On his way over to the door, Mike thought about what he should do with the two free mental points. The obvious thing was to put them in willpower, to raise his mental resistance to negative effects and emotions. He reckoned someone with a high enough willpower could have just flat out resisted that sleep spell that hit him earlier. It didn’t seem to magically inflict sleep on him as much as put his mind in the perfect state to fall asleep and his low willpower was why he was only working that out now, instead of as the spell hit him.

He put it aside as he reached the door, leaning against it as he looked through the window. For the first time, Ishare was standing. He was staring intently through the bars of his cell straight at Mike. He was taller than Mike had expected, taller than Mike himself, though that wasn’t a particular achievement. His shoulders seemed broader while standing, it seemed possible that his current thinness wasn’t his natural state, but due to malnutrition, much like Mike’s own.

Ishare’s hands started to flash in the sign gestures again, “You were not mistaken then, you can use Dark magic after all?” he asked in his sign language. Ishare had done a lot for Mike from what he could tell, he had helped the AI understand it’s situation while he was in a coma, he had hidden what he understood of the AI from the high elves and he had been severely punished for helping Mike try to escape, only for Mike to fuck it up.

“Yes I can, though I think it is in a very different method to what you do,” Mike said, not knowing how to explain the AI and the mana he was using, he should get context from Ishare before he tried to explain it.

The elf grinned, barring bright white teeth, “Oh I do imagine it is, unless you are a much better Illusionist than I, and are a Dark elf, I cannot imagine you using the same methods as I do.” The elf paused seemingly thinking for a few moments. “I shall teach you what I know of magic and its history in general first, then I shall tell you of the method I used help you escape your cell, though if you truly can use Light magic also I may have another solution. One that could potentially free both of us. For now the lesson." The man's hands stopped moving as he took a deep breath, a peace coming over his expression.

They started moving a tad more slowly than before, as if there was a cadence to his movements, "Before there were gods, there was no magic. Three thousand years ago, the gods came, and with them came Elves. Each god formed a race of elves from the Mortal realm to serve them here, as coming here themselves would put them at risk, though others may say that it was for different purposes.”

“With the god of Soul and Knowledge, Light, came the High Elves, in the shape of humans with Golden skin and eyes, crafted from the Light of the mortal realm and granted dominance over it. With the god of Law and Retribution, Judgement, came the Mountain Elves, stouter than humans and with bones of stone and more commonly called Dwarves. Their bones crafted from the stone of the earth and their flesh from the molten blood of the land, they were thus given power over Earth and Fire. Lastly, the god of Darkness and Chaos, Pain, formed the Dark Elves from the shadows under the earth, of course granting us power over them.”

As his hands moved they trailed Darkness, the shadows shifting into detailed forms, A tall figure in regal robes and a slightly shorter feminine figure in a slim dress, with what appeared to be straight and sharp horns protruding from her temples and backwards as he described the High elves. A stout figure in armor formed of slabs of stone and a shorter but slimmer figure in a robe with fire hovering above an outstretched hand as he described the Dwarves, and lastly a narrow figure, that looked much like Ishare himself, and an even narrower counterpart, clad in leathers as he described the Dark Elves, all were made of pitch blackness, but detailed enough in the light of the orbs for Mike to distinguish that they all had ears that came to sharp points.

“The Elves were not numerous in the beginning, but they had an advantage over Humans, Magic, they could mould the elements from which they were formed into powers that changed the world. The mana that exists in our veins is the source of those powers, a remnant from the elements that gave us form.

“Each individual interacts with their mana differently, though the ways tend to form into Archetypes,” as Ishare signed this, the male High elf figure began to step forward from the row.

“There are those who believe that magic is a gift of their god, and believe that their magic should be handled by that god. They leave the control and purpose of their magic to their Deity. They are also granted access to the divine powers of their deity, depending on their ranking and devotion to them.” The male High elf figure knelt, looking upward and raising one hand to the sky while pressing one to his chest in a fist, a position of worship Mike assumed.

