"For my whole life I had nothing. I was nothing. Tell someone enough times they won't amount to anything, and they'll believe it, too. That's what I believed... and it was true. For a time. Then I was rescued from my miserable existence." - Syntera Valen Rey

Though she was nearly 16, Syntera didn't look it. Since she had stopped breast-feeding following infancy, she had been underfed. Though she was taller than over half her peers, she was practically skin and bones. Her parents had lacked the money to adequately pay for food and other essentials. They were also incredibly selfish.

She would often receive the worst tasting and least amount of food. They always said that she was "Young and would get over it when she got older." They frequently pointed out that she didn't earn money for the family, and her response was the same for a long time; she was a child and was supposed to be looked after by them.

Eventually, Syntera gave up arguing with them completely. Not only were they cruel, dumb, and disgusting, they were insufferable. The way they talked to each other, to her, or to themselves, was irritating and lacking any self-awareness. Both were illiterate, and neither had any meaningful qualities that would allow them to hold a job for long when they actually found one.

This left her to fend for herself. She had to discreetly take what no one would miss; old fruit, bread, and garbage that Syntera learned through pure experimentation what would make her sick and what she could keep down. There were many occasions where she thought she would die, and eventually that stopped worrying her at all.

From a young age, she was on the streets stealing what she could to prevent her own starvation. She was caught, many times, and dragged home in an attempt for the shopkeepers to reclaim money for what was stolen. Her parents would berate her and the shopkeepers, never paying on her behalf. She never took much, so the authorities were not summoned for any of it. At first, she thought her parents understood this, but she eventually realized they just didn't care if Syntera got into actual trouble or not.

Then one day he came. She had been lying in her room, reading a book she had lifted earlier that day. She would often take one and read it quickly, then return it to whomever she had stolen it from. She thought of it more as "borrowing for a short period," much like the library that the nobles used.

It was the enthusiastic tone of her father's voice that queued her in to what was happening. He would occasionally get that way about deals or bets that he made when he thought they would pan out. They rarely did.

Then her mother also sounded excited. They fought often and were almost never enthusiastic about the same thing. Syntera assumed something was wrong, but listened carefully as the events unfolded.

She snuck out to the main room to observe what was happening. She saw it all. Her parents on the couch, listening to the strange man they had let into their home. He was clearly lying to them, but they ate it up like the candy she never had, because they would eat it before even telling her when they got some.

The man seemed to grow tired of the conversation, putting both her parents to sleep with the flick of the wrist.

Syntera knew what was coming. There was a presence in the room, a weight on the air. It emanated from the man. Power beyond which she had ever heard of was aching to free itself from the confines of whatever disguise he bore.

She was eager for their end. So much so that she would have been happy to die along with them, so long as she saw them perish first. Their cruelty and selfishness were beyond redemption, and it had consumed her own life.

The man finally noticed her. Though she didn't look at him, she knew he could not look away from her. She knew the man would kill her, too. He didn't seem like the type to leave witnesses.

They spoke, briefly. She said what was on her mind and nothing else. Apparently it had intrigued the man so much that he did something he later told her he would never do.

He took her on as his apprentice.

-

Arch Mage Arinelle was his name, or at least the one he told her. He spoke often, though usually to himself. He was proper, sophisticated, and intelligent. Despite all that, or maybe because of all that, he seemed like the type that didn't have any friends.

He was also a hard ass.

“No, that is not correct, Syntera. You have to flourish, like this.” The mage demonstrated what he considered proper use of a rapier. “Do it again. Then keep doing it until you can not get it wrong.”

Her lips pursed, but she said nothing. She attempted the maneuver again.

Arinelle sighed, then looked down. “Keep working. I have something to do. I expect progress by the time I return.”

“Where are you going?”

“To admonish those that have failed me.”

Syntera squinted as she tried to read the man. She was learning to understand his mannerisms better in the few days since he had taken her in. He looked upset, but about what, she had no idea.

He turned, walking off down the hill.

She could see the slightest shimmer of his clothing with each step he took. It was the same she had seen even when he wore a different outfit, like the night they met. It perplexed her, because cloth didn’t shine like that.

