“You are cleared to go,” Priestess Emily declared as she marked another check off of the examination checklist. “A little more physical activity would do you well. But there are no immediate concerns.”

Lily grumbled as she lowered her robe back over herself and stood up. It wasn’t her fault that she was busy with Council work everyday. Well, maybe she did procrastinate a little. But if she finished all her work on time the President would give more. Lily didn’t have time for that. She barely had time to get lunch half the time, much less find time to go to the sparing fields.

Lily shook her head and gave the Priestess a practiced smile. It did not seem to matter, as the Priestess stood up and moved to the corner to return her tools. The woman was old, almost in her forties from Lily’s estimation. Her blonde hair had a few streaks of gray, but that age did not seem to have touched her body in any way. Under her pristine white robes Lily could make out muscles rippling against the fabric.

The examination room was plainer than other lounges in the University, but compared to what Lily remembered of the orphanage it was still disgustingly extravagant. Elaborate carvings of historical scenes lined the corners and ceiling. The room seemed to exude wealth despite being virtually unadorned with any other type of decoration besides what was added structurally. The floors were covered in a soft, plush carpet. Lily guessed it was to make the patients feel more ‘comfortable’.

In the room Mel sat on a cushioned chair near her and the Priestess. She insisted on being her escort through her ‘troubled time’, as the other council members put it. LIly could barely hold back a snort in amusement by how much they tried to cater to her, but at the same time she felt thankful for Mel’s insistence. The examination would have been a lot more boring if Mel was not here to chat with..

She sighed and tried to stand up, but the Priestess gave a harsh cough warning her not to move. With a grumble, Lily leaned into the chaise longue to wait for the Priestess to finally finish up this examination. The sooner she left here the sooner she could go fix the situation with Philip. The wonders of what kind of chaos he caused within the past couple hours was mind boggling.

Sure, she might have added more work to her workload, but this was fun work.

“Now don’t push yourself too much,” the Priestess spoke with practiced ease. “The Familiar Hunt is in just a few months and you need to be in peak condition by the time you get to the Great Forest.”

“What is the Great Forest like, Priestess Emily?” Mel asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.

“Just call me Emily,” the Priestess laughed. “And the island is dangerous. One of the few truly wild islands in the Kingdom, left in its natural state due to it being one of the richest islands in raw mana. Due to the dense mana, animals often give birth to children with mana cores. These beasts often mutate into a multitude of monsters, most mindless but rarely there are those we can consider intelligent.” Emily paused, her eyes losing focus as if she was watching a scene from a long time ago. “I was once an Adventurer who used to hunt those beasts, along with many good friends.”

“You were part of the Mercenary Guild?” Mel squeed. Lily rolled her eyes, not understanding the girl’s excitement. Adventurers were a dime a dozen, more often getting killed than actually being useful to society. Often abandoning their families in search for cheap fame and easy riches. Lily internally scoffed as the image of her mother flashed in her mind, quickly getting blocked again like the rest of those who abandoned her.

“I was,” Emily continued. “Along with a good few others. The Dean of the school being one of them.”

“You and Omar?” Lily had to ask, interesting information finally arising.

“That is Count Omar, Lily,” Emily chastised. “And yes, we did many quests together. He was the leader of our mercenary group.”

“And he also hogged all the fame to gain a title to lord over the lot of us,” A baritone voice made itself known and the door to the examination room creaked open. A man with long black hair stood just outside the room, his pitch black robes covered with silver thread and emerald gems flickered in the light. “I assume the examination is concluded if you have free time to gossip about the past.”

“Rupert,” Emily chided. “You are lucky everyone is dressed or I would have been obligated to throw you through the wall.”

“It would not be the first time,” the man deadpanned.

“Or the least satisfying,” Emily retorted. “What do you want?”

“Good afternoon, Professor Blackledge,” Mel stood up and gave the man a polite bow. The man gave her half a glance and tilted his head in reply. He turned away and gazed at Lily, making her skin crawl.

“There was a ruckus today which was caused by a, shall we say, upcoming member of society,” he goaded. “I am wondering what reasons that promising person had to risk their, as of now reputable, reputation?”

So the interrogations begin. Lily thought she had a little more time before someone would call her out, but it seems rumors spread faster than she imagined. But she was not too worried. After all, she prepared for this.

“It was just some practice in case I get kidnapped. I’m sure you have heard the rumors--”

“Yes, yes,” Rupert interrupted. “I have heard all the half baked excuses already. I’m asking for the real reasons.”

Emily stormed over to the man and jammed her finger into his chest. The man grimaced and turned to face her.

“You are out of line, Rupert,” she growled. “This girl is currently my patient and you will not act as you please here.”

The man took in a breath and slowly released it. His eyes seemed to glow with irritation as his gaze tried to pierce into Emily.

