Pax lay back on the bed and closed his eyes, eager to hear 3-one’s answers to his questions about how awakening worked. He felt self-satisfaction replace 3-one’s initial tentative emotions when he’d first brought up the topic.

  Magesecond Fenix sent a feeling of exasperation. Don’t encourage him to run before he can walk, 3-one. I’ve let him flounder around in his efforts with this for a reason, you know?

  I apologize Magesecond Fenix if I’m being presumptuous here. I just thought that a bit of direction might help decrease his bumbling in this endeavor. Of course, I won’t assist him if you think it is imprudent.

  No. Pax hurried to interrupt. This is something that is urgent and can’t wait for me to follow the usual steps students in the past have taken. Magesecond Fenix, please don’t forget we have a war going on, and people are already dying. The empire is wiping out any rebel base they find down to the last person, including children.

  A horrified silence greeted his revelation.

  Children? Solani 4-five spoke for the first time in the conversation, obviously horrified enough to interrupt the work she’d been doing to speak.

  Yes. Pax’s answer was quiet as he remembered some reports Incedis had told them about. Like I said, it’s war.

  A long moment of silence followed his words.

  If you’re worried about me hurting the younglings I’m working with, don’t forget the empire might kill them if they ever discover this base and overrun it. Pax powered through, resolve filling him. And while I appreciate all the help from each of you, I am now the commander of this base. I’ve already made a lot of progress in understanding the littles’ mana. I also have a new Ascendant Mana Integration skill from combining my three other mana skills. So, that’ll help me even more. Make no mistake, learning to awaken all the children here is one of my top priorities. They won’t survive otherwise. I expect you to help me with it, and I’d rather not make it an order.

  When silence greeted his words again, Pax wondered if he’d have to resort to using his altar-given authority.

  You. Combined. Three. Mana skills? Magesecond Fenix’s voice had completely lost his gruff bossiness, full of complete and utter astonishment. Are you absolutely sure the new skill was called Ascendant Mana Integration?

  Solani 2-nine cackled with delight. I guess he might be ready to learn about awakening on his own, after all.

  I, for one, am not surprised. He and his friends defeated three full mages right in front of me. 3-one now sounded thoughtful. He is truly your student, honored Magesecond Fenix, following in your illustrious footsteps.

  Magesecond Fenix ignored him. Boy, tell me exactly what you did and how it happened.

  Pax spent the next few minutes bringing them up to speed on his mother, how he’d combined his mana skills and the data they’d been collecting by examining the various children in the base. When he finished, the managers lapsed into a thoughtful silence.

  Pax stifled his impatience and gave them a few moments to gather their thoughts.

  I’d like to believe I am the type of person who can admit when I’m wrong, Commander Vipersworn. Magesecond Fenix’s voice was quiet.

  3-one let out a quiet gasp, but didn’t interrupt.

  And you continue to prove that you aren’t a typical student. I’ve known full mages with decades of experience who couldn’t gain the Ascendant Mana Integration skill, despite years of trying. It is one of the highest tiered mana skills. With it, a light mage has both fine control and enough power to do almost anything they can imagine. I still can’t believe—

  The description made Pax wonder if Magesecond Fenix had ever gained the skill. He immediately knew it was a question better kept to himself.

  Magesecond Fenix cleared his throat. With that skill helping you, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to guide the younglings here to awaken their classes.

  Pax sucked in a breath, his pulse suddenly racing. Really?

  Really. Now Fenix sounded amused. If you spend some time training your skill to see and manipulate the chaotic mana with fine control, you should be able to accomplish it in a few months—

  Months? Pax interrupted as his stomach dropped at the mentioned time.

  Fine! Fenix’s snark was back. I guess for a Chosen One like you, it might only take weeks or even days.

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  Pax stifled a chuckle and summoned humility instead. He needed Fenix’s help for this. I’m sure, with your expert guidance, I’ll be able to figure it out pretty fast, especially considering how fast this war is progressing.

  Stop that. Fenix harrumphed. I get enough from 3-one now. But yes, I guess taking a few risks now to awaken the younglings is preferable to having them unprepared for what’s coming.

  What if we can find an Awakening artifact somewhere in the base? Would that make things easier?

  No! Those things are barbaric and only for idiots who have absolutely no mana control. During my day, only those living in distant places without access to light mages used them. Those devices can actually kill younglings, not to mention what happens when they’re used to awaken a potential light mage.

  You’re telling me, Pax muttered, remembering his own Awakening.

  They work by brute force, shoving so much magical energy into a youngling that their mana has no choice but to sort itself out into crude patterns. The process destroys any small collections of energy related to the other classes, only leaving the major type to survive and determine a youngling’s class.

