As Yuta looked around the room he saw an assortment of flasks and magical trinkets upon every table top. Bookshelves lined every wall, and red curtains were tied back from the large window behind Madeleine. The bustle from the market could be heard on the wind, and the smell of roasted meat hit his taste buds.

*I’m so tired. How complicated can magic really be? Why is she still talking?*

Madeleine’s voice drifted in and out from Yuta’s focus.

*Is my stamina getting low? Damn, not now, I have to learn this. I just need to pay attention a little longer!*

“In order to properly exercise magic one must appropriately crystalise the ether with their mana. And mana is the biological connection to the magical ether, held within the humors of the body, most especially near the spine and major organs. It flows in patterns, and it is with these patterns that the elementary quantising methods are formed to hold magic in its utilisable form. To exercise mana one must therefore create forms within one’s humors, by influencing their energy patterns, and this influence comes from the ability of the magician to sense the source of their power”

Yuta mindlessly scrawled her words in the pages of his notebook.

*Oh god, she is talking about mana quantisation, and I can’t focus… Why is she speaking so fast, and with so many confusing concepts all at once. This is just like math class in college… Wait? Is this math?*

“One moment!”. Yuta grabbed his pencil and began scribbling in a notebook. “I think it will help me if I define this a bit more rigorously, if you will permit me”.

He crossed his legs and leaned forwards to focus on all she had explained so far and began underlining words; crystalise, ether, biological, humors, flows in patterns, forms, source of power. He then sketched out the cause and effect links in a function map he learned as a coder.

*It seems like there are two interfaces with magic, the biological, and the ether. And these are given two different words; mana and magic. Mana being the magical components in the body, and magic being the interface of that influence upon the world. And as magic influences the world it crystallizes the ether*

After sketching out the idea Yuta raised his pencil. “So there are two components to a magical spell. The manipulation of mana in the human body, and the crystallization of magic in the ether.”

Madeleine blinked. “Yes that is right”

*He was able to follow along, most unusual. Most others hand wave this part of the lecture, so I try to get through it fast*

“So this ether… Is it one of these voids you mentioned earlier? Because you said that magic was not any of the elements of earth, wind, fire, or water. So does this mean that you are saying the ether is distinctly different from the physical world, but interacts with it by crystallization? And the sigils are used to guide the manner in which it crystallizes?”

Madeleine leaned towards Yuta and holstered her wand. “Have you taken lessons before? Or is this your first time?”

Yuta thought for a moment. He had spent countless hours studying applied mathematics in college as well as coding mods for his favorite computer games. In a way he was actually very used to using his mind to understand concepts like she was describing. While he had never had a lesson in magic before, he had certainly obsessed on how it had worked in rpg games and in fantasy novels. So what was the correct way to answer her?

“I technically haven’t studied any of the arcane theories you are explaining, but I have some familiarity with studying complex topics,” Yuta replied.

“Ah so you have some crossover knowledge from something else, that explains it. But you are correct. Mana is concerned with the body, magic with the ether, and both of these are voids. Or in other words, mana does not truly exist in the body, nor does magic truly exist in the physical world, but it can interact with both, like a puppet pulled by strings. Some believe that magic travels in a medium that is in another dimension, and it only ripples through into the world from that other plane. And thanks to the glyphs and sigils we can draw magic into this world long enough to see its effects”.

Yuta scribbled down more notes and started to get an idea. “So the sigils and glyphs are used to manifest magic, but the magic itself has no known form. We only know the effect of magic on the ether and the mana in the body”

Madeleine nodded at Yuta.

*Maybe this is related to quantum physics in my world. Where matter exists in all possible states at once, and only once interacted with does the wave function collapse and become the particle of matter we observe. Almost as if magic is an extension of that quantum weirdness at a larger scale, and somehow they have found a way to collapse the waveforms into specific states, which manifest as magical effects*

“Okay, so if I imagine magic like air in a room, and I imagine sigils are like musical instruments, then the spell is the music that results?”

Madeleine pulled out a large book from under her desk. She slammed it in front of Yuta and opened it wide. From edge to edge the book was as wide as her arm span. Within were thousands of glyphs. “Over thousands of years, magicians have catalogued the effects of different shapes within magical circles. And then ordered in this book called the ‘Magnus Opi’. It is known that each crystallizes the ether into a different form and that this affects the physical world. However there is no unifying theory that connects them all. It is important then that people do not get cocky, and think that their intuition can simply decipher such things. Magic is like a thorny bush and everywhere you turn there is a surprise waiting that will run counter to every one of your intuitions”.

