Veil was going through his morning Ki Kung practice when he noticed something odd. There was something at the edge of his mind, intruding through the skill Hyper-Focus. Veil finished his morning energy practice and shifted focus, turning his attention to the distracting… thought?

It just sat at the edge of his mind like a piece of food stuck in his tooth. It was incredibly annoying. Finally, setting aside his work on Symbolic Calculate for the morning, Veil stopped focusing on the intrusive thought and let his mind drift in pure awareness meditation. Slowly, over the course of an hour, the ‘construct’ seemed to draw closer, until suddenly, an image of the grey Forerunner snake machine popped into his mind. Startled, Veil lost his focus.

He intended to go deep into meditation once again, but that wasn’t necessary. As soon as he concentrated on it, the image popped back into his mind. It was an incredibly sharp, detailed vision, and looking more closely, Veil noticed it wasn’t static. One plate on the image of the machine had continually shifting runes running across it.

Veil shifted uncomfortably, got to his feet, and began to pace around the room. Was this some form of trauma expressing itself, a psychic connection, or even a soul connection? He needed to find out at once! After a few moments, Veil forced himself to calm down, stop pacing, and think rationally. He needed to immediately talk to someone who could help and that he could trust. Indali was the only person who met that description, at least in Medina.

Veil stopped by Indali’s clinic and arranged an emergency meeting a few hours later. They met in her secret laboratory, where Veil told her about the image.

“It’s there all of the time as if I just have to turn my mental gaze in a certain direction,” Veil finished his explanation.”

“That doesn’t sound like trauma. It’s too clean,” Indali replied after a moment’s thought. “Let me run a full set of diagnostic spells on you for both physical and soul trauma. Then I’ll look for soul bonds,” she said as she gathered diagnostic equipment and ushered Veil onto the ritual table.

Veil allowed her to place him on the table, and with effort, forced himself to be still. Indali spent the next few hours casting spells and using various medical devices along with machines he had never seen before to thoroughly scan his body and soul.

“I can’t find anything wrong,” she stated, looking relieved. “Your body seems fine, and I can’t detect any damage to your nervous system or brain. There might be some sort of psychic tether. I’m definitely not an expert on mind magic. Still, if there is a mental connection, I can’t find any physical damage because of it.”

Veil felt an enormous sense of relief wash through him and then paranoia about the possibilities of some mental connection or implant?

“I can’t believe I was stupid enough to touch an unknown magitech object, not to mention how foolish it was to approach in the first place,” Veil remarked with a grimace.

“That may not have been your fault,” Indali replied. “If this object was emitting a ‘call’ as you mentioned, it may have been influencing you, even then.” Veil rubbed his hands up over his face and hair in frustration. “I would recommend you contact an expert in psychics,” she frowned, “or if you can’t find one, a professional diviner.”

“I already have someone in mind,” Veil replied.

Later that day, Veil went to Cosven’s office and communicated a creative version of his story. He mostly told her the truth but left out the murders and connection to the bombings. Veil implied without quite lying that he had encountered the artifact in some runes outside Medina well before the bombings. Hopefully, if there was a sizeable nefarious organization out there, this would be enough to throw them off. Also, if Cosven and Charik ever talked to each other, the two stories wouldn’t be inconsistent.

“Let me see if I understand, Mr. Silva,” Cosven remarked. “After encountering this magical device, you seem to have developed some sort of mental link to it, which you think may be psychic in origin? You wish me to identify and, if possible, break the link, is that correct?”

“Yes, Professor,” Veil replied. “I’m concerned that the artifact could be influencing my thoughts or affecting me on some other level.”

“You have every right to be concerned, Mr. Silva,” Cosven replied. “Let me see what I can find.”

Cosven didn’t bother with a ritual setup. She simply started casting spells right then and there.

“I can’t find any connection of any sort, Mr. Silva, not even a core or soul connection,” Cosven replied after half an hour passed. “With your consent, I would like to look at the effect rather than the cause. May I have permission to examine you psychically? I promise I won’t look into your thoughts or memories.”

‘Cosven was psychic,’ Veil thought with surprise. Hopefully, she couldn’t tell he was psychic as well without looking into his memories. Being more afraid of the artifact’s possible effect on his mind than her finding out his secret, Veil agreed, “Go ahead, Professor.”

Cosven simply sat motionlessly and stared at him for several moments, and with Veil’s senses tightly bound within, he could detect nothing from her. Okay, psychics really were scary. After a few moments, Cosven sat back and looked at Veil thoughtfully.

