Till the sun bled orange, Eiden strained his Aura Senses, feeling the world around him and conditioning himself to respond better, faster. He had to. He was going to be an Exorcist. That was a certainty in his mind as was that the sun would rise at dawn again and again.

The smell of dust and metal through his spirit’s skin alerted the young mage. Eiden rolled to the side as a pillar of stone rose from where he stood. The stone column was grey in color and half Eiden's small height, quickly bleeding away into dust and grey mist.

“That one’s new.” Said Eiden. “How much mana was that?”

“More than you could spare.” Answered Fin. “Besides, we’re done for the day. Good job, lad. You’re getting better at the Trace. That last one was more for fun, anyways.”

Eiden let out a chuckle, shaking his head at the small smile tugging at Fin’s mouth. You’re a weird one, Exorcist.

“That I am.” Said Fin.

“What? How?” Asked Eiden, confused and startled.

“Lad, I’ve been alive for longer than most trees.” Said Fin, turning around and heading towards the town of Arvenpyre. “Reading expressions becomes natural, eventually. Since I’ve always been itinerant, people are inevitable. Besides, Auras enhance whatever expression and body language you already have.”

“So, you didn’t just read my thoughts?” Shouted Eiden towards the leaving Exorcist.

Fin shook his head, waving Eiden to follow.

“Fix your Empathy and meet me at the inn.” Said Fin. Though the man talked at a normal volume, his voice carried easily all the way towards Eiden. It was undisturbed even by the sharp winter winds. He’s gotta teach me that.

Eiden smiled as he descended into his mind.

Inside the dark plane, a branch made of moss and fungi oak stood still in the air. It did not float nor ebb midair.

Do I need to enter here every time to dispel and regain my Empathy? There has to be a way to do this faster…

Eiden receded from his mind regretfully. He had wanted to regain his Empathy as fast as possible. But if he could make future reintegrations faster, then he would.

Eiden conjured the image of the broken oak branch into his thoughts. The young mage imagined it reconnecting, the oaken switch being whole once more.

Emotions flooded Eiden like a cave-in, all at once and with force, leaving the young mage stumbling to stay upright. His Empathy’s sensitivity was unbelievably heightened but slowly returned to normalcy. During the flash of reconnection, Eiden swore he felt a spike of alarm from Fin somewhere.

If it felt like having his eyes opened when Eiden first got his Empathy, then now it felt like he had grown another set of them. The two Aura Senses mixed together, covering the weaknesses of each other. The Trace allowed Eiden to sense what mana that something was made of. Empathy allowed him to feel emotions and minds like the world was a blanket with weights set upon it. With Empathy, he could simply follow where there was more weight and pressure to find another living being.

Empathy and his new-found Aura Senses mixed together, synergizing to provide Eiden better tracking. Everything had a distinct signature, even Fin. The Exorcist’s unique mana signature combined with Eiden’s ability to feel minds, enabling the young mage to feel Fin running towards him at an alarming rate.

“Lad, you okay?” Asked Fin, appearing in front of Eiden startlingly fast. “You alright?”

Fin appeared from right beside Eiden like a card appearing by sleight of hand.

“Yeah, I am. I’m fine.” Said Eiden. “Just a little dizzy. Regaining my Empathy was just a bit jarring.”

“Over-stimulus? No. It can't be.” Asked Fin, more to himself than Eiden.

“How’d you regain your Empathy?” Asked Fin. “Did you visualize the mind construct rebuilding itself?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t go into my mind as usual.” Said Eiden. “I just imagined it. It’s faster that way, and I don’t lose the sense of my surroundings.”

Fin gave him a pointed look, the Exorcist’s Aura sharpening like a blade. No, not a knife. There’s something else there. What’s that feeling?

“Sorry I worried you, Fin.” Said Eiden in an epiphany of understanding.

“Oh,” Said Fin, quickly retracting his unwieldy Aura.” Sorry about that, lad. My Aura control has a lot to be left desired, and my emotions… Anyways, sorry. I was just worried, and well, Exorcists are conditioned to become weapons themselves. So, my Aura turns like this whenever I get agitated.”

