NOVPUB“Hold!” Sebastian screamed as Valens strolled calmly toward the old master. “Stop!” the doorman yelled as he scurried around his high desk, clutched the edges of the wooden furniture and launched himself off into the hallway, yanking at a singularly stubborn patch of his vest that got caught in a ledge, tore it through to free himself with his face going red. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
Valens looked over his shoulder, disappointed by how that chaotic effort only awarded the doorman a few steps into the hallway. Master Archibald himself looked puzzled by this sudden event as well, whose eyes danced between Valens and Sebastian, possibly considering who among these two men demanded his more immediate attention.
“That cough,” Valens said, taking initiative. “The chest pain,” he pointed a finger into the Master’s richly loose robe with its lights twinkling. “The shortness of breath,” he flicked that finger up around the man’s face. “Fatigue and fever, as well, if I’m not wrong?”
“You…” Master Archibald blinked at him. “You’re right.”
“And surely there’s been a sudden loss of weight in these… I’d like to say last few months?” Valens paused as he focused on the frequencies around the Magus. His overreliance on that staff, the persistent cough that rattled the cage of his chest, the pale face with drops of sweat dotting his forehead… He didn’t have to be a Resonant Healer to tell that this man was sick.
But the frequencies of his rhythm were muted when he tried to take a peek at them. Shrouded under a thin layer of mana that coated him like an invisible blanket, which blocked Valens’s sound vision quite effortlessly.
I’ve thought the city had a no-magic rule for people like us? Is there an exemption for Masters that I’m not aware of?
“Master Archibald!” Sebastian finally pulled himself barely enough to reach the pair of them, even though they’d been standing still for some time. He huffed, and coughed, and raised his head to give Valens a most respectable glare. “I’m terribly sorry to let this scoundrel disturb you on your visit! I shall handle him—”
“Hold on, Sebastian,” Master Archibald said, not all too interested in the doorman’s words as he kept his eyes on Valens. “This young man… Is he a new recruit? But just now you’ve told me he’s not someone worthy of my attention, haven’t you?”
“I—” Sebastian sputtered.
“Let us not get too lost in the semantics,” Valens said. He removed the golden ring around his finger and showed it to the Master to get a new appraisal from the man. Anything, really, to save himself from the unnecessary complications. “It was my intention to become a part of the Magi Guild, but someone told me that not only do they have a great waiting list for such cases, but also with my qualifications there’s little hope on the horizon for me to even dream of joining your ranks. So I suppose, this is me clearing a few misunderstandings.”
“Misunderstandings?” Sebastian huffed. He backed off, squinting at Valens now that he was available for the [Identify] skill like a recently unpacked box of goods. His eyes widened when the doorman took in the information. “Arcane Healer? A Level 100 Healer?”
Valens nodded at the man, though he was rather tired of getting the same reaction from everyone he came across.
“No need to—”
“I was right!” Sebastian jabbed with a thick finger into his face. “A Healer in Melton! Not even a Mage, but a trifling, pretentious Healer thinking he could take refuge in our glorious guild. I shall fetch the Golden Ward right this instant. Have the police and the authorities deliver this man to the place he truly belongs. In the depths of the Belgrave Prison!”
“Wait,” Master Archibald raised a hand at him. “Let us first hear him.”
“But Master!” Sebastian’s face reddened as spit flew out of his mouth. “This man must be a criminal, a grave offender considering he can walk unhinged in the capital! What lengths must he have gone to hide his identity! What dark works he must’ve been involved in! Do we suppose to believe he’s a good man out—”
Valens jerked the thumb of his right hand over his shoulder, flicked the tip of his finger gently as Gale answered his call. A sudden wind picked up from the tails of his leather coat, swirling upward across his body, coiling around his finger like an obedient snake made of air. He sent it sweeping toward Sebastian’s legs, and with another wave of mana into the spell, he removed the fawning, grunting, huffing doorman’s feet off the ground.
The short, pudgy man gawked at the sudden sensation of going weightless. His eyes snapped to the ground as he slowly soared inside the hallway, inching gently upward as though a balloon recently freed from the small fingers of a child.