Another disguise. That’s the only thing that made sense. He had revealed his initial appearance to her the first evening, but he must have switched to another one. He was keeping a lot from her, and understandably so; she was a nobody he happened to take some interest in. She had secrets of her own, or at least she hoped she could still keep. Sometimes when they spoke, she felt that he was looking straight into her mind. Syntera couldn't shake the feeling that if he had wanted, Arinelle could easily have read her thoughts. He could have been doing it the whole time. Perhaps that was the odd sense of foreboding she got when he looked at her.

Syntera practiced the swordplay for hours, wondering if a better term might be "rapierplay." They were very different weapons. She lacked the strength to swing the sword with any vigor, but could manipulate the light rapier with ease. Arinelle said that precision and finesse would be her real strengths, and with practice she could even take on the King's Knight.

That idea seemed like pandering, but Arinelle didn't seem the type to do so. Maybe he was just arrogant about his abilities as a teacher. From what he said, he hadn't ever had a student.

All those thoughts brought up one she had frequently considered the last few days. How old was he? He seemed to possess generations of information on a variety of topics. Everything they discussed - history, war, trade, nobility... even cooking! The man was an expert on all those subjects, just to name a few.

Then again, maybe it was just that her education was so lacking that he appeared to be an expert in everything... No. Her instinct told her that he knew things because he had lived through them. She was beginning to trust those instincts more, despite what Arinelle had warned her. What was it he said?

She stood up straight, held a finger up, and spoke with as pompous a voice as she could muster, "Instincts can be an incredible boon, Syntera, but you can't rely on them all the time. Eventually, you will be wrong, and that will come at the worst possible time!"

"I said 'can not.' Contractions annoy me."

Syntera twirled around, embarrassed at being caught imitating him so rudely. How did he get there? She had just looked down the hill and saw no one...

"And I stand by that. One day, they will save your life, but the next? Best to rely on knowledge combined with your instincts." His hands were behind his back, in observation of her. "How has your practice come along?"

"Well, I think." She demonstrated a proper flourish.

"Good. Now do it a hundred times in a row. If you make a mistake, reset the count." He waved one of his hands, conjuring a chair, which he sat in to watch.

Over and over, she performed the maneuver. Arinelle didn't say anything. He didn't have to. She knew what it looked and felt like now enough to know when she made a mistake.

Though Syntera was getting better, it was exhausting and painful. Blisters were forming on her dominant hand and she was certain they would start to bleed soon. She was getting frustrated with herself because she wasn't passing the halfway mark before she would make a mistake. "GAH! I can't do it! At least not 100 times in a row!"

The mage was now sitting with his legs crossed sipping tea, which he must have summoned while she was practicing. "You can. Your body knows the movement now, I can see it. Stop thinking about doing it and just do it."

She got up to 49 in a row, then slipped up as she took a bad step. "GAH! Again!" In anger she slashed the air, pouring her frustration into the thin blade. A vibration flowed out from her body to the tip of the rapier. Like rolling thunder in the distance, she heard a soft rumble as whatever energy she accidently added to the blade coalesced in the air. "What was that?"

The mage raised an eyebrow, then stood up as he dismissed the tea cup with a casual wave of his hand. "Curious. I was hoping to teach you the nature of studying magic, but you appear to possess an innate ability to weave it on your own accord."

"What does that mean?"

"You will still study magic, of course. Knowledge is power, after all. I think your proficiency in it, however, will be different than mine. You may require less study on specific spells, though I am afraid the amount you are able to learn will be limited. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as you may be able to utilize magic you cannot perform in other ways, and you may yet have an ability to... amplify the few you do know."

"I'm still lost."

"Let me rephrase that, then. Though you may never have my ability to cast hundreds of different spells, you likely possess a talent to augment the spells you do know. For example, I know how to cast a common Fireball..." He demonstrated with a blast high in the air. "But you, my dear, may be able to truly understand the spell, down to its simplest form. This could allow you to manipulate its nature in ways that I cannot."

"Is that better?"

"It has its advantages and disadvantages. What you lack in versatility, you will make up for in potency and application."

"Cool."

"Now, back to the maneuver."

She muttered under her breath, "Hard ass."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing."

