《Spark of Brilliance》


 Chapter 1 - A baleful shadow

    Nathan observed every detail of the mana circuit, while he carefully poured the mana essence on the carved stone. The translucent liquid filled line after line of the complex structure. Whenever a pattern was complete, a slight, blue glow emerged from the carvings, indicating that it started to work. When the whole circuit was soaked, a soft wind tousled his short, blonde hair and the temperature above the carving started to rise. Small tongues of red flames formed, licking across the black surface of the oven.


    Nathan closed his eyes. He began to feel the mana, diffused through the air in the kitchen. The highest density was right above the circuit of the oven, slowly spreading through the room. Concentrating his senses on a small area in front of him, he willed the mana to gather and tried to force it into the shape of the oven''s mana circuit. But as always, just when he managed to create the rough outline, it suddenly dispersed. Nathan opened his eyes with a resigned sigh.


    "Why doesn''t it work? I remembered the circuit perfectly." he complained to himself in a low voice and scrutinized once more the black granite block, on which the circuit was carved. It was at least fifty years old. Back then, when his grandfather was still alive, he loved to tell the story of how he bought it right after the release of the first magic ovens in the capital. He had to fight with a stranger woman over it and ended up marrying her a few weeks later.


    His mother called out from the dining room. "Nathan, did you start-up the oven?"


    "Yes, mom."


    "Then go, help your sister with the dough honey"


    "Yes, Yes." Slightly annoyed Nathan walked towards the wooden kitchen table, where his elder sister Natalie watched him with a glint of amusement in her eyes.


    "Is the great magician forced to lower himself to do mundane kitchen work?" She teasingly asked.


    "Oh shut up, I never claimed to be a great magician." Slightly irritated Nathan started to roll out the dough for the noodles. With a peal of bright laughter, Sarah also directed her attention back to the table.


    "Don''t be such a sourpuss. I''ve never heard of a magician able to do magic without some form of wand or accessory, why do you even try?"


    "And since when did you become an authority in magic? I bet in the Moria Republic dozens of mages who can do just that!"


    "Dream on brother, just wait till your semester at Gilsbeck starts. Don''t be such a try-hard."


    "Who asked you, Natalie? Mind your own business."Annoyed by his sister, Nathan decided to ignore her for the rest of the day.


    "Pff, how uncute." Natalie pouted.


    "Don''t always tease your brother Natalie." Their mother, a slightly plump woman in her fifties, with, for westerners typical, blonde hair and blue eyes, had entered the room while both siblings quarreled. "Its good that he takes magic seriously, maybe he will be someone famous in the future."


    "Sure, mom." Natalie confirmed with an obvious disbelieve in her voice.


    Sarah could only shake her head. Since Nathan got his acceptance letter to the Gilsbeck Magic School, his sister used every chance she got to poke fun at him. Sarah knew that Natalie was a bit jealous of her Brother, for being born with a rare talent for magic, but some things just couldn''t be changed.


    "Finish preparing the noodles you two, your dad will arrive soon."


    Half an hour later, the Shaw family sat together in the small but comfy dining room. It was one of the most luxurious rooms in the old house. The chairs even had an embroidered green padding, bought to impress the guests that came to visit Nathans father Lionell. This evening, the smell of fresh pasta and spicy meatballs permeated the air while the four Shaws enjoyed the food.


    "Your meatballs are great, Sarah." Lionell complimented the food after finishing his plate.


    "You always say that dear," she answered with a smile on her face.


    "Because they are always great." Lionell winked at his wife, then turned to Nathan.


    "Did you prepare everything for your journey to Moria, son?" he asked, switching to the common language of the western continent.


    "Yes, of course, I packed everything I need." Nathan''s answer was slow but without mistakes, Lionell nodded content.


    "Good. Remember, the whole village contributed to the tuition fee for your school. You will not only be working for your own future but for the future of the whole village. Like uncle Thomas, your friends from the village school, or Lizzy."


    Nathan was visibly blushing. "Why should I care about Lizzy?"


    "Oh, is our great magician shy?" Natalie said with a snicker.


    He glared at her. "Be quiet, you''re already 19. Go and look for a husband instead of meddling in my affairs!"


    "Why should i take one of those country bumpkins? My future is in the city."


    Upon her proud statement, Lionell frowned, rubbing his forehead lightly with his right hand.


    "Kids, don''t argue on our last evening together. Nathan will be gone for at least half a year before he can visit us again."


    Natalie stuck out her tongue and turned her attention back to the still half-filled plate. Lionell began to speak again.


    "I just wanted to remind you, that everyone contributed. You should take some responsibility for that, by studying hard and becoming successful. Everyone knows that you can''t blame your talent if you fail!"Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    "I know dad, no need to lecture me, I''m well aware of that." Nathan answered whole-heartedly.


    Lionell stared at him for a few seconds, before smiling and continuing with a gentle voice.


    "Yes, i know that you''re not an irresponsible person, but sometimes people forget their roots when they''re overwhelmed by new experiences."


    "Honey, eat up and go to bed early," Sarah interjected, "the carriage, that will take you to the port, arrives after dusk. You need to be ready by then."


    "Yes mom." Nathan hurried to clear the last noodles from his plate. With a grin he looked at his sister.


    "Dear sister, i have to go to bed early, I''m sure you wouldn''t mind cleaning my plate and cutlery for me right?" His last word weren''t even said yet, when he already rushed out of the dining room. Infuriated Natalie shouted after him:


    "Marry Lizzy if you want someone to do the housework for you, you lazy pig."


    Sarah eyed Natalie with a serious look.


    "You know, daughter, he is right in one thing, you''re three years older than him, when will you marry and give us some grandchildren?"


    "Oh mom, stop it. I will marry when I feel like it." Annoyed Natalie started to clean up the table while her mother watched her with worry in her eyes.


    "It is just that-"


    "MOM!"


    "Dear, say something." Having no success with her daughter, Sarah tried to get Lionell to interfere.


    "Just let her do whatever she wants Sarah, when Nathan becomes a magician it really would''ve been a waste for her to marry within the village." He grinned sheepishly at Natalie.


    "Thanks, dad, even though I don''t appreciate your reasons for supporting me."


    Feriona was quiet. A full moon bathed the old, wooden houses of the village in a ghastly white light, and a soft breeze filled the night with the sound of dry, rustling leaves. The window in the second floor of a house on a small hill opened with a slight creaking noise, startling a pair of Kuruck birds that nested in the tree right beside it. A few seconds afterwards Nathan''s head peeked out of the window. After making sure, that no one was around, he climbed out, his movements were steady and calm as if he had practiced them a thousand times. With a slow motion he let himself down from the roof of the first floor and landed in the grass without making any noises.


    "The escape was successful once again." A wide grin could be seen on his face under the pale moonlight. He was careful to not make any noises as he sneaked away from the house. After walking several minutes through the dark and quiet alleys, he left the last buildings of the village behind. In the outskirts, wide fields of wheat extended as far as the eyes could see. To the left of the village, the broad Fera river flowed quietly towards the distant ocean. He didn''t wait for long when he heard light footsteps coming up from behind. He turned around. A slender girl, with a cute face and long blonde hair, that reached down to her buttocks, waved at him timidly.


    "Lizzy, I''m happy that you came." Blood shot into his face when he involuntarily thought back to the dinner with his family.


    "Of course I would come, Nathan, it''s your last day here, how could I miss it."


    Smiling Nathan grasped Lizzy''s hand. A hot sensation rushed through his body when he felt her warm skin. Without talking to each other, they walked through the fields, until they arrived at a small hill with an old oak tree towering over it. Nathan sat down on the ground, with his back leaning on the trunk and Lizzy perched beside him, resting her head on his right shoulder. For a few minutes, they just looked into the sky, watching the few clouds moving across the starry night.


    "I will miss you Nathan" Lizzy soft voice broke the silence. Nathan looked at her for a few seconds, then kissed her on her forehead.


    "I will miss you too Lizzy. Promise me to wait for my return."


    "You don''t need to ask me that dummy." Lizzy giggled, playfully drawing with her fingers across Nathan''s chest.


    Her voice turned into a whisper. "You know that I''m yours, don''t you?"


    Nathan felt his heart beat faster and stronger with each of her strokes. He put his arms around Lizzy, letting her sink in his embrace. Slowly he moved his head down. His lips inched closer and closer to her face. He could feel her hot breath on his skin, enticing, seductive. Lizzy hugged his neck and pulled him the last, small distance, until their lips touched. Lost in the sensation, Nathan''s embrace got stronger. His kiss more intense. Then, Lizzy abruptly nudged him to the side.


    "Lizzy, what-"


    "Shush!" Lizzy held her hand over his mouth. "Don''t you hear that noise?"


    "What noise?" Nathan tried to concentrate, but the only sounds he heard was the blood in his ears, pulsating with his heartbeat. It took him some effort to calm down his heart and finally heard a low buzzing, that seemed to fill the atmosphere.


    He looked questioningly at Lizzy.


    "What is this sound?"


    "I don''t know. Let''s go back to the village. It gives me the creeps."Lizzy grabbed Nathan''s arm and pulled him up. They ran towards the village as fast as they could, when suddenly a sharp shadow divided the fields into light and darkness. Nathan raised his head. His breathing became faster and his grip on Lizzy''s hand tighter.


    "Nath, you hurt me!" Lizzy punched his shoulder with her free hand, but Nathan didn''t react. When she realized, that he was staring at the sky, she also raised her head.


    A humongous airship blocked half of the moon. Its slim shape, looking like a stretched turtle shell, radiated blue light from the flying circuits, which were placed in an ellipse along the edge of the airship. Somewhere at the front, the mana circuits radiated so brightly, that it seemed like the eyes of a beast, staring at its prey. If not for the bright moonlight it would have looked like a cloud of floating, abstract lines, racing across the sky.


    "Lizzy, it''s getting slower..."


    "What?! There''s nothing here except our village, why would it slow down?" She was panicking. Lizzy never saw an airship in her life, but something that arrived deep in the night, accompanied by this horrifying buzzing, this couldn''t be anything good. Nathan and Lizzy involuntary stopped running when they saw that the airship halted over the village. Unsure what to do they looked at each other. Shortly after the airship positioned itself, Nathan heard a few dozens of loud bangs, followed by the hissing noise of sharp objects cutting through the air. He tried to find where those noises came from, but the weak moonlight wasn''t bright enough for him to see anything in front of the dark sky. Then the earth trembled. Directly besides them a black pole, at least 3 meter high, crashed into the earth. Startled they jumped back a few steps. Nathan looked at the menacing pillar that stuck upright in the ground. Behind them, and further away, they could hear the sounds of more pillars thrusting into the earth.


    "This is bad." Nathan said with a shaking voice.


    "We should-" He interrupted himself when he saw that blue patterns started to glow on the surface of the black pillar.


    "Mana circuits? What the hell are these?" Nathan wanted to go closer but was held back by Lizzy.


    "Don''t go there, it''s dangerous!"


    They watched silently as the circuits completed. Nearly instantly a paper-thin wall of ice with the same height of the pillars formed and, like a sharp blade, cut the space between them, extending to another pillar behind. The hand, Nathan held in his left, became limp. With a horrified expression in his face, he turned his head. Releasing a bloodcurdling scream, he slid down to the ground. There Lizzy lay, her body cut apart straight from the left shoulder downwards. With a puzzled look in her eyes, she tried to form words, but only blood gushed out through her lips. Nathan embraced her body in tears, desperately wailing, while he stroked her hair. Realizing what just happened, tears began to form in Lizzy''s eyes. With her last strength, she raised her right hand and caressed Nathan''s cheek. Then her body became rigid, and the light in her eyes was lost forever. Nathan wept bitterly. He was still embracing her, when the buzzing noise, coming from the airship, increased in volume. He looked absent-minded towards the sky when he realized that it lowered its altitude as if it wanted to land on the fields in front of the imprisoned village. At the same time, a dull pressure enveloped his head. He felt increasingly sluggish and tired. Something in his brain told him, that he had to hide or it would mean certain death. He stumbled half-unconscious towards the old oak tree and managed to hide in a hole between its roots before his mind went blank.

 Chapter 2 - The day after

    When Nathan regained consciousness, the bright light of the morning sun shone through the root network. In the same second he opened his eyes, he abruptly rose from the ground.


    "Lizzy!"


    Climbing out of his hiding place he rushed to the village, hoping, that everything he experienced the night before was nothing but a horrible nightmare. But after running for only a few seconds, he slowed down came to a halt. He didn''t see any houses. He looked around confused, but no matter which direction, all he saw were fields and the river. Where was the village? He once again ran into the direction where Feriona was supposed to be. When he finally arrived, large areas of uncovered earth greeted him. No buildings, no roads, no wells. If someone arrived a few weeks later, the ground would be covered in grass and no one would think that there ever was a village in this place. Nathan sank on his knees, a vacant look in his eyes. He couldn''t understand what happened here. More than an hour passed, Nathan was still kneeling on the bare ground without any motion. Not until he heard the clatter of horse hooves, coming from the road, did he regain his senses. He turned his head towards the sound. A shabby carriage, pulled by an old, grey donkey, was driving towards Nathans.


    "Ay, boy," the driver shouted to Nathan, "I seem to be a bit lost here, could ya point me the direction to Feriona?"


    Nathan tried to answer, but his mouth struggled to form words.


    "Hey, are ya mute boy?"


    The carriage arrived besides him.


    "Boy? You look as if ya''ve seen a ghost, whats up with ya?" The driver looked carefully at Nathan


    "I... Feriona... it is gone."


    "Gone? How is it gone? Speak sentences boy, would ya?"


    Nathan looked at the brown ground in front of him. Without any more words he pointed toward what has been his village, until the night before. The driver began to understand.


    "Ya say, this here is Feriona?"


    His look wandered across the wasteland in front of him. He scratched his nose in bewilderment.


    "Ya sure?"


    In this moment Nathan broke down, a flood of memories from his family and friends surged through his mind. Tears began forming in his eyes, and he started to weep copiously.


    The driver''s voice became quiet. "Guess it is so."


    He watched Nathan cry for a few minutes before talking to him again.


    "What happened here, boy? I was supposed to fetch some Nathan and drive him to Port Verago."


    After Nathan didn''t answer, he lay his hand on Nathan''s left shoulder and applied soft pressure.


    Yanked out of his memories, Nathan once again looked at the burly man.


    "I.. I am Nathan." He closed his eyes, trying to regain some calm before he continued talking. "Feriona was attacked by a big airship yesterday... I don''t know why, it''s all gone, everyone is gone!"


    "Attacked huh?" The driver glanced at the brown earth. "Must''ve been an awful the ferocious mage then." He looked at Nathan. "So ya''re Nathan? I hate to ask, but do ya still need my carriage? I drove quite a few hours for ya."


    Rage welled up in Nathan.


    "You want money, yes!?" He took out a small purse from his trousers and threw it at the driver. "Here, have as much as you want asshole, now leave me alone!"


    Confronted by Nathan''s outburst the driver only shrugged with his shoulders.


    "I don''t want to be a dick. It''s just that my donkey doesn''t feed on compassion, ya know?" He sighed. "Let me give ya a piece of advice. Take ya purse, pay me what I''ve earned and let me bring ya to Verago. Ya need at least 20 hours on foot to travel to the next village. If ya''re not robbed or mauled on the way."


    Nathan stayed silent, only glaring at the driver defiantly.


    "Do what ya want."


    The driver collected the purse from the ground, took a few silver thales out of it and held it towards Nathan, who hesitated to take it. Finally, his rationality pushed the grief into the background, and he reached out for it.


    "Good decision boy. Now get up." The expression of the driver became soft, he didn''t want to leave Nathan in this nowhere-land, but he couldn''t force him to make this decision.


    After a last, long glance over the devastated area, where Feriona stood for centuries before vanishing in a single night, he climbed on the carriage and sat beside the driver.


    "Thank you." Nathan''s low voice was nearly inaudible, but the driver grinned satisfied.


    "No problem boy."


    For the first time, Nathan took a real look at the driver. He was a buff man in his forties with a multitude of scratches and scars all over his face and arms. His short, blonde hair and stubbly beard gave him the aura of a fearless adventurer.


    "I''m Mark. It''s a pleasure to meet ya."


    Nathan nodded slightly, deep in thoughts. After calming down a bit, a torrent of questions poured into his brain. Why was the city attacked? Did someone offend some noble in the capital? That was unlikely, most of the villagers never even traveled a few dozens of kilometers away from Feriona, much less to one of the big cities. It wasn''t an invasion either. If another kingdom invaded, they would loot and steal, but they wouldn''t completely destroy the villages, a land without humans was pretty worthless after all. And even though the village was razed, he didn''t see a single corpse except for... arriving at that thought, the last seconds of Lizzy''s life replayed in his memory. A deep sadness overcame Nathan. Even if the other villagers survived, he wouldn''t see her face again.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Mark seemed to have noticed the shift in his emotions and started to talk merrily about the travels and adventures he went on when he was younger. Everyone else would probably have been greatly entertained by his mix of swaggering and self-deprecation, Nathan, however, was not listening to him. To heavy was the impact of the last night''s events and the loss of everything he knew. He told himself hundreds of times, that he had to be strong, that they might still be alive, just captured and abducted. Maybe caught by some evil magician for his nefarious experiments. Nathan chuckled bitterly on this thought. This wasn''t one of the hero stories his mother used to tell them in the cold winter evenings. It''s not like Nathan had an artifact or friendly spirit that would help him to overcome any opponent within a few months. Even if they were abducted, he wouldn''t be able to do anything about it in the years to come. After brooding over the possible reasons for what happened, he straightened his back and stared straight ahead. He had nothing, nothing but his talent for magic. Maybe, one day, when he was an accomplished magician, he would be able to find out who attacked them and get revenge for his friends and family.


    Nathan''s senses returned to reality. When he looked up, the afternoon sun seemed especially bright for him, as if he crawled out of a cave and saw the sky for the first time in decades.


    "... boar as big as a house, and before anyone could react, it rammed its thick, dumb skull straight into the cliff. Ya should''ve seen it, he ground trembled for minutes, gigantic rocks broke away and squashed its head." Mark smacked his leg in excitement.


    "How long until we reach Port Verago?" Nathan interrupted his story.


    "Oh, ya''re talking. We''ll arrive after dawn, 5 or 6 hours to go."


    "Or rather ride." Mark added with a grin.


    "What are you going to do in Verago, boy?"


    "I don''t know." Nathan quietly said. "I was supposed to take the ship to Gilsbek and join the magic school there, but... I just don''t know."


    "Magic school? So ya''re one of those guys that can control mana? Makes me envious. If I knew magic, I''d still be adventuring." Mark made a short break before continuing. "I had a mage in my party once, great guy, a bit unsocial, but he made the biggest explosions I''ve ever seen. Great stuff."


    "You know a mage?" Nathan asked with an eager voice.


    "A few to be exact, adventuring makes a lot of friends, ya know?"


    "Tell me about them, do you know someone who can do magic without a tool?"


    Mark thought about Nathan''s question for a bit.


    "Without a wand or so? Never heard of it, most of the guys I knew used a big ass staff."


    "Why a staff?"


    "It''s all about the mana boy, mana crystals are damn expensive, so they have to use large staffs made from bad quality mana rocks to cast the same number of spells as some noble with his fancy jewelry."


    "How many spells can you cast with such a staff?" Having found someone who knows magicians, Nathan didn''t hold back with his questions. In his village, all he was told was hearsay and the bit of information that the bypassing recruiters from magic schools let slip.


    "Depends boy, depends. I''m not some expert in this, but from what i saw, the normal magic staffs are good for a few dozens of large spells, dunno about how many smaller spells they cast, though. I


    bet high-quality staffs can easily keep going for more than a hundred spells."


    Mark furrowed his brows, as he tried to remember back to his days where he was adventuring.


    "We fought a fugitive mage once, who killed a noble and stole his stuff. He had a bracelet with a pure mana crystal as big as a fingernail. I tell you, this guy could keep on casting for the whole day, he bombarded our hiding spot with all kinds of spells to force us out." He smirked a bit. "Didn''t help him though, in the night our assassin sneaked over and cut his throat. Sadly that bastard tried to cast a spell when he was dying, messed up his circuits and blew up everything. There wasn''t much left of his robbed stuff afterwards."


    In the following hours Mark kept on recounting his experiences with magicians, Nathan listened attentively, but to his regret, nearly everything Mark told him were anecdotal stories with few facts. Still, it helped him to get an impression of what it was like, to be a low tiered magician. They were something like the last resort and wouldn''t fight if not necessary. Probably due to magic tools being too expensive to be used up. Fighting opponents that could be beaten in other ways would be a waste. What they all had in common was, that they rarely formed free-floating mana circuits with the mana drawn out from mana rocks. Mostly they used the mana circuits already carved in their tools, just channeling it through them. When he asked Mark about this, he only said its faster this way and does the job, not really caring about the process of how magic was cast.


    A few hours after the sun vanished behind the horizon, the gatehouse of Port Verago appeared in front of them. Due to the late hour, the muddy area in front of the closed main gate was not very busy. Only a few people lined up at a smaller, iron gate beside it. When they arrived at the line, Mark stopped talking about his experiences and observed the two guards. Not diverting his eyes from the gate, he leaned down to Nathan and whispered to him.


    ¡°When they ask us what we''re coming to Verago for, just say ya want to look for work. If they hear ya''re going to some magic school, they''ll assume ya''re rich or something and ask for a higher fee. They can''t do that for some poor sob who came to make a living.¡±


    Nathan nodded slightly, what Mark said made sense, his father told him once, that the soldiers on guard duty were paid quite badly because its known, that they will increase their pay by illegal means anyways. This policy didn''t do much to ease that problem, though. It rather increased it to a point, where fees and punishments were pretty much arbitrary.


    The line moved slowly forward, one person at a time was interrogated and let in. Most of the people in line were hunters and field workers. The guards let them pass without much delay, However, when it was the turn for a trader, that owned three carts filled with merchandise, a loud argument broke out. It was quite obvious, that the guards fancied some of the items for themselves, while the trader was unwilling to be extorted. But in the end, he still had to comply. The guards each carried a few items into the guardhouse and let the cursing trader pass. A few minutes later it was Nathan''s turn.


    ¡°Where are you from, what''s your occupation and why are you visiting Port Verago?¡± the guard asked in a monotonous and bored voice. Mark took the initiative and answered first.


    ¡°I''m working here as day labor and was visiting my family to bring them some items from the market and my last earnings.¡± The guard raised his left eyebrow. Before he could answer, Mark continued:


    ¡°When I was on my way back, I met this boy sitting besides so road, so i took him along.¡±


    ¡°I remember you, didn''t the same thing happen four days ago?¡± The guard eyed Mark suspiciously, but he only shrugged.


    ¡°What am I supposed to say? I''m a kind-hearted man.¡±


    Sighing the guard turned to Nathan. ¡°And you, what are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°I''m Nathan. My village was attacked by an airship, I need someone to-¡±


    ¡°Stop, stop.¡± The guard interrupted him. ¡°Sorry, but I don''t really care, if you have a complaint or some other issue, bother the army''s office, not me. I want to know what you want to do here.¡±


    Nathan stared blankly at the guard, he didn''t expect a reaction like that. Slightly stammering he answered, ¡°I... I lost everything when the village was destroyed, I need to look for work...¡±


    Nathan looked down to the ground, to hide the anger in his eyes.


    ¡°So basically, you got nothing and will probably end up as a beggar.¡± The guard summarized.


    ¡°Okay then, normally its 20 coppers per person, but because I''m such a nice guy I''ll have 10 copper from each of you.¡±


    Nathan sneered inwardly. As if anyone would believe that, the normal fee was probably seven copper or something alike. He wanted to reach for his purse when Mark stopped his movement.


