Rays of sunlight danced in through the window and gently landed on Mirio’s eyelids. He slowly stirred as the sounds outside grew progressively louder. Footsteps of those passing by, the murmur of customers and traders discussing purchases echoing their way from the market square, and the sound of a housewife beating and scrubbing her husband’s leathers.

Mirio sat up and rubbed his face and took in a breath with a smile “Ahh the weekend”.

He leaned over towards the wardrobe and pulled out a shirt and slid it on. He grabbed his sword belt and buckled it up. He then grabbed some boots by the door and hopped on each leg as he slipped on the other. He grabbed a bread roll from the living room table and headed out into the street, the front door shutting behind him.

When he was young the village seemed enormous and scary, but when he looked at it now it seemed quite plain and slow paced. He almost always jogged to get to where he was going, if for no other reason than to fast forward through the areas he had walked so many times before, so he could explore new places and do more interesting things, and never was this more true than on the weekends.

Mirio glided through the streets, his breath steady, and his gaze calm. The gentle bob and sway of his weight shifted as his legs carried him forth, and the houses at the edge of the village, once small in the distance, grew in height and size until they whooshed past. Mirio made his way through some grassy pastures, and past some blooms of wildflowers, until a fence came into view. The fence was made of a plank of wood at waist height and another at about head height and it surrounded plush grassy fields, where horses stirred about and grazed in the distance.

“Hi there” a man with brown coveralls said as he heard Mirio approach the stables. He was still busying himself preparing some saddles, but once he was satisfied he planted his hands on his hips and turned towards Mirio, “How can I help you young lad?”.

Mirio “I just joined the guard yesterday, so that means I will be getting a salary soon of 2 gold per day worked, and I thought I would ask you about the price of a horse”

“It might take you some time to save up enough, but if you are keen on getting one, the price starts at 200 gold, with saddle and tack included”

Mirio “So, a hundred days then… Hrmm… Not too bad. May I have a look at what horses you have? As I may be able to afford something better if I get any bonuses or do any trading at the market from beast trophies and the like”

“Sure, follow me. Some of the good ones are still in the stable so I’ll introduce you to those first, and then if you have the time you can look out in the field”

Mirio headed into the stables and started to look around.

“The one for two hundred is the old mare here, she’s got a nice temperament to her, and she’s strong. She’s 15 which is a bit on the older side but she’s got 5 years before you’d have to consider if she was retirement age or not. Kept her around for breeding and the like but around 15 she’s past her prime. Damn fine horse though, don’t let anybody tell you any different. Name is Darla”

“Here in the next pen is one of her boys, little Rocky, he will be coming into riding age as he is almost 2 years old. By the look of him he’ll be a hell of a strong one, he’s mostly broken in already so by the time you get the gold he’d be a fine choice, but he’d cost you 300. I would only recommend a young horse like him if you have ridden before though, they take more training and experience to hone, you see”

“These horses over here are his brothers and sisters, Marley, Bridges, and Poe. They are 3, 4, and 5 respectively. They are also a bit on the young side and are about the same price. Their temperaments are all mild, and they are strong, fine horses. They will set you back about 350 pieces”

The stable master then led Mirio out into the field, “and if you see that white horse just over yonder, she’s 7 this fall. That is the prime age for a horse. She’s strong and fast as the wind, and her temperament is second to none, she never throws a rider. She is one platinum piece”

Mirio “One platinum! A thousand gold pieces! Wow, impressive”

“The other bunch over there are also in their prime age and range between 500 to 800 gold pieces. All except that Black one”

“You mean the one that is a foot or two taller than the others?”

“Yep, his name is bucky. He is one heck of an impressive horse. But already had a buyer from Elmvale put a down payment on him”

“If you don’t mind me asking, how much was he?”

“Two platinum”

“Whoa! Two platinum!”

Mirio scratched his head and laughed, “I don’t expect I would be able to save up that much in the near future, so I will probably buy little rocky or one of his siblings”

Stable master, “Good choice, if you can get enough gold for a down payment I will let you ride him in the field and start showing you some of the tricks to reign him in before you buy if you like”

Mirio “That is really generous of you”

Stable master “Ah it is no trouble good lad, you have a good nature to you, and I always like to see good horses go to good folk”

Mirio “So how much is a down payment on Rocky?”

“I suppose 25 gold would do, if you come down in a couple of weeks, then I’ll start off your training with him”

Mirio smiled, “Thanks for your time, I’ll head back then, I’m Mirio by the way”

“Nice to meet you Mirio, I’m Jerimiah. Have a good day now you hear!”

