As had become a routine at this point, David was sitting in at Mr. Rafiel’s lesson, covering interference between certain runic signs and environment.

  Mana shaped the world, but was bound by probability. A flamestrike in a damp tunnel was possible, but much harder to execute, as he had learned first hand.

  There was no need for him to practice during the self-learning part of the day, so instead, he focused on his current objectives: Acquire a chainmail in case of another attack and prepare the artifact for Diana.

  The lady in question, despite sitting just next to him, didn’t interact with him much in public settings.

  All the better. I sure had talked a big game to her. If I don’t deliver, she won’t let me live that down ever.

  She was a noble, so a way to discreetly carry a weapon would be a boon to her. The artifact didn’t care about the initial strength of the strike… Something that’s quick to use, with good reach would be ideal…

  I got it.

  He forced down the urge to outwardly show his excitement at the new idea.

  A telescopic rod.

  But as soon as it came to him, he started to worry. Would a blacksmith be able to make one by hand? Was he even able to properly design one?

  How hard could a few sliding tubes really be…

  With the lessons over and done with, David had decided to seek out Sophie. The sun was slowly dipping below the city walls, but his day had just truly begun.

  He found her without much effort. These days, there was always a throng of people following her around the refugee district. The larger issue was getting some time to speak to her privately.

  He waved at her, making himself known, then waited. And waited. And waited.

  Finally, she had left Hito behind to deal with the rest of people vying for her attention and approached him.

  “Marco, what do you need from me this time?” She asked. Her words lacked the usual vigor and even her smile felt forced.

  “Can’t I just want to speak to my lovely elder sister?”

  “We both know you don’t do that.”

  “Fair, I did have something in mind to ask you… But you seem troubled. Want to tell me what that’s about?”

  “Do you even have to ask?” She tilted her head, staring at him for an uncomfortably long while. "I lied to Hito and in my report. Maybe it doesn't sound like much to you, but it's a heavy thing for me.”

  “I–I realize.” He hung his head. “I really appreciate you sticking out your neck out for me.”

  “It’s not like you had a choice. You’d be dead by now if Aura wasn’t so smart.”

  The unpleasant truth hung between them, until Sophie continued. “I just… Can’t deal with all of that. All those people, looking up to me, and what’s the first thing I do? Bail out my little brother. Isn't that a part of what we hated about nobles? I haven't even started properly, and I already feel like I'm failing.”

  Her sudden bout of emotionality caught him off guard. “I understand.” He said mechanically. “It must be terribly hard for you.”

  “Somehow I get the feeling you don’t mean it.”

  “I’m not very good at this.” He waved his hands around in her general direction.

  “Eh, why do I even bother with you?” She clutched her nose between her fingers. “Anyway, I appreciate the attempt."

  "Maybe we could talk about it more some evening?" David offered. "I want to understand."

  "I think I'd like that," she said, her lips curving slightly upward. "So, what did you want to talk about?”

  David was all too happy to change the topic for now.”Do you know a skilled blacksmith?”

  “Ugh!" She slammed her palm against her forehead, but the smile was still there. "You’re really dense sometimes!”

  "Perhaps."

  “Can you just talk it out with Bert? It’s not like you can avoid him forever, and now you have a good reason not to.”

  “Could you maybe talk to him for me?”

  “Oh no. No, no, a thousand times no. I don't mind helping you out young man,” She placed her hands on her hips. “But this is between you and him. Want a skilled blacksmith? Talk to your father.”

  Tired and a little annoyed, David trudged home. Sophie was right and he had to talk to Bert eventually... He just really didn't want to.

  Once he entered their room, the warmth of the fireplace and the intense aroma calmed him. Aura was there, cooking for once, instead of buying the soup from their neighbours.

  “Marco, welcome back!” Aura moved away from the pot and caressed his cheek with a thumb. “How was your day? Are you recovering well?”

  “I am mostly fine.” He said, as he stretched his pained limbs.

  Wait, isn’t this a great occasion to ask for her help?