    ¡°Ya only have 30 copper left my little friend, let me pay for you as a condolence.¡±


    He took a silver piece from his purse and handed it to the guard, who returned eighty copper to him.


    ¡°You may enter.¡±


    The second guard opened the gate for them, while the first one already talked to the next person in line.

 Chapter 3 - Joans Magic Tools

    Despite the late hour, the streets of Port Verago were still quite lively. A colorful mix of people from all professions and nations filled the broad, paved main street, that led from the city gates to the market square. Nathan even saw some people from the distant Faruk Desert at one of the stalls next to the street. If Nathan believed the advertisements, then he would be able to buy the best fruits and finest vegetables from all over the continent, authentic magical artifacts, dating back to the ancient times and the most modern tools, created in Moria. While Nathan was curiously observing the hubbub, Mark stood by and watched him. Then, he coughed loudly.


    ¡°Boy, I hope ya know that they only sell local stuff and fakes here, right?¡±


    Nathan answered without turning his head, ¡°I know, it''s just... I never was in a city as big as this one before.¡±


    ¡°Just saying. If ya want to buy some quality stuff, go to the market square. There is an inspector that regularly checks if the goods are authentic. At least, as long as he isn''t bribed.¡±


    ¡°Now then, my job is done. I wish ya good luck. If ya ever manage to become a mage, make sure to remember me. I wouldn''t mind taking advantage of you.¡±


    Nathan replied with a gloomy voice, ¡°Of course, I will never forget the last 2 days.¡±


    ¡°C''mon boy, try to cheer up. Being all down won''t bring back the dead, and its more likely that ya''ll end up being killed because of that. Believe me, I have enough experience with dead comrades.¡±


    Mark slapped his shoulder as a good-bye.


    ¡°See ya at another time boy.¡± A few seconds later, his body vanished in a dark gap, between the buildings. Nathan felt a bit lost. Marks presence had given him some confidence. Now that he stood alone, in the middle of the road and surrounded by strangers, he became unsure what to do next. He decided that it was probably the best to begin looking for the army''s office. He took a few steps forward, before halting again.


    ¡°Damn it, I should have asked him where I can find the army.¡±


    Sighting, Nathan examined his surroundings. The army had a pretty high standing in the Kingdom, so they should have a rather prominent building. All he could see, however, were two- or three-story-high, wooden residences, as well as a few taverns and run down stores. The houses were built closely together, so the alleys, leading to buildings that weren''t next to larger streets, were narrow and dark. Nathan knew better than to explore them. His mother told him countless stories about how people from the country moved to cities, just to be robbed and beaten due to their carelessness. Even though most of her stories were probably exaggerated, they still served as a good reminder. While he was walking along the main road, he noticed a small store named ''Joan''s Magic Tools''. So far he had ignored all stalls and merchants. After the last evening, he didn''t feel like doing anything. But not this time. Magic fascinated him, and he couldn''t resist the allure of the very first magic shop, he ever encountered. Curious he went towards the store, but when he wanted to enter it, a muscular man, at least 3 heads higher than him, blocked his way.


    ¡°Sorry?¡± Nathan took a few steps back.


    The man mustered Nathan from head to toe, then he spoke with a deprecating voice.


    ¡°No beggars allowed here, piss off.¡±


    ¡°Beggar?¡± Nathan looked at his clothes. They were smeared with dirt and blood, and his skin was filthy from the night under the oak tree. He was embarrassed.


    ¡°I''m not a beggar Sir. I''m from the countryside and was robbed on my way to the city.¡±


    ¡°Robbed people have no money, I won''t say piss off for the third time.¡± The man was stubborn.


    ¡°I got some money from my uncle to buy new clothes and replace the magic tools I lost.¡± Nathan tried to persuade him. To his surprise, the man didn''t immediately retort but waited for him to continue. Nathan understood and pulled out one of the six gold thales he carried with him.


    ¡°See?¡±


    Seeing the gold, the man stepped aside. ¡°Hmpf, next time buy some new clothes first.¡±


    Nathan lowered his head and entered the store. He felt that the man at the door was still carefully watching him, but he completely forgot about it, when he saw the goods exhibited. There was a multitude of orbs, cubes, and tools engraved with mana circuits. A few granite plates in a corner had a pattern that Nathan immediately recognized as oven circuits. While he went from item to item, examining the pattern on their surface and guessing which use they would have, a well-dressed clerk came closer. Nathan saw him wrinkle his nose, but his tone was quite friendly.


    ¡°What can I do for you, dear customer?¡±


    ¡°I''m looking for magic tools, Sir.¡±


    ¡°Well, obviously.¡± A hint of disdain could be heard in the clerk''s voice. Nathan slapped himself mentally, what else could he want in a magic store? Quickly he thought about a reasonable question to cover up his inexperience.


    ¡°What kind of basic tools for adventurers do you have?¡±


    ¡°Well, we have everything an adventurer could need.¡± The clerk went to a display with small, grey cones.


    ¡°These are our most basic fire cones, when the customer activates their circuits, the flat surface will burn with a hot flame. Great to ignite campfires.¡± Nathan took a cone and looked at the pattern on top of it. They had many similarities with one of the oven patterns he knew. Carefully he put it back down. After seeing, that Nathan wasn''t interested, he went to a different display, this time with fist-sized white orbs.


    ¡°Here we have illumination orbs. They are the perfect smokeless replacement for lanterns and torches.¡± He gave one to Nathan. The circuit was completely new for him, intrigued he asked,Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Can I try it out?¡±


    The eyes of the clerk narrowed. ¡°If the customer pays the mana, he extracts from it, sure.¡±


    ¡°Uhh... how much does this orb cost?¡±


    With the friendliest smile he could muster, the clerk answered, ¡°It is actually very cheap, just twenty silver.¡± Nathan swallowed hard, twenty silver was two golds, a third of his total funds. He immediately furrowed his brows.


    ¡°Are you joking? Who would buy an illumination orb for twenty silver? Do you think I''m some country bumpkin?¡±


    The clerk immediately backpedaled, ¡°Dear customer, you must have misheard, I said twelve silver.¡±


    ¡°More like eight silver, Sir.¡± Nathan didn''t know how much an illumination orb would cost, but he thought it wouldn''t hurt to try, and it seemed like the clerk indeed tried to trick him.


    ¡°Eight silver? Dear customer, if I would give my tools away that cheaply, I would have to close down next week. How about eleven silver?¡±


    ¡°I don''t think eight is too few, but because you have such a nice customer service I''m willing to increase it to nine.¡±


    ¡°How about we meet in the middle, dear customer, and you buy it for ten silver?¡± Nathan was quite happy to haggle him down to ten silver, so he readily agreed. However, the speed with which the clerk took the money and handed him the orb, told him that he probably still paid way to much for it. He didn''t mind, though, this was the first magical tool he could use aside from the old oven.


    Immediately after receiving the orb, he tried to extract mana from it and channel it through the patterns covering its surface. The control of the mana was surprisingly easy, a lot easier than when he tried to copy the oven circuit. With a mere thought, a dense cloud of mana enveloped the illumination orb. He focused on the cloud and forced it into the mana circuit. But his expectation to see a bright glow was met with disappointment. No light escaped the circuit.


    ¡°What''s up with this orb, why doesn''t it work?¡± he asked the clerk.


    ¡°Dear customer, it seems like you did not use any magic tools before.¡±


    ¡°I''m quite used to use a magic oven, Sir.¡±


    ¡°With all due respect, dear customer, between using a mana essence driven tool and one where you control the mana yourself is quite a difference.¡±


    The clerk took the orb out of Nathan''s hand and focused his eyes on it. Again a cloud of mana formed above its surface, albeit with a much lesser density than when Nathan tried it. He observed how the clerk forced the mana into the circuits, and then, it started to move. The orb emitted a bright glow. The clerk smiled and gave the orb back to him. Nathan understood, he didn''t just need to compress the mana into the circuit, he also had to move it in a certain way.


    ¡°Thank you, Sir. So I have to control the flow of the mana through the pattern.¡±


    Surprised, the clerk asked, ¡°What? You were able to see what I did? How is this possible?¡±


    Nathan was confused. ¡°But didn''t you show it, so I can see it?¡±


    ¡°I wanted to show you that the circuit isn''t damaged, how were you able to see what I did?¡±


    ¡°Am I not supposed to?¡±


    ¡°Of course not, its common sense that mana can only be seen if it''s at most a meter away, there is no way you should have been able to see what I did.¡±


    The clerk closely examined Nathan.


    ¡°Dear customer, I didn''t hear your name before, from which family are you?¡±


    ¡°I don''t think I told you.¡± Nathan started to feel uncomfortable and put the illumination orb into his pocket. ¡°Sir, I thank you for your service, but I think I have to go now.¡±


    He turned around to leave when the clerk grabbed his shoulder.


    ¡°Don''t go yet, dear customer, for a talented person such as yourself I''m willing to give some nice discounts.¡±


    Nathan twisted his body and escaped the hand.


    ¡°I really need to go now, but I will come back later today.¡± He went a few steps backward and prepared to run.


    ¡°Mor''kal, stop him, don''t let him get away!¡±


    The man, guarding the entrance, once again stepped into Nathan''s way. He cracked his fingers with a sadistic grin. ¡°Please don''t run, I don''t want to beat up a little kid.¡±


    He slowly closed the distance between them with small steps and spread out arms. Nathan didn''t have time to consider any options. Following his first thought, he grabbed a few magic tools with the most complex circuits he could reach and threw them over Mor''kal, out of the door. The clerk behind him screeched,


    ¡°Nooo! My accumulator spheres!¡±


    He dashed past Nathan, pushed Mor''kal out of the way, and left the shop. Nathan saw his chance. With a strong thrust of his right leg, he propelled himself towards the distracted Mor''kal and rammed his left elbow into his chest. With a loud gasp, Mor''kal stumbled backward and crashed into a display. Seeing how the brute had a hard time to get back up, Nathan grabbed four of the magic tools nearby and sprinted out of the door. The street was in chaos. Several people were running away with an accumulator sphere in their hands, while the clerk was simultaneously trying to pick up his goods and to prevent others from taking more of them.


    ¡°You filthy scum. Don''t put your hand on my wares! Return them immediately!¡±


    When he saw Nathan running out of the store, with several magic tools in his hand, his expression became vicious. He pointed with his left hand into Nathan''s direction.


    ¡°Hold the little thief, don''t let him run! One gold for whoever captures him!¡±


    Nathan realized that he wouldn''t able to escape if he remained on the broad street. Ducking under the hands, which where reaching out to him, he turned sharp left and ran into one of the dark alleys. A few persistent men still followed after him. Seeing no other possibility, he threw a magic tool behind him and rushed towards the next junction. After a few more turns he finally stopped, heavily panting. Luckily, no one seemed to have followed him. His eyes searched the surroundings for potential threats, but everything seemed quiet. The run-down, wooden houses had their doors and windows shut, and no one could be seen in this alley. Considering the smell lingering in the air, Nathan could guess why. When he ran into the back-alleys, he had a hard time suppressing his urge to vomit. Nathan chose to enter one of the abandoned houses, sat down in a corner and calmed his racing heart.


    ¡°Gosh, that was close.¡± he murmured.


    ¡°What did this damned geezer want from me?!¡± He was annoyed, he just wanted to have a look at some mana circuits and maybe get one or two magic tools, before asking the authorities to investigate the attack on his village. And now he was dragged into such a mess.


    ¡°Guess I shouldn''t go to the army''s office now, who knows what the clerk told them.¡± Looking at his clothes, Nathan sighed deeply. ¡°And I think I know who they would believe.¡± He stared at the ceiling and contemplated his next steps. His top priority should be getting on a boat to Gilsbeck. But before that, he had to get new clothes and probably some essential supplies. Even though his family paid the tuition for the magic school in advance, that only included lodging, learning and a basic supply with food. Not his daily needs. After making a mental list of what needed to be done, his mind shifted towards the magic tools laying in his lap. He bought an illumination orb and one of the tools he grabbed was an accumulator sphere. The other two objects were two bracelets made from different colored metals. Nathan studied the mana circuits of the latter three tools for a while, but couldn''t understand much of it. He knew one of the patterns on the yellow bracelet from the old oven circuit, but he didn''t know what it was supposed to do. Nathan hesitated. Trying to activate them, without knowing how to move the mana, would most likely only decrease its durability, without having much of an effect. Besides, he felt that it was rather unwise to test unknown magic tools in an unsafe environment. In the end, he decided, to just store them away for now. He took off his filthy shirt, knot the sleeves together on the inside and put the magic tools in it. Then he took his makeshift bag, swung it back and forth and let it spin a bit. He was quite content when it didn''t tear apart.


    ¡°Perfect, now I need some new clothes, I guess.¡± After making sure, that no one was around, Nathan quietly left the abandoned building.

 Chapter 4 - The Box

    Nathan had to hurry. A cold breeze announced the nearing midnight, and he still needed to find a tavern, to get some rest. He wandered through the back alleys of Verago, trying to get back on the main street. But somehow, the buildings he passed looked more and more neglected, which was not what he expected to see if he went the right way. After a while, the alleys became livelier. The people Nathan met in the narrow paths, were mostly rough-looking, dirty characters, reminding him of the robbers, which were so rampant the past few years. Whenever someone looked in his direction, he tensed up, expecting to be beaten and robbed. However, most of them just ignored him after a few glances or made fun of him for looking even more sleazy than them. He had just gotten used to it when a group of four men walked straight towards him and blocked his way. Nathan''s steps slowed down. One of the four, the only one with relatively clean clothes, smiled at him.


    ¡°Hey, kid. You look like you could need some coins.¡±


    Nathan couldn''t find a proper answer and kept quiet. Considering the state of this neighborhood, he found it highly unlikely, that someone would selflessly give away money to random strangers.


    ¡°C''mon, don''t be shy. I just need someone to do me a little favor. I''ll pay you a silver if you do.¡±


    ¡°What kind of favor?¡± Nathan knew, that it would be a bad idea to accept his offer, but without understanding the situation he was in, he also couldn''t outright refuse him.


    ¡°Nothing hard or dangerous, I just need you to deliver a little package to a friend of mine.¡±


    ¡°Why would you entrust a stranger with that?¡±


    The man smirked. ¡°I wanted to do it myself, but something came up so I can''t go, and you look like a trustworthy lad to me.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know anything about the city, though. I just arrived.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I thought so. But don''t worry, we''ll show you the way.¡± His expression became threatening. The other three men surrounded Nathan, giving him no illusion about the situation he was in. After glancing at them, he realized, that he only could resign to his fate.


    ¡°I guess I don''t have a choice, don''t I?¡±


    One of the other three men started to laugh. ¡°Damn right, kid, you''re a bright one, aren''t you?¡±


    He pushed Nathan forward. The leader of the four led them through the alleys while explaining to Nathan what he had to do.


    ¡°I''ll give you the delivery as soon as we arrive at our hid... my place. The delivery is for the guard''s captain of the southern harbor. You can only hand it to him personally, do you understand?¡±


    Nathan only nodded.


    ¡°One of my men will be watching over you, to make sure that you arrive safely.¡± He turned his head and examined Nathan''s expression.


    ¡°Easy enough, right?¡±


    Nathan didn''t even try to hide his emotions. He was sure, that everyone could see how anxious he was. It seemed like his mother didn''t exaggerate at all.


    After they arrived at a building, that looked no different from all the others he saw up to this point, the leader disappeared through the door for a few minutes. When he came back, he carried a small, metallic box in his right hand.


    ¡°Don''t let it drop, don''t shake it, don''t do anything that could damage its contents, do you understand?¡±


    Without waiting for Nathan''s reply, he pressed the box into his hands. Then he turned to one of his followers.


    ¡°Escort him to the harbor and make sure, he knocks on the correct door. Don''t leave him out of your sight!¡±


    ¡°Sure boss.¡± The thug looked at Nathan and took out his knife.


    ¡°You go in front of me, I''ll tell you the direction.¡±


    Once again Nathan was pushed forwards. While walking where he was directed, he pondered about his situation. A series of possible reasons for his task came to his mind. It could be bribery, a threat, or even just a message. That they used him to deliver it, meant they either didn''t want the guard''s captain to know who sent it, or they expected him to kill the messenger. Nathan desperately hoped it was the first case, as the second one would most likely end in his death. What a crappy end for an aspiring mage, killed in the slums of a port city. He shivered. After walking for about twenty minutes, the man behind Nathan halted.


    ¡°We arrived.¡±


    The southern harbor was a relatively large, free space, with roughly a dozen docks, framed by rows of warehouses and cranes. In the middle of the harbor, a fortified, three-story-tall building was erected, placed in a way that you could supervise nearly the whole harbor area.


    ¡°Do you see the building over there? That''s the guard station. I promise nothing will happen to you if you deliver the box. If you try to run, however...¡± He made a gesture with his knife, that couldn''t be misunderstood.


    Nathan straightened his back and walked deliberately slow towards the station. He tried to think of a way to escape his predicament. Running didn''t seem to be a good solution. He would probably be dead by daylight, when one of the thugs or their friends, found him. Telling the guards captain about this? What if it really is bribery, and he''s working with them? Likely also a death sentence. The Station itself was a large building, that stood in the middle of the harbor area with no other buildings in its close surroundings, so he couldn''t hide either. Nathan decided, that the best course of action would be immediately running away after he delivered the box. If he was lucky, they wouldn''t care much about him and he could get a boat to Gilsbeck in the morning. Slightly trembling he arrived at the door. After hesitating for a few seconds, he knocked three times on the hard wood.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    A loud rumble was heard. Then, a slit in the door opened and two eyes could be seen.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°A delivery for the guard''s captain.¡± Nathan showed the box to the person behind the door.


    ¡°Ok, I''ll take it from here.¡± A lanky young man, slightly larger than Nathan, opened the door.


    ¡°I''m sorry Sir, but I was told to hand it to the captain personally.¡±


    The guard seemed to be in thought, then he answered.


    ¡°Ok, you need to wait for a while.¡±


    Nathan, once again, stood in front of a closed door. He was afraid. His heart felt as if it wanted to burst out of his chest. When he looked around, still trying to find a way out, he saw a man watching him closely from the gap between two warehouses.


    ¡°Probably not the only one.¡± Nathan talked to himself.


    ¡°I just wanted to go to Gilsbeck and learn some magic. Why is everything so screwed up the past two days? ¡±He felt like crying again. Before he became completely caught up in his desperation, the door to the guard station opened again. This time, a tall, middle-aged, man opened the door.


    ¡°I''m the guard''s captain. You have a delivery for me?¡±


    Nathan pulled himself together.


    ¡°Yes Sir, here.¡± He wanted to give the box to the guard''s captain, but instead of the box, the captain grabbed his arm.


    ¡°Who instructed you to deliver this to me?¡±


    Nathan panicked.


    ¡°Sorry Sir, I don''t know, he said he was a friend of you.¡±


    The captain looked at him suspiciously.


    ¡°Sir, I really don''t know anything else. I only arrived in Verago today.¡±


    ¡°Ok.¡± After nodding, he shouted into the guard station. ¡°Joe, come here.¡±


    The lanky youth from before rushed to the door.


    ¡°Yes, captain?¡±


    ¡°Watch this kid while I take a look at the box. Depending on the content he will have to tell us more about whoever sent this.¡±


    ¡°Will do, captain.¡± Joe walked behind Nathan and grabbing him at the left shoulder. Nathan cursed mentally. Everything seemed to work against him.


    Joe whispered. ¡°Don''t be so anxious, the captain is a righteous person. You did nothing wrong if all you did was delivering this. He won''t punish you for it.¡±


    The guard''s captain shortly examined the box, before opening its lid.


    ¡°What''s this, it''s empty?¡±


    Nathan, however, saw something completely different. When the lid opened, he could see a high density of mana in one of the corners. A split second later it started to spread out at the bottom of the box, hidden by a fake, second bottom.


    With eyes wide open, Nathan traced the mana as it formed the patterns of a circuit.


    ¡°Oh shit!¡± Nathan recognized the patterns. They were very similar to the patterns on the oven or fire cone, just smaller, and a lot more of them. They were surrounded by more patterns, unknown to Nathan. He understood by now, that the pattern somehow caused certain magic effects. With so many fire-related ones together, he could guess what would happen, if the circuit was completed.


    ¡°Throw it away! Immediately!¡±


    The guard''s captain looked at Nathan curiously.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    Nathan tried to grab it and throw it away, but Joe held him back, stopping Nathan''s hand a few centimeters away from the box.


    Nathan''s thoughts raced. The circuit was nearly complete, only a few seconds were left. With no other choice, he focused all his thoughts on the mana in the box. He tried to distort its shape, to channel it away from the pattern. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. With every passing moment, the circuit was closer to finishing. Nathan could not delay or stop it. Then, with a sudden flash of inspiration, he stopped trying to manipulate the mana, that was already in the pattern. His whole being concentrated on the source instead, instantly extracting all the mana, to form the rough shape of the illumination circuit he saw earlier this day.


    A dim, flickering light escaped between some cracks in the box. The guard''s captain reflexively threw the box away. When it hit the ground, it started to melt into a puddle of hot metal.


    Drenched in sweat, Nathan dropped exhausted to the ground.


    Joe and the guard''s captain were perplexed. They saw the weak light but didn''t understand what just happened. The captain was the fastest to react. He grabbed Nathan and Joe by their arms, pulled them inside and slammed the door shut.


    Back in the safety of the guard station, he dragged Nathan on his feet and shouted at him.


    ¡°What the hell happened out there?! I want answers!¡±


    ¡°I... the Box...¡±


    ¡°Give him a few seconds captain. I doubt he wanted to hurt us.¡± Joe tried to calm his superior, giving Nathan the time to take a few deep breaths.


    ¡°That box must have had a container with mana essence inside. When you opened the box, I saw that a mana circuit was activated. I don''t know much about circuits, but I recognized a part, which is related to fire, so I thought it might cause a big flame or explosion.¡±


    ¡°How did you see any mana or patterns? The box was empty!¡± The captain didn''t believe him.


    ¡°That''s hard to explain, if you''re a mage you can see like everyone else, and you can see mana, but it doesn''t obstruct each other, I really don''t know how to explain it properly.¡±


    The expression of the guard''s captain showed surprise.


    ¡°You''re a mage?¡± He looked at Nathan''s outfit. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°No, not yet, I have come here to get a boat to Gilsbeck. I''m enrolled in a magic school there.¡±


    ¡°I see... back to the box. Why did it not explode?¡±


    ¡°I first tried to control the mana, to stop it from completing the circuit. I couldn''t stop it, so I used up all the mana from the source to cast a light spell. That way there was not enough mana to fill the circuit and it wasn''t completely activated.¡±


    The captain pondered.


    ¡°So your light spell was the flickering we saw?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°And the box was either an explosive or an incendiary agent?¡±


    ¡°At least I thought so.¡±


    His voice became louder. ¡°And you were delivering it to me?¡±


    ¡°Sir, they forced me to do it, I didn''t want to. And also, I didn''t know what it was before you opened it, the box must have had somehow prevented me from seeing the mana.¡±


    The guard''s captain looked deep into his eyes.


    ¡°I believe you. Now tell me who coerced you.¡±


    His declaration took a load off Nathan''s mind. He described everything he experienced, starting from when he left the abandoned house up until he knocked on the door. The guard''s captain listened attentively. Joe had taken out a pen and paper and wrote his story down. After Nathan had finished it, the captain extended his hand to him.


