「 episode 3; arc 2.1 」 —a new home//orientation— 「 yeojin iii 」  

“Please, make yourself at home, Yeojin. The others should be here shortly.”

Yeojin followed Sunmi into an unknown room. Closing the door behind her, she found herself in a rather lofty looking office. She took measured steps forward and took in her surroundings as Sunmi continued further in.

Yeojin was surrounded by walls of exquisite black marble. Her feet daintily stepped on spotless, pristine white tiles as she made her way to the center of the room. A glass coffee table was settled below an especially modern looking ceiling fan. Around the sides of the table, four pieces of black leather furniture were arranged—two single seats and two couches.

Instead of taking a seat, Yeojin looked towards the far end of the room. Her eyes followed Sunmi as she made her way to a desk settled by the center of the wall. Taking a seat in a regal looking chair behind the desk, she opened a thin laptop that was set upon it. As she began to type away, Yeojin looked behind her and saw it.

Gradually, with a sparkle of amazed disbelief in her eyes, she came to face it.

“Holy hell…”

Yeojin had come to a stop in front of the massive window that acted as the entire back wall of the room. Peering through it, she gazed at the new world in front of her. From their position on the 12th floor of the building, the mystified girl was allowed the sight of a sprawling city below her.

The immediate vicinity of the city district below seemed to be filled with mostly office spaces and commercial buildings. With the sky black and the moon above, a majority of them were illuminated within. Residential apartments and recreational spaces sprawled over the next few proceeding blocks. Beyond that, Yeojin saw her main point of interest come into view as she put her hands against the glass.

Across a bridge over a large river, an impressive skyline of high-rise towers sat on the horizon. The metropolis seemed almost mountainous from where she stood. The excessively tall buildings created a jagged outline as they continued down the lengthy stretch of the river separating it from the district below. Stars were absent above as the city emanated brilliant light.

“Mobius.”

Sunmi's voice came into existence. Her sudden speech could not pry Yeojin from her utter fascination of the sight before her as she turned her seat around. Standing up, she walked up next to the mystic and held her hands behind hers back as she looked out with her. “Named for the shape of the leyline that graces its skies, the Mobius strip.”

Looking up, Yeojin understood the Archmagus’ words.

Well above the dense center of life, a great leyline was settled in the sky. Even from where she stood, she could see that it was leagues beyond the thickest parts of her leyline back home.

While it flowed from one direction towards its infinite destination in the multiverse, it was anything but a proper line. Over the center of the city, the substantial road of light gray mana diverted from its pathing. It made a tilted sort of loop above most of the city, one side slightly raised over the other. At the end of the circuit, it returned to a general direction forward, fading into the horizon.

“I’ve never seen a city that huge before,” Yeojin revealed, her eyes peeled to the sight. “Even the town I was born in was nothing close to this…”

“You’ll have more chances than you know to explore it to the fullest,” Sunmi promised with a smile. “There’s much to see in Mobius, and even more to do.”

As Yeojin continued to stare out to the expanse of Mobius, Sunmi made her way to a small water cooler against the wall. A series of knocks on the door broke the silence as she took a sip of her drink.

“Come in.”

Yeojin turned around as she heard the door open. Three figures made their way room into the room.

“Please excuse us!”

Yeojin walked forward slowly as three girls approached. One was as tall as Sooyoung with a head of long black hair. Another was just barely above Yeojin’s height, locks of dark blonde flowing down to her chest. The third was between them in stature with wavy, vibrant lavender hair, bright at the roots and deeper in shade at the tips.

“Hyejoo, Chaewon, Yerim. Good evening,” Sunmi welcomed them courteously as she came closer.

“Hello, Sunmi,” the blonde haired girl spoke with a smile. Her voice was small, akin to her short, lightweight frame. She wore a long-sleeved teal sweater with a black butterfly on its front and khaki slacks.

“It’s good to see you, Archmagus Lee!” the upbeat voice of the lavender haired girl followed. She bowed slightly for a brief moment. Adorned with a white tee shirt, her denim shorts stopped above her knees.

“You truly are like your sisters, Yerim,” Sunmi said with a smile. Her eyes moved to the girl between them. “Hyejoo, are you feeling well?”

Quietly, the tallest of the three nodded. Yeojin had to take in her apparel more properly—a black top rested beneath an equally ebony leather jacket. Much too big for her and with the zipper loose, she wore the undone oversized jacket below her shoulders. A knee-length black and white plaid skirt beneath, it was followed by thick leggings of charcoal cotton and jet black boots.

Looking down, Yeojin noticed that one of the girl’s hands were locked together with the blonde’s. Beyond a simple hand hold, their fingers were intertwined.

“I’m relieved to hear that. Thank you all for coming,” Sunmi confessed, sounding particularly genuine about it. She turned towards the girl behind her. “I would like you all to meet Yeojin. She came back with our Master sorceresses today.”

