Arthur

/ ɑːθə/

noun, a young man in strange lands

Aeskyre

/ˈɛ:skiːə/

noun, the self-professed dragon of gale and storm.

Arthur dreamt. He dreamt of a familiar landscapes, familiar faces, sights, sounds and scents They called to him like home yet…he could not recall why that was. The faces were blurred out; the voices were off pitch. His dream state felt like looking through a fogged up window. When he tried to get closer, to see a little clearer, to hear a little more he felt his legs as if he was wading through morass.

When he thought he was just a hair-breadth away from grasping at them, the memories turned into origami birds, the scenery peeled away like a tapestry being furled and the colors leached away from him as they disappeared into the sky, leaving him staring at a gray void.

Then as all dreams were wont, he found himself soaring through a familiar sky. The scene suddenly switched to another, like a motion comic. He found his palms at the controls of a craft that he knew like the back of his hand. ‘An aerplane…aeroplane’ he thought. ‘No, an airplane was more apt.’ He felt the wrongness, the letters didn’t fit where they were supposed to—a Mandela effect of sorts.

It was just at the tip of his tongue but try as he might, it slipped his mind like mist evaporating in the morning sun. Then, non-sequitur to the feeling, he perceived a strange liquid suffusing his taste buds with the consistency of honey and sweetness of almonds and blueberries. Lucidly, he knew that it was not part of the dream and that he would soon wake up.

[Affinity- Aer acquired!]

[Derivative Affinity- Fulgur acquired!]

[Conditions Met! Mage Class acquired!]

[Mage Level 1!]

[Skill- Mana Sense acquired!]

[Skill- Spark Bolt acquired!]

[Skill- Gale Acquired]

The feeling of a warm palm prodding his cheek broke Arthur from his fugue state. Bleary, he opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was a familiar visage narrowed in an inscrutable expression. As he came to, he found himself laid under the covers of a four poster bed. It was definitely not his bedroom.

Of the ornate posts, exotic carvings on the head board and the overhead canopy that looked like the window to a night sky he had no recollection. Then it came to him.

‘Ah…not Earth, not a dream either.’ he thought, mood turning melancholic.

The quilt draping his body was comfortably warm and he had no compunctions about laying about and going back to sleep. However, before he could even entertain such a thought, a pinch of his cheeks woke him up.

“Ow ow… alright, I am waking up! Jeez!” he protested as he unfurled the bedding. He found that himself was in yesterday’s underclothes and returned the covers to his chest to try assuage his embarrassment. Aeskyre was seated on the edge of the bed, rolling her eyes at him.

“Hmph! Humans and your sensibilities,” She harrumphed. “I’ll be waiting outside, I brought your luggage and had your clothes cleaned. Stank like something the troll dragged in,” Aeskyre commented as she sashayed out.

Arthur got off the bed and looked for his duffel bag. He got a clean pair of underpants, a button up tee and a pair of jeans. True to Aeskyre’s words, they felt laundered and fresh. As he felt them between his thumb and index fingers his newly acquired [Mana Sense] picked out some sort of magic on his garments. Rather than being fazed by the newer form of perception, he frowned, surely the dragon wouldn't play a prank on him would she? She seemed like the type to do whatever she wanted because she could.

He sighed, ‘Well…nothing to it then.’

Hurriedly he got dressed, put on his boots and stepped out of the sleeping quarters. He entered a carpeted hallway, lit by familiar magical sconces and decorated with paintings and tapestries. Initially anxious of using his new found perception, he found that his body was already using it like any other part of his five senses. He could barely prevent himself from using it no more than he could hope to plug his ears and pretend he was deaf.

He gingerly cast his awareness about the corridor, feeling the omnipresent quintessence of mana in the air. It felt shapeless, mutable and ready to do his bidding… and shy? He shook his head in disbelief; matter was not supposed to feel that way.

