---[ POV: Flynn ]---

"So," said Flynn to break the uncomfortable silence that had taken place in the corvette's cargo bay once everyone was gathered and had taken place around the improvised table and seats made of crates and tools boxes. "Now that we're all here and rested, we'll finally be able to discuss a little. The introductions are already taken care of, but I believe we all have questions for each other. Well, allow me to start. My name is Flynn - Valerian Flynn - and I just recently arrived here. I am not familiar with your customs or way of life as those of my nation differ a lot. My first question will obviously be about magic. See, magic doesn't exist where I am from. Or at least, if we know of it, we don't call it 'magic'." The young man looked at Herman. "Could you give me a brief rundown of the subject? Imagine I am a kid you teach for the first time."

Herman was seated alone on his side of the table. Amaryllis was seated in front of him, on the other side with Athena in her human form seated beside her for some reason, and Gwenvar standing behind them both, hand on the pommel of her sword. Flynn was seated on the side, between the two parties.

The old man looked at Flynn for a moment.

He was still surprised and shocked that Flynn had already mastered the basics of their language. When the young man had said he wanted to learn from his companion Athena, he had never thought this would be done overnight. And without magic, at that. Just how much intelligence and incredible memory were required to do so? He doubted even Valsevor could learn a language in less than a day without using some magical means.

"As you wish," said Herman.

After his scrutiny of the lieutenant, he turned his gaze toward the princess and had a kind smile. "And Princess, I have no doubt you already know about magic but listen well to what I am about to say. You are Awakened now. You will need to know about those things, and more, if you are to control your power and prevent any accident. Starting with a solid base is important for anyone that wishes to master magic."

The princess nodded with the same genuine curiosity she had displayed since she had woken up. She still seemed a bit apprehensive every time it was mentioned she was Awakened, as if she had some difficulty accepting it, but the burn marks on her hands and arms that sometimes glowed faintly, like muted coal, could not lie.

"Good, then let's start simple and just ask, what is magic?" said Herman. "Well, simply put, magic is a force of nature that allows those able to sense and manipulate it to bend reality to their will. How does that work? No one exactly knows. Most sorcerers and wizards, since the dawn of time, have been more preoccupied with finding new ways to use it and improve the result they were getting out of it than trying to learn where it's from, and why it works as it does. After all, a knight, for example, doesn't need to know how to forge a sword to use it. Instead, they'll prefer to train in the mastery of said sword in order to slay their enemies and serve their lord. There exist many contradictory stories on the origin of magic. The priests and clerics of the Pantheon, for one, will claim that magic is a gift of the gods to humanity, despite there being a clear distinction between divine and arcane magic. Others, such as druid, shamans or the..."

"What is this 'Pantheon' you've mentioned?" asked Athena.

Everyone except Flynn seemed quite surprised but Herman quickly wiped the expression from his face.

"Well," said the old man, "I suppose that if Lord Flynn don't know about magic, it's also understandable for you, Venerable Athena, to not know about the Pantheon. If you slumbered for that long, then, allow me to enlighten you; to put it shortly, the Pantheon is a confederation of different religious orders dedicated to the gods and goddesses that protect and nurture humanity. Well, some gods of the Pantheon have questionable reputations and motives, but as long as they are not outright hostile to humanity, they can join the rank of the Pantheon. Despite the fractured state of the Inheritor Realms, the Pantheon was able to maintain some form of unity and prevent a lot of wars and crises that would have otherwise broken out. The fact that they almost have a monopoly on divine magic and a strong influence over the regulations of arcane magic helps them to push their weight around."

"What are the 'Inheritor Realms'?" asked the AI as soon as Herman was done.

"Athena," said Flynn. "I'm as curious as you, but one thing at a time. First, let Herman finish his explanation about magic. Don't lose him with a million questions that all lead in different directions."

"Oh, sorry," said the AI.

"No problem," smiled Herman. "So, what was I saying about magic? Oh, right! That nobody seems to agree on its origin. Despite it all, there exist a multitude of ways to use it. Just like water, that can be used to boil food, power a mill, wash clothes, fill a moat, and much more. The only limit to its uses, just like magic, is the creativity and capacity of the people that wish to make it their tool."

The old man produced his pipe once again and started to prepare it while he continued his explanation.

"Now, before we go any further, a little bit of technical knowledge about magical essence and its quantification will help to understand what follows. I won't go into the details of it for the moment, but it's important to understand that magic is not an infinite power that any wizard or witch can harness as they wish. Magic is powered by what most of its practitioners call magical essence, or simply essence. To put it simply, essence is the fundamental bloc of any spell or magic that ever existed." As he said that, Herman threw a strange glance toward Flynn but continued his explanation. "Essence form the bricks used to build magical effects. Just like you build a house from bricks, a town from houses, and a kingdom from towns and cities, you can trace even the mightiest of magical miracles back to simple bricks of essence assembled together in a complex pattern designed to produce the desired effect."

