Rai stretched and yawned. He wiped away a stray tear.

Sin tackled him to the ground.

“Oof.” Rai let out.

Sin giggled as she held him, “You made it! I’m so happy.” She squeezed Rai tight.

Rai returned the embrace, “I’ll always come back. Sorry for worrying you.”

Sin shook her head, “You’re strong, just like I am. We should have faith in each other.”

Rai smiled at her.

Sin let Rai stand back up as Kallad walked over to him. Rai stood up as Kallad pat his shoulder, “You solved your problem, didn’t you? Well done.”

Rai nodded and smirked, “Watch.” Sin took a few steps back.

Kallad watched as lightning flew off of Rai, and his eyes inverted in colour. At the same time, runes lined along the bottom of his eyes, and his cheekbones, glowed brightly.

Rai’s voice sounded electric, “Try hit me with a spell point-blank.”

Kallad laughed, “You better not get hit by this.”

He called forth a spear of ice in the air beside his shoulder.

Before Kallad could even fire it off towards Rai, Rai looked at it.

The spear quickly melted into water that dissipated into steam.

Kallad stared at where the spear once was, “Antithesis...” His eyes were wide, “It’s all encompassing, and it reverses a spell’s natural formation rather than destroying it outright.”

Rai thought about it for a moment. “I think I can still destroy a spell outright with it, try again.”

Kallad summoned the ice spear again.

Rai looked at it.

This time, the spear evaporated into nothingness, without being reversed.

Kallad turned to Rai with wide eyes and a concerned face, “Does that... not drain any mana? How much can you do it?”

Rai released his spells. He thoughtfully placed a finger on his cheek as his eyebrows furrowed, “I’m not exactly sure of the spell’s full limits, but I know that I can at least cast the spell without using mana now.”

Kallad rubbed his head and closed his eyes in a somewhat irritated way, “That’s... pretty powerful. I suppose that’s why forbidden techniques are so... well... forbidden.” He looked just a tad bit envious.

Rai giggled, “I don’t think they’re bad though. It seems like they were outlawed because they’re dangerous to those in power.”

Kallad smiled, “... You’re getting it. Keep thinking about the world like that, because that’s exactly how it is.”

Sin pulled Rai’s arm, “C’mon. We should get some rest now before school tomorrow.”

Rai turned to her, “What even is tomorrow’s schedule like? We have a few days left until the technique tier evaluation.”

Sin frowned at him, “Check your schedule yourself doofus.”

Rai rolled his eyes and called forth his schedule from his seals with a flash of lightning.

Before he could check his schedule, he remembered that Kallad knew.

“Kallad.”

Kallad smiled at Rai, “Don’t worry. I’m in your corner all the way. You have nothing to worry about.”

Rai smiled back at him, “Thank you.”

Sin never understood what these two were talking about, and at this point she couldn’t really care any less about it.

Rai read what he had left to do this week in his schedule.

⌜

Trisdies: Mentor session/test in the morning. Free study in the afternoon (can use all available resources to further personal goals)

Quattordies: Magical technique training in the morning. Body strengthening/mobility training in the afternoon.

Quinquies: Assessment day (booking timings may vary).

⌟

Rai stared at the schedule. He sighed, “I have to see Rodrick again.”

Sin giggled, “So do I. We’re both his mentees.”

Rai frowned at her, “I feel like I’ve seen enough of him for a lifetime.”

Sin frowned back, “I... agree. I don’t feel like he’s actually done much for us as a mentor.”

Kallad laughed.

Rai and Sin stared at him funny.

Kallad digressed, “That mentorship is what you make of it. He’s not supposed to give you anything, but you’re supposed to ask for his help if you need it. Though, I don’t know why you’d do that when you have me.”

Sin scowled at her father, “When are you readily available to us?”

Kallad raised his finger and opened his mouth. Then he lowered his finger as he shut his mouth. “I had a point, but it wasn’t quite strong enough to counter your point. I concede, the Deceiver has been just a little busy.”

Rai raised an eyebrow at him, “A little? We hardly see you.”