Fin sputtered hurriedly, vastly unlike his usual self. He was a calm speaker under normal circumstances, his words coming out only when he wished like his tongue was under his full control. Now, his tongue tripped over itself multiple times as he tried to relay information as quickly as possible.

“Oh, no worries. Wanna go grab some grub?” Asked Eiden, his voice tinged with hope and devoid of any harsh judgment.

“Aye, lad.” Said Fin, happy to put the topic behind them.

Eiden and Fin ate and retired to their room at the inn. For the rest of the evening until the Exorcist’s watch struck nine, Eiden was instructed in many topics, being given information on basic terms and concepts. Everywhere from the study of physics to noble etiquette south of the Break in the Box.

“So, is Alchemy just ‘chemistry with magic’?” Asked Eiden.

“Well, no. It’s a bit more complicated than that.” Answered Fin. “Alchemy is a catch-all term, so to speak. It encompasses anything from the Transmutation of Matter, magical applications in chemistry, Artificery, and even a bit of spiritualism. It’s a bit like the word science. At scholarly and academic circles, you’ll see a lot of people debating its meaning.”

“Got any more questions?” Asked Fin.

“None. About the lesson that is...” Said Eiden. “So, what about not needing sleep anymore? You said I’d not need sleep anymore. Is it some Mentalist technique?”

“I think it’s better to avoid that for now.” Said Fin carefully. “Too much strain on your mind. When you’ve stabilized enough, I’ll teach it to you. But, I will explain a bit about it.

“The technique itself didn’t originate from the Exorcist branch of the Order. Many different permutations, variations basically, of it appeared from different corners of the continent. The one most commonly used by the Order is called the Half Awake mind. It works around always having one part of the mind asleep and the other awake.

“When in combat, both halves are reintegrated, allowing an Exorcist to never need sleep. Meditation is used instead—at least two hours of the Empty Breath, and it’s like a full night of sleep. Or so they say. I’ve never actually stuck to it. Sleep is too precious, lad.”

Fin finished his explanation of the Half Awake mind with a wry grin. Eiden let out a chuckle in response.

“Alright lad, Empty Breath for a quarter-hour, then sleep.” Said Fin.

“Already?” Asked Eiden.

“I know you’re not trying to forgo sleep.” Said Fin. “You love it as much as me, and I’ve been bleeding your energy dry with Aura training. The Empty Breath bothers you that much?”

“Yeah…” Said Eiden. “It’s just so… Whatcha call it? Dull?” Seeing a nod from Fin, Eiden continued.

“It’s dull.” Said Eiden. “It’s like I’m doing nothing because, well, I am. Doing nothing, that is. It feels…”

“Counterintuitive?” Offered Fin.

“I have no idea what that is,” said Eiden, “but by your certainty in body and Aura, you’re probably on the mark.”

“Intuitive is just another word for natural or instinctive.” Said Fin. “I do know how dull it feels at first. Clearing your mind is actually the hardest thing for any Mentalist to do. It goes against most people’s instincts.

“How about this: we’ll forgo the Empty Breath just tonight. But, we’ll practice another Mentalist technique. Sounds good?”

“Yessir!” Exclaimed Eiden, doing a mock salute.

“Quit ya yapping over there!” Yelled a man through the inn’s walls.

A bang on the wall and a swear from another tenant of the inn set Eiden’s face red.

Fin flooded his Aura with aggression like oil to a fire, silencing the angry tenants.

“IT ISN’T EVEN LATE YET! YOU’RE IN A TAVERN FOR GODS’ SAKES! EXPECT SOME DAMN NOISE.”

Fin’s voice boomed like thunder in Eiden’s ears. It was the stuff of storms, sounding like the breaking of stone.

“So, where were we?” Asked the Exorcist casually as if he had not woken up half of Arvenpyre.