  Wait! Pax sat up in excitement as the implications of Magesecond Fenix’s words hit him. Are you saying a light mage can help a child choose what class they awaken as?

  Of course. We’re not barbarians, after all.

  So, I can help my littles become whatever class they choose?

  No, of course not. They still need to have an affinity for the class, which you’ll see when you use your mana to help organize the chaos inside them. It’ll obviously be easiest for them to awaken to the class they’ve built the strongest affinity for. But they still have a choice.

  Pax worked to get his next question out calmly. Would you mind explaining the exact process of an awakening during your time?

  Well, it’s a long and complicated topic that isn’t taught until much later than your student manuals—

  Maybe just the basics? So I understand what I’m aiming to do?

  Fine. Pax could almost see the frown on Magesecond Fenix’s face as he wrestled against his instincts to force Pax into the typical path he’d taught students to follow for decades. He blew out a breath and then explained. An experienced light mage would examine a youngling, using his mana to organize and sort out the chaotic energy inside into collections affiliated with the five classes. If they were doing more than one awakening that day or were low on mana, they could also use four assistant mages to support the process by contributing equal amounts of mana.

  Once the light mage discovered the youngling’s affinities, they would withdraw and discuss the choices with the youngling and their parents or other advisors. Once those involved decided, the light mage would repeat the initial process, but this time, they would work to absorb the energy of the rejected classes, leaving only the chosen energy behind. When there’s just a single sphere of class energy left, the light mage gathers all of their mana elements and pushes the combined power into the chosen class energy until it permeates the entire body. That’s pretty much it.

  I’m simplifying this part significantly. It’s the most important part of the process and the trickiest. A mistake at this point could destroy a youngling’s entire future. The strength of the youngling’s affinity for the class is important in determining how easily the skills and abilities of that class come to them afterward.

  Pax did his best to visualize the process. So, if a child had only a small amount of mage class energy but insisted on becoming a mage, the awakening would have a much greater chance of going wrong?

  Yes. And even if it succeeded, they would start out far behind their fellows who had stronger affinities.

  So, what we now call a support mage versus a power mage?

  Fenix grunted. That’s a simplified classification, but mostly accurate.

  Pax’s mind felt full of new and amazing information. He not only had a direction for his awakening efforts, but a guide to help him, no matter how reluctant Magesecond Fenix was about him doing it at his level.

  From what Pax could tell, he’d successfully done most of the initial steps. He just needed some help to figure out the final, most crucial step. Selecting the energy related to the desired class and somehow transforming or removing all the others sounded complicated and tricky.

  I’d recommend spending some time each day organizing the chaos throughout the entire body of a youngling until you can do it with only your own mana. The last step is much more difficult, and you’ll need as much mana as possible. That is also where your assistants will help if you haven’t worn them out beforehand.

  Pax groaned, realizing how far he still had to go. He’d only organized a portion of the chaotic energy in the littles he’d been working with. And most of that was with his friends and companions boosting him with their own mana. Wait, this sounds like I won’t be able to awaken very many littles at once.

  Why would you want to do that?

  The war, remember? Time is something we’re very short of. Besides, that’s how everyone does Awakenings now. All the kids in a town awakened in a day.

  Barbaric. Fenix’s tone was full of disgust. No wonder your empire is failing in the face of the beast hordes. Using a brute force method like that not only takes all choice from the younglings, but is so crude that a lot of power is lost from the final result. If you do it right and take your time, you’ll find your younglings will be happier and with much more powerful futures.

  Pax’s eyes widened, and he suddenly felt a sense of loss. So, we’d all have been more powerful if mages had used this method to awaken us?

  Generous application of a light mage’s magic over time can rectify the issue, which is exactly what you’ve been doing for your friends. And a light mage’s mana itself resolves any of their own awakening problems eventually. Fenix scoffed. I don’t think you, with your insane power climbing, have anything to complain about.

  Pax couldn’t argue with that. Feeling excited about helping the Viper littles finally gain some power, he sat back up in his bed with a smile. Thank you, everyone, for all your help. Now, it’s time to get to work for the day. He paused and smiled. I have a list.

  The thought prompted him to bring it out again as soon as he pulled out of his connection to the managers and altar. He added a note to an item on his list for the quest objectives:

  Complete quest objectives: unlock minor magic, Taming, unlock friends’ secondary elements, critical areas, awaken littles. (1st step: organize mana in full body of a little)

  You have awesome ideas! I’m always developing the storyline for the next books, so share any ideas you have.

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