A Concept of Apathy

Chapter 10

“You have made a plea for aid, but why should I help? You dug your own grave, so I see only one person here to blame. Perhaps if he was gone, the situation would improve.”
-Ties, The First High Cleric of the Seven Gods to Hye Lung, Senior most Monk of Makroism

It had been about a week since Kaeo had gone into a coma. I sighed, stepping out of her room and closing the door behind me. My mother told me we wouldn’t have to worry about muscle apathy, which was good, but it still wasn’t a good sign she had been out for so long. I had been checking in with her every day, and the two new Madam’s were taking care of her twentyfour seven.
That did not prevent me from worrying however, but I did make sure to express my gratitude to them for doing it. That seemed to surprise them, which Madam Lie told me would keep happening as long as I kept acting like I did. Evidently since Concepts weren’t people, at large they were treated worse than them. How all these concepts that were just barely summoned knew this I did not know. I had even asked Madam Lie if they were somewhat aware before being summoned, and I got a resounding no.
I sighed, limping my way down those accursed stairs. I had learned to start hating any incline with my leg the way it was, so I made sure to throw the stairs a dirty look. My father was finishing up breakfast, which meant it would be time to go out to the tower and continue my studies. I had far fewer lessons from Mister Sharp now that Kaeo was out, and Mister Reclamation said at this point we only had history left to cover.
I was slowly killing off what I could be taught, although according to my father I would have to go off to school to master my magical training. I had asked him why, and got my hair rumpled and a smile in answer. It didn’t answer much, but there was time to ask later.
My father looked up, giving me a nod. That pretty much meant go and call Thanny because he would be out in a second. I started out the door, making sure to grab my cloak. I always had to adjust the necklace my parents said I had to wear when I put it on, but the cloak I knew would help protect me. There were limits on how much it could transfer to the nearby hill, but my father had run some tests and said for my first working it was much better than I had any reason to expect.
That made me happy, and I felt a special attachment to the cloak. My father told me not to get too attached because it would be outgrown, but I couldn’t quite help myself. I opened the door, shielding my eyes from the sun I knew would be right there and closed the door behind me. I limped further into the yard, putting a hand to my mouth.
“THANNY!” I called. He could sense when someone called his name, but if he was doing something he didn’t always answer the first call. According to my father the only truly sure way to get his attention was to use the contract, but usually calling his name enough worked. And you did have to call it, if you were just talking about him he didn’t notice.
“THANNY!” I looked around, dropping my hand to the side. Sometimes it took a few minutes of calling his name, but this time it seemed to only be needed twice. He rode up, slowing down in a large circle. He trodded up to me, giving me a lick which I laughed at. I scratched behind his six ears, which he liked until my father came to pick me up and put me on him. My father effortlessly jumped up on to him, which he said was part of the contract.
“After you finish all your prework today, I have something special planned.” My father told me as Thanny started off.
“Really? What is it?” I said, using my Sight to look around us as I waited.
“Finish your work and you’ll see.” He told me with a twinkling in his eye.
I got off of Thanny on my own, which was still a wonder to me as how it didn’t hurt my leg. I smiled, walking up to the tower which opened for me. I gave a nod to the door keep, who said to call him Dorn, as I passed by. He gave me one to follow, and I started up the stairs. People were running up and down it, all of them made of fire or other incorporeal substances. It wasn’t a very wide staircase, so most of the time they would run through you. It made you feel a bit fuzzy, and always made me shiver.
I went up to the study, hanging up my cloak and pulling out the prework from my fathers desk. It was a whole bunch of questions, most of them knowledge checks, but there were a few edge cases in there and a bunch of math. I thumbed through it, seeing how much work I had today. I always tried to convince my father to let me work ahead, but he always refused telling me if I wanted to further my education there were a lot of books I should read.
I found that kind of weird, but I wasn’t the high mage of a kingdom so I shrugged it off and read. Although, that was not for today. Today, I had work to do then some nebulous thing my father wanted me to do. I sighed, buckling down to do the work.
What are the seven elements and their most common corresponding magical substances?

