– Beginning of Arc 1, Cultivating Perseverance –

– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 209, Season of the Rising Sun, Day 61 –

Before Brynn could knock on the door to Samuel’s office, it already flew open.

“Stubborn mule!”, came the exasperated voice of Pelliana.

Stopped short in her tracks, Pelliana blinked a few times and then decided to make an appeal to Brynn instead of trying to persuade the mule directly.

“You try talking to that damn blockhead. It seems that Instructor Samuel is intent on tarnishing the future of the most talented student we ever had.”

“…”

Pelliana stormed off without waiting for a reply.

Brynn raised her eyebrows and stepped into the room. As soon as the door was closed, she puffed up her cheeks and shot a questioning glance towards the man behind the large desk. There sat Samuel, who met her gaze with calm blue eyes and a slight smile on his lips. He stood up from his chair and turned around to open the window behind his desk.

“So? What was that all about?” asked Brynn and joined Samuel at the window.

“It seems Instructor Pelliana disagrees with my assessment of her most recent protégé.”

The two settled in and leaned on the window sill. They took in the fresh air and watched the dark blue glimmer created by the distant barrier that surrounded the Arcana Empire.

“And? What do you think of our new resident genius?” inquired Brynn.

“About the same I thought of all the preceding geniuses – too much talent for their own good.”

“Pelliana claims you’re envious and that is why you always find trouble with the most talented kids.”

Samuel sighed. “The only claim Pelliana truly cares about is a claim to call herself the mentor of a magic sovereign in the future. Like so often, I disagree with her assessment. It is not that I desire their talent for myself, but that I see it wasted on them. It is not even their fault. It is the Academy that is failing them.”

“That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it? Most of them end up doing alright, do they not?”

“Depends on your perspective. Most of them find their way into cushy administrative positions and some of them even acquire seats in the Council. No matter which, they generally follow a path of mediocrity unworthy of their talents.”

“Supporting the research of magic and protecting the barrier do not sound like such unworthy causes to me.”

“I agree, up to a point that is. If the most talented among us are preoccupied with maintaining the barrier and making life inside more pleasant, then what about the threats outside? They will only grow worse with time.”

Brynn took Samuel’s hand. She reminded herself where the burns came from and of the reason why Samuel refused to get them healed.

“Stop being so hard on yourself, Whaka Samuel. I am sure that he would agree with me.”

The two spent the remainder of their break together in silence.

***

Terry could not help himself.

For about the sixth time this morning he jumped from the bed in order to have a look in his bag. True, the first five times made him reasonably sure that the contents would not change, but it certainly would not hurt to check again.

Terry examined the bag. He loved that bag. It was not quite a proper dimensional storage item – that would have been extravagant even for Arcana Academy – but it could be considered as a half-step towards one.

The space inside was indeed enlarged and the weight felt by Terry was reduced. However, the space was only enlarged slightly – perhaps to twice its original size. More importantly, the space was not fully isolated and any movement of Terry’s would still affect the items inside. In exchange, the bag could clean and mend itself. The bag remained spotless at all times and the Academy’s insignia always sparkled in the light.

Then, Terry examined the bag’s contents…

Student card for Arcana Academy.

A high-quality notebook bearing the crest of Arcana Academy – mint condition.

A mana-crafted pen. Same crest. Same condition.

A novel for children titled Path of a Mage: Legend of the Veilbinder that seemed to have been read about a hundred times.

And yet another book. This book was the object of Terry’s compulsive concern and affection. It was thick with a stiff binding that displayed golden letters. Terry moved his fingers fondly over the indented writing. There it was – Introductory Spellwork: Compendium of Basic to Intermediate Spells. This was the book that inspired a permanent smile on Terry’s face.

One season ago – on the first day of the Rising Sun – Terry had been admitted to Arcana Academy. Naturally, this would be an incredible honor for anyone. Anyone except children like Terry perhaps. After all, that is what they had been raised for. This was the intended path for Seedlings. An admittance was to be expected. A failure on the other hand…

But that had nothing to do with Terry. There were a few surprising points during his admittance, but the surprise was of a very happy nature. Everyone held high expectations, because it was known in advance that the twelve-year-old possessed outstanding mana sense for his age as well as above average values for both mana pool size and mana regeneration.

Regardless, Terry managed to astonish everyone with respect to another pillar of mana foundation. The truly shocking measurement was Terry’s talent for general mana control. This trait was very difficult to improve and the required training was extremely time-consuming. That is why the trait frequently led to bottlenecks and effected hard limitations for virtually everyone. Now, there was a talent fit to cause an uproar.

Even Terry’s parents made an appearance… or at least two people claiming to be his parents. It was the first time that Terry had ever seen them. This was natural – a Seedling ought to earn their familial affiliation. It seemed that his parents deemed his performance in the entrance exam worthy enough to bestow a last name onto him: Antelias.

However, Terry did not really care much. The child had no inkling of what a last name signified nor of its implications. Truthfully, Terry did not even know if the name belonged to the man, the woman, or both.