  He softly tugged at her sleeve. “I’ve had trouble sleeping lately. Do you know some potion that could help with that?”

  “You’ve been through a lot, it’s only natural. Don’t beat yourself over it.” She hugged him, but he could feel her fidget a bit. “I’ve been using such potions for a while. Sophie too. Ever since… Grainwick.”

  The two women using substances to deal with trauma wasn’t on his list of things likely to happen, but he couldn’t find it in himself to blame them for that. Especially, since that’s exactly what he needed too.

  “Could–” He stammered in her warm embrace. “Could I have some too?”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Aura pulled away, and after opening one of the crates in the corner, pulled out a light blue, softly shining vial. “Here. I made a fresh batch a few days ago. It should help you, but don’t ever take more than a single sip.”

  “Thanks, mom.” He said as he looked up at the caring woman. Angel in human form. The vial was cold against his fingers, but it was oh so pleasant.

  “Anything, you know that.” She rustled his hair as she moved back to stir the pot. “Dinner will be ready in a moment.”

  “I’ve made some plans for the artifact.” He stammered out as he remembered he had promised to include her in everything he did.

  “Alright, walk me through it as I cook.”

  By the time the meal was done, he had relayed what the master enchanter told him, then shared vague details about the telescopic rod he had planned out for it. Aura hummed a little as she listened.

  “Sounds like a good plan. Do you need my help with that?” She asked, pouring the stew into wooden bowls and setting them on the table.

  “Not right now, I don’t want to burden you.” He said as he took a good whiff of the meaty goodness that laid before him. “I still have no clues about the ‘essence’ word we’re not understanding, though.”

  “It’s okay, these things take time.” She bit into her food. “Mmm, this is really good. I outdid myself.”

  “You really did, mom.” He agreed. The stew was rich but not heavy. The savory taste was cut with something acidic, and the earthy undertones of talups continued to amaze him with every bite.

  “I think we should take a break from all the laboratory work.” He said, having devoured his bowl.

  “You really think so?” Aura seemed a bit torn. “I’ve been overworked lately, but I do enjoy our time together.”

  “Only for some time. Until we get the information we need.”

  “You might be right. I finally bought the house we wanted, so I could use the free time to organize our move.”

  The house. He had almost forgotten that was their original goal.

  “So it really is happening.” He said, his voice heavy. “That’s great news, but I might miss this place.”

  It’s out of sight for the city guard. It’s also close to both the gates and Hiveo’s secret entrance.

  “Yes, we made it.” A single, happy tear made it down Aura’s cheek.

  David hugged her, then started cleaning up after their meal. “One more thing. Remember how I stayed the night at the academy? I… somehow made a friend. She’s an upper student and is willing to help me with learning.”

  “Do you like her?”

  “Huh?” David stammered, but then replied sternly. “No, that’s gross.”

  “With how smart you are,” Aura chuckled. “I sometimes forget you’re still just a boy.”

  With the meal over and Aura taking some time to rest, David went back outside. He was juggling so many threads and goals, he needed at least some time to clear his head.

  He knew he needed that, and yet, his mind screamed at him to do something productive. Like visiting Ualani immediately.

  As his mind wandered, he caressed the sleeping potion in his pouch, until inspiration struck him for a second time that day.

  Couldn’t I use it on something other than myself?

  Surprisingly, drugging animals to bring them as test subjects for his learning journey wasn’t even the most outlandish thing he thought of that day.

  Though the city interior was already dark, the evening was still young and outside there would be plenty of light. All that stood between him and testing his theory, was getting a large bag and a short walk to the secret entrance.

  Soon, David found himself trudging through foliage in almost complete darkness, using mana sight to avoid larger animals and monsters.

  I hate myself sometimes.

  After what felt like hours, but probably wasn’t even half of one, he had managed to track a bunch of mossers and physically restrain one.

  He force-fed it a sip of sleeping potion, which knocked it out instantly, then stuffed the misbegotten animal into the bag.

  At least I won’t get lost these days.

