Tilo Engel himself would describe his state as wretched, due to its contradictory nature. Over the past few days, he had grown extremely tired and longed for sleep, but couldn't, as visions of what about to happen was kept resurfacing in his subconscious. The comfort of his mentor's carriage—soft seats, excellent soundproofing, and the impeccably maintained roads of the Province of Silence — did not help. But he himself was in a completely different mood at the moment:

— Say what you will about these guys, but they are very pleasant to talk to.— So commented Bernt Kremer with a satisfied smile on his face about the recent reception nowhere else but in the provincial palace, from which they were now leaving. — So, they only behave like beasts with their neighbors, but they are happy to welcome others.

— Yes, all these princes treat each other like that, it's common in our internal politics.

This was the woman who annoyed Tilo so much at times that he wanted to stand up, grab her by the waist, and toss her out of the carriage—straight through the window, without even bothering to open the door. No decency or respect—always thought that any conversation happening near her was also her conversation. But Bernt Kremer, due to his high upbringing, treated her with indulgence:

— Yes, undoubtedly, but still, the relationships between neighbors in the eastern provinces have always been much tougher than anywhere else. — He replied to Ruth in the tone of a teacher instructing an overly impulsive student. — Because their history is the oldest, and their guards are the strongest.

As expected, Kirchner, making a sour "ho-ho," answered predictably:

— The strongest, you say, Grandmaster Kremer? Why then did the First Cup of Prophecy go to the Province of Splendor more times than all the eastern provinces combined?

— Ha-ha, — Kremer tried to turn it all into a joke. — Well, this, probably, Tilo will explain better... — Kremer turned his head to his student, but the latter, staring at the expanse of the ocean outside the window, was lost in thought again and stopped listening. — Hey, Tilo ?

Engel stirred when his name was spoken a little louder:

— Uh-uh, sorry, mentor, I got distracted, what were we talking about?

— Well, well... — Kremer leaned back in his chair and put his hands under his neck, looking at Engel with a sympathetic gaze. — While we were at the palace drinking tea, you seemed out of place, and now you're thinking about something else. I didn't notice this before.

— You're right, mentor. — He closed his eyes, massaging them with his thumb and index finger. — Indeed, before this, I hadn't slept for three hours a day.

— Why is that? — Kremer was curious. — Is it because of what I told you a couple of days ago?

— What did you tell him?

Ruth again inserted herself between the lines, neither of which was intended for her. How much this annoyed Tilo , but there was nothing he could do—he had to tolerate his mentor's aide as a kind of payment for communicating with him.

— Yes, it's because of that. — He confirmed, taking a deep breath. — Since you told me about her imminent arrival, it has been difficult for me to think about anything else.

— Her? — Ruth blinked.

And then Kremer, leaning forward and putting his head on his hands on his knees, decided to make a confession:

— You know what's ironic? — He asked Tilo a rhetorical question, since he immediately answered it himself. — A few months ago, in a friendly conversation with Kruger over the "Eon," I asked him if there was anyone among his students who could become the First Grandmaster. — It was already clear to Engel who Kruger named, but he didn't interrupt out of respect. — I expected him to name a few promising young energetic users, but instead, he confidently said that he already knew the name of the one who would be the First Grandmaster in the near future and added that he was ready to swear to it. "A girl who was born without the ability to see and still hasn't gained it. She's just very strong now, but in the future, she will be invincible." That's how he described her.

Tilo Engel just nodded without asking unnecessary questions, as if demonstrating that he wouldn't argue with Jonas Kruger, whom most similars considered the best grandmaster of energetic arts of all time, and who only a few years ago lost this title, losing a fight for it to his current mentor. Instead, he just took a similar position and stared thoughtfully at the floor of the carriage.

— Who is she? — Ruth blinked again, approaching Bernt. — Tell us, Grandmaster Kremer!

— Tilo's cousin, whose imminent arrival he is so unhappy about. — Bernt replied, looking to the right, but he didn't turn his head to get a closer look at Kirchner. — At that time, I really didn't know so much about his past, and therefore wasn't informed that she was his relative. If I had known, I would have asked right away, but instead, I sent one of my men on one of the intercontinental flights—a private detective to find out who she was...

— What?! — Engel jerked, too surprised by this revelation. — Mentor Kremer, that's dangerous!

— That's what they're paid for, aren't they? — Bernt straightened up, spread his arms, and laughed. — Besides, the last time he telegrammed, he boarded a ship, not just any ship, but the "Ice Queen." She should be arriving in the Sky soon, so before going to Parliament, we'll stop by White Port and pick him up. — He informed them of their further plans.

— Wow! I've never seen it before. — The incredibly multi-meaning exclamation from Ruth was not about Engel's cousin, of course, but about the legendary ocean liner used for voyages to the coldest places in Altimus Vievere.

— That's how it is... — He calmed down a bit. — Still, the consequences could have been...

— The subjunctive mood of history is not tolerated. — Kremer reminded him of the ancient wisdom, thus justifying his reluctance to delve into his student's resentment. — But still, I suppose that no matter what information we get from him, without your testimony about who she is, the picture will still be incomplete.