“I can see the mental construct you describe,” Cosven said, with a frown as if he had done something wrong, “but I can find no external cause whatsoever. That is very odd. I would normally guess that the artifact produced some sort of internal change, but if you have already been examined by a medical professional, that seems unlikely. The only other possibility I can come up with is that the effect is somehow being produced by arcane energy.”

“How could that be possible,” Veil asked, his voice cracking. “I thought only magus level mages and gods used arcane power?”

“Ancient Forerunner technology is thought by some to be based upon divine energy rather than mana,” Cosven replied. “Or so I have heard. I’m afraid I can’t tell you much more. That is not my area of expertise. Fortunately, we do have a resident expert on Forerunner technology, Professor Charik’tah’ziith. I believe he is your advisor.”

Of course, it came back to the Feran Kuin. The person who already knew too many of Veil’s secrets.

“There is one more thing I can add, Mr. Silva,” Cosven continued. “As far as I can perceive, the mental construct isn’t doing anything else to your mind, other than being present. Of course, that’s all I can say. With divine energy, there is no way to rule out subtle unknown reactions. Also, I can’t tell what effect it may have in the future, either. I suggest you consult your advisor for more help.”

That was not reassuring at all, and his choices were limited.

After waiting for Veil to think through the issue, Cosven continued, “As for the second part of your question, you wish to know whether it is possible to use divination to track the people who activated the device using items that were briefly in their possession. Or to find someone or a group of people to whom they are connected?”

“The answer, Mr. Silva, is that it is doubtful that even a master diviner could accomplish such a task. I couldn’t. The tenuous connections they had with the objects would be broken over time, even if you kept them materially isolated. Quite frankly, even if the items were fresh, you would need more points of connection like blood, saliva, hair, something very closely connected with the person,” Cosven finished.

“What if I had mental images of objects that were more strongly connected to their group?” Veil inquired. “Would these provide enough initial points of contact?”

Cosven looked thoughtful, “Perhaps if the items were recently dropped, but with them being several weeks old, I’m afraid not.”

Veil mentioned several other scenarios, but all of them were a bust. If only he had thought to drain his victim’s blood, or at least acted sooner, but it was too late. He simply hadn’t been thinking very clearly at the time. There was nothing to be done about it now. Veil would have to continue searching for other sources of information.

***

The library was his next obvious avenue of attack. If he could translate some of the Forerunner runes, it might give him insight into the construct’s purpose. Before going to the library, he talked to his friends and contacts to find out if they had experience with Forerunner runes. Showing an interest in runes should be oblique enough not to attract anyone’s attention. Veil avoided his professors though, he had already done enough to attract their attention, and there was the distinct possibility he would need to speak to Charik later.

Rasvan was waiting at the front entrance to the library when Veil arrived. The tall, red-eyed boy looked grim and brooding as usual, but that was just his regular expression.

“Thanks for helping with this project,” Veil said by way of greeting as they walked through the entrance, “I’m lost when it comes to Forerunner runes, but I need the information for a project I’m working on.”

“I’m happy to help,” Rasvan replied, “I really appreciate the work you’ve done forming the battle group and the drubbing you’ve been giving me. You can’t get better unless you’re challenged. By the way, where did you learn to fight? I thought I was advanced for my age until I met you?”

“My grandmother taught me, starting at the age of six.” Veil replied. “To press home the importance of the lesson, she often took me with her into the Great Northern Forest and the Labyrinth. I learned early, to survive, you use every advantage given to you.”

“The foolish and weak perish, while the strong thrive,” Rasvan nodded in explicit approval. “Unfortunately, my House has grown soft over the centuries, coddling its children by not introducing them to true danger until their teenage years,” Rasvan said with a frown.

“What did you spend your time doing as a child?” Veil asked.

“I spent a considerable amount of time training to be the spare heir,” Rasvan replied. “In case anything happens to my brother. It was a good life. A great deal of time was taken up with formal lessons, but there was still time to explore our estates and the surrounding land. The Levada estate lies about a hundred forty kilometers Southeast of Medina.”

“Though it is not the Northern wilds, it was still exciting for a young man. I spent many hours as a child having adventures and vanquishing imaginary enemies. But we are here to introduce you to Forerunner runes, not reminisce about my childhood. Let me show you where to start,” Rasvan stated.

With that, he led Veil into the subfloor through vast stretches of shelved books. Rasvan selected more than two dozen tomes, some of them incredibly thick. They took the books to the nearest table.

“You should note that the Forerunners have many other names – Envoys, Origin People, Progenitors – among others,” Rasvan stated. “People have been working at deciphering Forerunner runes for hundreds if not thousands of years. There has been some progress made on the subject, but much of what is known is built on conjecture and may ultimately prove incorrect.”

