Since man has come to learn of Magic, they have strived to master it till perfection. But what do you do when you realize that your current perfection still has ways to improve? Of course you reach that perfection only to realize there is more and that is the current motto of Magic Studies. 

 

The more one knows the more one will learn much how one does not know. 

 

It is by that motto that we of the Magic Community operate by but there is only so much one person will ever be able to learn, study and research. For that reason we of the Magic Community spread our ways to the mundane and relied on their numbers to progress. Of course we could not use a name that had anything to do with Magic for it so it was termed the Scientific Method of Empirical Studies. 

With time, they both improved the World around them all while fulfilling the spread of our methodology to the World. With our gentle pushing from the shadows we encouraged certain thoughts, certain theories and inspirations to bright minds where the world now knew them as the greatest minds of the learned society. 

It was through these studies that Dimensional Magical Discipline appeared. Its main purpose was to study the boundary of Reality in which we lived, from all its ways of working and its future potential applications. Of course those studies existed even before DMD appeared but it was never specialized, not like it was now. 

Right now DMD was the cutting-edge of any Magical Discipline and that was for one and one reason only, the one that achieves the 9th Circle will forever be glorified as the pioneer of this branch of Magic. For that purpose many have switched to this discipline, especially in the last century, me included. 

But I have a big advantage over the others and those that are coming or have yet to come, I am already of the 8th Circle. Logic dictates that it should not be hard to achieve the next milestone yet that is what is happening and the reason is simple. It has to do with the way we of the Magic Community achieve power. 

One great filter for those who want to study Magic is the ability to perceive mana. Nobody knows how we even achieved it in the first place, so the only way for us to gain that ability is to be born with it. At least it was like that in the old days before the Circle path was discovered and enabled even those without a bloodline to use Magic. But even if they are able to do it they would never reach the heights of those with bloodlines. 

It has been studied as to the reason but so far nothing concrete came out if and like that bloodlines dominate the current society. 

If one is lucky to be born of a bloodline then they will be taught from a very young age. They will be taught and trained in many arts, from the physical ones for discipline of the mind and the body to the knowledge that would be later used as the advance in life. When one reaches the age of ten the true study of Magic begins.

 

It is at the age of ten that the first circle is inscribed into one's Soul. Its purpose being the perception of the Soul as it was the Soul that communes with the Universe. Considering what that meant it was easy to come to the conclusion that it should be easy to spread Magic among the people. And they would be right if not for one special quirk of this methodology. It all has to be done by the one having the inscribing done, in other words one has to carve the circle by oneself. If others tried to do it for you then it meant death in almost all the cases and those that didn't became the sources of new bloodlines. Hence children are taught and disciplined for that very purpose from young as a bloodline helped carry the load for the first inscribing. 

Another quirk of the Circle path is that there needs to be a set period of rest before the next inscribing could be done. At minimum 5 years and if done before, well so far there is a 100% casualty if tried. 

The first Circle bestows perception of the Soul, the second if prepared and done properly would be done when one is 15 years of age. That one bestows the usage of Mana on a grander scale. To compare it best lets say that those with bloodlines and without a second circle are old petrol cars and those with would be the new electrical hybrid cars. Both can achieve the desired purpose and speeds but there just is no efficiency comparison needed.

After the second Circle one would again wait at least 5 years which would make one 20 years of age. The third Circle grants one the ability to spread one's mana outside the body and it is at that point that one could be called a full fledged member of the Magical Community, at least if they want to use any of the titles that bring fame.

 

It's after the third that the true filter for power appears. The set period of rest stays the same but the complexity of the Circles jumps up significantly. So without absolute mastery of the process it is simple not done. Due to the complexities of the circles and their inability to be drawn without significant drawbacks if one goes into generalization the best solution to that problem is if one specializes as early as possible.

 

DMD being a new Magic study specialization of course brought forth many untested theories and ways. Along with it it bloomed the desire to find the optimal path to higher Circles. Currently DMD has the highest death rate as every failed inscription brings forth death if the preparations are not thorough and even if it was the death rate is still high. 

 

“ So for somebody like me to appear, lots of knowledge and luck was needed. “ I said to my guest sitting in front of me. The guest would have been a great beauty if not for the fact that she looked malnourished like a beggar not having eaten in weeks. The long straight black hair and blue eyes still conveyed her beauty but it was marred with an undernourished body, where even the bones were visible quite easily. Although the constant movement of the mouth as she ate food did not help that image and yet I could still observe the improvement she had due to the food compared to when I brought her here at first.

