Immovable Mage

– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 209, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 5 –

“Alright, this is it,” announced Brynn. She, Samuel, and Terry were in the northern district of Arcana City, where they were facing a large open gate.

“They live in the mountains?” asked Terry incredulously.

“Not quite,” replied Samuel. “They work in the mountains and live next to them.”

“The northern quarters are mostly run and inhabited by Guardians,” added Brynn. “They have their local headquarters and their training grounds there. The Guardians are also responsible for managing the mana crystal mine.”

Samuel led the way through the gate and knocked on a door to the left. Immediately afterwards, some running and tumbling noises reverberated in the building until the door was practically torn open.

“Auntie Brynn!” “Unca Samuel!”

Two little people came rushing at the two instructors.

“Calm down, you two!” chided a strict female voice from inside.

“Let them come in first,” came a deep voice further back.

Dwarves? Terry was surprised when the owners of the two voices came into view.

A dwarven man with curly red hair and a very frizzy beard. His broad shoulders and visible muscles would have made him look extremely intimidating if it was not for his pastel yellow apron and, perhaps more importantly, his warm welcoming smile.

The dwarven woman had dark brown hair put into a short ponytail accompanied by smooth sideburns. While her shoulders were not as broad, her muscles were just as visible. She was lacking an apron to soften the impression.

“You have not visited in over a fortnight,” said the man with the apron. “The twins really missed you. Come in. Breakfast is almost ready.”

The two little ones clinging to the instructors let go, and Terry could now see their faces. They resembled the two adult dwarves, which was unsurprising.

What did surprise Terry though was that the two were sporting facial hair – a frizzy beard on the boy and smooth sideburns on the girl. Very similar to the two adults. However, the rest of their faces still looked childish, and the combination made for a strange image.

At first, Terry had assumed that they were children. They were quite short even when compared to the two adult dwarves. Their facial hair was casting some doubts about his initial assessment. Then again, Terry had never had much contact with dwarves before. He did not know when a dwarf would start developing facial hair.

It was difficult enough to tell the age of mages or mana cultivators, because a large mana pool slowed down aging and increased longevity as long as it remained filled with mana. Trying to tell the age of mana cultivators of a folk Terry had never had much contact with was more of a challenge than he was prepared for.

Terry was still subconsciously rubbing his own chin when Brynn patted him on the back and motioned towards the open door.

“After you.” Brynn beamed at the boy.

Terry followed Samuel inside. He immediately felt awkward and out of place when everyone else began greeting and hugging each other. It was evident that they all knew each other and were quite close. He was obviously the odd one out. He tried to memorize the names from the greetings.

Whaka Isille is the adult dwarven woman. Nama Whaka Bjorln is the adult dwarven man…

Terry repeated the names silently to himself in order to better commit them to his memory.

“So, this is the kid we are supposed to teach?” asked Isille.

Terry stepped forward. “Greetings. I am Terry. Thank you for your time, Instructor Whaka Isille.”

Everyone froze for a moment. The two twins started giggling, which caused Terry to tense up.

Oh no. What did I do?

“That is very kind of you,” said Isille with an amicable smile. “But I do not believe I have done anything yet that would warrant such an address.” Regardless of her words, her strict expression had already melted and her intimidating presence had vanished with it.

“Careful, little charmer, or I might get a little jealous,” teased Bjorln with a chuckle. Isille rolled her eyes in response.

Terry was utterly confused and looked towards his Academy instructors for help.

Samuel cleared his throat. “You have essentially stated that you love her like family and that you would walk to death’s door with her.”

I stated what to whom when? WHAT!?

Terry’s mouth hung open while his eyes opened wide.

“Whaka is not part of a name, but a way of addressing a close comrade-in-arms,” explained Samuel.

Terry glued his gaze to the floor and blushed profusely.

“Don’t worry about it,” interjected Brynn drily. “The first time I used the term without knowing what it meant, I nearly got myself engaged before figuring it out. Traditionalist dwarves should hand out pamphlets to avoid those confusions. I believe they enjoy seeing everyone else embarrassed.”

“Well, a good chuckle is worth a thousand coins,” interjected Bjorln before grinning and nodding at Terry. “Nice to meet you, Terry. I am called Bjorln.”