Yuta scratched his head. “This book is incredible, is there any way I can borrow it?”

Madeleine closed the book, heaved it back up off the table, and slid it back under her desk. “The magnus opi is only given to licenced magicians of the tower, and it is strictly forbidden knowledge to outsiders”.

“The tower of knowledge?” Yuta asked.

“The tower of knowledge is far to the south east, located on an island off the coast of Arun” she smiled as if fond memories of a favorite scent caught upon her nostrils. “The sweeping sands as far as the eye can see, and the oasis city of Cala was where magic was said to be born. And you can see it from the top of the tower, like an insignificant speck on the horizon”.

“It sounds like an amazing place, I’d love to go sometime” Yuta replied.

“You must receive their invitation to go. They only invite mages of great promise so if you want to go you will have to become a respected mage in one of the major cities. But if you can, you should definitely go. It is where the cutting edge of magical research is done. But first you must learn the basics”. Madeleine tapped Yuta’s notebook with her wand, “Now it is time to explain how to manipulate mana to create quanta”.

Yuta smiled, “I’m all ears”.

“To create the most basic of all magical quanta, I want you to imagine a sheet in the wind as it dries on a clothesline. The body has magical winds that travel through it that affect what we feel. Normally we cannot directly influence the wind, but we can sense the way it moves the sheet. And if we carefully adjust the corners of the sheet, just so, the wind catches within it to produce a force. It is this force that is a quanta”

“Like wind catching in the sail of a ship?” Yuta replied.

“Exactly” she responded. “In order to make use of that force, you then guide that sheet along your magical channels, and into the sigil”.

“Like sending ships down a river to do battle,” Yuta replied.

“Yes, but each of those ships has to carry a certain load of mana, if you want to cast a spell with any impact”. She drew her wand and spun her arm as wide and as high as she could. The ether crystalised and flickered like the light of a diamond, forming an enormous ring that was the thickness of the tip of her wand. “If you imagine a body like one large magic circle, each part of you speaks to a side. And as we move, and our body functions, we touch its edges. We sense not the truth of the world, but only that which our own circle allows. And as our circle develops and grows, the world changes, as if seen through an entirely different lens”

Yuta was mystified by her motions and the tone of her voice. He had no idea what she was talking about, but it was like looking at a ballerina as she moved her wand from place to place in the circle.

“To condense your mana, you need to see beyond your own circle, you need to let what is beyond you, charge your soul. And as it vibrates, and intensifies, you seal the circle off. And you have a quanta”. The tip of her wand glowed with golden light, “Illuminate”.

Light filled the entire room, as bright as if walking out from a dark room into the sun. Yuta couldn’t help but cover his eyes with his arm. Some part of him was deeply impressed by Madeleine’s display. It was graceful, and at the same time profound. It was different than he had initially judged magic to be. And by knowing some of its rules and how it worked, it seemed even more impressive. “Wow” he replied.

Madeleine smiled, and sat down at her desk. “And with that the lesson is complete”.

“Wait, shouldn’t I at least try out a spell of light like you did? To prove I can do it too”

Madeleine shook her head, “You must let the knowledge settle within you for a while, and then come back. Like a seed that is planted needs time to sprout, you also need time to process what you have learned today”.

“Is this why patience is important, why my arrogance limits me, and why entitlement is a bad thing? Because time is needed to grow an understanding?” Yuta replied.

“Only fools think that knowledge does not change over time by getting familiar with it. Like a new pair of boots needs to be broken in to fit the wearer, so too does magical knowledge need to fit you. If you try to use knowledge awkwardly, you will never master it, only parrot it like a child repeating the mannerisms of one of their parents. Experience is required the help the mana in your body adjust to the knowledge”.

Yuta closed his notebook. “I think I understand. Thank you for teaching me. I don’t know if I can afford another lesson, but I will try my hardest to make it possible”. He then stood up and left the room.

“Well that was an experience…” Yuta mumbled as he jotted down a few more notes just outside the door. As he went downstairs he didn’t look up from his notebook at the spot where he had been humiliated the day before, too engrossed in the ideas and magic theory discussed in the lesson.

