Vance's masterful lie didn't seem to throw James off the scent. Fortunately, it seemed that James had the wherewithal to avoid following up on this particular topic in the midst of a crowd.

In the meantime, Vance continued to focus on the ongoing tests. They only lasted around forty minutes due to the relatively small number of third-years. Vance was able to tell that the key difference, other than experience, was indeed compression. Of all of the skills he'd come across, this one was by far the most impactful on overall magical might.

The students began to funnel out of the testing hall, the masters having finally dismissed them. It was getting dark outside by this point, the tests having consumed the majority of the day.

Almost as soon as Vance's group was far enough away, James spoke up.

"Vance, you really know what they're doing, don't you?" James didn't sound particularly angry. Vance took that as a good sign.

The group was silent for a moment as they waited for Vance's answer, which came quickly. He'd had a while to think on his answer on his way out.

"Yes, I do. But, before you ask, I can't tell you what it is. I was forbidden by Master Noelle. Sorry."

James let out a long sigh.

"It's fine. I knew you'd say something like that. I'm guessing there's a good reason. Just tell me, is that actually the reason third-years are so much more powerful?"

Vance was taken aback by James' maturity on the subject. He could hear a rare hint of Nathaniel's seriousness in his son's voice.

"As far as I can tell, yes. Oh, and experience, obviously."

"Why did they tell you?" Thomas chimed in, curious.

"I'm not sure, to be honest. I brought up the same question you did, about why some Arcanists were so much more powerful than others. Noelle seemed willing to give me an answer, so long as I didn't spread it around."

"She told me, too. I didn't much get it, to be honest. I think she told us to set us straight, Vance. After our ill-informed trip to Ervis, perhaps she thought we just needed to know better," Mariah admitted.

Vance nodded at that. Thinking back, even though they had no way of knowing what they'd discover, it was a very, very poor decision.

"I think I can probably tell you the reason I'm not allowed to spread it, though." Vance mused aloud. "It's because without the requisite mana control skills you can seriously hurt or maybe even kill yourself or others. The danger is no joke."

"Well, as curious as I am, I wouldn't want to turn myself into a pile of dust or something just because I was impatient." James chuckled.

"I second that," Thomas added. "Besides, I'll find out soon enough. I'm moving onto my third year in a handful of months."

"You're not mad?" Vance asked out to the group.

"Nah. Thomas has to keep secrets from first-years all the time. We just like to give him a hard time about it. Now you're in the same boat, teacher's pet." James poked at Vance as he spoke.

"Glad to hear it. If I could tell you, I absolutely would."

"On another subject..." James started. "How come you're so good at mana control, Vance? I get that with the whole super-duper mana sense thing you can learn more about the structure of mana than we can, blah blah blah, but how'd you get such a strong will?"

"Funny story, I only found out about that today. Remember that weird fire feather I have in my core? Turns out that keeping that thing under control has done wonders for my willpower."

"You are about the weirdest, luckiest and yet somehow unluckiest Arcanist I've ever met," Thomas added, earning a round of chuckles.

"I need to get me one of those." James mused, half-jokingly.

"Tough. First come, first serve," Mariah said, defiantly.

"Not Vance, the feather!" James corrected. The group laughed at James, and Vance relaxed.

The group picked up the pace and left the college grounds, making their way back out into the city proper via the McKinnley's carriage. At some point, Vance felt Mariah stealthily slide her hand into his as they went, bringing a smile to his face.

They went as a group to grab some dinner at a nearby eatery and then made their separate ways home. Vance nearly leapt out of his skin when Brad said his goodbyes. The big man had been so quiet that Vance had almost forgotten him.

When the carriage pulled up outside of the McKinnley household, the driver announced that there was already another carriage present that did not belong to the family. By this point, it was just James and Vance in the back.

"It's probably just some other noble house visiting father, happens fairly regularly," James said calmly. Then, Vance heard James pushing the door of the carriage open and having a look outside for himself.

"Unmarked, not sure who it is. Let's go." James said, helping Vance out of the carriage onto the cobbles of the street.

The two made their way inside. They weren't exactly in a perfect state of dress to receive noble guests. Therefore, James stealthily led Vance through the house so that they could quickly change into something that wasn't marred from the day's tests.

Then, the two-headed towards the living room of the McKinnley household. They heard much less conversation than they'd expected, so James went first to see what was going on. Vance felt James' hand push him back, stopping him from coming into view of the living room.

"What're you doing here, Duncan?" James asked, anger clear in his voice.

Vance immediately felt his nerves kick in. He wasn't exactly scared of Duncan. Magically, Vance was certain that he had the upper hand in terms of willpower. That being said, he would be lying if he said he wasn't a little afraid of this upcoming confrontation for other reasons.

His nerves fled a little when he heard Nathaniel's voice next, rather than Duncan's.

"Welcome home, James. Duncan is here under my supervision. He wishes to express his stance on recent events, though I shan't talk on his behalf. Is Vance with you? I believe he wanted to talk with both of you."

James' hand relaxed, leaving Vance free to make himself known. Stepping to the side of James, he cast his mana sense into the room. He could only sense the two membranes inside. Other than Nathaniel as an escort, Duncan had come alone.

Vance kept his mana sense fully extended so he'd have a good idea of what was going on in the room.

"Good evening, Vance," Nathaniel spoke first. "Would the two of you be kind enough to listen to Mr Sellanion's words? I've allowed him to come here as he has proven to be exceptionally cooperative since the incident with his sister. In addition, I can find no evidence of a resurgence of dark mana within him. He's clear."

