As I completed my chant, the [Minor Healing] spell washed over Somnial’s thin frame. My gut clenched as my mana drained almost entirely, and I felt the strain on my mana circuit. I suppressed a sigh when, immediately afterward, Somnial coughed weakly.

  I knew it was futile. If the [Saint] couldn’t cure him, I wouldn’t be able to either. While the blessing of the [Sage] and its legacy were immortal, Somnial himself was human, and his time was coming to an end.

  Just like pushing to maximum effort in physical training, it would probably take a day or two before I recovered fully from this exertion to try again, but even then, the diffused minor healing wasn’t going to be enough. If anything, I needed to concentrate the healing onto his lungs. Maybe then he could manage his own healing invocation, something stronger or more focused, bootstrapping off [Minor Healing], but since I didn’t comprehend how the mana was promoting the healing, I couldn’t figure out how to grab hold of the mana and directly influence the spell.

  The description of the skill itself wasn’t any more helpful.

  With elemental creation spells, I just took control of the minimal mana circuit that was created with the conjuration in order to progress, but I was pouring mana into Somnial, and it wasn’t possible to influence his mana circuit, which was under his own power and vastly exceeded mine.

  Maybe if I practiced on myself, I could get a better sense of how the mana worked, but if I could only cast this spell successfully every other day when I was fully recovered then I couldn’t afford to waste casts on practice when Somnial needed the healing immediately. Once my Will grew to 16, I might be able to cast it a little quicker, perhaps even daily without building up undue strain, but until then, this was all I could do.

  Part of the problem was that this spell was for healing wounds, and what I needed was probably a more complex spell to cure his condition, not heal an injury, but that was even more mana intensive.

  “Good effort,” Somnial wheezed weakly, patting my hand. “I’m impressed you learned this so fast.”

  “It’s not enough,” I objected. “I need to do better.”

  Somnial smiled up at me from his bed. “You’re doing great, Tovar. I’m very proud of you.”

  Tears stung my eyes, and I thanked him before excusing myself. If I meditated and controlled my breathing, I could replenish my mana a bit faster. Every little bit would count.

  I had work to do.

  * * *

  Spring passed with Somnial growing increasingly weaker, and I spent summer break training my magic as hard as I could.

  Pushing myself with [Minor Healing] helped my Will reach 16, and rather than relax I pushed even harder, healing Somnial almost every day. Every now and then I tested it on myself, trying to learn how I could better manipulate the skill with my intent, but at best I could only somewhat focus the spell to an area, but not a precise part of the body. Somnial was weak enough that focusing my healing on his chest area meant that a lot of the mana went into his heart, muscles, and bone instead of isolating his lungs in particular, and while keeping his heart healthy was also necessary for his survival, it was palliative care at best.

  Daily casting and recharging further pushed my Will to 17, which was the fastest I had improved since I first unlocked the ability to draw mana, but it came at a cost. In class, I was exhausted, and my practical casts of [Create Stone] were relatively pitiful compared to the ease at which I had performed the previous spells in the syllabus. It was also the first time I didn’t bother to pick up the related control spell; I couldn’t afford to split my focus.

  “You look terrible,” Felris said with concern when she saw me after class one day. “I know why you’re pushing yourself this hard, but if you don’t rest, you’re going to burn out.”

  I nodded, though it was only an acknowledgment of what she said, not an agreement to slow down. I felt terrible, and I had seen my own reflection, which matched how I felt. I had bags under my eyes, which were sunken and bloodshot, and my skin was pale for this time of year because I spent my whole break indoors working on my magic. The immense mental focus had raised my Mind to 15, matching my Body stat, which I was presently neglecting. Tory had moved on to new mercenary work, since I didn’t have the focus to work on my [Dual Wielding] any further, satisfied for the moment with the first level of the skill I gained in the spring.

  If I wasn’t using [Minor Healing] on myself sparingly for research purposes, I probably would have been in even worse shape, but I tried not to think about that.

  “I’ll be fine,” I told her, which made the siblings frown, but they didn’t say anything.

  At dinner, Byron laid out an impressive spread of food before me. I looked at it and sighed; I just didn’t have much of an appetite.

  “You need to eat, master Tovar,” Byron murmured behind me.

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  I mechanically brought the food to my mouth, taking in what I could.

  By the middle of summer term, I had run myself ragged, to no-one’s surprise, and Somnial had reached a point where he could barely lift his hands.

  I sat next to his bed, my hands clenching his. They were so thin, and his skin felt so delicate. The man who could command enough magic to devastate an army under a year ago now felt practically barren of mana.

  Exhaling a shuddering breath, I thought back over our limited time together. It hadn’t even been two and half years since the man first walked into my life and dramatically changed it, but these years had been some of the most important to me across both my lives.

  This was my second life, and was the beginning of a much larger journey. My first life had been fairly devoid of meaningful connections. I died alone, caring for no one and no one to care for me, and hadn’t expected anything different in this life. I had seen it as something to pass through, survive in order to pick up stats and skills in, and then move on. Initially, I had tried to keep my family at a distance, I had only made friends to avoid total social ostracization, and I had only gotten to know Somnial well enough to leverage him as a resource.