Yuta made his way out into the market square and signalled to one of the market vendors for a meat skewer. “Five copper” the man replied. Yuta slipped five coppers from his pouch into his hand and gave them to the man. He headed out of town and sat on a rock by the outskirts, and munched down on his meal. Hearty chunks of meat filling his cheeks as he opened his status screen.

One of your main attributes has been unlocked. Two components of the ‘arcane magic’ skill have been unlocked.

Attributes: (5 is pathetic, 10 is weak, 15 is strong, 20 is incredible)

Strength - 8

Dexterity - 7

Constitution - 8

Intelligence - 16

*Sweet, I have a high intelligence stat! I can definitely become an unstoppable mage! I wonder if that came from my time at university. I guess this means I am more of a natural mage than a fighter. Though it doesn’t say anything about intelligence being only about magic, so it probably applies to other things as well. Maybe engineering and things like that are ways I could take advantage of it also*

Yuta tapped on the attribute labels to reveal extra information

Strength - A task that requires strength will injure and strain your body unless you pass the requisite threshold. As strength increases, tasks that involve labor will feel easier, and require less of your stamina to maintain.

Dexterity - A task that requires coordination will cause you to flinch, stumble, or pause unnecessarily unless you pass the requisite threshold. As dexterity increases, tasks that involve coordination will feel easier, and require less of your stamina to maintain.

Constitution - A task that requires a force of mental effort, emotional stability, or general fitness will strain your body and mind unless you pass the requisite threshold. As constitution increases, tasks that involve mental effort, emotional stability, and general fitness will feel easier, and require less of your stamina to maintain.

Intelligence - A task that requires locating critical information within a larger system will confuse your mind and reduce your ability to concentrate unless you pass the requisite threshold. As intelligence increases, tasks that involve critical thinking, and understanding of the functioning of a system, will feel easier, and require less of your stamina to maintain.

*Again, it mentions stamina. It seems to be the most important stat to manage… But I haven’t unlocked it yet. I wonder how to get that to appear on my status screen? And for that matter, how do I get my health and mana to show? Will my mana show once I learn to generate quanta? Or will it just show how many charges I have?*

He swiped to the side.

Arcane Magic:

Mana manipulation - The ability to alter tensions between the known and the unknown of reality and form magical quanta.

Magic manifestation - The ability to control the crystallization of ether in a manner that causes the manifestation of a certain magical possibility.

Yuta clicked on each of the components but they took him to screens full of glyphs and strange diagrams he had no way of deciphering.

*I wonder if these strange glyphs actually mean something, like the glyphs in the Magnus Opi book that Madeleine had? Or if they are just placeholders until I better understand each topic*

Yuta finished the last bite of his meal. “Probably a bit of both”

…

The sun was setting behind Mirio, hiding itself behind the red mountains in the distance, while the first stars began to appear over the mountains ahead of him. He had already passed through the dense woodland of the goblin territories, and was now passing into the light woodlands that wound their way towards the base of the mountains. Ezee trotted alongside Mirio as he strode forth upon Rocky through the trees. A scent of tree bark and dirt hung in the air, carried by the last of the warm breezes of the day.

Mirio knew these woods were the nesting grounds of terror birds, so he was scanning the horizon for movement. Terror birds are ground based carnivores that while not capable of flight are very adept at jumping and use this to their advantage to hunt prey with their enormous talons. Their enormous hooked beaks can strip a carcass of meat in a matter of minutes. Their feathers are mostly the color of dirt, but underneath their wings are bright displays of color, usually purple and yellow, though it depends on the species. While their wings are relatively small, their enormous thighs make up for it by making them one of the fastest of all the medium sized predators.

Mirio spotted movement far off in the distance. He stopped for a moment to check the direction it was moving in.

“Phew, they are moving away”

Mirio then continued to trot through the woods until he reached the mountain’s gradual incline. The woods disappeared in the distance behind him as darkness fell over the mountains. Calls of the terror birds warbled far in the distance, like a tortured whistle.

“That is their feeding call, they must have caught something”

Mirio looked ahead to the valley between the mountains. It was filled with caverns and outcrops of rock. “You guys had better stay back” Mirio said as he hopped off of Rocky. The ground felt heavier than normal to walk over after getting out of the saddle. Mirio started bouncing on his toes to adjust to walking on land rather than gliding above it. He then stretched his neck, arms, legs and back.

“Well this is the kind of place rageclaws like to hunt for wererats. So there should be one lurking around here”

Mirio cast a sigil with two fingers of his right hand down at his side.

