“Wait here,” Riyan commanded, leaving Vir and Maiya in the hallway as he disappeared into his bedroom. Neither of them had seen the inside of his room.
“What do you think he hides in there?” Maiya asked.
“Why do you think he’s hiding something?” Vir held plenty of suspicion for the man, but the contents of Riyan’s bedroom wasn’t one of them.
“I mean, why else would he be so paranoid about us going inside?”
“Maybe he just values his privacy? Would you like it if he barged into our room?”
“Mmm, I dunno. Feels fishy to me. Just like that other room we can’t go into.”
Vir wondered about that. There was only one other door that was restricted to them. Judging by the door’s size, it led into a large space of some sort.
“Maybe we’ll find out one day,” he said. “But I’m not going to break in and risk Riyan throwing us out in anger.”
Maiya nodded several times. “Agreed. So, what do you think he’s doing in there?”
“Probably something related to magic, don’t you think?”
Vir could scarcely contain his excitement about what Riyan was going to teach them, and he knew Maiya was in the same boat. No one at the village really knew how to use magic aside from Apramor, but since he never had formal training, he couldn’t clearly articulate how it worked.
“I never thought powering a C Grade orb would be so different from using utility magic,” Maiya said.
“What does it feel like? To power a utility orb?” he asked, despite already having asked her in the past. Vir had always enjoyed fantasizing about great magic spells that brought forth meteors from the sky. And now that he could see prana, these concepts bore far more importance for him.
This was probably the twentieth time she’d humored him, but Maiya didn’t mind repeating herself for her friend’s sake. “You just kinda ‘will’ the orb to activate, and you can feel a bit of your energy being drained away. Not much though. Just for an instant at the beginning. Then the orb just does its thing and fills up.”
The door to Riyan’s bedroom swung open and out walked the man with a slim wooden box. Its rich red grain and gold inlay gave it a refined, expensive appearance.
The man led them to one of the living rooms—the one where ornate rugs covered a floor of bare sand. He placed the box on a coffee table and took a seat on a cushioned fabric stool. Vir and Maiya took their seats on similar stools opposite him.
He opened the gold latches, revealing four white orbs. Some were small enough to be held between two fingers, while one was palm sized.
“I must confess that I am no expert on magic. I cannot teach you the ways of the mejai, girl, but I can share some basics. But first, tell me what you know of prana.”
Maiya thought for a moment before replying. “It’s the stuff that fuels orbs. And orbs power magical spells. And I know that combat orbs use the prana inside our bodies to work. That’s why people need affinities to use combat orbs, right?”
“Wrong,” Riyan said with his head in his hands. “Being ignorant is one thing, but being taught outright lies is… Infuriating. Your instructor should be ashamed.”
Maiya opened her mouth to argue, but Riyan cut her off.
“It is true that prana exists within us, but only in trace amounts. Nowhere near enough to power an orb. Not even a utility orb.”
Riyan’s words countered everything Vir had been told about prana. Granted, the villagers of Brij were no mejai, but still… Vir couldn’t help feeling a little let down.
“Prana exists within all living beings. After all, prana is the energy of life itself. It also,” Riyan held up a finger, “exists in the air.”
“So that’s why crops grow better in prana-rich areas,” Maiya said, catching on. “It’s because they breathe the prana in the air, isn’t it? How does that work, though? The air’s not alive… is it?”
Riyan shook his head. “I do not know. As I said, I am no mejai. However, this is a fact. Without prana, orbs would not function. Orbs function by consuming the prana in the air around the mejai.”
Vir glimpsed a ray of hope. If that was true, then it didn’t matter if he had prana in his body or not. It meant that something else was blocking him from using the magic in the air. He just had to find out what. Maiya was clearly left unsatisfied with their instructor’s explanation. “If that’s true, then why do you even need an affinity to use magic? What are affinities?”
“I do not know!” Riyan barked. He took a deep breath to calm himself. “Apologies, it is unbecoming to lose my temper. Some mejai say they seek the permission of the gods to use magic. That an affinity is a blessing, and that through their blessing, they commune with the gods.”
“Is that really true?” Vir asked.
“Who can say?” Riyan said. “I lost my faith in the gods many years ago.” He held up a white orb that glowed with his magic. “As you can see, I can still use magic without issue.”
The whole blessing idea concerned Vir, but there was something else that sounded off about Riyan’s explanation.
“If orbs gain their power from their surroundings, wouldn’t that mean magic is more effective the closer you are to the Ash? Versus someplace like Brij, where prana’s scarce? It’s the same as how crops grow better, isn’t it?”
Riyan cocked a brow. “An astute observation, boy. You are indeed correct. Have you ever asked yourself why the most prosperous nations border the Ashen Realm, despite the endless hordes of monsters they have to repel daily?”
Their instructor paused, apparently realizing something. “Of course you haven’t! You do not even know the names of these kingdoms, do you? I will only say this once, so be sure to listen. The most powerful countries in the Known World are the Altani and the Kin’jal Empire. Both have long borders with the Ash. They have constructed enormous walls to keep away the Ash Beasts that breach the Ash Boundary. As you can imagine, these walls require immense manpower to keep staffed. It is a significant drain upon their resources, and yet, they remain the most powerful nations. Why is this?”
Maiya hazarded a guess. “It’s because prana makes their magic more powerful, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, and no. People who grow up close to the Ash boast stronger, sturdier bodies. They manifest affinities more often and at an earlier age. They are healthier, can fight longer, and hit harder. And in addition to these advantages, combat magic deployed near the Ash is far stronger.”
With that many cards stacked in their favor, Vir found it hard to imagine a country not being incredibly powerful.
“In fact,” Riyan continued, “standard military strategy for large-scale engagements call for immediate deployment of high ranked magic spells, followed by archers, and finally foot soldier and cavalry engagement. Do you know why?”
Maiya shook her head, but Vir thought it over. Since they’d been on the topic of prana density, it made sense that this also had something to do with that. Except Vir’s musings were too ridiculous to be possible.
Though the more he mulled it over, the more it made sense. There was only a finite amount of prana in the air. He doubted a lone mejai could do anything to affect that… but what about a hundred? Or a thousand?
“It’s to deplete the prana in the air, isn’t it? That way, they could prevent the enemy from using magic.”
Riyan looked at him with surprise. “Have you had any training in military tactics, boy?”
Vir shook his head. He himself didn’t know how he came to that conclusion… It simply felt like the right answer. As if he’d fought in a hundred battles and knew that this was well understood.
“That is indeed the reason. Armies expect the enemy to deplete prana, and so, the side that gets more of their spells out before depletion gains an advantage. After all, more spells generally mean more damage to the enemy.”