The Runic Alchemist

Many students raised their hands eagerly. Damian just wanted to see what the teacher was about so he refrained from raising his. The mage instructor pointed at a girl in the second row, prompting her to stand.

"In the times before the Primordials, the gods bestowed mankind with the gift of mana so they could combat the forces of evil," she said confidently, her voice clear and steady. According to the Sun God's scriptures, the ruins of lost civilizations were named as the Primordials.

"That is one belief—what the Sun God's scriptures tell us," the teacher remarked. "But, What according to your understanding, and reasoning.. The origin of mana is..?" His gaze swept over the class, as if searching their minds with his eyes.

"It is a fundamental force of nature—like the sun, water, or the ever-present wind," a boy answered, unprompted. His hair was pitch black like Damian's, though streaked with a few white locks. The way he carried himself, his noble lineage was clear for others to see. "It existed before any of us. I believe we adapted to it, using it just as beasts do."

"A logical answer, but still an ambiguous one," the mage teacher replied with a smile. "It explains how we harness mana but not why it exists in the first place."

"There is no simple explanation for it," a girl in the front row interjected. She had short auburn hair and sharp, dark eyes—a noble, too. "Just as we cannot fully explain why the sun shines or lightning crackles. Mana is a power that, unlike others, we can bend to our will."

"Sir, may I ?" a boy asked hesitantly. Damian glanced at him. His uniform was as new and tidy as everyone else's, but his disheveled hair and simple, handmade shoes marked him as a commoner. Not because of his appearance which was a give away, but because he was asking permission despite the professor not showing any reaction to ones who answered out of turn.

"Oh, of course," the teacher said, smiling warmly.

"I think mana, unlike other forces in the world, is unnatural," the boy began. "Just like how there are beasts and monsters.. Wind, fire, land and water were always here—long before the Primordials. But mana came with dungeons and monsters. It doesn't fit. Unlike natural forces that work in harmony, mana disrupts the natural order, pushing it to extremes."

'Oh, damn. That's pretty close to the mark,' Damian thought.

The whole class was staring at the commoner boy as if he was abusing their own god, which he kind of was. Most people in this world were followers of the Sun God, no matter what kingdom they lived in. The Dawnstar people however were a bit too serious in their faith and barely tolerated other foreign ideas. The presence of followers of the light in Dawnstar also kind of influnced the thinking of the masses a bit.

Highswords had never followed any traditional religions and being the most ancient of all the kingdoms, Damian was kind of interested to know why the indifference..? Did their leader Asael – The Land Breaker knew something only other celestials(fourth rankers) knew..? Considering he was the number 1 in Highsword ranking, above The Dragon Emperor and The Sea Snake, it was possible.

Amused by the tension in the class, Damian decided to join the fun discussion. "Mana is just another element in the world, like many metals or liquids," he said, drawing the class's attention to himself from the poor awkwardly standing boy. "It's invisible to the eye but perceptible, much like wind and the components it's made of. However, its nature is more complex. I believe all intelligent species and beasts were always capable of producing mana, but something restricted its use. Making it so that only altered bodies that have gone through Ascensions can sense or use it."

He continued, "So I guess the answer is.. To know the origin of mana, we need to ask: What is the origin of this change? This permission or adaptation we have gained..? Was it truly a simple gift, as the scriptures say? A capability of evolution we living beings went through and achieved as a result..? Or just the nature of our changing world..? Who knows.. Maybe primordials could never use the mana..? And it was this change among them that became their doom..? "

If the commoner boy had received awkward glances for calling mana unnatural, Damian's theory earned him outright glares. To some, it must have sounded as though he was insulting their faith. The professor, however, looked at Damian as if seeing him for the first time.

The short auburn-haired girl scoffed. "And how do you explain the colossal structures the Primordials built—ones that have withstood time—if they didn't use mana or spells?"

"By using the natural laws of the world," Damian replied calmly. "Mundanes live their lives perfectly fine without mana. If mana had never existed, I believe humans and all intelligent species would still have found ways to thrive. Much slowly no doubt, but who says that's a bad thing..?"

Damian replied to the girl calmly, he even added a smile which seems to have worked in the wrong way, as she immediately widened her eyes, her face red with anger as she abruptly looked away from him.

"Excellent," the professor interjected, breaking the tension. He turned to the commoner boy. "Marcanthius's theory of order and disorder." Then to the auburn-haired girl, "The practical view of indifference toward mana." Finally, he faced Damian. "And an outright new doom theory, shall we say? It's the first time I've heard of it." he asked Damian with a smile. It made Damian chuckle as he nodded.

"These are excellent answers," the professor continued. "To form your own opinion—or to claim it as your own—you must first understand the knowledge of those who came before you. Only then can you progress further. That is the purpose of this class. The question of mana's origin has many interpretations, each given by great scholars and mages. But the crux remains this: Mana is an anomaly. It empowers us, helps us build marvelous things, yet it also destroys. What we create, we can just as easily bring to ruin."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om