“Detect good and evil”

Red blobs appeared all throughout the valley.

“Luckily both wererats and rageclaws are evil creatures, so I can locate them easily enough. Now I just need to take a seat and look for a bunch of the red lights to go out as wererats fight a rageclaw”

Mirio looked over at a nearby stone and took a seat. “This will do”

Mirio took a good twenty minutes to survey each of the bunches of red light, and analysed which group was most isolated and easy to get to. He didn’t want to end up fighting everything in the valley, so wanted to find a group of about three wererats being hunted by a rageclaw. Luckily, one of the closest caves with only a handful of red blobs, saw a couple of their lights extinguished.

“Here is my chance” Mirio hopped up and jogged off to the cave entrance. He sparked a lantern stone and attached it to his belt. The cave was narrow at first before branching out into a wide cavern. Its walls were made of sturdy basalt, Mirio nodded in approval as his hands traced along its surface. “This is good, the rageclaw can’t have fit in through this gap, and this stone will keep it at bay if I need to retreat. It must have come in through a different entrance”.

As Mirio entered into the cavern he could hear the wild roar of a rageclaw echoing from one of the passages that extended from where he now was. Water trickled from stalactites high above and pooled into puddles below that were about half a foot deep.

“It looks like the water finds its way out by a stream somewhere, so it isn’t deep, but either way I don’t want to fight in the water”.

“Ah, here we go, a nice smooth section about ten paces across, not much different than a fighting ring. I’ll need to draw it here”

The fighting area was surrounded by pools on all sides, with a few branching paths of dry rock that led up to the entrance and to other walls of the cave, as well as two passages.

Mirio sniffed the air and grumbled “Yep, that is wererat shit, they probably use this room to defecate. I guess that is an extra incentive to not fall in the water”.

Mirio grabbed up stones from the surface of the fighting platform in the palm of his hand.

“Illuminate”

All seven stones lit up brightly, and Mirio made his way around the cavern and set the stones to improve the lighting of the ring. “Want to have good visibility when fighting this thing, odd shadows won’t help me read its movements”.

Mirio squeezed his hand into a fist, and then released it, “Fuck, what am I doing here…”

Another of the red lights further down the passage went out, and the horrid gargles and screeches of dying wererats shout out as dire reminders of the rageclaw’s terrible ferocity.

“It is time. I have to move forward. If I am lucky, hopefully I can sneak up on it and get this over with quickly”. Mirio drew Ember from her sheathe, light glinting off her blade as he stealthily made his way over to the passage.

Mirio heard scuffling movements ahead and saw one large red blob through the stone. He turned off his own lantern light and came around the corner. In the somewhat smaller cavern in front of him, he could see the bulging black muscles of rageclaw as it feasted on the freshly killed wererat. With a body like that of a man yet twice the size, and with a head of a bat but with black horns instead of ears, it rivals the size and power of a minotaur. With its hands and feet ending in razor sharp claws, it could tear unlucky souls it met in the darkness apart in mere moments. Unlike a minotaur however, they are fast and agile like cats. With red eyes and a mouth full of fangs, they are one of the last kinds of creature you would want to meet in the dark of a cave.

Mirio adjusted his hands on the grip of his runeblade, and stepped closer to the feeding beast. The wererats leg bucked as the beast’s fangs sliced into its thigh meat. Mirio stepped closer and raised Ember above his head. He quickly dashed forwards and stepped out to the side, where he brought down his sword in one forceful slash. The red glow of its aura faded, as its head toppled into the guts of the wererat. Its body then collapsed onto the floor.

*Amazing, it just cut right through. Well, that was easier than I thought*

A red shape glowed in Mirio’s peripheral vision. He hadn’t noticed it in his rush to sneak up on the feeding rageclaw. Its shape was hidden behind the first rageclaw. Mirio thought about reaching for the decapitated head of the first rageclaw, but knew there wasn’t enough time, so instead pointed the tip of his blade in the direction of the red blob and darted off to the side.

Thud thud thud

ROAR!!!

CRACK

Flecks of rock shot off from the wall as the enormous beast’s horns hit into it with force. Mirio quickly flicked his lantern stone on, and then dashed towards the passage. He pushed off the curve of the wall with his hand to move faster than he otherwise could. The grunt of the beast was close behind him as he shot out into the lighted cavern and leapt over one of the shallow pools of water into the fighting platform he had prepared earlier.

