The Hammer Unfalls

1.4 Polar Opposites

⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅

Master Willow watched with something like satisfaction as the trine fell off of its stand. Somehow the mention of Glim’s mother, and his reaction to it, had given his tutor leverage of some kind. The Mage-at-Arms composed himself almost as soon as the look had flitted across his face.

“It doesn’t matter in the slightest,” he said, “because you’re far, far away from the point where you’re going to be using essentiæ. Before you can get to that point there are a lot of ideas you have to understand.”

He paused, making sure he had Glim’s attention.

And in a way, Master Willow did have Glim’s attention. He was wondering how to get out of this stupid training. Glim stalled, thinking furiously. He looked at the triangular shape of metal that had fallen off its stand.

“Who made that thing, anyway?” Glim asked.

Master Willow followed Glim’s gaze in confusion. “The trine? The Elderkin made it.”

“How?”

“They once had the ability to imbue certain metals with essentiæ.”

Glim’s curiosity fluttered. “How?”

“I wish I knew. Their lore is mostly lost to us. Now pay attention. There are two ways I can help you understand the core concepts of plying. One is the gentle way, where I introduce each idea a day or two at a time. It gives the mind time to adjust.”

Master Willow smirked to himself, in a way that made Glim nervous. He sat up a little straighter.

“But I believe time is one’s most precious commodity. So I will tell you all four of the core concepts now, and let your brain stew on it. I’m not sure how bright you are, but I do know you’re clever, so there is some hope we can speed things along.”

The mage paused again. Glim got the feeling he was waiting for something from him.

The only thing of interest to Glim was curiosity about what his mother had told Master Willow. If he had to sit through a lecture, so be it.

“I’m ready,” he said.

His tutor snorted. “We’ll soon see. Four core concepts define a plyer’s approach and abilities. We call these polarities. They are opposing points on a spectrum. Each spell we invoke falls somewhere along each polarity. This is going to get confusing quickly, and I do not expect you to grasp the polarities at once. But if you are never introduced to them, you’ll never step onto the road of understanding.”

Glim dangled his legs over the side of the bench in an attempt to keep the blood flowing to his brain. He could already tell he wasn’t going to like whatever lecture his tutor was about to give. Maybe if he nodded enough times he’d get past it quickly.

“The first is this idea we’ve just spoken of: balance.”

He plucked the trine from the bench and held it up to Glim.

“It is exactly like this instrument here. Think of plying essentiæ like trying to keep this trine balanced on its spire. You have to understand what it means to balance the essentiæ before you can start using them. If you allow one aspect to dominate your plying, it is as if you yourself are falling from a spire. If you aren’t prepared to catch yourself, it is going to be a rough fall.”

“You just told me that one essentiæ dominates every plyer. Now you’re saying don’t let one dominate.”

Master Willow’s face softened. “I know. You’re going to have to get used to one of the hardest truths there is.”

“What is that?”

“Opposing truths can both be true at the same time.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, Master Willow.”

He laughed, although not unkindly. “It really doesn’t. But I assure you, it is the case. As we get further into these lessons, you are going to see it time and time again. The truth that no one wants to hear is that there is no one truth. Gray can be black and white at the same time. Your mind will learn to make room for conflicting truths as we go. There isn’t any other choice. For now, you must trust me.”

“I will try.” It was the closest he could come to saying Master Willow was full of donkey dung and still get away with it. The subtlety did not escape the man’s notice.

“You’ll do more than try, my dear boy.” The mage’s eyes sparked, then he took a calming breath. He stood and paced. “Now then. The first polarity is balanced versus skewed. This one is the easiest to grasp. By far the simplest, easiest path to success is to seek balance when you ply.”

“How will I know if I’m plying balanced or skewed?” Glim asked.

“Well, let me put it to you this way. Do you ever know when you’re doing something that you shouldn’t be doing, like stealing or lying? You have an innate feeling that what you’re doing is right or wrong. Skewed plying is the same way. You feel it when you’re unbalancing the essentiæ. Everywhere. In your gut, and in your head, and in your bones. It simply feels wrong. The natural order itself opposes your intentions.”