    ¡°First of all, my name is Remald. I have to thank you. You probably saved my life today.¡±


    Nathan felt awkward. ¡°But it was also me, who delivered the box.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t matter, if it wasn''t you, then someone else would have. And someone else might not have been able to do what you did. If there is anything you need, I will help you as long as it is within my power.¡±


    ¡°Really?!¡± Nathan was excited. ¡°I...¡± He wanted to tell the captain about what happened in the magic store, that he was no thief, but stopped himself immediately. Even though the captain seemed to be a nice person and didn''t know much about magic, it was probably the best to not spread this information.


    ¡°Yeah? Out with it.¡±


    ¡°I..., I need some clothes and a place to sleep.¡±


    Remald looked at his bare upper body and dirty trousers.


    ¡°Yes, indeed... Joe?¡±


    ¡°Captain?¡±


    ¡°You''re a bit taller than him, but he seems to be a bit more built, so your clothes should fit quite well. Bring a set of civilian clothing for him.¡±


    ¡°Immediately, captain.¡±


    ¡°Nathan, we have a few buckets of water in the kitchen. Go wash yourself. You can sleep in one of the empty rooms. We got plenty of them.¡±


    Nathan gladly accepted the offer, and a quarter-hour later, his exhaustion took its toll, and he fell into a deep sleep.

 Chapter 5 - Illumination

    ¡°So this is why you looked like an escaped slave.¡±


    Nathan had just told Remald, how a mysterious airship attacked his village. He took another piece of bread from the table, while the guard captain seemed to be deep in thought.


    ¡°To be honest, it sounds very fantastical, what you''re telling me there. I''m more inclined to not believe it than believing it. Using an airship of the size, you described, to attack a village, probably costs more than it would to buy a dozen of such villages.¡±


    ¡°Really? But I didn''t lie. Where would all the blood on my clothes come from, if not from Lizzy? ¡±Nathan replied in a sad voice. After the morning preparations in the guard station had woken him up, he also first thought, that the past two days were just a bad dream. Until he saw the blood-soaked shirt, that he used as a bag. The image of Lizzy''s death came back to him with cruel clarity, and he sat crying on the bed for at least half an hour.


    Remald drummed with his fingers on the table.


    ¡°If it is true, then this is a serious attack on our kingdoms territory and has to be reported.¡±


    He stood up.


    ¡°Follow me.¡±


    Remald led Nathan to his office. It was a small room with just a table, three chairs, and two cabinets full of files. The docks could be seen through an open window on the right wall. Remald took a rolled-up paper out of one of the cabinets and spread it on the table.


    ¡°This is a map of the western continent, please show me where Feriona is. Or rather was.¡±


    The map showed a landmass, with a shape, slightly resembling that of the seahorses, he saw in a book of his father''s collection. The map ended at the north and east with large mountain ranges, and to the south and west with the ocean. The southernmost part of the continent, where the tail would begin, was an area of wide steppes. The belly was made up of a gigantic forest, with two major rivers flowing through them. Between the belly and the head, lay a series of large islands. Nathan knew that these belonged to the Moria Republic. The land, forming the head, was an area familiar to Him. He saw a section of it in the village school. Several kingdoms, including the Kingdom of Aruth with his village, was located there.


    ¡°Which of those two rivers is the Fera?¡±


    Nathan pointed at two rivers, which were drawn from the middle of the kingdom to its east coast.


    ¡°Fera is the one on the bottom. The upper one is the Mara. Port Veragos is here. ¡±He showed Nathan a spot on the east coast, in the middle between both rivers. Nathan''s finger traced the Fera to a position close to its source.


    ¡°Around here somewhere, between Fera and the large forest south of it.¡±


    ¡°Ok, I will fill out a report to the capital, if they believe at least a part of it, they should send an inspector down there. But don''t get your hopes up. It''s really too unbelievable.¡±


    Nathan looked at his feet. It was agonizing for him, not to know what happened to his friends and family. Not even having a hint at all, about what exactly happened, or who did it.


    After Remald put the map back into the cabinet, he said with a serious voice,


    ¡°I would suggest to you, to not stay in Verago much longer than needed, Nathan. I sent two guards out, trying to apprehend the thug who led you here, but obviously, he already ran away. I can''t guarantee that they won''t lie in wait for you.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡° Nathan agreed, ¡°that''s, what I fear. I just want to be done with it and arrive at my magic school. The last days were horrible.¡±


    ¡°Then let some of my subordinates bring you to the northern harbor. The ferry to Gilsbeck leaves daily, right after midday. That would be in four hours. Regrettably, I don''t have the time to escort you.¡±


    ¡°I''m already thankful for everything you did for me. I don''t want to bother you any further.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense. My life is worth more than just a few clothes and some food. ¡±He looked out of the window.


    ¡°It''s time for me to go. Let Joe help you pack some rations before you leave.¡±


    After they had left his office, he gave Nathan a strong handshake.


    ¡°We probably won''t see us again. I wish you good luck and success my friend.¡±


    Nathan replied, ¡°Once again, thank you. I will remember your kindness.¡±


    The guard captain nodded with a smile and went downstairs. Shortly after, his loud voice could be heard.


    ¡°Richard, Josk, Samuel, Gerod! Get up your asses, the trade fleet from the Wolfengard Kingdom arrived.¡±


    The guard station became noisy, loud voices of the guards mixed with the sound of metal-plated boots running over wood. Then the front door closed with a loud bang, and the station became silent again.


    Nathan didn''t know what he was supposed to do. According to Remald, he had several hours until the ferry to Gilsbeck leaves. Walking to the northern harbor probably took half an hour or an hour at most. He would love to explore Port Verago in daylight, but he didn''t want to take the risk to meet one of the thugs from the night before. In the end, he decided to go to his room and try to cast magic again. He thought back to when he averted the explosion of the strange box and managed to cast an illumination spell. Even though it was just a dim flickering and no bright light, it still excited Nathan. This illumination spell was the very first real spell, he ever had cast.


    When he walked through the station, Joe, the guard from the last evening, ran into him.


    Nathan greeted him politely, ¡°Good morning, Sir.¡±


    ¡°Oh, hi Nathan. The Captain told me to bring you to the northern harbor in three hours, make sure to be ready by then.¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Thank you. I don''t have much to prepare. I''ll stay in my room until we leave.¡±


    ¡°Whatever works for you, just be ready in time.¡±


    ¡°Sure. By the way, your captain told me I could get some rations for the travel, where do I get them?¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry about it. I''ll fetch them before we leave.¡±


    ¡°Thanks again, Sir.¡±


    ¡°No problem, but please call me Joe. I''m not that much older than you. ¡±Joe waved at him and strode toward the other end of the floor. Nathan was quite happy that he didn''t have to look for the rations himself. Cheerful and in high hopes he walked into his room. He closed the door straightaway, sat down and took some deep breaths. When he felt that he was calm enough, he started to concentrate on his immediate surroundings. In his vision, large clouds of mana danced through the air. He extended his thoughts like little tendrils, trying to grab the mana, to collect it in front of him. It was a tedious process, but slowly the circuit for the illumination spell formed. It was a very simple pattern, an inward spiral that ended in a straight line, cutting threw the spiral in a sharp angle. Nathan had a hard time keeping the wobbly shape intact, and even after several seconds, no light escaped the circuit. With a sigh, Nathan released his control. The mana immediately dispersed in the room.


    ¡°What did I do wrong? It worked yesterday.¡± he muttered.


    ¡°Oh, right, the movement, the mana needs to move along the pattern.¡± Nathan hit his forehead with the left hand. Once again he extended his thoughts into the room, gathering the mana in front of him. But instead of immediately trying to form the pattern, he collected the mana into a sphere at the tip of his index finger. Slowly he drew the pattern in the air. Wherever the sphere went, a distinct line of mana was left behind, which seemed far more constrained than before. When Nathan finished drawing the pattern his expectations were high, but again nothing happened.


    ¡°Why?!¡± Upset, that he failed again, Nathan lost his concentration and the mana escaped from his grasp.


    ¡°Ah damn it. But it felt right this time.¡± He reflected on what just happened. The pattern he drew was a lot more stable than before and considering that he also had to circulate the mana when he was using magic tools, it seemed like the correct way.


    ¡°is it really not possible to cast it?¡±


    ¡°Oh, wait!¡± His thoughts wandered back to the evening before his home was destroyed. His sister said no magician can cast spells without a staff or similar items. How could he forget? He jumped up and ran to his bloody makeshift bag. Without hesitation, he took out the illumination orb.


    ¡°I won''t need you if I can cast illumination myself.¡± He grinned. Nathan was sure that it would work this time. He took a few seconds to suppress his excitement. Then he extracted mana from the illumination orb. As before he gathered it in a sphere on the tip of his finger, this time, the mana was by magnitudes denser than in his first attempt. Keeping his hand as steady as possible he drew the pattern once again. As soon as he started to draw the final line, the center spot of the circuit started to shine lightly, increasing its brightness as the line became longer until it crossed the last line of the spiral. A dazzling bright sphere of light hovered in front of Nathan''s hand.


    ¡°Hell, yes!!!¡± He was ecstatic. This was real magic! Not just pouring mana essence into a pre-made tool, not moving mana along an already existing circuit. It was his magic! Excited by his success, he once again lost control over the mana. Without a guiding force directing the extracted mana, that wasn''t used to draw the pattern, along the lines, the light sphere only lasted a few seconds before it vanished. Nathan wasn''t bothered by it, filled with happiness he played with the illumination orb in his hand.


    Again the mana was drawn out of the orb, a few seconds later, a new ball of light appeared in the room. Without pause, Nathan cast one illumination spell after another, for more than half an hour. He was so thrilled, that he didn''t feel how weary his body became. Only when the first spell failed, because the pattern was too inaccurate, did he notice how tired he felt. He barely managed to get to the bed, before he fell asleep.


    Nathan had a rough awakening. A stabbing pain pulsed through his head, and his side felt as if it was mangled by a wild animal. Groaning he sat up.


    ¡°It''s about time you wake up, how can someone sleep so deep that he doesn''t even feel it when they''re kicked?¡± Joe stood by his side and shouted at him.


    ¡°Kicked?¡± Nathan had problems to think clearly. ¡°Damn...¡± He held his head in pain.


    ¡°What happened to you, Nathan? When I met you earlier, you looked fine, but now it seems as if you''ve returned from the great beyond.¡±


    ¡°I guess, I have overdone it with my magic training.¡± He got a bottle of water from the table in his room and drank half of it in one go. Joe watched him slightly amused.


    ¡°Didn''t know magic training makes you look like a drunkard after a long evening.¡± His loud laughter cut through Nathan''s head.


    ¡°Anyways, get ready. We will leave in ten minutes.¡± After reminding Nathan, he put a backpack on the floor and left the room.


    For the next few minutes, Nathan just sat at the corner of his bed, massaging his temples until the pain subsided.


    ¡°Wow, that was awful.¡± He still felt a slight, throbbing pain, but it was manageable for him. Inspecting the backpack, that Joe left for him, Nathan found a large amount of beef jerky as well as dried and salted fish, easily enough food for two weeks. He smiled, Remald sure was generous with him.


    After throwing the magic tools, that were spread across the floor, into his new backpack, he drank the rest of the water and went to the front door. Joe and another guard were already waiting for him.


    The unknown guard looked very similar to Joe, he was just a bit more well-fed and had a less serious face.


    ¡°This is my brother, Jim.¡±


    ¡°Hi, Jim, nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Likewise. Let''s go, we have no time to waste.¡±


    Joe looked at his brother with a teasing grin.


    ¡°Since when did you become so eager to fulfill your duties? Or maybe it''s just that you want to have more time at a certain Inn?¡±


    ¡°Not everyone can live on food and duty alone, Joe, you should try to have more fun yourself.¡±


    Joe shook his head, then turned to Nathan.


    ¡°Are you finished? Got everything you need?¡±


    ¡°Yes, thanks for bringing me the food. It should be plenty.¡±


    ¡°Good, then let''s go. We''ll need to walk for roughly half an hour.¡±


    The two guards led Nathan through the busy harbor. Nathan never saw such a busy place before. Everywhere were people, carts and animals, running around, seemingly in chaos but still without obstructing each other. He saw gigantic ships at the docks, most of them with masts and sails, donning the flags of nearly all countries that the Kingdom of Aruth traded with. A few, quite new looking, ships had no sails. Nathan could guess, that those were magically propelled. He nearly asked his escort if he could go take a look, but refrained from doing so when he remembered, that they didn''t have much time.


    They left the harbor area using a wide and lively street. In contrast to the past evening, the street was filled mainly with carriages and people carrying goods. The buildings on the side of the street were made from a yellowish stone, their second-floor jutting out over the street. Even the alleyways between the buildings looked cleaner and less intimidating.


    ¡°Why is it, that the city looks so much better than yesterday?¡± He quietly asked himself.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Jim had overheard his muttering.


    ¡°I was wondering why the city gives off such a different atmosphere than when I arrived, yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Where did you arrive from?¡±


    ¡°Uh, hard to say. I went through a gate in the south-west I think.¡±


    ¡°No wonders then, the southern quarters, besides the harbor and military district, are basically just slums, where all the vermin gathers.¡± Jim explained, laughing he added, ¡°If you had entered through a northern gate, you would probably have asked me why it looks so shabby here.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because all the merchants and nobles have their residences there. The northern market square of Port Verago is quite prestigious in our kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Nathan thought about all the trouble he went through and cursed Mark for entering the city through the south. But then again, if all the rich people lived in the north, they probably wouldn''t have let the bloody and dirty mess, he was last night, enter the city anyways. Jim and Joe slowed down their steps when they noticed that Nathan glanced around curiously and shortly after the horn signaled that the 12th hour of the day had passed, the small group arrived at the northern harbor.

 Chapter 6 - The ferry to Gilsbeck

    Nathan felt overwhelmed. If the southern harbor was big and busy, then the northern harbor was gigantic and overcrowded. He couldn''t see the end of it, but if he had to guess, it would be at least three times as big as its southern counterpart. Far at the northern end, a majestic castle towered over the area. The harbor was densely packed with ornamented buildings, belonging to several merchant guilds, luxurious stores and even the warehouses emanated an aura of wealth. Jim smirked when he saw Nathan''s astonishment.


    ¡°See? I told you the southern harbor area looks shabby compared to this. ¡±With a proud look on his face, he spread his arms out.¡° This is what Port Verago really looks like. Just forget those shitty southern slums.¡±


    ¡°You sound like you built this city. Keep it down a bit. ¡±Joe admonished his brother.


    ¡°I don''t want to hear that from someone who doesn''t have any aspirations except for his military career.¡±


    Nathan paid no attention to the squabble of the brothers. He was too distracted by what he saw. When he entered Port Verago for the first time, he didn''t feel anything special. The buildings were just a floor higher and built closer together than in his village, but there wasn''t much of a difference between the overall quality, and he even felt a bit disappointed. After he left the guard station this morning and saw the stone buildings, he was quite excited and thought, that this was the city, his parents described in their stories. But entering the northern part of Verago completely stunned him. He had never even thought of such buildings, let alone seen them. It was the first time he felt like a naive country bumpkin, and he didn''t like it. Trying not to let Jim and Joe notice how big the impact on him was, he downplayed it.


    ¡°Yes, it looks pretty nice.¡±


    ¡°Just nice huh?¡± Jim grinned and nudged his brother with the elbow. ¡°Guess you''re rather often here then.¡±


    Joe interrupted him.


    ¡°I see the ferry, with Moria''s flag, at dock 17. Let''s go.¡±


    They had to expend some effort to walk through the mass of people, but ten minutes later, they arrived at the dock. The ferry, belonging to Moria, was one of the modern ships without sails. When Nathan saw it, his heartbeat started to increase, there weren''t many things that excited him more than things related to magic. He carefully examined the ship. It was a medium-sized wooden vessel with a length of roughly 13 meters. Because it didn''t have a mast, nearly the whole deck was covered with a wooden structure, which reminded Nathan of an inn. But no matter where he looked, he couldn''t find the magic tool used to control the ship. Right when he wanted to walk along the hull to search for it, Joe stopped him.


    ¡°Its time to part Nathan, please board the ferry as soon as possible and don''t wander around. I don''t want to be held accountable by the captain if something happens after we leave.¡±


    ¡°Yes Sir, I will stay on the ferry. Thank you for bringing me here.¡±


    ¡°No Problem, it was a duty and pleasure.¡± He waved at Nathan and turned around to leave. Joe winked at him and followed his brother.


    ¡°Brother, I bet you''re hungry, let''s go to ...¡± Nathan could only hear a few words until they were swallowed by the noise of the harbor. He turned around excited, impatient to board the ferry. When he got close to the landing stage, a bald old man, with a grey full beard intercepted him.


    ¡°Dear Sir, you''re here to travel to Gilsbeck?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am.¡±


    ¡°One person?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°That''s 15 silver then, food and drinks not included.¡±


    That amount of money was quite a lot for Nathan, but he happily paid for it. Not only would he soon arrive at his school and leave this cursed city behind him, but he would also do so on a boat driven by magic. He took the money out of his purse and handed it to the old man.


    ¡°I wish you a nice journey.¡±


    Anticipating the boat trip, Nathan forgot his usual politeness and went up the stage without answering. When he arrived on deck, a middle-aged man in sailor clothes greeted him.


    ¡°Heya boy, you want to travel to Gilsbeck?¡±


    Confused Nathan answered, ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°That''s 15 silver then, food and drinks not included.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°15 silvers.¡±


    ¡°But I just paid the money?¡±


    Now it was the sailor''s turn to be confused. ¡°To whom?¡±


    ¡°To your work-mate down there.¡± Nathan pointed towards where the old man stood. The place was empty. The sailor laughed out loud.


    ¡°You''ve got scammed there, boy. Why would you pay someone money who isn''t even on the ship?¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Nathan blushed. He never had expected, that a person would be shameless enough, to do something like that. Still laughing the sailor sad with as much of a serious voice as he could muster,


    ¡°I hope you still have 15 silver boy, or I can''t let you on board.¡±


    Nathan begrudgingly took out another 15 silvers and handed it to the man.


    ¡°Welcome on board boy. If you feel thirsty, go to our bar and tell Miranda that Hammok owes you a drink. A treat for the nice story, that I can tell later¡± He had a broad grin in his face.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± With a red face, Nathan hurried towards the restaurant on deck, still hearing the laughter behind him.


    The interior of the restaurant was rather unimpressive. A woman was working at a wide, clean counter, right at the entrance. A bit farther back were several rows of sparely occupied wooden benches and tables. When Nathan saw, that the large hall was lit up by mana lamps instead of the more common lanterns, he forgot his disappointment immediately.


    The woman at the counter finished cleaning a jug and asked Nathan, ¡°Can I help you with something?¡±


    ¡°No, thanks.¡± Nathan answered reflexively. ¡°Or yes, the man collecting the money, Hammok I think, told me that I can have a free drink.¡±


    ¡°Did he say that, yes? Then what shall it be young man?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, what can I get?¡±


    ¡°Well, we have ale, wine-¡± Nathan interrupted her.


    ¡°Maybe something without alcohol? I''m not so good with it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, ok. Water or fruit juices then I guess.¡±


    ¡°Any fruit juice then, thank you.¡± He smiled at her. The woman turned around and took out a pitcher from a weird-looking cabinet, then filled a cup for Nathan and handed it to him.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Nathan was surprised, ¡°it''s cold!¡±


    ¡°Of course it is, if I don''t store it in the cooler it would go bad.¡±


    ¡°A cooler?¡± Nathan encountered so many things, he didn''t know, in the past two days, he didn''t feel that surprised anymore.


    ¡°You don''t know what a cooler is? It was invented in Moria a decade ago, it uses mana essence to keep everything, you put in, cool.¡±


    ¡°It''s a magic tool? How does it work? Can I take a look at its circuit?¡±


    ¡°Calm down young man, I don''t know anything about magic, so I can''t tell you how it works, and I have no access to the circuits either.¡±


    Nathan''s elation was curbed. ¡°Okay, too bad.¡±


    He sat down at the counter and looked at the strange cabinet. He guessed, that it was about two meters away from him. From his experience it was a bit too far to see the mana clearly, nonetheless, he had to try. Concentrating on the mana in the room, his vision became clearer, he could barely see a huge quantity of dense mana above the cabinet. From time to time a tiny amount of mana dropped down on something that looked like a straight line.


    Nathan grumbled to himself, ¡°Ah screw it. Of course, I can''t see anything sideways. I would have to look down on it.¡±Nathan stood up with a bleak smile.


    ¡°Thank you for the drink.¡±


    He took his cup and carried it over to a bench, which was located right below one of the magic lamps. Looking at the lamp, his joyless smile turned happy again.


    ¡°Then the lamp it is.¡±


    Again he concentrated on the mana surrounding him. This time he had more success. He saw a small cluster of dense mana in the lamp, where, once again, tiny drops of mana regularly fell on the circuit below it. The rough outline of the circuit appeared in front of his eyes, he could guess its basic form due to his experience with the illumination spell, but he couldn''t see any details. Without hesitation Nathan climbed on the bank, staring at the lamp from half a meter distance. Similar to the weird, melted box from the last evening, the circuit of the magic lamp consisted of many small, interlinked and identical spiral patterns. The links between the spirals were weird, complex structures, with many corners and crossings. Intrigued Nathan tried to memorize as much of that pattern as possible when someone grabbed him from behind and carried him off the bench.


    ¡°Hey, what are you doing?!" Nathan shouted in surprise.


    ¡°What the hell are YOU doing?¡± A muscular big man, with a similar appearance as the guard in the magic store, he had to flee from yesterday, scolded Nathan.


    ¡°Are you trying to blind yourself, you fool?¡±


    Nathan squinted his eyes a bit, trying to get rid of the iridescent spots in his vision. He justified himself. ¡°Of course not, I was studying!¡±


    ¡°Studying my ass. You stared at the light, as if you were a moth, and regretted not to be able to fly into it!¡±


    Annoyed Nathan retorted, ¡°So what? Who are you to tell me what I can or cannot do?¡±


    ¡°You ungrateful bastard. If you don''t care about yourself, then at least care about your family! Who is supposed to care for your parents or spread your family if you go blind? A man has his duties!¡±


    Nathan swallowed his anger at the mention of his family. Losing all motivation to argue with the man he turned around and went out of the restaurant, without uttering another word. Infuriated the man shouted after him. ¡°What, sulking now? Grow some balls kid!¡±


    Ignoring the yell, Nathan went to the bow of the ferry and leaned on the rail. Everything that happened the past few days came into his mind again. He was furious. Furious about that man, for his intrusion, furious at the unknown group that destroyed his village, furious at himself for being unable to shout that man down.


    ¡°Fuck it!¡± He hit the rail in frustration.


    A voice came from behind. ¡°He didn''t have any ill will towards you, mate.¡±


    Nathan turned around. ¡°And you are?¡±


    In front of him stood a lean youth, that had short, messy hair with a color that reminded Nathan of wood of the walnut tree, that stood in front of his window back home. Nathan had to raise his head a bit, to look into his eyes.


    ¡°I''m Terran. Hi.¡± He held his hand out to him. Nathan looked at it for a second, before shaking it reluctantly.


    ¡°He is a Rakvor. They''re all about their clans and families. Guess he couldn''t stay quiet.¡±


    ¡°It''s not his business what I''m doing.¡± Nathan was still mad.


    ¡°True, but what exactly were you doing? It looked damn weird.¡±


    ¡°I was studying the mana circuit in the magic lamps.¡±


    Terran raised his left brow. ¡°Why were you studying the lamps? It''s not like their circuits are a trade secret or something similar.¡±


    His sentence got Nathan''s attention.