-

For a week the mage worked her to exhaustion each day. They began with martial skills, some of which Syntera was familiar due to her time scouring the streets. Those lessons passed by quickly, at least compared to the initial rapier class she went through.

After a couple days of weapon skills and maneuvers, they proceeded to spells. He also gave her books to read on all different kinds of spellcasting methods.

He demonstrated many spells to her during these lessons, having her observe and make note of anything that she showed interest in.

Syntera was intrigued by many, particularly illusion magic. She often recognized those spells for what they were, even without being told beforehand. Within a few days, she was even able to cast some of the simple ones.

The mage emphasized diversity in her abilities, so she had to work at some of the magic she was learning a lot harder. Devoting all her time to studies felt wrong, in a way. She had spent so much of her life trying to stay alive, it seemed like it would all slip away at any moment. Or perhaps this was just a dream, and she was not wanting to wake up to her parents yelling.

In the evening, Arinelle handed her book after book to read, expecting her to be able to recall the information later. They started with history and magic, which the man impressed the importance of on her constantly.

"Everything in this world revolves around magic. Even what you can see above us," he gestured to the night sky, where the planet and three other moons filled large portions of the view. "For example, the planet. What do you notice about it, compared to its moons?"

Much of what he asked her to think on were things she never considered, but rather just accepted as the way of life and circumstance. This was no exception. "Well it's in the center..."

"Yes, that is true. The detail I am thinking of is just as obvious, though no less important."

She looked from the planet to the moons, one at a time. "It's smaller than moons."

"Essentially correct. There is one moon, Teracliss, which is not out right now, that is smaller than the planet. How could this be? And why is that important?"

Syntera stared at him, perplexed. "I don't know. I never thought it was important."

"Very well. It is important because that does not make sense. Objects that are larger should be at the center. Mass, young one. The planet and its moons, to include our own, do not fit or follow what is natural."

"But it's always been that way, right?"

"So far as history goes back, yes. That does not make it right."

"How do you know what is right?"

"Observation. Come." He led her to his lighthouse, which she had yet to have entered. "There are those that study the stars in the sky. I suppose you can say it is a hobby of mine. There was a time when I spent endless nights in sequence looking up, observing. I had a tool developed for such interests." He opened the door and gestured for her to follow.

They walked up a long winding staircase to the top, bypassing the small rooms in the center of the large structure. At the top was a small platform, no larger than four paces or so in diameter. There was a small railing that went around the whole thing, so one did not accidently fall. Sitting up against part of it was a tripod with a large spyglass mounted upon its top.

"This is a telescope. Expensive and very rare. I had one created for my personal use." He stepped up to it and began adjusting various nobs as he twirled it to what he wanted to see. After a few minutes, he waved her over. "Come, look in here."

Syntera approached the strange tool and did as requested. She could see what looked like a large planet with dozens of small rocks and moons surrounding it.

"You see, every other planet nearby resembles this pattern. A large central body with smaller ones orbiting. Only our planet and its moons, including us, behave differently. There are limits to our vision with this contraption, so there is only one local star that we can use as reference. That star also follows the same rules. It has planets orbiting it, as well, but if there are moons orbiting those, they are too small to see."

The young woman took all the information in, wondering the implications of it.

"So back to my questions. How can this be and why is it important?"

She had no idea. This was the first time she had pondered practically everything they had just gone over. She had never even used a spyglass, let alone this monstrosity. "I don't know."

"Let us return to a topic from earlier, then. You lack knowledge because you lack experience. None of this is your fault, but as your mentor, I will help fill in those gaps over time. You will help fill in those gaps through study, thought, and questioning what you do not understand. For now, however, try relying on what you do have. Instincts. What do they tell you?"

The mage said these things were unnatural. When she didn't understand something, she always attributed it to the same thing. "Magic."

"Indeed. Now, why is this important?"

Now that she knew the reason for the oddity, she had to know one more thing. "How did it happen?"

"Very good. What could possibly have caused such a magnificent change to the natural law? Did someone do it? Was it a god or multiple gods?"

"I don't think I could begin to even guess at any of that. What's the answer?"

"I do not know. I only started asking these questions myself relatively recently, but I fear I will not find the answer."

"Then what was the point in telling me all of this?"