Tilo looked at Kremer understandingly, for a second touching Ruth and thinking that in other situations she could be tolerated, but now she was definitely in the way. He clarified:

— Do you want me to tell you about my relationship with her?

— We still have quite a long way to go. It's better to tell everything about her, why be stingy? — Kremer asked in response. — The first thing that came to my mind when I found out she was blind: how did she get into energetic arts? But it quickly dawned on me that since she lacks the ability to see, she must have developed the ability to sense the energetic continuum, hidden deep inside every similar, in order to live fully. Am I right?

— Not just fully, but probably better than any other similar. — He agreed.

— Why is she still blind? — Kirchner asked. — Why hasn't she been cured?

— Her blindness is related to disruptions in the visual center of the brain, not the eyes themselves. — Tilo explained. — An imprecise energetic intervention could be fatal. I always thought her parents made the right decision by not taking risks and helping her become what she eventually became.

— Really? — Kremer asked with a smile. — And she's already so grown up? You said she's much younger than you, right?

— Yes, much. Five years younger. — The twenty-six-year-old Engel made the clarifying adjustments.

— At that age, you know, there's still plenty of youthful foolishness. — He shared his experience of dealing with plenty of similars.

— But there's more than enough strength. — Surprisingly, Tilo found a reason to laugh.

Meanwhile, the carriage entered a tunnel in the rock, plunging the interior into darkness, but soon artificial side lights appeared, which Kremer was distracted by. Watching the lights change rapidly, he asked Tilo :

— And how complicated were your relationships? — He finally decided to move on to the main question.

— It depends on what you mean by "complicated."

— Well, negative, so to speak. — Kremer made a circular motion with his eyes. Bernt himself didn't want to use the word, as it was closely associated with his profession.

— Then not very. — The tunnel ended, daylight poured in again, and everyone could be seen clearly. This answer was completely unexpected by the First Grandmaster. — She was the closest and most beloved person to me after my parents. Maybe even closer than my parents. — Thoughtfully finished Engel, and then added. — And I was probably the same for her.

— What a surprise. — Bernt didn't know what else to say. — I was sure you hated each other for some reason, but since it's exactly the opposite—why aren't you so happy about the imminent meeting?

Tilo fell silent. He didn't want to say the following words, they stuck in his throat, but he had to do it. Only then could he be honest with himself and, most importantly, with his mentor. He almost bent his head to the floor, squinted, and took off his glasses, putting them on the empty seat next to him. In a posture filled with self-loathing, he confessed in a hoarse voice:

— Because I betrayed her.

Somehow, I always felt that we knew each other from the very beginning, from birth, although I know that's not true, since we come from different families and I was born much earlier. But I simply don't remember my life before her, just as I don't remember meeting her. My mother told me that when I was still too young to go to school, she would take me to her brother's house to look at the baby who had just learned to walk. But no matter how hard I strain my memory, I can't remember it. Maybe it's because this pale episode was nothing compared to any of the following ones.

Our first shared memory was much later, when I was eleven. This is what I remember, and very clearly. At the time, our house was in chaos due to cosmetic repairs, so we spent the whole weekend tidying up. Barely making it, we welcomed her family to our house in full. But it wasn't immediately obvious because she shyly hid behind her parents' backs. But according to the rules of etiquette, upon arrival at a friend's house, everyone had to greet each other, so she had to step forward a little. And she didn't turn her head toward me. I fortunately knew about her blindness and understood why she wasn't looking at me, but someone less informed or more foolish in my place might have thought she was expressing her contempt. But she introduced herself wonderfully, with a solemn exclamation, without stuttering and pronouncing all the sounds correctly:

— I am Christina Steiman, the daughter of the head of the Health Department of the great Orbius! Nice to meet you!

I was even lost after that, to be honest. Her father is the chief doctor in the country, and what should I call myself then? "The son of the deputy head of a large wine and spirits company of the great Orbius?" Even as a child, I already understood that it would sound extremely funny. Couldn't she just introduce herself by name and surname? But then her mother intervened, scolding her for this greeting:

— Christel, it's impolite to boast about your position or your family's position in front of people. Apologize. — She demanded.

At that time, I didn't understand why her mother called her "Christel." And in fact, I didn't understand this for almost ten years, but that's not the point now. Christina, I gathered, didn't want to apologize, she pouted and squealed like a cute puppy that she wasn't bragging, she was just proud of her father. But of course, her parents, especially that very father, who showed cold indifference to this, naturally, all her exclamations were like nails to a coffin, as one would expect from such a situation. But still, she introduced herself only to me, and it didn't offend me at all, and I didn't want her to apologize in front of me. Then I resolutely stepped almost close to her, shielding her from their attacks, and said something like:

— Leave her alone, my father gets people drunk, and I'm proud of him too!

Christina was very surprised. I couldn't see her eyes because of the glasses, but her mouth opened wide, a fist could fit in there. Of course, we got it... Well, you can understand how much. But there was one positive point in this—we were driven into the same isolation, which also happened to be a very cozy mom's bedroom. It didn't look like punishment to lock us in the nursery, and leaving us in the hallway or even kicking us out into the cold was not very humane, so I think we ended up there. Mostly I got it, and I didn't care about the adults' disapproval in principle, so Christina and I quickly started talking to each other. Although for the most part, it was more like an interview:

— Tell me, are your hair naturally that color? — I asked her.