Bjorln gestured towards the pair of younger dwarves. “This is our daughter, Florine. This is our son, Jorgen. The two are at your age and they also learn from us. They’ll be your fellow students.”

After Bjorln had finished his piece, Isille spoke for herself: “You may call me Isille. No need for the ‘Instructor this, Instructor that’ they do at the Academy or during official Guardian lessons.”

Everyone smiled and nodded at Terry, which made the boy feel a lot better.

“Aunt Brynn, can you show me the Liquify Earth spell again?” asked Florine excitedly.

“Certainly.” Brynn nodded.

Florine beamed at her.

“If you can demonstrate that you have practiced diligently,” said Brynn while exaggeratedly wagging her finger.

Meanwhile, the other adults set the table.

***

“So, how is your research going?” asked Bjorln.

“Some notable progress,” responded Samuel with an unsatisfied expression. “We succeeded in creating a fire aspect variant of the Cure Minor Wounds spell by incorporating coldfire from the outer system and bloodfire from the lower system. It is not as efficient as the comparable variants from the life or light aspects, but it is getting close to the water aspect variant.”

“Bloodfire from the lower system?” Bjorln frowned.

“The systems are for classifying spells by aspect and structure.” Samuel raised his hands in a gesture of defense. “You can have a harmless spell placed right next to a corrupting one. The lower system is not inherently evil or corrupting, nor are the other systems inherently good or harmless.”

“Yeah, but haven’t most infamous evil mages relied on the lower system?” reminded Bjorln.

“True. However, I can safely say that even more of them have relied on the core system.” Samuel pointed out. “Practically every unaspected mage eventually learns to throw a Fireball. If you were to drop Fireball from a normal education and start calling it evil, then those that fear the label would become more hesitant to learn the spell as well. The spell would not change, but people’s inclination towards learning or avoiding it definitely would.”

“Meh, I will take your word for it.” Bjorln shrugged. “Just remember that there are many people who would be troubled if you were to lose your mind and get all murdery and stuff.”

Samuel narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t look at me like that,” said Bjorln in mock-exasperation. “It’s true. If you go mad, then I would have to hunt you down. Either you would win, which would leave me quite annoyed and possibly quite dead. Or I would win, and Olgorn’s ghost would come back to haunt me and put itching powder into my knickers.”

Samuel had to laugh despite himself. “Did he ever do that?”

“Hm?” Bjorln tilted his head.

“Put itching powder into your underwear,” prompted Samuel.

“Once.” Bjorln snickered. “Retaliation for me putting stinging nettle into his socks. We were a bit younger than the chipmunks are now. I had a date lined up, too. Olgorn, the little dung pellet, always had vicious timing in those things.”

Samuel smiled bitterly. “Nama.”

“Stop that!” chided Bjorln. “How many times do I have to tell you not to address me like that every time we meet?”

“As always, at least one more time.” Samuel shrugged with a sad expression.

“You know what? No!” Bjorln raised his voice. “I have had enough. There is no debt between us. If you are to blame, then what about me? You may have been too weak to save him, but I was not even there. If not for you, then Olgorn would have died countless times before. If anything, then I owe you. Nama.”

Samuel shook his head decidedly. “No, that is—”

“That is the truth.” Bjorln stared intently at Samuel. “I do not care how much you disagree. If you insist on addressing me like that, then I will as well.”

Samuel could not meet the dwarf’s gaze. Eventually, he nodded.

“Now, let us finish up the dishes and then return,” said Bjorln.

***

“Are you really a student at the Academy?” asked Jorgen.

“Yes,” replied Terry half-heartedly.

For now, at least.

“Woah, amazing,” muttered Jorgen. “I heard that they have insane requirements there.”

“Can you show me an earth spell?” asked Florine with sparkling eyes.

“Uhm no, sorry.” Terry drew a breath. “Unfortunately, I am aspect impaired…”

“Oh? Like me and Pa!” exclaimed Florine.

“Huh?” Terry was taken aback. “You are aspect-impaired?” He had never met another aspect-impaired person at the Academy or at the Greenhouse.

Florine nodded. “Pa is aspected towards fire and ice. I am aspected towards earth. What is your aspect?”