As his feet hit its surface, he pivoted on the spot and flicked his sword to the opening of the passage. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a flash of red and knew he had no time. A splash of water sprayed up and drenched him as he dived to the side. The enormous horns slashed through the air where Mirio had been standing. He rolled quickly to his feet and spat out some of the shit stained water. And in the light he could at last see the rageclaw in all its glory.

Enormous claws on its muscled hands, black and sharp. Sculpted muscle on its frame like that of an enormous man, and a face like that of a bat, with red eyes glaring back at him. Water glistened off of its chest and blood oozed from its fangs.

*If it keeps charging I should be able to time a strike*

Mirio spun his blade so that the tip was facing downward and his grip was backward. It was a way to grip the blade specially designed for hunting agile beasts. It sacrificed reach, but maximised defense up close, which was needed if one couldn’t keep a foe at bay. As an added benefit it allowed one to slash from their side, rather than cut in front of them, which was useful when a hunter didn’t have enough time to turn and attack.

The rageclaw turned inhumanly fast and bucked its horns towards Mirio. Followed up by slashes from each of its claws.

FWIP FWIP FWIP FWIP FWIP

Mirio darted and dodged. His footwork carving patterns like that of a dancer as he twisted and turned. The beast’s claws sliced at the air just inches from his face and neck. Mirio flicked his fingers and drew a sigil.

“Mage Armor!”

The blue light of the armor wrapped itself around Mirio, as he ducked underneath an enormous haymaker from the rageclaw.

FWIP

Mirio twisted his upper torso, and flicked his blade’s edge, cutting a shallow wound along the beast’s side. As he stepped out from under the strike he spun his sword back into a standard grip, and cut swiftly to the back of the creature’s knee.

*Maybe that will slow it down a bit*

He then sprung back and took a fighting stance in the middle of the ring. The rageclaw turned and zig zagged on all fours as it darted towards him. Its claws digging into the rock, giving it unnatural speed and agility.

*Guess not. Fuck its so fast*

Mirio’s eyes struggled to keep up with its movements, but his sense of timing was deeply trained into him from all his years of study. He could see ghost images of where the beast was about to be. It wasn’t an ability granted to him by any spell, but rather his senses and intuition. He also saw ghost images of his own possible actions, spreading out in all directions, making different strikes and moves. One of the ghost options shined brighter than any of the others, and he slipped into the stream of its action without hesitation. All the ghosts then collapsed back into Mirio, as he dashed forwards, and flipped over the rageclaw’s sweeping blow. His arm extended as he landed, slashing his blade hard against the rageclaw’s face. It’s head spun off to the side from the blow, and it scrambled away from Mirio. Blood now oozed from its cheek.

*Damn, I missed! My timing was off… Well that is what I get for using a flip. Still I bought myself half a second*

Mirio readjusted his footing, sliding them back into position, and pointing his sword tip at the monster’s centerline. The beast was now more cautious and began to circle around Mirio looking for a better angle of attack. It darted and jumped from place to place, but Mirio didn’t allow it an inch.

Water splashed up from the creature’s movements as it pitter pattered through the pools of water back and forth. It was wary of the reflex speed of Mirio, and his near instantaneous counters. Its attacks had only so far hit stone and air, and it was growing weary.

Mirio took a step forward to test the creature’s resolve. It’s muscles twitched in a flinch for a moment.

*It’s afraid!* Mirio’s eyes opened wider, and he took in a large breath.

The creature stopped hesitating and ran directly at Mirio with all its might, launching itself into the air.

*A mistake!*

Mirio lunged forwards with his blade extended like that of a one handed fencer. The tip of the blade aimed at the creature’s throat. All four of its claws aimed at Mirio like a hawk coming in for its deathblow.

“Shield!”

A blue sphere shot up around Mirio, deflecting each of its claws just enough that they were only grazing blows. Mirio then firmed the muscles of his arms, as the entire weight of the rageclaw fell upon his blade. The tip of his sword burst out of the back of the rageclaw’s neck, and with a flick of his wrist, its head flung off. He slipped his head to the side and it flew past his face. The rest of the beast’s body thudded into his own, and he wrestled it off of him and stepped to the side. It collapsed at the center of the lighted platform, and a pool of blood poured out from its neck.