— What does "natural" mean?

— Well, were your hair like that from birth or did you dye them?

— I didn't dye them...

— Did someone else dye them for you?

— No, I don't remember that.

She probably didn't even understand how this process works at the time. Thought a painter would come, lay her hair on an ironing board, and start wielding a roller. But later I found out that the color was indeed natural. And alas, it was the result of a genetic deviation—she was unlucky with her eyesight, but she was lucky with her appearance. Well, in my taste.

— How hard is it for you to live without seeing anything around you? — Forgive me, Lord, I really asked something so stupid.

— Very hard, but I manage. — She confidently replied.

— My mom told me that you're learning to sense the energetic continuum, is that true?

— No, I already feel it very well.

I didn't think she was bragging when she added her father's high position to her greeting, as if we were in the then-foreign Optimus, but now I was sure she was exaggerating her abilities. I thought she could barely distinguish objects, which was enough for her not to run into walls and generally navigate, and I asked her to describe the interior of the room we were in.

— Sure! — She accepted my challenge. — The bed is big, wooden, double... With a canopy, four round columns on the sides... There's no carpet! And there's no lacquer on the floor either. And on the wall, there are wallpapers, they're blue, with patterns! In the corner, there's a desk, very boring and brown... Over there, there's a wardrobe, large, from floor to ceiling, mirrored...

— How many doors?

— Four doors!

— And you didn't guess! — I somehow thought she just felt four paths on the floor along which the doors could be rolled back and forth, but there were two doors for one door. — There are only two doors in the wardrobe!

— You didn't say it was the wardrobe! — She was indignant. — You just said how many doors! And there are four doors in the room—two entrance doors and two in the wardrobe! You're to blame!

— Well, okay... — I reluctantly admitted her right. Not like she could have made up an excuse in a fraction of a second. — What's in the hallway right in front of the door?

— There's a nightstand! Old and shabby, it's unpleasant to touch, four drawers, the bottom one is bigger.

In general, almost everything from her description could be interpreted vaguely, but how she saw the patterns on the wallpaper and the lack of lacquer on mom's nightstand, which was hopelessly outdated but she didn't want to throw away, impressed me, it was definitely a level for her age. I was interested in the possibility of having information about the environment even in the deepest darkness and the ability to know what's happening in neighboring rooms. It was then that I made the firm decision to start studying energetic arts.

— Really? — Kremer asked.

— Yes. Meeting her was definitely a decisive factor. — Engel repeated without a shadow of doubt.

— It was good for you in Orbius! — Ruth marveled. — We study art en masse for self-defense, and you—as you wish...

Engel reacted sharply negatively, demanding that she not talk about what she had no idea about. But Kremer didn't want to listen to all this, he asked if there was anything else important in Tilo 's first meeting with Christina. He thought, and still answered positively:

— Perhaps yes. Although I don't know how important it is, but I think it at least deserves your attention.

Soon, I did something completely tactless, namely, I asked if she could take off her glasses and show me her eyes. I was simply curious about what they looked like; I didn't mean anything more, but she absolutely refused to do so, shaking her head from side to side and covering herself with her hands. Well, if she doesn't want to, then as she wants, I didn't see the point in insisting. What else we talked about—I don't remember well, but it lasted quite a long time, and our parents showed no desire to end our stay in this makeshift colony, while we were getting more and more bored. I decided to rummage through my pockets and found a couple of candies that my mom usually gave me before bed—blue wrappers, sweet, they were called "Black Night," or something like that...

— Dark, you meant? — Kremer corrected him. — Those are the candies used as a sedative, aren't they?

— They are more calming than sedating, but it depends on who you give them to and in what quantity. — Tilo explained. — And for a silly kid like me, it never occurred that my good sleep was somehow related to any substances. So I would sneak them from the top cupboard in the kitchen and eat a few, and it barely affected me.

But this was me. Christina was much younger. When I offered her one of the candies, interestingly, she looked at it suspiciously, saying it looked like poison, but after I ate one myself, she finally couldn't resist and ate hers too. She said the candy was very tasty—this surprised me because I didn't find it particularly delicious—and almost immediately after that, she lay down on the bed and fell asleep. My attempts to wake her were unsuccessful, and I didn't want to knock on the door. Being completely alone in a closed room as it got darker, it's hard to stay awake, so I fell asleep after about ten or fifteen minutes.

When I opened my eyes, I was startled because I literally bumped my nose into her glasses, which were lying on the bed, and there were sobs and some incoherent mumbling coming from under the bed. By the way, it was already very dark outside, but no one had come to us yet—probably, my father had taken out his collection, and everyone had completely forgotten about Christina and me. I climbed under the bed and found that she had wedged herself into the very center, so it was very difficult to reach her. It was unlucky that there was never anything under the bed in our house, everything was sorted into cupboards, so I had no other option but to crawl under the bed myself. As I made my way through, I could finally make out the words in her mumbling. Apparently, she kept repeating the word "Why?" I tried to call her, but she didn't react. Only when I took her by the shoulder did she, as I understood from the barely visible silhouette in the dark, turn her head towards me and pay attention to me. When I asked why she had crawled under the bed, and so deep, she answered quite unexpectedly:

— I don't know... I think I fell asleep on the bed.

