“That’s some oath.” Ori said aloud as he sat on a straw-filled bed. The room was small, wooden boards creaked where he stood but unlike his previous cell, he could actually stand and stretch to his full height or lay down without feeling the need to curl into the fetal position. Ori had just heard the oath required for becoming Seraphine's apprentice and was surprised, not by the words or the terms of the oath, but by the fact that he could remember the entire thing after only hearing it once.
‘Would you like to say it after me, line by line?’
“No, let’s just do it.”
‘Go ahead.’ At Sera’s prompting, Ori felt a tingling from the air around him, he took a deep breath inadvertently inhaling the magical energy, and began.
“Under the presence of the Library of Fates from which this sacred Order is bequeathed, I, Ori Suba, as a human in good standing do so swear to uphold the code and principles as set forth by the founder, and that of the order: Chromatic Magi of the White; of order over chaos, reason over impulse, wisdom over ambition, compassion over cruelty, and life over death.
“As I, under my mentor Lady Seraphine of House Serilian, am instructed and guided in the order, may I also instruct and guide others of our order upon this and all future evolutions.
“To my mentor, I swear my utmost respect and dedication, to listen and to learn, to be patient in my studies and diligent in my practice. In times of doubt or peril, I shall turn to their guidance, ever grateful for the lessons they bestow upon me.
“I bind myself to this oath. Let it be known from this day forth, that I am an Apprentice Chromatic Mage of the White and shall bear this title with honor and reverence until the day I am deemed worthy of ascension.
I, Ori Suba, do so swear.”
Ori could feel the change in the air upon his pronouncement culminating with a tightness in his chest, goosebumps prickling his skin and the feeling of swallowing a cold and heavy stone. He exhaled, hoping he had made the right decision. He was buoyed by the certainty that he was here to grasp at any opportunities offered to him, and while there was a practical need for power, a deep-seated drive born from a lifetime of asking himself ‘what if my mother had lived? What if my father hadn’t had gotten sick?’
‘Ori, are you alright?’
“Hmmm? Yeah. Fine. Just felt something, was that oath, magic?”
“Somewhat, it will never impede your free will but it will try to guide you when you fall astray. In reality, failing to follow the codes is one of the few ways to fail your apprenticeship, and when you're a journeyman, progress in ranking just stalls if you persistently ignore the codes of your class. I’m sorry, perhaps I was a bit pushy before?’
“What do you mean?”
‘About making you choose a class and narrowing your options before having a better chance to explore them. It’s just—’
“No, it’s alright, we’re on a deadline aren’t we? And I need every edge I can get to grow stronger? So, what’s next?” Ori said.
‘Meditation.’
“Damn.” Ori's curse did little to hide his exasperation and dashed expectations.
‘A typical response from a young man and many a young maiden too. But I know a secret way to make meditation easy.’ Sera said in a conspiratorial tone.
“Oh yeah? Is it to clear your mind?”
‘Nope, quite the opposite. Arise.’ Sera asked, and Ori did so. ‘For Awakened with two unified characteristics that feature perception, mortal meditation is impossible. Your perception is far beyond mortal limits, if not into the Greater Realm. As you will not be able to fully utilise it until your intelligence catches up, right now, it’s mostly a distraction.’
‘So, what does this mean for us?’
Sera continued, ‘This means distractions, your skin, the flavour of your saliva, the thousand little sounds you typically ignore, these become deafening.’
“Then?”
‘Summon me, and place your feet a shoulders width apart.’
Ori did so and held the cracked piece of crystal in his hands.
‘Instead of clearing ones mind, we will use your wand as it was originally intended. Tell me, Ori what do you know of the term Arcane Focus?’
“Err nothing really? Are wands are a type of focus? I thought they just make spells easier to cast, more accurate or Mana efficient?”
‘Those things are mostly true, however, the term focus stretches beyond history to times before the Library of Fate, before classes and standardised magic, to a time where all magic was done by feel and instinct.
‘An arcane focus of any kind, was a requirement to study magic, or what we now call the paracausal energies. It was the literal tool to focus the entirety of ones senses upon. When a certain threshold of sensory convergence happens upon an arcane focus, a mentor would then channel mana. The wielders senses, now hyper attuned to the default state of the focus, should perceive a change as paracausal energies flow through the focus and out into the surrounding environment.’
