“Archon?” I had never heard that particular word before, and mentally turned it over in my head. I assumed it was a Mage rank of some kind, but if it was I did not recognize it.

“It was a creation of Cortos’, meant to represent a ruler, not unlike a king or queen in that regard. Through taking on the title, Cortos sought to set himself above and separate from the rest of Mages, by declaring that he was a power in and of himself rather than beholden to Ferris or any nation for that matter. He had declared that he was beyond the command of anyone else, even the King.” Sig said, with a hint of a sneer on his face.

“Why would he do that? It sounds like a dangerous and idiotic move, even for an Archmagi. He was taunting Ferris to crush him by making such a public display against their authority.” I said, not bothering to hide my derisive tone. Archmagi were still human and that meant they could be killed, albeit with far more difficulty than a weaker Mage.

“Cortos was a proud and independent man, as well as a monsterous prodigy with magic. He was, by a large margin, stronger than either of the two other Archmagi in his era and held secrets of magic no one else had discovered. In all of Ferren history, only Torros is comparable in power and it’s debatable that Cortos would have been unmatched if he lived longer. He felt that the Academy was an affront to his independence by demanding he sacrifice his hard earned power and knowledge, and took on the title to make clear his refusal to submit. In response, the insulted King sent the other Archmagi, along with six powerful Masters to quell Cortos’ insurgency and bring him into line. We’re still unsure what happened that day but when the smoke cleared, Cortos’ home was destroyed and he was dead, along with the Mages sent by the king.” Sig said, crossing his arms as he spoke.

“I see...but why would his name provoke such a response? I can understand publicly condemning his actions, but scourging all mention of him from history seems extreme to say the least.” I said, deciding to probe a little further while I could. I trusted Sig more than Master Julian or any of the record keepers in the Library, and based on Sig’s reaction they would likely be far less willing to share this story with me.

“Especially in that era, but even now, an alliance of arrogant and powerful Mages is a fragile thing at the best of times. Cortos represented a danger to Ferris, a powerful and famous Mage willing to strike off on his own in defiance of the authority of the royal family and the Academy. One rebellious Mage is a problem, but it raised the possibility of others following in his footsteps. If too many Mages emulated his actions and abandoned Ferris, it could at best weaken us and at worst fracture the entire Kingdom. In order to eliminate this risk, information about Cortos is kept restricted until the Academy feels a student is ready to learn about him, and realize why his actions were reprehensible.” Sig said in a flat tone. I noticed it sounded rehearsed, more like a quote from a book rather than personal musings.

Internally, I noted with some amusement that my own actions bore some similarities to Cortos’ rebellion. I wondered idly if I completely trusted the official story told by Sig, and decided I did not after some consideration. After all, history is written by the victor and it would be poor planning to paint Cortos in any sort of sympathetic light. I snapped myself back to reality after realizing I had been silent for half a minute, and gave Sig a firm nod of my head.

“I think I understand why what Cortos did was so dangerous. If he was left to do whatever he pleased, it could have caused a civil war and left Ferris weak to invasion and conquest. By killing him, they ensured Ferris would remain united and strong in the face of conflict. Thank you for explaining all of this to me.” I said, bowing my head forward to disguise the conflicted look in my eyes.

Sig nodded after a few tense seconds, forcing a smile to his face and patting me roughly on the shoulder. I nearly fell over from the strength of his blow, and rubbed my arm a little in response.

“Glad to hear it! Why don’t we cut training short today, since? But don’t think you’re getting out of training tomorrow though, you aren’t that lucky. Oh and make sure to practice your forms before bed too, to make up for our early day today.” he said, returning to his usual jovial demeanor as he turned back towards the Academy and began walking.

“That would be great, thanks Sig.” I said with a smile, as I fell into step next to him. As we walked quietly, I felt my thoughts return almost unwillingly to Cortos, and his story. What would Ferris say about me, if I also became too independent and became a liability to the kingdom?

In the remaining weeks until the start of the semester, I had reached an important point in my Mana cultivation. I had become able to find my Core in seconds, while deeply focusing with my eyes closed, at least. The next step in my practice would be learning to find my Mana while outside of any special mindframe, to constantly be aware of the location of my Core. After I mastered this skill, I would be nearly ready to cast my first spell. Unfortunately, after my first attempt took me over a half hour I realized I still had much farther to go before I would be ready for that particular step.

I had also plateaued in my tempering, and by this point I could move a single mote of Mana down my Channels with no discomfort. I had begun using two motes instead, while continuing to temper twice a day and supplementing with Yardley’s treatments twice a day each to continue my progress. I still was unsure how far I would need to go with tempering before my Channels would be strong enough to cast spells without damage, but I knew I could not afford to relax my training at all.

All together, I was making slow but steady progress with magic and I was confident I would be ahead of most students when the semester began in that particular area. I was still not completely sure that head start would be enough to keep me ahead, and thanks to my Mana aspect I would need to exploit any advantages I could find. My research had found that no other Aether Mage had ever managed to progress to any rank above Journeyman, but I had no intentions of continuing that particular legacy.

