^^ Kip Hiram ^^

Without much further debate, Lady Kip Hiram was made my Teacher, -though she insisted on calling herself my Master and me her Apprentice,- and with much contention between my parents, I was placed into her care on the condition that I return once per month at the least for a 'progress report'. (Mother tried to bargain for every other day, but Kip, Father, and I all shot her down mercilessly, in an odd showing of cooperation.) There was a distinct lack of ceremony as I exited the city with Kip, stepping through an oval Gateway she summoned on our balcony and into a small stone village surrounded by sheer rocks and built into the side of a mountain, it would seem.

"This way." Kip sighed, still tired from arguing with my mother, and led me across the only large, wide-open space in the village; it seemed a sort of village square, where all the paths from the houses carved out of the cliff face all around us met up, and Gates were opening about every minute, to my surprise.

"What is this place?" I asked, hopping over a small stream which was carrying water down to the tiny fields of vegetables that were apparently being farmed on the sides of the cliff in little pockets carved out of the rocks.

"This is Hightower, the closest we have to a Transportation Hub on this entire Continent. It's in the center of the Continent, a prime place for Gates to every single City-State there is, and it's also the closest there is to a Hall of Conjuration; you're something of a Researcher instead of a Student, I gather, so you can learn almost everything about Conjuration from just examining the magic of everyone here... there's also a large amount of Enchanters making use of the greater concentration of Mana here to speed up their work, so about eight out of ten of the permanent residents are Masters or ArchMages of all four Affinities." Kip explained, leading the way up a steep staircase and into a small cabin carved out of the rock, looking down at the courtyard.

It was quite small, the entire home about the size of my bedroom in the tower, but it was furnished; a small twin bed sat against the right wall opposite a fireplace and a bathtub, along with an odd chamberpot that seemed to be full of rushing water at all times. On the back wall, a set of stone shelves with some basic toiletries and towels sat, as well as plenty of room for clothing, if any was present currently. Along the right wall, just past the bed, were several mostly-empty bookshelves carved into the stone, and a writing desk was up against the glass window we'd passed coming into this room, so that it overlooked the courtyard.

"Quite Cozy. Is this yours? I'd have expected more books, honestly..." I hummed at the bookshelves, picking up one of the only books present; the cover read 'On the Subject of Flying Monsters', and the first page I flipped to was a careful and painstakingly detailed drawing of the anatomy of a draconic creature, along with a few pages of information about it.

"No, this is yours. The books as well; think of it all as a sort of Gift, for becoming my Apprentice." She shrugged and pulled my Seven large duffel bags of belongings out of her Magical Bag one by one, grunting softly at their weight. "Here you are... seven suspiciously heavy bags, free delivery: This time." She warned me sternly, setting them on the bed.

"Thank you, Lady Hiram. I appreciate the gift of the Books more than I know how to properly express." I thanked her, then turned away and immediately began pulling out all my books, the few scant gathered resources I'd managed to get from the Hall of Research on the subjects of Alchemy and Beasts, filling one of the bookshelves completely after I'd moved all of the new books to another shelf. The last bag was just my clothing, armor, and weapons, which I placed onto the clothing shelves beside my bed.

"Call me Kip, or Miss Kip if you must; this Lady Hiram nonsense is worse than Master, and considering you refuse to call me that, just... anything other than Lady. Alright?" She sighed, rubbing her face tiredly.

"... I understand, Miss Hiram."

"Better than nothing. Now, settle in, get the lay of the land, and read that blue scroll before tomorrow afternoon; it's a guide to the first three stages of Gathering, -you know, the ones you skipped,- and it has... pictures, I think? I dunno. Tomorrow we'll begin a lesson on the assumption that you read it and understood it, so do your best if you don't want to be lost. Enjoy." Without further ado, she waved and walked away on the steep carved paths, towards a different doorway cut into the cliff and closed off with a heavy curtain. (I noticed that as you got higher up, there were at least guard rails, so that was a relief.)

