In a vast expanse of cloud, Ragor stood on a winding marble staircase leading higher and higher into the heavens. He looked around groggily as if he wasn't fully conscious. With nothing else to do, Ragor climbed each step. As he climbed higher and higher, the steps began to lose their form. It was as if the higher he climbed, the more they couldn't decide whether they were marble or cloud. Ragor was sinking fast, but he didn't seem to notice. It was like all he cared about was reaching whatever the steps led to. He was waist-deep in clouds when he looked up and saw a giant crystal palace. The stars above it formed circles above it in the sky. It was like the palace sat in the nexus of all things. He spotted trees and rivers scattered around the place. But the palace stood apart as the most magnificent thing he could have laid his eyes upon. He scaled faster as he started swimming in the cloud. Then he spotted a tree hidden by the palace. Ragor could see its silhouette, and couldn't believe his eyes. Clarity appeared in his eyes as he stared at the massive tree. Then he fell. The clouds had held on for long, but his form was too much. He spiraled through the clouds and fell into open air. He looked up to take one last look at that palace, but all he saw was empty sky. The clouds were gone, even the stars you would expect from a night sky weren't seen anywhere. All that was seen in their place was an outline of something.
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Ragor awoke with a start, his form sweating as all the injuries from early morning had healed by then.
"Edward! Bath!"
"Yes, my prince," Edward scurried off to prepare everything. I hadn't looked at my room closely enough until now. It was a simple room devoid of all the decoration of gold and tapestries in ama's room. When asked, she said Jotun sleep with their plundered treasure. My bed was huge, as if prepared for a giant, and I had a simple table and chair placed in the middle of the room. There were hidden compartments all around the room, apparently, the Jotun had the habit of hiding their valuables near them when they were warring tribes. My bathtub was in my room for convenience, and there was a filter that could block me off from the rest of the room.
I watched Edward carry water into the room and different herbs and pour them into the tub. I thought the herbs were magical, but they were just in there to foam up the water and to add fragrance.
Edward placed two stones into the tub and helped me undress. I sat in the tub and released a sigh of relief.
"The king wishes to remind you that your teachers will arrive soon, as well as the other students," Edward states while fixing my quilts and sheets.
"Today?"
"Yes, Prince. There are things a prince must learn,"
"Yeah, yeah. Bring me some food."
"What would you like to eat, Prince?"
"I'm not hungry, " He looked at me in confusion. "It's for you. You look seriously unwell, Edward."
"Yes, prince." Edward sighed and turned to leave.
"And blocks of wood of 3 different shades!" I shout before he exits.
He soon came back with a plate of food and a satchel filled with wood.
I got out of the tub and grabbed the satchel. I opened it and saw three beautiful sets of wood. One was a beautiful red shade, another a stark white color, and the last one a deep color of turquoise, which was easily mistakable for a crystal. They all looked expensive, but I was a prince, so it only made sense.
"Hey Edward."
"Yes, Prince?"
"Did you think I was gonna stare at this wood all day? Obviously, I'll need a carving knife." Edward tore his eyes from the plate of food and looked at me like a kicked puppy. "Oh, and something to preserve the things I make."
He placed the plate down carefully and began to rush towards the door.
"Stop," I looked at him, "Do not bring me salt. Just something I can coat the wood in so it does not mold over time."
He nodded, waited a beat to see if there was anything else, then ran off to complete the task. While he was gone, I organized the wood and prepped 'em.
Edward burst through the room, handing me the things I requested as well as a brush. ´Looks like he's starting to anticipate my orders.' I began to work, splitting the wood into pieces, but leaving the blue wood alone for now.
Edward's food had gotten cold, so he used a fire stone to heat it up. 'So they can be used like that? Interesting.'
When I finished with the details of all the small pieces, I moved to the blue wood and made a case for everything. When I was finished with everything, I coated everything with the Preserver. And moved to my table. I carved into it a big square and used little square pieces of the wood and filled in the indent. And while I was having fun, I carved designs into the table. Nothing too fancy, just based on my markings. My markings seemed excited by this as they moved to areas in my line of sight. I then coated it with the Preserver as well. Planning on coating it a couple more times to keep the pieces in place. Edward had finished eating by now and had just been staring at me.
"Were you eating standing up?" I couldn't help but ask.
"A servant could have done this, your grace."
"No, not like this," I laughed and pointed at the intrinsic designs on the wood. I then pointed at the mess I had made, "Servants are for cleaning up, not art."
He stared at me, confused. I sighed, "So clean it up, Edward. And have someone place some beautiful hinges on that case when it dries. Tell them if they damage the case, I'll have their head."
He began to clean everything up immediately. I looked at my handiwork; I had made a crude chessboard. I don't know if it exists here, but I needed something to pass the time. I could tell this was a primitive society with hardly any form of entertainment, and chess was something I loved to play.