The Split mind technique was a hard one for Eiden to grasp. It involved ‘splitting’ so to speak, his mind in different sections. The exact mechanics of the technique were beyond him, even Fin’s explanation not breaking through to the young mage.

“Hrm. How do I explain this to you, lad?” Said Fin aloud, pensive on his next step.

“The mind is not one entirely coherent thing. Not exactly anyway. It’s a lot of different pieces working together, but not one entire thing. It’s made both from flesh and spirit. And as such, a good deal of it can be manipulated through magic and Mentalist techniques.

“The word ‘mind’ both encompasses you as a mental being in your entirety and your faculties. It’s your intelligence, consciousness, awareness, perception, and you.

“The Split mind technique works by splitting the surface parts of your mind while still leaving pieces connected beneath. These split parts are known as Shards; they allow you to consciously focus on different things at the same time. The problem lies in that you need more energy to do so, and that the Shards are less effective than a whole mind.

“Using this technique allows you to do more than one thing at once, but requires Mental mana and at your stage of Concrescence, body fat and food. You’re already skin and bones and all, slowly gaining a bit more bulk, but still. A spade’s a spade. You’d be turned into a skeleton just attempting the Split mind. And, you won’t be able to split your mind in more than two, and you’ll be objectively ‘dumber’ than usual.”

“Why would I want to be dumber?” Asked Eiden. “I get the gist of how it works, but not why I should use it. It sounds terrible to lose my wits in a sword fight. Or to turn into a skeleton.”

“You won't be actually attempting the technique in earnest. This'll prepare you for it." Said Fin. "Gods, my mentor was right: skillful magic is made from foundations upon foundations wrapped around foundations. There's always something to do to prepare or gain skill in a certain magical craft. Thousands of little tweaks. That's the reason why the tradition of mentor and disciple is so common in our craft. Knowledge is built upon during many lifetimes and mentorships. Self-taught mages break through the status quo, expanding the perceived limits of magic. But those with mentors are the ones that hone the craft.

"Think of it as the difference between forging a blade and sharpening it. One is done by creating, and the other by removing the dull excess until it's ready for battle."

To Eiden, the Exorcist and Fin were two remarkably different personalities living in the same body. One was a stern-faced man ready for battle and whose spirit was honed to a razor's edge. The other was a curious and scholarly man dedicated to magic and all its intricacies. When Fin relaxed, the cold exterior melted away under the warm passion underneath. His words extended in length, and his vocabulary changed.

"But anyway," Said Fin, "There are other reasons for using the technique when you're ready.

"The first reason is that the Split mind allows you to become much more mana-efficient.” Said Fin. “Something quite crucial for you as your body Etherealizes. Your mana reserves get smaller and smaller as your Corporeal body turns Ethereal. You’ll need to use mana conservatively for now. However, there are a few techniques I will be teaching you tomorrow that’ll remedy that directly.

“The second reason is that you’ll also be able to more efficiently change Aura Senses without the backlash of doing so outside the mind. The confusion and strain would be placed upon a Shard instead of you. You'll sometimes want only one Aura Sense instead of all of them. Aura Senses are costly on the mind, needing both more mundane sustenance and mind mana. Besides bettering your mind mana economy, you'll be able to heighten a specific Aura Sense, routing Shards of the mind to it.

“And lastly, consider this another way to prepare your mind for the Arcane Sight. The Sight is like a boulder you need to lift, and the mind is a muscle. You’ll need to train it and gain more bulk to even attempt to raise the boulder.

“Get it now? And besides, it’s much more involved than the Empty Breath.” Finished Fin.

“Aye, I do." Said Eiden. "Where do we start?”

The Exorcist turned pensive for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing until he found his answer.

“This won’t require you to enter your mind.” Said Fin. “Imaginating it will do for now.

“Close your eyes. Imagine a grey stone, it’s surface smooth and weathered. Good, now visualize three doors. Hide that stone behind one of those doors, and try to find it. You have two tries each before you lose.”

“Ok.” Said Eiden.

The young mage imagined himself hiding the stone and guessing which door it was behind. Sometimes he lost, sometimes he won.

