Durin often claimed that he lived his life on a whim. He did as he pleased on the streets, studied what he pleased at the academy, and when gravity magic struck a chord with him he pursued it as he pleased.

  The support of Docet Howitzer wildly expanded the realm that his whims could fall in to. He was competent at nearly everything, it seemed, a jack of all trades. Rather than being a master of nothing, however, he seemed to be developing a mastery over gravity.

  That first class on the Fundamentals of Gravity Magic was all that Docet Howitzer offered in terms of specific instruction, but it was not the only resource During had available to him. Penwrought pointed him to a variety of books, reports, and papers that could deepen his knowledge, or at least provide jumping off points for him to do his own research.

  His rational nature suggested to him that brushing up on his basics may be for the best before diving too deeply into gravity, but his whimsical nature itched in the back of his mind that to jump right in was just as good of an option. In the end he did both: he was inserted into a fundamental magicks class and tutored to the level of the other students, and he started diving deeper into his understanding of how gravity circuits functioned within Nonal's universal framework.

  What he discovered was that he was ill suited for serious research. He had studied much up to that point, but the studies of a young scholar barely scratched the surface of the depths he was expected to reach. Durin gained a very good understand of gravity magic, no doubt, but his compulsion to write about new discoveries ebbed quickly.

  On the other hand, he found himself oddly skilled at a side point of his fundamentals lessons: ad hoc circuit imagination, known colloquially as casting without a circuit. Most mages had some sort of basic spells they could manage without writing an actual circuit out, understanding the connections enough to hold them in their mind, but Durin shattered those limits in astounding ways.

  There were a few prerequisites that could be mixed and matched to help a mage cast without a drawn circuit. The most common was simply a detailed understanding of said circuit, where a circuit was used so often by a mage that they could do it from memory. Another option was visualization, effectively constructing the circuit in the mind and casting through an image - an impressive but dangerous feat, since a warped visualization would warp the spell in unpredictable ways. These could be combined, familiarity making up for deficiencies in visualization and vice versa, and more methods could supplement even further.

  Durin found himself well suited for one of these other methods: intuition. He simply knew how to manipulate the mana in his core to do what he wished.

  While this only provided middling assistance with his research activities, Docet Howitzer was still excited by his proficiency. There were combat competitions in which he could crush his opponents with his speed and flexibility. There were contract requests the academy took on to make extra money, and he was well-suited to many of those. Possibly the largest impact on both Durin and Docet Howitzer, however, was when he subbed in for a professor on the war front.

  The border with Arestria periodically became a conflict zone as the perpetual internal Arestrian conflicts settled down and the victors looked outwards for a time. Durin's time in the academy coincided with one of these periods. He happened to overhear Penwrought and another professor discussing how a few conscripted professors were injured in the war, pulled out of the conflict, and the crown was seeking replacement mages from among staff and students.

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  Durin happily chimed in, "I'll go. I think some hands-on practice might help." He was hitting something of a wall with his skills and knowledge, unsure how exactly to proceed, and this opportunity came up at just the right time.

  A week later he was shipped off to the border with two other students specialized in combat magicks along with Professor Penwrought, who despite being remembered now for fostering Durin's interest in gravity magic was actually a specialist in large-area circuit construction. The plan was to have Penwrought primarily working at the strategic level with other higher-ups while the students were sent into actual combat.

  The students were each assigned to an elite squad trained to support mages. In combat with magic, the goal was to make sure the mage could do their work as their impact could be as great as an army. Many of these elite squads had their own strategies and cultures developed around their duty, and Durin ended up in one of the simplest squads: *hold the line, let the mage do their thing, and if they mess up it's not our fault.*

  He responded in kind: *if they'll hold the enemies back, I'll make sure they don't have to do so for long.*

  Durin experimented with his powers. Picking them off one by one with typical combat spells, throwing fireballs and beams of energy, was certainly effective, but took longer than he liked while people were putting their lives at risk. Larger scale magicks, the explosive sorts, were difficult to aim precisely, putting even more risk on his guards. They were trained for this but it left a sour taste in his mouth.

  Gravity, as it always seemed to in his life, turned out to be the answer. He knew very well how to control the limits of his gravity magic so that he could even crush a man engaged with his heavies without the heavies being affected in the slightest.

  As he practised his powers grew. His mana capacity expanded even further, his familiarity with his magicks evolved, his instincts sharpened to a fine edge. Very soon Durin's heavies became more of an honour guard, assigned to him not because he needed protection but because the higher-ups were uncomfortable leaving such an important figure on his own. What if the Arestrians took to assassination? What if he wandered north into the Blasting Mountains? They were a security force, no longer a military unit.

  Mages may have been considered great military assets already, but Durin blew those expectations out of the water. If they needed to crush an assault, he could literally crush a whole battalion in an instant. If they wanted a commander captured, he could lift them straight out of the enemy camp and levitate them over to a Fionnian prison. Anything that needed doing was something that Durin could do.

  The limits of his magic were far beyond any horizon he could find. The border dispute with Arestria ended thanks to his intervention. When it started up again a few years later, he could stop it from back lines with nothing more than a map of enemy positions.

  His return to Docet Howitzer was odd as he never found a real goal to strive for. He was uninterested in circuits, but he could explain the nuances of mana flow well enough to help engineers improve their circuits in his stead. Grav carts and elevators were developed during this period. When researchers wanted his help studying specific gravitational effects he was always happy to help, taking it as a fun puzzle or challenge.

  This post-war period showed both that he could do anything that he wanted and that he was unsure what he wanted to do. The weight of choice became heavier as his choices expanded, and so he went along with the whims of others instead. But how long can a person live in this manner?

  It soon became evident that Durin did not age. Was he an Awakened? A demigod? Did he unlock some sort of magic that kept him alive? No one was sure. He just kept trudging along, one request at a time.

  Durin grew bored. He could do anything, sure, but what was worth doing? What did he really desire? At some point the joys of a bed and food were not enough for him, but he had nothing to replace that desire with. He wandered, he studied, he helped others, but in the end he just felt lost.

  Durin disappeared into the wastelands on his hundredth birthday. No one knew why, but the Mad Mage we were worried about was born that day.

  He wandered the Plains of Shattered Glass, attacking any he happened across. His powers grew ever stronger, to the point that he seemed unable to control them any longer. Diamonds grew underfoot wherever he walked, storms quieted in his presence, and those few who saw him and escaped reported a pressure weighing down them down, body and soul.