Yeojin came closer, looking at the three girls. She gave a small nod with a bigger smile. Bringing her index and middle fingers to her forehead, she pointed them forward. “Yo. What’s up?”

“It’s nice to meet you, Yeojin! I’m Yerim!” the girl with the violet hair introduced herself without hesitation. Eyes of gray-blue looked at Yeojin with a beaming grin. Bright and cheerful, Yeojin felt like she was in the warm embrace of the sun itself.

“Hi, Yeojin,” the blonde girl followed, summoning Yeojin’s glance to her hazel eyes. “My name’s Chaewon. I’m happy to have you here.”

A brief silence followed. Chaewon broke it with a soft nudge to her companion, giving her a warm smile of encouragement.

Yeojin watched curiously as the girl Sunmi referred to as Hyejoo looked down slightly. Awkwardly shuffling her feet, her heterochromatic eyes of dark brown and deep purple averted Yeojin’s gaze. With a tiny voice that betrayed her height, she spoke quietly as she looked up. “Hello…it’s nice to meet you. I’m Hyejoo…”

At least there’s still some form of human life here. It could be worse.

Yeah. Could’ve been Hyejoo’s timeline.

Kahei’s and Sooyoung’s voices became animated in Yeojin’s mind as she remembered the conversation by the gas station. She gave a small nod, both towards Hyejoo and herself. I’m not sure what happened to her, but she’s safe now, and that’s what matters…

“Please, have a seat, girls,” Sunmi offered as she walked around towards one of the couches. Sitting down in one of the single seats, Yeojin found it was big enough for her to comfortably sit on her legs. Sunmi took a seat at the end of one of the double couches, crossing her legs. Yerim joined her, sitting opposite to the Archmagus.

Yeojin watched Chaewon and Hyejoo take their seats on the couch opposite Sunmi and Yerim. Despite having the full length of it available to them, Hyejoo brought her legs and feet onto the couch like Yeojin as she snuggled up close to Chaewon. The blonde girl put her free hand atop their interlocked hands in her lap as Hyejoo rested her head on her companion's shoulder.

“Yeojin, to start, I’d like to welcome you to BBC,” Sunmi said, extending a smile to Yeojin. “We’re all extremely happy to have you here. Thank you.”

Yeojin smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. “I should be thanking you...by what they told me, chances are I wasn’t gonna even make it to thirty years old.”

“Yes, Kahei filled me in on the details. I was distraught to hear that your timeline was that close to erasure. I hoped there might have been more time...but I want you to know that you’re safe here,” Sunmi explained, resting her hands on her knee.

“In what we’ve discovered to be a more and more rare case as we’ve explored the multiverse, elementalism and the usage of mana has a place in this timeline,” she explained. “Of course, there are still those who oppose it, and while they strive to make their voices stronger everyday, we are not openly ostracized or exiled in any capacity. Just as there are groups of disillusioned people who seek to segregate us, we also have support from non-magi.

“As such, this timeline has been blessed to have reached a point where elementalism and technology have become one. Elementalism fuels technological research, and technology supports advancements in elementalism. Society has attained new heights due to that continuous cycle. A sort of symbiotic relationship, if you’d like to think of it as such,” Sunmi suggested, nodding to herself.

“This degree of advancement in fields both elemental and technologic is what allowed us to begin the study of the multiverse in the first place,” the Archmagus revealed, her eyes focused on Yeojin. “With that field of research came the conclusive evidence of parallel realities, which then led to the creation of BBC.”

“The Broken Boundaries Coalition, wasn’t it?” Yeojin asked, remembering the plaque set upon the door.

“That’s correct,” Sunmi confirmed. “The Broken Boundaries Coalition was formed as an alliance between nations across this world to pool together research towards the multiverse. Scientists and magi alike from all corners of our planet make great strides every day in identifying alternate timelines and measuring the purity of their leylines.”

“How do they do that…?” Yeojin questioned slowly. The other three girls remained quiet and attentive as Sunmi continued.

“I believe Sooyoung informed you about how leylines cross and merge across the multiverse,” she began. “The mana present in a reality’s leyline is not exclusive to that reality. Mana from extremely divergent timelines far, far different than the one we’re in can make their way into our leyline. This means that, from a single reality, you can potentially peer into a fair amount of the multiverse.

“The main method of exploring the multiverse involves the extraction of mana from manapools. With a combination of elementalism and technology, the dense mana in a manapool can be harvested. Pockets of source mana from individual realities can be isolated. By then coalescing the isolated mana until it crystallizes, travel becomes possible.

“Breaking the resulting crystal will release the isolated mana specific to that universe," Sunmi shared to an incredibly focused Yeojin. "Much like how mana of any element can be controlled to produce a variety of effects, this mana is manipulated to create a doorway back to its source. This is also how we can specifically target realities close to extinction—there are careful processes to safely harvest and coalesce corrupted mana into crystals, allowing for the same effect.”

