The Foundation Mage [LGBTQ+ Kinky Progression Fantasy]

Vicktor awoke to the familiar smell of roasted meat, baked bread and boiled grains. His head mildly ached from yesterday's drinking, but it was nothing a hot cup of tea couldn't solve. He shrugged off his bedroll, rolled off of his cot and dressed in a new robe, the second he had purchased.

It was a medium weight weaved garment that had reminded him of the soil, it was shades of tan, amber, and a dark rich brown. Two strands of the tan were used for each strand of amber and the dark brown. It had been sown with a forty-five degree offset and reminded Vicktor of river-sand mixed with iron-rich clay.

He stood, taking stock of his surroundings. Alar was seated on his cot, reading over a book of inscriptions.

"Hey Vicktor."

"Good morning."

"Got any plans for our downtime for the next two days?"

"I was going to try and talk with Selia and Quinn, I wanna learn more about Chosen, word magic and might even take a look at some local civil infrastructure. Master Tosk mentioned it when I first arrived but I haven't been assigned anything yet."

"Any plans for tonight?" The avian rotated his head slightly.

"No clue, any ideas?"

"Probably just chat and chill, not sure Nora has any hard plans either, but she might have something in mind."

They began walking towards the source of the delicious smells.

"You know, you should really start to study inscriptions, maybe you could try to make one with your foundation magic? I heard a story of an earth mage who focused on metals."

"It's not a bad idea, I think I might wait until Master Tosk gets back to ask his opinions before working on that though?"

"We could go over the basics, your knowledge on them is practically non-existent. You don't even know the difference between a glyph to send heat versus a glyph to generate force!"

Vicktor sighed, he was probably right, Alar often was. "Sure..."

"Let me know, we only need a few hours for the basics."

"Yeah..."

The two grabbed trays of food, before finding Nora at a table, sipping on a large mug of milk. "Hey boys!"

"Hey." Vicktor smiled, distracted by a milk ring on her furred upper lip.

"Hey Nora, any plans for tonight? We got nothing."

"Well there's always 'The Back Alley', but I don't feel like that right now. I'll probably just stay here tonight, wanna drink some cider and chat? I think most of the fruit was picked last week, I overheard a plant mage complain about how this winter might be warmer than expected"

"No hard plans at all then?" Alar asked, cocking his head once more.

"Nah, still have that fight on my mind." The cat drank again, the milk ring on the fur of her upper lip growing wider, almost reaching her feline nose.

"Alright that's fine, me too..." Vicktor agreed quietly, too lost in thought to make a joke about the feline and cream.

"yeah..." Alar trilled softly.

The trio continued their daily routine. Master Xan continued to modify his pack's gravity, he was now able to run for over an hour with the equivalent of twice his own weight, somewhere near three hundred pounds. His legs were thicker and his endurance had continued to improve. When lifting the magically altered weights, he was still mostly a beginner, his lower legs easily outpaced his arms for strength, but progress, although slow, continued.

He had lunch with Nora and Alar. Today Zorra and his bearkin boyfriend, Bryn. Bryn was the man Vicktor had seen Zorra with on his first night. The bearkin was an older fire mage, approaching his mid-twenties and apparently was quite close to becoming a Rector.

The large burly brown bear always spoke with his full mouth.

"There's a trick to it, I can't talk much about it obviously, but I have plenty of power, but not enough control. I spent too long just blasting. It's like trying to turn a forest fire back into a campfire. Utterly infuriating and not particularly safe."

Vicktor could see why Zorra liked him so much, his muscles rippled visibly through his fur when he moved. The silver of his inscriptions always flashing briefly between the strands of his thick dark coat.

The five mages split again after their meal of roasted ramps, buttered bread, and braised auroch.

His meditation was improving slowly and steadily, the aluminum sphere's inscriptions showed he was improving his throughput and absorption of mana, but it felt like he was never really increasing his total capacity. The device couldn't measure his maximum, but he could intuit it, every day he left like he could empty himself faster and faster if he wasn't actively trying to recuperate his pool from the ambient mana.

His final course of the day was with ‘Rector Magus William Aquarious the Fifth, Adjunct Archivist’, the man spewed endless information as usual and Vicktor did his best to memorize the zoology. It was mind-numbing, but it was fascinating to realize just how many beasts inhabited their world. Vicktor wondered how many beasts were above the tiers of simple, remarkable and enhanced beasts... He hoped he would eventually find out and not get killed in the process.

After finishing his last course, he decided to take a slower path home. He focused on meditating while he walked around his home, choosing to stop at a small park.

He sat upon a stone bench in the park lands, underneath an evergreen. The other deciduous trees in the park were beginning to show flecks of brown and red in their crown. There were fewer birds than there had been a few weeks ago when he'd been here last. Winter was coming.

"George! Get back here!" A young woman yelled at a child in full sprint. As he watched the small chase ensue, he extended his senses, feeling the earth beneath his feet on the cold stone path and the tapered rough stone on his hands as he rested them against the edge of the granite.

The sun hidden behind fluffy clouds let the world feel subdued. Vicktor closed his eyes, continuing to work on his subterranean senses. He breathed in slowly, held his breath for a few moments then exhaled slowly for another few months. He repeated this breathing pattern, slowly in, holding, then out.

His mind cleared, and took in all the stresses of his life and acknowledged them slowly.

