"Tercius," Master Lazarus said while looking straight at him. "What do you think?"

So Mistress Dea wasn’t joking when she said that most Masters knew my name, he thought, then promptly answered before the silence stretched too far, “Probably because of the versatility that the spells can offer, Master.”

Even as he said that another thought wormed itself into his mind. They might also use spells like a gate of sorts that lead to specific skills.

“And why do you think that?” Master Lazarus asked.

Tercius shrugged and then said, "Versatility gives you the option to change roles, Master. If you can change roles based on specific problems, adapting to them as you see fit, they are that much easier to solve."

"A role… A curious word choice." Master Lazarus contemplated for a moment then said, "I will add this. Besides the versatility of your spells, the ability to change a role, that you also need the flexibility of the mind, the willingness to change a role. Both need to be in a balance of sorts. One without the other makes a poor mage, but when you have the two… then spells are a powerful tool."

Master Lazarus paused and tugged his braided beard. “Keep that in mind at all times.”

Seemingly done with him, Master Lazarus moved his gaze in search of a new student, leaving Tercius to ponder the words he just said.

Repeating the words in his head, Tercius tried to figure out what the man was trying to say.

The versatility of the spells and flexibility of the mind.

By versatility of the spells, he probably means that I shouldn't discriminate when I learn spells. Most would probably choose three attack spells, but a better solution would be one for attack, one defense, and one heal, that way any situation has an appropriate answer, Tercius thought. As for flexibility of the mind… maybe keeping an open mind for new ideas? Tercius groaned internally. He posed a subjective question. There isn't a definitive answer for why mages prefer spells. A hundred mages will give a hundred different answers as to why spells are better, each for their reason.

“What is an assumption?” Master Lazarus asked, moving his gaze about the room. “Anyone?”

“...It’s when you accept something as true without any proof, Master,” a girl from the front row answered in a clear voice.

Master Lazarus nodded and then turned to address everyone once more, “To those of you who tried to find an answer to my question, I need to tell this. You missed a step!”

The last sentence was a roar that shook the windows. Students flinched and tried to sink into their wooden seats, and some raised their arms in protection. Tercius couldn’t hear a breath being taken in the silent room, as everyone looked at the calm man.

“All of you need to learn this and learn it as soon as possible. When I asked ‘why do us mages hail spells above all else?’ you immediately tried to find an answer. Granted, you assumed that your teacher wouldn't pose a lie as a question, and that was probably how you were taught so far." Master Lazarus scoffed. "I, however, prefer to have my students think for themselves, so my questions will often be laced with half-truths, outright incorrect statements, and as many tricks as I can put into them. The first step, and half of your job, will be to figure out whether what I asked is true or false, and only then will you try to come up with an answer. Since I trust that that will be enough to keep you on your toes, know this. During my lectures, all of my statements will be true. After all, we are here to learn something,"

"The only answer to the question I previously posed, that would have been a satisfying one, is: 'Mages don't hail spells above all else, Lazarus, you frog-brained fool of a teacher. Go hop in a swamp somewhere.'." Master Lazarus said in a completely straight face. "What we mages hail above all else is learning something new and properly keeping it afterward. Everyone, take out your amulets."

When students did as instructed Master Lazarus said, “Take a look at the back of the amulet. There it says ‘In pursuit of Knowledge we dedicate our lives'. Not in skills, nor in spells. Knowledge is what we all hail above all else, for it gives us versatility, flexibility, and every other -ility. Knowledge gives us freedom of choice, and that is the greatest gift anyone can give. To be a mage is not merely to throw spells around, no. That is why I detest those Academies that the Empire has built, they make a mockery of mages.” Master Lazarus’s voice dripped with derision. “They never bother to teach any of their students how to think for themselves, and all of them just take what is served to them, as is. To ask ‘why is that so?’ and then find an answer or answers, that is the way a mage should behave at all times.”

The Master continued asking more questions, shattering some misconceptions everyone there had, and then, near the end of his lecture, turned to another subject Tercius found interesting.

“Affinities. Some of you may have heard of them, yet others hear the term for the first time.” Master Lazarus said. “Can someone tell me what the word affinity means? Anyone?”

The same girl that previously answered what an assumption was. also answered now. "It's a natural liking for something, Master."

“Yes. And what do you think magical affinities are? Come now, think of an answer.”

Assuming that magical affinities even exist, Tercius thought as the words Master Lazarus said came to mind. One snow-covered morning and two dead mages came to his mind.

"Not one raised hand? You wound me. Come now, I am not so scary, am I?" Master Lazarus said. "No? Well then, let me tell you, since our time is nearing its end for today. A magical affinity is a preference your Mana has for a certain something. For example, my Mana has a preference for earth. The spells that use earth in some way require a lot less focus and come more easily to me. That's all there is to affinities. As some claim, they do not inhibit in any way the casting of other spells, but what does is your own ignorance. I guess that for some it’s just easier to say that someone, or in this case something, else it at fault."