Eiden opened his eyes, looking pointedly at Fin.

“How is this supposed to split my mind?”

“This isn’t supposed to split it." Said Fin. "Again, this is another foundation that needs to be done. You’re training to get a feel for your Sleeping mind, the part that shifts beneath the waters of your consciousness. This is the part that connects you to your body, and that ultimately creates you.”

“How in the Nine Hells does my mind create me?” Asked Eiden, perplexed.

“You are not your mind, but a fabrication of it.” Said Fin a matter-factly.

“Wait, what? How?” Asked Eiden.

Fin closed his eyes, his Aura shifting. The Exorcist’s Auric signature utterly vanished, and Eiden’s Empathy came into contact with something else entirely. The Trace detected nothing from the Exorcist's Aura, or perhaps something not even it could begin to comprehend.

“Who are you?” Asked the Exorcist, his voice taking an odd resonance like it was made of multiple voices subtly sewn together so that they were one. Amidst the different words and utterances, the voices spilled out like carrying water in a bucket from the well. The inevitable droplets subtly displaying that the voices were many and not one.

The Exorcist’s Aura put weight upon his surroundings like a monolith of stone, threatening to squash both mind and spirit. The mana in Eiden’s surroundings smelled like fear and felt like terror to the Trace.

“Are you your body? The muscles that move your limbs and organs that keep you alive?”

Though Eiden felt every hair on his body shoot upright, cold sweat bead on his clammy skin and his body trembling, he answered. The answer itself surprised him. And so did his voice. Instead of fear, there was exhilaration behind it. Like a hound hungry for a treat or a Doomlust addict waiting for the next release, he answered.

“No.”

“Are you your spirit? The incorporeal part that connects you to your soul?”

“No.”

“Are you your mind or your soul?”

“...”

I don't know. Though Eiden wanted to speak his thoughts aloud, uttering more than one-syllable words was impossible in his current state.

The lack of answer seemed to appease the Exorcist, his Aura retracting and the otherworldly edge disappearing.

Throughout the exchange, Eiden had felt fear, the likes of which he had never felt before. Even the Vampire he had encountered on that fateful night had not been as strong as the presence that had inhabited Fin’s voice and Aura. The fear left Eiden with exhilaration in its wake, confounding the young mage as to why he felt so alive after being sure he would die. Why did I feel so peaceful back then but exhilarated now? What's changed?

“You are neither and both." Answered Fin, dragging Eiden away from his existential curiosity. The Exorcist's voice took on the tone of Eiden’s mentor and not the presence that had been there before, leaving behind a lack of something in the air.

"The soul serves to transport and distill the essence of a lifetime. The mind at its core is an automaton of sorts, having no will other than that which it was made for: survival.

“You and your personality are something else. Constructs created by your mind, a thing of both flesh and spirit. The soul is the essence of a person, but not that person and yet that person at the same time. A mirror’s image is not a person but a reflection, and yet it records. It is memory, still being core to one’s personality, but not a person.

“If you were to lose all of your memories, would you still be Eiden?

“Perhaps, perhaps not. Identity is an illusion, lad. The same way physical cold is a fabrication of the senses, so is identity. That doesn’t mean it has no value…

“Anyhow, lad. Impromptu lesson aside, let us continue in the morning that took a lot out of me.”

“Fin?” Asked Eiden, his voice trembling with the vestiges of fear and fire of exhilaration.

“Yes, lad?” Quested Fin, his voice tired and a yawn forming upon his face.

“What was behind that voice?”

“My soul, lad.” Said Fin a matter-factly. “Go, try and catch some sleep. I may be out for a day or…two...”

The Exorcist collapsed onto the bed, sound asleep.

“Hell take me. That was damn interesting.” Said Eiden into the night, his voice returning to him in full.

Eiden chased sleep, but alas, it was not to be. His mind was too awake, too alive for rest. And so, amidst the darkness and ingrained habits of poverty, the young mage did not light any candles. Instead, Eiden played against his mind, guessing which door held the elusive stone.

