Immovable Mage

– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 214, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 20 –

“First the basics,” said Brynn. In front of her, Lori and Terry were sitting with eager eyes. “Mana crafting is an umbrella term for several techniques. The most common ones are: Aspecting, imprinting, carving, and rune inscriptions.”

Brynn tapped her right index finger on her chin. “Normally, that is also the order in which we teach them, but with you two, it makes more sense to skip the first technique for now. Yes, Terry?”

Terry, who had raised his hand, asked: “What about enchantments?”

Brynn glanced at Terry’s academy bag. “Enchanting is, in fact, a completely separate discipline that belongs purely into the realm of spellwork. Very advanced spellwork, I should emphasize. Enchantments and mana crafting can be complementary.

“Mana crafting is more accessible to beginners because it incorporates non-structured or less structured mana. If you were to take the full crafting specialization at the Academy, then you would be introduced to enchantments after carving and before rune inscriptions – it can serve as a more practical topic while the students are still trying to wrap their heads around the theory of runes.”

Terry nodded.

“Back to the agenda,” continued Brynn. “Aspecting essentially means that you charge an item with aspected mana. While you have to pay some attention to material compatibility and limitations, it comes naturally to most people. Particularly so if your mana is naturally single-aspected. All it takes is time and patience. Once you have reached a certain charge level, the item becomes self-sustaining. Mana attracts mana.”

Brynn raised a cautionary finger. “The first catch is that most aspects are near useless for items. Equipment aspecting is a common side income for people with particular mana aspects. Metal reinforcement, a fire or ice sword, cooling or warming armor, a convenient source of light, or a water catcher can be useful enough.”

She shook her head. “However, even for those aspects, there are further downsides. An aspected item has no off-switch. The heat or flames of a fire-aspected sword do not distinguish between user and enemy. That has to be taken into account. Consequently, aspected items usually make up the cheapest mana-crafted items you can find.

“As for your aspects…” Brynn looked towards Lori. “Aspecting items with earth is generally not that useful. It attracts earth to the item or hardens the earth around it. It has its uses in construct crafting but does not lend itself towards weapon enhancement.”

Next, Brynn turned to Terry. “Unfortunately, aspecting with minor aspects is not that well studied. I do not know what aspecting with oscillating mana would accomplish, but I would not set my hopes too high. I encourage you to experiment, but I would suggest giving precedence to imprinting and carving. Imprinting is short for imprinting a primed spell structure. You shape a spell structure, compress it to fit into the object, and hold it in place until it stays on its own.”

“That simple?” blurted Terry with incredulity.

“As simple as lifting your arm and holding it out to the side.” Brynn smirked. “Try doing that for several days without pause.”

Terry exclaimed: “We have to keep the structure in place for days?!”

Brynn chortled and shrugged. “Depends on the structure. Depends on the material. Depends on the aspect of your mana. Depends on how much mana you put in. The more mana you compress initially, the less time it will take to imprint the structure.” She reassured him: “You do not have to finish it in one go. However, if you pick up where you left off and you do not overlay the new structure perfectly over the old, then the imprinted structure will become fuzzy and more difficult to activate.”

“Uff…” Terry was beginning to see the difficulty that was about to face him.

“That is just the first step of imprinting, mind you,” warned Brynn. “In contrast to normal spellwork, the imprinted structure needs to be primed repeatedly and ideally perfectly superimposed.

“In spellwork, mages superimpose primers in order to quickly chain and repeat the same spell. In mana crafting, by contrast, we rely on repetition to create multiple and recovering spell charges. The higher the mana concentration in the imprinted primer, the quicker the recovery of spell charges.”

Brynn raised her warning finger again. “Activating an imprint also decreases the primer’s mana concentration. Activating an imprint too often too quickly will cause the primer to dissipate completely. A skilled mage can inject additional mana or superimpose a new primer onto the imprinted spell structure, but a person with insufficient mana control might destroy the imprint.”

Brynn lowered her finger again. “Aside from imprinting, the other technique I want you to learn is mana carving. This one is particularly important for you Lori, because it is required to give an imprinted spell a casting direction. Imprinting a spell like Nourishing Earth on an item is rather pointless unless you can designate a target other than the item itself.”

“Not so much a problem for Immovable Object, is it?” remarked Terry.

“Not if you only want to activate the spell on the imprinted object itself, no,” agreed Brynn. “Nevertheless, I suggest you do not limit your education unnecessarily. Learning to carve mana lines will be useful for you as well. Aside from directing mana lines, there are also carving lines for shielding or linking imprinted structures.”

Terry nodded enthusiastically.

“What about rune inscriptions?” asked Lori curiously.

