Influencing the Aether was a great Skill. It did exactly what it said. It gave me a new understanding of this strange dimension. It wasn’t alive per se, but nor was it immutable. It acted like the tectonic plates of Earth, slowly flowing across aeons, unconcerned with what happened on their surface. From simple observer, I became an active participant. I could induce subtle shifts in those currents. The Skill only had one drawback. The headaches it inflicted upon me came even quicker. Morange was always happy to see me, though he warned me that the potions would lose their efficiency over time as my body grew used to their effects.

Inrak shared her concerns over dinner one evening. My failed attempts at the Imprinting Magic rune covered the living room. I had asked twice for money to buy Morange’s potions because I had blown through my meagre salary.

“I worry that you’re killing yourself, Luc,” she told me. “This cannot be healthy.”

I denied it. I was fine. I could not stop so close to my first step towards home. She need not worry, I would be able to pay for myself soon, I just needed to crack these fucking runes.

The next day, after another rune failure followed by an intense session of trying to manipulate the Aether, I felt a liquid on my upper lips. My nose was bleeding. My first reaction wasn’t that something was wrong, but that surely Morange would have a potion for that also. Then it hit me. I was a damned addict. I had been so obsessed with making these runes, leveling-up my Classes, that I had forgotten how to be alive. I was a fool. I hated myself for it and I hated myself even more for not being able to improve. I tried meditating. It did not help. I could not focus. My mind was unravelling.

What would Margaux do if she were here? I closed my eyes. I wanted to see her, to hear her voice again. Her real one, not the fake trophy the Gods or whoever ruled this Class system had devised for me. What would Margaux say? I watched her. She knelt before me, put her hand under my chin and raised it gently. She would say “Je t’aime.” She would kiss my brow and lay her forehead against mine. “Je t’aime, Luc.” She would tell me. “You are not alone. You will never be alone. I am here.”

I cried then because she was here with me. I smelled her scent. I felt her skin against mine.

I wept like a child, curled up against a wall, in the arms of my dreams.

I went downstairs afterwards, having cleaned up a little. I think Inrak had heard me because she acted like everything was normal. She was a terrible liar. I apologized to her. It seemed hollow, to just keep apologizing for mistakes I should have been smart enough not to make. But she said nothing. She hugged me in her soft, feathered arms. She cried too, but I feigned not to notice. It was the least I could do.

It was chilly outside, but the sun still shone with warmth. My mother always said the sun was the best remedy.

I did not study for the next three days. I worked with Inrak until she could no longer conceive of any errands she could send me to. Then I went to Sirmy’s stall and I helped her and Ripsile with cooking and cleaning. I was not the best companion, but they did not mind. They made enough conversation for the three of us and it was enough. I avoided Morange’s apothecary like the plague. I swore to myself that I would only go there again if I had no other choice. I would care for my health and learn to pace myself. What would be the point of finding a way home if my family could not recognize me when they saw me?

It will always surprise me how going back can sometimes make you move forward. When I sat down at the table again, with my enchanting books next to me, a ripped up shirt in my hands and dozens more waiting on the chair, I failed the rune. I failed the next one, and the one after that. And then I got it. It was so simple. How could I have missed it?

I never failed a Magic Imprinting rune again.

*You have reached the level 6 of the Class Enchanter.*

Putting Aether magic into it, well, that was the easy part. The Aether was special, but it was still magic. And this rune was designed to absorb it.

My first holding bag was, indeed, a holding shirt. It was a bit useless, though Inrak and I found it really funny when the both of us fit inside together. We laughed even more when the magic went out and we were suddenly compressed in a shirt far too small. I had been expecting that. Gyggs had warned me that my first runes would let out the magic quite quickly. Inrak had not been aware of that particular fact. It was hilarious.

That shirt did not survive the experience, sadly, but I knew how to make the rune now, so I imprinted the smallest one I had. Then Inrak and I, giggling like maniacs, ran to Sirmy’s shop and forced them to join us in this new cage of cloth. Their face when the magic ran out made my entire week.

I kept training for the rest of the day. I wanted to learn how exactly the magic escaped what I thought was a well-made rune. Turned out it wasn’t that well-made, but I could see why and, more importantly, how I could improve. I would just need more practice.

I rose up early on the morrow. It was time to earn some money, and I had a plan.

One of Gygg’s assistant let me in his workshop. They knew me by now. I came here quite often when I exhausted my stock of discarded clothes.

The Master Tailor was flying around a red and gold dress scintillating with the reflection of the light on tiny crystals scattered in a diagonal band. He was so engrossed in his work that I did not dare disturb him. He had a small needle in his hand and painted the dress with it. It was an amazing sight.