“Madness!” Sebastian yelled and tried to work his fingers around, flailing as the frequencies changed and mana answered his call. They spoke of a skill, something involving fire from what Valens could tell, which seemed foolishly irresponsible of him considering they were in a tight hallway, and Master Archibald was standing just there a few steps away.
“We display our true colors when we’re cornered,” Valens shook his head. Just when a Fireball was about to come alive from the tips of Sebastian’s fingers, he yanked at the Gale and sent the man for a number of spins in the air to breathe some sense into his brain. “But we mustn’t let the heat of the moment get to our heads. Think before acting, eh, Sebastian? That’s important.”
“Master!” Sebastian screamed and flailed, tears trickling down from his eyes, tongue lolling out as he swirled one circle after another. “Help—”
“That Gale,” Master Archibald swallowed. He squinted his eyes at the doorman, then back at Valens. “The concentration of mana, the ease of control… Young man, are you a Master of Gale?”
“I suppose I am,” Valens said simply. He removed the airy snakes coiling around Sebastian’s body, and let the man drop on his ass with a plop. The doorman groaned as he turned over on his stomach, one arm stretched out like he was trying to reach something. “Pardon my sudden display, but I’ve figured that would clear the air between us.”
I knew the moment I laid my eyes on you that you don’t have much regard for this doorman, and I have ample justification to send him for a spin or two after how he treated me. Can’t blame a man for that, can you?
“Interesting,” Master Archibald said, leaning over to his staff of a cane and peering into Valens’s eyes. “A Healer and a Mage both. A touch troubled in mind, surely, considering you’re in Melton of all places. You should count yourself lucky that the Golden Ward hasn’t yet discovered your presence. The times might be changing, but I’m afraid we’re still years away from ridding ourselves of the Church’s ever-stubborn existence. It’s too risky—”
“Oh? The Church?” Valens smiled. “If that’s what worries you, then I’d be glad to say I’m the new recruit for the Golden Ward.”
“What?!” Sebastian and Master Archibald yelled at the same time.
Valens fixed the collar of his shirt. “Yes. I’ve been told by Bishop Cornelius himself that Belgrave will become a better place with my talents as there has been an awful shortage of Hexmenders as of late.”
“Hexmenders?” Master Archibald’s face trembled. “What of them? Are you suggesting you’re a walker of the Mind’s Path as well?”
“Yes,” Valens nodded. “I have a particular interest in matters of mind and soul, Master, but in my heart, I’m just a simple Healer. I wasn’t aware that you’d distilled the schools of arcane into five different categories, however. Five Schools of Magical Thought, you’ve said? I’d like to hear more of that.”
“A simple Healer…” Master Archibald rubbed his chin thoughtfully. It wasn’t long before he flicked a finger up to Sebastian, demanding with a strict voice to the doorman, “Fetch us some drinks. We’ll be at the Chamber of Masters.”
“What?!” Sebastian floundered to his feet, staring wide-eyed at him. “But Master, this man has attacked me brazenly—”
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“Ruffling a fool’s feathers doesn’t count as assault, Sebastian,” Master Archibald smiled. “And you’ve personally witnessed the control this young man had over Gale! That was a show, a treat for sore eyes, not an intent to make a doorman regret his choice of words.”
“Well, there has been a touch of that, too, I have to admit,” Valens said.
Master Archibald waved a hand at him. “No harm in enjoying ourselves with occasional tricks, eh, young man? Come now. Leave the doorman to his matters.”
“But your fateful meeting—”
“Blind as a fool, are you, Sebastian?” Master Archibald scowled. “A Master of Gale, a Level 100 Healer, and a walker of the Mind’s Path. Three schools of Magical Thought all in one young body. Do you suppose there can be a more extraordinary candidate in Belgrave than this fellow Mage of mine? Get your head out of your ass, and fetch us some drinks.”
“U-Understood…”
“Come, young Mage,” Master Archibald gestured at Valens, looking as giddy as a little child chanced his way to a sparkling toy. “We have a lot of matters to cross. This sickness of mine…”
He went on to a great speech about the recent troubles he’d faced, and was still facing to this day as they strolled toward the spiraling staircase of the tower. They left behind a wallowing Sebastian there in the antechamber who was busy staring at his hands as though he expected some sort of answer from them.
