The little girl with lavender hair gently tapped the flickering gas lamp. After a few calculated taps that appeared to be random, the lamp stopped flickering.
Huffing a short sigh, the little girl went back to counter, picking up the book she previously was reading.
Quite classical music from the radio filled the room, invoking a relaxed feeling in those inside.
At the centre table was a recipient, Aeon. Who sat their patiently, waiting for something or someone.
On the table were oily plates with crumbs and left over food. It's still a mystery how a cafe could provide a full course meal.
[21:30]
The grandfather clock near the stairs rang for some reason, maybe because time wasn't linear here.
Sky stood opposite to Aeon, browsing through his storage. He as been at that for half an hour.
"Ah ha!" Sky exclaimed in joy, pulling out a whole chalkboard out of his storage.
"..." Aeon stayed silent, not questioning anymore.
Sky contemplated something for few seconds then summoned a scholarly robe that overlayed him immediately, magically changing into it on spot.
"..."
Slicking his hair back, sky faked a cough and spoke in an deeper scholarly voice,
"Ahem.... student Aeon, welcome to my lecture on basics for dummies." He emphasized on the word dummies.
Turning his back to Aeon, he summoned a chalk in his hand and drew a large inverted triangle on the board.
He divided it into three triangle by drawing two vertical lines.
From top to bottom in each section he wrote -
——Order——
Elemental Order
Sub - Elemental Order
Conceptual Order
Prime Order
——Control——
Spontaneous
Continuous
Script
Incarnation
——Manifestation——
Flow
Condensation
Brust
Resonance
Tap!
Turning back to Aeon, he said -
"This is all that you need to learn about Laws."
He looked in his eyes and explained further,
"Laws are the air we breathe, water we drink, earth we stand on, fire that gives warmth, light we see, darkness that exist."
"They are the dreams we have, life we hold, the death that claims, the war we wage, the grief and joy we feel, the space we exist in, time that inevitably flows, the fate that is absolute."
"It is war, it is space, it is knowledge, it is order, it is Chaos."
"It is everything, from internal to external." He stated like it's a fact.
"Controlling it is essential. Afterall, the path of ascension is also the path of domination. To achieve Godhood is to dominate the very universe and beyond in one or more fundamental aspect."
Moving a bit aside, he spoke-
"Order is the hierarchy of the laws."
"Control is the method of molding the laws"
"Manifestation is the usage of laws."
Order is the what, control is the when, and manifestation is the how.
Adjusting his glasses, he tapped on order,
"Air, water, fire, earth, light and darkness are thing of the old." He glanced at the millennia old book in aeon's hand.
"By the new reports from union Authorities, they are now reffered as aero, hydro, Pyro, geo, spectro and void."
He extended his left arm fowards,
Air manifested around his extended hand, followed by a ball of water then a filker of fire and mud. Light shone from his hands, then came the total absence.
"Everyone has varying affinities with laws, overtime the laws mold your existence to fit itself better, improving your Affinity in certain aspects while worsening in others."
"Sub elemental are the derivatives of elemental orders. Such as sonic, cryo, thermo, metal, waves, umbra and more. Not much distinct from previous order but it's still classified differently due to their derivative nature."
"Next two orders are out of your syllabus. Ascend again to study then, it is waste of time now."
Aeon face twisted in confusion, then a bit of annoyance. Just when he got into the flow, the 'teacher' left a mystery.
'Its too abstract for me to teach, so ye...later.' he coughed out an apology internally. He was not cutting corners, he was cutting the whole damn floor itself.
Next! He tapped on the control section.
"Tell me Student Aeon, what was the emotions you felt when you used laws for the first time."
Aeon was taken aback from the sudden questioning, then he contemplated his answer.
"... desperation?" He answered in an unsure tone.
'So he did use laws like the diary suggested...damn old sky, you were crazy!' Sky used this opportunity to confirm few facts in detail.
"Let's assume you wanted ice cream. Here, you intended to create ice cream." Sky summoned an ice cream.
"But the world doesn't understand what you mean by ice cream...well it does but you can't convey it properly at your current ascension."
"An ice cream is made of many components - milk, cream, cryo, sweeteners, additives. At out current ascension, we can only control few laws at once. To create an ice cream will require very delicate control of multiple law derivatives, which we can't. High Ascension can, not us."
"You need to be clear with your intent. The clearer the better. It's all about conveying your intent to the world laws."
He lazily pointed a finger at Aeon. A gentle breeze slapped on his face.
He hastily pointed a finger at Aeon. A harsh gust of wind slapped his face.
Slap!
Aeon rubbed the side that got slapped by the wind.
"Sorcerers use hand signs to make their intent more pronounced and shaped. Such as giving it direction."
This is why when Aeon pushed both his hands towards the ground with desperate but singular intent to stop, the gustof wind strongly pushed forward.
