Aether's Retention

 The chatter of people filled Arise's ears as they walked on the cobbled roads of the kingdom. Gwyn was walking with him, explaining the basics of how to live in the Soren kingdom. The Rosea duchy was busy as ever, commoners peddling their crops and mages presenting their items in their respective stalls, fresh from their endeavor with the exploration corp. Arise's eyes narrowed as the scrutinized the shiny crystals and scrolls laid upon the hemp fabric. Every time Arise looked at it, he felt the prickly sensation on his skin. It seems like that prickly sensation is magic, ugh it was annoying. But, the amount of magic related items are imaginable. 

There were scrolls and metal rings. Metal rings? What are they for?

Arise was distracted as Gwyn rambled in the backdrop.

Then he came to his senses, he listened to Gwyn relaying the basic necessities in the kingdom

"So, first and foremost, like what I said back in the tavern. You need magic, a person without any will be considered as abandoned and will be discriminated. That'll make your life harder." 

Arise briefly glanced at her, then asked. "How should I know, I have magic?"

The woman smiled warmly, "You have it, I mean, your aura would not leak like that?"

"My aura?" Arise pivoted to his surroundings. "What do you mean by that?"

Gwyn pointed up. Arise looked up in the skies, but he saw nothing but clouds. He tilted his head as he looked at Gwyn oddly. "I see nothing."

Gwyn laughed, she found it amusing that he knew nothing of basic magic. "It's because you're not using [Aetheric Perception.]" Her glinted purple, shifting to her amber eyes. 

Aetheric perception was a basic type spell that allowed its user to sense and see the aether. This spell was mainly useful for surveillance and combat because of its versatility. Without this spell, many mage would not see many phenomenons that are not visible to the naked eye.

"Don't worry about it though, your aura is not visible until you're seven steps away. Gwyn gave him a pat in the pack.

Then she continued her explanation. "I have three rules to live by when living here. First is the magic requirement. Second, have a stable job that pays you well. Taxes are... Hmm, let's just say, exorbitant here." She lowered her voice. She added, "The duke's men and sometimes his son, like you saw back in the gate, will collect the tax every first day of the month. Failing to pay this taxes could endanger your life. But that's not a big deal if you pay it."

"Third, do not question the noble's authority. Don't ask why, just obey."

The second rule seems oddly reassuring, considering this kingdom is similar to feudal system of the british isle. I guess the noble has the second-most power in the kingdom.

Arise nodded, which made Gwyn's muscle to relax. He saw various houses in this district, it was different than the district they entered with. He saw a sign, it said 'Calica district'

Gwyn mentioned that, the Rosea duchy is divided to twelve district, each named after their marquises. In the Calica district, it was under the governance of Marquiss Edward Calica. The houses are vastly different, unlike the german styled housing in the gate entrance of Dewey-Bukater District; the Calica district houses were built on the natural steep cliffs that followed along the road of the district. The houses were fancy in the cliff and the houses below on the other sides of the roads were moderate, but it could not compare to the noble district of Calica.

A woman with purple hair and pointed hat walked pass, as other similar looking mages as well. He saw more establishments selling the metal ring he initially saw, so he could not help but ask. "Gwyn, what are lodestone rings?"

"Lodestone ring, hmm you see this?" Gwyn reached her hand to Arise. Her finger had a black metal ring with golden unknown symbols inscribed on it. It seems worn out and tattered, the prickly feeling intensified as faint aetheric energy leaked through the ring. "This is lodestone ring, it's a magic item."

"A magic item?"

"Yes, without lodestone rings, spell casting would be time and energy consuming. It will cause your mind to wear if you cast a spell without the ring. Think of it like a glass, without any water, it serves no purpose, but if you put water, it'll make drinking easier. Lodestone rings expedite the process of spell casting by letting the aetheric energy flow."

Arise's lips contorted as he looked on the ground, his hand on his chin as his mind ran amok. So it was like magic wands? Except it's light and small, and efficient? How interesting, I'd like to meet whoever came up with this.

For a moment, Arise's mind was rampant, he was drowning in his own thoughts. Regarding the jobs I can do, absolute no to heavy physical labour. My body is frail as it is, I can't have it to give up on me. Then, what about being a merchant? His eyes locked on the merchant stalls on the sidewalks. The horse clopped as the chattering of people flew overhead. That could work, what can I do to exploit- no provide these people with products they never heard of?

