Minerva pursed her lips and let out a barely audible whistle, all while keeping her gaze fixed and her hand steady in front of her. "Rubrus." A single word and a spell had been born.

As soon as her younger brother's hands clasped together, a minuscule burst of crimson-colored light emerged, gradually unfolding itself into a wispy, ethereal creature. Its flimsy arms extended outward, swaying gently in the soft breeze, while a wide yawn emerged from a gaping mouth that covered almost the entirety of its flickering face. 

As the wisp gazed back at her with bright emerald eyes, a look of astonishment and bewilderment seemed to dawn upon its features, as if the very notion of its own existence had only just dawned on it.

Whenever she used magic, Minerva felt an emptiness engulf her Core, like what had once been a full cup housed inside her stomach had spilled. Wisps like these didn't require too much magical energy—Essence! Remember, it's called Essence!—but it still took a lot out of her, meaning she needed more practice. Much more practice.

Despite her lack of experience, she could cast a spell well enough. They would be satisfied with that, wouldn't they? Well, William certainly was, wildly exclaiming as the reddish flame that was a wisp sewed with life cocked its head back to glance up at him, only to release a snicker from its widened sneer and twirl within his hands. "Amazing, Minerva!" William laughed. "You mastered that spell in only three days! I wish I were as talented as you!"

"No, brother," Minerva huffed, a hand over her mouth. "Look at me. I haven't come anywhere close to mastering it. But I've made progress; that's a start."

The snickering wisp stretched its body into a serpentine shape that coiled around William's fingers, causing the boy to laugh some more. He always was a ticklish, if not squirmish, lad. "It doesn't even burn!"

"That's because wisps aren't made of fire. Natural ones are born from the tears of dragons." Minerva glared down at the wand grasped in her left hand. "Mine are forged from my Essence." 

A pale imitation of true beauty. She had to grab the wrist of her dominant hand to force the shaking of her arm to cease. A few more breaths, and she was back in control. In their current forms, they serve as little more than mobile candles. They're practically useless in combat. She would have cursed to herself, but a proper noble girl should never sully their tongues with profanity, or so she was taught. Training. I need a lot more training. I won't stop, not until my skills are—

"Perfect! Absolutely perfect!" someone cheered. It was her mother's voice; she could always recognize it. Her voice had a musical flare that could send the heart into an unrehearsed chorus. "You are well and truly meant to be a sorcerer! A prodigy if ever I've seen one!"

Minerva's eyes shot open in sheer disbelief. Wait...they're pleased? By such a weak spell?

In moments of intense focus, she would sometimes lose track of the world around her, and forget that her parents were present. To her, they appeared as towering deities, their imposing figures reminiscent of the legendary Twin Sisters. Their frames were so grand that their faces were obscured by a strange blend of light and shadow, leaving them featureless. The only thing visible was a vague and indistinct haze The Haze. It was an eerie and unsettling presence, shrouding her parents' identities like a cloak, casting a mysterious veil over their true nature.

"Her magic is strong, don't you think so, dear?" the titan that was her mother happily inquired, wrapping an arm around Father's hundreds of meters in a cloudless and dark sky. A single pillar of light shining down from the Eternal Gardens kept the barren landscape from being entirely overrun by shadows and ghosts, however.

Her titan father cocked his head down at her. "Yes, she is a wunderkind for the ages. But what else would you expect? She is our daughter, after all." He sounded pleased, but if he'd been smiling, Minerva couldn't tell. The Haze held everything captive within its smoke.

The thought of a colossal, faceless figure, towering like Dragonspine Mountain, stooping down to reach them, would fill some with horror, and haunt their dreams for days to come. Father, on the other hand, assumed a controlled crouch, his immense hand, almost as big as a lake, extended towards Minerva. 

She flinched, anticipating the sudden, intense agony of death, and the judgment of Aeris, their eternal goddess, soon after. Would she be destined for the Shadow realm? The question lingered in her mind.