Herman raised a finger from his hand that was not holding his pipe and a small flame appeared above it. "Now, because of the very nature of magic, it is extremely difficult to quantify it, but despite that, most magical practitioners have come to a common agreement over time. Not all, but most magical traditions, especially the modern one, agree that the quantity of essence required to produce a candle flame for one minute is almost always the same, no matter the person doing it or the type of essence they are powering the effect with. We call this quantity of magical power a mote. To return to my water analogy, you can picture water as the magical essence itself, and a mote as a single dram of water. Most formulaic spells indicate clearly how many motes are required to cast them and, if well documented and studied, the ways to reduce the mote consumption."

The old man used the flame to lit his pipe and took some time to savor his first puff of tobacco smoke before continuing his explanation.

"Now that the distinction between essence and mote is done, let's continue by saying that there exist multiple types of essence. The most commons are what we call the elemental essences that embody certain aspects of fire, air, water, and earth, but there also exist other types of exotic essences or even mixes of them. For example, the celestial essences of the sun and the moon to which only the elves can get attuned, or the ice essence, which is a mix of air and water, or even the essence of life and death, which are mostly associated with divine magic. And the list goes on... The exact list of all of those essences is not important to know or remember for a beginner. What is important to understand, however, is that different essences are good at different things. The obvious example would be that fire essence is more efficient to cast fire spells than water essence. A competent mage will be able to cast a fireball using only water essence if he so wishes, but it will be more difficult and consume a lot more motes than if he had used the more optimal fire essence, or even a neutral one such as air essence."

"And this essence," said Flynn. "Where does it come from, and how does one control it? Can everyone do it? You have been talking about the Princess' Awakening, which I understand is some kind of event or rite of passage that allows someone to use magic, but can someone that is not Awakened use magic?"

"To answer your first question, all natural essences exist in what we call - or compose, according to some - the Weave of Magic. It is extremely hard to describe the Weave in detail since it is not really part of our world. Imagine it like an invisible and intangible reality that superposes our own, in which only essence exists. The essence in the Weave moves and flows according to patterns and objects of our own reality. For example, water essence will be pulled toward bodies of water while air essence will fly in the wind and earth essence will sink in the ground. The Weave cannot be perceived with mundane senses and remain hidden to everyone, even mages, that does not possess special magical sights. However, with enough training, most mages can at least feel it, just like you can feel the wind on your skin without seeing it."

Herman pointed toward Amaryllis with his chin. "The Princess' Arcane Fever caused quite the waves in the Weave. That is how I was able to locate this place in the mountain and decided to come to help."

Amaryllis fidgeted a bit but Herman smiled at her. "Don't worry, Princess. The Fever should not return. You will be facing other challenges in the coming days, but once your core is created, the Fever should be gone for good."

"That's good to hear," said Flynn.

Herman nodded. "Now, to answer your second question," said Herman to the young lieutenant, "no, not anyone can use magic. Only people that possess a magical core can do it, unless using a magical artifact designed to bypass this limitation. The dwarfs are the absolute masters of this particular field of magic."

"And what is a magical core?" asked Flynn.

"A magical core is a node of essence that forms within an individual or a magical creature after enough free-flowing essence has gathered in its body. It is not a physical property and exists only in the Weave, but it acts as a magnet for the rest of the essence in the Weave and naturally drags it toward the core's owner. Essence that is pulled close enough to a core will be trapped within its grasp and find itself unable to return to the natural flows of the Weave. This essence is known as a mage's mana, their personal reserve of magical energy from which they can draw to power their spell. The mana will remain in the vicinity of the core until harnessed by the core owner to produce a magical effect, and will slowly replenish over time after being used, as more essence is pulled toward the core. Of course, regenerating mana is faster in an environment rich in essence."

"I see," said Flynn while pensively stroking his chin. "The way you talk about it, this essence seems to follow a law that could be compared to gravity. It is drawn to large 'mass' of other essences."

"I'm not sure I follow what you are saying, but yes, simply put, essence is drawn to essence. This is why some places in this world have become veritable nexus of magical power over the millennia, or why most mages or magical items and creatures tend to get stronger as they ages."

"I see. so only Awakened have a magical core," said Flynn with a slightly dejected tone. "Are there particular rules or circumstances that determine who Awaken or not? Is it rare or fairly common?"

