Chương 4: Birthday

[The Oracle Spell wishes you a happy birthday. May you prosper in life and be a blessing to others.] [A new Way is accessible: Self-Mastery I (1/10).] The messages from the Spell filled my mind the instant I woke up.

"Thanks..." I whispered, yawning.

"Is the Way a gift for my birthday?" Silence answered me. I shook my head, making a mental note to ask Mum how common birthday wishes from the Spell were. Even after all this time, the Spell was still as mysterious as the day it revealed itself to me. It (She? They?) usually popped into my mind when needed, offering little to no instructions. Mum had explained that the Spell was designed to make magic more viable and to guide those born with it.

Usually, it was more prevalent once one went through their awakening after turning six. Or at twelve, if you follow the old calendar. Honestly, I preferred the old calendar more. It makes my age seem older. Unfortunately, the imperial calendar had grown prominent, as there were various idiosyncrasies in the old one, like having an uneven number of days each year and the irregular division of months. Whereas the new calendar measured exactly the time it takes our world to circle the sun, counting it as one sol year.

Either way, I was halfway there—twelve seasons tough—and had twelve more long seasons to overcome before my awakening. I could not wait to see what else there was to learn. So much so that I had begun counting my days. 3 years and 148 days. Exactly 2156 days to go. The year had to be 669 days long, as if the long-suffering fall and winter were not enough. I could have cut over a hundred days if I could go through the ceremony right after my sixth sol year.

Unfortunately, the sacrarium did not have enough manpower to awaken everyone immediately after their birthday. They gathered all the unawakened children above four during the two solstices and performed a communal awakening ritual. I had yet to witness it myself to know how they went about it. All I knew was an essence seed take roots into our body, awakening any latent talents we may have. After an hour of meditation, I left my room with a big smile plastered to my face.

"Happy Birthday!" Mum and my aunts cheered in unison the moment they saw me. Clearly rehearsed. I smiled and thanked them, my eyes scanning for presents. None were in sight. Before I could ask, Mum swooped me up and herded me off to get ready. She trimmed my hair with practised ease, as if she had done this a hundred times before, then shooed me off for a bath. There, she scrubbed me down as if washing away a year's worth of grime.

Once I was clean, dressed in new clothes, and my hair neatly combed, I was mounted against the wall in the study.

"Stop looking up and hold still while I measure," Mum said, steadying my head. She placed a ruler on top of my head and scratched a line onto the hardwood with her nail. The wall had been my growth chart since I could stand.

"Alright, now you can look." She aligned a measuring strip along the markings.

"118. 3 centimetres. You've grown a whole sixteen centimetres this cycle."

"He's going to tower over me in a couple of years," Aunt Emi said, stroking my hair. That much was obvious. Mum was barely under six feet tall, and what little I remembered of my father hinted at a brooding, towering figure.

"Alright, it's time for the gifts." Mum clapped her hands.

"We also have a cake!" Mum set up a recorder on the table to capture the moments as we cut the cake and devoured it with utmost gusto. So much so that I ended up with a creamy moustache on my upper lip. Then, it was time to unwrap the presents. Mum helped me unwrap a small gift box.

"It seems Emi must have picked something truly special for you, Pumpkin." I held my breath in anticipation, hoping for something magical. After all, Aunt Emelyn was a Magus. Maybe a magical trinket! But when the wrapping fell away, I found a silver chain with a phoenix pendant. It was pretty, but I would imagine only girls wearing something like this. Yet, Mum's expression changed when she saw the pendant. She faced Aunt Emelyn.

"Emi, you did not!"

"It was quite a hassle to find the right gift for a child," Aunt Emelyn said.

"Rose kept suggesting silly things like wands, scrolls, essence tonic..." And you did not believe a kid might have a better idea of what a younger kid would like?

"In the end, I chose this. He's Amadeus, no matter what everyone else says." I stared at the pendant, suppressing any disappointment I bore in my heart.

"It's beautiful," I said quickly. It was not a lie. The phoenix pendant was stunning and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. When Mum fastened it around my neck, I noticed that the small phoenix was not silver, but some form of silvery gem, and it was heavier than it looked. With one gift down, I eyed Rosalyn. Noticing my gaze, she turned to me, baffled.

