… Earlier…

Mirio walked out into the dark of the night with a blade at his side, the door of the house shutting behind him. It was when others were at their quietest that Mirio felt he could train in peace. He walked towards the outskirts by following the dirt road towards the farmlands on the eastern side of the village.

He spiralled under the starlight and the shine of the moon, occasionally walking backwards in order to take advantage of the view. He let out his hands and upturned his palms as if to absorb the starlight. The cool flicker of the wind against his skin felt like the soft touch of silk.

He then turned towards the forests and picked up his pace into a jog, passing by the farms and entering the dark woodlands. He darted between trees, and practiced blocks and deflections with his arms as he ran as if he was dodging arrows.

Before long he arrived at a lake amidst the woodlands. He stopped and took in a large breath as the stars twinkled above. He took off his sword and placed it on a boulder nearby and picked up a handful of pebbles from the shoreline. He gripped them into his right hand and cast a sigil with two fingers of his left, and whispered “illuminate”. A bright light shone from each of the stones, each several times brighter than a lantern. He then walked in a wide circle and placed them down.

“The foundations of magic are as follows. There are three root classes of magic; the arcane, the innate, and the divine. The arcane is the realm of the wizard, the dangerous weaponisation of magical power. The innate is the realm of the sorcerer and the talent seekers, its focus is on the constant use of magic within day to day life. The divine is the realm of the forest folk, clerics, and paladins, crafted into the purpose of healing, protection, and smiting evil magical creatures. Of these classes there are further divisions known as schools of magic which allow further specialisation. But specialisation is a double edged sword, while your magical power is enhanced, you can no longer perform the spells of more general purpose. Aside from classes of magic, and the schools of magic, there are the tiers of magical power. The lowest tier is known as the primordial tier, it is of little use to most casters and its effects on the world around us are barely noticeable to most. Some say the primordial tier produces a faint aura around people with strong charisma, or produces the eerie feeling of being watched. The next tier is known as the cantrips, which is split into two kinds; the continua cantrips which can be cast without restriction, and the finita cantrips which can be cast an amount proportional to your maximum mana. The understanding of how many finita cantrips one can use is quite complex and some magicians spend their life to study it. The finita cantrips are suited for battle and take little to no time to cast, enabling them to grant tactical advantage in mage battles, while the continua cantrips require several minutes to draw upon the surrounding magical sources. Then there are the three tiers of magic that follow, sometimes called the trinity. The lowest tier of the trinity consists of three levels of general purpose spells, those with low, medium, and high power output. The middle tier consists of spells only accessible by specialisation, these are also separated into three levels of low, medium, and high power output. And finally the highest tier of magic is known as the stratum unica, spells that derive from one feature of a school and are mastered to a point of ultimate exhaustion. The stratum unica doesn’t have three levels like the other tiers, as it is dependent on the magic user how powerful these spells become, but it is said that spells of this caliber can influence the destiny of entire nations.”

Mirio pulled out a roll of parchment and a piece of charcoal and drew on it a circle.

Mirio “The old hermit said that classes of magic don’t work with each other well because they have limited translations into one another, so while many cantrips could be shared between magical classes, as you delve further into the magical class, only a few spells are constant across disciplines. And the further each class of magic is specialised in, the more exclusive its spells and its functionality becomes until the divine, arcane, and innate classes of magic perform entirely separate tasks with no overlap at all”

Mirio drew three circles on the parchment, and then divided each circle into a further three divisions. “If you divide the three classes of magic into three types of schools; like weaponry, defense, and support, all schools of magic that follow then roughly fall into those groups but in different ways. If you look at all this logically, this means that as magic power increases in its tier, the size of magical ability overall being focused, decreases. And to me this implies two things; that the frequency of magic increases as it is compressed which intensifies its power, and depending on the type of magic being compressed this high frequency requires a very different approach to contain its explosive power”

Mirio then drew three squares around each of the larger circles.

