Hearing a voice other than his own in this dark place filled Ishtar with immense relief, yet also an indescribable chill. As his heart pounded against his ribs, he shouted hoarsely into the darkness where the voice echoed:
"Who are you? Do you know anything about this damn dark place?"
The voice replied, "This is your subconscious. Don't just stand there, or I'll come and drag you in myself."
Ishtar stumbled as the ground beneath his feet trembled, walking toward the massive stone gate. The walls of the Coliseum seemed to breathe as if they were alive, with purple light seeping through the cracks. As he stepped inside, he saw that unlike the darkness outside, the interior was illuminated by thousands of torches.
Upon entering, he realized that the person waiting for him was the same boy from his previous nightmare—the one whose eyes had popped out from crying! But now, his eyes were back to normal.
"Hey, you're that kid from before! Your eyes... they were gone. How did they return to normal? And what does that black Isotra Star mean?"
The boy frowned; clearly, he had been through something terrible.
"That's not our topic right now. I will explain everything to you soon. For now, I am here to teach you the basics of Magic and Cesrad."
Magic and Cesrad? But Cesrad was an energy that only master knights could wield. And magic was even harder than Cesrad; only five or six out of a hundred thousand people were born with the talent to use it. That was why magical items were so expensive.
"But I'm just an ordinary blacksmith's apprentice. For someone like me to use Cesrad, let alone magic... How am I supposed to do that?"
The boy's laughter echoed off the walls of the Coliseum.
"Ordinary? You call yourself ordinary with that talent? You really are a funny brat."
Ishtar's face turned red. "Hey, look who's calling me a brat! Look at yourself first. And what talent are you talking about?"
The boy gave Ishtar a condescending look and pointed a finger at him.
"Have you seriously never looked at your Status Window? I'm talking about the 'Divine Disciple' talent. With that talent, you can learn any magic or Cesrad skill you want."
Ishtar stammered, "S-seriously? I thought that talent... only worked for crafts."
The boy froze for a moment at this absurdity, then a mocking smile spread across his face.
"Crafts?" the boy said, rolling the word around in his mouth. "Do you think casting magic isn't a craft, you idiot? Just as a blacksmith uses his hammer with mastery, a mage uses his mana. Your 'Divine Disciple' talent doesn't even see the difference. To it, they are all the same: A technique to be learned."
The boy slapped Ishtar hard on the shoulder.
"Break those narrow molds in your head. Magic isn't just the work of priests chanting fancy words. It is also a craft; the craft of the universe. And now..."
The boy pointed to a massive block of black iron on the ground.
"...you are going to show me the craft you know best. But not with a hammer—with your will. Feel the fire, Ishtar. Think of your father's forge. You don't need a flint to light the forge; you are the spark."
Ishtar swallowed hard. A craft... If magic was just another craft, maybe he could do it. He took a deep breath and extended his hand toward the black mass.
Seeing the ambitious look on Ishtar's face, the boy knew he was ready to learn the basics of Magic and Cesrad.
"To cast magic, you must first know the smallest substance that makes up magic. That thing is called Atiro. It is the building block of the universe; right now, you, me, these walls, and the air you breathe... Everything is made of Atiro."
The boy continued, looking deep into Ishtar's eyes:
"Inside an Atiro, there are three basic parts: Proton, Neutron, and Electron. To do magic, you must first gather the Atiro around you into your hand. Imagine collecting them into a single point. Then, try to disrupt the delicate 'electron balance' inside those gathered Atiros."
Ishtar frowned. "Disrupt the balance?"
"Yes," the boy grinned. "When the balance is broken, pure energy will be released. This energy is called 'Mana'. And a mage bends reality using this mana. Now... Release that mana and try to create a fireball for me."
[DIVINE DISCIPLE TALENT ACTIVATED]
[Concept: Atomic Decay (Atiro Balance)]
[Visualization: Successful]
The world before Ishtar's eyes changed again. He could see right into the glowing dust motes (Atiros) floating in the air. He could clearly distinguish the heavy particles (Proton/Neutron) sitting in the center of each Atiro and the tiny, erratic particles (Electrons) spinning madly around them.
"I understand..." Ishtar whispered. "It's like the tension inside steel. If you bend the metal too much, it heats up and snaps. Here, I just need to derail those little pieces."
Ishtar extended his right hand. Creating an invisible vortex in his palm, he gathered the airborne Atiros there. In his mind, he compressed them, squeezed them, and finally, with his will, commanded those spinning electrons to "halt."