    ¡°Where can I get the drawings to those mana circuits then?¡±


    ¡°You are traveling to the Gilsbeck Magic School, right?¡±


    ¡°How did you know?¡±


    Terran laughed. ¡°How would I not know, after you ignored the possibility to go blind, just to look at a mana circuit.¡±


    ¡°I guess you''re right.¡± He awkwardly joined in Terran''s laughter.


    ¡°The Gilsbeck Magic School has a huge library with all kinds of circuits, spells, and everything, just wait till we arrive and you can study as much as you want.¡±


    ¡°How do you know?¡±


    ¡°My father told me, he''s an alumnus of Gilsbeck.¡± His voice carried pride.


    ¡°And you? Are you going to Gilsbeck too?¡±


    The loud sound of a horn, signaling that the fairy embarked, interrupted their talk. Terran yelled to drown out the horn.


    ¡°Just enrolled. I''m traveling there for the first time myself.¡±


    Nathan just nodded. He signaled Terran with his hand, to continue to talk inside the restaurant. Terran willingly agreed. While they were walking towards the entrance, the ferry started to leave the docks and move towards the open ocean.

 Chapter 7 - Arriving at Gilsbeck

    The trip took the ferry a bit more than three hours. Nathan spent most of his time talking with Terran. To Nathan''s regret, he didn''t know much about magic, so they mostly talked about their past. Terran was enrolled in the Gilsbeck Magic School mainly because he had a decent talent and his father went there. He had more interest in chasing girls and going hunting in the domain of his family. His father was a low ranking noble, who owned a small town near the Mara river, allowing Terran to pretty much do whatever he wanted. That''s, why he was laid back about nearly everything. He didn''t feel the necessity to learn about magic before attending school. He argued, that he didn''t want to make the teachers feel redundant. Even though both characters differed greatly, they became friends by the time the ferry arrived at the Gilsbeck harbor.


    When Nathan and Terran left the ship, they were greeted by an unexpected sight. Instead of seeing an overcrowded harbor, it was empty, relative to Port Verago. The harbor was still lively, with quite a lot of laborers and soldiers doing their work, but they saw much fewer people than they expected. It was not, however, because the harbor was small or barely used. Nathan could see at least nine deep water docks, which were all occupied by large cargo ships. Before he could figure out what was going on, Terran excitedly nudged his shoulder.


    ¡°Hey. Look there. What''s that?¡± He was pointing at a weird object close to them, that looked as if someone took an, at least 10 meters long, broad board, and attached a large cube at the front and back of it. Workers could be seen moving across the free space, between both cubes, fastening some ropes. Then, after one of the workers had revealed a red flag, it was lifted by an unseen force.


    ¡°It''s moving! Look, it''s moving!¡±


    Nathan''s eyes turned into slits. A familiar blue glow extended from below the object, as it rose into the air. Terrified he took a few steps back, his fear from the fateful evening resurging. Terran didn''t see Nathan''s movement. He stared fascinated at the flying vehicle.


    ¡°That must be one of the air-carriages, that my dad told me about!¡±


    The carriage accelerated and flew towards one of the docks, where a large cargo-ship had anchored. As soon as it arrived, a crane moved crates from the ship to the free space on the carriage, and the workers fixed them to the vehicle. After observing this process for a while, letting thoughts about his revenge run wild, Nathan forced himself to think rationally. Just because there were mana circuits, that let objects fly, in Gilsbeck, it wasn''t a proof, that the Moria Republic attacked his village. After he was recruited by the Gilsbeck Magic School, his father told him, that Moria is the foremost country on magical research. It was only reasonable, that they had access to this technology.


    ¡°Did you see, that there is nothing to power the crane? It must be done with magic too! I''ve never known, that magic could be used in this way. I always thought my dad only told fantastical stories to get me interested in magic. No wonder there are so few people here, they need far fewer laborers to do the same job.¡±


    ¡°What, do you feel the urge to learn magic now?¡± Nathan calmed his nerves by mocking Terran. At any other time, he would have been eager to see new magic tools and probably tried everything to look at their circuits, but after being reminded of his village, he was to downcast for it.


    ¡°Well, maybe it would be a good idea to become a magical engineer. Just think about all the girls you could get back home if you flew one of those things!¡±


    Nathan rolled with his eyes. In a bad mood, he asked Terran.


    ¡°Anyways, do you know where we have to go?¡±


    ¡°There should be a building, belonging to the magic school, somewhere in the harbor area.¡±


    Nathan nodded and walked towards a cluster of large buildings.


    ¡°Then help me look for it, it will be dark in a few hours.¡±


    ¡°Eh, why are you such a killjoy now?¡± Terran complained but still went with Nathan.


    Searching the harbor, they tried to find anything, that would hint towards a magic school. On nearly every corner a new magic tool greeted them. Street lanterns made with illumination orbs, a large fountain, that used magic to accumulate water from the air, or the one time they saw a warehouse with thick iron gates, that opened by bending the iron. It was completely different from Port Verago, so much that Nathan started to believe, that his country was the most remote and backward place on the continent. After the searched nearly the whole harbor, he finally caught a glimpse of a large building with ornaments, depicting books and mana circuits.


    ¡°There, ¡° Nathan showed Terran the building, ¡°that must be it.¡±


    The interior of the building made an even more academical impression than its exterior. Dozens of bookshelves lined up at the walls and several tables and benches were scattered throughout the hall. Many of them were occupied by people, reading books or eagerly discussing something.


    Terran murmured to Nathan, ¡°Are you sure, that this isn''t a library?¡±


    ¡°How would I know, I just thought this building looks like it''s related to magic.¡± Nathan answered quietly.


    ¡°And you were right in that assumption, young man.¡± Startled they turned around. A man with deep wrinkles in his face and thin, white hair, in a blue robe, stood behind them.


    ¡°Who may the young men be, if I am allowed to ask?¡±


    ¡°I''m Nathan, Sir.¡±


    ¡°And I am Terran Golsim.¡±


    ¡°Welcome to the local branch of Gilsbeck''s Magic School, my young friends. Am I right in the assumption, that you are here, to join our esteemed school?¡±


    They nodded.


    ¡°Splendid.¡± The old man smiled brightly. ¡°Let me guide you to the other students that arrived today.¡± He turned around and began to stride slowly through the hall. Nathan and Terran looked at each other and followed him. With his drawn-out way to talk, he introduced himself.


    ¡°My name is Magister Harno. I am the head of this facility. Here, all people who are interested in magic can read about its fundamentals and history. I am sure, that you are well aware, that the Gilsbeck Magic School is one of the leading institutions in the research of magic theory and practical applications. Just last year we found a new way to combine vibration and micro-confinement patterns, that increase the efficiency of high-temperature forge circuits by at least five percent.¡± He turned his head and looked expectantly at the two teenagers. Realizing what he was waiting for, Terran showed a look of astonishment. As for Nathan, he was so engaged in listening to Magister Harno, that he forgot to close his mouth. Satisfied Harno faced forward again.


    ¡°Every year our students finish at least in the top three in the annual academics ranking. You can be very proud to be able to attend our school.¡± The Magister stepped in front of a picture, placed on the wall between two bookshelves. It showed an old, strict looking, woman, in the formal blue magician robes.


    ¡±In the year 2754, that was exactly 309 years ago, our vice-dean, Margareth Fulmidar, astonished the world, when she invented a sustainable levitation spell. Her discovery shattered the old paradigms of magical combat, and lead to a new golden age of magic.¡± He continued towards the next portrait between the shelves. There, a grumpy looking, red-haired man was depicted.


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    ¡°His Excellency Sir Frederik Firebeard. Not only was he a prince of the former Slid Kingdom, no, he also was a gifted scholar. He combined acceleration, deceleration, and water condensation patterns ingeniously and created the very first ice-shard tornado spell.¡±


    Nathan was baffled. ¡°He was using frost spells?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes. Many of his opponents were reported to have had asked the exact same question during their battles.¡±


    Once again he strode towards the next image. Over half an hour, Nathan and Terran listened to the stories of 21 Gilsbeck alumni, until they finally arrived at an open door in the back of the hall.


    ¡°I''m sorry my young friends, but we have arrived. Please wait in the room to the right. Magister Kennen will arrive soon and lead you to the school grounds. Feel free to come here in your spare time, there are so many valuable and interesting stories to be told. Farewell young students.¡± Harno bowed his head slightly to both of them. They quickly answered in kind. After he was gone, Terran had a wide grin in his face.


    ¡°What an odd guy, does everyone has to listen to his history lessons when they arrive?¡±


    Nathan responded, ¡°It was interesting, though. I didn''t know any of this. Isn''t it weird, that levitation was available 300 years ago and they weren''t able to craft magic tools using it until recently?¡±


    ¡°Alright, you''re an odd guy too.¡±


    They entered the mentioned room. It was yet another place filled with bookshelves and reading tables, however, it was far smaller than the main hall. A handful of teenager was in the room, some sitting over books, a small group that chatted with each other, and a single one that sat in a corner, sleeping. Many of them were looking in anticipation towards the door when Nathan and Terran appeared. But their expressions soon changed into disappointment, when they only saw two teenagers in the door.


    Terran remarked nonchalantly, ¡°Guess they were hoping for someone else.¡± Then he dragged Nathan towards the chatting students.


    ¡°Hi, guys. My name is Terran, and this is Nathan. I suppose you''re also new students of the magic school?"


    A girl with short, black hair took the initiative to answer. ¡°Of course. I''m Erenia, just call me Rina.¡±


    Without waiting for the others to answer, she immediately interrogated Terran.


    ¡°Where do you guys come from?¡± She stared at Nathan. ¡°Blonde hair, blue eyes, you''re from the western kingdoms, right?¡±


    Nathan nodded.


    Her eyes wandered back to Terran.


    ¡°But you aren''t¡±


    ¡°Why would I not


    be from there? It''s not like every westerner is blonde.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Not? Mh, then Mandy lied to me, that bit... that''s a bit regrettable. ¡±Without pause, she kept questioning.


    ¡°How did you join? Did you apply? Were you recruited? Did you pay?¡±


    ¡°Doesn''t really matter.¡± Nathan didn''t feel like talking about it, still somewhat disgruntled, but Erenia was persistent.


    ¡°So you bought your way in here? Don''t worry, as long as you can control at least some mana, you will be fine.¡±


    Annoyed Nathan retorted, ¡°I''m more than good enough for the school, thanks for your concern.¡±


    ¡°Oh, c¡¯mon, don''t play the tough guy, it''s just a question.¡±


    ¡°You''re a nuisance.¡± He turned around. ¡°Come Terran, let''s look around, maybe we''ll find something interesting.¡± Terran just shrugged his shoulders, greeted the other students in the group with a nod and followed Nathan.


    ¡°Pfft. Didn''t your parents teach you that a lady should be treated with respect?¡± Erenia pouted.


    Without facing her, Nathan answered loudly, ¡°My parents thought me, that respect has to be earned.¡±


    ¡°Well said, young man.¡± A strong voice reverberated through the room. Everyone looked towards its source. The huge frame of a man, that just arrived, blocked the view into the main hall. His blue magician robe was bulging visibly, making it look like a tight shirt, that covered a muscular upper body. His youthful face was betrayed by his bald head and a long, gray beard that reached down to his hips.


    ¡°I''m Magus Kennen, my little students.¡± He threw a glance at every teenager present.


    ¡°I''m a teacher and overseer at the Gilsbeck Magic School. If anyone of you has an interest in magic enhanced martial arts, then remember my name when you chose your lectures. ¡±After shamelessly promoting himself, he prompted the students to come together.


    ¡°I will lead you to our main facilities now. There will be a small welcome ceremony for all new students later this week. Make sure to attend. They will talk about the general rules, and you receive a handout with the possible lectures you can choose from. So it''s rather important if you''re serious about studying here.¡±


    He once again looked at every student.


    ¡°Any questions so far? No? Great! I''ll wait for no more than five minutes at the front door. Roll out!¡±


    He deliberately ignored the two students who raised their hands and immediately went back into the main hall. Nathan could barely suppress his laughter, when he saw the look on Erenia''s face, with her still raised hand. Blood shot to her head.


    ¡°What are you laughing at, assh... are you making weird assumptions?¡± She secretly glanced around to see how the other students reacted to her cover-up. When she saw, that nobody paid attention, she sighed in relief.


    The group of students packed their belongings and followed Magister Kennen outside. Right next to the building stood a ten meters long, a sleek cylinder with a slanted front. Mana circuits covered the lower body, barely visible on the white surface. The teenagers were astonished. Nathan whispered excitedly to Terran.


    ¡°How much do you want to bet, that this is an air carrier similar to those at the harbor?¡±


    ¡°No need to bet, it''s pretty obvious. But it looks way cooler!¡±


    Magister Kennen proudly slapped the vehicle.


    ¡°This, my little students, is our school''s very own air shuttle.¡±


    ¡°It can rise to five meters in the air and has a maximum speed on par with the fastest horses. It''s the newest creation of our magical engineering faculty.¡±


    A teenager from the back interrupted his presentation.


    ¡°Magister Kennen, why is it that you have all these advanced magic tools here and I''ve barely seen any in my home kingdom? Even if Moria is the center of magic research, there shouldn''t be such an enormous difference.¡±


    Kennen was slightly embarrassed and brushed over his hairless head.


    ¡°Well, basically, our Republic buys all the mana ore and essence it can get and heavily subsides magic research and engineering. Even if the other countries had the knowledge, they probably wouldn''t have the resources for it. But I don''t know any details, I''m not into economy or politics. For that, you will have to refer to Magister Einrich.¡±


    ¡°Anyways.¡± He infused a small circuit, at the side of the air shuttle, with mana from a ring on his finger. Slowly three doors slid open, revealing rows of benches, covered in soft leather, on the inside.


    ¡°Take a seat. This will be our ride for the next 20 minutes.¡±

 Chapter 8 - Apprentice Village

    Twenty minutes were to short for Nathan. After the air shuttle raced across the grassland for a few minutes, Nathan''s fascination towards magic overcame his emotions, and he started to observe the mana circuits responsible for the levitation. Even though common objects didn''t block the ability to see mana, the distance between Nathan and the circuits was a bit too large. He could only discern the rough outline and some, larger patterns. The intricate ones stayed hidden from his sight. Gradually, his body bent forward, his face closer and closer to the ground. Until Terran pushed him slightly.


    "You''re doing it again Nathan."


    Startled, Nathan raised his upper body. He smiled awkwardly.


    "I can''t help it, don''t you want to know how this stuff works?"


    "Yeah, sure. But I still don''t get why you''re trying to see something from so far away. Everyone knows that''s impossible."


    Nathan shrugged. He didn''t plan to tell Terran about his weird ability anytime soon. The episode with the storekeeper in the magic store taught him that the hard way. Terran seemed to be a good friend, but ultimately they knew each other only for a few hours.


    "You never know if you don''t try."


    "Ok, ok, but please look less like a weirdo when you do so," Terran smirked. "You never know when you might have to rely on others. A first impression is important."


    "Is this, what they teach the offsprings of nobility?"


    Terran laughed loudly. "Pretty much most of it, yes."


    While Terran shared a story about his social etiquette teacher, Nathan concentrated on the circuits again instead of listening. Even if he couldn''t see the details, maybe it could serve him as a reference somewhere in the future.


    When the air shuttle arrived, Nathan was still absorbed in his observations. The sudden jolt nearly threw him off his bench. Terran watched it from the side and sneered at him.


    "That''s what you get for not listening to me."


    A loud voice thundered from the outside, "We have arrived students. Come out and marvel at our wonderful school buildings."


    Nathan whispered to Terran, "Are all the teachers here so narcissistic?"


    One after the other, they left the airshuttle. Magister Kennen didn''t exaggerate, though, the view was indeed marvelous. The air shuttle stopped in front of a small town, surrounded by grasslands to the west and a dense forest in the east. Buildings were scattered across a flat hill, A few, larger ones, had only one story, but most of them had two. Their first floor was surrounded by pillars, which carried a protruding second floor and an elegantly curved gable roof, made from grey tiles. The walls were decorated with carvings of all kinds of symbols related to magic, turning them into a fantastical artwork. Between the buildings were wide and clean roads, that lay in the shadows of big oak trees, that were planted beside them. Behind the town, an enormous castle was dominating the landscape. The huge towers and broad halls were a showcase of the architecture from the past ten centuries. It was obvious, that every generation added new buildings to it, shaping it into a humongous monument to the country''s history.


    "Dear students, welcome to the Gilsbeck Magic School."


    Reveling in the silence of the stunned students, Magister Kennen waited a bit before continuing.


    "This little town here is your new home for the next two years. We call it the Apprentice Village. Each of the houses has a meeting room and some basic facilities like showers, bathrooms, a kitchen, etc. on the first floor, as well as ten equally sized residences on the second floor. The buildings without a second level are training and educational facilities, like gyms and libraries."


    He made a short pause to make sure, that everyone was following his words.


    "Many of the residences will already be occupied by your fellow students, please don''t disturb them. Every free residence has a blue label on the door. Make sure to remove those after you chose your new home. The welcoming ceremony will be in three days. Any questions?"


    After waiting for a split second, he immediately turned around and entered the air shuttle. When the first student managed to react, it already hovered over the ground and started to gain speed.


    The teenagers were dumbfounded.


    Terran looked at Nathan. "Guess we''ll be searching for a residence then."


    "Yeah, let''s do that. He said, that some of the smaller buildings are libraries, we should try to get a room close to them."


    Terran objected. "Nah, not near the libraries. Let''s first take a look at all the facilities, maybe there are some fun ones."


    Neither denying nor agreeing, Nathan walked towards the closest building with Terran in tow. Most of the other students were following their example and soon everyone scattered through the town.


    "It''s really quiet here," Terran remarked, "as if its an extinct ancient city."


    "Well, the other people here are all students. They''re probably learning or working on something. "Nathan''s reply was met him with short laughter from Terran.


    "Not everyone is as obsessed as you Nathan" He shook his head. "But maybe they''re all at the castle. I wonder what it looks like in there."


    "We''ll probably see it in three days. I bet there are loads of secret rooms and hallways."If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "Maybe. And magical traps and contraptions." Terran agreed.


    They arrived at the first facility building and walked through the pillars until they found the entry. A young man was sitting on a bench directly beside it, reading a book.


    "Oh, it seems like you found one of your libraries right off the bat."


    The young man raised his eyes from the lecture and smiled at the newcomers.


    "You''re mistaken, this is the aquatorium. A place to train magic related to water control."


    "An indoor swimming pool?" Terran asked excitedly.


    "Well, some use it like that as well, right."


    Terran turned towards Nathan.


    "That''s it! Let''s look for a house near here!"


    "You don''t even know what other kinds of facilities exist, don''t be in such a hurry."


    The man interjected. "Maybe I can help you with that. I''m bored anyway."


    Nathan and Terran looked at him.


    "And you are?" Nathan asked.


    "I''m Reginald, one of the research students. We have the doubtful pleasure to supervise these facilities one week each month."


    "Hello then, I''m Nathan. What''s a research student?"


    "Basically a student who stays longer than two years, to do research. Quite a lot of students chose to do so."


    Nathan understood. Two years were probably far from enough to become a great magician. Having students stay longer while they do work for the school, was probably a profitable deal for both parties.


    "Then can you tell us about the other facilities in this town?"


    Terran added, "Especially if there are any close libraries for my friend here."


    Reginald laughed.


    "Yeah, we have a lot of libraries. The closest is just a few hundred meters farther west. Its focus is... let me think a sec... right, I think it was the one with all the magic theory stuff."


    He scratched his chin.


    "But that''s probably a bit too advanced and boring for you guys."


    Terran threw an odd glance at Nathan.


    "No, I think it''s perfect. Towards the west you said, right?"


    "Yeah, but I didn''t tell you about the other facilities yet."


    "Doesn''t matter, thanks!" Terran turned around and walked westwards. Nathan chuckled when he heard this conversation, thanked Reginald and followed Terran.


    The outer appearance of the library and the aquatorium were very similar. The research student, responsible for the library, was concentrating on a sheet of paper in front of him, writing something down from time to time. When Nathan and Terran arrived, he only lifted his head shortly, acknowledged them with a nod and continued whatever he was doing. Upon entering the building, they were greeted by rows after rows of bookshelves, with only small spaces in-between them. The left corner of the library had a small open area with chairs and tables, but the place was currently empty. Nathan went to the closest shelve, took a random book and read the title.


    "Common Applications of the trapezoid link between mana patterns of type 3 and 4"


    "Sounds annoying" Terran acted as if he was shivering, then he also got a book from the opposite shelve.


    "An analysis of virtually superimposed patterns" he had a disgusted expression, "by the divines, that''s even worse! Why would you want to have such a torture chamber near your home?"


    Nathan smiled and flipped through his book, before reading a small section of its introduction.


    "The shape of the trapezoid allows for an automatized modification of mana flow parameters. That holds true for spell casting applications as well as circuit carving. Not only can the speed of the flow be regulated, depending on the length ratio of opposing sides, non-isosceles trapezoids can also be used to shift patterns and provide a well-researched method for denser pattern packing."


    Nathan was hooked. He might not be able to understand many of the more theoretical texts in the book, but he understood, that this book talked about linking different types of pattern together to create a compound effect. Like the ice-shard tornado.


    He murmured, "Would be amazing if I could do it."


    "Why bother reading the book? A Magister will teach us everything. Don''t worry."


    "Yes, and they''ll probably answer our questions at least as well as Magister Kennen." Nathan said sarcastically.


    "Uhh, you have a point there. Still, there''s no real use in reading those books if we don''t know the basics. You can agree at least to that, right?"


    Nathan looked a few pages ahead.


    "... with the flow parameters rho and sigma, we can then calculate the absolute impact density by applying a Kroner Integral to formula 14 ..." he stopped reading with an awkward expression on his face.


    "See, see. Don''t tell me you understand anything of that stuff."


    "Guess you''re right about that." Nathan put the book back. "But I bet, there are some books for beginners in here somewhere."


    "Certainly. Now let''s leave this tomb. We saw what we needed to see and need to get a residence. Before the best are taken."


    "Magister Kennen said, that all residences are equal, so there shouldn''t be any best ones."


    "But there are some near a swimming pool and some that aren''t!" Terran scolded him.


    "Why are you so focused on the aquatorium?"


    "Don''t you get it? Would you go swimming in your current clothes?"


    "Of course not. I swim in shorts."


    "See? And now imagine what you''d wear if you were a girl!"


    Nathan surrendered.


    After scouting the area between both facilities for a while, they knew that there were five residential buildings between the library and the aquatorium. In three of them, no or just a single room was free. Of the other two one had three rooms left and the last one was empty. Nathan and Terran played with the thought of choosing the empty one but decided against it because they deemed it beneficial to have some senior students close to them. After choosing their homes for the next two years, they arranged a time to meet the following day and went to their respective residences. Nathan''s room was on the outside wall, with a window showing the forest, which hid the setting sun. With 32 square meters, it was a lot larger than he was used to, but he certainly didn''t mind it. The furnishing was rather basic, though. There was a bed, a wardrobe, two bookshelves and a desk with a chair. One corner of the room was covered in dull, black tiles, an area for the more harmless magic experiments. Nathan sat down on the chair and let his eyes wander through his new home. It was the first time in those past view days, where he could really relax. He wouldn''t have to go anywhere, no one was after him. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the silence. Moments later, memories of the airship, his family and Lizzy emerged in his mind. He couldn''t rest yet. There was too much to do. Standing up from the chair, he started to walk up and down in the room, muttering to himself.


    "What do I know about the airship?"