 

It all started the days before this one. I had been doing an experiment when it happened. Unknown to me, something passed along the Veil of the World. Like a ripple it passed me and traveled along it. It was so faint that it had taken someone of my specialization and a secret scrying spell that I invented to even barely notice it. It interrupted my experiment but finding out the origin of the ripple was much more important than one experiment. 

And that is what happened, I abandoned the experiment and went on to triangulate the origin of it. There could be many explanations for its origin, from someone doing something to the Divide to a breach in its defenses to something even worse. It was the Divide that kept both Worlds safe from major Divine intervention and other unpleasant outsider stuff. It was only with its existence that today's peaceful society could exist and if it's gone it would mean war was on our doorsteps. Maintaining the Divide was the main purpose the DMD was even created. 

 

Of course somebody of my level of Power is exempted of that duty in normal circumstances but if it was the other way I could not be exempted to do my duty. Immediately after noticing it and abandoning my experiment I summoned my staff. 

Appearing in my right hand it looked like a simple walking staff made out of wood with a colorful gem on top of it. It looked quite simple but under its simple exterior it hid a beast. Made out of a mythical tree branch, forged and fused with the best materials for the best conductivity for Magic and a Chaos seed at the top for the best spell amplification, made it my masterpiece.

 

Placing it on the ground it started to float by itself. Once it was in the air, the gem at the top glowed a bit more than it usually did. The core spellwork of the staff was my secret scrying spell that nobody even knew I created. It was a passive spell that gathered information from the Veil of Reality by the principality of string theory. It was also my masterpiece but unlike the staff I refused to even announce I had something like it due to the fear a certain bastard would figure it out and reach the 9th circle before me.

 

Once the staff was in place I used it to perceive and gather information from the Veil. Thanks to the staff it amplified the range at which my scrying spell worked. Thanks to that my needed work was shortened by a lot and soon I found the origin. It was somewhere in India. 

Taking the staff back in hand I immediately prepared a Vail walking spell. Unlike Teleportation this one needed no precise coordinates to work. Soon my surroundings blurred for a second and I found myself in India. Again I deployed the scrying spell through the staff and looked for clues.

 

The scrying this time took much more time and while it brought me relief that the Divide was fine and not problems could be noticed, it failed to bring me an answer as to what that ripple was. Not giving up I stayed there and for the next few hours I did nothing but use scrying spell after spell. It took half a day but it happened again and this time I had been using my spell as it passed through everything. Being at the highest of sensitivities possible I still failed to understand what it was but I did find where it came from. 

Immediately after I found myself in an abandoned building. The room I Veilwalked into was small but it was when I turned around that I found her. She was lying on the cold concrete floor looking like a dried up mummy. Using the best spells I could use I examined her but the only thing I found out was that despite the body looking like it should have already died it still lived.

 

Looking around her I found some food but that gave me nothing new as I still had no idea on what to do. If I considered that she was at the origin site of the ripple it was easy to guess that she was involved but how and why was the question. Examining a bit more I made my decision. Placing my hand on her stomach I channeled a simple spell of healing. It was a simple regeneration spell. It was one of the staple ones needed to be learned before one switched to a specialization yet it was in the moment that the spell started working that the female woke up and out of her rose power that dispelled my spell like it was nothing. 

 

The little event stunned me with its unexpectedness for a second but when I looked at her face I saw blue eyes that stared at me like they wanted to kill me. “ Dfuck, you doing? You want to kill me bastard. I barely recovered and you want to send me to my early grave already. ”

 

Still a bit stunned by the sudden remark I was speechless for a bit but no more remarks came my way. Finding myself again I removed my hand and apologized. Nothing worked better than an apology one meant.

 “ I am sorry madam if I hurt you, but my intention was to help. ” I may have said that but one still baffled me on how a simple healing spell would kill her.

“ You're lucky I can recognize good intent. ” She sighed. “ Good thing my damsel in distress was but an act. If I had let you continue I would be dead in seconds. ” With that said she slowly raised her upper body till it was leaning on the wall. Dine with it, her hands moved for the food she had and just started to stuff herself. Seeing that mummy like face eating like that did give me heebie jeebies. 

Once she was done with the food and water that was here she looked at me and spoke. “ Since you found me that means others could too but from your actions I can conquer that you're not a bad person so you have any hidey holes nearby I could bunker in till I recover? ”

“ Oh. ” Was all that came out of my mouth for a second. “ Well not nearby but to me distance is not important. Before we decide on that fact, how about we introduce ourselves. I am Marcus Wyllt. You? ”

“ Mira, you can call me Mira. ” She answered.