He looked exhausted when he stopped. His wings ceased their beating and the Pix sat on the ground. He shook his head.

“It is not perfect yet,” he said without looking at me. “Something is missing.”

“I’m sure you’ll find it.”

He chuckled at that.

“So am I, but it is annoying, waiting for inspiration to deign to show up.”

“This seems like an extremely expensive dress,” I said, considering it.

“You have no idea. It will shine like a new sun in the night when she enters the ballroom wearing it.”

“Who is it for?”

“I can’t tell you that. This is a game for some of them, and what you’re looking at is a centrepiece.”

“I don’t understand, but I’m not sure I want to,” I said.

“Then you’re a wiser man than you look.” He turned to me then, bearing a teasing smile. “What can I do for you, Luc?”

“Look!” I handed him a pair of pants that had been sewed wrong. It was my best rune yet.

“Ah! You did it! Well done! Though I don’t see what use those will be.” He said, jumping into one of the legs.

“They don’t hold the magic long yet, but I’ll get there. That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.” I took a deep breath. If he declined, I would have to wait a while before actually selling anything.

“I haven’t figured out how to make them permanent yet. Each time I hold the magic before forming the rune, I lose one of them. But I’ll get there. In the meantime, I’d like to gain some coins to repay all the people I’ve been depending upon. When we first met, you said some Pix might be interested in holding bags. My Magic Imprinting rune won’t keep the Aether more than a few hours, but I’m betting yours might last way longer than that. Do you think it would be possible for you to enchant a few bags or purses or whatever Pixes use and I would fill them with Aether magic? I have no idea how valuable they could actually be, but I don’t need much. I just want to earn something, you know?”

He looked at me without saying anything. I started having doubts. Had I been too presumptuous? Me, the level 6 Aether Mage asking this obviously highly recognized professional to basically enchant stuff for me.

Abruptly, he flew away into another room. Shit. I had screwed it up somehow. Well, I would just train more. I had waited this long, what was a few weeks more. There was the matter of the clientele, but I would figure that out. Surely everybody would love having a greatly improved bag, even for a few hours. Perhaps I could test the rune on bigger stuff like crates and spend my days at the docks.

“I can’t give you an answer right now!” Gygg yelled from behind a door. He came back holding a kind of mini-backpack, with a harness and straps for legs and arms.

“This is a Pix carrier bag,” he said. “It can carry small items, a few letters, a bag of coins. Speed is the only advantage of being small flyers. I will enchant it for you. I want you to put all the Portal magic you can in there and measure how long it lasts. You’re still living with that bookseller?”

“Inrak, yes, I am.”

“Good. I will visit you in a few days with your answer. Please only fuel it once. We need to know for certain. A fast flyer taken unaware by a sudden weight on his back would be in serious danger.”

“I won’t cheat,” I said. “I need this to work too.”

“Good. Let me concentrate for a moment. I haven’t done that one in a while.”

Watching Gygg imprint the bag was kind of a wake-up call in how far I had to go. There was fluidity in the way he drew from the magic. Every movement seemed well thought out. There was no pause, no small struggle. It was as if the rune had always belonged to the bag and the Tailor only acted as Nature’s instrument.

I had to remember to close my mouth.

“Fuck. How high is your Enchanter Class?” I asked when he finished.

“That’s a rude question to ask,” he said, looking a bit smug.

I took the bag and closed my eyes. The magic slowly poured in, linking the space within to the Aether.

“Uh.” I frowned. “I thought it would take longer. Your rune is better, but it felt quicker than with the clothes I imprinted.”

“I used the same basic rune you did. Its quality doesn’t account much for an item’s capacity to absorb magic. The most important factor for that is the Mage’s talent. An item’s size also improves its capacity. But a rune’s quality only acts on its characteristics. A perfect Hardening rune on a hammer will make it as resistant as diamond. Imprinting Magic runes are only supposed to be containers. There are probably more advanced runes specialized for each magic and each use, but I am no Mage so I can’t help you there.”

“Right… I won’t be able to avoid the University, will I?” I had asked people about Winory. The more I learned, the less I wanted to go there. It seemed like a den of ambitious and power-hungry people. Like a dinner between politicians and lobbyists, except that they were all Masters of magic. No way at all this could go wrong.

“If you don’t find a Mage to take you on as an apprentice, there’s no better place to study magic in this part of the world. And from the rumours I heard, the other Academies aren’t much different.”

He shook his head and looked back at the dress, still waiting on its stand.

“Go on, Luc,” he said. “I’ll catch up with you in a few days. Don’t forget to measure the magic in the bag frequently.”

“I will. Thank you Gygg.”