"Could she be a sleepwalker?" I thought, and of course, my knowledge of sleepwalking was then as amateurish as it could be. I also said that she had asked herself something out loud many times, but in a quiet voice, she said:

— That's not true. I didn't ask myself anything out loud.

"Definitely sleepwalking," I concluded, because it was easier for me, as a child, to explain it that way. I suggested she at least come out from under the bed into the light. Although there was no light, the room was dimly lit by the moonlight from the windows. Standing up again, I quickly lit the lamps in the room, and when I did, Christina was already back in her glasses. And to understand, very little time had passed—she was clearly trying to put them back on quickly. But they didn't hide the main thing—I could still see the traces of tears on her cheeks.

— Christina, why are you crying? — I asked, because there was nothing else left for me to do.

— I don't know... — she replied just as quietly, almost whispering.

Naturally, I didn't want to believe her. How can you not remember crawling under the bed, starting a tantrum there, and crying for no reason? It's clear that she's just lying so she doesn't have to tell me. I slowly approached her, took her by the shoulders, and rephrased the question:

— Are you afraid of something?

— No... — she answered.

— Is something bothering you? — I tried the last attempt, and it finally worked.

— I... I feel so sorry for my dad. — and here she sobbed again. — He suffers because of me... — she voiced the reason for her sadness, which, to be honest, left me in a stupor.

— Why is he suffering because of you? — I asked her.

— He's the chief doctor in the country, and he had such a daughter! — she explained, and it seemed she cried again, like before. — It's even unclear what kind of daughter!

— So what? — I genuinely didn't understand her worries. — She was born, and that's it, who doesn't have that?

This is clear to me now, that it really doesn't happen to almost everyone, but then I just had to find some words to calm her down.

— People won't believe he healed them if he can't even heal his own daughter!

— Who told you that?

— No one! I figured it out myself! — it was interesting to me at that moment: was she joking? — He doesn't love me because of this! Mom loves me, but he doesn't! Mom raises me, worries about me, feeds me, but he doesn't even want to come near me because I ruin his life!

This was strange. Her father—or, to be more precise, the head of the Health Department, Andreas Steiman—sometimes visited us, but I never heard him express any dislike for his daughter or talk about work problems because of her condition. Was he a hypocrite? Why, in the end, did Christina lie to me about this? But I quickly reassured her that even if it were true—why would Christina feel sorry for him, not herself? I approached her closely, hugged her, and started stroking her fluffy head:

— Shh, shh, what did you make up for yourself? — I mumbled, pressing her to me. — My dad doesn't babysit me either, but that doesn't mean he doesn't love me. Our fathers work a lot to support their families, so they don't have time for us.

— Really? — she asked me, sniffling.

— Yes, really. So why do you feel sorry for him? He's doing great, doing important work! Feel sorry for yourself. — I tried to joke, but of course, she thought I was serious.

— But I don't want to feel sorry for myself! — she rejected my suggestion. — I want to be loved and proud of!

— Then keep it up! — I advised her. — Keep learning the art, sensing, spells... Become as good as possible, make it so that no one even thinks of considering you inferior. Become the best at what you do. And I'll always be by your side to support you, no matter what happens. — I assured her.

Christina in response stepped back a little and stared at me with the same wide-open mouth as when she was surprised by my behavior at the entrance to the house. I don't know what she felt then, but I noticed that her glasses definitely shouldn't be worn underwater—tears flowed through the small gaps between the frame and her face. She asked me:

— Do you promise?

In response, I quickly took her hand in mine—I don't know why, I did it instinctively, probably so she would remember better—and with all the dignity I had, I replied:

— I swear.

This completely calmed her down. She lit up with joy, smiled happily, and said "thank you" to me. I was so happy to see her like that that I didn't want to ask her again why she had crawled under the bed.

The carriage began to pull slightly forward, while Kirchner and Kremer, on the contrary, were pressed into their seats. The carriage began a very steep ascent up the hill and slowed down, as if indicating that the territory of the Province of Silence was left behind, and they were about to enter the Highlands.

— Well. — Kremer drawled, then jokingly thanked Engel. — So it turns out I should thank you for another competitor for the title of First Grandmaster?

— I don't think that if my words hadn't been there, anything would have changed significantly. — his student shrugged.

— Oh, I wasn't serious about that. — Kremer reassured him with a tone that implied the question: "What, are you really that dense?" — Good job inspiring the girl to self-improve.

— For you, it was not difficult at all, but for her, it became the main direction in life. — Rut admired.

— Exactly. — the First Grandmaster approvingly said to Rut's characterization, to which Tilo just sighed, rolling his eyes. — And then, as I understand it, your active friendship began?

— In a way. — Engel was not sure if he could answer this question with a simple "yes," as he doubted whether such a friendship could be called active.

After all, Christina lived with her parents in the Holy Citadel, as was fitting, and we lived in a small fishing port town, a half-day's journey away. Communicating with her personally was extremely difficult for us, so we talked to her through letters, which at first were written under dictation by her mother. I became a student of the local energetic school, where my desire was greatly surprised, because usually the decision to study the art was made much earlier. But still, thanks to my first mentor — Grandmaster Maissner, I managed to achieve initial success. He was a very eccentric and eccentric personality — he looked not very neat, had an obviously too high opinion of himself, although he could prove his title in deed, and sometimes he was overly aggressive towards those who, in my opinion, did not deserve it. But he knew how to teach others and had incredible respect in our town. His introductory lecture impressed me no less than meeting Christina.

