“You look…” Amez said, before stopping himself. “Anyways, so glad to see ya! Not seen you for like – six years?”

  Rum smiled, it was nice to see a friendly face again, and feel just a little bit welcome. The tavern’s owner had allowed Rum to stay on condition that he sat far away from the rest of the clientele, deep in the darkest corner of the room. And of course drop his magical body buff, returning him to normal size. “Yes, six years it has been. And my little brother has all grown up in the meantime I see. But – you seem to have been regressing too! Were you trying to climb back into the womb or something? What were you doing under her skirt?”

  Amez blushed and chuckled, he took a solid sip of the ale he’d bought for both of them. “That’s a secret between me and Miss Marine.” They both toasted at that.

  “So, come on, spill it out. Where were you big brother? Where did you head off to so suddenly. And for six years no less?”

  “Oooh, here and there really. I saw some small villages, big cities. Mountains and oceans. And anything in between.”

  “Yeah?” Amez leaned back and cast a flirtatious smile towards Miss Marine, who sat halfway across the room from them. “Tell me” he began, leaning back to meet Rum’s eyes “a story from somewhere you visited. Just some place you thought was good. How was it like out there? You know, even after you left, I’ve barely left the city. And only to visit Ermos’ countryside estates, partying and fishing.”

  Rum eyed Amez musingly for a second, before looking into his cup, now empty. “I’ll tell you about what I found out there, on two conditions.”

  “Oh wow! Making demands are we!” Amez burst out a small chuckle. “Fine, what’s the price for a story. Money? Diamonds? The treasures of a dragon?”

  Rum smiled back. “Well first. I need you to fill this cup. Rum needs some rum, Amez.”

  “Aoy!” Amez burst out to the bartender. “Refill for my brother, your best rum!” The bartender nodded back respectfully and went about the business.

  “And then” Rum continued, “I need you to get me somewhere to sleep, somewhere I don’t have to feel the nightly breeze or look at the stars. After six long years of looking at them blinking back at me, I’m starting to think they are rather overrated.”

  Amez inexplicably cut eye-contact at that, and looked down on the floor at a wine bottle cork that’d been misplaced. He stared for a few seconds, no expression but thought on his face. Rum started to get a bit anxious that his brother would have reasons not to help him, but then: “I’m not entirely sure” Amez fiddled with his cup in his right hand, “that your big body would fit into the spare bed at my shop.”

  Silence reigned for a second, then the two burst out laughing. “You-you… you bastard! You had me hanging there for a second. No–” Rum chuckled between his words, “–you shouldn’t worry about that.” Smiling at his younger brother, Rum stroked his beard for a moment and sipped some of his rum. “But” the big brother eventually added, “that story. May it perhaps wait? I have something else I perhaps want you to know about instead. It’s got to do with the reason I was away for so long.”

  “Oh?” Amez hugged his beer, his expression expectant. Rum calmly continued stroking his beard, some small hesitation on his face. “Now, what is it?” Amez insisted. “Don’t make me wait for it, just tell me!”

  “Well. I’m not entirely sure how I can explain this to you. Or where I should start. You see I didn’t exactly go any particular place when I left. I more or less just went anywhere. It wasn’t so much a trip, or a journey towards a destination on a map. It was a journey more about finding out a question I had been pondering.” Rum rested his eyes at nowhere, silent for a moment, a seriousness coming over him. “It was” he finnaly resumed, “a question about the gods. Where do they come from? And who were they? Everyone here seems to just assume that gods have always existed, and always will exist. That they live outside of our world, yet connected to it somehow, through some sort of dimension we can’t see or hear or even understand. That they are beings higher than us, capable of things we could never consider. But I…” Rum slowly shook his head. “I am not quite so sure about that. What if the gods: the ones that fill this world with magical wonders, grant us spells, enchantments, dungeons and magical creatures – what if the gods said to be responsible for the power that keeps The Flipped University from breaking Ermos City – what if they were just people once? What if the world that we have attributed to them, didn’t even come from them, but were things they just learned to use like any other? After all, the greatest mages I’ve ever seen are people capable of acts that would befit a god. And some of the nemesis of the people, like the strongest rulers of the dungeons, if you think about it they are nearly gods themselves, aren’t they?”

  When Rum finished with a question, Amez didn’t quite know what to say. He just looked down a little bit uncertain, clearly thinking and trying to digest the train of thoughts laid before him. “Well, that’s the Rum I remember. Someone who enjoys a difficult question. I don’t know the answer–“

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  “–but now I do!” Rum interrupted.

  At this turn of events Amez looked, amazed and expectant. Rum continued, but starting with backing up a little: “Or, I’d like to say that I do at least. But what I can say is that I found out how magic comes about. And I think I’ve figured out how one could become a god. And I think that, somehow, in not quite the same way but similar, I am a god.”

