Symphonic Odyssey

Alvin remained quiet as Cypher digested the information he had just received. The man reached down and opened the chest at his feet with a wave of his hand. He rifled through it for a few moments humming softly to himself, his smile never wavering.

After a moment he pulled out an item wrapped in cloth and set it on the bench beside him. Next, he withdrew a small clear pendant, not unlike the one he wore, and set it down beside the first item.

Adjusting his glasses again, he looked through the scrolls he held and set one to his left. The other he placed on top of the first two items he had pulled from the chest. Cypher watched, hardly breathing, unsure of what would happen next, and fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat again.

“Alright, I think we’re ready to begin now, sorry for the wait,” said Alvin, smiling at him again. He reached for the cloth-wrapped item and removed the thin fabric. In his hands sat an egg-shaped crystal-like stone about the size of a small bowl.

The craftsmanship of the stone was unlike any Cypher had seen before. It was unnaturally smooth, transparent, and shone softly with a pulsing light.

“What I have here is known as a Gaelin stone. With it, I believe we can get an accurate reading of your affinity and see just how powerful your stores of Zight really are. The archway is, of course, our normal way of determining these kinds of things. But it isn’t exactly a flawless method. It has been known to make mistakes in the past. This stone though is made of pure unrefined Zight, which if you aren’t aware is very difficult to acquire. It will give us an accurate reading of your element with no room for error.”

Alvin offered the stone to Cypher and he took it with caution, doing his utmost to not drop it or damage it in any way. Such a precious material would no doubt be very expensive and Cypher shuddered at the thought of having to work off the debt if he were to break it.

Once, while in Galvan manor he had tripped over a rug and dropped a crystal goblet he was carrying to Galex. After it shattered against the marble floor, Galex had been furious. After slapping him, he ordered that Cypher be banished from the mansion. Tyrina had only narrowly managed to convince her husband not to go through with it if Cypher agreed to work off the price of the goblet.

At the time, the thought of being out on his own had terrified him and so he had chosen to work off his debt. He had spent five solid months of nonstop grueling labor all around the manor doing more work than he ever had before on top of his usual duties. He was not eager to experience that again.

“What do I do with it?” Cypher asked, cradling the stone in his arms like a newborn.

“That’s quite simple really. Just channel some of your Zight into the stone and then it will tell us what we want to know. Much like the archway, it will glow according to whichever element you possess. Oh, and it will vibrate a bit so don’t be alarmed,” Alvin said, clearly taking note of how careful Cypher was being with the stone.

Cypher sat there for a few moments, heat gathering in his cheeks with embarrassment. He wanted to do what Alvin asked but he wasn’t sure exactly what Zight was. Certainly, the book of magick he had read mentioned it, but not in any great detail. To him, it had only been a throwaway mention that didn’t make any sense.

The book was somewhat advanced and worked on the idea that the reader had a sound foundation in the magickal arts. As such he was only able to piece together bits and pieces of information. Even the single spell he had learned had only been a diagram and was quite a basic one at that.

Worse still was that since he was under such tight restrictions at the manor, he had been unable to use the spell even once. He only had the parameters of the knowledge that the spell had endowed him with and nothing more.

Cypher frowned, worried the man would scold him for being ignorant of what seemed like such a simple thing concerning magick, and continued to stare at the stone silently. Alvin, of course, took notice of his hesitation.

“What seems to be the matter Cypher? Are you worried about breaking the stone? If so fear not, it is quite sturdy I can assure you,” Alvin suddenly said, breaking the boy’s concentration.

Cypher paused for a moment and gathered his thoughts. Emboldening himself and ignoring his embarrassment Cypher looked up and said, “Err, well, it’s just that…” he paused again, wondering how exactly to word his issue. He didn’t want to seem foolish in front of Alvin.

“You’ve mentioned Zight a few times now, but I’m not sure what exactly it is. Would you teach me?”

Alvin looked puzzled. “What? You really don’t know? That is most strange, I was sure the Galvans would have taught you at least that much. It’s truly basic knowledge, especially in households that bear Conductors. Well, no matter. It is a simple enough thing to teach but much harder to master as I hope you will come to learn,”

“Zight is the energy we Conductors use to work our magick. It is a fundamental force that all beings possess, but few can use with any real proficiency. It appears throughout our world in many different forms, but today we’re only focusing on the form it takes as it leaves the body. That kind of Zight will be pure enough to focus through the Gaelin stone and return to you with no adverse side effects.”

