1 Chapter 1

Theodore felt his body shift in mysterious ways, these warp gates always made him feel nauseous, not that he used them much.

It was not surprising that he found himself in a dome made of glass, his reflection staring back at him from many angles, runic words glowing faintly on their surface.

He dazedly noticed his raggedly state, bags under his brown eyes, using his gauntleted hand to roughly shift his disheveled blonde hair into position.

He was last of his group; the other passengers had already left the room.

"Oi! Leave the Warp Chamber lest you find your skin inside out, you dolt!" Shouted the old man manning a clockwork device at the door.

"Ah yes, apologies." He answered, only to receive annoyed grumbles in return.

He felt his ears pop the moment he left the building, a cacophony of sounds registering in a sudden fashion.

He saw levitating carriages, people floating on carpets, exotic beasts carrying their owners on the marble road. Tower tips were touching the clouds, and at the center of it all, a blue crystal the size of a hill floating over the preeminent center of learning of the world, the Academy of Masridge, the City of Magic.

It was also his destination for the day. He expertly wove through the throng of people, and it wasn't long before he stood before the giant gates of the establishment.

A duo of silver spears interrupted his stride. "Hold there fella, only students and faculty members are allowed to enter without permission." 

He raised an eyebrow at the armored guard, before realizing that he hadn't showcased the emblem.

He sheepishly took it from his breast pocket, letting out a nervous chuckle. "Here you go, almost forgot." He apologized.

The guard's eyes opened from surprise at the sight of the golden star, it wasn't common for an Archwizard's acquaintance to come in such a poor state, but he nonetheless let him enter.

"Professor Agis is holding a lecture, go straight through and to the left, you'll find him there." Informed the man.

He nodded in thanks, following his directions.

It was one of the larger lecture halls of the Academy, and considering just how large the establishment is, then it was no wonder that it was one of the largest rooms that Theodore found himself in.

At its entrance was a plaque, 'Introduction to Runes' written on it.

He sneakily made his way inside, taking care not to make much sound. The hall was packed with students from many walks of life, he saw humans, elves, gnomes, dwarves, even goblins, focusing intently at the man speaking to a floating crystal ball that amplified his voice.

He had greyish white hair and golden eyes, denoting some sort of High Elf ancestry; it also explained how he still looked like a teenager even though he was in his mid-twenties. His elvish descent asserted itself even further with his almost effeminate (not that he'd say it to his face) features, twin spectacles (those were new…) giving a scholarly aura.

For some unknown reason, he had a giant crystalline ring, almost half his size, lazily floating behind him like an eastern halo, with ethereal glyphs carved in its surface and glowing in a weak, golden light.

"…Runes are known as the language of the world, each word a definition of the aspect of the universe, and there are two school of thought on the matter of their origin."

The man offhandedly whipped his hand, seemingly causing several words, each differing in its nature, to manifest in above his head.

"Those are all examples of archaic languages, found in the ruins of the oldest civilizations around the world; those of you who have a rudimentary knowledge about this subject might notice that they have an uncanny similarity to most runes." He waved his hand again, causing identical words to float in front of him from different sections of the languages. "In fact, the ones most commonly found in nature, like the basic evocation rune of fire, are present in a lot of these languages, each one identical to each other in both languages, even though for all intents and purposes, they originated from two totally different parts of the world."

He closed his hand in a fist, causing the words of light to dissipate.

"Most scholars believe in one of two theories, some even try to join them in a singular one, either our earliest civilizations took inspiration from runes in order to come up with their written languages, or there was a single civilization that came even before them, that created this language and enforced it upon the world through some mysterious means. It is the classic chicken or the egg argument, did the Runes come first, or was it Language?"

"The truth of the matter is…" Some students sat at the edge of their seat, waiting for knowledge that may shock their mind. "… We do not know." The man finished his sentence, to the chagrin, and some chuckles, from his audience.

"Nor should we care, our lesson here is mostly focused on the uses of runes, not their history, if you do wish to know more about the latter, there are many courses offered by the academy on the many thoughts of its concerns, although they are mostly taught by people from the Scholarly departments, so you'll have to expect many nights of tireless homework." He finished with a tiny smirk and the groans of the students.

"Now, where were we? Ah! The usages of runes, as a wizard, runes are the pillar of my trade, they allow me and those like me who use primal mana to use spells with a higher efficiency and potency, it is what allows us to bridge the gap between us and the lucky fellows who use freeform magic."

"Think of runes, or glyphs, as filters that changes mana from a chaotic state, into an orderly form that performs an effect, using the basic evoking fire rune as an example again." With a snap of his fingers, the corresponding glyph forms in the air. "I get to enter, primal, pure mana into the rune, and in return the basic fire rune attunes it into the necessary aspect –which in this case, is fire- and shifts it into the necessary form in order to create the desired effect, for this rune, the effect here is basic evocation of fire. Input energy, output effect."

A wisp of an ethereal blue energy surges from his hand into the glyph, causing a small ember to form out of the rune. "Now, you could carve or give form to as many runes you want, but it'll only be a bunch of scribbles, useless. Runes require mana, and as long as you give it some, there will be no need to exert any mental effort in order to maintain it, but if you stop providing that energy…" He does so in reality, causing the rune to dissolve into the air and the ember to be extinguished.

"THAT is in my opinion the most important issue in the usage of runes, whether you're using a runic spell, creating a formidable ward, or enchanting a mighty artifact, runes always require a constant supply of mana in order to function, and if you do not anchor it to the physical realm then it will also dissipate once it loses the supply of energy. And the more complicated, numerous, or profound the runes, the more mana it'll require."

"We see an example of that in this very academy, Masridge is as you all know protected by the most robust, most powerful wards this side of the world, and without the giant magic crystal that siphons the mana from the Sky Lanes, then we won't even be able to power a quarter of them even if you used the mana pools of every single magic user in the city, despite how many there are."

It is only after all this time that the man's gaze shifts to Theodore, his eyes lighting up in recognition. 

"Alright students, the lecture will end for today, and as always send me any questions you have through the official channels, thank you for your attention." 

Some of the students sigh in contentment, others groan out of annoyance, but they all swiftly but loudly get their things and leave.

The professor walks up to Theodore, his smile freezing when seeing his miserable state.

"Sir Theodore, it is good to see you, despite your… state." He greets him.

"Young Master, I come bearing grave news…"