“So it isn’t something that’s related to the lightning elemental energy?” Keith asked dejectedly. He then gritted his teeth and said, “How about I try to convert some of the mana to the darkness element and see what happens?”

Elena seemed to think for a moment before replying, “Well… it might be, but I highly doubt it. I think it’s too dangerous to risk the conversion of another element. If it turns out that this time your body can’t handle the elemental energy, your body might be damaged very badly,” she said while looking sternly at Keith. She wanted to make sure he wouldn’t attempt anything stupid when she wasn’t near him. Elena was sure to not underestimate the stupidity of some of the actions kids could make.

Keith stayed silent and got up from the ground. He then looked at Elena, seemingly indicating he was ready to visit the vice principal. There weren’t any mandatory classes today and one of the last things on his mind was to calmly go to his darkness element class.

Elena saw Keith stand up and nodded, she then started to lead the way. Elena knew where Rinza normally was at this time, and he was their best bet to learn more about Keith’s problems. She wasn’t sure yet when Ruthar, the principal, would return from his business.

They left the field that the lightning elemental classes were held on and walked towards the building located behind the main building. This was the building that held all of the staff from Aethruni. Not only the assistants, but also the teachers and escorts were staying in this building.

“Isn’t Rinza only a mana master? Wouldn’t a grand spell caster know more about my condition?”

“Well, Rinza might only be a mana master,” Elena started. “But he’s one of the smartest and most capable people in this school,” she explained. “The only reason he isn’t a grand spell caster yet is because he’s still young, and because he spends his time on managing most of the affairs of the school. His capabilities to sense mana might be a bit inferior to a grand spell caster, but his knowledge should absolutely not be inferior to a grand spell caster.”

Keith wanted to reply with the question if they were talking about the same person, but before he could do so, they had reached the staff dorms. He marveled slightly at the sight of the building in front of him again. Even though he was used to a lot of grandeur because of his upbringing, the architecture used in Erelath still had some unique properties, making it impossible to simply ignore it. The building in front of him was built in the same manner as the students’ lodgings.

Normally, Keith had only seen the building from up front, but he actually never entered in these two years spent at the academy. This was not because of any rules forbidding students from entering, but simply because the chance to go in never arrived. Normally when he would look for Dillim to go to the nearby town Limana, or to spar a little, they would simply meet in front of the gate or on the field they regularly sparred on.

Coincidently, the moment Elena led Keith to the entrance, Dillim was just walking out. He slightly nodded towards Elena when he passed her, but then his eyes widened when he saw Keith. “Keith, what happened?”

“We don’t know yet Dillim, we’re looking for Rinza to see if he understands his condition.”

Dillim looked at Elena, who answered in Keith’s stead and frowned. Dillim and Elena were slightly familiar with each other because Dillim would sometimes wait for the elemental classes to end so that he could take Keith for another training session. In this way, it would be impossible for Keith’s teachers to not recognize Dillim.

Dillim then looked towards Keith again and what greeted him was a bit of an unfamiliar sight. Over the past two years, Keith had started to show his emotions less often in the same manner as he did before. But at the same time, he was progressing with his training, giving him a vitalized, but slightly cold look.

What he saw now, was a Keith who had a grim and pale look. Almost as if he had contracted a sudden illness with no known cure.

“You won’t mind me following you two, right?” Dillim questioned neither one in particular.

When Elena heard Dillim’s question, she stopped for a second and turned towards Dillim. “As Keith’s guardian, you’re more than welcome to join us. You might even be able to help coming up with a solution,” Elena said while nodding in his direction. She then continued walking, expecting the two to follow her.

Keith felt slightly relieved hearing Elena’s answer. He had gotten very used to the familiar presence of Dillim and even though he wasn’t his first choice to find answers regarding his condition, having him with him was still able to help him calm down. He wouldn’t underestimate the experiences Dillim had in the course of his life, he might very well know a solution to the problem he was facing.

When they entered the building, Keith could see that it was arranged in the same manner as the male and female dorms. The first floor was used for socializing and eating. The floors above were used as lodgings for all the different personnel of Aethruni.

Elena obviously knew her way around and crossed the interior. Because of the time, quite a few people could be overheard talking about magic, everyday life, or the quality of the food. They sat around at different tables; some sitting on couches while some were sitting on chairs. It made for quite the cozy scene. Unfortunately, none of the three had the time to soak in the joyous mood around them, making them ignore the smells of the food, and the sounds of conversations.