Could mana even be considered matter? Was it the proverbial anti-matter rumoured to compose a big chunk of the universe, Or was it a semi-sentient entity made up of subatomic corpuscles of omnipurpose energy that behaved like a hive mind of sorts? He shuddered and shut down that line of thought. Thus far, he’d seen Aeskyre’s blatant exhibition of what it could do. As a form of energy, it flew in the face of many physical laws. His stomach rumbled; Arthur scowled.

As Arthur walked past barred doors, most gathering dust around their threshold, he thought back on the place he’d encountered the dragon. Mulling the occurrence in his mind, Arthur arrived at an irrefutable conclusion; he was in an ancient castle.

With the doors not having been opened for long, he presumed that Aeskyre had been there a while. With skepticism , he told himself that there was nothing else waiting around the next corner, waiting to jump at him and upend his worldview even further. He realized he’d been walking for a while and stopped to look around and then remembered the draconic woman had not given him any directions with which to find her.

‘Idiot!’ he berated himself as he backtracked, retracing his bearings in the labyrinthine hallways of the ancient structure. After walking around for what seemed like eons, when he was about to give up his sixth sensory perception drew him to the sensation of standing next to a Van de Graaff generator.

‘Ah, so that’s it then? Is this part of her attempt to teach me magic?’ Arthur mused as he navigated passageways, keeping well clear of old doors and floors with dust one inch thick. Aeskyre’s presence drew nearer and finally, he stumbled into what he supposed was the ancient castle’s scullery. There, in a room which much to his relief was as pristine as a habitable place was supposed to be, he found Aeskyre nibbling on a meat sandwich. Judging from the way her eyes were closed as she savored it she seemed to be enjoying her food heedless of the crumbs all over her cheeks.

“Hmm, sometimes I forget the allure of your bodies. I should do this more often,” she mumbled as she finished up the rest of the sandwich and dusted the crumbs off from her hands and cheeks.

“ Yeah, good morning to you too.” Arthur saluted, settling in on a tall legged backless stool.

“Finally—you are a [Mage],” she said, with a single clap of her hands. “Congratulations on awakening an affinity on your first try.”

“ Felicitations are in order Though I must add, you were pushing it yesterday and you almost got poisoned,” the ageless woman frowned.

“Perhaps I am being too hard on you. One who has interacted with mana for the first time since their birth was bound to be affected the way you did.”

“Yea, well. It was a mesmerizing light show. Can’t blame a guy for getting caught up. ” said Arthur as he scratched the back of his neck.

“Hmm, bar repeating that you've fully awakened a core that had been lying dormant for close to two decades, it is no wonder the feeling was intoxicating.” she said as she paused to consider. “ Now, we have to attune you to one more affinity. I wonder which one would suit you.”

“Just how many affinities are there?”

“There are eight known affinities and numerous derivative and undocumented affinities. Four of them are considered primary and easily found in varying extents among different species on Eryth―”

“Let me guess, Air, Water, Earth and Fire ?”

“Correct. However, natives refers to the fundamental affinities as Aer, Aqer, Ter and Pyr . There is also Lux which is rather common enough that you’ve seen it around you. Then there is Nox, its elusive twin which is no less useful and then Locus and finally Aet which is so rare it is considered mythical in magic literature and theories.”

“So, Light and Darkness, then Space and Time? The first three I understand, what is it about time that is mythical?”

Aeskyre went on to explain how it was rare that a mage awoke to the Aet, the affinity of time. Even the World, the omnipresent custodian of Classes and Skills seldom provided much of Aet attuned skills. The few that were known were considered esoteric knowledge and even discourse on its capabilities was hard to come by. However, to that time, only three mages had been known to have awoken to the affinity yet that was a secret best kept for the few connected.

Even in this world it seemed, information was treasure. Suffice to say, said mages were thought to be around, rumoured to be nigh immortal because, what could you do with sway over time? However, with nothing but rumors surrounding them, it was easy to see why no one knew who they were or where they were.

Arthur imagined what would have happened if someone insanely powerful got hold of one of them and thought of an immortal tyrant, unbowed by age and free to wreak havoc for centuries.

