Chapter 5: Quantum Levels

I gestured for Apprentice Hylia to come out onto the ledge. She stretched out with dainty feet, looking like those spindly AI-driven spacemonkeys that clambered around the front of maintenance ports on large carriers. They have that oddly-satisfied but scared-to-death look that made watching them endlessly interesting to the bored mind.

But still, it’s largely unethical to treat humans the same way so I helped her a little by providing her with some support. She took my hand with a little hesitation and then came out on the ledge with me.

“What are we doing here?” Hylia asked in a near whisper, looking like she regretted coming out in the first place. That girl didn’t have much confidence in me, considering she specifically asked me to help her.

“We’re going to a secluded area in the forest to practice. We can’t do it without interference in the daytime and if something goes wrong it won’t affect the mansion. I don’t want to burn down my own home, you know?”

“But—”

“Wait, quiet!”

There was a shadow moving along the grass there. I relaxed slightly, recognising the figure as it approached the mansion. It was Talland, but what was the reason for him stepping out in the first place?

As the grounds became clear, I decided to file the discrepancy in the back of my mind. Now was not the time for investigation. Besides, there was nothing I could do about it. I hadn’t learned much about this alien land, but I was dying for a little experience of freedom. It was time to explore.

“Okay, hold on, I’m going to use some magic to get us down there. Spread your arms and legs and grab onto my shirt.”

“What?”

“Here we go.”

She let out a muffled yelp as a strong gust blew at us from underneath. Our clothes whipped and billowed as I controlled the force of the gale so that a column of air cushioned us from all sides. This was a lot harder and a lot louder than I thought it would be, similar to the rushing wind of skydiving, but about five times as noisy.

We landed clumsily in the middle of the lawn, but Hylia had my shirt in a death-grip and I gently pried away her fingers.

“What in the world was that?” She almost shrieked at me.

I chuckled apologetically. “Wind, but stronger.”

“Wind that strong is way past an Apprentice’s level!”

“Is it?”

“Yes!” Hylia snapped in a whisper, remembering just barely that we were sneaking out. “I’ve never heard of wind magic being used like this!”

The forest wasn’t dead quiet like I imagined. There were sounds of animals rustling in the bushes and screeches, chattering and insects chirping in the background. Hylia didn’t look comfortable, but she hugged herself and soldiered on.

“W-We’re not going too deep into the forest, are we?” Her voice carried a suppressed shivering as she stepped out. The girl grabbed her cloak, but it looked like she could still feel the cold.

“No,” I replied, “we’re just going to scout around a bit for… oh here.”

There was a small clearing up ahead. From the mansion you could barely see the patch of grass from my window, but it looks like I was right, a small clearing was in the forest.

“Okay, now, show me your magic.”

Again, Hylia started chanting, but I stopped her immediately.

“Okay, okay—” I took a deep breath, then dived right into it “—do you understand what magic is?”

“Magic is the ability to tap into the Centre—”

I held up a hand to stop her mocking tone that mimicked my previous book recital.

“No, I’m not talking about the mechanics of doing magic, but what magic really is.”

Hylia’s eyebrows drew together as she parsed what I was trying to say. “Are you talking about what magic is composed of or how magic works?”

“Both.” I pointed around us. “This is the natural world. We live in it and are a part of it. In order to understand the mechanisms behind the world, The Truth, we have to study it.”

“So you’re saying I shouldn’t be studying how to cast spells, but the spells themselves?”

“Exactly. How do you make fire without magic?”

Hylia frowned once again. “How is this relevant?”

I sighed. “Just humour me and answer the question, you told me you would follow my teaching methods.”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t question them.”

I smiled, surprising her. “Good, always question, that’s the first step to understanding the world around us. Now, just for the sake of it, answer my question or we won’t be getting anywhere.”

“Well… from what I’ve seen I guess they strike rocks together to make a spark?”

“Just some rocks?”

Hylia reddened at my ridiculing tone. “I mean special rocks, I can’t remember the name right now, okay?”

“Flintstones generate a spark easily when you strike them together or use iron. These sparks will land on tinder and then the tinder is blown to provide air flow that allows the tinder to catch alight, then when there’s a critical amount of heat, the whole thing bursts into flame.”

Hylia shrugged, unimpressed. “Yeah, so?”

Patiently, I summoned a flame around my palm. “Look at this flame. You can feel the heat, but nothing is burning, why?”

“Because it’s magic.”