“I would start here with ‘A study in Runes: The Forerunner’s Legacy,’” Rasvan said while indicating a thick tome and flipping it open. “There is a large index of runes and their translations in the back. Envoy runes do not form a phonetic alphabet like ours, but instead, each one has its own unique meaning that varies with its placement in a text.”

“Is there any other general information you can give me?” Veil requested, staring with anxiety at the sheer weight of textbooks before him. “I am quite ignorant where this subject is concerned.”

“The Forerunners are thought to be connected to the gods in some way,” Rasvan replied. “They were known to utilize arcane energy based technology. Some have speculated that the gods created the Origin race and then destroyed them. Others think the Forerunners are the descendants of the gods. An extremely idolatrous train of thought states that the Forerunners are the gods, but don’t let a priest hear you say that.”

“Almost everything people believe about this subject is rank speculation. Despite translating some parts of their language and having multiple examples of their ruins scattered around the continent, we don’t even have an image of their form. Were they similar to humans, to Feran, or one of the other intelligent races? Who knows? I’m afraid that’s all the information I have for you.

Rasvan left shortly after that, while Veil began the daunting task of deciphering the runes running across the mental construct in his mind. He made glacially slow headway that day and started early the next morning. His schoolwork could wait.

“So, this is where you’ve been hiding,” Sacha said, her voice emanating from behind him. Veil jolted forward, scattering several papers across the table. “Sorry,” she said, frowning at him.

Veil realized between talking to Indali, Cosven, and coming to the library that he had been neglecting his girlfriend, friends, and schoolwork for the last three days. Sacha was definitely annoyed.

“Hello Sacha,” Veil said, understanding it was time to do damage control. “Why don’t you take a seat, and I’ll explain what I’ve been working on.”

She stared at him a moment with her arms crossed under her breasts before moving to sit down across from him. That wasn’t a good sign. Veil spent a moment collecting the papers scattered across the table and thinking furiously about what to say to her. He finally decided to tell her most of the truth. At least the parts that wouldn’t put her in danger.

“Let me erect some privacy wards,” Veil said, casting the spell to ensure no one could listen in on them.

She raised her eyebrows at this with her arms still crossed but simply waited. After asking her not to repeat what he told her, Veil gave her the same version of events he had given Professor Cosven. It was probably safe for people to think he had picked up a strange connection to Envoy technology outside Medina before the bombings.

“I’ve been wrung out with anxiety the last few days, and I haven’t been thinking about anyone else, only trying to figure out what is happening to me,” Veil said.

Sacha’s attitude had wholly shifted during his explanation. At some point, she moved to the other side of the table next to him, taking his hand.

“Are you alright now?” Sacha asked, squeezing his hand lightly. “Have you discovered anything?”

“I think so,” Veil replied slowly, setting his thoughts in order. “I’ve deciphered a few of the runes, I think? And I’m going to talk to Professor Charik on Monday,” Veil said, deciding that instant.

“He is an expert on the Forerunners. There are three runes I’ve managed to decipher. The first translates to something like ‘tool user,’ the second to ‘entrance’ or ‘access,’ and the third to ‘repair.’ If I had to guess, what I stumbled upon is some sort of maintenance terminal, perhaps connected to a larger device.”

“I don’t think the mental construct is doing anything but trying to give me information. Which I don’t understand, of course.”

“I’m sorry you’ve gone through all this, but you didn’t have to go through it alone,” Sacha said somewhat sternly but then spoiled the effect by leaning forward and giving him a hug. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Yes,” Veil said, realizing it was true, “Professor Cosven gave me a list of divination spells that may be helpful. I’m also researching monsters and their powers.” It was time to start getting back to his regular routine, at least in part. “You could help me search the library for those.”

Veil paused for a moment and glanced at one of the library clocks. “If we still have the battle magic group in a few hours, we can go to that. Luca promised to teach me a few spells before our meeting.”

Considering his new connection to the Forerunner machine and therefore the terrorists, getting better at self defense had jumped to the top of his priorities. Sacha and Veil arrived at the meeting an hour early and saw Luca waiting for them.

After greeting each other, Luca asked, “Why don’t you show me the spells you can already cast?”

“I can short-cast the basic disc shield and mana bolt,” Veil replied, “but I also know the spells for a full-body static shield and a plasma bolt. With blasting rods and guns, the other battle magic spells haven’t been a high priority until now.”

Veil then invoked mana bolt with a single word in High Iskandian, one of the many languages of magic, and a gesture. At the instant of casting, his mana condensed reflexively into his voice and motion, which then combined into a shining dart. He directed the dart into one of the spell warded walls, where it flashed briefly before extinguishing.