“That is the pinnacle of our craft and a whole science of its own,” replied Brynn, with obvious enthusiasm. “Rune inscription is a discipline completely orthogonal to spellwork and comes with its own systems for mana application. Rune inscription requires decades of dedicated study and practice before it begins to demonstrate its use. I would love to take you as my disciple, but runes do not synergize quickly with mission work. Are you willing to stop doing missions for the Guardians?”

“Uhm…” Lori hesitated to reply, but her face clearly displayed her thoughts.

“‘No’ is a valid answer,” teased Brynn and winked. “That reminds me, have you two found new groups for mission work yet?”

“Yup.” Terry nodded. “We will do a few non-magical beast hunts to get used to each other.”

“Really?” Lori was surprised. “That was quick. I have joined up with Alrik, but our group is still one person short.”

When hearing the name, Brynn’s ears perked up, and she puckered her lips. “Alrik, huh? The boy from the mage classes? Talented dwarven mage proper?” She leaned in closer. “Also supposed to be quite handsome for a young dwarf?”

Lori blushed slightly, but stressed. “Alrik is very talented, yes. That’s exactly why he was my first pick. He can cover both healing and long-range support, which is a perfect start. I’m lucky he agreed to join up. Now we are just looking for another competent member, but that one’s more tricky because we don’t have anyone specific in mind.”

Lori averted her gaze from Brynn and focused on Terry. “Where did you find your two new companions so quickly?”

“In the theoretical introduction class on aspect beings,” replied Terry sheepishly.

“Why are you taking that of all things?” blurted Lori with wide eyes.

“You are not planning any trips to the Wastes, are you?” asked Brynn jokingly. “Because if you do, I would have to tie you to a golem until you have regained your sanity.”

“No, of course not,” denied Terry in a hurry.

“Then why?” questioned Lori with utter bewilderment. “Not many elementals or demons inside the barrier, are there?”

“No, but I figured since I don’t have a group for mission work at the moment, I might as well use the time to take a few theoretical classes.” Terry shrugged. “It worked out.”

“So how did you find your new companions there?” pressed Lori.

“Uhm…” Terry scratched his head. “Well, one of them was reading a book that caught my interest and we got talking.”

“A book?” questioned Brynn. “Which book?”

“Legends Beyond Their Eras: The Veilbinder, The Faithless Saints, The Valkyrie of Hope,” replied Terry and scratched his cheek.

Lori giggled. “That fits.”

“Name?” prompted Brynn.

“Calam,” replied Terry. “He is an elven mage with force-aspected mana and also somewhat of a mana cultivator.”

“‘Somewhat?’” asked Lori.

“From talking to him, I doubt Calam has ever emptied his mana pool.” Terry made a face of mock-outrage. “Pa Bjorln would be appalled.”

Lori chuckled in response.

“Force-aspected mana explains his interest in the Valkyrie,” interjected Brynn. “If he can take inspiration from her, his force magic could become a valuable asset. However, while force magic has many uses, you two are still short of anything resembling a healer.”

“We have Nassim for that,” said Terry. “We stumbled into him by accident after the class.”

“I do not recall that name,” said Brynn with furrowed brows. “Is he a mage proper?”

“No…” Terry shook his head.

Brynn instantly frowned.

“Nassim has an aspect impairment, but his mana is aspected towards light,” explained Terry quickly. “So healing is not really an issue. He also trains as a mana cultivator. I believe he may even live up to Pa Bjorln’s standards.”

“Fair enough,” said Brynn with a nod and turned again towards Lory. “Any ideas on where you are going to find your second companion?”

Lori shrugged. “We are mostly looking for close combat strength. I figured I can have some sparring sessions at the training grounds and inquire there. I can spar with a few candidates and then we’ll pick the strongest.”

“Good that you have a plan,” said Brynn, and then clapped her hands. “Alright, then let’s try your hands at some imprinting.”

***

“A toast to healthy hunting and advancing within the Guardians together!” Nassim held up his cup. Terry and Calam joined him. “““Cheers!”””

After they had finished a few hunts, the three celebrated their first day of mission work as a group by having a few cups of mana-imbued cold tea – a specialty of Arcana’s eastern city district.

“Ah…” “Delicious.”

Terry was skeptical at first if the beverage was worth five mana coins. That was half the amount required to rent basic non-magic equipment for a day. However, he quickly came around. The taste started slightly bitter but brought a sweet aftertaste and a light prickly feeling. He could also feel the tea’s mana quickly becoming naturalized in his body. Much more quickly than any external push of mana he had ever experienced before. It apparently had a calming effect on his mana flow, too.

“Man, I wish I could use force magic,” exclaimed Nassim. “Flinging around wolves or knocking down a bear without getting close must feel great.”