“You’re harvesting corrupted mana?” Yeojin spoke with a palpable tinge of worry in her voice. “So this timeline is poisoned, too?”

“It is,” Sunmi said, “but it isn’t prevalent in the slightest. There are only a few manapools thus far out of several hundred we’ve found that have become tainted. Due to the efforts of hard-working magi and some powerful mana-powered technology, we found a way to purify manapools, albeit very slowly.”

“Is that anything like purifying a...manastream, I think Haseul called it? I was injured before they showed up, and she said she extracted corrupted mana from me. Kinda like that?”

“Yes, somewhat,” Sunmi answered halfway, collecting her thoughts briefly. “Processes similar to those our magi use to extract source mana can equally filter out corrupted mana. This allows us to both minimize the flow of corruption coming to and from our planet and create gateway crystals to timelines in danger. If it adds even just a single day on this timeline’s lifespan, then it’s worth it.”

“That makes sense, but it doesn’t explain how you get back.”

Yeojin tilted her head, her expression pensive. The three girls shifted their gazes to see her tapping her chin curiously. With her eyes closed, Sunmi's smile was unseen to Yeojin as she pondered aloud.

“If you need source mana from a universe to make a gate, then to return here every time, you’d need this timeline’s source mana. How do you get that consistently enough to safely have teams venture into the multiverse and back when the leyline is mixed with mana from across every reality?”

“An astute observation,” Sunmi complimented Yeojin as eyes went back to her. “That would be one of the purposes my existence serves.”

Yeojin blinked in surprise as tiny clouds of mana began to take shape in front of the Archmagus. She saw it glow faintly—Sunmi's permanently altered left eye that she failed to notice when they met earlier. Light gray in color, the faded iris deepened in shade slightly as the mana coalesced into small crystal fragments.

“It’s a result of my mana,” Sunmi explained, the crystals suspended in the air in front of her. “The element I am aligned to is space-time. It exists within the center of the elemental circle, detached from the other elements. As a result, I produce mana that is the exact same as this timeline’s source mana.

“It is the same reason for which we host the crystal in the laboratory,” the Archmagus mentioned as the stones in front of her dissipated into mana. “It is a massive coalesced mass of this timeline’s source mana. Smaller fragments are regularly mined from it and given to teams that go out on expeditions. They can use it to return home safely. When it nears depletion, I make preparations to create a new one.”

“Wait, what?” Yeojin blurted in surprise. “That...that giant crystal is a thing you made?”

“Yes,” Sunmi answered simply with a nod. “About once every year, as the crystal is on its last limbs, I spend several hours a day for upwards of a month collecting a growing mass of my mana. By coalescing it at once and having it in the lab, members of LOONA can go about rescue missions without needing me present to make return crystals for them.”

“But Haseul mentioned something about mana deprivation,” Yeojin mentioned, tilting her head further still. “It sounded serious, and what you’re describing sounds like it’d lead to it. You’re not in danger of that?”

“The further a magus increases in rank, the better their body can withstand mana deprivation,” Sunmi explained. “The time and experience needed to qualify as an Archmagus are extraordinary enough that such an extensive feat is within reason for one at that level.”

Yeojin nodded firmly, satisfied with the explanation. As she looked to the other visitors in attendance, she witnessed them sitting quietly, not appearing as blatantly fascinated as she was. “Have you guys heard all this already?”

“That’s right,” Chaewon confirmed. Yerim and Hyejoo both nodded alongside her. “It’s sort of like an introductory lesson about Sunmi’s universe for newcomers, just so you know what it’s like here.”

“Well, if you’ve all heard this already, then you’re not as new as I am, so…” Yeojin blinked in confusion as she looked at Sunmi. “Why’d you bring them here?”

“Three of you share something in common, and I need you to understand that you have a choice.”

Eight attentive eyes settled upon Sunmi. She looked between three of their owners as she spoke.

“You have escaped the cruel fate of an early, unjust death. You have been given a second chance at life in a world where you will not face hatred from those unlike us...or, at the very least, not anywhere near the unfortunate extent that you have suffered.”

Hyejoo’s eyes fell towards Chaewon’s hand on top of their fingers. Weakly, she squeezed Chaewon’s interlocked hand lightly. Chaewon immediately returned the action.

“Hyejoo was rescued a little under two months ago by a team of Chaewon and some of the LOONA’s other brave sorceresses,” Sunmi continued. “Meanwhile, Yerim was part of the first group of refugees rescued. Three years ago, we brought her here with her sisters, Kahei and Haseul, as well as their comrades Sooyoung and Jinsol.”

“Sisters?” Yeojin repeated in surprise. “The three of you are all family?”

“Yes, they’re my older sisters,” Yerim affirmed with a smile. Her eyes practically seemed to burn with love and adoration as she spoke of them. “Sooyoung and Jinsol both worked with them back home. Kahei and Haseul were researchers while Sooyoung and Jinsol were officers in the defense force against abnormalities.”

