The talk he had with Mistress Helfira had revealed that skill like Precision was highly sought after by mages-- but rarely leveled past its level 20 barrier, much like Mana sensing skills.

Mages, like the rest of the world, focused on two to three skills and specialized.

These skills were called the main ones, while the rest were the support-- sacrifice meant to be raised as fodder for the main ones.

The fewer skills one had, the faster the skills leveled-- a principle by which mages guided themselves.

Mistress Helfira told him that some mages limited themselves to three to four skills-- never accepting another new skill. These people usually had skill levels that outstripped their peers by a dozen or so levels, a not-so-insignificant head start. Of course, as those levels grew upwards and the barriers required bigger skills, this head start would usually shrink itself to five or six levels per skill.

This was an especially viable path for mages, Tercius was able to see. If the three skills they used were Mana Manipulation, Mana Metamorphosis, and Mana Sight, for example, they could, theoretically, use any other skill in the world. Any Mana-fueled skill, he corrected when he remembered his Energy skills.

It was a viable path for the rest of the world, as well, only a few went that route-- amongst the average citizens and those below them.

It was hard to resist a new skill that would help you in your daily life. Gardening-- and skills similar to it-- was so common that almost every non-noble citizen of the Empire had it, be it to use it as a sacrificial skill or as a way to eat the daily meals and provide for a family.

In Tercius's eyes, only the noble and maybe some wealthier merchant families had the optimal conditions to specialize. They employed people to do work for them, which afforded these people the time to focus on particular skills. The problem there was that most nobles ignored the gift that they had, wasting time on pleasures of the world, while merchants who had enough money only sought to make more.

Following the conversation with Mistress Helfira, he took some time to see how his skills behaved without Precision turned on.

As he laid in the large bathtub-- warm water filled to the brim-- his arms resting on the cool stone to his left and right, while Amber cruized about like some kind of an alligator or crocodile. Her nose, eyes, and ears stayed above water at all times, even though she could dive in and stay under for a good minute.

Every day he tried to get at least twenty minutes of tub time where other than relaxing himself, he would practice his Mana shapes. In a way, the practice was a part of that relaxation. Practicing skills that could one day shape the very world itself, in a tub had a certain appeal to him.

Tercius was sure that when his fellow students got to a certain age jokes about masturbation would be hammered on him, yet he could not bring himself to care.

It was bliss.

Tercius made sure to use Meditation for its intended purpose-- meditation-- at the start of every tub time. When his mind was clear of unnecessary baggage, he would start with practice.

Tercis vaguely remembered doing some tests with Precision in the first week when he got it, but since then he had left it alone-- completely forgotten. Even then his Mana regeneration was much larger than the cost the skill had, so it was just forgotten in the background. Now he was about to turn it off. If the skill was a person, he was sure some harsh words would be exchanged, but, luckily, this was not the case.

Turning it off was as simple as consciously thinking about it. He had tried to feel, at that moment, if the process of turning it off carried some physical component with it, yet he felt no such thing. For a few moments, he was not even sure it was off.

Turning on Mana Sight made things much more clear, especially when he started going through the exercises.

Mana Sight had been, quite apparently, a giant beneficiary of Precision. With Precision on, he saw Mana outlines wherever the walls weren't enchanted against such intrusions. Without it, the skill lost half of its zone of sight, as if a fog had been drawn over its outer boundaries. Even the Mana shapes near him visibly lost a lot of outer details. He saw the center of the shapes– where the greatest Mana concentration was– but as he got further out the Mana started going hazy.

Tercius was able to hit the same precision rate with Mana Manipulation but his speed had taken a noticeable fall.

Excitement surged from within and a grin spread across his face.

It might be a temporary regress, he mulled. In the long run, this is progress.