“The hermit also told me that different classes of magic call upon different inherent strengths and attributes of the user. The Arcane arts call upon intellect and the ability to logically deduce the correct answer from the context of a situation. The Innate arts call upon charisma and the ability to creatively induce the generalisable function of a magical concept from intuitions and abstract visualisation. And the Divine arts calls upon wisdom, which rely upon the ability to balance chaotic elements into harmony so they can be analysed and better understood”

Mirio pondered for a moment as he looked at the diagram, “He also told me that each separate class of magic is connected to a different pool of mana, however, it was seen as impossible to draw from all pools of mana due to the instability of magical energy and its impact on the psyche. He said that it was as though each pool spoke an entirely different language, and that the further one understood one type of mana, the more the other sounded like madness to the soul”

“I already know how to cast light from the arcane pool of magic, but can I alter the spell and cast it from the innate or divine pools of magic? If I could, I might be able to better understand the language of these mana pools, and as an added benefit if I can tolerate the dissonance between casting resources I might be able to cast more cantrip finita spells in battle. And who knows, if I can find a universal language that speaks to all three mana pools it might also be possible one day to specialise in all schools of magic. Or even generate multiple stratum unica”

Mirio knew that what he was talking about was viewed as absurd in the magic schools. It was seen as hard to develop even one school of magic, let alone two. And the more one spread their studies the further restricted their magic would become. This was known as the boulder problem, where if you try to push a boulder up a hill, if you leave it to push another boulder up another hill, both boulders will eventually end up at the bottom.

“It might seem impossible to others. But if there is a universal magical language somewhere that can translate all classes of magic into each other, then there should be a way to expand the amount of cantrip finita one can cast, by drawing from each separate attribute… And if one could use all forms of magic it might also be possible to discover that magical resources can be drawn from the constitution, dexterity, and strength of a user as well”

Mirio didn’t think about these theories with the purpose of becoming an all powerful wielder of magic. Just the opposite, he just wanted to understand what magic actually was at its core. And to do that he might have to go against what was commonly taught in order to find out fact from fiction on his own terms. In other words, he just wanted a stronger base to generate his understanding from, not to reach higher than anyone ever had before.

Mirio placed down the parchment just outside the circle, “I will now attempt to draw from the divine pool of magic as the paladins do”.

“A paladin’s light, does not come from the deduction of cause and effect, it breathes forth from harnessing the chaos, and sensing within it the patterns that gather. Starting in many hues, of blue, red, and green, and the wild array of all the intensities and mixes of dark and light, they come together to make an image of one pure and similar truth… Divine light!”

Mirio spread his fingers out in all directions, and then swept them around his body in large arcs before closing his fingers into two surfaces.

“There it is!”

Mirio suddenly spread his fingers again and gripped down on a central sphere between both of his hands.

“Haaaaaa!!!” a wild wind began to stir amidst the stones, and threads of light began to travel up through the ground into his legs and channel their way through his body like vines. The light trickled forth from his fingertips and pooled into the central orb.

Mirio kept his focus disciplined and fierce, and continued to channel the energy until the last drop of light flicked into the orb. He then slowly opened his eyes and observed the light with a careful gaze.

“Is this really divine light? Or just another way to produce the arcane?”

Mirio set down the orb, and then lifted two fingers of his left hand, “If it was arcane energy I should only have one more spell left, if it is divine, I should have two”

Mirio drew the arcane glyph for light and shot it over the lake. He then looked around for a moment, and grasped onto his sword drawing it from its sheath. He then drew an arcane glyph upon the blade.

“Illuminate”

VWOOM!

The light of the blade shone brightly, and it was in that moment Mirio realised, there may indeed be weight behind the theory of a universal magical field drawing from the attributes of a user.

“What if magic could express every part of a person’s character, what if it wasn’t just restrained to mana like we are trained. I am sure it is true”

Mirio admired the light reflections in the water for a moment and sat down on the boulder. He then clutched his head, “but my head hurts”. Mirio spun his sword and then slid it back into its sheath, he then snapped his fingers and shut off each of the light spells.

