“What is an Archon?” Zan asked as he paced up and down the line of disciples.

  Vaunt raised an eyebrow as he thought about the intent of the question.

  “A mage that has created their own signature magic. Bu-.”

  Zan raised a hand bringing the space around Vaunt’s mouth and hands to a halt and preventing him from continuing his answer.

  “Incorrect.”

  Zan declared as he returned his arms to their interlocked position directly above his tail and continued pacing. Haj glanced at Set, who reciprocated with a glance as well. The sight of the time-locked Vaunt, who appeared as though he was mid sneeze, was too much for Haj who couldn’t stop himself from snickering. When he looked forward he found himself face to face with his master's glare.

  “Surely you can answer this question, Haj. I’m certain I’ve explained it to you hundreds of times.”

  Haj attempted to avert his eyes as he recalled the many things his master had told him.

  “It’s the mechanism, right? An archon is someone who has created their own mechanism for casting magic.”

  “Good.”

  Zan smirked as he peeked over towards Vaunt, who he’d left silenced by an inability to move through halted time and released the magic holding him in place before turning back towards Haj.

  “Seems you have been paying to at least some of the words that come out of my mouth.”

  He returned to pacing as he continued this impromptu lecture.

  “To clarify, an Archon is someone who has formed their own ‘Arcane aspect’, or perspective of magic, called a Facet. Becoming an Archon, or rather, gaining one Facet is not the end of your growth, however.”

  He involuntarily glanced over at Akuoun and Rondo as he made his next claim.

  “Should you wish to, or have the mental faculties to do so accidentally, one can acquire

  multiple facets.”

  He slowly came to a stop as he stared into the giant swirls of nebulous light that covered the Foeldhn, as if enchanted by the patterns that made up their false sky.

  “The one who is currently known amongst the Dureivan to hold the most Facets would be the Matriarch, who currently holds 17 drastically different ‘perspectives’ or ‘Facets’.”

  He turned his attention to the crowd once more, many of which seemed either daunted or confused. The line of disciples behind him were of the few who seemed to have a fire behind their eyes of the line where the elders were gathered and faced the crowd. He scanned the young Aesoterii as if evaluating them and after a moment, he turned back towards the elders.

  “I think demonstrations are in order.”

  An older dureivan ambled forward, he was greeted by Akuoun with the same respect others show him. The hues of color that roamed across his scales and fur as he took to center stage showed that he was of the space affinity. The old dureivan smiled as he raised a hand and slowly extended a single claw that tapped the space in front of him, which crumbled and shattered in response.

  “My aspect allows me to act upon space as if it was a material with properties similar to glass.”

  In an instant there were replicas of him behind all of the other dureivan present. He placed his hand on their shoulders, the hundreds of them all at once as he continued speaking in his leisurely tone.

  “Glass is a very useful and versatile material, from the way it interferes with energy to the various levels of toughness it can embody. But most importantly, -”

  The hand on the shoulders of the disciples turned into blades that pressed firmly against their throats.

  “It can be quite deadly.”

  The old man cackled as his magic dissipated, the copies of him that haunted each of the hatchlings crumbled and shattered in a similar fashion to the way the space in front of the elder had when he tapped it. The old man turned toward the children behind him and frowned, they were unimpressed by his display

  “The limit to your magic is the limit of your understanding. Keep those words in mind as you go about your life.”

  The old dureivan shambled towards Akuoun and they began to chat while Zan had several other elders show off their facets. The older dureivan speaking with Akuoun was focused intently on Set, even whilst speaking with his mentor. This continued during the entire demonstration with Lakon and Saendra both joining in on their conversation. Set paid little attention to the demonstration as he and the old dureivan traded stares for a long while. The old man brought out an object covered in cloth and handed it to Akuoun while telling him something before smiling at Set and walking away, leaving Akuoun, Lakon and Saendra staring at him with expressions he’d never seen before.

  “A title is a name that refers to one who’s magic can be claimed as their own.” Zan said as he walked in front of Set, grabbing his attention.

  “What is your master’s title, Set?”

  Set blinked a few times in quick succession, as if Zan’s sudden question somehow physically blindsided him.

  “... The Zenith.”

  Set glanced off towards his master, who nodded back towards him in approval.