Mirio stepped around its body and walked over to its head. He picked it up and hacked at the base of the creature’s skull until the horns broke free. He then entered the cavern where he had killed the other rageclaw, and did the same before wrapping them in a bundle with some string and making his way back out to the valley.

Ezee sniffed relentlessly at Mirio, and then eyed the black ivory in his hands. The smell of a dangerous beast oozing from them. Mirio opened a saddlebag and placed the horns inside with a satisfying clunk. His task was done. He turned to the west back towards town and brought Rocky into a trot.

“Come on boy, let’s go home”

…

Yuta couldn’t sleep, however, unlike other nights it wasn’t because of his bed jabbing into his sides and back. It was something Madeleine had said that lingered in his mind.

“A clockwork universe… I have heard that before”

Yuta tossed off his sheet and sat up. He lit a lantern stone and readjusted his notebook on the bedside table so that it aligned neatly with the edge.

“I think it was pythagoras that used that term in my world. I learned about it in math history classes. Back in his day the heavens were seen as the land of the gods. He believed math to be so pure that it would operate even in the unknowable above all of mankind”.

Yuta picked up his notebook, and slung on some clothes. He headed outside to look up at the stars from the street. As he looked up at each of the specs of light scattered across the velvet sky like diamond dust, he was caught up in a sense of awe for a moment.

“It is no wonder they thought of the heavens as unreachable by mortal men. They tried to explain what happened above in the hope that it might better help them understand what happened back on earth… It is a shame it never worked out quite like they thought”

Yuta reflected back on how devoid of magic his universe had been. The way that each thing was explained in its place as part of a larger system. Yet how all of human life was a struggle from which few if any could break free.

“Here they seem blissfully naive, as though they don’t know the heavens are made of churning balls of gas collapsing upon themselves, and fusing atoms together to create light”

He rubbed his chin and looked down at the dirt. “I guess it wasn’t any different for mankind hundreds of years ago. Even Isaac Newton thought the heavens were the realm of the divine. He argued against the idea of the clockwork universe, supposing that the same laws that existed on earth were joined in union with the heavens. It made him feel closer to god’s plan I guess. Though not many people know about it in my world. I only know it from studying his history”

“The weathering of time eroded away his own beliefs, and all that remained was the harsher truth, that of a merciless world, ever churning, devoid of any plan. Yet elegant in its own way”

Yuta sighed. “I bet these magicians don’t even know that this planet revolves around the sun. And to them it would make perfect sense that magic acted within the heavens to explain everything. In a way, their knowledge of magic clouds their understanding of science as the laws of conservation and symmetry are no longer so easily observed”

“It probably means that their understanding of magic is also wrong. That the clockwork universe they believe in, is based on a set of physics, and complex mathematics that they haven’t been able to understand. I mean it works as a metaphor, but as model it fails at first glance”

“Though, the existence of magic is indeed real, and it intersects with the physical world at each point in space. In science we call it a field, like the electromagnetic field, or a matter field, where the properties of matter and electromagnetism are evoked from tiny dimensional bundles at each point in the universe. It seems here there is yet another field, but it isn’t like an ordinary field, its effects aren’t small and regular, they are like that of a turbulent liquid or smoke, and it connects with the world’s physics at the intersection with life and its mana”

Yuta walked out to the northeast edge of town past some of the patrolling guards and headed out onto the road. He wandered until he saw a tavern upon the hill.

*That is strange, why is there a tavern all the way out here*

He walked up to the entrance and saw a guard asleep at the door, and next to his boots a couple of dice. The sound of fighting was coming from inside. Yuta wasn’t all that interested in a drink but he was curious so looked in through one of the windows. A crowd had gathered around some sort of fighting pit and people were placing bets on who the winner would be. This went on for several minutes until the crowd stopped cheering and cleared the way for the remaining combatant to exit the pit. A woman with dark red hair, in barbarian armor stepped out of the ring and grabbed a pitcher of water and doused it over herself to wipe off the blood. Yuta paid special attention to when she used a spectators shirt sleeve to rub blood from her cleavage.

“Ha, she just used that guys arm like a towel, lucky guy”

Yuta stepped away from the window and thought to himself how he wasn’t like these people, and that he might never be. A pang of anguish filled his heart. He sat down on a vacant tree stump next to the passed out guard and looked up at the stars.