“Okay, I think I understand. So I need to focus on my… focus, and when Mana is channeled through it, I should be able to feel the difference, besides I think I can already feel mana,” Ori said.
‘What you have, which by no means is an insignificant feat, is an instinctual impression of Mana based on its effects on the mundane. By the time I’ve done with you, you’ll sense Mana as well as you see candle light, you’ll know not only when mana’s present, but the shape it takes, it’s colour and taste, the sound of it’s multitudinous songs, and how it’s alignment shifts from one to none at all. Now, let’s begin.’
Contrary to expectations, Ori had struggled with the initial steps of Sera’s instructions. Activating those Awakened senses in the quiet of the room without the stress or desperate need had been hard but with coaching, encouragement, and the vestiges of the resonance of battle harmony, Sera and Ori together had been able to trigger his Awakened senses and more besides.
With the wand in his hand, the world around him seemed to fade into non-existence, the corners of his two-by-four-fold vision dimming to black as his sight became microscopic in quality, For minutes, he was fascinated by the ridges of grease left by the prints of his fingertips, before his heartbeat and how it echoed and reverberated through the different densities of flesh throughout his own body stole his fascination. Most of his wonder went into the sensory expiration of his own body as new, surprising and somewhat disturbing revelations were revealed to him all at once. For example, he couldn’t quite see through eyes at the back of his head, but there was a feeling that suggested that whatever sensory organs Ori did or didn’t have, not knowing of an obstacle or presence behind him in this state would be a failing forever consigned to the past.
As his focus improved, the Wand itself seemed to become… more. More real, more present in a way few things in reality could be, more dangerous, and yet more integral to who Ori was, or at least who he wanted to become.
“Jesus, what the hell was that?” Ori gasped, as an instant migraine forced his eyes shut and his gorge to rise.
‘That, I suspect was your domain.’ Sera answered cheerily, ‘thankfully it was small enough to be undetected and unaspected with authority, otherwise you may have attracted more attention than you can afford at this time. Similar to your two by four-fold perception, you have no where near enough characteristics in the mind to process or control even a small domain. Hence the headache. Now, breathe, the pain will pass. When you have gathered yourself we will try again,’ Sera said.
“But you haven’t even told me what a domain is? And why it hurt so much.”
‘Do you remember the aura you can project with this wand?’
“Yeah?” Ori said.
‘Well Aura combines the characteristics of Presence and Spirit. These are aspects of every living being, Awakened or not. In this case, when these characteristics are combined, they create the two-fold unified characteristic, Aura, which is an area wide, subconscious projection, usually of ones affinity, it’s a passive effect with no real intent behind it, no… how should I say this? There are no intentions behind it, no instructions beyond allowing the aura to simply be. On the other hand, a Domain, a four-fold characteristic is what you get when you combine Intent, which is the two-fold unified characteristics of Will and Perception, with Aura. It changes Aura into something that has conscious intent behind it. A sphere wherein a sufficiently experienced practitioner could control all aspects related to their affinities within. For example, an Immortal with a life or death aspected domain could prevent all death from occuring within their sphere of influence if their domain was uncontested. There’s a lot more to it of course and it’s so far beyond your level that it’s a distraction for now, but, I have some small measure of the curiosity that drives you, so put aside the details, use them for fuel if you must, and know that as an unAwakened mortal, you do not have the capacity to even begin to worry about this right now, so avoid activating it lest you enjoy crippling headaches.’
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“Yes maam.” Ori replied with a renewed determination. Suddenly, many unanswered questions ranging from his divination to the limits and extents of magic itself had just been answered, this combined with rapid tangible progress made the problems facing him less insurmountable.
‘It’s mistress or Lady Sera during lessons apprentice.’ Sera deadpanned.
“Yes mistress.” Ori chuckled while he waited for the room to stop spinning.
Minutes later, with his sensory focus far exceeding that of the Awakened realm, his mind cycling through touch, sight, sound, scent, taste and more, Ori felt the Mana Sera channelled through his focus. It wasn’t a subtle observation, in fact, the first thought Ori had was that there was a blue ink that seemed to seep throughout the crack bisecting the artefact, before pouring out into the room as a mist, except it was invisible to sight with overlapping… colours that seemed to indicate more information. Sera guided Ori through this cognitive dissonance, a process that allowed Ori to discern Mana as a sense all of its own, and then to see mana’s aspects and affinities before its effect on mundane reality.
