’Yes, good,’ Gaudol said, staring avidly at Pi’ve. ’Focus…’

  They were in Gaudol’s back yard, with grass beneath their feet. Beside Pi’ve there was a basin with a bowl of water on top, which looked like something birds would drink from— on land at least. Ironic, really, how the underwater world tried to resemble it above-water counterpart. It was one year since Pi’ve had returned to Tharthillion, and he had made steady steps towards becoming a better wizard.

  In that year, Pi’ve have used his time with his mentor, and trained as much magic as he had been allowed. Gaudol it seems, puts a rather high precedence on recovery, meaning that he wishes Pi’ve to not only take a break from his training, but also to reflect on what he has done. At first Pi’ve would not honour his mentor’s wish, as he was always eager to just push his limits. Once his limit was reached, no doubt, he ended up listening to his mentor once again. His water-training had started, and that meant that he had to expose himself to water. Being a previous ship crew-member, he was used to stay out of the water, but now he was training being in it. It would become important later, Gaudol said. And at last, he was ordered by Gaudol to venture into Tharthillion to become accustomed to the city, and it’s people. Inns, bars and restaurants were frequented every weekend, and he became familiar with many faces. It was a peculiar place, so deep underwater, yet it soon became his new home.

  ’Feel the water’s small parts. You can feel they are connected. Make a conscious effort to understand how you are influencing it,’ Gaudol said, eagerly sharing his knowledge.

  ’I struggle to grasp what exactly you mean,’ Pi’ve said.

  ’Keep going,’ Gaudol answered. ’It will come.’

  Pi’ve lost his appetite for any more training today. He had done this for a long time, and a long time was still remaining. Still, he focused on the water again, a bit more frustrated than he was an hour ago.

  ’Understanding comes with practice, and with practice comes understanding. This is how we build experience, insight and wisdom. Even if you do not feel like you are understanding right now, you are collecting information which turns into implicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge, as I have told you, is merely , but implicit knowledge is something . Keep going.’

  The water was still; it did not move whatsoever, but Pi’ve trusted Gaudol. He had tried creating a link to the body of water, but he had yet to accomplish it fully. At certain moments, he could feel the currents in the basin, but only for a fraction of a second. Pi’ve had for a long time tried, failed, tried again and again to link with the body of water to try to influence it, to no avail. Today, it felt different. He had almost grabbed a string of water, and even as it had slipped his mana-grip, he knew he was close to a breakthrough.

  Day in and day out Pi’ve stood by that basin, and even though it was repetitive, Pi’ve basked in the reality that he was a wizard, and he savoured every moment he was one. Some days he was offered to accompany Gaudol on some errands, and Pi’ve gladly came along to see what other duties a wizard had. When he returned from the miscellaneous work, he was just as excited to be back to try his luck on the basin.

  Pi’ve flinched. He had felt something, but he was unsure if he had managed it. Gaudol stepped back, looking at Pi’ve intently. Pi’ve was staring into the basin, and waited. Waited. A ripple spread through the top layer of the water. Pi’ve’s eyes turned wide.

  ’Yes!’ Pi’ve exclaimed. ’I thought I felt it too. It was like I was gripping a chain with my mana, but it was not a strong enough hold.’

  ’Amazing, Pi’ve!’ Gaudol exclaimed. He was visibly happy. ’I felt the water move. I wanted you to see it for yourself first.’

  After this, Pi’ve continued to spend a long time in Gaudol’s garden by the basin. Nearly every day, if Gaudol did not take him on errands. Pi’ve was beginning to understand the layout of Tharthillion, though he had not been to every dome. He had practised every day since he had been taught the basics of water-magic. Water-magic was very different to other magic, at least in Gaudol’s eyes, as he said told water was very much “alive”. Water would do as it pleased as long as you did not control it. Fire, Gaudol said, had the reputation of being alive just as much. Fire contained heat and a dangerous ability to spread wildly and destructively, but that did not mean that fire was alive in the same sense as water was. Fire was dependent on several factors, like wood, or other flammable materials, and air. It was a dependent “lifeform”. Water, on the other hand, needed nothing. Water was content on its own; needs nothing, and is one of the most adaptable elements there are, filling every crevasse it stumbled upon and changes form in tact with the elements.