'Mother's birthday is coming up, I'll let her play a game with me.' These thoughts raced through my mind as I dipped into the tub again to clean up a bit, then got ready for my lesson. I coated the table one last time and had another servant lead the way while Edward continued to clean up my room.
I walked into a room that had been prepped to be the classroom. I saw a bunch of Jotun kids of varying ages sitting around the room. And a tall and lanky man who looked more like a scholar than a Jotun warrior. I sat in the front and waited for him to start.
"Seithr, or how the humans like to call it mana, exists all around us in the air we breathe, in the food we eat, and within all the sentient races of Lifthrasir." He started without even introducing himself. "Seithr is an external energy. As mortals, we cannot store this energy and hope to produce it within ourselves. We must draw on it with our minds and souls." He looked around the room for a moment, laid his eyes on me, and smiled with a nod.
"Jotun are a special race. Our bones are extremely dense and powerful. For that reason, we weigh vastly more than a human, even if they were the same size as us. There are innate advantages to this, including increased durability, strength, and metabolism. But there are some disadvantages to our flexibility and speed. Unless specific training is done for this, of course. But all this is to say that we are a warrior race. There are three paths to power. Body, Mind, and Soul. Humanoid beings have different advantages in the traits they are given at birth. As many of you have probably noticed, the Jotun hold immense advantages in the Body portion. But an advantage doesn't necessarily mean you will be powerful. You all must work hard to push yourself to the peak, even if it's something you are talented in."
"I assume your training has all been aimed towards your bodies and your fighting abilities. Here we will focus on your mind and soul. The soul is something you are born with and is very difficult to improve. Most focus on it in their advanced age because to improve it, you need life experience and a strong will. The stronger souls develop an [Influence]."
"[Influence] is the state your soul develops such uniqueness that it begins to coalesce into a simple point, a simple Idea. This has advantages, but I will warn you of the dangers first. The name of this state is there for a reason; It will affect the being. It will have an influence, if you will. Most beings with an [Influence] are stubborn with their mindsets and ideas. There are 9 grades to an [Influence] that determine their power and effects on the being.
SparkEmberConceptValueCharacterNatureDistinctTraitIndividuality
"While this may sound powerful, it is mostly an internal thing. No mortal is born powerful. Those with powerful souls have an easier time pulling on Seithr and creating techniques, which we will get to in a moment. Seithr is an energy that is available to us all, but some usually do not pull from this vague form of energy. They filter it and draw on one specific thing. It could be a concept, a thing, or even a god. Right now, if you haven't already, close your eyes and pick a source for your Seithr."
I closed my eyes. Thinking hard on what to choose. The lesson had completely enamored me. The concepts of power had drawn me in and set fire to a greed I didn't know I held within.
"Think about what makes you feel safe, what draws you towards it. Don't worry about it too much; it should be instinctual. You may not know it yet, but your mind already does. Once you've chosen, you should feel a resonance within yourself."
I began to relax and let my mind guide me towards a path I would walk for the rest of my life. I already knew what it would be. It was something I longed for. Something I wanted with me forever. Something powerful and unyielding.
Light
The moment I choose my Seithr. I felt my body shiver as a scalding heat came up from my gut and spread through my body. My markings danced across my skin almost in a dance of happiness. I opened my eyes, and they shone with a bright white light.
"Congratulations, prince. I wasn't aware you knew yourself so well." The teacher said with a small smile.
"A mix of talent and luck, teacher," I responded with a satisfied smile marking my face. He chuckled, moving towards me, ignoring the other kids who were still concentrating within.
The teacher stopped in front of me. And an inquisitive look passed through his face as he studied me. "My name is Merlin Torst, your grace."
"Nice to meet you, Merlin. But do you not have a class to teach?"
"Right there. That is what I was curious about. That is not the response of a child." Merlin said with a proud look, as if he had figured out the meaning of life in that short moment.
"And yet it is," I responded, slightly guarded against this perceptive man.
"The time at which you found yourself. The mature responses. It's either immense childhood trauma or you were born with an [Influence]."
"Well, my father is a king."
He chuckles, "That he is, your grace, that he is." He pulls out a vial from his pocket. He gestures towards me, "May I?"
"You may," He reaches towards my forehead, pulls back my hair, and holds the vial directly above my temple. He hesitates before meeting my eyes.
"This test will make you aware of your [Influence]. Ignorance is bliss. The more aware you are of it, the more effect it will begin to have on you. Depending on what it is, it could be a huge problem for you."
"Just do it. You're already touching me with your dirty hands." He had made me more curious than anything with that damn speech in class no amount of fucking warnings would stop me now.
He began to pour the liquid on my temple. The fluid trickled down my face and began to trail down across my body and seep into my skin. Curiously, no drop fell away from me; it was as if it were stuck to my skin.
I felt no abnormalities until my heart thumped in my ears once, then fell silent.