Theanore enjoyed the next morning very much. The worker elves had made pancakes and a delivery from Mirstone came early in the morning with enough jam for everyone. She was excited that she was going to get students.

But what she wanted was to give her notebook to the rest of the children. It would take some funds to print it, but Mister Perry had said that if he could sell it to the mage’s guild, then he would print it for free.

The profits would go to grandpa Thinker, as the notebook contained condensed knowledge taken from his book. But the name of Theanore would be under the title, right next to his.

Not that grandpa Thinker would have taken them to court. Theanore did include the secret of more than one enchantment inside with her calculations. But it was good to give the aged dungeon core credit.

As Theanore was eating a pancake, Diana came and sat by her. She took out a napkin and cleaned Theanore’s jam covered mouth.

“You are such a messy eater, Thea. You have to be more ladylike.” Said Diana as Theanore just grinned at her.

“I am small, not a lady. Didi, do you want to see the fish with me later today?” Asked Theanore as she took another bite off her pancake, a little jam dripped down her chin and Diana wiped it.

“You have to begin teaching us enchanting today. Maybe we can all go fish after the lesson?” Said Diana, and Theanore blinked. The lessons started today? But it was just decided that there would be lessons.

“Oh, no. I don’t have a lesson plan.” Said Theanore. She was unprepared. She was a bad teacher already. She bit her lower lip as it trembled. Diana hugged her and patted her back.

“How about we go through your notebook, and we decide on what we can start today? Or maybe we can start where you started?”

“I started with making mana crystals. You can’t enchant without them.” Said Theanore. “But they are hard. You have to concentrate really hard and if you are not careful, you might end up taking a nap.”

“Ok, we can start with this. How much mana for a single crystal?” Asked Diana.

“Five.” Answered Theanore. “But you can form the crystal little by little. I used to do it with the leftover mana all the time.”

“Well, what you speak of sounds like meditation. We can start now. Everyone, Theanore has something to tell us.” Said Diana, and heads turned to them.

“Well, uhm…” Began Theanore, blushing. She was not used to so many stares her way. “We can start creating mana crystals now, as we eat. You have to think of something you remember when you were really young. Your first memory, in fact. And then you need to remember how you felt when you lived through that memory. That is how you will reach your cores. Then, you have to start gathering five drops of mana and crystallizing it by thinking on what you would have changed in the memory. And then bam, mana crystal!”

The children closed their eyes and began thinking. Some looked happy, others sad. Theanore thought on her first memory. It had been when her father, Crassus, was leaving the grotto for the first time.

She remembers giving him a jar with gold that had appeared with her. Where from, she didn’t know. But instead of spending it on himself, her father had brought her an entire sack of seeds.

He had made her a green nursery and had even tried to give her siblings by planting trees, but those trees were normal ones. Maybe Esmer could create another nymph so Theanore could have a sister?

No, thought Theanore as she looked at the surrounding children, some of them holding and marveling at complete mana crystals. She already had siblings. And she had her best friend, Marinus. A mother and a father too, and an aunt in the face of Claudia. Plus, she had the forest of fireflies guardians. Her family was complete.

That said, if someone else wanted to join her family, she was not going to turn them away. She looked around again and saw one boy struggling with making a mana crystal. She took the napkin from Diana’s hands and wiped herself clean. Then she went by his side.

“Hello, trouble?” Asked Theanore when she reached him.

“I feel it would be better not to remember my first memory, and it is not working with my second memory.” Said the boy. He was older than Theanore, perhaps fifteen years old. Theanore sat by him.

“Was it a bad memory?” Asked the nymph. The boy lowered his head.

“The first thing I remember is my parents leaving me at the orphanage. I must have been as old as you are now.” Said the boy.

“Well, that is not a good memory at all.” Agreed Theanore. She couldn’t imagine being abandoned by anyone. “There is another way to make mana crystals, but it is risky. Grandpa Thinker wrote that you can get lost that way and never wake up.”

“Does it involve painful memories?” Asked the boy.

“No, just good ones. You have to think about all the good things that had happened to you over the years. Don’t miss even one. Then you have to go to sleep, and you will go to a wonderful place of plenty. But be warned: it is all a lie. It feeds on your good memories and keeps you trapped and if you don’t wake up you will die. What is your name?”

Asked Theanore finally. It was not like the knowledge was hidden one. Grandpa Thinker had recommended it even because it expanded the mana regen of the person who travelled to the dream space.

“Elmar Lars. And I think I will go take a nap now.” Said Elmar. Theanore followed him to his house and tucked him in. Then she sat on a chair by his bed and held his hand in her two hands.

“Elm, I will wake you up if you don’t make a crystal by the end of the day.” Promised, Theanore and Elmar closed his eyes and thought only of the good of life.