With a snap of Master Lazarus's fingers, a small chest fell on the stage near the man. As it fell, the lid popped open, revealing an interior filled with small transparent marbles. One of those marbles floated to the outstretched hand of Master Lazarus and the man grabbed it between two giant fingers. "Each of you will get one of these for a day or two. Carry it in your pocket or something, just don't let it leave your side. Tomorrow, or the day after, we will see what your affinity is, if only for one reason. Mana Metamorphosis is a skill that is most easily achievable via an affinity, as your Mana itself has a desire to move in that way, you merely give it a push. More on that skill at a later date. Our first focus in this class is to make sure that everyone gets Mana Manipulation,”

The Master waved his hand over the open chest, and a rain of round see-through marbles raised itself and made their way slowly to the sitting students. Tercius extended his hand and picked up the hovering marble. It was no larger than the nail on his pinky finger and completely smooth over its spherical surface.

“Remember, keep them with you at all times. That is all for today, see you tomorrow. Class dismissed,”

***

It’s no wonder the Empire and the Pyramid are antagonistic, Tercius thought as he ate his lunch in the dining-room. One takes the word of one man or woman as an undisputed law, or at least that is how it goes in the official propaganda, while the other questions every single action or word without impunity. Stabbing the meat with a fork, he thought, I know which one I prefer…

The words of the Master echoed in his mind. Half of our work will be trying to find lies in questions… Tercius thought. That’s an… interesting approach to teaching.

And those marbles… Tercius could feel the one he put in his shirt’s pocket.

Sitting around him were Penelope, Lomera, Eunim, and Euria. All were strangely silent as they ate their meals and stared at the center of the table, eyes wide open.

“I feel as if I did something wrong,” Penelope said.

“Me too,” Eunim said, as he gazed at his empty plate. Lomera and Euria kept their words, but he could see that both of them thought along the same lines.

“Why?” Tercius asked. “What did you do?”

“Did you not hear what that Master said?” Euria asked, turning her head to Tercius.

"I once saw a man dragged away for saying things like that." Lomera stuttered as she looked around their vicinity, fear in her eyes.

Ah, he thought. I see what is happening.

What Master Lazarus said at the end of his speech was probably weighing heavily on the minds of most students, not only on his young friends. The vast majority of the students never even heard of anyone questioning and deriding the Empire in such a way. Some did, like Lomera, and they saw what happened to folks who did it. Tercius knew the feeling they must have felt at this moment. Something deep in them was warning them that danger might be near. An instinct of survival.

Even children of eleven and twelve have acquired this knowledge, he thought.

“You are right to feel that way,” Tercius said in a low voice as he leaned to the center of the table. “Some topics are for select ears and... locations only.” He glanced around the shuffling students.

“When unsure, always assume that someone is listening,” he said. “Better safe than sorry.”

Euria muttered the phrase to herself, seemingly trying to put it to memory.

“Well said,” a female voice said above them, and the five of them jumped in their seats. “Someone is always listening,”

Penelope, Euria, Lomera, and Eunim paled. Lomera jumped to her feet in an instant and Tercius saw that she was ready to flee in a second.

“Mistress,” Tercius said nervously when he connected the voice to a face. “What brings you to us?”

She was not there a second ago, Tercius noted internally when he saw Mistress Dea standing near Penelope.

“I am searching for you, actually,” Mistress Dea said while looking straight at him. “Your roommate has filed a complaint. It needs to be addressed as soon as possible.”

"Oh," With a sour face Tercius got up. He had an inkling of where this was going. It took Tercius Eunim and Mistress Dea a few minutes to reach his room. Standing in the middle of the room was Jorro, Eunim's and Tercius's roommate, and the boy's feral-looking eyes bored holes into Tercius, while the boy's shaggy black hair dripped on the carpet.

"Your beast drenched me! Again!" the red-faced boy growled at Tercius's face.

Moving his eyes a little bit to the left, Tercius spotted Amber jumping in her cage, which was situated atop his nightstand.

The small cage Tercius had made for situations where he could not take Amber with him, for example when he went to the dining room or the classes, now that they started. Before the last few weeks, it was rarely used, as both he and Eunim had no problems with letting the little girl stretch her legs around the room. Jorro himself had no problems, initially.

Jorro arrived just after the new year began, and Eunim had hit it off with him. With Tercius's blessing, Eunim approached him and extended an invitation, which the boy promptly accepted. Between Tercius, Eunim, and Jorro, all was well. But Amber…

All was well for about two weeks, and then, suddenly, Amber started attacking the boy. Any time Jorro tried to approach Tercius or his bed, Amber would growl and then use the water Tercius left her for drinking to spray the boy. Tercius knew that Amber was experimenting with water all the time, so the first few times it happened Tercius thought as an accident. But then it just kept on happening. Tercius could even understand Jorro's frustration and didn't blame the boy in the least for reacting the way he did.

