Samuel slept fitfully that night, his tired brain conjuring up shapeless dreams that tormented him. He raced through a forest, pursued by an army of men. Then he was swimming across a river, panting as he tried to escape those who followed him. Finally, he scaled a mountain, glancing fearfully down at the horde of pursuers who had come to kill him.

As frightening as the images were, it wasn’t the first time Samuel had seen them. They were memories that belonged to Arcana, shown to him when he’d first met the god. Unable to physically speak, being a ball of condensed sentient mana, Arcana had shown him flashes of light and sounds that created these images in his mind.

You found me, a voice said, unfurling like a rose blooming into life in the back of his mind. You found me, and then you were lost.

Suddenly Samuel opened his eyes, sitting bolt-upright with a shout. He went to leap off the bed but found there was no bed under him. He stood quite alone, in a blank void that spread farther than he could see. He recognized the place at once, of course. It was Arcana’s mind, or rather his essence.

“Isip?” Samuel spoke hesitantly. “Is that you, Isip?”

There was the sound of rushing wind, and Isip appeared before him, floating in space unsupported. As far as appearances went, he was rather bland. A plain mop of straight brown hair sat atop a pale face. Isip was of average height, which meant that he was considerably shorter than Samuel, and his eyes were a dull, unremarkable brown. Anyone looking at this man would never assume he was extraordinary.

“Welcome back, Samuel,” Isip said, smiling warmly at him. “I am pleased to see you return. You were gone for some time, locked away in a plane I could not enter.”

“How did you know I would return?” Samuel asked the god. “From what Grimr told me, very few ever do.”

“You are my Champion,” Isip said seriously. “The sheer power of the mana you possess now ensured your survival. You could have lasted another two hundred years, and returned safely.”

“I see,” Samuel replied slowly, wholly tired of how often he’d said those words without meaning them. “But why can’t you enter the Ethereal plane? Surely it’s within your power.”

“One must be anchored to the mortal plane in order to return,” Isip explained. “For the likes of you and Grimr, who were created in this plane, it is home. You may slip into other planes as you wish, but I would be trapped forever until I faded.”

Samuel considered that in silence for what felt like hours. Isip allowed him to contemplate this new knowledge without interruption, merely floating there, smiling patiently at his Champion. Samuel had been specifically created to hold Arcana’s essence, but he had also grown to be the perfect representative of his will. Insatiably curious, and without the greed for power that often came over prodigious mages.

“Why have you called me here tonight?” Samuel asked the deity. “After a hundred years apart, what do you want me to do?”

“I have a request” Isip stated simply. “You are free to deny it, but I feel it to be something you will enjoy.”

Another round of flashing images appeared in Samuel’s mind. A young boy reading from a thick book. It was Samuel as a much younger boy, shortly after his mother had taught him to read. Most of the words had been gibberish to him then, but he knew why Isip had shown him that memory. It was the time that his thirst for new knowledge had been born when his overpowering curiosity had started to take hold of him.

“You want me to learn more?” Samuel asked, pushing the vision away. “There’s no need to ask, as I plan to start learning straight away.”

“Learn as much as you wish,” Isip agreed readily. “What I ask of you is that you share anything new with me. I desire more knowledge. In return, I shall teach you ancient secrets of the world, that precious few know of, and even fewer understand.”

“That sounds more than fair,” Samuel said dryly, wondering if Isip detected the sarcasm. It seemed he didn’t so Samuel continued. “Very well. I’ve never been against sharing knowledge.”

“To start,” Isip said, an eager light in his eye, “Show me your unique ability.”

“You’ll have to cast a spell at me first,” Samuel explained. “And make it a rather weak one.”

Isip neither questioned his request or hesitated, lifting his right hand in an instant. Pure white mana gathered in the god’s hand, releasing in a pulse towards his Champion. Samuel’s bolt of destructive mana was already on its way, slamming into Isip’s spell and shattering it. The wave of white mana slammed back into the ancient deity, staggering him slightly.

“That is fascinating!” Isip cried in delight. “Is it only retaliatory? Can you move the mana of the spell in any other way?”

“If it is possible, I have yet to figure it out,” Samuel said, excited about the mere prospect. “But as soon as I know, I will share it with you.”

Samuel remembered vividly the first time he’d discovered and used this ability. It had come with his new Ancient body, a unique trait that he could never teach to another. He had used it against the legendary beast Neratas, turning the Ancient’s treacherous attack back on himself before he could harm his younger brother Grimr. It used a considerable amount of mana to perform his unique ability, but that cost had been worth it.

“There is one more,” Arcana said, the light back in his eyes. “The spell you created to scan your environment.”

“The mana screen?” Samuel said. “It’s not that impressive, but I’ll show you.”

Samuel allowed the fierce compression on his mana to relax, and the field stretched out to its natural size, ending just under two feet from his body. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to the massive amount of mana to his name. He applied a little outward pressure, forcing the field to stretch further. It reached out thirty feet in either direction before he felt some resistance, similar to the limits of a stretch.

“Interesting,” Isip said thoughtfully. “And with this, you can feel any living presence, hidden or otherwise that enters the range?”

Samuel nodded. “If it has mana or ki, I will be able to feel its presence.”

“That is an apt name for such a spell,” Isip commented. “Mana Screen. You should notify the College of this as well.”

“I’ll tell them about it once I’ve experimented with it some more,” Samuel said. “I want to see if it can do more.”

He relaxed the field, letting it come back to its natural size. Since he was in Isip’s presence, to whom the mana had originally belonged, he did not bother retracting it for the moment. It was a cool, comforting feeling, having the dense mana flow around him, lightly tousling his hair and robe.

“Thank you for teaching me these things,” Isip said. “As promised, here is a piece of knowledge long forgotten by the world.”

Samuel bowed his head as Isip reached out a hand, and his mind was once more filled with a barrage of images, this time not of memory. He saw himself in the midst of a raging storm, with powerful winds sending many things flying. His eyes glowing a bright violet, shining even through the dark winds, he slammed one hand to the ground and forced the mana of the storm down. It slammed into the earth, shattering into nothingness, ending the storm.

“That’s a powerful spell, by the looks of it,” Samuel gasped, returning from the overwhelming rush of knowledge. “I’m not sure I could pull it off.”

“You have the knowledge,” Isip said, shaking his head slightly. “You will know how to use it when confronted with a storm or surge of energy.”

“Well, thanks for that,” Samuel said awkwardly. “I honestly expected more responsibility, as your Champion.”

“So long as you gather me new knowledge and spread my name,” Isip said with a smile, “I am content. Return to your body now. I will speak with you again in time.”

Without warning, Samuel’s eyes opened, and he found himself staring up at the wooden ceiling of his room. He retracted his field of mana at once, pulling it within his body and forcing it to stay there. He spent some time thinking over what Isip had shared with him, including his request. If his only journey was anything to judge by, he felt certain that the world of Ahya was chock-full of hidden secrets to find.

He sat up in the bed, noticing a pitcher of ice-cold water that sat at his nightstand. He took his time pouring a glass and nursing it, feeling the refreshing coolness of the water against his sweaty hand. The room was quite warm, and his thick woolen robe offered no comfort against the heat. He stripped it off and tossed it into the corner, then emptied his glass and returned it to the nightstand.

Rolling back onto his bed, he flipped the pillow over and lay his head down again, enjoying the cooler side of the cloth. On the one hand, he found the idea of serving as a god’s Champion a daunting one. But there was also a certain appeal to the hunt for new knowledge, he had to admit. And for the time being, his responsibilities seemed to be few. All in all, he told himself as he began to fall asleep again, he could be in a worse fix.