— What do you think, kids, why did we go out of school onto the street? — he asked us, pacing back and forth in his unbuttoned coat in front of our crooked line.

No one had any guesses. Indeed, the process of learning the arts was always associated with indoor spaces, even if it was about hand-to-hand combat arts. Maybe in your Optimum it's different, but in our snows it was a matter of course.

— You're all idiots! — he disappointedly scolded us. — If we moved from one place to another, it means we did it for a reason, because the previous place did not suit us, and in the new one we are looking for what we lacked in the first place. Now do you get it? — he turned to us, sticking his hands in his pockets and spreading his legs as wide as possible, while half-squatting. — And what do we lack in school, but have on the street?

The hint was understood. Guesses followed one after another.

— Fresh air! — said some boy in the distance.

— And who spoiled it for you in school? — he smirked. — Me?

— Ice! — suggested another.

— And what do you need ice for? — the grandmaster asked in response. — You can always throw away your skates!

There were many more guesses, but the answer was right before our eyes. The red sun, setting over the horizon, was truly beautiful. The answer I gave was not obvious and not entirely true, because there was so little sun on the street and in the room it occasionally peeked in. But still, you could only fully enjoy it in the open space.

— And what is the sun? — he asked us.

— It's a big fiery ball far, far away! — someone answered.

— It's not fiery, it's plasma. — our teacher with a strict, technical mindset pointed out irritably. — And it's not that far from us, and much smaller than our world. But it is the sun that gives life to our world. Without it, Altimum Vievere would be a dark and cold place where no one could survive. Now you see the sun before you, don't you? But if you close your eyes — will it disappear? — he asked us a leading question.

"Of course not!" — we thought in unison, but none of us answered, deciding that the question was rhetorical.

— Exactly. You may not see the sun, not feel its warmth, you may even forget that it exists at all. But from this it will not cease to exist. It is this that gives us the ability to perceive the energetic continuum — the possibility of knowing what is really happening, regardless of any obstacles to our other senses. — Maissier explained, emphasizing the words "in reality." — This ability comes from the fact that the energetic continuum determines everything else that happens in the multiverse — looking into it, we see the first cause of all things. The energetic continuum itself is a parallel set of all possible characteristics of absolutely everything that exists in the multiverse. Someone will say that the sun shines due to thermonuclear processes occurring in its depths, and he will be right, but he will not take into account that this will be only the so-called "external cause" — that is, such a cause that is explained by the laws of the universe (accordingly, "external"), in which you are. But there are not just one universe in the multiverse, there are so many that we cannot even imagine their number with our miserable brains. In other universes, there are also stars, but they shine for completely different external reasons. And what is the difference between external causes and the so-called first cause? And in the fact that there are countless external causes for any question "why?", and in the case of the first cause regarding all phenomena in the multiverse, the answer will be one: "Because it is laid down in the continuum." The structure of the universes is very different. There are tiny worlds the size of our school, there are colossal and boundless spaces with millions of dimensions, but all of them are determined by the corresponding parts of the same general energetic continuum, each of which individually determines the external laws of each separate universe. We can see this continuum — we know the true essence of things. And you, kids, will not believe it, but besides us, the similars in the entire multiverse, despite the fact that it is unimaginably huge, no one else can do this. — he made us proud of ourselves. — There are, of course, those who can manipulate energetic , for example, many of the creatures you know that inhabit our world. But they do it unconsciously and instinctively. And the gift of full vision of the continuum and conscious change of it is possessed only by us.

— Teacher Maissier, but why us? — someone from the crowd asked.

— Because our Almighty wanted it that way. — he answered shortly and clearly. — He chose us as beings that have the right to what, besides us, only he has the right to. We are God-chosen beings. That's how you are taught in school in history lessons, right? — he asked, looking at us with a disbelieving glance, as if we had told him such an amazing story, although at that time we did not even have history lessons. — But if you are truly rational beings, then you should have had questions. And this is not about the banal "why does he need us to be able to perceive and change the continuum". So what are these questions? — he pointed at us with his hand.

In the letters that I wrote to Christina, I tried to find out from her as much as possible about the energetic art and, in particular, what difficulties a similars who tries to master it faces? It was from her that I first learned about positive energetic , which is contained in the body of each similars and which he gives away when he wants to change something in the continuum, thus actually dying, as well as about energetic resistance.

— Why are all our corrections to the continuum only temporary and why do we have to sacrifice ourselves for this. — I answered the teacher's question.

— Absolutely right! — he approvingly waved his hand. — There are three types of energetic : positive, neutral, and negative. Who knows what this is and what are the differences?

Unfortunately, no one but me knew. After hesitating, I decided that I would again have to answer for everyone:

— Positive energetic determines everything living in the multiverse, neutral — everything non-living, negative — everything non-existent.