"Fine," James said, obvious anger still lacing his voice.

Vance thought back to what Thomas said about nobility and magnanimity. A little bit of Vance simply wanted to tell Duncan to piss off. However, considering he was now representing the McKinnleys, he decided to reign that bit of himself in.

"Sure. Hello again, Duncan." Vance said. He tried to put on a calm voice, but a little of the anger trickled through.

Immediately as he was addressed, Duncan stood up and bowed deeply.

"Firstly, please let me express my deepest apologies to both of you." Duncan's voice was shaking. As soon as Vance picked up on that, he could practically feel the sincerity dripping off of him, as well as a little fear. As much as he was doing his best to put on a front of nobility, Vance could tell there was a boy in there that knew he was on a path that could get him whipped.

"I've caused you both physical harm in recent months and have acted deplorably. While it would be easy for me to claim this was all due to the influence of dark mana, that's just an excuse. I am not here to make excuses. I am here to observe our traditions and to put myself at your mercy."

Vance heard that shakiness in Duncan's voice slowly fading out as he worked his way through what was clearly a very practised speech. Duncan seemed to leave a few seconds of silence, waiting for someone to interrupt him. Nothing came, so he pressed on.

"James..." Duncan addressed him directly, turning slightly to meet his eyes. "My father, Leslie and I share responsibility in causing you to become involved in something dangerous that resulted in you coming to physical harm and your family suffering immense losses. For this slight, I offer you a gift in gold on behalf of my family. It is not sufficient, but it is within our means. Our family is upon difficult times, but we'd like to offer you three thousand gold coins if you would accept them."

Vance heard a very quiet sigh come from James.

"Fine, I accept."

"Thank you." Duncan bowed again.

"Stop bowing already, we get it." James chastised. Vance was sure he was just looking for something to be irritated about. He knew James would be loathing how reasonably Duncan was acting.

"Vance, in your case, the offences towards you largely belong to myself and my father. Though I'm certain my sister had a hand in our actions, they do not seem to have been directly targeted at you. Initially, my father suggested we bring you a simple gift of gold, but I think I have something you will find more interesting."

Vance's mana sense told him that Duncan produced an object rich in wooden mana, probably a case, and pulled something from the inside.

"While I was looking into what I could offer you, I came across your background. Your family occupy a home in Wethermane, not far from here, correct? As it turns out, my father has a working relationship with some of the local landowners. I shall spare you the boring details, but I hold in my hand the deed to the land upon which your home sits. It encompasses the building as well as the land behind it, including the forested region behind the home. I would offer you this in recompense. Naturally, this doesn't have the same short-term benefit that I offer to James, so in addition, we offer you one thousand gold coins."

"That's..." Vance was genuinely shocked. First of all, that was more money than he'd had in his life. Secondly, the man who had broken his nose was now standing in front of him, holding the deed to his family home. Vance found this whole nobility thing quite strange, though he had to admit, they seldom did things in half-measures.

When Vance failed to continue speaking for a moment, James nudged him.

"I accept," Vance said, startled. He didn't need to think about it hard. At the very least, making sure that deed was in his hands rather than Duncan's was a no brainer.

Forgoing the bow as he had been asked, Duncan returned the deed to the case from which he had removed it and turned to Nathaniel for approval.

"Approach," Nathaniel said, exasperated.

Duncan approached the two boys and handed the box to Vance, who took it in a clean, decisive motion. Vance was quite pleased that Duncan took a momentary pause, obviously surprised that he hadn't had to give Vance any sort of instruction to know when he'd raised the box for collection.

Vance felt the well-constructed, smooth wooden box that he held in his hands. It was built to hold something heavy, but it was light. As he ran his hands over it, he discovered it had room for a lock to be placed through the front, but one was not attached for the moment.

As far as Vance was concerned, if this was all real, this was a net gain. Granted, he was still furious for what he'd gone through, but he did have to admit that his anger was slightly diminished by this sudden windfall. He was beginning to understand why the nobility here did things this way, it was truly quite likely that you could dig yourself out of quite a few holes with gifts this extravagant.

"Again, I'm sorry," Duncan said more quietly so that Nathaniel couldn't hear him. Then he raised his voice again and announced his intentions.

"I shall be going from here directly to the city lord's home. I will be informing him of my actions and placing myself before him for judgement. My father will be joining me."

"Why isn't your father here with you?" James asked.

"That's my doing," Nathaniel said. "If Duncan were to act up, there's no chance of you two coming to any harm while I'm here. If Kaine was present, stopping him would be much more difficult. I would not accept the risk, given the recent state of their minds."

Duncan was quiet after that, but turned and made for the door, lowering his head.

"Duncan?" Vance called out, causing him to stop in his tracks and look back at Vance.

"What was the dark mana like? Could you feel it?" Vance asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. Vance wanted to learn as much as he could about every type of mana he could find, so this was a rare opportunity as far as he was concerned.

Nathaniel spoke first. "Vance, it's not a good idea to bring up those experiences with people who've been exposed, it can-"

"It's alright," Duncan said with a little shiver in his voice. "I've been thinking about it a lot, trying to figure out where its influence stopped and I began. The only way I can describe it is that I think I just sort of hated... being?"

He sounded unsure, the end of his sentence turning into more of a question. Nobody else spoke as Duncan left, closing the door to the McKinnley house behind him.