I gestured with the flame. “But is that really why? We just established a fire needs something to start it and something to keep it going. What is powering this flame?”

“Well… your Centre is powering it?”

I dismissed the flame as I raised an eyebrow. “So there’s fuel, but I wonder where it comes from?”

“The Centre…”

I gestured around. “Where’s the Centre? Yourself? The Universe? The world around you? What exactly do you mean by the Centre when you talk about it?”

“I-It’s the big source inside of us that we can tap into to get power for spells!” Hylia took a step back at my passionate speech. “I don’t get what you’re trying to say.”

“I’m trying to point out that it might be possible to power spells without tapping into the Centre. If you decouple the Centre from the spells, then effectively you could power spells without using your own strength, wouldn’t that be great?”

Hylia’s expression cleared as it dawned on her what the implications were. “But… what does that mean?”

“What does that mean indeed? We just have to find out what sort of ‘fuel’ spells require and then try to manipulate it. Just like starting a fire requires wood, magic must require some sort of energy or source to get going. Plus… why stop there? Flintstones are one way to light a fire, but how about rubbing wood together to create it through friction? How about concentrating light so that the photons impart their energy? How about using high voltage electricity to kick start it instead? There are many ways to cast a spell, why just rely on chants or arias? Maybe chanting or arias don’t cause the spell to come to fruition, something else does. That’s what I’m getting at.”

Hylia stared at me with wide eyes.

“What?”

“You just started talking with weird sounds.”

Oops, looks like I started talking in Galactic Common. “Don’t worry about that, just think, the amazing possibilities that are possible if you just break down the essence of magic.”

Hylia shook her head. “What are you talking about?”

I mentally reproached myself for getting excited. “Well, never mind. What I’m saying is that chants and arias are probably not the only way to cast a spell. It’s merely a process that helps you cast a spell. It orders your thoughts so that you can better visualise the outcome and draw on your power. Think of it like a crutch for walking, but wouldn’t it be easier to do it yourself if you’re strong enough?”

Hylia nodded with a clearer expression. “I see!” She frowned. “But why are you telling me all this? You don’t need to go this far to help me when all I’m asking you is to learn a spell.”

She did have a point. But then, well, it would be churlish of me to stint a child. After all, I was one too. Besides…

I shrugged. “Knowledge should be shared. You’re not a bad person, just a little ignorant. Someone once said that you should assume people are speaking from ignorance rather than malicious intent. That said, rationality is your friend. Don’t believe everything you learn and be open to all sources of information, big or small. If you learn this, you don’t have to rely on specific spells.”

Hylia glanced at her hands. “Umm…”

“Also, it’s going to be hard to break your reliance on arias or chants to help you cast magic, so it’s going to take you a long time to master it. Concentrate on shortening your chants and try to separate the spell from the intent.”

“The spell from the intent?”

“Yeah, look.” I summoned the flame again. This time it separated into three parts. I played around with the three orbs and then dismissed it again.

Hylia stared wide-eye. “How did you do that? What spell did you use?! I’ve never seen that before!”

I smiled wryly. “What do you mean? It’s the same spell as before.”

“B-But the spell you cast before what just to summon a flame, not three flames that can be individually controlled, that’s another spell!”

“It’s the same spell. Think on it.”

Frustrated, Hylia frowned at me. “What do you mean? That doesn’t make sense.”

“You will have to figure that out yourself.” I sighed. “That is part of learning.”

Hylia considered what I said briefly, then with a serious nod, she finally acceded.

“Yes… thank you.”

I hid my surprise. I didn’t think she would be this humble. This was probably the first time she had thanked me.

———————

The next few weeks went by like this. Hylia tried really hard to separate the spell from the chant, but was unable to do it, so she settled on shortening the chant itself. Her flames built up in strength, but she was unable to summon another type of flame or split it like how I did no matter how hard she tried.

“I don’t get it, why isn’t it working?”

“You have to break away from your preconceptions.”

Hylia glared at me, her frustration breaking through. Though she didn’t outrightly criticise me, her demeanour suggested that she was fast losing respect for me or my teaching methods. I’ve seen this in students that I had taken on board before. Those who stuck through with my teaching methods ultimately gained a greater understanding, but there were those who, frustrated at the plateau in their growth, decided to seek instructions elsewhere that would get them to their short-term goals the fastest.