Glim did not understand. How could he? He’d never plyed before. His tutor nodded, seeming quite aware of his frustration.

“Let me give you some examples. Those of us who ply algidon have the easiest time with creation. Water is life. We use water to form ice, and it’s all around us. So creating ice from water at its source is our easiest task. But flinging it far away takes an unbalanced amount of effort. Those who ply fire are best at focus.They can focus essentiæ on a certain point or in a certain direction. But spreading it out wider, thereby diffusing their focus, is skewed for those who ply fire. Those who ply wind are best at projection and distance. Observing many things at the same time. When pliers of wind focus too much, or try to create something tangible, that takes a lot of their energy and it’s unbalanced for them.”

“I see. That makes sense.”

“So depending on which essentiæ is dominant and what you’re trying to do with it can skew your balance. Skewed plying is something to avoid unless you’re very good or very desperate.”

“Isn’t it harder to stay balanced? It’s easy to fall off a log. Not so easy to stay on it.”

Master Willow seemed impressed. Forgetting for a moment that the man’s approval meant nothing to him, Glim felt a flutter of pride.

“Indeed, finding balance is difficult when your intent is more complicated. But it’s easier for the simple things. It’s all a matter of context. Now let’s move on to the next polarity: central versus fringe. Do you remember the questions I asked you earlier? About the pyramid, and whether you get along with other children?”

It hadn’t been very long ago, but it felt like years. His head was starting to hurt.”Yes, I remember.”

“Centered plying for an Algist means seeking calm. Remaining logical. Drawing water, freezing it, and the like. An Algist who seeks popularity and relinquishes logic in favor of emotion is going against his nature. That’s a very simple example, of course. There are many factors that go into central plying versus the fringe.”

“How is this different than balanced versus skewed?”

“These two polarities seem similar on the surface. But they’re different concepts. Any time you ply you have to keep in mind how far away from your natural inclination you’re moving. Also how far from the common pathways of essentiæ you are straying. If you ply centered, the more you’re in the flow. If you ply fringe, you’re stepping away from what comes naturally, and what is most clearly understood by the rest of us. Think of it like a marble in a bowl. It takes effort to hold the marble near the rim because it wants to settle into the center. But sometimes straying from our instincts is what’s needed to accomplish certain goals. We’ll talk more about that another time.”

Master Willow looked him over. Glim sat up straight and nodded.

“Hop up and stretch for a minute. We’re only half way there.”

The back of his thighs tingled from where he’d been sitting in one place for too long. Glim bent and tried to touch his toes, and nearly fell over. He hoped his tutor hadn’t noticed. From the wrinkles in his tutor’s forehead, Glim guessed he had.

“Enough! It won’t do to have you keel over. Let’s walk while we talk.”

They set off down the pathway that wound between brown hedges and gray stone walls. Marble chips crunched under their feet.

“Plying fringe, at first, takes more essentiæ to be successful. That invites drain, which is an entire topic unto itself. The last topic you’ll need to understand before you ply. The next polarity also features heavily into drain, which is obscured plying versus transparent plying. Do you know what obscured means?”

“No.”

“It means hidden. Deceiving, or pretending to concentrate on a lesson when you’re really thinking about pudding or whatever fills your head when you aren’t paying attention. Plying obscured means hiding your true intentions. Plying transparent means doing what you say you are. Acting as you appear to act. Plying transparent is simpler, more direct, and uses less essentiæ. Plying obscured requires more essentiæ to achieve the same result. But you gain the element of surprise, or maintain secrecy. Do you follow?”

“Yes, I understand it now.”

“The more open, transparent, and obvious you are with your use of essentiæ, the lighter your spirit becomes. It is difficult to maintain a lie. It takes a lot of concentration, memorizing details, and projecting a false reality to others. Obscuring what you’re doing invites much more drain, and consumes much more energy. Not just essentiæl energy, but emotional. It wears on the body, mind, and spirit all at once. It’s harder to pull off. There are very few situations where you would choose to obscure everything. The tradeoff usually is not worth it.”