Cypher nodded and looked down at the stone, still puzzled about what he was supposed to do exactly. Knowing about Zight certainly seemed useful, but it didn’t explain how he was supposed to draw it out. For a moment Cypher focused, trying to will his energy into the stone but all he managed to do was strain his eyes as he stared unblinking at the glimmering crystal in his hands.

Alvin waited patiently as minutes passed but nothing happened. Then he looked up at Cypher and said, “Hmm, it would seem that your education really has been lacking. Truly, the Galvans taught you nothing?”

“They didn’t teach me much of anything outside of how to do my chores or care for the horses. Where does Zight even come from? You say we all have it but if that’s true then how do I use mine?”

Alvin sighed and folded his hands his index fingers forming a steeple that he placed at his chin. “There is much I could say on the matter. In fact, entire fields of study are dedicated to questions like that. For now, I will simply ask this, where do you keep the energy that you use to run, work, or even walk around?”

“Inside me, I guess? Perhaps it’s stored in the blood?” Cypher answered.

“You aren’t too far from the truth. Good guess, but no. The energy we use to live is stored in our cells. Put very simply, cells are small bits of living matter that make up everything we are. Your bones and blood, as well as your skin and everything else that makes up your body is made of these cells. They are nigh uncountable and divide themselves constantly as older ones die in a cycle of life and death much as everything does.

“In a sense, they are the organs, numerous as they may be that contain the energy we use on a daily basis. Now then, I ask you, where do you keep the Zight that accumulates inside your body? I’ll give you a hint, it isn’t your cells,”

Cypher thought for a moment, absorbing the information he had just learned. It was quite a spectacular concept. The idea that he was made up of an uncountably vast number of smaller pieces full of energy thrilled and mystified him. He put aside his ponderings of that matter and focused on the task at hand.

“If I had to guess… well, if it isn’t our cells then, would it be stored in another organ?” He felt a bit foolish but answered with confidence. Alvin flashed a wide smile and slapped his knees with his palms.

“Correct! There is an organ in which we store the Zight inside us. Zight is not as simple as the energy we gain from eating and drinking. That fuel is a sort of chemical reaction that…” Alvin stopped himself and chuckled softly. “Well, you aren’t here for an entire lecture about the human body. As I was going to say, it is energy, that much is not in dispute. However, it is very different both in form and function. If we somehow were able to keep it inside our cells like normal energy, we would burn out in a spectacular display of light and fire in a matter of seconds!”

“It isn’t possible to contain such a powerful force within the cells, not without diluting it first. Luckily the Divines saw fit to address this issue! Inside each of us around… here,” Alvin pointed at a spot just below his navel, “is an organ called the Orrium. While there is much I could teach you about it, for now, all you need to know is that it exists. It is here that Zight naturally accumulates inside us,”

As Alvin finished explaining, Cypher instinctively reached for where his Orrium should be and rubbed the area softly. When he had attempted to cast his first spell back on Gelrin Cliff, he had felt a bit sick to his stomach, he hadn’t thought about it much at the time due to the extreme circumstances but now that he thought about it, it troubled him. Several other instances of this also popped into his mind. All of them had revolved around magick in one way or another, and now that he knew that they were related it all made sense to him. More or less.

“So how do I draw Zight out of my Orrium and into the stone?” Cypher continued rubbing the area slowly, trying to coax the Zight out somehow.

“How do you lift a stone, or run across a field? You see, just like with your muscles, you have to exercise your Orrium, you have to use it! Usually, a Conductor in training would have to study a diagram and practice for several weeks in order to learn how to use a spell. This forces a compression of their Orrium which releases the Zight contained within in order to power that spell. However, in this instance, we don’t exactly have the time for you to train in such a manner. Therefore I have brought with me a couple of scrolls that might just do the trick, but they’re quite dangerous methods,”

“I’m not completely confident that one as young as you is up to the task, but if you wish we can make an attempt. I must warn you though, if something goes wrong your Orrium could be damaged beyond recovery, or even rupture. If that were to happen your career as a Conductor would be over before it even began,”

The last thing Cypher wanted was for his newly discovered source of power to be destroyed before he even learned how to use it properly. There was, however, another option. But he was hesitant to bring it up. Still, a choice lay before him, and be it for good or ill he would have to decide right here and right now.