Mu

Book I

Chapter 8: Fracture

While most guests have left by the time evening rolled around, Mr. Gallen and his aide had stayed, looking forward to observe Owen’s full potential. Secondary to that, Mr. Gallen had also enjoyed his conversations with members of the Steele family, especially Aran, who was constantly curious and had peppered him with endless questions about the trade routes around Ares and happily listened to all the stories the experienced merchant had to tell. Celeste had to pull Aran away from a laughing Mr. Gallen when it was time for the ceremony, with Aran shouting, “Thank you Mister Gallen for the stories! It was fun!” Mr. Gallen chuckled. It had been a while since his family had a young child and Aran reminded him of his three grandchildren when they were younger. Rubbing his hands together, he walked towards the hall in anticipation.

Everyone gathered in the hall again. The chairs were arranged in a circle, five meters in diameter. The process could take a while and some distance was needed in case anything goes wrong. Aran sat between Celeste and Rana, facing the front of Owen, and watched the center intently. Owen was dressed in a white robe and seated cross-legged in the center of a large magic circle with various inscriptions within it. Owen’s eyes were flitting left and right, and he kept rubbing his palms on his robes.

Arturo whispered to him, “You don’t have to be nervous Owen. It’ll be okay. That’s why we are here. Just remember the feeling you felt before during the affinity assessment and welcome it. We will help guide the mana, but you will have to picture a single point in the center of your chest, right here.” Arturo pointed towards the center of Owen’s chest.

Owen nodded, closed his eyes, and slowly exhaled. He clenched his hands together, and slowly released them and placed them on his knees, gripping them once in a while. His eyes opened and stared resolutely at his parents.

“Shall we begin?” asked Arturo. Gerand looked at Ed, who nodded at Arturo and held Rana’s left hand in his right. He said quietly to his wife, as well as to himself, “He will be fine.”

Arturo gestured to his colleague and gave Owen a pill. It was a mana-reinforcing pill, which increased the user’s ability to take in mana by a few fold for two hours. Owen took it and closed his eyes. Arturo stood behind Owen, and put his hand on Owen’s back, directly below the neck. The other mage stood in front of Owen and held both of his hands high with the palms open. They chanted a spell and the magic circle flashed, lighting up. Arturo took a step back. Both mages sat down and extended an arm outward, maintaining the active magic circle and controlling the amount of mana that was accumulating.

Aran’s senses tingled. He felt the mana moving rapidly into the area above the circle, like when he attempted his qi-realm formation. He focused more intensely at the sight in front of him and felt a warm feeling gathering at his eyes. He could see the mana flowing and gathering around the magic circle, like streams of air wrapping into a misty dome around Owen. The mana became increasingly concentrated and by Aran’s estimates, this accumulation of mana was at least five fold as efficient as during his attempt. A hint of excitement flashed in his eyes, ‘If I could have this during my attempt…’

Soon, the mana density reached the point of saturation and both mages directed the mana to focus onto a single point at Owen’s chest. Owen gritted his teeth, sweat flowing down his pale face. As instructed, Owen pictured a single point on the center of his chest and felt the mana around him rushing towards that area. Aran noticed the point in Owen’s chest glowing white, with dense mana gathering.

Arturo smiled, ‘He’s doing it well. It’s making our task is easier.’

After about an hour, the mana within the dome suddenly rushed with zeal into the point on Owen’s body, as if sucked into a blackhole. Owen started trembling and squeezed his brows together. Fifteen minutes later, the mana suction stopped and Aran saw mana shooting upwards from the point on the chest to another point between Owen’s eyebrows. ‘Dantians? Only two?’ he wondered.

The mage in front of Owen held out his other palm, clenched both hands and rapidly opened them. The circle grew dim. Mana stopped flowing into the dome and slowly dissipated. Arturo chanted another spell, and a blue halo surrounded him and Owen. Owen’s ragged breathing slowly calmed down and color flowed into his face. Ten minutes later, the halo dissipated and Arturo sent his arcane sense into Owen to inspect his condition. Satisfied, Arturo stood up and looked towards Rana and Ed, nodding his head while showing a tired smile. Rana and Ed, whose hands were white from clenching too hard, let out a sigh of relief and beamed. The ceremony was a success. Owen had formed his mana pool.

From the corner of his eyes, he noticed Aran, who was watching the ceremony like a hawk. Arturo blinked a few times, unwilling to believe what he was seeing. Aran’s grey eyes glistened silver, shimmering like the surface of the pond, reflecting multicolored lights, like a veil, shielding something profound behind it. Arturo forced himself to stop staring at Aran and immediately motioned to his colleague. The mage took out the mana compass and had Owen test his mana force again. The mana lodestone flashed and the screen showed 241.