***

It was about three hours later when I was done, and I let out a big stretch. I went off to find my father, who I was told was up top right now. I grabbed my cloak and set up the stairs, cursing them all the while. If I was ever to get a wizard tower of my own, there would be elevators or something. I let out a long sigh when I got to the top, refusing to think how I would need to go all the way back down for a moment.
“I finished all the work, father.” I said after he finished addressing some elemental I did not know the name of.
“Ah, good. I’ll come down to check it, then we can start.” He gave some final instructions, and I waited knowing he would be faster down the stairs even if I got a head start.
I went down to the study, following after him once he started down. It wouldn’t take him too long, but likely a good half hour. I grabbed one of the books I was reading, starting in on it. The main problem in my opinion with magic was that too many of the wizards educated to talk about stuff were terribly boring. I had not yet read a single magical text that was not extremely dry, but I supposed it was just another type of physics.
That didn’t particularly make me more excited to read the text, but I knew all foundations had to come from somewhere. Then there was the thing with physics, where at some point you just made giant missiles and lasers. I figured magic was like that here, and wondered if in a thousand years or so if magic would find anything more.
As far as I saw, the main problem with magic was that it was hard to mass produce. Sure, if you were determined and very very wealthy you could get yourself a full set of magical gear, but at large no one could. Few enough people had the money for a full set of plate mail, and of that subset of people fewer had the wealth to enchant it all.
No, pretty much only mages could get gear like that, and that was only if your sight let you do that. Mother could not enchant things very well, unless that thing was already alive and willing to go through a lot of pain. Father could, but he had to take time to balance equations and buy the correct material for it, which made magical gear very rare.
“Okay, very good. As per usual, you have all of this right. Do try to be more specific in the future. You like to use ‘it’ a lot which can make it very hard to follow what you are saying.”
“I can do that. Now what are we doing?” I asked. My father stretched, and got up. He pulled the blanket he put over his stand with his gear off, putting on his cloak and hat, and grabbed his staff from by the door.
“First, we are going home.”
“What for?”
“To pick up lunch! Then, we’ll set out.”
“Where are we going?”
Once again, he did not answer me which was starting to get tedious. He called Thanny who always seemed to come at his first call, and we got on. It was a quick enough ride, and I was still amazed how it felt perfectly smooth even as Thanny vaulted over the short stone wall surrounding the house.
We headed in, lunch already being made ahead of time by Madam Lie. I had called ahead with the needle, telling her my fathers request. We would have some sandwiches, and while my father stayed down stairs I went up to fetch us each a backpack.
I came back down to Madam Lie threatening my mother to take it easy. My mother was always trying to do more, but Madam Lie insisted she should rest. I handed my father his backpack, trying to keep his cloak out of my line of sight for as long as possible. I disliked the after images it left in my eyes, but both Madam Lie and my mother seemed immune.
“You two be safe.” My mother told me, giving both of us a hug.
“Presuming what you said is correct,” My father started, which got him a glare from my mother, “nothing should even be able to touch us.”
“Still, be safe.”
“Yes Ma’am.” I said, leaving with my father back out the door.
Thanny was grazing, which I found odd considering he mostly ate meat, and even that was strange considering he shouldn’t need to eat. We got back on him, and my father guided him. From what I had seen from my father, he was a competent horseman, but on Thanny he seemed like a master. He told me they shared a mental link of sorts which let him tell Thanny where to go. Given that Thanny liked my father, it resulted in what looked like mental control of the horse.
