The library had become my refuge. Every spare moment was spent among its towering shelves, pouring over the principles Lady Valha had suggested. The more I studied, the more I realised something: magic wasn’t a rigid system of rules, it was more akin to a language - open to interpretation. While the books spoke of precise routines and formulas to channel one''s mana to produce specific results, I saw them more like guidelines. They weren’t absolutes. My mana didn’t resist me when I strayed from the book''s instructions, it adapted as if it was eager to shape itself to my will.
I was sitting cross-legged in the palace gardens, deep in meditation. The scent of blooming wildflowers drifted through the warm air, mingling with the faint hum of magic I had begun to notice everywhere in the palace.
It had been a couple of days since I first went to the library and I had started to develop a routine. In the morning I would have breakfast, then sit in the palace garden to do some mana exercises I had learned in one of the more advanced books. Repeatedly shaping my mana internally, running it through my body to get used to the sensation and to improve my speed and control.
“Caden?” Aeris’ voice called out, breaking my focus.
I opened my eyes to see Aeris approaching below me, I found myself floating a couple of feet off the grass. The combination of Aeris’ voice and the fact that I was hovering off of the ground shocked me, disrupting my mana, causing me to wobble in the air.
A flicker of surprise crossed her face before turning to amazement. I lowered myself back down shakily, unfolding my legs and landing in a smooth motion on my feet.
“You know,” she paused, “you never cease to amaze me.”
I smiled proudly.
It was true, these last couple of days I had even surprised myself. I felt like I still had catching up to do, but I was having the most fun I think I had ever had.
Aeris was still watching me quizzically until she looked like she remembered why she had come to find me. “Listen, I think my parents have finally given in to the idea of me coming. But…”
She paused. She had spent the last couple of days arguing with them, they definitely weren’t happy that the Queen had agreed to let Aeris come with me. They had petitioned the idea multiple times, at one point her mother even came to see me. But I knew how much this meant to Aeris and selfishly, I felt a lot safer knowing Aeris would be there with me.
“Only if we agree for Nivara to escort us as well,” she continued. “My father insisted.”
I shrugged my shoulders, I couldn’t see a downside to that. I felt like I had a better chance of surviving now, but I wasn’t an idiot. I knew I still had a lot to learn, and a seasoned veteran along with whomever they had arranged to go with us would definitely increase our chances of making it back in one piece.
“What’s wrong with that?” I asked.
“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Aeris still looked slightly disappointed. “I just feel like they don’t trust my abilities.”
This time I placed my hand on her shoulder for comfort. “They’re just looking out for you, they don’t want you to get hurt.”
Aeris slowly nodded her head, her face still solemn.
“So how long have you been able to fly?” Aeris jested.
I withdrew my hand from her shoulder before smiling, “you mean after you learned how to use mana it wasn’t the first thing you tried?”
“You know I use nature magic. We don’t have a spell for that - not that I’ve found anyway.” Aeris furrowed her brow. “Besides, spells have to be cast exactly for them to work. But that didn’t look like a spell?”
I shrugged my shoulders, I had tried explaining my understanding of magic and how it worked for me to her a few times. But it seemed like a completely foreign concept that she couldn’t grasp because it contradicted everything that they were taught.
“It wasn’t a spell, I must have been pushing too hard while I was concentrating,” I tried to explain. “Anyway, if you think that’s impressive. I think I’ve grasped the basics of changing the nature of my mana too.”
I lifted my hand and traced a slow series of gestures with my fingers in the air. With each motion, a thin thread of mana followed my fingertips, weaving a pattern of intent that resembled the flow of mana for fire spells that I had read up on. As I rotated my index finger in a tight circle, a small orb of fire began to materialise above my hand. A flickering candle flame at first, which fed from my mana to grow into a small ball of fire the size of a fist. Then by simply closing my fist, the flames extinguished without a trace.
Aeris looked in amazement, her mouth slightly agape. “You really can change the nature of your mana?”
She was still staring at where the flame had been when we were interrupted by the arrival of a young man, clad in the robes of the Autumn Court. His amber eyes settled on me with keen interest. “Master Caden, I’ve been looking for you. Lady Valha has requested your presence.”
Aeris and I exchanged glances. I was starting to dislike how we kept being summoned.
“What for?” Aeris asked.
He bowed his head to Aeris. “Lady Valha has arranged for Master Caden to undergo the first year magic trials,” he explained. “She believes it will offer him further insight into his own magical capabilities.”
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I adjusted my tunic, checking Aeris’ reaction before nodding my head. “Sounds like fun.”
Aeris sighed dramatically. “I could do with a laugh.”
Aeris and I were then escorted to the training grounds. Several members of the Autumn Court, including Lady Valha were standing together speaking among themselves and observing an arrangement of puzzles they had set up in the grounds.
They fell silent when they noticed us approaching, Lady Valha stepped forward and offered a patient smile.
“I don’t think he’s ready.” Aeris said immediately.
Lady Valha looked at us both slightly confused. “I heard Master Caden has been making astounding progress?”
Aeris shook her head, jumping in before I had a chance to speak. “He hasn’t even learned a spell yet.”
“Well that’s not entirely tr-” I tried to say.
“You are aware, Lady Aeris, that the first year trials are about controlling mana.” Lady Valha replied, with a tone that told me Aeris had already completed her own trials.
Aeris turned to look at me and smiled menacingly. “I tried to help.”
I shook my head at her, I wasn’t enjoying the fun she was having at my expense when I didn’t know what I was walking into.
Aeris folded her arms, not unlike her mother or grandmother. “Try not to embarrass yourself.”
I smirked at her. “Not planning on it.”