“Abnormalities?”

“Ah, I think they call them fiends now,” Yerim clarified for Yeojin, resulting in an exchange of nods.

“I know you’ve just arrived, Yeojin, but like you, Hyejoo has not been in active training or regular combat. Similarly, despite arriving in this timeline three years ago, Yerim hasn’t either. The reason being is that you have a choice: you can join LOONA’s efforts and actively work with us in BBC, or you can live a life of peace supported by us.”

“Wait, you mean…?”

“That’s right,” Sunmi answered Yeojin preemptively. “You are under zero obligation to enlist in LOONA.”

Yeojin blinked. “They said the whole point was—”

“To recruit magi in an effort to stop the one responsible for the spread of corruption throughout the multiverse, yes,” Sunmi admitted. “We are devoted to that cause. That is what we work towards every day. However, I cannot force you to help us, and even if I could...I simply wouldn’t.

“You deserve a right to live your life how you please, and we will provide for you even if you decide LOONA has no place in that life,” the Archmagus revealed. “So long as you take residence in any of the countries that are part of the Broken Boundaries Coalition, you will be treated as a protected refugee. Inexpensive housing will be provided, as will monthly allowances. You will also receive free counseling to adjust to life in this timeline, as well as free schooling and job training.

“It goes without saying, of course, that you are entitled to all of these benefits if you join LOONA as well. The only thing that changes is that you would have to live in the dorms here at BBC. You would also be paid regularly whether or not your excursions into alternate worlds results in the recovery of refugee magi. It should also be stated that if you decide to join LOONA, you can leave at any time and rejoin later if you desire. You have complete freedom.”

“Are you for real…?” Yeojin slowly questioned, dumbfounded disbelief present on her face.

“Yes,” Sunmi answered with swiftness. As she continued to speak, Yeojin felt tremendous appreciation stirring within her heart. “From the moment you were born, you all deserved the chance to experience your life through to the end. That is your birthright. Yet, a pathetic excuse of a man took that away from you by poisoning all of creation.”

Sunmi sighed as she looked between the three of them. Her eyes meeting Yeojin's, a melancholic smile began to stain her countenance.

“All I want to do is give you back what was yours to begin with: an opportunity to live your life to the fullest. Whether or not that life involves LOONA isn’t my decision to make. It’s yours.”

Silence fell upon the group. For what felt like centuries, Yeojin focused on Sunmi as her eyes wandered between the girls. She respected their collective silence, allowing them to process their thoughts.

Yeojin noticed the slight bags under Sunmi’s eyes, the almost imperceptible wrinkles in her skin. How understanding her smile was, knowing she couldn’t possibly force someone from a reality beyond salvation to fight for her.

She looked at her odd eye, light gray in faded color. The physical manifestation of years of work making an effort to save the lives of people from entirely different universes...simply because she found a method to do so. There was a weight present on her shoulders that even Yeojin could perceive, and yet, she carried it voluntarily.

Yeojin leaned back in her seat, her fingers twirling loose bangs of hair. She had just gained a potential free lease on life. Regardless of if she joined LOONA or not, she was on the easy street now, being fed all the assistance she could ever need and more. Was she deserving of it? To Sunmi, she was. A crooked old man seizing her world away from her was enough to make it so.

However, to herself, was she deserving of it...?

After a moment, Yeojin sighed and nodded to herself.

Of course she wasn’t. Better to work for it. Not to mention…

“I already promised your Master line that I’d help out, because I genuinely wanted to. Still do, too. I think only a jerk would say no at this point, hehe.”

Shifting eyes were met with a smiling Yeojin. She gave them a relaxed shrug. “Besides, getting paid to save people from doomed timelines is pretty neat. Must be a hell of a highlight for a resume, huh?”

Her smile wide, Sunmi’s face flushed with warmth. “Thank you, Yeojin.”

“You already know my answer too, don’t you, Archmagus Lee?” Yerim said with a sly smile. “I told you over the phone that this was what I wanted to talk about.

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately,” the violet haired girl confessed. Yeojin saw a resolve that started in her eyes and extended into a determined smile. “I think I’m done sitting around. It’s already been three years and my sisters have done so much...I feel like it’s time to help them out. I told them about it this morning before they left, and they were in support of it.”

Sunmi gave Yerim a proud nod. “I’m sure your sisters will be there for you every step of the way, Yerim.”

“...I’ll help, too.”

The quiet Hyejoo found herself becoming the subject of attention. For a moment, she didn’t respond. Her eyes were focused on Chaewon’s free hand above their intertwined fingers.