Veil spoke another word, which was translated as ‘disc shield,’ and held his hand palm out in front of him. A translucent shield in the shape of a disc appeared. He released it an instant later.

Veil then drew mana from his core, weaving the mana through his voice and gestures, and a translucent static shield formed around his body. The process took several seconds. With the barrier still in place, Veil cast again, and a bright red stream of plasma shot from his hands through his shield, striking one of the training walls.

“You need to learn to short-cast the last two spells,” The powerfully built man stated. “That should be the greatest priority. At your present speed of casting, they are useless in a fight, and you never know when you might find yourself without weapons. I will teach you a few other spells now but wait until you have mastered these before learning more.”

Veil watched with mana sight as Luca invoked a more advanced full body shield. He moved slowly so Veil and Sacha could memorize what he was doing.

“This shield can be mobile, or you can anchor it to the ground,” Luca said. After dismissing the spell, Luca continued, “The next spell is a general force construct that can be turned into cutting blades or a blunt force strike.”

Luca invoked the next spell and directed it against one of the training dummies with a gesture. The arcana flung the manikin back several feet.

“Now watch with mana sight,” Luca said and invoked the spell again.

This time Veil saw the spell take a bladed shape while the first time Luca cast, it had a blunt form.

“The last spell is a plasma ball which can be held in your hand or thrown,” Luca said.

After Luca cast his spell, a bright red, burning hot ball of plasma appeared just above his hand. He held it for several seconds before throwing it into another dummy. The plasma ball exploded upon contact, washing over the training dummy.

***

Earlier in the week, Veil had received a note, sent through the post, from Ivan Seng informing him that several of the items he was interested in had arrived. It was time to visit his favorite shop owner.

Even after the shock and worry of the last few days, the journey for Veil was stressful. When he passed through the neighborhood where the workmen had launched their ambush, his body trembled, adrenaline coursing through his veins. Stopping for a few moments, Veil forced himself to gaze upon the area where the men died. Gradually, he reasserted control by allowing the overwhelming emotions to flow through him, not fighting and not running from them. After an interminable length of time, Veil continued to Brazzen’s Imports, temporarily at peace.

“About time,” Ivan said, squinting his eyes in an annoyed fashion, “I sent that message four days ago.”

Without waiting or saying anything further, he headed up the stairs. When they were both sitting in his office, Ivan handed Veil a bag containing several books.

“Do you have something for me?” Ivan asked, frowning and tapping his foot.

Veil drew out seven high-grade invisibility potions, and Ivan looked happy for the first time that Veil could remember. Checking the book bag, he saw that it contained ‘Activation Rituals & Magical Animals’ among other titles. Humming happily, Veil leafed through the other texts. There were blueprints for more powerful blasting rods and shielding devices, a book with restricted battle magic spells, and even a tome on high level soul magic. The battle magic especially looked vicious and deadly.

“Five men died near here recently,” Ivan said, narrowing his eyes. “It happened right around the time you would have been walking home.”

“I heard,” Veil replied indifferently, still at peace. “It was in the newspapers.”

Ivan blinked at his lack of reaction and said, “I think we are done for today. I’ll let you know if any more of those materials you are looking for arrive.”

Later that night, Veil received a message from Professor Charik wanting to meet the next day.

Veil walked into Charik’s office to see the Feran Kuin preparing tea with one true-hand and one foot-hand, and the other true-hand and foot-hand grading papers. When the Feran saw Veil, he put aside the papers but kept preparing the tea.

“Please take a seat, Mr. Silva,” Charik said. “I have some news for you. I have completed the preliminary research on the machine shown in your drawings, and the authorities have finally seen fit to release some information. The machine does indeed seem to be Forerunner technology.”

“I have found drawings and descriptions that describe it as part of a much larger structure. The part you saw was the head of a long snake-like edifice that would probably reaches far into the ground to a central hub or core. In fact, if the machine is intact, it would consist of the hub plus many snake-like structures reaching out over a great area similar to the inverted roots of some vast tree.” Charik paused, having finished his tea preparations, and handed Veil a glass. “It is probable that the other ‘bombings’ occurred at the endpoints of these formations.”

“Professor Charik, you make it sound like the bombings weren’t actual bombings?” Veil interrupted.

“I find it highly unlikely that these were terrorist acts,” Charik continued. Apparently, unperturbed by Veil’s disruption. “What purpose they might serve, on that I can only speculate. For the moment, let us confine ourselves to facts or at least those ideas closely approximating facts.”

