“I understand the difficulties, but do not fester on your shortcomings.” Brother Caloner was sympathetic towards Talo. His own cultivation was quite difficult, and it was only with the help of his seniors that he advanced to where he was today.

A completely sealed mana-well presented a new problem. At his age, new problems didn’t often arise, and he saw it as a puzzle to solve. Still, Caloner persevered in maintaining his awareness of Talo as a whole person—after all, the Butterflies embodied compassion.

Compassion from a distance is worthless, cursed Caloner in his mind. It was his desire to be more involved in the population around him that put him at odds with his order.

“If I’m going to solve this problem, then why don’t I stop meeting with you? Powaw clearly has the most relevant knowledge.” Talo slipped into anger more readily than he was comfortable with. Perhaps it’s due to the brain I’m using now. Toddlers aren’t known for their control over emotion.

“If I’ve learned nothing else, I know that multiple viewpoints are necessary to solve complex problems. I think Powaw’s idea for you to learn by observing bison is a good one, but with one critical flaw.”

“Oh, and why didn’t you bring it up with him.”

“Because I would like to believe that he’s already aware of it. You first need to learn how to observe, before you can observe to learn.”

Cryptic jackasses, all of them!

“Calm yourself and allow me to explain. You are able to feel the magic around you, but can you see it?”

“No, of course not. I—”

“Surely you have noticed the spells people use around you? Spells don’t just cause flashy apparitions for no reason.”

Like the golden eyes Powaw had. “Can you teach me the vision spells Powaw used?”

“One must crawl before one walks. Magic is as different from mana as architecture is from bricks. Right now, you have been able to feel differences in the mana around you. Have you been able to use your other senses?”

“I thought mana sense was its own category?”

“That is a misnomer by those barely sensitive to mana, but back to my question. How about smell, sound, or taste?”

“Taste...as odd as that seems.”

“Hmm...it’s not as common, but it’s something we can work with. With enough training, you will probably be able to use all your senses to gain information about mana. Sight is traditionally the hardest sense for humans to utilize, so it is the sense most often augmented by magic.”

“What of non-humans?”

“Our mutual love of tangents really threatens our productivity. Some species, like plants, simply have senses that don’t correlate well to humans. Animals have...what’s that word you use… ? Yes, they have evolved a natural ability in one area or another.”

“I think you know I was talking about intelligent beings.”

“Yes, yes, let’s not get too far into it. For one example, dwarves excel in mana sight.”

“A reasonable adaptation to spending so much time underground.”

“Perhaps. Anyway, you must practice using your other senses to observe the mana around you. This is the basis of cultivation. Whenever you are not attempting anything else, I want you to observe the mana around you. Touch and taste are both limited to the area around you.”

“Yes, I can imagine hearing and sight are much more practical.”

“Do not underestimate smell. Especially with your affinity for…orenda. That can be the easiest way to tell who has been in an area, and how long they were there.”

“Great, can we get to the actual magic lessons now?” As much as Talo tried to resist, he was impatient and wanted to move to the “bison” lessons with Powaw as soon as possible. His lessons with Brother Caloner felt more like conversations with a colleague, but with Powaw he appeared to learn.

“With the blessings of the divine, you will live for much longer on this world than you did on . You must also cultivate your patience. You are not ready for spells, because you don’t understand the fundamentals of magic.”

Talo groaned at this, but Caloner paid no heed. Caloner motioned for Talo to follow him onto an ornate rune on the floor. He pointed for Talo to sit then tapped the rune with his shoe. The rune began to glow with a blue light, and Caloner sat opposite Talo. They nodded to each other, closed their eyes, and then joined their hands.

Shall we begin, asked Caloner with his mind.

I thought you would never ask. Please, by all means, teach me. Talo was improving his ability to communicate with mind magic. It took practice, but now he was able to convey emotion along with words.

Caloner sent an image of a spinning spiral into Talo’s mind. The spiral began between the two of them, and then spun out infinitely above them.

Prowess in magic is often called ‘walking the spinning path.’ Each turn consists of progressing along the arch between three points. We start at the base, learning the incantations and elemental formations of a spell. Once we have gained this knowledge, we continue to the second point of understanding. You must understand how and why the underpinnings of a spell interact with each other. As your understanding deepens, we turn to the wisdom of application. You will study and practice the use of the spell until incantations become unnecessary to achieve the same result. Caloner was sufficiently skilled in mind magic that he could project images of Talo moving along the spiral.

So the highest form of spell mastery is chantless? Talo was eager to reach the limits of his ability.

No, you do not understand. There is not a limit. After you master the use of a spell, you return towards the origin. You will discover the profoundness of the incantation itself, or occasionally improve upon the wording, and through such discovery, you will find yourself back at the base, only further out in your journey.

There are no clear quantifications for one’s position, but often practitioners discuss the number of turns they have made around an ability. For example, I am on my eleventh turn in studying telepathy. You have just begun.

Caloner broke off his connection with Talo and patted him on the shoulder.

“Why did you stop?” I was just starting to learn something.

“You may not have noticed it, but you are almost out of mana. Normally I would be able to help guide in small amounts of mana from the surroundings to lengthen the time we connect. I found that even with our minds and spirits connected, I was unable to pass mana to you.” Caloner was a little disappointed by this. When he was a missionary he extended his connection to tribesmen for hours at a time.

“No matter, we will continue the slow way, by drawing in sand. Plus, we need to work on your handwriting.”

⁂

Author's Note:

Thanks for everyone who voted. I like the idea of including a glossary, but I don't want it to show up as a chapter. I'm going to start a non-chapter thread where words will be defined. Please feel free to comment anywhere on terms you would like included.

It's my hope that this will be the best of both worlds. I'm going to leave the poll open to see if opinions shift over time.

Speaking of time, I'm not likely to make the glossary this week. I've got a grant due at the end of the week, and that's what really feeds me and my family (I feel like I'm probably among the oldest users on this site). I don't think I could make up my salary with even the most successful donation plans on the site, so I don't plan on this being anything more than an hobby.

I still consider my commitment to the release schedule as an important one, so I will do my best to keep it going.