Although it seemed to have lasted no longer than the blink of an eye, the blackout caused massive devastation across the city. For the first time, citizens began to question Magisterium’s dependence on magic.

We wouldn’t find out the extent of the damage till later that day when the Academy called an emergency assembly— attendance was mandatory. The death toll was in the thousands, and was still rising— public safety officers and volunteer-led relief teams continued to identify the deceased. There wasn’t a list of missing persons.

Magic was so integral to the City of Wonders that there were too many things to list, but to name a few: buildings under construction collapsed, life-support systems ceased, sewers ruptured, water supplies ran dry, and all the small conveniences powered by magic— which was all of them— stopped.

There had been a fair share of crime, too. In the short span of time it took for the systems to come back online, a string of robberies were committed across the city. Random violence had been in abundance, and concentrated wherever the death toll was high. There were even violent domestic disputes, some ended in the death of a spouse.

But the worst damage by far was caused by malfunctioning anima collectors— incidentally, when the tremors first started, I had felt one of the nearby ones explode. We were told that each explosion had same destructive force as a store of gunpowder. Fires set off by the explosions would burn into the night, lighting up the sky in orangish-red tones.

—

—

—

Boisterous conversations assaulted me from all sides except the front. I had leaned my chair back on its two back legs and was rocking back and forth. Annoyed and somewhat overwhelmed by the cacophony of sound, I plugged my ears. Bored to tears, I stared up at the huge wood beams that supported the ceiling, and, I guessed, it did the same for the second floor.

Rathlin entered my line of sight— I could see his lips moving, but his words were muffled because of my stoppered ears. Startled by his sudden appearance, my already precarious position became untenable.

Abandoning my earplugs, I windmilled my arms in a futile attempt to regain my balance in time to keep myself from toppling over, but I was too late. When my chair struck the floor with a crash, I bashed my head and hit my elbow.

“Idiot. Serves him right.”

“… give it a rest… need people like him… keeps making us look good,” a whisper from near the back of the class carried a stern seriousness that was all the more sharp for it.

“What was the Headmaster thinking? Turning lowbred mutts into a academs will only serve to dishonor the Academy.”

Rathlin gave me a hand up and levered me to my feet. “Sorry, I didn’t know how else to get your attention— I wasn’t thinking.” In his defense, he looked apologetic.

Angry and embarrassed, I lowered my head and averted my eyes. “Not your fault. It would’ve happened sooner or later— I was asking for it.”

Keeping my composure, I righted the fallen chair and took my seat. Rathlin took the open seat to my right— well, most of the front row was empty, and there wasn’t another academ seated within ten feet of me to either side. I flipped through the textbook that had been laid out in advance: “Magic Theory: An Introduction”.

“How long are they going to fill your heads with useless information?”

From the start Nyx had been vexed by the curriculum. He didn’t see the value in me learning the fundamentals when I had access to his vast stores of knowledge.

This time I stopped myself from laughing out loud, but the effort caused a coughing fit. “Straight from the mouth of the least qualified teacher I know, sounds like high praise. It must be painful to know so much but have no talent at imparting it.”

“You okay, Shiro?” Rathlin said, the picture of concern.

“Yeah, I’m good. Thanks.”

Our instructors changed daily, and they tended to arrive right before the bell rang. The professor that day respected the status quo; he appeared in an all-black getup right before the lecture was due to start. I referenced the clock, watched the skinny magus set his full weight against the lecture hall’s heavy door before it budged.

“He’s so young,” Rathlin marveled.

“Mhm.” If a twenty-something magus was young, what did that make a baby-faced academ like me— a child?

A few stragglers pushed their luck, and all but one made it with moments to spare— relentless, the dreary instructor slammed the door shut on the nose of a miserable-looking academ. Rogue was among the last to arrive, but in her haste she overlooked us and seated herself at the back of the class. I couldn’t help but have a laugh at her expense. We lived in the same house and left at near identical times, but she was late more often than not.

The effort seemed to strain him but the professor managed to slide the bar in place. He mopped up the sweat on his face with the sleeves of his robes, walked to the raised podium, and turned to face us.

“Good morning, class.”

“Good morning,” the class echoed raggedly.

“You’ll address me as Professor, or Lord Mamushi. Let’s try that again, as one.” Professor Mamushi scratched out his name on the chalkboard.

