The Aetherium Mage

Ashephyles allowed his gaze to drift around the large courtyard, ‘Star’s Yard,’ the ponies called it. The entire area was inside a section of the castle that was open to the sky, located some three hundred or so meters behind to throne room, according to his escort. Four towering marble walls surrounded the open area, with two large double doors being the only entrances to the courtyard. Here, the hard marble floors of the castle faded away, replaced by soft grass and dirt, with the exception of a few paths here and there.

Oh, yeah, the courtyard was easily a thousand feet in either direction. This castle was massive. He managed to get some information out of his guard; it consisted of four sections, the first and smallest of which was the main bulk of the castle, which consisted of the guest rooms, dining halls, studies, and public areas. The second dug into the mountain from behind, creating a labyrinth of storage rooms, vaults, and other things the public didn’t see on a daily basis. The third section, and the section visible from the farthest away, was the myriad of towers. The third section included the room of both Princesses, the Archives, the Magical Research tower, the Archmage’s Quarters, and housing for a whole slew of other important castle staff, though the Alicorns’ towers were the highest, of course.

The fourth section, and the one that surprised Ash the most, was the section duginto the mountain from underneath, rather than behind. It was around 70% of the guard’s buildings and supplies. The barracks were underground, the forge was underground, the armory was underground, there were even training areas underground. Hell, Canterlot even had fourteen emergency bunkers scattered underneath the castle and the city itself!

Of course, there were a variety of ledges and other flat areas where the guard would train outside, including a few small yards and one large one in the castle itself. All in all, Ash was surprised at how well prepared this version of Equestria’s guard was. That didn’t mean they were good fighters; they could still be just as useless as he figured, but at least they had a fortified area to stage a defense of Canterlot from.

Though Ash took interest in the fourth section, known as the Defense Quarter, the mage knew it would be the various towers he would visit the most. Between the Magical Research tower, the Archmage, and the Archives, he felt as if he would visit the Sky Quarter the most. On that note, the other two areas were referred to, though not officially named, as the Storage Quarter and Public Quarter.

Turning his attention back to the courtyard, he saw that there were a myriad of trees dotted around the area. Some of them were oak, some were pine, and most were of types he had never seen before. An artificial stream ran through one half of the courtyard, flowing right past a large white gazebo with several red cushions situated on it. Ignoring them, Ash walked over to a large rock that sat in just the right place that it stopped the stream from flowing onto one of the paths and took a seat on it. With full intent to continue reading the guide, he slipped his phone out of his pocket and powered it up, quickly opening the Mage’s Guide to Aetherium Magic.

The app loaded the title screen quickly, then switched to the index. The entry Introduction to Aetherium Magic had turned green, whereas before it all the entries were written in white against a simple black background adorned with stars. The next five entries were still white, with all the others were red. He could only assume that green meant ‘completed,’ white meant ‘unlocked,’ and red meant ‘locked.’ One thing that confused him was the fact that the five schools were closer to the bottom of the list. Perhaps, rather than being about the schools of magic in general, they detailed how to achieve mastery over a specific school?

Dismissing the curiosity, Ash tapped the next unlocked entry, which happened to be Novice Spell List. It loaded immediately, showing several paragraphs of text before entering the list itself, which looked to be separated by school.

“As you may have noticed, when you finished the previous entry, you unlocked something called ‘Novice Spell Casting,’ yet it isn’t on the list. That’s because it isn’t an entry. You see, this guide is bound by powerful spells weaved by masters of Alteration, Illusion, and Conjuration schools. I told you previously that you shouldn’t attempt to cast a spell you aren’t ready for, but the truth is that you can’t. Your magic, for the time being, is locked to certain levels. Only after fulfilling the requirements will you unlock access to the next tier of spells, both in the guide and in the world.”

“With that over, this section is a list of all Novice-level spells, separated by their school of magic. You must be able to freely, effectively, and quickly cast the Novice-rank spell in a school to unlock the corresponding Apprentice-rank spell in the same school. To clarify, you must be able to cast Flames with only a moment's thought to gain access to Firebolt. However, knowing Firebolt will not give you access to Ice Spike, for example.”

“Last but certainly most importantly, you must understand the spell to become more skilled at casting it. The easiest way to do so is to cast it repeatedly. Flames against a wall, Calm at a raging wolf, or Muffle on yourself, familiarity breeds understanding, which breeds power. For those of you who have particularly strong connections to Aetherius, this is an effective way of becoming stronger.”