“Will do”

Mirio turned from the stables and headed out towards the Misty Meadows. The Meadows were known for its robust population of beasts and monsters, and their tendency to hide their numbers in the fog. It was considered extremely dangerous to travel through the Meadows at night, and was never advised at any time even during the day. Mirio knew the Meadows like the back of his hand though, and so took a path around the territories of the wolf packs. His mage armor helped him stay protected from attacks, and his sword was more than capable of slicing into any beast.

After jogging through the fields for a couple of hours he arrived at a small grass mound with a door the size of a shield stuck in its side. Mirio knocked and called out, “Master, I’m here”.

There was silence for a few moments as Mirio looked around and wondered if anyone was home or if he was out on a walk, “Master?”.

“Hey, Mirio!” a small figure called out as its shape became clear in the fog, “I was just stretching my legs, but I am glad you are here”. The creature stepped out of the fog with a wide toothy grin, and chubby cheeks. The gnome had a portly body, and stoutly shapen hands, but only stood at a height not even half of Mirio’s.

Mirio, “Why is that exactly?”

“I need some help with the garden”

Mirio nodded, “oh great… Weeding again?”

“Not this time, I am planting some moonlight tulips, they need magic to find their roots, so it will provide excellent training for you”

“Oh okay, sure I can help with that”

The gnome waved Mirio over and they headed to a flower patch about fifty yards from the grassy mound.

“Here, take these seedlings” the gnome said as offering his hand. Within his palm were five star shaped seeds the size of pepper flakes, “Don’t pick them up with your hands, use prestidigitation to surround them with a film of air and slide them gently into your palm”.

Prestidigitation was a cantrip continua spell, simply requiring the inherent magic of the surrounding elements to perform tasks such as create small breezes, popping sounds in the air, and moisten or dry pieces of fabric. Its most common use was in maintaining hygiene and helping remove dirt and grime, but the gnomes had developed a far more intricate set of uses for it, imbuing it with primordial magic, and creating more precise control of the air to be able to draw patterns in sand, or to rearrange crystals and help with the fine detailing when crafting jewelry.

Mirio focused on the feeling of the air as it swept through the plains, and summoned forth magical energy as it collided with his energy field. Little white sparkles danced along his hand and then slowly spread out toward the seeds, gently lifting them in a cushion of air. The gnome then slid the seeds into Mirio’s hand and headed over to a patch where he had dug a few holes.

“Now, with your other hand, I want you to draw a magical circle around each of these holes, with infusion inscriptions”, he then handed Mirio a vial containing lime powder.

Mirio extended his arm and wrist in fluid circular motions, like a painter, or swordsman, and then marked out the sigils in each of the circles for infusion magic.

“Very good” the gnome nodded, “the circles are well formed, and the lines are consistent”, he moved over to the other side of Mirio and looked at the seeds floating in Mirio’s hand, and then looked into Mirio’s eyes, “now, while maintaining prestidigitation, I want you to infuse arcane mana into the circles, paying careful attention to keep the seeds in a constant state. Do not let them shudder or wobble”

Mirio, “Two spells at a time, I thought, a wizard could only maintain one concentrated spell at a time”

Gnome, “That will apply if you are using cantrip finita that require concentration or higher tier spells. Prestidigitation is maintainable, you could even cast multiple instances of it if you so chose”

Mirio, “Interesting… Could you expand the range that way too?”

Gnome, “I suppose you could, but there would be little reason for it, unless planting a lot of seeds I guess”

Mirio, “Could a master of prestidigitation control chains of energy maybe, and form moving particles along a line like ants?”

Gnome, “Yes, I suppose you could, but I have never heard of it being done. And while there are those who study cantrip finita, I haven’t heard of any masters of the cantrip continua, as obviously there is no benefit in battle from such things you know”

Mirio walked over to the first circle and placed down his hand. He conceived of the elements of magic required to infuse arcane energy into the circle. He then imagined gates along his arm travelling from his heart as his master had taught him, and then slowly edged those gates open a little at a time.

Gnome, “Yes, that is it, the gate release should be slow and smooth just like that… And the seeds are still floating nicely. Continue”

Mirio drew his hand up from the ground, and then he placed it at the next circle and repeated the process, “So master, I was wanting to ask you a question about something I was thinking in regards to magical resources”.

