Book One – Chapter 9

During his initial two years at Emery Thurm, Yves found himself among the academy’s least accomplished students. And oh, his commilita had made sure he knew. Ever keen and conditioned on reinforcing hierarchies, these arseholes had made certain that those who falter and fall behind were well beaten to stay down.

To rise above the torment and overcome his own weakness, Yves was forced to expand his abilities beyond the confines of glass magic. He had clung to the vestiges of light. Turning night into day with countless sleepless nights, he had delved into the exploration of phantom presences. Phantom presences represented the light perceivable through first sight.

Through artefacts similar to the Lightgiver Wand any by tapping into natural light sources such as fire, he had learned to access light even after losing the ability to conjure it independently. Two mentors, unconventional in their methods yet champions of his progress, played pivotal roles in expanding such unconventional attempts at light magic.

Once he had gained knowledge on the duality of reality, Yves had understood that a Lightshifter conjures light that was visible in the Material Dimension by rearranging and compiling light fragments in the Alladharian Dimension. Conversely, powerful phantom presences like fire or lightning in the Material Dimension correspond to densely compressed light fragments in the Alladharian Dimension. Each individual phantom presence comprises distinct shards arranged in an equally unique structure.

Yves could no longer perceive or sense these clusters of light fragments. To access them, he needed to discern their structure from their phantom presence alone. Reaching blindly, Yves had to rely on guesswork and accumulated experience to harness light fragments from the Alladharian Dimension.