《Forging of the Void》


 Prologue

    The couple looked at each other, and popped the luminous stones they were holding into their mouths. Light began to emerge from two humans, basking the chamber in multicolor ephemeral flames. A scream emerged from the male causing him to bend over in pain. After what feels like weeks, it stops and they are able to feel their new bodies and the mana coursing through them as it never had before.


    Eating the stones had provided them with the means to manipulate mana which humans had never had the ability to. The woman opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She tried again, this time she started coughing up bits of blood but even that made no noise. The man looks worried and also tries to talk, to the same result.


    Sitting in silence staring at each other, they realize that no matter how hard they try, no noise will come out. After a while they begin to cry for the loss of their voices and for the hope they have gained for humanity, although they are technically no longer human.


    Tapping on the pause button for the video, a tapping noise from a keyboard fills the room.


    ¡°Years later these two will have transformed Humanity completely, bringing Life and safeguard to humanity, while bringing Death and destruction to all others. They are the first Transcendents of the human empire ¡°Regalia¡±. They brought a new era for humanity by bringing mana crystals to humans and allowing us to manipulate mana.¡± The teacher¡¯s eyes burned with a fervor that is typical of most humans. ¡°Although the cost is high and we have no way to communicate besides writing, the ability to manipulate all forms of mana has shot humanity to one of the strongest races¡± She paused waiting for all the students to catch up reading. She was a fast typer and she loved talking about the first Transcendents. After making sure that everyone was finished she continued ¡°Humanity no longer has the ability to speak like other races do, but this is just an unfortunate side effect of eating mana crystals since we had no mana to begin with. The mana crystals changed our bodies and made it the perfect vessel for mana, at the cost of voices. Although that seems like a very poor trade-off, humanity has adapted to it. Just look at the devices the school uses to teach and communicate, and then look at your personal speakers that can send messages across a vast distance to someone else''s speaker. Its very amaz-¡±


    Diiiinnng Diiing Diiing!!!


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The bell signaling the end of the day for the school began going off, cutting off everything else. Sighing in exasperation at how long she rambled, the teacher sent another message to the students ¡°We will finish tomorrow since this is your first year here¡± ¡®


    The students began filtering out and leaving school, finished with it until the next day.


    Getting home, Vaunce opened his family''s local speaking network.


    ¡°I¡¯m home¡± he sent into it as he started walking towards the backyard where his family had a training area.


    ¡°Good, come to the training area¡± appeared in it as he knew it was, his parents were obsessed about their kids having perfect mana control.


    Normal kids would begin their mana control training midway through their schooling, at age 12 or 13. He had just begun schooling but his parents wanted him to begin their training at age 8 because their family was ¡®Special¡¯ or so his parents said at least.


    Entering the training area, he saw his older brother making small dark blue bubbles float around the area before popping. Noticing him, his father waved him over and sent him instructions for the training.


    ¡°Make bubbles from water mana and keep them together as long as possible¡±


    Giving a thumbs-up, Vaunce focused and teal bubbles began to float around with the dark blue bubbles in the air. After a few had come out, they started to pop. Looking at his father¡¯s scrunched face, he lowered the amount of bubbles so he could focus on making them last. Eventually he was able to keep 2 floating around the room without them popping.


    His father eventually waves his hand, signaling the end of the training. It had been about 4 hours and Vaunce was exhausted. They all went inside to eat dinner and rest for the night before sleeping and doing it all again tomorrow.


    Do all Royalties have to endure this training? Or just ours because of our associated element?


    Vaunce thought to himself laying in bed. Royalties were the major families that inherited specific mana types. His family¡¯s was ¡®Void¡¯, which Vaunce was unsure of how he felt about. He had not heard much about it and it was never in the stories he had heard about. It was always ¡®Fire¡¯, ¡®Water¡¯, ¡®Air¡¯, ¡®Earth¡¯; with the more complex elements being a mixture of these four. He had read there was more ¡°Primary¡± elements but he didn¡¯t understand it very well.


    Falling asleep he began thinking of the legends his family might have somewhere in their personal library, or maybe even stashed in a back room that no one used anymore. He loved reading and had found more than a few secret areas of the house from when it was built or remodeled. His family didn¡¯t have any servants like the other Royalties. His father had always said they were a more secretive family but Vaunce thought it was just because his father had been raised to do all the work himself. Realizing his thoughts were straying more and more, he fell asleep before he could gather them again in one place.

 Chapter 1: Graduation

    Vaunce walked into the kitchen area where his mom just finished putting the morning meal onto the table.


    ¡°Morning mom¡± he typed drearily, yawning into his fist while sitting down at his place.


    ¡°Good Morning Honey¡± Sliding a plate of food in front of him ¡°Are you ready for the graduation ceremony today? Are you excited to finally begin your Taskings?¡±


    Looking at the plate and bowl he saw it was some eggs, some toast, and some bacon. Looking at it closer he noticed it all glowed slightly blue; The presence of mana infusing them.


    ¡°Mana infused?¡± he typed inquisitively while stuffing his mouth full of eggs. He felt the invigorating feeling that mana always brought to him, like drinking a cold cup of water with ice in it after working in the sun for an hour. His body always felt like he never had enough mana but he was used to it having worked with mana for the better part of 4 years while he went to the nobles academy. He had heard others talk about how it felt to them, but he could never relate because he always felt like his body was a sponge that constantly absorbed the mana around him; never very fast or very much, but if his body wasn''t full of mana he could feel it being sucked into him.


    ¡°Of course, it is a special day after all¡± Sitting down in her place his mom continued ¡°not every day one of our boys graduates and starts preparing for his Tasking¡± looking up she beamed at him happily.


    ¡°Mom it isn¡¯t a big deal, it¡¯s just standing around for 3 hours while one of the nobles from House Thantis drones on about how we will do great in whatever we¡¯re going to do in life and how ¡®we¡¯re the future of Humanity¡¯ or whatever¡±


    ¡°House Thantis? They actually have one of the Orators coming to speak?¡± she sent into chat while eating


    ¡°They do every year honey¡± His father sent into the group chat from elsewhere in the house, probably his study ¡°I know you aren''t used to it, since Wade¡¯s graduation didn¡¯t have one. Normally there is an Orator from House Thantis but last year they had something come up and couldn''t send someone out¡±


    ¡°Oh okay¡± his mother sighed exasperated ¡°I wish Wade would come home every few months. I know the mage academy is strict but I miss him¡±


    His older brother, Wade, had gone to the mages academy in the mages floating city, Kristolith. It had been over a year since he had been allowed to come back and visit but the last time he did, his brother¡¯s presence had felt vastly more refined. Still Vaunce missed him and the brotherly moments they had spent together, practicing mana control and making all sorts of ephemeral shapes dance around the backyard and training area.


    Standing up, Vaunce sent ¡°Gotta go or I''ll be late for practice, see you guys in a few hours¡± waving before he left the room as his parents echoed their goodbyes.


    Managing to make it early, Vaunce started looking around for his normal group of friends while making small greetings to everyone else there. He didn''t particularly feel any strong way towards most of them, but since they were all nobles of powerful houses or powerful students in their own right, he tried to stay somewhat friendly towards them. Feeling his wrist vibrate, he looked down and saw Fred¡¯s invite to join the local group chat with the others. Tapping join, he sent a greeting into it.


    ¡°Yo, where are you guys i can¡¯t seem to find you in this mess¡±


    ¡°Back right from where you are looking right now¡±


    Vaunce turned around and saw his group of friends all staring at him, wide eyed as if they had seen him do something crazy. He looked down to inspect himself confused, before walking up to them giving a slight wave.


    ¡°What? Is there something going on?¡±


    ¡°No we all just wondered what your reaction would be if we stared at you long enough¡± Lilith sent into the chat laughing soundlessly.


    ¡°Lil! You weren''t supposed to tell him damn it¡± Fred sent, mimicking being angry at her.


    Lilith threw her hands up to ward off the ¡°angry¡± looks she got from the rest of the group ¡°Fine fine, i¡¯m sorry¡± she sent, making the saddest pouty face Vaunce had ever seen.


    His group had at first just been him and Fred at the start but Year 2 and 3 of school they had made friends with Lilith, Tim. Last year, Bryce joined their squad as well since they needed 5 people for the dueling part of their ¡®Mana Manipulation¡¯ class. Together they had become great friends and done nearly everything they could in the academy together.


    Fred, Full name Fredrickson von Frite, was their group''s leader and loud-mouth. He was first to do things, usually with little to no thought, and was naturally charismatic. His family had a natural affinity for fire mana, but Fred was a Duel-Type holder of water and fire mana. That made him one of the stronger people in their year but because they were of opposing elements, and he couldn''t combine them, he couldn¡¯t cast the more powerful versions of any spells.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Lil, full name Lilith Von Leshtin, was one of the most powerful people in their entire class. Her family''s mana affinity was air, but she had a natural affinity for lightning; A combination of air and fire. On top of that she could use fire mana and air mana separately, giving her access to 3 types of mana. There were rumors that she had another mana type that could also combine with fire and air, but Vaunce had never seen her use another. Most of the class was afraid of her, either that she was from one of the major families or from her personal prowess.


    Tim was a bit of an oddball. Vaunce actually didn¡¯t know his full name or where he was from. During their second year, he kind of just showed up and started hanging around them until eventually he was just always with them at school and was considered one of their closest friends. He only had an affinity for earth mana, but he was extremely good at manipulating it for whatever he wanted, and already had plans for becoming a city architect so that he could build walls. Tim really seemed to enjoy building walls. Vaunce wasn¡¯t sure if Tim was insane or very enthusiastic, either way he was always cool to hang around with.


    Bryce was their newest addition, full name Bryce Kysten. He was from one of the minor noble houses but was granted access to the major houses academy because he had a triple combination mana affinity. He routinely got shunned by the others, but when year 4 rolled around he was the only one remaining that didn''t have a team for dueling. Vaunce¡¯s team happened to come into class late, so he got grouped with them. They had become pretty decent friends with Bryce since none of them really cared about stature. Despite the fact that he was stronger than most of his class because of his ability to make things out of some sort of mana ¡®Glass¡¯ that he had an affinity for, he was still shunned by the nobles of higher ranking.


    Finally there was himself. He was Vaunce Von Wilest. He was from a major family but was the second son, so he was able to have a first name that didnt start with the letter of his house name. He probably had the strongest mana of the class, since he had a combination of the 4 elements, but was not allowed to use his ¡®Void¡¯ aligned mana for anything combat spell related. So he was stuck using the other elemental type mana his body naturally sucked up. He wasn''t exactly sure why he wasn¡¯t allowed to use his void mana for dueling or combat spells, but he didn¡¯t mind since he wanted to become a Manasmith anyway.


    smacking him lightly on the head Lilith was trying to get his attention, snapping him out of his reverie. He looked around seeing everyone moving towards the seats that would be used for the graduation.


    ¡°We¡¯re moving to seats now¡± popped up in a direct chat from Lilith. He sent back a quick thanks and went to his seat at the front where all the major house students were sitting. The Orator was already on stage talking quietly to someone else from House Thantis.


    ¡°We will now begin the practice for the ceremony, and then after lunch we will do the ceremony for all the families for the students that are graduating¡±


    A few hours passed as the students got up and down, practicing for the ceremony and listening to the long practiced speeches about life and how important they were to humanity. Vaunce couldn¡¯t be bothered to listen after the first time, it bored him to death and he wasn''t interested in it, especially since his family was mostly shunned because his mother was from a minor family instead of one of the major families. It was all stupid, doubly so because there were records and even some current major house members that were married to people outside of the major houses, even some currently married to commoners. It never seemed like a big deal to Vaunce, but apparently in relation to his family it was.


    Finishing lunch and preparations for the ceremony, Vaunce and his group went home to change outfits for the ceremony. Hurrying back to the school they were messaging over their shared private chat when it finally became time for them to all take a seat and the orator from House Thantis began his speech.


    ¡°Thank you all for attending the graduation ceremony for Burklies Academy¡­.¡±


    Vaunce immediately stopped listening and began to quietly browse the internet on his wrist speaker-watch. The ¡°Internet¡± had been a pretty recent development but it had quickly become one of the best ways to burn time and in general one of the best encyclopedias of knowledge. It had all sorts of things on it from reviews to local shops, to recipes for food and crafting things. So far it was kept as a universal knowledge exchange for humanity but Vaunce had dreams of what it could be and was intrigued.


    Many hours passed as multiple people came on stage and congratulated the students for stepping into their new phase in life and wishing them well. Finally it was over and time for all the students to proceed with starting their Taskings. Taskings are basically what a student wanted to do in life, but no one really knew what they wanted to do at age 12 or 13 like they were, so this allowed them to explore around and see what they were interested in. Vaunce knew he already wanted to be a Manasmith, someone who worked with mana aligned ores and metal, so this was just customary for him. Students began filing out of the room and finding their parents outside.


    Vaunce found his parents and they began walking toward the crafts section of their city. They had already chosen a forging shop for Vaunce to be apprenticed to and work at, they simply needed to get the Master Blacksmith¡¯s signature and it would be decided. Walking into ¡°Master Blacksmith Randall¡¯s Forge¡± ,which Master Randall said was the best name he could think of, Vaunce motioned for his parents to stay at the front while he walked back to find his Blacksmithing Master. Following the ringing of metal on metal, he found him hammering a bar that looked like it would become a blade of a scythe used for farming. After standing there watch Master Randall drenched the hot metal in water, creating a plume of steam. Pulling it out he looked at it and nodded to himself and placed it on his workbench. Noticing Vaunce for the first time as he wiped away the sweat on his forehead.


    ¡°Ah Vaunce, is it time for the documents?¡± grabbing a pen off his workbench, he motioned for Vaunce to follow him to the front.


    Seeing Vaunce¡¯s parents he bowed ¡°My pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Wilest¡±


    Nodding to the blacksmith Vaunce¡¯s Father typed out and tapped the holographic display for the blacksmith to see.