The most common scenario would be a man that sought the services of the Greenhouse to find a suitable partner with a recorded talent in spellwork, mana crafting, or at the very least a large mana pool size. Women seeking the same services were slightly less common, but far from rare. A third scenario was a member of the government that paid to have an expected child raised in the Greenhouse. Still, such a scenario would rightfully be called an outlier.

Powerful or influential mages tended to have their own ideas on how to raise the future of magic, which was another way to say the future of the Arcana Empire. Arcana’s ruling Council only admitted capable mages. Only the best among them could ever hope for a chance to join the magic sovereigns.

The epigraph of the Council’s mission statement read, “Magic obliges. Knowledge entails the burden to rule. Power entails the duty to rule well. Only those who inquire into the deepest secrets of the world are fit to write the rules guiding life.”

For the most part, Arcana’s rulers took their oaths very seriously. In return, their subjects accepted the system. It was entirely possible that the Arcanian citizens even believed in it. Be that as it may, the amenities offered by the most advanced magic in all the remaining empires might act as a suitable substitute for real conviction.

If that was not enough to pacify some, then there still remained the somber realization that the only thing separating Arcana from the terrors of the Wastes was a magic barrier. This barrier was a truly impressive work of mana crafting as well as the envy of all the other empires.

Terry did not know about any of this, just like he did not know the truth about his parents or their last name. Terry’s childhood in the Greenhouse was not one of hardship – quite the opposite in fact. While Terry had little interest in his alleged parents, he did not resent them either. The child’s mind was entirely preoccupied with other topics.

Finally spellwork…

Terry closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and raised his head up from the bag. When he reopened his eyes, the sight washed the smile from his face and replaced it with a frown. The object in sight was the bane of his past one hundred days.

The book titled Mana Foundation: Training Techniques for Pool Size, Regeneration, Sense, and Control, laid there on the dresser, pretending to be innocent of all the boredom and nuisance it had caused. The hateful thing.

When Terry was accepted into Arcana, he was exceedingly eager to learn. The only problem was that the instructors seemed to have no intention of teaching him what he wanted to learn. The entire first season of the curriculum was centered around basic – and very repetitive – exercises. That was a far cry from the ideal of a mage Terry was dreaming to become.

Technically, Terry’s score in the entrance exam would already satisfy all the requirements for the end of the season. Not only was the subject matter exceedingly boring, but the tedious and mind-numbing exercises seemed entirely pointless. As the boy saw it, the whole curriculum was a farce.

The only silver lining was that most instructors were somewhat accommodating. His assigned mentor, Instructor Pelliana, allowed him to stay absent from class instead of wasting his time. Instructor Ser insisted on his attendance, but did not seem to care if Terry read his favorite novel during class. Instructor Brynn had the bad habit of trying to rope him into her teaching – asking questions or desiring demonstrations – but at least she cared little about homework as long as he was on track for the class.

However, there was one notable exception: Instructor Samuel – the scar-faced main instructor for their mana foundation classes, primarily for mana control and mana sense. No matter how Terry tried to reason with the unreasonable man, it was all to no avail.

By now, Terry had a lot of experience in exerting his facial muscles in ways that communicate as much displeasure as humanly possible. Unfortunately, that little habit might have escalated the situation somewhat. Or at least Terry figured that it had contributed to the change in the last third of the season. Without warning, Instructor Samuel started to grade Terry differently. Instead of grading the absolute measurements, Instructor Samuel adjusted the grade according to Terry’s progress since the beginning of the season.

“Above all, this is an institution for learning. Therefore, Terry Antelias, as far as I am concerned the ability to learn is of paramount importance here at the Academy. Sadly, so far you have not given any evidence whatsoever of such an ability,” were the instructor’s words.

All this self-important self-righteous nonsense. In the end, you are simply a petty old man.

Even thinking about it made Terry angry. Luckily, Instructor Pelliana truly cared about him and intervened on his behalf. His grades were still affected because Instructor Samuel was the epitome of stubborness and obviously refused to rescind the new system completely. Nevertheless, at least there was no danger of Terry failing the class anymore. Terry could look forward to the Setting Sun without worries.

Finally.

Today marks the first day of the Setting Sun.

Finally spellwork.

Terry had barely slept because he was so excited. When the sun had finally risen, he had completely given up on sleep. After cleaning and dressing himself, Terry simply laid on his bed – daydreaming, reminiscing, and occasionally checking his bag.

Time to go.

Right when Terry was about to open the door, there was a knock. Terry opened the door and was greeted by Instructor Pelliana smiling at him.

“Oh good, I was worried you could be late. Looking forward to your day?”

“Yes, Instructor.” Terry was beaming at this point and radiated excitement.

“Splendid. I am sure, Instructor Ser will appreciate your eagerness to learn from him.”

“Yes, Instructor.”

The door closed behind them and Terry bounced off to class.

***

“In the last season, you have prepared your mana foundation. This season, the goal is for you to reach the foundation level in a handful of basic spells,” droned the deep voice of Instructor Ser.

In all his time at the Academy, Terry had never heard the man give a proper greeting to anyone. It was as if a nod or a grunt was the most time Instructor Ser could spare for others.