Gnome, “I told you already that extending magical resources only comes with effortful practice and cultivation of your mana pools”

Mirio, “Yes, I know that and I cultivate my energies daily, but I was wondering about the boulder problem, and the possibility of drawing from multiple mana pools”

Gnome, “Multiple…” he squinted one eye, “Why did you put it like that, there are only three pools”

Mirio, “Well, we don’t know that for certain, it is just that from what we know there are three”

Gnome, “Bah, wishful thinking. No one has ever found such a thing”

Mirio, “I guess I am just sceptical that all avenues for the possibility have been exhausted is all, as like you said there are near infinite magical planes that magical energy modulates and twists through before it reaches the material plane”

Gnome, “Common theory is that there are 10 planes it shifts through, but I told you it could be infinite or near infinite because we don’t know if magic only releases its force in the material plane, it could be releasing it in ways and means we have no way of measuring”

Mirio, “Yes, the charge, color shade, and twist planes right?”

Gnome, “Yes, and they together form the weave that connects to every point at the very smallest scale”

Mirio, “Well with the boulder problem, I was wondering if a person could strengthen their foundation of magic such that they could fill the bottom of the hill the boulder rolls down. Essentially lifting the ground level it could potentially sink to. And maybe with stronger foundations one could produce magic from multiple pools”

Gnome, “It seems unlikely that could be possible, as it would require fine control of magical weaves. And I think at a point there is a limit to how fine one’s control could be. Just mentally speaking I don’t think a person could handle such a task even if training in it for a very long time. It would be like creating magic from nothing. It might even disobey certain conservations of magical energy”

Mirio knelt over the last circle and poured magical energy into the circle. He silently finished pouring the mana into the infusion circle, and then gently guided the tiny sparkling light flashes to carry the seeds into each of the holes.

Gnome, “Very well done, I can see your control is getting quite excellent, you would maybe even be capable of some goldsmithing if you were interested in it… But of course my rate for such things is 1 platinum per hour”

Mirio balked at the mere mention of the price, “How come you teach me the nature of arcana for free, and you then hike the price”

The gnomes eyes sparkled with greed for a moment, and he twisted and twirled with his hands up turned, his behaviour becoming somewhat theatrical, “Ah but don’t you see my precious student, I want you to have something to strive for, and there is nothing more fine than whittling the hours away over a fine gemstone filled with magic and mystery”.

Mirio, “I always thought that was just a stereotype that most gnomes are obsessed with jewelry, but I’m starting to think it is more true than I’d like to admit”

Gnome, “Obsession is an infatuation with something that is out of the ordinary. A love for fine jewelry and the construction of them is the most natural thing in the world!”

Mirio, “Maybe someday”

Gnome, “Mmph! Train hard, work hard, and one day you can do like I do, and be hunched over a jewel for most of the day!”

Mirio’s eyes became like little slits at the thought of having nothing better to do than be hunched over all day.

“Oh by the way, I learned to produce a few spells from the divine mana pool”

“Hahahaha!” the gnome looked at Mirio for a second and paused, only to break out in laughter again “hahaha!”. His cheeks were swollen with laughter, and he kept slapping his knee, until after a few minutes he calmed down and decided to ask Mirio a question.

“It is probably just you being mistaken about the differences in mana pools, but could you show me?”

Mirio, “Yes, that is why I want a second opinion, just to be sure”

Mirio began to take in some deep breaths and allowed magical energy to stir in the world around him, he then lifted his arm up and opened his eyes with an intense gaze.

“DIVINE LIGHT!”

The light exploded in an enormous flash.

Gnome, “That was certainly a cantrip finita. The intensity matches up with the weaponized form of light used by the paladins and clerics. But I noticed you are also drawing magic from the environment when you do it, and I could notice some form of tremor or instability when you release it. Seems there is some magical drag or inefficiency in your form. Who taught you to do it?”

Mirio, “Yes, the drag actually gave me a headache the first time I tried it. I was just trying to recreate arcane light by reimagining how it might work through wisdom. I have seen paladins perform it before so I was just recreating it as best I could. It actually took me several months to get it to finally work”

The gnome scratched his face as if irritated by a plague of thoughts, “that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense Mirio… I mean, sure there are those who specialise in cantrip finita and enhance them for tactical use in battle, but in order to do that they sacrifice some magical progress in their main field. But your arcane energy hasn’t altered or adjusted after using the spell”

Mirio, “You can see my mana pools”

Gnome, “I have true sight, I can see many things others eyes cannot”

Mirio, “Is that a gnome thing?”

“It is decidedly NOT just a gnome thing! I will have you know that as a master of the arcane I have developed such a trait by dedicated effort and training!”

Mirio, “Ha, I knew that, I was just teasing you”

The gnome chuckled briefly before suddenly pausing, “Wait, can you do the divine light spell again but this time try to lessen the effect of the output to about half”

Mirio lifted his arm again and nodded, “DIVINE LIGHT!”