    "It was extremely large, considering the technology I saw at the harbor it should be something that was developed only recently. And it was probably extremely expensive."


    "I still remember some parts of the circuits on the rods, maybe I can use that?"


    "Right, I lost my consciousness. That shouldn''t have happened. There must have been some kind of magic involved, maybe that will give me some clues!"


    "Where do I start?"


    After pondering for a while, he decided to look for the magical engineering library the next day, to see if he could find records which described an airship, or rods, similar to the one he encountered. Maybe he could get some information about who bought or built that airship. Having so many people from all over the continent gathered at this school, was also a good opportunity to ask, if anyone knew anything about villages that suddenly vanished. Revitalized, Nathan started unpacking his few belongings. He placed his magic tools on the table and the backpack with the rations into the wardrobe. Deciding to get a good night''s rest first, he undressed. Looking at the small lump of clothes, he realized that those were all the clothes he owned.


    "I shouldn''t forget to get some daily necessities, probably."


    With a big yawn, he lay down on the soft mattress and covered himself with the blanket. But sleep didn''t come easy, only after an hour of tossing and turning, did Nathan finally fell asleep.

 Chapter 9 - New Friends

    The next three days passed quietly. Nathan and Terran used their time to explore Apprentice Village and get to know the other students. There were 57 new students, who arrived before them and 82 in their second year. The second-year students spent most of their time in the castle and only came to the town to sleep and eat. They didn''t have much contact with the new students. Most of the first years were quite eager to socialize, especially after they heard, that the curriculum didn''t just include magic, but also mathematics, physics, and chemistry. When Terran learned of this, on the second day of their stay, he pretty much spent the whole day in one of the two bars, in a foul mood. Nathan used this time to sift through the magical engineering library, in the hope to find information about airships. But to no avail. After spending nearly seven hours, the supervising research student told him, that the higher-level information can only be accessed in the castle''s libraries, which ended his search. In the evening, Nathan met with Terran, who was back to his usual, easy-going self, and brought a new acquaintance, Revar, with him. By the time the third day passed, two more groups of altogether 23 new students arrived, making the town quite lively.


    Nathan, Terran, and Revar were currently sitting on a bench, outside of the aquatorium, watching the new arrivals.


    "Remind me once more Terran, why exactly are we here?" Nathan asked with a hint of impatience.


    Terran sighed. "I know, I know, you would prefer sitting in some dusty library, reading boring books, but we really need to grab at least two more new students. You know what that second year told us."


    Nathan replied with a quiet voice. "Sorry, I know, we have to turn in the homework as a group of five. It''s just, I need to find some information."


    Patting Nathan''s shoulder, Terran answered, "I don''t know why you''re so restless these days. I will help you if you ask. But we really shouldn''t lose sight of what we need to do. Just think about what happens if we don''t find two more decent persons, they might assign someone like Erina to us."


    "Ew, not that pretentious brat." Revar made an exaggerated expression of disgust.


    "Yes, yes, you''re right, both of you." Nathan conceded.


    "What about that guy? He looks quite intelligent." He pointed towards a small, scrawny teenager with black hair.


    "You just say that, because he wears glasses," Terran disagreed, "look how he moves, I know that type from my former school, he''s no good."


    "Ahh! I got an idea." Revar jumped up and walked towards the newcomers. They were still a bit confused because Magister Kennen left once again without giving any further directions.


    "Hey guys, can someone tell me what pattern I have to use to turn water into ice?"


    Surprised, the new students looked at Revar, some were ignoring him, a few just looked confused and some where pondering about the question. Revar pointed at those who seemed to think about the question.


    "There, those should be fine."


    "Wow, great idea, Revar!" Terran high-fived him and hurried over to a nice-looking girl, that played with her long greenish hair while being deep in thought. Nathan and Revar followed him.


    "Hi there." As always, Terran was the first one to talk.


    "Hi?"


    "I''m Terran, that''s Nathan, and he is Revar. We need to form a five-man group for homework and stuff and wondered if you want to join us?"


    "Oh, hi.I''m Alina. I don''t really know the answer to your question, though."


    "Doesn''t matter, we don''t either." Revar grinned.


    Alina looked relieved."Phew, somehow I''m happy to hear that. Sure, I''ll join you, for now, why not."


    "Great!" Terran gave her his brightest smile. "Welcome to the team then."


    "Where is our fifth person?" She asked.


    "Oh, we will have one in a minute." Terran scanned the other students, one of them still seemed to contemplate the question. Inspired by his earlier success, Terran walked towards him.


    "Hello friend, we are a group of four looking for a fifth member to join us for our homework assignments."


    He received no answer.


    "Hello?" He lightly poked the arm of the other boy.


    The teenager flinched. "Ah, sorry, I was thinkin'' ''bout somethin''. Joinin'' a group for homework? Yeah, sounds nice, I''m in." He scratched his eyebrow, obviously still a bit lost.


    "Wow, no need to think too hard about that question, we don''t know the answer either." Terran wanted to comfort him.


    "The question? Nah, I wondered where I could get some food, you know?"


    A light giggle could be heard from Alina and Nathan also grinned at Terran.


    "Don''t mind, one out of two is quite a good ratio." He said.


    "Yeah, true, after all, we have you to rely on." Terran cheekily replied.


    Nathan''s grin froze and turned into a defeated expression, while the new group member listened to their quarrel in confusion. Revar reached him his hand.


    "Hi, I''m Revar. The two squabblers are Nathan and Terran."


    "And I''m Alina." The only female group member added.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    He smiled embarrassedly. "''ello ''gain, I''m Thomas. Sorry ''bout my confusion, I can''t think straight when I''m hungry."


    "We can help with that. There''s a kitchen in every residential building. Follow us." Terran said.


    A few minutes later, the small group sat in the meeting room of Nathan''s and Terran''s building. They were eating some fast cooked noodles, and answered the questions of the newcomers.


    "So you can take the last free room here Thomas. As for Alina, there are a few buildings with only female inhabitants if you want that."


    "I''d prefer it, seeing that there are shared showers and bathrooms." She blushed slightly.


    Nathan nodded. "Probably a wise choice. I know a person in this town, who had quite the unpure reasons when he chose his residence."


    "By the way," Thomas said, now happy and content, "we ''eard somethin'' ''bout some ceremony in the evenin''?"


    "We know only a bit about that," Terran answered after glaring at Nathan, "it''s basically an all-in-one ceremony. First, the students who finished their second year are honored, and then the new first-years are introduced. After that, the Magisters present their lectures for the free-choice part of the curriculum."


    "Do you know when it''ll start?" Alina asked interested.


    "In roughly four hours, at 18:00."


    "Oh, then I should go and find a room before that." Alina stood up. "Thanks for all the information, we''ll see each other at the ceremony."


    "Shall I help you finding a residence?" Terran quickly asked.


    Alina winked at him. "No thanks, I can do that by myself. Bye guys."


    After she had left, Revar and Nathan started to laugh loudly.


    "Nice rejection. Guess you''ll have to find someone else." Nathan smirked.


    Terran hissed at him, "Just because you said something about unpure reasons."


    "Hey, I have to protect our group members from hostile predators, don''t I?" Nathan countered.


    Terran acted as if he was shocked. "Hostile? I''m very friendly and gentle!"


    "Not denying the predator, though. But maybe a toothless one?" Revar chimed in.


    "Just wait. I''ll show you by the end of the year exactly how ''toothless'' I am."


    "Why don''t you try it with Erinas group. I bet they would love your attention." Nathan responded.


    A long moment of awkward silence followed. Revar coughed lightly.


    "Way to kill a conversation."


    "Was a crappy one anyways." Nathan grinned. He then added, "I have to go now, see you later."


    "''kay, then I''ll be goin'' upstairs, gotta claim my new territory before that ceremony."


    Terran looked at Revar.


    "And you? Anything planned?"


    "Nope, nothing."


    "Bar?"


    "Sure."


    Nathan left the others behind and made his way to the close-by library. Lately, he was looking for hints concerning the ''Black Out Magic'' he experienced, but so far nothing came up. On the contrary. Every book, that listed existing types of magic, claimed, that it would be impossible to influence the body and mind of a sentient being directly. Weirdly enough, it did work on animals, though. However, the mechanics behind that were not understood, at least not at the time these books were written.


    The supervisor of the library greeted him.


    "Hi, Nathan, back again? You sure are hardworking."


    "Heya Reginald. Don''t know about that hardworking, I just don''t find what I''m looking for."


    "What exactly are you looking for?"


    Nathan contemplated for a second.


    "When I was at Port Verago, a magician let me lose my consciousness. I''m trying to find out what spell it was."


    "Influencing your mind? Impossible."


    "Yeah, that''s what''s written in the books, but I know what I felt."


    "Are you sure, that it was a spell and not some poisonous gas or something alike? A little poison dart maybe?"


    "Oh... a poison dart certainly not, but poisonous gas?" Nathan stared into the air, deep in thought.


    When he was losing consciousness, the airship was just getting ready to land by the village, and he was quite a bit away. Poisonous gas that influenced such a large area was unlikely but certainly not impossible. He never thought about it in this way, maybe he was looking for the wrong clues.


    "Thanks, Reginald, you helped me a lot. Do we have a library about poisons?"


    "Not in the Apprentice Village, too dangerous. I think we have some books about it in the castle, though."


    "Ok, too bad. Thanks again." He just wanted to leave, when he turned around again.


    "Have you ever heard something of villages disappearing overnight, humans and buildings and everything?"


    "Huh? Buildings too? I heard some students from the Warsong Alliance talking about some raided villages lately, but I''m quite sure they didn''t tear down the buildings."


    "Yeah, figured. Thanks anyways. Bye."


    Nathan chose a chair in the reading corner of the library. As so often, the library was empty. He was mulling over what Reginald said. It seemed to be universally agreed upon, that influencing a person with mana wasn''t possible. But it made no sense to Nathan. Obviously, a person could be influenced by poisons, drugs and similar, how could some herbs and fluids do something, that magic couldn''t? However, he had found no answer to that in the books. Maybe it was just a big deception because such magic would be too dangerous? But that was also unlikely, everyone who can cast magic was able to try and cast it on the body of another person. It would be immediately known if it''s possible or not. It just didn''t add up. No matter how hard he thought about it, he came to no conclusion. But one thing he knew for sure, he reached a deadlock. He couldn''t find any information about the airship or the black rods, at least not until he could access the libraries in the castle. The mind-influencing magic was most likely no magic but a poison, making way less mysterious. There were probably hundreds of poisons with similar effects, which meant, that identifying the attacker with this information would be extremely hard, if not impossible. He had nothing left. Over the past days, he was in the library whenever he wasn''t with his friends. He couldn''t accept that it was all for naught. Nathan left the library in a gloomy mood.


    When he looked at one of the small clocktowers, which were distributed across Apprentice Village, he saw that only one hour was left until the ceremony would begin. He was quite surprised, that he spent more than two hours in the library.


    "Hey, Nathan!" Terran and Thomas were walking towards him.


    "I knew, that I would find you at the library, I should''ve made a bet with Thomas." said Terran, laughing softly.


    "Oh wow, you look horrible, what happened?"


    Nathan closed his eyes and took a deep breath, there was no need to bother them with his bad mood.


    "Nothing, there was just a text, that I couldn''t understand."


    "I told you already, wait with that stuff till the Magisters taught us the basics. It''s just wasted time."


    Thomas disagreed while stuffing his mouth with a piece of dried meat.


    "Nah, ye''re wrong. At least he''ll know what the Magisters ''re talkin'' ''bout. Makes ''nderstandin'' easier. A lot."


    "Way to backstab someone Thomas."


    "Just sayin the truth, mate."


    Thomas shrugged his shoulders.


    "I don''t care. Let''s get Revar and Alina, we should head out for the castle."


    "Any idea, where they are?" asked Nathan.


    "Let''s just wait at the road, that leads out of the town. We can''t miss them that way."


    Nathan and Thomas nodded. They didn''t have to wait long after arriving at the boundaries of Apprentice Village. Revar and Alina arrived just a few minutes later.


    "Hi. You two came together?" Terran threw suspicious glances at Revar.


    However, Revar acted as if he didn''t see it. "Yeah, we met on the way."


    Alina, oblivious to the situation, greeted the three teenagers with a happy smile.


    Terran pulled Revan closer to him and whispered, "If you find a girlfriend before I do, you''ll need a new drinking buddy."


    Revan answered quietly. "Don''t be so petty, let me try my luck, dude."


    Seeing the two whispering, Nathan could guess what they were talking about. He sighed inwardly. If only Lizzy wasn''t killed in that night, if they had just moved half a meter away... he didn''t dare to finish that thought. It would still have been a devastating night. But at least they could have comforted each other. Shaking off his negative thoughts, he started to walk towards the castle, followed by the whispering duo, a happily whistling Alina and the chewing Thomas.

 Chapter 10 - Choices

    The castle had a name. Nathan learned of it, when he entered through the tall wooden gates for the first time, half an hour earlier. A gigantic statue, of an old wizard holding a massive book, stood at the entry. The text inscribed into the pedestal of the stature read: ''In honor of Dimir Goldwing, the first Dean of Scuma Castle.''.


    Now Nathan and his friends sat in a large meeting hall, in one of the most prominent buildings of Scuma Castle. Nearly 300 students were present, but the hall still seemed empty to him. It was obvious, that the castle was made for a far greater number of people. Still, it didn''t fail to impress Nathan. The hall was a fusion of ancient architecture and modern magic technology. The finely ornamented metal-gates at the backside of the hall were enormous. Each wing was at least five meters high and two meters wide, but a single, soft, push could move these massive gates. Rows of large windows, that reached from the bottom of the hall up to the point, where the ceiling bent towards the middle. Inexplicably those windows didn''t show the outside of the hall, but the outside of the castle itself, as if the hall stood solitary on a hill. Opposite to the gates was a stage, with seven luxurious chairs, and above those, on the left and right side of the hall, were two galleries, each holding at least two dozen more of those chairs.


    The gates to the hall closed and a loud gong echoed through the air. From a small door hidden behind the front-stage, seven ancient-looking Magister entered. They strode with lofty steps towards their chairs and sat down. A booming voice filled the air as the Magician in the middle chair moved his lips.


    ¡°Dear students of the Gilsbeck Magic School. I welcome you all to our annual ceremony, to send our graduates on the way, into their bright future, and welcome our new students, taking their first steps.¡±


    He made a short pause, while his voice still reverberated in the hall.


    ¡°I am Magister Ludwig Roheim, the 8th dean of this esteemed institution. I will be hosting today''s ceremony together with six of my dear colleagues. The heads of the faculty for magical engineering, Magister Zeros Minnoren, and Magister Ferales Mandos. The heads of the faculty of science, Magister Clara Taunos, and Magister Julianus Parenis. And the heads of the faculty of magic theory, Magister Lissa Fae, and Magister Ral''khan Wolftooth.¡±


    One after the other, the magicians on the six prominent chairs, rose up when the Dean called their names. The second-year students started to cheer, for each of the Magisters, and the new students soon joined in.


    ¡°Being a magician is a privilege, as well as a duty. The ability, to channel unimaginable powers, enables you to fulfill your wishes, to live your dreams! But it also comes with responsibility. The responsibility to not abuse your power. To support your fellow humans. To improve our civilization. You stand on the shoulders of those, who came before you, and thus you shall become the shoulders, future generations can stand on. Today I have the pleasure, to announce, that 57 young men, have chosen to take on these duties.¡±


    ¡°Aaron Clefthoven, please step forward!¡±


    A young man in the front rows stepped up, shivering from excitement. He slowly walked up to the stage and knelt in front of the Dean''s chair.


    ¡°Due to your great skill and talent in the field of compound 3-9 patterns, I am pleased to call you an official graduated mage, of the Gilsbeck Magic School!¡±


    The dean raised his hand in front of the new magician. Nathan saw a weak glow coming from the Magister, but the distance was far to much, to discern anything else. A split second later, a mark appeared on the back of the Aarons hand.


    ¡°I congratulate you Aaron, may the mana never leave you.¡±


    Aaron stood up, bowed deeply, and went back to his chair.


    Nathan leaned closer to Terran and whispered.


    ¡°Your dad is an alumnus, right? What is this mark on the hand?¡±


    Terran answered in kind. ¡°It''s the three colored star. My dad told me it''s not real magic. They just use magic to accelerate a special ink towards the hand, implanting it under the skin. Whenever the caster uses magic, an iridescent star will appear there.¡±


    ¡°What? Why would they do that?¡±


    ¡°Officially as a mark of honor, but my dad thinks it''s to identify rogue magicians. If they graduated from here, then they will send a team of headhunters after him.¡±


    ¡°Oh...¡±


    While they were talking, another graduate had received his mark and was walking back to his seat. Within the next hour, all 57 graduates stepped forward and could, from now on, call themselves magicians. After the last graduate had gone back to his bench, the dean looked towards the rear seats.


    ¡°I''m especially pleased, to welcome the 91 new students to our school, and I am hopeful, that each one of you will follow in the footsteps of your alumni. I''m sure, by now you are all very eager to know how exactly your everyday school life will be organized. Therefore Magister Lissa Fae will enlighten you.¡±


    After a wave of applause, Lissa Fae stood up and came to the front.


    ¡°Many of you already have a rough understanding of life in our school. The education is divided into mandatory and elective lectures. The mandatory lectures are a history of magic, magic theory, mathematics, physics, chemistry and basics of magic engineering. A good wizard needs to master all of them! For the elective lectures, you have to choose three out of a multitude of available lectures. Following my introduction, the Magisters,¡° she pointed with her hand towards the galleries, ¡°will introduce you to their respective fields of study. The elective lectures have to be chosen by Friday next week.¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Lissa Fae went on about the school rules and other organization related things.


    Two hours later, Nathan and the other students were finally able to exit the castle.


    ¡°That was far too much information there,¡± Terran complained. ¡°Do you know which lectures you want to choose?¡±


    Nathan glanced at the castle longingly. ¡°I wish I could just do all of them. Everything seems so interesting.¡±


    Thomas looked at Nathan with pity in his eyes. ¡°Ye heard them, right? If ye don''t specialize, ye will ''lways just stay mediocre and master nothin''.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know.¡± Nathan''s face was the definition of sadness. ¡°Aaah, damn, I don''t know. I tend to micro-acceleration studies and light transformations, not so sure about the third one yet. And you guys?¡±


    Alina answered first. ¡°I''ll join you in light transformations, it''s quite practical. And I want to take water control and micro-deceleration.¡±


    Revar looked astonished. ¡°You want to become an ice mage? They said that''s an extremely hard thing to do.¡±


    ¡°I know, I still want to try.¡±


    ¡°I''ll take something safe.¡± Terran grinned. ¡°I will do advanced magical engineering, fire control, and structure manipulation.¡±


    Nathan asked Thomas, ¡°And what about you?¡±


    ¡°I dunno. Somethin'' that ''arns a bit cash I guess. Maybe I''ll join Terran in the craftin'' stuff.¡±


    After having heard what most of his group wanted to do, Revar still seemed to struggle with his choice.


    ¡°My country is pretty hostile to its neighbors. I''ll need something I can fight with, but I''m definitely not good enough for something as fancy as ice magic. I think I''ll just go with the macro-acceleration, macro-deceleration, and gravity manipulation.¡±


    Nathan face lightened up. ¡°Oh, gravity manipulation, I completely forgot about that. That''ll be my third one.¡±


    ¡°I wonder how the lectures are held.¡° Arlina said.


    ¡°We''ll see tomorrow mornin'' I''d say.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that''s true.¡± She agreed.


    On their ways back to Apprentice Village, Alina, Revar, and Terran had a lively discussion about the speech of Dean Roheim, while Nathan and Thomas only listened, nodding from time to time. Due to the late time, the group parted ways soon, after reaching the small town.


    Nathan planned to go to sleep right after showering, but his mind was occupied by the content of the presentations from earlier. They only gave rather broad information about their subjects, with the reasoning, that the students had to learn about general magic theory first before they would understand the details. From what Nathan could understand, micro-acceleration covered the type of patterns, that increased the movement speed and direction of tiny particles, that were supposed to be the basis for all matter. Gravity manipulation was a somewhat elusive term, but the Magister said, that one of its uses was to increase and decrease the weight of objects or levitating them, which Nathan found very practical. Light transformation caught his interest because the Magister described different kinds of light, that could be created or detected with this magic. Not just the illumination spell he already knew, but also something like seeing in the dark or seeing invisible colors and objects. While he lay in bed dozens of ideas came to his mind, how he could use these spells in his fights against his mysterious enemies, until he fell asleep.


    The screeching of hundreds of black-robed humans resonated in Nathan''s mind. He had to do something. Fast! Far below him was the barren earth, where once Scuma Castle stood. It was obliterated by the three airships, which now hid somewhere in the thick clouds. Nathan raised his hands. Six of his ten rings evaporated, as he channeled every speck of mana he could muster into an enormous circuit, that surrounded him like a sphere. Tiny spiral patterns formed on the surface, connecting and intertwining. When the last pattern was linked, the sphere flared up. A blazing radiance brightened the moonless night. Then, it flashed. Once. Twice. After the third flash, white blades of light erupted from its surface, cutting through the black figures, like a hot knife through snow. A rain of limbs and blood rained from the sky, and the screeching stopped. The mana circuit dissipated, revealing an exhausted Nathan. But he still had something to do. Another ring disintegrated to form a small circuit under Nathan''s feet. In the next second, his body penetrated the dense cloud cover. There they were. Three dull black monstrosities, hovering in the air, barely visible in the pale moonlight. Nathan closed his eyes. He was determined to end it once and for all. One after the other, each of his garments, accessories, and items transformed into a stream of pure mana. A gigantic circuit, stretching hundreds of meters across the sky, formed above Nathan and the airships. With a whisper, Nathan said a single word.


    ¡°Fall!¡±


    In that instant, his body felt a thousand tons heavier, and together with the airships, he plummeted towards the ground.


    Nathan jolted awake. Within seconds, the details of his nightmare blurred in his memory, leaving behind an unpleasant feeling of loss. Breathing heavily, he looked around. He was still in his room, illuminated by the bright light of the full moon, shining through the window. Guessing from its position on the sky, it was still deep in the night, but he felt wide awake. Without a clear thought, he sat on the bed, staring out of the window. In the past, he loved the calm nights, when he had time for his thoughts and fantasies. Now, every thought he had brought only pain and sorrow. Over and over again, his thoughts wandered back to the terrible night. Nathan shook his head. He needed to distract himself. Buried in thought he started to gather the mana surrounding him in a small sphere, in front of his chest. The mana formed rough patterns of the oven circuit, which shortly after vanished without effect. He focused his mind on the scattering mana, when he realized, that its density was a lot higher than in the Kingdom of Aruth. He had a daring thought. His eyes focused on his hand, while he willed as much mana as he could to gather into a sphere above the index finger of his right hand. All the mana from an area of two meters around him concentrated on his fingertip. With slow but steady movements, he drew the illumination spell pattern. He didn''t dare to hope, but as soon as he finished, it really happened. A barely visible glow emerged in the center of the circuit. Nathan stared at the light. His sister was right. Every book he read agreed with her. No magician could influence the mana of a large enough region, to form actual working circuits. Yet, there it was.


    He rubbed his eyes with the left hand, to make sure they didn''t deceive him. But while the glow grew weaker, it was still visible until the mana was completely used up or diffused in the air. The light vanished. He had to try again! Once more he wanted to gather the mana around him. But when he concentrated on the mana, he saw that the region around him had a noticeable smaller mana density, that slowly increased as the mana from the rest of the room replenished it.