I’ll admit, some were successful in doing so, but personally, I believe that nothing beats hard work and planning for the future. Self-restraint is a good thing. An ancient human psychology study confirmed that children with the highest self-restraint were more successful in the long term. They did this by placing some treats in front of them and told them they would receive more if they could wait five minutes.

All the children in the study were tracked until they were adults. Those who adhered to the time limit and waited for the promised extra treats were generally more successful than those who weren’t. Of course, humanity has exceptions, but you have to adapt to circumstances. Right now, Hylia wasn’t doing either, so we were stuck with her growing impatience and her own strengthening conviction that I wasn’t helping her.

“Why don’t you teach me another spell? I can learn to stop chanting later.”

I stared at her for a moment, then shook my head. “If you do that, you’ll destroy all the progress you’ve made so far.”

“What progress? I haven’t been able to do anything other than shorten my chant, I keep trying to do it, but nothing comes out!”

“That’s because you keep going back to the chant to reinforce your perception that spells rely on them,” I replied, closing my book with a gentle gesture. “It’s the opposite. You rely on them to produce spells, when in fact there is no need.”

Hylia stomped her foot. “I can’t get anywhere with this!”

“Calm down, I know it’s hard, but if you—”

“Teach me a spell now!”

“No, you will have to learn the basics—”

“This won’t work out, why can’t you teach me one spell?”

“I refuse.”

“If you won’t, then I will find one myself!”

I shook my head. “If you wish.” Then I went back to reading.

Hylia stared at me in mute astonishment, like she was expecting me to say more, then huffed and stormed out.

————————

From then, we stopped doing evening jaunts together, although I kept it up alone. The clearing was regularly lit by my exercises of magic and I would return back home exhausted, having used every ounce of my fortitude to try and take control of my Centre. Magic power, it seemed, was limited to some sort of mental stamina that affected my body simultaneously. At this rate, my body needed to keep up with my mind, and though it was almost sleepless torture, I exercised during the day when my attendants weren’t looking.

Of course, during the times Hylia and I were ‘teaching’, we ignored each other, which was fine by me.

“Rael… he doesn’t seem very lively today…” Lilanthe and Dias were back from a journey to the kingdom’s capital. Apparently, there was an urgent summons from the king and though it was evidently very important, they were equally tight-lipped about it. Though they were discussing me at one end of the room in low voices. I kept reading, although I slowed down to keep an ear on what they were saying.

Dias was also slightly concerned, but hid it behind some manly stoicism. “I’m sure he’s fine, but… let’s put off sword training for another year, I’ve heard there was a sickness spreading to nearby villages.”

Lilanthe scooped me up and lightly placed a hand on my forehead. “He doesn’t seem to have a fever, but he does seem tired. He barely reads his books anymore and spends a lot of time sleeping…”

That’s because I’ve been sneaking out and learning magic and training my body while you weren’t looking. Also, ‘barely reading’ is like decreasing from ten books a day to about five, I just read half of them at night, that’s all.

“You don’t think it’s the wasting disease, do you?” Lilanthe continued unsteadily.

Dias rounded on Lilanthe with a frantic expression.

“No!” he yelled.

“Dias! You’re scaring Rael.”

More like I was frowning in thought, mother, so don’t worry. What was the wasting disease?

Dias lowered his voice as he glanced at me. “No, we can’t say that for certain. We should bring a doctor over.”

I shouldn’t really exhaust myself like this, so I guess it probably would have been better if I had waited until my ‘sword training’ began. The people here really did use swords and daggers, which was ancient technology. Back in my old life, we had reciprocating blades, which were a series of dull interlocking edges that vibrated back and forth at high frequencies to replicate a fine cut.

They were a lot safer than knives because they adjusted their frequency dependent on the ‘yield tension’ of the object. For example, hard materials like plaster needed high frequency but low tension, it was breaking more than cutting, whereas for softer materials like meat, it was the inverse. At rest, the blades themselves were dull enough to hold and didn’t require honing except for disposable cartridges.

But I’m sidetracking myself. Right now, I needed to do something to distract them. I immediately perked myself up.

“I’m okay, don’t worry, mother and father.”

They shared a look.

“Oh, Rael,” Lilanthe crooned as she picked me up. “No need to worry, Mommy and Daddy will take care of it, okay?”

They misinterpreted my assurance as a lack of assurance on my part. Well, at least I tried.

“Okay,” I replied meekly, I didn’t have much choice.