Aeon raised his hand, after getting confirmation from sky, he asked his question,
"I noticed few people speaking in some weird language before any grand spectical."
Sky nodded in understanding and wiped the smudges of ice from the corner of his mouth,
"Excellent question, I will get to that as I explain the levels of control."
"The levels of control are simple,"
"First Level - Instantaneous intent."
"The gentle breeze earlier was this exactly. A burst of intent that cannot be retracted back."
He snapped his fingers and embers blazed for few seconds before dying out.
He pointed at the cup of water near Aeon, water gushed out, dreaching Aeon.
He pointed at the gas lamps, they momentarily brighten up.
"It's like giving simple commands to a pet. This is why it's the lowest level of control mastery."
"Second level - Continuous intent."
"The ball of air and water earlier was continuous intent. The act of continuously using your intent to shape and control the laws comes into this category. This level allows you to make complex sorcery and architecture. The possibilities are endless."
Aeon's eyes shone, imagining various things he can do with it. But sky's next words poured water over his budding embers.
"But it needs great concentration and clear understanding of the law like aerodynamic, hydro dynamic, thermodynamics and all the science behind it to be efficient. Unless you want to be an idiot and reach your limit too soon and overclock for being too vague."
Sky looked at aeon's crestfallen face and offered to lend him books about those topics later, which helped brighten up his mood a little.
"Third level - scripting."
"The hardest level of mastery. It's the act of imbuing your will into the laws, giving them an set of scripted actions and semi autonomy from your will. Making decisions based on the script. It doesn't need constant output from your side but the creation of a script that works and doesn't explode your head is hard."
From sky's own experience seeing others, it's like programming an ai. The more complex the more abstract. The dungeon they are in also runs on a script.
Aeon thought of the arena of flames that ashur created. The were cold when he entered but when he was at the edge from the inside, they were hot but didn't stick to him or spread like any normal fire would have.
"Answering your previous question briefly, the language is the ancient tongue of divinity that the universe understands. It is used to amplify effects of laws or simply be efficient with the cost. For scripting, it is necessary component. But most don't use it in battle or daily life because....one wrong syllable, one misplaced intent, one distraction and boom! At worst you face minor consequences, at best you get deleted from existence."
He added the last part in an causul tone. As if existence easure was nothing.
"As for the last level - Incarnation..."
"...I am 100% sure that it's meant for gods or atleast those near godhood. Because by definition, it means giving full autonomy to laws. Giving it a will and ability to act on its own. Basically giving it life and ability to make decisions for itself. Upsurd right? It's real but never saw someone do it."
Cracking his knuckles, he tapped on the last descending section.
"Manifestation is less of an hierarchy and more of its application. It defines your role - Sorcerer or warrior."
"Flow is the act of controlling the pre existing laws. Controlling their flow to your will."
An example would be the gushing of water he did earlier, the water was already present, he just controlled it's flow.
"Condensation is the act of summoning the law, and making it physical."
An example would be the summoning of fire out of nowhere Or water in desert Or condensing a ball of light or void.
"This two is necessary to be considered a proper sorcerer."
"While to be considered a warrior you need to have Burst."
"Burst is hard to explain, you really need practical experience to understand. Just know that it's about domination of law internally or externally by creating a domain."
Aeon raised his hand again,
"What about Resonance, where do they fit in."
Sky face twisted in annoyance, then he said in an serious tone,
"They are extremely rare, almost non existent but..."
His voice grew deeper, like he is giving a warning.
"...if you encounter someone who is seemgly not using laws but the laws around you feel weird. Run, don't look back, don't fuck around and find out, just...run."
It was perhaps the most serious he had seen sky be. Aeon took the warning to heart, with a bit of hesitation he asked,
"Why?-"
Clap!
Sky cut him off with a loud and crisp clap of his hands.
He de-summoned the board and the utilities, including the scholarly robes. Going back to the how he was before.
Dong!
The grandfather clock rang in the background.
"Oh! It's eleven already, how time flies by." Sky murrmered in surprise. His mood changing entirely opposite from serious one before.
"?" Aeon was taken aback by the sudden mood changes. Why does his mood change so abruptly?
Snap!
Snapping his fingers, sky changed into a formal wear on spot.
"Where are you going?" Aeon asked as he watched sky preparing to go out suddenly.
Sky returned a smile and answered his quiry,
"Just a late night stroll, care to join?"
Aeon hesitated, the request was simple but it's comming from the blasphemer..so it might not be simple.
In the end he accepted, what's the worse that could happen.
.
.
.
.
.
.
In an quite room, blood and torn limbs stained the velvet floor.
"Ha ha ha ha" Aeon was breathing heavily, his fist dreached in blood. It was not his.
In front of him were two bodies wearing white robes from head to toe and pristine featureless mask with no golden Circle in middle.
They were from the Golden Order.