    He stood up and moved into the corner for magical experiments, sat down, and repeated the procedure. Again, a very weak light hovered over his finger. Following a spontaneous idea, he tried to move the mana circuit away from his fingertip. In the first few moments, it looked successful, but then the pattern became shacky. More and more mana escaped the circuit, and after moving it just a hands width, the circuit completely dissolved.


    ¡°Phew. Wow. That''s incredible!¡±


    Afterwards, he experimented with it in the other corners of his room, always getting similar results. A while later he stopped. He still remembered the splitting headaches he had a few days earlier. And this wasn''t something he needed to repeat, he felt pretty tired already. He crawled back into his bed and fell asleep within minutes of closing his eyes.

 Chapter 11 - The first lectures

    When Nathan woke up in the morning he felt a slight, dull pain in his head, but in no way comparable to what he had experienced four days earlier. He looked out of the window at the nearest clocktower. Seeing that he still had nearly an hour before his first lecture started, he left his room and went downstairs to shower and get some food. Thomas already stood in the kitchen, munching on a piece of dried up apple.


    "Mornin'' Nathan. Ye want some of the apples?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, why not. Where did you get them?¡±


    ¡°Ricky made them for me. One of the second-years ''pstairs.¡± He happily took another piece.


    ¡°He dried them with some combination of fire ''nd wind magic, quite the sight.¡±


    Nathan tasted one of the apple slices. It was surprisingly good, it lost none of its fruity sweet taste during the drying process.


    ¡°Pretty good, they should sell rather well, if you aim for that.¡±


    ¡°I know, right? That''s what I was thinkin''.¡±


    A few minutes later, Terran also arrived and they went up to the castle. In the first two weeks, only the mandatory lectures were held, and on this particular day, they had a single long lecture in magic theory. Nathan was excited for it. Finally, after experimenting by himself all the time, he would have something he could refer to. The lecture was held in one of the bigger halls, not far from a side entry into the castle. Nathan guessed, that more than a thousand students would comfortably fit in, but on this morning, only the 91 new students gathered in the hall. When the lecture was about to begin, a loud gong could be heard echoing through the halls and corridors of the castle. A small, corpulent man, with similar greenish hair as Alina, entered the hall and walked up to the stage.


    ¡°A relative?¡± Terran whispered jokingly.


    ¡°Probably also a native of Arkanda, we have quite a lot of people with that green tint.¡±


    ¡°Ah, ok. Didn''t know that.¡±


    ¡°Good morning students.¡± The Magister had a surprisingly deep voice. ¡°My name is Elrond Wonderpond, I will teach you in the basics of magic theory for the next two years.¡±


    ¡°But before we start, I want to get to know you a little better. How many of you have used a magic tool before? Not those, which are activated by pouring mana essence, no, real tools, where you have to move the mana yourself. Just raise your hands please.¡±


    Nearly everyone raised his or her hand.


    ¡°Great, on that occasion, can anyone tell me what the significant difference between both types of magic tools is?¡±


    From one of the front seats, the voice of Erina resounded, ¡°The former need to be horizontal set up, because the mana essence wouldn''t flow properly otherwise, while the latter ones can be carved in any direction.¡±


    ¡°Very good, exactly right. Magister Garus Redbeck will teach you the details of that. What''s important for us, is that the ability to move mana is required to properly cast spells. Did anyone of you already cast a spell?¡±


    Nathan looked at the other students, he didn''t want to be the only one to stick out. When he saw, that a few other students also had cast magic before, he raised his hand.


    ¡°Five? That''s actually a good ratio! Which kind of spells?¡±


    He pointed at each one of the five students successively.


    ¡°Water accumulation.¡±


    ¡°I can also cast water accumulation.¡±


    ¡°I learned heating.¡±


    ¡°Water accumulation¡±


    ¡°Illumination¡±


    ¡°Water accumulation, heating, and illumination. These are some of the most useful spells for everyday life.¡±


    Magister Wonderpond turned around to the chalkboard, that covered nearly the whole wall in the back of the stage, and started to draw the mana circuits for all three spells. Nathan was intrigued, while he already knew the circuit for water accumulation, he never saw the heating one. He copied the patterns as accurate as he could on his paper.


    ¡°These are the mana circuits for all three spells. They alone, however, are not enough to cast the spell. Be it with a magic tool or by yourself. The important thing, which actually is responsible for the spell, is the movement of mana. The mana circuits themselves only serve to define the direction, in which the mana is moving.¡±


    The Magister drew some arrows on the patterns.


    ¡°Each type of movement, including expansion and compression, has its own effects on our world. That''s why for spell-casting its important to get everything right. Else you might trigger an unwanted effect. Every year we have cases of students hurt in accidents, like burning their hands with heating magic, just because they didn''t get the angles right. So please be extra careful when you experiment with new spells.¡± He had a stern expression when he said that.


    ¡°Who can tell me another reason why a clean shape is important?¡± He looked around... ¡°No one?¡±


    After seeing no student raise his hand after a few seconds, he continued himself.


    ¡°It''s mana efficiency. To cast a spell, you extract magic from any object that contains it, be it mana ore, as found in crystals, metals and some woods, or mana essence as found in water. Whenever you move mana along the circuit, some of it will dissipate without taking effect, we call this mana breath. It is omnipresent in the air but has a far to low density, to be used with even the best patterns. The amount of mana that evaporates, depends directly on the quality of your patterns. Casting magic with a badly drawn circuit will take magnitudes more mana for a worse effect than a decently executed one. This is one of the main limitations for magicians, that can only be overcome through training, training, training!¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Magister Wonderpond took a small mana crystal in each of his hands. Within an instant, over his left hand hovered a tiny wisp of flame, while his right hand held a bright, blazing fire.


    ¡°I''m using the same mana circuit for both spells. The one in my left hand is drawn poorly and takes a lot more mana than the one on my right hand.¡±


    A student raised his hand.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°You said there were accidents with burnt hands, why aren''t you hurt by those flames?¡±


    ¡°Very good question, that is because I cast a vertical circuit with two different patterns above each other. The lower pattern is a cooling pattern to protect my hand, while the upper pattern creates a high temperature.¡±


    The flames in his hands vanished. Walking up and down he continued.


    ¡°So the basis of all spell casting is the pattern. It is very hard to create a perfect pattern with an untrained mind, that''s why many people will use some form of help. The most basic help are magic tools, where the caster only needs to accelerate the mana through the carvings. I wouldn''t even call it real magic, but the tool magicians themselves tend to disagree with my opinion. A more advanced way of self-help is drawing with a staff in the ground or tracing the circuit with a wand in the air while channeling the mana. The most powerful magicians, however, just need to imagine the circuits in their mind to channel the mana along a perfect pattern. That should be your goal!¡±


    ¡°OK. Now, what do we do in magic theory? In the coming two weeks I will fist introduce you to all the different types of patterns, so you can make an educated decision about which lectures you want to attend. Afterward, we will learn how to increase the mana efficiency of your patterns, how to link different types of patterns together, and the most common forms of vertical patterns stacking. By the end of your two years, everyone should be able to somewhat proficiently cast combination spells with three different types of patterns.¡±


    ¡°Any questions so far?¡±


    Again, no one raised his hand.


    ¡°You know, most of the information I present can also be learned from books. The most valuable part of lectures is to ask questions. If you don''t use this chance then don''t regret it later.¡±


    Wonderpond shook his head when still no one asked a single question.


    ¡°Alright, we''re done with the introduction then. Let''s start with the real lecture. Beginning with the letter ''A'', Acceleration. As some other spells, acceleration is divided into micro and macro. Micro-acceleration individually increases the speed of the small particles, which are the foundation of our world, in a specific direction. In contrast to macro-acceleration, which is used to accelerate a large amount of those particles together, micro-acceleration is more versatile, but therefor a lot more complex and mana intensive...¡±


    Magister Wonderpond went on with describing the effects, advantages, and disadvantages of different spell patterns, how they were commonly used and which patterns would make a great combination. By the end of the day, they reached the letter ''F'', talking about fire control patterns.


    ¡°That was an amazing lecture!¡± Nathan was delighted.


    ¡°What exactly was so great about it? He just explained some general stuff and didn''t teach us anything.¡± Terran answered.


    ¡°Not anything? I know now why my illumination spell was so dim, and I-¡±


    ¡°Right, what was that about? I never knew you already know a spell.¡±


    ¡°Well... I didn''t want to stand out, sorry for not telling you guys.¡±


    ¡°Show it to us.¡± Alina eagerly said.


    ¡°I can''t, I don''t have any mana stuff.¡±


    ¡°No problem,¡± Terran grinned and handed him a small marble, ¡°I got you covered. Prove, that you''re not just a braggart.¡±


    Nathan looked at the marble, it was the size of a small bird''s egg and had the color and texture of wood.


    ¡°Wow, where did you get this? Doesn''t look like some low-quality rabble.¡±


    Terran smirked. ¡°My father gave me a few of those before I departed, he hoped I''d train more if he gave me mana items.¡±


    Revar came closer to Nathan and inspected the marble.


    ¡°That''s rosewood I think, it''s a tree that grows near springs with high amounts of mana essence in it and stores mana while growing.¡± He said.


    ¡°Can be, I didn''t listen to what he said when he gave them to me.¡±


    ¡°It''s a present from your father, I can''t use them. Take them back.¡±


    ¡°Don''t sweat it, I want to see your magic. Just think of it as teaching me the illumination spell.¡±


    Nathan looked at the marble in his hand. Then he closed his hand to a fist and pointed the index finger into the air. He drew a small amount of mana from the rosewood, accumulated it at his fingertip and began to draw the illumination spell. Due to the practice, he had during the night, it wasn''t very hard for him to get the shape right. It was far from perfect, but when he drew the final line, a ball of light, about as bright as candlelight, hovered over his finger.


    ¡°Wow, you really could do it!¡± The other four were astonished.


    Slightly insulted Nathan grumbled. ¡°Why would you even think I lied?¡±


    ¡°We didn''t, we didn''t.¡± Terran laughed it off. ¡°Guess that''s just what I''d expect from you. Keep the marble as compensation.¡±


    Nathan didn''t say no to that, and the rosewood marble instantly vanished in his clothing.


    ¡°Ye did that drawin'' with the fingers thin'', can ye do it without?¡± Thomas asked curiously.


    ¡°I tried it a few times before, but it didn''t work. Maybe I''ll be able to, later.¡±


    Terran patted his back. ¡°If not you, who then? I''ll rely on you for my studies, best friend.¡±


    ¡°I see no reason to refuse using your mana marbles.¡± Nathan jeered.


    A little bit later, the little group sat around the table of the meeting room in Alina''s building. Nathan had just explained the process of gathering mana into a sphere above their fingers to them. Alina succeeded in casting a hazy light on her fourth try, while the Revar and Terran only played around with the sphere, not planning to learn light magic. Thomas tried it a few times and decided his time was better spent raiding the kitchen.


    ¡°Hey Nathan, you drew a picture of that heating circuit, right?¡± Revar asked, after becoming bored a bit.


    ¡°Yes, why?¡±


    ¡°Give it to me for a bit, would you?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Nathan got his notebook and gave it to him.


    Revar took out some paper and copied the circuit. Then he held it in front of his face and stared at the lines. Aside from Revar, only Nathan could see how a stream of mana flowed out from his sleeve, condensing into a reflection of the drawing. After the circuit was completed, the mana started to move along the pattern, as the Magister drew it on the chalkboard.


    Terran and Alina were startled when they felt a warm breeze coming from the paper.


    ¡°Woah, did you just manage to cast the heat spell on your first try? What the ¡­ !¡± Terran grimaced.


    Without hiding his elation Revar answered, ¡°It''s actually quite easy if you have it drawn somewhere, just need to remember how to move the mana.¡±


    ¡°Knowing how to move it and being able to really move it are two different things.¡± Terran exclaimed.


    ¡°My father had to try at least a dozen times to control the mana properly when he learned magic spells by tracing pictures. You must have monstrous mana control.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the recruiter from the school told me my control is pretty good when he discussed the stipend with my parents.¡±


    Now it was Nathan''s turn to be surprised.


    ¡°You got a stipend? I was recruited too, but have to pay tuition.¡±


    Alina enlightened him, ¡°The school has different kinds of recruitment, especially talented students get a scholarship, above-average talented students can join for free but have to pay tuition, and average students can join, but have to pay a fee to do so. And of course the tuition as well.¡±


    ¡°So you guys all have a stipend?¡± Nathan asked.


    ¡°No, I don''t have one either, I count to those above-average ones.¡± She answered.


    ¡°Me too. Guess that makes Revar the most talented guy in our group.¡± A hint of envy could be heard in Terran''s voice.


    ¡°I got a stipend too, ye know?¡± Thomas shouted from the wall.


    Terran blankly stared towards the kitchen, before wordlessly continuing to play with the mana sphere.

 Chapter 12 - Light manipulation research group

    When Nathan was back in his room, it was already past midnight. After the group of five got bored training spells, Terran dragged Nathan, Thomas, and Revar to the nearest bar, forcing Revar to treat them to some drinks, because he clearly did not need money. Thomas escaped soon after, and Nathan told the service that he only wanted water. In the end, Nathan had to carry the drunk Terran back to their residence.


    Nathan dropped hard on his bed, exhausted from the day. He threw his clothes in a corner and closed his eyes. Once again the images haunted him and didn''t let him sleep, no matter how weary he was. For a while he lay on the bed, staring into the darkness. Then he started to collect mana again and casted the illumination spell. It didn''t take long until he felt the mental drain, that was so familiar to him, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.


    His headaches woke him up one and a half hours before he had to go to the lectures. He did his best to ignore them and went through his morning procedures. While brushing his teeth, he thought about the lecture schedule. Magic theory lectures would still be held daily, but only for 4 hours at once. They got an additional two hours of mathematics and physics afterward. On the next day they would have chemistry and history of magic instead and an additional lecture about the basics of magic engineering. Nathan didn''t care much about history, but he could guess how physics and chemistry were related to magic. Mathematics, however¡­ he saw the calculations required to create the perfect pattern in some of the magic books he looked through, but he doubted that he would ever be able to do this kind of complex calculations.


    By the time the lectures began, his headaches were gone. Magic theory was interesting as always, Nathan wished he could just stay in the school forever and learn ever pattern that existed. However, the lectures for mathematics and physics were a bit different. The Magisters seemed to be slightly hostile to each other. The Magister responsible for mathematics started the lecture with a long introduction about how mathematics was the foundation of magic, because without exact calculations for movement, velocity, density, etc. no modern magic would have been possible. The physics Magister had a quite similar opinion, that physics was the foundation of magic. Without understanding the physical principles behind the elements and physical phenomena, no spells would ever have been understood or developed. When a student pointed out that the mathematics Magister said the same thing, the first physics lecture started with a half an hour-long rant about mathematics only being useful when applied to physics. Terran and Thomas seemed to have been greatly entertained by this. In the following two weeks, Nathan started to get acquainted with the other students during the breaks between lectures, and carefully inquired about vanished villages or towns. But his efforts were futile. The only answers were either ''I don''t know anything'' or ''There was a story that my granny used to tell me.'' Nothing that would relate to the attack on his village.


    Each day, in the evenings, Nathan and his friends sat together to discuss the lectures and solve their homework. His life was peaceful, organized and calm. The only thing bothering Nathan were his recurring nightmares. He was never able to fall asleep without first exhausting himself mentally through spell-casting. But after Nathan realized, that the range in which he could clearly see and manipulate mana, had increased, he didn''t mind it anymore.


    Nathan, Terran, and Thomas were walking along the road, on the way to their lectures.


    ¡°Finally! Only once per week those crappy history lectures! You don''t know how happy I am!¡± Terran said.


    Nathan nodded while grunting something inaudible. He had overdone it the night before, and his headaches would still need a while to disappear.


    Thomas looked at him thoughtfully. ¡°I really don''t know how ye''re havin'' headaches ''very mornin''.¡±


    ¡°I trained a bit too much before going to sleep.¡± Nathan answered.


    Terran shook his head. ¡°No, no. That can''t be it. I spent two mana marbles yesterday while training the heating spell. I cast it well over 100 times, and I don''t feel anything. Either you''re making something wrong, or you''re ill.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it''s because I always look into bright light while training the illumination spell.¡± Nathan made up a random excuse. He knew by now, that his headaches were likely linked to him accumulating mana breath, but he wanted to keep it secret.


    ¡°Maybe you should buy some colored glasses? One of the second-years in house 54 knows a spell to change transparent glass into brownish one, however, that''s possible.¡±


    ¡°I read in a book that such coloring is done by accelerating particles of metals onto glass.¡±


    Terran threw Nathan a funny glance and shook his head.


    ¡°Why do you even know that? Magic engineering classes only start today. Why would you read anything about it before that?¡±


    ¡°I just happened to come across a description of it when I read something about the production of airships.¡±


    ¡°That... doesn''t make it any better?¡±


    ¡°Weren''t you the one who decided to major in crafting related spells because of airshuttles?¡±


    ¡°But that doesn''t mean I''m unreasonably enough to learn how to build one before I can even craft a simple one-pattern tool!¡±


    ¡°It''s not like I read an in-depth crafting manual. Just some general stuff.¡±


    ¡°Oh well, whatever.¡± Terran shook his head.


    A while later Alina and Revar joined the group when they were about to leave the small town.


    ¡°You guys are suspiciously often together.¡± Terran remarked.


    ¡°Don''t always imply weird things, Terran.¡± Alina''s face became slightly red. ¡°Our homes just happen to be in the same corner.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, right.¡± He nudged Nathan. ¡°Dude, we need to get us girls too.¡±


    ¡°Suit yourself.¡± He pushed Terran to the side and accelerated his steps.


    ¡°Woah, what''s with him?¡±


    Nathans spent the rest of the morning in a sour mood, barely talking to anyone. Only when his lecture about light manipulation began, did he brighten up again. The Magister, Tyrone Duskvale, entered the lecture hall with an expectant expression on his face.


    ¡°Good morning students.¡± His sight wandered across the 12 students sitting on the benches. ¡°I''m really happy to see such a large group of future magicians showing interest in the mysteries of light magic. In contrast to common subjects like elemental manipulation or kinetics, light magic still has a lot of untapped potentials. We know, for example, that light magic can be divided into soft light, sharp light, and hard light. And we don''t know how any of this fundamentally works! It''s fascinating! Soft light is what you experience in your everyday life, sunlight, light from lanterns, the illumination spell too.¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    He looked into Nathan''s direction.


    ¡°Soft light has relatively low mana and control requirements, but can still be a powerful asset. Sharp light requires a lot more mana in comparison. It is a straight beam of light that can melt and incinerate everything in its path. An unbelievable potent kind of light. Hard light is the most confusing type of light. It has the ability to repel objects! Interestingly metallic objects require far less mana than let''s say wood to be repelled. So if you ever have the bad luck to fight a magician who can use it, your walking stick might be more potent than your sword.¡±


    A teenager in ruffled clothes and unkempt hair raised his hand.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°If it can repel objects, can it attract them too?¡±


    Magister Duskvale examined the student with a bright smile on his face.


    ¡°Yes indeed. Very well thought. It is one of the most anticipated topics of research in the light magician community. So far we haven''t found a spell pattern yet, but we are positive that it is possible. What is your name young man?¡±


    ¡°I''m Devan, Sir, Devan Shire.¡±


    ¡°Good, good. If you''re interested in joining a student''s research group then stay after the lecture.¡±


    Nathan also examined Devan. He saw his large frame two weeks earlier when the last batch of new students arrived. Due to his rather dull face, they didn''t consider him as a potential group member. But it seemed like they were wrong about him.


    ¡°The properties of hard light are still mostly unknown, nearly all of our knowledge about it is based on ancient patterns that were handed down through the ages. However, hard light won''t be a topic of our lecture as you will hardly be able to afford the mana required to train it. For now, we will learn how to properly use soft light.¡±


    His eyes were on Nathan again.


    ¡°I heard we had a student that is able to cast illumination, would you mind demonstrating it for me?¡±


    Nathan was uncomfortable to cast in front of a group of strangers, but declining the request of a Magister wasn''t really an option, so he forced himself to stand up with a smile.


    ¡°Sure, Sir, but I have no magic tools to channel mana from.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that is no problem, come to me, I have plenty.¡±


    Nathan walked the small distance to the stage, feeling the stares of his classmates in his back. When he arrived next to the Magister, he was so nervous that cold sweat ran down his spine. Magister Duskvale handed him a black cube.


    ¡°You''re Nathan, right? Don''t hold back, show me the brightest light you can cast.¡±


    Nathan looked towards the other students. Most of them observed him with curiosity but some of them also had an annoyed or jealous expression. Alina, the only one of the attending students that knew him, gave him an encouraging look. He took a deep breath and closed his hand around the cube.


    Then he channeled the mana to a sphere on his fingertip and drew the circuit in a well-practiced motion. A bright ball of light flared up. Magister Duskvale, who had stepped closer to look at the patterns, averted his eyes.


    ¡°A splendid illumination spell, very nicely practiced. You must have spent quite a lot of mana items to be able to cast it this fluently. However, there are many places where it can be improved. The point where you waste the most mana is actually where the spiral turns into a straight line. The angle has to be a lot sharper. I''ll let you keep the cube so you can continue practicing.¡±


    Nathan bowed slightly, thanked Magister Duskvale, and returned to his bench.


    ¡°Now then, the illumination circuit Nathan used is one of the most basic circuits used for light manipulation. Many many other circuits use it as a base or in a combination with other patterns. The great flare spell, for example, has ...¡±


    While Magister Duskvale was talking, Alina whispered to Nathan, ¡°Great job!¡± She gave him two thumbs up.


    ¡°You could have done it similarly well.¡± Nathan said.


    ¡°My light would''ve never been as bright as yours, though.¡±


    She asked, ¡°What do you think about the student research group he mentioned?¡±


    ¡°It sounds great, to be honest, I think it''ll be the only way to train hard light spells.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, right? Do you want to join it?¡±


    ¡°Likely.¡±


    The rest of the two-hour lecture, Magister Duskvale talked about a few basic usages of the illumination pattern and then gave every student a black cube to practice spell-casting. To Nathan''s surprise, he got another cube as well. After the lesson, Alina, Nathan, and Devan stayed behind.


    ¡°Oh, you two are also interested in my little research group? Great, great. Follow me.¡±


    He led the three students through the hallways of the castle until they reached a small room. Upon entering, Magister Duskvale immediately walked up to one of the three bookshelves on the opposite wall, right adjacent to a table filled with a chaotic mess of paper, weird instruments and black cubes.


    ¡°Ah, here we have it.¡± He gave each of them a five-page document.¡±This is a summary of our rules, security measures and field of research. Read it when you are back in Apprentice Village.¡±


    He walked into the middle of the room where a large, complex pattern was engraved into the floor, covering nearly the whole room. With outstretched arms, he looked at them.


    ¡°This is our little research hall. Make sure to browse the bookshelves. We have many rare books there that you won''t find in the libraries. The mana cubes on the table are for experiments or training, feel free to use them. However, don''t waste them! You surely saw the mana circuit below me. This is our protection circuit. You will have to fill it with mana essence when you plan to conduct experiments here.¡° He pointed to an enormous barrel in a corner of the hall that reached from the floor to the ceiling. ¡°It''s a large scale level seven circuit that combines water control, micro deceleration and structure manipulation patterns to create an ice wall from the water in our reservoir, with a dull, black surface to absorb light.¡±


    Nathan hadn''t yet seen such a large and complex mana circuit from up close. They learned in the basics of magic engineering that for large scale spells those kinds of circuits were indispensable because no magician was able to control mana over the necessary range. Instead, the circuit would be carved with an increasing depth along the patterns to stimulate the flow of mana essence in the wanted direction, and water control patterns between sections to elevate the mana essence before it entered the next part of the circuit. Magister Duskvale saw Nathan''s interest.