— Oh, smart! — the grandmaster admired. — By the way, usually beginning energetic workers do not understand what negative energetic is, because they cannot understand what this "non-existent" is. But to not clutter your head, just remember that the sections of the multiverse that correspond to negative energetic in the energetic continuum are just those sections of the multiverse in which there is neither positive nor neutral energetic . In Altimum Vievere, there are almost none of these sections, in other universes they are found, but as a rule, just as rarely. Now do you understand? — Maissier asked.

It seemed to us that we understood, but at the same time not quite. Such definitions are not for childish minds, no matter who says what. I tried to ask cautiously:

— That is, if positive energetic is responsible for everything living, and neutral — for everything non-living, then negative is responsible for empty space, where there is neither living nor non-living?

— You are right in everything except the words "empty" and "space". — he interpreted for me. — These definitions are applicable only to Altimum Vievere and those universes that are similar to it in structure. With us, yes, indeed, negative energetic fills those sections in which there is absolutely nothing, speaking more correctly, where a vacuum is created, free not only from matter, but even from radiation. But there are universes that are so different from ours that the concepts of "empty" and "space" are simply meaningless there. Have you heard, for example, about the "straight universe"? — to our surprised negative answer, Grandmaster Maissier explained: — And this is such a universe in which there is only one spatial dimension. An incredibly large straight line in which, nevertheless, there is life, death, time and everything that we are used to with you, but in a completely different form. If we tried to explore that universe without the energetic continuum, we would go crazy and hang ourselves, because it is literally impossible, and only thanks to it we know that there is something there — this is indicated to us by positive, neutral and negative energetic , corresponding to specific sections of this line. But I told you not to clutter your head with this not only because you are too small and stupid to fully understand this, but also because similars cannot do absolutely anything with negative energetic . For several thousand years, the best minds of our civilization have been studying it and looking for ways to manipulate it, but none has been found yet. Perhaps they do not exist. Too bad, our stories do not give a full answer to this. — under the stories, of course, our history from the times of the ubiquitous was implied. — Therefore, we can only work with positive and neutral energetic by the method of equivalent exchange. Each similar is a living being, that is, it corresponds to a piece of positive energetic in the energetic continuum. Someone calls this piece a soul, but there is no such term in official science, so use it only when you show off your successes to your parents, got it? — he approached some student and lightly tapped him on the head with his finger. — The characteristics themselves are not just abstractions, but objects with a price. Positive energetic has a higher price due to the fact that it is more complex and contains more characteristics, thus it is possible to exchange positive energetic for neutral and get "profit" in the form of a price that needs to be paid for a change in the energetic continuum. Here it is worth noting the following. In the multiverse, the characteristics of any things, be it, for example, the brightness of the sun or the temperature of its surface, have an abstract character, in the sense that the number indicating the quantitative measure of the sun's heat exists only in our thoughts, but does not exist as an independent object of the multiverse. But in the energetic continuum, all characteristics are precisely those existing objects, full-fledged participants in this system. Can you guess what this means?

I never liked such statements of the question, because they did not give a direct path to the answer, but forced you to wander through a mental labyrinth with a dozen forks. Who knows what it could mean. If only they had given a hint. But when everyone else answered with silence again, I decided that I would rather get my share of moral blows for the wrong answer than continue to be in this awkward situation.

— Does each characteristic have its own characteristics?

— Oh, I say smart. — was this nonsense really the right answer? — But we are interested in only one. Energetic , by its nature, is not all equal, each of its subsets has its own, so-called "price". To more accurately convey the meaning, it should rather be called complexity, because the more complex and larger what is described by the energetic subset, the higher its price. That is, for example, the price of a liter of air is significantly less than the price of a liter of water, because the density of water is greater than the density of air, in this liter there is more matter, and in the energetic continuum more energetic determining all its properties is allocated for this liter. And the kinetic energetic of air during a hurricane is greater than the kinetic energetic during calm, and the trajectory of the movement of gas molecules will be significantly longer and more winding. But this is when we talk about comparing individual cases, however, there is a law called the "main energetic inequality". It states that when comparing energetic subsets of equal energetic from positive, neutral, and negative energetic , the most expensive will always be the first, and the cheapest — the last. Probably, you yourself have already guessed about this, because in our world, for example, any living matter is arranged much more complexly than any non-living matter of the same size, and there is nothing to say about emptiness. And here we come to the main disappointment, as well as the reason why the energetic price is so called — in the matter of manipulating energetic , we mainly manipulate not the energetic itself, but precisely its price. Similars is free to dispose of his body, he has a physiological ability to deaden part of his own soul, that is, to transform it from positive energetic into neutral. But as we have just established, positive energetic is more expensive than neutral, and during this operation, the so-called energetic "profit" is formed, which is preserved for his soul in the form of "energetic accumulation". And this very accumulation he can use to create and change absolutely any energetic , the price of which corresponds to it, to give anything any characteristics, if the size of this positive balance allows. Each such manipulation is called an energetic spell, and a similar with infinite accumulation would be a fully omnipotent being. — he stated.

— And could such a similar create a stone... — I heard someone whispering behind me, but I had absolutely no business with it.

— Teacher Maissier, and what about distance? — I asked him my next question out of curiosity. — Our Almighty, whom they also call omnipotent, they say, sees everything that happens in the multiverse. Could such a similar do the same?