“We do not know the machine’s nature, simply that multiple copies have been found in far-flung areas spanning the entire world. Some of the bombings have occurred at these sites, maybe all. There could be machines hidden underground that we simply don’t know about. The Labyrinth is vast.”

“The original bombings here in Medina appeared to form a crescent shape slightly offset from the geographic center of our city. Upon closer inspection, the shape forms a full, nearly perfect circle. Some of the explosions took place too deep underground for us to notice. However, when these sites were inspected, no Envoy technology of any sort was found.”

Veil moved to object, but Charik held up a true-hand and continued, “I do not doubt you, Mr. Silva, I am simply stating the facts. And that, Mr. Silva, is most of the new information I have for you. Do you have anything for me?”

“Yes,” Veil said hesitantly. “I told some of this to Professor Cosven, but not all.”

Veil then related his experience with the image, leaving out only the attack and murders and the correct location.

The Feran Kuin studied him closely for a moment before remarking, “You did not tell me about the runes before or draw them on the sketch you provided.”

“I wasn’t at my best, Professor,” Veil replied truthfully, “I simply didn’t think it important at the time.”

“I am not criticizing you, Mr. Silva,” the Feran continued, “I’m merely pointing out that these are deep waters in which we swim, and there are sharks about. It behooves us to start trusting each other and working together. Is there anything else you would like to tell me?”

“I don’t think so, Professor,” Veil replied, carefully controlling his emotions. “I do have sketches of the runes as well as a preliminary translation prepared.”

Veil handed Charik the copies. The Feran made a clicking sound and moved his true-hands in what Veil was coming to realize was exasperation. Did the Feran know or guess that he was still hiding things?

“What are your translations?” The Feran asked.

“I believe that this rune translates to ‘tool user,’ the second to ‘entrance’ or ‘access,’ and the third to ‘repair.’ I believe it is a maintenance terminal. I think the mental construct is trying to give me information,” Veil replied.

“I believe you are essentially correct, although your translation skills need work,” Charik said. “A better translation would be ‘Engineering maintenance port,’ along with ‘system initiation: 84%,’ ‘energy stabilization: 32%,’ ‘grid confinement: initiated,’ ‘operational parameters: stable.’ There are other symbols that are ambiguous or with which I am unfamiliar.”

That was both illuminating and annoying. Veil had worked on those translations for almost three days!

“I believe that one order of business will be teaching you runes,” Charik said, and without waiting for a reply, “Can you interact with the construct?”

“No,” Veil replied. “I’ve been mostly concerned it was some sort of attack or dangerous.”

“I do not believe it is an attack, Mr. Silva,” Charik replied, shifting back in his sitting position, “and I believe you should be able to interact with it in some way. That will be the next order of business.” Charik paused for a moment and scratched his ocular ridge. “One thing that does concern me is the possibility that the cultists may be able to track you or even attack you through this interface.”

Veil froze as a sick feeling filled the pit of his stomach. He hadn’t even considered that possibility. Taking a deep breath, Veil looked at Charik and asked, “Do you consider that a likely possibility.”

“I don’t think there is any immediate danger,” Professor Charik advised. “From what you tell me, the terrorists probably don’t have any idea you have access to the machine, and even if they do, from their actions up to the present point, it seems unlikely that they have a good grasp on the technology. The reason I am mentioning this now is that it presents a future danger. We need to settle these and other questions as quickly as possible.”

Veil sat back in his chair, tightly locking his hands together, and stared off into space, trying to come to grip with this new and terrifying possibility.

“I will pass on whatever information we are able to glean as the result of my own studies,” The Feran said after Veil had visibly collected himself. “It is far too dangerous to tell people the truth, and I advise extreme discretion. The way you handled Irini Cosven is wise. It’s not that she is untrustworthy, but this business smacks of some largescale conspiracy.”

“Speaking of Professor Cosven, you did not tell me she was psychic,” Veil said, having set aside the new terror. He was doing everything he could already.

“In truth, it did not occur to me,” Charik replied.

“These are deep waters in which we swim, and there are sharks about. It behooves us to start trusting each other and working together,” Veil replied.

The Feran Kuin emitted a rapid series of clicks and held up his’ true-hands in the surrender position. That was definitely laughter.

“Should I seek psychic instruction from Professor Cosven,” Veil inquired, not really serious but curious about the Feran’s reply.

“I would not advise it,” the Feran replied, tapping its’ foot-hand against the table. “Irini Cosven is a good person, but she believes strongly that there is an appropriate way to do things. She would inform the relevant authorities.”

Veil nodded. That agreed with his thinking.