"What?" she said.

"I already gave you a gift, remember? Or have you suddenly taken a liking to the flute?"

"I was looking at your pendant," I said, quickly holding up my phoenix pendant to point at hers.

"It looks like mine." The only difference was that hers was sapphire.

"Of course it does," Rosalyn said curtly.

"We all have one." I had never seen Mum wear one to believe her. I looked at Aunt Emi, who smiled, showing me a ring on her index finger with the same phoenix emblem. Hers was sapphire too. Now there was only one person left. I turned to Mum.

"I lost mine ages ago," she said, crouching down to my level.

"And your grandmother would kill me if I asked for another." Before I could ask any more questions, Mum pulled another gift box from behind her like it was a magic trick.

"This one's from me, Pumpkin." This time, I got to open it on my own. Everyone waited to see what was inside.

"Is that what I think it is?" Rosalyn leaned forward, her eyes narrowing. Aunt Emelyn shot a very measured look at Mum.

"Really?"

"What is this?" I asked, pulling out a crystal die covered in familiar and unfamiliar letters and runes. Wait, it was not a die. It had eight surfaces, four larger, four smaller.

"Another puzzle?" Mum had given me a wooden puzzle box last time, but this one looked far more impressive. It was literally dazzling with complexity.

"Did you craft this, Ash?" Rosalyn asked and then bit her tongue.

"I mean, elder sister." She shook her head, quickly returning to me.

"Isn't he a little young for an Arcane Die?"

"You should've thought of that before suggesting wands and trinkets," Aunt Emelyn said with a laugh.

"But those are easier to use than an arcane die."

"Rest assured, little Goblin, I made one for you as well," Mum said, patting Rosalyn's shoulder.

"I was planning to send it to you at the Academy. Hopefully, you still have a need for this."

"Truly?" Her eyes lit up.

"Can I have it now?"

"Only on one condition." Mum pulled another box out of nowhere. How did she do that? Is Mum a Magus too?

"You can't get help from anyone to solve it."

"Obviously. I'm not a boneheaded buffon." Why did you look at me when you said that? I glowered at her, but the brat had already moved on. She snatched the box from Mum's hands and ripped the wrapping off to reveal a crystal octahedron. It was similar to mine, but hers had no runes or letters engraved on its surfaces. I could not help but grin, glancing between the two dies. Rosalyn caught my expression.

"What?"

"Yours is smaller," I teased. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"So?" the brat snorted. She held her die up to my face as threads of energy flowed from her palm to the device. Soon, it came to life with dozens of shimmering blue spirals.

"You can have your bigger die, while I'll have fun with my magical die." I frowned, glancing between the two devices before turning to Mum for clarification.

"You're not allowed to get help with yours either, Pumpkin," Mum said, planting a kiss on my forehead.

"What is it, though?" I asked after a tentative study of the runes.

"Stupid, it's an Arcane Die," Rosalyn said, her eyes sealed shut.

"Well, mine definitely is. There are so many knotted weaves inside, gosh. It's better than any I have played with." Opening her eyes, she lunged at her eldest sister into a hug.

"I love it." Whereas I continued to stare into the device, seeing nothing but runes and letters. In the end, I could only turn to Mum.

"Arcane Die is the common term," she said, "but there are many variants of it out there. Rose's one is one of the more common variants, tailor-made for shapers, whereas yours... Well, its an unique product." I did not know whether she was merely saying to console me or if it was really something unique. After all, Mum was convinced of keeping me off anything magical before it was time.

"Does it have magic?" I hoped. Mum grinned.

"What do you think?"

"Is it an arcane die for artisans?" I asked. Although runes also required essence to function, their creation was more mundane, relying on careful handwork with a metallic engraving pen. Perhaps it was my ignorance, but to me, runes felt like the written form of magic spells.

"Mhm, maybe," she allowed.

"Do you even want to learn runes?" I nodded eagerly.

"Will you teach me?"

"You're still too young," Mum said, "but if you awaken the right path, I don't see a reason not to teach you."

"I'll give you a hint," Aunt Emelyn chimed in, shooting a suggestive glance at Mum.

"Once you solve the die, you can begin practising them. Isn't that correct, Ash?" Mum shot her a sharp look.