“On the other hand, you can simply skip familiarity and go straight to understanding. Knowing the hows and whys of the magic will give you the understanding you need, allowing your spells to be stronger and easier to cast. Keep in mind that you need to do this for every spell you learn, including higher ranks of the same class, such as Flames and Firebolt. While similar in effect, the process by which both spells are created and function are different. Go ahead and pick a school to focus on, select your starting spell, and begin learning. If you so choose, you can even pick up a few spells from other schools while focusing on your chosen one.”

So he needed to learn a spell in a specific rank of a specific school to progress to the next rank of the same school? That made sense, in a way. Even a scientist would have to start from scratch if he wanted to learn art. Looking over the list of spells, he saw that it included a good few, but it rose a problem. What school should he start with? Unlike in the game, he would actually have to focus on one or the other, he couldn’t mix and match until he started to really get the hang of the magic. As for the understanding… Ash felt like it wasn’t quite as simple as burning oxygen makes fire.

Destruction was the basic school of almost all Aetherium mages, Ash would guess. Being directly combat-oriented, it would allow him to fight and defend as he needed. With control over fire, ice, and lightning, he would be an effective combat mage. He also needed to keep in mind that he would need a job soon to avoid relying on royalty for his life and if he wanted his job to involve his magic, with Destruction as his primary school, he would most likely have to go into some kind of combat field, such as the guards or even as a mercenary. While it would give him practical experience, there were plenty of obvious risks to go along with it. Either way, he would make it a point to learn at least some spells from this school.

Illusion focused primarily around altering the emotions of enemies, such as Fury to force them to fight each other or Calm which would stop a fight. Unlike Destruction, creatures with a certain amount of will would be able to entirely ignore the effects of the Illusion school, though it did also offer Muffle and Invisibility as an Apprentice and Expert ranked spell, respectively, which would be useful if he wanted to be a thief, but he didn’t. Fury and Calm were about the only two he really wanted. Maybe Clairvoyance, which was Novice.

Alteration was one that was also somewhat combat-focused, with the most-used spells from it being armor spells such as Oakflesh and it’s variations. However, it also offered two useful spells early on and one great one later. Candlelight, which would create a ball of light floating over his head, and Equilibrium, which transfers life force into Magicka were both Novice-ranks, and he could even see them on the list. There was also the Adept spell Transmute, which turns iron to silver and silver to gold. If he mastered that spell, he wouldn’t need to work ever. Ash would likely make Alteration his secondary school.

Conjuration was an incredibly powerful school, sometimes even more so than Destruction. With Destruction, even the best of mages put themselves in harms way every so often, usually to get a good shot with a spell. However, those who master Conjuration were rarely at risk. He still remembered when he went down that tree in Skyrim; he would sit back, relax, and let his two summoned Dremora Lords slaughter everything like the demons they were. Not to mention the ability to summon Atronachs, reanimate the dead, fill soul gems, and even create weapons. However, the Conjuration school also had the most risk; a botched spell would result in a loose, uncontrolled Daedra.

Finally came Restoration. Always the spell he would put the least amount of points in, but always the one that kept him alive, Restoration dealt with, primarily, healing wounds. However, it also gave access to Wards, which would block hostile spells and other magic-based assault, and the ability to Turn Undead, which would make any undead affected by the spell flee from the caster. Most importantly, he could really help others by specializing in Restoration; the school was known for being able to heal fatal wounds and cure incurable diseases.

Thinking it over for several long moments, Ash eventually decided. He would focus on the Restoration school of magic, with spells from both Destruction and Alteration being added to his repertoire over time. With his decision made, he turned his attention back to the list.

Alteration, Novice:
Candlelight
Equilibrium
Oakflesh

Conjuration, Novice:
Bound Sword
Conjure Familiar
Raise Zombie

Destruction, Novice:
Flames
Frostbite
Sparks

Illusion, Novice:
Clairvoyance
Courage
Fury

Restoration, Novice:
Healing
Lesser Ward

Each spell was written in white, no doubt showing that they were unlocked. However, he figured each one was a link that led to a new page that would detail the spell in question. Tapping on Healing, he was met with a screen change. The new page had another black, star-ridden background with paragraphs of text. However, there was something new. Centered above the text was a shifting aura of light, which Ash quickly realized was the visual representation of the Healing spell. With that in mind, he began reading.