“One last question before we finish for the day,” Charik remarked. “Have you ever heard the term, strange attractors?” Veil shook his head. “It means that sometimes seemingly unrelated phenomena or people are attracted to important events through mysterious means. You, a psychic, were attracted to the Forerunner machine in just the right way at just the right time to form a connection. That is an unlikely event. We will have to see whether you are spontaneously drawn farther into these proceedings.”

The next day found him in Indali’s laboratory, facing down demonic, beady little eyes. Unfortunately, he was alone with the little monster, having let himself into the lab. One of his jobs was to feed her hamsters, but the one with lightning powers seemed to delight in lulling him into a false sense of safety and then zapping him. It was sitting back on its heels, chewing on some sort of nut which its front paws were holding. The rodent seemed perfectly innocent, but he knew better. Slowly and carefully, Veil eased the top of the terrarium to one side and slid his hand over the top to drop the food. Just as he started to retreat, a miniature lightning bolt shot from the hamster, causing him to jerk back and swear. Evil giggling could be heard behind him.

“He thinks it’s a game, Veil,” Indali said with a smile. “He just wants to play with you.”

Veil gave her a flat stare. She must have snuck in when he was preoccupied.

“I got your note about missing work at the clinic,” Indali remarked, “but if you’re playing with the hamsters, that must mean you’ve had good news about the construct?”

Veil related what Cosven had found, his research at the library, his talk with Charik, and what he had told them both. Indali had a serious expression by the end.

“That’s a lot better than it could have been,” she said, pursing her lips slightly, “but I’m not happy about your continued involvement in this mess. The possibility of the terrorists finding you or even understanding enough about ancient technology to attack you seems remote, but we simply don’t know enough to be sure. The Feran is right. You could easily be drawn very deeply into this…whatever it is.”

“Do you think I can trust him?” Veil asked. “Do you think I should tell him everything?”

Indali frowned and then said, “It might come to that, but you’ve supplied the most pertinent information. Give it time and get to know him better. The Feran Kuin, from what I know, aren’t quite as devious and untrustworthy as human beings, but they aren’t that much better, either.”

They stood looking at each other in thoughtful silence for a few moments.

“Are you going to finish feeding the hamsters,” she said with a dire gleam in her eye. There she went flipping from wise, compassionate mentor to evil, demented schoolgirl.

***

The next few days were blissfully uneventful as Veil’s equilibrium gradually reasserted itself. He could still see the flowing runes in his mind’s eye whenever he focused, but nothing else seemed to happen. That weekend found his friends visiting their unofficial clubhouse.

They were sitting around the living room, and Veil was updating Yamini, Elynor, and Jelina on the new information minus any mention of the mental construct. Ilya, Sacha, and Melik had been informed days earlier. Much of what he knew had still not shown up in the local newspapers, although many professors seemed to have this information.

Their living room had a large fireplace in the center of one wall directly adjacent to the front door with entry to the basement and stairs to the upper level lying on the other side. A large four person couch directly faced the fireplace with a plush loveseat and three chairs completing a semicircle around the fireplace. Several end tables sat next to each chair, and a coffee table lay directly in front of the couch. There was room to walk behind the couch directly from the kitchen and dining area entrance to the front door.

“It sounds like a plot to seize control of the entire surrounding area. Maybe there are caves full of giant, ancient war machines that will be woken up by whatever they are doing?” Elynor guessed in a sincere tone of voice. “They have to activate these huge snake machines to accomplish that.”

“What about the increased monster activity,” Ilya responded, leaning forward eagerly. He loved talking about monsters. “Perhaps the device is meant to drive them out of the Labyrinth for some reason, maybe to sow chaos so someone can take advantage.”

“What I wonder is who is behind it all,” Melik speculated in a more rational fashion. “No one has taken responsibility. So, terrorism seems likely. Despite issuing bounties for suspects and information, the authorities don’t seem to have any person or group in mind. The newspapers are filled with stories about our brave leaders getting to the bottom of this mystery, but they never seem to mention what ‘it’ is.”

“Is anyone exploring the other ruins or trying to find more information?” Melik continued. “The newspapers haven’t had any information about that.”

“There are expeditions that have set out for some of the known ruins,” Veil replied. “Professor Charik told me each one has a small research team associated with it or at least monitors. That’s true of not just Samiihr, but the surrounding countries of East and West Umaan to the South, Omar and Eritrii to the East, and Kiribhati and Indus to the West.”

“What about the Ibaran coalition to the Southwest?” Melik asked.

“You mean the fractured states,” Sacha said with a sniff. “They are doing a million different things at once, and in a totally uncoordinated fashion.”