True to his words, he came by Inrak’s bookshop five days later. He wasn’t alone though. Another Pix accompanied him, a female one with black hair, a leather vest and piercing eyes.

Inrak led them upstairs. I expected her to back down immediately, but she served them drinks and took a stool at the table I had hastily cleaned off all my work. The Pixes sat cross-legged directly next to their cups.

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Gygg told her. “I would like to introduce my niece, Xylubesd. She is a Messenger, a young member of the Guild of Sturron.”

“Call me Xyl. I am interested in this enchanted bag my uncle mentioned”, she said, straight to the point. “Do you know how long they last?”

I nodded. “It held the magic for a little more than three full days. I fuelled it again right after and it hasn’t gone out yet.”

They both looked at each other. Gygg shrugged and sipped his drink, which I guessed meant he left it to her to decide.

“How much can it hold?” She asked, turning back to me.

“I filled it with water when the magic ran out and again right after and every few hours since then.” I had been exhaustive. I needed this to pay back Inrak.

“So that’s why it’s wet.”

“Uh… Yeah. Sorry. Anyway, enchanted, it holds about half again as much. That doesn’t seem to change even with less magic. I don’t know if it will lose capacity every time I charge it again though.”

Gygg answered that one.

“Everything wears and tears. Not even the Gods are immovable. You can augment an object’s sturdiness with another rune like Hardening, but in the end, it will deteriorate, and the runes with it. It depends on how it is used. A better result could be attained by directly weaving the rune into the bag’s material. I find the silver thread they make in Ozriles to be particularly dependable. Obviously it is far more complex. However, if, for example, I should craft a rune that way onto this bag by and it was put on a shelf and left alone, I am confident that that rune would be able to hold magic for at least a decade.”

“I did not know they could last this long!” exclaimed Inrak. “You must be very talented.”

“I dabble, but I am far from the best Enchanter.” said Gygg. I thought I detected a faint reddening of his cheeks, but he was so small it was hard to see.

“Oh, you are too modest, I am sure!” Inrak replied. “I am curious. Luc told me you were a Tailor. What kind of enchantments do you use with your craft? It has to be more than simply making the material stronger for you to be this good.”

“You are very astute. People focus on weapons, armours and walls, but there is much to the Art of Enchanting Clothes...”

Gygg started lecturing on the intricacies of his job and his Classes. Inrak listened with rapt attention.

I smiled at Xyl, but she was intent on examining the backpack. She had put her whole arm in it wiggled it around with concentration.

I leaned closer to her to not disturb the ongoing conversation next to us.

“Does it suit your needs?”

She stopped her exploration.

“Three days puts a limit on how far I can do deliveries with it. Especially if I have to take on another parcel on the way back.”

“How far do you usually go? You can still use the extra space, even if it’s just for one way. And the weight doesn’t increase at all, even when it’s full. That’s good, right?”

“It could be useful,” she admitted. “How much would you ask to refuel it every time?”

I had thought about that beforehand. I had asked the people I knew and even went to the Messenger’s Guild to look at their range of prices. I did not want to ask too much. I was hoping to build a good relationship with Xyl.

“1 silver and 5 bronze Sturronian coins.”

“1 silver and 2,” she replied instantly.

“Deal.”

That was more than fair, considering her uncle had provided the enchantment that made it possible. By reflex, I held out my hand to shake on it. She looked at it with a dubious look and, with a shrug, she high-fived me. Well. Good enough.

“I know a few people that might be interested too,” she said. “Not only Pixes.”

“They would need to come with their own bag enchanted with a Magic Imprinting rune. My own runes don’t hold the magic for long, it would not be worth it. And I’d prefer not to attract too much attention yet, so if you could not shout it on the rooftops, I would appreciate it.”

“Only trusted friends, then. Got it. They should come here?”

I glanced at Inrak. She and Gygg had ceased their discussion to follow ours. She smiled at me and nodded.

“Maybe they’ll buy some books too,” she said. Then seemed to realize she had a potential customer in front of her. “Would you like to buy some books?”

“Perhaps…” replied Gygg. “What do you would have?”

“A better question is what I don’t have! Come! Tell me what you like to read.”

While they went downstairs, Xyl and I finished our transaction. I charged the backpack in full and she paid me. 1 silver and 2 bronze local coins. I would need much more to accomplish everything I wanted to, but it was a good first step. A reward for all the work I had put in.

The Pixes left aftewards. My first holding bag was put to good use to carry the 3 books Inrak had managed to sell to the Master Tailor. We decided to celebrate that evening at Sirmy and Ripsile’s stall.

The little Schalass girl jumped up and down with excitement when I arrived with the skoga set I had bought for her.