But what only she felt was a normal-sized hand patting her on the head, warm fingers brushing through her gray-colored hair. It was a tender touch, a father's touch. She opened her eyes slowly and saw that the tian was no more. In its place was her father, staring at her with non-existent eyes. his face was still shrouded by the Haze, and she couldn't help but notice that her mother, brother, and the wisp she had created were all gone.

It was only Minerva and her father.

Two souls in emptiness.

"Minerva," Father said in a firm voice. "You want to be a Professional Sorcerer, don't you? You keep no secrets of your desires whenever you see magic, and your aptitude for the mystic arts is one to be envied. Not even I was as gifted as you at your age."

"Yes, Father," Minerva said, feeling a blush flower as she closed in on herself. It was just a habit. Her father always had a fashion of making her anxious, even when he was being nice. He was a kind and honorable man, tall with powerful shoulders, and contrary to the assuredness that seasoned his tone, all of his movements were precise and calculated, as if he were thinking about every possible outcome before they would ever arrive. "I do want to be a sorcerer," Minerva confirmed with a frantic chin nod. "But I have fears."

"Someone as fearless as you?" he replied jokingly.

"What if...I'm not good at it?" Minerva continued with an air of reluctance, her hand instinctively squeezing her wand until she was positive her fingers had turned white. "I've seen what the Professional Sorcerers can do. How could I compete with that? Just because I'm a mage doesn't make me a sorcerer."

"But you are, Minerva. You've been one from the moment you were born." The man with a shadow for a face that was her father stood to his full height, regaining some of his lost gigantism from when he was a titan. "Listen well, my daughter. I will teach you a lesson my father taught me right when I was around your age. There have been and always will be two kinds of people in this world: the mundane and the worthy. Which do you want to be?"

Minerva gulped impulsively. "Th...The worthy, Father?"

"Those with the right to harness magic as their blood and breathe life into reality," he answered strongly. "It is, as our teachings in Ruenism doctrine, that magic is the gift of Aeris, and so how can someone who hasn't been cast in her light of superiority be permitted to wield such power? No, no, the mere notion is utter nonsense. This world would be a much happier, simpler place if the restrictions on magic practitioners were better regulated. It's one of the reasons I accepted the offer to be appointed a member of the Sorcery High Commission. But you, Minerva," he said encouragingly, placing a hand gently on either side of her face, "you carry my blood, and so the dilemma pertaining to whether or not you're meant to study magic is all but inane."

"I'm...worthy?" Minerva asked absently. "I'm a worthy sorcerer?"

"Yes, yes, you are. And a marvelous one at that." Her shadow-faced father nodded to the wand she had wrapped in numb fingers. "Come, a sorcerer's first spell, as is the Impulse of solidity, is special. Let the magic flow out of you as a typhoon. You are worthy, my daughter! You needn't fear failure! Grab your desires and roar to the world your deepest passion."

Minerva was special. Yes, I'm special. Minerva was worthy. A worthy sorcerer, am I.

Shards of amethyst light burst over her head, and Minerva flicked her wand forward in a solid thrust. "Rubrus!" she shouted, this time with more passion, more authority. At her command, a wisp appeared in a smoldering shimmer of reddish light, spawning another of itself—an exact replica—shortly after, and then another manifested from within a torch, and then another, and another, and another, until she and her father stood at the center of a ring of dancing embers with eyes and smiles. The snickering wisps expanded from the tips of her boots to the horizon of the darkish world, far outside of her eyesight. Yes, this was her power, her true power.

"Like me, you shall, in time, make waves in the realm of sorcery," her father said happily, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, I will make you proud," Minerva said, more so to herself than directly to her father, "because I am, above anything else, worthy."

And in that, she made good on her word. She had advanced in her training, learning and mastering her unique brand of Lost Magic. She excelled in each of her studies to the point where all of her instructors began heralding her as some yet-to-be-discovered genius. She was accepted into Glyph Academy, the most prestigious magic-teaching institution in Incante, without even being required to take the Entrance Exam.

She accomplished all this by trimming the fat that leeched on the corners of her path in life. The mundane, as her father put it, and she was happy that the Haze could block out the insignificant filth that consistently attempted to sway her in a different direction. They were diversions given form, impracticalities cursed with life. Those with their faces masked behind the Haze need not be addressed.

