My eyes met his, my body full of excitement. "When can we start!?" I asked, while basically bouncing in place.
He laughed softly, finishing a spoonful of rice. "Easy there, kiddo. Don't you have one of your lessons with Liora this morning?" he reminded me.
My eyes widened as I spun around to see that the sun had now completely appeared over the horizon. "I completely forgot!" I blurted out, scrambling out of my seat with the spoon still in my mouth. "I'm going to be late!"
Grabbing a bag off a nearby chair, I headed for the door. "I'll teach you when you return," Roderic told me.
Nodding, I quickly slid into my shoes before barging through the wooden door, pausing in the door frame, looking back at him. "See you later..." I said before dashing down the street.
Rocks skipped across as I ran, my feet pushing off the ground, propelling me forward. My bag swung back and forth as it hung from my right shoulder. The streets were still quiet, but the lanterns that lined the street had already been extinguished. Turning a corner, a man appeared in front of me, causing me to have to sidestep to avoid him. Tripping slightly, I lost my balance. Catching myself, I looked at the man.
"Watch where you're going, kid!" The man who stood only a few inches taller than me shouted. He had grey hair, most of it on the sides of his head, with a massive bald patch in the middle. His age showed in the wrinkles lining his face. He looked down at me with green eyes, his left one slightly twitching. He held a cane at his side, leaning against it while scolding me.
Bowing my head, I spoke softly. "Sorry, sir..." I said while looking up at him with my cold red eyes. "Can you forgive me?"
He took a step back as I spoke, his cane hand slightly shaking. "It-it's alright; just be more careful!" He shouted at me while turning away.
"I will, thank you," I responded.
Quickly turning, I speed-walked down the street, waiting for him to turn the corner. As he did, I took off again, activating Earthen Sense lvl 4 to ensure that I wouldn't run into anyone else. After a few minutes, I made it to the medical centre and entered through the door. I breathed out, sighing slightly.
"You're late!" A woman yelled sternly from behind a desk.
My body froze, and my shoulders stiffened. My eyes slightly turned to meet the woman's.
"Hahaha, you're lucky Lady Liora is in surgery!" The woman blurted out, unable to contain her laughter. "You should have seen your face! You looked like you saw a demon!"
My shoulders relaxed as I saw her face, the knot in my stomach dissipating. "Hello, Kayla..." I said. "You got me," I laughed softly.
"You're acting all cold! Can you be a little happier to see me, like how you act with Roderic or Matt?"
"Well, it's just the commander now, since Matt has stopped visiting!" I said, slightly agitated.
"Hahaha, give the poor guy a break; Lady Liora has been putting him through a lot in the past few weeks," Kayla said, trying to persuade me.
"I'll think about it," I responded.
"It was worth a shot," she sighed. "Anyways, Lady Liora said that I'm in charge of your lessons today! Since she's stuck in surgery."
"Alright, then what do we have in store today?" I questioned.
"You'll see, follow me!" Kayla yelled. Heading for the back door of the medical centre.
Following closely behind her, we made our way into the backyard of the medical centre. It had multiple cleaning buckets full of water, with many clothing lines that hung clean sheets and linen uniforms. Kayla stood near the back of the yard, on the side of a small clothing line, holding a single sheet. She pointed at a wooden stump and gestured for me to sit.
"Are you ready?" She asked, taking hold of the sheet.
Nodding, my eyes quickly followed her hands as they started to move.
"Then tada!" She shouted, flipping the entire sheet over. On the other side was a rough sketch of shapes that contained words. "Today's class is on geography!"
Her hands made weird gestures as she showed off the crude map. My eyes traced across the sheet, examining the layout and words that were upon it. I could feel my eyes almost glow brighter as they read every word.
Kayla's eyes fell upon my face, and she smiled. "I knew you'd love this!" She said while pumping her fist slightly. "Now stay quiet, and let me teach you about the continent Aurelion!"
She pulled out a stick and pointed at the centre of the board. "This is Elarion, the kingdom that our small village is located in." The stick pointed to the left, near a black line with the words "Lumere" written slightly to the right of the line. "We are here, right on the border between Elarion and Valthorne.
She sighed. "Elarion and Valthorne have never really been on good terms, but right now we are at peace. Valthorne is also the only other main human kingdom on this continent." Returning to Elarion, she pointed towards a nearby name. "This is the closest city to us, a small merchant city called SilverCross. It has a population of around 20 million."
20 million? Is that truly considered small? "Is twenty million really a small number of people?" I asked.
"Hahaha, well, considering our capital Valerion has a population of around two billion, then yes, twenty million is minuscule." She moved the stick to the northern part of Elarion, to the capital of the kingdom. "Actually, Lumere is most likely one of the smallest villages in Elarion; we only have around twenty thousand residents."