  “Correct. Akuoun was the first to discover and properly use Kaos amongst our kind, he has mastered every kind of arch magic we are aware of and I’m sure has created more that we aren’t aware of. He is the pinnacle of the Aesoterii, and what we all strive towards. Hence, The Zenith.”

  He then went down the line having the hatchlings on stage answer one by one.

  “Vaunt, Do you know Rondo’s title?”

  “The Star Eater.”

  Everyone on stage and most of the audience quickly turned to look at Vaunt, then Rondo. Rondo’s title from his adventuring days was not one many were aware of so even a number of elders were caught off guard by the borderline flamboyant title. Rondo himself had lit his pipe and leaned back in an invisible chair of distorted space while covering his face with his mask. Zan chuckled,

  “He never did like that name.”

  Zan cleared his throat before he continued.

  “Rondo’s title, Star Eater, was bestowed upon him by the mortal races during more adventurous times. He was striving for a pivotal creation, something that could mark his progress since the beginning of the pursuit of power. That was when he made a series of items, each forged from a star and each more powerful than the last. By the time he had completed his final creation, the name Star Eater was already synonymous with Rondo and his newfound penchant for taking stars for his work.”

  “Nivin?”

  “The Exception… I think?”

  Lakon could be heard laughing heartily on the sideline, he rarely talked about his title so she must have taken an interest in his past and spoken to one of the others about it. Lakon found this amusing and decided to let half the Foeldhn know with his boisterous laughter.

  “That’s right, Lakon. Not just his physical appearance and personality, but his magic itself is an exception to the rules that primarily govern the boundary. Lakon’s abnormal magic allows him to bypass the limits that the world itself puts in place, though, when others attempted the same, there was a recoil strong enough to take one fifth of the Foeldhn with it. It was decided that none would be allowed to follow in his footsteps, thus, he is once more, The Exception.”

  “Kehll.”

  “The Stargazer.”

  Zan glanced to his right towards Sylln then turned to face the crowd.

  “The Stargazer, The Exception, The Star Eater, The Zenith, The Nightmare, The Time Lord. A Title is something that will precede not only you, but your associates. It will grant you power in many ways, and will become an important defining feature of your character. However, a title is granted, not taken. Your actions within the various worlds of the Great Expanse will almost entirely determine how you are viewed by those of the boundary with insight to the existence of other worlds, work hard, and make your mark.”

  Zan flickered for a moment before vanishing from the Mezzai and leaving the ‘hatchlings’ to their own devices. Moments later the gathering became something of a festival, all of the aesoterii were masters of magic in their own right which meant the majority of them spent their free time doing research or testing out theories. Gathering so many of them in a single location was done so rarely that some of those present hadn’t seen each other for several cycles. As the red glow of the mezzai began to fade into a white ambient glow, the gathering had already largely dispersed leaving only a few of the stragglers behind, Set and Akuoun included.

  The pair had been together for the entirety of his life, but the last time they walked together was when he was so small his horns had barely grown. The two of them strolled back leisurely, both with a new goal in mind.

  “You’ve got some work to do.” Akuoun spoke the moment the two of them left the mezzai and entered the soft cyan glow of the Lozzai.

  “How are you feeling?”

  Set thought about his progress in comparison to his peers. What were his goals, what did he want to do?

  “Lost…”

  He wasn’t sure of his own motivations. All mages strive to become stronger, much like any hatchling wishes for longer horns. That wasn’t a true goal, that wasn’t a proper motivation.

  “I’ve been pursuing strength, but… why?”

  Akuoun tilted his head as he looked over his shoulder at his disciple.

  “... What?…”

  Akuoun turned back forward and shook his head as he continued to walk in the direction of his den.

  “I meant to ask how you felt about the whole event, about how you’re about to be sent out on your own grand adventure. I expected you to be ecstatic, not wallowing in self doubt. You’re barely a cycle old. You aren’t meant to know your purpose in life yet, the purpose of your existence.”

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  He walked back to his disciple and began ruffling his mane like he often had when Set was much smaller.

  “One step at a time.”

  Set glanced up past Akuoun’s hand to find the old Dureivan staring back down at him, when their eyes met the two of them began laughing as they continued their walk.

  “Akuoun, can you tell me about your Facet?”

  “Curious, are we?” He smirked as he lifted his hand and a sphere of energy appeared in his palm.