“Me? I am out of line?” he hissed. “I am asking for an explanation to why this child decided it would be fun to cause an upheaval of the entire University.” He took a step forward to the obvious surprise of Emily who stumbled back by his push. “Deliveries have been delayed, assistants have not shown up for their work, and the servants are overall distracted. Not only has my research been interrupted by these inconveniences, but so has all the research from over half of the staff. So how am I the one out of line?”

His breath came short as his fury slowly built up, but Lily was not paying attention anymore. Philip escaped into Low City? Charles decided to chase after him down there and they are causing a mess?

Everything was going much better than planned. Someone was bound to notice Philip with every eye of the island watching him.

“You are out of line by entering this room without my explicit permission, violating the girl’s right to privacy during a health evaluation,” Emily growled. “That is why you are out of line.”

“Then finish your damn evaluation,” Rupert hissed. “We all know she is perfectly healthy. She set this up to satisfy her perverted thirst for adventure and chaos!”

“This wasn’t for adventure!” Mel cried out.

Everyone’s eyes shot to her. Both Emily and Rupert’s struck Mel causing her to shrink into her seat in a vain attempt to hide from their intense glare. Lily’s eyes expanded in shock at Mel’s uncharacteristic boldness.

“Explain,” was Rupert’s only response.

Mel shivered in her chair before taking in a deep breath. She sat up and returned his gaze, quivering only slightly under it.

“This was for our friend, Philip,” she muttered.

“For that common boy?” Rupert asked, his brows furrowing dangerously.

Mel squeaked and seemed to shrink further into the chair. Tears started to form in her eyes and her breathing started to come in raspier breaths.

Lily fell into the chaise longue and threw out her arms dramatically. She felt the glares shoot to her, but she had to find a way to put Mel at ease a little. Those two idiots did not seem to realize how much they were intimidating the poor girl. Or, more likely, were trying to scare her into spilling every secret she had.

But it seems the jig was up.

“Yes, it was all for ‘that common boy’,” Lily confirmed.

“Why is it always that kid who is the center of trouble?” Emily wondered. “Since he was first brought to the University he seemed to find a way to get into things he shouldn’t have.”

“What is so important about the boy to do all of this?” Rupert asked with a dangerously calm tone. Lily peered up at them and saw he was no longer shaking with the previous hot anger, but he was not will with a calm, cold rage.

“Be… because he is…’ Mel stammered.

“Because he is skilled beyond belief yet nobody would give him the time of day,” Lily finished as she leaned back again, closing her eyes. The man was mad but he could not touch her without proper cause and approval, so she was not worried. “In just two years he has almost caught up to a decade of ignored studies, and if we couldn’t get him noticed by someone willing to tutor him his talents would be wasted as a common soldier.”

Lily closed her eyes and waited for the explosion, but it did not happen. She peered at the two adults again only to see both were looking at her questioningly. Rupert was looking out toward a window, his eyes seemed distant as he seemed to reflect on what she just said. Emily was looking between her and Mel as if they were some sort of interesting puzzle. Lily just shrugged and let them do what they wanted since she didn’t have to hide this fact anymore. Perhaps she would have less paperwork later.

“Why?” Emily was the one to break the silence.

“We are commoners,” Lily grumbled. “We have no support outside each other and our own effort. Philip helped me out during my studies and look at me now? He has helped Mel out and she is the pride of the researchers with her studies on Cores.”

“Two years?” Rupert muttered. He looked back toward her and then at Mel. “Self study for two years? And Core studies?”

“Ye-yes,” Mel squeaked. “A-a few passages in some of the old books in the library were records of different types of core cuts that used to exist a few centuries ago.” She wiped the tears from her eyes and sat up. She grew more confident as she spoke, her mind drifting off into her encyclopedic lecture mode that Lily enjoyed calling her Mel-brary. “My thesis has been about the theoretical applications of what these records discussed as well as what may have happened to the methods. As well as why they fell out of use.”

“I don’t think now is the time to start discussing theories,” Emily chided with an unusual look. In Lily’s opinion she looked like she took a bite of a lemon.

Rupert gave Emily an annoyed look but nodded in agreement. “Oh course. The topic at hand is this boy. Philip, right?”

“Yes,” both Lily and Mel answered at the same time.

“I think I will look into the boy,” Rupert announced. “I believe I have taken an... interest in him.”

“Rupert, you can’t--” Emily interjected.

“I will discuss it with Omar, Emily,” he replied. “But I must first test the boy to see if he is suitable.”

Mel bounced up in her seat. “You’re going to tutor Philip?”

“Tutor, and if he is found adequate I will take him under my wing as my disciple,” Rupert affirmed.

Mel jumped out her seat completely and tackled Lily. Lily’s breath was forced out of her but the giggling sounds of the short girl was more than enough for Lily to forgive her.

“We did it! We did it!” Mel cried happily.