“I’ll just have to start slow and steady, develop some divine spells, and carefully watch how my body reacts to the strain”

…

Present Day

The captain threw down a spark rock which stirred up a cloud of smoke that obscured the arena.

Crowd: “What?! I can’t see”, “How are we meant to determine how he fights through smoke”

Mirio swiped his sword across his body with force and swept some of the smoke to the side. The captain’s eyes shone out from the smoke, and the wind that Mirio had caused with his sword swipe only cleared a meter in front of him. The captain’s attack was ruthless in its efficiency as several pierces and slashes leapt out from the smokescreen. Mirio could barely react in time, and slipped and twisted his body as fast as he could. The captain’s blade sliced neatly into the superficial layers of Mirio’s skin, creating lines of red across his face, neck and hands.

CLUNK, CLUNK, TING!

A slashing blow struck hard against Mirio’s mage armor, then followed by another from the other side. He could barely react in time to the third, and met sword to sword with the captain. He threw back his left hand, and created a billow of wind which cast away the smoke behind him and across half of the arena.

Crowd: “Ah I can see again, but only half of the arena”, “Look, the young lad has a cut on his face, the Captain must have got him”, “The captain’s eyes are glowing, does that mean he can see in the smoke?”, “I hear he has infravision from his mother’s side, her being a half elf and all, he can probably see Mirio’s heat”

Mirio smiled, “weren’t you the one who said you shouldn’t always rely on magic?”

Captain, “I never said your enemies wouldn’t come prepared”

Mirio, “Well, as luck would have it, I know how to prepare myself”

The Captain twitched his eyebrow and redirected his eyes *what does he have in his other hand*

Mirio’s hand quickly shot forward, his palm opening, and a spray of dirt and grit shot towards the Captain’s eyes. The captain turned his face to avoid being blinded, and as he did Mirio brought his rear leg around from behind and spun in a sweep to the Captain’s legs, throwing him to the ground. Mirio then chased up by spinning his sword, and plunging down quickly towards the captain. But the captain rolled to the side of the blow and kicked twice into Mirio’s lead leg and scrambled back into the smoke where he regrouped.

Mirio stepped back two steps from the smoke, “what now old man, you can’t stay in the smoke forever, and as soon as you appear I will easily be able to spot you and react”

The captain stepped out of the smoke with composure, “I don’t need to hide”.

He then flung yet another of his marbles, this time right at Mirio’s blade. Mirio slashed at it to deflect it to the side, but as his sword made contact tendrils of lightning sprung forth, travelling through his blade. Mirio only had an instant to react and released his blade. The captain quickly followed up and struck Mirio’s runesword flinging it outside the arena. And then followed with a flurry of slashes and pierces.

Mirio was forced to deflect each slash with the metal plates on his vambraces, he then slipped and twisted out of the way of each piercing blow. He then reached forward and gripped onto the base of the Captain’s blade. The captain, twisted the blade, and then brought the hilt forwards and struck Mirio under the chin with the pummel and followed with a sidekick which Mirio barely had time to cross block, causing him to skid back out of range.

Captain, “Now you are unarmed against an opponent with superior reach, you can’t possibly withstand the next assault”

Mirio, “True, it doesn’t look good, I definitely shouldn’t have lost my blade there, and you evaded my attempt to equalise when I grabbed your sword, you even landed a nice blow to my chin as you did”

Captain, “Moves of desperation can be easily countered, you know this”

Mirio, “I guess I need to take a breather then, collect my thoughts”

Captain, “I won’t let you!”

The captain rushed forward at incredible speed.

DIVINE LIGHT!

A massive burst of magical energy exploded directly in the Captain’s field of view, his irises constricted tightly and he had to squint to reduce the bright glare. Amidst the light a silhouette began to appear, and from it an elbow driving forwards at incredible speed.

CRACK!

Mirio drove the entire weight of his body through the air with a leaping elbow, and deflected the captain’s sword to the side with his other hand, connecting his elbow to the temple of the Captain’s helmet, landing with a loud smack and knocking the helmet flying off. Mirio’s hands then latched on behind the Captain’s head. The captain gritted his teeth, and cross blocked below. Mirio’s knee thudded hard against his metal gauntlets. The captain then lunged his weight forwards to tackle Mirio, but Mirio’s body spun off to the side and around his arm. Mirio kicked hard into the back of the Captain’s knee and drove him to the ground.