His hands rubbed together as he thought. Shampoo and soap? That's good, I could probably teach these people proper hygiene? Oh, what about penicillin? I could monopolize the medicine industry with it. Most remedy they used in this time period would be ineffective against antibiotic. But the question is... How does healing magic and potions interact with viral and bacterial diseases, if they even existed?

He concurred with his rationalistic and opportunistic side to see it for himself. He could not risk a simple healing magic sabotaging his plan to make penicillin.

"What are you thinking about?" Gwyn asked.

"Ah, nothing, just exploring my opportunities." Arise said, his hand on his neck.

They walked casually as they saw the spires of the church.

That's massive. He thought

He was blinded by the golden light reflected from the marble spires etched with gold. It was an intricate building that felt out of place in the commoner district of Calica. Then, he saw children lined up in the church accompanied by their parents. 

There was a ceremony held at the church every six months. Gwyn said it was the Rite of Accord. It was a semiannual event that measured and revealed a child's affinity to a specific element. It was a series of tests that let the children participate in using their magic for the first time. Usually, children as old as 4 years old were already taught as magic was an important aspect of the kingdom. 

So hearing that, Arise asked. "So, I'm gonna participate in the rite of accord?"

"Pretty much," Gwyn gave him a toothy grin. They moved at a snail's pace while waiting in line.

"I'm too old for this."

"Don't be foolish, magic is for any age."

"No, I mean this ceremony."

"Ah, don't worry. I have a friend here, we can register you and let you participate right away.

Arise could not be compelled to push back so he accepted it.

A few minutes later, they were at the front door of the church. A clergyman greeted them and smiled as he saw Gwyn. They muttered as Gwyn and the Clergyman laughed. He led both of them inside and told them to wait while the first ceremony was happening.

Inside the church was full of murals, depicting different gods battling each-other. Providing humans with light, fire, the sky and life. This world runs in a polytheistic religion? Then, that contradicts God's claims. Furthermore, that god was depicted with the other gods in this world... This means he's not the sole creator of humans rather an imposter, a proxy god. 

"Do you know the name of those gods?" Arise pointed at the mural. Two gods in a battle, one wore a robe adorned with golden imagery of the sun and moon and eclipse. While the other was covered in yellow colored flames covering a cracked rock like skin as it glowed radiantly. 

"Oh, them? It would be strange if you did not know Prodimia, he's one of the gods worshiped in this region."

"Prodimia?" Arise asked.

"Yeah, the robed one. While the other one is Polaris."

So Prodimia is your name, you have a name? I could feel my body sounding the suspicion alarm.

"Why are they killing each other?"

Gwyn explained, her voice was smooth. "Well, he subdued the disgraced goddess of the sun. According to the texts, Prodimia did not agree with the ways of the goddess, Polaris was disgusted by mankind's sins and wanted to cleanse it. But the god of the southern skies intervened and subdued her. After she was defeated, she retreated to the earth and erected the great Terralumn fire wall eight hundred years ago."

"It was an interesting story, to say the least," She added.

"They battled, do they exist... Like physically?"

"Five hundred years ago, Prodimia often descended from the skies and provided the farmers with water during droughts. But he vanished for an unknown reason, some said he abandoned us, and moved to a different region."A

It piqued Arise's interest, he met a god one time, but he could meet another If he's lucky. There could be a possibility of one disguised amongst mortals and walking like them. It was exhilarating.

Afterwards, Gwyn went silent. She stood up and said: "Stay here Arise... Wait no, actually try to explore, the church is nice."

Arise nodded silently.

The redhead disappeared from the crowd as she went and registered him to the ceremony.

Arise sauntered on the winding walls of the church, it sparkled like diamonds. It was too luxurious, for a church that is. He passed through several nuns and friars. They seem to murmur about the current ceremony happening.

"This year's first batch is quite promising, don't you think?"

"Yes, this kingdom was blessed by the gods, these children are our future. May Judith bless their souls."

Another god, it seems like there are multiple in one continent.

Then he stumbled into a library, but he encountered an invisible wall blocking access. Books were considered more expensive than gold in this world. Unlike on Earth, the printing press did not exist yet; so these books were protected by the church and several nobles. The door frame was lined up by glowing runes, it fizzled as he touched the barrier.

Interesting.

He walked further into the church and saw a tattered wooden door at the end of the hallway. Even several meters away, he could smell the stench of brimstone in the air as the embers tingled on his skin. The door's hinges creaked open, revealing a room full of orange fiery flowers. What is this room? 

This looks like it does not belong to the church, but these flowers look amazing.