The ride was not very long, as it appeared we were only going to the forest. I got down on my own, and my father told Thanny he could go where he wished. It was likely wise to not take Thanny into the forest, considering he was bigger than a bear. The forest likely would have helped us, but no need to make it do more work.
“Where are we going?” I once more asked, and my father gave an unsatisfactory answer.
“Into the forest.”
“Where into the forest?”
“Just follow me.” I sighed, which seemed to amuse him.
I liked the forest a lot, and was glad to be walking through it. With the attacks, going out had become much harder. My father had somehow managed to track the kids who had been bullying Kaeo, and found they had been paid by an unknown actor to make that action. They were supposed to have killed her, but it seemed they had not worked up the nerve.
It brought me more pleasure to know that all of those kids were grounded by their parents, pretty much on house arrest for the next while. I smiled up at the sky, walking through the forest glad to not have to watch my step. The limp had not helped my balance, although my cane had. That cane had come from this forest, and it seemed happy to be back.
“So, are you ready to know why we’re here?” My father asked, twinkle still in his eye.
“Some might say that.” I would give him no victory by seeming excited. He seemed to know what I was thinking however and his smile deepened.
“I was thinking what your first artifact should be, and it needs to be something that will stay with you.”
“Sure, that makes sense.” I said with a shrug.
“So I did a bit of research, looking at stuff with the sight, and some other stuff.”
“As one does.” I agreed.
“And talked to your mom, who has a great instinct for these sorts of things.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.”
“And so, there we were. Laying in bed and I was expressing my hunt for this, when she said something.”
“People do have a tendency to speak.”
“She said ‘You know, the forest likes our son.’”
“It does?” I knew saying that was a mistake as my father smiled at me.
“So you know, I say, ‘Well, our son’s a pretty perfectly average guy, so why him?’” I rolled my eyes at him, trying to say something but he continued. “So she said, ‘Well, you are perfectly right and amazing as always dear husband, and it likes him because of his cane.’”
“My cane.” I half stated half asked.
“Your cane. Ya’ see, unlike the needle your cane is not purely a concept. It is made of something that is connected to a concept, but it is not one itself.”
“And because of Telenskie’s Rule we know concepts can’t be made into artifacts.” I dutifully recited.
“Indeed, but because of the proof to get there we know…”
“That something that is connected to a concept and comes from it makes for better material for artifacts.”
“Good!” He said, adjusting his backpack. “Now, you haven’t gotten to this part yet, but all of those concept connected materials are easier to make into artifacts if they are close to the center of the concept that made them.”
“So, if I’m getting this right, we are going to the center of the forest.”
“Eh, yes in the sense you mean. Geographically, not the center, but it is the center of the concept of the forest.”
“Neat.” I said, eyeing my cane with newfound interest.
We slipped back into silence, and I heard the run of water off in the distance. We had at large been walking up a slight incline, and I knew from experience we were higher up than it felt. This was a part of the forest I had never been to however, and soon enough the slight incline turned into a slight decline.
The rushing of water grew louder, and soon enough we were walking by a river. It ran by the town giving it water, which was most of the reason the town was where it was. If I remembered correctly, this river had no agreed upon name due to how long it was, being called multiple things by multiple people, but it did stem from this forest. We kept heading down the slope, the river flowing the same direction we were walking and I felt like it was urging us onwards.
The trees here were noticeably bigger, and the sunlight that trickled in was slowly dying as the canopy became thicker. Slowly, blue-white lights began to drift through the air, and all I could think of was that Kaeo needed to see it. I swore to bring her here after she woke up, and my father looked happy about my fascination with the lights.