“Good morning, Lord Mamushi.” The response was more coordinated, yet unenthusiastic.

“I’ll be picking up where we left off…” that’s unfortunate, there’s no record of your progress here— where did you leave off?”

The professor’s question was met by a sullen silence. Mamushi raked his attention across the lecture hall. More than a few chairs creaked as their occupants hesitated beneath his glare. Rathlin pinched the bridge of his nose, sighed, and raised his hand.

A spindly finger separated the sacrificial lamb from the rest of its flock. “Your name?”

“Rathlin Majora, sir—” Mamushi’s arm rose as if to cut Rathlin down, but he caught himself, “I meant to say, Professor Mamushi.”

Mamushi fiddled with a sheaf of papers. “Well met, academ. Where shall I begin?”

“That is… well, at the beginning, Professor Mamushi. We’ve learned about runes, but we’ve yet to be instructed on the fundamentals of magic and the theory behind it. We’re all excited to learn.”

“Brownoser.”

“Kiss-up.”

The whispered insults went unnoticed by Mamushi. “To the uneducated masses, magic is incomprehensible, and its practitioners are seen as kin to demons or the divine, depending. For you academs, it’s imperative that the mysteries of the arcane become ingrained in your minds— for an academy-trained mage, it is simple common sense.”

My word, this is tragic! Knowledge of the arcane without understanding is sheer folly. Such ignorance is an affront to this Academy!” Pay close attention, class… I shall endeavor to rectify this at once. Turn to page 18 in your textbooks and read the first bolded term…”

I did as I was told and read the bolded term— anima: the latent, self-contained energies that exist within all things big and small.

“By and large, living things possess a greater capacity to produce, contain, and harness anima than inanimate objects… with the obvious exception of magical artifices like those you encountered in the Chamber of Trials. I do hope there is a bold thinker among us that can recognize the missing link here…”

Nadia’s icy tone cut through the expectant air. “Power can linger beyond death, especially in the bodies of great practitioners… and there are many classes of the undead— revenants and zombies for instance— that have no power of their own, and so must devour the anima of the land and the living to sustain their monstrous forms.”

“Your insight is commendable… here we are… Nadia. I look forward to seeing you rise among the ranks in your time at the Academy.”

Nadia’s slight dip of her head passed for acknowledgement of the professor's praise.

“Among the many types of entities that roam our world and the multiverse at large… be they human or otherwise, Man or beast, monster or magical creatures, demon or divine… anima flows through each and every one of these entities. Despite this unassailable fact, none are created equal, and you shall confront many over the course of your lifetime that makes your natural ability pale in comparison.”

Might I have a volunteer to demonstrate the difference…? No? Then I shall pick from amongst you,” Mamushi peered closely at each academ in turn before his eyes finally settled on me. “You there, the pale academ beside young Rathlin… let’s see… Shiro— just Shiro? If you would stand here,” An imperious finger demonstrated where I should stand.

I pushed back my chair and hopped over the table to make a direct path to the point he had indicated— the maneuver earned me a look of consternation from the twitchy mage.

“Next time, return to your seat in an orderly fashion, academ.”

I cocked my head, then nodded. Including the honorific was bothersome, so I decided that for as long as I could get away with it, I would avoid speaking up. Mamushi looked at me reproachfully, but seemed content to return to his demonstration.

“While áse is the last of the seven developmental stages covered— and we will expand on it in this lecture, but later— the fledgling magesight or truesight that academs possess is crucial for understanding the far-reaching effects of anima on mages, on magecraft in totality.”

“I want everyone to examine Shiro closely and tell me what you see.”

The combined attention of just shy of fifty people made me break out in nervous sweat. Goosebumps rose on my skin and I started to shiver uncontrollably.

Rathlin cleared his throat. “Professor Mamushi? I might be off base, but I see a thick miasma filling the air around him in a five foot radius— it looks kind of like a dense mist, or hazy steam?”

“Aura leakage for a trained mage is minimal, but it is common to see the untrained shrouded in unrefined aura… When it comes to controlling and refining aural output, Shiro is the least inept academ I’ve seen in years,” Mamushi paused to allow the class’s laughter to reach a crescendo before he slapped the podium with the heel of his palm. “That’s quite enough. While aural manipulation can be learned by even the lowliest serf and most uneducated peasant in the lands, those destined to become magical practitioners are gifted with an abundance of anima and strong auras that must be controlled for their own safety and the safety of others.”