They found staircases located at the backside of the interior, and took the ones on the left. Keith and Dillim followed Elena until they reached the second highest floor. Immediately after leaving the staircase, a set of doors could be seen. The doors had a small wooden board placed on them around eye height. There were a few words carved in it: ‘Rinza Litmar – Vice President – Internal affairs’.

Elena didn’t hesitate to knock, and soon afterwards a voice could be heard from inside: “Enter.”

She opened the door and entered first, expecting Keith and Dillim to follow behind her.

“Well, what do we have here. What brings you here, Elena?” Rinza asked. He then saw Keith and Dillim enter behind her making his eyebrows jump in surprise. “And it seems you brought more company. What can I do for you gentlemen?”

Keith and Dillim’s faces stayed serious, seemingly not impressed by the title Rinza used to address them, making Rinza frown a little. He figured that Elena simply guided Dillim and Keith to him, leaving her out of his address towards the group.

When Keith walked inside he took a good measure of the room. It was a very big room, almost thrice as big as the room he was staying in together with Vaeryl. It looked quite tidy, something he didn’t expect from Rinza who loved to joke. Rinza was sitting behind his desk on the left side of the room; it seemed he was busy reading some documents. They laid scattered around on the desk in front of him, while a pen and some ink were located in front of Rinza on the middle of the desk.

The rest of the room held other interesting items. A few maps were placed on the walls behind Rinza. At the right side of the room a hearth was located together with some chairs. The hearth contained some wood that was burning, but Keith had no idea how where the smoke was going, because the hearth was lacking any form of a chimney. Right opposite from Keith, a few tables were lined up with each other, having a multitude of different potions on them. Some were emitting smoke, while others seemed to produce a very fragrant smell. Next to the potions a variety of tools and instruments could be seen. Next to that, on the far end of the tables, a mixture of different alchemy ingredients was showcased. Various leaves, stalks, feathers and even an eye rested on the table.

Rinza chuckled, and spoke up: “So, what can I do for you?” He said, interrupting Keith out of his trance.

Elena looked towards Keith, indicating him to speak up. She figured that Keith would be able to explain the experiences he had the best. He might’ve accidently left some things out when he talked to her, so she wasn’t sure if she could convey the whole story only from what she heard from him.

Keith looked at Rinza and told him exactly what he told Elena. While listening to his story, Rinza had started to frown again. He had never heard of such a situation occurring. When Keith started talking about his mana core, Rinza made eye contact with Dillim and saw that he was just as confused as he was.

Keith finished his story, and the only sounds that could be heard for a second were some of the potions that were slightly simmering.

Dillim had remained silent the whole time, not even asking what was going on when he saw the pale Keith at the entrance. Only now had he heard the full story, making him furrow his brows and look at Rinza, waiting to hear his thoughts.

“Hmm…” Rinza let out. He seemed to be thinking deeply while he dropped his pen on the table and placed his hand on his chin. “I’ve heard about conditions like these happening independently from each other. But never have I heard about a combination of these things…” Rinza said as his voice trailed off.

He sunk deep in thought for a second, until speaking up again: “I heard about someone’s mana core not having any pull towards elemental mana… he was doomed to live a magicless life,” he continued, sighing when he reached the last few words. “I have also heard about someone’s magic core rejecting any form of elemental mana, scattering it through the body.” Rinza’s face then became serious and he faced Keith directly. “But this child died immediately when the elemental mana scattered through his body. No normal body can survive the assault of having elemental mana coursing through it.”

But Rinza shook his head and raised his hand with one finger pointing upwards. “But these are different cases! There are two things that are of much importance in what happened to you Keith. First of is that you said your mana core interacted with the elemental energy.” He then smiled while his eyes narrowed, raising a second finger as he continued speaking, “But the second and most important thing is… you’re still alive.” He paused for a second, spreading his arms and concluding; “To me, it seems your mana core is mutated,” he said, pausing theatrically before continuing, “but we can’t for sure until Ruthar and I have seen you actually convert mana and survive the ordeal.”

“Then… what do we do now?” Keith asked.

“Well, our safest bet is to wait for Ruthar to return, then he and I can both supervise your conversion once to see what’s exactly happening,” Rinza said, before smiling at Keith and continuing, “don’t worry, not yet all hope is lost! You might be able to continue being a mage, we just have to tread carefully!”