“Therese! There’s a letter for you here!”

Inside of a small and tidy room with brick walls, small towers of thin wooden boards decorated with carvings rose from the empty half of the room. Sitting on the edge of her bed, a woman with long brown hair stared the sheet of wood before her.

“I'll be there in just a moment.” Therese scowled to herself, concentration interrupted. Her magic was by no means poor, but neither could she be called exceptional. Awakening at 12 meant her latent mana was higher than most. Three years passed before she truly learned how to practice magic though, and practice and knowledge far surpassed the importance of talent.

As the landlady called out, the spell shape had collapsed, the wild mana barely reigned in by Therese. For the past six years she devoted all her time to developing the spell she felt inside her, and for the past three she left left behind the research of all others to focus on it. Painstakingly constructing it piece by piece, Mrs. Eris’ voice shattered her progress for the day. Suddenly beset by exhaustion, Therese forced herself up. Letters were not a common thing, and if someone sent her one, there would no doubt be an important matter involved.

Slipping out her narrow door and into the similarly cramped halls of the tenement, Therese glided through the musty brick building to the only marginally larger common hall. A rounded lady with sparkling eyes held two pieces of paper, a small one, the size of a palm, and a scroll the length of a forearm rolled up and tied together with twine. The pieces rustled together roughly in the landlady’s hands.

“Oh aren't you lucky dearie, it seems someone sent you some paper to work with. If you turn it into something beautiful be sure to show me, alright?” Eris, or Mrs. Eris as she liked her tenants to call her, gently handed the objects over to Therese. The younger woman merely curtly nodded before returning to her room without any show of emotion.

Calm on the exterior, seething on the interior; interacting with ‘Mrs, Eris’ set her nerves aflame. Those chubby round cheeks made a storm in her soul. The only reason she acted so kindly was because of all the money she sucked out of the renters. A filthy creature that existed on the fact that others needed a place to live. Farmers at the very least had to sweat before selling their goods. Therese had no doubt if she ever missed a payment the landlady wouldn't be so kind.

Her sole redeeming quality was that unlike some other tenement houses, The Honeycomb didn't go back on its contracts and raise their prices suddenly. Thank the Patriarch for small mercies.

Closing the little door behind her and throwing the lock, she carefully unfolded the letter. Written in honest-to-goodness ink and flowing, but shaky script, she recognized the handwriting instantly and read the short note.

Therese, I know how much you like drawing, so I managed to acquire this for you. Don't waste it and use a flat surface to work on and put yourself into it completely. It was rather difficult to obtain and of value, I hope you can repay the favor soon. -Joanne

Joanne, that was a name Therese hadn’t heard in years. When she first awakened, it had been without any guidance, and only by the older woman’s guidance had she been able to learn to practice. Out of the blue, her younger self had been terrified upon first seeing the alleged merchant, as she felt something grip at her soul. Haunted, sallow eyes, hair threaded with grey far earlier than it ought to have been; for a few moments Therese thought that perhaps the rumors of magic being a demonic art were true.

What actually came to pass was the woman’s surprisingly insistent attempt to teach her. She never inquired about Joanne’s past; such topics should be given a respectful distance. As her mentor did not bring it up, she did not ask, focusing on what she was taught. Learning about mana and spell shapes, all that she had learned over the years was imparted to Therese. She never could stay long, but visited periodically as the caravan she traveled with visited.

Therese became cultured this way. Born to a pair of cobblers, her elder brother inherited the business, and her elder sister trained to be a seamstress, ready to take over in case something happened to Johan. Altogether her family wasn’t poor, but neither were they one of those rarities who could afford an education. Therese had been particularly unlucky as a third child, and left Medean. It frustrated her that she was unable to work as a cobbler as well, after all, both her parents did; but the spot was reserved for her brother’s wife. Therese did not like having to leave the family business, but understood and settled in Munos. There, she found a job with the Carmens guild as a full time winnower. The work paid barely enough for her to subsist, but she managed. Joanne’s connections turned her struggling life around, enriching her knowledge of the world every time she stopped by.

However, for reasons unknown, Joanne suddenly stopped coming with the caravan. Therese always made sure to pay her debts, that was her Will, and with her mentor’s disappearance, it seemed she would be unable to repay it. After several years building confidence under Joanne’s tutelage, Therese felt lost again.

Her magic faltered, her mana less potent than before. Joanne taught that a wizard’s power came from their Will; their inner strength, the fact that they were resolved was the separation between them and the oouei. In reflection, perhaps before that point her Will had always been weak. Life was just trying to make ends meet, and even after meeting Joanne and learning about the importance of Will, she only nominally dedicated herself. Repaying the old woman was the only thing that even came to mind when thinking of goals.