Sure, she'd talk to them on occasion, and sometimes, she would even be forced to interact with them for prolonged periods. She was hardly acquainted with anyone in her homeroom class, as the Haze had devoured everything rising above their necks and shoulders. Realistically speaking, however, what business was there concerning or confiding in the mundane mages that wouldn't offer her any benefits in reaching her ultimate desire: to be a Professional Sorcerer and inherit the Barrow family business?

It's pointless, Minerva thought bitterly, her facial muscles tensing into a scowl. All of this nonsense is pointless! I am a worthy sorcerer! Eventually, I will step over all of them!  So why, then, am I still here?!

Essence drained out of her like blood puddling from a freshly opened wound. Flames of red and yellow surrounded her, shooting like bullets at the pride of confused griffins swiping and crunching the air. That should keep their attention, no doubt. But griffins were powerful creatures, and unless Minerva resorted to one of her more advanced spells, she might be in real danger.

I don't understand?! Why am I putting myself through all of this unnecessary privation?! It was that foolish girl who had come up with the nonsensical plan, to begin with. Elaine Harwood. Minerva glared at the blonde-haired mage as she hastened at her in a staggering sprint, careful not to slip off the roof and plummet to her demise. 

A passing wisp nearly crashed into her thigh, and that had caused Elaine to gasp with fright and give a slight hop in place. Look at this sulmo, Minerva thought, narrowing her eyes. She has no right to be here! At this academy! All of this effort and for what?! A stupid potion?! We could have used the draghar seeds and produced more than sufficient results. What possessed me to listen to this...this...mundane?!

Elaine nearly tripped a step, but she kept her balance and made for Minerva in a head-first charge. Inside one of her fists was her wand—a Common Wand, of all things—and in the other, Minerva hoped, would be that of which they had come for. As she got closer, Minerva cringed from the shock of seeing one of Elaine's eyes poke out from behind the Haze that had, until that instant, blanketed her face completely.

"What's this? I can see her?" Minerva whispered. Yes, she could! Slowly, the dark purple-colored smoke disappeared, revealing a pair of wide, blue eyes peering directly at her. The Haze puffed away as Elaine's jaw was uncovered, teeth clenched tightly inside her mouth. "This doesn't make any sense. Why can I see her?!"

Minerva growled in frustration. Typically, the Haze would only affect those she thought of as beneath her; it had taken a whole year after meeting Clover before her Haze had lifted. Everyone whom she could adequately see shared one aspect in common: they were the worthy ones. So, then, did that mean Elaine Harwood was also— 

No! That couldn't be true! She was a commoner, a disgusting, uneducated lowborn. She couldn't be a sorcerer. She wouldn't even be allowed to cast magic in a better world. How could someone as prosaic as her possibly break free of the Haze? No, there had to be a mistake somewhere.

And...and the sulmo was saying something. Minerva could see her lips moving; out of them, she unlocked her panic. "Minerva! Above you!" Elaine shouted.

That's right! Minerva glanced above to where she had last seen the griffins; one of them had broken past her wisp swarm. The giant mass of whitish feathers, talons, and teeth screeched as it fell headlong out of the sky, its wings folded back against itself. It was headed straight for her. You sulmo! I got distracted! But there was no time for lamenting; if she didn't act now, she'd be seeing the Eternal Gardens.

Blue wisps were stronger than red and yellow wisps, but their true value lay in their ability to produce protective shields capable of blocking minor spells. However, Minerva knew that if she were to face a fully enraged griffin, she'd have to summon at least five blue wisps. But summoning that many at once would be no simple task. It would require a tremendous quantity of magical energy, and she had already summoned a large cluster of them. 

"I'll just call back the ones I've already created," Minerva thought out loud. "Yes, and then I'll make three more. That should be enough." She sent the message through her wisp horde that was still holding the two griffins at bay. In response, four blue wisps emerged and darted out from the sky, looking like azure comets falling toward the Earth. Yet, in spite of their incredible speed, they'd never be able to catch up to the griffin in time.

"Wisp Magic: Caerus!" Minerva screamed as the tip of her wand discharged more shards of violet light.

