As Tercius climbed the stairs to catch up with Perdinar, he kept forcing his breathing to a more regular, even pattern. Glancing back at his Mentor with narrow eyes of betrayal, all he got was a shrug with a bit of a guilty expression. He had answered Mistress Kalina’s call to come out because he was curious about rituals and the details surrounding them, but he had intended to watch the ritual from the sidelines, not participate in any way or capacity. Yet here he was, ascending the tall steps to the ritual ground.

Ahead of Perdinar, who had at some point in the past few hours braided his long black hair, Tercius observed the top of the pillars and the ring that they held, the only part of the structure visible from the bottom of the stairs. Near the end of the stairs, Tercius shivered as he climbed one of the last stairs. The woman singing, the drumbeat, some kind of pitter-patter, all of it suddenly came into focus as the sounds of the storm diminished to nothing.

A sound barrier?

His head swiveled left and right along the stairs. In the shadows of the steps, he saw that the rain had wetted all but the last two.

A water barrier too? I wonder how they make it so that a human can pass unimpeded and rain can’t… Remove whatever part allows the human in and…

As Tercius took the interesting thought and made a note of it, the stone columns came into full view. It was as if someone had taken the wild Stonehenge and tamed it into something that could easily be found in ancient Greece. Runes were lightly carved up the shapely pillars and onto the ring itself, from where a multitude of those enchanted, fist-sized orbs pushed the darkness back.

The finely-paved circular area that awaited at the end of the stairs was easily able to accommodate the four dozen people currently present, but there was so much free space that he estimated that even if four or five times that number was present, there would still be enough room for everyone to move around easily.

That space was plentiful allowed him to feel a bit at ease. At least there would be no pushing or shoving.

Perdinar stopped at the top of the stairs, just before the columns, taking off his Amulet and then making his boots and socks disappear into the Amulet — leaving his feet bare. Turning around Perdinar looked at Tercius and with raised eyebrows and a nod towards his still present boots, waited for him to follow.

Tercius rushed to look at the feet of a few nearby Magi and got his confirmation. Bare feet were indeed required.

“Are you doubting me, young man?” Perdinar asked, his eyes narrowed.

“Just… checking something,” he said.

Perdinar snorted.

Taking his own Amulet, boots, and socks off, Tercius started to use the appropriate Runes to deposit his own footwear into an empty compartment. He abruptly noticed how much faster the construction of numerical Runes came to him, and how his time morphing them properly was cut down by at least half of when he first learned to do so. Right now, he realized, most of the time it took him to deposit or retrieve something was actually spent on having to remember where he put his query and where he had free space and not the actual magic. When he encased his boots and socks with a shape of mana and then connected that to the Rune he made, Tercius allowed the Rune to sink into his Amulet and, without any visual signs of the enchanted item's work, his footwear disappeared.

The stone felt cold on his skin. But… he could feel that curious twist to it… Was that what he thought it was? Closing his eyes and breathing deeply, Tercius felt it pulsing with each beat of the drum. He shuddered with his entire body. This was no normal absence of heat below his feet. It was Mana. There was a heartbeat of Mana in the stone below. Slow but powerful.

“Ah yes, I can see that you feel it. Even a non-mage could feel something like that. That, Tercius, is the rhythm of the ritual. Let me move you a bit,” Perdinar said and Tercius felt a hand land on his shoulder and push him a bit forward. The pulse on the soles of his feet intensified significantly with each step he took. “That’s far enough,”

“Now use your magical eyes, Tercius,” Perdinar said over Tercius’ shoulder. “Look down and observe,”

Tercius’ eyes came slowly open, his irises a blazing green flame.

The stone below was a veritable pool of mana, wide and deep and pulsing with waves of red, and as Tercius followed the waves of colored movement he saw just where all that mana was coming from. The Magi who stood around the edges of the ritual proper were, through their bare feet, slowly and methodically sending pulse after pulse of mana into the stone, filling up the enchanted pool. Their hands were synchronically moving through a set of Ruges.

“Ignore the Ruges, that’s another part of the ritual. Focus on their feet.”

