Master Lazarus and Mistress Lovela took Tercius and J'ro to the underground facility where the first years currently resided. It was a silent and slow platform journey back, a world of difference to the jolly way there just a few hours earlier. J'ro was still dazed and stumbling— dead on his feet, was a phrase Tercius would use to describe him— and Tercius had to support him physically. He did not have the same symptoms, other than a pressing mental weight.

Tercius was about to go to his room when Mistress Lovela paused them. Looking straight at Tercius she said, “Wait a moment, young man. While it would be best if you go to sleep as soon as possible– you and him both– I need to talk to you. Please, sit there.”

She pointed to the seats in the hallway, just past the entrance.

A small vial appeared in her hand and she extended it to Master Lazarus. “Lazarus, a drop of this in a pot of tea brewed from cromanuuiol leaf, made the traditional way— no magic involved. They both need it, so go brew it and bring it here.”

“Yes, Mistress.” Master Lazarus accepted the vial carefully and made it disappear.

Those amulets are so convenient, Tercius thought as he looked at the briefly glowing amulet. Maybe it’s time for me to loosen my rule of no using Energy while at the Academy— I mean I’m not even technically at the Academy. The sooner I get Mana Metamorphosis, the sooner I become a real mage, and not a half-assed attempt at one. That’s it, no more waiting. As soon as the next wisps come my way, I will remake the effigy.

When Master Lazarus left to brew the tea, Mistress sat near Tercius and J’ro.

“Tell me, young man, did you notice any kind of pressure inside of you? Unease, perhaps, one not related to the events of the past few hours? Maybe in the last week or two?”

He tried to remember something, but nothing came to mind. Physically at least. He had felt uneasy mentally almost every day— waiting for an attack. Meditation was there to help him, the high leveled skill doing in moments what should be only possible with a week of rest and relaxation. Tercius answered confused, “No, Mistress. Should I have?”

“Well, during our ride on the platform, I was able to see that you are near what we in the medical field call a threshold.”

“A threshold, Mistress?”

"It happens when the amount of mana in your body is much larger than what your still developing mana channels can hold. I can see this plainly, as I usually help mages overcome this. There's a perfectly normal reason for this and a solution for it. You see, we active mana users encourage our mana growth on a much larger scale than passive mana users— those who use only skills.

“A few students of our Academy manage to make it to this threshold in their fourth or fifth year, then some more in their sixth, but the majority of mages only get to it in their early to mid twenties— depending on when they started, and many other factors. I think that you should have learned of the neutral point of compression of mana while inside a body.”

"Yes, Mistress, Master Lazarus has explained the concept. While inside of a body, mana doesn't compress naturally. A mage has to exert active influence over the mana to compress it and then keep it that way. Should this conscious effort fail, the body will return mana to its neutral point in mere moments. I have tried it, and it seems to be true." Tercius said.

“Excellent. Then tell me what do you think will happen when mana won't compress itself, yet it still grows in quantity?”

"Well, I was told that the mana channels expand because of this slow, gradual increase of mana quantity," Tercius answered.

“They do, but that expansion has a limit. The channels grow both physically as a body naturally grows, and they grow in another way— metaphysically. They naturally grow bigger on the inside, of their own accord. But even that has a limit. Once both the physical expansion of the channels and the metaphysical one peak— usually around eighteen to nineteen cycles of age— we arrive at what is called the age threshold of mana channels.

"Another way to get to the threshold is if the mana growth is faster than the natural growth of mana channels, something that usually happens with legacy mages— those whose parents or teachers start to groom them from a very young age. This seems to be the case with you. For a boy your… physical size, this shouldn't have happened yet, and yet it did. I'm half tempted to ask you to be my test subject for a paper, but currently, I'm working on a few things. If in a year or two you desire such a thing come and find me in the Hospital. I trust you know where it is." The old lady said with a smile.

"I do know, Mistress, and I will think about it," Tercius answered. This was a second time someone offered to write a paper of some kind— about him. Am I to be a mage or a lab rat? Tercius thought with some tired amusement.

“Good. Now as to why I’m telling you all this. From what I see with my medical skills, If a considerable growth spurt doesn’t begin in the next week or two– a possibility at your age– you will have to open what we call a Well. And fear not, this is a good thing for you.

"I won't lie and tell you it will be easy— no it will be painful, extremely so— but you will endure and get great rewards out of it when you manage to do it. Do you have a mana sensing skill, perchance?"

“I do, Mistress.”

“Well then. Use it to observe me, in a moment.”

Mana Sight made his eyes blind to anything but mana. Tercius waited for a few moments in complete dark, the solitude in the vast empty space a balm to him. He knew that Mistress Lovela was there, a meter and a half away from him yet he could not see her— her mana metamorphosed to near invisibility, to his sense.

What happened next, Tercius could only compare to an ending of a solar eclipse. One moment there was a black nothing, then slowly the moon moved itself— giving a glimpse at the power it hid behind. With wide eyes staring forward, Tercius was blinded.

The mana outline of Master Lazarus was a sun of mana in Tercius’s eyes. He saw it every time he used his Mana Sight in the Master's presence, an almost daily occurrence for the past month. Now looking at Mistress Lovela, Tercius saw so much more— too much all at once. Master Lazarus was at least observable to Tercius.

Mistress Lovela was not.

A glimpse had made his eyes overload and burn, so he quickly turned off the skill.

“That was a Well, young man. Developed for over half a century, it holds all of the excess mana my channels couldn’t hold— my reserve.