Within two hours, Ori no longer needed his Awakened senses to see mana, and after another hour, Ori could accurately sense Mana without his focus at hand while holding a conversation.
“What sensory organ is allowing me to see this? It’s like I’ve just grown a new set of eyes in the last few minutes.” Ori asked, this was only one of a barrage of questions Sera had been all too willing to indulge, as he accustomed himself to seeing magic for the first time. Ori suspected that she was, or had been just as curious and demanding of answers when she had first learnt magic and knew all too well the need to satisfy restless minds before continuing with the main lessons. Either way, Ori was profoundly grateful.
‘Mana is the paracausal energy of the mind. Without a mind, Mana has no effect on reality, without mana, minds can not directly influence reality. As a result, it’s your mind that senses mana, ultimately you’ll form a Mana Nexus that will bridge the physical mind and the spiritual mind of your soul, but by training your mind now, you are building the pathways and mental muscles you’ll need to wield Mana effectively throughout your career as a mage.’
“It’s unaligned…” Ori mumbled, noting the change in imperceptible colours and brightness through this new sense. “So I should just have this sense open all the time? Doesn’t that make things… distracting?”
‘With time, you’ll get used to it. I dare say it’ll become a comfort sensing the Mana of the world. Now, it’s time, reach out towards the unaligned Mana with your focus, align it to your will, and condense it.’ Sera commanded.
The next step, Mana manipulation, took even longer. Even Ori’s two-by-four-fold cheat perception wasn’t able to bypass Lady Seraphine's required learnings. So through to the late hours of the evening, Ori listened to Sera’s theories and lectures.
Throughout, his impression of magic engendered childlike wonder and awe, this was in no small part due to Sera’s reverence and respect for her learnings, but a larger part of it was just how big magic was. As he became more accustomed to his new sight, he listened to his mentor's tales of traditions and teachings steeped in uncountable ages of history. Dozens of Aeons of time, periods he confirmed were each as long as the total of human history back on earth, and yet not only did civilisations exist throughout these unimaginably vast periods, they did so on tens of thousands of realms each as large as Earth, or larger. And this was merely the necessary context.
As an engineer, by training, if not yet by trade, Ori had a practical mindset that often tried to strip away the showmanship and artifice. It had led him from his initial interest in programming using No Code AI tools, through to Python, Assembly and down to the bare metal of the circuit board. Whenever learning with the intent to create, Ori strove for the objective truth behind systems and their operators. It helped him make sense of the modern magic of computer screens and silicon chips. However, here he appreciated Sera’s truncated history of man’s trials through magic. Because this was also a story of mankind out amongst the stars, and how they managed to not just survive but carve out a chunk of relevance in an otherwise harsh uncaring universe.
At this moment, Ori felt pride for being human for the first time in his life.
As Sera moved towards the more contemporary teachings of paracausality, Ori noted the striking parallels to quantum mechanics. For example, something like Heisenberg's uncertainty principle existed but was rarely an issue due to the mostly macroscopic scales mages of this era worked in. Additionally, Ori had little idea if the particles on the standard model were all purely mundane, or if some had paracausal features, but it was clear that outside of his realm of birth, paracausal ‘stuff’ was abundant. Fundamentally, the boundary between magic and non-magic lies in the differences between causal or mundane materials or energies, and the paracausal energies that were impossible to accurately observe without arcane means. Peritia apparently filled every void but was stubbornly unresponsive to the same impulses that would allow Mana to move a mountain, and yet Peritia was the lifeblood of the system of growth used throughout Fate. Meanwhile, more exotic paracausal energies with little-known and often speculated impetuses were used from the forging and enchanting of artefacts to the physical and spiritual ascension towards higher-order existence. He recalled Freya’s knowledge as Sera spoke, using it as a reference.