At her side, spiraling blue flames formed a new wisp. In contrast to the red and yellow wisps, these blue wisps were considerably larger, almost the size of the metal chalices that she would often be served with at grand functions. Moreover, they also possessed twice the destructive impact of a regular red wisp. For this situation, however, she required not their attack prowess. "Wisp Magic: Caerus Siglius!"

As soon as the spell's name escaped her lips, the blue-colored wisp soared in front of her, forming a circular disc of translucent blue light that materialized out of thin air. The disc grew in size rapidly, expanding until it was as large as a carriage tire,

That won't be nearly enough to stop it! Minerva grimaced. I could try creating a few more blue wisps...but my Essence...I could risk a Rejection if I'm not careful. But what other option did she have? Her only chance at surviving the griffin that now had its talons bared at her as it dropped was entrusting in the power of her wisps, of her magic. Closing her eyes, steeling herself for the inevitable strain, Minerva focused on her Core and felt a rush of Essence overcome her. "Cae—"

"Minerva!" Minerva shot open her eyes again to find Elaine standing before her, the girl's blonde hair blowing violently in the wind. Where had she come from? Elaine aimed a pinched look at her from over her shoulder, and, yes, the Haze was gone. Minerva could see her fair skin upon her squarish face drizzled with sweat. "Stand back! I can't control this spell very well yet!"

Minerva felt her throat go tight. "Wh...What spell?"

"This one." Elaine raised the fist that held her wand high into the air. "Light Magic: Obilus!"

Minerva's eyes widened in shock as whitish-golden energy flooded the scene, rolling out the tip of Elaine's wand like glowing ribbons. She knew this spell; Minerva took the initiative to learn as much as she could about any form of magic, and Light Magic had always intrigued her. She'd even attempted to learn it a few years back...but that endeavor had borne no fruits, not for her lack of trying.

Regardless, Minerva shielded her eyes with a hand as the blinding light threatened to rob her of sight, though she could still make shapes amidst the brightness through the cracks in her fingers. Elaine stood erect with her hair billowing in sharp whips, and it was a wonder how her shoulder cape hadn't been torn off by now. Around them both, the lowborn's magic crystalized into a dome-shaped, partially translucent barrier that formed a ceiling over their heads.

The horrible, thundery noise of an aerial beast colliding its total weight against the barrier crashed into her ears, earning a strained grimace. On the other side, she could see the griffin—the oily and goldish silhouette that signified the griffin—perch up on its hind legs and begin to repeatedly slash the barrier with its razor-sharp talons, all the while stabbing it with its beak that could snap in half even a runesword. Elaine screamed out in pain, almost as if she could feel every blow the griffin dealt to her barrier, and already, Minerva spotted splits and rips form on the golden and white bubble.

She must have only learned this spell recently, Minerva thought nervously, trading glances between the barrier itself and Elaine, who had fallen to one knee. It won't last long. Not in her condition. However, she did buy me enough time. Minerva's grip tightened on her Advanced Wand. I needn't be concerned about creating more blue wisps. I'll make do with the ones that exist right now.

Some had already fizzled out, as they all did once they ran out of Essence to support their existence. Yet, Minerva counted over fourteen in the air, stalling the other two griffins as best they could. Meanwhile, a good handful of wisps measly floated by, catching the gusts of wind or snickering at one another—they appeared as faint flickers of light on her side of the barrier. 

When she didn't give them orders, they acted no different from mindless apparitions, their intelligence comparable to that of an infant child, but when she reinforced her will onto them, she felt a surge in her Core—a kind of electric zap that rattled her chest. She knew that she'd grasped all of their attention.

Minerva lowered her head, her gait purposeful and determined as she marched forward. Elaine, who was kneeling and gasping, barely registered on her radar as she stepped past her with a half-bothered glare. Minerva stopped a few paces away from the perimeter of the barrier, where the white-furred griffin had clawed open a sizeable gap. The griffin cocked its head to the side and peeked one of its fiery yellow eyes inside, leering directly at her, as if daring her to make a move. 

