The next morning, as they walked the winding trail back toward Ashen's settlement, Fengyu found his thoughts restless. The questions that had hovered at the edges of his mind refused to be ignored. What was magic, after all?
The air of Firme carried the sharp scent of pine and damp earth, but beneath it, he now sensed something subtler: the faint, pulsing resonance of life itself. It was the same fleeting force that yesterday's lesson had taught him to touch, to borrow, and to shape.
It was a transaction, however small: energy taken, something diminished, even if just a wilted leaf or a moment of fatigue.
But what happened when the taking was not minor? When it was deliberate, systematic, as the Guild's operations were? The herb fields of Firme were abundant, but they were also a crop. Someone had calculated their yield - not of herbs, but of the energy they held, the latent force waiting to be drawn. The beasts were not merely hunted; they were harvested, measured, and processed like any commodity.
And the Guild profited from every link in that chain. They sold the herbs as potent alchemical ingredients, the beasts as status symbols or spiritual reservoirs, the focuses - or the knowledge of them - to those who sought a shortcut to power. All of it fed a machine that valued only one thing: control, influence, dominance.
Fengyu's steps slowed, the gravel crunching underfoot. "What is magical in this?" he wondered. They forced life into their designs, bending it to their purposes, ignoring the will, well-being and simply existence, of its owners. It was theft dressed as art. There were not acts of creation; only taking. And the more he considered it, the darker the word "magic" felt.
A sudden pang of homesickness twisted in his chest. He wanted nothing more than to return to Solirae, to step into the tranquillity of his home and leave all of this behind. What good would come from it? Hadn't he already long time ago decided to have no more of meddling in power struggles?
He missed the calm of Solirae - the way the soft breezes carried a faint scent of blooming gardens, the sunlight spilling through the airy passes, the endless horizon of gentle mountains, gorges and skies. Was that calm so addictive because it was untainted? Was it a deliberate choice, the wisdom of his ancestors encoded in the rules of Solirae - keeping themselves apart from the hunger of the outside world, preserving life by refusing to exploit it? These "rules of magic" were not particularly hidden, were not particularly secret, but were also not discussed on the streets of the Soliraean capital. The world was as if huddled in the comforting veil of soft mists and slow-moving air, a protective layer that dulled the harsh edges of ambition, greed, and needless violence.
The thought pressed on him as the settlement drew nearer, the faint sounds of human life floating up the trail. The settlement came into view, the forest thinning into terraced clearings and cultivated slopes. The ordered rows of plants, the low stone walls, the careful channels cut to guide water - all of it looked peaceful at a distance. And yet he could no longer see it as neutral.
As they passed the first outer fields, Fengyu finally broke the silence.
"When Ashen used the focus," he said slowly, "it was… powerful. The field itself was answering him. But when I used it, it was nothing like that."
He hesitated, then added, quieter, "Is it because I am not good enough? How much longer should I train before I can reach that level?"
Joy stopped short and laughed - an unguarded, almost surprised sound. "No," he said, shaking his head. "Absolutely not."
He gestured broadly toward the meadows. "Ashen was standing in a field of high-yield herbs. He wasn't powerful because of his skill alone - he was powerful because he was plugged into an enormous reservoir. Alchemical herbs are different from other plants in themselves, and here in Firme they are altogether different."
Joy's expression turned more serious. "That kind of environment is rare."
They had reached a lower terrace now, closer to the settlement proper. Joy veered off the path and stopped beside a modest field bordered by stone markers. The plants here were shorter, their leaves narrow and silver-veined.
"These are Lethyr," Joy said. "They're used primarily in stabilizing tonics. They have calming properties and mostly help mages recover after prolonged exertion. Useful, but not spectacular."
He looked at Fengyu. "Try here. This won't drown you in power. Feel it."
Fengyu stepped closer. As he reached out with his senses, the difference was obvious.
Where he had once perceived only fine threads of energy, here the field revealed itself in constantly moving streams, broad currents flowing just beneath the surface of the plants. They pulsed with a steady rhythm, shifting subtly in hue, cycling through pale silver, muted violet, and a faint, glassy blue that reminded him uncomfortably of the gates travel space. It was not violent, but it was present everywhere at once.
The sensation pressed against him, not like a surge, but like depth - an awareness of weight. The focus in his hand responded immediately, warming, aligning itself with the flow as if it had been waiting for it.
Fengyu drew a careful breath. "It feels…" he started and paused. "Not stronger than the forest. Just… denser."
Joy's eyes flicked toward him, approving. "Good. That's the right word."
"Life force alone is thin - no layer, casual dimensions. Alchemical herbs accumulate higher-dimensional energy as they mature. Another layer."
Fengyu frowned slightly. "Tharos' layering theory?"