At some point, Eiden realized he controlled where the stone was, and yet he did not. Something else shared with him his imagination. In glimpses, Eiden could feel it, like a stirring beneath the surface of his mind. Whatever it was, it felt ancient and sturdy, like the oak’s roots reaching into the earth.

The visualization became tedious, but Eiden could still not sleep, so he switched his practice. Eiden quested outwards with his Aura Senses and Empathy. Can I unlock another Aura Sense by myself? Why not? How hard could it be?

Very hard. Simply observing ambient mana with his Aura was not enough. What happens if I remove all my Aura Senses, Empathy included?

Eiden drew back into his mind.

I need another construct for my current Aura Sense.

Aurai bled from the grey waters of his mind like smoke, coalescing into another amorphous mass as the last. It was white in color as Eiden’s Empathy, but it lacked the jumping arcs of lightning. The young mage could still feel some intelligence emanating from it, but nothing close to his Empathy.

The Trace. What are you?

The Aurai did not quest outwards. It stood surprisingly still without needing to expand to sense its surroundings.

How do you sense mana? I’ll need to understand it before giving it a visual form. I need to see it outside my mind.

Eiden withdrew from his mind, coming back to the real night.

The young mage sat atop his bed, legs crossed in a meditative posture.

Eiden placed his Awareness upon his Aura. His sense of smell had been used as a medium for the Trace, allowing his mind to comprehend what his spirit did.

mana had to touch his Aura for it to register to the Trace. Huh, so this functions remarkably like actual smell—if I’m downwind Ethereally, my Trace won’t pick anything up.

Each brush of ambient mana sent a different smell and taste to Eiden. Eiden’s Aura at rest was a poor conductor for the Trace, but when concentrated into a Shroud, it was much more sensitive.

Time to head back in.

Inside his mind, Eiden summoned the Trace. The mass of Aurai stood relatively still, like a bobbing weight set upon water and tied to stone. It could ebb and flow, but not move.

The Trace is receptiveness. That’s the word. By The Seven, those books are giving me more words. That is surprisingly convenient… Focus. I need to practice the Empty Breath more. Getting side-tracked here is too easy.

The buoying of the Aurai reminded Eiden of water and ships. Water is receptive. It changes based on what’s in it and even reflects light. The Trace is water.

A shallow and wide bowl of water appeared atop Eiden’s hand. The bowl itself was made of wood, perhaps oak, perhaps some other. The young mage poured the water out into the grey abyss, and bowl went with it. The wooden craftsmanship melted into the water, disappearing with it into the dark of the mind.

Eiden summoned Empathy in the form of a branch, snapping it in twain.

The young mage opened his eyes once more. The world was bleak and devoid of vibrancy without both the Trace and Empathy, like the color was sapped away from it.

In the two senses’ place was a new and more subtle one. With his Aura at rest, Eiden felt the slow push and pull of ambient mana on his skin like an invisible tide. With a Shroud, the tide became harder to grasp, but sounds seemed to amplify, more so now that the night was in full. All things became loud during the dark. And with the Shroud and new Aura senses, sounds became screams.

The world around Eiden was like a sea of sounds and sensations. In constant flux, the Ethereal Tide ebbed and flowed like the child of wind and sea. The Flux. Fin was right. That’s a damn good name for it. Everything shifts like waves and wind, everchanging in patterns.

Eiden imagined the mind construct for the Trace, visualizing himself filling a wooden bowl from clear water like the drink of the Gods. The world around Eiden came in full, tastes and smells from the clashing mana types coming in like a flood. The backlash from reintegrating with mere visualization was like Eiden had spun around for a few eternities. Thankfully, the young mage kept his food inside. No amount of nausea would make him vomit. Doing so in the tunnels would mean another day of scavenging on an empty stomach. Or, Gods forbid, having either Bert or Lisa scavenge for him…

Eiden dismissed the unpleasant, bittersweet from his thoughts with a shake of his head. The shake exacerbated his nausea, tightening an invisible band around his skull. It was a headache reserved only for the chills or worse.