    ¡°Nice to meet you, I am Walter; First born son of Wesley Von Wilest. This is my Wife, Caroline.¡±


    Walter brought out the papers he had in his coat pocket and handed them to the blacksmith, typing out ¡°Please sign these and we will take these back to the academy while Vaunce begins his apprenticeship here¡±


    Randall beamed and started talking pleasantly while signing the documents ¡°Thank you very much for the opportunity, I don¡¯t think i¡¯ve had one of The Silenced here to apprentice under me¡±


    He continued to ramble a bit while signing the papers, not noticing Walter stiffen a bit when he used the phrase used to refer to those whose ancestors had eaten the crystals when offered. Caroline rested her arm on his to help calm him down. It wasn''t exactly an insult, but it was rude since it touched on what they had all sacrificed for the continued survival of Humanity. Most, if not all, of the noble houses felt this way, and commonly anyone heard by a noble using it was quickly put in a bad situation. Handing the paper back he continued on.


    ¡°Vaunce is a great kid and I''ll do my best to teach him all I know, although I can''t claim to know anything about mana and all that; I¡¯m the best Blacksmith in Burklies.¡±


    Walking off his parents waved to him while he got a message from his mom ¡°We¡¯re going to drop the paperwork off at the academy, do your best! and maybe see if you can get Mr.Randall to stop calling us ¡®The Silenced¡¯. If not, I think your father may actually stab him.¡±


    He sent back a quick ¡°okay¡± as he started to follow Mr.randall to the back of the shop.


    ¡°Okay Vaunce, since you''re just starting out today i will show you around and we will do a bit of knowledge testing to see what you know about metals, and forging in general. Then tomorrow I¡¯ll have you watch me do some forging, and then you''ll hit the books of all the different ores and metals we work with. How does that sound?¡±


    Vaunce brimmed with excitement, he was finally going to start making things with his own hands. Even if he had massive books to read first. He nodded and showed he understood while Randall started giving him a tour of the shop. He was going to be having long days from now on.

 Chapter 2: Mana

    Sleep, eat, study books about metal and specific properties. That¡¯s all Vaunce did these last few weeks since he started his apprenticeship. Every morning when he entered Master Randall¡¯s forge, he would be bombarded with questions about ore, metals, tools, proper procedures for some of the machines and all sorts of other things. It was all Vaunce could do to keep following along and improving. He only had to work 4 days out of the week, but that would increase as he progressed into his 5 year apprenticeship. Next year he would work 5 days, and then 6 days the year after that until he finished his apprenticeship at 17, at which point he would be legally recognized as an adult since he had finished an apprenticeship. He would also be recognized as a Journeyman Blacksmith and be allowed to open his own shop if he wanted.


    Walking onto the academy¡¯s grounds, Vaunce stopped off at his classes counselor¡¯s office and put his update letter into the box to the side of the door before leaving. All of the students going through Taskings had to update their counselor on their progress at least every two weeks so the academy could make sure they were on track and not doing anything with ill-intent. There had been more than a few cases of studies about students disappearing because of kidnapping or other more serious crimes. Vaunce¡¯s parents insisted on him turning in weekly updates on one of his days off, so he always did it early in the morning when no one else was around.


    Feeling accomplished that he had finished something, he began walking to the city''s library. It was one of the only things open this early and he wanted to see if he could find a way to build his own forge so he could start testing the various forging techniques he had read about. He wasn¡¯t very strong yet, although he had definitely put on a bit of muscle holding a hammer while Master Randall corrected him on how to swing it over the last few weeks. Walking down the street to the library, Vaunce always marveled at how the various stores and stalls opened so early. Spotting the bakery he frequented on his off days, he quickly popped in buying a muffin to eat on his way.


    Popping the last bit into his mouth, he dusted the crumbs off his shirt and pushed the door of the library open. Waving to Ms. Rebecca, he walked over to the area they had all the crafting books in. There were so many books for all the various crafts, processes, books about materials and their makeup, monster encyclopedias, and whole sections dedicated to specific things, like forging techniques, or leather processing techniques. It all interested Vaunce greatly, and he found himself always having difficulty focusing on what he came here for.


    Focus Vaunce, we¡¯re here to get a book on how to build a forge he reminded himself mentally.


    Sighing, he scanned the book titles until he found some titles he thought might have what he was looking for. ¡°The Art of Forging by Master Blacksmith Gruft¡±, and ¡°Infusing Metals by Manasmith Lucidous¡± interested him greatly, so he grabbed those off the shelf and went to his normal reading hole behind a shelf that was way too close to the wall for anyone of size to squeeze behind it. He wasn''t sure why it was positioned the way it was, but it gave him a semblance of privacy he liked. He even sometimes hid books there so that he could finish them later without anyone else snatching them. He knew he could just check them out, but it felt more mysterious this way, which he thought was cool.


    Opening the cover of ¡°The Art of Forging by Master Blacksmith Gruft¡±, he saw an Inscription on the first page.


    ¡°I am Master Blacksmith Gruft, I am called Gruft because that is what I named myself after coming here. This book contains all of my forging knowledge. I do not have any apprentices to pass down my forge, so instead I leave knowledge to the world and hope it will be useful¡±.


    Turning the page, Vaunce started reading from the start.


    ¡°Forging is the act of creating things out of metal, using various techniques of the body, mind, and soul. It is different from Leatherworking, Tailoring, Carpentry, and any other craft you could imagine by an order of magnitude. A good tailor can make amazing and magnificent clothes, but a good Blacksmith can make a weapon that feels like an extension of the arm or make a staff that will decimate its foes. Blacksmithing can allow the common man to become a hero of legend, or a villain of heinous proportions. Not everyone has the dedication to become a blacksmith of any consequence. To become a Blacksmith of any skill, you must learn about all of the material you work with, and always select the highest material quality you are able. To be able to do this you must personally go out and mine when possible, otherwise you wont know copper from dogshit!¡±


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Vaunce paused, digesting what he had just read. It made sense in true, well the last part anyway; the rest of it sounded like nonsense to him but maybe it was just a lack of experience with forging. If he didnt mine and gain experience with telling poor ore from high quality ore, then he may not be able to make the higher quality items he wanted. Regardless of the weird intro to the book, flipping through the rest showed tables of pros and cons for many materials and all sorts of useful information about metals. Even better, it showed how to form the basis for making a unique forging technique for himself and gave a decent idea of what a personal forge should contain by relating what Master Blacksmith Gruft¡¯s personal forge contained. Vaunce decided he wanted to make a copy of it and walked to the front desk where Ms. Rebecca was quietly reading.


    ¡°Ms.Rebecca can I request a personal copy of this book please?¡±


    Poking where she had stopped reading to hold her place, she looked up ¡°Of course young Vaunce, that''ll be the standard fee of 1 silver note please¡±


    Placing the book on the counter and handing over 1 silver note, Vaunce smiled ¡°Okay I¡¯ll pick it up next time I come in¡±


    ¡°Of course, it will be ready tomorrow at the earliest¡± she smiled brightly, tucking away the book somewhere behind the counter. The library was eerily efficient in copying books, Vaunce wasn''t really sure how they did it besides that it involved some sort of magic.


    Walking home he checked how much money he had left. 2 silver notes and 28 copper notes. Of course they weren''t actual metal, they were just colored that way and easier to remember for most people so the empire continued to use them. It worked in tiers of 100; 100 copper into 1 silver and 100 silver into 1 gold and so forth. It went copper, silver, gold, autruem or A for short, and finally celestium or Ce for short. Autruem and Celestium were magic metals and were only used for trades between kingdoms within the human empire. Vaunce dreamed of getting the chance to work with either metal some day. As Vaunce was thinking about various metals he could work with he walked into the house around the midday meal to see his older brother, Wade, happily eating a sandwich with his parents. Seeing his older brother, Vaunce quickly walked over and gave Wade a big hug before sitting down himself and eating.


    Typing quickly between bites Vaunce asked ¡°How long are you visiting before you have to return to school?¡±


    ¡°For a few weeks; all the other classes of mages went on for their yearly exams, but us first years don''t have anything like that until we become second year mages. So we get to go home for a month or so¡± Wade replied, finishing up his sandwich.


    ¡°Wade, why don''t you take your brother back to the training yard and see if he can''t pick up some of the spells they teach to first years?¡± Interjected their father, glancing at his wife.


    ¡°Sure dad¡± getting up from the table both Vaunce and Wade went into the back yard.


    ¡°Okay tell me how much you remember from class and we will start there¡±


    Thinking about it Vaunce quickly typed ¡°Spells can take any form as long as the user has a vision of how it should act, and look. How it acts depends on the type of mana pushed into the spell.¡± seeing his brother nod along he continued ¡°for example, some of the strongest mages can teleport short ranges without having to set up huge enchanted anchors. Typically they use earth mana, but technically you could use air mana for it. It would just be vastly more dangerous because air mana is free floating in the air and you could mistakenly appear very far up in the sky and then fall to your death.¡±


    Wade nodded seriously, thinking for a moment he sent ¡°Good, some mana types are better than others efficiency purposes, but also some mana types just wont work at all for the spell shape you are thinking of. Let''s say you want to breathe underwater. You could technically use water mana for it, but it would be less efficient than air mana. You would need about Fifty percent more water mana than air mana, because the spell would be separating the water from the air in the water and pulling the air into you instead of just directly pulling the air into you. This seems like a small difference but when you only have so much mana it could be the deciding factor in a hazardous situation¡± Wade paused to make sure that Vaunce had finished reading.


    Vaunce looked up and signaled that he understood. Satisfied, Wade continued on with the lesson ¡°okay let''s try some simple spell shapes so that you can feel the difference¡± three small birds and a cat appeared next to Wade. Motioning to them he sent ¡°These are lesser elementals, which just refers to a construct that is made of mana.¡± pointing at each one in turn he continued ¡°This one is Fire, this one is water, this one is air, and finally the cat is earth based. Earth constructs can''t fly but are the most flexible of the bunch. Although ¡®Flexible¡¯ is a relative term. Each element has its strengths and weaknesses. Okay try to make one of these¡±


    Vaunce focused on the cat and copied it in his mind, intent on copying it. Teal energy began to gather, pulling the earth along with it. After a few seconds, the earth mana formed a tiny brown kitten.


    Silently laughing at his younger brothers bewildered expression, Wade sent ¡°That¡¯s cute, tell me how you envisioned the spell structure¡±


    Spending the afternoon and evening in the backyard, the pair of brothers continued talking and playing around with mana. Only taking a break for Vaunce to meditate briefly to refill the 4 types of mana he was using since he couldn''t naturally generate it himself. Falling into bed exhausted after dinner, Vaunce noted in his head that both his parents seemed in a better mood. He dreamily fell asleep happy that his brother had come home, even if it was only for a few weeks and he would be busy.


    Waking up as he felt something on his chest, Vaunce reached out and tried feeling what it was. He pushed his hand out and felt a tiny ear. Confused, he reached out and tapped the light crystal he had on his bedside table. The light brightened enough for Vaunce to see a small, brown kitten on his chest. Vaunce couldn¡¯t remember where it had come from and why it was in his room, but he did like animals so he was fine with it and turned the light off, falling back asleep in seconds. He thought he saw the kitten¡¯s eyes open, staring into his soul before closing again, but that could have just been him seeing things with how tired he was.

 Chapter 3: The Art of Forging

    ¡°Copper can be used to reinforce the mana structure of enchantments. It works as cheap and good mana conduits for artifacts that have a mana crystal as its power source. It is mined quite easily and is very wide-spread, making it inexpensive for the common man.¡±


    Vaunce was flipping through ¡°The Art of Forging by Master Blacksmith Gruft¡± he had paid to be copied yesterday and picked up earlier this morning. He did have plans to meet up with Lilith, Fred, Bryce, and Tim; but his parents had asked him to stay home for the day and watch the kitten his brother had brought home as a gift to him. His parents were not happy about it, as Wade had not talked to them about it first and they would mainly be responsible for it while both brothers were busy with their Taskings, but after pleading with them for a half-hour and promising that he would pay for all its needs with his allowance; they folded and let him have it. Although his father muttered something about him still paying for it since he gave them their allowance.


    Ding


    Vaunce looked at his speaker-watch and groaned. It was Lilith in their group chat.


    ¡°Vaunce where are you? It''s our only day off unlike someone.¡±


    ¡°Yeah dude we only get 1 day off a week since we¡¯re training to do cool shit with the forces instead of swinging a hammer like some commoner¡±


    ¡°Okay i''m joking but seriously where are you?¡±


    Those last two were Fred, always the teasing because he knew Vaunce wasn''t able to join any of the forces because his mana alignment wasn''t allowed.


    ¡°My parents said I had to stay home today to watch this new kitten my brother brought home yesterday. I''m really sorry but you''ll have to go to the hideout spot without me.¡±


    ¡°New kitten? I wanna see¡± Lilith sent into the group chat excitedly


    ¡°Well the only reason we were going was to help move stone around for your forge or whatever¡± Bryce messaged. Tim and him didn''t message a lot but were always there, and showed up at the meetings they had or whenever they made plans to meet up.


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s a good point, I can probably do it tomorrow if any of you are free then¡± Vaunce responded, stroking the kitten that was purring on his lap.


    ¡°Okay so I guess meet at Vaunce¡¯s to pet the new cat¡± Lilith sent, getting affirmatives from everyone else


    ¡°Sure¡± ¡°Okay¡± ¡°On my way¡±


    ¡°Wait guys I need to ask my parents¡± frantically Vaunce sent a reply but it must have been ignored because a short while later he heard knocking at the front door and went to open it. Seeing Fred, Lilith, Tim and Bryce all standing on his front step. He had sent a message to his Parents, but they haven''t responded yet.


    Sighing heavily, he waved them all in, leading them to the fire pit in the backyard. At least if there was a mess made, they would already be outside.


    Vaunce brought out a pitcher of cold water from his house. His family had a coldbox that basically just took all the heat inside it and pushed it to the outside of it. It made the area it was in uncomfortably hot, but it was in the room they used to dry their clothes after Vaunce¡¯s mom washed them, so it worked pretty well. Bringing the pitcher to their outdoor table, he gave the kitten to Lilith and started to pour out glasses for everyone. Lilith squeaked in excitement and sat down to start playing with the kitten enthusiastically.


    ¡°So what¡¯s the deal with the cat?¡± Tim sent into the chat while picking up a glass.