There was another thing that made his excitement surge. From the conversation with Mistress Helfira, he realized another benefit from the paths of mastering magic the Academy taught— one that was of major use especially to him. It was so obvious in retrospect. He saw that, in theory, with Energy at his disposal and all these different paths to casting magic, his Mana Manipulation and Mana Metamorphosis skills essentially wouldn't have a barrier. He did not know if this was why the ancient mages did things this way, but the hints were there. Tercius was reasonably sure that this was why they made education so diverse. Pass one barrier with one path, then the second with another, and so on. It was… brilliant— if his theory turned out to be true.

Even though he would have to go through hours upon hours of work he already did, the giant smile on his face said what he felt about that. He scooped Amber out of the water and gave her head scratches just to share a bit of the energy that coursed through him.

The little creature closed the eyes after which she was named, a small satisfied purr slowly radiating off of her.

***

Five days later, Tercius observed as the rest of the students left with the Masters and Mistresses to the mansion on the surface. Penelope would once more stay with her mother, meaning that Euria and Lomera had to take care of three small creatures– not that they complained.

Tercius and J'ro stayed behind with Mistress Helfira and Master Lazarus, as all four had an engagement this afternoon, one which they couldn’t postpone.

The hearing of Keeper Eiler.

They left the underground bunker the same way they came to it. Mistress Helfira insisted that she should be the one to operate a hovering platform. While Master Lazarus politely offered to do it a few times, he ultimately gave up once he saw that the elder Mistress meant what she said.

While their previous ride epitomized speed and safety, the second time around speed was the only word of the day.

The elder Mistress cackled as she drove the platform forward at speeds that blurred the well-lit tunnels.

"Mistress! You missed our turn," Master Lazarus exclaimed, one hand on his stomach the other on his mouth.

"I know, but we have time," the old woman said, her eyes gleaming. "I've been away for a decade, Lazarus, then I had to babysit. Let an old woman have some fun…"

One hour of wild driving later– they missed many turns, according to the green-faced Master Lazarus.

Tercius and J'ro had large grins on their faces the whole time. It was a bit touch and go when they saw other platforms come their way, but there were built-in safeties inside of the platforms. Each time the platforms were about to collide, they repelled like magnets-- at the last possible moment. After the first few deathly scares only thrill remained.

The whole time Tercius's feet stayed planted on the smooth platform and he never felt any horizontal force on him. It was as if he was not moving at all. He now knew one more enchantment blueprint he would gladly buy from the Repository.

"Ah,” the Mistress murmured with a wistful sigh, once they got off the platform at a particular stop. “So satisfying,"

A sign "City Hall of Chameos" was above one well-lit passage, while the other said, "Court of Chameos".

"Follow closely," Mistress Helfira said, serious for the first time in a while. She turned to the one on the right and walked straight to the stairs that awaited there.

There was no elevator here, only a lot of mages, presumably, in gray leather armors-- standing like statues and observing them as they passed. Mostly men with a rare woman here and there allowed them through the enchanted door after door, and Tercius finally realized how serious business this was.

It wasn't like he was dismissive of it before, but it is only when his eyes saw the sharp looks these guards sent his and J'ro's way did the whole situation dawn on him. Mistress Helfira said from the first day that this was a big deal as Keeper Eiler was, apparently, one of the upper crust of the 'Progressives'. Not a 'big wig', but quite close to it.

A team of four mages in their thirties, Tercius guessed, halted them before a large metal door.

"Identification!" Barked the leading man.

"We gave it three times already," Mistress Helfira said with annoyance in her voice. "It certainly hasn't changed from when your colleagues down the hall checked,"

Master Lazarus raised his amulet a bit and, just like before, the amulet showed Master Lazarus name and credentials and the guards nodded. Mistress Helfira did the same and the group that blocked their path nodded once more, seemingly satisfied.

"Identification!" The same man barked at Tercius and J'ro.

"They don't have their amulets," Master Lazarus said calmly. "Nor do they know how to use its functions yet,"

The lead glanced at his colleagues and for a few moments, they just deliberated with their eyes, while Tercius and J'ro observed.