***

“They are commonly called will-o-wisps, but these are not actually those.”
“So what are they?” I asked, following one with my eyes. They only existed for perhaps thirty seconds before fading back into the dark.
“This is what happens when there is a lot of magic in a place, it is some combination of the seven power types, and relatively safe.”
“Why relatively?”
“Well, if you are carrying something that does not like magic, it is usually a bad idea to have it connected with raw magic.”
“Huh, I figured raw magic would be more…”
“Raw is different than unfiltered, which is usually what people call raw magic.”
“Huh. Does Mom use unfiltered magic?” My father let out a sigh, looking at me and stopped walking.
“There is no definition of strength.” My father said, which confused me.
“What?”
“There is no definition of strength. It is very hard to say who will win, at the upper tiers of mages. Not only that, but because of how many work-arounds there are, most duels end fast if they are not of the upper tiers. That being said, there are two other measurements.”
“What are they?”
“The first one is how much mana someone has, which doesn’t tell you how well they can use it. The second one is how much someone can destroy in one hour.”
“Huh, what are the levels of each?”
“Well, for mana, there is void, which is nothing. Then there are ten tiers, although usually above level eight and above there is no difference. Mana replenishes at every dawn, which will be important in a moment. Tier one would be where I am, which is very very low. I can really only power one minor working per day, which is why my workings have to be so precise because I can’t waste magic.”
“Really?” My eyes widened a bit. I was only now realizing my father was likely some sort of super magic genius.
“Really. Every tier is a logarithmic base, so the next tier is ten times more. The reason I say that once you get to tier eight is that it stops mattering. You could be using magic at full blast the entire day, and you would reach zero right about when dawn comes about.”
“So you never run out.”
“So you never run out.” He agreed, pausing. “Tiers are not ‘I’m at tier three’ but more like ‘I’m at tier three point yadda, yadda, yadda.’ Your mother is tier nine point seven.”
“Wow.” So one of my parents was a super genius, and the other had effectively infinite magic.
“The second system has nine tiers. It starts with just a normal person. It continues like this; someone who could remove a small hill, then a large hill, then twenty large hills, then a mountain, then a mountain range, then twenty mountain ranges, then a continent, then the world. In theory it goes higher, but in practice if you can destroy the world then what does it matter?”
“Point, I guess. Where are you and mom?”
“Your mother can do a mountain if motivated, but she lacks range. If she could get that, it could be much more. I, presuming I have gear, can do a continent.”
“So that’s why you never gave me a straight answer before?”
“Yep.” He started walking again, and I never noticed how he was walking slower just so I could keep up with my limp.
“Could we measure my mana at some point?”
“I have the instruments, so we could. You’d have to sit still for an hour.”
“I can do that.”
“Then we can do it when we get home.”
“So we’re close? I figured this would take all day.”
“It likely would, if the forest wasn’t helping us.”
“It’s helping us?”
“Use your Sight, see if you can see it.”
I tapped into it, and watched the ground. I had to focus, pushing other things away and moving concepts till I could see it. It was like the forest was pulling me and my father along, towards something. It didn’t seem greedy, or excited, more like it was happy to help us with our goal. I thanked the forest in my head, and the forest seemed to take well to that, like it could read my mind.
The magic grew denser, but never dense. It was like a weighted blanket, and it was shockingly beautiful. The river ran along the side, and it was like the water glowed from the magic that was in it. It was like ink that was dragged along and slowly vanished.
I squinted up ahead, and saw what looked like light. More than that, it felt like the destination. It was a feeling in the forest, where you could see your destination when you had one in mind. Or something adjacent to it, but I figured it was the forest’s way to help with travel which it did in a thousand little ways.
The light was growing more pronounced, and the underbrush picked up in proportion to it. The river sounded ahead to what must have been a waterfall, and I squinted trying to make out more but I wasn’t able to till I was closer.
The trees dropped away, and the waterfall dropped into a chasm. There was one tree that was on a plateau, much bigger than any other one in the forest which had only one path to it. It looked like vines had grown across the gap, and my father walked along them without a thought. I was more wary, but it felt like every other part of the forest, meaning my footing was always sure.
The center tree felt more alive than the rest, like a giant was slumbering and its dreams were shaping the environment. It felt welcoming to me, and I walked up to it, placing a palm against the tree. It felt warm, the rough bark somehow gentle.