Gotta do the next one inside my mind. Don't wanna do that again.

Eiden withdrew into the grey waters, summoning the Branch of Empathy and healing it.

The young mage opened his eyes to a wholly new world. It was remarkably like the last, but much more. The Flux and the Trace mixed, allowing Eiden to sense when the Ethereal Tide was downwind and giving him an even better image of the different mana aspects around him. The Wind and Water mana that dominated the air had their own smells and tastes along with Auric sensations. The Wind mana felt like wind, serving to move the Ethereal Tide together with Water mana.

The Flux combined with Eiden’s Empathy, allowing him to sense other Auras like never before. The young mage drew on his spirit, enhancing the production of Aurai. And put a leash around his Aura, preventing the loss of Aurai. Tendrils of white mist emanated from Eiden, questing outwards toward Fin.

Eiden could feel Fin’s Aura like skin against skin. He quickly withdrew his own, seeing that perhaps it was a bit too invading to do such a thing on someone unconscious.

Eiden started to feel the first bit of fatigue on his stamina as his mana started to dip. I hate using this thing, but better to train now than regret it later. I have to learn to control it.

Eiden focused on his Ethereal Stomach, a sea of incorporeal leeches encased in a metal prison made from the steel of his heart. Eiden ever so slightly willed the prison’s binding to come undone in one specific place, exactly where his navel and Center overlapped.

The leeches extended their vile mana outwards into Eiden’s Aura, mixing with his own and tinging it with the copper smell of blood. These new Aura Senses are too useful to not unlock. Without them, I’d not even know that my Center is primarily made of Blood mana.

The tendril of red did not appear to normal sight. But, the presence of it was blatant upon Eiden’s magical Senses. Though he could not see it, Eiden was sure it was the same color as the stuff that flowed through his veins.

The Blood mana sent a shiver through Eiden’s skin, and sent a wave of hunger to Eiden’s Empathy. Last time, I had nothing to control how much my Center bled into my Aura. It must’ve felt like a tidal wave to the people at the inn. Even now, it feels monstrous...

The vermillion tendril sucked the air dry of mana, causing a vortex to appear in the Ethereal Tide. Though Eiden could not see it with his eyes, he sensed the disturbance with the Flux.

After a minute of harvesting, Eiden bound the leeches back into their prison, cutting off the tendril and sending it to wither in the Ethereal Tide. And then, the young mage dismissed his Auric Shroud, absorbing it back into his skin.

Eiden dropped back down to lay on his cot. He felt sweaty and clammy, and yet the exhilaration stayed glued to his being. I’ve never felt so alive. Being so close to, well, feeling like I was going to die... It made me feel the opposite. Why then did I turn so peaceful and complacent on that night? Why did I accept it? Have I changed… Ha, of course, I have. Just a little bit of power, and you feel safe. But can this really protect me? Can I really kill one of those…Things?

Eiden got up from his cot in a burst, donning his coat and boots. He made his way to the tiny balcony, looking down towards the dark streets below.

The young mage imagined the mind construct for his Vibrationkinesis Arcanum. He pulled at the mental form, feeling it like a strand interwoven between his mind, spirit, and soul. The thread weaved through his skull, thousands of connections melding with his spirit and mind.

The thread itself originated from his Gate, the nebulous bit of spirit at the back of his neck where it met the skull.

Danger heightens how fast I grasp something. Fin said as much with today’s training. The more danger and risk, the quicker my magic progresses. Gods, I hope this works.

Eiden jumped, pulling at the Arcane Thread. The young mage imagined a gust of wind catching him as he fell. Neither his spirit nor soul responded in kind, letting him continue his fall to the marble streets below.

Eiden’s eyes bulged, time slowing as his inexorable doom inched closer. And closer. Terror gripped his heart, sending a throb like the shattering of stone in his chest. In the midst of terror and fear, Eiden pulled at the Arcane Thread, pleading for help.