“What is drain?” Glim felt he had to ask, even though he guessed he wasn’t going to like the answer.

“You have a limited amount of essentiæ available to you. You have more inside of you, you just don’t know how to use it. Over time it’ll come to you easier, but right now even making an icicle is going to be about as much as you can bear. You always have to be very, very careful not to exhaust yourself. We’ll talk more about that later, because it’s going to be a long time before we get to that point.”

Glim nodded. They rounded a corner and came to a circular nook in the garden. Gnarled trees ringed its edge. They seemed distorted, like the very act of growing pained them.

“The last polarity deals with the notion of intent. What is it you intend to do when you ply? Generally speaking, plying can be harmonic or disharmonic. Plying harmonic has the goal of attaining balance. Not as your method of plying, but as an outcome you wish to achieve. You can cast skewed magic that seeks harmony, or balanced magic that seeks disharmony.”

“What is disharmony?”

“If you intend to attack another essentiæ or disrupt the overall balance, your intent indicates disharmony. If you intend to harm instead of heal. Or mislead others. If you’re constantly sowing disharmony, you’ll pay for it eventually through drain or by warping your own essence.”

Master Willow drew himself to his full height and peered down at him. “Now then, Glim. Tell me the four polarities.”

This was it: his first real test. Glim shoved his nervous energy down and concentrated.

“The first one was balanced versus unbalanced. Er, I mean, skewed.”

“That’s right. Go on.”

“Then harmonic versus this-harmonic.”

“That’s the final polarity, but I suppose order isn’t that important.”

“There was… the marble one.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“Rim. I mean, fringe! Fringe versus skewed. No! Fringe versus centered.”

“Central, to be precise. And the last?”

Glim thought furiously. It had all seemed reasonable at the time, but now that he’d been put on the spot, it was hard to recall them all. Balance. Harmony. Central. Those seemed obvious. But he drew a blank on the final polarity.

“I… I can’t remember, Master Willow.”

“I’d be surprised if you absorbed all of that at once. The last one is transparent versus obscured.”

Glim’s ears burned in embarrassment. He should have remembered.

“I’d say that’s very good for your first time hearing about all of this. These are involved topics and will take lots of study for you to understand them as deeply as you need to. In general, there’s one principle that will guide you, which is listen to your own self. Your intuition, your body, your mind… they all work together. The further you stray from what is natural to your own instincts, the more you’ll feel it and the more you’ll be pushing the balance of what you can do.”

“I haven’t done anything yet.”

“We’ll get to that. Eventually.”

Glim was pleased with himself for stifling the groan he was making inside his own mind. But he did have one important question left.

“Which polarities did my mother prefer?”

Master Willow frowned. “I don’t know. It’s not like we wear signs around our necks.”

“But you said she is a powerful plyer. What kinds of spells did she cast?”

“I…” Master Willow trailed off, knitting his brows. “Er, I’m not quite sure.”

“Did she use wind?”

“Not that I can recall, no.”

“How do you know she is a powerful plyer, then?”

Master Willow frowned again, but in a reflective way, then shook his head as if to clear it. “The most powerful plyers show off the least.”

“But she could have just pretended to ply. If you never saw her cast a single spell, how do you know she can ply?”

“Experience.”

They lapsed into silence. Glim felt unsettled by the conversation, and Master Willow seemed even less enthused than usual.

“I can see that this has overwhelmed you. Rightfully so. There won’t be a lesson tomorrow. Take a break and think over what I’ve told you. Think about which side of each polarity appeals to you. Your mind is like a muscle. It must be stretched. Then you let it recover.”

Glim cheered, then clamped his hand over his mouth. But Master Willow let it go without a reprimand. Perhaps he already knew what Glim was only starting to realize: his mind was far too stunned to absorb any more.