The class difference, Valens thought as he followed Master Archibald through the staircase, it’s quite stark in here, isn’t it?
And for the first time in this world, it worked in his favor.
…….
“Now Valens… Your education?” Master Archibald asked. He’d poured himself into a big chair cushioned from all sides, adorned with golden strings and embroideries of intricate craftsmanship. His cane was safely placed by the armrest, waiting at the ready in case the Master Magus should decide to go for a walk.
A similar chair had been granted to Valens in the Chamber of Masters as well. There was a feeling to the place, a grandeur fitting that of a royal hall. Hung across the walls were multi-faceted gems radiating a sparkle of lights down the ground, a number of manastones with mana streams trickling out from the little holes around them, and giant windows that allowed a bird’s eye view of Belgrave’s high-class ring.
They were in a room separated from the main hall of the Chamber of Masters, accessed through a mechanization of mana-signs. Valens could feel the existence of glyphs tugging at his sound vision, a number of them unseen to the naked eye, all serving different purposes.
Floor heating, sound dampening, and a bunch of others. They’re all tied to little manastones to be fueled with constant streams. So then, the magic of this world isn’t as archaic as I’ve thought. There’s an occasional glimpse of brilliance.
“Here and there,” Valens answered as he turned to face the Magus. He’d spent most of his life in the Academy of Resonant Healing and had learned the craft from the very best of the field. In separate wings of the Academy, he studied elemental magic save for the fire, the demanding work of spell formulae, and the appliances of magical tools, the crafting of Wards and Surges. But mostly, Master Eldras directed him to explore the lengths of his gift, which was the gift of the songs of the world.
To his Master, all magic could be simplified into a study of frequencies. The sources scarcely mattered. The shapes were hardly considered different when everything had a particular set of frequencies. Learning these sets of rhythms, however, demanded an excruciating practice that involved long hours and painful memories.
“You seek discretion,” Master Archibald nodded. “That, I can understand. Our past is the foundation upon which we build our true selves. Therefore, disclosing the formula of this foundation is no different than granting another person the secret of our Traits, but it wasn’t my intention to pry into your past. I was merely asking since I happen to know quite a few of the teachers of Haven’s Reach’s academies.”
Traits? As in… multiple of them?
“I’m afraid you won’t find my name in any of those academies,” Valens admitted. “I’m from a different part of the world, Master Archibald, a commune of people who don’t like to have anything to do with the rest of Haven’s Reach. For all I know, I’m the first to venture alone into the unknown.”
First one… In recent years, at least.
“What an intriguing young gentleman, you are!” Master Archibald beamed at him. “I suppose this explains your unusual way of treading the different paths of the arcane, and the lack of knowledge about certain topics.”
“Precisely,” Valens said. “It’s been a daunting journey across the stretches I have never seen before, and during this short time, I haven’t had the chance to get an understanding of your ways. I do, however, know that some of my fellow Mages learn their craft in big academies.”
The Caligian Academy of Magical Thought, was it? That young man in the assembly was a student there.
“Indeed. We can’t stress enough the importance of the role the academies and universities play in our field. Without them, the disciples of the arcane would’ve remained as tools of warmongering rulers and ambitious guilds seeking material gain,” Master Archibald said. “But these last few centuries have been the most fruitful. We’ve witnessed ample gains in the field of discovery and unearthing the mysteries of the arcane. I myself have taught Elemental Magic in Fenwick Academy back in the day.”
“That is one of the Five Magical Thoughts you’ve talked about, I presume?” Valens asked.
“Yes! Of all the five, Elemental Magic is the most prevalent and practiced school of thought. The simplicity of trial and error is a big factor in that. After all, there’s a stark difference between practicing, say, a Fireball and a Heal. The same is especially true for the Mind. I’m afraid matters of the Mind still elude us Magi to this day.”
“Not an easy field to understand, I should know,” Valens said. “But if I’m not wrong, you dabble in divination magic, as well. Now that’s a field I have no prior experience in.”
“Divination and Fate,” Master Archibald said. There was a prideful glint in his eyes as he continued, “I suppose I owe this deteriorating state of my body to the study of those fields. Other than Void, I’d say Fate takes a much higher toll on one’s body than the rest of the three.”