The light pulsated in the palm of his hand and hovered there for a moment before fizzling out, Mirio “Ah… I guess I didn’t put in enough mana for it to burst”

Gnome, “No no, I expected this. You cannot control the gates as well with divine mana. So your control is less than with the arcane, it is then likely that if you learned to control the divine gates better that you would start to face the boulder problem. I don’t think you have found the rosetta stone of magic just yet, but keep investigating it. It might turn out to be nothing but there is a small chance you have discovered something. And it already gives you more spells, so it is quite useful for now”

Mirio, “I was thinking of developing some other paladin spells actually, and maybe investigating the innate”

Gnome, “Just be careful that you don’t fracture your gates. Magical control is trained for a reason. The more your mana grows, the more at risk you are of breaking or injuring the channels it flows through”

Mirio, “I will train diligently and try to learn control”

Gnome, “If you learn something new, come see me again”

Mirio, “I will, thanks master”

Mirio dusted himself off and began to head back towards the village, the gnome happily waved him off before tending to his gardens.

As Mirio was jogging back through the fog a thought began to occur in the back of his mind. When his master brought up drag, he brought up that Mirio was drawing in energy from his surroundings too.

“I wonder if drag and inefficiency in magic comes from a poorly understood foundation. If you don’t understand the primordial of a cantrip continua it becomes unstable, and if you don’t understand the cantrip continua of a cantrip finita you cannot separate them properly…”

It rang with an heir of truth to Mirio that each step of the foundational magics would rely on each other to be properly formed, and that a wrong mix would disturb their formation. Mirio slowed his pace from his jog and looked around. If he headed west he would arrive at the shores of the grand canal, and it would give him a place to train the idea before heading back to the village. The only problem was he would be cutting through a wolf pack’s territory.

Mirio “should I risk angering them… They aren’t exactly evil creatures, so I don’t want to fight them if I don’t have to”. He thought about it for a moment and then searched his thoughts for a solution better than the two he was already choosing between.

“Neither just running back to town, or running across their territory is the best choice for me right now, I wonder if there is another way to do this”

Mirio scratched his head and kept feeling wave after wave of doubt and indecision, but he maintained his certainty that there was a third way he just wasn’t seeing yet and committed himself to endure the uncertainty of the choice.

Mirio knew that the senses of a wolf were incredible, and it was in part why they lived in the fog, as it gave them an incredible advantage when hunting. Combined with their pack tactics and numbers it made them the perfect ambush predator, able to overwhelm and out maneuver their prey.

“I can’t just cut through the territory, and only a masterful thief could mask their presence from them… So I will have to cut around. Perhaps by the rock crags further up, as the wolf territories don’t go that far”

Mirio, jogged the longer way around and made his way to the rock crags. Out of the fog stood spires of jagged rock. Mirio slowed down and walked towards the rock formations. He had never explored them up close before, there was a dark aura flowing around the structure. The dark energy wasn’t arcane in nature, it was more like the shadows he sensed while in his mother’s womb. He became highly alert, and lowered himself in a crouch. He gently rolled his feet heel to toe over the ground in an attempt to remain stealthy.

A rattle of bone made scuttling sounds off to his left hand side, so Mirio headed towards the right. He then made his way to one of the rock formations, and traced it with his left hand as sneaking ahead. He stopped to check for sounds.

A barely audible creak came from the fog just ahead. Mirio could see the shape of the creature as it neared the edge of the fog. Its skeletal humanoid form was clad in tattered chainmail armor, and a horned helm. Mirio’s eyes shot open and he quickly looked around for a place to hide. He slipped into a crack between the rock formations just before the skeletal warrior turned around and wandered closer to Mirio’s location. He held his breath to avoid detection, and searched around to see if he could enter any deeper into the rock formation to hide further. As he looked he realised there was a narrow opening to a cave of some sort. He peered inside in an attempt to discern if it was dangerous.

The skeletal warrior appeared right in front of the crack in the rocks Mirio had slipped between. It then suddenly turned and looked between the rock cracks to see nothing but rock. Mirio had slipped into the cave.

As Mirio looked around he realised that this was no cave. The walls were obviously constructed. It was either a tomb or an old temple of some kind. And if it was guarded by the undead it meant that it had been left undisturbed for a very long time. Which meant two things; that it was incredibly dangerous to enter, and that it almost certainly contained treasure.

Mirio had his mind set on training by the canal and so he had originally thought to avoid battle to save his mana... But now with the prospect of treasure and adventure, he began to consider the potential benefits of finding a relic of some kind within its depths.

“It is likely I will run into a fight outside anyway, so my plans of training by the canal are scrapped whether I like it or not. Time for a change of plan. And if there is a relic here, I will be able to place a down payment on a horse”

Mirio clenched his fist and strengthened his resolve, “Okay, I will prepare to clear this dungeon!”.

Mage armor!