My rank was low. I knew that. Iron, even if it was a little better than the young Rakshasa’s apparently.

But everything else was torqued way up.

“So much potential!” the professor hissed at me. “So much room for growth. I can’t recall the last time I’ve seen these testing cubes glow so brightly before…”

She was keeping her voice low, but everyone else in the room was hanging on her every motion, trying to read her serpentine lips. Combined with her gasp and the lightshow the cubes were producing… right, there was no hiding the fact that I had been deemed something unique.

I sighed. “You can say it normally, professor.”

My words lifted a huge weight off her shoulders. She visibly relaxed.

“It’s just potential,” she said. She was less looking at me and more acting like she was giving everybody yet another lesson. “Potential to the extreme. I cannot even define a rank easily,” she added, a bit flustered. “But Sovereign at the very least. I certainly can’t see an upper limit…”

That brought a round of gasps and murmurs throughout the room. Oh, boy.

“And your Aspects too…” She slowly shook her head. “The cubes can only test the total you can get up to Gold, but by that point, you will have at least four and they all scale just as high…”

Everyone hung on her every word because it was clear she wasn’t done yet.

“And most unique of all,” the professor said. “You have a core with a highly unique property. Unique and dangerous. Do you know what that is, Mage…?”

“Moreland,” I said. “Ross Moreland. And I’d like to keep some things to myself, if that’s alright.”

“Of course, of course.” She reeled in her excitement just a smidge. “It’s rare to see such a… bright, young bud, if you will excuse my phrasing.”

“Right, right.”

With that excitement over, the class was mostly done. What was left was the last of the individual sessions, where the professor promised to go over the specifics of our individual Paths and Aspects and all that with us. When she offered, I immediately took the opportunity to go first. She made it seem like it was only fair, considering my previous evaluation had gone last.

But really, she was giving the same kind of shark-sensing-blood look as everybody else. Probably just wanted to get her scaly hands on me before I left.

My motivation for going first was related. I didn’t enjoy the looks, and I had a feeling that one or more of them would try to accost me afterwards, and I didn’t really want to deal with them.

With some proper privacy attained, I told the Scalekin professor exactly what my Path and its associated Aspect was.

“Newborn Star,” she mused. “How prophetic. And it started you off with Gravity, you said? Also intriguing.”

“Yes, so I was wondering if you knew about it or could point me in the right direction,” I said. “Master Kostis mentioned that Paths and Aspects related to stars and cosmic bodies are pretty rare, and that mine is Unique, but that there’s still prior knowledge I can make use of.”

“Kostis, eh? You sure are something, Mage Moreland. Kostis is correct, but ultimately, your direction of growth will be determined by you and your priorities. You can already imagine what sort of Aspects you might acquire next, yes?”

I nodded. “Heat. Light. That sort of thing. Maybe even Radiation.” That was all I could think of that stars were capable of off the top of my head. “But considering it can go to Sovereign or higher, I imagine I can get more Aspects that are stronger too.”

“Yes, but you’re not thinking of it correctly.” She got into lecturing mode again. “Powerful effects can be produced by the most mundane-sounding Aspect. Take the storm I created, for instance. Nothing but Wind, Cloud, and Lightning Aspects. Very basic, yes?”

I nodded, but slowly. They sounded basic, but I was still left wondering what counted as an Aspect and what was just the effect of the Aspect. Like, Cloud was clearly an Aspect for this lady, and yet, couldn’t I create the effect of a cloud with the Aspects of Water, Heat, and Air? What separated Heat from Fire or Wind from Air?

If Aspects were supposed to be the granular elements that created the powers of a certain Path, then why weren’t they actually modular, in a sense?

When I posed those questions to the professor, she mentioned the importance of definitions.

“You are correct to question,” she said. “But the Aspects are strict in what they define. You can certainly create a cloud with its constituent elemental Aspects. However, that requires a very strong level of control over each Aspect, possessing the right Affixes, ensuring they are ranked up high enough. Instead, with an Aspect of Cloud, such considerations become unnecessary, which is where stronger Paths outshine weaker ones.”

Hmm. I was starting to get it a bit. “So stronger Paths can potentially consolidate weaker Aspects into stronger ones? Does that happen when you’re ranking up the Path? Like, if I get all the constituent Aspects, will I end up with the Aspect of Star or something like that?”

“That depends. You cannot get an Aspect that is defined by your Path. Your Path is currently something that has the potential to create the giant burning bodies of the cosmos. However, upon evolution, were it to grow to something that defines what is greater than stars, then perhaps you could obtain an Aspect of Star.”

My mind immediately summoned ridiculous images. Path of the Newborn Galaxy? “If that happens, will I need to give up on all the constituent Aspects?”

