I had lived for 8 star-cycles when I first learned to Farstep. By 10, I had earned my Intercity Teleportation license; by 15, my Interplanetary.

While similar, the magic used for a Farstep is actually not the same as a Teleport. Farsteps use corporeal magic, which means I can go a short ways - as far as I have energy for - in the blink of an eye. The most portly Sages are renowned for their ability to Farstep further than anyone - my tutor was the first Sage to step halfway around the world, a thousand star-cycles ago.

Teleports are used for those that have a bit more time or distance to travel, and want to conserve energy. Using symbolic drawings, gestures, and a spell, we can use the ethereal magic of the universe to fuel a much further Teleport (or "leap")... basically anywhere we want.

Sages are our great explorers and discoverers. The Thirteen Great Sages are the first thirteen to discover and use the teleportation spell to travel between planets. Each of them went to another planet in our star-group in search of land and food, planets better suited for growing crops than our mostly dry and ever more populated planet. Of the Thirteen, four returned; of them, two told of planets where life could grow unbound. A planet of food to feed a planet of people.

We discovered more planets since then, and more spells, so fewer Sages risk their lives. There is still the occasional Sage that leaps into a volcano or finds themselves caught in a gaseous planet with no way to leap back; but if there is no atmosphere, we create one. If there is no water, we irrigate it from a planet drowning in water. More planets, more people, more food. We are ever growing.

The first native aliens we ran into had yet to discover any spells, so we taught them. Few other species had discovered Leaping, and none had needed to do Interplanetary Leaps to save their people. Until we met the Terrans.

Terrans, self-labeled as "humans", had discovered powerful magics that put our Sages to shame. World-ending magics. They could perform an intergalactic leap with no preparation, just a press and a click. Interplanetary blinks that took no energy from the user. We wanted to learn from them; we wanted them to join our folds.

What fools we were.

Humans were also ever-growing, and very proud. If they weren't at the top, they might as well have been at the bottom. Those that wanted to learn our magic went insane trying to understand it until they gave up, deciding to just use their familiar magic. They had an answer to everything - for a fingerspark, a "lighter". For farspeak, a "radio". Tools imbued with magic that any of them could use - something we had never accomplished. Every magic and magic artifact we had took study and mastery before using it could become so second-nature.

Though they almost never used magic of their own, humans saw our magic as a threat - undetectable power that could be turned against them at any time. And because they felt threatened, their great magics became our greatest fears. I've lost friends to a human who didn't understand they were trying to form a telekinetic bond with it, taking it as a threat. We tried scaring them away once, attacking their floating fortress. They responded by leveling a city. My tutor was one who led the attack on the fortress, and was in the city where he perished with so, so many others. One of the greatest Sages of all time, extinguished in an instant.

I'm in my 25th star-cycle now. That attack was three days ago. I don't know what's going to happen next, but I fear we're going to need a new planet by the time the humans are done with us.

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Original: https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/ahab8h/wp_we_did_it_we_finally_achieved_ftl_travel_at/eee83q0