A mana source… a battery… Tercius thought as his eyes followed the movement of viscous mana through the stone and towards the center, where a concentrated pulsing star of red and pink grew, inside the body of the drum. Tercius let his ocular skill fade as he looked at the drum itself, which proved to be a rather massive instrument whose wooden body teemed with glowing Runes. The drummer, whom Tercius remembered seeing in the dining room, was a mature woman with dark skin color and long dark hair, currently braided. Scantily clad in what amounted to a bra and shorts, she kept her eyes closed as she animated the large surface of the drum with two sticks with everything from surprising force to occasional gentleness.

“She is a Mistress of Rituals. It is her job to set the pace of the ritual and to properly guide everyone else through it. A leader and a guide, you might say,” Perdinar explained just as Mistress Kalina appeared from behind the two of them and placed her Amulet on the outer side of the pillars, the enchanted item seemingly glued to the stone.

She looked at him and her voice rose over that of the people behind her. “Tercius, remember to leave your Amulet here. To prevent potential interference no enchanted items, safe for purifiers, are permitted inside an active ritual zone,”

Tercius brought his Amulet to the Runic pillar and with a magnetic pull, it attached itself firmly.

"Go and stand there," Perdinar pointed at a spot. "And when you feel that the mana below your feet is weak, simply add more — one pulse at a time. Did you practice sending mana to your legs? No? Well then…"

From the proper way to stand still and keep his back straight, to the way to use his legs instead of his hands to pool mana, Perdinar was very specific with his instructions and he was quick to correct Tercius multiple times on whatever needed correcting. But he was quick to learn.

Minutes later, Tercius felt that something here was strange. There was this confidence and… awareness in him, about how things should be and what he should behave like, what he should do, and when. It was almost as if he had participated in a ritual a thousand times.

Tercius suddenly glanced at Perdinar and the man smiled at him. He knew what this was, as both Mistress Helfira and Mistress Kalina did this to him before. But the sensations had never been so… powerful, so second nature to him. There had always been a bridge there, but it came with a sense of separation. Now there was none.

Teaching.

Perdinar was Teaching him about the ritual. He was sharing his own understanding of rituals to Tercius, a glimpse into those minute details and experiences that people usually had to take time and learn. It wouldn’t immediately help Tercius learn everything, but he would get a sort of a map that would propel him forward that much faster.

Tercius, on a hunch, used his Quick Learner then and there and Perdinar’s smile turned to a smirk as he shook his head.

“Not now, you will need the mana,”

As the nine dancers circled the Mistress of Rituals, the singer, and the seven-man choir, Tercius came to learn all of their roles in this ritual.

In the first part of the ritual, aptly named "The Gathering", besides the Mistress or Master of Ritual was the central figure, the mastermind, and conductor of sorts, the other Magi present were divided into "Sources" — the majority of Magi present, they were people like Tercius who just contributed mana to the ritual — the "Purifiers", and finally the "Holders".

When Tercius donated his mana, it would via the medium of stone be transported to that giant enchanted drum. The Mistress of Rituals, who besides being in charge of the entire ritual, was also in charge of the first purification of mana with that instrument. Mana from everyone would be melded inside that drum and purified. Then so purified mana was taken by the proper “Purifiers”, the woman and the choir who were singing near the drum, and purifying it once again.

The mage dancers were passed that twice-purified mana and from there they had a dual role of "Purifiers" and "Holders" in this part of this particular ritual. They were there to take that twice-purified mana and stagger it slowly towards some specific, agreed-upon "Sources", who were less experienced Magi found on the outskirts of the ritual, who would attempt to purify the mana a third time. Most would fail to do it, but this was apparently expected. These people were there to practice purification, which was apparently a critical ability that they ought to learn. The leftovers of attempted third purification would be finished by the dancers and handed over to the permanent "Holders", a select group of people also found on the outskirts of the ritual who were in possession of a high-level Mana Manipulation, who would keep accumulating the purified mana until the Mistress of Rituals was satisfied with the gathered quantity and quality required for the particular ritual.

Tercius also noted that the third purification had completely bleached the red mana to pink.

Perdinar explained that three purifications of mana were the minimal limit of purifications required by rituals.

