Entropy

It has been many years now since Master Regis took me under his wing. Very rarely during these months did he ever ask to spar, yet here we were, standing roughly 10 meters from each other in the vast cave clearing where we had established ourselves.

"Why did you wish to spar with me so suddenly?" I questioned. Master Regis rarely did such hands-on training with me, rather usually banishing me to some isolated part of the cavern and watching over me as I struggled through the journey of insight. What had brought this on? 

"Ah, Leo, my young apprentice, I simply wanted to see how far you've come in wielding Entropy. It has been a while since the last. Think of it like a pop quiz." Master Regis's response came as usual, sarcastic, dismissive, and secretive. "Never mind that, ready yourself. Let's see if you're even learning anything, padawan." 

I've learned to disregard Master Regis's sarcastic and casual nature. Readying myself into a practised stance, with a shining purple sabler settling into my hand. I felt the various runes received from Entropy during the Fracture igniting with a subtle flare of my aether, almost calling out to be used.

The first rune I received, the foundation for Entropy's bestowal, Marauder, burned the right side of my chest where it lay inked into my skin by an unknown hand.

Deep black flames manifested from my teacher's palms, and with a single light step forward, cleared the distance in an instant.

I rotated out of the way of a flame-fueled fist sent straight for my abdomen, attempting a counter-slash across Regis's back, but my sword met nothing but dwindling sparks of black. Regis, disappearing with the same speed he appeared with, stood leisurely across from him.

"Your sight has improved, kid. But you're not fast enough." Ravens of black fire manifested around him and darted toward me in a fiery death dive. 

"An old trick, for an old man." The rune on my right hand radiated an empowering warm, a stark contrast to the searing pain brought by Maruader. Casually dropping my sabre into my left hand, I produced my palm before my teacher, seeing the subtle, comforting glow of my rune.

Arbiter's warm embrace melded with my aether, and I called upon one of the abilities granted.

With a firm clench of his fist, all countless fiery ravens halted their flight, as if held in place by an unseen force. This was the power of an Arbiter - Restraint!

Regis's brows pricked up as he smiled without saying a word. Suddenly, the shadows around him began to cling to his form, eventually forming a draping cloak and two small horns. His elevated human form sunk into the shadows, and with a mocking wave, Regis vanished into the depths of the cavern darkness.

Blazing fireballs shot out from all directions one after the other, a gentle reminder that he was right there, taunting me that I couldn't see him.

They were too slow-moving to pose a threat, but the constant need to track their motion was enough to interrupt any opportunity to try to sense him out. Retreating to a corner I prayed he wasn't hiding in and closed my eyes, feeling the aether present. The rush of energy from all directions used to take the wind out of me, but might as well be second nature at this point.

I felt it. The unnatural collection of aether. A powerful cluster concealing an aura of destruction and war hiding beneath one of the many candles lining the walls.

With a conscious thought and stretch of my aether, Marauder's deceptive calling was brought forth in my mind. "Found you."

Master Regis popped into existence out of thin air, leaning amusedly against the wall. The cover beneath him had vanished entirely, and the candle flame continued to burn without casting any shadow.

This was one of the powers granted by the Marauder rune - Theft! 

"You stole the shadow I was hiding in? Honestly, I should have seen that one coming."

He pushed himself off the wall and continued, "I want to see how far you've come with Arbiter and Disorder. Use only those.

Without giving me the time to verbally agree, Master Regis reappeared to my left, poised to land a kick to the side of my head.

Damnit! Arbiter's abilities need time, he knows this.

Disorder ignited with a flare of my aether, the cold-steel-like touch covering my left shoulder.

As Regis's blow was about to connect with my head, an invisible force distorted the trajectory of his kick, missing my head entirely. 

Evading to the left using my imperfect recreation of Saint Arthur Leywin's Godstep, I called upon my Arbiter rune, and with a flick of my wrist, manifested a whip of crackling purple lightning that arced toward Regis' impressive form. The Whip of Torment momentarily stunned Regis, providing perhaps my sole chance.

Closing the distance in an instant, my purple sabre glided toward his shoulder but was met with a solid purple shield that parried my blow completely. 

Not only had I missed my chance, but I'd jumped the gun and left myself exposed.

A punch to my gut sent me flying through the cave in a half-conscious haze and I hit the far wall, creating a me-sized hole in the stone.

"Shit. Whoops. you alright, kid!?"

The world before me spun in flashes as I struggled to keep my eyes open. 

"Ouch..." 