“When the threshold is reached, and your body starts experiencing some minor pain and discomfort, the Well will start to slowly reveal itself. Here—” The old lady patted a place on the center of her torso. “— and you will have to start sending as much mana as you can when that happens. It will be painful, but it has to be done, young man. To deny it means that your physical mana channels will slowly, but surely, burst. Mana never compresses itself inside a body, and only your conscious effort can do that. But you can’t consciously keep it that way all day long, every moment of every day for the rest of your life.

"The pain could be dulled, but pain medications or even spells and skills often influence our systems in many interesting ways— often prolonging the efforts of a mage by five-fold or more. I won't bore you with that. You can make pauses to sleep, eat, and do other physical needs while under some kind of pain management, but for a few weeks, your days will be all about sending mana to that Well while enduring the pain of doing it. Only when you create a large enough space inside of it, will you be able to stop. From then on this will be a life-long endeavor.

"You will expand this space by repeating the process regularly, weekly, or even daily, bit by bit. Inside a Well mana can be kept in its compressed state— to any compression point your skill with such things allows. I mentioned great rewards for developing a Well, didn't I? That is but one."

"Another reward is that with a Well your metaphysical mana channels will grow even when physical mana channels stop, albeit slowly. Since you are still developing naturally the presence of a Well will give a significant boost to your metaphysical mana channels, leading to a longer boosted period of development. This is significant for one major reason. A body can generate mana by itself, this you know— but this is a limited generation and rather small in scope. Metaphysical mana channels harvest mana from around us, and the scope of this harvest depends on their inner width. Properly developed metaphysical mana channels are the major source of mana regeneration for us mages."

Tercius took a few moments to sort what the Mistress told him. A question floated past him and he asked, “Mistress, these metaphysical mana channels you mentioned. It’s the first time I hear of them. What… exactly are they? How are they connected to the regular mana channels?”

"Well, they are two facets of the same thing. Imagine a tree trunk that forks in two directions. They are connected at one point but still branch in their own directions. I teach these things to fourth-years, so I know what I'm talking about. You would do well to remember all of this, going forward."

“So… if physical ones are branching inside of a body, where do these metaphysical channels… branch to?”

“That’s what I would like to know, young man.” There the Mistress fell silent, and so did Tercius.

Master Lazarus came back a few minutes later and gave both Tercius and the already sleeping J’ro a mug of tea.

"Wake the boy up, Lazarus, give him the tea to drink and then take him to a bed. He needs sleep to recuperate. When he wakes, give him food, a lot of water, let him use the facilities to relieve himself, and prepare another tea for him. This young man, on the other hand, should make do with just the one mug." Mistress Lovela said like a stern mother.

Seniority at the Pyramid was interesting to Tercius in many ways. In his regular interactions with teachers and caretakers, he saw that great respect was given to anyone who was an expert in their field. Tercius saw men and women in their fifties jump to execute a command, like obedient and enthusiastic little children. It was a curious blend of respect for someone's craft and mixed with respect for their age. Those who had both could be questioned, but never outright disrespected.

Still, he rarely saw anyone without a craft of some kind, so that side of the coin was still dark.

Without a word of complaint of any kind, Master Lazarus did as the elder Mistress bid him do. J'ro was promptly woken up, made to drink his tea, and then Master Lazarus levitated the boy and left to take him to a bed.

“I will talk to Helfira and inform her of your progress. When you start feeling minor pain all over your body, report it to one of your teachers— don’t tarry. They will take you to the House of Pain and Pleasure.” the elder said.

For a moment the name sounded familiar and then he realized from where. Tercius felt his cheeks grow hot. He had read of the place from one book that shouldn’t have been in a section where first-years could read it. Tercius thought that the name was fiction, a place from some incredibly imaginative mind.

“W-what?” the words awkwardly escaped him and he gulped.

The old lady laughed at him. "It's what we call a special place for those who are trying to open the Well. The pain is no joke, let me tell you. The first dig, as some of my colleagues call it, is excruciating. So it is custom to make sure every whim, fancy, and pleasure is satisfied during this ordeal, a motivation of sorts given after every attempt. The meals made there are to die for, young man. The drinks are the best in the whole land. Massages that send you to the heavens… oh yes. But there are some… entertainments which will be skipped, considering your age."

With a slight flush of her pale wrinkly skin and a longing sigh, the old lady murmured, "Oh I still fondly remember my first Well digging efforts… Mmm, I do, I do."

The Mistress had clearly drifted to a … cherished memory of hers, as she placed her hand gently to her neck. Feeling dead tired, completely awkward, and desperately wanting to be anywhere else was a new experience to Tercius. With a loud cough, he reached for his steaming tea. The Mistress snapped out of her daydreams, yet her mysterious smile still lingered.

"No, don't drink that yet. First, go to your room and sit on your bed. That cup will put you to sleep in just a few moments, so you better be in a comfortable position." the Mistress said. "That's about what I wanted to talk to you about. Just don't worry about your Well too much, young man. Believe me, pain is a great teacher. After this experience, some things will be so much easier. I will make arrangements for your lodging at the House… Hmm, it has been a while since I went for a visit." The Mistress abruptly stood up and slowly left, humming a tune.

For a few moments, Tercius just looked at the steam that rose out of his cup and his nose drank in the dream-inducing aroma.

How painful is this opening of a Well compared to tearing those chains from Flu? Tercius wondered.

Tercius made his way to his room, following after the warm cup in his hand. Once there he checked on the sleeping J’ro, who for the first time ever did not wake up when someone came near his bed.

Tercius left the cup on his nightstand, the tea untouched. He couldn't drink it. He sat slowly on his bed, his eyes open and expression slack. Thoughts kept jumping upon him.

I think that it’s not even noon yet, Tercius thought. And I’m going back to sleep.

With a large sigh, he lowered his head onto the soft pillow and finally allowed his demanding body to fall asleep.