> Unlike the laws of nature that revolve upon observations of cause and effect, paracausal phenomena may have multiple causes or effects or use relationships between disparate influences that may not be understood by mundane observation alone. It is this paracausality that is the fundamental division between nature and magic. Of the most important paracausal energies are Peritia, Mana, Breath, Grace, Aether and Quintessence:
>
> Peritia: The energy that influences living creatures and spirits, enables fate to influence life.
>
> Mana: The energy that enables the conscious mind to influence fate.
>
> Breath: The transient energy of vitality, used by the body to empower itself.
>
> Grace: Gathered from the trust, belief and love held by others, enables the subconscious minds of many to influence fate.
>
> Aether: An unstable primordial source for all paracausal energies, glimpsed within primordial rifts and dungeon nexuses.
Quintessence: A mysterious energy that hints at the complex relationship between will and fate.
“Sera, what do you think influences or is influenced by Quintessence?” Ori asked during a brief pause.
‘I’ll ignore the question until you address me with the dignity of your mentor.’
“Mistress. What’s the deal with Quintessence? And Aether for that matter?”
‘Better’ Sera responded with a grudging sigh. ‘We don’t know Ori, or, those that do have kept all the knowledge to themselves, working theories suggest the wildness of Aether responds to our spirit desires, the wants we often hide beneath the surface of our soul.
‘Quintessence… well, even our theories for Quintessence are scarce as Quintessence is so rare, and even rarer utilised. But if I were to guess, if Aether reflects our base desires, then as a balance, as some kind of imperfect symmetry, perhaps Quintessence is influenced by our higher-order ideals?’
“Yeah,” Ori’s absent-minded reply was taken as permission to continue with the lesson and before long, Sera was diving deeper into the peculiarities and finer details of Mana.
Ori was still aware of the gaps in logic, the contradictions between Sera’s solely human perspective and the pan-species, peer-reviewed academic knowledge Freya knew as rote.
From the histories of countless dead civilisations to the orders of knowledge keepers that rose and fell long before the advent of the Library of Fate, Ori suspected he knew why so much knowledge had been lost, over and over again across time. Conflict and competition forced knowledge scarcity, and in a universe where followers of religions or entire cultures were meticulously targeted as they were also sources of opposing grace, it was no wonder how oral traditions, let alone stockpiles of hidden arcane knowledge had been lost over time. For now, he held back his questions as many of the night's revelations and their implications swirled in his mind.
As Sera’s opening lecture turned towards specific operational nomenclature and safety procedures, Ori couldn’t help but smirk at the familiarity.
‘While you have picked the class most likely to help you survive your foolishness, I would be remiss in reminding you that losing an arm due to a moments inattention will always be a bad day.’
“I mean, this basically boils down to, just do what you say?”
‘Yes. I suppose you’d live a very long and fulfilling life if that’s all you did, but perhaps it would be easier if you could remember these simple precautions before any Voluntary Spellcraft…’ Sera said with only the slightest edge of mirth before continuing to describe a checklist of actions to take before using magic, such as checking Mana levels, levels of tiredness, his environment, the alignment of local Mana and more.
‘So, are you ready to begin?’
“Yes, wait, so we’re about to do voluntary, and unbound spell craft, so I need to check…”
‘Good, As you have no Mana capacity as far as I can tell, you can skip that step, but tell me, how would you judge your mental and physical state?’
“I… I mean, I have no idea. I don’t think I could sleep even though my body is exhausted, my mind’s buzzing. Saying it out loud, it sounds like this might be a bad mental and physical state for spellcraft?”
‘Let’s find out shall we?’
And so they did, while focusing on small whisps of blue that intermittently pulsed from Ori’s crystal wand, Ori had no more than a mortal's success at manipulating mana, which is to say, almost none at all. Before the first rays of dawn cast light into his small room, Sera called an end to their first teaching session allowing Ori to catch a few hours of well-deserved rest.
“Sera, thank you. You have no idea what this means to me.”
‘Oh I don’t think that’s fair. I do have some idea of the yearning for power afterall. Still, I can scarcely fathom how even these initial steps must feel to one such as your self, one from a civilisation without even the knowledge of magic’s existence. Still, so far you’ve been a joy to instruct, I just hope I am as equal an instructor to the no doubt prodigious talent and drive you possess. Now hush, time for sleep. Tomorrow I suspect will be a very eventful day indeed.’