    ¡°My brother brought her home yesterday without telling anyone, our parents were pretty angry about it, but we managed to get them to let us keep it. We haven''t thought of a good name yet though¡±


    ¡°Oh neat, how about Clara?¡± Lilith sent into the chat, typing with one hand while cuddling the kitten.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I''m allowed to name her or not honestly¡± Vaunce shrugged, sipping at his water ¡°Anyway are any of you free tomorrow? I found a section on building a forge with stone that can handle some of the lower temperature ore and I would like to start building it at the hideout so I can practice forging.¡± Vaunce glanced at Tim


    ¡°I should be,¡± Tim replied, having taken the kitten from Lilith ¡°I¡¯m honestly almost bored to death doing all the farming stuff. I know it''s important for the city and the Kingdom at large, but by Life¡¯s Luscious Tits it''s boring. I do get 5 days off though so that¡¯s nice.¡±


    Vaunce almost spit out his water. ¡°5 days??? That¡¯s insane. What do you even do then?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been working on poetry and reading, and stuff at the hideout. At work i basically just mass till fields until they are satisfied with it, but it always tires me out pretty fast so I sleep mainly on days I work.¡± responded Tim, yawning widely into his fist.


    ¡°Wait, it tires you out? Like low on mana tired?¡± Lilith sent into the chat hurriedly


    ¡°Yeah¡± came the short response


    Vaunce, Fred, and Lilith stared at him, while Bryce just snorted while taking the kitten from Tim.


    ¡°Your mana reserves are ridiculous compared to us, how much land are you tilling to get tired that fast? In school you literally never complained about low mana reserves¡± sent Lilith continuing to stare at Tim


    Tim just shrugged under the scrutiny he was experiencing.


    Ding


    Vaunce''s speaker-watch made the sound of an incoming message.


    ¡°Sure, your friends can come over; especially since I know they are probably there, but that''s fine. We know you had plans to go out today and we did stop you from going anyways. We will be home soon. Also did you come up with a good name for that cat? You dad says it needs a name or he''s gonna throw it out¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Quickly sending back the name Clara he closed the message and relayed to the group that the kitten¡¯s name was now officially Clara.


    Spending the rest of the time messing around with the kitten, making tiny balls of mana for it to chase around, and just hanging out until everyone had to go; Vaunce thought to himself that it was a pretty good day off. He definitely felt more relaxed than before, and he had made plans with Tim and Bryce to meet at the hideout tomorrow to work on the stone forge. Bryce normally had work, but the owner of the Jewelry/Accessory shop he worked at was traveling to another kingdom for trading. So Vaunce asked him to come and make some of the more delicate tools he would need since they were expensive. Plus glass made from mana was much stronger and resilient that any non-magical metal, it was just normally expensive. That wasn''t the issue here, since Bryce could just pour the mana into molds and make the tools needed himself.


    Watching everyone leave, Vaunce was glad that he had made friends with them all, even if they were a bit weird; but so was he, so it was okay. Putting Clara on his shoulder, he walked to the training area. He wanted to practice his mana manipulation a bit more while everyone was out, because although his parents forbid him from it; He sorely wanted to try using void aligned mana.


    Calming his thundering heart, he focused on how it felt to wield the other four elements. Earth always felt stable and unmoving, like a forested mountain protecting animals for the elements. Fire always felt like a beam of sunlight, warming the skin on a pleasant day. Air felt like taking a deep breath of wind after having walked out of a musty cave or swamp. Water felt like the rushing water of a river, always moving and changing shapes. His void aligned mana never felt like those things, despite the fact that he transformed it into the other types so he could use them. It felt like walking alone at night, and seeing a person in the corner of your eye, but turning you see nothing but shadows. It felt like the hair raising on the back of your neck from something unnatural staring at you from behind. It felt like the beckoning into the darkest part of the woods, where parents have told children long missing not to play. It was the feeling of silence, the unknown, and fear mixed with darkness, but it was not shadows. For that would be too simple for someone to know and lose that fear.


    Feeling unnerved, Vaunce pushed away at his fear, hiding it deeply. This was a part of him and he should be familiar with all parts of himself. He slowly pulled at it, feeling that if he was slow enough, the feeling would disappear. Slowly, he felt the mana forming on his palm, shrouding it in the fading darkness of the evening. When he had a tiny ball the size of his fingernail, he stopped pulling. Remembering what his brother had said about spell shapes, he focused. The ball started to change its shape, expanding until it became a dark colored bubble. Vaunce sighed in relief. He had always thought using void aligned mana was dangerous considering how his parents and anyone who knew reacted, but he didn¡¯t feel it was that dangerous with his level of skill.


    Hearing hissing, Vaunce quickly broke his focus. Looking around he saw Clara hiding under the table, backing away as far as she could. Vaunce focused and made the void mana dissipate, reaching out to calm Clara as much as he could. Picking her up and walking inside he thought about what had just happened and the emotions he had felt. He didn¡¯t feel like anything had changed, besides Clara hissing and obviously being afraid. Wondering to himself where he could get more information on his void aligned mana, he resolved to ask his parents about it sometime after he built the forge at the hideout.


    His parents arrived home with Wade and made dinner for all of them. Once he helped clean up and had taken care of Clara¡¯s needs, he walked into his room to study in preparation for tomorrow.


    ¡°Making a stone forge is good for weaker metals of the mundane type. Copper, Silver, Tin, and Softer types of Iron can all be processed in a stone forge if the stone is of the right variety. It is recommended that someone of at least decent earth aligned mana, and sufficient control, make the stone with mana instead of trying to carve it from a mountain or quarry.¡±


    Looking over the instructions, Vaunce was thankful that Tim had agreed to help him. Otherwise he was not sure he had the capacity to do it all in one go like the book recommended. Feeling himself getting fatigued, he decided to do one more check to make sure his backpack was filled with all the supplies they would need. Making sure it was all there, Vaunce heard the door slightly open and Clara walked in, using his leg to climb onto the bed to fall asleep on his pillow. Vaunce chuckled and laid down next to her, falling asleep.


    Feeling a pressure on his head, Vaunce woke up and saw darkness. Startled, he put his hands over where his eyes would be and felt a fuzzy sensation. Realizing it was Clara, he picked up the kitten and placed her limp form on his pillow before getting up and getting dressed. He glanced over at the soundly sleeping kitten before walking out and grabbing something to eat before it was time to go meet up with Tim and Bryce. Eating quickly he grabbed his backpack and waved to his mom, who was the only other one that woke up this early.


    Ding


    Glancing down, Vaunce saw his mom¡¯s message saying to be home before it got dark out and waved to show he understood. The hideout was a good 30 minutes of walking into one of the forests that was kept for animal preservation. This forest was surrounded by cities and towns, so not many animals were in it due to the proximity of humans. The fresh air relaxed Vaunce, and he felt the tension his body had been holding in since last night¡¯s incident with Clara release. He would ask about it when he got home.


    Walking into the forest, he saw Tim and Bryce standing at where the path forked to go to different cities. To the north was Felker and to the south was Mehnus. Vaunce had never been to either one but he had heard they were pretty much just farming towns. Waving Vaunce walked up as Tim began to form a spell shape. After they had started coming here, the five of them had agreed to keep the hideout secret by using mana to erase their tracks and make it harder for others to follow them. Tim normally did this by making it so they left no tracks in the earth and passed through the forest quietly. Bryce usually created a thin glass veil around them that was just big enough to bend light to make them seem more like a blur than people. Clumping up into a tight group, they walked deeper into the forest towards their hideout. Finally arriving, they ducked into an opening Tim created in a seemingly innocent tree. It had a small opening that had a ladder cut into the inside leading down. Entering first, Vaunce climbed downward until he arrived in the spacious front room that was their hideout. Their hideout had been their haven for doing things that required privacy and for messing around away from their parents and expectations. Each of them had a room for sleeping and privacy. There was an area that was used for storage, which even contained a cold box that Vaunce and Fred made together. The coldbox didn¡¯t work as well as those that professional enchanters made, but it was enough to keep some water cold and food somewhat fresh, if a bit stale. Lastly it had two big rooms that were used for training and production; either using mana, or more mundane training of swords and other normal weapons. Vaunce was really the only one that used the production room, but Tim had plants that he was growing for Alchemical experiments.


    Hearing a pair of footsteps follow him down the ladder, he turned around and yawned widely. Tim and Bryce joined him in the front room and they all began to send messages into their local group chat for the hideout.


    ¡°Okay are we ready to start? The book recommends one complete piece in this style¡± pointing at the book, Vaunce showed the design that the book recommended before walking to the area they had set out for the forge.


    ¡°Yeah let me just start with digging another air vent specifically for the chimney¡± Tim responded getting to work.


    ¡°Let me see the book and ill start making the tools so we can hopefully be finished today, i can¡¯t control earth mana so ill be useless on that front¡± sent Bryce, receiving the book as Vaunce handed it to him.


    With rising anticipation, they started working on their assigned tasks. Reinforcing the air vent, walls, floor, and ceiling, they focused on bringing the stone together just how the book showed. There were no flaws, but Tim put in lines to make it look like brick because he thought it looked better that way. Bryce made tongs and an assortment of tools the book showed, unsure of which ones would actually be useful. They worked late into the afternoon, only stopping for lunch and then going right back to work.


    Beep beep


    Looking down at his speaker-watch, Vaunce saw his alarm was going off saying it was time to head home. He waved at the others and motioned that they had to go, else he would get in trouble for being late. They nodded and moved towards a cleared area near the ladder. Tim put his hands on Bryce¡¯s and Vaunce¡¯s shoulders, and suddenly Vaunce could feel the fresh breeze of the forest brushing over his sweat-ridden skin. He gave a thumbs up to Tim and they started walking back to their homes.


    ¡®Walking¡¯ spells always impressed Vaunce. They allowed for travel through the elemental mana in the environment, meaning you could bypass walls, and anything else that would normally obstruct you. The elements had various different types and were accomplished in different ways. Earth walking was by far the most common since it was simple and allowed you to move your body through the earth to another part of the earth within your max distance. This was the one Tim had used because he was good with earth mana, and they had been in the underground hideout they had built. There was also Water walking but it was mainly only used for ships that could afford a water mage that was able to use it with any proficiency, since the water had to be continuous as well as the amount of area they needed to move was massive. Fire walking was really only talked about from a research perspective and in story books. Since there wasn''t really a fire that burned continuously or an area that was always on fire, it was almost useless to try. There wasn''t enough fire mana in the air naturally to rely on. Air walking was very dangerous, or so Vaunce had heard. Vaunce had been told that it was essentially flying, and if you didn''t have wings or a way to float, you would fall to your death since for the air mana to be dense enough you had to be above the clouds. Under the clouds was a mix of air mana and earth mana, which is why you couldn''t use the air.


    Feeling his shoulder get slapped, Vaunce was pulled out of his thoughts to see Bryce and Tim waving at him as they split off towards their homes. He waved back and continued to walk towards his house, wondering what was for dinner.


    Walking into his house he saw his parents talking to someone. He walked into the kitchen as his mother noticed him. Getting up she waved him over to a counter where they had a specialized device that used fire mana to keep food, and anything placed under it, warm. Pulling the top off, Vaunce saw beans and other assorted foods, and quickly realized they were tacos. He quickly made 4 tacos and his mother waved him to go off into his room.


    Walking to his room, he found Clara following him as he closed the door most of the way. Leaving it open just enough so that Clara could leave the room if she wanted to, he sat down at his desk and started scrolling the Internet on his speaker-watch. The development of the Internet had sped up considerably and it seemed like you could do pretty much anything on it now. Nothing interested him more than forging thought, and he spent the rest of the night reading ¡°The Art of Forging¡± before finally going to sleep in anticipation for continuing his apprenticeship tomorrow. Falling asleep in his bed with Clara on his chest, he sighed in contentment about how his days off had gone and how the forge building had gone in the hideout. With a bit more work and some transportation of materials, he could start practicing forging to begin laying the framework of making his own technique. As he lay in the darkness, he heard a small squeak before he felt a small breeze wash over him and then he was asleep.

 Chapter 4: Technique

    Sweat pouring from his body, Vaunce resisted the urge to wipe it out of his eyes and doubled down, focusing on the rhythm Master Randall was in. He had walked into the forge today expecting more questions and nonsense, but instead Master Randall had him come over to the forge area and watch him as he worked.


    ¡°You gotta watch the metal closely to see when it¡¯s cooling too much, cold metal is hard metal so we always want it warm¡± He shoved his current project back into the forge, ¡°Go grab some water before you pass out¡±


    Vaunce sighed in relief, it was blistering hot near the forge. Walking over to a handle attached to a lever on the wall, he made sure he had nothing in his pockets or on him that could be damaged and pulled. The sound of a torrent of water could be heard as water began to pour from a spout installed higher on the wall. Standing under it, Vaunce felt cooler immediately and released the lever causing the water to cease. Grabbing his glass of water from the worktable, he took a drink from it and sat down for a small break while the Iron pickaxe head they were shaping heated back up.


    Master Randall walked over to him, wiping the sweat off of his face. He signaled to Vaunce showing it was time to return to work. Vaunce got up and began to feel the heat drying his soaked clothes immediately. This was the third pickaxe head they had done today, he was beginning to wonder if there was an order for them.


    Beginning the rhythm again, a few hours passed in intense concentration. Finally finished with the pickaxe heads, Master Randall patted him on the back.


    ¡°You''ll get used to it eventually my boy. The good news is that you are progressing very well. I think it is time for you to learn the basics of forging yourself so you can start developing your own technique.¡±


    Vaunce looked at him shocked. Master Randall laughed seeing his expression.


    ¡°What, do you think it is too early?¡± seeing Vaunce shake his head, yes, he laughed even harder ¡°If you don''t start making your own from the start from the basics, youll fall into habit and be stuck using others techniques. It''ll be harder to progress that way¡± he explained while drinking some water.


    Vaunce nodded his head, it made sense to him. He started thinking about all he had read over the last few weeks, and the various techniques that had been described. Master Randall continued on while his apprentice mulled over it.


    ¡°All right, you¡¯ll have time to think about it all you want when you get home tonight. Let¡¯s start with hammering¡±


    What followed was the most eventful afternoon that Vaunce had experienced since he had graduated. Master Randall taught him the basics of hammering, the basics of using a forge, using a forge with bellows, proper usage of tongs, and anything else he could think of that was needed to be safe when using a forge, and smithing in general. Vaunce got home, all he could think about was how he would style his own smithing technique. There were generally two parts he needed according to Master Randall.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°All different smithing techniques can be folded into two main parts. Precise and Heavy. Precise techniques rely on lighter, focused hits to shape the metal work. It¡¯s good for shaping the edge of a blade or more intricate parts. Heavy focuses on shaping the base of the tool or weapon you are making. It is the main part of a weapon thus harder, making a different technique necessary.¡±


    Vaunce fell asleep thinking about metals and different hammering techniques.