“The Healing spell, the most well known Restoration spell in Tamriel. Did you know that the only reason it’s well known is because Healing Hands is often mistaken as Healing? That’s right, ridiculous! For those of you not aware, Healing is a self-cast spell designed to heal the caster and the caster alone. Healing Hands, an Apprentice-rank spell, is designed to heal others.”

“With that in mind, realize that the Healing spell will fail to cast entirely should the caster not be injured. Yes, that means you must be hurt to practice this spell! No, I’m not asking you to cut a limb off- mostly because Healing won’t regrow it. Healing can be used to fix broken bones, lacerations, gashes, blood loss, yes, but that’s not what you want to practice on. It can also be used to heal soreness, paper cuts, finger pricks, and other tiny wounds that are nearly unnoticeable, which is what you’ll be practicing on.”

“To properly cast Healing, you must first know the nature of the wound. It doesn’t have to be specific, just known. You know that you have a broken rib? Doesn’t matter if its a hairline fracture, complete shatter, or even four broken ribs! Now that you know the injury, you can heal it all with the spell. Of course, the worse the injury is, the longer it will take to heal and the more Magicka it requires. Depending on both the injury you’ve received and the skill of yourself, it might even take several sessions to heal. You also need to envision a golden light coming from the hand you use to cast with and slowly wrapping around the injury, among other things that I’ll leave you to figure out.”

“Now that you understand how to cast the spell, you just need to do it! Go ahead, get a small knife, and cut your finger or anywhere else you so choose. No pain, no gain, eh?”

Reading that, Ash lowered his phone and turned to the guard who had been tasked with escorting him and gathering materials for him. She had moved over to the gazebo at some point and lied down, watching him and most likely using this assignment as a chance to rest and relax on the job, not that he blamed her. Seeing his attention turned to her, she quickly gained a curious look. “Do you need something, sir?”

“Will you find me a small knife? It doesn’t need to be big, but it does need to be sharp.” Ash requested.

She nodded and stood up from the cushion and quickly walked over to him. “You can use mine, if that suffices.”

“It will, thank you.”

The mare nodded once, using a hoof to reach underneath her left side, where her foreleg connected to her body, and he heard the sound of sliding metal as a knife seemed to appear out of thin air. Seeing his intrigued look, she smiled lightly. “Invisibility enchantment. It’s so nopony can disarm a guard and use their weapon against them.”

Flipping the knife around so she was holding it by the blade, she held the handle out to him, which he took. Looking it over, he saw that it was a plain thing, with a steel blade and a wooden handle. There were grooves in it that provided better grip, but they weren’t aligned to a human’s fingers so it felt a little uncomfortable. Idly, Ash wondered if the smoothed grooves aligned to a pony’s grip, however they gripped it aside. “Thank you, miss?”

“Private Star.” The mare replied, holding out her hoof to him.

Switching the knife to his left hand, he gripped her hoof with his right and shook it. “Ashephelyes, though you can call me Ash. Though, Star as in Star’s Yard?”

She smiled lightly and shook her head. “No, sir. This courtyard is called Star’s Yard because off-duty guards and staff will sometimes come here to stargaze. Every so often, Princess Luna will make an appearance to get to know the guards and staff a little better, which only makes this place more popular. May I ask what you are doing, if it’s not too bold?”

It seemed that the request had broken the ice and caught her interest, though Ash didn’t mind the questions at all. “It’s not too bold at all. I’m practicing and learning my form of magic which is different than that of a Unicorn’s or Alicorn’s. I’m currently learning a spell from the Restoration school of magic, specifically Healing.”

“So you want to be a doctor, or do you want to know the spell just in case?” Star asked.

“A little bit of both, honestly. If I’m right, and so far it seems like I am, some of the higher rank Restoration spells can heal fatal wounds and cure previously incurable diseases. If that’s the case, I want to be able to help, though I’m sure ponies will need to test my spells thoroughly before allowing me to cast them on patients.” Ash explained. “Healing, the lowest rank spell, only works under two conditions; it only works on the caster, and the caster has to have some type of wound to be healed. Otherwise, the spell just doesn’t cast.”