Arturo, pleased at the results, announced to the crowd, “Owen Balor Steele has successfully coalesced his mana pool! His mana force is now 241 and is officially a rank two initiate!”

“Rank two initiate!” exclaimed Gerand, unable to contain his excitement. Most children Owen’s age would be considered gifted if their mana force after coalescing the mana pool had even approached that of a rank two initiate.

When a person’s accomplishment or characteristic can be measured, ranking systems naturally followed. The Magician’s Society had devised one for mana force which was widely used in Ares. It not only measured a mage’s progress, it also scaled with the type of magic a mage could cast. Theoretically, mana force ranges from zero to infinite, as long as one’s body can house it. A person with a mana force less than 100 was considered someone who’s not a mage, also known to the magical community as an ungifted. During the formation of mana pool, the amount of mana absorbed would increase a person’s mana force to above 100, into the realm of an initiate. Initiates were divided into 9 ranks, with each 100 points of mana score being a higher rank. They were not considered true mages yet and have access to the most rudimentary of spells.

A person would truly be a mage at 1000 mana force; a first circle mage to be precise. Thereafter, every doubling of mana force became a higher circle; with 2000 being second circle, 4000, third, and so on. The highest rank that the Magician’s Society had put forth was the tenth circle at 1,024,000 mana force. Mages of the first through third circles were called novice mages, fourth through sixth were adept mages, seventh through ninth were grand mages, and tenth were archmages.

A majority of the mages in Parthenon was stuck at the third and fourth circles. Only twenty percent of all documented mages had achievements above that, and very few were at the peak of being a grand mage. In the history of this classification system, no one had ever been able to break through the tenth circle to become an archmage. It had been speculated from written records that there may only have been two human archmages in the history of Parthenon, and that had happened before the formal study of magic had been implemented.

These classifications also directly impacted the types of spells a mage was able to cast. Each advancement in rank was a soft boundary of mana force requirements of more advanced spells. A novice mage would have the ability to cast single target spells of increasing power as they rise through the ranks. An adept mage was able to cast spells that affected an area while a grand mage could cast spells that could decimate an army or a city, if unprotected by other mages. Archmages were existences that could cast spells that impacted entire countries and even the world.

Owen’s results that day displayed his potential to rise above his peers and had the potential to be a peak adept mage, even a grand mage. Grand mages were existences that stood at the peak of power and their family would stand to benefit as a whole.

Seeing Arturo nod towards her, Rana immediately ran towards her son. She thanked Arturo and his colleague and knelt down to Owen’s level, giving him a warm hug. Color slowly returned to Owen’s face and he stood up, trembling in excitement, ‘I’m a mage!’

Aran and his parents walked towards the mother and son. Both adults gave Rana a quick hug and started talking. Ed had just finished talking to Niall and Jura and the trio walked towards them.

“Congratulations cousin brother!” said Aran, the sides of his eyes and lips curved up. Owen laughed and patted Aran on the back. Aran added, “How does it feel?”

“Great! I feel so much energy inside of me. It was worth the pain. At first, it was just an uncomfortable prickly feeling during the process. Then, suddenly, I felt something pierce my chest and I blacked out. When I regained consciousness, I felt a strange sensation around my chest area. It feels weird, a good weird. I constantly feel a small trickle of something flowing into my chest,” said Owen, almost to himself.

“That my son, is your body absorbing mana,” said Ed, as the two boys turned around. Ed added, “You will get used to it and soon it will feel natural.”

“Congratulations Rana!” said Jura as she hugged her sister-in-law. Niall also looked elated as he congratulated Rana. The group chatted in the center for a while.

Anyone who looked at this family would never forget the memorable sight of this powerful ensemble. The men, powerful warriors and mages, stood strong and tall. The women, each with their unique charm and beauty, wore mage robes of varying colors. The children’s potential seemed boundless; one a martial and scholar prodigy, the other a dual-element initiate with great innate talent. The most striking were the five pair of grey eyes, so beautiful, yet so sharp, as if they could pierce the heavens.

Gerand looked at the scene proudly and closed his eyes, which felt a little wet. ‘If only you were still around.’ Gerand allowed himself a few seconds of melancholy and regained his composure. He walked towards the mages and thanked each of them. He raised his hands and said aloud, “My guests, please join us at the dining hall for a banquet. It is a day for celebration!”

The dining hall was decorated like other parts of the estate, with long tables full of food and wine. Wine flowed freely and the food trays were never empty. The guests and Steeles ate, drank, and laughed. Gerand was not one to treat his people poorly and the estate staff, soldier, and guards joined in the celebration, though with a little more self-control. Arturo and his colleague did not hold back; it was customary for the mages that performed the ceremony to stay the night, as most mages tasked with this lived in research branches of the Magician’s Society or at one of the two royal institutes, which could be a good distance away. The banquet continued late into the night.