The doctor came for the second time. I think she was starting to get annoyed because she was somewhat impatient when we met.

She told the parents to clear the room as she examined me.

“Healthy complexion, heartbeat strong, fit body… have you done sword training little fella?”

I smiled and neither confirmed or denied it.

“Good boy!”

It’s not like I wanted to mislead the doctor, it would just raise a lot of questions if I didn’t respond or acknowledge her. Also, how would I explain to her I did training while my parents weren’t looking?

Despite that, I couldn’t think of anything better, so they found out anyway.

“Sword training?” Dias frowned. “We haven’t started that yet at all. Why do you ask? Is he alright?”

Lilanthe didn’t say anything but she wrung her hands together, trying desperately to prevent herself from mothering me like I was a crystal vase that would shatter if she touched me. She kept sending me worried glances and I thought she was going to die an early death if she kept this sort of high-anxiety mongering going.

The doctor’s eyebrows drew together. “I’ve examined the boy and he is fine, but his build is exceptionally toned for someone his age. He eats well and looks lively and apart from not talking too much, he is the epitome of good health. I can’t find any fault.”

“Then…” my father started, but the doctor interjected.

“Since he hasn’t had any sword training he must have been doing some of his own, haven’t you?”

The last part was directly astutely towards me and for good measure I hung my head.

“Rael, is this true?” Dias asked of me.

I hesitated slightly, then nodded sheepishly. “I train… by myself, when you’re not looking.”

Their expressions cleared, but Dias looked disappointed. “Rael, do you know what you did wrong?”

“…I didn’t tell you?”

Dias shook his head and sighed. With hand that suddenly seemed unbearably big, he beckoned me as I approached cautiously.

“Rael,” he said softly, “come closer, I’m not angry at you.” The strangest thing was I felt that he was telling the truth. He wasn’t lying. I didn’t see an iota of anger within him. Instead, the disappointment I saw wasn’t aimed at me, but at himself. A hint of sadness also decorated his features.

Feeling a weird sense of guilt, I came forward a few more steps. Even though I knew I was older than my father, this weird dynamic made me feel small and powerless. I guess, when you’re an adult, there was a liberation to lie and things like small deceptions and subterfuge didn’t feel so wrong.

But here, now, I felt it keenly, a strong sense of wrongness that was hard to shake.

My father gathered his breath and launched into it. “Rael, hiding things from us isn’t wrong, there are times when someone must do it.” He held up a finger. “But lacking trust in people who you should trust is the problem. You may not understand this fully now, but we love you very much. If there is anyone you can trust in this world, it will be us, because of this. Of course, like anything, trust has to be earned, and it is my fault that I wasn’t able to do that. Rael, I hope you can forgive me for that.”

Being a child gave me a different perspective on morality.

Or maybe there was something to be learned from the people and not only from the knowledge hidden in books of this strange world.

“I’m sorry, father.”

Dias and Lilanthe both smiled, while the doctor had already excused herself from the personal talk.

Before she was excused, I apologised to the doctor as well. The doctor didn’t take any offence and told me she was glad I wasn’t sick in the first place. That didn’t make me feel any better, but she smiled in a way that made me feel a little more at ease.

“Just keep your mischief to a minimum, young master,” she said to me before she left.

I nodded, perhaps for the first time, earnestly.

————————

After that reveal, Dias decided to give me sword training anyway.

“If you’re keen on training, you must train right!” He threw a carved wooden sword on the ground. “Pick it up.”

The sword was heavier than I thought, it must have been made of some kind of dense hardwood.

“That is a wooden sword. Your own sword. Though it may not look like much, it can hurt you and it can hurt others. You must take care with it. Respect the sword and it will treat you the same back.”

We were out by the garden at the rear of the mansion. Lilanthe had excused herself inside and was occupying herself with cooking, much to the dismay of the household maids. Dias winked at me and told me she was too worried about me getting hurt but knew this was a necessity. He said it was the charm of his wife to care about the weak and helpless.

Which kind of irritated me, but I think that was the expression Dias was looking for. He told me that I had the instincts of a good man.

“See that wooden block over there? We’re going to practice with it. Sword training might seem a little dull to you, but in time you will be able to do something like this.”

Dias held the sword and concentrated hard on the the block, with one smooth, flowing motion, his sword almost leapt out of his scabbard and sung a deadly song as it whistled through the air, slicing the wooden block so cleanly that it sounded more like an axe parting the wood rather than a sword.