“That’s...actually a noble goal, Ash. If the spells really work that well, my advice would be to bring it to Princess Celestia herself. You’ll likely be able to avoid all the hoops a certifier will have you jump through and get certified much quicker.”

“Certifier?” Ash asked.

“A group of accomplished mages whose jobs include examining new spells, discovering what they are most effectively used for, and so on. If this healing spell works, you’ll have to get certified to use it on patients, or else you’re doing it illegally, and that involves a lot of tests and other things.” Star explained.

“Thanks for the warning. I’m going to start casting the spell now, and if you want to watch, feel free.” Ash said, receiving a nod in reply.

Gripping her knife in his right hand again, he quickly ran it across the palm of his left hand, leaving behind a trail of red that was growing. While the cut did hurt, it wasn’t incredibly painful, and it was lessened even more by the fact that he was expecting it entirely. Holding his right hand palm-down above his left, he imagined beams and ribbons of golden light trailing down from his hand onto his left, gently wrapping around it. He imagined the red blood slowly fading away, his hand itching as the wound slowly knitted itself closed. He imagined the pain fading away, replaced by a sense of warmth that relaxed the muscles and washed away any left over discomfort.

“Woah…” He heard Star breathe out. At some point, the line between imagination and reality blurred, the golden light seeming to fade out of his mind and into the real world. The itching he had imagined was now real, Ash having to force down the urge to cancel his spell and scratch the hell out of his hand. The blood that he imagined fading away was evaporating, a soft red mist rising from his hand and fading out. With the blood gone, he could watch as the wound began to close, the two sides coming together seamlessly, leaving behind not even a scar. Throughout the entire process, the two could hear a high-pitched humming sound that was the familiar sound of Healing.

Ash ended the spell and set his hand down, surprised to feel nothing, not even the tightness in his chest that he had expected. Then again, healing that tiny would had most likely taken almost no Magicka at all, just time. All in all, it had taken Ash about ten seconds for the spell to begin and about two for the spell to heal the cut. Examining his palm, he saw that the wound had entirely healed, no remaining discomfort, pain, or even tightness of flesh. Just a palm that was perfectly normal. From his side, he heard Star speak in amazement. “I’ve never seen magic look like that!”

“What do you mean, Miss Star?” Ash asked, tearing his gaze from his hand to the mare. Her pink eyes were wide, amazement and wonder clear in them.

“Most spells just have a glow around the caster’s horn, and another glow around the target.” She explained softly. “That magic… it seemed almost alive!”

Aetherius is the Immortal Plane of the Aedra, after all. Maybe it is alive, in a sense. Maybe that’s part of understanding spells and becoming better at them?

“Can you heal others with it?” Star asked curiously.

“Not yet, Miss Star.” Ash said, but before he could continue, the mare spoke.

“Just Star since we’re the only ones out here.” Ash nodded and continued.

“This spell is called Healing and it only works on the caster. Healing Hands, however, only works on another target. In order for me to learn Healing Hands, I need to be able to cast both Healing easily and quickly, and I'd like to be able to cast Lesser Ward.” Ash explained.

“What’s Lesser Ward?”

“A simple magical barrier than can block other magic. It does have a limit, though. Should the opponent spell be too powerful, it’ll shatter my Ward and stun me. I want to practice Healing a bit more before moving on to Lesser Ward.” Ash told her, which she nodded and proceeded to plant her rump on the ground, obviously enthralled by his magic. In all honestly, Ash found it surprising that an Earth pony was as interested as she was, but he didn’t mind. She provided the opportunity to talk and even bounce ideas off of if needed, which he would be thankful if it came to it.

Grabbing the knife from the top of the rock beside, he quickly ran it across his palm again, the sharpened cleanly slicing deeper into his hand than before, thankfully a clean cut rather than tearing or ripping his skin apart- a much more painful injury. Before he set the knife down, he cut his hand again perpendicular to the first cut, putting a large ‘X’ across his palm, wincing as the knife ran over the first cut again. He set the blade down and focused again, the same feelings and thoughts running through his mind as he imagined the wound healing.

This time, he was able to separate reality and his mind easier, actually noticing when the spell went from nothing more than his imagination to actual magic being casted. The light, once again, wrapped around his hand. This time, between the noticeable pain, the warmth, and the powerful sensation of his skin crawling and shifting, his concentration wavered. With a sound like a snapping thread, the ribbons of light split and the spell faded away. To his side, Star recoiled from the sudden sound, the loud noise entirely unexpected.