Terry furrowed his brow. “I don’t really know. Technically unaspected, but some condition called oscillating mana. I have found no spell I can cast yet.”

“Heh, me neither,” interjected Jorgen drily with a snort.

“You are aspect-impaired as well?” Terry turned to look at him more closely.

“Uhh…” The dwarven boy began fidgeting.

“No, but he is having trouble with external mana control,” said Florine before Jorgen could answer. “And even more trouble with persuading himself to practice.”

‘External’? Terry had not come across such a qualifier for mana control before.

“Bah!” scoffed Jorgen. “I want to be a mana cultivator, anyway.” His voice turned into a mumble. “What is so great about flinging spells, anyway?” His words did not sound very convincing.

“Well, for one thing, it could save your life,” interjected Isille sternly. She had just entered the living room together with Brynn. “I would call that a definite plus. Samuel said that you should be able to learn spellwork, eventually. It would be a waste for you not to, especially if you want to become a Guardian in the future.”

“I want to join the Guild!” protested Jorgen.

Isille’s eye twitched while Brynn suppressed a chuckle.

“The Guild is for people that already know what they are doing and have already found trusted companions,” stressed Isille. “If you want to join the Guild, then I expect you to first join and work in the Guardians.”

The dwarven boy looked dissatisfied, evidently disagreeing with the goals for himself.

“Alternatively,” started Bjorln. He and Samuel were returning from the kitchen.

Jorgen looked up with anticipatory eyes.

“You could prove your ability to us,” suggested Bjorln. “You do not have to join the Guardians if you can defeat me and your ma.”

“And me,” added Samuel quickly.

“I’ll join as well,” said Brynn while smiling mischievously. “And I will make sure to bring all my golems.”

Jorgen looked horrified at the prospect. “No no, not necessary.” He waved his hands in front of himself.

Florine giggled at the exchange and even Terry joined in.

“Come on, let us do the tour,” said Isille. “Mines first.”

***

Terry looked around the cave. The walls had a light blue shimmer.

“Terry, do you know how to increase your mana pool?” asked Isille.

“Either through internal pull by completely emptying it or through external push by absorbing more mana into a full pool,” replied Terry without hesitation. “In the Academy, we mostly use internal pull, because that way, we increase our mana regeneration rate at the same time.”

“Correct.” Isille nodded. “Jorg, what is the danger when using an external push?”

“If you absorb too much foreign mana too quickly, then your own mana becomes corrupted.”

“Good.” Isille moved her gaze to the next student in line. “Lori, how do you avoid mana corruption?”

“Your mana pool size determines your resistance against foreign mana. If you want to absorb more foreign mana, you need to increase your mana pool size first.”

Isille nodded. “Right. These mines are a place for Guardians to cultivate, but in order to do that, we need to keep the mana concentration at controlled levels. Does anyone know what determines the mana concentration?”

Huh. Never thought about that.

Terry looked around. Jorgen and Florine were not showing any signs of answering, either. After a brief moment, Bjorln grinned and raised his hand. Isille ignored the dwarven adult.

“Residual mana seeps into everything,” explained Isille. “All the Arcana Empire is surrounded by the barrier, which makes the residual mana concentration in Arcana comparatively high. The residual mana accumulates here until it forms crystals. Then we mine the crystals in order to decrease the mana concentration.”

“And we get to sell them,” added Florine happily.

“And we get to sell them,” acknowledged Isille. “Whatever crystal you mine while you cultivate is yours.”

“Wait, don’t you have to pay a fee or something?” asked Terry in bewilderment.

“No,” refuted Isille. “Keeping the mana concentration stable is a service to the Guardians as well.”

“And Arcana?”

Isille shook her head again. “The government of Arcana does not need to take a fee. They have a monopoly on providing services related to magic or to license others to do so. The license fee can vary cycle by cycle. The only constant condition is that services need to be paid for in the mana coin issued by Arcana. Everyone desires to use magic services, so everyone is trying to earn mana coins. If the Council wants people to do something, they just need to create some mana coins and pay them. They do not need to care about mana crystals.”

“In fact, the Council is even paying the Guardians to keep the mine stable,” added Samuel.

“How do they know if a mana coin is authentic?” asked Terry.

