“So your blood was burned by the match?” Ariane looked at Dante with newfound curiosity

“Yes,” Dante nodded, not sure how welcome that attention was, “Though I have no idea that even means.”

“The book doesn’t describe why the matchstick method works, does it?” Ariane smiled and Dante shook his head.

“It’s based on one of the many interactions between magic and chemistry,” she explained, “I am not exactly sure on why myself but whenever mana comes into contact with an iont of a particle with high electronegativity, there is an adverse reaction. The particle disrupts the magic slightly and pulls in any other of the same particles in the surroundings, using the disrupted magic’s energy to break them into even more ionts who further disrupt magic. That is the basic principle upon which all mana suppressants are based. One of the chemicals rather commonly use in for example mage killer bullets is antimony trisulphide which also happens to be a minority component in safety matches. You have the potential for magic if your blood naturally holds any amount of mana. And that mana is disrupted by the safety match, turning into a burst of heat which quickly evaporates the blood. Do you understand so far?”

“Mostly,” Dante said. His knowledge of chemistry was far from perfect but he at least knew that sulphite had rather high electronegativity. Though he was not sure he understood everything exactly, Null mostly got the hang of the basic concepts, “But I still don’t understand why my blood had burned.”

“A novice would have only a limited amount of mana within their body,” Ariane smiled as she suddenly bit her own finger, drawing some blood which she let fall down to the table, “By continuously and repeatedly using magic, the mana becomes thicker, more concentrated. If an accomplished magus were to do the same experiment, there would be a spark accompanying the evaporation,” she picked up the matchbox Shin had left on the table before departing, “That being said, a flame is not unheard of. A core magus, a master of magic with many decades of experience would have enough mana density that the heat could cause a burst of flames to appear,” she struck the match and brought it down towards the few drops of her blood. In an instant, it was set ablaze. Flames far higher and wilder than those cause by Dante rose above the table, disappearing just as quickly as they had appeared, though leaving a slight scorch mark behind, implying they had also been far hotter than Dante's

“Then the question is not why your blood burned anymore,” Ariane’s gaze sharpened a bit, “But rather, why does a teenager have such an unreasonable amount of mana within his body.”

“I wouldn’t know myself,” Dante shrugged, trying not to sound nervous, though he felt like a sheep in front of a pack of wolves beneath those ebony eyes and the cold sweat on his brow betrayed his intentions.

“Where were you born?” Arianne suddenly asked, her glare clearly saying that not answering was not an option.

“Down South,” Dante said, buying himself an extra moment to remember a city name, “In Tensei.”

“What were your parents doing?” she followed up.

“Father was a car mechanic while mother was… a street merchant,” Dante struggled to keep up.

“What about your twin?” a surprising question.

“I don’t have a sibling,” Dante immediately shot back through his eyes widened slightly. It was a very strange question to ask.

“How many docks are there at Tensei port?” Ariane completely changed the line of questioning.

“12!” Dante immediately blurted out a guess, though the shake of her head clearly meant she knew perfectly well he was just making everything up.

“Dante, why do you lie?” Ariane sighed, done playing along with him, “I am going to get the truth one way or another. Why not do this the easy way. Let’s start over. Where were you born?”

“...” Dante remained silent for a few moments, struggling over what to do. But then he sighed and gave up. He was not a liar good enough to fool Ariane, nowhere near that in fact. All he could do was tell her the truth. Thankfully, the truth was vague enough that he could hopefully manage to tweak some details to hide what had happened at that research site, “I don’t know,” Damien admitted, not having to try in order to sound defeated.

“Your parents?” Ariane raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know,” Dante locked eyes with Ariane. He was no longer lying and had to convince her of that.

“You are claiming amnesia,” Ariane caught on immediately, still sceptical but not calling him a liar right away.

“Yes,” Dante nodded, already prepared for what he had to say next, “One cold night I just woke up here in Gildport. No idea who I was or where. Without an identity, I couldn’t exactly work legitimately or seek help, so I resorted to pickpocketing.”

“How long ago?” Ariane’s brow no longer seemed as furrowed, giving Dante a glimmer of hope.

“Less than two months,” from there it would not be difficult. He could answer anything she asked.

“Why Dante then?” she asked.

“It was just the first thing that came to mind when someone had asked,” Null nearly hesitated before his answer which would have ruined everything. He could not afford to let anyone know what had truly happened that day. It was for the best if the people that had summoned him from within the Abyss believed him to be dead, “Then I introduced myself that way to people I thought were just bystanders on the way yet ended up staying with them. Enchanted by their unexpected kindness and hospitality.”

“Alright, I believe you,” Ariane concluded after a pause, her gaze becoming far more gentle again.

“That’s a relief,” Dante almost felt like collapsing to his knees. If she hadn't believed him there was next to nothing he could do about it. It would likely spell his doom one way or another.

“Because it makes perfect sense when put into context of things you yourself could hardly understand. Before I had used the term core magus, remember?” her tone quickly turned far more pleasant.

“As masters of magic,” Dante nodded.

“The ‘core’ is not there just for flare. It signifies that they had merged with a magical core, an item of great power which amplifies their prowess. However, that is not without a price. During the merger, there is a very high risk of side effects, some worse than others,” her eyes flickered, “The risk is especially high if you are not properly prepared or skilled. It might mangle and transform your body, perhaps going so far you might no longer even be considered human afterwards. There were cases of maguses growing horns and claws or developing rare medical conditions. Of course, many also die if they attempt the merger prematurely. My best guess is that you had coincidentally found one of those rare cores and not knowing any better had attempted to merge with it. All odds would point towards night certain death, as an inexperienced barely magus should immediately die from the inevitable side effects, however, you had once again gotten so incredibly lucky that you only got away with amnesia and a few dozen symptoms you have yet to discover.”

“Is there a way to tell?” Dante asked, his tone slightly shaky. What Ariane had just figured out sounded like it made sense, however, Null did not know nearly enough to be a good judge of that. But more importantly, it was directly at odds with the words Rebecca had told him back in the laboratory. She said he came directly from the Abyss, something that should’ve driven anyone, even the most powerful of mages, insane without exception. Instead he had gotten away with only amnesia. But that too was just an educated guess made by Rebecca. His amnesia could also come from something else entirely. The whole of his past and history seemed complex and Dante felt not much closer to solving it. Yet it made him ask the question anyway: Who exactly had he been?

“Not really. The most telltale sign of a core mage is their prowess in magic but that comes from the cumulation of skill and experience. Something you distinctly lack,” Ariane shook her head, “The most you can probably do is practice magic. If you get good enough at controlling and feeling mana, you will be able to achieve something like an intrinsic vision which might allow you to find the core if it really is there.”

“So I should just focus on magic,” Dante nodded.

“Don’t be in such a hurry,” Ariane smiled, “You cannot skip on your other training either. After all, magic is just a tool, it is not omnipotent and you need to be generally capable in order to properly use it.”

“So, what do I do now?” Dante asked, remembering that the afternoon exercises were tailor-made by Ariane.

“I had been a bit at a loss at first over what you need to practice. But now I know for sure,” she smirked as her ebony eyes stared Dante down a bit, “You are an atrocious liar.”