"Your breath shall become like fire when the mind is at ease. Your song shall break mountains when the mind is at ease. Your whispers shall call storms when the mind is at ease."

  "Your tongue is the bridge between the vast knowledge hidden in your mind and the clay that is Estra's existence, which can be molded by the power of your tongue. Your intentions to kill or save a life shall be realized with your own hands through the power of your tongue. Use it wisely, or this power will consume you."

  Izick groaned as he lowered the tome in his hands.

  He held onto the book as the Mana-powered carriage rolled over an uneven patch, somehow not waking the sleeping Giselle in front of him from her slumber. He turned to Mill beside him, who was also reading.

  "This book is so boring. Can we go back to Mana Shaping again instead of this?"

  "Every decent Mage in the modern age has to read Mueller's Regalos de Estra at least once. Remember, Mysteria's foundation is knowledge, not purely Mana capacity and Shaping ability. You're lacking in all three areas, so you have to work twice as hard as everyone else. Keep reading," Mill said as she flipped a page in the book she was reading herself.

  Izick winced at the prospect of more reading. Mill continued to read as she spoke again.

  "The more you read and understand, the more Mysteria Skills you can learn and Recite in the real world. Your Shaping and Mana will also become more refined as you expand your knowledge."

  "But it's so boring. This guy keeps repeating things over and over again."

  "He's trying to emphasize key points. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but 'boring' and 'repetitive' is the life of a Mage. We, Mages, spend our days with our noses in books instead of shooting fireballs all day. My studies have been slipping recently, so I'm going through that notebook Foster Braun made for me," Mill said as she raised the notebook for Izick to see.

  "Apparently, my Shield Skill failed against him for a very childish reason. He wrapped my shields in a thin layer of Mana before rapidly shrinking said layer of Mana to compress and destroy my shields. I can also feel his condescension and mockery in these writings as he explains the counter to this Skill, which is pretty annoying," Mill said while grumbling and pointing at Foster Braun's notebook.

  "Mill, please, I'm begging you. I need a break. I can't read another word from this insufferable dead guy. I don't care if I have to sit in silence for the rest of the trip, just make it stop," Izick said, pleading to Mill while burying his face in the tome.

  "That insufferable dead guy, Mueller, was the former Stave Hero of the Valdarian Empire, and was responsible for translating and modernizing many Mysteria Skills, so we can use plain language for common Skills like Fireball instead of archaic words from a dead language when Reciting," Mill said, closing Foster Braun's notebook.

  "Though I guess you have earned a bit of a break from reading. Let's practice your Mana Shaping now. Your learning session is far from over. Show me a Shaping Orb of Light."

  "Finally, no more reading. Let's see, Orb of Light…" Izick said as he closed his eyes, raised his palm, and took a deep breath.

  His face began to strain while an apple-sized sphere of yellow light materialized above his palm. He struggled to keep the sphere steady as it wobbled and flickered.

  "It's still extremely rough, but at least it doesn't instantly fade away like previous attempts. Now try subdividing it like you learned in chapter three of Regalos de Estra," Mill said, with crossed arms as she watched Izick struggling with his Orb of Light Skill.

  Izick's face became strained once more as he glared at his sphere.

  "Divisi."

  The Orb of Light fractured into many smaller yellow specks that floated over his hand. He let out a breath as relief came over him.

  "Congratulations, it's not perfect, but now you know how to materialize Mana, shape it, and divide it. This is actually great progress for a beginner Mage like you. Keep this up, and you'll eventually won't even need to speak to divide Mana. Your Mana Base will take care of that like muscle memory."

  "Really? Do you think I have potential for this Mage stuff?"

  "Potential is a loaded word. You definitely have it, but you can't afford to ease up since most Mages at your age are doing more advanced Skills than this."

  Izick slumped his shoulders as he dismissed his subdivided Orb of Light.

  "Though all hope is not lost. Your experience with Activation Skills involving your Scout trap cubes and your Vocal Distortion Skill gives you a pretty decent foundation to work with. Your intuitive understanding of Mana is above average. Keep practicing hard, and you will improve."

  "That's reassuring, but are all of these exercises necessary? How will dividing Mana be useful to me anyway?"

  "They say that when it comes to Mysteria, no knowledge is ever wasted. It might be better if I show you. Watch this."

  Mill lifted her hand in front of Izick and spoke a few words, creating four tiny elemental orbs of fire, dirt, water, and yellow light of various sizes above each of her fingertips.

  Izick leaned forward in astonishment as he inspected the four orbs Mill created.