People would simply want to kill them or exploit them for having such a rare affinity or that they were too great a threat if they could tamper with time itself. However, Aeskyre assured the youth that tampering with time beyond a certain threshold was a folly; even magic had a cost and could only do so much.

“ As for Locus, though rare, it is easy to come by and use even if you are not attuned to the affinity. The World even provides the skills for some classes; their requirements are not as strict as those of Aet.”

“I think I understand why mages attuned to that affinity would not want to be found out.” he nodded in understanding. Then after a spell, his contemplative expression was replaced by an enthusiastic one. “ I would like to get the Locus affinity, “ he blurted in barely contained eagerness.

“I can see why the Locus affinity interests you.” Aekyre’s face turned grim as if the end of the world was nigh. She’d intimated that it was on his mind all along. That if he happened been spirited away from wherever, then magic would get him back. From the look of things, that was not so.

‘Please don’t give me that look…’ Arthur shrunk away, avoiding the draconic woman’s pitiful gaze. Arthur waited for the other shoe to drop, for the rag, to once again, be taken from beneath his fit. To have his second wind, choked and strangled into a feeble wail of despair.

“ Realm-crossing magic is rare, almost unheard of,” She sighed. “ If you still wish to try, however, I will not again say your wish to learn. But, I must say this, that you managed to cross worlds and still arrive with naught but loss of memory is a favor . Fate or mayhaps the gods have seen fit to bestow you a second chance. Do not squander it.”

“Oh is that so?” Arthur looked crestfallen. “ Eh, I figured it’d be like that if you didn't already ask to send me back where I came from.” he added with a rueful smile. “Can I at least get a magic bag or something? You have one of those right…where the inside’s bigger than the outside?”

“Hmm, enchantment of storage items… that you can do. However, awakening the affinity is the hard part.” Arthur slumped even further, tuning out the rest of Aeskyre’s words.

“Now, now…I wouldn’t give up so early if I were you,” she smirked. “ And given how you are even here in the first place, there is yet an upside to your tragedy. The World might be inclined to give you the affinity for your troubles.”

“ For real?” Arthur lifted his gaze. Looking for signs that the woman was not just doing it to pull his leg. Needless to say, reading her face was better left to the experts.

“But why? I fail to see how learning to enchant storage items is of any help to you.”

“ Just a spur of the moment thing I guess.” Arthur looked around the quaint little kitchen, with its bare brick walls, smooth tabletops and what renaissance-era cooking implements would have looked like if Earth had magic.

“Pray tell…”

“There is a little song someone I know used to sing…One of its lines spoke of packing up one’s troubles in an old kit-bag. It was a war song, and was mainly used to raise morale; I fail to place the context.—”

“ Go on…”

“ Haah, “ Arthur exhaled. “ You read me like a book. Anyway…I just thought about how big my troubles are and seeing as I’m facing insurmountable odds—”

“ I get the symbolism, human,” Aeskyre interrupted. “Nonetheless, you have a very peculiar way of looking at things.”

Perhaps settling for second best was just his way of telling himself he’d tried. Sure, learning about using Locus to create a magic bag had no bearings on his current situation. But he could always plan ahead. For instance, there was a world out there waiting to be explored, he didn't know how big.

He breathed, tasting the purity and the unbridled potency of magic in the air. Magic. Perhaps he could stop looking at what he couldn't change and do what he could. Perhaps, he had to give himself more credit than he was worth. Sure, he’d lost a few memories, so what? He would refuse to let that get him down.

Truth be told though, he wondered why he’d let himself give up the day before. It must’ve been the constant anxiety of dealing with the unknown. Now? He had somewhere to start from; a springboard so to say. Arthur could scrape together a semblance of a new normal.

“ I know a thing or two about making storage items. I could teach you some basic enchantments that any self-respecting mage should be able to.”

Arthur’s expression lit up with eagerness. Then his stomach grumbled in hangry protestations.