    ¡°Do you want to see how it works?¡±


    Nathan nodded eagerly.


    ¡°But doesn''t it waste too much mana if you activate it for no reason?¡± Alina asked.


    ¡°Well, it does use up quite a bit, but don''t worry about it, we aren''t so stingy about it as other countries.¡± smiling, Duskvale answered.


    He went to the barrel in the corner and used some levers. The translucent, blue mana essence gushed out of a faucet and flowed into the circuit. The first section that filled, was the outer ring with water control-related pattern. As soon as it was complete, a large half-sphere of ice, at least 4m high at its center, covered the circuit. Then the pattern towards the middle started to fill. The surface of the ice lost its luster and the translucent wall turned white as the smooth surface became increasingly rough. When the last patterns of the protection circuit were filled, the ice turned black. They were surrounded by darkness. Only the slight shine that indicated that mana was consumed, illuminated the inner sphere. Then a bright light appeared, hovering above Magister Duskvales open left hand.


    ¡°This is the protection sphere. Its surface is reconstructed in such a way, that it absorbs all light, hitting it.¡± He pointed his right index finger towards the black wall. A second later, a finger thick ray of light appeared. The area where it hit the ice showed signs of melting but was regenerated instantly.


    ¡°This is sharp light, as you can see, it melts the surface of the ice. But due to its reinforced strength and heat transfer properties, it can dissipate most of the energy and the rest isn''t strong enough to permanently damage it.¡±


    ¡°And how do we get out?¡± Devan asked.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy. See the blocked off part here? You have just to do this,¡° he removed a small stone, that was hindering the mana essence from flowing into that section, ¡°and a set of heat patterns will evaporate the wall.¡±


    Within seconds the intimidating black ice dome vanished into thin air. Magister Duskvale went over to the barrel and turned the mana essence off.


    ¡°Impressive, right? That protective circuit was carved just seven years ago by our magic engineering department. At that time it was unique on the whole continent. But I think I have to conclude this introduction. You should probably hurry to your next lecture. Please come by in the afternoon, then you will also meet our second-year members.¡±

 Chapter 13 - Types of light

    The micro-acceleration lecture was a lot more theoretical in nature than the light manipulation one. Due to their lacking knowledge in physics, they only talked about general concepts and were shown patterns to memorize. Nathan still found it interesting but most of the other students seemed to regret their choice. When the lecture finally ended Nathan was sure, that many of them wouldn''t come back.


    He and Alina agreed to meet after school to go to the research group gathering together.


    ¡°How was your micro-deceleration lecture?¡± Nathan asked.


    ¡°Hm, it was fine. A lot of theory, same as for you I guess.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but it was interesting to listen to the Magister. Hard to believe, that everything is made from tiny orbs.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, when I heard it the first time, I thought my mom was joking with me.¡±


    ¡°Your mom taught you magic?¡±


    ¡°Just a bit, she said that mana control is too dangerous for children''s minds,¡± She shrugged. ¡°But at least she told me enough that I knew what to chose to learn ice magic. I don''t really understand your combination, though.¡±


    ¡°Well, I need to do something in the future and I thought what I chose fits it the best.¡±


    ¡°Now I''m curious, what would require micro-acceleration, light manipulation, and gravity control?¡±


    Nathan''s eyes narrowed as he stared in the air without answering.


    With a comforting voice, Alina said, ¡°You don''t need to tell me if you don''t want to.¡±


    He let out a breath. ¡°No, it''s ok. My... my village was destroyed days before I joined the school. Everyone... no, everything is gone. There wasn''t anything left I could bury. Not even...¡± He swallowed his last words, trying to hold back his tears.


    Alina''s eyes opened wide, as she looked at Nathan with a shocked expression.


    ¡°I... I''m sorry, I didn''t know...I just.. just wanted...¡±


    ¡°I know, you couldn''t have known.¡± His voice wasn''t much more than a whisper. ¡°I didn''t plan to tell anyone. All of you probably have your own share of problems.¡±


    ¡°No! You''re not bothering me! If you want to talk about it I''ll always be there to listen. We''re friends after all, aren''t we?¡±


    He looked at her, tight-lipped, before turning his sight towards the ground.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    They continued to walk silently until they reached the research room. When they opened the door, Magister Duskvale''s words greeted them enthusiastically.


    ¡°Ah, there are the last two of our new members.¡±


    He walked behind them and shoved both into the room, completely ignoring their bleak faces.


    ¡°No need to be shy, we''re all comrades now.¡±


    When Nathan saw the five other students inside, he tried his best to smile at them, only the small twitching of the corner of his mouth betrayed his real feelings. Alina quickly took the initiative to greet everyone.


    ¡°Hello, I''m Alina and this is Nathan.¡±


    Nathan waved his hand at them and greeted them with a short ''Hi''. However, they didn''t seem to be offended by his briefness. There were a lot of magicians, who favored research in solitude over social interactions. A small but muscular girl close to the door stomped towards them.


    ¡°Hiii. ''m Val''nar, but you can call me Vally. Lohar to our small club!¡±


    ¡°Lohar?¡±


    A sleek voice answered her question, ¡°It''s the language of the southern island barbarians, it means welcome.¡±


    The owner of that voice put a book aside and came closer. His smooth movements made it seem as if he floated across the floor.


    ¡°I''m called Alrin, it''s my pleasure.¡± He nodded at them.


    ¡°Just call this guy Alric. It''s just too cute when he gets angry.¡± Val''nar glared at him.


    ¡°Scramble, barbarian woman.¡± He pointed his palm at her face and a ray of light shone directly into her eyes.


    ¡°You fucking asshole, I will rip your arms out!¡±


    ¡°Now, now. Stop it children.¡±


    With a single step, Magister Duskvale was between them, before Val''nar could jump at Alrin, and a strong gust blew the quarellers apart. Val''nar gave Alrin, who straightened his robe, a fierce stare, but didn''t follow up.


    ¡°Don''t mind these two, they''re just a bit bored,¡± Magister Duskvale said. ¡°Now then, why aren''t you also coming over, Ellen, Samuel.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    The last two persons in the room besides Devan seemed to be quite reluctant to interrupt their actions just to greet new students. The girl, Ellen, turned around, nodded at Nathan and Alina, and went back to whatever she was doing. Samuel, who sat bent over some diagrams, only raised his hand, holding one of the black cubes, as greeting.


    ¡°Oh well, guess they are busy.¡°


    Magister Duskvale turned back and looked at the three newcomers, scratching his short, white beard.


    ¡°Now we need something to do for you. Normally the new students without any experience in magic or research are given some newly designed pattern, with the task to vary the pattern systematically and record the changes in the outcome-¡± he was interrupted by a raised hand from Alina, ¡°yes?¡±


    ¡°I thought the patterns can be calculated?¡±


    ¡°In theory, they can. But we are still not at the point, where we know all the rules and magic laws. And even for those we know, as soon as a circuit is a bit more complex, the mathematics behind them becomes far too hard to be solved. I knew a research magician, who spent nearly ten years of his life to theoretically verify an observation made within a month of experiments.¡±


    ¡°Anyways, as I said... or maybe not ¡­ you will have to choose a spell. The spell has to be trained to near perfection and afterward, you can start making adjustments to the patterns and links. The best practice is taking a single element, make a minimal and a maximal change, and then do trials for a few data points in-between. It''s imperative, that all changes and their effects are carefully documented!¡±


    Nathan, Alina, and Devan nodded vigorously.


    ¡°Wonderful. Currently, we''re researching four spells, you can choose any one of them. Just make sure to talk with the others researching the same spell, to make sure you don''t repeat their variations. The spells...¡± he interrupted himself, ¡°Oh wait, you''re first-years. You can''t control the mana well enough yet to cast hard-light spells. So we have only two spells which you can choose. Let me get the research documents.¡±


    He went to the only organized looking bookshelf and took two thick folders out. After placing them on the adjacent table, he indicated them to come over.


    ¡°These are the documentations about the spiral deflection spell and the dull light pattern. As you probably learned in your physics lectures by now, light travels as straight lines, right? So if you see an object, you don''t really see the object itself. You see the light coming from it. The object itself is only approximated by your brain, based on the light it sees, expecting it to come straight from its source. With the spiral deflection circuit, we can bend the rays, effectively forcing them on a spiral path. Let me demonstrate.¡±


    Magister Duskvale closed his eyes to concentrate, and a few seconds later his body rotated and shifted half a body width to the side. They were stunned. Alina reached out with her hand, trying to touch him, but her hand went right through. When Nathan focused on mana, he could see at least a dozen circuits, stacked on top of each other on Magister Duskvale''s original position, creating the picture of an arcane pillar that surrounded him. Seemingly looking at some point besides them, Magister Duskvale continued.


    ¡°Because your brain only knows light to travel in straight lines, you see my body from a different angle, rotated, and in a different place. What our brain works with are basically the tangents of the spiraling path. This spell, sadly, is very limited, though, because we can only control mana in a mere dozen or so centimeter distance to our body, and as soon as it leaves that region, the light travels straight again. So for a maximum virtual shift, the spiral needs to have the smallest possible radius. Was that understandable?¡±


    This time their nods were rather hesitant. Magister Duskvale scratched his head and his image return to his original position.


    ¡°I guess one of our second-year students can explain it to you more thoroughly if you chose this spell.¡±


    ¡°And what does dull light spell do?¡± Devan asked.


    ¡°Ah, that is also a rather intriguing spell. Are you aware, that every soft, sharp or hard light spell can only mimic or produce radiant light? Dull light is the first pattern of its kind. With it, light like the one scattered on your clothes can be created. In other words, the simplest form of dull light can create an area that looks like a common single color blanket.¡±


    ¡°What''s the use of that?¡± Alina asked.


    ¡°Oh, there are a lot of applications. You could create images or art with magic. You could cover up secret doors and hallways, or secret messages only visible by those who know certain mana circuits. But the most interesting aspect is the possibility to create an invisibility cloak if combined with a perfected spiral deflection circuit. If you can trap all light coming from you and project an image equaling your surroundings, then this would be immensely powerful.¡±


    ¡°But wouldn''t a spell to bend light around an object be better for that?¡± Nathan asked.


    ¡°Yes, definitely. But there is no such spell. Applying a constant force to bend light in a single direction is far easier than complex shaping. And with far easier I mean still extremely hard. I don''t know if your suggestion is even possible, but if you become a research mage, who knows.¡± He tousled Nathan''s hair.


    ¡°Anyways, what do you chose?¡±


    All three answered like a single voice, ¡°Spiral deflection.¡±


    Magister Duskvale sighed, ¡°I should have known it. Everyone prefers this one and completely ignores the potential of dull light.¡±


    He picked up one of the folders and gave it to Nathan.


    ¡°Here, you three have to make arrangements between yourselves. I''d suggest for each of you to first copy the circuit as good as possible. Then, for now, I wish you good luck and success.¡±


    He gave each of them an encouraging look and put the other folder back into the bookshelf before going to Samuel to observe his work.


    ¡°Let''s copy it!¡± Devan said, rubbing his hands together.


    ¡°How good are you at copying circuits Nathan? Good enough to make one for me too?¡± Alina asked in a jokingly sweet voice. Nathan, whose mood improved significantly after listening to Magister Duskvale, just nodded.


    ¡°I can do that.¡±


    He grabbed one of the black cubes from the table, held it in his left hand and extracted some mana. His finger drew the illumination pattern on the spiral deflection circuit in the folder. Shortly after a light glow permeated from under the page. Then he took an empty paper from the table, put it on top of the document, and traced the circuit with a pen.


    ¡°Wow, how did you think about that?¡± Alina watched Nathan as he completed drawing the spiral deflection spell. He gave Alina the copy and repeated the process twice.


    ¡°Thanks a lot,¡± Devan said after being handed a copy. He looked down on the paper for a few seconds, then his slightly slumped body stretched. ¡°Would... would you like to ¡­ to practice together?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Sure thing!¡± Alina clapped on his shoulder, causing him to flinch. ¡°We''re meeting every evening at one of our houses, you''re very much welcome to join in. The more the merrier.¡±


    ¡°I can learn new spells easier when I''m alone for the first few tries. I will join in later.¡± Nathan said.


    ¡°Sure. As long as you teach me afterward, I will do your part of the homework today.¡± Alina put on a pure smile.


    Nathan mumbled, ¡°We don''t have any assignments.¡±


    ¡°That''s just my luck then.¡± She stuck out her tongue and skipped fleetingly towards a chair.


    Nathan went up to the Magister.


    ¡°I will go home to practice, Magister Duskvale.¡±


    Still concentrated on Samuel''s work he answered distractedly, ¡°Sure, sure. Do as you see fit. You can come and go as you like.¡±

 Chapter 14 - End of the year assessment

    Nathan lay on his bed, completely exhausted from training the spiral deflection pattern. He had managed to cast it successfully after no less than eight tries, using up a large amount of mana from one of the cubic magic tools. The outcome of the spell was only marginal, though. When he applied it to the paper, he only saw it shifted by a few centimeters. However, he discovered that he could not just see and channel mana over longer distances, he could also control the mana to form larger spell circuits. He experimented with increasing the size of the patterns and was surprised by the results. Due to the larger spell area, the light was bent over a longer distance, significantly improving the spell''s effect with the same casting proficiency. The only downside was that controlling mana in a broad area, to form complex patterns, was extremely tiring, so Nathan only cast the spell twice before falling into his bed. By now he knew that his ability to control mana over a wide range was abnormal and why the clerk in the magic store wanted to catch him. He was sure that he would end up as a valuable specimen in some magician''s laboratory if his ability were to become public. As usual, when he overtaxed himself, he fell in a deep and sound sleep shortly after.


    Nathan spent the following days in a similar manner and time passed on. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and the end of the year inched closer. The otherwise so quiet Apprentice Village became livelier as the yearly progression assessment approached.


    ¡°Why exactly are you all so anxious about this assessment?¡± Terran asked, slouched in his chair with his arms crossed behind his head.


    ¡°Because it pretty much decides if we can become research students later on. I don''t understand how you can be so relaxed about it.¡± Devan answered.


    Alina nodded vigorously without raising her head. As the date came closer she invested more and more time into practicing her first combination circuit of water control and micro deceleration, the ice wall spell.


    ¡°Ye really plan to become research magicians? That isn''t payin'' well and everything you develop ''s owned by the school anyway, why bother?¡± Thomas asked.


    ¡°Yes. It''s just a shit load of work without much return.¡± Terran went along with him.


    ¡°You really sound as if you only joined this school to date Sheila.¡± Revar, who was juggling three tiny rocks between his hands with acceleration and deceleration circuits, used this chance to poke fun at Terran.


    ¡°School life just wouldn''t be complete without a girlfriend,¡± Terran answered with a smirk in his face.


    ¡°Hey Nathan, what about you. Wanna become a research magician?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Not really. I plan to travel around the world after school.¡±


    ¡°To look for information about that mysterious airship? Sounds fun, I''ll join you.¡± Terran said.


    Alina looked up from the diagram in front of her.


    ¡°You''ll break Magister Duskvale''s heart. Ever since you showed him that tiny modification for the spiral deflection spell he treats you as his precious treasure.¡± She giggled.


    ¡°Can''t change it,¡± Nathan shrugged, ¡°but I will probably return here anyways. It''s unlikely I can deal with whoever destroyed my village. Even if I find out who''s responsible.¡±


    ¡°Just give me the word and I will help you!¡± Alina answered in her rarely heard serious voice.


    Revar also joined in, ¡°Yeah, I''ll take every chance to practice magic combat, so count me in too.¡±


    ¡°Guys. I appreciate it, but you really don''t need to do that. I wouldn''t want my problems to mess with your future.¡±


    ¡°No biggy,¡± Terran answered, ¡°I don''t want to be a research student anyways, and Sheila also isn''t the type to research in some closed lab.¡±


    ¡°If that''s your choice, I''ll happily accept it. At least it won''t be boring with you around.¡±


    ¡°I know, right?¡± The grin in Terran''s face got even wider.


    ¡°But back to the topic, what do you guys think about the assessment?¡± Nathan asked, looking at Revar and Devan. Those two always had the most accurate information about events and gossip.


    ¡°Putting aside the individual academical part, we should be fine for the combat practice. The only problem is that including Sheila we''re seven. The assessment is in teams of three, though, so one will be left over.¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry about Sheila. She''ll be in a team with her brothers.¡± Terran said.


    ¡°That makes it easier.¡± Revan took some notes out, ¡°I asked some second-years a few days ago, and they told me the most successful teams in their assessments had a single member dedicated to defense, and two for attacking. Or one attacker and a supporter.¡±


    ¡°Guess I''d be considered a defender,¡± Alina said.


    ¡°And a very good one at that, if you manage to succeed with your ice wall spell,¡± Revar answered.


    ¡°I should be able to. I draw the circuit correctly, it can only be some trivial thing still missing.¡± She pouted.


    ¡°Great. Aside from Alina, Nathan and I should be acceptable at defense too. Devan is definitely an attacker, your sharp light spells are deadly. As for Terran, you and Thomas probably count as support. As far as I know, we will get two hours to prepare, in which we can craft as many magic tools as we can, this would be your job.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    ¡°So, the main question is about who''s our second attacker?¡± Alina asked.


    ¡°Pretty much, yeah. I''d say Nathan, because he also knows sharp light spells. They''re some of the hardest to defend against.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I can be an attacker.¡±


    ¡°So, who wants to join Alina''s team?¡±


    Everyone raised their hands.


    Alina chuckled, ¡°Am I that popular, or is it my ice wall?¡±


    ¡°Let''s just draw lots, that''s the fairest,¡± Nathan suggested.


    A few minutes later their teams were set. The first team was formed by Alina, Terran, and Devan, and the second team included Nathan, Thomas, and Revar. Upon dividing the group into two teams, the atmosphere became competitive. For the next few days, until the day of the combat assessment, both parties met in different buildings to prepare strategies and practice new spells. The academical assessment was an opportunity for the students to show their spells and research results to the Magisters. For exceptional students, it often ended with them being invited to a research group and was thus often seen as the more important part. Nathan, however, didn''t care much about it. He didn''t think magic research would avenge his family. After just displaying a single advanced spell of every category, sharp light, gravity control, and micro-acceleration, he left the examination hall. Nathan regarded the combat assessment as much more important because they rarely practiced combat in the first year. The only practice partner he had was Revar, who joined the magic school mainly to be able to defend his clansman.


    ¡°...to defend our friends, our families, our countries.¡± Magister Roheim had just finished his opening speech for the combat assessment. He looked down from the Magisters balcony to the applauding students which gathered on the overhanging gallery surrounding the large open courtyard, where the battles would take place. After seeing the satisfactory reaction of the students, Magister Roheim raised his arms to stop the cheering. His gaze wandered across them and finally rested on the participants of the assessment waiting in the courtyard.


    ¡°We have invited several officers of Moria''s military to observe today''s examination. If your wish is to join the army, navy or even airforce, then this is your chance to show them your capabilities! For those who do not wish to join the military, please don''t disregard this assessment. Even the most peace-loving magicians might arrive at a point, where they have to defend their own lives or that of those dear to them.¡±


    He sat down and Magister Kennen took over.


    ¡°My little students. Most of you are probably already aware of the procedures, but for those who aren''t, I will explain it with a few words. The courtyard you''re standing in is your battlefield. The students of my magic-enhanced martial arts club will be arranging the environment and some obstructions so that your little skirmish won''t be held on an open field. Before the battles, each of you will receive a two hour preparation time with free access to magic resources. Use them well! Good magic tools can make a big difference in the outcome of a battle. You will also receive a magic protection armor for the duration of the assessment. If you channel mana along the patterns engraved on the surface, it creates a shield that can protect you from most harmful spells. It''s coupled with a sound pattern, it will ring once when you activate it and a second time when it''s deactivated or broken. Familiarize yourself with it, you are required to keep it active for the whole battle! If we hear it ring you''re eliminated! Now to the rules of the skirmish itself. The goal of the assessment isn''t just to beat your opponents, but also to do so in a beautiful way. You can use every spell you know, so be creative and efficient. There is no need to hold back, the armor will keep everyone alive, and if the armor is deactivated, a referee will shield that student and remove him from the courtyard. Now then, please go to the preparation hall. I''m excited to see what you all have to show us!¡±


    The first-year students were escorted through a gate in the courtyard that led to a big, brightly lit hall. Its center was dominated by rows of tables with a large number of mana ores and crystals as well as cans full of mana essence. Some tables had compartments for standard parts like blades, small essence tanks, various handles, bracelets, and others. On the sides of the hall, several dozens of doors could be seen, which lead to small rooms where the teams could prepare for the battle.


    One of the second-year students leading them turned towards the crowd. ¡°This is the preparation hall. Feel free to use everything you see and make the best out of your time.¡±


    As soon as he finished the sentence some students rushed towards the tables, Terran and Thomas included. Nathan was relaxed. He only knew the basics of crafting and certainly wouldn''t be able to craft anything useful within two hours, so he just went over to Thomas and helped him carry the items he picked. A few minutes later Thomas seemed satisfied and they hurried towards one of the smaller rooms.


    ¡°Did you get everything we need?¡± Revar asked them.


    ¡°Nearly,¡± Thomas answered, ¡°we won''t be craftin'' the screecher, but the rest should be ok.¡±


    ¡°Great, can we help in any way?¡±


    ¡°Nah, I will ask ye if I need somethin''.¡±


    Thomas took out several stacks of paper, each full with different spell circuits, most of which Nathan never saw before. Whenever Thomas was done assembling a tool, he took one of the papers, put it on a surface of the tool, and started to trace the patterns with a small knife, leaving thin lines on the material. Then he took out several carving tools and started to broaden and deepen those lines. One magic tool after the other was finished until he had a collection of 14 tools lying in front of him.


    ¡°All done,¡±


    He handed three similar-looking tools to Nathan. They were built from two flat, rectangular plates, connected together with small springs. They had a small gap as thick as a thumb between each other. A removable stick was inserted in the gap to prevent them from moving.


    ¡°This is the micro-''cceleration tool, that ye requested. As soon as someone steps on to it, every particle will be ''ccelerated ''pwards, ''xcept for the students themselves.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, this will help us a lot! I wish I could cast this without a tool.¡± Nathan said.


    ¡°Ye will get there. I just hope it''ll really work how ye''re expectin''.¡±


    ¡°We will see, they should.¡±


    Nathan examined every pattern on the tools and compared them mentally with the diagram he copied from one of the micro-acceleration books from the library. When he found that everything was as he had envisioned he put them away.


    Revar got six spheres with the size of a chicken egg from Thomas. Each of these spheres had a smooth metallic surface, with a small symbol that was different for each sphere.


    ¡°Yer tools were quite hard to make. I hope I made them well ''nough, that they really trigger. If ye hit yer target with the symbol, then a drop of mana ''ssence from the small cask in the middle should fly towards the inner circuit and ''ctivate their ''ffects¡±


    ¡°What spell circuits were you able to carve into them?¡± Revar asked.


    ¡°I only could use basic patterns, its two ''lectric stun and two explosive patterns. I''m not yet able to layer patterns, so I''ve been makin'' two more with macro-acceleration backward. The other four are basically throw and forget.¡±


    Revar juggled the spheres in his hand, seemingly deep in thoughts. Without paying him any more attention, Thomas pocketed the other five tools, took out some beef jerky and started to eat. Nathan was too nervous to sit still or eat, he paced through the room and looked at the clock on the wall every few seconds. Five minutes before the preparation period was over he indicated his teammates to follow him and left the room.

