Angela plunked her butt down against one wall of the sitting room while Naomi sat cross-legged across from her. Leonard opted to sit next to Angela, also cross-legged, which was pretty weird. And more than a little disturbing on a male squirrel.

“Dude…” Angela said, looking at him.

“What?”

“You’re not leaving much to the imagination there, bud.”

Leonard looked down and shrugged. “Ain’t got nothin’ ta hide.”

Angela and Naomi shared a laugh. It took Leonard a moment to work out why, then he shook his head. “Couple a’ children here.” He did shift to a more squirrel-like position, though.

“Let us begin,” Naomi said, her posture the model of perfection. “What would you like to learn about runes?”

Now there was a loaded question.

Angela sighed. “Put it this way. If you start making words, and those words relate to runes in any way, I will be learning something. Seriously. I know Jack-all about runes, magic, the gods…you name it. This shit ain’t easy to sort out without a manual.”

Naomi nodded slowly. “I see. That is a…significant knowledge gap. You really don’t know anything about how magic works?”

“Do you know how the carbon cycle works?”

Naomi looked confused. “The carbon cycle?”

“It’s a science thing,” Angela explained. “I’m just making the point that while the carbon cycle is known by a fair chunk of people on Earth, if you were sent there, you wouldn’t have the first idea what I was talking about. And if you did want to learn about it, you’d have a ton of other crap to wrap your head around before you could even get started.

“In short, take what you know about the carbon cycle and pretend that’s what I know about magic.”

“But all I know is the name?” Naomi said.

Angela nodded. “Exactly.”

Naomi shook her head and blew out a breath. “This might take a while.”

“I got the time,” Angela said, raising her hands.

Naomi nodded. “Then I will start at the very beginning.”

Holding out her hands, Naomi muttered a spell that caused her fingers to glow. She made a series of gestures, and soon images started appearing in midair in response to her movements. Not like she was drawing with her fingers, though; more like she was guiding the images into being with her mind, her hands merely dictating their position in the physical world. It was all very Minority Report.

The first image Naomi created was a disorganized mess. “This is Chaos. The birthplace and destroyer of all creation.”

Angela cringed internally. Not a great start for Mark.

“It is believed that the push and pull between creation and destruction causes a kind of friction, only instead of this friction creating heat, it creates what we call ‘mana,’” Naomi continued. “That bubble of mana is what defines the boundaries of our universe, permeating everything, everywhere. Mana is not just a force to be utilized; it is the sea of Order within which we live. As the friction builds, more mana is formed, and our universe expands.”

“Sweet!” Angela said. “So, mana is basically just dark matter, right? Guess that explains why science was never able to quite work it out. Cool.”

“Dark matter?” Naomi asked. “I have never heard that term before.”

“Not important. Keep going.”

Shaking her head, Naomi proceeded to draw a sphere. She added more detail until it looked like a wire drawing of a planet Angela immediately recognized. It was hard not to remember a planet you’ve viewed from orbit thanks to a clerical error by a talking lizard.

Once Naomi completed her drawing of Arenia, she drew a line straight through the middle of the planet from the north pole to the south pole, then extended that line out into space before looping it around the planet and back down into the north pole. She repeated that process several more times around the globe, the lines sectioning off the image like pieces of an orange.

Angela recognized the drawing immediately. She was no expert, but she’d done her degree in atmospheric science—she knew a planet’s magnetic field when she saw one.

When she was done, Naomi resumed her explanation. “While mana exists everywhere in the universe, some planets, those with life, have what we call a ‘maṉa pulam.’ It is a field of unformed mana that surrounds those planets, creating a region where mana is dense enough to be worked by mortals like ourselves. It is theorized that planets like your Earth, who lack magic, once had an intact maṉa pulam but lost it for reasons we don’t understand.”

She dismissed the image of the planet and drew a series of creatures. “It took a long time for mortals to uncover the secrets of magic. In the early days of the universe, that privilege belonged solely to the Primal Creatures.”

“What’s a Primal Creature?” Angela asked.

“That’s a harder question to answer than you might think,” Naomi said. “They take many forms, but their shape is hardly their defining characteristic. What truly matters is that they are old and powerful on a scale we can barely imagine.”

“Is there a list or something? I don’t want to be blasted into oblivion by a frog I didn’t know was as old as the universe.”

“It won’t be a frog,” Naomi said. “The Primal Creatures we know of are extremely rare and monumental in scale. Things like the Primal Dragons, Kraken, Què, and others, all of whom have sired more mundane versions of themselves yet who are powerful in their own right. Truth be told, almost all our understanding of Primal Creatures comes to us through magical means. Any accounts of encountering them are considered apocryphal at best.”