I waited and watched to make sure I knew which one was hers, so I didn't get lost, and then immediately picked up the blue scroll she'd pointed at and began reading at the metal desk. Nothing here was made of Wood, That I'd seen, but the bed, desk, and chair were all made of simple stainless steel, it seemed, while the bed and chair had comfortable pads on top of them made of leather. (Also, there were in fact pictures in the Scroll, to my amusement, little cartoonish depictions of people in wizard hats completing the tasks spoken of in the scroll.)

'Mana Gathering: The Process by which the body is enriched with Mana, purifying it and eventually storing it within the body in the Mana Pool, to enable increasingly more powerful spells and enchantments.

Stage One: Sensing; to Gather Mana, one must first sense it in the air around oneself, in the food one eats, in the water one drinks. Mana is all around us, an energy that takes many forms, from the crackling fire of a hearth to the freezing snow of a mountain peak. To begin, sit in front of a Hearth, with your back to the fire, and simply feel the heat. Then, once you're familiar with the feeling, close your eyes, and attempt to sense it with your mind, not your skin. Once you can perfectly envision the flames, move further away, out of the range of the immediate heat, and begin again. For your third attempt, move out of the room, and have someone else light the fire; if you can sense when the fire lights, and see the Heat as it turns Fuel into Mana, you have mastered the First Stage!'

"What... rubbish..." I sighed, disappointed in the utter simplicity, then realized something rather damning; I should have learned this a long time ago. "This has nothing to do with Conjuration!!! I could've learned this years ago!!! Mother and Father refused to teach me on the precept that Magic had to be taught by someone of the same Affinity as yourself, but this is entirely basic, completely separate from Affinity!!!" I groaned, rubbing my scalp angrily, and unrolled more of the scroll to skip past the boring nonsense; even without that, I already knew how to sense Father and Mother's Mana from as far away as the bottom of the Tower.

'Stage Two: Manipulation; This Stage is where every Affinity Differs, for obvious reasons. For Destruction Mages, it's simply a task of snuffing the fire out and relighting it, manipulating the heat inside the Hearth. For Restoration Mages, it's simply draining the magic of the fire, and redirecting it into the wood, repairing the wood and growing roots and leaves. For Illusion Mages, it's making an illusory fire. However, for Conjuration Mages, -the focus of this guide,- its a matter of manipulating your Mana Internally; that is, moving your Mana through your body and strengthening your body. Many Mages of other Affinities and Humans without Affinities do this, as a method of physical enhancement, but for Conjuration Mages, it's a method of Magical enhancement as well. Every Spell in the Conjuration Spellbook is based around Teleportation, Summoning, Transmutation, and Enchantment; all of these require a robust form, or you face the possibility of ripping yourself in half with a Gate, or Summoning a creature you cannot control. As such, you require Absolute Mastery of this Stage.

To begin, you will breath in the air around you, pulling carefully the Mana within until you've filled your Mana Pool. Once you're topped-off, fill in the cracks of your skin, -a paper-thin barrier will do to begin,- and then exercise your body; you'll notice a distinct difference in two things: your strength and speed, and how quickly you get tired. After you exercise, meditate and refill your Mana Pool with your breath, then release the barrier on your skin, returning the Mana to your already-filled Mana Pool. It will overflow, resulting in a glowing aura around you as the Mana converts itself to heat and light. Continue this every day, and your Mana Pool will naturally adapt, as the more you pull out of it and then replace, the larger it will become.'

"That seems rather straight-forward... I suppose I'll have to change a few things about my daily exercises to include Mana, but that's no issue at all." I nodded, unrolling the last portion of the scroll.