“Personally, I am looking forward to mastering the jump spells the most,” said Calam with anticipation. “And I would trade you my Kinetic Pull spell for your Camouflage.”

“If I had any other spells to trade, I would go for the healing spells,” grumbled Terry. “I hate not being able to cast any.”

“Not fond of relying on others for that, are you?” asked Nassim with a raised eyebrow.

“Maybe, but more that I like to have a backup plan.” Terry shrugged. “Especially if the healer frequently waltzes into close combat. Any chance you would be willing to hang back in camouflage?”

“I am touched by your concern, but that does not sit well with my mana cultivation plans.” Nassim rejected the suggestion firmly.

“Figured as much.” Terry took another sip of his tea.

“It would also be a waste to stop using Camouflage for an opening ambush.” Calam pointed out.

“Yeah, I agree,” admitted Terry. “Lucky for us, you don’t seem that easy to squish, Nassim. We will be relying on you! Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

“I’ll have to take a bio break. Be right back.” Nassim stood up from the table and headed to the restroom.

“Worked out well, didn’t it?” remarked Calam. “Think we can start on mana corrupted soon?”

Terry and Calam started discussing a few potential mana corrupted missions before considering how to proceed with the intermediate level core curriculum. During a brief pause in their conversation, they noticed a commotion in the back of the teahouse.

***

“…and then Nassim went completely bonkers.” Terry recounted at the family dinner table. “He blew his top for no discernible reason and started to loudly berate the waitstaff. Calam and I were completely aghast. We just stared at each other, stunned and speechless. Before we realized what was happening and snapped out of it, one of the waitstaff was already crying. Completely out of nowhere. The whole time, Nassim was the perfect example of politeness and cordiality and then all of a sudden he transformed into this rabid pus weasel.”

Terry took some more bread and shook his head. “I really don’t get it.”

“Could have been worse,” said Bjorln. “At least you discovered it early enough.”

“Was the waitstaff manaless by any chance?” inquired Isille suspiciously.

“No idea.” Terry furrowed his brow. “I didn’t activate my mana sight and didn’t really pay attention. Why?”

“Which tea house were you in?” asked Brynn.

“Heavenly Harmony,” replied Terry.

“They were manaless,” stated Brynn.

“Then that probably explains it,” growled Isille with a hint of disgust. “Nassim, was it?”

“Yes, but what do you mean ‘that explains it’?” Terry’s brow furrowed further.

“Some people carry different faces depending on whom they are interacting with and if they consider them superior, equal, or inferior,” explained Isille.

“Yeah.” Samuel nodded. “I wager that you caught a glimpse of Nassim’s face reserved for those he considers inferior. Did you confront him?”

“Kinda, but it took a while to notice the cause of the commotion, and then we were shocked into a daze.” Terry had a distant look and a tinge of guilt in his voice. “Anyway, Nassim acted as if we were from another realm for finding fault with him over this. Calam and I took our leave and unregistered our link with Nassim.” He sighed. “So much for my first group attempt.”

“I think I’ll have a little chat with Guardian management,” grumbled Isille.

“If Nassim gets his ear chewed out by the Guardians, won’t he blame Terry?” asked Jorg.

“I don’t really care,” said Terry with a scoff.

“Maybe not, but snitches get bad reputations,” stressed Jorg.

“‘Snitches’?” Isille threw her son a reprimanding look.

Jorg cleared his throat. “Their words, Ma! Not mine.”

“You don’t realize how lucky you kids have been, Jorg,” interjected Samuel. “Not everyone has parents like yours to straighten them out while growing up. Unless you are willing to write those people off completely, someone else has to step in.”

“The Guardians are not like the Guild,” stressed Isille proudly. “We do not move in to do our work and then vanish again. We are living and working as a part of the community. The prerequisite for that is that we have an excellent reputation within the community. Acts like looking down on manaless squanders and tarnishes our reputation.

“Besides, even though Guardian management takes every complaint seriously, they never take it at face value,” explained Isille. “They might pick someone to work with him. Perhaps they assign a shadow to observe him. Maybe one day an instructor will coincidentally find their way into the same tea house. If that Nassim displays a similarly problematic attitude again, he will be admonished and receive a contribution point penalty. They might assign him specific missions or companions that should help to readjust his views.”

“That reminds me,” exclaimed Samuel, and he started rummaging in his bag.

“Got someone to admonish?” Bjorln piped up.

“No. I brought some gifts,” announced Samuel.

“Aww, that wouldn’t have been necessary, Whaka Samuel. I don’t have anything for you,” Bjorln tried – and failed – to look embarrassed while Isille snickered.

“Not for you, old brother.” Samuel rolled his eyes. “For the kids. I had them commissioned from the Guild when the kids split into separate groups.”

Lori, Jorg, and Terry were all attention.

