[Morning begins. Low clouds set. The smell of wet soil and musky smoke.]
The village wakes slowly.
From my window, I can see the villagers step into the mist-damp street, farmers tightening their cloaks, groupps og children running ahead of their parents as they stroll through the streets in the morning. Traders are yawning as they start unlatching their carts, preparing to do business for the day.
I lean on the sill, chin resting on my hand, and let the overlay draw itself over the world. Vectors. Fields. Resonances. Every human movement leaves a wake in the Aether, like boats carving river paths.
They don't see it. I can't stop seeing it now.
"Watching the world again?" my mother's voice drifts from the door.
I turn. Lira stands there with her hair tied back, sleeves rolled, apron already dusted with flour. She smiles when she catches the look on my face.
"You used to do that as a child, too," she says. "Stare at the outside as if you were counting the air."
"Maybe I was," I murmur.
She chuckled. "Your father is heading down to the village square, apparently, there is a mage doing tricks for the children there. If you're going to burn holes in my house, you might as well learn how to do it properly."
I grin despite myself. "I'll watch what they do, and try not to burn anything... Probably."
"Please keep the 'probably' outside of the house," she says, but you can tell there was fondness in her eyes.
The square was busy. A low platform was set up near the well, and children were crowding around it. A man in a patched brown cloak stood at the centre, his hands raised theatrically.
Personally, I didn't find his magic impressive; the Codex seemed to agree, but he had presence. A rough beard, a quick smile and a scar along his jaw. A standard travelling mage.
"Watch, little sparks," he declares, "and see what happens when you listen to the world."
He draws a breath, closes his eyes, and his expression shifts — softens — like he's remembering something distant. The Codex pings at once.
[EMOTIONAL RESONANCE: MODERATE]
[AETHER ALIGNMENT: IGNIS - SHALLOW BIND]
[PATTERN CAPTURE: ACTIVE]
A flame bloomed in his palm. It didn't seem to be the clean, geometric flame I had cast last night; it was messy, flickering, and alive in a chaotic way, yet still drew the attention of all the children watching.
He opened his eyes and grinned as the fire ripples, it shapes itself into a crude bird. It flaps its wings twice and leaves tiny sparks that fade before they hit the ground.
I studied everything: the angle of his fingers, the tension in his shoulders, the way his breath synchronised with the flare.
"See?" he says, lowering the flame. "You don't tug Aether like a rope. You invite it, like a guest. You remember the first time you felt warmth that wasn't from a blanket. You remember laughter, firelight, and a meal shared. You call that feeling back—"
The Codex hums.
[IGNITION TRIGGER: EMOTIONAL RECALL]
[ENERGY INPUT: DIFFUSE]
[OUTPUT: LOW STABILITY ~ 37% EFFICIENCY]
"—and you give it shape with your will," he finished.
He flicked his wrist sharply and sent a small arc of flame spinning into the air. It bursts into a shower of harmless sparks above the crowd. Children squeal, reaching up to grab the remaining flames.
They're seeing wonder. I'm seeing waste.
I knew I could make the same magic spell more efficient.
I close my eyes, replaying the movement in my mind. The Codex helps by slowing perception and highlighting flows.
[SPELL PROFILE STORED: IGNIS CANTRIP]
[STRUCTURE: EMOTION-BASED IGNITION -> DIFFUSE]
[WEAKNESS: UNCONTROLLED DISPERSION]
"You look like you discovered a theory," a voice murmured at my side.
I opened my eyes. Elias stood beside me, arms folded, watching both me and the traveller-mage.
"Well?" he asked. "What do you see?"
"Patterns," I said honestly. "And flaws."
He raised an eyebrow. "Already? It took my sergeant three years during the wars to realise that level of detail. Admittedly, he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but still."
"That's impressive, Kael."
"His method does work," I admit, "but in my opinion, it's like burning a house to light a candle. The output doesn't seem worth it."
Elias huffs a quiet laugh. "Careful who you say that to, Kael. Half the mages in Elyndra are proud of their little bonfires."
I looked back at the mage. "Is it okay if I try?"
"Ask your mother, not me," he said. "She's the one who has to live with the walls."
I spent the afternoon at the edge of the square, watching, listening, trying to take in as much information as possible.
The traveller-mage works through simple tricks: sparks, ignis charms, minor gusts. Seems like he was capable of dual affinities, although I don't think mages from the academy would count those gusts as 'wind magic'. Children lined up to be shown how to coax a flicker from their palms.
I paid attention to what they're told.
"Think of someone you love," the mage told a little boy. "Picture their face. The warmth you feel in your chest? Let that warmth roll down your arm into your hand."
Warmth.Emotion.Imagery.
The Codex logs every instruction, every failure, every success.