Arise entered the room, though he did not see it at first, he saw a figure standing amongst the flowers. It was reminiscing about something, gently caressing the petals of the flowers as it admired them.

"Who are you?" The figure said, it was the voice of a woman. Arise flinched then backed off.

"Ah, sorry, it seems like you found me." Arise laughed nervously.

A flower fell from the figure's hand, she faced Arise and said. "It was not that hard to spot you, from my eyes, you're flaunting your aetheric energy in every conceivable direction." She had a ceramic mask, limiting her presence and power. Then she added, "Even a child can detect such feats of display."

"R-right," He laughed nervously again.

"What brings you here? Did you come here to admire the brimstone rose?" The figure asked, she scooped the ashes from the ground and spread it through the flowerbed.

"Those are called brimstone roses?"

"Yes, and they're quite delicate. These flowers originally came from Hinnom, until the children of Lilith brought them to the surface." The figure said, her voice was like a gentle breeze, then she let her aetheric energy flow through the flowers. She was tending it, carefully. The flowers bloomed as the energy pooled at the flowerbed. "I admire their resilience. Originally, they couldn't exist without heat, but they adapted to high energy areas to survive. This is an example of it, I came here to tend them."

Arise pivoted to the exit, he said. "I see, quite a learning experience for me. Then I shall leave you alone, I feel like I'm bothering you." Footsteps thud as he neared through the door, then the figure called out to him.

"You... You seem odd, what are you?" Her voice was full of doubt and questions. To her eyes, Arise's aura felt different, it was oozing uncontrollably, it was like a broken faucet. 

"Pardon?" Before Arise could answer, Gwyn called out to him.

"There you are, let's go, I registered for you. Let's watch the ceremony until your turn."

"O-okay, wait I jus-" Arise was short, as he looked back, the woman tending the flowers was gone, leaving a trail of embers. What the... Where did she go, what did she mean by that?

"You're looking at brimstone roses? I admit, as beautiful as they are, I hate the smell." Then, Gwyn clasped Arise's hand and dragged him to the main altar. "Let's go, the ceremony's starting."

As they sat near the altar, where the view was better than the rest, they observed the ceremony. "Great seats right? This is what nepotism gives you."

Arise laughed with Gwyn, he found her humor a bit unhinged. Then Gwyn said, "Look carefully, you see that paper?" She pointed at the priest, he had a gray flimsy paper in his hand. 

Arise nodded.

"That's called rite of accord."

"Like the ceremony itself?"

"No, they just share the same name. But this paper allowed everyone to see what their affinity are." 

"How does it work?"

"Look carefully, they need to shed their blood onto the paper, let the aether flow through it. And it'll respond, "said Gwyn.

The priest held the little girl's hand, he pricked her finger as blood started to seep out. The girl let the blood drop the paper, and let her energy flow through it. "What will happen?" Arise asked.

Gwyn hushed Arise and encouraged him to observe. 

The paper's gray body suddenly changed colors, it turned into a deep red hue as it burst into flames. The priest yelped as flames engulfed his hand. Arise looked closer as the commotion unfolds. 

Nuns ran to the priest and blew the fire with a water ball. Another nun, who wore a white robe instead of black reached her hand onto the priest. Healing lights caressed the blisters on the priest's hand, bit by bit the burn continued to recede, until it stopped. The other nuns spread ointment on the burnt hand and wrapped it in cloth. The priest was excused after another priest replaced him.

"What happened?"

The people murmured at the little girl.

Gwyn whispered to Arise, "That's the rite of accord, what the little girl did was quite stronger than I expected. She's a prodigy, I mean did you see the flames the paper produced?"

"Y-yeah."

"It means she scored a perfect ten in the ceremony."

The score of the children depends on the paper's reaction. Usually, the paper would gradually change its properties when applied with blood and energy. Then, the reaction of elements would occur on the paper itself. Based on the rate, on how violent it was or gentle. Their scores were tallied and their future for magic will be secured. 

"So, her score is based on how violent the reaction of the paper? Does that mean she's powerful at that specific magic?" Arise said, his eyes narrowed as he watched the other children test their affinity.

"Correct, and that child's future is secured. I'm sure of it, most of her peers' resources will probably be diverted to her."

He observed more as children lined up to the altar. As expected, the others were not as impressive as the little girl. Even with the color change, some heat up slightly, making the paper soggy or crumble. None had made it violent like the little girl. He noticed that not many children are assigned to air and electricity, Arise assumed it to be rare, but that was not the case of Rosea Duchy.