— Of course. — he confirmed. — Because then the energetic resistance would be nothing to him. By the way, about it, since you have jumped a little ahead. — he switched to another very important nuance of the energetic continuum. — Energetic resistance — the greatest mystery of our world. They teach us that the Almighty gave us the ability to see and manipulate energetic so that we, the similars, would maintain order in the multiverse, right? Only none of those who hammer this into your heads will answer your question: "and how does this agree with such a property of the continuum as energetic resistance"? The continuum, I remind you, according to the version of these storytellers, was also invented by the Almighty. Any artificial intervention in it that you make will not have an eternal character. Performing any energetic spell is equivalent to pressing on a mattress — the springs will straighten out again after you stop pressing. Want to, for example, increase the temperature of a stone by several thousand degrees to make it lava — for some time your desire will be fulfilled, but after this time the temperature will drop to its previous level. And it's not about heat exchange with the material next to it — it will drop, even if this stone is in a vacuum, it's about the property of the temperature of this object. Although its structure will not be restored, since you did not change it, it is only a consequence of your energetic spell. But nevertheless, how, explain to me, with such rules of the game, should I try to establish order in the multiverse? Whatever you do, it doesn't cure, it only relieves pain. — and our teacher did not even mention the main problem of the similars fulfilling their "great mission," as the Adepts of Chaos call it — the lack of unity and cohesion among our kind, which resulted in millennial internecine strife and the lack of attempts to at least go out into other universes, let alone try to do something more serious with them. — And energetic resistance is such a coefficient that determines how difficult it is for us to see the continuum and make changes to it. If you already know mathematics well enough, then specially for you I will reveal that it is directly proportional to the average price of all energetic in the universe and inversely proportional to the time during which the changed characteristic in the continuum returns to its original form. In Altimum Vievere, by the way, it is one of the highest in the multiverse. Unfair, you say? No more than that problem, the discussion of which we interrupted earlier. — he seemed to want to return to the problem of self-mortification, but looking at the horizon, he quickly changed his mind. — However, it seems that first we will still have to finish the main thing — what we came here for. And this main thing is to teach you to see the continuum. And the sun is about to set over the horizon. So, remember everything that I said at the very beginning, then try to abstract from all your senses, and understand: it doesn't matter if you feel the sun, see it, feel its warmth. It is important for you to realize its existence and accept that it is there, even if you do not observe it. If you succeed, you will finally see the energetic continuum.

Without thinking, I closed my eyes, covered my ears, tried to even cover my face so that the sun's rays would not fall on it, although there was no point in this, after all, there was almost no heat from the sun's rays emitted by it from the edge of the horizon. I tried to realize and accept the existence of the star rotating around our planet. And at the moment when a shadow of doubt settled in my heart, I unexpectedly began to feel. While I stood with my eyes closed and my ears plugged, and therefore should not have distinguished anything except pitch darkness and the sound of my own blood passing next to the eardrum, I nevertheless felt a giant plasma ball located millions of trictums away from me, in the depths of which thermonuclear processes were boiling, and which gave warmth and light to our entire universe. I opened my eyes and realized that the sun had hidden behind the horizon, but I could still enjoy it. I seemed to see it through the earth's crust, although objectively I did not see it at all, because I could not. It was amazing. So this is what the ability to see the continuum is like... Everyone else succeeded too, although not as quickly as me. They were also delighted, but my delight was spoiled by the suddenly realized contradiction, which logically should have excluded the possibility that I could succeed.

— Teacher Maissier... Why did we manage to feel the energetic of the sun? — I asked. — We are all beginners without an energetic level, shouldn't we not feel the continuum beyond our own nose, and not an object that is millions of kilometers away from us?

To this, the teacher only grinned:

— You reason correctly, Tilo . — he praised me. — You indeed should feel only a handful of space right in front of your nose. However, does everything in this universe depend on you?..

— And what are you telling all this for? — Kremer finally decided to interrupt his ward. — It's not that I or even Rut don't know the basics of energetic art or the Mark of Sny-Aaz.

To this, Engel sighed deeply and heavily, understanding the fairness of the reproach towards him, but nevertheless preparing to continue his line. He explained it as follows:

— If I tell you, teacher, only what happened in my life that was related to Christina, you will easily understand her, but it will be very difficult to understand me. And I certainly wouldn't want that.

— Hm, you say to understand you? — The First Grandmaster brought his hand to his chin, pondering. — That is, you want to explain the reasons for your, as you put it, "betrayal"?

Engel nodded:

— If we moved from one place to another, it means we did it because the previous place did not suit us. — he repeated Maissier's words. — It so happened that these words were spoken by my first teacher in his first lecture, and therefore they stuck in me just like the basics of energetic art. And they seemed to me a simple truth that could only be accepted and nothing else. The house where I lived, my friends, whom you don't know anyway, and this energetic school... There was a lot I liked in all this, but there was one thing that repelled me in everything. She was not there.