“Arcana’s mana coins are mana crafted. There are several functions inscribed. First of all, it is incredibly difficult to inscribe or imprint a mana crystal. Second, it is nearly impossible to sense the spell structure or runes inside.”

“What are the functions?” inquired Terry. Even though it was the currency of the empire in which he had grown up in, he never had to use mana coins before.

“Here.” Brynn took a transparent bluish coin out of her pocket.

“First is Visualize Mana Concentration.” The coin displayed the number 20.

“Second is Split.” Brynn took the coin between the thumbs and index fingers of both hands. Then she folded it. After a slight angle, there was a quiet sound and suddenly there were two coins – one in each hand. Both coins displayed the number 10.

“Third is Merge.” Brynn laid both coins on top of each other and pressed them together. After another quiet sound, she was left with a single coin that displayed the number 20 again.

Terry looked impressed. The adults looked amused. The twins looked at Terry in utter disbelief.

“Never had to pay for anything, huh?” teased Bjorln.

“Uhm…” Terry was not sure how to react. He felt weirdly embarrassed without understanding why.

“Terry is from the Greenhouse,” reminded Samuel.

“Oh… right.” said Bjorln with an apologetic look.

“What is the Greenhouse?” Florine wanted to know.

“Nevermind that for now,” interjected Isille. “I think we are getting off track here. Focus.”

“Anyway,” continued Brynn. “Mana coins from Arcana contain a shielding mechanism. Even the best forgeries have one fatal flaw. Underneath the barrier, they will eventually dissipate and get absorbed. An authentic mana coin from Arcana will never disperse while inside the barrier.”

“If you ever plan to go for a trip outside, though, leave your coin in Arcana,” remarked Bjorln.

“No one is going anywhere,” barked Isille while giving Bjorln the stink-eye. “Especially not outside the barrier.”

“Uhh…” Bjorln smiled sheepishly and tried to deflect from his blunder: “Mana cultivation Whaka Isille.”

“Some days, we will train and work here,” said Isille. “These areas are marked with testing signs. You can place your hand there and if you can keep your hand on the sign for thirty seconds without feeling a sting, then it is safe for you to continue into the next area.”

Isille looked Terry up and down. “Terry’s mana pool is much larger than Lori’s and Jorg’s. Even so, it is better for you to stick together while we are here. Moving between areas represents a sharp jump in mana concentration. Group cultivation can help bridge the gap safely.”

“Group cultivation?” Terry had never heard the term before.

Isille was astonished and raised an eyebrow at Samuel.

“The Academy is not really keen on fostering companionship among the students,” offered Samuel.

Isille frowned. “Then how do they practice?”

“Each student gets a tool for depositing mana,” explained Samuel. “They can empty their mana pool by pushing it inside and afterwards reabsorb their mana again.”

Isille’s frown only deepened. “Sounds fancy and wasteful, given their current level.”

“Not my idea.” Samuel shrugged.

“They probably don’t want their future government officials to form factions before even having entered the government,” grumbled Bjorln with annoyance before he admitted: “Mana containers are quite useful, though.”

Isille returned to the main topic: “Group cultivation is like that tool – only that you are training with other people instead. One person empties their pool and then other people help fill it again, adding all their mana regeneration together. Or you let the others push you over your current pool size. Group cultivation also helps with training your mana control. While spell flingers mostly rely on external mana control, a mana cultivator needs to master internal mana control.”

“What does that mean?” inquired Terry.

“The task is different. You are not shaping mana outside of your body, but circulating it inside your body. Instead of having to master spell structures, you will have to master moving mana through the different parts of your body. It is often closer to mana crafting than to spellwork.”

***

Terry did not know where to look first, and his head was swiveling furiously. There were countless people sparring against each other or against an army of specialized golems and other constructs.

In one part of the area, people trained with various mana-crafted items. There was equipment that could change its weight, equipment that could throw things at you with an adjustable frequency, equipment that would disable or impair one of your limbs and many other contraptions.

Terry felt almost dizzy when he saw a special room made of transparent material. In the room, two people were sparring against each other. What really caught his eye was the room itself. Every few seconds, there was something new to throw off the trainees. During the time Terry had been staring, the room had already spit fire, thrown icicles, liquified the earth, frozen over some parts of the ground, blew dense smoke, and created a blinding light. The earth in the room even moved. Terry was amazed that he could neither hear anything nor feel any vibrations in the ground.