Nyx projected wry amusement. “I believe you know what to do to put these fools in their place.”

He was right. My anger burned away my nervousness at being the center of attention. I recalled how I’d accomplished admittedly unreliable control over my aura— overcoming my inner turmoils and resistances. The dense miasma surrounding me became a swirling vortex of anima. A sharp pain lanced through my skull, but I compressed my aura into a hard shell of dense energy with only a little difficulty.

“A delightful performance— he’ll have a round of applause from the class! Thank you, academ. You may return to your seat.”

Awkwardly, I descended the steps and returned to my seat beside Rathlin, thankful that I managed the feat without tripping all over myself in the process.

“Did you see that?”

“… not sure what I saw.”

“Nah… get a good look at it.”

“His aura… did it get smaller?”

“I’m fairly certain I can do it without help… but can you give me some pointers on the roof later tonight?” Rathlin asked.

I had a feeling I’d be getting similar requests. “We’ll invite Rogue too,” I said wearily.

Mamushi called for silence, and the whispered conversations petered out under his harsh glare. “Unwittingly, Shiro has demonstrated a novice’s proficiency in nauthiz, which happens to be the next topic of discussion. Nauthiz is best described as simple need, necessity, need-fire. Before anything else, an academ must overcome their own limitations to develop the fledgling ability of aural manipulation. Condensed aura can be condensed into a protective shroud that is a mage’s first line of defense against dangerous both arcane and mundane.”

From nauthiz, there is a natural progression to kenisa. In this stage, a budding mage has mastered the fundamentals and exerts fine control over his vital energies and aura. This includes a magic user’s ability to shape, or re-shape, their bodies or the environment. As a general rule, unique abilities manifest after this stage of development, although in special cases they can manifest earlier.”

Othala is a catch-all term that refers to the sum total of unique abilities and represents the sum total of techniques known to modern magecraft. A few othala are ancestral property of a given race—” Mamushi and most of the class looked directly at Rogue, “Take Giralith and its shifters, men and woman who inherit a hereditary ability to become beasts.”

A more relatable example… let’s see… summoning and contracting familiars is an ability common to most, if not all mages— but although any wet-behind-the-ears academ can summon a familiar with proper preparation, the familiar must choose the mage before it can be bound to its contractor. The greatest contractors of legend were said to have been able to sustain dozens of powerful familiars.

Áse is an unattainable goal that a skillful mage will nonetheless strive to meet, for Áse is ‘total consciousness and sight,’ awareness of the arcane grants one the ability to see the unseen— many forget to mention that seeing behind the veil comes at a price: like a star in the night sky that shines brighter than its bedfellows, you too can be seen. If you remember nothing else of áse, remember this: you have only just begun your journey to unravel the hidden secrets of the multiverse.”

Mamushi yawned and rubbed the dark circles under his eyes. “Let’s see… anima, nauthiz, kenisa, othala, and áse. That completes our lecture for the day.”

“Professor Mamushi… I thought you said there were seven developmental stages,” Rathlin said.

“That I did, academ, but you have a long way to go indeed— years, perhaps— before you’re ready to learn of áse-el and kenisa-áse. If there are no other questions…? Good. As groups, you are report to the stadium and receive personal instruction from your respective instructors.”

Nyx laughed derisively. “No surprise, the Academy takes after Magisterium in hoarding knowledge and secrets.”

“What do you mean? What are they hiding?” I whispered.

“Oh, you’ll find out in due time, of that I’m sure.”

I was frustrated when Nyx wouldn’t answer, but I’d long since come to terms with the fact that I couldn’t get my shadow to do anything it didn’t want to.

Rathlin and I rose from our seats and linked up with Rogue, Rocket, Nadia, and Stein. I was the most familiar with the stadium, so I headed up our little group and led us through the halls of the Academy. We passed gigantic renderings of deceased headmasters along the way, and I paused as I always did to admire the depiction of the Headmaster Elminster, the Academy’s founder and foremost mage of his time.

It was quite a trek from the lecture hall to the stadium, but we arrived there in due time— a monolithic construction of marble and quartz. While it was used as a training facility for academs, the stadium’s main purpose was that it was a proving grounds for academs and mages alike. A few times a year, academs had to participate in ranking matches. Mages that aspired to fame and fortune tested their magecraft against skilled challengers that were pitted against each other in tournaments.

