I wonder how much Loren can tell us about chaos magic.

Not enough, I imagine. It was only discovered a year ago.

Seiren located the book on foundation magic and thumbed through it. There, just a small chapter on chaos magic – it wasn't even labelled as such. It was called 'core energy magic' back then, so-named for its link to the human life and death.

There is tentative evidence there may be a fifth type of magic, 'core energy magic', with current evidence pointing towards its limitation of equivalent exchange of energy. Its particular potency in areas of new life and death suggest it may have best potential on the battlefield. Further research is required in this area.

That's probably why Loren works here. There's a lot of life and death in hospitals, right? So everything's in her element.

I really don't want to talk to her about anything.

I think you'll have to.

Madeleine prodded her on the inside. Seiren followed her line of sight and her eyes fell – along with her stomach – on Loren Rummage, standing outside the Institute. Seiren's one-way window at least ensured her grimace wouldn't be seen. Loren was still in her rainbow-lined cloak, her long tumbling blonde hair fanning around her face, a big grin from ear to ear as she greeted the guards outside the doors.

"She's here for me, isn't she?" said Seiren out loud, sighing. The sun propped itself on the mountain edges far away. Time had flown when she flicked through the books she'd requested and doodled the basics of rune sketches. She drummed her fingers on the pieces of paper with her drawings, smudging some of the chalk. Several base circles sat at the top of the page. Below that, she'd sketched the points of contact for stabilising energy: the typically-used hexagon and the six-pointed star. It was the most stable grounding that provided reasonable control: one of the first lessons taught at King's. Seiren had grown to prefer four points but it was probably safer for her to test with six-pointers.

Green runes were basic enough. With increasing numbers of gradients dotted along the lines within the rune circle, the more magic could lock with the target's life energy and encourage healing. But no matter how many gradients anyone put in a green rune, it wouldn't be enough to return someone from the dead, or heal from anything life-threatening. Green runes couldn't exceed what was possible by a human body if left alone; amputated limbs would not regenerate, but the stump could heal. Even with the succession of green runes Seiren had done during the Garlinge fight with the Hannan man, that was only superficial healing.

No, she would likely need to modify it with a violet rune, and that brought more complexity than most could face. The violet rune's almost limitless potential with its overlapping shapes to modify the target's properties meant Seiren might trial until her death and wouldn't come to a helpful solution.

Loren would know. She works with healthcare.

Loren is an airhead.

Loren is a qualified state mage of high standing in Bicknor and she's waiting for you, so get off your butt and go meet her already, Seiren Harred.

"Seiren!" Loren's chirpiness made Seiren wince. She waved with energy that Seiren hadn't had in at least ten years. "I've been waiting for you!"

I know.

"Let's go. I have some leftover rice from yesterday and I can whip up a stew to go with it."

"You what?" Seiren ogled at her. Loren blinked those long-lashed grey eyes.

"Dinner tonight. You're staying with me. I told you!"

"But—"

"No protesting! State mage's orders!"

Seiren didn't want to remind her that a state mage has no judicial jurisdiction without the council's permission. Loren grabbed her by the arm and almost towed her to the cart. Half an hour later on a bumpy stone-slabbed road, Seiren was once again unceremoniously dragged into Loren's home and to her living room. An oil lamp burned on the table.

"Is that all the stuff you've got with you?" Loren called over her shoulder, banging about in the kitchen in the adjacent room. "Shouldn't a girl have more stuff?"

For such a glamorous state mage, Loren's house was surprisingly humble: a small unit along with perhaps twenty others up two flights of stairs, with a polished oak door and carpeted floor. Open windows overlooked the wide streets of Bicknor, which still bustled with movement despite it being about eight o'clock in the evening. Runed lights bathed the streets in a soft, warm glow. People called out to each other in jovial voices; animals clip-clopped by, drawing carts.

Seiren perched on the edge of the sofa, her light travel bag on her lap containing two changes of clothes and runing equipment.

Not everyone is so vain they travel with paints and accessories.

Not everyone travels with just two changes of clothes and two pairs of underwear either, Seiren.

The kettle whistled. More banging and clanging and fifteen minutes later, Loren appeared in front of her.

"You're not a chatty one, are you?" Loren said with a smile, placing a hot cup of tea and a bowl of stew and rice on the table before Seiren.

"Why would a mage not use magic for household uses? It seems a bit of waste of time."

"You mean boiling my own kettle? It keeps me human. If I rely on magic with every little thing, I lose touch with what it's like to be a standard person, and that's no good when you deal with people every single day." Loren took a big slurp of her tea. "Bicknor people are very down-to-earth. It's a nice community. I think you'll like it here."

Seiren's disgust might just be less well-masked than she had initially thought.

"You're a loner, aren't you, Seiren?" Loren raised a blonde eyebrow. "You think you can survive by yourself, don't need any help, can pave your own way?"

"What of it?" Seiren finally took a small sip of her colourful mug, painted with the six-pointed star of a basic rune. Her stomach rumbled loudly. She flushed scarlet and took several bites of the stew, hoping it'd settle it down. It was unexpectedly pleasant, warming to the belly and calmed her.

"Oh, nothing at all. It's up to you what you want to do, but it's a miserable life to keep isolating yourself. Eventually you'll need someone to give you a hand or as back-up and nobody will come because you've made yourself that way. It's not my business--" Damn right it's not, thought Seiren. "--but you shouldn't resign yourself to that so early. You do end up working with a lot of seniors and colleagues and that relationship comes in useful."

