“You did not lie,” I said, glancing at Inrak over the sheet of papers she had given me. “Your bookkeeping is atrocious.”

“Hmm… I know,” she replied, “The numbers have never liked me.”

I shook my head and looked at the papers again. There was no order to it. Names and figures were scribbled everywhere, without any connection that I could see.

“This one, for example,” I pointed at a book’s title. “The weapons of the Arulean Tribes. Is this a book you bought or sold? And can you tell me for how much?”

Frowning, she took her accounts from my hands and rifled through them.

“There!” She finally exclaimed, holding a different page than the one where I had found the book. “I bought it from Trade Master Louprak for 1 silver and 8 bronze Kiestan coins.”

“But why isn’t it written down in front of the title?”

She looked embarrassed.

“Well… I wrote the title when I first heard of the book and asked Louprak if he could find it in his travels. And I wrote the price when he brought it to me here and I paid for it.”

“So your records are chronological then?” I asked, hopeful that I had cracked the code.

“Hmm… Sometimes, I guess?”

I took a deep breath. I had had difficult clients from time to time, but this was a whole other beast.

“How do you even know this price you found is the correct one for this book?” I wondered. “I see no link between the two.”

“Oh, that’s easy!” She looked relieved to be able to answer a question. “I have a Skill. Written Records. I can remember everything about every book I collect, from what it is about to the weather the day I bought it. So I knew the price, I just had to find where I had written it.”

“That seems like a great Skill.” And it did. Without computers, and even with them sometimes, having such a boon to your memory could be very helpful. No wonder she didn’t need to be rigorous in her bookkeeping.

“It is!” The Pterar preened at the compliment. “My Class is not a popular one, but it gives me specialized and useful tools in the context of collecting books. It was my level 20 Skill. Unfortunately, I forget most of it when I sell them and it only lets me remember things about the books and not the words within. Maybe it will improve if I reach a higher level.”

“That… would be extremely powerful.”

“Yes, it would!” She laughed and cooed.

I was getting used to the various sounds the made to express herself. I had to admit it was cute. And the thought of getting such Skills only furthered my motivation to learn my Class. Inrak had given me a few books. I could not wait to start reading them and level myself. And perhaps I would hear Margaux’s voice again.

But it would wait. I had a job to do first. I took back the pages she still held.

“All right, Inrak. Here is my suggestion. I don’t think I can do much with this. However, since you know every title you possess, their price and who you bought them from, we will create a written inventory over the next few weeks. It will help you remember things even after you sell your books and it will be easier to know exactly what you currently possess. Alongside this, I believe we need to establish a day to day record-keeping system from now on. I have several suggestions for the details. We can order it chronologically, by supplier, by topic… This is dependent upon how you order your thoughts and how your Class helps you.”

We took the next hour or so to design the way we would proceed. Inrak’s focus impressed me. She understood the necessity of what we were doing and gave me her undivided attention. Would that all my clients had been as supportive. She even lent me her magical pen when she saw how much trouble I had writing with a quill. It was a cylindrical piece of wood with a metal piece attached at the end. Runes were inscribed on its body and its head so that it would flow on the paper and never need a refill. It reminded me of a dip pen. Inrak said it had cost her more than a few gold coins. I could believe it. I took another hour to set up the system we had agreed upon. I was thorough. Inrak’s kindness had been invaluable to me and I wanted to repay her as much as I could.

We ate afterwards. Inrak sent me to her favourite food stall to buy two plates of very spicy soup. A nice young Schalass lady served me and let me try a few of the drinks they had to find out which one I liked. I settled for a soft pale ale called Ipio. I could not bring myself to drink the water from the well. I feared dysentery and other diseases far too much and had not had the time to ask Inrak about the sanitation of Sturron.

“Stop fidgeting!” Inrak called.

I had brought back the plates to the food stall and I was going through her records. I had not realized it, but my heel was going up and down as if following a fast beat.

“Oh, sorry.”

“Hmm… Just go upstairs already. Your books are on the table. I will yell if I need you.”

I carefully put back the documents and then raced to the back of the store. I could hear her laughter as I climbed the stairs two at a time.

Four books laid on the table. Three of them were popular textbooks about the basics of magic, the different forms it could take and the Classes associated with them. The last one was thinner than the rest. It was titled Understanding the Aether, a treatise. I should probably have started with the fundamentals, but I did not have that kind of patience. I took a seat and opened the book. On the first page, under the title, was written the name of its author: Archmage Mors Breigz, University of Winory.

It began so:

“Alone of all their peers, and at the cost of a far lesser breadth of potentialities, Aether mages have the capacity to sense, touch and, eventually, manipulate, the Aether. One needn’t become one of those regrettably specialized practitioners however in order to find some purpose in learning of the unique characteristics of this other dimension overlapping the one most of us live in.”

I read on for a while, sometimes going back to read a part multiples times just to understand the convoluted way of writing this Archmage had. It seemed to me that someone ought to teach him that sentences weren’t supposed to cover entire pages. But it was the only text about an essential part of my Class at my disposition, so I kept reading. I only paused to get the magical pen and some paper from Inrak. I quickly filled three with various quotes from the treatise, accompanied by my own thoughts and conjecture.

What I gathered was this. The Aether existed all around this world – and maybe around Earth too? The author did not write of other worlds. By all around, I did not mean like the air we breathe. It existed both inside matter and outside of it, like another dimension. The defining feature of this dimension was that it was far, far bigger than ours yet occupying the same volume. I thanked my high school physics lessons for having taught me the concept of density. I was not sure that it was exactly the same underlying principle, but it made grasping what the Aether was far easier. Theoretically, as an Aether mage, I could sense the Aether and manipulate it, like making a bag bigger on the inside than the outside or creating a portal for long-distance travel. It seemed exceptionally useful. The one downside was that, contrary to other mage Classes, Aether magic couldn’t use the other elements of this world, which was why mages like me often took a second mage Class. Fortunately, I did not care at all to cast fireballs.