    Hearing Master Randall¡¯s voice behind him, Vaunce focused on his technique, rapidly tapping the iron bar he was working with into the knife that had been commissioned. It had been ordered through the forge of course, but he was able to make it since Master Randall had watched him making cooking knives before and approved of them. Putting the shaped knife in a sandbox the forge had for cooling, he turned around and waved to Master Randall before walking up.


    ¡°Is that knife ready for grinding?¡±


    Vaunce gave a thumbs-up signaling it was ready.


    ¡°All right, your technique seems to be good enough for an apprentice of your level. You are done for the day, tomorrow we will start splitting your time between more books and forging¡± Master Randall made a shooing motion as Vaunce rolled his eyes hearing about more books.


    He really didn''t mind the books, but there were so many of them. During the four or five months he had been apprenticed, he had read close to a hundred books all about various metals, forging techniques, and countless other books about smithing or smithing related subjects like mining. He enjoyed it though, at least it let him sit in the cool part of the forge so he wouldn¡¯t be dying from sweat dripping down into his eyes. Vaunce had been working on his forging technique for the last six weeks. Master Randall had finally been satisfied with it today, but Vaunce still thought there were a lot of tiny adjustments he could make and was a bit annoyed about not being able to constantly practice at the forge. He would just have to work on it at the hideout when he was off. He had been practicing there at least one extra day a week when he was off with Tim and Bryce. Fred and Lilith sometimes came but they mostly didn''t have the freedom or the time to make it out on the days he had been there at least, but he always made sure to message Lilith when he had the time. Their apprenticeship appeared to be going well and they sometimes dueled other apprentices, or went on patrol.


    He had cautiously tried to infuse different types of mana into the metals he had been forging at the hideout, and had made some neat tools. Like a water can that slowly filled itself with water, or a metal rod that worked as a fire started. Then there were all the failures he had forged. The shovel that almost collapsed the roof on them when he accidentally dropped it, or the whistle he had tried to make for Lilith, that had started screaming so loud that it almost made them pass out. That one wasn¡¯t even meant to have mana infused into it. Vaunce had also dabbled a bit into using void mana, but it just seemed to make metals darker. He had tried once with a copper knife he had just forged, all that seemed to happen was that it cooled down significantly faster than when he dunked it into his cooling container.


    Walking into his house he was ambushed by a brown ball of fur. Carla had grown quickly, becoming less kitten-like and more cat-like. She had grown to what Vaunce believed was a normal cat size, and her coat had become quite elegant. It matched the attitude she had as well, she strutted around like she owned the house, which to be fair she kind of did. Vaunce¡¯s parents thought she was super cute and let her do pretty much anything she wanted as long as it didn¡¯t bring harm to the house or animals or anything. Clara meowed at him pitifully, looking like she was nodding her head at where she ate Vaunce saw the bowl still had food in it. Chuckling to himself he picked her up and walked into his bedroom, grabbing a few treats from his desk he gave them to Clara, who munched away happily. Vaunce changed into his bed clothes, taking time to finish up his remaining chores he still had to do. By the time he had finished he was the last one awake. Taking in the silence for a few minutes, Vaunce went around turning off all the remaining lamps and checking how low the Light crystals were. Although they could last for a long time, he felt they always went out faster around him. He figured it was probably something to do with his void affinity.


    Laying down next to Clara, who had already fallen asleep, he thought about the coming days and the next experiments he would try with infusing metals with mana. Thinking about swords of legend that shot beams of fire, or slices of air when swung, he wondered how long it would be before he could make such a thing. Thoughts weaved their way around his head as he fell asleep for the night.

 Chapter 5: Mana Forged

    The sound of metal on metal rang around the room. It was just Vaunce today at the hideout, so he was determined to shape a knife for himself. He didn¡¯t have to worry about his protection normally, but lately he had been feeling like he had been being watched. Vaunce wasn¡¯t sure by what exactly, but it was there; gazing at him like he was some sort of prey that it was stalking for its next meal. The only place he didn¡¯t feel it these days was in their forest hideout.


    Vaunce focused on how the hammer fell on the black copper knife he was forming with his hammer. Black copper was the best metal he was able to melt using the stone forge. It was slightly stronger than iron as well since it had better mana conductivity, but still had the melting point of copper. Vaunce prepared to quench it in a metal barrel filled with water nearby. Quenching it quickly he put it in some specially made sand to further cool it, while drenching it in earth mana to reinforce it. Vaunce sighed and sat down in a chair that was holding his towel he used to wipe down his sweat while he rested.


    Next is grinding the blade down and the handle he thought to himself as he rested.


    Gulping down some cold water, he heard some crackling from the sand pile, indicating that the blade was at capacity. Springing to his feet, Vaunce carefully pulled the knife out to see it had taken on a dull brownish color.


    Perfect he thought, nodding to himself in satisfaction.


    Putting the dull edge of the knife up to the sharpening wheel, he began to push down with his foot rhythmically. The wheel slowly began to turn, getting faster and faster with each foot pump, until it reached its maximum safe speed and Vaunce began to grind away at the metal. Layer by layer honing down the edge until it was sharp enough to cut grass just by touching it. Letting the wheel come to a stop, Vaunce inspected the knife satisfied. He looked down its spine to make sure it was straight and, seeing it was beamed in elation.


    This is by far the best thing I have ever forged.


    Delighted he walked over to the handle he had prepared and placed it around the tang of his knife. Using a bit of fire mana, he sealed the two halves together without a flaw. Taking another look over the knife, he marveled how beautiful it was. The red colored wood made for a stark contrast against the black copper of the blade. It made for an eerie sight when seen under some lighting. Blinking, Vaunce thought he saw the blade turn red for a moment but couldn¡¯t see it again. Walking back to his chair, he took the knife and held it between his hands nervously. Today he was going to try to enchant it so it would be even better. He had been reading books about enchanting and infusing mana into metals for months now, but he didn¡¯t have the confidence nor the mana to try. He had just recently been able to store enough mana to try out the weakest version of what he wanted to do. Plus, multiple of the books encouraged enchanters to make their own items that they wanted to enchant, because they would get higher success rates that way as they were familiar with the items.


    Gripping the knife firmly, Vaunce began to imagine what he wanted. He felt his mana start to permeate the knife, and then he felt the devouring of the mana around him begin like it always did when he used too much mana of any type. The image in his mind changed as the devouring took over his mind by force. Vaunce sat frozen while he continued to let the void mana run rampant in and around his body, devouring any speck of mana it could get. After half an hour it subsided, calmed down by being able to restore balance to his mana levels. It normally didn¡¯t take this long, he must have really overexerted himself today.


    Gotta be more careful he thought to himself as he inspected the knife, looking for any changes that could have happened from his accidental enchantment. Pricking his pinky finger to test sharpness, he felt the dagger pull at his blood taking some in before he could pull his finger away from it. Staring in slight horror, he put the dagger on the table before checking to see if it was still trying to absorb his blood. Nothing happened once he put it down. Vaunce stood up and sighed in relief, it would be awkward to explain if he suddenly was missing body parts or looked gray from lack of blood. He started to clean up the mess he had made while forging when he heard footsteps coming down the ladder from the entrance area. Hearing the footsteps get louder, he received a notification on his speaker-watch.


    Ding. Lilith has connected to the local room.


    ¡°Hey Lil¡± He sent as he walked out into the entrance area and waved at her. Seeing Vaunce she quickly flushed pink and turned around.


    ¡°Where¡¯s your shirt?¡± came the reply causing Vaunce to rush back into the forge area and quickly put his shirt back on.


    ¡°Sorry, i was working with the forge and it got hot¡± He replied, trying to tamper down the embarrassment he felt. The only people who had ever seen him in any state of undress were his parents. Even that didn¡¯t happen anymore since he was 12 now.


    ¡°Anyway, what are you doing here? Did you randomly get an extra day off?¡±


    Making sure he had his shirt back on before turning around, second-hand embarrassment still slightly showing on her face, she responded ¡°Yeah, plus my parents want everyone out of the house today so the servants can fully clean everything, so i decided to come hang out here for a few hours¡±


    ¡°Cool, wanna show me some of that cool spell casting you''re learning?¡±


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Smiling back ¡°Sure just watch what i do and see if you can replicate or get ideas from it¡± Lilith began to focus and the air became electrified as her lightning mana filled the air with static.


    As the Sun began to set, Vaunce and Lilith realized they had stayed longer than they should have and would be late getting home. Vaunce began to speed up until he noticed that Lilith wasn¡¯t speeding up with him. He turned around and motioned that they should hurry, but she just grabbed his hand. He suddenly felt like he could move as fast as he wanted with no limits, that he could soar through the sky and become part of the clouds. Appearing at the gate to his house Vaunce looked at her in awe, and started to type up a question. She waved it away before giving him a beguiling smile and then disappearing again. Dumbstruck, he walked into his house just in time to get ready for dinner and sat down to eat.


    When did she learn to do that? He wondered idly, eating his food robotically, as he was exhausted from the day''s work. Can I learn to do that?


    Flopping into bed, Vaunce shoved the knife, which he had decided to call ¡®The Glutton¡¯, under a book on his nightstand. He had thought about putting it under his pillow, like all those fantasy books he had read, but that seemed unsafe. Clara jumped onto the bed next to him and flopped her body onto Vaunce¡¯s face. Laughing he pushed her off and got comfortable on the mattress. He was exhausted and he started falling asleep almost immediately. Clara snuggled on to his chest as he lay there.


    Feeling like he was being watched, Vaunce slowly opened his eyes to see Clara staring at him, perched on his chest looking down. She began to purr as he opened his eyes and she hit his nose with her head as he opened his eyes fully. He chuckled and began petting her, feeling significantly better. The feeling of unease had almost disappeared since he started petting Clara. It always calmed him down. Looking around he saw everything else in the room was the same as he had left it before falling asleep.


    Where is this feeling coming from? I¡¯ve never been this uneasy and skittish before


    After another round of looking around the room, Vaunce put his head back on the pillow and tried to get some rest. Whatever it was wasn¡¯t showing itself.


    Ding


    Waking up to a message, Vaunce groggily tapped his speaker-watch to see it was from Lilith.


    ¡°Vaunce, I have the day off today so if you want to practice magic, I''ll be at the hideout for most of the day. I plan on leaving in an hour or so if you want to meet up¡±


    Sitting up, he sent a message saying he would meet up with her. He started to get dressed for the day, thinking about how she had teleported them the day prior. He wanted to be able to do that, although he wasn¡¯t sure how he would be able to since he wasn''t used to using void mana and he didn¡¯t have enough of the other types of mana for something like Earth walking. He decided to try to use his void mana at least a bit.


    Quickly leaving the house after grabbing some breakfast, Vaunce walked to the meet up spot that they always went to; It was a cafe that was near the gate to the forest they used to go to the hideout.


    Seeing Lilith seated at a table eating some eggs and toast, Vaunce waved at her in greeting and sat down to wait for her to finish. She gestured back in greeting, continuing to stuff food into her mouth while reading what looked like news on her speaker-watch. She turned on the holographic display so that he could also see what she was reading.


    ¡°Dissent among the commoners spreads¡± was the title. Looking at the publisher he saw it was an article by ¡®Royals United¡¯. They were a newspaper exclusive for The Royalties and a select few businesses that served The Royalties. They went so far as to verify the identity of their customers before sending them any of their newspapers or allowing them to view any of their online articles. His father got it weekly, but he never bothered reading it. He waved it away out of disinterest and started reading where he had left off on his current book that he had gotten scanned so he didn¡¯t have to carry it around titled ¡°Basic Artifice¡±. There wasn''t an author name on the book that he could see, but there was a strange symbol that he didn¡¯t recognize on the spine of the book. It was a rectangle in a circle with a language he did not recognize flowing around the edge of the circle. It was strange but he could not find anything about it on the internet or anywhere else.


    ¡°Basic enchantments or enchanting is done by permeating an object in the type of mana and infusing a will into it. This simply means pushing mana into it and imagining the effect you want it to have. The type of mana you push into it will shape the effect of the enchantment, although it is good to note that some enchantments can only be powered by certain types of mana. You can¡¯t start a fire with water mana for example. There are some enchantments that need to have unaligned mana to function as well. These are mostly connector runes or enchantments that connect to multiple types of different mana.


    For example if you put a ¡®Wave¡¯ enchantment on a weapon, it will send out a wave of mana when you swing it. The type of wave you send out completely depends on what type of mana you made the enchantment with. Fire will send out a wave of fire, Water will send out a wave of water, and so on and so forth. Just because you are able to make a mana type work with an enchantment does not mean it is a good idea however. You should never, for example, make a passive devouring enchantment with air mana for example. You will quickly find that the air within your lungs and probably anyone within 500 meters quickly devoid of breathable air.¡±


    Vaunce snapped back to the world as he felt a poke in his arm. Lilith was waving at him to get his attention and he noticed she had finished eating. They got up and started walking towards the hideout through the forest. Vaunce looked around in the early morning fog that was starting to roll in, touching his skin it felt nice and cooled him down as they were walking.


    Getting to the somewhat concealed large tree they used as an entrance, Vaunce began to channel earth mana to reveal the entrance near the roots when Lilith held up her hand. He stopped and she quickly sent a diagram to him. Looking at it he saw that it was a guide on how to do short range walking spells. He opened his eyes wide in fascination as he read it and saw it included void on it. Although the void version made a tunnel rather than actually teleporting or allowing him to ¡®walk¡¯ through shadows or something similar. He read it a few times and started to bend his mind towards the task of moving his void mana. The void mana moved slowly, like it was bogged down by something. It never helped that every time he tried to use void mana to form a spell structure it felt greasy, like something had rubbed some sort of oil all over it. It felt gross and forbidden, and he always had issues with it. Focusing even harder he saw the tunnel appear and felt excited when he saw the open area of the hideout show up on the other side. Lilith beamed and jumped through without hesitation, Vaunce following shortly behind. He quickly sent a message to her.


    ¡°Where did you get this? It¡¯s amazing¡±


    ¡°I found an old book in the mages library and it had directions on this for it. I was able to discreetly scan it digitally before I had to report it. They have us turning in any knowledge of void mana we find in books. It¡¯s really weird, but this is the only one I¡¯ve found so far¡±


    She smiled happily towards Vaunce. She was obviously pleased with his reaction.