He then swiftly dived across to the Captain’s dropped sword and picked it up before rolling back up to his feet.

Captain *Did he just provoke me to attack knowing he had another spell up his sleeve… Was I being sloppy? Or was I rushing to end the fight quickly? No, against any other opponent they would have run out of tricks by now it made sense to try and finish it there and then*

Captain “Mirio, it seems you always find a way to dig deeper than your opponent, I will have to ask you how you do that some time”

Mirio, “C’mon don’t tell me you’ve given up the fight already”

Captain, “Ha, are you kidding me I could do this all day”

Crowd: “Whoa, the kid turned it around”, “He really got the best of the captain with that counter attack”, “That blast of light reminded me of Yara’s from the starlight adventuring band that help us during the Harvest festival time”, “No doubting it, that was the kind of light a Paladin conjures”, “Wait, is he an acolyte and a Paladin”, “Incredible”

Mirio, “Let me act a little arrogant for a moment” he said just before he tossed the Captain’s sword out of the ring. It clashed to the ground and rolled out of the arena with a clink and a clank. He then drew up his fists and drew his elbows back tight into his body.

Captain, “Mercy is a mistake!” the Captain said as tossing his third marble.

Mirio, “SHIELD!”

VWOM

A blue shield shot up in a sphere around Mirio and the marble exploded violently against its borders. Trails of smoke drifted around Mirio as he stepped forwards towards the Captain.

The captain struck forwards with a stinging jab. But Mirio twisted his head a little to the side, and twisted his wrist in a small motion and deflected the blow effortlessly. His hands then thrust forwards and gripped onto the armpits of the full plate. He spun in tightly towards the Captain and created a K like stance, and drove the Captain over his hip and hard into the ground. He then pinned his forearm against the Captain’s face and ground it into the dirt. He swung his leg over the Captain’s hips and took a mounted position.

Mirio, “Do you want to call it? Or take your chances from here”

Captain, “No, I’m good, you certainly are strong”

Mirio sighed and then lifted his body off of the Captain’s and stepped back. The Captain dusted himself off and then smoothed one of his hands underneath his plate armor. In an instant he lunged forwards at Mirio, a deep focus in his eyes, and a seriousness to his attack that had not been there before.

Mirio lifted an elbow and deflected the blow to the side, and then swept with a kick to the Captain’s knee, followed by three razor fast strikes to the face, and a booming kick that tossed the Captain half way across the arena back into the smoke.

The sound of a pebble striking the ground was followed by smoke bursting forth from the cloud that was already there. In a split second the arena was obscured once more.

Crowd: “Wait, what is happening, I thought it was over”, “No he didn’t say he had won, just that he was strong”, “That is a dirty trick, as you’d expect from a griselled old bastard”, “No fair!”, “My my, the child still dodged such a crafty blow”

Mirio, “How many of those damn marbles do you have”

Captain, “Plenty”

Mirio began to sense a dark aura within the smoke, a feeling similar to his first memories in life began to shroud all around him as the intensity of the fight grew. His vision began to blur as a dark sense within his mind took over.

He could see moving shadows, shifting, and blurring all around him. And amidst these shadows, a subtle stream of energy flowing through the smoke. He didn’t know how he was seeing what he was, but he had a powerful impulse to lift his left arm in the direction of the stream of energy.

CLUNK

His raised arm deflected the Captain’s blow. He then sensed another movement of energy between the shadows like a flicker of candle flame. He reached out his hand and gripped it, taking hold of the captain’s fist.

A gust blew through the training field and blasted away the smoke, to reveal Mirio holding the fist of the Captain, and sticking out from it was a razor sharp blade.

Captain “How. Did. You. See. My. ATTACK!”