So there’s Elemental Magic, Healing Magic, Mind Magic, Divination and… Void? Five Schools of Thought. Why the distinction, though? It can’t be just because of a categorical perspective, can it?
“Just as with Healing Magic and Mind Magic, there’s no spell formulae to Divination,” Master Archibald smiled. “I’m sure you’re familiar with the process. Without a spell formula to rely on, a Mage has to find their way by a great degree of feeling and a hunch, which is why we rely on Cursed Artifacts to act as guides in Divination.”
“Cursed Artifacts?” Valens narrowed his eyes.
“Mostly the ones carrying the touch of the Mother of Venerable Fates,” Master Archibald nodded. “After all, she is the Mistress of Fate. Without her help, we couldn’t have possibly pried into the strings of time.”
Is the use of Cursed Artifacts this common? I thought the name ‘cursed’ comes with a certain set of warnings, but it seems that’s not the case.
“Now, about your application to our guild—” Master Archibald lost his voice to a coughing fit, pinched his eyes shut, and reached blindly for the table beside the chair, clutched a glass of water, and downed it quickly. “This bloody cough,” he lamented, face gone blotchy pink. “It’s going to kill me!”
“I’ll be happy to help—”
“Not now, Valens. We should first see the matter of your application,” Master Archibald said to him, wiping his mouth. “I lived in Caligi a few years back. I know how valuable the gift of healing is. There are a hundred Fire Magi for a single Healer even in the most magical kingdom of our world, so you must know the worth of your gift and act accordingly.”
Valens paused. It was quite strange to feel appreciated once again in a world that came with its own set of rules. He was seen as a threat to the state in Melton Kingdom, but it seemed, in other places, his abilities made him a precious individual who belonged to a particularly hard school of magical thought.
Why am I getting surprised by that? That should’ve been the case from the start, no? My poor luck… I could’ve been granted that fancy welcome I deserved had the ritual transported me somewhere close to this Caligi.
But instead, he’d been cursed with the fate of being dropped in the reaches of the most bigoted kingdom in Haven’s Reach, and saddled with a Trial that had to do with everything in its capital.
It’s too late for regrets, now.
“Although we carry the name ‘guild’ in our name, Resni’s Guild can’t be more different than those Guilds owned by certain individuals and seeking personal gain of all things,” Master Archibald said. “No, the Magi Guild is a place where the educated, bright minds of the field gather for a singular purpose: to share the burden of treading the unknown with like-minded individuals.”
He leaned into his chair, the glass of water still clasped in his hand. He sighed. “From budding geniuses to Masters of respectable fields, our guild has Towers in every major hub of the world, granting its members a place to belong in parts of the Haven’s Reach where they find themselves lost and alone.”
“It sounds… great,” Valens said, and he meant it.
“It sure does, doesn’t it?” Master Archibald smiled widely at him. “We share knowledge. We deal in things others can’t comprehend. We have members spanning great lengths of not just Haven’s Reach, but the Broken Lands as well. We manage regular meetings and symposiums to discuss recently explored ruins of old ages, and unearthed knowledge of the arcane. We delve deep into the study of Classes and Skills, and many such things. Above all, we seek to better understand the truth behind it all.”
“The truth?” Valens straightened his back, and leaned closer to the old man. “Is that what you seek?”
“Indeed,” Master Archibald said. “We seek answers to the questions left unanswered for ages, and that is why, young Valens, there is no better place in this world than our Guild for a talented Mage like you.”
Wait… I thought we would talk about my application. When did this whole thing turn into an old Mage trying to convince me to join their organization? If that’s the intent here, then it only makes me suspicious.
“Don’t worry,” Master Archibald said in a strict voice. “We don’t forbid our members from joining other Guilds or organizations, nor is it our intention to have control over our fellow Magi. The Council is most strict in this matter. As I’ve told you, our intent is to simply share the burden of solitude in our grand search.”
That… doesn’t sound simple to me.
“We can skip the protocols, and I can just make you a member right here, right now,” Master Archibald pressed on with an eager look on his face. “After all, you’re the youngest Master I have ever seen in my lifetime, and you have not even passed your First Trial yet!”
....