  "These are the four most common elements for beginner Mages. Like Mueller said, words are the bridge between our knowledge and the fabric of our reality."

  "That's amazing. Your fireball is perfectly round like a marble."

  "Yes, but it's also the largest I can control. I know how to make a fire for starting campfires and burning small objects like that investigator's Scanner card, but I don't understand it any deeper, so this is the extent of my abilities, which is the same for water and earth Mysteria. However,"

  Mill dispelled the orbs, leaving only the orb of light.

  "Light is what I'm most knowledgeable about, making it my most powerful Mysteria element. I've been learning about it my entire life, so it's like an extension of my body. Light Mysteria is useful to me since it is the main element for Healers," Mill said as she transformed the orb of light into various shapes from stars to animal heads, leaving Izick completely spellbound.

  "Archmages have equally vast amounts of knowledge, Mana, and Mana Shaping ability. This is the goal and dream of most Mages who have delusions of grandeur. It's a bit stupid, but Mages tend to compare their mastery of Mysteria with an overly complicated parlor trick. Close your eyes for a second."

  Izick followed her instructions and closed his eyes as Mill formed the Mana in her hand into a sphere. She uttered a long string of words, causing the sphere of light to spin and wobble.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "You can open your eyes now."

  Izick gasped as a palm-sized planet with tiny patches of land and ocean encapsulated in a thin haze slowly spun in Mill's hand. Izick brought his widened eyes within inches of the orb.

  "H-how is this even possible? It's like I'm staring down at Estra from the stars. This is incredible!"

  "So many things are possible with Mysteria. This is called a World Sphere. It represents the entirety of my knowledge of Mysteria. Great Mages compare their World Spheres to each other to parade their knowledge of Mysteria and test who knows the most. I want you to work your way up to making one yourself one day, but the basics come first. I just want you to know what's possible."

  "Mill, you have to be an Archmage already, right?"

  "Mercy, no. I'm far from an Archmage, especially since Healers like me are locked into using Light Mysteria as our main element. healing Skills cost less Mana for us, but other elements cost more, making it much more difficult to become an Archmage than other Mage classes. Besides, Archmages can create World Spheres the size of your head like it's nothing."

  The carriage jolted as it rolled over a rough patch.

  The sleeping Giselle, sitting in front of Izick and Mill, woke up from the rough shaking of the carriage and yawned. Mill clapped her hands together to dispel the World Sphere, crushing it out of existence like it was never there.

  Giselle rubbed her eyes as she stared at Mill.

  "Was there something in your hands a few seconds ago?"

  "Yes, I was just showing Izick a simple parlor trick. Nothing important."

  "Ooh, show me too!"

  Giselle bombarded Mill with pleas to do her "parlor trick" again, but she refused each time.

  Izick ignored the back and forth and leaned out the open window of the carriage as the trees in the forest passed him by.

  That tiny planet Mill created made him realize how large and deep the world of Mysteria was. He was overwhelmed and would have been clueless without Mill up to this point. He had a lot to learn and practice.

  He was a Scout through and through, but he had to become a Mage if he wanted to wield the Honor Rod and get rid of it someday.

  What a pain. Mill was right. He had to endure these painful books, or he'd be done for.

  Izick was about to turn away from the window and go back to reading when something metallic flashed in the corner of his eye.

  He opened the window and looked ahead of the carriage.

  His sharp eyes could only see the well-trodden and grassy path ahead with endless trees, but something felt off.

  Every one of his senses was running at full speed, trying to find anything out of place in his current environment.

  Izick pushed down the window and gripped the windowsill with his left hand as he leaned out of the window. He caught a glimpse of the driver sitting in the open area at the front.

  "Hey, driver! Slow us down! I think something is wrong!" Izick shouted to the driver, who jumped a bit after hearing Izick's sudden voice. He looked ahead through the protective glass in front of him before turning to Izick and waving him off.

  "No can do, kid. We have a tight schedule to keep, and Barson would kill me if we strayed too far behind. Our archers will notice if something is wrong," the driver said while pointing to the two archers sitting on the carriage bench directly behind him. "Hobbs already found us a perfect route and those bandits already left this side of Yenga–"

  An arrow covered in ice shattered the protective glass and caught the neck of the driver, choking the words in his throat as his neck began to be covered with white ice.

  "Get down!" Izick said before pulling himself back into the carriage cabin as two arrows whizzed by the window, gaining the attention of Mill and Giselle.