“I say you should have something to eat before we get started. Help yourself to my kitchen. It hasn’t seen much use but there should be ingredients around here that might yet be worthwhile. ” Aeskyre remarked. She got up from her stool and made her way to one corner of the kitchen and beckoned him closer. Arthur followed right behind her and saw that she was no longer barefoot. Either, she must have stolen some of his socks or—

“Oh, these? Magic easily replicated down to the weaving and materials. It’s practically mana cheap to copy mundane garments. I found them comfortable and couldn’t help trying them out.” She smiled. “Now, pay attention—I shall show you the way around the kitchen. Some of the enchantments here make use of the affinities we just discussed.”

Aeskyre pointed to what could have been a magical hot plate. When she touched it, Arthur felt mana being infused into it and heat started roiling off the circular heating element. She switched it off by passing her finger across another rune and then relit it again for Arthur’s benefit

By feeling his [Mana Sense] traced the first rune which symbolized heat. The second rune was not as simple as the first, the only impression he was able to glean was that it regulated and nullified mana. He noted their features for future reference.

Next Aeskyre showed him the rest of the kitchen which comprised a sink with taps made from magical rock enchanted to produce water and cupboards with preservation runes. There was even an icebox which had the most complicated runes out of all the kitchen equipment; the dominant runes there being a combination of Aer and Aqer.

Overall, the kitchen was fully stocked with all sorts of ingredients, magical and mundane, familiar and foreign. It had enough food to subsist on for years’ courtesy of the storage and preservation enchantments.

Arthur found different types of flours among which Aeskyre picked out wheat, rye and some kind of sweet tuber. There was even a bit of off-white rice-like grain which she explained was sourced from an island continent . She mentioned that she would add Eryth’s geography to his magic lessons after which, she left for the gazebo to compile some books for his perusal.

Arthur looked around the unused island type kitchen. There was nary a speck of dust on the tabletop —some type of hardwood that could have been mistaken for polished marble were it not for the grain of the tree.

Some of the kitchen implements rekindled his memory; he could recall at a glance what they were while others were foreign to him. He picked out a random bowl, spatula, a whisk and a pan. He decided that his breakfast would be something that came to him naturally instead of floundering with exotic ingredients.

From the pantry, he sourced wheat, one large off-white egg with brown mottles that was the size of his fist and some milk in a pitcher from the icebox. Unfortunately, he could not find any sugar, so he settled for honey.

However, he was happy to find a cinnamon-like spice that would flavor his batter. Fifteen minutes later he had a plate piled high with scrumptious pancakes and a mug of milk which he took to the gazebo.

He found Aeskyre lying down on a couch as she thumbed through a leather tome. He could not make heads or tails of the wording so he guessed whatever universal translator thingamajig enabled him to talk to her had yet to kick in for written script.

“Something smells good,” said Aesykre as she got up from the couch. She placed a bookmark between the pages and stretched her arms to work out the kinks in her shoulders. Then while she rubbed at her eyes and stifled a yawn, she came to the table and picked up one of the pancakes

. She eyed the golden brown crepe contemplatively and took a bite. “Golden geese eggs, Auroch cow milk, wheat and honey,”she remarked between bites. “To tell you the truth, that’s a recipe I've never tried before. What might this treat be?”

“Pancakes. I couldn’t find sugar in the pantry though, it would have been a better substitute for honey but it will have to do."

“Shoo gwood…hmm? You mentioned Sugar? That’s a tightly coveted ingredient and people seem to never get enough of it. Not that I couldn’t get it for myself but eh, it ran out with all the Valerian tea I’ve been drinking. Hmm, I haven’t been out of these caves for quite some time.”

“I’m glad you find it enjoyable,” said Arthur as he indulged in his breakfast. While he was rather iffy about the quality of the ingredients , he found his breakfast tastier than he expected. And the warm milk that accompanied his bites was very filling. After putting away the dishes, Arthur was raring to go.