"Now that I think about it, doesn't that fact that you're taking jabs at me mean that you don't really think of me as a crazed kidnapper?"
"Ahh! I'm so sorry, please don't tie me up again..."
The two of them slowly tread up the gloomy stone staircase, looking forwards to seeing the sun again. Jane had no idea how long it had been, but his teacher looked like he was itching to get outside already.
"I have a brother at home, what will he do without me... Please, kind sir, have mercy!"
In the dim light of the torches lining the walls, a satisfied smile could be seen on his master's face. Jane tsked quietly.
The former halted suddenly, causing Jane to bump into his back. Still wearing the same smile, he turned around to face his student. In the same manner as a gentleman would, he outstretched his hand.
"You're right. I'm afraid I've been too impolite... Here, you may walk in front of me if it makes you feel better."
'Would I really get murdered if I bit his hand off here?'
Sensing his defeat, Jane slapped away the hand. His teacher looked a little hurt. Like this, they continued walking up the staircase.
"By the way, who are you, actually? It feels a bit too mysterious to always call you 'teacher'."
"Well, I suppose your mysterious master could tell you at least that much. I'm the magician you went to see, the Great Mage Calex."
'So it's true that nobles have weird hobbies...'
"But Calex was a gentleman who looked to be in his fourties? You're so young, teacher."
"Have you forgotten that your master is a Great Mage? It's a trivial task to change my appearance to that of an elder. My disciple, if you work very hard, you may very well learn that magic someday."
"Your student will try harder! Not that he knows what a Great Mage is..."
As the sound of a tongue clicking was heard from his teacher, Jane grinned brightly.
'Ah, so this is how it feels...'
"By the way, how did you drag my body all the way down here?"
"Why would I do something like that? I teleported."
"Are you kidding me? Why are we taking the stairway back up, then?"
"We're already most of the way there, so your complaints mean nothing."
Hearing this, every step Jane took seemed to take magnitudes more effort.
"No, really, why are we taking the stairs?"
"I was planning on passing down a little more knowledge before parting, you see."
"And you waited until we were most of the way there to tell me this?"
"How can I pass down knowledge to someone who isn't an obedient, polite disciple of mine?"
"You know, even if I don't act like that, you'll probably still teach me anyways."
His teacher was silent for a moment. Like this, another couple dozens of steps passed.
"The very most basic aspect of magic is mana itself, but in order to actually create magic, one needs sufficient understanding of runes. Mana will have little to no effect without being shaped into proper rune structures, and building upon those structures is necessary in order to create complex magic. Thus, any mage worth their salt is more or less fluent in Runic."
"Hold on. Why is Runic or whatever the only language that has an effect when shaped with mana?"
"Runic only came about after magic started to be developed. Think about it for a little bit."
'So, Runic symbols have meaning based on their effects when constructed with mana?'
"In that case, how did people figure out what symbols would make effects?"
"That... Nobody really knows. There's a few theories, though. I myself belong to the Grand Magician school of thought."
"In other words, you're a cultist?"
"You're right, I'm a cultist who regularly executes annoying disciples. Anyways, there was a single Grand Magician who possessed knowledge of nearly everything, and taught other humans which runes produced magic. They're also called the First Magician or First Mage by some."
"That doesn't explain anything at all, though?"
"Not quite. Trace back the roots of Runic, and they all converge to one source, one which is too narrow to be more than one person. There had to have been a human who first created magic."
Jane looked a little doubtful upon hearing this.
"Why do you assume the Grand Magician is a human, then? Couldn't he have been a god?"
"Because there have been mages of great talent and skill over the ages, some even managing to scratch the surface of what the Grand Magician was capable of. However, there has never once been a god in our history. Not now, not ever."
This made Jane's expression grow even less trustful.
"If there was never a god, then why do we have a word for it?"
"Well, think about it. Those people in the villages, who live mundane lives day by day, what would they think of someone who could change the weather, or turn the landscape upside down? They would think of them as a god. However, that person still bleeds regular old blood, and without their mana, they might be even worse off than a regular person. It's easy to equate someone to a god, but us mages are really just humans in the end. In the first place, to be a god, one would first have to not be a human. They are beings which one cannot simply become."
Calex paused for a moment, before continuing on.
"However, that doesn't mean magic is lacking in potential. So what if you cannot become a god? Who says you can't be more powerful than one, as a regular human? There is no limit to what you can achieve with magic."
"But there's a limit to those who can learn magic, right? Or else, everyone would be using it."
"Unfortunately, yes. If one doesn't possess enough talent, they would have to practice for years and years before even getting a simple spell out. What would be the point of learning it, then?Talent is more or less a combination of intelligence and innate ability to tame and control mana. Normally, someone leaking as much mana as you would have had some insane engravings done, so you can understand why I was so cautious, right? 'What is this national presence up to in some backcountry village?' Nothing good, probably."
"So, you took me in as your student because of the large amount of mana I have tamed, seeing it as innate talent?"
"Precisely."
"In other words, you'll put up with anything I do, because a talent like me is too valuable to lose?"
"Do you think your talent would disappear if you lost a limb or two?"
"Words are cheap, you would've done it already if you were capable."
His teacher sighed deeply, cutting through the quiet clicking of shoes against stone.
"I get that you're mad at me for taking you captive, but these are things you'll only understand once you're in my position, alright? When a potential threat to thousands of lives is just sitting in front of you, does it matter if it might be a poor village boy? It's not a risk I'm willing to take."
"You know, I wouldn't understand your logic unless I kidnapped someone first."
"I'll add that to your homework. Here."
Before he realized it, they had already reached the end of the staircase. Calex turned behind and took something out from his pocket, handing it to Jane.
"A picture book?"
"Yes, a picture book full of different runes. You're going to be learning all of these as practice. Some of the later ones are three-dimensional, so there's multiple illustrations showing the different angles."
Jane flipped through the pages with a confused expression on his face.
"What exactly am I supposed to do with this? It doesn't say what any of these runes mean."
"They're all pretty much safe, so go find out for yourself. You'll remember better that way."
With that irresponsible-sounding line, Calex opened the door, revealing the faint odor of the world at evening. The sky was painted a dark shade of cyan, and threatening howls rang intermittently through the woods.
"If you encounter wild animals, just throw random runes from that book at it until it dies. Your homework is due by tomorrow."
His teacher walked off leisurely in no particular direction, leaving Jane alone in an unfamiliar region of the forest, with only the faintest hint of where his home was. As the sounds of footsteps got farther and farther away, he had a thought.
'Teacher, your oh so very talented student is going to die meaninglessly in this forest... but I'll definitely take you with me!'
Jane began sprinting after the sound of his teacher's walking.