We met the pervy old man beside a quartz podium at the top of the marble steps. Merlin clenched and unclenched his hands into fists to admire his well-defined forearm muscles. “I don’t care to babysit kids while they struggle with the basics— you can waste your own time on the boring bits. Instead we’ll be tackling a more advanced magical working, which happens to be infinitely more interesting. But first… an hour of cardio.”

I’d expected Merlin to run us ragged before we earned his tutelage. I had stretched out my muscles, which were tight from sitting, while he had been talking. I shot off like an arrow, took the steps down to the stadium floor two at a time, and sprinted its circuitous length until I ran myself ragged. Then I stretched some more, worked out my core and did some body weight exercises.

I repeated the process several times until Merlin whistled shrilly to call an end to the torture. By then my shirt had soaked through and my face was slick with sweat. I swept my braid behind my back and focused on holding onto my breakfast.

Panting and sweating freely, the six of us formed up on Merlin. With speed and an impatient air, he passed out ceremonial knives to each of us. The pervy instructor slowed and grinned at Nadia, closed her hand around the twisted dagger.

Merlin scratched a rune on the ground with a piece of chalk. “This is gibor, known as the god rune. I doubt you paid attention in your lessons, so I might as well tell you what it means. It represents the welding together of powers, cosmic consciousness, the generative and receptive, sacred marriage, giver of knowledge and the gift— and a whole bunch of other things that don’t really matter, because all you have to do is what I tell you.”

“Other than it being an exercise in dominance, is there a purpose to this exercise?” Nadia said.

“I’m tired. Can we take a break first?” Frank Stein said.

“Can’t you teach us something practical for once— like how to wipe the floor with the other academs in the ranking matches?” Rocket said.

“There’s no need to pay your upcoming matches special attention. Now… if any of you have reservations about my teaching style, you’re free to leave…” Stein, Rocket, and Nadia rose to leave, “Were to to stay, however, you would have a chance to commune with the spirit realm. You may even be lucky enough to catch a god’s attention.”

The trio was more than willing to accept the carrot Merlin offered them. Rogue had a far-away look on her face that made her difficult to read. It looked like it was all Rathlin could do to contain his excitement, and I… I had a bad feeling about this.

Merlin paid me no mind while he explained the details of the ritual, but I nonetheless felt the weight of his undivided attention. I wondered why he felt the need to choose such an obscure ritual as the focus of the day’s lesson. Why did he think it necessary that I try to catch a god’s ear? I didn’t think it likely spirits or gods wanted to speak to a lowly mortal like me, and even if they did, I wasn’t enamored by the idea of being at their mercy.

“Etch the rune into your skin with the ceremonial dagger— it doesn’t matter where.”

I twirled the dagger in my hand, watching the light play over the double-edged weapon. The greenish color of the metal… was it malachite? I’d never handled a blade of its like, but rumor had it that the metal was worth its weight in gold. Renowned blade-smiths were said to fashion nigh-unbreakable weapons with malachite and its cousin, aedonite. And my magesight confirmed that the green metal could be magically empowered by a mage.

Merlin hovered over me. “Hesitant, young Shiro? Your companions are anxiously awaiting your decision.”

“Got cold feet?” Rathlin asked.

“What do you expect to get out of this? Not all spirits are friendly, and I would think the same is true of gods.”

“Speaking from experience, are we?” Nadia said with unconcealed skepticism.

“What’s your deal— aww, I get it, you’re scared of ghosts, aren’t you Shiro?” Stein teased.

“Old man,” I leveled a stare at Merlin, “Why are you so invested in this?”

Merlin crouched beside me so we were eye to eye. “I merely wish you young academs to experience the vast possibility of magecraft— to open your minds— to give you a chance to obtain knowledge beyond mortal ken. Not all of you will succeed, maybe none of you will, but the wisdom of the ancients is a prize worth seeking, don’t you think?” Merlin glanced at my writhing shadow and grinned.

How long had he known about Nyx? I suspected since our first meeting. “Well Nyx?”

“The cat’s out of the bag, boy. He knew and never let on. Sly old coot. I think this is a good a time as any… the powers that be wouldn’t have remained unaware of us for much longer,” Nyx said.

I rubbed my aching head. “I’ll do it, so long as you give me your word that I have your discretion.” Can’t I catch a break once and awhile?