Vicktor went from his greatest worries to the little irksome problems in his life. First and foremost, his worry about his Ruakh and his worries about advancement. He acknowledged his worry and his fear. He acknowledged their influence and then let them fall from his mind. They were important, very important, but they could not be solved like the answer to a riddle or puzzle. They would take time, effort, and more hard work that he could possibly imagine. He acknowledged his worry and fear and let them drop away from his mind, they would return and that was okay.

He breathed in, held it and exhaled.

Second, he acknowledged his fear about his friends, and how they perceived him. He acknowledged that he would have to do it eventually, but they weren't here now. He needed to live in the moment for the time being, he had already prepared and there was nothing more he could reasonably do.

He breathed in, held it and exhaled.

Third and finally, he acknowledged his fears about himself, the lingering feeling that had slowly become unavoidable since he stepped out of the teleportation room. There was a disconnect between the way Vicktor's body was perceived and the way Vicktor saw themselves. Vicktor acknowledged the fear, the confusion and, then let them drift away,

He breathed in, held it and exhaled.

His mind was finally clear.

He extended his sense further, letting his foundation speak. It told him of an unseen world. Animal burrows filled with nuts and seeds. It spoke of the disruption of its surface, the feel of feet and hooves shaking the soil in their wake. Finally, it spoke of all that wasn't a part of his foundation. It spoke of the tree roots and their near endless depth, pushed against the bedrock.

He felt what was absent from his control, the water soaking into the groundwater from a previous rain, he could feel the movement of what must have been the water, but he could not feel the water itself.

He breathed in, held it and exhaled.

He sat motionless as time continued around him. He stood, his eyes shut and traced a path around the small park. He avoided the small boy and his mother, still giving chase. He avoided the pools of water by feeling how the standing water affected the soil beneath. He avoided the trees, their roots similarly affecting him with their absence from his senses.

He circled this way once, then twice, each time taking a different path all with his eyes closed. On the fourth time he sat, paused then stood.

He began his walk home, his eyes still closed. He felt the people move around him as he walked, the cool stone grinding softly against his calloused feet.

He breathed in, held it and exhaled.

Vicktor felt the wheels of an oncoming auroch-drawn wagon and stopped, waiting for it to pass. He continued walking, using his senses and memories of the area to return to the Builders Guildhall Barracks. Once he felt the smooth worn stone of the inside of the building he opened his eyes.

He continued his meditative breathing as he returned to his cot to wait for Alar and Nora. As he rounded the corner he saw his cot, with a letter upon its foot.

He walked closer to examine the parchment.

To Vicktor,

From Selia.

The letter was not sealed with wax, so he opened it. It was obviously scribbled in haste.

Vicktor,

My team and I have departed on short notice, we will be gone for several days, perhaps over a week. We shall have to delay our date.

Our mission shouldn't be too dangerous, see you soon!

Yours,

Selia

P.S. Tell Alar that Gralgra wishes to meet him after our return. I wasn't told any details, but I can guess...

A frown crossed Vicktor's face and his eyes watered lightly. He hadn't expected them to do so. He didn't realize quite how much her company would be missed.

He decided to pen two letters, one to Selia and one to Quinn, both in stationary stamped with the builders guild. He left them with the front desk of the Guildhall, they would be delivered before the night's end. The intra-city courier network was quite effective, both in cost and speed.

He returned to his cot to find Nora and Alar waiting for him on Alar's cot, the owl holding an extra mug of hot cider.

"Need to chat?"

"yes..."

They sat on the barely padded cots and talked. First of small mundane things, the weather, a glimpse of an old friend and fling. Small reminders of their shared humanity despite their differing forms.

They sipped on the beverages until they ran dry. The trio stood and walked to get more, they passed human, hybrid and beastkin. All humans doing their jobs or relaxing, Mages, mundanes, and even a few Chosen.

The server of the cider was a lovely old hybrid lady. She was the spitting image of an old grandmother except that her hands and face were covered in the grey fur and paws of a canine. Her forearms, legs, and neck were all a dark chocolate hue. She smiled as she doled out the pressed juice.

The three mages returned to the two cots, the barracks itself now mostly empty.

Vicktor took a deep draft of cider then spoke. "Before we talk more, I just want you two to know that I've been struggling with my gender identity."

Vicktor’s fellow apprentices nodded, for a few moments before Nora spoke with a soft tone. "Okay, how can we help?"

"Nothing right now, I'm going to try to talk with Quinn tomorrow. I need to figure some things out and they might be able to help me."

Nora took a sip, "Alright, I was going to ask about what Gralgra said about the Blue Hills?"

"I was going to ask about what happened at the Whimpering Whelp." The owl blushed, "Well after your 'reward'. I'm talking about that woman that Selia and her team chased after?"

"Someday soon, I promise. We need to wait until Master Tosk gets back, I'm really sorry. I really am, I trust you two, but I need to wait..." Vicktor's eyes watered and he felt his cheeks flush.

"Alright, Its okay" Nora placed her mug on the floor, then went to hug Victor. He did not respond, but he closed his eyes and allowed the hug to continue. Vicktor heard a clink on the ground and then felt the embrace of Alar to the other side.

Vicktor's eyes watered and began to sob gently, letting the tears slide slowly down his face and down onto their friends shoulders.

They stayed there for several minutes, holding Vicktor in the moment. The shared warmth did wonders for their soul.