for a brief moment. He’d dreamed of a life of normality since he was young and his parents were taken from him. A feeling of calm ecstasy coursed through his body making him forget to even keep walking. He thought of the mundane problems that Mark faced with his one-sided crush on Marianne. He thought of Fila and her minor troubles of cooking cleaning for the orphanage, despite truly enjoying the responsibility. He even thought of Beau and Ella Mae's partnership and how they shared their problems so as to best to combat them. For a moment his vision went purple, the very thought of happiness caused purple flowers to bloom in his mind, purple light shone over the top of purple mountains that were parted by purple seas. He became almost ethereal, just before touching the sky he landed back on the Bath main street. His sudden movement frightening a couple walking by.

Everywhere he looked he saw energy, fluctuating and flowing through objects and people all around him. The energy was a deep colour, dynamic and always changing forms, sometimes long tendrils, other times thick waves. He breathed deep, taking in the new surroundings, understanding that what he saw was mana. Loose mana, escaping from magicians with not enough control, escaping from the plants, escaping from the kitchen fire that was slowly roasting the chicken to be eaten for that night's dinner.

He carried on walking, allowing his own mana to join, entrap and absorb the surroundings, as he did he felt his own mana pool increase significantly. The same jolt that had held him back before was actually a reflex of his body that was crying out desperately for mana. He found that as he absorbed more and more, he grew increasingly comfortable. Becoming aware of every part of his body, aware of every ounce of his existence.

His eye-opening walk came to an end as he approached the church’s orphanage, the one that had taken him under their wing. His smile returned in full force, eternally grateful for the opportunity they were giving him.

He shut his eyes and reopened them, the purple mana drifting loosely around disappeared and he stopped absorbing the surrounding energy, willing himself to put his full attention into interaction. His body was no longer aching for energy, he knew in his heart he could now summon anything he wanted if he had the knowledge.

“Hi, Tepi! How was your first day?”

“Enlightening.” Giggled Tepi.

“I’m so glad! You looked so nervous when I left you.”

“I did, didn’t I.”

“Yes. Would you help me with dinner?”

“I’d love to.”

Fila looked at him oddly, subconsciously aware of a subtle change in the boy. She smiled and handed him a knife, signaling the vegetables with a grace Tepi became suddenly aware of. He did his best to cut the vegetables in equal portions but was dismayed at his own lack of skill with a knife.

“I must get better at this.”

“You’re doing fine for someone so new to it.”

“Thank you.” He looked over at her cubing potatoes and watched her purposely slow down so he didn’t feel bad.

When they finished the rest of the gang joined, the two little ones as loud as usual and Jackson making the only journey he made on an average day from his chair to the table.

Tepi ate after listening to Jackson say grace to a God Tepi was not sure existed. Ate the food he and Fila had prepared then washed the dishes.

Fila was busy working on her homework whilst Jackson looked over, ready to help but fully aware that he was not capable of it did she actually ask.

Tepi joined them to study his own notes, he ended up in bed a couple of hours later, sleep consumed him quickly. A simple dream of fields and the smell of mornings entertained him till he woke, ready for another day at University.

After finishing another lecture, this time about the practical uses of magic. He walked home expecting another revolutionary journey. He reactivated his eyes and saw the purple energy again, feeling its way through society like a worm through the soil. Only, this time he was interrupted. A jagged bolt of energy briefly crossed his vision, settling itself around a building to his right. His attention was initially drawn to it in the hopes of absorbing it but was instantly turned. As his own mana came in contact with it repulsed, as if trying to shake him off. It felt like it shed skin and escaped, out of reach of Tepi. He paused, there were bound to be things he did not understand in this new world of mana and energy, that, he had come to terms with. This though, this felt wrong. It was like it had avoided him as if it had chosen to escape. The concept of intelligent mana made Tepi stop in his tracks. His journey to Beau’s house this time was in the name of a slightly different goal, he needed knowledge, from the person he knew was most knowledgeable in this subject.

“Beau, what is the weirdest experience you've had with mana?” Beau pondered for a second, his hand reaching up to run his hands through his silky azure hair.

“What do you mean by weird?”

“I mean something unique, something that went against what you initially believed to be true.”

“That’s a fantastic question, although, it may be beyond your current comprehension. Mind you, I have shown less knowledgeable people than yourself.” Tepi nodded, urging him to continue. “Well, it would have to be Pandora’s Box.”