She has a point.

Seiren swallowed and grimaced. Everyone's got a bloody point.

Ask her about chaos magic.

I'd rather gouge out my eyeballs.

Ask for me!

Seiren hesitated, chewing her lip. She raised her eyes, only to see Loren humming to herself and waving out of the window from her seat. She took several more bites, biding her time. Madeleine huffed in her head.

"What did Rowan tell you about me? You said you heard about me from him." He'd better not have told Loren about her inability to use burst magic. If word like that got out, she would become a laughing stock.

"Eh?"

She repeated her question. Loren pursed her lips, tapping a finger on her cup, which depicted a large hand-painted sunflower.

"Nothing much. He said you're hard work, but then Ro underestimates people so I think he deserves it."

"Is that it?"

"More or less."

"He hasn't got a care in the world."

"He gives off that appearance but he cares a lot, actually. He goes a long way for his men. His family gave him a lot of rubbish because they think he's soft, but he's just a sweetheart." Loren shrugged and took another bite of her food. "He'll grow on you, I think. Ro means well, even if he can rub people up the wrong way from time to time."

"He's probably the least qualified teacher out there," Seiren huffed.

"He's a good burst mage. You know he comes from a long line of mages and military men."

Seiren had read about several Woodbeads in the council's registry. Most of them were dead or retired and only one other was still in action.

"He doesn't teach me any rune magic. I want to learn about runes. I need to research into life magic and burst doesn't even cut it, but he doesn't listen."

"Ah, so that's what you're doing at the Institute." Loren's brow furrowed. "I'd keep my head down and focus on the project there, if I were you. Lots of things go on in that facility and a lot is classified information. Be careful."

What an odd comment.

Maybe she knows what a busybody you are.

"And if you want to learn about healing runes, I can give you a hand. I did pretty well at runes at King's. There's a bit more to just randomly placing gradients than what they teach, it turns out. I learned that just over a year ago." She fished out a piece of paper from the drawer beneath the table and a piece of chalk from her pocket. "See, they used to think the healing stimuli lie in the gradients and the more you put in, the faster the regeneration, but that's not actually true. Yes, if you have more gradients, you do stimulate the body more, but if it's haphazard placement the energy won't be spread evenly. With all stimulus to the human body, if you force cells to divide at an increased rate there is a risk of it going out of control, and if there isn't an obvious injury then the risk outweighs the benefits."

She drew the standard double circle and dotted the centre.

"Think about your yellow runes. What's the most fundamental thing about them?"

It was the most obvious question ever. "Symmetry."

"Exactly. So with symmetrical gradients, it gives an overall even healing on the target, just like symmetry with yellow runes give an even light source. That gives the mage more control. And to focus it, you can alter that symmetry. As long as there is symmetry, the healing is controlled, and the more symmetrical an area, the more focused the healing. It's easier if you see it in practice, but it's like this--"

She sketched a standard six-pointed star: two triangles overlapping each other. She dotted the intersections.

"This will provide a pretty good overall healing. There are enough gradients dotted on and everything is very symmetrical. But if you do it like this--"

She then got another piece of paper and sketched another six-pointed star. This time, she placed three sets of gradients along the triangle at the top and sparingly everywhere else so that the symmetry lessened away from the three sets at the top.

"This focuses healing at the point at the top, so you can place your injured person properly and in theory the rune should regenerate what's on the top only, and lessens the risk to the rest of the body."

Seiren had already known about the symmetry that allowed green runes to achieve their maximum potential, but she hadn't realised she could focus the stimulus. She took in the drawings in front of her, cementing them to her memory. In the space of a few minutes, she'd already learned more about rune magic from Loren than from Rowan.

For a second time that month, Seiren wondered if she could request to switch tutors. Loren Rummage might come across as airheaded, but she might have some brains after all.

"Shouldn't you be teaching your own tutee this?"

"He's not that keen. Well, he is keen, but his rune magic is a bit iffy. Most of the graduates are when they are so fresh. He's nowhere near ready to learn this."

"If focusing green runes is that great, then how come you don't heal that man you saw earlier on today?"

"Jeph?" Loren shook her head, her lips turning down at the corners. "I can't. He's got consumption. He'll die. There's nothing any runes or medicine can do beyond helping his symptoms. There are limits to both and he hasn't got the reserve. If I force his body to regenerate the damaged lungs, the rest of him will fail."

I didn't realise there are limits.

Me neither.

You haven't asked her about chaos magic yet!

Just then, Loren stretched and yawned, running a hand through her thick hair.

"I think I'll go to bed. Your bedroom is just down the hall." She pointed with a long arm. "Bathroom is to the left when you come in. I'm going to shower and then go to sleep. I have a long shift at the hospital tomorrow, but we should have dinner together when I come back. You know your way back now, yeah?"

Seiren nodded. Loren retrieved the dishes and left them in the kitchen and hummed to herself as she sauntered into her own bedroom. Seiren sat at the table for a little longer, watching the tiny runed lights on the streets and the way they blinked out of sight for a split second every time someone passed by. Loren might not be too bad, after all. At the very least, she was a valuable source of academics, one that Rowan would never be able to provide. And staying here for free would be helpful until her next salary approached. Seiren would just have to bear with it for a couple of weeks and then move out.

Remember to vote!