“ Hello Mira, it's nice to meet you. Now could you tell me what you did that brought me here? ” I asked yet immediately I perceived something cloak her whole body. It was invisible and followed the shape of the body alongside the hair like a super tight skin suit. Once it was deployed I could barely perceive it here at all and that was with my passive scrying spell included. 

 

` From the way it was deployed it should be a defensive spell. But how come I didn't perceive not one drop of mana from it? ` Taking my perception from it she looked at me with a bit of confusion.

“ There is no need to resort to hostilities. ” I said. “ When I sensed the ripple the first time I had feared that somebody fiddled with the Divide and came to investigate. Whatever was the cause of the ripple I concluded that it was not of nefarious purpose but I did find you at the origin of the second ripple. So I am intending on figuring it out. ”

 

Declaring my intention did bring some clarity into this but it didn't stop her from glaring at me. Glaring a few seconds more at each other she made the first move. Rising her right hand I felt power leave it. Again I felt no mana from it but soon it coalesced into the shape of a scroll with fancy borders. Soon letters appeared on them and I read them. Seeing her intent and the wording on in I only shook my head. 

“ Yea, no way I will sign that. Not only do I not know you and your intentions but even if the contract is as simple as written there I still won't do it. Not to mention your unknown power Forget it, it just won't happen. ” I raised my voice at the last part but it was then that she nodded at my actions.

“ Good, you're not an idiot. Let's go to your hideout and I hope you have lots of food there because I need it. ” Said Mira.

 

Still unsure about this I used my staff and scryed her again. When I did she only raised an eyebrow at my attempt but now despite having a better idea of what to look for the only thing I noticed was the skin tight power she had used to envelope herself. The scrying spell just slipped from it like it was hydrophobic. 

 

Seeing my hesitation she spoke again. “ Look, let me ask you this. Who else could notice that ripple? And unlike you will they have my best intentions in their heart? ” She asked the most important question she could but it was that which reminded me of that bastard. 

` Yea, I won't risk that bastard finding out the origin of whatever that ripple was. `

Finally my decision was made and I moved to the center of the small room. With staff in hand I generated a portal that would lead to my hideout. It was an oval thing, of the right size so that two people could walk in without a problem. 

Looking back at the female I noticed her surprised look. Motioning my hand I told her to hurry up. Like a mummy she stood up and walked to me. Once I had her by the hand we walked through. The other side of the portal was my secret hideout nested in the Bermudas but not the mundane version. No, this was in the Magical World and a small island in that part of the World is where I made this hideout. Nobody knew of it and once of the reason I brought this female mummy was that the only way out would be through me. 

 

Once we were here I collapsed the portal in such a way that it would be impossible even for that bastard to follow. Back here again I led her to the kitchen when Mira spoke.

“ So where are we? ” She asked. 

“ You don't want to know and neither will I tell you. Once we are done talking I will just release you where you want be. ” I said. If my words brought any thoughts to her she didn't show it but two seconds later I felt her release her Power. Unlike before this one did not stop at her body or mine.

“ Eh, only 10m. Damn I will need quite some time to recover. ” She said but I ignored her. My whole focus was to analyze what she did. Using every scrying spell available to me I found out that she somehow generated a field around herself yet I couldn't find what its purpose was.

“ What was that and why did you use it? ” I was more curious as to what it was then being insulted by its presence.

 

“ Oh, you felt it? That's well not new but few could perceive it. ” She said. “ It's sort of an ability of mine but umm. I am not sure if I should tell you. After all, we both do not know each other. ”

“ Fair, enough. Come the kitchen is this way. ” Once we were there I offered to cook for her something but she quickly denied and just asked for whatever was available in huge quantities. Immediately she ate and ate until it seemed that she would burst apart. At that point she just closed her eyes and I felt the field she had deployed to collapse on her again.

 

I stayed with her as she did that but the more I waited the more I realized that she probably was doing something with the food and if one deined to consider all that fact it wasn't hard to come to a conclusion. She was somehow speeding up her metabolism and used that to recover her body to working condition.

Once I had that thought I knew that it was useless to stick with her all the time. Placing a few wards that would alert me to her movements I made my way to the bedroom. Using scrying for so many hours while not hard it does leave the mind tired.