My foot tapped the ground, my eyes wandering across the board. "In total, Elarion has probably around twenty-five billion people spread across the entire kingdom."
Twenty-five billion!? That's a huge number of people, and if Matt's correct about a one-in-a-million chance for a person to have some magical affinity, then there are only around twenty-five thousand magic users with one affinity in the entirety of Elarion! Only 2,500 with two affinities and only 250 with three! Thinking on that scale, it is amazing that we have two magic users in Lumere, Matt, and Lady Liora...
After gathering my thoughts, I braced my leg, halting it from moving before redirecting my eyes to Kayla. "Yes, it is hard to fathom such large numbers, but let's move on," she said.
"Wait! Kayla, question!" I yelled out enthusiastically.
She sighed. "Yes?"
"So the odds of magic users are extremely rare, correct?" I asked.
"That's correct," she answered.
"Alright, then how do cities with that many people function?" I questioned.
"Well, I have never been to a major city before, but I do know that the majority of mages do not actually contribute to making those cities run smoothly." She said.
"Then how can they function properly?" I inquired.
"Well, that's the fun thing: mages can control mana by chanting and imagining what they want the mana to do, but that does not mean that other people can't use magic as well." She said with a smile. My mouth opened, but before I could talk, she spoke again. "What allows cities with massive populations to function are magical runes."
"Magical-magical runes!" I yelled out, my cold mask crumbling for a moment. "What are they?!"
"Hahaha, magical runes are made by artificers! There are an endless number of runes that do different things, but to put it simply, magical runes are symbols that can be inscribed into objects, and these symbols can be used to give mana simple commands." She replied
"Simple commands?" I probed.
"Simple commands can be like generating flames or water, or a command that detects whether it is day or night. There are many varying commands." She said, breathing in slightly before continuing. "Runes have three different forms, the first being isolated runes with a single action symbol, which are single-command runes such as creating a flame; the second is compound runes, which are several linked instructions woven into one symbol." She said, putting down the stick and walking over to one of the lanterns near the street.
Pointing at it, she continued. "For example, this lantern doesn't ignite on its own; inside here, there is a lantern rune which combines three simple instructions: detect darkness, ignite wick, and regulate flame." She said, walking back over to me. "The downside of having more instructions inside a symbol is the complexity of creating the rune; the larger the symbol will be, the more dangerous it could be if one fails, and the higher the cost." She explains.
Runes are amazing! They bring magic into everyday life, but they aren't too common either, as even the commander doesn't have a rune for his home, at least now that I know of...
"The third form is rune arrays; these are massive arrays that consist of multiple compound runes working together to complete large tasks." She grabbed her stick and pointed it at the capital once again. "These arrays are what allow for a city to thrive, as they can handle waste management, water supply, and defence. I couldn't explain to you how they work; that is something you'd have to learn in an academy." She finished.
"Runes are so cool..." I mumbled, my eyes fixated on the map, my mind still trying to understand how an array would function. My head shot up as a thought entered my mind. "How do runes get the mana they need to function!?"
"Another great question. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think the majority can sustain themselves by just absorbing the mana in the air around them." She said while rubbing her chin, "For larger ones, I believe they require some sort of power source; what a power source could be, I'm not sure."
"Ok... I see. How long can they last?" I asked.
"I know that the lantern runes have to be replaced around once a year. Their lines slowly wear down, and if they are ignored for too long, the rune can overheat or rupture. For large arrays, I believe that as long as they are maintained, they can last for a long time."
"I see..." I looked down, slightly disappointed that I could not get all the information that I wanted.
"Luna, this really interests you, doesn't it?" Kayla asked me.
"Yes, it does. Magic is so amazing..."
"Well, you should attend an academy. I know it's hard to get in as a peasant, but with Lady Liora backing you, and if you work hard, I bet you can be accepted into one!" She said with a massive smile on her face.
My eyes wandered as I pondered the idea. An academy will allow me to grow stronger, and it will let me learn more. But if I get accepted, then will I have to leave all of this behind? Will I lose all the things that I have grown to love? Will I be alone again? A single tear rolled down my cheek as I thought about my siblings and then about the commander and the people I've met, faces flashing through my mind. No... power is what I want, so I can protect the people I love... If I go to an academy, I won't lose anyone; they'll be right here, waiting for me...
I looked at Kayla, my red eyes reflecting in her blue ones. "I'll try my best! Thank you, Kayla," I told her, smiling softly.
I wiped my eyes, drying them with my sleeves. Watching me, Kayla stiffened slightly before smiling back at me. "I believe in you, Luna!" She told me warmly. "Now let's get back to geography; we've been sidetracked!"
"Haha~ yeah, let's finish this lesson," I responded with a slight chuckle. I focused on her while she poked the sheet with her wooden stick.