  Amez burst out laughing “Whaaat!? Now you must have been eating some strange mushrooms or something. That at least I can confirm: Rum, you are not a god. You are but my brother. A bit smart perhaps, talented enough to do university that wasn’t for me, but you are not enough to be a god. That’s for certain!”

  Amez laughed, however, Rum didn’t offer much emotion himself, only displaying a hint of patient determination. “I don’t mean to say that I am as powerful, or as knowledgeable, as a god. And I’m not trying to make myself special. You could become a god too.” He gestured at his little brother. “I’m just saying that I think I’ve figured out a new type of magic. And the source of it is me. Or rather, the user of it is also the source of it. Which means that I am the god of my own magic. My magic has no words of power. It’s just me. I call it hu… I mean people magic.”

  “People magic?” Amez raised an interested eyebrow. “What does people magic do?”

  “As far as I know, it can do anything, really. But my magic – Rum’s people magic – I’ve been using it mostly to just stay alive. You know: survival magic while you’re travelling. I can warm myself, cool myself, dry myself. I’ve found ways to turn rotten food fresh, and when I’ve been really hungry I found a way of extracting poison from my body, after I once ate a poisonous mushroom. I was really happy when I found a way of doing that, that mushroom could’ve been the end of me.” Rum looked reminiscent for a moment. “I also figured out anti-depression magic, which was useful on really bad days, but it also made me less, me… in the end I figured I’d rather be sad for a while, than lose myself to a conjured will.”

  “Anti-depression magic? That” Amez gave it second’s thought, “sounds very useful. You could probably make A LOT of money taking away people’s depression. Heck, I’m rarely depressed, but if I were having a hard time, I’d probably visit Rum’s Anti-Depression Shop.”

  “Yes”, Rum agreed with some thoughts, “I have made some money doing that. One of the stories I can tell you now, briefly, involves a noble lady who paid me a lot of money to anti-depress her son. This happened in the town of Murd, very far to the south of here if you haven’t heard of it. It’s a wealthy mining town at the western end of the Axe Mountains. Lots of dwarves there, mining and crafting, and some human merchants. Anyways, I eventually refused the lady any more of my services, because I came to believe I was destroying that boy. It’s a bit unnerving you see, brother, when you are responsible for making the personality of the person in front of you disappear, and to be replaced, by your making. Even if the replacement is one of energy, diligence and efficiency. Even so, it was like the original person had left the body of that boy, and been replaced by a new boy. I don’t entirely understand the magic myself, so for all I know, at least to some extent, that is what is happening. At least I didn’t feel like myself when I magicked myself. The lady she got angry when I denied her. Not immediately! She tried to bribe me of my conscience with more money initially. But when I finally decided to leave the town, she hired thugs to catch me. I was pretty loaded with gold at that time, and so I managed to get away. But I only escaped by bribing almost every person I came across on my way out of the Axe Mountains. So that particular spell, brother, I think it might be a curse in disguise; because people want it a bit too much.”

  “I understand why you might be looking like that then” Amez gestured to Rum’s attire, “the dirty robe and all. That story sounds like it was dangerous.”

  “Yes it was. But back to your question about my magic: I haven’t found any limits yet. Anything that has sufficiently consumed my curiosity, has eventually revealed its solution to me. I don’t need spellbooks to find new spells. I am my own spellbook, a book being written bit by bit, day by day.”

  “Alright, but have you tried using any of your other magic for money? University mages can make a lot of money it seems to me. Just look at all the mages in here!” They glanced about the room, and indeed, there were a few magelike figures about, wearing clean, tidy robes with fine embroidery and accessories. “Now my shop makes me a lot of money, so I can easily afford this place. But this is not a place for everyone. You mages clearly make more money than most people. Why should you, brother, be wearing those robes then?”

  Rum shifted uneasily in his seat. “I have been forced to sell magic services sometimes for some people. But what I’m doing is more important than money! What I’m doing is discovering new magic! Just think of the possibilities! Should I open a shop to sell my services from day to day? Sure I could make some money. Over time maybe I’d even make more money than you little brother. But my life belongs to research. I cannot become a slave to the commerce of Ermos’ streets. My time must be spent on discovery – invention!” The wizard made a fist for emphasis.

  “Okay. I told you I have a spare bed, in my shop. I rest there sometimes if I’m working late, or partying even later and don’t want to walk home.” They smiled at the shared mental image. “You can sleep there, and I’ll get you some breakfast tomorrow. But do you have a plan? How will you survive without money?”

  Rum brushed off the concern. “I haven’t worried about money, not much worried at least, for six years now. I won’t start worrying today. Not now that I’ve rejoined with my little brother.” Rum made an affectionate smile. Amez’s brows suggested mild curiosity at the meaning of Rum’s statement, but the younger man decided not to pursue the subject any further.

  “Well” the little brother eventually said, “let’s drink some more to our reunion!” Tthe two brothers clanked their drinks. Soon their conversation restarted on more humble topics, and more drinks came, and food arrived, and suddenly it was all way into the night.