Summer, age 7.

``Alright then Nathan, sit down and make yourself comfortable. You will be sitting in the same position for a while you know, and the less you move the better.'' [Alfred]

I sit down and take a deep breath.

``I am ready.'' [Nathan]

I put my hands on the crystal. The world doesn't grow grey anymore, I learned to control it. I still don't use it to make imbuing faster, Alfred told me to get some experience before I do that.

I already made a few glowing crystals. I tried making ones that flashes quickly by imagining a flashing sphere instead of a glowing one, but they either end up normal or don't work at all, so I gave up on that.

This time I'm making a heating mana crystal, like the ones that my mother use to cook with. I want to make it so it glows when it's low on power, but I don't really know how to. I have a feeling that the vortex represents the mana you pour into it, and the sphere is obviously what you want it to do, but how do i make it change..

Should I just try logic gates?..

Maybe what's important isn't the actual images, but what you imagine it does.

But then why doesn't it work when I imagine it flashing..

Hmm..

What about semi conductors?

They're the way you actually make electric logic gates, so maybe that would work..

If I imagine a flow line that's a bit off center going into the center line, maybe I could make a transistor..

Wait, that won't work. I need an inverted to make it so I'll need another transistor.. Damn, I haven't done this in forever, I used to know these circuits like the back of my hand.

So with that, the image should look something like.. This. Two lines in the middle going up to a sphere each, one hot and the other glowing. My AND gate with the inverter is attached to the line going up to the glowing sphere, and draw it's power from the center. If my understanding is correct, it should light up when the crystal is low on power.

It takes a few tries to get the right image right for the transistor, after which the crystal accepts my image and show me the mana pattern.

I get to work. The logic circuit makes the pattern quite a bit more advanced, but nothing I shouldn't be able to fill out.

I sit in silence for an hour and a half, trying hard not to lose my concentration before I finish.

``Sigh.. It is done.'' [Nathan]

``Good job Nathan, though it did take a little longer than I expected. Say, was something distracting you?'' [Alfred]

``No, I just tried something. Let's power it up to see if it works.'' [Nathan]

I put my hands on the finished crystal and pour a little mana into it, just a bit. It heats up as usual, and it's not glowing. I wait for a few minutes, hoping that it worked.

The globe in front me slowly lights up.

``Hey Alfred, look what I made it do.'' [Nathan]

``Hmm? I thought you wanted to make a heat crystal, that's a glow crystal you know.'' [Alfred]

``No, it is a heat crystal. I made it glow when it is low on mana.'' [Nathan]

``... No, that can't possibly be right, let me see that.'' [Alfred]

Alfred puts his hand on the crystal and feel it's heat. He then pours mana into the crystal, after which it stops glowing.

He stares at the crystal with a look of absolute disbelief before turning to me.

``Thi-This cannot be! How did you do this?!'' [Alfred]

``Well, do you have some paper and a pen?'' [Nathan]

Alfred scrambles, and comes back with a piece of parchment and a quill.

``Look here, I drew the conduit lines from the center of the vortex, and then I drew this line from a bit outside of the center. You told me that it wastes mana if the line is not centered, so I figured that I could use this to turn on the light like this.'' [Nathan]

Alfred points to the transistor.

``And this part right here, what does this do?'' [Alfred]

``It's a transfer, it lets mana through the main conduit if mana is supplied to it from this side. I imagined it as a piece of wire that does not allow mana to flow in between two blocks where the mana can only move one way, and then I put mana into it from the wire that is not centered. I hoped this would let mana pass through where it could not before.'' [Nathan]

``... How did you know how to do this?'' [Alfred]

Uh oh.

``Ehm, I just tried some different things, like how I tried to make a flashing crystal earlier. I think I just got lucky this time, all of a sudden the crystal accepted the image I had in my head. The other times it just did not work at all.'' [Nathan]

``That's some incredible luck you have there Nathan. You know, I have never heard of anyone doing something like this before.'' [Alfred]

Phew. Don't want to stand out any more than I have to, having to explain why I know how a transistor works would make it rather hard to convince people I'm just a kid. I should be more careful.

``These might just sell you know. Most people can make a heat crystal, but some people might just be willing to pay a little extra so they don't have to check if it's running out of mana. Say, if you make more of these, I'll let you sell them at my shop. Should get you some pocket money for when you leave for school in a year and a half.'' [Alfred]

``Yeah, I am sure that's going to come in handy.'' [Nathan]

``I suppose you will be going to Bightkeep Academy then, or haven't you decided yet?'' [Alfred]

``I haven't made a final decision, but I'm pretty sure I will. Is Tony going to Bightkeep?'' [Nathan]

``Going there is a family tradition. Shale told me your cousin Elena is going there next year as well.'' [Alfred]

``Yeah, and Sam two years after that.'' [Nathan]

``Sounds like you will be having a fulfilling school life then you know. Surrounded by family and friends.'' [Alfred]

``Yeah. I'm really looking forward to it.'' [Nathan]

``But that's way out in the future, let's focus on what you came here to do. Say, if you make a few more of these, I can give them to a few colleagues of mine, and they can showcase them in their shops. That way, you can focus on imprinting them, and they can do the selling.'' [Alfred]

``Sounds good.'' [Nathan]

``Alright then. Say, do you want to imbue another crystal, or is that it for today?'' [Alfred]

``I think I can manage another one.'' [Nathan]

Alfred smiles gently and slowly nods his head.

``Good. Then I'll fetch another crystal.'' [Alfred]