“Some rare few believe that the origin of all mana is the Spirit realm, and believe that spirits weak and strong, are most suited to control it. So they seek out a spirit in this realm or make the perilous journey to theirs. They find a spirit and bind it to their mana, allowing it to shape and form their spells for them. Be it as Familiar or Patron, they often grant access to another type of mana to the caster.” The High elf female stepped forward this time, from behind her rose a dark serpent, sliding through the air as if it was water and wrapping itself around her arm as she rose it.

"Others find that the mana is a part of their body and control and strengthen it along with their body, they gain strength and skill, their lethality and diversity in close combat undeniable." The stone-clad Dwarven male stepped forward, lifting a giant mace from his back, obviously also made of stone, he swung it from over his shoulder and stopped it dead in front of him, drawing it back for another swing.

"Some seek to understand the mundane form of their Mana's element, immersing themselves in it to gain enlightenment. They use this understanding to shape and control the mana." The Dwarven female stepped forward and the dark fire in her palm spread over her body until she was entirely obscured, then retracted, forming into a ball of flame in her other palm.

“Some find a much more concrete understanding of their mana, they experiment and study, calculating their abilities and understanding the effects of their mana on the world. They create runes defining the aspects of their magic, then combine those runes to form more complex and powerful spells.” This time the male Dark Elf stepped forward and sat down, holding his hands before him as shadow streamed from his fingers, recreating the scene of Ishare Casting a spell to make the door incorporeal.

“Last but not least there are those that are simply so talented at shaping mana that it comes to them instinctively, coming to their fingers at their whim and forming along with their imagination, They are natural magic users, however, their magic tends to be heavily bound to their state of mind, making them emotional and erratic based on the nature of their element.” Lastly the female dark elf stepped forward to join the others, her head drooped forward and smoke started to leak from her eyes, shadowy smoke started to rise from her hands as she slowly lifted her head, shadows obscuring it in a mask that seemed to be screaming in pain, smoke-like shadow trailing up from its edges.

Mike watched in silence as Ishare made the display, eyes flicking between Ishare’s more deliberate hand motions and the animated figures of shadow. He had questions, such as the whole ‘god of Darkness and Chaos” thing, which was definitely concerning, but he didn’t know the social relation between the Dark elves and their apparent creator, Mike had decided long ago to not judge people based entirely on their beliefs. Ishare had yet to do him wrong and had put himself in danger to help him, he deserved the benefit of the doubt.

“These are long paths that most magic users choose early in their journey, thinking on them now would likely be of benefit to you, though some are unlikely to suit you in your unique circumstance.” Ishare paused his hands and then waved his hand through the animated figures, they dispersed into a cloud of fog that reformed into a larger version of him casting the spell that had previously been present.

“The reason I find it unlikely for you to be able to cast this spell is that it is a spell that I have crafted using the runes that I have made over decades of study. You can do something similar at a beginner level, but it would likely not last long enough for you to pass through or would simply fail, or create a door of Dark mana into the spirit realm that a spirit could wander through. I’m sure that those are not things that you wish.

“What I am doing when I cast it is mixing my runes for Impermeability, Shadow, Object and a timer, each of which is crafted carefully. If you think you can do this, or that your method of magic is different in such a way as to not need these steps, then I shall explain how this can be achieved without them, or at least a lesser version of the effect with similar results.” as he explained the shapes that composed the spell in front of Ishare’s model pulsed, denoting each rune as he spoke them. Ishare paused, looking to Mike for input.

Mike was thinking, it seemed he had been overreaching significantly in wanting to do the same thing as Ishare while having only had magic for less than 6 hours by his conscious experience, he frowned, then how was he supposed to get out of here? Ishare had said that he had a plan, his plans so far had been much better than Mike’s, he should probably hear it out.

Mike shook his head, then stopped, wondering if that would mean the same thing in this world, “No,” he clarified, “I don’t think I can, and those consequences for failure certainly make me hesitant to try. You said you had a plan that could free both of us?” 

Ishare grinned again, holding the expression as he signed, “Yes, this time you shall help me escape my cell.”