  Thirteen years in, all my plans to harden my heart in this life had completely failed. I cared about my family, and was concerned about their well-being. I had a true best friend in Felton, and another true friend—and possible fiancee—in Felris, both of whom I had come to be willing to give my life for, even if that was a lesser sacrifice for me than most.

  Most of all, I had come to love this peculiar old man. It had been a weird mix of regret and loneliness at the end of his life which had driven him to find a ward to take in, and it had been a need for sponsorship and a desire to learn that had driven me to accept, but in the last couple of years, I really believed he had come to love me as well.

  “I’m sorry we couldn’t spend more time together,” I whispered.

  Somnial let out a weak sigh, slowly turning to look at me. He had a soft smile on his face. “I’m glad… that I found you. It’s been… even better than… I thought,” he said softly, controlling his breathing to avoid another coughing spell.

  “I wish I could do more,” I said, wiping away the tears.

  “You will do... great things,” he said. “In due time. You’ve already done enough... for me. Thank you… for making these last years… so bright.”

  The Great Sage passed away that night.

  * * *

  The funeral was a far cry from the small, private affair that Somnial’s fake passing had supposedly entailed. It took place two weeks after his passing, enough time for various people to make their way to Ivarnel to give their respects to one of the champions who defeated the demon king.

  Somnial’s body had been kept on ice, which was easy enough with magic, preserving him until the funeral happened. I had taken the two weeks off class, in mourning, and also to maintain it.

  Ivarnel’s massive temple played host to some of the most important people in Argadia as the funeral began. I sat in the family section, alone with Somnius. I had tried to arrange for Byron and some of the other staff to join us, but it wasn’t seen as proper.

  I glanced over at Somnius. His face was absolutely inscrutable, a complex mix of emotions.

  “Are you all right?” I asked softly. Despite our conflict in class, the man had just lost his brother.

  He looked over at me, as if he were surprised to see me there. It was the mirror image of an expression I had seen in Somnial repeatedly when I first moved into the manor, and my chest constricted.

  Somnius frowned, looking away from me and back to the front of the temple.

  “I was the better mage,” he finally said. “A generational prodigy, they called me. I was going to change the kingdom.

  “And then my brother got the blessing of the [Sage]. Suddenly, it was all about him, and his magic began to vastly exceed my own. I couldn’t keep up. Then he was gone, across the world, and returned as a champion of humanity. And he never stopped improving. No matter how good I got, I was never his match.”

  I listened, silently, as Somnius spoke of the brothers’ past.

  “I just kept getting more and more jealous. We hardly spoke. I never—” he started to say, but choked. “I should have…”

  Somnius trailed off, looking away. When the service came to an end, he stood immediately, and stepped towards the exit.

  He paused, looking back at me. “You’ll return to classes after this?” I nodded, and he gave me his usual grunt. “Good.”

  With that, he left, ignoring everyone else in the temple.

  I sat back in my chair. Family was tough. In my first life, I had drifted from my own, not out of jealousy but just because of differences of opinion, time apart, and the general ruination that had followed.

  I’ll visit Redding this winter, I decided. I wanted to keep myself in my family’s lives.

  There was a murmur running through the temple, and I glanced over as a new body sat down in the chair next to me.

  Elsaria, the [Saint] and Argadian queen, looked back at me.

  I froze up, my hands clutching my pants. The last time I had seen her, she hadn’t been such an imposing figure in my mind. Now, not only was she the queen, but she had been the one who had employed the political machinations that brought Somnial to the Dulth war effort, which had cost him the last of his life’s strength. I was grateful to her; I was furious at her; I was in mourning and hurting and risked saying the wrong thing, so I said nothing.

  “You’re angry. I understand,” she said, then let out a soft sigh. “I would be too. I loved him, you know. Oh, I love Dargan too, of course, but Somnial… there was no one else like him. I was a young princess, I had grown up surrounded by people who used their wits and intelligence to gain artificial power, but Somnial was a brilliant mage who cared for none of that. He used his incredible mind to gain true power, with no intention to use it for anything other than humanity’s aid, and then just because it was a challenge.

  “I couldn’t get him to take a title, no matter how hard I begged. He was entirely uninterested in the affairs of the people, beyond saving them from certain doom. In the end, I needed someone who would be a king… and there’s a long precedent of the [Hero] earning as much. But I’ve always wondered what a life with him would have been like.”

  I glanced over, and saw her eyes swimming with tears, which she delicately patted away.

  “Sending him off to settle this war… I know you’re upset about the part you played, Tovar, but thank you. You helped save a lot of lives. And more importantly, thank you for giving him a small taste of family, these last few years.”

  Shaking my head, I wiped my eyes and cleared my throat. “I owe him everything. I only wish I could have given him more.”

  Elsa sighed. “Me too.” She sat with me in silence for a while, then glanced over at the various nobles who were poorly hiding the fact that they were watching us. “Speaking of love. A little bird told me that you’re seeking the hand of the daughter of the baron of Obdorn. Is that true?”

  I shrugged, feeling a blush grow on my cheeks. “Maybe. If I can do something worthy to earn it.”

  The queen hummed in thought, slightly suspiciously, then smiled. “Well, I’m sure something will come up,” she said, standing to depart. I narrowed my eyes at her departing form, but only for a moment, before my gaze fell back to the front of the temple.

  Enjoy your next life, Somnial. I hope it’s a good one, I thought, before departing as well.