The first time Cass used magic, she was amazed. It was nothing special, she merely created a breeze in the room where she learned magic with Hall. While weather was incredibly complex, a system beyond understanding and control of mages as of yet, the air itself was understood. It flows from high to low, from hot to cold, and so it was one of the most simple of effects to create and observe, especially in a room separated from the outside weather.

But, after all the effort and concentration she had put into it, that breeze felt like heaven to Cass. Hall had heartily congratulated her, saying that her progress was nothing short of amazing. It often took years for mages to reach this stage apparently, but Cass felt that it had nothing to do with her being amazing or special. She simply was motivated.

That night, Hall had the kitchens send her actual steak. Meat itself was something she had only very rarely tasted, and then it had either been the very worst cuts or had just begun to go bad. To have an actual steak, to Cass it was like tasting the food of the Gods. A delicacy so rare that she might have doubted its existence.

Rewards such as that, combined with punishment by whip and magic for her failures, had Cass putting her entire being into her studies. She still worried about what was happening to her head, but as a slave with nowhere to run, Cass was not sure what else she could do but let it happen. As she bit into the juicy, delicious steak, she was not even sure she wanted to stop. You can’t eat sanity, or shelter in it. And one lesson that the street taught everyone was that if it cannot be eaten or used for shelter, it was probably worthless.

Only Maurice seemed to be getting more and more worried about her, but Cass ignored it. It was true that Maurice had struck a chord with Cass before, but really, as she thought about it, her having a dream of her own was impossible. The best she could hope for was to please her owners and be rewarded for it. That thought made Cass uncomfortable, as she realized that her own thinking was wrong, but she chose not to listen to the voice inside her and continued with her day to day life unabated.

Eventually, Lord Evans returned to check on her progress. The old mage’s eyes were still empty, and Cass had a sudden thought. Hall might have something broken inside him, and Cass might be breaking, but this mage had literally nothing inside him. She was wrong to be scared of Hall, by comparison, Evans was the one who truly was terrifying.

As the old mage approached her, Cass found herself instinctively drawing closer to Hall, a reaction that would have worried her if she was not so scared of the mage in front of her.

Evans stopped and raised an eyebrow. “Interesting,” he said, sounding anything but. “I did not think your magic was strong enough to produce this kind of reaction Hall.”

Hall rested a hand on Cass’s shoulder and replied, “It is not. In trying to understand the system better, I applied it practically to her training. Rewards and punishments based on her actions and my desires, but I have to admit the results were not what I expected.”

So his actions had been an experiment in controlling people… Hall had said controlling people with magic was difficult, bordering on impossible, but that was because the systems were poorly understood. He used Cass to try and understand those systems better, but oddly, Cass did not feel bothered by this, and Hall’s next words confirmed that feeling.

“Oh?” Evans seemed slightly interested now, but his eyes were still mostly empty, just the faintest glimmer of emotion could be seen before it was swallowed again into nothingness.

“Indeed, I formed an attachment to the subject as well.” Hall said, patting Cass on the head. “I am in control enough to even speak of this in front of her, but she is having a definite effect on me as well, which led me to a greater understanding of the magic I was studying.”

Hall smiled down at Cass, who was trying to figure out why she enjoyed the hand on her head. “I would hypothesise that the magic had always failed before because the mage has always thought of himself separate from the system, but in for magic involving people, he is actually a key part.”

“That would imply that social magic would by necessity change the user.”

“Correct,” Hall agreed. “I still have more testing to do, however. But I have a willing participant now.”

“Yes, Lord Hall.” A part of Cass was screaming that this was wrong, that she should struggle to escape, but most of her had sunk accepted the feeling and her mind worked to rationalize her obedience. After all, isn’t this what she wanted? She had told Maurice her dream, and though it was becoming hazy, she realized Hall’s research worked towards that dream as well. That is what Cass told herself, pushing down the screaming voice deep inside her.

Evans nodded and had Cass demonstrate her magic, and seemed to think for a bit.

“As you know Sarius,” He said suddenly. “The situation is still deteriorating, so I will likely have to go back to the south on orders from the court.”

Hall scowled, “Those fools, do they not understand the risk that instability brings? if the Elhven try and take advantage of this weakness…”

“I will make certain that they do not have the chance.” Evans was firm on this point, Cass was surprised to see such a reaction from him. “However, since I will not be here I have decided to transfer ownership rights of the subject to you. You are doing an excellent job in its education, at this rate we might be able to use the subject as a weapon on the field by the end of the year.”

Hall seemed slightly uncomfortable with that, “I am quite grateful for the ownership rights, but I would advise against using her so soon. The more time I have to train her, the stronger she will be.”

“I see, it does indeed change the user…” Evans mused, “You know as well as I do that time is the one thing we don’t have.”

“Yes, my Lord.” Hall bowed, “I will do my best.”

“See that you do.” And with that, the old mage left.