“If it means I can protect Chaewon, then I want to help,” Hyejoo announced with a small voice. Taking her own free hand, she placed it above Chaewon’s over theirs. “You’re the only reason I’m even here, so…”

Hyejoo lifted her head. Looking directly into Chaewon’s eyes, her violet odd eye brimmed over with an intense passion. It was as if she was staring at her own manifested will to live.

“...I want to stay by your side even when you’re universes away. I want to help keep you safe, just like I promised.”

Yeojin felt rather odd, in a good way. Seeing such a powerful drive to act from a girl so quiet was as unexpected as it was inspiring.

“Hyejoo...thank you.”

The heartfelt appreciation Chaewon had for Hyejoo’s sentiments was the easiest emotion Yeojin had ever gleaned from someone’s face. She conceded to herself that Hyejoo and Chaewon’s relationship—whatever it may have been—was more than just a connection.

The way they looked into each other’s eyes. The peaceful expression set about Hyejoo’s face as she rested her head on Chaewon’s shoulder again. How Yeojin felt seeing the smile Chaewon gave everyone else in the room afterwards, and how a slight blush accompanied it…

Yeojin nodded. There was only one word applicable to them.

If I ever needed proof that soulmates were real, well...I think I’m looking at it, she thought to herself with a small grin.

The smiles in the room extended back towards the other three as Sunmi spoke. Her hands folded on her crossed over knee, she kept her eyes low. “Truly, it cannot be articulated what this means to me and what it means for LOONA.

“Hyejoo. Yerim. Yeojin,” she said slowly, looking at each one in turn as she stood up. Yeojin blinked in surprise as she took a bow, holding it for a brief moment before rising. “Thank you. Neophyte sorceresses you may be, but your collective ambition exists on levels beyond."

Sunmi made way for her desk as she continued speaking. “With your induction into LOONA, there is a small test I must conduct, and with it, a brief lesson.”

Opening a drawer, she retrieved a small notepad. “I need to make note of the elemental affinities and directional biases the three of you possess, as well as if you have gained any additional levels in other elements. With this information, I can proceed to finalize the teams later.”

Elemental affinity made enough sense to her, but Yeojin found her mind stuck on the other term. She repeated it curiously as Sunmi approached. “Directional biases?”

“I think that’s the path someone follows on the elemental wheel,” Yerim spoke up, her eyes going between Sunmi and Chaewon. She smiled as they both nodded. “I remember my sisters telling me about it.”

“Yes, that’s correct,” the Archmagus answered as she returned to her seat on the couch. “Excluding space-time, eight elements exist across the wheel. Fire, water, earth, and air exist as the most common alignments. Ice and electricity follow in their own tier of higher rarity. The rarest among the eight are light and darkness.

“An individual can be oriented one of two ways on the elemental wheel: clockwise or counterclockwise,” she continued, moving the sparse contents upon the coffee table between them to the sides before setting down her pen and notepad.

With a breath, Sunmi’s left eye of faded gray gained the slightest bit of color. Several clouds of mana began to take shape in a circle above the coffee table. Barely larger than pebbles, she exhaled as the colored dust took shape. Eight small spheres of raw elemental essence materialized and floated up a few inches into the air between them.

Starting at the north end of the circle, there was a warm sphere of pulsing light. Yeojin’s eyes wandered curiously in a clockwise fashion about the circle, taking in the elements.

Immediately following light, there was a sphere of flame to the northeast. On the eastern point of the circle, a miniature earthen boulder. Continuing on, an orb of electricity at the southeast, surrounded in visible bolts of lightning. At the south of the circle, a floating void was present. Pitch black, the only semblance of color it had was the deep violet of the spikes that spawned from within its seemingly empty insides.

Closest to the sphere of darkness sat Hyejoo, and it was with a keen eye that Yeojin noticed her strangely present focus upon the elemental manifestation in front of her. The girl's half-lidded hues were lost within the void, her odd eye colored the same shade as its extended appendages. She appeared lifeless as she stared into the shadows almost depressingly, equipped with an expression that Yeojin could only classify as swallowed by darkness and guilt.

Yeojin's eyes returned to the circle. Following darkness, a sphere of water rested at the southwest. At the western edge of the circle, Yeojin felt at home as she watched green currents of wind form an orb. Above it, a snowball floated between the sphere of air and the orb of light at the northern starting point.

“Our system involves labeling your naturally aligned element as a level eight affinity,” Sunmi began, looking upon the assorted elements with the girls. “As beginners, it is the maximum level possible you can achieve with an element. With training as you rise through the ranks, or in special exceptions, you can increase it further.

“Depending on your directional bias, the immediate following element has a baseline level of seven. The one after that, six. This continues until you reach the last element in the wheel,” she explained. She made an example as she started at the element of earth. Her finger went around in a clockwise fashion, ending at the sphere of flame above it. “With a baseline affinity of level one, this element is considered your weak point.”