"Emi, that was supposed to be a secret!" she complained.

"Now you've filled him with expectations without telling him how rare it is to be born with the appropriate talent for runes."

"I can learn runes if I solve this die?" I asked eagerly, overlooking the latter part of her statement.

"That's not what I said," Mum sighed, "but… yeah." She crouched down, placing her hands on my shoulders.

"One marvellous aspect of runes is that anybody, even common people, can practise them. You did not need to awaken a certain talent for it to learn the basics and then some more, but not having the talent does limit how far you can walk in the vocation." Hmm, that gave me a lot to think about. Either daydream every day that I awakened as a Shaper, or use that time to practise a skill I might never excel at.

"Pumpkin, you need to understand, it's not the end if you can't learn runes. It would simply mean rune magic isn't for you." I nodded, feeling the weight of her words. Hopefully, I won't have to be disappointed, I mused, focusing on the die. Now, the question was, how do I solve the die? Its surfaces was littered with broken pieces of those runes. Do I simply have to join them back to their complete form?

Rosalyn spent the entire morning absorbed in her "magical" die. Eventually, Mum and Aunt Emelyn got fed up with her lounging on the couch and sent us both outside to play. Of course, the girl did not forget to bring the device with her. It remained active in her palm, glowing in spirals of blue light, manipulated by her threads of essence. I could not even tell what was so fun about it.

"Where are we going, Pumpkin?" Rose asked, smirking. She seemed to find my nickname funny, and hers was Goblin.

"Is it really that fun?" I asked, watching her.

"Hmm," she hummed distractedly.

"We're going to the playground."

"Hmm." Only Eran and Diana knew about my birthday, but when I got to the playground, it turned out everyone did. Soon, I was surrounded by my friends. Priam was leading the show with Eran. They even made a well put together laurel crown with different colours of flowers and put it on my shoulder.

"That's a nice crown," my aunt said, while I looked for a place to hide.

"I made this," Priam took credit unabashedly.

"Hey, I helped," Diana chirped.

"No, all you did was bring in all the leaves and flowers, while I did the important bits of putting it together into a beautiful crown." Diana pouted, but Eran did not let the quarrel continue. Under his lead, everyone sang a folk song, wishing me a long life while circling me in floppy steps. Even Rosalyn stopped playing with her die and watched with amusement. I guessed this was a birthday ritual here.

Silly and embarrassing it might be for me, I could only vow to make every one of them twice as embarrassed when it was their turn. Once the singing and dancing finished, the kids split into two teams for Serenade Circle. I was made leader, probably due to it being my special day.

"Hey, Ari, who's that?" Eran whispered, gesturing towards Rosalyn. A snotty little brat, that's what she is. That's what I wanted to say, but instead, I managed with,"My unpleasant aunt." Eran exchanged a look between us.

"Should we ask her to play?" he asked hesitantly.

"She's standing there all by herself."

"You can try," I said, though I doubted she'd want to. The brat probably thought she was too good to play with us. Eran was unsure, but a group of adolescents arrived and headed straight for her, sparing him the awkwardness. Not that she looked any more interested in talking to them either. Unlike my playmates, who seemed to spot something far more exciting than our little game. And what could be more interesting than Serenade Circle, other than the presence of a Shaper?

"Look, it's Ulric!" one of the kids shouted, and the group scattered to join the older kids.

"He's going to show us spells!" In the end, only Priam, Eran, Diana, and I remained behind in the circle. And even they were inching forward.

"Who's Ulric?" I asked.

"You don't know Ulric?" Eran gasped, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"He's the son of Master Luna…"

"Who's Master Luna?" I asked, still confused. All three of my friends stared at me, dumbfounded.

"Didn't you hear Ulric awakened the Shaper path last year? His Da threw a feast for it. Come on, let's go watch!" I had not, but I followed them anyway. A Shaper intrigued me as much, if not more. They were among the rarest and most sought-after paths. They were the foundation pathways towards magi and knights. They came in all kinds of elements: Shaper of Fire, Shaper of Life, Shaper of Water, and even something as rare as crystal or glass.