 Chapter 15 - First battle

    ¡°Did anyone of you catch how the match-ups were decided?¡± Terran asked Nathan and Thomas.


    ¡°Nope, they don''t say ''nything ''bout that.¡± Thomas responded, ¡°But some second-years told me the first battle''s decided randomly, and after that, there''ll be two more battles set-up by the Magisters.¡±


    ¡°So it''s not a KO system or something like that?¡± Nathan asked.


    Thomas let out a short laugh. ¡°It''s not a tournament ye know?¡±


    ¡°Oh, ok. My bad.¡±


    The three friends went through the main gate of the preparation hall. They were psyched to finally have their first battle after waiting for more than half an hour. When they entered the courtyard, they saw that the ground was littered with small hills and large, irregular rock formations which blocked the vision to the other end of the battlefield. In the small valleys between hills, some tiny ponds could be seen. A few traces of the battles of the previous four teams were still visible, but all major damages seemed to have been fixed up. The other team was led to the opposite side a few minutes earlier, so they had no clue who they would be fighting against.


    After examining their surroundings, they carefully advanced through the rocky landscape. After a few minutes without encountering any opponents, they stopped behind one of the larger rocks.


    ¡°Mh, we should''ve already passed the middle, where are they?¡± Revar whispered.


    ¡°We probably just missed them, the courtyard is pretty broad,¡± Nathan answered.


    Just as he was saying that, a large rock, a few meters to the left of them, exploded with a loud bang. Countless tiny fragments were hurling in their direction. Revar reacted immediately. He put his hand on a boulder right next to him and a split second later that bolder flew towards the incoming stones, crashed against them and blocked most of the attack. All around Nathan and his friend''s small rocks smashed into the ground, blowing up dust and dirt.


    When the dust settled slightly Nathan noticed a large Rock crashing in their direction.


    ¡°Careful!¡±


    He concentrated on his vision, and sure enough, he saw two blurry spots with high densities of mana behind the rock.


    ¡°They are hiding behind that rock!¡± He yelled.


    ¡°Close yer eyes!¡± Thomas shouted and threw a magic tool high into the air. When it reached its highest point, it exploded with a blindingly bright light. While Nathan shut his eyes tightly, he still focused on the, now unmoving, spell circuits behind the rock. One of them vanished completely while the second one lost a lot of its brightness. Revar acted as soon as the effect of Thomas''s magic tool weakened. A large spell circuit appeared on his back, and he catapulted diagonally into the air, just high enough to bypass the rock. Still in the air, he took one of his spheres, increased its weight with a gravity spell, and let it drop down behind the rock. A loud ringing could be heard. At the same time, a large rock wall grew in front of him. With just enough time to hold his arms in front of his face, he crashed into the wall.


    ¡°Fast!¡±


    Nathan sprinted toward Revar''s position. He could hear something crashing into the ground behind him followed by a high hissing, but didn''t dare to turn around. He reached the rock, grabbed a corner with his left hand and flung around it. He came too late. Just when he raised his hand to use a sharp light ray, a second ringing could be heard. Nathans spell hit the back of the opponent who was bent over Revar and a third ringing echoed through the courtyard. Without catching his breath he turned around and looked toward their previous location. Thomas was crouching behind a slab of stone, holding his hands against it while scorching red pebbles bombarded his makeshift shield. Nathan slid back behind the rock. Thomas would probably be able to defend himself for a little longer, but it would be hard to retaliate. He peeked out from behind the boulder. The pebbles originated from the top of one of the larger rocks, a dozen meters away. Nathan tried to focus his vision, but he couldn''t see any traces of mana, the distance was too large.


    ¡°Do somethin''!¡± Thomas shouted, ¡°Ma stone is breakin''!¡±


    Without further thinking, Nathan channeled mana in several spiral deflection circuits around his body and rushed towards the rock where their last opponent was hiding. Immediately some of the projectiles shot into his direction, hitting the ground a small distance beside him. When he got close to the rock, the bombardment stopped. Thomas used this chance to rush over to Nathan.


    ¡°Everything ok with you?¡± Nathan asked.


    ¡°Yes, everything is ok.¡±


    Still huffing, Thomas examined the rock.


    ¡°If ye distract him for a while we''ll win.¡±


    ¡°What are you planning?¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Structure manipulation. I''ll decrease the strength of this rock till it comes crashin'' down.¡±


    ¡°Ok, give me a sign when you''re done.¡±


    Nathan started to climb the rock but just when he reached the mid-point, a bolt of lightning came crashing down into his direction. Startled, he lost grip and slid down a meter, before he could grab a protrusion in the rock. Heavily breathing he pressed his body against the wall. He couldn''t afford to be hit, lightning was the most dangerous magic after sharp light. He started to climb up again, this time carefully hiding behind some bulges in the rock. Then he felt water dropping down from above. Before he could react an electric shock rushed through his body. Screaming in pain, Nathan fell down the rock and hit his back hard on the ground. Stunned by the shock, Nathan failed to circulate mana through his armor, and another ringing announced his elimination. A Magister appeared beside him and carried his still paralyzed body from the battlefield. Before he left the courtyard, he could hear the loud rumbling of collapsing rocks and a fifth and last ring resounded.


    Revar, Nathan, and Thomas met a few minutes later In their preparation room. Thomas had a large smirk on his face, while Nathan and Revar were massaging their sore bodies.


    ¡°Damn good battle guys. I''m feelin'' great!¡±


    ¡°Easy for the one to say who got no thrashing,¡± Revar answered with a pained smile.


    ¡°Nah, ye don''t have to feel bad ''bout it. Ye should''ve seen the others.¡±


    ¡°Who were we fighting against? I couldn''t see anyone of them from the front.¡± Nathan asked.


    ¡°It was Einrich and the Uger brothers, Einrich was the last one, who grilled you with lightning,¡± Revar answered.


    ¡°Oh, no wonder then.¡± Their conversation was interrupted by a second-year student that entered the room.


    ¡°Congratulations on your victory, it was an exciting fight.¡± He gave each of them a friendly smile. ¡°You can rest for a while now. Probably two or three hours, until the last fights of the first round, are over. I''ll notify you when your next opponents are decided. Please stay in your room till then.¡±


    Thomas stopped him before he could leave the room.


    ¡°What ''bout the tools we used?¡±


    ¡°We will deliver them to you in a few minutes, don''t worry. You will also receive the materials to fix them. However, you are not allowed to build new ones.¡±


    ¡°Ok, thanks mate.¡±


    After the student left, Revar lay down on a bench.


    ¡°Guess I''ll get some sleep then, wake me when we''re called.¡± He turned around, face towards the wall, and ignored Thomas and Nathan.


    ¡°Well, guess I''ll be waitin'' for my tools and fix them.¡± Thomas shrugged.


    ¡°What patterns were you using to destroy the rock?¡±


    ¡°The rock? Well, as I told ye, patterns from structure manipulation.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but what exactly? I thought about destroying materials by accelerating their particles in different directions, but what you did seems easier.¡±


    Thomas sighed. Nathan saw it and felt a bit sorry. He knew that his curiosity was sometimes taxing on his friends, but he couldn''t help it.


    ¡°In short, I decreased the material strength of the rock''s base until it couldn''t bear its own weight ''nymore.¡±


    ¡°Could you show me the circuit?¡±


    ¡°Sure, sure.¡± Thomas drew the circuit on a piece of paper and gave it to Nathan, before moving into a corner with the excuse that he had to check his magic tools. Nathan didn''t mind it. He took the paper and traced the circuit with his fingers. He knew from the physics lectures, that materials had properties like strength, hardness, stiffness, etc. But he never saw a pattern that influenced it. Even the books he read only glanced over that topic quickly.


    ¡°Three aren''t enough,¡± he murmured, ¡°It should be ok if I hear one or two more lectures.¡±


    Inspired by the battle he found his knowledge far too lacking to take on the mysterious airship. At this pace, even if he finished the basic education after two years, he would still feel like a complete beginner going up against a master. Lost in his thoughts, Nathan was completely oblivious to his surroundings, until a chain of blasts and explosions rocked the hall. Freaked out he nearly fell from his chair. Revar and Thomas were already rushing to the door to see what happened. A few seconds later several second-year students in white robes were running through the preparation hall with two stretchers between them. Nathan could see some dark figures lying on the stretchers, but he was too far away to recognize anyone.


    A jumble of voices echoed through the hall. Some students even tried to run past the second-years to see who was being carried away. However, the white-robed students blocked their efforts and soon left the hall through a door in the back. A few of the second-years that stayed behind gathered all students in the middle of the hall. One of them raised his hand and started to speak.


    ¡°There is no reason to worry. One of the students activated a particularly powerful magic tool, which resulted in some damages on the courtyard. The following battles will be delayed by a few hours...¡±


    While the student was speaking, Nathan searched for his friends in the crowd but couldn''t see them. He pushed through the other students and became increasingly anxious with every minute that passed without finding them. When he reached the other end of the hall, he was relieved to finally see Terran, Alina, and Devan. They stood in a corner, whispering to each other. He waved at them until they also saw him and joined them.


    ¡°Heya Nathan.¡± Terran greeted him. ¡°Did you already fight?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we were the fourth team. Close victory!¡± He grinned.


    Alina mustered him.¡± Yeah, you really look like it was a close fight. How are the others?¡±


    ¡°Thomas is uninjured, Revar got hit on the head. Nothing serious. And you?¡±


    ¡°They couldn''t penetrate Alina''s ice wall and Devan just annihilated them with some light rays.¡± Terran boasted with the performance of his teammates.


    ¡°Do you know what happened outside?¡± Nathan asked.


    Devan nodded. ¡°Someone crafted a large tool, that could turn rock into magma. They tried to create a trap with it. Unexpectedly their circuit also built up a lot of pressure inside the rock, so it exploded before they triggered it and injured them heavily.¡±


    ¡°Wow, didn''t their armor protect them?¡±


    ¡°It did. But they still lost consciousness due to the explosion and then the shield turned off and the magma burnt them.¡±


    ¡°Ouch. Anyone we know?¡±


    ¡°Dunno, that''s all information Gabria told me... Oh, seems like we should go back to our preparation rooms.¡±


    The second-year student was finished with his short speech and the students responsible for the preparation hall started to lead all participants of the combat assessment back to their rooms. However, the first-year students were too agitated and ignored many of their orders, which led to a few disputes between them. Nathan hurried back to his team and informed them of what exactly had happened while they went back into their preparation room.

 Chapter 16 - The second battle

    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    A supervising student dropped from the air, crouching down beside them to check her condition, before congratulating Nathan to his victory. Nathan answered with a faint smile, but he was too groggy to say anything. Keeping up the armor deflection circuits while casting several spells in quick succession greatly exhausted his mental capabilities. He was led to his room in the preparation hall, where he dropped on a bench, dead tired. Thomas and Revar were already present and looked at him impatiently, waiting for him to report the final results of the battle.

 Chapter 17 - The solar gun

    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!Nathan panicked. He had no time to think of a plan. With all mental strength he could muster, he channeled the mana from every magic tool that he carried to create dozens of micro acceleration circuits. Strong winds blew against the debris, causing it to slow down and change its trajectory slightly. However, it wasn''t enough. Dozens of rocks hit his shield and the familiar ringing sound signaled his elimination.


    Nathan remembered the last few moments of the battle.

 Chapter 18 - End of the assessment

    The first-year students were gathering in the courtyard under the cheering of the observers. The second-years that were responsible for the practice hall and that supervised the battles also gathered at one side. After all students arrived, a huge gong on the magister''s balcony was hit with a blunt, leather-covered, hammer. The courtyard and galleries fell silent. Magister Roheim rose from his chair, took a few steps forward and raised his hand.


    ¡°My dear students. I was very pleased to see the progress you all made in the past half-year. You all showed us an exciting and beautiful performance in the theoretical and combat assessment. I don''t need to lie when I say that the visiting officers of Moria''s army would gladly take all of you under their wings.¡±


    He made a short break, nodding friendly to the army officials.


    ¡°We had a grand total of 28 teams showcasing their skills and excellence. Of those 28 teams, 3 remained unbeaten! A superb achievement!¡± Please step forward, Team 12, Rah''kor Thunderroar, Tanja Welswick, and Erik Rhanoff. Team 17, Markus Keppar, Jena Foruna, and Theos Foruna. And last but not least, Team 23, Sanna Helm, IdrI''ka Darkpaw and Herula Bariblossom.¡±


    The excited students walked in front of the crowd. Nathan only recognized the team that they met in their last round. He had a vague impression of the other six from the mandatory lectures but had never talked to them.


    ¡°As a reward for remaining unbeaten, you will have the privilege to join a research group of your choice regardless of their normal requirements. Take your time and chose wisely, this is a rare opportunity for you and will heavily influence your future career as a magician. You may step back now, please inform the respective magister about your choice within the next few days.¡±


    After the nine students mixed back into the crowd, Magister Roheim continued,


    ¡°Everyone, even if you lost one or two, or maybe even all of your battles, do not worry. This assessment doesn''t look for victories but for performance. And from the cheering of your fellow schoolmates and the animated discussions between the magisters behind me, I could tell, that your performances were very entertaining. While you all were giving your best, the magisters and I picked several students for our research groups. At the same time, our esteemed guests also had the chance to extend a fixed number of invitations. My assistants will deliver the invitations to the respective students in a minute. You may choose to join any number of research groups that invited you. But remember, everyone has only so much time for research and learning, so know your limits!. If you were to chose to accept the invitation of the military I would ask you to come to my office tomorrow.¡±


    After a few more polite, empty phrases, Magister Roheim left the balcony through a door and a dozen students swarmed the courtyard with a batch of invitations in their hands. Many of the first-years only got one or two invitations and only a few got more than three. When it was Nathans turn the assistant gave him two invitations. One for another light research group under the faculty head for magic theory, Magister Fae as well as an invitation to an acceleration circuit research group of Magister Hennen, a name that he had never heard before. Revar seemed to have caught much more attention. Not only was he invited by three different acceleration research groups, but he also got an invitation for enhanced martial arts from Magister Kennen as well as one of the few invitations of the military. Thomas got two invitations, similar to Nathan, but he didn''t even look at them before putting them away, When Nathan asked, he answered that he was content with his group and higher profile ones would also have a higher workload, thus he wasn''t interested.


    ¡°What will you pick, Revar? The military?¡± Nathan asked.


    ¡°I''m not sure yet. But probably not. If I remember correctly joining the military means I''d have to join for at least 10 years. Didn''t plan to stay away from home for so long.¡±


    ¡°I see. Guess that''s a good point.¡±


    ¡°Most likely I''ll join Magister Kennen. I should''ve won the last fight against Theos without your tool.¡± His voice sounded annoyed as he threw a short glare towards Theo who stood a few meters apart from them, talking to his sister.


    ¡°Didn''t he invite us anyways? Right when we arrived at the school?¡±


    ¡°Let''s just say I lacked the urge to join.¡± Revar scratched his head embarrassedly.


    ¡°What will you do?¡± he asked.


    ¡°The acceleration research group sounds interesting, they don''t only deal with micro acceleration but also its related macro acceleration patterns and how to combine them. If I can believe the text on the invitation, Magister Hennen is one of the best air magicians at the school.¡±


    ¡°Air huh? Taking your micro accel up a notch.¡± He grinned.


    ¡°Let''s search for the other guys, I''m curious how their assessment went.¡±


    It didn''t take long for them to find Terran, Devan, and Alina in the courtyard. A few minutes later they left the castle together.


    ¡°How many invitations did you guys get?¡± Terran asked cheerfully.


    ¡°Don''t answer him, he only wants to brag.¡± Alina interrupted Nathan when he wanted to reply to the question.


    ¡°Oh c''mon Alina, don''t be such a kill-joy,¡± Terran said.


    ¡°I got four and one from the military,¡± Revar answered his question and gave Terran a challenging look.


    ¡°Hah!¡± Alina giggled, ¡°serves you right!¡±


    ¡°Oh damn, really?¡± Terran was suspicious, ¡°Nathan, how many invitations did Revar get?¡±


    ¡°As he said, five.¡±


    ¡°Fu-¡± He interrupted himself, ¡°How the hell did you get five when I got only four?¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    ¡°Guess I''m just better than you.¡± Revar gloated before he faced Alina, ¡° And you?¡±


    ¡°I got two from research groups, and one from the military.¡± She proudly answered.


    ¡°Oh, really? From the military too?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°And will you join?¡±


    ¡°Certainly not. How could I? They aren''t exactly friendly with my country.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I didn''t know that. I only knew that our two countries were on bad terms with each other. Why is Arkanda opposed to Moria?¡±


    ¡°Some dispute about a few islands on the coast. When Moria began to increase its mana crystal, ore and essence imports it also hugely increased its mining efforts. They found a few islands with really pure ore nodes, so they simply declared them as their territory, even tho they belong to Arkanda. When my country officially complained they just argued that every Island in the Central Sea belongs to Moria.¡±


    ¡°Wow, that''s harsh. What did Arkanda do?¡±


    ¡°What were we supposed to do? Our Navy is far inferior to Moria''s, so we couldn''t do anything at all except for some minor economic consequences. But I don''t care, it happened long before I was born, like 50 years ago. Only those old geezers in the parliament still complain about it.¡±


    ¡°Why did the military invite you?¡± Nathan used his chance to ask her. He hadn''t thought that Alina was the fighting-type, so he was a bit confused.


    She straightened her back and said proudly, ¡°I''ll show you.¡±


    Alina raised her outstretched right arm in a parallel position to the ground and turned her palm towards the sky. Nathan observed how complicated patterns formed a few centimeters above her hand. When the circuit was finished, a flat sphere of very transparent ice as large as a head formed above her hand. Then she raised her left hand beside her left eye and channeled mana into a second circuit. Nathan immediately recognized it as a sharp light circuit. Then a thick ray of light shot from her hand through the ice sphere. Nathan raised his right brow interested when he saw that the sphere focused the sharp light into a tiny point a few meters away before it started to diverge again until it was so weak, that the light wasn''t visible anymore.


    ¡°Now watch!¡± Alina shouted excited.


    With a slight change of the circuit in her right hand, the thickness of the sphere changed and the focus point jumped a dozen meters further away. Then she tilted her right hand, and the focused sharp light spot hit a rock at the ground. Immediately the stone started to melt where the ray hit it and a second later it blasted apart. Alina ended her demonstration grinning broadly at Nathan who let out a gasp of astonishment.


    ¡°That was unexpected. So you focused all the energy of the ray into a tiny point, which in turn was much hotter than normal?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    He mumbled to himself, ¡°And then the stone exploded due to the inner tension. I understand¡±


    Nathan walked towards a piece of the destroyed stone, examining the traces of the sharp light ray.


    ¡°Maybe I should have also learned ice magic, who knew it can be this powerful... THIS IS SO ANNOYING!¡±


    ¡°What''s up with ye?¡± Thomas, once again chewing on something, asked.


    ¡°There are just too many interesting spells, how can anyone decide what to learn and what not to?¡± Nathan sighed.


    ¡°Where did you get this idea from Alina? It''s great!¡± Revar asked.


    ¡°I browsed through a list of past magicians and searched if there was anyone who also used light and ice magic. I found exactly one, Magister Drebbos. He invented the ice-lenses and created some really powerful spells with them.¡±


    Revar took the stone fragment out of Nathan''s hand and also examined it.


    ¡°No wonder that the army wanted you.¡± he said, ¡°If you can focus sharp light that extremely, then you can destroy far stronger armor than normally possible. If you can control the shape of the focus you can maybe even form a sharp light line that cuts through a large area. Very useful.¡± Revar said.


    ¡°Yes. Magister Drebbos could do that. And much more. Once in a battle, he channeled mana with his whole body to form dozens of sharp light and ice-lense circuits at his chest, belly, legs and so on, and focused all the sharp light rays into a single point which could evaporate stone, metal, everything.¡±


    ¡°Sounds amazing.¡± Revar shook his head, ¡°Maybe I should also research some old kinetic magicians.¡±


    ¡°It''s definitely worth it!¡± Alina said.


    ¡°And what about you Devan? How''re your results?¡± Nathan asked while Alina and Revar still excitedly talked about the possibilities of combining ice and light circuits.


    ¡°I was completely overshadowed by Alina. I got a single invite for a light research group. Maybe I''ll attend it additionally to Magister Duskvales group and see what they''re researching.¡± He didn''t seem to be bothered much by it, so Nathan didn''t pursue it.


    ¡°Why''d ye get so many invites as crafter Terran?¡± Thomas asked after he finished chewing.


    ¡°Hah, because I''m great. That''s why.¡± Overacting a bit, Terran threw his head back and laughed in a comical arrogant manner.


    ¡°I got three invites from crafting groups and, dunno why, one from a fire martial arts group.¡±


    ¡°Three from craftin'' groups? What the heck did ye build?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, my most useful tool was the sandstorm cannon I guess?¡± Terran seemed to ponder about the battles he experienced, ¡°Yeah, that should be it. It''s a tool that grinds rocks to sand and accelerates the sand to extremely fast velocities, basically creating a sand ray that can grind up flesh in quite a short time.¡±


    ¡°It worked really well in our second battle,¡± Alina added, ¡°We lured our opponents into a tight space between two huge rock formations and Terran activated it. They lost immediately. Devan and I couldn''t do anything in this fight.¡±


    ¡°Tch. If I knew that those big ''quipment stuff would be dominatin'' the assessment I wouldn''t have crafted all that small personal gear.¡± Thomas muttered., ¡°What a waste.¡±


    ¡°Why, though?¡± Revar asked, ¡°I heard that in the past years that wasn''t the case. That there were many teams without a loss, which didn''t use large magic tools.¡±


    ¡°Probably because of the lack of students,¡± Devan answered.


    ¡°Lack of students?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, didn''t you see how empty the lecture halls are? In the past our school had several hundreds of new students each year, resulting in roughly 200 teams instead of 28. This year we only are 91 new students.¡±


    ¡°Huh? I always wondered why the halls were so big, so its because the school declined?¡± Nathan asked.


    ¡°I wouldn''t call it decline. They just sent all the magicians which talent would be barely enough to become tool magicians to a new school and only kept those with a high talent here. If all those lower talented ones would still attend Gilsbeck, then the halls would be too small. The overall number of enrolled students was way higher in the last few years than in the past.¡± Devan elaborated.


    ¡°The hell, why do you know all that?¡± Terran asked.


    Devan avoided their eyes and looked to the ground. ¡°Well, I ¡­ My family is quite poor so I work part-time in the administration. Sorting files and similar things. I overheard some of the other staffers there worry about their jobs because there were so few students in Gilsbeck now.¡±


    ¡°And what does it have to do with the magic tools?¡± Terran asked.


    ¡°Well, fewer students means fewer members in the research groups. Normally they were filled with second years and first-years barely got in. Now many research groups lack members and we had the chance to join. That also means we have access to spell circuits that the previous first-years didn''t have.¡±


    ¡°Oh. So that''s why the rewards of the assessment seemed so lackluster.¡± Revar said.


    Devan nodded as an answer. Alina, however, became fidgety.


    ¡°Why is Moria training so many magicians, it must cost them hundred-thousands of gold each year.¡±


    The six friends looked at each other without giving an answer. Besides Revar''s, each of their countries was a neighbor to Moria so they could understand her worries. Terran cleared his throat before answering unconvincingly, ¡°Well, most of the students are foreigners to Moria. So I don''t think they will use them to attack other countries... probably?¡±


    The group became silent, everyone lingering in their thoughts, wondering if they''d join an attack on a different country when enough incentives were given.