    ¡°Wow, thank you so much!¡± Vaunce frowned as he thought about it ¡°but don¡¯t get yourself in trouble Lil, I¡¯m fine without having to touch my mana or anything. Plus it''s not like I can''t use other types of mana, it''s just more limited.¡±


    She waved him off and walked over to the area that she had taken over in the hideout. She started practicing spells of various types. Vaunce was enthralled and just watched a while, before moving on and trying out various spells and minor enchantments that he had been thinking of. Before either of them knew it, Vaunce¡¯s Speaker-watch alarm was going off, signaling they had to go else they would be late. Sighing, they both teleported out of the hideout into the forest before starting the trek home.

 Chapter 6: Oddities

    The feeling of being watched had reached its peak the last few days, and then when Vaunce was practicing his technique and making some adjustments to make it better; he found a book placed on his forge in the hideout. He looked around for anyone else in the hideout but hadn¡¯t found anyone. He even went as far as to message the group to see if anyone had put it there to creep him out or prank him. He decided to douse the forge for the moment and look at the book that had suddenly appeared. It unsettled him greatly, but when he looked at the book title it was replaced by curiosity. The book¡¯s title was complete gibberish to him, it looked to be another language completely and he couldn¡¯t understand it at all. Opening the book to the first page, he saw a diagram showing a rune that was supposed to be traced in the air; or so he thought it looked like at least.


    Pushing mana into his finger he began to trace the rune in the air, nothing happened as he thought it would. He tried again, focusing harder this time. Failing a few different times, he sighed in annoyance. Mulling it over, he looked at the book and could see a single rune he recognized somewhat hidden amongst the decoration of the book. Void. He decided to try again, this time using void mana. Tracing the rune in the air with void mana, he felt a connection start to form.


    As he finished his entire vision went black, causing him to jump up rapidly from his chair, and then losing his balance and falling over. Laying on the ground and waiting for it to be over, he eventually gained his sight back. Getting up he saw a purple-blackish haze over everything. Looking around in curiosity about what was happening, he saw a group of ethereal animals staring at him in the corner. Taking a step back in surprise, Vaunce saw that none of them moved toward him. Inspecting them closer, he saw that there was a cat, a raven or crow, a few different types of dogs, and a creepy looking spider that was staring at him with all of its unblinking eyes. He shuddered at the gaze of the spider, but none of them seemed to be hostile towards him. Grabbing the book he saw he could now read the title. It read ¡°The basics of Void aligned mana: for idiots¡±. Staring at it in disbelief, he opened the book and began to read.


    ¡°Firstly, welcome to the society. This society is dedicated to preserving knowledge about void attributed mana, as well as other ¡®forbidden¡¯ types of mana. We also take it upon ourselves to connect members that share these rare types of mana so that they may learn from each other and grow.¡±


    Flipping to the diagram he had seen on the opening page, he saw it was titled ¡°Rune of understanding, Void variant¡±. Vaunce now understood why he was able to read the language that he understood intuitively was called ¡°The language of the Void¡± or ¡°Voidic¡± for short, but that didn¡¯t explain what all these animals were doing watching him, or how he was able to see this different purple energy. He flipped to the next section, hoping for some answers to the questions he had.


    ¡°After you have completed the ¡®Rune of understanding¡¯ you will be able to read ¡®Voidic¡¯ and see the ¡®Void Overlay¡¯ as we have named it. It is the purple-blackish energy you should see that mimics everything else you see. It will take a while to get used to it, but eventually you will be able to fine tune it so that you only see as much as you want to be able to see. It is not dangerous, but please do not try to reach out and touch any of the creatures you see. You will be able to tame a few of them eventually but until you have completed the first few stages in your void mage apprenticeship, please do not do anything.¡±


    Vaunce paused. He hadn¡¯t been accepted to train at the mages tower like his brother had been. Why was this book saying that he had been? Pushing aside all questions he had for the moment he continued reading.


    ¡°You are probably very confused by all this information. That is fine and completely normal at a time like this. So let us start properly from the beginning. Void mana is a rare alignment that only occasionally appears randomly in a few different familial bloodlines. Yours is one of those, although they haven¡¯t had a void mage appear in quite a long time. The void mages or rather the void aligned originally had four major families, but they weren¡¯t keen on accepting the ruling family. So they were hunted down until finally only your family remains somewhat complete, but even they are in hiding.¡±


    Confused, Vaunce read the last line over again. He wasn¡¯t sure what the book meant. His family wasn¡¯t in hiding as far as he knew and it wasn¡¯t like he was adopted, was he? Looking back at the book he determined he would ask his father when he got home and continued reading.


    ¡°This Void overlay was created as a means to talk to others without interference of the empire or kingdoms, and as a way to automatically translate Voidic and see the void messengers and beasts. It functions similarly to a speaker or a speaker-watch and allows you to message others across it and lets you send physical things through it as well once you tame a void beast to turn it into a messenger for you, or have someone else send things for you; That is less desirable but there are those that will do it for payment. Once you have learned some of the overlay manipulation spells, you will be able to access these functions or possibly make some functions of your own.¡±


    Flipping to the next page, Vaunce saw a few spell shapes to add functions to his overlay. Internet, Messaging other void overlay users, and a few others, he marveled at it and started working on the ones he thought would be useful in his day to day life. Several hours passed as it took a few tries for each one. The map one took 20 tries and almost 2 hours for him to finally be able to successfully get it to work. It slightly disappointed him as he realized it only filled out the areas he had been to after he got it working, so currently it only showed the hideout. Glancing at the time he had added, he blanched. It was almost an hour past the time he was supposed to be home. Rushing to put everything away, Vaunce ran home.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Opening his front door as quietly as he could, Vaunce saw his father sitting in the front room. Glancing up, he waved to the seat across from him. Gulping, Vaunce sat down and started to type something out before his father waved his hands around and Vaunce stopped typing. He felt the air around them change slightly, vibrating with mana. He looked at his father in slight confusion. He had never seen his father use mana before, so this was different and he noticed his fathers posture was strained.


    ¡°I notice that you¡¯ve opened the void overlay, that¡¯s good. Don¡¯t tell anyone about it for now, we will have to work on getting you a void beast but for now we will have to work on changing your understanding of the world as it is currently¡±


    Vaunce froze in shock. His father could speak? He could actually speak like the orators? His mind was in complete shambles. He didn¡¯t know what was happening and his mind felt like it was in a bog, slowed down to a complete stop. Unbidden, he realized he had not slept in almost a day. His mind felt tired and he just nodded at his father, who had begun laughing and showed him a piece of paper with a weird symbol on it.


    Ding


    Friend added


    He saw the Friends list update with his fathers name and saw the option to call or message besides it. He refocused on his dad, blinking the overlay away. Seeing the stare, his dad laughed again.


    ¡°Go to bed kid, we will have a proper talk tomorrow. Don¡¯t go to your apprenticeship tomorrow, I''ll send a note to Master Randall.¡±


    Walking to his bedroom, Vaunce felt his entire mind in chaos as he replayed the entire scenario in his head. It took awhile to fall asleep, something Clara was glad for since it meant more petting and purring on her part.


    Waking up to the sun peeking through the windows, Vaunce groaned. He was feeling suffocated about his situation the more he thought about it. Starting to slightly panic as he realized it was more than just a feeling, he opened his eyes and saw Clara sleeping peacefully on his neck. Pushing her off and gasping in air, he wondered if she ever had remorse for trying to kill him in his sleep. Deciding probably not, he got up and changed into his off-day clothes he frequently wore.


    As he walked out into the kitchen, his father waved him into his study before shutting the door behind him. He walked over to Clara, who had snuck in behind Vaunce, and picked her up and placed her on the outside before reclosing the study door. Placing his arm on Vaunce, he felt emptiness. Like the world was devoid of any color, any life, like he was trudging through a dream and suddenly there was nothing else besides darkness. Then falling was all there was. Falling until there was ground under his feet. Letting go, Vaunce stumbled for a few seconds trying to get his feet under him until he just sat down and let the vertigo settle. Hearing laughter, Vaunce looked up and saw his father laughing with a few people he didn¡¯t recognize. After unsuccessfully trying to stand up for a few minutes, he managed to climb to his feet and walked over to stand beside his father.


    ¡°Ah he has finally arrived¡± exclaimed his father before bursting into laughter.


    ¡°Oh stop Wes¡± one of the women standing nearby rolled her eyes ¡°we both know the first void warp makes people feel like shit¡± glancing at vaunce, she reached out and patted him on the head ¡°don''t listen to that asshole, you did better than he did the first time¡± she glanced around conspiratorial ¡°Ol¡¯ wes here actually pissed himself the first time¡± she whispered just loud enough for everyone gathered to hear.


    ¡°Hey I did NOT¡± his father half shouted at her ¡°God Fuck off Cass¡±


    Laughter burst from around the room, Vaunce glanced up and saw ¡®Cass¡¯ wink at him before she walked off into another room with everyone else now that the show was over. Grumbling, Vaunce¡¯s father waved for him to follow and together they walked into a nearby room. Settling into what looked like an office with a window, Vaunce¡¯s father closed the door and sat down opposite Vaunce.


    ¡°Okay kid, first thing you need to know is that void mages don¡¯t have scarring in the throat that prevents us from talking. You can talk too, but we need to get you used to it slowly or else you might actually hurt your throat.¡± pausing for a moment to make sure Vaunce was listening, he continued ¡°Second thing is this place is called ¡®The Stronghold¡¯, it was built by past void mages to act as a sort of haven when the empire started to purge us and any knowledge about void mana.¡±


    Vaunce stared intently at his father, absorbing everything he was talking about. He started to type out a message on his speaker-watch when his father stopped him.


    ¡°No speaker-watch, the empire has lightning mages that watch the lightning overlay¡±


    Confused, Vaunce looked at him and with some waving managed to ask what he meant


    ¡°The lightning overlay is what powers the speakers. It is like the void overlay except lightning aligned. The speakers allow anyone to access it without having to use the lightning rune of understanding. But if a lightning mage has used the rune of understanding, with some focusing they can spy on other people using the lighting overlay. Normally people would see them spying on them, but if they don''t have access to the lightning overlay then they won''t see them. It¡¯s like how you couldn''t see the void messengers watching you¡± his father explained.


    Vaunce realized there were a lot of things he didn¡¯t know about the world and determined that he would learn as much as he could. He had a lot of questions but couldn¡¯t ask them since he couldn¡¯t use his speaker-watch to display them. He was starting to feel overwhelmed about everything, and realized his mind was starting to just blank out. He held up his hand to prevent his dad from talking while he sorted out his thoughts.


    Okay what the fuck. What the fuck is going on. What the fuck, why can dad speak, what the fuck is up with those owls in the room, what the fuck is this all. Is this a dream?


    Hearing the door shut again, his head snapped up to see his dad walk back in with some paper and a pencil to write with. Handing them to him, his dad motioned him to write his questions.


    ¡°This will have to work until we can get you to talk¡±


    Vaunce started writing ¡°What the fuck is going on?¡± was the first thing he wrote


    Seeing it, his dad started laughing ¡°You don¡¯t start small do you? Okay well let¡¯s start small with us. Our family is Human, and we have always been void mages. Currently we are the only two void mages in our family, as well as the only two full humans¡± pausing he looked at Vaunce.


    Vaunce looked confused about what was just said, so his dad continued.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t misspeak, only humans can wield void aligned mana. Humans cannot wield other types of mana however. We are the only two humans in the entirety of Burklies¡±

 Chapter 7: Explanations

    Stunned by this revelation Vaunce just stared at his father. This was not making any sense to him, and he couldn¡¯t even process it properly. Seeing the look on his face, his father burst into laughter so hard he started to have tears run down his face. A look of annoyance flashed onto Vaunce¡¯s face before he waved to get his fathers attention. Looking up and wiping the tears away his father started to speak.


    ¡°Okay sorry. That¡¯s technically true however¡± he took a shaky breath to calm himself down ¡° We are the only humans in Burklies, and it¡¯s true that only humans can wield void aligned mana¡± pausing he added on more like an afterthought ¡°Although the empire has tried to erase that part of its history¡± exasperated he signed ¡°I know you have questions, but they will have to wait until you can speak properly¡±


    Vaunce nodded, fidgeting with the pencil. He had so many questions with no outlet to ask or figure out the answers to them. It was frustrating and irritating. It felt like he was about to explode from curiosity. He was burning with excitement on how to speak and all the things he could know. If they had been collecting knowledge about void mana and all the uses it had, he could find all sorts of things he could incorporate into his smithing techniques. Maybe they even had a Master Manasmith in the stronghold that he could apprentice under.


    ¡°Anyway, for today I¡¯ll just tell you the story of how this all came to be¡± snapping Vaunce out of his thoughts, his father moved around in his chair getting into a more comfortable position.


    ¡°So let us start at the beginning. At the beginning, no one had access to mana beyond humans, except we could only use Void mana. After some time humans discovered other races and being how humans are, we eventually tried to conquer them. After one fell, the rest banded together as a form of defense against us. It didn¡¯t matter however, and we strolled forth along our path of slaughter and eventually took over the continent we have currently. That is when the humans formed our empire ¡®Regalia¡¯, with Queen Life and King Death as the rulers. To clarify, that isn''t their actual name, but their titles. We don¡¯t know their actual names, but have been searching for them.¡±


    Standing up, he walked out of the room to return with glasses of water. Handing one to Vaunce he sat down and sipped at it before setting it down and continuing.


    ¡°Anyway, once we started exploring beyond the continent we discovered other races had been doing the same thing we had on other continents. The only difference was that they had different types of mana. Some of them had united all of the races on their continent instead of slaughtering them all as we did, which caused them to view us with fear and hatred. Eventually war broke out between some of the other continents and we managed to take advantage of it to steal mana crystals that were of other types. Mana crystals can only be the same type of mana as the wielder has. So because humans could only use void, we had to steal other types of crystals for us to be able to wield those types.¡±


    Pausing to allow Vaunce time to process everything that had been said so far, the only noise in the room was the shuffling of some owls that Vaunce had forgotten were even there. He was enraptured with the story, as it portrayed a vastly different picture than what he had learned in school. He thought of a question and started to write before his father waved him off.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°It''ll take forever if you write every question you have down, just save them all for when you are able to speak, or go and look them up in the library we have down here some time after you learn void transport.¡±


    Perking up at the name of the spell his father had used to get them here, he started to write a question before stopping and sighing deeply. He motioned to his father that he was ready to continue on with the story and took a drink of his water.