“Here.” Samuel handed each of them a small cube.

“What is it?” inquired Lori.

“A signaling and locating device,” explained Samuel. “Similar functionality to your Guardian cards, but interoperable with other signaling devices. It can be charged with additional mana to amplify the signal. Best of all, it has a flash button without duration limitations and can be set to loop a particular flash sequence. Generally speaking, it allows you to transmit arbitrary messages as long as you have agreed on a code for interpretation.”

Interoperable?

“Nama, Whaka Samuel, Whaka Brynn.” The first expression of gratitude came surprisingly from Isille.

“Our pleasure,” said Samuel, and Brynn nodded.

Lori and the others thanked them as well, but remained perplexed.

“Uhm…” “What do we do with these?”

“Their signal strength is better than the Guardian cards,” explained Isille. “Even without providing additional mana.”

“Also,” began Brynn, and summoned another cube from one of her storage items. “Samuel and I can now finally keep an eye on you as well.” Samuel followed her lead and produced a cube of his own.

The three youngsters were excited and Terry particularly so.

“Don’t show these to anyone,” ordered Isille. “They are meant as an additional safety net. Your companions are all Guardians and you can register them using the Guardian cards. No need to mention these signaling cubes. Clear?”

After they had simmered down, the dinner conversation continued.

“So, where do you intend to pick up a replacement companion?” asked Jorg.

“Theory classes again?” teased Lori.

“No.” Terry shook his head. “I think we will simply ask the orientation instructor. Surely, there are others looking for groups.”

***

“Okay, so you two are looking to form a group and you are missing a mage capable of healing spellwork?” A broad-shouldered man in an official Guardian uniform inquired.

Terry and Calam nodded.

“Please hand me your cards.” The orientation instructor did a quick scan through their completed missions and verified abilities. He looked at Terry. “You already took a hunting mission for mana corrupted?”

“Yes, Instructor,” confirmed Terry. “Cloud badger in Thundervalley.”

“Why did you split up the group?” questioned the orientation instructor.

“The group was with my siblings,” replied Terry. “Our elders suggested we find separate groups because life requires more than family.”

The instructor nodded. “Guardians?”

“Yes, Ma Isille and Pa Bjorln.”

“Ah, right,” exclaimed the instructor. “I heard the two had an accepted son. Give them my regards!” He seemed more trusting after hearing about Terry’s background. “Any things I should take into consideration? Preferences or prejudices regarding certain abilities?”

The two teenagers shook their heads.

“Good, then that is all I require. We will have a look and see if we can find a recommendation. Once we have a proposal, we will contact you and arrange a meeting with the other party. The rest will be up to you.”

***

“Greetings.” The dark-haired elven girl slightly lowered her head. “My name is Siling. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“Greetings. My name is Terry.” “I’m Calam.”

“Instructor Dwayne already told me a bit about your abilities and mission background,” said Siling and then looked at the human of the duo. “You’re the one who hunted the cloud badger?”

“Yes,” confirmed Terry. “Are you looking to hunt mana corrupted?”

“Exactly.” Siling grinned with anticipation. “I specialize as a spirit mage and am looking to advance to spirits of mana-corrupted beasts. A cloud badger would be a perfect start.”

“Wait, binding the spirits of others is soul magic, right?” interjected Calam warily.

Siling became visibly nervous, but she had expected that question. “Spirit aspect, but yes, the spirit magic I am relying on also involves spells from the lower system. Those spells are channeled through my soul.” She paused and asked with a fainter voice. “Is that a problem?”

“Not for me,” replied Terry immediately.

“No.” Calam shook his head as well. “I was only surprised. But…”

“We are missing a companion capable of healing spells,” explained Terry.

“That won’t be a problem.” Siling smiled. “I specialize in spirit magic, but I am still a mage proper. I can cast the fundamental healing spells at an intermediate level. Additionally, I can cast the spells Banish Fatigue and Share Mana.”

Terry exclaimed a quick whistle. “Impressive. Perfect!”

“What spirits have you collected?” inquired Calam. “I have never met a spirit collector before.”

“Currently, I have developed three soul spots, and they are filled with a falcon, a wolf, and a bear,” explained Siling. “At the moment, I can only summon one at a time. Switching a summoned soul both drains my mana and weakens my soul, which means I cannot do it too frequently without rest. It will take more time before I can increase my number of soul spots. That is why I want to replace my wolf soul with a mana-corrupted beast.”

“Sounds good,” said Terry. “We aim to pick up corrupted hunts anyway and if it can increase our companion’s strength, then all the better. How did you decide to specialize in spirit magic?”

“Not much to decide, really.” Siling shrugged. “It was my aspect gift, and I thought I should make good use of it.”

***