“But you can’t say for sure that there isn’t one who’s a frog,” Angela noted.

“Primal creatures are not the size of frogs. They are rare and gigantic.”

“What if there’s a whole bunch of tiny ones, but they blast anyone into oblivion who steps on them?”

Naomi pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes. “Can we please move on?”

“Sure,” Angela said. “You were explaining why Primal Creatures used to be the only ones who could do magic?”

“Yes,” Naomi said. Her face pinched. “The magic of the Primal Creatures is…different. We know they can traverse the emptiness of space. That means that by definition, they are not bound by a maṉa pulam. Which is terrifying. From what we know of magic, that shouldn’t be possible. Mana is simply not dense enough between worlds to be used in any tangible way.”

“So how do they do it?”

“That is the frightening part. The only theory that holds up to scrutiny is that the Primals don’t exclusively use mana to power their spells. Rather, they use it as a conduit through which they draw on the power of Chaos itself.”

“What da hell?” Leonard said, surprising Angela. She’d forgotten he was there. “Lady, that is all kinds a’ messed up.”

Naomi shuddered and nodded. “I cannot begin to think how such a thing could be accomplished, but who am I to say what is possible? The Primal Creatures are ancient. Some will tell you they are as powerful as the gods, but I don’t believe that goes far enough. I believe they are stronger, and I honestly don’t think it is close.”

Angela did her best to appear shocked, but her mind was already racing in a different direction. If Primal Creatures could utilize the power of Chaos to perform magic, did that mean Mark himself was using Primal magic?

Quest: “Share Your Learnings”

NOOOO! Don’t pull me into your brother’s mess! Do you realize how much overtime his Tome guide is putting in? The guy is a wreck. Even I’ve stopped laughing at him. Keep out of your bro’s weirdo situation, okay? I just bought a planetoid and I want to spend my vacations there, not in some library looking up archaic texts.

Quest Completion Criteria: Share your discoveries about the nature of magic with your brother.

Reward for success: XP, Revelation of a Rune detail.

Penalty for failure: I mean, you don’t really have to tell your brother, I guess. Kind of a dick move, though.

QUEST AUTOMATICALLY ACCEPTED

Shit. This was probably Angela’s best chance to surreptitiously find some answers for Mark, but what to ask?

Her brain latched onto the word “primal.” Where had she heard it before? Had Mark mentioned it?

No, not Mark. Mom. But she’d used a different word than “creatures.”

“Actually, I have a question,” Angela said. “You’ve been talking about Primal Creatures. Is that the same thing as a Primal Force?”

“Good question,” Naomi said with a smile. “The term ‘Primal’ simply refers to those beings who appeared with the origin of the universe. Primal Creatures, for all their power, are still creatures. Immensely powerful creatures, but they are inhabitants of the universe just like us and therefore subject to its rules. That differs greatly from the Primal Forces, who literally define the nature of reality. They consist of the sentient Eternal Gods—Death, Time, Force, and Magic—as well as the Eternal Foes—Chaos and Order—whose sentience is debatable.”

Angela blinked twice.

Cool. Mark’s powers were apparently tied to an unthinking building block of existence that was constantly trying to destroy everything around them.

He was not going to be happy about that.

“How do you know which ones are sentient and which aren’t?” Angela asked.

“Because we have records of those first four appearing at some point and communing with people,” Naomi answered. “It’s extraordinarily rare, but it has happened. Nobody has ever reported meeting with Chaos or Order, however. I can’t even imagine how Chaos could exist as a sentient entity. Its very nature should preclude such a thing.”

Angela put her head in her hands. “My brain hurts.”

“I’m not surprised—it’s a lot to absorb. Shall we move on from all that background theory into something more practical?”

“Please God, yes,” Angela said.

“Alright then. Let’s show you how spells work.”

Naomi’s words cut through Angela’s funk over Mark’s magic. A surge of excitement rose in her belly, shortly followed by a hunk of gravel hitting her in the back of the head as she tried to stand up.

Class Quest: “Learn Rune Magic!” Part 1 Completed!

You now have an absolutely rock-bottom understanding of the nature of magic, somewhere on par with a 5-year-old child. Frankly, I’m surprised she didn’t teach this lesson with a sing-along and puppets.

Reward for Success: 500 XP, The thrill of learning

Class Quest: “Learn Rune Magic” Part 2

I’m not a big fan of this Naomi girl. Not only can she sift through people’s Tomes in a way that, frankly, creeps me out, but now she’s walking you through Class Quests?

