Along with the grueling task of keeping up with all the assignments and reading tasks Miss Maryanne had given to me and the work I had to keep within Boss Kylie's shop, Miss Maryanne would also sneak me into the forests just outside of the city to train. Apparently, she became impatient and discontent with only leaving me with assignments to improve my reading and writing skills, and so without further deliberation with her Royal Guard ally and the Prince, every night, after my assignments were finished, she spirited me away to do some improvised Magical Training. Before she officially drilled some exercises into me though, she started off with the basics.
"Do you know how magic works my dear specimen?" She asked, sitting on a tree branch further up from where I stood, hidden within the dark cover of the foliage above.
"No. Although I know that they came from things called Sources? I only know the Enesial one." I explained as I sat against the bark of the tree she was on.
"Correct! You see-" She extends a hand forward and energy seems to focus directly into the center of her palm, a small circular sigil spawns just slightly above before she gave it a soft blow. From it, an orb floats down towards the empty space between us. From this bright orb, a few more seemed to spawn from its visage, all smaller and weaker. A frail example of the glowing orb within the center.
"All of magic comes from the lifeblood. This so-called Thread of Life that the Light Queen has so generously gifted us." She begins to unravel the sphere in the center, unwinding it into this chaotic stream of green flowing energy, like threads from many spools. These strings split, separating themselves into smaller orbs illuminating with the same colored glow as their parent.
As they stood by, Maryanne would draw a larger sigil in front of her and as she completed the spell, it fades away. The energy being absorbed by these child orbs and soon, they all burst into different colors. As each formed, Maryanne would slowly name them.
The brown one-- biggest among the rest-- cracks as jagged spikes and crystals grew from its core while dust leaked from these fissures. It almost looked like a smaller world devoid of life. This was the Primal Source of Enesial.
The blue one turns transparent, and from its form leaks out water, splashing against the form of the Enesial orb before sinking in between the fissures and settling down. This created the rivers to the oceans, the waterfalls to the lakes. Hydrox.
The white one -- smaller than the other two -- broke apart. As if it had evaporated into nothing before reappearing as soft white clouds that surrounded this display. A faint whistle of the breeze echoes from around the sphere. Aero.
The last one floats just above this dance of elements before burning with a red hot glow. The space around it distorts as if it was a piece of metal heated at the flames of a forge. Yet despite the heat, the orb did not melt away or break apart like the others did. It stood there in stasis, staying away from the main sphere as to not burn it -- instead gracing it with a comfortable warmth.
With the display complete, the main sphere was soon filled with green. From trees to shrubs, and from flowers to grass. It was beautiful. Miss Maryanne soon drew another sigil, but this time she was slower in doing so. While she slowly completed the circle, the Pyrul orb slowly orbited the main sphere.
"The Light Queen-" She spoke with a soft crack in her voice, cleared away with a soft and quiet cough. With this loss of focus, the spheres disappear into tiny fireflies of green light.
"Used these Primal Sources to create the world. Using pieces of her own life to create new ones." She added. "Or at least that's what the Vael Arcanists believe. That's what I believed after cross referencing too."
"Mages learned that if we tap into our connection to the lifeblood, then we can call upon the powers of the Primal Sources. Albeit at a smaller scale than the Light Queen could ever muster. Ever so smaller." She taps my chest with the end of her staff. A weapon that seemed to be supported by a thin metallic rod for a handle and a beautifully shaped sharpened crescent moon for the end with the cut outs of stars floating along the head of the staff.
"However, affinity with the Sources are different amongst people. That, we haven't figured out why yet. Since you're a Goliath, your affinity was decided from birth, but we cannot be too sure since you might be the first ever half-breed Goliath. So, for your first lesson-" From a bag by her side, she pulls out a glass cube, supported by what seemed to be a bronze frame. This cube was then thrown into my direction before I barely caught it. It was large, enough to sit firmly in between my legs when squatting on the ground.
"You must focus on your core. Guide that energy into that box." She walks a few steps further before sitting back down on a large root by the forest line.
"But-"
"You've done it before. So hop to it." She waved her hand before smiling.
I took a breath and looked at the box once more. I couldn't help but study it a little bit before I actually decided to continue with the assignment. The glass apparently was not glass. At least it was not any type of glass I had known of. It was foggy on the inside, almost impossible to see through if not for the colored silhouettes you can see beyond it. The make was more crystalline than anything and it felt jagged in some edges, a familiar feeling. It felt like the edges of a recently chiseled stone block. It must have been a mineral of some kind.
However, the bronze frame that lined the box had my eye. Along the beautifully shiny metal were carved runes. A magical language I could only dream of understanding. This script seemed to line the bronze bars that ran along the edges of each face. It almost seemed like an ornate design you would see on House Mythril jewelry.