The Arcanum that answered was not the one he prayed to. Not the natural thing that had been forged by his meager lifetime. No, it was the one hastily molded from a night drenched in despair. A night that left a boy yearning for the power to keep back the night. The night, in its insidious display of irony, gave him what he desired.

Iron wrought from the blood of monsters to slay them in a vengeful wake.

The young mage’s spirit shifted like a flash flood to a river at the dawn of spring. His Ethereal Self flooding with something not from this world.

Eiden’s Vampiric hand extended outwards, black claws glittering under the moonlight like black ruby spikes. Black chains ripped themselves outwards from his flesh, their points bladed with daggers. Black dust bled from his wounds, coalescing and coiling into the black iron links. The chains dug into the building opposite the inn, swinging Eiden forward into an alleyway.

Eiden swung from the chains into a dead-end alley, the chains turning into black dust and vanishing into the night. The Blood mage shot his Vampiric claws outward, shooting another coil of chain at the dead-end wall, and pulled.

Eiden shot forward over the wall, his Vampiric hand propelling him with strength he did not know he possessed. His chains sent him over the building, filling the air with the crackle of an iron whip. The chains turned to dust, disappearing as Eiden fell atop a slanted roof, his momentum still carrying him downwards toward the ground.

The Blood mage dug his claws into the roof, stopping his sloped descent immediately. The stop left him jarred, his awareness blinking into darkness for a moment. His eyes shot back open immediately. Eiden breathed heavily, his chest rising and falling like bellows to a forge.

Gods, that was stupid! How do I get back down? Shit, those are the boots from the guards.

In the dark of night, sounds carried far. The pounding of feet fell over Eiden like the thunder of Oriath himself.

Eiden drowned himself in his Aura Senses, spreading his awareness as far as it could go.

Empathy detected minds coming far from the northern part of Arvenpyre.

The Flux sensed disturbances in the flow of the Ethereal tide like storm upon sea.

And the Trace sent a small taste of acrid smoke to Eiden.

magic. Fire mana, and according to the Flux, enough to burn down a village. It being downwind is the only reason I can probably even sense it so far away. Time to make myself sparse. No, wait. Did I leave some Blood mana behind? They can trace that back to me.

Eiden poured all of his awareness on the Trace, looking for the tell-tale taste of copper. The air was wrung heavy with it, sending Eiden’s mouth aflood with saliva, and his Ethereal stomach writhing with anticipation. Well, fuck. Hell, take me.

With trepidation, Eiden released his bed of leeches from its steel prison. Tendrils of red bled out into the air from Eiden’s navel, passing through his clothes as if they were made of mere water.

The tendrils, in turn, sprouted numerous smaller and smaller branches, seeking out the precious vermillion amidst the night. When the red coils started to heavily distort the Ethereal tide, Eiden pulled them back in. The young mage felt sick with the action like he had sucked back his guts through his navel. Hell, take me. I won’t be forgetting that any time soon.

Eiden released his claws from the slanted tile roof, sliding down. Eiden grabbed the ledge as soon as his hand passed over it, dangling by the edge of the roof. Eiden tried shooting the black chains that had saved him last time, but they did not answer his call. Of course, reflexive magic is only on reflex. Godsdamnit! Fin already told me as much.

Thankfully there was a balcony below. Eiden let go of the ledge with his claws, catching the balcony wall below with both hands. Eiden let go for a final time, falling to the ground and promptly rolling to disperse the force.

Back to the inn?

Eiden strained all of his senses, magical or otherwise.

The Ethereal tide was more of a storm.

The Trace sent the smell of burning green wood.

And Empathy felt multiple minds closing in.

They’re too close. I don’t know how to hide my magical presence. Can’t go back—they’ll sense me.

Eiden quickly darted through the dark streets, using his Aura Senses to feel the world around him like a blind man with thousands of hands. Using his urchin’s wit, Eiden expertly weaved through the town, reaching for one of the many hidden entrances to the tunnels. And so, hopping into the tunnels, the Blood mage disappeared from Arvenpyre above.