“With diligence and training, you can increase your proficiency with other elements in the wheel, but only to a realistic maximum of one level below the current of your natural alignment,” the Archmagus said, receiving attentive nods from the Neophyte sorceresses. “The level of affinity you bear with your natural alignment cannot be replicated...not without years of training beyond your lifespan. For this reason, your aligned element is your most powerful tool.

“Thus, two things determine the elements you can easily train with and become more proficient faster with: your natural alignment and your directional bias. The higher your baseline affinity is, the more easy it is to become acquainted with that element. After level four, it becomes a serious undertaking,” Sunmi stated, pointing to the spheres of ice, light, and fire.

“The lower your starting level is, the more strenuous of an effort you will have to make to gain levels. This does not change as it gains levels. If you raised an element with a baseline affinity of level two to level three, the next increase to level four will be just as difficult, if not harder. This is particularly exemplified with your weak point. Very few ever gain even a single level with their weakest elements. Time spent attempting such a feat could see several levels gained elsewhere.”

“I have a question…”

Hyejoo’s small voice spoke up. Eyes focused on her. Her gaze shifted from the orb of shadows to the sphere of warm light opposite to it. She focused on it intently for a moment, her violet eye appearing rather despondent to Yeojin.

“How does someone’s alignment and directional bias develop the way it does...?” she inquired, looking up towards Sunmi. Yeojin nodded to herself. That was actually a fairly good question.

“The mutation of the manastream,” Sunmi began, offering an explanation. “Mana is actually the byproduct of managen, a chemical found in the atmosphere like oxygen or carbon. Beyond planetary skies, it has even been found to exist in the vacuum of space.

“Normally, managen is elementless, and is simply breathed out. We take in fresh managen, and breathe out the old. This prevents the buildup of plaque, as the manastream can suffer blockage much like the bloodstream. In non-magi, the act of breathing out managen doesn’t result in anything.

“Magi, obviously, are a different story,” the Archmagus divulged, smiling at the sight of genuine interest from the three Neophyte sorceresses. “At some point during your prepubescent or adolescent years, your manastream underwent a change like the rest of your body.

“It mutated into one of seventeen different strains known thus far. With this change, your body started automatically converting elementless managen into managen of your aligned element. This converted element is what you breathe out, coalescing into mana. From there, you can coalesce it even further to summon your weapons or induce effects.”

“By effects, do you mean…?”

“Spells might be a more common way of putting it,” Sunmi answered Yeojin’s question before she could finish it. “An effect is simply anything you manifest or perform through the usage of mana. Coalescing mana to produce an effect could be equated to casting a spell.”

“Now, recall how your baseline levels are determined by your directional bias and how those baselines influence how easily you can become more proficienct with an element,” Sunmi continued. “This is tied to that aspect. When you hold your breath, your manastream begins to tick in intervals. With every tick, the managen you took in is converted one step down the wheel along your orientation. The lower your level with an element is, the longer it takes to reach its interval of conversion.”

“That explains it…”

Intrigued eyes found their way to a thoroughly amused Yeojin. She smiled widely as she looked up. “I was so confused by it, but it makes sense now! Sooyoung and Haseul both used fire ether—er, mana,” she corrected herself, “despite not being fire mysti—magi. Despite not being fire magi. So they were holding their breath to change their elements, yeah?”

“Precisely,” Sunmi affirmed with a nod. “There are plenty of training exercises and lessons you’ll come to experience in due time in order to produce similar effects. In short, just remember that your natural alignment is your strongest tool. As budding Neophyte sorceresses, your first goal should be on developing it further.

“That being said, let’s discover how the three of you flow along the elemental wheel,” the Archmagus said with a smile. Yeojin blinked as a small cloud of light gray dust formed in front of her. Sunmi’s odd eye glimmered as she looked to her. “All you need to do is exhale onto it.”

Giving a slow nod, Yeojin leaned down towards the cloud. With an outward breath, she witnessed it become washed over with green. Suddenly, it rocketed towards the sphere of wind at the east of the circle. Encompassing it, it began to flow south, making a circuit and stopping at the orb of ice. Along its path, none of the elements reacted to the mana.

“Yeojin, your alignment lies within wind,” Sunmi announced. “Bearing a counterclockwise orientation, your baseline levels are normal. With a weak point in ice, you’re a level thirty six magus.”

Yeojin tilted her head upon hearing that her weak point was ice. She didn’t comment on it, in fear of it being a silly coincidence, but it was interesting to consider the possibility of that being why she hated cold weather…

The verdant dust around the sphere of wind floated upwards. Returning to its light gray hue, Sunmi gave Yerim a smile as it approached her next. “Yerim, if you would.”

With a bright smile, Yerim exhaled lightly into the cloud. Yeojin’s eyes perked up as it was overtaken by the color of fire. The red-orange cloud practically blasted off towards the sphere of flame at the northeast before heading upwards. It completed its circuit at the earthen orb on the eastern edge.

