"Now let's see here...", Voxea said as she floated over to the circle and began to sit/hover in the center of it in a meditative position and closed her eyes to focus. As she entered the circle, it and the drajule connected to Voxea began to glow simultaneously.
"Well that's a good sign...I think", I commented. Voxea had spent the last few weeks jamming a ton of foundational magical knowledge into my head. From aether types to incantations to foundational rune work, Voxea proceeded to throw the book at me and shove it down my throat. Out of everything though, one of the weirdest things that stuck out to me was spell circles, namely that a circle is pointless unless it glows.
When making a spell circle, every line, symbol, rune and aether used must be incredibly precise, especially if one is physically carving it into an item, otherwise nothing will happen with the alternative being unforeseen magical accidents. Fortunately and unfortunately, the only way to know if a spell circle works is if it starts glowing after it has been carved in or activated. Otherwise you'd have to backtrack the circle to see what was missed or start from scratch, both of which suck terribly.
"Hmmm", Voxea grunted as she meditated in the circle.
"Something wrong"?
"There's an extra bit in this circle I can't access. How curious", Voxea piped up after opening her eyes and returning to a floating/standing position.
"You can't access it?", I ask with an incredulous look.
"Not exactly. I can sense what is and what it does, but I can't activate it because it's aether-locked".
"What does that mean"?
"This spell circle won't activate its true effect without the right type of maji using it. Think of it like a lock and key, you need a corresponding key to open its corresponding lock. This particular lock is tuned to druids, meaning we won't be able to use it unless we had a druid type maji with us", she explained.
"So we're just stuck"?
"Not exactly. If I was back at my full strength I could just break this lock as easy as a twig, but that would take too long. So we have to use method two, i.e., you", Voxea said as she pointed a finger at me.
"I'm getting deja vu, why?", I asked mildly annoyed.
"As I said, aether locks are tuned to specific types of maji, but that specificity only comes with years and years of cultivation".
"Meaning..."?
"As a maji gets stronger, their aether end up developing into a specific affinity and... let's say shape. Once a maji reaches a certain level of ability, the color can be changed by the general 'shape' stays the same. However, apprentices are more malleable. Due to you being an apprentice maji, you can easily manipulate the 'shape' of your aether into one that resembles that belonging to a druid", she explained in her teaching tone.
"Huh. Weird", I commented.
"It's not weird, it's magic. Now stop asking questions and get in the circle".
I rolled my eyes a bit before complying and getting up onto the table and into the circle.
"Huh. Tingles".
"That's normal. Now go into your cultivation form and I'll guide you from there".
I sat in the circle and entered the same meditative position that Voxea did earlier.
"Alright, apprentice. Now this next part would normally done within your mindscape for secrecy but that takes too much time and no one else is here, so just release your aura and let the magic happen", Voxea said to me.
"Uh...okay", I said with a nod before concentrating my aether channels. I willed my aether to flow faster than normal, releasing my aura into the surrounding air an into the magic circle beneath me. A few moments later, the circle began to glow a a little brighter and began to hum.
"Is that supposed to-whoa".
Before I could ask Voxea about the circle, a tangible glowing tangle of runes, symbols and aether lines formed before. In moments, it had taken the shape of a spell formation...with a symbol in the center that reminded of a keyhole.
"I was not expecting the aether-lock to be...a literal lock", I commented to Voxea.
"Magic is both figurative and literal...and this next part is going to literally hurt".