Kallad shrugged, “Saving the world and all that good jazz doesn’t leave you much time to yourself.”

Rai smiled at him, “Great. Can we leave now?” Rai and Sin began to leave.

Kallad shook his head, “Wait. One more thing.”

Rai turned, “What’s up?”

Kallad stared into his eyes, “What did the Phoenix show you?”

Rai scratched his head, “You’re asking about the trials?”

Kallad nodded, “The first visions are sensitive, and related only to you and your past, present, or future. The trials themselves can often be a window into alternate realms, completely fabricated dimensions, or related to you in some way. What did you see?”

Rai let out a long breath. He walked back towards Kallad and sat down, “You’ll want to sit down for this.”

Kallad stared at the boy, and did as he was told.

Sin did the same and sat beside Rai.

They listened as Rai told them about everything. Without sparing a detail.

Kallad fell backwards and laid down on the ground. He simply laid there for a minute.

Sin stared at Rai in awe. He... went through all of that? And met his ancestor... and he’s a true dragon at that. What kind of power does this Phoenix have?

Rai noticed Sin staring, “Any questions?” He spoke as he looked at her.

Sin shook her head, “I’m just... amazed.”

Rai nodded in agreement, “I thought so too. The Phoenix is strange, and definitely doesn’t follow the same logic that we do. Since my problem was supposedly simple to solve, the trials reflected that. And the third trial seems to have been unlocked by my solving of the first two trials.”

Kallad sat back up, “Sounds about right. The way that the Phoenix works is different for each person. That information came from the few documented uses of the Phoenix’s Eye ability in our family’s history. What I’m far more curious about now is... the differences between a divine race and a bloodline trait.”

Rai frowned, “I didn’t fully understand it the first time I heard it either. According to my ancestor, Vitria, your family and my family have unique bloodlines and our forms aren’t related to the Aspect titles.”

Sin smiled, “Then that means my Mimic is based on my blood... it isn’t a power that I’ve borrowed from someone else, but something that’s a part of my body.” Her smile was relieving. It was almost like this had been weighing on her. “I don’t want my power to be something that someone else has given to me...”

Kallad held a thoughtful expression on his face for a little while. Then, it changed. He growled, “That means that the information afforded to us Aspects has been tampered with over time. Someone’s been trying to keep us in the dark.”

Rai shook his head, “I have no idea about any of that, but I’m glad to hear that I’m actually a dragon... well, in some form at least. It explains a lot of what I’ve been feeling lately.”

Kallad laughed, “If you ever turn into a dragon in the penthouse and destroy it all, then I won’t be very happy Rai!” He laughed and smiled at Rai, but Rai felt like Kallad was being very facetious. It was clear that Kallad genuinely wouldn’t be happy if Rai did that.

Rai audibly gulped.

Sin flicked a bolt of air at her father’s head, “Stop teasing him.” She turned to Rai and gently hugged him. “I know how much it hurt you, not having a divine form. Knowing this now must be a huge relief. I’m really happy for you.”

Rai returned the embrace, “You’re right... it’s relieving and also somewhat worrying. I have no idea what this form might be, or when it will awaken. But still... thank you.”

Rai and Sin hugged each other tight.

Kallad giggled like a little girl, “You two are the cutest things in the entirety of Zenith.” He ignored their death-stares, “Now then, if that’s all that you saw and heard... I believe I have a lot of research to do.” Kallad stood up.

Rai and Sin let go of each other and stood up as well.

Sin looked genuinely sad, “When will we see you next?”

Kallad grinned at his daughter, “Sooner than you expect!”

She hugged him, and he returned her hug. Soon after saying goodbye to the two of them, Kallad left through the lift.

Rai sighed, “Fuck, I’m tired.”

Sin smiled at him, “Then we should go back upstairs and sleep. Tomorrow won’t be that long, but we should still be rested for it.”

Rai surprised her with a quick kiss.

Sin’s eyes were wide, and she blushed. “Wh-what was that f-for?”

Rai smiled softly at her, “Because I wanted to.”