Quest Completion Criteria: Learn how to construct spells.

Reward for success: Unlock the Rune Lattice Skill/Ability.

Penalty for failure: Probably tearing yourself to shreds in misguided experimentation.

QUEST AUTOMATICALLY ACCEPTED

Rune Lattice Skill? What was that all about? It was mentioned as a Class Skill when she first became a druid, but otherwise it was a mystery. Was that why she hadn’t been able to use her runes?

“You ready?” Naomi asked. Angela nodded, and the woman took a few steps back. “Now, magecraft is quite different from rune magic, but I know enough of the theory to get you started.”

Raising her glowing hands, the woman drew a single hexagonal rune in the air, then connected a dozen more runes above it in a seemingly haphazard manner. “When any spellcaster constructs a spell, they start with a base, then build a lattice through which mana will flow. Once a lattice is constructed, they power it.” Placing a finger on the bottom rune, it flashed in a white glow that raced to the top of the lattice.

Angela looked closely at the lattice, noting that the light had taken on a blue hue as it passed through a specific rune, leaving the runes on the other side tinted the same colour.

“What’s going on there?” she asked, pointing at the blue-hued rune.

“The colour indicates the shaping of mana,” Naomi said, giving Angela a wink. “This”—she pointed at the lower portion of the lattice that had stayed white—“represents unformed mana. But unformed mana can only do so much. A druid uses shaping runes to turn unformed mana into something less versatile, but more powerful. Fortunately for you, runic magic is quite simple, possessing only a few forms of mana. These are generally given nature-oriented terms, like ‘earth mana’ or ‘air mana.’ In contrast, the more advanced styles of spellcasting have an unbelievable number of forms, which is why mages tend to hyper-specialize.”

Angela couldn’t help but notice Naomi’s choice of the terms “simple” and “advanced” to differentiate between runecasting and magecraft. Not that she was complaining about not having to learn hundreds of different forms of mana.

“This doesn’t seem so bad,” Angela said, peering at the rune lattice Naomi had built. “Just out of curiosity, how much more complex is magecraft, anyway?”

Naomi grimaced. “Painfully complex.”

She began drawing a different lattice next to the rune-based one, only this time it was a swarm of crystalline tubes. Every time Angela thought Naomi was finished, the woman kept drawing.

And drawing.

And drawing.

By the time the lattice was complete, it looked like the arterial system of an elephant.

“You ready for this?” Naomi asked.

“Ready for what?” Angela said.

Naomi grinned and touched the base of the lattice.

The whole structure lit up in such a crazy array of colours that it looked like a toddler had gotten the Crayola Ultimate Collection for its birthday and gone to fucking town.

“Fuuuck,” Angela said, her jaw dropping.

Naomi nodded, shuddering slightly. “What you are looking at is a stationary representation of the spell I use to access someone’s Tome.”

“What do you mean by ‘static representation?’”

“Believe it or not, if this was a real lattice, powering it would do nothing. To make it function, I must recombine the lattice on the fly. That’s why you see mages moving their hands and muttering when they cast spells. They’re moving the lattice around so that the mana flows properly.”

“Cool,” Angela said, nodding. “Do the verbal commands and hand gestures do different things?”

Naomi shook her head. “It’s just hand gestures; the verbal component is mostly cursing. Live-casting is awful.”

Angela chuckled. “And you have to do this every time you cast a spell?”

“Thank the gods, no. It took many years for me to construct and cast this spell for the first time, but once I did, it was entered into my Tome. Now the mana simply follows the proper channels without expending conscious thought. Which is good. If I had to rebuild this monstrosity every time I wanted to use it, I would go insane.”

“Does that go for the live-casting part as well?” Angela asked.

“Only for the most basic variant of a spell. There are plenty of times when you want to perform the live casting portion regardless, such as modifying a spell on the fly.”

“Could you give me an example?” Angela asked.

Naomi nodded. “Certainly. For instance, using a pyromancy spell to cast a sustained burst of flame versus a fireball. Same lattice, different motions.”

Something in Naomi’s lattice caught Angela’s eye. “Hey, how come some of the mana changes colour more than once?”

“Why wouldn’t it?” the woman asked. “Shaping mana is more like reforming wet clay than chiselling a stone. You can even mix different shaped manas to create a different form altogether. As a druid, you’ll get your fair share of that. Some of the mana forms you’ll want to use are only accessible by mixing other mana forms together.”

“Blargh,” Angela said. Glancing at Naomi’s complicated lattice again, she frowned. “Wait a second. If I’m building my lattices by physically drawing out runes, what are yours made from?”

