While the rest of the guild celebrated in the cafeteria, Tim, Aerith, and Hoban relaxed in the administration’s loft. With drinks in hand they enjoyed the post-event glow with a well-earned sense of satisfaction. Hoban was gossiping about some of the new employees in sales having an affair. Aerith was blushing up to her ears. Tim nodded mindlessly as he gazed out the window.

Outside, the vimmanna flowers flittered through the late summer sky in search of a mate. Their time was coming to close and Tim was reminded that his own time was also running short. One more turning of the season would mark a year in a different world. The chittering of his friends became background noise as Tim drowned in his own thoughts. His jaw clenched as he thought in circles. Options, choices, decisions and consequences spun like cogs in his mind.

There were simply too many divergent goals for Tim to consider. Establishing independence and security was essential. But running his guild had become a time vampire. Managing the business left him without time to do research. But if he didn’t properly manage the business, there would be no funding. And within the research, where should he begin? At some point spell theory, plane theory, mana manipulation, and control merged into a point that crossed world boundaries. But what’s the quickest way to triangulate that nexus?

Tim’s mind whirred along at top speed when, the crow that changed the world, who liked to be fed upon the balcony, called out for attention. The cogs jammed and Tim leaped to his feet. The cup of clear liquor fell from his hand and shattered on the hardwood floor. The pleasant chatter suddenly stopped as Aerith and Hoban froze. Tim slowly turned and addressed them. “We’re going to need weapons. And people who know how to use them.”

“Weapons? Why? You’re not going to murder Aki just because he’s diddling two salesgirls, are you?”

“Um, that’s kind of extreme Tim,” said Aerith. “Just because he was doing… That. With two of them.”

“At the same time.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Hoban? And who’s Aki?”

“He’s one of the guys over in appliance sales. What the hell are you talking about Tim?”

“I’m talking about what we’re going to do next. Try and keep up, elf.”

“Well, don’t waste your drink on the floor, human. So, what, are we going to become a sword merchant now? I can’t even imagine the regulatory problems we’re going to have with that.”

Tim sank back down into the plush chair and rummaged around his dark gray uniform. From his inside pocket he removed a thin copper card. Tim held over it the broken glass and pushed mana though. Suddenly, the shards of shattered glass began to shake. Pieces jumped and rejoined the glass melting and merging. Within the span of a held breath the glass was completely restored.

“Was that…” Aerith asked.

“Yes, that was a restoration spell.”

“Okay. Wait. No. Let me start again.” Hoban slammed his cup down on the table and started pointing at Tim. “Three things. One, what has that got to do with weapons? Two, how can you use restoration on an inanimate object? And three, what the bloody hell, Tim?”

“I, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the fundamental nature of magic. And I think this is proof that my current theory on magic is correct. As far as I can tell there are three main types of magic. The simplest is stuff like control wind or shape earth. Those spells directly interact with the environment to create effects. Then there’s summoning magic. The magic that creates something from nothing. Like fire arrow. Where there was nothing you create an arrow of fire and use it. You could also do a similar effect with a control spell, but you’d need a preexisting source of fire to manipulate. Do you see the difference?”

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“Yeah, I think so.”

“So that would make divine magic the third type?”

“That’s right, Aerith, although I don’t know if it should be called divine. From what I can tell this class of magic draws upon knowledge outside the person using it. For example, when I use a control or create spell it uses information from my mind to shape the outcome. I know what fire is like, I know what an arrow is like so my concepts of these determine what the spell fire arrow would be like.

“But how do you repair a broken bone with magic? I don’t have a lot of knowledge about what bones look like. Nor do I know where the break is or how it should be repaired. That information comes from somewhere else. Take this cup for example. I didn’t have a perfect knowledge of what it looked like, but that information existed somewhere. Drawing upon that knowledge I was able to repair it. Which brings me to my next point.”

“Weapons?”

“Almost. But first one more observation. Each spell category takes more skill and mana to use. I think this is because they are affecting things from different realms of reality. Different planes of existence. Control spells are linked to the Material or Physical Plane. Summoning spells are linked to the Ethereal Plane and divine spells draw knowledge from the Astral Plan e.

“I can tell you’re not getting it.” Tim shook his head “So, imagine this world is sitting in a box, ok? A control spell works with things already inside this box. This is the Material Plane. But how do we get something new, like create water? Where does the water come from? And why does it take more mana to get it that way instead of using control water to draw it from a well? I think our box, our Material Plane is sitting inside another, bigger box. That box is the Astral Plane. It takes extra mana to punch through our box and bring back the water.”

“And you think that those boxes are inside another box, and that’s the divine realm?”

“You know Tim, this reminds me of a story left by the ancestors. The three pillars that held up the world and rested upon the shoulders of a god.”

“I think this is all part of a shared mythology. Old legends and stories, the kind of stuff that you’d just dismiss as a quaint explanation. But if you look at it in more scientific terms it starts to make sense.

And if you have that rational foundation you can start to extrapolate new theories. Like, if we assume that all this is correct there must also be a fourth class of spells. Something capable of punching through all our boxes and connection to a separate box elsewhere. Spells that could summon heroes.”

“So, we need weapons to summon heroes?”

“No, we need to go to where I was summoned. And for that we need weapons.”

“And where was that?”

“We arrived in a temple, built on top of an isolated hill. It’s about a week’s travel east from the last village outside the city.”

“That could be Bonsho,” replied Hoban, as he pushed his orange hair back. “It was a temple built by the humans not long after the start of this age, while they were still under the protection of the dwarves.”

“Wait, there are dwarves?”

The conversation slowly derailed and the group of three talked into the night. When Tim finally crawled into bed, it wasn’t the alcohol that lulled him into blissful rest, but a light heart. When the morning came, he slept through the usual feeding of the crow that changed the world. Its hungry knocks at his window did not rouse him. But the knocks on his bedroom door did.

“Tim, can I come in?” Aerith timidly poked her head inside. She was wearing a traditional dress in warm earthy tones. Tim smiled and beckoned her in. Aerith sat at the foot of his bed and looked away.

As a sweet smell of flowers filled the room, Tim became acutely aware of Aerith’s increasing femininity. Her cheeks were no longer sunken but round and rosy. Her shoulder-length black hair had regained its luster and sparkled under the dawn’s light. Her curves had become more pronounced and alluring. Testosterone rumbled within Tim, and he unreasonably thought that today would be a good day.

But Aerith turned to him with somber words, “Tim, we have a big problem.”

“What?” Tim deflated.

“So, the weapons, you didn’t plan on using them to retake Takakotan, did you?”

“Uh, no. I don’t even know what that is.”

“Oh, thank Aamond. I didn’t think you were so foolish.” Aerith sighed with relief. “But, with what you said last night, and then the news today. Well, everyone is talking about it, how the hero of the Engineering Guild had agreed to drive out the demons and claim the fort for Erraat.”

“The hell?”

The crow that changed the world squawked in surprise and flew from the balcony as Tim’s roar echoed throughout the morning.