Ash grunted, breathing out a swear as the pain returned in full-force, seemingly even greater than before. Reaching down to the stream, he washed his hand of the blood and examined it. To his surprise, the wound was worse. What was once two clean lines was now two jagged slashes, with the air they met looking red and smooth like it had been burned slightly. Before anything else could happen, his phone let out a soft beep, catching his and Star’s attention. Sticking his left hand back in the water to wash the blood off and cool the burn, he grabbed his phone and tapped twice, lighting the screen up to the same app. However, the Healing page was gone, replaced by a pop-up message from the app.

“Congratulations, you experienced your first backlash! This means your concentration wavered or vanished while casting a spell! All spells can do as such, though higher-tier spells have a much worse consequence. As you may have noticed, a failed Healing spell actually makes the wound worse! Why? Because the pure Magicka snaps, crackles, and pops, leaving behind mana burns and damaging the flesh. I have good news and bad news for you, though.”

“Good news, the damaged flesh can be healed by casting the spell again and not losing your focus. Bad news, mana burns can’t be healed by Magicka, as the burns themselves are created by Magicka and therefore immune to magic. I know what you’re thinking. Don’t. While covering yourself in mana burns to make yourself immune to magic does work, it’s not worth it. I’ve lost two students to such a foolish idea!”

The information was useful, since Ash had never heard of mana burn nor backlashes, though that made sense. The Dragonborn wouldn’t have been nearly as successful if his spells exploded in his face while fighting Alduin. Once he set the phone back down on the rock, Star quickly walked over, nervousness clear in every step. “Are you alright?”

“Ish.” Ash replied. “I lost my focus because of the pain and the distraction of the spell itself, which made it backlash. The cuts are worse now and there’s a bit of a mana burn, there, which I’ll have to deal with.”

“Why can’t you just heal it?”

“Mana burn can’t be healed by Magicka because it’s caused by Magicka. I guess it’s like trying to heal a fire burn with fire. Well, not exactly like that, since a mana burn is outright immune to magic.” Ash explained.

“I get the idea. What was that thing that beeped?”

“My guide on magic. It’s attuned to my own magic...somehow. Because of that, it knows when I fuck a spell up and can even restrict my access to higher level magics to prevent me from killing myself by casting a spell that’s too high or too hard for me.” Ash explained, though Star winced when he swore.

“Don’t...don’t do that. Don’t swear. It’s wrong.” Star pleaded, her large eyes staring at him.

I don’t give a fuck.

“Like I told the Princesses, I’ll try, but my kind swears all the time, so I’m trying to undo two decades of conditioning and I’ve been here less than a day. Give me a moment for me to try to heal the cuts, okay?”

“Okay.” Star replied softly.

Ash pulled his hand out of the water, watching as cuts began to leak blood, which ran down the side of his hand and dripped into the stream, where it was washed away by the miniscule current. Keeping his hand flat and still, he held his right hand over it and imagined the tendrils of light again, the simple yet effective Healing spell that would close the cuts. He imagined the humming of the spell, the ribbons of light, the itching of his flesh, and closing wounds. Soon enough, the spell began to cast, his jagged cuts on his hand slowly inching closer and closer to each other. Several seconds later, Ash allowed the spell to end, running his thumb over his palm. While the cuts were healed and gone, the burn still remained. It stung to the touch, but wasn’t too bad. It felt less like being burned by hot grease and more like holding his hand over not-quite boiling water for a couple seconds.

“I think that’s enough cutting and healing myself.” Ash said, mostly to himself. “I don’t want to cut my left hand again with the burn there, and I’m not sure how it will affect my casting if I try to cast with my left hand.”

“Why don’t you start to learn the Ward?” Star asked. “I can get a Unicorn to cast spells at you for you to block.”

“I’d appreciate that, but not yet.” The mage said. “I’d like to be able to hold it up, first.”

From what Ash figured, he still had most of his reserves left. With his connection to Aetherius, he was always regaining his Magicka, except when he was casting, and Healing wasn’t a hard to cast spell, so he should have plenty left. He figured he would practice until he could hold a Ward, then ask Star to find a Unicorn and ask them to help. Lighting up his phone screen and hit ‘back’ brought him back to the Novice spell list from before. Tapping Lesser Ward brought him to a new page, which showed a blue shield of energy instead of golden light.