  ’Water in fact extinguishes fire if it comes to it, not that it’s a competition, but—’

  ’Well, you are biased,’ Pi’ve said after listening to Gaudol’s rambling again.

  ’Well, alright Mr-Soon-To-Be-As-Biased-As-I,’ Gaudol said, and Pi’ve laughed. There was no doubt he was biased, but it did not diminish the truth of his words necessarily. ’Well, I have other obligations today, and I must cut our lesson short for now. Go have a glass of water,’ Gaudol said and picked up his bag. ’See you tonight. Don’t have any breakthroughs without me!’ He said and waved.

  Pi’ve waved him off, and kept his concentration. He worked more now than he had ever done. It was not like learning in the tutorial, were he had learned light-magic without help. Pi’ve suspected that the tutorial was made for the advancement of magic specifically and he had done it so easily because of this. This was the real world, where progress had to be earned.

  And ages it took. Two years later, Pi’ve had received a letter from Magnol concerning the state of Thergiam, and it looked bleak. There had been an uproar two months ago. An assassination attempt on the king had ended in his only son being killed. Distraught, the king lashed out. Laws restricting people with curfews, when to work, and where they were allowed be present. Retaliation on the common people seemed to be the kings wish, and that affected even those who were not involved in the uproar, which were most people. Pi’ve thought of him and his father, and that they would have been in their situation if the ship had not sunk. Or if they never even went on the sea at all, and Pi’ve had not returned Oarios III to it’s people. He had plucked one feather off the chicken, yet all the feathers had eventually fallen out because of it. Over a hundred men was taken, beaten, and in some cases tortured and killed. Some were put in prison. There were now a much stronger dialogue between the king and the wizards. Even wizards who had never talked to any of the people near the king was now tried hired for his protection, or other dubious work. The common people also tried approaching the wizards to try to make stronger allies. Magnol was tried recruited by the king, but he declined.

  Pi’ve was struck by Magnol’s words, and a sense of shame came over him.

  ’It’s no reason to feel anything over the development of Thergiam. It is not your fault that it is like it is. You may have been the catalyst this time, but if it wasn’t you, it would have been another person, another time,’ Magnol said. ’And even if it looks bad now, it may well turn for the better eventually.’

  ’No!’ Pi’ve shouted. Magnol flinched. ’Maybe…’ Pi’ve said, feeling his insides writhe in agony. Pi’ve lashed out unbeknown to himself and water flew up from the basin. In his anger, he wanted to hit the water, but when he came back to himself, he saw that he was farther away from the basin than his arms reached. Magnol looked on stunned, just as Dandrian had when he had thrown that large boulder back when he had learned to use the portals.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Pi’ve looked around, and felt water droplets rain down on him. It was a calming feeling, and some of his senses came back to him. He realised that he had just done something good for his own progress.

  ’Oh, I apologise,’ Pi’ve said when his anger had dissipated fully. He knew that somewhere inside him he had strength hidden away, which he could not yet tap into wilfully— he had proven that now. He somehow believed that his stats, and in particularly his stats in strength, was somehow the maximum he could assert, but on a regular basis, he did not even tap into half of his points. He needed something to bring the points into use.

  ’No. No, that’s no problem— Oh. You’re lost in thought. No problem, brother. I’ll just—’

  It could not only be when in anger that he could access these points. He had at several occasions when levelling up felt that his potential had risen, and that he stronger, but why did he not use this power— oh…

  ’— wait over here, while you—’

  ’Magnol?’ Pi’ve said. ’Could you fetch me a large— something. Something really heavy.’

  ’Use the basin,’ Magnol said, and sat down on the bench in the garden. Pi’ve sensed that he had for some reason become miffed. Pi’ve looked at Magnol, but he averted his eyes once Pi’ve looked at him.