A piece of fright stabbed her, and for an instant, Minerva had to fight the urge to turn around and run, but then, she recalled the words that her father had told her. The mundane or the worthy, he said in her mind. Which do you want to be?

"What a foolish question; no other answer can suffice." Minerva thrust her gleaming wand with a lash of the arm. "Begone, creature! Rubrus Fragorus!"

As she uttered the name of the spell with a resounding shout, the surrounding red wisps grew increasingly brighter by the second. Their intensity was akin to a dragon's blazing flames under the scorching sun or the tumultuous neumastorms that raged in the Spirit Realm. Minerva inhaled sharply through her mouth, bracing herself for what was to come. 

One by one, the red wisps that she had summoned began to discharge, resulting in a loud popping explosion that engulfed the air and feathers alike. Each of the red wisps detonated in a chain reaction, releasing a burst of red-hot flames that illuminated the surroundings with their scorching glow.

They wouldn't be enough to kill any of the griffins, nor was this Minerva's intention. Instead, the spell served as a diversion, something to drive their attention off of Elaine and herself, and it worked. At the clap! of the first detonation—caused by a wisp not far from where the white-furred griffin was situated—the heavily built creature's ears erected on its scalp like a startled cat

It turned around and roared violently, then shot toward the other end of the roof. Minerva smirked. I'm assuming that must be the mother, then. The griffin wasted no time rushing for the nest, where Minerva had spotted Elaine interacting with the infant griffin earlier on. No matter the species, motherly instincts permanently superseded rationality, and Minerva did not covet the day when she would be made a mother herself.

One of the griffins in the sky broke free of the aerial minefield of detonating wisps and shot for the clouds, leaving the last to fend for itself. Still, there was nothing much that one could do outside of frantically zipping in various directions, searching for cover.

"Another of your spells?" Elaine said in a strained voice. Was this insane girl actually smiling at her? The barrier that had protected them fragmented into shards of white light before vanishing into thin air. Perfect timing.

"Come on! That won't distract them for long!" Minerva shouted hurriedly. "We need to get inside the castle."

"Yeah...but the thing is..." Elaine tried standing on her feet, but a second later, she nearly stumbled back to the floor had it not been for Minerva, who rushed to catch her in her arms. "I'm pretty sure I'm out of magical energy. You're going to have to carry me, Minerva..."

"Sunder you! I will do no such thing!" Minerva snapped in protest.

"I can't...do it by myself..." Elaine groaned from where the side of her face nudged awkwardly into Minerva's shoulder. "I can hardly stand."

"Well, in the future, perhaps you shouldn't cast spells you're horrible at! Or is that too daunting of a request for you, Harwood?!" The mother griffin's excited bellows erupted like an organic trumpet, causing Minerva to turn stiff. "Aeris, give me strength!" Minerva spun on her spot and pointed a finger to her back. "Well? Don't just look at me like a model on Sorcerer's Divine! Hop on!" The repeated clamps of talons and claw-tipped claws scraping on tile alerted Minerva of the mother griffin, who had now broken into a fully committed charge straight for them.

"It's coming!" Elaine screamed, locking her arms around Minerva's neck.

"I have eyes, Harwood!" Minerva grunted, and the girl was quick to rush for the hatch door over twenty meters away.

An ordinary human couldn't hope to outmatch a griffin's speed, especially not when they were tasked with carrying another person—Why is this idiot so heavy?!—but Minerva gave it her best to ignore the monstrous calls behind her, keeping her mind off the strain of running and lugging Elaine simultaneously.

Closer and closer did they get to the hatch door; closer and closer did the griffin's heavy breath reach Minerva's ears.

"The door!" Minerva shouted. "Two wisps! I need two wisps to open that door! Now!"

After issuing her command, Minerva waited for five seconds before spotting the arrival of not just two, but numerous wisps soaring ahead of her like shooting stars. Their numbers were in the dozens, and their arms were designed only to carry lightweight objects such as snow globes or well-made danishes. Even so, the wisp team proceeded to unlatch the hatch door, carefully holding it open wide enough so that both she and Elaine could fit inside.