Ulric was a little younger than Rose and seemed a bit out of his depth, surrounded by eager onlookers. He looked uncomfortable in the spotlight, enough to give him stage fright. It looked like he was playing with mud, but there was something more to it. Something arcane. My Arcane Acuity tingled. I inched closer to Rosalyn, trying to get a better view. It took me a moment, but I realised Ulric was not just playing with mud. Thin, mud-blue threads of essence weaved through the soil as he lifted his hands.

The mud began to shift. Under everyone's riveted gaze, the muddy soil rose into a small wall, the essence binding it together. The crowd erupted in cheers, but Ulric was not finished. With a gesture, the wall lifted off the ground and began to float in a slow circle. Claps broke out among the kids. The mud changed shapes in the air for several minutes as the young Shaper began to sweat, despite the cool weather.

"Alright, that's enough for today," he said, wiping his forehead. The kids groaned in disappointment.

"I need to practise more," he said, his eyes flickering towards Rosalyn.

"Or I'll be stuck playing with mud forever."

"You did not have much training before awakening your path, did you?" Rosalyn asked, cutting through the chatter.

"I…" Ulric flushed, unsure how to respond.

"All he does is train, train, and train," another boy said, coming to his defence.

"Either with his father or his mentor."

"There's a difference between regular training and Shaper training," Ulric said with a sheepish smile.

"I never expected to awaken as a Shaper, let alone train for it." Rosalyn nodded, as if she had already known.

"You are a Shaper too, no?" She nodded.

"Can you shape earth like Ulric?" Diana asked, a sparkle in her eyes.

"Earth is not my element," my aunt said. Diana and the other kids were visibly deflated.

"But I can do this." She raised her hand, as wisps of mist and wind curled off her palm and rose into the air. Most of the kids looked puzzled, finding nothing unusual, but I could see the blue threads of essence spiralling from her fingertips, binding the mist and wind together. So could Ulric, who sniffed the air, sensing something mystical. I watched closely, but I could not figure out what she was doing. The others lost interest and began to leave, but I stayed.

Then, the first flake of snow landed on Diana's shoulder. She looked up in surprise.

"Snowfall?" More snowflakes followed, drifting lazily through the air. The kids cheered again, lunging to catch them on their tongues. I caught a few myself, watching them melt in my palm. Finally, I realised how she did it, though I was hopeless to replicate it. It did not take long for everyone to figure out where the snow was coming from.

"Arilyn, you did not say your aunt was a Shaper?" Eran asked, wide-eyed.

"This is amazing!" I had to admit, it was. Rosalyn's face was a mask of satisfaction when she noticed me watching. We played for another hour before it was time to go home. I walked beside Rosalyn as Intrusive questions built up inside me. Unable to control myself, I asked, "You drew the heat from the moist air to make snowflakes, right?" Rosalyn faltered, shooting me a surprised look. Her expression told me I'd guessed right.

"How long will it take me to learn that?"

"Weeks, maybe months," she said.

"Or perhaps never. There's more at play than it looks." She raised her hand, essence threads materialising into their illusory form to form a large shard of ice in a matter of moments.

"It may seem otherwise, but this is way easier than the little snow show." I peered at the solid projectile of ice as it melted into thin air with a wave of her palms.

"What do you mean when you mentioned Ulric had no shaper training before awakening?" What do you train with when you have no essence threads to play with? Rose made a face as if it was obvious.

"Plain meditation helps a lot, so does anything to do with essence sense." My expression brightened instantly.

"Those work best to build up the basics, then you go through various shaper exercises."

"Shaper exercises?" I repeated.

"Can you teach them to me?"

"I could, but I don't think you're prepared to learn them." Her palm snaked its way to pinch my cheek.

"See, you're still too soft." I batted her arms away to run to Aunt Emi to ask her.

"You want to learn what?" Aunt Emi asked, her eyes darting towards Rose. My little aunt shrugged as though it had nothing to do with her. She shifted away to the couch with the Arcane Die.

"I'm sure your Mum will teach you everything when it's time," Aunt Emi said, tousling my hair.

"Isn't that right, Ash?"

"Huh, hmm," Mum hummed, keeping herself busy in the kitchen. I did not know how it sounded to others, but it felt pretty non-comital to me. Aunt Emi chuckled.

"Tell you what, the next time I'm here, I'll teach you if Ash hasn't already. For now, how about I show you a light show?"