“You see, Tercius, the roles in rituals and the rituals themselves were made to be as flexible as possible, especially in regards to people participating in them. That way a Master or Mistress of Rituals can create any ritual regardless of the number or skill of Magi he or she has to work with.” Perdinar explained as Tercius sent another pulse of mana through his legs. “Of course, there are some bottom lines which can’t be broken,”

Even as Tercius nodded to Perdinar he noted that sending mana through his legs and feet wasn’t as difficult as he thought it would be. It was, in fact, incredibly easy — but he also knew that that could change when Perdinar’s skill stopped working.

The ritual progressed at a pace for which Tercius had a feeling was "satisfactory". More and more mana was being sent into the stone up until the Mistress of Rituals raised one of those thick drumsticks above her head horizontally. Apparently, Perdinar informed him immediately, that was the agreed-upon signal for all "Sources" to stop sending mana to the medium from this point on.

Enough mana was gathered, according to the Mistress in charge.

The "Sources" were now free and many of those around immediately sat on the floor or leaned on the pillars to rest. Most of them had spent two-thirds or more of their mana in this first part of the ritual and that could be a bit unpleasant on the body.

Perdinar patted him on the shoulder. It was then that Mistress Prime’era and Mistress Helfira appeared, and Perdinar and Mistress Kalina joined them. Of them all, it was Mistress Prime’era’s that drew Tercius’ eyes. Her bare midriff and exposed cleavage, coupled with the long pale legs… Tercius looked away with haste when he noticed her strange, beautiful smile, his face, and ears on fire.

“Will you be joining Formation?” Mistress Prime’era asked, turning to Perdinar.

“I don’t think so,”

“Oh come now. It has been literal ages since you and I worked together,”

“I don’t mind another couple of ages passing before we do so again,” Perdinar said.

Mistress Prime’era gave a smile of pearls. “Pleeease? For me?”

Perdinar’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to drop this, are you?”

“I will if you’re particularly set against it, but otherwise no.”

“Then I am particularly set against it,”

“But you’re clearly not.” Mistress Prime’era said. “The cousin I know would have left, as an answer to my question. You’ve… mellowed. That means that I have a chance. So, again, pleeease?”

Perdinar’s face was placid as he considered this, but he nodded. “Pipes then.”

“I’ll be singing. Kalina, Helfira, how about you two?”

“I will be joining,” Mistress Helfira said, twisting her wrists. “I’ve just need to warm up the old joints,”

“Not me, Mistress. I will stay here with Tercius and observe,” Mistress Kalina said, shaking her head.

Mistress Prime’era seemed to hesitate a bit as she considered something.

“We talked about this, Kalina, didn’t we? You really need to start getting involved into other disciplines…” Mistress Prime’era said with a motherly smile and caressed gently Mistress Kalina’s cheek.

“Mistress…” Mistress Kalina glanced around, embarrassment written all over her face.

“We’ll have none of that now,” Mistress Prime’era scolded with a shake of her head. “What we’ll have is a bit of fun, yes?”

Mistress Kalina nodded slowly, still embarrassed.

Perdinar turned to Mistress Prime'era and said something curt, yet utterly nonsensical, and Mistress Prime'era's motherly smile faded. After a moment or two she shrugged.

“You have your way, I have mine,” she said to Perdinar, who shook his head and snorted.

“The next part is about to start,” Mistress Helfira murmured next to Tercius and he took a look at what she meant.

The five Magi “Holders” were maintaining large shapes of almost translucent flames, a result of compression and purification which made mana physically manifest. Tercius had seen plumes of that same flame in the hands of witnesses of his and Mistress Kalina’s Rite of Tfenn, hours earlier.

Mana so purified and compressed was apparently highly resistant to being siphoned in and out of most mana containers and when coupled with as large quantities as was found in most rituals, it was preferable for Magi to “hold” it with Mana Manipulation. It was, Perdinar told him, an excellent exercise for the skill, if tiresome.

As the last of the mana was purified for the ninth time, the Mistress of Rituals struck the drum one last time, just after the song stopped and the dancers stilled. It was time for all but the Holders to rest for a few minutes, as Magi from the sidelines brought food and drink for their tired colleagues, who just sat down on the stone floor to rest their legs.