  “Before that, let’s go over the importance of Facets. You understand what they are, to an extent, but do you understand their significance?”

  Set stopped for a moment as if he’d run into an invisible wall.

  “Now that I’m reviewing what I know of Archons and facets… I don’t believe I do.”

  “Consider for a moment, what would be the difference between Lakon creating a barrier, and Zan creating a barrier?”

  “I suppose it depends on what the purpose of the barrier is?”

  “Not necessarily, but we can get to that later. Let’s say the barrier’s purpose is to keep out intruders.”

  “Can the beings inside leave as well?”

  “Is that impor-... No, no they can’t.”

  “I would assume that Zan would stop time in the surrounding area making it impossible to pass without the ability to transcend time itself, Lakon on the other hand…”

  Set pondered for a moment.

  “If you get too close… it… punches you?”

  Akuoun’s gaze narrowed at his disciple’s assessment of Lakon.

  “Lakon may seem… daft sometimes, but I assure you his magic is no less complex or powerful than the others. Try again.”

  “He would… Nullify forward movement around the designated border?”

  “He has done that before, you know. It was one of the most involved spells I’ve ever seen casted by a single being. That’s besides the point though. Do you see the difference that a simple specialization causes to the properties of the same spell?”

  “I do. I assume this change in properties exists between differing Facets as well, which is why you’ve presented a practical example.”

  “Yes, much like how your affinity might determine how you’re most likely to create a barrier, the unknown facets that an Archon bears can make them seem invincible. This is why an Archon’s facet is often a closely guarded secret. That being said, I’ll explain mine briefly.”

  Akuoun is an Archon of space, his Isolation magic is a product of the idea that space is similar to an infinite ocean, one which he can control the density and currents of at will. He can even scoop up sections of the ocean but the remaining space will fill in what’s missing, this property outright defies the existing rules of most worlds, and it should be noted that under normal circumstances attempting such a feat would lead to an unstable void in space which would eventually collapse upon itself and likely take at least an entire realm with it.

  The new generation of Aesoterii regarded the information regarding Archons that Zan divulged without prior warning with varying degrees of enthusiasm. The elders, being old creatures with nothing better to do, began to make bets regarding their disciples with the majority betting that one of the six chosen would be first to become an Archon. Many of the young dureivan began to prepare for their pursuit of power by gaining their own understandings of magic not only magic, but the boundary as a whole, as that understanding will later become the basis of their facet. The six that Zan chose to send out next were under exaggerated pressure compared to the others with their departure from the Foeldhn looming behind them. For most Archons, their facets are similar to their masters, which is to be expected as their entire world-view is often shaped by the one that raised them.

  For Set, however, it was a different situation, Set had been thinking about the boundary and its properties from the moment he began learning to control the seven energies. Though he was declared to be a space dureivan, he’d shown proficiency in all forms of Arch magic, and had spent the last cycle or so learning from everyone he could while Akuoun supplemented the lessons he got from the other elders with his own input. These days, he and Akuoun sat in a small hovering temple-esque structure overlooking the plains surrounding Akuoun’s den for extended periods of time discussing the nature of space and time over Akuoun’s extensive collection of board games and drinks he’d collected throughout his travels. Sometimes the pseudo day-night cycle that loomed over the whole of the Foeldhn would pass over tens of times in a single discussion. Occasionally, other elders or disciples would drop by and join in their discussion but in the end it was the two of them who remained.

  Nearly two cycles passed before any of the new generation began to grasp their own perspectives. Though it was far from the level needed to achieve the title of Archon, the fact that they had made noticeable progress beset Set with a sense of urgency. He had been at what he felt was a wall for the last half a cycle and even if he was the youngest, his pride wouldn’t allow him to fall behind his peers. Despite the competitive motivation, he is first and foremost, a mage. So he threw away something as pointless as pride and spoke with anyone he could, the other chosen, their masters, as well as the other elders of the Foeldhn. His fixation became so apparent that some of the elders became concerned for his well-being. Set’s unhealthy obsession with becoming an Archon became a point of contention amongst the elders.

  “That child is getting out of hand.” An elder who had requested to meet with Akuoun spoke to him with a stern yet pleading tone.

  “Set has always been obsessive, I trust that he will be able work through what plagues him.” Akuoun would not allow his concern to impede his disciple’s progress, “No matter how close he gets to the edge, I will be there to pull him back. This time I’m keeping a close eye on him.”