“This is the training ground. The beginner area is back there on the left,” explained Isille. “Over there you have the orientation instructors. If you need anything in particular, they can point you to the right area or advisor.

“Every trainee or prospective Guardian gets a card issued from the Guardians. The first use of this card is to track contribution points. In the Guardians, you can technically learn for free. However, everything you learn has a price in contribution points. You can earn contribution points by performing tasks for the Guardians – doing missions, teaching others, or helping in the mines.

“While you are not expected to pay anything upfront when learning here, you are expected to pay this kindness forward. If Guardian management gets the impression that you are just racking up debt without an honest effort to contribute, then you will be warned and may eventually be barred from further services.

“The card will track what you have learned and what you have contributed. This also serves as a mission record and record of ability. These are used for determining which missions or tasks might be suitable for you and Guardian management keeps a separate copy.

“The other function is for locating and signaling. You can register other cards, which will establish a bidirectional link that can act like a compass. Each link can be set to a fixed number of different states, including a temporary flash that serves as a proof of life option.”

“The Guild and the Academy are using similar cards,” remarked Samuel.

“The Guild’s card does not keep track of missions, though, only of rank and account balance,” interjected Brynn. “If you fail a mission, pay a penalty and may be demoted. It also does not contain signaling or locating functions. You have to purchase such a device separately.”

“That fits the Guild alright,” grumbled Isille.

Brynn shrugged. “Not everyone needs the functionality. Some work alone. Others, like me, do contract work instead of missions. Your average crafter has little opportunity to get lost.”

The explanation did not ease Isille’s ongoing frown.

“What about the Academy’s card?” asked Terry.

“Ehh…” Brynn hesitated.

“If we tell you and you tell the other students, then Brynn and I would get into trouble at the Academy,” stated Samuel matter-of-factly.

“I won’t tell anyone!” promised Terry.

Not as if any of the other students are talking to me, anyway.

Brynn and Samuel shared a glance. Then Samuel shrugged and explained. “The Academy card keeps track of your class progress and includes a unidirectional link that allows the Academy to locate students. Students are not supposed to know that.”

“Many children related to members of the Council are among the students,” elaborated Brynn. “The Academy wants to avoid problems.”

“Anyway, we’ll get your cards later,” announced Isille. “The main goal for today is for you to understand what this place is promising you. While you can learn pretty much anything here – even mana crafting or spellwork – we want you to first focus on mana cultivation. We will give you a little demonstration of where this road can take you.”

Mana cultivation. Terry sighed.

***

“Woah!”

“Go Pa! Go Ma!”

Brynn and Samuel could not help but smile at the excited children. The awed look on Terry’s face was particularly satisfying given his earlier reservations about becoming a mana cultivator.

Isille and Bjorln were performing a mock battle against some other instructors and several golems. A crowd had quickly gathered and the two dwarves left a particular impression.

“Did you see that?”

“Wow, that was an aspected discharge!”

“Her timing for the shields is amazing!”

“How can she keep up a burst for so long?”

“Ouch, that poor golem,” exclaimed Brynn with a grimace.

Bjorln had landed one fist that froze the golem and then followed up with another fist that sparked fire and blew the golem into smithereens.

Next to him, Isille was wielding two mana-crafted short spears. She gave off a light glow while she darted around with incredible speed. One second, Isille lightly tapped one golem so that it would lose its balance. In the next second, she inconceivably switched direction by relying on one of her spears.

Isille jumped and a translucent blue tower shield appeared where her hand was gripping the spear. It looked as if someone had poked a spear through a tower shield. The barrier blocked an incoming fireball aimed at Bjorln. While blocking, she still pierced the head of one golem.

“Wooh!” Florine cheered from the side. Jorgen grinned widely and clenched his fists. The eyes of the two dwarven children were sparkling.

Isille had freed up a narrow line through the golems leading towards the mages at the back. As soon as the line was opened, Bjorln suddenly stomped his foot. A loud bang followed, and a small fire explosion propelled the dwarf forward. Bjorln’s speed now even surpassed Isille’s from earlier.