    Laughing, his father resumed the tale.


    ¡°Once we got the mana crystals, we were attacked by pretty much everyone else. They even stopped fighting each other to fight us instead. All they demanded was their crystals back, claiming that no one race should have access to more than one type of mana. The empire,, of course, didn¡¯t agree and it eventually led to the ¡®Absolving War¡¯. The empire was losing at one point and that is when the king and queen decided to swallow the other mana crystals. This led to the mana scarring in the throats of those that swallowed them. They were suddenly able to wield massive amounts of other types of mana, but no longer could use void mana. After this, we managed to push back hard enough that the war became a stalemate and they don¡¯t intrude upon our continent as long as we stay within it. Now that we had pushed back our enemies, peace flourished for us and after a few generations, we noticed that the genes of the people who had swallowed mana crystals and lost access to void mana had changed and they were closer to the races that we had taken the crystal from. Hybrids of the two races, that we void mages just call Kin. For example, your little friend Lilith would be a ¡®Lightning-kin¡¯ since she primarily uses lightning mana.¡±


    Vaunce nodded and thought he understood the story. He wasn¡¯t sure how true any of this was, but he trusted his dad and knew he had no reason to lie to him. Plus, he had teleported them to wherever this was. He had never seen his father use mana before, so he was somewhat convinced he also had void mana.


    Standing up from his chair, his father motioned for him to follow and started walking. Vaunce hurriedly got up and started walking slightly behind, looking around in amazement as he saw more and more of the stronghold. It looked like everything he could see was made out of the same grayish stone. There was no marring as if someone had dug it out by hand, so it must have been formed through the use of mana. He wondered if it was done using void mana, or earth mana. Either way the entire structure was very impressive to him. He bumped into his father who had stopped walking and had been talking to him; he wasn¡¯t sure how long.


    ¡°-rea where we teach people to speak, normally it''s just the younger kids. Anyone your age would already have been taught how to speak. The stronghold has an entire populace of people who are either void mages, children of void mages, and other family members. Starting on your next day off, you¡¯ll spend at least 2 of your days off here learning how to speak and once you have that down, we can finally get started with void mana.¡± Finishing up he glanced at Vaunce, who nodded to show he understood. ¡°But first, I¡¯ll teach you how to use the void transport spell to travel to void anchors we¡¯ve set up¡±


    Leading Vaunce back to the original place they entered, they spent the next several hours memorizing the spell shape and how it worked. Vaunce had never used so much void mana as he did when teleporting to the anchor. He eventually started to feel like he was about to collapse, but he managed to push through it until they were finished. Finished for the day, his father cast the spell again, moving them into the closest void anchor to their house. Feeling that empty feeling of being nowhere and then suddenly somewhere, Vaunce blinked a few times and then realized they were in the forest near the hideout. Surprised, he looked around and saw that they were on the other side of the forest from where the hideout was. Realization dawned on his face as he remembered several times that he had run into his dad while walking back from the hideout. It always seemed weird to him that his dad was just in the forest occasionally. Seeing his dad had kept walking, Vaunce jogged a bit to catch up before slowing down and walking behind him.


    He had a pretty full schedule now that he was being made to go to class to learn to speak. He would only have one full day off now, but that didn¡¯t seem too bad considering he was excited to learn all he could from the stronghold. He just hoped that he could handle it all.

 Chapter 8: Excitement

    Feeling the vast emptiness that he always felt when he teleported into the stronghold, Vaunce took a second to stabilize himself before continuing on. Today was finally the day that he would begin studying Void mana and how to control it. He had already done so on his own accord, but it was slow going and although he was getting better at using it for things like teleporting to void anchors, that was pretty much the limit of spells he could cast. It had been about 2 years since he was first brought to the stronghold. His father occasionally came with him, but mostly he attended speaking class on his own.


    ¡°Vaunce!¡± ¡°Vaunce!¡± ¡°Brother!¡± ¡°Cousin!¡±


    Hearing the excited squeals of kids as he got closer and closer, he walked into the room where he had studied how to speak for almost 2 years now. At first he had barely been able to make any sound and his throat had been sore everyday. Eventually he could speak for a few minutes without an issue. It was only recently that he could speak for long periods without having to stop to rest. The kids had progressed quite a bit since he had come as well. They had the same issues as he did, except they couldn¡¯t read or write as he could; So they had to work on vocabulary as well. Vaunce was proud of how all of them, including himself, had progressed and was a bit sad he had to leave to go to another class.


    Crouching down, he held his arms open for the rushing kids to all run into him and hug him. He was pretty sure they thought that he came to the class just to visit them and hang out with them, but as long as they were happy he was fine with it. He had grown fond of them since he had started the class, even if at the start he was basically a second babysitter. Getting dragged to the chairs, he sat down and made sure all the kids were behaving while he waited for the teacher. He enjoyed the peaceful moments he spent with the kids before the class. He always felt happy being able to play the games with absurd rules they made up, and simply was happy to be with them. It was like being an older sibling, and he always felt happy hearing the kids play.


    Hearing Ms.Chumil walk in, Vaunce glanced up at her.


    Ms.Chumil always looked the same, regardless of when Vaunce saw her. Short and tiny, with glasses that framed her eyes to look a tad wide and brown curly hair that bobbed as she walked. He detached the kids hanging on him and walked up to her.


    ¡°Ah Vaunce, you passed your speaking test recently, yes? You should be good to go to the next class. Here I¡¯ll give you a note and instructions on how to get there¡± Quickly scribbling on some paper, she handed Vaunce a note explaining he was getting moved.


    The speaking test had just been an hour long conversation with his father and Ms.Chumil about anything that came to mind. It had been a pretty comfortable experience for him.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m excited. I feel like I''m finally starting to catch up to the people around my age. Not that I mind playing with the kids¡± Feeling someone hugging his leg, he rubbed their head while he stood talking ¡°I think I might actually miss this place a bit honestly¡±


    Ms.Chumil laughed loudly ¡°You can always come back darling, the kids would be delighted to see you. Although soon they are going to go to beginners classes and leave my class, but I¡¯ll always be here. Now come here and give me a hug before you leave¡± she waved Vaunce over and gave him a motherly hug, before sending him on his way to the next class.


    Feeling warm inside, he waved goodbye to the kids and followed the instructions to the next class he was getting moved to. Hallway after hallway passed by as he checked and rechecked that he was moving in the right direction. He had never been to this area of the stronghold before and he was beginning to feel like he had walked in the wrong direction. Staring at the walls as he continued walking, he noticed they had a simple brick pattern that was chiseled to make the wall look like brick. Looking closer, he noticed there was signage in Voidic at corners and in the middle of long hallways. Following the signage, he walked through multiple sections he had never been in, smelling all sorts of things. He smelled a bakery somewhere, with baked bread and something he hoped was pie. After looking closely, he began to see and smell small signs of people living in the areas he was walking through, and quickly did his best to be quiet so he wouldn¡¯t disturb them.


    After about 10 minutes of walking, he finally found the auditorium that it was being held in. Unlike the other classes, the ones using mana were always in auditoriums since they needed space to practice using mana. Walking in, he saw it hadn¡¯t started yet, so he walked to the teacher and waited to get his attention before handing him the note from Ms.Chumil. The teacher was almost as tall seated, as Vaunce was standing. He didn¡¯t look old to Vaunce, he was kind of lanky, but had a full head of blondish hair, and a very questionable handlebar mustache.


    Looking up, the teacher noticed Vaunce and took the note, reading it before saying anything.


    ¡°Ah yes, Mr. Vaunce. Good, I was just informed about you coming to my class. Please take a seat anywhere while all the other new arrivals get here.¡±


    ¡°New arrivals?¡± Vaunce asked, unable to stop himself.


    ¡°Yes, you aren¡¯t the only person who needs to begin training with void mana manipulation. There are plenty of people who don¡¯t develop void mana until they are older. I think the average is about 17? There are outliers of course, yourself for example. Anyway please take a seat and all of this will be explained¡± shooing him off, Vaunce sat among the stands and thought about how he had gotten here.


    For the first few months, he was unable to communicate without pen and paper. It felt very frustrating for everyone around you to be able to communicate properly, but you could only bottle up your thoughts. He had never felt more frustration in his life than those first few months. All he was able to do was to do the vocal practices that Ms.Chumil had given all the children and himself. He was a good deal older than them, by about 10 years or so. The children of the stronghold learned to talk around 7, although edge cases like him happened with somewhat regularity. He became quite close with them because of this, and they liked to call him their cousin or brother as a result of it. His blacksmithing apprenticeship had been advancing smoothly as well, and he was on track to become a journeyman in a few years time. Master Randall told him his technique was good for a second-year apprentice, and that it was equal to any journeyman he had met; Excluding his of course.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Feeling something tap his shoulder, he looked over and his eyes widened in surprise and shock. It was a boy his age with brown hair that, under a certain light, looked red. He looked to be at least a few inches taller than Vaunce, and was fairly well built. He was quite tanned as well, Vaunce assumed from all the sun he got from being on a farm for work.


    ¡°Yo Vaunce, finally here?¡± Tim asked with a wide smile.


    ¡°Y-Yeah why are you here?¡± Vaunce stuttered out, completely unable to process what was going on. Tim¡¯s personality was wildly different than what he had experienced.


    ¡°I attend classes here¡± Tim replied, rolling his eyes ¡°You didn¡¯t think you were the only void mage in the group did you? Oh wait you probably did since I told everyone I used earth mana¡±


    Chuckling to himself at Vaunces expression he continued ¡°I was chosen to shadow you at school since we¡¯re of a similar age group and stuff¡±


    Mouth agape, Vaunce could only stare at Tim as he waited for a response.


    ¡°Dang man I know im pretty but you¡¯re gonna make me blush if you continue¡± he joked


    ¡°Oh uh, sorry. I just don¡¯t understand why I would need someone to shadow me?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah. Well two reasons really. One is that your family is one of the few noble families that can use void. Which ties into the second reason, your dad is on the strongholds council. Which means that his family gets certain protections outside the stronghold for safety reasons.¡±


    Tim started to speak again but stopped and made a ¡®later¡¯ motion as the teacher up front began to speak after everyone had sat down.


    ¡°I am Mr.Lenkil, I am in charge of the basic courses for void magic. Everyone here has some basic control over mana in general, but in this class I will be teaching you how to use void mana to form spells, safety, and other basic things you¡¯ll need to know to be successful here.¡± Pacing back and forth, he gave a short introduction while waving his arms around as he spoke. Afterward, he instructed them to take a short break and then they will start with trying to manipulate void mana.


    Vaunce turned to Tim ¡°Anyway, what do you mean by safety reasons? Oh also before I forget, I¡¯ll add you to my list so we can talk whenever¡±


    ¡°Sure. And I meant that literally. Outside the stronghold there¡¯s a lot of risk with the government kidnapping you or your other family members. Well if they were to discover who your dad was at least. At the moment the only danger is from the other members of the council. There¡¯s a lot of internal politics that goes on. My dad is close to your dad, thus why I was chosen.¡±


    They kept talking about small things; their experiences in the stronghold, their lives so far and how it ended up this way, until the break was over. Vaunce paid rapt attention to the teacher as he explained how to feel the void mana in himself, and how to start using it.


    ¡°The main thing is that you can¡¯t feel bad about using it. If you have negative emotions about it, your effectiveness will drop and you may not be able to use it at all. That is how the current rules of the empire are controlling how void mana is spread and why the common populace are unable to use it. They color it in this dark shade of evil, and pretend that anything or anyone that uses it is equally evil. This isn¡¯t the case however.¡± He held out his hand, a bright light flashed into existence revealing a floating blue flame


    ¡°Void magic can be whatever you want it to be, it all depends what you want it to do, and how you approach things.¡± the flame shifted to a dark blue, and then a purple.


    ¡°Anything can be evil or good. This is mirrored everywhere. In this class I will teach you how to be good, while using void mana to its fullest.¡± The flame started to get brighter, turning red, and then orange, and then finally turning white. It flashed out of existence, leaving everyone staring at the empty hand that held it before.


    ¡°Let¡¯s begin on the exercises¡± Mr.Lenkil started explaining the first exercise to them, leading them through how to access their void mana willingly.


    Following the steps, Vaunce pulled slowly at the void mana he had inside himself. Slowly he tugged with his mind, or he tried at least. It was an awkward feeling that he wasn¡¯t sure how to explain or do. It was like trying to cause one muscle of your arm to flex, but not the rest of the arm. He knew it was there and could even touch it and make it flex a bit, but the arm always moved. Pausing to look how other students were doing, he saw that some were looking around as he was, while others were locked in concentration, others were talking to Mr.Lenkil about it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry if you can¡¯t get any mana to move today, this class is almost a year long for a reason. Plus there isn¡¯t a time limit or limit on the amount of times you can retake this class, so just do your best and ,again; It¡¯s all about safety¡±


    Vaunce heard the words Mr.Lenkil spoke above the noise of the class and tried again before taking a short break. Hearing ¡®Oooooos¡¯ and ¡®Aaaaa¡¯ noise from another area of the stands, he looked and saw a few colorful bubbles playfully bobbing in the air, reminding Vaunce of the mana control exercises his father would have him and his brother do. Looking around at all the other students, he saw that they were just as impressed as he was.


    ¡°Very good Vivian! That was very fast. Now that you¡¯ve managed to do it so fast, please help the ones around you while you can still describe the feeling you encountered.¡±


    Seeing her nod and start talking enthusiastically to those around her, Vaunce¡¯s jaw dropped in amazement. She had done it so quickly, Vaunce thought she must be a genius or a prodigy. Redoubling his efforts, he focused and tried again. Attempt after attempt, he tugged and pulled at his void mana, getting more and more frustrated with each attempt.


    Why can¡¯t I do this? I¡¯ve almost spent two years using void mana, and I suddenly can¡¯t? That doesn''t make any sense.


    Frustration plain on his face, Tim tapped him on the shoulder. ¡°Hey man, class is over, we can try again tomorrow. It''s no big deal, it took me 2 weeks to even be able to fill a spell shape with void mana.¡± Pulling him to his feet, they walked home.