[THEOREM MODE: ACTIVE]
The more I watch, the clearer it becomes.
They've built an entire system around feeling because they don't have the language to understand.
By late afternoon, my Ignis comprehension has climbed steadily.
[COMPREHENSION + 0.6%]
[IGNIS COMPREHENSION: 9.1%]
As the sun leaned toward the western hills, the mage packed up his props. The children dispersed, and trailing were tiny, unstable sparks that sputtered out quickly.
I head back home, my mind buzzing.
This world has raw power everywhere. But it's like watching geniuses calculate by instinct, refusing to use their minds' brilliance.
That evening, after dinner, I sat at a small table in the corner of my room, with a scrap of ink-stained paper and a piece of charcoal. Looking around, I could still see the wall bearing the evidence of my last experiment. Elias had patched it roughly with planks, but you could still see the scorch outline, as if it were a warning.
"Codex," I whispered, "can you summarise what we saw today?"
[IGNIS SPELLS OBSERVED: 23]
[AVERAGE EFFICIENCY: 34%]
Common traits found were emotion-triggered ignition, lack of structural optimisation and low containment.
"Codex theorem. How does Ignis prefer to move during casting?"
After a short pause, I could see text scrolling slowly, almost thoughtfully.
[DERIVED THEOREM - IGNIS PRINCIPLE 01: 'HEAT SEEKS EXPANSION ALONG LEAST-RESISTED VECTORS.']
"What about Aether?"
[DERIVED THEOREM - AETHER BEHAVIOUR 01: 'AETHER FLOW FAVOURS COHERENT STRUCTURES THAT MINIMISE COMPLEXITY FOR A GIVEN EFFECT.']
" I see. So if I give it a simpler path—"
Prediction: Increased stability and power efficiency.
I drew a circle. Then a line. Then a spiral. Each shape hummed faintly in my vision as the Codex overlayed potential Aether flow paths.
The Fireburst I used before was raw, overpowered, and under-contained. It was a bomb and not a tool that could be used. What I need now is a scalpel, something that I could handle with precision.
Something that pierces, not explodes.Focused, not excessive.
The Codex flickers.
[SIMULATION MODE: READY]
[DESIGN OBJECTIVE?]
"Linear Ignis projection. Minimal dispersion. High penetration. Think… lance, not blast."
[PROCESSING…]
A diagram unfolds across my sight: a long, narrow construct made of concentric layers of heat and pressure. Aether shaped into a tight, spiralling corridor.
[CANDIDATE PATTERN GENERATED: IGNIS VECTOR-FORM]
[PREDICTED BEHAVIOUR: CONSTAINED THERMAL LANCE - 12.4 METRES OF EFFECTIVE RANGE]
Warning, there is a risk of Aether backlash if vector alignment fails.
"Codex, show me a scaled-down version first," I murmured. "Something hand-length."
The pattern compressed, shrinking to a spear about the length of my forearm.
"Good," I whispered.
I rested my palm on the table, closed my eyes, and breathed slowly. I tried to picture the lattice structure of the flame vector, not as something foreign, but as a natural extension of what I saw in the stream and by the traveller-mage earlier in the day.
Fuel. Flow. Pressure.Application.
A faint heat gathered in my palm—lines of light thread down my fingers.
"Easy," I whispered. "Contain and focus."
The Codex hums.
[IGNIS CHANNELING: 9.8% CAPACITY]
[FLOW ALIGNMENT: STABLE]
[EXECUTE?]
"Yes."
The fire doesn't explode this time. It formed a thin, bright line extending from the centre of my palm to a point a meter away, like a blade of sunlight, causing ripples in the air around it.
For a heartbeat, it feels weightless. A concept in my mind, now given shape.
Amazed, a burst of exhaustion slams into me as the Aether rush drains away.
The line snaps out. My vision blurs.
[COMPREHENSION + 1.4%]
[IGNIS COMPREHENSION: 10.5%]
[THRESHOLD REACHED: STABLE RESONANCE ESTABLISHED]
[TIER STATE: IGINIS INITIATE - FULLY STABILISED]
I slumped back into my chair, breathing heavily, but laughing so softly in my achievement.
"Ignis Vector," I murmured. "Now this is usable."
In the following days, I practised whenever I could. Wherever I could.
Short lances at first, no longer than my hand. Then with each practice, they became longer. A metre became two, all while the Codex kept pace, refining the construct and shaving away instability.
[COMPREHENSION + 2.7%]
[IGNIS COMPREHENSION: 13.2%]
I try to learn my limits. How much Aether can I hold before my muscles start to shake and ache? How far can I push the stability of magic? The lance frays at the edges.
Outwardly, I'm just a boy helping his parents with chores, watching the fields, asking too many questions.
Inwardly, I'm building a library—a library of fiery lances bleaming with precision.