Since Tercius knew that the Mistress would have to side with Jorro, according to the rules, he tried to keep the boy appeased. When, just a few days ago, Amber peed on his bed, the boy made a promise that he would report everything to Mistress Dea should a single incident occur, and now he finally did. The boy always kept his promises, Tercius learned.

“I see,” Tercius said. “And you didn’t come near her this time, did you?”

“No! I was on my bed,” Jorro growled then pointed at his bed. “Look, it’s all wet,”

“I’m sorry. I truly don’t know why she is behaving this way,” Tercius sighed. “I tried to get her to stop it, but…”

“Tercius, I am required to enforce a stable and peaceful space for our students to rest,” Mistress Dea said from the side. “If you can’t get her to stop, then I am sorry, but she will have to go,”

Tercius sighed as his open eyes observed the little creature that was jumping up and down in her little cage. She was happy to see him, and it was difficult to be angry with her when she behaved so.

Almost two months had passed since Tercius picked up a little river lion cub near a small village in southern Sogea. In that time Amber did grow, but not much. Previously, Amber’s scales were mostly grey with some wavy shades of blue and green, but now, two months later, those blue and green waves were mostly gone, while her grey scales were starting to, very slowly, slide to a lighter shade. Other than the coloring, the shape of her scales had been shifting towards a more orderly pattern, most notably along her belly. There, small scales of a diamond shape overlapped each other, going all the way from her small tail to her neck.

Tercius started noticing these changes and so he compared a visual memory of the day he and Amber met to the one he saw now, and that was when he came to these observations. Tercius was not sure if this was something that happened naturally or if he, or rather all of the Energy he transferred to Amber, was the cause. Maybe she got a skill of some kind? Maybe she had the skill and the additional Energy allowed her to level it? he reasoned. Would a skill physically change her?

Tercius had options to solve this problem. Master Zver, the old mage that dabbled in enchanting and reared beasts for a living, had in his workshop all kinds of solution to problems of disobedience, from collars that enforced the commands through pain to potions that would make Tercius's commands absolute, but Tercius would rather do anything else than choose any of these options that took away her ability to resist a command.

"Mistress, is it completely out of the question that I can't just get another room?" he asked, just in case. He knew that a dozen rooms in the male wing were empty.

“There is a reason we keep you together. You need to learn certain things from each other. I can’t allow you to be denied that knowledge. Besides that, there is the fact that it would be preferential treatment, I would also have other students on my door in a jiffy,”

“Maybe my sister can take Amber for a while?” Eunim said helpfully. “You know Amber likes her, and she likes Amber.”

“That could work,” Tercius said with some hesitation. “But…”

"Unless you boys come to an agreement, then that's good enough --" Mistress Dea said and frowned as she looked down at the amulet that had started glowing a subtle orange. "Excuse me for a moment,"

The frown on her face grew deeper with each passing moment, while Tercius, Eunim, and Jorro watched.

“Understood,” she finally said, her voice calm.

Mistress Dea tugged on her amulet, snapping the small cord that kept it hanging around her neck, and Tercius saw the air around the amulet vibrate, a clear sign of either heat or Mana was passing through. Under Mana Sight Tercius saw that the amulet was drinking Mistress Dea's Mana, leaving her with very little in just a few moments.

The woman jumped on the wet bed and slammed her hand, and the amulet in it, straight into the white wall, with a force that was sure to leave an imprint. In almost the same instant thick red lines, some curved others angular, snaked in every direction across the wall. Tercius recognized a few of the Runes, as they moved about the wall. Mistress Dea released the amulet and it held fast onto the place she bashed it in.

Around the amulet, the red lines turned green and a female voice spoke from the amulet in some strange language, "Serme enum,"

Tercius never heard anything like it, but the reply the Mistress gave was, “Deamela Pon, Ser Sul Ma Fan Eur.”

The change after the Mistress said those words was immediate. With a rumbling noise, the light went out, leaving them in pitch-black darkness.

"What the hells?" he said, alarmed.

The light-orb on the ceiling was turned on the next instant and he heard that the locking mechanism on their door was engaged. Tercius turned to where the window was and instead found a wall that was the same as all others in their room.

Mistress Dea yanked the amulet off the wall, and it disengaged with some resistance. A burnt outline was left where it once stood.

“What's going on,” the words came out of Tercius's mouth.

“Patience, I will explain in a moment,” Mistress Dea said, giving the three of them a brief look. She then gave another dose of Mana to the amulet and brought the amulet to her lips. “Attention to all students. Everyone that is currently outside of the dorms is to immediately stop what they are doing and go to the nearest building. I repeat, stop what you are doing this instant and move towards the nearest building. Students of the first and second year, if you see a Master or someone from the years above yours, stay close to them. Someone will be with you shortly.”

Every single word that Mistress Dea said to her amulet was repeated in some way to Tercius. He swung his head around, in confusion. The way that he heard two voices, one from the direction where Mistress Dea currently stood and then another that, with exactly the same voice, repeated the words with just a second of difference, made his head spin.

The amulet that hung around Tercius's neck was pleasantly warm and radiated an orange light.