"Who is their guardian then?" The sole woman from the group asked and Mistress Helfira indicated to herself.

"In what capacity are these two brought?"

"Witnesses in a hearing," the old woman said and the guards exchanged looks.

"Since they don't have their amulets, we will have to search them," the leader said.

Tercius and J'ro had expected this and they simply nodded. One guard led Tercius to one room and another guard took J'ro to the room next to his.

"Stand on that," the man said to Tercius and pointed at a raised circular platform covered in Runes. It was around a meter in radius and only as tall as a regular step and it only took a moment of his time.

"Don't use any skills," the man warned.

A tingle ran over him, starting with his toes and slowly rising. He didn't see anything, but he felt cold after the tingle-- as if the scan was taking all of the body heat wherever it passed. "This isn't a simple scan is it?"

"Don't speak now. And no. It's not." The man spoke curtly. "Any spells you have on will be nullified after this,"

"And what about skills?"

"Which part of 'Don't speak now' isn't clear?" the man barked then in a low murmur said, "The Academy these days… taking in anything…"

A headache took a bite out of his brain.

"What happened?" Tercius murmured as he gently rubbed his temples.

"The scan was just completed, nothing out of the ordinary," the officer said. "You can come down,"

"Oh," he said slowly. The first step of the platform was a bit too hard for him, for some reason, and Tercius almost fell. The officer caught him and prevented the stumble from becoming anything else.

"Thank you," Tercius said, his voice a bit slurred.

"Some water and a seat?" The officer offered with a wave of a hand.

It felt a lot better when the water hit his parched throat. The seat was also a welcome addition as the headache slowly disappeared.

Tercius was sure that he was forgetting something. The amulet? Amber?

"There, all better," the officer said and patted him on the back. "Your guardian is waiting, we should go,"

"Go?" Tercius said. There was a fog over his eyes, masking the man who stood before him. Tercius was sure that he wanted to remember his face, but for some reason, it kept slipping away. Something was… off about his face. The lips?

"... we better wait a minute more. How did this hit him this hard? What went wrong?"

"He has an unusual resistance, most likely that's the cause." A female voice said and Tercius's head looked around for a source. There was no one else in the room.

"Try it one more time, our skins are on this," Tercius heard the officer say. “Throw in something to rid him of this grogginess,”

An instinct in him screamed and he protected himself instinctively.

A wave of some weird kind of Mana washed over him and he felt much better, the headache an afterthought.

"There you go," the officer said with a smile. “How are you feeling, kid?”

"Good," Tercius said, then looked at the man. "Are we done?"

"Yes, we’re done. Let’s go, your guardian is waiting,"

Tercius smiled back and nodded. He got up and followed after the man.

These fuckers… he thought, anger boiling in him– but he restrained himself from showing it or even feeling it for that matter.

At that moment his body knew something was coming and he protected himself, both with his hands and with a skill. Meditation. It wasn’t something he planned to do– it just happened so naturally.

In that brief moment where he was alone in the black void of Meditation, he saw a wave of blue try to approach him– extremely slowly. It was as if he was watching a tall tsunami wave assaulting the shore, all of it happening in slow motion. A single swipe of his hand caught that wave and as if dismantling a spiderweb he destroyed it without thinking.

He did see that a blue wave– may be more– was already in his black form— right around where his head was. Very gently and subtly it rolled from left to right and then right to left, fading with each pass. With a swipe of his will, the blue color was torn to pieces– leaving only pristine black.

A memory came to mind– one that was there a moment ago, yet it wasn’t.

— A tingle ran over him, starting with his toes and slowly rising. He didn't see anything, but he felt cold-- as if the scan was taking all of the body heat wherever it passed. "This isn't a simple scan is it?"

"Don't speak now. And no. It's not." The man spoke curtly. "Any spells you have on will be nullified after this,"

"And what about skills?"

"Which part of 'Don't speak now' isn't clear?" the man barked then in a low murmur said, "The Academy these days… taking in anything…"

"So what hearing are you here for? There are three today, from what I heard," the officer asked right after he murmured.