As soon as I finished studying the box, came a new intriguing question. How do I use this thing?
Miss Maryanne told me to guide the energy into it, but where do I even begin?
I moved my hands around, resting my palms against the rough faces of the box or even taking hold of the metallic bracing. My eyes soon darted towards Miss Maryanne, who showed me that I should just hold with my hands pressed on the sides and have it sit right in front of me.
I took a breath and followed her instructions. My hands placed where they should be. I stared into the box and tried to call upon the energy I once had before. Trying to pull from that warm energy that helped me throughout my years in the mines but to no avail.
Confused, I tried again but failed once more. Once again and same result. I continued to fail for minutes, even close to a couple of hours on end. Frustration began to bubble up within my mind, thoughts of giving up following shortly after. That is until I had remembered something both Miss Maryanne and Master Kithran told me.
I sat cross-legged once more, palms pressed against the box. I had gotten excited about learning magic that I instinctually tried to force it through. However if there was anything to learn about the Primal Sources, is that they are forces of nature. They aren't powers to call upon. They cannot be controlled. Only guided.
So I closed my eyes and took in a long breath in, before slowly exhaling it as I let my mind drift along my senses. I could feel the grass that brushes along my clothes and the rumbling of the ground beneath me. It was shifting ever so slightly -- like breaths causing the chest to rise and fall. I could feel my connection. The warm energies that flows through everything rigid and strong.
I could feel the lifeblood slowly surging with the familiar bright orange color. It flows like blood within my veins. Pooling towards the skin of my palm, resting against the faces of the box. This energy, magic in its raw form, escapes through my skin and into the instrument in my hands. From here, I couldn't see what the energy had formed into or what it could have possibly done. In a need to satisfy my curiosity, I opened my eyes and I could see through the tiniest gap my eyelids made was a ball of earth rolling around within the center of the box. As if it was trying to escape.
However as I took audience to such a show, the ball moved violently. Smashing itself against the gap within the crystal it had made, cracking the walls of its container while damage continued to grow on the orb. It caused the box to jump and shake in my grip and in a moment of instinctual fight or flight, I let go. This caused whatever connection I had to sever and in return, the orb broke open and grew forcefully as spikes of Frozen Enesial broke open some of the faces of the box and shattering the metallic frame around it. Essentially rendering the instrument useless in this corrupted state.
Miss Maryanne would run over and see if I was okay first, checking my hands to see if the shattered crystals and unstable energy had done some damage to my person. Once I was cleared, she turned towards the box.
"You lost focus. The magic became out of control." She comments, picking up the shattered instrument to study the damage.
I remained quiet. Feeling as though I had failed my first lesson. I could only sit there, awaiting her assessment.
"Eh. I can work with this. You did good." She threw a thumbs up while keeping the box under her other arm.
"What? But I broke...whatever that thing is."
"Primal Analyzer, but that's besides the point. Magic is not without risk and without taking those risks, we do not learn! This is your jumping off point. Now all we have I have to do is to teach you how to land" She smiles happily before placing the box in between her hands and excitedly hugging it.
"Also you gave me some prime untouched Enesial. I have a project tonight~" She giggles to herself.
After Miss Maryanne decided it was enough, I retreated to my dorms. Although not physically tired, I could feel the throbbing pain at the back of my mind. I could barely move my feet as I bounded over towards the bed. It was as if I had a parasite riding on my back and honestly, that would be better over the splitting headache. However as I was just about to surrender for the night, my eyes dart over towards the new stacks of books sat on my desk.
Grabbing one, it seemed to be a book published about the studies of the Primal Sources. It seemed like Miss Maryanne had given me another reading assignment for the next few weeks. I could only let out a soft sigh of defeat.
My eyes dart over to the next one. It was a more ornate book. The cover itself had this intricate golden design. Although as I brushed my hand over the shine, it was mere dye on the leather that somehow made it look like gold. The rest of the cover was a beautifully clean white with some spots dirtied by what seemed to be age and dirt. There was no title on the cover, only the silhouette of a cloaked figure with an arm stretched high to a drawn star at the end of its palm.
Turning it over to the spine and it was there I was privy to the name of the book.
"Light of Enes. Our Goddess of White." I muttered to myself as I continued to study the book.
It seemed to be a religious studies book, assumingly talking about the history of the world we had, but I wasn't too keen about this conclusion until I placed the book down and noticed yet another note below the whole stack.
It reads:
"Oh and by the way, I talked to Esshiek about physical training. You'll need it for your enrollment exams"
WHAT?!