In a constant state of mana depletion, Therese found it hard to work up the will to do anything. Mechanically attending her new job selling luxury clothes to the nouveau riche, she imitated their indecisive ways; reacting to the opinions of those around her, only thinking of the shallow entertainments of the hour. Like the husks from grain during her winnowing days, she floated with the breeze.

Then came a message from her family, thankfully having been taught by Joanne she didn’t need to make the effort to find someone to read it to her. Hands trembling in frustration, it was a lucky break for her would-be orator as well. For the first time in years she felt her mana well up, smashing her fist against the wall. A brand new, tempestuous spell shape had formed unbidden, creating a flurry of white scars along the wall of her stone house.

Apparently, the message was the last notice of departure. Therese left Medean over five years ago, and despite their close proximity, she’d not heard a word from her family since. Three years back, Alyssa has gotten married and moved to Corsen with her artisan husband, and it wasn’t worth informing her. Two years, both her parents died of illness, and no word was sent to her then either. A year ago, an opportunity presented by the Patriarch himself sat itself before Johan; her older brother would work with a troop of famous mercenaries, The Severed Fangs, repairing and fashioning them new boots.

Being on the move, he had no use for the family’s old storefront.

So not knowing of her current position, he sold it off, and sent a message off to his youngest sister; as nothing more than an explanation as to why if she were to visit Medean, she should not expect to be finding free lodgings or meals.

When had she ever visited?

Slumping along the ground, Therese sadly laughed to herself. The oouei really were fickle with their lives. She recalled how strongly Johan had declared that the store would belong to him and his wife, in the family forever. That was the biggest reason why she and her sister weren’t expected to find a place in the business, her brother made it seem as though there was only enough space for himself and his dreams inside the shop. In the end he hadn’t felt so strongly about the matter after all.

Family scattered to the winds, there was but one benefit, she regained her Will.

To live honestly with her head held high. To have every word she said mean something, and not go back on promises. Debts would be paid and collected. Therese was not oouei, she had resolve, conviction, Will.

Moving back to Medean, she refused to depend on old acquaintances. They were fickle and couldn’t be depended on, the only one she could rely on was herself. Despite a prickly attitude, her now forthright nature appealed to many, and with her experience in sales, she once again found herself at the counter. However now she helped a single-minded smith sell his wares.

There were no bells and whistles attached, just form and function to be shown to the customer. None of the trends of fashion that came and went like seasons; they were weapons that could be depended on. Genry was tolerable, and perhaps even to be admired, compared to the other oouei. Dedicated to his craft, he did naught else but hammer, eat, sleep and then repeat the process. Not as deep as the Will of a wizard, at least he acted stably.

In her new life she practiced that tempestuous spell shape that came to her mind in anger that day; but she made sure that her magic did not suffer for it. Therese’s knowledge on forming spell shapes was rather lacking and experimented with a wide variety of things, putting arcane notes only understood by herself down onto excess scraps of wood that came from Medean’s timber industry.

Then, when she turned 21, a letter arrived. Her face, attractive, if slightly less so due to her stern countenance turned ugly when it arrived. After reading it, the malevolent aura around her vanished, like a candle snuffed out in the wind. Years had passed, but at long last Joanne had been able to send her a letter. Informing her she’d been taken by the Church, she apologized for not being able to tell her student sooner.

How could Therese not forgive her mentor, who she owed so much to?

Communications with the church were limited, and only a response could be sent, saying there was no need for an apology. Therese was ready to pay her debt back at any time, her teacher needed only say the word.

Looking at the large scroll in hand, it seemed that the time had come at last. Placing it on one of the flat boards, she put herself wholly into the paper.

What are people, but their Will? And what is the Will, if not mana?

A technique incredibly difficult to grasp, one that even Joanne had not mastered when they last met face to face, Therese tried to impart her Will into the paper. Several attempts in, it finally began glowing with a soft light, pieces disintegrating. What was left was a fragile paper stencil, with letters cut from it; if it weren’t lying flat, it could tear under its own weight.

Ingenious; Joanne was a genius when it came to the realm of book magic.

Reading the hidden message, Therese learned she had a junior now under the tutelage of her mentor. Tasked with helping escort the girl Yalla away, Joanne mentioned everything that could possibly be relevant; including the girl’s free-spirited temperament. It didn’t sound like a good match of personalities, but Therese owed it to her mentor. Besides, she hadn’t known how to live her life over a decade ago either. Waiting until late summer to leave closer to the time Joanne had planned, Therese grew her hair out as she closed up her loose ends in Medean. Not fully shutting them, but enough to know that not coming back was a possibility. At the very least Genry deserved a proper warning. He handled the news with admirable stoicism, returning to his work after giving her a farewell payment of two daggers.

As planned she set out, feeling the clothes she wore should have been sold by her rather than bought. It would make for a good disguise, and her frugal personality had more than enough money saved to embark on the trip. So that no one remembered her departure, Therese traveled alone.

A/N:AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!