'Stage Three: Purification; The Mana Gathered during State Two is Standard Environmental Energy. This Energy is Simple and Abundant, and it comes in various forms, all of which are 'Impure'. They are mere Expressions of Energy, not Energy Itself. Heat, an Expression of Vibration, Light, an Expression of Momentum from a Photon, so on and so forth. To Purify this Mana, you have to empty your Mana Pool Completely; even a Drop left behind will render the results Impure, and thus a failure. Once the Pool is Empty, envision a Screen, or Filter, however you wish to see it, and drain the Energy into your Mana Pool, one drop at a time. If this is successful, the Purified Mana, which is an Order of Magnitude more potent and powerful than Impure Mana, will fill your Mana Pool, and your power, (as well as your control over your Spells,) will increase several times over. For some people, the Process of Purification is easier in a place which reminds them of Purity, such as a glacial spring or a waterfall or a mountain bluff; for others, anywhere will do.

Remember: the amount and purity of your Mana determines which spells and Enchantments you can craft without a Mana Storage Device. You should never stop repeating the Second and Third Stages of Mana Gathering. ArchMage's of Worldwide Renown still spend time Meditating and Purifying their Mana Hearts, (something you'll learn in Stage Four,) and even after you've reached that point, you should continue attempting to achieve a more-pure Mana Pool, and one day you may achieve a Mana Sea, even! Ever Upwards!'

"A Mana Sea... isn't that what you need to be considered an ArchMage?" I muttered to myself, sitting on the bed and laying down, staring at the ceiling as I began emptying out my body's Mana, including the Changes I'd made with my apparently accidental trip into the Fourth Stage; it hurt to undo my hard work, but clearly I'd skipped the most important stage, so I had no choice. I had long wondered why my own Mana looked different from my Parents and my Sister's; I'd assumed that it was a matter of Affinity, and that Conjuration Mages just had weaker Mana, and that was that. The fact that the Amounts were the same, while the Purity was different, highlighted that perhaps I had been a bit too hasty with that conclusion.

Emptying all of my Mana out, all at once, along with my Dagger and Armor, I managed to make all the air in my room smell of ozone, but when I was finally empty, I began the process of straining the mana as it came into my lungs, or attempting to do so. The incredibly esoteric instructions of 'filtering Energy' were ridiculous, but I was aware of the differences between my Mana and the three ArchMages that I knew personally, and so I simply began finding the little bits of Mana that were the right color, a clear white instead of the red, black, and blue that currently populated the room from my exhalation.

This process took time, much more than I first anticipated due to the short time it took to skip ahead, but, once I took a moment to consider it, it was clear that given the sheer size of my Mana Pool, it would take me several times longer, so it didn't surprise me that I only managed to fill in a mere Tenth of my Mana Pool before the sunlight streaming through the windows indicated to me that it was morning once more.

Mildly dissatisfied with my progress, but too hungry now to stay laying down all day, I washed my face and dressed in my armor, gathering my weapons for a hunt in the forest; I was given a fireplace and no firewood, so clearly I was required to catch my own food and chop my own firewood, which didn't bother me.

The courtyard was full of people, disregarding the early hour, so it was relatively easy to find a merchant at one of the many stalls that were all around the courtyard, selling a grand variety of goods, most of which I'd never seen before. "Excuse me a moment, Elder, do you mind if I ask a few questions? I've only just arrived, and I've no clue how to reach the ground, to hunt in those woods at the base of the mountain; is there a Lift, or some path that could be taken?"

The older man, (I'd waited until after he finished selling fresh meat to a customer to approach,) hummed as he examined the bow and arrows on my back, and then my ears, clearly visible. "Well... there is a Lift, yes, goes down to the bottom of the cliff, but it's only for goods and livestock, see? You'll have to take the stairs; pain in the arse, it is, and it ain't safe from monsters, not one bit, so you've not a snowballs chance in hell to make it down and back up without an escort! You'd be better served going up the mountain, like I do to get my Meats! Well, me sons, nowadays; I work the stall." He answered quite easily, to my relief, pointing at the three places he'd mentioned in turn; the Lift, the Stairs Down, and the Stairs Up, which traveled to the top of the cliff and disappeared over onto the rest of the mountain.