  With his mana sight, Ki-elico, though shrouded from his eyes, flared like a massive torch. Still cursing his creativity, he slowly made his way back, straight to the parasite girl’s laboratory, with only the shallow breath of the sleeping mosser to accompany him.

  His clothes still damp and streaked with mud, David changed into his academy robes and made his way through the dim corridor. His pulse thudded in his ears by the time he reached Ualani’s door. He knocked once, then again.

  What if she’s not there? What if she ran?

  After a moment, the lock clicked. Ualani stood there, with a solemn look to her eyes.

  “I almost started to hope you forgot about me,” she said, stepping aside to let him in.

  “As people say,” David replied as he entered, “keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

  Her head tilted slightly. “I never heard anyone say that.”

  David shrugged, ignoring the fact he had never heard anyone in this world say that either. “Guess you need to keep smarter company.”

  He loosened the bag from his shoulder and opened it to show the unconscious mosser. “Will this work for… the teaching?”

  “You really don’t waste any time.” Ualani leaned closer, studying the small creature. “Yes, but as I said, only for the first steps.”

  “Great, how do we begin?”

  “We’ll wait until it wakes up, of course. It’s crucial to monitor its responses during the learning process.”

  “While we wait; tomorrow I’m meeting Lady Diana. You could come with me and get to know her.”

  “I assume she’s the powerful friend you spoke of?”

  “Yes. Meet us at the noble academy entrance at dawn.”

  “Anything I should know about her?”

  “Not really. She’s rather understanding.” David scratched his hair, thinking. “She organises a training group. Play your cards well, and you’ll be able to join it.”

  “Cards? I never played those. Or is that another saying of yours?”

  “Take a guess.” David rolled his eyes.

  “I will.” Her voice dropped. “You’re suspiciously tolerant of all this. You do realize I’ve killed humans, don’t you? And now you’re going to train using a living creature. Isn’t that something you should be bothered by?”

  “People kill people. Never heard that one before, either?” he said flatly. “If I never knew any of them, why would I care?”

  She stared at him for a long moment, seemingly relieved. He used the silence to shift topics. “Back to important matters, how exactly did you modify your body to need no sleep?”

  “Hard to say. We rarely do that as a one off thing, but rather a part of larger changes.” She brushed her hair off her face. “We remove unnecessary functions—reproduction, for example. Normally, a body has to be stable to maintain itself, but since we can mend it with mana, there’s a lot of room to optimize.”

  David blinked, impressed despite himself. He was about to ask her how they reproduce, but bit his tongue in time. He likely didn't want to know. Yet.

  “How hard would that kind of… enchantment be?” He asked instead.

  Ualani chuckled quietly. “Not terribly. The difficult part is to not make any mistakes.” She glanced at him, a faint smirk curling her lips. “If you’re in a rush, I could modify you myself. I promise I'll be gentle.”

  He shot her a sharp look. “And let you lobotomize me? No thanks.”

  A muffled rustle from the table interrupted their conversation. The mosser started twitching, sure to soon wake.

  “Good timing,” Ualani murmured. She pulled the animal out, tied a strip of cloth around its muzzle, then used a length of rope to secure it to the table.

  “Is all that… necessary?”

  “Your first attempts will be crude.” She shrugged. “To start, we’ll have you use mana to sense the inner workings of the body without harming it.”

  Ualani then went on to explain what exactly he was supposed to do. It was vaguely similar to an alchemist using mana to analyze and purify materials.

  David did as instructed, and poured what he considered a tiny amount of mana into one of the creature’s legs. He could sense the faint hum of blood, the pull of muscles and constricting of blood vessels.

  The mosser jerked in panic, struggling against the bindings.

  “Slower,” Ualani said. “You’re killing it.”

  He tried to adjust, but his touch remained heavy. As he kept repeating the practice, the creature’s pained whimpers grew frantic, and soon faltered.

  When it went still, David pulled his hand away. “This… is much harder than I imagined.”

  Ualani glanced at the limp body. “Ready to give up?”

  “No. But I do dread catching more of them.”