Deilin sat hunched over his desk, squinting at the slate in front of him. The light orb hanging from the ceiling had gone almost completely dim, leaving the room mostly in shadows. In his focus, he barely noticed the change. His entire being was focused on his pen, the pattern in his head, and the matching pattern on the slate slowly being traced out for what felt like the thousandth time. A book lay open beside him, no longer necessary as he had long since cemented the new rune in his mind.

This is it, I can feel it. I’ve finally got everything locked in. He felt a spike of anticipation, quickly smothered to avoid ruining the work. Once he was sure he had traced every connector, linked the new rune to every part of his fractal, he let his will trace along the new patterns, focusing on a spot just under the pen.

Force external flow under.

A small swirl of nearly invisible force formed beneath his hand, forming a flat revolving disc. He dropped the pen, and watched it land squarely in the center of the disc, slowly rotating along with the plane of force.

Yes! Joy flooded him as his proof of concept panned out. His mother had insisted that the action rune was intended for a water attunement, poorly suited for the more rigid tendencies of force. He knew that if he connected it correctly, however, it would be a perfect addition to his pattern. Flowing force was just too versatile of a concept to give up on, and with this proof of concept, so many other avenues opened up. What other ‘focused’ actions could be converted to other attunements? The possibilities were staggering!

As his focus drifted, the disc began spinning faster and faster, until it flung the pen past his head and into the wall behind him. The near miss startled him out of his ruminations, and he gave the pen a look of chagrin. At least no one was here to see that.

He stood from his desk, feeling his shoulder muscles groan in agony as he straightened out. When did it get so dark in here? Is the orb dying already? He turned toward the focal rune by the door, preparing to refresh the light, when the door burst open. His younger sister blinked into the room, looking first to him and then to the ceiling where the light finally gave out.

“Okay, you can’t seriously be sitting in your room in the dark all day. Didn’t you promise mom you’d try to get outside?” She stepped into the room enough to focus on the focal rune, bringing the light back up to full brightness. Deilin held a hand over his eyes, taking a few moments to reacclimate to an actual lightsource.

“I told her I’d try to get out, Kylie, and I still will. I finally finished my new rune, so I can spend the rest of the day outside. I just got a little distracted.”

She rolled her eyes, stepping around him and towards the shutters. She gave the pen in the wall a pointed look before throwing the shutters open, revealing the golden light of sunset streaming through the windows.

“I feel like this is the right time to mention that mom sent me to get you for dinner. Maybe wash up a bit? Your hands are covered in charcoal.”

He glanced at his hands, a little miffed that he had let another day slip by him and even more so to be lectured by his little sister. He really had intended to get out for a bit, maybe spend some time with Bertral and Flinn, but he had gotten caught up again. At least he had something to show for it this time.

“Did you want to see the new rune in action? It’s actually pretty cool!”

She glanced at the pen in the wall again, a dubious look on her face.

“I think I’ll pass for now. Besides, is it going to help you find a job? You’re getting too old to live here. Everyone says so.”

He flinched at the reminder of his current lack of job prospects. At 20, he really should have had a job already, preferably learning a trade. For a brief shining moment, he had thought he had found one. Jonal had offered him a job crafting runic items, due to his fascination with the form, and he had taken to it straight away. In his first week, he had managed to inscribe a set of doors with the opening runes perfectly. Jonal had been quick with praise, and offered a small bonus with the sale. The success might have gone to his head, as he began to work on a new project that he was sure would revolutionize the craft. He’d make a name for himself in his first month of crafting!

He maintained that the lights should have been able to activate in series, with the focus rune triggering multiple lights around the shop. In a way, it had worked. It had really been quite a small explosion, and the shop was mostly fine afterwards. Jonal hadn’t been willing to see it that way, and word had spread to the other shops in the city. No one would even let him in to shop for inscribed items anymore.

“I’m sure I’ll find something any day now. Didn’t you say dinner was ready? Why are you still in my room?”

She let out a small huff, rolling her eyes as she turned around and stomped out of the room. He gave the room one more look, mentally making a note to spend some time cleaning after dinner, and walked towards the bathroom. His sister had done him one favor, as his mother was likely to go off on a tirade if he showed up to the table covered in charcoal.

He turned on the light in the bathroom with barely a flick of the eye to the wall. From there, he directed his attention to the faucet, first activating the flow focal rune, and then the heat focal rune. I swear, there’ has to be some way to combine those two runes. Then again, it might also just pour out flames. Maybe I shouldn’t mess with it. He ran his hands under the water for a moment, before deciding to wait for the heat to take.

As the water warmed, he took a moment to study his appearance in the mirror. His dark hair could probably use a trim, and probably a good brushing. The paleness of his complexion was counterpointed by the dark circles under his eyes. His beard seemed to finally be coming in, despite his mother calling it “wispy”. He was sure with just a bit more time, the patches would fill in.