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Regis

"You did well, kid. I mean it." I took in the sight of the exhausted boy before me. In just four years, he has grown from a foul-mouthed little twerp with no skill whatsoever, to a young man capable of magic possessed by incredibly few.

After Arthur publicised simple knowledge about aether, certain mages have been able to tap into the insight of aether - though never in any substantial way, bar some extreme exceptions - creating a society in Alacrya and Dicathen especially that seeks to delve into the mysteries of aether.

Leonard Sauron is one such child. Despite no one in his close family being a mage or aether scholar, he awakened a feel for aether at the age of 9. With no one to teach him or guide him down the path of insight, his 3 years of training before I took him as my disciple left him with very rough and undefined basics. 

He was akin to a toddler with a sharp - very sharp - sword.

But that was not why I took him as my apprentice.

During the Fracture, a phenomenon experienced throughout all 3 continents where the sky itself split and shattered like glass, Leo gained an even more unique trait.

Entropy.

The slumbering conscience of a primordial aetheric being cast its gaze upon Leonard in its fleeting moments of consciousness and bestowed him with a rune of its aetheric branch.

"There was a reason I wanted to test you, Leo." 

"Knew it." He narrowed his gaze at me suspiciously. "You always have an ulterior motive."

"I wouldn't call it an 'ulterior motive' per se, more like 'seeing the bigger picture' - but really, there was a valid reason.

You deserve to know more about your powers and their origin, and I have waited a long time to tell you. I wanted to see if you were worthy." 

Leonard's face displayed a sense of cautious curiosity, a mindset I have engrained into him regarding his powers since the day I met him.

"You know of the branches of aether already, so I won't talk about that too much, but essentially there are three primary stages of insight:

Spatium, Aevum, and Vivum.

These three branches hold sub-branches within them, requiring even further insight and granting even more unusual abilities. Unfortunately, these sub-branches are alive and semi-conscious, meaning they can interfere with the world to some degree.

During the Fracture, the sub-branch of Spatium, Entropy, bestowed you a rune to begin your insight into the domain of chaos."

"Wait. What do you mean they're alive?" 

"A good question." I thought for a moment about how to explain such a concept in simple terms before adding, "Aether is time, space and life itself. These sub-branches represent the laws of the world and are innately conscious.

You understand that aether is considered barely conscious, yes? As though aether has its own will - because it does. These sub-branches take this concept to an entirely different level.

They are living authorities themselves. Laws of nature and existence as we know it, like Destruction and Creation. The two sub-branches of Vivum.

Creation, for example, supported the growth of the ancient race of Djinn by bestowing insight and runes upon the ancient people. To this day, they remain the most advanced society in history in terms of aether knowledge and use. They were guided by the sub-branch."

I watched in silence as he absorbed what I had told him. Despite only grazing the surface of the true secrets of aether, I'd already blown his mind with the incomprehensible.

I had hoped to slowly introduce him to the secrets of aether, but we simply don't have the time. The Fracture is proof of that. He needs to understand what he's dealing with.

"I think I kinda get it. They're considered 'half' - conscious because they can somewhat influence the world and dominate their respective sub-branches, but can't physically descend and directly interfere?"

"Exactly. You're getting it. These aetheric beings can influence their sub-branches in various ways, but in your case, Entropy has influenced you by outright giving you a boon. Unusual, but I guess that makes it quite normal actually."

"Hmm, you mentioned before that Destruction and Creation are the sub-branches of Vivum. What about the rest? Which of the three main branches is Entropy bound to?"

"I'll get there. There's something that comes first though. These sub-branches' natures align with one of two ideals. The easiest way to think of it is 'good vs. bad,' but it's not really that simple.

The 'good vs. bad' analogy will do for now. You can imagine which alignment Creation and Destruction correspond to, I'm sure. as for Entropy, it is the 'dark side' of Spatium, the 'good' being Order.

Entropy is the chaos, randomness, uncertainty and disorder of the universe, the opposite force to Order.

As for Aevum, the 'good' side would be Eternalism, and the 'bad' is Inevitability."

"So, these beings of unfathomable power, do what exactly? All these fancy words don't mean much to me." Leo voiced his confusion from across the table, clearly not connecting the dots.

"Their begrudging unification maintains the balance of our world, ensures aether doesn't suddenly go out of control, keeps mana in circulation, the list goes on. They are primordial orders of life; without them, nothing. For the most part, they all remain docile and in check, but for whatever reason, that has changed. The balance has been disrupted slightly.

There's a bit more to it, but for now, that's all I'll leave you with."

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