My disguise was as close to perfect as I would be able to manage in such a short period of time. I had practiced applying both dyes, and was now able to apply it evenly across all of my exposed skin, avoiding any of the dark spots I had produced during my first attempt. Several days had been spent memorizing details about the Nortons, including the most prominent living members of the family. I had also selected one particularly reclusive man named Connor Norton as my “father”. In addition to living a quiet life in a relatively small estate far from the capital, he had a staggering eleven children, most of which were complete unknowns themselves.

After my conversation with Sig, I had made sure to not make my interest in Cortos’ life obvious. I still planned to research him further at some point, but I knew it would require a gentle hand to avoid raising suspicion. If what Sig said was true, Cortos would likely have made discoveries about magic that I could study and learn myself.

Sig for his part seemed to have completely forgotten, or appeared to have forgotten about that confrontation. I was still not seeing any major results from my daily practice with him, but I did notice I had begun feeling more flexible and energetic than normal. I was unsure how I could keep training with him once classes began, but at a minimum I hoped to continue his routine on my own whenever I could find the time. The small changes were almost addictive, and I was eager to see how far I could progress if I kept my practice consistent.

Over the past weeks, I also made a point to begin collecting works specifically on prior Archmagi and their significant accomplishments. While none of these Mages shared my Aether aspect, I still felt I may be able to develop some powerful skills from studying their research. I had begun taking extensive notes, diluting what I felt was the most useful information from each Archmagi into more easily understood language, removing much of the overly detailed paragraphs about how brilliant and powerful they were.

My early studies of alchemy, magic beasts and enchanting during this time had left me unsure about how useful each subject would be in my development as a Mage. Alchemy seemed exceedingly boring, with most major accomplishments requiring years of careful research and experimentation in order to perfect the craft. Magic beasts, while more interesting at first, was a skill I doubted I would have much use for in the future. Understanding the capabilities of dangerous beasts sounded useful, but I had no interest in taming or riding creatures into battle and overall it would be of limited utility.

Enchanting was the most interesting skill, and was a field essential in the development of the Academy. While I was not sure how, the Archmagi that built the Academy had used extensive enchanting to increase its internal space and make the structure incredibly durable. However, my concerns with that field were far more practical than anything else. Enchanting was expensive, to practice as well as produce useful items, and I lacked the monetary means to pursue that subject at this point. I would still focus in class and study as much as possible, but I doubted I could make use of anything I learned while still an Apprentice.

After all of this, I felt as prepared as possible for my classes when the semester began, and was optimistic I could handle the workload. While I had made great progress, I knew I had gone almost as far as I could manage without proper guidance and was beginning to reach a bottleneck. Simply put, I needed a Master to help lead me through the uncertainty of early cultivation and without that I was just as likely to make mistakes that crippled me.

Several days before the start of the semester while I was in the midst of tempering, I heard a few sharp knocks at my door. Pausing in my practice, I looked at the door for a few seconds with a raised eyebrow but without standing up. When the knocks came again, I swore under my breath and walked to the door, before opening it to reveal Leon and Sophia standing in the hallway.

“Hey Vayne, glad you are home after all. I was a bit worried we had missed you, but then again I remembered you tended to get lost in reading. Girem wanted us to check in on you, see how you have been doing the last few weeks.” Leon said, with a bright smile as they walked past me into my room. Sophia ignored me as usual, and began to look around my room, scanning my bookshelf with slightly narrowed eyes.

“I have been doing well, thank you Master Leon. My studies have progressed well and I feel ready for my classes.” I answered, giving a small bow to Leon as I spoke.

Shaking his head, Leon crossed his arms and said “Vayne, there’s no need to be so formal with me. If we are going to be working together after graduation, I want us to be closer to friends than master and servant, like my father and Girem. Regardless, I wanted to invite you out to dinner with us, to meet a few other Apprentices. It’s not an order of course, but respectfully you seem like a bit of a hermit and some conversation will do you good.”

I laughed a little at that last sentence, mostly due to the truth of his statement. I barely left my room, besides to eat, train with Sig and visit the Library and had not spoken to any other Apprentices in my time here. I decided I may as well take Leon up on his offer, to gauge where I fell in terms of progress compared to the nobility and learn a bit about the other students. That, and I noticed Sophia was a little too interested in what I had been reading and I needed an excuse to get her out of my room as quickly as possible before she saw too much.

“That sounds like fun, I suppose I have been a bit reclusive. Thank you master Leon, I appreciate the offer.” I answered politely. Even if Leon had offered to drop the formalities, I would prefer to maintain my caution rather than make a mistake in front of a less gracious noble.

Rolling his eyes, Leon sighed before addressing Sophia. “You ready Sophia? Or are you going to blow me off like usual?”

Turning away from my bookshelf where she had been examining one book in particular, Sophia raised one eyebrow and pursed her lips at Leon, before nodding and walking out the open door to the hallway. Shaking his head, Leon followed and after a second's hesitation I stepped outside as well before closing my door behind me. Time to see who I would be stuck training alongside for the next five years.