“A clockwork universe huh? I bet magic is just some kind of field that interacts with electromagnetic and matter fields, and the sigils used for magic are creating imbalances in those fields, forcing one outcome to manifest. I also bet that mana being stored as quanta has something to do with chemical potential energy. So maybe it is about how molecules and quantum physics interact beyond simple electrical charge.”

BLING

A notification popped up in the corner of Yuta’s field of view. He pulled up his status screen.

1 component of arcane magic has been unlocked.

Magical Coherence - Treating magic as a force to be understood rather than idolised (opens the possibility for further investigation).

Mana manipulation - The ability to alter tensions between the known and the unknown of reality and form magical quanta.

Magic manifestation - The ability to control the crystallization of ether in a manner that causes the manifestation of a certain magical possibility.

“I guess that means I am right, there is a science behind magic, but it is just really difficult to unravel, similar to how in my world we didn’t understand turbulent liquids beyond the navier-stokes equations… I am no genius so I don’t expect to unravel how it all works, but maybe I can leverage my degree in applied mathematics to help me grasp some of the broader principles”

Talon strode out the front door, taking in a big gulp of fresh air. “Ah! Nothing like a good scrap and a drink to wash away the stress of the day”. She stretched from side to side and bent down to touch her toes. Yuta’s thoughts were immediately cut off and filled up by her kick ass thighs and booty. She stood up straight and thrust her fist into the sky “Screw you all! I’m going to become stronger than anything that has ever lived. Stronger than a dragon even!”

Yuta turned his gaze down to his feet as Talon flicked her hair over her shoulder and set an eye onto him. “Pfft, what is a scrawny twat like you doing sitting out here?”

“N-nothing… I was just resting while taking a walk”

“If a walk tires you out that much, why are you walking at night, are you asking to get beat up and mugged”

“I don’t have anything of value on me, and I couldn’t sleep”

“Muggers don’t care if you have anything valuable on you, it is numbers game. You’d better run off home before you get yourself in over your head out here”

Yuta nodded and stood up from the stump, “Yes I will head home”.

Talon watched Yuta as he disappeared into the distance. “Idiot kid”

She turned around and kicked the guard in the boot “Hey, asshole! Wake up, you are on duty!”

“Huh, huh? Who’s there? Oh it is you, what do you want, Talon?” the guard replied.

“Why don’t you layabouts learn something from Mirio, whenever he loses that stupid dice game of yours he is off training in the woods over there. Shame he isn’t here tonight, I wanted to ask him something about his monster fighting form. Stupid bear almost got me when I was transitioning between back blade and front blade styles”

“Wait, what bear?!”

“The dead one in the pit, you should actually probably help the barmaid chop it up and drag it out, we can’t set up more fights until its moved”

“How’d you get it inside? And how did I not wake up?”

“I dunno why you sleep like a rock, we took him in through the back”

“You guys are nuts, you know that right?” the guard said.

“Of course we are, otherwise we wouldn’t be bandits would we?” Talon replied.

The guard adjusted his helmet and leaned back against the wall to drift back off to sleep. “That’s great, you guys have fun”.

Talon pouted and turned towards the forest, “I wish Mirio was here, these other guards are no fun”.

…

Mirio hopped off Rocky and approached the stables. He slid a key from his pouch, unlatched the lock, and led Rocky into his stable to sleep. “Thanks for the help today Rock”. He gave him a few last pets and left the stables. He turned towards Gimly but instead of heading straight into town, he turned off early. He made his way past the Mills and out into the field where he trained with Kabi.

He cast a spell of prestidigitation to clean himself up a bit, and then climbed over the fence. “Sorry boy, just wait here a second, I’ll be right back” he said to Ezee who was stuck on the other side of the fence. Mirio snuck his way to the mansion, and circled around to the side where a garden lattice enabled him to climb to the second floor.

He tapped gently on the window.

Kabi was laying in her nightgown on some cushions by her room’s fireplace. She casually leafed through a book about sword play, her eyes darting back and forth through each of the different forms and styles. A gentle tapping at the window caused her to look over.

“Mirio!” she said as scrambling to her feet to let him in. “What are you doing here?” she said as opening the window.

“You always say you like me for my initiative, so I figured I would drop by”

“Are you crazy? My dad is home, and my brother! You know how protective they are!” she replied.