I couldn’t understand what I had seen. Didn’t he cut the wood cross-grain? Wouldn’t the sword normally bite into the wood and stop? How was he able to produce enough force to shear through the block? I glared at the sword, trying to find its secrets through observation.

Dias laughed at my confusion.

“Haha, isn’t your father amazing?” He puffed out his chest, then slightly deflated when I continued inspecting the sword instead. He pulled it away from my searching hands with a slightly exasperated expression.

“No, no, Rael, the sword isn’t the great part of this, this is just regular steel. It’s also a little blunt, see?” He slid his finger along the edge to demonstrate it. “But! What I’ve done is infused a little of my Essence into the blade and made it charged with power. It’ll made this sound, see?” He concentrated once more and I could hear a faint whine from the sword. Ah, this was similar to the vibration of the reciprocating blades. Fascinating.

“Now, this might be had for you to understand, but doing this requires a lot of strength and training. Grab your wooden sword there.”

I gripped the sword and held it out. Dias smiled and placed my hands a little further apart.

“You need to stop your hands from slipping too much. Take your hands and rest one near the guard and the other just a bit below it. That’s it. Now I’m going to demonstrate a series of movements and I want you to follow them as close as you can.”

I nodded, feeling a little excitement. I’ve taken a few classes of martial arts, but things like sword training and the like were a rare art that was barely practised by those who even knew it existed.

“This is an overhand, this is a backhand, this is a cut to the side, this is a parry and this is a block.”

Dias held my hand still as I made to imitate him.

“No, hold on,” he said, “I’m just showing you a few of the moves. All you need to do is concentrate on building your strength. Move the sword up and down and from side to side. Yes, that’s it, good. We’ll do this for a while and then after this, we’ll go for a run. Knights like us will have to wear armour, so I’m giving you this padded vest.”

He drew out a thick padded vest that seemed to be weighed down with wood.

“This is training armour, it will help you get used to the weight of armour before we move onto the next stage. Any questions?”

I tilted my head. “When can I use Essence?”

Dias chuckled. “Good question. Not for a while yet.” He held out a warning finger. “Essence is very dangerous if you try to use it without understanding how it works or preparing your body for it, so you must absolutely not use unless I tell you to, okay?” He gripped my hand and held my gaze. “Promise your father this, please?”

Caught back by his serious tone, I faintly nodded.

“Yes,” I replied finally. “I won’t use it until I’m ready.”

“Good boy.” He ruffled my hair. “Now, let’s do a few more swings and then go for a run!”

———————

I must admit, there’s merit in training with others rather than alone. Psychology tells us that self-discipline is often weaker than peer pressure. Training with Dias, he pushes me to my limits everyday and though this left me dog-tired, I didn’t complain, because he was sincerely interested in my well-being.

That said, my studies started to lag a little bit and keeping awake long enough to decipher the next passage when you could barely turn the pages with your fingers was, in my opinion, one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life. I comforted myself with the fact that I had to be prepared. There was no telling what could happen here, and if I didn’t learn and train, I could be at a major disadvantage.

I needed to survive long enough to get home.

On the other end of the scale, acting in my teacher role, Hylia was beginning to stir up some trouble. I had explicitly warned her against learning new spells, however, against my instructions, she was able to learn another fire spell when she stole my magic primer and read it.

When I found out, Hylia cringed as if I would scold her, but she squared her shoulders and tightened her fists with a stiff upper lip. She was prepared to defend herself, probably thinking that results equate to justification. I wouldn’t have any of it.

“Hylia, you’ve learned a new spell,” I stated, rather than asked.

Despite that, Hylia defiantly replied, “I did.”

“Even though you knew this was against my instructions?”

“Yes.”

Without changing my expression, I let it go.

“Alright then,” I said.

Hylia frowned at me. “Why don’t you get mad or something?”

“Is it my job to get mad? What would that accomplish?”

“But I’m your student and I did something that you forbade me to do!”

“And yet, you did it, didn’t you? My words were not enough to stop you then, will it stop you now?”

“No, but I still did it! So why aren’t you doing anything about it?”

When I rolled my eyes at her, Hylia threw up her hands and jabbed a finger towards me.

“Are you a spineless coward?!” She folded her arms. “Why aren’t you upset?”