"Knowledge. Just because you cannot explain something, does not mean it is not valuable nonetheless. How many people do you think have asked the questions we have asked each other this evening?"

"I don't know. Thousands?"

"I can tell you I do not know of any. Should there be, I would surely like to meet them." He looked up to the sky again, lost in thought. A slight smile escaped his ever present professional appearance.

It lasted only a moment before he reached in his pocket for the small stone that he received messages in. A light, hesitant voice was just audible enough coming from it for Syntera to hear. “Sir, we got a report from Mith-Fell that something went wrong tonight.”

Arinelle sighed, then responded. “Very well. I am on my way. I expect a full report upon my arrival.”

The young woman crossed her arms, “I take it that I’m to go study and wait for you to return?”

“No. This time you come with me.”

She nodded, inwardly excited to see what he dealt with in his mission. She had yet to meet anyone he associated with. Syntera wondered if they even knew she existed.

-

A half hour later they entered a small trinkets shop that was unlit, yet unlocked. For this time of night, it was highly unusual that a door would be unsecured.

Arinelle walked to the rear of the shop with her close behind. There was a dim glow from under a door in the back of the room. She could hear voices talking in hushed tones, though she couldn’t tell what they were talking about.

As the mage opened the door, the people behind it stopped speaking. Syntera crossed the threshold immediately after her mentor. There were four people waiting and the tension in the air was palpable. All four stared at her, as she was clearly there at the request of their employer. The mood eased due to her presence, but not much.

Arinelle spoke as if nothing was out of the ordinary. “This is my apprentice. Anything you wish to tell me, she can hear. Now… What is the problem?”

The only female in the room spoke up and Syntera recognized it as the same voice from the stone. “Well, sir, the plan you set in motion for this evening was largely a success. However, one of the teams failed. Apparently there was some intervention. Another team was ambushed by a horse, but they succeeded despite the intrusion.”

“A horse intervened?”

“Yessir. We think it may be the same man, the one that was kicked out of the city a few days ago. He looked different, but was wielding a similar sword to the one described previously. Most of the magic the individual used matched up with prior reports, as well.”

“So was it a horse or this man?”

“Both, but with different teams.”

“And which council member survived?”

The woman gulped. She was clearly nervous and reluctant to answer. “Neylene Silverwind, sir.”

“I see. Was the evidence discreetly left as instructed?”

“Yessir, that part of the plan went exactly as you said.”

“Good. This is unfortunate, but should not change anything. Keep a close eye on what she does with the information. If it seems like she will not behave as predicted, inform me immediately.”

“Of course, sir. We will let you know right away.”

Syntera continued to observe the people present. The four employees were extremely nervous, but all seemed to relax following Arinelle’s last statement. As for the mage, he looked more amused than upset. She found this intriguing, because most of what they had to share sounded like bad news.

Arinelle turned to her, then waved a hand suggesting she lead the way out. The apprentice did as suggested, walking out of the building without saying a word. She knew he would tell her what he wanted her to know when he was ready, likely away from lingering ears.

They walked in silence back to the lighthouse. Syntera looked up at the night sky in wonder. Why had she never thought of the things they talked about before? Now that she knew a little about magic and heavenly bodies, it seemed like something that would be obvious.

Perhaps that's the way things were. Humanoids being oblivious to things that are right in front of them until someone stumbles upon a little piece of information that makes them wonder. If Syntera learned one thing in the last week or so, it was that she should be questioning things. Constantly.

They reached the lighthouse as she was deep in thought.

“There is a chance we may need to go to Mith-Fell soon. What you heard tonight is taking place in that city, and is imperative to my grand plan.”

Syntera nodded. “Sounds like I should be reading more about foreign affairs tonight.”

“Yes, I think it best you retire to read and rest up. You may be needing to utilize your talents earlier than either of us thought.”

She nodded again. “Good evening, Master Arinelle.”

“Good evening.”

She knew she wasn’t ready. But she would have to leap into things to learn sometimes, right?

-

Level 3!

Sorcerer Level 1

Spellcasting (Booming Blade, Minor Illusion, Prestidgitation)

Sorcerous Origin - Shadow Magic

Eyes of the Dark

Strength of the Grave