  Akuoun’s determination to see his disciple through his questionable behaviour led the rest of the elders to stay silent on the matter and watch in silence as the situation unfolds.

  “Those who practice magic without the will to drive themselves insane to reach new heights won’t even reach the bare minimum.” He would tell those who came to him with words of concern.”

  Set had come to the conclusion that in order to understand what was different about his perception of space, he needed to first replicate another’s. The perspective in question was Akuoun’s, and the magic was his signature, isolation. First, he attempted to replicate the magic he’d seen Akuoun use countless times. He made multiple attempts isolating various plants and rubble in his surroundings only for the result to be… horribly wrong more often than not. His first attempt was on a tree, which returned a twisted mass of bark and leaves. Then he tried again, another tree, this time it returned mostly intact with the leaves hovering above the ground in the same formation they were originally on the tree, when he attempted to move the leaves their corresponding branches at the top of the tree would shake.

  He continued to cast and modify the spell, attempting to replicate the properties that Akuoun’s isolation displays. Tens of glyphs hovered over the field in front of Akuoun’s den, some of which contained nearly one-hundred layers of complex magic. Akuoun occasionally dropped by to assist his disciple in his research and so did Vaunt and Haj. Sylln would come by at regular intervals and put him to sleep, forcing him to take a break from his research.

  Akuoun had sometimes even come to discuss Set’s findings with him, another mind to bounce results and ideas between. It was during one of these conversations that Set’s Ekryt tome opened on it’s own and he ran out of the den yelling, “I’ve got it!”

  Akuoun later stepped out of his den to check on Set, only to find an incredible number of glyphs rotating and vibrating violently as they converged into one. He rushed over to Set’s side only to find him in a less than optimal state.

  Tens, hundreds, thousands of attempts each one noted in his ever-increasing stack of journals. When he went to grab Set just before their conversation, the journals were stacked neatly organized by category. Somehow, in the time between him leaving the den and now, he’d managed to leave the journals in a state of disrepair. He was ragged, so lost in his mindless pursuit of replication he failed to notice Akuoun’s approach.

  “Another failure?” Akuoun mused as he strode up to a perfectly shaped sphere of wood, rock and blood.

  “Is this… blood?” Akuoun looked up from the sphere in his hand just in time to watch Set’s hand vanish in a flash, blood began to gush out after a few moments. Set did not respond, mumbling to himself as the space in front of him vanished in a flash of light and he continued to scribble notes into a tattered journal. He reached forward with his nub and the hand reappeared, his grey blood sloshing onto the floor as he continued with his notes.

  “You should rest, child.” He reached a hand out towards his disciple but felt a distortion in space and retracted his hand in an instant. The same flash occurred where his hand had been, taking a small chunk out of Set’s horns. Akuoun frowned, “This madness that drives you is important, but I won’t stand by while it consumes you.”

  Akuoun looked over at the stack of ragged books, journals filled to the brim with notes and theories. He left his disciple where he knelt and picked up one of his more recent journals. When he opened the journal he began to frown, the entries are less than legible and deteriorate further the more he read. When he began attempting to read the journals, he was confused. These were the same journals he had read and discussed with Set not moments ago, yet now attempting to read them feels as though a powerful foreign entity is attempting to invade and control his mind. Akuoun went from displeased to enraged as he attempted to read four or so journals only to be greeted with the same unintelligible scratches.

  “The ravings of the mad.” He closed the journal and tossed it aside.

  Akuoun walked up to Set, countering Set’s unconscious attempts at harming him with his isolation magic. When he reached Set again, he was scribbling in another notebook which Akuoun knocked out of Set's hands. Set looked up at him with a blank stare, his claws moved towards the slate ground of the isle as he continued writing, carving the unknown into the floor beneath him. Akuoun sighed as he glanced at the symbols on the floor and visions of the unknown began to seep into his mind. Akuoun quickly closed his eyes as he pulled Set up to his feet and used his magic to gouge out the slate where Set had written the mysterious characters. Once he was facing Set and away from the symbols, he tapped the crystal on Set’s chest and disrupted the natural flow of energy in Set’s body, rendering him unconscious. Akuoun picked him up as he glanced at space he’d gouged out and snorted in discontent.