    A few days passed by as Vaunce made his way to apprenticeship, then home, then to the stronghold to practice void magic. Though ¡®practice¡¯ wasn¡¯t exactly the right term. All he did was feel inside himself to try to touch the void mana, but he couldn¡¯t feel it any more than he could the first day. He was very frustrated about the whole ordeal, especially since he was one of the quickly dwindling students who hadn¡¯t managed to use void mana yet. Vaunce wasn¡¯t sure why, since he could teleport into the stronghold just fine. It made no sense to him, he could use void mana to teleport but couldn¡¯t actually feel it or use it in any way.


    Mr.Lenkil was a decent teacher, but he liked to show what to do and expect you to be able to copy it. If you couldn¡¯t learn through watching him do it, he had trouble helping you. He usually resorted to showing you multiple times if you didn¡¯t get it. It was during one of these that Vaunce had one of his first encounters with Vivian. He was still trying to feel out the void mana, when she walked up to him.


    ¡°Hey Vaunce, I heard you¡¯re still having trouble feeling the void mana within. Do you want me to try to help? Maybe if i described how it feels to me it¡¯ll help somehow¡±


    ¡°Sure, I honestly don¡¯t know why I can''t feel it. I can use the other types perfectly fine, but this is giving me a lot of trouble. Honestly it¡¯s bothering me a lot¡±


    They began to go over any possibilities that could help Vaunce begin to feel his void mana. Spending the next few hours of class trying, Vaunce started to notice the glances and looks his classmates gave him. They tried to make sure he didn¡¯t notice, but Vaunce was used to people looking at him. Most of them were looking at him like he was a pitiful stray cat, meowing for attention and food. Some of them sent glances of annoyance and hatred his way, probably wondering how the chancellor¡¯s son couldn¡¯t even use void mana; despite being a noble. Vaunce closed his eyes, ignoring all of it and focusing. As long as he focused and did his best, he would eventually succeed.

 Chapter 9: Failure

    He didn¡¯t know what he was doing wrong. He had tried everything he could think of, but none of it was making sense anymore. He could use it to get in and out of the stronghold, but couldn¡¯t use it for anything else. It had been weeks, and everyone else in his class had started being able to make spell shapes with their void mana. He on the other hand, still couldn¡¯t even feel his void mana, even with the help of Vivian, Tim, and Mr.Lenkil every single day the past few weeks. Frustrated, he talked to his father about it to see if he could help.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t able to feel your void mana? That¡¯s weird, how have you been getting to the stronghold this entire time?¡±


    Vaunce sighed exasperated, this was exactly his thought process as well. He sent a message back on their local network.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, it doesn¡¯t make sense to me at all¡±


    They were talking through their void overlays, as they could only speak freely inside the stronghold itself. His father had been very insistent about it because they were the only nobles left who had a void elemental affinity. When asked about it, his father had responded that the empire was afraid of them rebelling, so they monitored anything they could. He had spells to block scrying of any sort inside the house, which is why they could teleport freely, but they could still monitor sound and their messages from the speaker-watches.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine for now, there have been cases of people taking years to be able to free their void magic, some only through intense trauma.¡±


    Vaunce gaped at his father ¡°we won¡¯t have to do that right?¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯re not going to traumatize you. I would rather you have no magic, than do that willingly¡±


    ¡°Anyway, isn¡¯t it time for you to go to your apprenticeship?¡±


    Looking at the time, Vaunce blanched. He was going to be late regardless of if he ran now. Waving as he took off, Vaunce ran through the early morning streets. As the buildings blurred by, Vaunce saw the sign that the forge was in use. Tall puffs of white smoke were shooting into the air, signaling the start of a new day. Running into the forge, Vaunce heard the noise of hammering as he changed into his forging clothes. Putting his goggles on to protect his eyes, he saw the other apprentice that Master Randall had taken on recently hammering to the rhythm that was being tapped on the anvil. Vaunce knew he was late, so he took the job that was normally done by Tek, the other apprentice; maintaining the temperature of the forge while it was in use. It was grueling and sweaty work because you were right next to the hottest part of the forge and constantly had to shove various fuels into it depending on what was being forged.


    The low-grade fire crystals kept it smoldering, but to actually forge it needed various fuel. Birch and Charcoal were the typical fuel to keep the forge hot. There was also some holy-fire salt that was spread along the inside of the forge when they cleaned it, to make the forge run cleaner and the metals to be more pure.


    After what seemed like a lifetime, the hammering stopped and Vaunce was allowed to step away from the back of the forge. Gulping water down, he saw Master Randall nod at him.


    ¡°Ight Vaunce, you¡¯ve got the shop for today. I¡¯m off to the meeting with some customers. Remember to lock up when you¡¯re done for the day. Tek, you¡¯re done for the day, go home and enjoy the extra day off while I¡¯m gone. I¡¯ll be sure to work you double when you¡¯re back next week¡±


    Nodding in understanding, Vaunce and Tek started going about their tasks while Master Randall left. Tek left shortly afterward, leaving just Vaunce in the forge. It was way too early for anyone but the workers to be up, so Vaunce decided he would practice his exercises to feel his void mana.


    Focusing intently, Vaunce reached inside himself deeply feeling for even the most tenuous strand of void mana. He had already used it before, so he was confused about why he was unable to use it normally. His knife ¡®The Glutton¡¯ had been enchanted to devour mana, even if it had been by accident. He also used normal mana aligned mana all the time. He could use the basic four elements with little to no issue, excluding the fact he had to gather them from the ambient mana around him or take the mana from someone else.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Hearing talking in the front of the forge he popped his head out to see what was going on. Seeing a few people in the shop he walked up and, after conversing via his speaker-watch, he got their orders sorted and went to the back to work on some basic seasonal orders from the farmers and other craftsmen that needed metal tools made. He had mastered making them last year, so his mind was free to wander and explore his issues with void mana as he forged the multitude of tools.


    Why can I use the other mana types but not void? Isn¡¯t absorbing the mana of the other mana types part of using void mana? Maybe the feeling of void is the feeling of absorbing things?


    Thinking while he worked, Vaunce noticed that it was cooling down around him. Panicked, he looked around and saw that the fire was dying out.


    ¡°Oh fuck¡± cursing under his breath, he rushed to pump fire mana into the forge before it could die out. Master Randall would be furious if it died out since it was fed with low-grade fire crystals and holy-fire salt. The crystals weren¡¯t very expensive but they weren¡¯t cheap either. The holy-fire salt on the other hand purified metals, removing the imperfections from anything forged to a certain extent. It also helped bind alloys together better.


    Feeling the heat return, Vaunce wiped his forehead in relief. The forge usually ran on one batch for about a week, and it was the second day; It would be terrible if they had to completely restart it with another batch of materials as well as throwing off the cleaning schedule for the forge.


    Starting to forge again, Vaunce thought about what had happened. Realizing he had been thinking about void mana absorbing elements, he thought it might be a clue to being able to use his void mana and felt some excitement run through him. Tampering down his excitement a bit after remembering the disaster that he had almost experienced, he resolved to finish forging first.


    Putting the final work aside to cool off, Vaunce sat at the front counter and started trying to recreate the feeling he had earlier. Feeling the air slightly vibrate around him, he could tell he was absorbing air mana but was unable to feel his void mana move. Frustrated, he let out an exasperated sigh and stopped for the moment. What he needed to do was think about all the experiences he had with void mana. There wasn¡¯t a large amount of it, but he had definitely used it more than once. He had forged his knife and accidently enchanted it with the devour effect of void mana. He had made a tunnel for him and Lilith to enter into the hideout a few times. He teleported into the stronghold almost everyday for nearly two years with no issues, and then also teleported back out. None of this made any sense to him, or Tim or Vivian or anyone that had been helping him. He was stuck and it frustrated him to no end. He was beginning to feel like a failure with no end to it in sight.


    Annoyed, he grunted under his breath and tried again. It was insanity to just keep trying the same thing over and over, but he wasn¡¯t sure what else to do and just sitting around not trying anything seemed like a betrayal to everyone that had helped him. Feeling around for his mana, he pulled at it and it moved like normal, but that was the elemental mana moving instead of void mana. Trying to make himself feel better, he made some colorful bubbles appear and start bobbing around the room in an invisible wind. When they popped, they would explode into colorful sparks before being replaced by another bubble to follow in the endless cycle of popping and more appearing.


    Before he had realized, it was time to close up the shop. Making sure the forge had enough fuel to last the night, he secured it so that the fire wouldn''t leak. Vaunce locked up and headed to an empty alleyway to teleport to the stronghold. He didn¡¯t have class today, but he wanted to go read in the library and see if he could figure anything out about his issues.


    Arriving at the teleportation anchor, he gave a brief greeting to everyone around while he started on his trek to the library. He had gotten used to the empty feeling that teleporting gave him, although the last few weeks he had been more worried about the teleport not working at all. Looking at the carvings as he strolled through the hallways, he was always fascinated by them. His father said that they were historical events, woven into a reinforcement enchantment that spread through the entire stronghold. He could see mana running through the carvings which just made them more fascinating. The stronghold was huge, and to have an enchantment running through the entirety of it was absurd.


    Arriving at the library, he began to search for books that might be able to help him.

 Chapter 10: The Basics

    Vaunce carried out the books he had grabbed from the library. He had gotten distracted again and hadn¡¯t grabbed anything he had gone there for. Entering his room, he set the books on his desk and flopped on his bed. He had at least tried to look up information about his condition of not being able to actually use void mana, but had seen some books on forging enchantments on items and had picked that up instead. Those books always pulled at him and he couldn¡¯t help himself.


    Falling asleep, he thought about all the enchantments and effects he had read. Mana wave, Mana creation, Mana absorption, Mana storage; There were all sorts of things you could do, especially when you started combining them at higher levels. Thinking of everything he could make, Vaunce slept soundlessly through the night.


    Feeling out of breath, Vaunce tried to inhale, only to be met with a mouth full of fur. He sat up with a jolt, catching Clara as she was flung off of his face. Coughing, Vaunce took a few seconds to compose himself and gulped some water he kept on his bedside table. Petting Clara on the head as he got ready, he went downstairs and started making breakfast for himself. It was too early for anyone to be up, so he tried to be quiet as he ate and left for the hideout. It had been a few weeks since he had last been there. Between classes and his apprenticeship, he never had more than a couple of weekends where his time off allowed him to make the trek for any extended time. Today he was going to see if he could make some basic enchantments he had read about in the books he had picked up at the library. Walking through the streets this early was always peaceful to him. There was something about the fresh air, the lack of sounds, and the empty streets that attracted him to it. He wouldn¡¯t mind this sort of quiet and isolation. Not having to deal with anyone or anything and just enjoying the peace. He sometimes thought about just leaving and living in a forest without telling anyone, but then again; he didn''t know the first thing about living in a forest.


    Arriving at the hideout, he used a void tunnel to go straight to his forge. He still was afraid that it would stop working for him, but it worked as it normally did. He found it worrisome that he could easily use certain types of void spell shapes, but no others. It was frustrating to no end.


    Stop Vaunce. Not today, that isn¡¯t what we are here for.


    Reminding himself about the enchantments, he felt a renewed excitement bubble up inside him as he walked up to his forge. There wasn¡¯t anyone else here. The other four had work or training of some sort today. Vaunce had made sure to pick a day that they would all be busy so he could focus without bothering them on it. Forging was always extremely loud, even with the fields of silence that Lilith had established for him. Composed of Air mana, she had made it so that it cushioned any sound that pushed against it. It made it louder in the hideout, but you couldn¡¯t hear anything from above.


    Starting the forge, Vaunce began the preparations to start making some simple items he could try enchanting. He wanted to see if he could make some simple lights for the hideout. They had lanterns that used whatever mana was poured into them, but he wanted to try to make some lights that pulled from the ambient mana instead.


    Finally getting the forge hot enough, he pushed in the clump of copper he wanted to use for this. Copper wasn¡¯t the most mana efficient metal, but it was the cheapest metal that could use mana, even if it was only a bit. Putting the container in the forge to smelt, he started pumping the bellows to assist in hitting the temperature needed. After feeling the air start to boil, he stopped pumping and went to grab some water while he waited. It wouldn¡¯t take very long, as he only used enough for one bar of copper. His plan was to cut it in half and make four copper balls that could be held in the hand. They would glow so that no one had to bring lanterns back and forth from their home. Taking off his shirt and dunking it in a nearby tub of water he kept specifically for this, he put it back on and put on his forging goggles to pour the molten metal into the molds he had prepared. Sweating profusely, he gripped the tongs holding the container and started pouring. Hearing the Liquid metal sizzle with heat, he made sure all of it went into the molds. Finished pouring, he cleaned up and started to clean up, dousing the forge in the process. He only intended to try enchanting with this set of copper balls today. Sitting outside the forge to cooldown, he got comfortable as it would be a few hours until they were cool enough to handle.


    A few hours passed as he waited for the molten metal to harden in their molds. Finally getting them out, he picked up the first one and closed his eyes to concentrate. He thought about the effect he wanted; Glowing, Light. Feeling a drain on his fire mana, he opened his eyes to see ethereal flames dancing around the orb. The flames weren¡¯t burning or hurting him, but they did make him feel like he was seeing a ghost. Setting it to the side, he picked up the next one and repeated the process. Instead of trying to use Fire mana however, he tried using water mana. Thinking about the moon''s reflection off of a lake, he felt the water mana sink into the orb; Although it was a lot slower this time and it required more focus. Feeling the mana stop, he looked up and saw the orb, glowing softly in his hand. This is more of what he wanted, but he also liked experimenting with using the same enchantment but differing mana types. It fascinated him how different mana produced differing effects but the same purpose.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Setting the second orb aside, he picked up the third one to continue. This time he focused on earth, although he wasn¡¯t sure what to expect. He didn¡¯t know anything that glowed using earth mana. He focused on it, and after a while sighed. He couldn¡¯t enchant something using a mana type that he wasn¡¯t sure could do the effect he was looking for. Taking a break he thought about everything he knew about earth mana, and by extension forests. That was where earth mana was probably the strongest or so he thought. Feeling inspired he picked up the orb and began to refocus his thoughts. Glowing moss on trees, and fireflies drifting lazily in the evening breeze were what he was thinking of. Feeling the earth mana drip into the ball, he painstakingly held his concentration. Opening his eyes after what felt like forever, he checked his overlay and his jaw dropped. It had been two hours since he had started to enchant the third ball, and he had to go back soon. Annoyed, he looked at the third ball and saw it glowing happily; casting its green light on everything nearby.


