Alex sat cross-legged on the mana formation, eyes closed, breathing steady, trying to coax back whatever his Aspect had chewed through during weapon training.
The absorption was better than it used to be. Not dramatically better. Just enough that he’d noticed it during his last spar, a little more mana left in the tank than the very first time he’d stepped onto that field, still shaky and unsure of what he was even doing.
’A little more every day,’ he thought, feeling the current trickle in slower than he wanted, like trying to fill a cup from a leaking tap. ’Still more than nothing, though. I’ll take it.’
When the time finally came, he opened his eyes and stood, rolling his shoulders once to shake off the stiffness of sitting still for so long.
Zara was already there with his water, holding it out before he’d even fully gotten to his feet.
He drank it down in three long swallows and looked past her, down at the formation beneath him.
Glowing symbols traced across the stone in careful, deliberate lines, ethereal in a way that made his skin prickle faintly just from looking at them too long.
They didn’t look like something scratched in a hurry. They looked considered, almost artistic, the kind of thing someone had spent years perfecting rather than days.
"These are runes?" Alex asked, crouching slightly to get a better look, tracing the shape of one curve with his eyes without daring to touch it.
"Oh, these? Yeah, they’re runes," Zara said, glancing down at them like she’d honestly stopped noticing they were even there anymore.
"Do you know about runes?" Alex asked, straightening back up.
"I only know the basics about them," she admitted, tilting her head slightly. "I’m not an expert in this or anything, so don’t expect too much out of me."
"There are people who study runes specifically, though, and they’re actual experts at it," she went on, gesturing down at the glowing symbols beneath them. "This mana formation, the one pulling ambient mana toward its center like this, that’s the work of someone who’s spent a long time mastering their craft. You don’t get lines that clean by accident."
Alex tilted his head, staring at the runes again like he might suddenly understand the whole thing if he just concentrated hard enough on it.
"There are plenty of scholars who’ve made real advancements in rune work over the years," Zara continued, warming up to the topic the longer she talked. "Runes are basically considered the language of magic, a way of expressing it in written form instead of just casting it out into the air. But not everyone can master that kind of thing. You need more than just intelligence for it. You need a sharp, precise kind of mind that can hold a lot of detail without losing track of any of it, and sometimes, in rare cases, people are just born with a natural affinity for it, the same way some people are just naturally good with a blade without ever picking one up before."
"Are there classes related to runes, then?" Alex asked, genuine curiosity winning out over his usual habit of pretending he already knew the answer to things. "Like, can someone actually awaken into something built around that?"
"Yeah, there are cases like that," Zara said, nodding. "People who already study runes, or who already have a natural affinity for them, sometimes awaken a class that ends up complementing their rune mastery directly, like the class was built to work alongside what they were already doing. And then there are others who awaken something completely unrelated first, and only start studying runes afterward, and eventually end up with a hybrid class that blends both things together, the awakening and the years of study."
"Wait, hold on." Alex stopped walking for a second. "That’s actually possible? Awakening a hybrid class after you’ve already awakened something else entirely?"
"It’s not easy," Zara said, "and I won’t pretend it is, because plenty of people try and never manage it. But if you work hard and put your attributes and skill points in the right places over time, a lot of things become possible that people assume are impossible from the outside. That’s really the whole point of magic, Alex. Nothing about it is truly fixed. It all depends on how the person wielding it decides to use it. A mage uses it to empower their spells further. A warrior uses it to strengthen their own muscles beyond what training alone could do. A runesmith uses it to refine their craft down to something almost perfect. There’s no real ceiling on any of it if you’re patient enough and smart enough about where you invest yourself."
"People invent new things constantly because of that," she added, "and the ones who actually succeed at it usually end up among the richest people in the empire, honestly in any empire, because they collect royalties on whatever they’ve created for as long as it stays useful. Some of them have built entire merchant houses off a single invention that happened to catch on with the masses at just the right time."
"I see." Alex let out a low breath. "That’s incredible. Magic really is something else, huh."
He stepped off the platform, and Zara fell into step right beside him without needing to be asked, the way she always did now, like it had simply become where she belonged.
"So," she said, glancing sideways at him, "you’re fighting Scott today?"
"Yeah."
"You do remember he probably leveled up after his first mission, right?" Zara said, her tone shifting into something a little more serious now. "He’s had real combat experience since the last time you two crossed paths. That means he’s stronger now, and more skilled too, not just one or the other. This isn’t going to be like the recruits you’ve faced so far. Every single one of them was still level one, still hadn’t gone anywhere or fought anything that actually fought back properly. Scott is going to be your first real taste of someone who’s already moved past that stage."
"That’s exactly why I spent the last week drilling the new mechanism for the Viper’s Spine so hard," Alex said, keeping his pace steady beside her. "At least I’ll have something new under me going in, even if the raw attribute gap tries to swallow me whole the second we start."
"Be careful with that gap, Alex." Zara’s voice dropped a little, losing its usual lightness entirely. "He’s going to lean on it from the very first exchange, I guarantee it. If you can’t disrupt his rhythm early and throw him off whatever plan he walks in with, this ends in under thirty seconds. Maybe less than that, honestly. Level gaps aren’t something to joke about, and I need you to actually take this seriously instead of just nodding along at me."
"Hmm." Alex nodded slowly, actually turning the words over this time instead of brushing past them. "I’ll keep that in mind, Zara. And, thank you, for worrying about me this much. That’s really sweet of you, you know."
"H-huh?" Zara blinked at him, her whole expression shifting like he’d grown a second head right in front of her. "When did you start talking like that?!"
"It’s just a compliment," Alex said, lifting his chin slightly, "for all the good work and dedication you’ve shown me this past week. Keep it up, and you’ll get to see a lot more of it eventually."
A giggle slipped out of her despite herself, hand coming up to cover her mouth for half a second before she gave up on hiding it. "Alright, my sweet little prince. I will. Don’t you worry about a thing."
"Hey! Don’t call me that in public!" Alex hissed, glancing around at the handful of recruits nearby who were very much pretending not to have heard any of it.
"Oh, we’re almost here," Zara said, breezing right past his protest without a shred of guilt and pushing open the heavy training hall doors ahead of them.
"Sigh." Alex trailed after her, shoulders slumping in defeat. "You really never listen to me, do you."
There was no real heat behind it, though. Just a small, stubborn fondness that had been quietly building in him for a week now, whether he’d meant for it to happen or not.