“Of course, all of the countries say they are working together,” Veil remarked. “While sharpening their knives and preparing to go after each other in another continual war. After all, it’s only been about 40 years since the last one. Time for another generation to die gloriously for their country, or should I say for the greed and stupidity of their leaders,” Veil said in disgust.

“Do you really think it will come to that?” Elynor stated, her voice rising in pitch. “The last one was so horrible, millions of people died. Not only in the fighting but the starvation that came after.”

“We’re just speculating, Elynor,” Melik said, leaning forward and gazing at Elynor earnestly. “None of us know the future. Hopefully, that won’t happen. But neither our ruling council nor the other nations leaders have shown themselves to be …,” Melik trailed off. He seemed to be looking for the right words.

“Responsible, reasonable, honest,” Veil finished, listing the qualities that, at least to his mind, they lacked.

“On that dour note, why don’t you help me prepare some snacks in the kitchen, Veil,” Sacha said.

Veil knew when he was being summoned, so he followed Sacha. Once they were out of sight of the others, She turned to him and pouted slightly. Veil walked up to her and slid his arms around her waist, and began kissing her. She sighed softly and melted against him.

“Is this why you brought me into the kitchen?” Veil asked a few minutes later, amused.

“It’s one of the reasons,” Sacha replied. “I really do think we could use some food to lighten the mood.”

She said this while stepping out of his arms, and he reluctantly and slowly let go. Sacha began setting cookies, raw vegetables, dip, and a pitcher of fruit juice on the counter, while Veil assisted by bringing out plates and glasses.

“My people have war too, even if we aren’t quite as enthusiastic about it as you continentals,” Sacha said, referring to everyone who lived on the continent of Athanasu. “I was a small child in the last conflict. What I remember is that my father was gone, and the adults seemed afraid.”

“At one point, my mother and I were rushed out of our house and taken somewhere. I think we were in hiding for a few weeks. It was terrifying to me, and I was raised as a pampered, protected noble. I can’t imagine what war will bring for the common people.”

“I’ve never experienced war in any form,” Veil remarked. “The last conflict ended almost thirty years before I was born. The only experience I’ve had that may be remotely similar is seeing the devastation left behind when an entire large village was destroyed.”

“How did you end up witnessing that?” Sacha asked with a rising pitch in her voice.

“I was out gathering alchemical supplies with my grandmother a few years ago,” Veil replied. “We were just within the border of the Great Northern Forest and headed toward a trading town to stock up on supplies. There are small towns and villages, and even a city or two that lie within one hundred kilometers of the forest’s border. Most of the time, these towns manage to survive and even thrive, but every once in a while, something big or powerful moves from the deep forest to the edges. We think it was a land dragon.”

“When we reached the area,” Veil continued, “the village was gone. It looked like a giant millstone had been rolled across the entire region, crushing everything flat. What wasn’t crushed was burned. It was impossible to find and bury any bodies.”

“The most we could find were a few red smears on the ground, and there wasn’t much of that. This was a fortified town with an eight meter palisade, mage guards, and cannon. The wall and armaments were just gone. We think we found the remains of a couple of cannons, but we couldn’t be sure. They were melted into metallic puddles.”

“What did you do?” Sacha asked in a quiet voice.

“There wasn’t anything we could do except report what happened,” Veil said. “We looked for survivors around the area, but there weren’t any.”

After a pause, Veil remarked, “We should probably go back to the living room. It’s dangerous to leave Melik and Ilya alone for too long with this sort of salacious material. They once spent two hours debating the proper number of sides for dice. Is it four, six, eight, ten, twelve, or twenty?” As Sacha began to giggle, Veil said sincerely, “I’m not joking.”

When they returned to the living room, Melik and Ilya were having a passionate argument.

“It’s perfectly possible that the machine is one grand device to turn everyone into zombies,” Ilya declared, practically shouting.

“There are no such things as zombies, not how you mean them,” Melik replied, leaning forward as if he was ready to tackle Ilya. “You can enslave and twist people’s bodies and minds, but they’re not undead.

Yamini was sitting close to Ilya and looked ready to jump up and defend him. Elynor watched the proceedings while looking confused, and Jelina was sitting back with a small smile on her face as if viewing an exciting sporting event. Veil just traded glances with Sacha and rolled his eyes. Nothing productive was going to be accomplished after this.

***

The beginning of the next week found Veil in his unstructured magic class. The session had moved on to their second exercise, forming ectoplasm into solid shapes. They were supposed to conjure spheres, but Veil’s current efforts produced unshapely nuggets that dissolved almost immediately.