  One archer collapsed as an arrow struck his eye, while the other was hit by two arrows in the chest.

  A volley of arrows riddled the driver's head and body until he slumped over lifelessly.

  Giselle leapt out of her seat and grabbed her sword as more arrows flew by the windows.

  Mill snatched her staff as something clipped the side of the carriage, knocking everyone inside over as orange flames raced past the windows. She turned to Izick, who was quickly unwrapping part of the warding cloth covering the Honor Rod.

  "Izick, what's the situation right now?" Mill said as Izick tied the warding cloth around his hand and the Honor Rod, securing his grip.

  "We're under attack by archers and maybe a Mage," Izick said as another flaming impact shook the carriage.

  Giselle grunted as she opened the carriage window and climbed to the top of the carriage. Izick followed suit as he grabbed the windowsill and then lifted himself to the window.

  "Sorry, Mill, but can you shield me? I need to get control of the carriage since the driver is probably dead. I doubt the wards on this carriage can take another hit."

  "Got it, I'll give you cover on the way up. Just be careful," Mill said as she extended her staff, glowing with green energy, towards the window.

  Semi-transparent hexagon shields extended from the side of the window, repelling a cluster of arrows.

  Izick swung his body out of the window and climbed onto the top of the carriage. Wind assaulted his face as he kept himself as low as possible to avoid getting blown away like his hair.

  In front of him, Giselle knelt by the surviving, but injured archer and the dead driver.

  Mill leaned out of the window and created a series of green shields in front of Izick and Giselle.

  He pulled out a spyglass and looked into the trees where he could make out the forms of around a dozen archers. They pulled back their bows for another volley.

  He looked directly ahead of the carriage and saw two Mages wearing black robes standing in the middle of the road, creating two large fireballs above their heads.

  "Mill, we need more shields in front of the carriage!" Izick shouted to Mill.

  The archers unleashed a massive volley of arrows, along with the two massive fireballs from the Mages.

  Mill stretched out her glowing red staff to dispel the green shields and replace them with a red web of hexagons.

  Each arrow redirected away from the carriage upon impact with the red shields without losing momentum.

  The two fireballs slammed into the red shields but were redirected into the air, where they exploded behind the carriage, which continued to speed down the grassy road.

  The Mages began to rapidly shoot smaller fireballs, but each one was redirected by Mill's red shields. They dived off the road at the last second to avoid getting run over by the carriage.

  Giselle dragged one of their archers to Izick and laid him down as the wind continued to crash against them.

  "We've lost steering for the carriage after one of those attacks. We might be able to use the emergency brakes, but stopping here would be a death sentence. They killed the driver and one of our archers. But this one is still alive. Can you heal him? I know you're not a Healer yet, but you can Recite a simple healing Skill, right? You're a Healer's apprentice after all."

  Izick glanced down at the archer with arrows in his shoulders, chest, legs, and stomach.

  "I–"

  "I can."

  Mill lifted herself onto the top of the carriage with Izick and Giselle. Izick helped her up as she continued to keep her red shields as another volley of arrows slid off them.

  Mill grimaced at the dead driver and archer, but knelt beside the archer who survived.

  She rested her staff beside him. Mill's hands began to glow yellow as she held them over the archer.

  "Mill, these shields are amazing, they're blocking everything!" Giselle said as more arrows slid off the shields.

  "Thank you, but they're not indestructible. Are we past these bandits yet?" Mill said before apologizing and pulling an arrow out of the archer's shoulder, causing him to scream in pain.

  "I hope so. I've never seen that many archers before in my life. They had to be planning this for a while, despite what our scouting says. The other carriages should be straight ahead."

  War cries erupted all around them, making it hard to pinpoint the exact location of the disorienting cries.

  "Incoming!" Izick said as bandits jumped from the trees, with four landing on the top of the carriage while the others missed and slammed into the ground in a heap of pain.

  Giselle parried the sword of a bandit before kicking him off the carriage.

  Izick pulled out a knife as he ducked a flurry of dagger strikes aimed for his head. He slashed at the bandit's ankles with his knife to ruin his balance.

  He placed his knife in his mouth, then used the butt of the Honor Rod to push the bandit off the carriage.

  Izick spun around and raised the Honor Rod to block the overhand slash of a bandit with his heavy sword, causing Izick to grit his teeth as his arms and legs buckled.

  Now closer than before, Izick could see the bandit's black wolf-like ears standing at attention as he bared his razor-sharp teeth.

  He continued to push the struggling Izick further down as the carriage began to race down a hill, completely out of control.