This repulsion did not appear from the very beginning, not spontaneously, but after a while after a certain moment. I had no problems with seeing the continuum, with great interest I studied the Marks of Sny-Aaz, which allowed similars of any energetic level to see certain objects in Altimum Vievere, in particular — our sun, but then the mastery of the most important thing began — increasing the energetic level. Here I got stuck as before and after that I did not get stuck anywhere else. In theory, of course, everything was relatively simple:

— You don't have to be Mareke Abel to understand that the energetic profit that can be obtained from our bodies is not very high, and it would be so even if we could completely convert all the energetic of our body into neutral, without kicking the bucket. — Maissier lectured us from the center of the circle we formed in one of the school's training halls. — But as you understand, our civilization has long solved this problem — otherwise, where would your grandmaster get the ability to do this?

After that, he applied an energetic spell that instantly changed the color of the fir floor under our feet to a lighter shade, for the sake of excessive pathos stomping his foot, although there was no practical need for this. It should have been clear to everyone that the positive energetic contained in the body of one similar, with all the desire, would not have been enough to repaint a couple of hundred square millitrictums of the floor. Therefore, it had to be taken from somewhere else. And this time someone already knew the answer to this question:

— Because you have a high energetic level! — a shout was heard.

— Correct. — he approvingly seconded. — Only what is it? Just so, scientifically! — Maissier made it clear that he would not tolerate inaccurate and abstract answers, and therefore no one dared to answer. — What, kids, can't you do it scientifically? You should be ashamed, because scientifically it's all simple — it's just such a super-special characteristic of our, as you, I remind you, should not express yourself, soul. It, as you probably can guess, if you are not completely stupid, is a quantitative characteristic, and is measured in abels. The energetic level shows the amount of positive energetic available to the similar, and 1 abel expresses the amount of positive energetic that is on average contained in the similar — by default, the energetic level of each similar is equal to one with an error that is neglected in the overwhelming majority of cases. Of course, with 1 abel you can't conjure much — you're more likely to kick the bucket, but you can still conjure something, namely — get the opportunity to increase this energetic level. Of course, the energetic continuum is a sufficiently abstract thing so that thousands, or even millions of abels do not need to be stored in the same way as we would store somewhere millions of similars bodies in life, and they can be put into one characteristic, so from the point of view of the external laws of the multiverse, a similar of the first level and a similar of the thousandth level do not differ in anything, that is, there are no differences in any masses, external appearances and other things. Your energetic level will always be known to you, the energetic level of other similars, if you cannot simply ask about it — can be found out using a special spell that will contact his positive energetic and return you information about this characteristic, but keep in mind that the similar you are checking cannot not know that you tried to find out about his abilities. Therefore, if you have to spy on someone for duty or for some other reason, then you will either have to analyze him in battle, or still extract this information from other sources.

— And how should we analyze it? — I asked with genuine interest, thinking that this might be a whole science, but it turned out — nothing like that.

— Well, there are some general principles that should be intuitively understandable. It is clear that if a similar has a low energetic level — then he will not use spells that are pompous and useless, or at least will reduce their number. Many grandmasters, for example, engage in all sorts of nonsense — I, for example, repaint the floor for you. — he pointed his finger down at the wood, which was already beginning to lighten under the resistance. — But you will never make any definite conclusions from this. This depends on the character of the energetic worker — he can be excessively economical at any energetic level, and with your guesses you will still not achieve anything. But in a battle with another energetic worker, your own energetic level is important in the first place — and it should be sufficiently high. — Maissier reminded, in order to effectively switch to the main thing. — And how to increase it? Even when we first met, I told you that manipulating energetic prices — this is essentially all that we do when, so to speak, "manipulate energetic ". And increasing the energetic level is no exception. We need to get a profit somewhere that we could spend, attention, not on recreating the necessary amount of positive energetic for us, which is obviously impossible using only our body, since this is like if we tried to fill two buckets of water to the brim, having nothing but one bucket of water filled to the brim, and on changing the characteristic that corresponds to this amount. The price that we will have to pay for this will not be much, but still less, and therefore this operation is feasible, although it requires incredible efforts over oneself. Once, in order to increase your energetic level from 1 to 2 abels, you will have to put your life on the line, being left without most of your soul and investing profit in increasing the energetic level. This is one of the few operations in which energetic resistance will be more of an ally than an enemy, because it will hasten to restore your positive energetic back, and, as you can guess, along with it lower your energetic level. But the characteristic of the energetic level is designed in such a way that the resistance affects it less than the positive energetic of your body, so you will recover faster than your energetic level will have time to drop. All you need to do next is to continue the same operation over and over again, but already with the positive energetic that you earned with the help of increasing your energetic level. And this energetic level itself will need to be constantly either increased or maintained at a certain level, otherwise all your efforts for self-improvement will turn to dust. That's basically the whole point. — he concluded. — The overwhelming majority of those who begin to study the energetic art, being not previously initiated into its basic principles, end their study of it precisely at this moment — at the energetic initiation — not being able to understand — why did our Almighty do this to us? And therefore, before we proceed to this risky operation, you are all given three days to think about whether you are doing the right thing in this life, and if your answer is affirmative — are you ready to do it.

With that, we were sent home. Usually after classes, all the students began to actively talk to each other, discussing either something that was in the classes, or something related to home, sometimes even fighting over made-up reasons, but not then. Then we went home like a funeral procession, in the existing only in our imagination coffin of which lay our hopes of becoming energetic grandmasters.