I stared at Hylia with a placid gaze until her anger snuffed out. Instead of reprimanding her, I set aside the book I was reading and massaged my temples. “What do you want from me? A teacher only guides their students by teaching. If you don’t accept my lessons, then you’re not my student any more. Thus, there’s no need for me to do anything. If you don’t want to be taught by me you are free to leave or do as you wish. The only time I would intervene is if you actually committed some form of wrongdoing, but here, right now, you only hurt yourself.”

Hylia crossed her arms. “Then, what are you going to do about it?”

“If you’re not keen on following my instructions, then you obviously don’t want to be my student any more. There’s no point in continuing this, you can do as you wish, but on your own.”

With that, I picked up my book and walked straight out of the room.

Hylia didn’t say anything as I left and I didn’t do a thing either. From that point on, we kept mostly apart, only making contact robotically when required, like during lessons. During that time, to be honest, I made more progress than I did before. It left me with a somewhat bittersweet sensation. On one hand, I liked working on my own personal projects, but on the other, I felt a little responsible for that rambunctious girl. But I knew that these feelings weren’t the point. Even though I enjoyed teaching, if the student wasn’t driven to learn, then I couldn’t do much about it.

________

Time passed and I grew more and more proficient in magic and the art of the sword. Dias took me on ‘long’ training runs where we would scale hills and make circuits around the territory he governed. Every time we passed a villager or nearby farmland, there were raised voices of greetings and happy, deferential smiles. Noblesse oblige was a term that was all but extinct in my world. Here, though, it held strong and it seemed the people under his domain was well-aware of that fact and celebrated Dias for it.

In these exchanges, if we ever stopped by, I was seen as more of a mascot, but the villagers held keen eyes and hoped that I would follow my father’s footsteps. From the ongoing conversations, the region had been enriched by my father’s presence. He had substantially lowered taxes and undertook public works in order to improve agriculture after… well, something to do with his family. The Primos used to be disliked. In fact, the deep-seated opinion of the older generation was that they were still distrustful of my father.

Dias’ father, Lord Ialis Primo, had pulled as much as he could from the land, pushing the villages and lands under his rule into starvation to fund a lavish lifestyle. Though this wasn’t typical of local barons to push villages to such extremes, it was not unheard of during times of stress and war. With what I gleaned from fragments and snippets of local conversations, Ialis had taken advantage of the war with the neighbouring Kingdom of Lunae, which was often dubbed as ‘the Kingdom of Darkness’. He often claimed land and forced peasants and serfs to contribute to harsh taxes under the guise of lending assistance to the war.

The Courts found nothing wrong with this. After all, he was contributing substantially more than usual. However, skimming from the top, funds quite often ended up in his coffers instead.

It was said that Dias tried his hardest under the thumb of his father to help who he could, but without the means to rebel, he simply left, going on a journey. His father kept a watchful eye on him, but approved of his leaving. Without interference from his own family, he did as he pleased and wrenched more from the helpless citizens under his domain.

Dias eventually returned after succeeding as a freelance mercenary turned adventurer turned drafted army grunt turned military officer, and eventually… trusted aide to the Prince. He almost single-handedly fostered a new age. Several events happened in rapid succession after that. The King passed away. The Prince rose to the throne. Civil war broke out across the country. Dias’ father joined the second Prince’s faction.

The country fell into a period of chaos and a miracle was born between Dias and his partner Lilanthe. They triumphed in a battle of over ten thousand men against their single unit of one hundred at Canter. Though less than twenty of the original unit remained, they were triumphant. Citizens described anyone a part of the battle ‘Heroes of Canter’. Although they were labelled the heroes of Canter, my parents would often wear a sad look when it was mentioned.

A victory, my father had said once, but also a loss.

Then Dias came back, ousted his own father from his own position, and reinvigorated his own region as the King bestowed upon him the title of baron. He, in the eyes of many people, became a hero, maybe even a living legend… Well, according to whispered rumours I’ve accidentally stumbled upon, that is.

Still, there were fair few that also prospered during Ialis’ reign. Dias had rooted most them out, but there were some sticking around. It appeared that Mariel’s attacker was somehow connected to that. With the name of the Primos thrown into the mud, Dias worked hard to restore honour to that name.

It was hard, but there was some progress. Still, there was buried resentment, no matter how well Dias tried to quell suspicions. It seemed like some of the populace were waiting with bated breath to see when Dias would snap and return to being like his father.

Dias rarely paid such rumours notice, opting instead to keep an optimistic outlook and show the people his intentions through his actions.