  ’Will do,’ Pi’ve said.

  Pi’ve’s theory, if true, would help him in several aspects, and not only in corporeal manipulation— the magic strain where you lift and move objects. If he was right, he would be able to use more of his strength points, even in other areas.

  Pi’ve positioned himself in front of the basin, and in the corner of his eyes, he saw that Magnol turned his head to look at him. In his mind, Pi’ve visualised the mana running through his body, and how it went through his arm, and into his trident-ordained staff. He then tried for a few moments to link with the basin, and after both he and his staff was linked to the basin, he ventured to feel how the mana acted around the basin. It was quite like feeling the mana back when he had unlocked the entrance to the cave in the tutorial.

  His theory was that his mana would just propagate throughout and around the object, in this case the basin, and would eventually coat the basin in an even layer. Would it not be better if he were to move most of the mana to the bottom of the basin, creating a thicker, stronger layer in which he could lift with? If the layer of mana around the basin was uniform, then lifting the basin would create a lot of strain on the mana on the bottom of the basin which carried all the weight of the item. More mana, stronger magic.

  Pi’ve first did the experiment the way he had always done it. He watched with eager eyes the mana spread around the basin, and then he used his skill to lift it. He saw it! He saw the mana burst and dissipate at the bottom of the basin, making it impossible for him to lift it at all. He now had another idea, as he saw the mana not dissipate totally from the basin, but create a thicker ring around the basin as the mana retracted up the basins body. What if he could grip the basin, with the mana like a hand…

  Pi’ve felt the mana spread again, but this time he forced the mana to traverse together and form a thick layer under the basin, but not all of it. He created something akin to a bowl with the mana, thickest at the bottom, and thinner going up around the basin so to keep it balanced when he lifted, and then he went to work.

  ’Pi’ve…’ Magnol called softly. He rose from the bench. ’Pi’ve! You are ripping the grass out of the ground! Put the basin down!’

  Pi’ve let go of the mana, and the basin fell down from about four feet in the air. It landed in a leaning position, fell over and the bowl on top broke. ’Damn…’ Pi’ve said, but then he jumped in the air, and ran to Magnol, shaking his friend’s shoulders vigorously.

  ’I had a breakthrough, Magnol!’

  ’What? You— My lord, Pi’ve! Congratulations,’ Magnol said, not knowing the weight of this accomplishment at first.

  ’Wait… Wait, let me try another thing,’ Pi’ve said.

  The basin lay on the ground, broken at the top, the bowl upside down with the water disappearing into the grass. Pi’ve did the same routine and let his mana spread around the basin-pillar, but this time he did not try to concentrate the mana in one singular place, but in a circle around the body of the pillar, and with his willpower and strength he tried to squeeze the mana-ring around the basin, like clutching his hand. Surprised, he actually felt the mana clutch around the basin, and after a while he could even adjust the strength of the grip he had.

  He tried lifting the basin’s pillar, and at first the basin slid out of the mana-grip, but then he tightened the hold on the body of the pillar, and then it went straight up in the air with no problem. Once in the air, he rotated the pillar once, then he did it the other way, and then he spun it a couple times. He felt his head pound a little, and he was suddenly very thirsty. Magnol was laughing in the background so Pi’ve kept going, and as he heard the sound of a bell, it all went black.

  *DING*

  Race [] has levelled up: lvl 12 -> lvl 13. +4 free points. Stat points from class [] has been allocated, +2 free points. Max health is increased with one (1) point.

  ’— No, I don’t need water. Just bring the cloth,’ Pi’ve heard as light returned to his eyes.

  He was laying on a familiar surface, and knew that he was now in Gaudol’s alchemy room. Gaudol came into view, and he had a white cloth in his hand which was already wet. He placed it on Pi’ve’s forehead, hovered his hand over the cloth, and within a few seconds the cloth was damper and incredibly cold.

  ’Will he make it?’ Pi’ve heard Magnol ask. Gaudol was close to Pi’ve, and Pi’ve could hear him let out a low chuckle.