Then the boy ran his blood onto the paper. The moment his energy touched the paper, though not violent as the girl's. It turned into a deep brown hue, became extremely brittle as it devolved into a slurry. Arise watched in awe as he wondered what was happening. Brown means Earth right? Then it became very brittle but the unusual part is that it became soggy and made the paper into a sludge. But that property is from the water affinity. Can it be? Is dual elements possible?

"Hey Gwyn, is it possible to have two affinity for an element?" Arise asked.

Gwyn replied, "Well, you saw it right? That child's paper changed properties two times."

I knew it.

"For a child, that was impressive. Usually, you can achieve dual elements as an adult. He's probably prized the same as the little girl."

A few moments had passed, it was Arise's turn. Gwyn walked him to the altar. He pricked his finger with a needle, he let the blood drop to the paper then... Wait, he did not know how to channel aetheric energy. His lips squirmed in embarrassment as he gloomily looked at Gwyn.

"... Don't tell me, you don't know how to channel aetheric energy?"

Arise nodded, he diverted his sight away from Gwyn.

"Hey, don't be embarrassed, we're all learning here." Gwyn giggled. "Here, I'll tell you how to do it."

"Imagine wild droplets of water swirling inside you, you can feel them as prickly feeling on your skin. To move them, imagine drawing a path on your body for the water to flow into, you'll feel it as the prickly feeling goes with it."

Arise closed his eyes, listening to Gwyn's advice.

In a dark mind-scape, liquid sloshed chaotically. He drew a path for the liquid to follow, but it continued to slosh around without any care in the world. 

Gwyn noticed aetheric energy seeping to his skin. Arise took a deep breath as he diverted the liquid to the 'irrigation' from his mind.

The liquid flowed accordingly, as the prickly feeling from his skin channeled to his finger tips.

"There, you did it. You're a fast learner."

Arise smiled as he saw the purple energy touching the paper. 

Anticipation hung in the air, Gwyn focused on the paper as the other nuns as well. Arise's heart thumped as he waited for the result of his ceremony.

In a snail's pace, the paper's color did not change but it floated gently. Then it vibrated slightly, it tore itself one by one, excruciatingly slow.

What the hell is happening?

"Uh... I don't know If I should be impressed or not." Gwyn said she was hesitant.

"Is there anything wrong?"

"Well... Good news is that you got Aerology and Fulmonology... Bad news is..." 

Arise's mouth parted as he anticipated Gwyn's announcement. "Your mastery of your elemental is scored.... ZERO!"

"WHAT?!"

Arise kneeled to the ground, his confidence took a nosedive and landed on concrete. Damn... Those children are much better at magic than I am...

Gwyn could see the clouds of gloom around Arise.

"Don't worry, like I said, we're learning here. Besides, even if your paper only floated half pace on your hand and it tore itself slower than I could count- you possessed dual affinity."

"..." He looked at Gwyn.

Light returned to his face, "Yeah, suck those kids I have dual affinity." 

Arise has no plan to back down. However, unbeknownst to him- he scored the lowest in the church's history

Gwyn gestured to Arise to move along. She said: "Also, we still have a test to do, the equilibria test."

"Equilibria?" Arise titled his head.

Gwyn and the other children went to a dark room. It was covered in curtains, only lit by candlelight that pierced the darkness. Inside was a crystal ball, surrounded by magic symbols..

Arise leaned into Gwyn and asked. "Is it the right time to explain Equilibria?"

"Right."

In this world, there are two types of magic: Elemental and Equilibria. 

Elemental is the bare-bones of magic, it corresponds to five base elements: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, and Electricity. It was called primordial magic; it was the first form of magic humanity learned to harness. Unlike Equilibria, that was often called Sapient or Utility magic. This magic relied on the mage's intentions and language, learning and adapting- changing to whatever the mage needed to function. It was the most unique magic out of the two as it can change depending on the wisdom of the user.

After Gwyn explained the difference, the little girl came first to enter the crystal room. The purple energy channeled through her hands to the crystal ball. The crystal ball fizzled, nothing came out, the objects inside the room trembled slightly but nothing significant happened. The little girl scored a three in the equilibria test!

More children came after her with similar results. Which made Gwyn wonder and whisper to Arise. "This generation's elemental magic are amazing, but their equilibria is second to none"

"What's your score here?" Arise asked.

"Hm... Six, it was not that bad."

An awkward silence descended like a fog. They waited patiently as each child was escorted outside the room. The little girl and the boy were asked to stay behind, Gwyn glanced at them and nodded. Everything came without a hitch, it was Arise's turn. 