Lady Valha raised a hand, calling for silence. “Master Caden, your trial consists of three magical puzzles. Each will test a different aspect of mana control and magical problem-solving. There is no single correct solution. You may begin when ready.”
I stepped forward, inhaling deeply. My mana thrummed within me, eager and ready.
The first trail stood directly before me, a towering stone tablet inscribed with glowing glyphs that continuously shifted and rearranged themselves. An empty circular groove sat at its center.
Lady Valha’s voice called out. “The glyphs before you must be arranged in the correct order to activate the mechanism. However, a direct attempt to manipulate them will cause them to reset.”
I studied the symbols, a couple of them were vaguely familiar that I had seen in textbooks. But I couldn’t read any of them, or recall on the spot what they meant. I could however feel the subtle currents of mana flowing through them. The students would likely try to analyze the glyphs, deducing a pattern. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t even recall the meaning of the ones I recognised.
Instead I tried a different approach.
Extending my hand, I let my mana seep into the tablet - not to force it to my will, but to analyse it at a deeper level. The glyphs reacted to my presence, flickering like embers. Instead of rearranging them manually, I coaxed the glyphs along the threads of mana they seemed to favour. Gently moving each one to find which position they gravitated to, the pull was subtle but with enough focus I could detect where they fit on the tablet.
The glyphs rippled, settling into place, the groove at the center of the tablet pulsed with light. A deep hum resonated through the air as the first puzzle completed.
A student silence followed. One of the Autumn Court mages muttered behind me, “That shouldn’t have worked.”
Lady Valha merely nodded, her gaze unreadable when I had looked over my shoulder.
The second puzzle was deceptively simple - a glass-like sphere suspended above a stone pedestal. Engraved into the stone were the words: “Balance the opposing forces.”
Aeris commented in a hushed whisper behind me. “This one gave me trouble.”
Most students I imagined would attempt to manipulate the sphere’s weight with telekinesis or brute force. But that seemed too simple, I felt myself almost wanting to show off.
I raised my hands toward the orb, feeling the energy within. Two opposing domains - one warm and vibrant, the other cool and dense. Both domains flowing within the sphere, constantly trying to assert dominance over the other for space. Rather than forcing one to overpower the other, I injected my own mana to interlace the two, finding a rhythm between their struggle. It was like tuning a stringed instrument, subtly adjusting until the harmonies aligned.
With a final pulse, the two forces reached equilibrium. The sphere stabilised, glowing with a soft golden light before gently descending onto the pedestal. A chime echoed through the training grounds, signalling the puzzle had been solved.
I could hear the mages behind me discussing the trial amongst themselves again. One spoke to Lady Valha. “He''s far beyond what we had discussed, there are final year students who couldn''t solve this trial that quickly.”
As I turned to look at them, Lady Valha was silent, pressing her fingers together as she watched on curiously.
The final trial was the most complex, a maze of floating runes that connected together to form barriers. A static barrier defined the walls of the maze itself and additional barriers that moved, flickered on and off, or of varying sizes requiring some maneuvering to get past. At the center of the maze, was a silver key, resting on a stone slab.
The objective of this trial was simple, retrieve the key.
I could instantly tell that navigating the maze would require trial and error, avoiding the barriers and looking for openings. That was going to take time, and it was nearly lunch time.
My stomach let out a low grumble. I had been that excited to practice magic again this morning, I couldn''t even remember if I had eaten.
Closing my eyes at the entrance to the maze, I released my mana like a tidal wave towards the maze. Invisible waves of magic flooded the labyrinth, detecting every possible route, every crack and every trap.
I could also feel the maze shifting in response to my mana, trying to block certain pathways or leading in circles.
I smiled, I didn''t want to follow a conventional path. I took the mana from one of the runes that turned off when approached, memorising the instruction layered within its structure and began overwriting the runes down the middle of the maze.
When I was done I began walking straight down the center of the maze, continuing as I approached the first barrier. As instructed the wall of the barrier came down and switched to another angle.
From that point on I walked straight towards the key, each barrier shutting down and reappearing in a different direction, giving me a straight path towards the key without any obstacles.
By the time I reached the key I was exhausted, I had shown off initially by releasing a tidal wave of mana. But I didn''t anticipate how tiring that would be, especially after I manually reprogrammed the runes.
Finally I plucked the key from the slab at the center of the maze, exhausted but victorious. The entire labrinth dissolved into motes of golden light.
The silence that followed was deafening. Then a ripple of applause erupted amongst the crowd, although not everyone was clapping. Some of the mages looked more concerned than impressed. Aeris however was grinning from ear to ear.
I had a slow walk back to them, my exhaustion kept at bay by my hunger. By the Goddess, I was hungry.
Lady Valha, however, had not joined in the celebration. Her sharp gaze bore into me, as though she was seeing something the others couldn''t. Finally as I approached, she spoke, “you have demonstrated exceptional aptitude, Master Caden.”
I expected her to sound pleased, but her tone held something else - worry and concern.
One of the observers spoke in a lowered voice, “his mana control is unbelievable, sustaining that level of precision without any artifacts.”
Lady Valha inclined her head slightly, gazing up at the morning sky. I got the impression she was confirming a thought she had long suspected. She lowered her eyes toward me and I caught a brief glimpse of fear.
I frowned. “Did I do something wrong?”
She hesitated for a moment, then gave me a soft, measured smile. “No, you should be proud of your results, young master.”
She then stepped closer, isolating us from the rest of the crowd as she watched my face carefully. “Are you sure you haven''t practiced magic before?”
I looked at her slightly confused, my brow furrowing. “Never, my mana only awoke a few days ago.”
She continued examining my face, she finally looked satisfied with my answer as she nodded her head and returned to join the rest of the audience.