“You should figure out what the first working on your cane will be.” My father said, watching the entire thing through the Sight.
I looked down at my cane, and figured if I would be here a while I should sit down. I took my backpack off, letting it fall to my side and sat down back against the tree. I took out the sandwich that had been prepared for me, and started to eat while I thought.
There were a few ways to think about this, I figured. There were at large three veins of workings, which was offence, defence, and utility. Offence would actually let me end fights, but what fights would I be picking? If I was in a fight where that mattered, which seemed like it might happen soon, it was likely a bad fight to be picking. It would be safer to retreat, and let my parents who had enormous amounts of fire power take care of it. Defence would of course let me get there, and there was an idea.
One of the key ideas in most fights was distance and time. If you could master those two things, you could win pretty much every fight unless you were much less skilled or much slower than your opponent. I wanted better perception, to be able to perfectly determine distances in relation to me, and know how long it would take for them to get to me. I closed my eyes, and started the working.
I somehow felt like the forest approved, and I smiled gently. I would be pulling power from the forest every time I used this, so I wanted it to be efficient. I loved this forest, it had helped me walk with giving me the cane, it helped me meet Kaeo, and it let me just enjoy life. That was something I had not done in a very long time it felt like.
So it was there under my fathers watchful Sight and the forest’s patient grasp I did my first major working. It was slow, but I could keep pulling on the concepts as I worked at them. There seemed to be no limit to how much I pulled at the concepts, which was not the case for others from what I had read.
I pulled at Perception of Movement in Relation to Self, and slowly the cane felt more like a limb. I measured the amount and tied it to the cane, and to myself. I pulled at my own perception, tying it back to the cane, and it was all bound in the concept of travel at the very core of the cane.
It was not very intricate, nor complex, but it was major. It would not make me move faster, but it would in effect let me think faster. It would also be a pain to master, I would know the relationship of anything moving around me, I wouldn’t even have to be looking at it. And, I had managed to make it pull from the forest which was the hard part. It was like threading a needle if the thread was both frayed and the eye of said needle was extremely small all well your hands were shaking. Yet, the forest wanted to help me, so eventually only one thing was needed to finish the working.
Crushed quartz was the element of the mind, and if it was struck by lightning it was even better. I needed some, and my father was calmly offering me a bottle of the stuff. The concepts were being held in place by my will, everything threaded and weaved together into the working, but it needed to be anchored by something. Otherwise the moment I let go it would all fall apart, and so I took the quartz and pressed it into the cane. The cane ate it up, and I measured it carefully. Too little and it would slip, too much and the working would become more, and would take more power than the system could give. It would short circuit in a fashion and that could not happen.
So I added the quartz slowly, the numbers blazing in my mind. It slowly equalized, and eventually I hit the amount I believed I needed. I let out a long side, concentration dropping. It felt like I had been doing a mental sprint for a very very long time, and looking up at the sun I was guessing about three hours had passed.
“Well done Sylin, well done.” My father said, looking at my cane which rested in my lap.
“Is it all right?” Or had I messed up the working was the part I did not say.
“It will hold. It was a good first working, very good. Better than almost all others I’ve seen in fact.”
I slumped against the tree, proud. It had worked, and it was triumphantly I began walking out of the forest, my father following behind. I gave one more thank you to the forest before I left it fully and got on Thanny when we got to the edge, and I felt like it smiled at me.
The ride back was short, and my father had had me call ahead to Madam Lie while we were walking back through the forest. I saw both my mother and Madam Lie in front of the house, both of them looking up as we got there. I jumped off Thanny, and landed on the ground. I excitedly walked up to the both of them, and started to speak –

I heard something twang from outside my field of view, and also saw how my mothers face went cold and Madam Lie had disappeared. I started pulling on my cane, and felt something flying through the air towards me. I tried to nudge it, but I couldn’t feel it without having an actual line of sight. If I had practice I thought I could have, but in the moment I could do nothing.
The last memory I had as the metal arrow pierced my skull was of my mother glowing green and a shriek of pain coming from someone who wasn’t me.

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