The eyes of an architect are said to see the world differently. To them, every building is a puzzle. A way to put materials together in a way that would one day create something that a person could call home. Some see this as a profession with a bright future. The expansion of society, after all, lies also on the shoulders of architects. Sometimes, however, certain people may consider this occupation a curse. Not always do the pieces of the puzzle fit at first glance and so in such times, the hard-working architect might find itself staring not into the vast treasury of their fantasy, but into a deep pit of despair.

Ikadem's movements during the last hour could be described as three simple ones. Sometimes, he scratched his head, when it seemed like an idea would sprout out of it, and when he attempted to further stimulate it. Soon after, he would rub both his eyes with his right hand and then slide it over his face when what originally seemed like a bright vision would turn out to be nothing but another empty thought. His final repetitive movement, blinking, was only natural, given that his eyes would otherwise dry out from all the staring into the blueprints.

"No! I can't! I just can't do it!" he angrily exclaimed and swiped the sheet of paper aside. "A city built as a single tall palace?! Impossible! The previous architect must've been a madman! I cannot continue like this! It makes NO sense to build a structure like this!"

Over the years, his lamenting had long faded into the wind. And where his eyes could not see a glorious city all those years ago, now stood a massive citadel. A building made of buildings. Like several cubes pressed into each other. They intersected and connected into the strangest combinations. Whenever the city had to expand, they would simply build another cube onto the existing ones. Thus the place always kept on growing, like a pyramid built to serve as the tomb of symmetry. To a geometry enthusiast, the place was an eyesore. A disgusting example of humans trying out new things without giving them much thought. To the eyes of wanderers, however, the immensely tall pyramid was a calling. A calling to visit such a marvelous place, traverse its many layers and twisting corridors, and see what it is like to live in Quule, the streetless city.

Glavas was lying in bed. His achievement of managing to secure a room almost at the top of the pyramid was something he felt immensely proud of. Although he had to admit that his skills at persuading the innkeeper only did so much, and the rest of the talking was done through money the children threw the woman's way. The loot they brought from Rotler was serving them well. Two months later and they could still afford to live in more than good conditions. The hunter turned his head to the side. A plate with little cubes of salami was sitting on the other side of the bed. So close, and yet perfectly out of reach. He extended his hand out toward the food and gazed closely at his fingertips. Slowly and carefully, a minuscule dark hand began forming out of his index finger. The moment it finally took shape, however. Glavas quickly clenched his fist and squashed it with so much strength that he even felt dull pain radiating through his fingers. His heart was pounding, filling the silent room with its beat.

"Relax, Glavas, relax. It's still too early. Give it time. Fooooo..." he whispered to himself and took a few deep breaths. With each one, the grip of his fist loosened and his heartbeat moved closer and closer to its original frequency. "You are in charge. It is your magic. Just breathe and..."

*BAM!

"FUCK!" Something big and heavy hit the window of his room. All the effectiveness that the breathing exercise may have had was suddenly gone. The hunter jumped up on his feet and immediately turned his attention to the window. Although the sight was not as horrific as seeing, for example, an assassin breaking into his room, it certainly did not make him any calmer. Outside was a young, aquatic dragon with cyan-colored scales, hanging upside down from the balcony above.

"Aaaaaaaa! Don't let go! Don't let go!" He kept on shouting, much more loudly than he imagined he would sound, at his little partner in crime, who was holding him by his ankle.

"I can't let go! I'm the unstoppable force, remember? Just hurry up and get inside!"

"DON'T LET GO!" he kept on shouting, not hearing any of Alma's words. "Glavas!" he yelled when he noticed the hunter inside. "Open! Open the window!" he gesticulated wildly, just in case the six floors below and above them would not hear him.

"Oh get inside!" Glavas growled, quickly opened the window, and helped the confused reptile inside. Shortly after, the young girl with empty eyes, ebony skin, and an almost completely shaved head followed her accomplice. The only difference was that she swung herself through the window with almost a surprising dexterity.

"Can you two explain to me what the hell were you doing?!"