Tercius was left alone as the rest of his company left to express their desire to join the ritual to the Mistress of Rituals, who had taken a seat on the stone floor, right by her drum.

The "Holders" were the only remaining type of Magi that would transfer from one part of the ritual to the other, while the others would take on the new roles of "Morphers" and "Builders”, roles mostly selected based on Mana Metamorphosis and Mana Manipulation tests done that the Mistress of Rituals had done before the ritual commenced. Fresh newcomers of high skill, like Perdinar, Mistresses Kalina, Prime’era, and Helfira would also be a welcome addition.

A quick and rough headcount identified that at some point in time the number of people present had swelled to over sixty.

The Mistress of Rituals organized her army of Magi like a general, ordering fresh troops to the hardest tasks and letting the tired ones take on easier parts.

“Places, everyone!” the Mistress of Rituals yelled and people scattered. Most went to the edges of the circular space, Magi like Mistress Helfira who would be using Ruges for their work.

The dancers, a cheerful, giggling group of people whose necklaces, bracelets, and belts clicked with every movement of a hip, arm, or leg. Like everyone else, they too had red and black clothes, but unlike most of Magi present, these people had athletic bodies which they were clearly willing to show off a bit. They organized themselves in a dual ring between the center and the outskirts and Tercius was surprised to see Mistress Kalina join the innermost circle of the dancers.

Surrounding the drum and the Mistress of Rituals were Mistress Prime’era, Perdinar with something that reminded Tercius of bagpipes, and a group of men, most of who. Tercius remembered as being in the male choir earlier.

With tiny movements, the glowing wooden sticks tapped on the wooden frame of the drum, the Runes on the massive instrument slowly gaining light. Perdinar took one pipe to his mouth and the instrument grew bloated, the body and the pipes gaining Runic-shaped lights.

A low, haunting sound rose up, slowly chilling Tercius to the core. he felt as if all the warmth in the world was gone, swallowed by an all-consuming darkness. As if to provide counterbalance to Perdinar, Mistress Prime’era’s warm, angelic voice took the stage and brought a ray of sunshine around which the Magi gathered.

For a few minutes Tercius forgot about everything, the performance in front of him taking him in completely and utterly.

The sounds of Perdinar’s bagpipes and the massive drum faded into the background as Mistress Prime’era overpowered the area with a teasing song about a woman who saw the beauty of the sun on a clear blue sky and didn’t want to spend the rest of her days down on earth so she decided to go up and join it. The all-male choir teased back that the woman’s head was full of hot air and that as soon as she got high enough and that air cooled, she would come crashing from her clouds.

Back and forth they went, the minutes slipping by unnoticed, and the entire time Mistress Prime’era had a massive smile on her face. Unlike the focused looking Mistress Kalina, Mistress Prime’era was fully enjoying this.

The “Holders” of the five mana flames had started distributing the purified mana to their immediate neighbors, all of it remade into one thick but smooth ring that corralled the grand ritual grounds.

Their hands and fingers moving as one, the outlaying gesticulating Morphers started transforming mana into appropriate form and passing it on to the next person, one plume of mana at a time. A full circle later the remade plumes of mana were sent ahead to the dancers and the mana was once more transformed by each Morpher until the nearly finished product arrived to the Builders in the center of the ritual.

Perdinar, Mistress Prime’era, the Mistress of Rituals and a few other Magi were there to take morphed mana, and it was under their ministrations that the mana started being used for constructing the final form of the ritual directly above the ritual grounds.

Tercius suddenly wondered what the ritual was for… he should have asked when he had someone to answer him.

The question evaporated into thin air as Tercius’ attention was drawn back to the synchronicity at display before his very eyes and ears. The music, the voices, the dancers, the gesticulators… all of them had worked in near perfect synchronicity both with their own casting type groups and when looked as a whole. Even Mistress Kalina, the only dancer without a dazzling smile, was seemingly perfectly aligned with the movements of others around her.