Mirio twisted the Captain’s wrist and struck with a chop to the Captain’s neck, forcing the dagger the fling free. He then stepped forwards fast with three rapid steps, and gripped the throat of the Captain. The Captain, aggressively shook, and threw himself about in a desperate rage like a cornered animal. Mirio’s resolve however was absolute and his grip only tightened, the firmness of his arm tightening. He walked the Captain to the side of the ring, and then with one last thrust, tossed him backwards and out of the ring.

The Tower jumped to his feet, “YEAH! There you go! Might is right!”

Dereo, who was chewing on a toothpick pulled it from his mouth to remark, “How the shit”

Darius, “Remarkable”

The crowd was silent for a moment, absorbing what had just happened. Mirio stood with an intense gaze, smoke streaming in ribbons around him. His stance looked like that of a grand statue that stood over the entire training grounds. His resolve was absolute, and unshakeable.

Captain, *Incredible, that resolve he has, it flows unbelievably deep. Is this the true power of his talent. Is this the kind of power practice and experience alone can never truly attain*

Crowd: “ROAAAR!”, “THAT KID IS INCREDIBLE!”, “WOW WOW WOW!”, “HE BLEW THE CAPTAIN AWAY!”, “That ain’t no kid! That is a warrior through and through!”, “YES HE PASSES, PLEASE MAKE HIM A GUARD TO PROTECT OUR VILLAGE!!!”

The Captain stood to his feet and didn’t worry to brush off the dirt, or wipe off any of his blood. He rose with pride in his eyes, and a deep resolve in his voice.

“The trial is over! All who witnessed this here today can attest to the fact this fighter, is the strongest of us and more than worthy of entering the guard”

Crowd: “YESSSSSSSS!!!”, “Yes yes yes!”, “I can’t believe it! I can’t wait to tell everyone! This was incredible!”

Mirio started to realise something about him had been revealed during the fight that he ought not to show so readily. He recomposed himself and dissolved the dark shadows that were surrounding him. His demeanor shifted from dominant to appreciative and humble.

He smiled with a big grin, “Thanks everybody!”

Darius, looked over at the runesword in the dirt, “Gah, I hope it doesn’t have scratches”, he scurried over to it and picked it up to inspect it closely with one bulging eye, “Hrmm, a magical film surrounds it, residual energy maybe from the fight?”. He relaxed his shoulders in relief and sighed “Oh good, no scratches”

Darius “Oi, Mirio! What were you doing losing your sword like that! I didn’t make it for you so it could just be thrown away, what if someone stole it and used it against you, or if there was more than one attacker, BE MORE MINDFUL!”

Mirio flinched like a lightning bolt struck him on the bridge of his shoulders, “Ah, sorry Darius! I’ll be more careful next time I promise!”

Darius, “You better! I put my heart and soul into this sword DAMMIT!”

Sierra heard a commotion from the street and moved through the forge to the curtain at the back and peeked through, “Is that… Mirio!”. She then looked at Darius who was continuing to yell at Mirio and chuckled, “He has him really riled up, haha” she smiled and then closed the curtain and looked around the shop inquisitively.

Darius a few minutes later stormed back into the shop, “Ah sorry miss, I was away watching the trial by combat, I hope you weren’t waiting long”

Sierra, “Oh no, I just got here. Did you say trial by combat?”

Darius, “Oh, not one for criminals and the like, this one was for the right to forgo the age restriction placed on the guard, one of the trainees just passed the test and became the youngest man in village history to become one of the guard”

Sierra, “Wow, really! Is he called Mirio?”

Darius, “Yes, that is him, do you know him miss?”

Sierra, “Oh no, not really. I mean I wouldn’t say I know him exactly. Not yet anyway”

Darius looked at her with a squinted eye full of appraisals and suspicions *no way Mirio is lucky in love too*

Darius “So what were you looking for my lady”

Sierra, “I was told by my father in Elmvale that you were the only smith around these parts that had items with rune slots in them”

Darius, “Aye, I have a few items like that for sale, would you like to have a look”

Sierra, “Yes please, my father asked me to fetch him any rune accessories if possible”