“That again depends. Some Paths restrict what you can control, such as mine. I can’t control Water itself, so. However, different Paths have different restrictions. While I don’t think a Path with such incredible potential as yours will be too restrictive, that doesn’t mean it will be limitless.”

I didn’t like the sound of limits, but I supposed it made sense. “So… any specific suggestions for my Path? All this advice I’ve received feels generalized. Something I could learn with another beginner class. I know a lot of it will depend on my own decisions and priorities, but—”

The professor locked her slitted eyes on mine. “What are your priorities, Mage Moreland?”

“To be strong.”

“And beyond that?”

Beyond that… I thought about the cult and how they had welcomed me. I thought about the people who had helped me so far. I remembered the things I had seen, the things I had felt, the things I had fought for. More than I had ever done before. And I recalled asking Kostis about the mage who had summoned me here. “And beyond that, I want… a home I can call my own.”

Stolen story; please report.

The professor stared at me for a while, before smiling at me again. “Then I suggest you keep doing what you’ve already been doing. But try two more things on top of those. One of those is ensuring you find ways to break through Spirit blockages, as those can be rather pesky barriers to attaining more ranks.”

“Spirit blockages?”

“Exactly as it sounds. You will need breakthroughs to assist the growth of your Spirit. Often, this will require external supplements. Check the trading workshop for some assistance. The second is honing the mana variant that you employ.”

Another new thing. “Mana variant?”

She cleared her throat and went into lecture mode. “Consider the Aspects that you currently employ. Take Gravity for instance. When you make a table float, you are directing the mana you gathered to make the table float. In that instant, the mana transforms into a gravitational effect. In academic terms, we say the mana becomes a variant of itself, a variant that is governed by the Aspect channelling it.”

“So like, using Gravity is turning regular mana into, uh, Gravity Mana?”

“Exactly. There are many further considerations to this, but to keep it short since I have other mages to attend to, you can harvest a portion of this converted mana back into yourself and your core and your soul and all your mana conduits, thereby further enhancing your capabilities. It’s a process you can perform using your mana core. Assuming it awakens correctly.”

I was curious about these advanced capabilities, but her tone made it pretty clear that no matter how unique or special I was, I couldn’t take up all her time.

“Thanks for all the guidance,” I said. “I learned a lot, Professor…?”

“Urhei. Please call me Professor Urhei.”

I nodded a bit in embarrassment because I was pretty sure she had mentioned her name at the very beginning of the class and I had just missed because I was late.

On my way out, I got a lot of looks from the students who had remained, including the young Rakshasa with the Spiritflame. No one got up to me, though, which I was thankful for.

I headed straight to the job board. It was getting kind of late, but I still wanted to at least find a job that I could pursue. My eyes roved over the available selections before I eventually landed on a curious listing for the same job but with multiple different levels. It had an Iron rank, a Silver rank, and then a Gold rank too.

Silhatsa explained what was up with that. “Essentially, that’s the same task with the same required style of Aspect that you’ve seen—something that can destroy things entirely—but will pay the requisite for the associated rank of the mage who takes the job. In essence, it’s one of those jobs that will pay anyone, so long as they have the right Aspect. But you…”

I grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ve got the right Aspect, alright.” At least, I was pretty damn sure I did. “It’s just an Aspect from my Path of the Acolyte. Not from Path of the Newborn Star.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“I am allowed to use any Aspect I see fit, yes?”

“You are, once you’re registered as a Guild Mage. And considering your reputation, I shouldn’t be doubting you.”

That made my grin a little wider. “Oh, I’ve got a reputation now, do I?”

Silhatsa laughed softly. “You’d be surprised.”

In the end, I did take up the job, though of course, only the Iron-ranked version of it. One of the reasons it had caught my interest, aside from being something I could use Sacrifice to take care of—which posited multiple benefits on its own—was the fact that it was also related to the academy.

As such, before I headed out, I went back and informed Professor Urhei. “Do you think I could use you as a reference, professor?” I made sure to smile extra sweet while asking.

“Oh, certainly, Mage Moreland,” she said, back in her grandma voice. All the individual sessions were done so she was just about to leave. “Curious what you would need a reference for.”

“I’m not sure. Let’s just say, for future use. Thanks!”

There. It had been nagging me that I had let my social anxiety win and not done anything productive about the fact that other people seemed pretty interested in me, like an advantage I had just left alone. Not so, now. Take that, stupid brain.

It really was late when I headed out. Night and day might be hard to tell on Ephemeroth, but the throngs of people—of humans—headed in a specific direction were quite telling. Everyone was returning home to their jobs. Me? I headed straight to the Artificer’s Guild.