Arise looked back at Gwyn, she voiced out. "Good luck"

he entered the room as he was summoned. He saw a crystal ball on a pedestal in the middle of the room that glowed faintly. He always looked at occultism and divination with much skepticism when he was alive on Earth. But ironically, he participated in the same thing he did not believe in. He stood in front of the pedestal, he held out his hand and took a deep breath. As quickly aetheric energy seeped into the ball, it reacted. It showed a static like those of an old tv's, switching to different channels at set intervals. Some channels lasted longer than three seconds, while some only for a split second.

A CRT TV, why did you choose a dead technology... ah whatever, this rhythm sounded interesting...

This strange pattern… morse code. He thought.

Listening to the pattern, he tried to decode the series of blinks and static.

A

G

I

F

T...

A gift? What does that mean? Is this related to Prodimia? Is equilibria my gift? No, that seems farfetched, they seems to refer to something else.

Next, another series of beeps emerged.

Arise scrambled to decode it.

D

e

u

s

l

o

v

u

l

t

... Deus Lo Vult

God wills it... That god... He's toying with me

After that, the crystal ball cracked. Everything in the room levitated, twisting themselves like spoons in a psychic show. The entire room was warped by the crystal ball as it cracked even more. Arise felt a shiver down his spine as the wind blew inside the room. What's happening, aghh I can't see, the wind's closing my eyes.

Crack...

The room collapsed on itself. It echoed across the church as the nuns and priest ran to the room. All were destroyed, aside from Arise, who emerged from the rubble unscathed. 

Arise walked up to Gwyn, as if nothing happened to the room. "How well did I do?" Arise asked.

"Let's wait for the evaluation..." Gwyn replied

A scrawny man approached, clad in brown garb, the two of them with a scripture on his hand. He came from the group of overseers that spectates and measures the tests. The man approached Gwyn and said: 

"Uh, Gwyn, your friend here... scored a perfect ten in Equilibria and a solid zero in Elemental"

"Thank you Gardezoir, dashy as always, anything you changed?"

"You noticed? I just tried lifting my face a bit up using my magic, I'm glad it was taking effect... Well I must go now, stay in good health Gwyn, I do hope you come back here at church, maybe for a tea time"

"I appreciate your invitation," she smiled.

Arise was visibly happy. A perfect ten, what more can you get. Take those kids! Who's the boss now? To him he felt like he was a confetti dancing in the air, even if his elemental is dog water, his equilibria is unparalleled. Only three people who've been tested in the church had a perfect score of ten. And he's included there.

In the mansion up in the hill, the old man locked himself behind the mahogany door separating him from the rest of the world. Inside was a mess of paper at every inch of the room, strewn with manic inscription of texts and symbols. He slammed his fist on the desk as he was on wits end, nothing had worked so far, years of research, just to achieve one criteria for ascension, yet he couldn't. He thought all of it was for naught, that he would die before he could achieve his goal, but his luck hasn't run out yet. Then his butler knocked on the door.

"Who are you?"

"It's me, your grace. I have a letter from the bishops of the church from today's ceremony"

The old man's face lit up, he stood up and opened the door. "If such a letter exists then promising talents have risen this year."

"Absolutely guaranteed, your grace."

He grabbed the letter off the butler's hand, "You can go back to your quarters, I allow you to retire for today, pass your duties to the housekeeper.

The door thudded behind him as he retreated to his desk, he took the letter opener in the cabinet and eagerly unsealed the letter. His face printed with excitement. "Dear Duke Thomas of House Rhoeia. Today's ceremony housed quite a few prodigy, One peasant girl had scored perfectly in fire elemental magic and unfortunately only scored one in equilibria. However one did score perfectly on equilibria magic, strangely it was an adult man who had never been tested for affinity before. He seems to be acquainted with the prodigy Gwyn, but his score in elemental was zero, lowest I have ever seen. Exhilarating isn't it? This will benefit the betterment of our kingdom. Signing off- Bishop Machgonal."

'Gwyn, did he mean that girl Gwynvelow, Lady of embers? If it does, it means she saw innate talent hidden within this boy."

His eyes lit with malice, it felt like he soared through the clouds. After his troubles, something rose to achieve his goal... Someone adept to the very magic he's not capable of. "What a turn of events, this is the perfect opportunity. Someone with talent to equilibria, I must acquire that lowly peasant no matter what, this... ha ha ha ha.... How incredible this is... I will let Alexandris handle this...

After all these years. finally, I can exact this plan."