One afternoon, as I'm behind the house practising with a half-meter lance, Lira catches me.
She doesn't shout. She watches, eyes wide, as the tight line of heat flickers from my hand and carves a thin groove into a rock, neat as a sculptor's blade.
Her lips part. "Kael…"
I let the lance collapse and turn, suddenly nervous. "Sorry. I should've asked. I didn't mean to—"
"Again," she says softly.
"What?"
"Do it again."
I hesitate. Heat gathers, forming a thin line of fire. It's stable. It's sharp.
She covers her mouth with one hand. "By the stars..."
Elias appears from the corner of the house, drawn by Lira's voice. He sees the lance, how the line is carved. His expression goes from wary to intrigued.
"That's nothing like what the travelling-mage did," he says. "Where did you learn that from?"
I swallow. "I just... figured it out."
Lira laughed once, incredulously, in disbelief. "You 'figured it out.'?"
I shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, it just kinda made sense."
Elias walks up slowly. "You're using Ignis like a blade, not a torch. That kind of shaping takes most mages years." He glances at the mark in the stone. "Some never learn it at all."
Lira wipes her eyes. "You're really going to leave us, aren't you?" she whispers. It's not an accusation, just acceptance.
I don't answer because we all know the truth.
The sun starts to set as I stroll across the wheat fields in our village. It's been three days since I discovered Ignis Vector, and my proficiency with it has increased as well.
I experiment day and night, testing which shapes and lengths I can use and how.
But it was the evening that really tested my limits.
As I was approaching the edge of the village, I could hear some disturbing noises coming from the forest.
I head towards the noise.
Suddenly, the sounds of screaming reach me halfway across the field, sharper this time.
For the first time. I felt fear. Fear of something real.
I could tell the Codex knew I was scared, as it started reacting to my instincts.
I walk closer to the noise, not out of curiosity, but out of anticipation. What could possibly be making me feel this way?
I had to know. And know I did.
The Codex spikes in my head like a blade of light.
[FOREIGN AETHER SIGNATURE DETECTED]
[CLASSIFICATION: BESTIAL]
[THREAT LEVEL: MODERATE - HIGH]
[DISTANCE: 310 METRES - CLOSING FAST]
Shit.
I immediately run. Dirt kicks behind me, the sound of grass being torn under my boots. Each stride throws heat into my lungs.
As I reach the bottom of the sunset, I see it.
A warped shape moving between the grain. Low, fast and strong. There are flickers of an ember light pulsating beneath its hide, like coals trapped under fur. You can see smoke curling from its breath.
An Ember-Warg.
This one is larger than the ones described by the shepherds, its body rippling with molten lines, its tail twitching like a burning whip.
Three shepherd boys stood frozen near a broken fence, backing away as it stalked forward.
"MOVE!" I shout.
They don't. They can't. They're too terrified.
The warg's eyes snapped toward me — two pits of smouldering orange.
It growls, a low, grinding sound that vibrates through my bones.
[HOSTILE INTENTION: CONFIRMED]
"Yeah, Codex, I can tell," I say sarcastically.
I took a step in front of the boys, my heart hammering so hard it hurts.
The warg lunges.
I raise my palm and fire an Ignis Vector — a thin line of heat snapping outward.
It grazes the warg's shoulder, slicing fur and scorching skin, but it barely slows it down. The beast twists mid-air, landing in a burst of sparks.
It's fast. Way faster than my lance.
I pivot, letting another Vector flash, but the creature leaps sideways, dodging cleanly.
"Damn—!"
It rushes me.
I barely throw myself aside before it barrels past, claws gouging earth. Heat radiating off it in waves, like a furnace given teeth.
My legs shake. My breath comes ragged.
The Codex hums urgently.
[IGNIS CAPACITY: 42]
[FLOW ALIGNMENT: UNSTABLE]
[RECOMMENDATION: RETREAT]
"I can't," I hiss, dodging a swipe that would've split open my ribs. "Even if I could outrun it, they can't. I can't just abandon them."
As I turn to the three shepherd boys, the beast charges at me again, this time its jaws snapping shut a hand's width away from my face. I can feel the heat flash as it exhales, too hot. Blistering hot.
It floods the field with fire.
I roll, barely clearing the blast. Grass ignites around me. I cough, vision blurring. The world swims with heat haze.
When I stagger to my feet, the warg is already turning, already lowering its head, already preparing to pounce again.
I fire another Ignis Vector, but again it's too slow. The wag swats the thin line of flame aside with its paw, causing sparks to scatter like torn ember petals.
"Codex!" I shout. "I need something stronger!"
[INSUFFICIENT PATTERN STABILITY]
User Aether reserve is too low for Fireburst.
