I wake up feeling a bit anxious. Today I’m going to learn the first really fantastical thing Estand has to offer. The feeling of anxiety is slightly welcome, after a few days of immersing myself in what is mostly physical training.

Once more I start my day with a bath, this time managing to keep my place in line instead of being allowed to skip. The Staufolk’s new willingness of letting me wait my turn as well feels nice. I come out feeling clean and ready to learn something entirely new.

I meet Bozhidar at breakfast and, for the first time here, have a conversation over the meal. It’s entirely about magic and the concepts that Bozhidar relies on. It takes us longer than in previous days to finish eating, and we leave the mess hall among the last.

Bozhidar leads us apart from the ruins, still inside the clearing, to a tent extending from a wagon. Charms hang from the posts holding the tent up and from the wagon itself. The cloth the tent is made of is heavy and of high quality. It gives the impression of a tent meant to hold something in, as much as it does to serve as a room.

The interior is spacious and dim. Bozhidar goes around the tent, lighting up lanterns and collecting things, before gesturing in my direction and then towards to a table with a chair. I sit down and Bozhidar joins me a moment after, setting things down on the table.

“Casting magic is not difficult.” Bozhidar opens, standing up a bit straighter, “What it is, though, is taxing on one’s reserves of Mana. It’s this hurdle which many are just naturally incapable of getting over in a timely manner. For most people, the most they can do is produce a tiny effect which exhausts all their Mana.” He points to a crystal the size of my fist, placed right in front of me. “The first thing we’ll be doing is measure how much Mana you have. I will do my best to teach you to use as much of it as you can.”

I nod and pick the crystal up, which feels cold in my hands, and nothing happens. Bozhidar’s ears move to a position I haven’t seen yet, and I think I can tell on his face that something is wrong. “What’s supposed to be happening?” I ask, my voice a tiny bit shaky.

“Every living thing has some Mana in it. This crystal is meant to force as small a drain as possible to give an indication just how much Mana you have. It doing nothing is… worrying.” Bozhidar’s voice is surprisingly heavy and cautious, words spoken clearly and slowly.

I look down at the crystal again and suddenly a notification pops up, slightly scaring me.

NOTIFICATION

Attempt to access Mana reserve failed due to missing activation channels.

Searching…

Searching…

Searching…

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

No activation channels found.

Access to Mana reserve impossible.

I start panicking, sweat beginning to bead on my forehead. I can feel my throat closing up, my breath becoming short. I put down the crystal before I start shaking, so at least I won’t drop it, and place my hands down on the table. Right before I screw my eyes shut so I could try and focus on my breathing, another notification pops up.

NOTIFICATION

Rep would like to speak with you.

I choke back a single stressed laugh and speak out with no regard to Bozhidar next to me, who I just notice is much more worried than he was. “Rep!”

“We are so, so sorry, Sebastian. We made a terrible mistake.”

“What do you mean by a mistake!?” I practically shout out. I barely catch Bozhidar startling at that.

“We had mentioned your transfer was a rush job… Part of that rush meant we… overlooked something important. We were so focused on making sure you could hold Mana, we managed to miss making sure you could output it. Simply put, you have the plumbing but no faucet.”

“And… and… well…” I stammer out. “What does that mean?”

“We can’t apologize enough, Sebastian, but it means you can’t do magic, nor will you be able to. If we stick to the same metaphor, installing a faucet now would like tearing out nearly every wall. We can’t guarantee it’s a process you can survive, so we won’t do it…”

“So… what you’re saying is… I can’t… I can’t ever do any magic?” I can feel the blood drain from my face, the lump in my throat instantly growing. The edges of my vision start going black, a first in many years.

“We… we… we will do something about this. We will find what that is and we will do it. Oh… this is going to get us a reprimand…”

A flash of white is my only indicator of something having changed next to me, as I wrap my head with my arms, bent over the table, my breaths short and ragged. From the direction of Bozhidar I register him talking, but not what he says, and he is clearly talking to Rep.

After a few moments another flash occurs and I can feel Rep had left. Bozhidar places his hand on my shoulder and speaks in an even voice. “I am so sorry this happened, Sebastian. Rep filled me in and told us to sit tight.” He bends over a bit, trying to catch sight of my eyes through the gaps my arms leave, his voice softer. “It occurs to me that you don’t actually know how to read any language you might come across, so let’s do something about that?”

I screw my eyes shut and take a couple of deep, shaky breaths before I very slightly nod my head. “Y-yeah… OK… that sounds OK…”