He reached up and rubbed at his eyes, hoping to rub the circles out a bit and make himself look more presentable. A few seconds of rubbing quickly revealed his mistake, as the charcoal smeared across his face, leaving a dark mask dripping down his face. Shaking his head, he began scrubbing at his hands and face, trying his best not to drip the black muck onto his shirt. Once he was sure he had managed to get the mess under control, he ran a few handfuls of water through his hair in an attempt to straighten it out.

Feeling much more presentable, he made his way down the hall towards the dining room, a spring in his step. As he drew close to the dining room, the smell of dinner began to permeate the air, finally drawing his attention to his rumbling stomach. He stepped in, smiling as he watched his father take a pan off the stove to hand to his sister. His mother glanced up at him from setting the table, practically radiating disapproval.

“Please tell me you didn’t get charcoal all over that shirt. It takes me ages to scrub it out, and the last time I had you do it, you almost destroyed my wash bin.”

He glanced down as he pulled out his collar, noticing the few drops that he had missed in his hasty inspection.

“I can get them out, they’re watered down so it shouldn’t be too bad. And the wash bin wasn’t my fault. I had just been analyzing the flow rune on the tub when I got the idea for my fractal. I managed to repair the changes, and the tub scrubs better now!”

He stepped into the kitchen to grab the plates, taking the chance to glance in the pan. It looked like some kind of poultry in a red glaze sauce, with pan-fried vegetables and small whole peppers. His father loved to experiment with cooking, and his restaurant was pretty popular in certain circles. The family tended to be the test bed for anything that struck his fancy, with mixed results. If the smell was anything to go by, though, tonight was a hit. He tried to sneak a quick bite, but his sister managed to quickly angle the pan away.

“Speaking of the flow rune, I finally managed to integrate it into my fractal! I told you it would work!” He practically danced around the table as he set each plate down, excited to share his discovery with the family.

“That’s wonderful Deil,” his father said, beaming at him from behind the counter. “I’m glad it worked for you. I’m not sure I would have been willing to risk it. One bad rune, as they say.”

He rolled his eyes, but smiled at the praise. He knew it was going to work, and the chance of ruining his fractal was so small. Definitely worth the risk.

“Yes, we’re both very happy for you dear,” his mother chimed in, a small smile on her face, “and very proud. Have you put any thought into what you’re going to do with it?”

“Do with it?” He was taken a bit off guard, but began mentally organizing a presentation in his mind of all the applications.

“Yes, do with it. I’m not sure what profession you might use a force flow rune for, but I’m guessing you have big plans for it? I knew you’d put the whole Jonal incident behind you. Everyone makes mistakes when they’re young, you can’t let it keep you down.”

“Oh, uh, I honestly hadn’t thought about it. I guess it could be used for… moving things?” He shrugged helplessly, feeling a bit dejected at not having gone down this particular mental avenue.

She sighed, settling down into her seat at the table. His father and sister followed shortly after, carrying the bowl of food and basket of rolls out. After they all settled down at their seats and dished out food, his mother turned to address him once more.

“Please promise me you’ll put some thought into it. I’m worried about you. You had a setback, for sure, but you need to see yourself through it. You’re bright and love to learn, you need to turn that towards something practical. A solid fractal is wonderful, and gives you options, but you need to capitalize on those options.”

His father nodded along, taking slow appreciative bites of the meal. “It’s true. These days, between inscribed objects and more specialized fields, there’s less and less need to use your personal fractal. I mean, these days I’m more likely to use the focal rune on my cookware than I am to actually use my fractal. It’s better tuned to keep the temperatures constant, and takes less of my attention to use. If you have a field in mind, it’s great to build towards it, but don’t let your fractal be your only goal.”

Deilan could feel his frustration growing, but knew it was a pointless argument. He could see the merit in what they had to say, but he just couldn’t give up on the idea that he could build something truly amazing inside himself, and a path would emerge from there. He wasn’t opposed to inscriptions, and enjoyed building them, but it just couldn’t match the versatility of working with your own mind. Instead, he shrugged and nodded to their words.

“I promise I’ll go out tomorrow and look for something. Maybe one of the noble houses is recruiting.” That was an idea. Noble houses had access to all sorts of restricted runes. If he could get a position there, he’d be able to take a look at the runes on the grounds. The guards even had access to combat runes, something he was sure he could repurpose towards useful ends.

His mother didn’t seem to notice the direction of his thoughts, despite the pensive look on his face. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. Good structure and pay, good prestige. It’ll be a great opportunity. Just please promise me you won’t try to experiment on any of the nobles’ grounds.”

“I promise,” he said, taking a bite of one of the peppers. The heat caught him off guard, and he had to stuff a roll in his mouth to soothe the burning, effectively ending that line of conversation. His parents turned to his sister from there, and the topic veered off on a tangent about some misadventure she was having with a friend. His mind turned back to the idea of working on a noble estate, and the opportunities it presented.

He was sure he’d be able to keep the promise to his parents. Mostly.