"I see... Is there any specific Law to how much game or what type is allowed to be hunted? I don't want to kill the wrong animals, if they're needed for husbandry."

"Hmm... not that I can think of, besides the elk; they're very rare, but if you do see one, don't kill it! Everything else is free game." He nodded seriously, stroking his beard and slowly sitting down in a metal chair with a leather pad, like the one in my room.

"Thank you very much for having answered my questions and allowing me to bother you while you're busy, Elder." I bowed politely, and walked up the stairs after he waved me away with a chuckle, already speaking to a new customer.

While it was rather punishing to walk all the way up the mountain by way of the switch-back stairs, it seemed as good a time as any to rebuild my Mana Reinforcement, using the Mana I'd accrued so far; I was supposed to exercise while expending Mana, after all, so rebuilding the system I'd destroyed to make way for the Pure Mana, and doing so with Pure Mana, thus setting into position a system which would only refill my Mana Pool with Pure Mana, was my solution to my issue of not being able to collect enough Pure Mana.

Was it mildly lazy, abusing the System of my 'Mana Heart' to take the work out of filtering my Mana for Purity? Maybe. Did I necessarily care? No. After all, ArchMages used that exact system to refill their Mana, and I already knew the Method, both in Theory and Practice, so as far as I was concerned, I'd learned the Lesson and didn't need to do it the hard way. Again, Mildly Lazy, but only due to impatience. If I tried to gather my entire Mana Sea, one piece at a time, it would take me at least two weeks, and that was ignoring the grueling task it would be to hold my Mana Pool separate, and not ingest any of the Simple Mana that I breathed in or found in my food over those few weeks.

Regardless, with that system in place, I was constantly regaining and expending Pure Mana, as well as draining all the Simple Mana I inhaled into my weapons, recreating the Loop I'd given to my dagger in all of them, and slowly filling them so that when I was finally ready to enchant them, I'd be able to make them all into something interesting.

The mountain had a plentiful plethora of game, from snowshoe hares burrowing through the light dusting of autumn snow, a few Stags, Deer and Elk both, easily found. The old man had said elk were rare, but as a High Elf, it wasn't that difficult for me to find them; I even walked up to several of them, inspecting them gently for wounds or ticks, then sent them on their way with a gentle tap on their flanks.

The view from the top of the mountain was, of course, unparalleled; my view from the Tower didn't even come close, not in a thousand years. Without any sort of looking glass, I could see three different lively city-states, as well as one that looked like a ruins; a city fallen to monsters, no doubt, or abandoned due to the harsh weather. Unlike the mountain, which had an internal heat due to the various geothermal activities likely present beneath it, (this was the reason none of the snow stuck to the mountain, I surmised,) they had no such protections from the rigors of the center of the continent. The coldest region, and the most dangerous in terms of the amounts and strength of the local Monsters, it was not a choice location to live for most; still, the density of natural Simple Mana did make this place a great spot for Mages, which was likely why my own City-State, and specifically the Hall of Research, was placed not far north of here, perhaps a hundred and twenty miles. Just beyond sight from the top of the mountain, unfortunately.

Filling my Mana Pool with Pure Mana was rather easy, here on the mountain top; like the guide said, a place of Peace and Purity like this really did help calm you down, making the Mana flow smoother and with fewer native impurities, thus making the Filtering process much swifter. Like pouring Water through a Sieve instead of Mud, obviously one flowed much easier, but even quadrupling the speed of the filling only filled another tenth of my Mana Pool before noon.

"I figured I'd find you somewhere on the mountain, but on the peak, surrounded by forest critters? What are you, a Druid?" Kip dropped down in front of me off the back of that massive white Owl she had flown with the other day, and the animals scattered away in a panic as the calm was shattered.