“Wait, you can do an aspected discharge from your feet?” asked a slightly chubby teenager before skeptically examining his own appendages.

Their opponents noticed the charging dwarf, and one of them threw a small lightning bolt.

Isille was still in front and immediately darted to block the bolt with another barrier. While blocking, Isille used the spear in her other hand to thrust downwards. Even though the spear did not meet the earth, there seemed to be a force involved that smashed the ground and moved Isille further up and out of the way of the charging Bjorln.

The dwarves nearly collided. Terry could swear he saw them smiling at each other.

A few steps after Bjorln had passed Isille and reached the last third of the area, he reared back his arms and then punched out with both arms to the front.

“Activate your mana sight,” said Samuel from behind Terry.

Terry did as instructed. A light blue wave flowed from the dwarf’s hands and rapidly covered the entire area in front of him. A dense net of lines was sizzling through the wave. It looked like a vast spell structure, only that the shaped mana strands were not smooth or connected with each other to form a complex loop. Instead, it looked rough, more like thick lightning carved from mana than anything Terry had ever seen in spellwork.

When the wave reached the mages in the back, their active spells collapsed and their harvested mana dispersed. They were surrounded by the wave of lightning-like mana, and this somehow interfered with their mana harvesting and shaping attempts.

Isille chased after the bluish wave. Before she could point her spears at someone’s throat, one opponent already raised a hand to signal the end of the match.

A bystander gave a quick whistle.

“You called them Ma and Pa, right?” asked the chubby youth from before. “Do they give lessons?”

***

“Each path of mana cultivation is unique, but this is mostly a difference of style and emphasis,” said Isille. “The common path for mana cultivators is usually separated into approximately four stages that each comprises several steps. The core of all steps is to train combat techniques while enhancing your physical performance by channeling and consuming mana.

“First is balance, which is the most important part of the early steps. Balance means to maintain your mana level while consuming it. The balance refers to getting a feel for your mana regeneration rate so that you consume it exactly at the regeneration rate.

“In the second stage, a cultivator incorporates mana-crafted items. You want to use mana-crafted items without losing your balance. This sounds a lot easier than it is. The consumption of mana-crafted items differs from the consumption of your own body.

“Next are bursts. A burst is a temporary deviation from balance for the sake of higher performance. You increase your mana consumption to a level that cannot be sustained for long. Bursting can be dangerous, but it can also save your lives. You need to know and understand your own mana throughput. You need to know your own limits.

“The fourth common stage focuses on mana discharges. A disruption discharge allows a mana cultivator a chance to close in on a mage. For an aspected discharge, you create a mana refractor and discharge your mana through the refractor in order to amplify a particular aspect.”

“Similar to creating a mana primer,” whispered Samuel to Terry.

“Even if you have aspected mana, you can still use it for a disruption discharge because this effect is more about volume than aspect, but every aspected discharge will carry the property of its aspect.” Isille continued her lecture while Terry was listening attentively.

***

Later in the afternoon, Terry was sitting together with Florine to watch Brynn perform the Liquify Earth spell.

Terry tried casting it, but it came as no surprise that he failed. Eventually, Terry joined Samuel and Jorgen instead. Samuel was guiding Jorgen in mana control and mana sense.

“Pheww, you are really good at this,” exclaimed Jorgen enviously. “I wish I had your mana control.”

“I wish I had your unaspected mana,” retorted Terry just as enviously.

“Well, I for one wish you would both pay more attention,” interjected the annoyed voice from Samuel.

“Oh, don’t be such a grumpy wart,” exclaimed Bjorln loudly.

Grumpy wart? Terry panicked and did not know where to look. He had never heard anyone speak to Instructor Samuel like that before.

Isille stood next to Bjorln. She appeared conflicted over whose side to take.

“Oh, come on, Whaka Samuel!” Bjorln continued with exaggerated exasperation. “We have not seen each other in a while and the kids have just met. Let the kids have some fun and let us have a chat.” Bjorln paused and blinked. “The rhyme was not intended.”

Isille grinned and made up her mind. “Whaka Brynn, you wanted to tell me about the new training golems.”

Samuel was still reluctant when Brynn touched his shoulder. “It does not hurt if they practice with mana games for a while, right?”

***