The next handful of moments transpired with such acceleration that Minerva couldn't account for all the details. At first, she remembered hearing the snapping of a beak, but she'd been too afraid to check if the griffin had succeeded in cutting off one of her legs. Next, there was the abrupt rush that filled her stomach, spawned from an unintended fall. 

She had missed the stairs. Yes, given her eagerness to escape their winged pursuers, Minerva had entirely forgotten that they had climbed a stairway to reach the roof hatch door in the first place—a mere miscalculation but one that could easily be brushed aside with a comforting rationalization.

Finally, there was pain. The pain of falling down a flight of stairs and landing on her side, crushed under the weight of a mage who shouldn't have even been there. Who was she kidding? She wasn't supposed to be here either. "Get off!" Minerva snapped as she removed Elaine from atop her with a shove to the gut. Letting her hand drop, she now laid on her back with her eyes glued to the ceiling, her diaphragm steadily inflating up and down with each staggered breath she took.

If she strained her ears, she could hear the viscous talons and excited screeches of griffins trying to barge their way in, but they would have no such luck. Glyph wouldn't be so naive as to make their exterior weak enough for a full-sized griffin to break into...or would they? Shivering, Minerva was then and there possessed with a powerful new urge to put enough distance from the griffins and herself as she feasibly could.

They were in a small room no more significant than one of the many forgotten storage compartments that infested the countryside villa she would visit during vacations. That was to say, with enough effort, they might be able to fit a decently-sized Bentley jeep inside—maybe even two, if they were skilled enough—but nothing else. 

As things were, Minerva had only spotted a few shelves filled with unused paper boxes crammed in the corner, as well as an assortment of other useless junk thrown here and there. It looked just as it had when they first arrived, and the plumes of dust were ever so thick as to make Minerva's nose turn red.

"That...that was..." Elaine huffed from where she lay on her side, not too far from Minerva, "...awesome..."

"Please tell me...you have the..."

"Griffin tear," Elaine said excitedly, holding the golden-colored scale above her. "Have it right here..."

"Good, then you aren't...completely useless." Minerva allowed herself to scoff, though she sincerely hoped Elaine hadn't heard.

"Well, then, let's get out of here before those griffins find a way through." Just as Elaine had said that, a mighty thump! that caused the walls and even the floor to shudder popped inside Minerva's eardrums. "See?"

"I concur," Minerva said, steadily climbing to her feet as Elaine did the same. "Professor Lurgs is more than likely pondering where in the Five Realms two of her students disappeared to. We should make haste and—" An uneasy bubble inflated within her Core—no, no, that was her stomach—and a horribly repulsive taste clouded the back of her throat. Before Minerva knew what was happening, she had lurched forward, a hand slapping against the nearby wall, and out of her gaping mouth came a clump of greenish bile that splattered onto the floor as a puddle.

"Minerva!" Elaine exclaimed worriedly. "Are you okay?!"

Minerva shot a finger at her, or at least where she had heard the girl's voice. "I'm fine..." was all she could say before she bent back over and retched more vomit.

"Really? Because you don't look fine."

"I am!" Minerva grunted. "I overexerted myself, that's all! My Wisp Magic is demanding. If I expend too much of my magical energy...this happens..."

"Oh, so it's like going for a jog after you finish eating a big meal?"

"Wh...What nonsense are you on about now?"

"It happened to my older brother once," Elaine chuckled. "The sulmo was so addicted to his training that he downed an entire plate of food in under five minutes and then went for his evening jog before anyone could stop him. It wasn't long after that that our neighbors brought him back to our doorstep with his shirt stained in throw-up. He kind of looked like how you do right now, only a lot less—"

"Sunder you, Harwood. Stop talking..." Minerva groaned, holding both hands over her complaining stomach. "How could I let myself look so pathetic in the presence of a mere commoner? What would Father say if he found out?" Minerva said sickly. "Promise me that you won't mention this to anyone. Not another living soul."

"Uh, sure, but—"

"Promise me!"

"Fine, fine, I promise I won't!" Elaine blurted. "Now take it easy before you—"

Too late. More of her lunch had already drenched the floor in green. What did I do...to deserve this humiliation...?