The two kids exchanged concerned expressions. Neither of them was sure whether or not they should tell Glavas about their evening trip outside.

"Climbing the exterior of the city when it's this dark outside?! What the hell got into you? Alma, your fingers healed not too long ago! You want to get hurt again?!" The hunter pointed to the faintly glowing blue scars on the girl's hand. They looked almost like tattoos of lightning or cracked porcelain.

[We were just...]

"Borrowing a book?" Alma squeaked and lifted up her shirt, revealing a thick leather grimoire titled "Arcana for Apprentices."

"You stole a book about magic?!"

"We borrowed it! It's from a library."

[But we don't have a library card.]

"And that takes at least a week to make."

[And it's for residents, not guests.]

"So we..."

"You wanted to learn magic?"

"Yeah! I mean, Surdi already knows some, but I don't. And... well, what if I need to use it at some point? You can't argue that summoning water or a pleasant breeze would be useful when traveling."

Glavas looked around the room until he found where he placed the cup he had been using for drinking. "You mean something like this?" He extended his pal toward the container and spoke out loud: "Adov inedut." For a moment, he waited, but nothing happened. Only after the fourth incantation and a rather wild and desperate shaking of his hand did a stream of water erupt from his palm, filling the cup, but not without making a mess all over the table.

"Tada! See? Cold water!" He handed the cup to Alma and Surdi, who each took a sip. The feeling almost surprised them. It was like drinking out of a mountain stream that was moments before freezing. In the hot weather that ruled over the southern Ezma, a drink like this was priceless. "You don't need a book for learning magic! I can teach you."

[It took you four attempts and you spilled everywhere.]

"That's because I'm rusty. But I still know plenty of basics and have years of experience. So let me pass on some of this knowledge." He knocked on the side of his head with the joint of his finger. The children looked at each other, shrugged, and then turned back to him.

"Alright, so what can you teach us?"

Glavas took a moment to think. The subject was complex. Countless scholars have been trying to simplify the rules of magic for their apprentices, and yet, none have succeeded in explaining the rules without causing a few headaches.

"Okay, let's start with you, Surdi. How do you use your fire magic, step by step?" the hunter asked for at least some guidance.

[I think the word, imagine how I'd write it, think about fire, and the gas I exhale just ignites.]

Glavas stared at him for a moment and then gently rubbed the root of his nose. "Okay, so you pretty much don't even use common magic. I guess you're just lucky you're a dragon. Your scales protect you from the heat to some extent. But Alma, please, don't try what Surdi does. That could get ugly."

"I know. Magical word, clear image of what I want to happen, and mana to pay for it. I think the last step is covered and I've got a pretty good imagination, so all I need is an explanation of how to improve my pronunciation. Watch this." She extended her scarred hand, palm facing the ceiling. "Ne..."

"No no no no no!" Glavas quickly interrupted her and grabbed her arm. "That is a bad idea. You know very little about magic. Let's not start with casting fire into your own hand, okay?"

"Then what should I start with?"

"Safety measures."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. You do not have Surdi's resistance. Fire will burn you a lot easier. Wind magic can cause small cuts, and so on. So first, I will explain the basics."

"Ugh, fine! So what, do I need like a safety helmet or something?"

"Keep your sassiness out of this! Step one is understanding how much mana you have. Do you know that?"

"Umm..."

"Okay, do you know how to find out?"

"Well..."

"Okay, sit," Glavas lowered himself to the floor and crossed his legs. Soon after, both children did the same.

"Surdi, since you can already use magic, I will start with you. Please, close your eyes and try to imagine yourself surrounded by your own mana. Like a thin layer of water all around your body, yet you can still breathe in it. As a little help, you can imagine yourself conjuring up your innate magic, but without exhaling any toxins, okay?"

[I guess. At the very least, I can try.]

"Yes, please do so." The dragon closed his eyes and followed Glavas' instructions. A few seconds went by, however, and nothing was happening. Alma grew restless, Glavas could tell, but he kept on urging her to stay patient. Only when about four minutes went by, something finally happened. A cloud of golden smoke surrounded Surdi's body, and quickly expanded, forcing the girl beside him to scoot away. At first glance, it almost looked like a little sphere containing the dragon's entire being.