Tercius kept quiet for a while, pretending that he did not hear the man. He just looked at the room, examining the Runed ceiling, floor, and the walls.

"I'm not hearing anything. This is a well-insulated room," the words left his mouth.

"What?"

"What?"

"You just said…"

"I know what I said, officer. Is this going to take long? I think that my body temperature isn't the only thing dropping while I’m talking to you,"

The man had a large frown on his face.

Why is my tongue so free? Tercius thought and frowned, completely confused. For some reason, he couldn't restrain himself. The man before him was annoying, but he had long ago overgrown these… childish barbs-- no matter how much he enjoyed them. So why was the man's behavior prompting this reaction? These kinds of thoughts he always left for himself-- he had done so for decades now.

They were doing something to him, he realized. There was something about…

Is this something that works only on me? Is he under its influence? Tercius thought as he looked at the officer in the form-fitting leather armor.

"What am I doing here? Why did you bring me here?" Tercius asked, the questions leaving his mouth before he could catch them.

"I have to… find…" the man placed a hand over his mouth, completely covering his lips.

"Your tongue, perhaps? Maybe a cat has it?" Tercius said, annoyed.

A tingle passed through the whole room and he felt something leave him. It was as if someone placed a very light blanket over his sleeping form.

And then another.

And then another.

Tercius heard people talking but he could barely react to anything he heard. With rising panic, he realized that his body did not obey a single command he made.

“It was a bust, the kid cut me off before I got the answer to the first question. Can you erase this memory they asked you to, without it being teased to the surface?” the officer said when he removed his hand.

"No, not without significantly more time. Probably days– maybe even weeks– with the focus and willpower he exhibited. There is a wall there, let me tell you. For a moment I thought that I wouldn't make it. The amount of Mana he has is quite large for his age."

“What?! This overgrown outsider? I thought you were one of the best at this?” the officer asked, seemingly surprised. His voice turned alarmed as he asked, “What about this conversation? Can you erase it?”

“I am the best. And yes, I can erase this conversation– short-term memory is much easier," a female voice said confidently. "I'll go for the same subtle spell as before. I won't risk any other kind with that woman there. It should go unnoticed. I will only cover it for now and in a day or two the boy will only have a blurry memory of these two minutes, if even that,"

“Right, right. Good thinking, better go the safe route. And hurry, they will start going suspicious."

Three blue Mana waves swept over him, each hammering him down.

Tercius shivered.

A headache took a bite out of his brain.

"What happened?" Tercius murmured as he gently rubbed his temples.

"The scan was just completed, nothing out of the ordinary," the officer said. "You can come down,"

"Go?" Tercius said. There was a fog over his eyes, masking the man who stood before him. Tercius was sure that he wanted to remember his face, but for some reason, it kept slipping away. Something was… off about his face. The lips?—

Tercius walked to the side of Mistress Helfira who only frowned at the officer who brought him. “What took you so long? Did you inscribe the Runes yourself?”

The man just ignored Mistress Helfira’s question and the leader allowed the four of them to pass.

He kept thinking about what he should do all the while looking at the amount of guards present. It was as if he was back in the Army Garrison in Nurium. The whole place was crawling with men and women in uniforms.

His hands had small tremors in them, so he stuffed them in his pockets. Time after time he activated and deactivated Meditation to calm himself forcibly.

He glanced at J’ro a few times, but the kid seemed fine– just like the last time Tercius saw him.

“Is there something on my face?” J’ro asked and started using his sleeve to clean around his mouth.

“No, no. For a moment I thought that there was, but no.” Tercius said and looked away, his face a neutral mask that hid the silent turmoil inside. Like a nail, a fear would appear from deep withing him and he would use Meditation like a hammer to drive it back down.

One guard led Tercius and his group to a small room.

“Please wait for a little while. Someone will be here to get you soon,” the man said and left them.