“This is the Rat-Catcher’s Guild, human,” a shady-looking Ogre said when I ended up at what was apparently the wrong destination. “Sod off.”

“Why is there a Rat-Catcher’s Guild?” I asked. I probably shouldn’t have, but it was surprising. “Are rats even a thing in this world?”

The Ogre walked up to me with murder in his eyes. “Why’s there a rat scampering around where it really doesn’t belong?”

I took that as my cue to leave and made my way to the actual Artificer’s Guild. Unlike the grand majesty of the Mage Guild, this looked more like a mom-and-pop store. They were closing up shop, but I managed to squeeze into the room filled with a bunch of, well, artifices.

There were tons of stuff I didn’t recognize. Little machines that puffed out smoke, mechanisms that ticked like a bomb about to go off, crystals connected to each other in various arrays of circuitry, and so on. Even the mundane stuff wasn’t really normal. Quills that wrote on their own, clocks with arms that pointed at weather conditions, a glass sculpture that shattered and reforged itself in a continuous loop.

The more I looked around at the shelves upon shelves filled with all sorts of oddities, the more I felt like this place was an odd extension of the Mage Guild. Well, more like if all the eccentric nerds of the Mage Guild had been kicked out and formed their own Guild.

“We’re closed,” one lanky Plumefolk fellow said. His rust-coloured feathers would have looked pretty if there was more light in the room. “Come back tomorrow, friend.”

“I was here for the job. You know, the one posted on the Mage Guild?”

“Oh! Then we can head over to the academy.” His beaky smile didn’t waver. “First thing tomorrow.”

I stared, then smiled in return. It was honestly nice to see some semblance of work-life balance even in this world. “Tomorrow then. I’ll come back early.”

I did head out extra early the next day, almost around the same time that Escinca was up, which surprised the Elder. Informing him about the job, I left for the time being, getting lost a couple of times before I ended up at the Artificer’s Guild.

“You’re right on time!” the rust-feathered Plumefolk said, greeting me with a smile. There was a reason I had started early. “Good, good!”

I decided against telling him about ending up at the market. It was, naturally, still closed. “I’m ready to get going. Where’s the academy? Name’s Ross, by the way.”

“I’m Linak,” Plumefolk said.

He led me out of the store, locking the door behind him. Not a regular lock, more like a mana-powered one. A few threads of dark magical energy streamed out of his finger to form a runic shape on his doorknob. The rune fizzled out for a second. Linak cursed.

I blinked. I had understood that, despite being pretty certain that wasn’t New Zair. “Did you just tell that lock to screw its grave?”

Linak’s rust-coloured feathers fluttered, almost like it was a physical sign of embarrassment from the Plumefolk. “You understand Sortecarii?”

Looked like the universal part of the Universal Language Approximator wasn’t a lie. “To an extent. I had no idea your curses were so inventive, or that Plumefolk buried their dead in graves.”

“Depends on where the Plumefolk is from.” Linak turned back to the lock and made sure it worked, the rune staying solid this time. He ascertained the door was actually locked before leading me away. “Xokrist Academy is in Ring Two. So that’s where we’re headed.”

I whistled. “Ring Two, huh?”

His amber eyes surveyed me critically for a moment. “Hmm, yes, it should be fine since you’re with me… let’s go.”

I wasn’t at all taken aback that just strolling up to Ring Two wasn’t going to go well. Just had to remind myself to be thankful that I was being led there instead of needing to find my own way to it.

We got going, though we didn’t travel for long before pausing.

“Woah…” I said after a while, staring.

We were still on Ring Three, because I was pretty sure there would be a gate dividing Rings Three and Two, just as there was one separating Four from Three. But this little gated park we had arrived at was so out of the ordinary, it took my breath away for a moment.

Trees. Real, brown-barked trees with actual green leaves. Grass that waved in a gentle breeze, somewhere between green and gold and very much alive. Streams of pure water bubbled and gurled along in little canals throughout the area. There were actual flowers, their scent really taking me out of the moment.

“Where… are we?” I asked.

“This is the Preserve along the way to Ring Two,” Linak said. “Come on, Ring Two itself isn’t far.”

I couldn’t help but gawk around at the sights, all the while wondering just how in the world they had done something like this.

“You’re wondering how this is all possible,” Linak said with a knowing look. “It’s—”

“Icons?” I offered.

“That’s right.” His eyes re-evaluated me. “Speaking of how, mind sharing how you’re going to take care of our issue?”

He was asking about the job. Distracted though I was with everything around me, I managed a nod. “I’m just going to Sacrifice them.”