  “What has this child done?” He murmured to himself as he returned to his den.

  Akuoun laid Set upon his nest and waited for his body to repair itself. Set had all but exhausted himself both mind and body, Akuoun wasn’t sure what fixing his energy flow by force would yield, rather, he chose to isolate Set from the others until he was certain of Set’s condition.

  When Set had recovered, he found himself alone in Akuoun’s den. Once he recovered from the splitting headache, he noticed a variety of strange sensations as he stood up and walked over to the reflective stone near Akuoun’s nest. In the mirror he saw that he'd visibly grown, his horns were now closer to Akuoun’s in size and numbered twelve rather than the four he'd had prior to his little episode. The hair that covered his tail and the mane running down the back of his neck, had grown three times longer. Aside from his fur and horns, his claws and scales shimmered in an assortment of colors and emitted a constant aura of Kaos energy.He was brimming with power, his raw strength, he felt, could rival even Akuoun’s and his magic wasn't lagging far behind.

  The changes he felt were beyond an increase in physical and arcane abilities, it was as if his understanding of magic had been re-written from the ground up. That which seemed impossible before, now seemed arbitrary as he effortlessly attempted to cast the very magic that drove him temporarily insane, and did so without flaw. Or at least, he thought he had. The weaponry that Akuoun had hung up on a wall was the target; it included a massive ornate sword and a long sleek weapon he’d previously learned to refer to as a ‘gun’. The result was a fusion of the two. A massive blade on either side of a barrel that served as the core to this amalgamation.

  “Youuuuu~! What have you done~!”

  It shrieked as various parts of the weapon had begun to shudder and shift.

  “Youuuuu~!” Set was baffled at the result. He fused the items together rather than isolating them from the rest of the Foeldhn. He felt enraged, he’d been through so much, put in so much effort only to fail at what he'd set out to do. So he tried it again, this time consulting his Ekryt tome during the cast.

  “Waaaiit~! Don-!” The amalgam vanished into thin air with a brief flash, then he brought it back. He repeated this several times to confirm that it wasn’t a fluke, he could truly use his mentor’s signature magic. He was bewildered that it worked, though there were some questions he had for Akuoun, most notably, the flash of light that appears to be absent in Akuoun’s magic. For now, however, he was satisfied. So in celebration of his achievement, he decided to rest for a little longer and laid back down in Akuoun’s nest.

  After Akuoun had carried Set and all of his journals home, he requested the aid of his peers. He asked Lakon and Saendra to keep an eye on Set, and figure out what happened in the short time between him leaving and Akuoun finding him. While on the other end he enlisted Xiig and Rondo to assist him in deciphering the journals Set had created. Lakon and Saendra arrived shortly after Set went to sleep, they seemed to be mindful of making too much noise initially but after seeing him asleep became relaxed once more.

  “I dunno if I can call him ‘little one' anymore.”

  Set recognized Lakon’s voice, but his manner of speech caught Set who seemed to be unconscious in Akuoun’s den, off guard. He felt Lakon's hand touch one of his horns as another voice penetrated the mind of the young dureivan.

  “He may be big by comparison, but it’s only been a cycle or two since he hatched. To me he’s still a hatchling.”

  “Fair’nough.” Lakon shrugged as he sat on the floor in front of where Set laid still.

  “He really has grown a lot… too much even. Wait… Saendra?”

  Lakon motioned for her to come closer, both of them examining the changes in him since they last saw him not long ago.

  “This… Is Set?” Saendra seemed just as if not more perplexed than Lakon.

  “This’s more than just ‘growth’, kid’s got 2 whole new sets of horns, an the energy he’s radiation ain’t no joke neither.”

  “His tome…”

  Saendra placed a finger on his forehead only to instantly encounter something, something powerful and eldritch in nature that instantly forced her out of his mind.

  “There’s something else in there, something besides Set.”

  “Is… is Set still in there?”

  “I… felt his presence as well, fighting. It didn’t seem like he was in danger. It felt like the entity was protecting him.”

  “Phew" Lakon was relieved to not have to kill one of his favorites.

  "It's just one thing after another this time ain't it? Guess we'll have to wait for either Akuoun to get back, or Set to wake up before we get any answers.”

  is a fourth category, but we'll cover that another time.

  Have a good one! ~ Rettesch