I set down the book. It did not describe how one would sense this Aether, but surely I could figure it out. I was an Aether mage now. It was the one thing I was supposed to be able to do.

Leaving the chair to sit on the wooden floor, I closed my eyes and started meditating. I had picked it up about a year ago, at Margaux’s suggestion. It had been a great help in dealing with a troubled family and a tendency to worry about the slightest things. It was easy too. Mostly, you just had to breathe. I did just that, focusing on my senses. I heard chatter downstairs, Inrak with a customer. Outside, the street flowed like a river, with a constant muffled noise. I smelled smoke and cooking meat. My jeans stretched against my legs and a soft breeze caressed my skin. I took it all in and let it go, breathing in and out. Time passed. I could feel some of my anxiety leaving me as a soft warmth spread through me. And through it all, I did not sense the barest hint of another dimension.

I stopped when the frustration got to me. Why was this so hard? I already had the Class! Sure it was at level 0, but you had to start somewhere, right? I decided that further knowledge was needed. I went downstairs to ask Inrak if she had any insight. She nodded when I explained my problem and gave me a pitying look I was getting too used to.

“You are level 0, Luc. It is a good start and you have gained a lot of time by not having to unlock the Class, but you cannot expect to level instantly.”

“I don’t understand. If I already have the Class, why can’t I just do things with it and improve?”

“Level 0 is a bit different. Children have been known to acquire Classes like Knight at a young age because their desire to become one was so powerful, but they still had to wait years to start leveling in it.”

I backed up, shaking my head.

“I don’t have years.”

I ran back upstairs. I was smart. I knew how to learn. I would figure this out.

I took my notes and read them from front to back. I went back to the book when the notes were confusing. I kept reading even when the light outside faded and I had to turn on the magical glows like Inrak had shown me.

I only stopped when Inrak came with some food. She had bought me a sweet pastry with a taste of cinnamon. Feeling a bit guilty, I helped her with some cleaning and talked with her about her afternoon. She had sold three books and showed me proudly how she had recorded their sales in her new records. I learned that she had two daughters but only one lived in Sturron. I felt even more guilty. She had been helping me a great deal these last two days and I had not even thought to ask about her family. So I talked with her and asked questions until she went to her bedroom, wishing me a good night and telling me not to work too late.

When she left, I got back to my books. My approach was not working so I changed it. I took one of the general books about magic and skimmed that one for any mention of Aether or dimensions. I fell asleep at the table, a book for a pillow.

This pattern reproduced for the next few days. I would help Inrak in the morning and when she called for me, but otherwise staying upstairs and trying to unravel the mysteries of Aether magic. Inrak had given me two other, more advanced, books about the other types of magics and I read those too. One day, I met her daughter Miska who was a lovely Pterar with green and sky blues feathers. I answered her questions about Earth for a time, but both of them could see that my heart was not in it and they released me to continue my studies.

In the end, I don’t know exactly what did it. Perhaps reading more books gave me a better idea of exactly what I was hoping to sense. Perhaps it simply took time to go from a concept understood on a theoretical level to knowledge truly assimilated. The sky was grey and raindrops fell sporadically. We had eaten well, Inrak and I. I had gotten back to my studies with confidence and a feeling of contentment. Perhaps the secret was that simple. A good meal. The voice of Margaux came with a gust of wind outside.

*You have reached the level 1 of the Class Aether Mage. You have gained the Skill Sensing the Aether.*

I tried to keep her voice echoing in my mind for as long as I could. I savoured it. It was all I had of her. It went away, of course, but I found I did not mind too much. I knew how to hear her again. I would just level more. And one day, I would get back to her.

I took a moment to gather my thoughts then I immediately tested my new Skill. I did it just like the first time. Sitting on the floor. Closing my eyes. Listening to the wind and smelling the rain. There it was, faint. A hazy feeling all around me, as if I was immersed in water. I could not manage it long before a headache forced me to stop. But I had done it. I could sense the Aether, vaguely still, but I would work on it every day and improve. Then I would learn to manipulate it.

Smiling, I joined Inrak downstairs to tell her the good news. She took my hands in her talons and we danced to a joyful tune she whistled. At the end of the day, we went to celebrate at an inn she knew the owner of. He served us ipio and stronger alcohols – this at least did not differ between our worlds, and I was introduced to many people whose name I quickly forgot. I had a great time and told Inrak as much on our way back to the shop.

“I am glad of it, Luc. You always looked so sad and I thought your burden so heavy. But you did it! You reached your first level in barely a week with just a few books! I am proud of you.”

“I could not have done it without you,” I said honestly and was glad of the night and the clouds because my eyes had gotten wet. “You took me in when I had nothing. I don’t know where I would be otherwise.”

“It was the right thing to do. And you have helped more than you realize. You will grow, I know it. I will get you more books about your magic. You will become a great mage.”

“Thank you so much, Inrak.”

We made our way to her apartment, though she had to lean on me to climb the stairs drunk as she was. I put her to bed and wished her good night. Soft snoring came almost as soon as I closed the door. I unfolded my pallet in the living room and laid on it. The Aether was all around me. With renewed fervour, I tried to sense it more clearly through the fog, to attune myself to its peculiar embrace.

I don’t know which of the alcohol or of my late night toiling were the most responsible for the solid headache I nursed the next morning, but I found that I did not regret either.