Joy nodded. "Sixteen layers, sixteen higher dimensions where energy can originate or pass through. Most living things do not touch them, some herbs touch one - sometimes two, fleetingly. But certain forms of energy can course through several higher dimensions at once. At least the legends say so. Also not all layers are the same, energy accessing some of the higher dimension is very rare, but also… heavier."
"And more powerful," Fengyu said quietly.
"Exactly. Power isn't volume," Joy continued. "It's overlap. The more dimensions an energy spans, the more force it can carry when shaped."
He gestured toward the field. "That's why it feels dense. And the fields in the centre have some plants binding at least two higher dimensions. It does not solely depend on the species of the herb, though some species tend to bind higher dimension energy more often than other. We do not know the precise rule, if there is one, of course."
"Come. Mokai should be done by now."
They followed the narrow path, past terraces of carefully spaced beds and irrigation channels that gleamed faintly in the light. The deeper they went, the more Fengyu felt it - the subtle pressure in the air, the way the focus hummed softly if only his thoughts brushed it, responding immediately to his intent and the energy layered in the fields.
Mokai was exactly as had predicted - seated at a broad table which he moved to the veranda, papers spread around him in disciplined chaos. Sheets of notes and carefully ruled tables were weighed down with stones on the veranda's floor.
He looked up as they come closer. He greeted Joy and flashed Fengyu with a broad grin.
"I've mapped every cultivated field," he said, tapping the tabletop with a knuckle.
He reached for one of the tables and slid it toward them. Neatly arranged columns ran down the page: a number corresponding to a marked section on the settlement map, the name of the herb cultivated there, estimated yield,… and then a final column.
Fengyu frowned. "Layer?"
Joy leaned in, scanning the page. "Tharos' energy layering?"
"Once I started comparing yields, the discrepancies were too big to ignore. Same species, but wildly different output." He exhaled through his nose. "I found those numbers in Ashen's notes." Then gave a crooked smile. "When I asked him about it, he laughed. For a long time. When he finally answered, he made me feel like an ignorant apprentice all over again."
Mokai reached beneath the papers at the table and drew out a heavy, opulently bound tome.
"And then," he said, setting it down with care, "he told me where to find this."
Its leather cover was dark and polished carrying the elaborate insignia of the Magic Guild. The spine reinforced with gilt filigree that caught the light. The title was stamped in formal script: "Dictionary of Alchemical Herbs". He opened the first page and the red markings crossing the parchment came to light: "FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY".
Joy's expression hardened.
"This book contains descriptions of all the alchemical herbs in the fields - and far more than that," Mokai continued, turning a few heavy pages. "What's interesting are the additional notes."
He tapped a page with a table that seem to follow every herb's entry, but was clearly written in a tighter, more angular script.
"These tables list yield variations across different Guild's settlements. The official ones… and others. The names I have never heard before, clearly coded."
He flipped another page. "Some herbs are marked as prone to binding higher energy sources." His finger tipped a symbol in the corner of the page. "And then the yield table has an additional column layer indicators. Not theoretical. Observed. Recorded by location."
Fengyu inhaled slowly. "So Ashen wasn't guessing."
"No," Mokai said. "Ashen's notes follow the same notation. He'd been taught."
He closed the tome with care and turned it over, resting it face-down on the table, so the back cover came to sight.
"There's more."
Mokai drew a small knife from his belt. He slid the blade into the seam of the thick back cover and worked it gently along the edge. The leather gave slightly, separating.
From within, he extracted a thin, tightly bound booklet - its pages yellowed, its script compact and unfamiliar.
Fengyu's voice was low. "A concealed appendix."
Mokai nodded. "A field manual."
Fengyu leaned closer. "What is it exactly?"
Mokai opened the thin booklet carefully. "It describes different methods of assessing energy layers," he said. "Using a focus is the easiest approach - especially for an unskilled mage like Ashen. But the focus itself is not easy to obtain."
"From his other notes, it is clear Ashen tried several alternative techniques, mostly alchemical. His results were inconsistent, but repeatedly the rare layers popped out."
"So somebody provided him with the focus…" speculated Fengyu.
"And there's more." He tapped another section. "This explains how to conserve higher-dimensional energy. In case of very rare layers once the plant dies, this layer energy disperses almost immediately. What remains are the base alchemical properties - still enhanced, but nowhere near their original potential."
Fengyu frowned. "So harvesting destroys the most valuable part."
"Yes," Mokai replied. "Unless specific preservation methods are used. These are not described in the manual. It seems this is a higher skill in the Guild. The text says their effectiveness varies by location and may change in time, so you cannot just learn one. You have to master them all."
"Because the layers themselves aren't stable," Joy murmured.
So far he stayed silent, now Fengyu's eyes settled on him.