Merlin stood and paced the interior of the ring formed by his six disciples. He confirmed his students had accomplished the requisite self-mutilation in an acceptable fashion, then returned to check on my progress. I had already etched the rune, gibor, into the flesh on the underside of my wrist. The best I could describe it was by comparing it to a rightward canted Z with a slash cut diagonally through the middle.

Merlin clapped his hands together forcefully, and a concussive blast of anima exploded out of him. “Now that I’ve cleansed this area of disruptive forces, we can begin.”

“First you must relax your body and open your mind. Concentrate on staying receptive… visualize yourself at the center of a lake, its waters as calm and still as you are.”

I sat crosslegged and laid my interlaced my palms on my lap. Bit by bit, I bled away the tension in my body. I meditated for ten, twenty, thirty minutes— I felt a perceptible change. I was submerged in an unassailable sense of calm.

“Cast aside all doubt and throw yourself on the mercy of the gods,” Nyx said without any of his usual snark.

A shift— my soul was yanked out of my body and I was transported to a different place. I watched a school of koi fish swim in the shallows from where I sat on the surface of a shallow lake. Pleiades gentle light reflected off the greenish-blue water and swept me up in its warmth. I was transformed into a shooting star, traveling at impossible speeds up into the sky and… beyond.

My collision with the surface of the moon shattered its crust in a twenty foot radius around me and sent shrapnel flying in every direction. While I was suffused in the warmth Pleiades’s light, the landscape gave off a sense of cold loneliness that made me feel a chill. With dust obscuring my vision, I relied on my magesight to satisfy my paranoid mind that I was alone.

My body felt lighter, much lighter. Soon I decided to run some tests. Picking up a pebble, I tossed it high into the air and was delighted at the effect. I skipped back and forth across the surface, reveling in the feeling of pure exhilaration. My high jump on my home world couldn’t have been more than a third of the height I could achieve on Pleiades.

“I’m happy to see you enjoying my home, Shiro.” Despite my precautions, I was caught unawares by her approach.

A woman with skin as white and pure as driven snow approached me with dignity and poise. She was dressed in a white mantle that fell just short of modest but went no further. On her forehead was a white tattoo that depicted the phases of the moon. Her bare feet made no sound as she stepped into my personal space and caressed my feet. A nimbus of white light surrounded her— my jaw dropped open.

There was no mistake. “You’re the goddess Lunete.” I threw myself onto my hands and knees and bowed my head to the divine being.

“Indeed I am.” Her divine gaze settled onto me like a ton of stones. “I see you’ve brought along a traveling companion. I should have expected you were mixed up in this, Nyx. Hello, brother mine.”

Nyx cringed and tried to hide in my shadow. “Sister. Long time no see. You’re looking beautiful as ever.”

“Centuries of exile has diminished you, brother. I am saddened to see you in this state, and although I am loathe to admit it, your current condition is a fitting punishment for your betrayal.”

Nyx had nothing to say to that, but his silence was deafening. I had a gut feeling Lunete was going to be tight-lipped if I pressed her for information on the mysterious being that possessed my body.

I raised my head and dared to look into Lunete’s silver eyes. “I apologize for my rudeness at bringing an uninvited guest. I don’t know what Nyx did in the past, and I wouldn’t dare try to justify his actions, but he saved my life too many times to count, served Altressor as its local deity— the village where I grew up— and sustained its lands for generations at no benefit to himself.”

“The boy knows not what he speaks. We are no more than enemies that share a common goal.”

“Doubtless he is unaware of his lineage… and your true intentions.”

Nyx stuck to his sullen silence.

“Diluted thought it may be, the blood of the ancients runs through you, Shiro. Nyx will gain your trust, offer you knowledge and power— and will come to possess you in the truest sense of the word.”

“I know the risks, and I accept them.”

“Shiro, I implore you to reconsider.”

A sharp pain in my wrist told me our time was drawing short. I glanced at my lifethread and was gratified to see it was hale and whole.

“While I appreciate your concern, oh goddess, Nyx is my burden, and mine alone. I believe you had a greater purpose in calling me here to warn me of a danger that I was already well aware of.”

Lunete’s serene visage turned mournful, but she acknowledged me with a slight incline of her head. “Your destiny is a double-edged sword: you will either be the savior or destroyer of mankind. When you are prepared to embrace your fate, seek out the High Priestess.”