Naomi sighed. “And there lies the limitation of Magecraft. It is a projection of my soul that I have formed into a conduit for my mana.”

Angela looked at her in surprise. “I sez pardon?”

“Indeed,” Naomi said, nodding. “That’s why mages can live-cast and druids can’t.”

“Wait, we can’t?” Angela asked. “But isn’t that where all the versatility comes in?”

“For mages, yes, but our lattices are literally a part of us. You utilize an external medium. It’s different.”

Angela looked at the two lattices sourly. Naomi must have picked up on her mood because she smiled and gestured at the two floating lattices.

“I can see what’s going on in your head,” she said. “‘That’s not fair. Why can mages do that and I can’t?’”

“That’s exactly what’s going on in my head,” Angela agreed.

“Understandable. Now think of it this way: A mage is like a bodybuilder who requires years of training to create the perfect physique. They must work hard to get it just right, and then continue that work to maintain their perfection. Live-casting skill does fade with disuse, after all.

“In contrast, druids are like sculptors. Your runes are the marble you chisel and polish into a work of art. Once that work is done, whatever you created is there in perpetuity. Not only can you carve that perfect physique faster than I could refine my body, but you also have it forever.”

“So runes are better?”

Naomi gave her a wry look of amusement. “Hardly.”

“Why not?”

“Because your arm would only exist in the position you carved it in, while mine could grab and grasp and change position at will.”

Angela’s brow crinkled. “Okay, I’m not trying to make it into a competition, and I get how it’s helpful to be able to alter spells on the fly, but while you’re perfecting your arm, aren’t I out increasing my Renown, discovering new runes, and building more kick-ass lattices for my arsenal? The opportunity cost is huge.”

Naomi laughed. “Have you forgotten your duties as a druid? A mage need only concern themselves with becoming stronger, while you are responsible for the equilibrium of nature.”

“Oh yeah,” Angela said with a frown. She had forgotten that part.

“Don’t worry,” Naomi said. “Rune magic is simple but powerful. For all its lack of versatility, it gets to the very roots of magic. When wielded correctly, it can be devastating.”

“That’s great and all, but if you can do both kinds of spellcasting and I can only do one, my class is seriously nerfed,” Angela said, waving at the two lattices in annoyance. “What’s to stop you from sculpting a bunch of badass spells of your own?”

“You misunderstand,” Naomi said, gesturing at the hovering images. “These are only a visual representation. Mages can’t do rune magic. I wish I were able to—every mage does—but we can’t. Truth be told, much of the disdain mages have for runecraft is simply jealousy.”

Angela’s annoyance faded. “Oh. Well, that’s good then.”

“It’s good?” Naomi said. “Why would it be good that mages can’t use runecraft?”

“Come on, I gotta have something cool that’s all my own or this would be the lamest class ever,” Angela noted.

“You needn’t worry on that front,” Naomi said. “Aside from the things I’ve already mentioned, some magic is unattainable outside of runecraft—shapeshifting being the most well-known example. Other magics can be done by both classes, but are far easier for a druid. For instance, a solitary mage wishing to influence the weather would not only need to be extremely well-trained, but would have to settle for relatively minor effects. In contrast, a druid of equal experience could create impressive results with a fraction of the effort. That’s partly due to the inherent affinity runes have for fundamental forces, but it is also a product of the fact that druids don’t have to run the power through the medium of their own souls.

“Simply put, runes are less versatile, but what they do, they do extremely well.”

A memory tickled at the back of Angela’s brain. “Wait a sec. Is this why you told Mark that you needed my help doing a ritual?”

Naomi nodded. “It is. Rituals have two components: The rune lattice that creates context for the magic, and the soul lattice that performs the spell itself. While I can’t perform the runic component of a ritual myself, I can take advantage of it.”

“I don’t understand,” Angela said.

“You don’t need to. Suffice it to say that any ritual requires the assistance of a druid. Mages can’t do the rune portion on their own.”

Angela nodded. “Druids can use runes, mages can’t. Got it.”

“Not quite,” Naomi said. “There is one exception. One rune that all spellcasters must use. It is a universal constant, and any attempt to circumvent it is punishable by death in every nation of Arenia.” She pointed to the base of her spell lattice, and Angela peered closely at the small rune that was positioned there.

Her first thought was, Oh shit.

She’d seen that rune before. And after everything they’d discussed, she was pretty sure she knew what it represented.

Calling up her Tome, Angela scanned the lump of marble for the rune matching the one at the bottom of Naomi’s lattice. Sure enough, its entry had changed.

Angela looked up at Naomi. “The Chaos Rune.”