"Whoa... is that...?"

"Surdi's mana. From inside of his body, to the outside, without allowing it to be expended."

"Cool! Can I try?"

"Sure, but wait a moment," Glavas gently nudged Surdi's hand, making him open his eyes. When he did, the magic quickly disappeared.

[Did I do it?]

"Yup, absolutely excellent. It seems you have quite a lot of mana. That's good. Now, perhaps it will be better if you'd explain to Alma how to do this. After all, my experience with mana-based exercises is too different from that of a human. Yours would be closer to hers."

Surdi nodded and turned to the girl, whose heart was ready to jump out of her chest with anticipation. [Okay, so just imagine you're in an ocean and you feel the water all over your body. Just... try to feel it. Like the currents carrying you along and so on. And relax. You should just be calm completely, okay? That's what worked for me. Just floating.] Alma confirmed and began replicating what she saw. In her case, however, the impatience was quite obvious. A few seconds of waiting turned into minutes. Those kept accumulating until, after about twelve of them, the hunter could finally see a result. A thin layer of golden liquid formed around her, surrounding every part of her body.

"You did it!" Glavas congratulated her, snapping her out of the meditative trance.

"Really?! What did it look like? Was it like Surdi's?"

"Umm... no. And it's good we've done this exercise because now I know your limit. I'm afraid that your mana is quite below average." The smile on her lips slowly disappeared.

"So... I can't use magic?" she whimpered.

"If you were a dragon, perhaps, then you truly wouldn't be able to. But since you are a human, we can do something about it."

She gave him a confused look. "I don't get it."

"Well, let me just say that mana is different from species to species. Elves, for example, get one truly massive supply of mana for their whole life. It is stored in our hair, which is why it cannot be cut and doesn't fall out. As we use mana, our hair gets shorter. And if we used it all up, well, that's it. No way to get it back."

[That's terrible.]

"Not really. Let's see... do you remember the lake into which I've thrown the Scalder?"

[Yeah?]

"If all the water in that lake was all your mana, then my mana would be the entire ocean from the shores of Ezma all the way to the impassable mists."

"Is it really that much of a difference?!"

"Yes, of course. After all, we live for hundreds of years, so it's only natural for us to have a lot of it. Dragons, on the other hand, are the polar opposites of elves. Your amount of mana is always determined at birth and is relatively small, but your body automatically absorbs mana from the air around us. Your scales have that property, which is why most dragon mages wear rather... modest clothing, instead of the classic robes."

[So... what, if I take my shirt off, I will recover mana faster?]

"Yes, but you will also be cold."

"Wait, and what do I get?" Alma couldn't wait to hear all about herself. "What is human mana like?"

"Yours also replenishes, but slowly. Simply said, dragons can use magic continually and never run out. You, on the other hand, will get tired if you use too much of it. And this is precisely why I wanted to bring up safety. If you ignore your fatigue, and I am pretty sure you would, the strain might prove too much for your organism. You could lose consciousness in the better case or even fall into a coma that can last anywhere from a few days to several weeks. And if you would truly drain yourself of pretty much all magic..." Glavas took a moment. "It could be fatal."

Alma's eyes were wide like two saucers. The fear of something like that happening was now implanted into her mind and would most likely never disappear.

"Okay, but... that's a negative. A massive one!"

"Yes. That's because I wanted to warn you first before I'd get to the brighter side of things."

"Which is?!"

"The maximum of mana in your body can be increased. Just like using muscles allows them to grow, using magic can expand your potential. Eventually, you can even outgrow Surdi's capacity."

"And yours?"

"Ha! Not in a million years!" Glavas laughed and pat the girl on her shoulder. She was not the first human to wonder if they could match the potential of an elf, but something like that was simply not naturally possible, even if the said human would practice each and every waking hour of all their days.

"Now, when you know about the risks and the basics, why don't we start casting some real spells?" He grinned and plucked a few candles from the nearby shelf.