Sin nodded profusely, “D-d-do that more often.”

Rai chuckled.

The two of them waited for the lift to come back after pressing the button. After the ding, they went back up to the penthouse.

Given how exhausted they were, Rai and Sin both agreed to just see each other in the morning and go to sleep now.

But there was something lingering on Rai’s mind. Something that he’d forgotten.

Rai laid in bed for minutes before it hit him.

The book!

Vitria told me to read the book!

Rai sat up quickly. He reached into his seals and summoned the second book onto the bed in front of him.

Just as he remembered, the book had no author. Somehow, Vitria’s friend wrote this. Living, Breathing Mana.

The book was simple. There were no extravagant designs, nor any precious or rare metals inlaid in its cover. It was just a well-preserved book with the title etched into its leather cover.

Rai opened the book. There were only a few pages, so Rai read through all of it.

⌜

Mana

The lifeforce of the universe. One might assume mana to be nought but a resource... but it has always been something far greater than our mortal minds might comprehend.

Take a spell, and imagine its attributes. Does your internal mana shift to garner said attributes depending on your will? Or are you simply requesting the mana to bend to your wishes?

It is not so easy to make such an assumption. Many of the common understandings of mana often point to the opposite of the notion that mana has a will of its own.

Us, the travellers, are seldom versed in the practice of mystical arts. Few of us truly grasp the nature of magic, and of how the fabrics of reality bend to accommodate the universe’s lifeblood. Might one truly be able to grasp mana and its counterparts, then one would surely have found a way to Transcend.

The most proof I can offer is the behaviour of different types of mana. Some mana calls others inward, while other mana invades reality in chaotic form. I am sure that there is more to this, but my personal limitations make it impossible to explore the possibilities.

For this weakness, I shall always curse the Transcendents. Their knowledge and understanding of the underlying foundations of power would be beneficial to the entire mortal race, yet they choose to hide it.

Why, Vitria. Why do they hide it? As a former Transcendent, why did you hide your knowledge from others...

I regret my inability to offer more than this to the future.

Please, try to understand that there is more to mana than meets the eye.

I wish the readers of this journal the best of fortune in their endeavours. Might you have more success mastering the arcane than I.

⌟

It’s... a journal. Vitria’s friend’s journal.

A tear leaked from Rai’s eye.

He wiped it away.

Rai stored the journal in his seals. This was a precious part of history.

Beyond that, it helped Rai understand a little bit about why Antithesis tangled up his lightning attributed mana. Thinking about Antithesis’s characteristics... there weren’t any. The manifestation of an empty attributed mote of mana meant that it was always missing something. What would make more sense to pull from Rai’s system to fill its void? The strongest attributed mana he could call upon. Lightning.

It was simple diffusion. A biological concept that he learned about from his aunt when he was young. Rai understood a little better now.

One of the other things that the journal mentioned was Transcendents. I’m hearing this term more and more, and there’s still nothing telling me what it actually means. Confusion was something that Rai almost always felt, but when it came to understanding Transcendence... he was completely clueless.

Vitria’s friend didn’t really like Transcendents that much... did they really have that much control over reality, just by being transcendent? I’m so curious about what that could mean.

Rai mulled over the words a few more times when something else caught his eye that he didn’t properly notice the first time.

Mana and... its counterparts?

There are counterparts to mana? Since when?! I doubt it means different attributed mana, since it explicitly mentions those as their own entities. What could a counterpart of mana be?

Rai was stumped.

He racked his brain over what the possibilities were, but nothing from his own experiences and knowledge helped him understand any better.

For now... I shouldn’t think too much about it. If I can’t understand it with the knowledge I currently have, then I’ll do what I can to learn more. For starters, I’ll check the Academy library tomorrow during my free period, and see what the books on mana mention there.

With a plan in mind for the following day, Rai laid back down in bed and allowed his mind to drift.

Soon after, he fell asleep.

The next day awaited, and Rai and Sin silently slept.

For once, they wished for a simple, calm day at school.

They desperately wished.