Joy exhaled softly, as if conceding something he would rather not have to explain.
"This isn't forbidden knowledge," Joy went on. "The Temple has shelves of it. The Guild has manuals, addenda, revisions. Anyone can ask. Anyone can study it - if they already know what to ask for."
Fengyu frowned. "Then why does it feel hidden?"
"Because it isn't advertised," Joy replied simply. "Because it's tedious. Because it takes years before it becomes useful. Most students lose interest long before they reach the point where the words stop being theory and start being instruction."
Fengyu's gaze shifted to Mokai.
Mokai lifted his hands slightly, as if to soften the inevitable reaction. "In Solirae, it makes sense that it isn't known. Your world cut itself off from the notion of magic. But in Pantax, energy layering theory was developed. Of course we learn it - well, not in basic schools," he corrected himself, "in academies, only as electives. Still, it is strictly theoretical."
Fengyu's jaw tightened. Without a word, he reached into his robes, pulled out the focus, and held it inches from Mokai's face.
"Then how is this theoretical?" he asked sharply. "How is your wine-twister theoretical? How is Ashen standing in a field and drawing power out of the ground theoretical?"
Mokai blinked, then leaned back slightly, eyes flicking to the spiral pendant. "Because," he said carefully, "the theory doesn't teach you how to use the energy. It teaches you that it exists."
He hesitated, searching for the right words. "Besides Pantax isn't like this place. In most worlds, the unlayered energy is very thin. Magic is effort. Firme is saturated. Even without touching higher layers, the baseline is dense enough to respond. In most places, the energy just isn't there in sufficient quantity or quality. So the life toll… A simple magic trick would leave the fields like these," he gestured outside of the veranda, "completely withered."
"I destroyed half of the valley of forest in Azure Peaks just to learn the basics of the wine-twister. I only managed to twist the twig around my hand." He added. "It was locked in the treasure vault for ages. It is just too inefficient to use, you don't have a proper source to fuel it."
He tapped the booklet laying on the table. "This isn't a secret insert. This method of fixing attachments in books is well known to be used by the Guild."
Fengyu's gaze drifted to the booklet again. "So the world isn't ignorant," he said slowly. "It's… selectively educated."
And he got the shorter end of the stick… All this possibly was in the plain sight… even for him.
"So the Guild is the place where you look for the proper source of fuel?" He continued, his eyes fixed on the dim blue glow of the focus in his hand.
Mokai frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You said there are methods to preserve higher layer energy," Fengyu replied. "That it disperses when the plant dies - unless you know how to stop it. It is not like when Ashen killed Isharael, you do not have to use it up immediately."
"And that is where the Guild's real power lies. Not in casting spells - but in controlling fuel. They harvest, hold it, move it, release it where and when it serves them."
Mokai nodded slowly. "Fields like these are rare. Firme is exceptional. But preserved energy?" He glanced at the booklet again. "That can be transported, stockpiled and sold. That is how the Guild operates."
"Officially," Fengyu asked, "what do they say the energy comes from?"
Mokai let out a short, humourless breath. "They don't."
"When you commission a working through the Guild," Mokai continued, "you don't buy energy. You buy a service. A result. A ward reinforced, a flood diverted, a harvest enhanced, a gate stabilised."
"Why nobody asks questions?" Fengyu did not give up. "When you know how it works, why not ask?"
"We know that the Guild has farms," Mokai tapped the book once more. "They must have other things as well…" He met Fengyu's eyes. "And whatever those are, they're classified as business secrets."
Fengyu looked down at the pendant resting against his palm.
Nobody hid the truth. It was simply… convenient not to confront it.
So why did the anger rise in him now, sharp and misplaced, turning instinctively toward Mokai? Mokai, who had done nothing wrong. It wasn't Mokai's fault.
It wasn't Joy's. It wasn't even the Guild's, not entirely.
The fault - if there was one - lay in the years Fengyu had lived without knowing enough.
You are not troubled by what you do not see.
Should he be bothered? Others weren't. Others functioned perfectly well without this weight settling in their chest. So why him? Why did the knowledge scrape at him like grit under the skin, impossible to ignore?
Because now he could see.
Because the moment the layers became visible, so did the cost. Because once you learned to trace the current, you couldn't pretend the river was endless.
And perhaps - this frightened him most - because Solirae had shaped him to believe that restraint was not weakness, but wisdom.
He closed his fingers around the pendant, feeling its quiet readiness, its patient pull toward power. It would obey him, if he asked. The world here would answer.
"These methods…" He continued after a pause. "The methods to preserve energy must be a real secret. And the places like this, where to source the energy, must be a treasure mine."
Joy looked him in the eye and smile. "The asset ledger," he said. "And eventually, they will come for their assets."