  ’Of course. There is nothing wrong with him… he’s just spent.’

  ’Hey,’ Pi’ve mumbled. He had a splitting headache. His mouth resembled a desert and his vision was blurry. ’Tell him— I’m dying…’

  Gaudol came closer, smiled and called for Magnol.

  ’He says he is dying,’ Gaudol said. Magnol shook his head and scoffed.

  ’You frightened me,’ Magnol said. ’I had to take out old magic I had almost forgotten to call upon Gaudol… Well, I am glad you are alright.’

  ’So, what happened?’ Gaudol asked Pi’ve.

  ’Magnol did not tell you?’ Pi’ve answered.

  ’Well, he does not know what you know, does he? He told me you were destroying my garden and water-basin, but that’s not all, is there?’

  ’No—,’ Pi’ve said, sitting up on the table. ’I was experimenting with some magic, and I fainted when I had emptied my mana-pool. You know, the—,’

  ’Yes, I know. So what magic were you experimenting on?’

  ’I realised I have more strength to draw from, because when I am angry, it all gets so intense, and I am able to do more magic than usual,’ Pi’ve said… ’I tried to focus that power and managed to direct my mana to better focus my strength. It was too spread out before… but I failed to watch my mana, and overexerted myself.’

  ’But, that is great, Pi’ve! First you learn the basics, then you focus your knowledge to work better for specific purposes,’ Gaudol said, and right he was. It was as if Pi’ve had unlocked some secret storage of power, and that his understanding of mana had increased. He could not hope that his mana would position itself the most advantageous places, and hope that he would succeed. He had to do it himself.

  Pi’ve suddenly remembered that he had levelled up. He placed the seven free points he had received from levelling up, and the one from his title all in strength as that was what he had focused on this past year, and which he had had a breakthrough in. He brought up his status menu.

  Status

  Name: Pi’ve

  Age: 23

  Race: [Human - lvl 13]

  Class: [Wizard - Mage]

  Profession: N/A

  —

  Health - (102/102)

  Mana - (11/520)

  Stamina - (74/200)

  —

  Stats

  Strength - 37

  Toughness - 17

  Intelligence - 38

  Wisdom - 52

  Willpower - 31

  Perception - 35

  Endurance - 20

  Free points - 0

  —

  Race skills

  [Inspect (Unique)]

  Class skills

  [Conjure Light (Common)]

  [Corporeal Manipulation (Uncommon)]

  Profession skills

  N/A

  Titles

  [One and only (Unique)]

  [King Bringer (Rare)]

  He was low on mana, and that was expected; he had fainted because of it. Other than the fact that he was low on toughness, which he had yet to figure out what actually did, he thought that his status screen looked good. There were no skills yet related to water-magic, even now after three years, but after today when he had figured out how to direct his mana even when it was outside of his own body, he was soon expected to have his first water-based magic-skill. His stamina was lower than usual, even if he had not exerted himself physically, but he now knew that stamina was also used in the replenishment of both health points, and mana points, so it made sense.

  ’I think I will rest until I have all my mana back, and then we will see if my experiment have had any effect on my ability to manipulate water,’ Pi’ve said. Gaudol agreed.

  ’That’s smart. Go and have a rest. Take the time you need,’ Gaudol said, and Pi’ve, even though his head hurt, he rose from the table he was lying on and walked out of Gaudol’s house.

  With the help of Magnol and some carpenters among the mermen, Pi’ve had gotten himself a small cottage in the garden of Gaudol, and here he had a bed, a kitchen and a nice chair in a small living room. It was not much, but it was everything he needed at the moment.

  Two nights later, Pi’ve found himself stronger, and he was ready to tackle another go at the basin. Gaudol had fixed the basin, and even made the bowl on top containing water a bit larger. Maybe it was because Gaudol too expected Pi’ve to have another breakthrough soon. How soon soon was was probably later than they anticipated, but it did not matter to them, because they loved what they did. Even if it did take three more years until Pi’ve made any more progress, the next thing he did exceeded both his and Gaudol’s expectations.