***

That night after the banquet, Luca and Celeste used mana to dissipate the alcohol in their bodies. Together with Aran, they walked back towards their residences. They ended up in Aran’s room, where they found a pot of tea waiting for them.

Celeste poured three cups and sat down at the table with her husband and son.

“So, how was it? Your first time seeing an actual mana pool coalescing?” asked Luca, sipping the calming cup of tea.

Aran said, after a short pause, “It was… Efficient. Very efficient.” Luca raised an eyebrow. He smiled at himself for expecting a different answer, more suited to a child Aran’s age, and realizing once again the abnormality of this son of his.

“So no more attempts in your own?” asked Celeste.

Aran looked at Celeste while responding honestly, “No. But, I have a request. Remember that conversation we had a month ago? You mentioned that Instructor Jacob had secretly tested my physical condition. He concluded that I was ready. I would like both of you to do the same. I think I am ready to undergo arcane assessment.”

“We plan to, in a different manner. It might feel a little unpleasant,” said Luca candidly. Luca put his right palm on Aran’s chest and spread his arcane sense into the latter. Aran shuddered a little, feeling a strange energy probing inside of him, spreading outwards from his chest. After a few seconds, the uncomfortable feeling slowly receded. Luca’s eyes were wide and his mouth was opened as he stared silently at Aran.

Celeste, seeing her husband’s dumbfounded expression, smiled and tapped him aside. ‘Must be the same dense mana I felt before.’ She did the same as he did to Aran and was equally shocked. Aran’s body was in perfect condition, like one whose body had nurtured by mana for a few years. What was even more surprising was the amount of mana in the body. It had actually increased compared to before. ‘Did the bracelet not work?’

“Have you been meditating?” asked Luca, sternly. Aran shook his head and responded without batting an eye, “I did not. To be honest, I did try once, only out of curiosity. But it did not work with the bracelet on.”

Luca chortled and held his palm over the table. With a gentle motion, a mana compass appeared out of thin air onto the table, surprising Aran. Seeing the confused look on her sons face, Celeste said, “It’s a spatial ring. All of us have one with a small storage space.”

“But you told me that spatial mages are extremely rare. Even more, there are no spatial mages that we know of today,” asked Aran, “How can spatial rings be so plentiful?”

“It is true; spatial mages are rare. But, while spatial magic is the easiest way to make spatial rings, there are also mages with other elements that could make one. While this feat is easy for a spatial mage of the first few circles, an earth or wind mage of the sixth circle could warp space to create dimensional pockets,” explained Celeste. Aran scratched his head. Concepts about dimensional spaces having to do with earth and wind elements eluded him. Celeste, seeing that Aran did not comprehend it, offered a further explanation, “Grand earth mages are able to control gravity and, when the gravity is powerful enough, it is able to pull space away from its surroundings, collapsing it and creating a dimensional pocket. Wind does it the opposite way. With a ripping force strong enough, it rips a space away, separating it.”

Aran nodded and stared at the contraption in front of him.

“Arturo owes me a few favors and I asked him for this in exchange for one of them. We decided that we would test you, and, if satisfactory, measure your mana force,” smiled Luca. He continued, “Go ahead. I have to return it when he leaves tomorrow morning.”

Aran took a deep breath and held the mana lodestone in his right hand. Aran felt a strange sensation overcoming him. The lodestone drew him in like a muse, coaxing him to lower his defenses as mana flowed out of his hands. However, Aran resisted out of habit and it rapidly became a tug of war between him and the lodestone.

“Stop resisting,” said Celeste, realizing what was happening. Aran consciously stopped his struggle and allowed the lodestone to draw his mana. He further manipulated his mana to exit through his right hand. The lodestone greedily, but gently, drew in the mana, draining it from his whole body. His primitive dantians and stores around his flesh and bones rapidly emptied. After a few seconds, Aran felt a slight pushback from the lodestone and consciously prevented more mana from being drained. The stone glowed brightly and the box tolled. Aran felt the drained mana flowing back into him through his hand.

The screen flickered and the numbers 300 were displayed on it. Luca pushed himself back into his seat and blew air out of his mouth. Celeste’s mind blanked for a second and immediately put her palm onto Aran’s back, inspecting his body once again. ‘No. No mana pool. And stable. How is this possible?’

Never in the written history of magic was there a person with a mana force of more than 100 prior to forming their mana pool. Her son was an anomaly that even her, a scholar of arcane theory, could not comprehend.

“Anything wrong?” asked Aran. Celeste and Luca regained their composure. Luca spoke, “No. Nothing’s wrong. You feel completely okay?”

