I found this Tomestone in excellent condition and decided to put it to use. I haven’t been keeping a good record of my discoveries since I’ve come to Eorzea, but I’d like for that to change. Especially given the fact that the world itself seems to be bustling with uneasy activity as of late.

‘Tis been a little over a year now since I performed the risky procedure that was meant to reverse the damage done to my life aether. I somehow survived this – thanks to the unexpected support of Scylla and Ben – and since then, I’ve concentrated on rebuilding my stores of natural, unaltered, clean aether.

The outcome has been better than I could have hoped for, though it took many months before I had the strength to even consider using aether for something like casting magics. Still, my aether pool is nowhere near what it was during my previous lifetime, what with all the enhancements and injections I was subjected to. I suppose ’tis rather caddish of me to allow myself to think that way, but old habits die hard and such.

Once I’d proven that my aether was strong enough to support magical activity, Ben gifted me with a practice rapier and put me on the path to learning Red Magic. You’d think an art with the words “Red” and “Magic” would be something I’d take to easily, but ’tis been anything but easy for me.

Scylla also took up studying Red Magic at about the same time – I do not think that was by chance, either. Had I known she’d be involved in my lessons, mayhaps I would have thunk twice about moving forward with it. She was ever the Archemage, and has exceeded in picking up new magical skills quickly whereas I… admit… have struggled.

I also admit that I am not used to finding difficulty in chosen subject matters. Or rather, if I do find something challenging, I make quick work of figuring it out. Not so with this.

I don’t know if ’tis the state of my aether or the fact I really never had much in the way of formal magical training – I made much of my own spells up as I went along. While I understand the concept of channeling aether into a focus to strengthen and multiply the effect, finding the proper balance between the light and the dark aspected aether has been tripping me up. Not to mention learning how to work with a melee weapon – as light as the blade is – has been something very new to me.

‘Twould be one thing to struggle with this on my own. But quite another to have Scylla showing me up! Again, I find this hard to believe ’twas merely chance. I’m almost positive she’s done this to prove her superiority over my skills. ‘Tis something I cannot allow, and so I spend much time and effort practicing. Though I feel as if I make very little progress for my time.

Ah, well. At least I have one positive thing to write about – my retainer brought me something strange and unusual. ‘Twas called at Siphon Coffee Brewer. I find the make and design quite fascinating. ‘Tisn’t something that you normally see around Eorzea, which has me puzzled.

While I prefer tea and rarely try coffee, I did set it up in my shop. ‘Twill be something new to experiment with. Mayhaps I can learn to brew something to my liking and then move to offering new beverages in my shop eventually. Or, mayhaps, I can alter it to assist with tea making instead.

I shall have to explore to understand it better. Until then!

-A