The balance broke.
Snap!
First, a high-pitched humming sound was heard. Then, from the point where the atoms shattered in Ishtar's palm, a neon blue, liquid-like light (Mana) began to leak.
"There's the Mana!" Ishtar shouted. But he wasn't done. He had to turn this pure energy into fire. He thought of his father's forge. The explosion of the furnace, the spark catching flame...
The moment the blue mana combined with Ishtar's thought of "Fire," its color turned crimson.
WHOOSH!
In Ishtar's palm, a fireball the size of an orange but as bright and dense as the sun formed. The flame was such a stable and perfect sphere that it radiated no heat; it trapped all the heat within itself.
The boy whistled, looking at the perfect sphere of fire.
"Disrupting the electron balance to release mana... Most apprentices blow their hands off trying this. You, on the other hand, are as calm as if you've been a nuclear physics professor for years. Your 'Divine Disciple' talent is truly a cheat code."
Ishtar looked at the destructive power in his hand with admiration.
"Now..." Ishtar said, tossing the fireball up and catching it again. "Do I have a target to throw this at?"
The boy pointed to the black mass in front of him: "Throw it there."
Ishtar hurled the fireball at the black mass.
BOOM!
But surprisingly, the black mass was completely unharmed; it was evidently made of an incredibly sturdy metal.
The boy applauded. "Well done, but this is just the beginning. Now it's time for Cesrad, but we're out of time. In your next dream, then. See you later."
Ishtar suddenly woke up in his bed.
He had to try what he learned immediately. He pulled back the purple curtain and stepped out onto the balcony. Remembering what he learned in his dream, he closed his eyes and readied his hand to cast magic.
First, he would gather the Atiro particles. Suddenly, he heard a sound like breaking glass. Yes, it was working; the particles were gathering. Then he disrupted the electron balance, and a strange sound came from the particles:
CRACK!
Yes, that was the sound he heard before, and mana had formed. Ishtar was filled with a joy that enveloped his heart. Next was changing the nature of the mana. He imagined creating a water bubble, and the mana in his hand began to transform; it turned into a bubble of water.
Ishtar started hopping and jumping around with the water bubble in his hand. Suddenly, a voice came from downstairs; it was Nera's voice:
"Ishtar, wake up son, breakfast is ready!"
Ishtar used the water bubble in his hand to water the flower on the balcony, got dressed, and went downstairs. He sat at the breakfast table.
"You look very cheerful today, did something happen?" Andor asked.
Ishtar couldn't tell his family he learned magic overnight, so he made up an excuse.
"Last night I dreamt I was a wandering knight, roaming the meadows," he said.
Andor chuckled under his mustache at the pure energy reflected on his son's face from this daydreaming. He shook his head in a fatherly manner as he put his fork down on the plate.
"A wandering knight, huh? Dreams are free, of course, but we are the ones forging those knights' swords, and we are the ones making the money, son. So leave the dreams under your pillow and come back to the real world, champ. We're up to our necks in work at the shop today; we need to finish that heavy armor set Sir Galahad ordered by evening."
His mother, Nera, smiled as she put an extra slice of bread on Ishtar's plate. "Don't be so hard on the boy, Andor. Young people need to dream."
Ishtar giggled inwardly as he stuffed a large bite into his mouth. If they knew it wasn't a dream, Dad would probably close the shop out of fear instead of lighting the forge, he thought.
After breakfast, they headed to the shop with his father. Even though it was early morning, the streets of Avalon were bustling. But for Ishtar, everything was different from yesterday.
As he walked, he looked at the stone pavements, the walls of the buildings, even the horse carriage passing by, with different eyes. He could now see not just the matter, but the tiny, vibrating dust of light inside them—the Atiros.
When they arrived at the shop, Andor opened the shutters with his usual routine and put on his heavy leather apron.
"Alright, let's go," Andor said, heading to the forge. "Get the bellows ready while I stoke the fire. We need to temper that steel perfectly today."
Ishtar gripped the handle of the bellows. But this time, pumping the bellows felt meaningless to him. He narrowed his eyes and focused on the extinguished coals inside the forge. He could see the carbon atoms (Atiros) inside the coals. Creating friction between them, accelerating their electrons... it was now child's play for him.
In that brief second when his father turned his back to fill the water bucket, Ishtar didn't pump the bellows. He just looked at the forge and whispered softly:
"Awaken."
The Atiro balance inside the coals was instantly broken.
WHOOSH!