All the better. Let’s get down to it.

The only thing that kept Terry from fidgeting around on his chair was discipline and that was a resource in short supply for the boy.

“Today, we will look at one of the basic spells of the light aspect.”

Magelight.

“Magelight.” said the instructor while casting the spell with his left hand. The use of mana illuminated his irises. In an instant, a small globe of light hovered above his hand. Then, Instructor Ser snuffed it out again.

“Your compendium describes the basic idea of the underlying structure behind the spellwork and the flow of mana required.

“In this season, you will come to find out about the limitations of written instructions and the true value of your education at the Academy. No book can demonstrate the spell’s core stages to your mana sense.

“I will now demonstrate the four stages slowly and exaggeratedly. Focus your mana sight on my left hand.”

Finally, thought Terry and he did as instructed.

“First, the mana harvesting.”

A light blue haze started to gather at the hand. Some came from the surroundings, but most seemed to originate from the instructor’s hand itself.

“Second, the mana shaping.”

The blue haze showed ripples and moved sluggishly like mud in the wind. Instructor Ser allowed the structure to spin so that it was possible for the students to see exactly where the mana thinned or thickened. After about two minutes, the shaping ended and the structure was finalized. Instead of the formless haze, you could now see a filigree glimmer of lines.

“Third, the mana priming.”

Until this stage, the glow in the structure had been uniform and even. Now it seemed as if one part of the mana flow was dammed. This led to a brighter glow in that area while the parts behind it started to dim. That bright spot was the primer for the spellwork.

After a few seconds, the bright spot started to move along the structure. Instructor Ser continued to rotate the structure, but now the rotation was following the priming concentration of mana. This way, the students were able to see exactly when the primer would slow down or speed up.

After the primer had moved a complete cycle, you could perceive the whole structure glowing a bit brighter. This indicated that the priming was successful. From this point onwards, the primed flow of mana would cycle on its own without needing to be guided by the casting mage.

“Last, the mana ignition.”

When the mana flow cycled back to the initial state of the sequence, it seemed as if the cycling primer was suddenly compressed and pushed to speed up. This effected ripples throughout the whole structure and in the next moment the familiar orb of light appeared.

“This is it. Mana harvesting is something all of you are capable of or you would not be at this Academy. Thanks to your foundational training in the last season, the shaping stage should not pose much of a challenge either.

“Priming is by far the most difficult stage of the process. Ignition is not that hard and only requires a bit of practice in order to get the timing right, but that pales in comparison to the timing required for the priming.

“We have Instructor Brynn here to assist you and me. For the rest of the class there will always be one of us who will repeat the demonstration of the core stages of the Magelight spell while the other one will offer guidance to students in case you have questions.

“Now practice.”

“““Yes, Instructor.”””

Finally. Although it is only a Magelight spell. Maybe Instructor Pelliana can demonstrate more useful spells to me in case I am forced to wait again for everyone else. Alright, let's do this.

Harvesting? Check.

Shaping? Check.

Terry glanced around to find that none of the other students had progressed beyond the shaping stage.

Priming?

Terry tried to dam the mana as instructed. He quickly accumulated the mana concentration necessary for the primer. When he tried to move primer along the required path… The primer faded away to blend in with the rest of the structure. Terry felt the slight pain of spell failure in his casting hand.

After half an hour and about six attempts, Terry was still unable to progress past the first slope.

I guess this is really much more difficult than the other stages.

Terry took a breather and then examined the demonstration by Instructor Brynn.

Looks the same to me, thought the boy while scrunching his nose and biting on lips sucked inward.

Another half hour later, the first among the other students started to attempt the priming stage. They were slowly catching up with Terry.

After the second hour, there were already around a handful of students that successfully passed the primer along the second curve point in the structure. They left Terry behind. That was an entirely unfamiliar experience for the boy.

Finally, Terry brought himself to ask for guidance. Unfortunately, the instructions left him even more frustrated.

I know how the mana is supposed to flow. I understand the concept of blocking and releasing the mana in order to navigate it. I want to know why it is not working!

The more frustrated Terry became, the less success he had. Although admittedly, there was not much of a difference – a few millimeters perhaps.

When the class finally ended, about a third of the students had small orbs of light hovering around them. The students and lights were buzzing around each other happily.

By contrast, Terry could see little reason for happiness. The first slope had foiled his attempts at the priming stage for every second of the four hours. While there were other students that were still stuck at a similar place, these students had all reached this place later than Terry.

“Sorry,” mumbled Terry.

Instructor Pelliana turned towards the downtrodden kid. She let out a sigh and then displayed a somewhat patronizing smile.

“No point in moping. This is the first time that you did not dazzle everyone on your first attempt. You know, this may be a good thing. It may make you seem more approachable to the other students. No one likes being outshone all the time.”

Yay, rang the sarcastic thought in Terry’s head.

“Still, I would suggest you get a good night’s rest. You probably spent half the night fantasizing about which spells to learn in what order. One must be careful that anticipation does not spoil the real thing.”

True, I have barely slept. That probably did not help.

“Yes, Instructor.”

Looking slightly better, Terry turned to leave.

***