Aran looked back with confused eyes and nodded his head. Even though he had read books on magic, he had mostly read about the different elemental systems and little about the testing and schooling aspects of it. Therefore, while he knew this result was twenty times that of a normal person, he had no reference that it would be an abnormality.

“That’s … That’s great then. We will discuss this with your grandfather and come up with a timeline for you. It has been a long day and it’s getting late. We can all benefit from some rest,” said Luca as he stored the mana compass in his spatial ring. He stood up and ruffled Aran’s hair.

“Ah, before you leave, father, mother, I have a quick question. While Owen was coalescing his mana pool, I saw two points in his body where mana concentrated and remained even after the ceremony. One in his chest and one between his eyebrows. What are those?” Aran voiced asked the burning question in his head.

“Those are mana foci. The one in the chest connects directly to one’s mana pool. Upon the formation of that, mana shoots upwards towards one’s brain where a second focus is formed between the eyebrows. The chest focus controls the mana between the mana pool and our physical world, and is called the Gate. The focus by the brain allows mages to manipulate mana using their mind and is called the Tower,” answered Celeste.

“Are there only two?” asked Aran.

Celeste nodded and, after a short pause, spoke, “Did you say that you saw it?”

“Yes mother,” Aran responded. Celeste hugged her son and motioned towards Luca to leave. Both parents walked out and closed the door behind them. It was a crisp spring night and both shared a pensive, quiet walk back to their room.

“He saw?” repeated Celeste thoughtlessly as they got out of Aran’s hearing range. Luca was silent.

***

The next morning, the Steele family sent the mages off.

“Thank you Magister Cain and Magister Polon,” said Ed earnestly. Gerand wished the same and Luca clasped his old friend’s hand firmly.

“Arturo, till the next time,” said Luca. Arturo smiled, “Your turn to visit the next time. Celeste, you must visit too. Veena would like it.”

After the farewells have been said, both Arturo and Magister Polon climbed into their carriage and departed.

Arturo was quiet during the journey. He was hunched forward, with his eyes closed and hands clutched together. His thumbs supported his chin while his forehead rested on his index fingers.

“It’s unlike you to be in such deep thought, Arturo. The boy, Owen, is certainly a rare talent and our country will definitely gain much from this, but he still has a long path in front of him. We must send word to the institute he will enroll in, to help guide his development,” said Magister Polon. Arturo opened his eyes and leaned back into his seat.

“Hahn, that’s indeed worth doing. But that’s not what I’m thinking about. It’s about the other Steele child, Aran,” Arturo responded.

“Oh, the likable, inquisitive kid? Hahaha. He is a little well grown for his age, but his innocent questions and behavior immediately makes one grow fond of him,” said Hahn.

“Yes, him. Right after we helped Owen coalesce his mana pool, I caught sight of him, focusing intently on the ceremony,” continued Arturo.

“What’s wrong with that? I remember my first ceremony too. My eyes were glued to the scene,” recounted Hahn, his tone growing a little more serious seeing the expression on Arturo’s face.

“His eyes were shimmering with a multicolored sheen. And I could almost feel dense mana accumulating around him from a distance,” said Arturo softly, as if he still couldn’t believe what he had seen.

“Shimmering? You think it’s arcane vision?” asked a shocked Hahn.

“Maybe. But, the odds are low. I could have been exhausted and was just seeing things. The process did require a lot of our concentration after all,” Arturo rationalized. Hahn nodded and said, “Well, if it’s true, it will only continue to manifest itself and we will find out soon enough. If that comes to be, on top of Owen being a dual-element mage, the Steele family will be a power to take notice of.”

“I can think of no better family to wield this power though,” said Arturo after pondering for a while.

“True!” agreed Hahn, who added, “Oh, pass me the mana compass. I’ll return it to the artifact hall when I return the aura gem. There is no need for you to stop by the branch.”

Arturo nodded, took the mana compass out of his spatial bracelet, and handed it to Hahn. Hahn inspected it and raised an eyebrow.

“Hey Arturo, did you drop it?” asked Hahn.

“What? No,” responded Arturo, perplexed.

“What grade is the stone?” Hahn continued asking.

“Lesser, grade 3. Standard issue for mana assessments,” replied Arturo.

Hahn furrowed his brows, “How many times has it been used?”

Arturo thought for a second and removed a folder from his spatial ring. Flipping through it, he said, “It’s a fresh one. Only twice, including Owen’s.”

“It should measure up to 300 mana force before overloading. And Owen’s was 241…” Hahn thought out loudly.

“Is anything wrong?” asked the now concerned Arturo, storing the folder.

Hahn grumbled, “The mana lodestone… I don’t understand how, but it’s fractured.”