“Wards are, amongst the Restoration school, some of the hardest spells to cast. The Lesser Ward, fortunately for you, is just as easy to cast as any other Novice spell! Now that you’ve experienced a backlash, I will begin warning you what the backlash of each spell does. A Lesser Ward, when failed, will temporarily sever your connection to Aetherius, which will be reformed after a few minutes. It will also physically throw you backwards, up to ten feet or so, so make sure you aren’t on a ledge!”

“All Wards will allow spells to pass through them one-way, so make sure you don’t hold them backwards! With an active Ward, you will be able to block incoming spells while still casting your own, though Wards should be used only when necessary as they are rather Magicka intensive. My recommendation is to dodge most spells and block the ones you can’t dodge.”

“To cast a Lesser Ward, you must first hold your hand flat, palm out, in front of you. The direction of your palm is the direction the Ward is facing, so never face your palm toward you. Spells will pass straight through the Ward and hit you! To cast, you must imagine a stream, a blue stream specifically. This stream is your Magicka. Imagine it flowing through your body, out your casting hand, and into a shield around your hand. This will cast the Ward. Should the ‘stream’ be interrupted, the spell will backlash. Should this stream begin to ‘dry out,’ end the spell immediately. It means you are running low on Magicka, and if you run out with an active Ward, it will backlash. Try casting it. Practice maintaining the spell under normal conditions before having another mage shoot a spell at you. You don’t want it to fail mid-combat!”

Looking up from his phone that he held in his left hand, he pointed his right hand outward, the palm and fingers as flat as he could make them. He imagined the stream Shalidor had said, imagined the flow of pure Magicka as the energy exited his reserves, flowed into his hand, and into the air in front of him. As he watched, the air began to turn blue with a flickering ‘rim’ around the shield as the Ward took hold. He held it for several seconds, feeling a tightness in his chest form and held it for several more. Ash ended the spell up abruptly as the tightness faded, replaced by an urge to throw up. He doubled over, holding onto his throat with his right hand as he let out a loud groan.

Ash heard Star quickly trot around the edge of the rock and stop next to him, speaking softly. “Are you okay? Do you need me to get a doctor?”

“No,” Ash forced out. “Just a little sick from spending too much Magicka. Give me a few minutes. I’ll be fine.”

She nodded and sat down, patiently waiting for him to recover. After about fifteen minutes, Ash sat up again and gave her a small smile. “Thanks for waiting for me. How long did I hold it up for?”

“About twenty seconds.”

“That’s why.” The man grunted. “I’m going to have to cancel on testing the Ward against a Unicorn today.”

“Why?”

“I’m at about 40% of my reserve. I won’t be back to full for another hour or so.” Ash explained.

“Why don’t you go take a short nap on the gazebo, then? I can bring you something to snack on and then go search for a Unicorn to practice with.” Star offered. At this point, she was interested in his magic just as much as he was, and she didn’t know if she would be assigned to him again so this might be her only chance to see him cast his strange magic. The way the Ward had flickered and shifted made it seem even more alive than the Healing spell had. It amazed her.

Ash considered her offer for a moment. He didn’t like the idea of taking a nap in the middle of the day. Actually, with a glance to his phone, he saw that it was now three in the afternoon. Still, he didn’t want to sleep. Instead, he wanted to read up on the Enchanting entry. That was something that he could really use, and he wanted to know how Soul Gems worked or even if they still existed in the real world.

“Yeah, I think I’ll take you up on that.” Ash said, slowly rising to his feet. “Though I don’t think I’ll sleep. I’ll probably just read some more of the guide. Thank you.”

“No problem, sir. A maid will be by with a snack in twenty minutes or so, and I’ll be back once I find a Unicorn.” The guard reassured him before walking toward the door they had used to enter. Ash watched her leave for a moment, then turned and walked over to the gazebo and lied down on it, using the soft cushions to keep him off of the hardwood. While the sun outside wasn’t particularly hot, it was warm in the sunlight, and the shade provided a nice cool area for him to rest in.

“How hard can enchanting be, anyway?” Ash murmured to himself, opening his phone once again.