With his hands cupped loosely in a bowl shape, Veil pulled mana gently from his core, guided it out through his hands, and began twisting with his aura. Veil liked to think of it as knotting or locking the fields in place. By engaging Hyper-Focus and Visualization, he could see and concentrate on the task nearly perfectly, but his aura control was insufficient, and yet again, the ectoplasm slipped a little out of shape. He was left with a small lumpy object that dissolved after a few seconds.

Veil considered his classmate’s efforts. Rasvan and Sacha were both able to produce nearly perfect spheres that lasted for minutes at a time. The orbs Rasvan created were even more impressive since they were larger and smoother looking. Veil noticed that when Rasvan was working, he had terrific focus, an almost passionate intensity. He was also calm and patient when working or training people but likely wasn’t the sort of person you wanted to anger.

The conjured spheres that Emalda and Zaida formed were basically on the same level as his. With his psychic advantages, that should not be possible unless they were all geniuses or had bloodline abilities. They probably had bloodlines. That made him wonder about Sacha? She wasn’t born a noble and hadn’t revealed an inherited power. On the other hand, that was understandable; Veil had no intention of mentioning his psychic abilities.

“Alright, that’s enough for one day,” Kang announced casually. “Veil, if you have a few moments, we haven’t yet talked about the three unstructured spells you plan to develop.”

Veil walked over to the Professor as the other students filed out of the classroom.

“Have you made any choices?” Kang asked.

“Yes, Professor,” Veil replied. “I would like to disintegrate single element objects, then fuse them back together, and I’d like to develop aura sight. Disintegration and fusing spells are essential skills in technomagic, and aura sight is profoundly useful in almost every discipline.”

Kang leaned back and sat on the edge of the table, looking up at the ceiling for a moment before saying, “Those are all excellent skills. I’m confident you can master disintegration this term, but might I suggest you break the other exercises into multi-term projects.”

“Instead of attempting to fuse materials this semester, why don’t you attempt to mold an item to change its shape instead? That’s often a preliminary step before fusion. I suggest the same for aura sight. Start with your somatic sense instead of vision and work up to aura sight next term. Also, try to start extending your aura. Remember, a mage can only work magic within range of his auric field, and for most, that is a radius of one meter, but with effort, that range can be extended to about sixteen meters.”

Veil nodded and replied, “That sounds reasonable. I did have a few more questions, Professor.” At Kang’s nod, Veil continued, “I know that increasing the base size of a person’s mana reserve is difficult and dangerous, but is there a way to increase the speed of development, beyond standard cultivation practices?”

Kang squinted at him thoughtfully and said, “I suppose you’re concerned about the bombings?” and then he smiled slightly, “Or perhaps you’re just ambitious. I do get that feeling from you, Veil.”

Kang paused, and Veil said nothing but merely waited. “The simple answer is no. There is no way to increase the speed of your development without taking serious risks I would never recommend for a mage your age or any age for that matter.” His brown weather beaten face, silver threaded black hair and beard, and deep set eyes giving him an aura of strength and knowledge.

“My second question is about short-casting,” Veil said. “Do you know any exercises or have any suggestions to quickly reduce the time it takes to perform a spell? My last question is about arcane energy. Is there any way to sense or interact with it if you’re not a Magus?”

Kang hesitated for a second, “The answer to your second question is a qualified yes. As you know, all modern mages learn some amorphous magic to make subtle adjustments to their spells, to avoid the need to construct every detail via gesture or word. When a mage short-casts, they are merely filling in a larger number of these gaps with amorphous magic.”

“This also has the added benefit of making their spell casting more efficient. The arcane structure formed by word and gesture is crude. The various parts of the spell never fit together perfectly, and the pieces are inexact in size and shape, thus wasting mana and effort. A structured spell can never compare to the fine-tuned precision amorphous mana control allows. A more efficient spell uses less mana, which provides a pseudo mana reserve increase.”

“Learn to weave amorphous magic into your spells. Look for places where you can easily and naturally substitute the unstructured magic skills you have already developed for the structured part of the spell.” Kang finished.

“Your third question is more complicated to answer,” Kang replied. “Yes, there are ways to detect and interact with divine energies without being a Magus, but those methods are closely held secrets rarely passed on to any except a mage’s heir.”

“To answer your next as yet unasked question, I do have those skills. However, if you want me to consider teaching you, a long and laborious process, you will have to tell me why you want to learn.”

After shifting into Hyper-Focus and thinking intensely for several seconds as Kang waited patiently, Veil finally replied, “I wish to become a Magus, not just an Archmage, Professor. Everything I do is aimed toward that end.”

Kang gazed at him for several moments without speaking and then replied, “Let me think on your request, Veil. I will answer when I feel ready.”