He, I surmised from just this, was an exceptionally good man.

I learned all this during our daily jogs. Lately, I’ve been told to carry a few small weights in a backpack. Even though I never complained about any of the training, my father saw the confusion in my eyes and explained:

“When you’re out and travelling in the world, you have to carry your own armour, provisions, shelter and livelihood. You must learn to carry it yourself and not rely on a beast or monster to do it for you.”

“Beasts?”

Dias grinned. “Yes, sometimes, if you’re lucky or wealthy enough you could own a horse or some of the more… esoteric mounts like Chirps or Newts.” He laughed as he saw me pull a frown. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you one when you’re older.”

Chirps were big bird-like creatures that could be found more commonly in plains and swamps up in the north, whilst Newts were apparently lizard-like creatures that lived in volcanic or rocky terrain. Having seen different forms of xenobiology, these creatures didn’t surprise me, but I did wonder about horses. After thousands of years of evolution, equines had changed in my present age, so I only knew what they looked like in old broadcasts and virtual realities. Of course, I had seen one when I boarded the carriage for the harvest festivals, but Dias and Lilanthe apparently owned their own steeds.

I wouldn’t get one until much later when I was old enough.

We weren’t wealthy enough to just buy me a smaller horse to practice on, but I was promised one when I was older. The thought excited me. After all, having an animal around was good company. I did keep a dog back when I had a wife, and although I initially was resistant, the little rascal grew on me.

But, just like my wife, the dog passed away and the pain of losing both prevented me from reaching out and getting a new dog.

“Lord Primo!” A voice among the tall corn field called out to him and interrupted me, thankfully, from my dark thoughts. It was deep and rusty, kind of like the collective crackling of gravel rather than a deep baritone. I wondered what sort of chest and throat could make such a rich sound.

“Ah!” Dias veered off the path and gestured for me to follow him.

I tripped and stumbled over a rock, but got to my feet as I caught up to Dias by the edge of the corn field.

“Jasper!” Dias exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips. “What brings you here?” He frowned at the corn. “Why are you hiding in there?”

“Ah… well… you know the story…”

Dias momentary confusion cleared as he grasped what Jasper was hinting at. “Even with my pass?”

“Even so… well, no matter, I see a young cub at your feet. Hello there!”

I waved back at the corn, feeling a bit strange for doing so. I could grasp there was a shape in there, but the vegetation was so dense that I only caught some darkened eyes peering out. Since Dias wasn’t on guard I didn’t bother being cautious and stuck a little behind him and peered inquisitively.

Jasper chuckled. “This one has lively eyes!” He paused, then his tone turned serious. “Dias, I came to tell you about the situation in Lunae.”

“They can’t be on the move so soon?”

“Who knows? Although I am more welcome over there than here, it is a harsh environment to live in. I would not want a part of it, despite what it’s like here. There is simple mistrust here against others, one can work with that. Those that hold contempt for their own kind… well… that can’t be fixed so easily.”

“Jasper, are you in need of help?” Dias reached out into the corn field, but was only answered with hearty laughter as the figure stepped back.

“Dias, you must raise the little one well and join us when you have trained the young cub to be a strong, fearsome beast that doesn’t yield to anyone! Then maybe, if you’re not still too old, join me.” There was a slight pause. “Darkness is growing again.”

The last part made Dias falter slightly. He glanced back at me and then to the corn field.

The mirthful chuckle came once more. “Ah Dias, there is plenty to do here, think of this as but a visit from an old friend. I will see you in the plains.”

“I will see you in the plains,” Dias replied sombrely as the figure disappeared into the field with a rustle.

“Who was that?” I asked Dias.

“A good friend that is about to do something reckless,” Dias replied with a smile.

But the smile did not reach his eyes.

We immediately headed home after that.

At the mansion, as we opened the door, Lilanthe was there, wringing her hands and glancing back behind us.

“I felt something familiar,” she said immediately as we entered.

“It was Jasper,” Dias replied and then bent down to me, giving my head a tussle. “Rael, go along to your room with Eileen, okay?”

I nodded and headed there.

What was going on?

_________

It seemed that Dias and Lilanthe were on high alert for the remainder of the week. We still trained, but we stuck close to the mansion. Dias was exceedingly vigilant, whilst my mother stuck to me like glue. When nothing in the week transpired, they started to relax slightly, but both were still cautious, not really letting me out of their sight.