“Yerim, you are a fire-aligned magus with a counterclockwise directional bias,” the Archmagus proclaimed. “Your weak point lies within earth. With your levels at their baselines, you also stand at level thirty six.”

Yerim’s smile extended itself to Sunmi as her mana lifted itself from the small boulder. Returning to its shade, it floated over towards Hyejoo.

Sunmi raised her gaze towards the quiet girl. An uncomfortably vacant emptiness had returned to Hyejoo's eyes. The apprehension coursing through her veins made itself clear with the tightening of her grip on Chaewon's hand. Chaewon returned the movement without words, reassuring Hyejoo of her presence.

Nervously, Hyejoo exhaled upon the cloud. For a moment, it remained still. Then, gradually, it shifted into a deep amethyst hue much like her eye. The dark purple cloud found its way to the void of darkness at the south end of the table.

Yeojin briefly felt the immense surge of power escape before it was subdued.

The sphere of shadows became instantly contained within a clear triangular prism after it expelled a measurable wave of force. The girls’ hair whipped wildly in response, and the items on the table were tossed to the corners of the room.

Sunmi’s odd eye was alight more noticeably than before as she gazed upon it. Hyejoo remained perfectly still as the protruding spikes stemming from the abyss within the orb wildly lashed outwards. They attempted to pierce their prison, retracting and extending themselves with great force. The quiet girl's breathing began to pick up gradually, the calm demeanor set about her face slowly breaking as she peered upon the result of her own mana.

Before Hyejoo could fully lose her ongoing battle against whatever was plaguing her mind, Chaewon brought her in closer, inciting her to take a deep breath.

The Archmagus remained at ease as her mana went about a circuit to the northeast. It passed the first four elements without incident. The remaining four, however, dwindled severely on its path. The sphere of light dimmed heavily. The orb of ice started to rapidly melt. The sphere of wind became weaker than a breeze, and the orb of water’s inner waves came to an eerie standstill.

There was a moment of silence as Sunmi looked to Hyejoo. Slowly coming to her senses as the sphere of spiked shadows gave in to its imprisonment, she looked up to Sunmi.

“Hyejoo...is aligned to darkness with a counterclockwise orientation,” she announced slowly. “Her affinity for the elements are as follows. Electricity stands at level seven. Earth at level six, fire at level five. These follow the standard baselines they should.”

Sunmi eyed the weakened elements. “Hyejoo’s affinity with light, ice, air, and water are level one. In a heavily abnormal case separated from the norm, she has four weak points. Aside from the natural weak point to water as per her orientation, levels of affinity have been stripped from light, ice, and air.”

Sights focused on the void of shadows within the triangular prism. Yeojin felt unnerved looking at the miniature abyss. It vibrated slightly, almost alive with hostile malevolence.

“Hyejoo’s lost levels exist within her natural alignment,” Sunmi declared, “She is a level thirty eight magus with a level sixteen affinity towards darkness.”

A tense silence fell over the room. One by one, the manifested elemental spheres faded away from existence as Sunmi stood up. Retrieving the notepad and pen from the floor, she wrote down the collected information as she made way for her desk. The sphere of shadows vanished last, everyone’s eyes focused intently on it.

“How...how does that happen?” Yeojin began, almost afraid to know but great curiosity leading her to ask anyway. Her eyes found Hyejoo, but the girl of darkness only looked down to Chaewon’s hand atop theirs. “You’re a newbie like Yerim and I, right? A Neophyte…?”

“A great trauma befell Hyejoo in her timeline," Sunmi explained from her desk at the end of the room. "An event with repercussions far beyond the likes of anything we’ve ever witnessed before. It altered the state of her manastream greatly. As a result, an immense wellspring of untapped power now lies within her. However, it came at a price that no one should have to pay."

Yeojin’s and Yerim’s worried glances turned to face the Archmagus while Hyejoo remained quietly focused on Chaewon's hand.  Chaewon's attention was set entirely towards her companion, simply looking at her silently as she gauged her emotions as best she could.

“As for exactly what happened...” the Archmagus started. Before long, she sighed as her words trailed off. Leaving her notepad on the desk, she retrieved something from a drawer and brought her eyes towards the group of younger sorceresses. Feeling a gaze upon her, Chaewon looked up from Hyejoo and met Sunmi's focused hues in full.

The Archmagus exchanged a pensive stare with the blonde haired sorceress. They openly took one another in for a moment, the solemnity of their darkened expressions telling each other all that needed to be said without a single word spoken.

Hyejoo shut her eyes unhurriedly as Sunmi's voice came into being once more—

“...to claim that now is the proper time to share that information would be folly.”

—only to open them again just as slowly when it came to an end.

Yeojin and Yerim looked towards the still silent Hyejoo and Chaewon as Sunmi approached the group again. Chaewon gave the girls of wind and fire a small nod as Hyejoo kept her eyes down. There was a subtle yet discernible forlorn aura coming from the pair, but before Yeojin could ponder it for long, she heard Sunmi's words resume at a much closer distance.