[PROBABILITY OF SURVIVAL: 18%]
"I am going to need you to do better than that, Codex!"
The warg leaps.
I duck under it, just barely, but enough to slam my palm upward and brush its underside with a point-black Ignis Vector.
It's howl shakes the ground. Skidding and thrashing, it pivots with a sudden viciousness and bites down on my arm.
"Arghhh."
Pain explodes throughout my arm. I scream as its jaws clamp, teeth scraping bone.
It throws me. I hit the ground hard, causing me to roll and choke on my own breath. I can feel the blood trickling down my arm, dripping from my torn skin.
[VITALS: UNSTABLE]
The warg stalks closer, smoke steaming from its maw.
[IGNIS CHANNEL: CORRUPTED]
I push myself up with my uninjured hand, my legs trembling.
[USER CAPACITY: FALLING]
I'm outmatched.
I'm too slow.
I'm too weak.
What was I thinking, using my scraps of knowledge in a world built on power.
No.
I refuse.
I am not weak.
I just haven't figured it out yet. Think Kael! Think! Visualise the magic! Find the right equation!
The warg snarls, making a sound like metal dragged through fire — and prepares to leap again.
I tighten my jaw, blood dripping from my fingers.
"Codex… simulation. Emergency construct. Use all remaining Ignis."
Warning. Full expenditure may cause Aether burnout.
"I'll die anyway, so go ahead with it."
A pause.
[ACCEPTED]
[COMPILING PATTERN]
[DERIVED IGNIS PRINCIPLE 03: 'CONSTRAIN HEAT BEYOND EQUILIBRIUM TTO FORCED DIRECTIONAL COLLAPSE']
[NEW CONSTRUCT: IGNIS IMPLOSION SPHERE-PROTOTYPE]
[RISK: LETHAL BACKLASH PROBABLE]
"Show me what it can do."
For a moment, the world slows.
A small sphere appears in my vision, a prominent lattice of compressed heat and tension. Unlike Fireburst's outward force, this construct is inward, bending heat into itself until it reaches critical instability, then releasing it in a focused shock.
Not an explosion, but a collapse of fire.
A fire implosion.
The warg leaps.
I raise my shredded arm, fingers curling around the shape I'm about to cast.
Aether rushes, it's hot, violent, beautiful.The air screams.The construct forms between my hands, a glowing red-white bead, small as a marble but brighter than the sun.
The Codex chimes:
[IGNIS IMPLOSION SPHERE - CAST?]
"Do it!"
I hurl it.
The sphere hits the warg's chest.
For a heartbeat, there's nothing.
Then the world folds inward. Heat collapses into a single point before detonating outward as a narrow concussive blast.
WHUMPH.
The warg's roar dies instantly as the force slams through it, collapsing its ribs, rupturing organs. The beast is thrown backwards, skidding across dirt before crashing into a tree and lying still.
Silence.
Only the crackle of scorched grass remains.
I stagger, swaying. My arms shake violently.
The Codex flickers:
[COMPREHENSION + 4.9%]
[IGNIS COMPREHENSION: 29.2%]
[THRESHOLD EXCEEDED]
[TIER ADVANCEMENT: IGNIS ADEPT]
[AETHER CAPACITY UPGRADE: 42]
Congratulations, you have advanced a tier.
I feel a warm, deep thrumming settling in my bones. It's not pain but a type of... Resonance. I blink hard, staring at my burned palm.
"Haha. I actually did it," I whispered. "Ignis Implosion."
The Codex hums as if pleased.
[SPELL REGISTERED: IGNIS IMPLOSION]
[CLASSIFICATION: HIGH-COMPRESSION IMPACT IGNIS TECHNIQUE]
[SPELL TYPE: GROWTH TYPE]
Note: User demonstrates adaptive, spontaneous spell innovation.
The shepherd boys stare from behind the fence, shaking in awe and fear.
"You killed it," one whispers. "You actually killed an Ember-Warg."
I breathe out slowly.
"No," I say. "We survived it."
Behind me, footsteps pound across the field. Elias, then Lira, both wide-eyed and terrified.
But when Lira reaches me, she doesn't ask what I did.
She throws her arms around me, sobbing with relief.
Elias looks at the dead beast, then to me, a faint glow still fading from my eyes.
"You know what this means, right, Kael. You're not a normal village boy from Basin anymore." He says quietly. "As soon as the Academy discovers what you did, they'll want you—no, they'll need you."
I don't answer.
Because I know he's right.
What I did tonight, I crossed a threshold that most people my age shouldn't be able to. I can feel it, the Aether running through me, deeper, brighter and hungrier.
Ignis Adept.
But it's more than that. I've become a mage who invents spells, not inherits them, but creates them.
The world won't ignore that.
No.
The world can't ignore that.