I took this time to read a bit more about the geography of this world. There were several countries surrounding ours and almost all of them were kingdoms. To the east was Lunae, a kingdom that bordered the sea. There wasn’t much information other than the fact that ‘beast-people’ lived there. I wondered what that meant. To the north lay the rich, dense impenetrable forest of Aster, where a city filled with dubious beings such as ‘fairies’, ‘elves’ and ‘forest-spirits’ lived.

I wasn’t convinced there were intelligent beings other than humans… but that was using the common sense of my universe. If I saw a sapient creature that wasn’t human, I could no longer deny anything. I was probably not in the same universe and going back would be immeasurably difficult.

I kept that thought in the back of my mind, though. Such things as losing one’s determination for one’s goal was detrimental to one’s (mental) health.

To the south was a volcanic wasteland that was apparently the site of a large-scale magical battle. The area was still active with latent spells and the equivalent of magical land and air ‘mines’, so it was dangerous to head into there. However, rumour has it that valuable equipment could be found there if one was foolhardy enough to risk their lives.

To the west… well there wasn’t much about that area except a high and dangerous mountain range. There were whispers that a prosperous kingdom lay beyond that mountain range, but I couldn’t find much information on it. Well, actually, some of the sources say there was a civilisation inside the mountain range, but that couldn’t be true, could it?

Honestly, the ability for me to accept things at face-value and not disregard some fantastical notions out of hand was growing greater by the day. I used to balk at this sort of thing in the past, but lately I’ve started accepting some of the ‘facts’ of this land. If I didn’t, I would have gone absolutely crazy.

Anyway, pertaining to more local matters, my student was getting more proficient, whilst I was too.

Hylia had shockingly mastered several more fire-related spells and I was somewhat glad for her, because she was fulfilling her own goals. I began to appreciate her silence in a philosophical kind of way and though we spoke, it was rarely about consequential things. It seemed there was some sort of unwritten rule that prevented Hylia from touching on magic. Like she was afraid that in doing so, it would summon my disapproval and she was receive a lecture or something along those lines.

I wouldn’t do that, but that was beside the point. She had already mastered the proficiency requirements to advance into being an Initiate. These rankings were apparently granted by Magi or Adepts via delegated appointment from the Spire.

I wondered what the Spire was. It sounded like it was important to the magical practitioners here. To my knowledge, it was some sort of magical academy where it was easier to cast magical spells around. Something about being able to access a divine ‘Gate’ when someone was near enough.

“Ahem.”

Hylia approached me for the first time in a long while and considered me for a few seconds before speaking. I was reading another book, but when she looked like she was ready, I put it down and raised an eyebrow.

“Yes?” I asked.

Hylia fidgeted a little and then, seeming to summon the courage, she spoke. “I’ve decided to go back to the Spire, today and complete my training.”

“Is that so?” I commented dryly. “Well, good luck with that.”

“I just want to say thank you for getting me this far, even though…”

“That’s alright,” I said mildly, “but you have no obligation to me.”

Hylia swallowed whatever she was about to say and angrily muttered something under her breath that I couldn’t catch. She threw me a contemptuous glare and shrugged.

“Well, what do you know? I can learn new spells and I’m qualified to move up from being an Initiate to being a fully-fledged Apprentice. If you’re nice to me, I might introduce you to someone at the Spire.”

“Not interested,” I replied. My face was stone-like under her superior scrutiny. At least, not right now. I needed to gather a bit more intelligence. Besides, it looked like she didn’t know that Mariel was Lilanthe’s sister. If I needed a reference, it would probably be better to obtain one from Mariel instead of a partial fraudulent Apprentice like Hylia. I kept most of my thoughts to myself, though. She was a former student, after all.

Hylia lifted her chin angrily at my remark, but then abruptly looked like she changed her mind and threw me a disdainful look instead. She looked like she considered me a lost cause, which was strange seeing as how I was the one that initially rejected her as a student.

“Don’t bother continuing with magic, then. In the future I’m going to be more powerful than you can ever imagine and you’ll regret that attitude you have with me, whatever you are.”

She probably still thought I was some sort of possessed creature. Well, seeing as I’m sort of inhabiting this body and I’m remembering something like a past life, I can’t really disagree.

She waited for my answer, but I found it too tiresome to respond, but she kept standing there until I set down the book and met her gaze.

“If you would like to do so, then that is your choice.”

With that, Hylia left even more furious than ever.

The next day, she was gone.