“As I said before, Hyejoo was retrieved just under two months ago. As with any form of trauma, we must be respectful and exercise proper care and caution while she continues working towards recovery. When she's ready, she can talk about it. For now, Yeojin, I’d like you to have this.”

Yeojin turned her head, finding herself being handed a smartphone. She blinked, pulling out her own. “I already…”

The realization hit her, and she nodded as a result. “Right, right...completely different timeline. I’m probably a few thousand universes away from getting a signal, if not way more…”

“It’s likely our technology is similar enough to transfer things between your old device and this one, at the least,” Sunmi offered in ease of her worries. “You’ll find the means to do so in your dorm room. Furthermore, you’ll find the rest of the sorceresses in LOONA already assembled in your contacts. And now that Yerim and Hyejoo have joined our ranks as well, I can do this…”

Sunmi went quiet as her fingers tapped away on the phone screen. Suddenly, vibrations came from the pockets of Yerim, Hyejoo, and Chaewon. They pulled out smartphones similar to the one Yeojin held. Yeojin’s phone vibrated last, summoning her gaze as a notification popped onto her screen.

「 You have been added to a group chat: LOONA. 」

Yeojin’s phone began to buzz incessantly along with the others. Chaewon and Yerim smiled as they looked at their screens. Hyejoo remained mostly neutral. Yeojin curiously tapped into the messaging app, seeing the source of the storm of notifications.

[8:01pm x jinsol] anyway that’s why giant robots are really cool and why everyone should totally buy me the model kits so i can build more of them
[8:01pm x jinsol] yo who the
[8:01pm x heejin] aaaaa new people! hi!!
[8:01pm x hyunjin] aeong   
[8:01pm x heejin] hyunjinnie they’re not from our universe they’re not gonna understand that asdslkd
[8:01pm x jungeun] i mean i’m from your universe and i still don’t understand it.
[8:02pm x jiwoo] oh, new recruits? welcome :)
[8:02pm x jinsol] wait thats yerim and hyejoo so only one of them is new. sooyoung’s team came back already??
[8:02pm x jiwoo] yeah they got back not long ago!
[8:02pm x jinsol] AND NO ONE TOLD ME?????///
[8:02pm x sooyoung] hey everyone shut the up for a second.
[8:02pm x jinsol] Why.
[8:02pm x sooyoung] mostly because i said so. actually, not mostly. just entirely because i said so. alright thanks.
[8:02pm x sooyoung] hyunjin are you and jungeun still gonna spar?   
[8:02pm x hyunjin] yeah we’re heading over now
[8:02pm x sooyoung] great. time to go watch my girlfriend get her beat by jungeun
[8:02pm x hyunjin] thanks love you too

“You’ll find that your fellow allies in LOONA can be a rather lively bunch,” Sunmi said with a warm smile towards Yeojin specifically as she pocketed her phone. A little flustered by the concept of introducing herself in the middle of a fast-moving group chat, Yeojin nodded sheepishly and quietly put the conversation on mute.

The other girls put their phones away as Sunmi spoke up. “That should conclude everything here for tonight. You’re free to go about the rest of your night in peace. You’ll find your dorms in the hallway of the floor above us if you wish to retire to your rooms.

“I would suggest spectating the practice bout between Hyunjin and Jungeun, however,” the Archmagus proposed, raising her eyebrows with an intrigued look in her eyes. “I have some paperwork to attend to and some calls to make, so I unfortunately cannot attend. You can find them on the seventh floor. Even as newly initiated Neophytes, you may be able to learn something from their heated practice.”

“Would you all like me to show you the way?” Chaewon offered, inciting an eager nod from Yerim and a curious one from Yeojin. They followed her lead as she stood, Hyejoo in hand. Holding the door open for them, Chaewon let Yerim and Yeojin out first. The blonde girl looked back to Sunmi with a smile that seemed to hold more appreciation than it showed.

“Thank you, Sunmi.”

“No, Chaewon,” Sunmi said across the room as he sat down, “thank you.”

Slowly, Chaewon nodded. Walking forward with Hyejoo in hand, she led the girl out to the hall. Before leaving, Hyejoo turned her head towards the Archmagus for a moment. She extended her smile to her in kind.

The girl of darkness smiled back.

As the door shut, Sunmi's eyes didn't stray. She focused on it, her smile slowly fading. Leaning back in her chair slightly, she took a worried breath and ran her fingers through her hair as her thoughts escaped her.

“A level sixteen affinity for darkness...to have experienced such a cataclysmic event and still be able to smile,” she said to herself, sitting back up straight and opening her laptop again. “Hyejoo...your will to live exceeds that of anyone I’ve ever seen. If such strength truly comes solely from your connection to Chaewon, then it would be wrong for me to arrange the teams in any other way…”