    Well at least I succeeded. I doubt I will manage to get air mana to work for it though. What would that even look like?


    Cleaning up, he tucked the three balls into an area by the door so that the other would notice them when they came to the hideout next. Sighing, Vaunce was feeling content at the amount of work he had done. He had also started to be able to get a feel for enchanting things, even if it was a bit time consuming at the moment. Getting up, he decided he was going to try to research a bit before heading home.


    Teleporting into the stronghold, he wished he could use void mana as freely as the others in his class had begun to. Some of them had started to be able to use them in spell shapes recently, and he was jealous. He would never tell them that though. He was trying his best but no one seemed to be able to help him with it.


    Don¡¯t let it get to you, Vaunce. You¡¯ll get it eventually.


    He always felt a tad down when he thought about it. Despite the encouragement he gave himself, he felt like he would never get it.


    Arriving at the library, he headed to the section on void mana. He had been in this section a lot recently. Reading the spines of the books, he noticed a black embroidered leafing on one of them. Pulling it out, he saw the title simply read ¡°Void Mana¡±. It was a very thin book, so thin it couldn¡¯t have been more than 100 pages. Taking it back to the chair he was using, he began to read the book. It told a similar story about what void mana was that his father had told him. It wasn¡¯t as detailed, but it did explain to him that any negative emotions towards void mana would stop it from working for anything but the most basic spell shapes.


    ¡°Void mana is like a living thing, it is possibly the only mana type that can tell the intentions of the user. There have been cases of mages not actively casting a spell, but the void mana reacting on its own to. There have also been some instances of void mana reacting to threats while its caster is unconscious or unable to normally create spell shapes. It has led the Void Research Group to believe that void mana is the embodiment of creatures from other planes, namely the void, that have died and somehow been transported here. Another possible theory is that void mana simply echoes the hidden thought and turnings of a person''s soul. Many people are in agreement with the second theory, as the first one is a bit wild. Put simply, if void mana senses that it is unwanted or feared by its user, it won¡¯t work.¡±


    Thinking back, Vaunce realized that void mana did scare him. Rather it unsettled him, even seeing all of the joy and life it had brought with everyone around him at the stronghold. He couldn¡¯t shake the feelings that had been pushed into him all his life. He wondered why it had taken him so long to find this out. Bothered, he sent a message to Tim asking if he knew anything about it.


    Hearing a beep, he glanced over to see the reply.


    ¡°Yeah man, it was mentioned on day one I think? I never mentioned it to you because I assumed you had gotten over it.¡±


    Annoyed by the revelation, he closed the message and started to trek home. Teleporting out of the stronghold, he appeared in the forest and started walking in the direction of his house. He wasn¡¯t sure how to stop being uncomfortable with void mana, but he figured he would just focus on forging instead. He had a couple of years before he completed his apprenticeship and then he would be free to do as he liked. He figured if he still couldn¡¯t use void mana by then, he would just travel the empire and learn all he could about forging. Void mana was really only a secondary thing that had come up in recent years. He really cared more about forging than he did void mana, but his dad insisted on void mana. Vaunce only really relented because his parents had let him become a blacksmith instead of a combat related occupation. Normally only commonfolk did the craftsmen jobs; Nobles were far more likely to become mages, or knights, or warriors.


    Entering his bedroom, he flopped into bed and was quickly asleep having exhausted himself for the day. Jumping up onto the bed, Clara stared through the window, as if daring something to try its hand at opening it, before falling asleep fitfully on Vaunce''s face.

 Chapter 11: Control

    Watching as the Spell shape formed, Vaunce bubbles with excitement. The last few weeks he had been focusing on shedding all emotions to get rid of any of his feelings about void mana that remained deep inside himself. He turned his heart into stone, he became a stone and would maintain this feeling of absolute non-emotion state until he stopped casting void spell shapes. It also required the patience of three stones, but it was all worth it for being able to actually form void based spell shapes. The last few days he had even caught up to the others in the class and was able to cast smaller scale spell shapes with void mana outside of this ¡®stoney heart form¡¯, or so Vaunce referred to it in his mind. The more he practiced casting with it, the more excitement he felt about it and the more the excitement burned away at his prejudices with using void mana. The feeling of being able to progress was wonderful and it permeated his entire being.


    ¡°Okay everyone, class is starting so shut it¡± Mr.Lenkil snapped his fingers, causing a pulse burst and snuff out any sound in the room ¡°It has been a few months and everyone is starting to get the hang of using their void mana, so we will begin to start dueling¡±


    A quiet mummer began to sound throughout the room, slowly building until it was an excited chatter. Vaunce turned to Tim and began to say something when Mr.Lenkil snapped his fingers, silencing them all once more.


    ¡°Follow me to the dueling platform¡± He walked out of the room with everyone streaming behind him in clusters.


    Arriving at the dueling platform, Vaunce looked around awestruck. He had never been into this area of the stronghold before, and the sheer size of it left him speechless. He bumped Tim on the shoulder.


    ¡°Hey, how large is this place? I see at least 4 or 5 platforms but it gets to small for me to see near the end¡±


    ¡°I have no idea, this is my first time being here as well¡± Tim replied looking awestruck as well.


    ¡°Okay class, Please sit in the stands nearby and I will go over how this is going to work¡± Calling out to all the students Mr.Lenkil pointed to some stands nearby and guided the students to sit there.


    ¡°I will call out peoples names, and then they will duel until one side forfeits, or dies,¡± Pausing to see the reaction of the students, he laughed ¡°I¡¯m joking, well about the second part at least. The duel will last until someone concedes or someone lasts a solid enough hit to make their opponent fall, or bleed. We are just practicing, so there is no reason to try to kill them¡±


    Staring at them to make sure they understood, they nodded.


    ¡°Good, first up is Tim and Frieta¡±


    Getting up from his spot next to Vaunce, Tim went down the steps and onto the dueling platform. Seeing them start, Vaunce watched completely mesmerized by the scene. He had never seen void mana used in actual combat before. This was all new to him, and before he realized it his heart was pounding as Tim managed to sweep Frieta off her feet and land on the ground hard. Hearing some winces from the audience Mr.Lenkil announced the duel over and sent them to another section of stands where some healers that Vaunce hadn¡¯t noticed before waited for them.


    It was another 20 minutes before Vaunce heard his name called. Getting up and walking down he saw Ash walking down as well. Sighing in relief, he walked over to the starting spot on the dueling platform they were using. While he had only recently begun to be able to use his void mana for spell shapes, Ash had only been able to around the same time as him.


    It looks like Mr.Lenkil is matching people based on their skill level. Which is probably a good thing. It would be pretty terrible if I had to go against Tim or Vivian.


    Vivian was the best with using void mana in spell shapes. She wasn¡¯t very creative for the most part, preferring simpler spells that were already established, but she was very fast at casting; or forming spell shapes and triggering them for her desired effect. How powerful a spell was is based on the mind of the caster.


    Tim on the other hand, was decent at casting speed, but was very creative when it came to effects. He always had weird and out of the box ideas for how things should be done or work.


    Either of them would win against him very fast, so he was glad to see that his teacher understood and placed him against someone at roughly the same level.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    Hearing the command, Vaunce formed his first spell shape in his mind. ¡®Devouring Barrier¡¯. Flickering to life dully around him, he felt multiple impacts almost immediately showing that putting up a barrier had been the right move. He felt a trickle of mana enter the barrier reinforcing it. This was the best part of the ¡®Devouring Barrier¡¯ that Vaunce had developed; It used mana from the spells that hit it to make it stronger so that he didn¡¯t have to constantly feed his own mana into it. The only issue was that it could only be strengthened so much, depending on his own strength and will.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Taking a second to analyze his situation, he began to focus on what he wanted the spell shape to do and he poured mana into it. He preferred the ¡®Power¡¯ style of casting, which focused on maximizing how much mana was pushed into spell shapes to make their effects more pronounced and powerful. There was also ¡®Fast¡¯ style, which was focused on casting as fast as possible to overwhelm, and ¡®Efficient¡¯ style, which was the balance between the two but also focused on lowest mana usage for the most powerful effect. None of these were the official terms, but they had been around so long that only scholars knew the real terms.


    Feeling the spell shape start to vibrate in his mind, he released it towards the ground. He was trying to tunnel under his opponent to throw them off balance, but he felt it hit a hardened area of earth. Realizing that Ash had reinforced the ground beneath him, he started forming some simple arrows of void mana to see if he could break Ash¡¯s defense. Pouring void mana into them, he checked his reserves and saw that he was about a fourth of the way through it. Cursing slightly under his breath he began to convert all the other mana types in his body to void while still filling up his spells.


    About to launch the arrows, he smiled to himself slightly and changed one of them in his mind. One of the arrows changed slightly darker than the others, forcing vaunce to spend more mana to add an illusionary effect to make it appear the same while still letting it have the ¡®Devour¡¯ effect that his barrier had. Launching the arrows, he felt a cracking sound. He suddenly was laying on the ground. Groaning, he realized he had stopped paying attention to how much damage his barrier had taken. He had just assumed that the incoming feed from the constant barrage Ash had been launching would be enough. Getting to his feet, he shook hands with Ash to show it had been an honorable duel and walked over to sit next to Tim in the stands where the other students who had finished dueling were.


    Laughing, Tim began teasing Vaunce about it. ¡°Take a nice nap on the ground?¡±


    ¡°Shut up Tim¡± Plopping down in the seat next to him, Vaunce began sulking about how it had gone.


    ¡°Hey man, no reason to be down, you''ll get better plus you got me to help you¡± Pounding his chest with his fist, Tim started talking almost nonstop while they watched the other students duel.


    ¡°You did pretty decent, but your spells could have been stronger if you formed the spell shapes outside your body instead of your mind¡±


    Vaunce turned his head to look at him ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Did you see the way Ash had all his spell shapes almost constantly firing? He was able to do that because the ambient mana was helping fill up the spells. It kind of like a temporary enchantment that is held together by your will instead of the material¡±


    Vaunce nodded and then thought for a second inquisitively ¡°Doesn¡¯t the mana type get changed when ambient mana is absorbed thought?¡±


    ¡°No, ambient mana doesn''t really have a type until it gets attached to something. Some ambient mana does, but you can make it so your spell shapes only pull in the typeless mana.¡±


    Spending the rest of class watching the dueling and talking about ways to increase the power of his spells, Vaunce felt satisfied as he left the stronghold to go home. He was finally able to freely use void mana to do things. He still was restricted to only using it in the stronghold but that was good enough for now. As long as he could use it at all, he was satisfied.


    Spending the next several weeks working at his apprenticeship, then going to the stronghold to practice void mana and dueling other students, Vaunces'' days were filled to the brim with activities and he had very little time for anything outside of his schedule.


    Splitting his attention so that he could feel his barrier but also fill up what the spell he had started calling ¡®earthquake¡¯, he pushed harder to make the mana flow out of him and into the spell faster. Feeling the attacks dwindle slight, he saw his opponent start to float above the ground.


    ¡°Fuck me dude¡± cursing under his breath he reshaped portions of his spell, instead making it shoot lances of void from underneath Vivian. Looking at her, Vaunce saw her eyes squint slightly, focusing on the changing spell shape in front of him. This was one of the main issues with casting outside of your body like he currently was. If you could recognize enough portions of a spell shape and it wasn¡¯t being actively concealed, you would know what effect the spell would have.


    Seeing several more spell shapes pop into existence around Vivian; Vaunce blanched, almost stumbling while he moved around trying to avoid some of the spells that were being flung at him. She already had 5 spell shapes constantly shooting tiny orb-like missiles of darkness at him, and it looked like she had just added another 5.


    ¡°Really? 10 void missile spells? Isn¡¯t that a tad extreme?¡± Vaunce barked at her while taking a few hits on his barrier. It wouldn¡¯t last more than a few minutes at this rate.


    ¡°If you feel it¡¯s unfair, feel free to concede. I''m not giving up my win streak because you asked me to¡± Vivian replied, looking almost bored while moving her hand in a circle as if to say ¡®Get on with it¡¯.


    Vaunce kept quiet and focused on finishing his spell. If all he did was defend then he would eventually lose. Jagged spikes shot up out of the ground beneath Vivian forcing her to pull the mana from a few of her void missile spells to reinforce her own barrier. Seeing some of the dark orbs shooting towards him at high speed, he pumped mana into his body to move faster so he could dodge them. Thinking hard, Vaunce came up with a plan and started to implement it even as Vivian started to up the tempo that orbs were shooting at him.


    Grunting with frustration clearly on his face, Vaunce started forming another spell. ¡®Void Fog¡¯ was a spell he had recently been inspired to try. It was based off of the water version ¡®Fog¡¯ except it used void mana instead of water mana, and produced a thick black mist. Vaunce hoped that this would block enough line of sight that her void missile spells couldn¡¯t target it. Unfortunately, as the thick fog rolled onto the dueling platform, he felt his barrier shatter and sighed. Dispelling the fog, he called out.


    ¡°I concede¡± He had seen enough of Vivian dueling to know that if he didn¡¯t concede as soon as his barrier broke, he would be visiting the healers very soon.


    Seeing multiple small black orbs pause a few feet from him, he shivered as he walked off the platform.


    ¡°Vivian wins, she keeps her perfect win streak¡± Mr.Lenkil announced.


    Hearing everyone groan, Vivian gave them all a scornful look.


    Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Vaunce heard Tim.


    ¡°Good try man, you¡¯ve improved quite a bit since you fought her last time. Her void missiles are just too oppressive at the speed she can cast them. It¡¯s absurd¡±


    Vaunce nodded ¡°Well at least I can¡¯t lose rank since she¡¯s at the top¡±


    The ranking system had been implemented a week or so after they had started dueling in class. The only thing they had been told about it was that if you were in the top 5 percent of the class, you could request a small favor from the council. Vaunce was 40th currently, which wasn¡¯t bad but he wanted to improve it, if only to get better at dueling.


    ¡°We will get her next time man, I¡¯ve got a few new ideas for spells¡±


    Tim nodded at him and they began to walk home. Dueling always happened at the end of the day, and if they weren¡¯t injured Mr.Lenkil let them leave for the day after they were finished.


    Walking in silence with their own thoughts to keep them company, Vaunce waved goodbye to Tim as they split off from each other. He wasn¡¯t quite sure how to accomplish the spells he had in mind yet, but he knew what he wanted.


    He wanted to win next time.