"Awakened are fairly rare, yes. But the Awakening is only the name given to the spontaneous formation of a core in individuals whose body has naturally accumulated enough essence to cause a collapse of it into a solid core. We also call them the Blooded, since most of the time, their magical potential comes from their ancestors and sorcerous bloodlines. However, there are also those called the Forged. Forged are mages that had no natural dispositions for magic at birth, but created their own core through studies, meditation, and hard work. They quite literally forged their core. Contrary to the princess, I am one of the Forged."

"Oh! That's interesting," said Flynn. "This means I could forge a core myself?"

"You are a bit old for that," said Herman. "Most people that wish to become a mage that way start the forging process as young kids since the best time to gather natural essence is during growth. They are usually from rich families that can afford to send them to a magical academy for most of their youth and adolescence, which are often built in places rich in essence to help the young students forge their core. The geniuses will take a few years to complete the process, but most people will obtain their core around the age of 16 or 17 if they started around 6. It is possible for you to forge one, but it will probably take time and a lot of effort. But again, you have surprised me enough recently, you might surprise me again about this."

"Damn," said Flynn with a contrived smile, "I was getting excited about this. I guess I'll focus on something else for now."

"Nothing prevents you from trying," said the old man. "I wanted to propose my services to the Princess to teach her magic, so nothing is stopping you from assisting to those lessons."

"Absolutely not!" cried Gwenvar. "You're answering Lord Flynn's questions as was decided. Then, once you're done, you're leaving this place and the Princess alone!"

"Why not?!" asked Amaryllis, turning on herself and looking at her Warden with a stupefied expression. "I don't want to spout fire again! And knowing how to use magic might be useful if we want to return to Osgarath one day!"

Gwenvar seemed a bit taken by surprise. She obviously wanted to avoid worrying the princess about Herman's identity and did not know how to get out of this situation she had created for herself. "Well... that... I mean, I don't... I mean, he's not that good of a mage..."

"I'm an excellent mage. I've worked for kings and queens across the Realms," said Herman with a falsely vexed tone.

"Yeah, see? He's a court mage," said the Princess.

"Not really," mumbled Gwenvar low enough that only Flynn with his enhanced hearing could hear it.

"He was able to help me with the Fever, you said it yourself!" continued Amaryllis. "I don't see why he would not be able to teach me at least the basics. His explanations were pretty clear up until now. Even if I already knew most of it, I still learned a bit, and it was just an introduction!"

Gwenvar looked at Flynn with imploring eyes but there was nothing the young man could do to help her. He had no argument to refuse Herman's help other than he might be a potential danger for the Princess, but Gwenvar seemed to want to avoid mentioning it. And Flynn was not against learning more about magic, despite the fact that he would probably not be able to use it himself for some time. The old man was a liability, but he brought enough to the table that Flynn was ready to give him a chance.

"I was not proposing this only because I want her to learn how to cast spells," said Herman to Gwenvar. "The princess is still in very real danger. Her core is dense. It pulls large quantities of essence toward it. Much more than a freshly Awakened girl can handle. The fire drakes Valsevor shackled to it feed of the excess essence, but even for them, there is too much, and they don't seem to be able to assimilate it as well as they should. This turbulence in her overinflated mana could damage the core itself, or cause crises like yesterday, where her magic goes out of control and the excess mana spurt out in an uncontrollable manner. She could hurt herself, or hurt others. My primary purpose in offering tutelage is to help her control her mana and get rid of its excess in a harmless way."

A conflicted expression appeared on Gwenvar face.

"Well, Gwenvar is still my Warden," said Amaryllis while returning to her original position. "She will obey my will, and I think I do need to learn how to control this magic."

A pained expression appeared on Gwenvar's face but she bowed slightly to the princess and kept from arguing further.

"Perfect," said Herman. "There is a lot to teach, and not that much time to do it. What would you all say if I continued to answer Lord Flynn's questions for tonight and we'll start with the first real lesson tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah, that's great," smiled Amaryllis.

"Good," said Herman. "Now, Lord Flynn, we brushed the subject of magic but this will be covered in more depth tomorrow. Is there anything else you would like to know regarding other subjects?"

Flynn had a lot of other questions, ranging from geography to politics, and passing through sciences, etiquette, biology, and all kind of other matters. Since Herman, Gwenvar and the princess would apparently be around for some time, he knew he would have other occasions to sate his curiosity, but he still wanted to use this evening to get a better picture of the planet he had found himself on and the societies he would soon encounter.

"Yes," he said. "Why don't you talk to me about Osgarath and the Inheritor Realms?"