Core

As the mass of blue ether resting on his hand continued to oscillate unstably, Rethys took a moment to soak in Sevi's explanation about teleportation and the Space element. Hearing her talk about magic circles, he realized that he didn't know much about how magic runes, and by extension circles, truly functioned.

"How do magic circles work, Sevi?" He asked, deciding to voice his curiosity.

"Hm? I thought you knew of that." Sevi asked in genuine confusion.

"Only surface knowledge. All I know is that they can do more and are more lasting than normal magic."

Silence reigned in the room for a while before Sevi spoke again.

"...And all this time you never thought to ask?" She asked, stupefied at the young man's sheer impassive attitude.

"Never mind..." She sighed. "Magic runes are constructs wrought with ether that are spells in a more rigid form. They are assembled into formations and circles to accomplish more complex results. The curse I inscribed upon you, for example, is a magic circle of the Mind."

"I see. So back to that teleporter circle, any way to make any use of it?" Rethys asked.

"Not unless you were very versed in the runology of the Space element. Though I suppose you may be able find something to help you with that in the lower ritual rooms." The ancient mage answered.

"And where ar-" Rethys tried asking before the shape in his hands burst in a shower of ether, suffocating him and almost making him faint.

"Careful now." She chuckled, seeing Rethys struggling to stay conscious. "Note how your very own ether can affect you when it overloads like that."

"I didn't know this could happen..." He sighed as he tried to recover up from the sudden shock.

"You tried too hard to control it, either sending conflicting signals or simply too many of them, which resulted in it reacting the manner it did, lashing out indiscriminately at its surroundings. You must relax and keep a cool head if you wish to do this. Controlling your magic must come naturally to you, not through a forced gesture." Sevi Revealed.

"I understand." Rethys responded as he took a break to eat and drink.

Taking a moment off his training, he realized he quite liked these moments. It was a nice arrangement, where he got to both train magic and learn more about it, while Sevi got to talk about magic in length, which she seemed to really enjoy from what he could tell.

Eventually, Rethys sobered up enough to resume his exercise, prompting Sevi to resume her explanation.

"As I was saying, you may be able to head down into the lower ritual sites and recover from there the runic lexicon used by the cultists. To keep things brief, it was, and should still be even today, a mandatory practice to keep a book detailing the entirety of the runic script used by all the mages in a particular facility. This was not some arbitrary law, but a necessity to keep things secure and properly functioning.

"Even crazed cultists would not neglect the most basic of practices, and the lexicon must be in the lower ritual room where the highest ranked of them operated. If you could enter there and emerge alive with the book in hand, I would then be able to use it to repurpose the makeshift teleporter you found. I could perhaps make it into a one-way dimensional tunnel that would help you leave this place."

"Sounds nice when you put it like that Sevi, but didn't you tell me to avoid going down at all costs?" Rethys asked.

"The ritual sites are separate from the inner mausoleum, and their entrances are thankfully not protected by the hollow wraiths. But that does not mean however that they are not without their share of trouble. The main issue is the fact that the passages downwards are heavily locked, you would need to advance your soul core to the next level and raise your magic's power and complexity if you wish to break through their enchantments, as simple emission will simply not do.

"The other issue is that the ritual sites must be crawling with very dangerous creatures. Not the unfathomably dangerous kind that you must have occasionally caught glimpses of, but ones still beyond your caliber. But even if you cannot match them in might, you could in magic, and if you raise your element's power, you should be able to deter them.

"The last issue, however, is that the lexicon is heavy, far too heavy to carry on your own. I called it a book but it is more akin to a large magic contraption. The lexicon is regularly not moved from its location, so you would need to bring it to me despite its unwieldy nature. Once again, awakening your soul core to the next rank will make this task easier, as each time your soul undergoes an evolutionary step, your body becomes stronger to match.

"As you can see, this plan hinges entirely on you advancing to the next level and becoming capable of casting complex spells."

"Wait, Sevi, you're saying soul core this and soul core that, but you never explained that part to me." Rethys commented before the vaguely cubic shape in his hands bubbled and dissipated.

"Ah, I suppose I overlooked explaining that, or rather I overlooked the fact that I have not explained it when I was- Regardless, your soul core is the part of your soul responsible for using magic. The first rank is 'inert', where magic is not yet usable, yet shows itself in the form of uncontrollable symptoms. I assume it was the same for you despite your unique element?"

"Yes." Rethys calmly answered.

"Then it is safe to assume that you would continue to follow the known and established notions of soul cores and their ranks. The relevant ranks for now are follows: Inert first, then Active, where magic becomes usable, then Awakened, where complex magic becomes possible, then Unbound, where interaction with the ambient ether becomes possible.

"An awakened soul core is the rank of a proper mage, and should be the rank of most mages of your homeland that you have described to me. They are able to use multiple elements, though it is customary for every mage to first take the element of Mind as their secondary element and only afterwards consider attuning to other elements.

"An unbound soul core would belong to an elite mage and should correspond to your so-called 'High Mages'. As I have mentioned, they are capable of not only sensing, but also interacting with the ambient ether. This best manifests in their ability to absorb of it to replenish themselves, giving them functionally infinite energy. This isn't without downsides however, as overuse of that ability leads to overexertion of the soul core, and eventually even leads to death.

"This does however mean that a mage with an awakened core will simply almost never defeat one with an unbound core, even if we disregard the difference in power, experience or knowledge. It also means that, if pushed, mages with an unbound core can go on very destructive last-ditch efforts. There are also other soul core ranks but they are beyond the scope of this lesson."

As he heard the explanation about soul cores, Rethys was reminded of High Mage Zeritel, who according to Sevi had an unbound core, which explained the seemingly endless energy he possessed in the fight against the hellmaw hounds.

"I see. So how do I-" Rethys was about to ask Sevi a question when suddenly a tremor ran through his very soul, and a brand-new feeling began tugging on his senses.

Pulling upon that new sensation just as it pulled on him, Rethys was able to access something new he had never before been able to do, and in but a few moments, the world seemed different than it had been before.

Looking at the sphere of ether wobbling in his hand, Rethys dismissed it and conjured another sphere. As he applied what he had just learned, the sphere instantly transformed into a cube, then a ring, then a cylinder before turning back into a sphere.

He had succeeded.