How did six dozen people work in such an well-oiled fashion with such impeccable rhythm and coordination? It couldn’t be just the pulse below the soles of his feet, there had to be something else at work, Tercius concluded.

There was so much power charging the very air that everyone breathed that it was difficult to pick up details with his Mana Sight. Tercius felt lightheaded, a pleasant buzz that relaxed all tension and made the world seemed a little bit brighter and easier to handle. The best, and the most worrying part, was the feelings only got stronger with time. Tercius felt as if he could float on the power that rose ever higher towards the Heavens, carried on the voices, sounds, and movements. His shoulders had slowly started moving of their own accord almost as if…

Tercius shook his head to a sharp jolt in his temples.

Squinting his eyes almost closed, Tercius felt the power in the air. There was a bond floating there, he was sure of it. Not like his and Amber’s, but something similar. What could it be? A spell? No… it was… there was almost no power or substance to it, but it was present everywhere in the mana, much like a single drop of ink diluted inside a large bottle of water. A skill that the Mistress of Ritual used? Could be. But he also knew that the magic in the air had a bit of mana from everyone present, him included. Was that the link that allowed some kind of connection between everyone? Though highly purified the mana he gave earlier was, in some small part, still his.

Whatever that unity had been, it had not been invasive but rather even somehow natural and Tercius somehow knew that he could join it again, if he wished to do it. All he had to do was allow himself. He couldn’t deny that a part of him was curious and tempted, but precisely because of that he chose to stay away and continue observing from the sidelines.

A part of him was disturbed by it, but he knew deep down that the bond was not harmful nor could it be ever used in such a way. The bond was designed to harmonize, to connect people and allow them to share the same rhythm, to overcome the boundaries of language and… something. The rest of the feeling escaped his understanding. He had no concepts to understand that.

Perdinar’s Teaching skill is really weird… It’s almost like I’m recalling information about rituals at the speed of thought… from an information imprint of some kind. Fascinating… and frightening… and so powerful.

Despite having some doubts about the man, Tercius believed that Perdinar wouldn’t harm him. It wasn’t something that he could explain, it just… was. It had been the same in Lux’s case. Consciously, he couldn’t pinpoint the what and why, but the feeling, the few times it had happened, had never let him down.

Tercius immersed himself into the knowledge of the imprint, letting it educate him about rituals, providing answers just when he needed them.

How long would the imprint last, Tercius asked himself. It would be better for him to absorb as much as he could and not ask himself these questions now…

Unlike the morphers who were slow and methodical in their work, the builders worked fast. The end result of the ritual was a near-transparent puzzle-sphere, made up of bluish Runes that were visible to the naked eyes, it’s diameter larger than even Master Lazarus was tall and pulsing with power.

The participants of the ritual slowly left the grounds and finally only the Mistress of the Ritual and her drum remained.

A fast set of booming sounds from the drum activated the ritual and with a whining sound, a thin ray of blue light pierced towards the heavens, disappearing into the darkness, wind, and rain. Like pearls climbing up a string, parts of the construct went up that ray somewhere up until nothing of the ritual remained above the ritual grounds.

With the last pearl, even the string went up into the clouds.

That was when it happened.

Mouth open in astonishment, Tercius saw a circular blue hole appear, parting the darkness and giving way to eye-shutting light.

Rays of sunlight hit the water surface a few kilometers away from them. He didn't even see that lake there before. The sun felt pleasant on his skin, but his eyes gave an irritating reminder that they had gotten used to the darkness in the past week. Tercius used a hand to shield his squinting eyes as he looked up. The puzzle-sphere was up there, creating waves at even intervals like a stone cast into mirror-like water. With each pulse, the waves drove the clouds away from the center of the massive spell, sending them everywhere.

A possibility occurred to him and he abruptly turned in the direction where he felt Amber was. Looking at the blue pulses of pressure which were driving away an enormous black cloud to the northwest, Tercius knew where that particular water-carrier would end up.

The occasional downpours of rain — thought to be a blessing to a land in serious need of reprieve from the sun, an event welcomed equally by the pauper and the noble of Nurium — were coming from here, a result of a successful ritual.

The Magi around him laughed and congratulated each other on work well done.