“I’ll be honest, I don’t want to go home right now, I want to stay out a little bit longer. I just went on an errand for Darius. I’m too hyper to go to sleep, and my home is… Well you know…”

Kabi looked at the cloth covered bundle slung over Mirio’s shoulder “Uh huh. Are those monster trophies! Why are you hunting in the middle of the night! You really are crazy”

Mirio smiled and leaned in to kiss Kabi. She wrapped him up in her arms for a moment, momentarily deflecting the kiss, then quickly let him go and ran over to her door to slide closed the bolt lock. Mirio put down the bundle of horns by the fire and sat down by her book.

Kabi came back over and leapt on top of him in a hug again. Her soft skin was like a soothing balm to ease the ache he felt in his heart whenever he returned to Gimly from an adventure. He stroked her hair gently over ear and stared into her eyes. Kabi however quickly glanced down at the cloth covered bundle and undid the string to reveal four shiny black horns. “Black Ivory” she said as she ran her hand along them, “You fought a rageclaw?”. Mirio nodded “They are for a new sword Darius is making for the duke”.

“My dad has his sword hilt made of black ivory,” Kabi replied. “Fancy nobles love this kind of stuff, they get to pretend they got it as a result of a hunt, though they never actually would dare fight something like that of course”.

“A hilt is just a hilt” Mirio replied. “It looks nice though”.

“Yeah they really are pretty”

Mirio picked up the book. “Doing a bit of light reading I see?”

“Haha, yeah, a typical noble’s daughter catching up on her sewing studies” she winked.

“I guess a sword is a kind of needle, and the sword forms like learning a new knot”

“That is a lame joke, Mirio, almost a dad joke. Wait, you aren’t my dad in surprise are you?”

Mirio pulled back. “Oh haha, you never know with illusion magic. Maybe he came back earlier than you thought and saw us training then commissioned a wizard to fool you”.

“Sounds like something he would do” Kabi replied.

Mirio laid down on the pillows and looked up at the ceiling like a stargazer, even though there was nothing other than the dancing shadows from the fireplace to look at. Kabi smoothed her hand up against his chest and unlatched his leather armor. She slid it to the side and laid her ear onto Mirio’s chest to listen to his heartbeat. Mirio petted her on the head. Kabi began to pout “I’m not Ezee you know”.

“Haha, but you like it anyway”

“Yeah it is okay, don’t stop,” she replied.

Mirio laid back fully and sighed. “I don’t know what I am going to do. The count is up my ass about joining his knights, and apparently monster hunters are in town asking around, trying to get me to do a try out. As much as I want to get out of Gimly I hate the idea of joining an order. I want to just be free, you know?”

“Well, just tell the count you aren’t going to join, and as for the monster hunters, just wait until they leave town. They’ll forget you eventually” Kabi replied.

“Yeah, I suppose I should write the count a polite letter and give it to one of his staff tomorrow to hand to him. And I guess I’ll lay low until the hunters leave”

“Mhm. Oh and by the way, how is training with Gerlin going?” Kabi asked.

“He is still a crazy old gnome, but it is going well, I learned my first tier spell” Mirio replied.

“That is a big deal! What spell is it?”

“It is called mist step, but I am still working out the kinks”

“Wow, I’ve always thought mist step was a really cool spell. And have you figured out more about the oasis spell you made yet?” she asked.

“I’m pretty sure it helps me think, and restore my composure. I am not sure but I think it also helps me find ideas out of thin air, as in it makes me a more creative thinker”

“That is so unfair, you are already super creative. How is anyone going to beat you in a duel now?”

“You mean, how are you going to beat me in a duel? Haha!” Mirio pinched her cheek.

“Duh! Who cares about everybody else”

Kabi stood up and moved over to the window. “Did you leave Ezee outside?”. Mirio nodded at her. “Gah, I’m going to tell my maid to go get him”.

“What about your dad and brother?” Mirio asked.

“It is fine, they are probably busy anyway”

“This mean I can stay here tonight?” Kabi lifted her finger “Just a second”. She then whispered to a maid in the hall and told her how to go get Ezee. “Bring him up here okay, and don’t let father or brother see you”. “Yes my lady”.

Kabi turned and pointed at the bed “You! Go to bed”

Mirio stood up “Haha, alright alright, I’m going” and then plopped himself down in her silk sheets. Ezee ran in through the door and Kabi waved off the maid. “You are going to get me in trouble”, she whispered in Mirio’s ear. She pushed him back into bed “But it is okay, I like trouble”

She pressed her soft lips against Mirio’s and raised her leg over him. Warmth radiating between their bodies.