“Yes, we did,” Lily soothed, rubbing Mel’s head. Lily looked over at the two adults. Emily was giving the man a dark look, almost borderline hostile. Rupert returned it with a smug smile as he turned and left the room. Emily hesitated for a moment before following, but before she left she glanced back at Lily and Mel with what only Lily could consider pity.

A knot formed in Lily’s stomach. Everything she did worked. She got Philip a tutor, people will notice him now, and if things go well he will become the disciple of one of the Blackledges; a Count family!

It was exactly how things should be, so why did she feel such unease?

Lily pulled her focus back to her friend and lifted her up, wiping the girl’s happy tears from her face.

“I think it is time we head back, Mel,” Lily forced a chuckle. “I’m sure your books will be missing your tender care after being away from them all afternoon.”

Mel giggled and followed as Lily led her out of the examination room.

Shouts echoed through the alleyways. The sound of stomping feet along with the crashing of crates and barrels reverberated against the stone and plaster.

Philip groaned and gasped. He was battered and bruised from what felt to be hours of attacks and ambushes. The problem was not with their spells, as most of the student’s skills were weak and lazy. The weaves were loose and sloppy, barely held together with any kind of finesse. A few seemed to even have random elements slapped in like it would make the spell… more powerful? How is adding water into the gust going to remove the mist? Philip sighed at, his mind hurting more from trying to figure out the mob’s thought process than any actual strain from his spell.

How can they even call themselves mages with such pathetic spellcraft?

No, the problem was not their spells, but their numbers. Everytime he was caught he was attacked by no less than five spells at a time. The former pristine white walls of Low City were now caked in cracks, scorch marks, and debris from their relentless attacks. The mob even went so far as to place a dozen city guards at the stairs which lead to Upper City, trapping him.

But not all hope was lost.

He was still free. Just surrounded by a few hundred students actively searching for him. As well as a market of angry merchants who had their business interrupted because of Charles' manhunt. Philip caught glimpses of Captain Nosp ordering the guards in an attempt to control the damage the mob was causing, but from the cracks in the buildings it seemed to be a lost cause. They were throwing every sloppy spell they had at him. It didn’t help that Phlip’s core was throbbing again because of stress and overwork, one of his legs got clamped by an earth spell, and his shoulder is burnt with his robe now only half hanging onto him.

Needless to say, things were going great.

Luckily the earth spell which hit him was done by an idiot, so his bones were not broken. Just very, very bruised and…

And Philip really wanted to kill one person.

“I’m coming for you, Lily,” He growled. “Just you wait.”

“He’s over here!”

Philip pushed the cart he was crouching by with as much force as he could. It rumbled down the alley and into the now panicking group of students who found his newest sanctuary.

With a heave he bolted toward the opposite end of the alley and back into the streets. As if a dam broke, a flood of people was rushing toward him. Philip turned and ran in the opposite direction, weaving in and out of the different alleyways in an attempt to keep his pursuers from gaining too much mass.

As he entered one dark alley he spotted a staircase which led up to a balcony. Philip charged up the stairs, ignoring his pounding chest and throbbing leg. At the top he used the railing as a launchpad and leapt toward the balcony, just barely managing to reach the bars.

He panted in exertion before pushing his arms to pull him up. Right before he could pull his torso over his stomach felt a blast of pain. A part of the balcony now jutted out like a fist and slammed into him. His grip loosened for a moment as his breath was forced from him only for a gust of wind to whip around his legs and yank him downard.

Philip cried out in panic as he felt his hands slip and wind billow around him as he fell to the ground. A loud crunch followed along with what felt like needles poking into his back. Wooden splinters littered his body along with juices from some sort of fruit. Through the pain, Philip managed to place the sweet smell as an orange.

‘I love oranges,’ he thought as he felt a couple of arms grab him and yank him out of the shattered crate.

Philip wobbled, managing to stand only because of the hands holding him. He blinked to try and clear his vision, everything seemed to be out of focus. He hit that crate rather hard, so there was a good chance he got some sort of concussion. One more thing to add to his list of happy events today.

He was forced to move through the street, stumbling and tripping all the way. Philip heard voices shouting around him but he could not seem to understand the words.

Yeah, there was definitely something wrong now.

Soon he was forced onto his knees and he looked up. A blond man loomed over him, his face slowly coming to focus. He was saying something, but Philip still couldn’t place the words so he decided to just smile. People liked it when you smiled, right?

A solid strike against his jaw proved that theory wrong. And now everything was out of focus again.

Philip was blinking his eyes trying to… do something.

Pain on his jaw. Pain on his shoulder. Pain in his leg. Pain along his back. And pain in his chest. A deep pain in his chest.

Philip groaned and tried to move. He felt the ground beneath him, now realizing he was lying on the cobblestone. He tried to push himself up but his arms now wouldn’t move. There was movement all around him but he couldn’t focus on that. His chest beat, pulsed. It felt like it was trying to break out of him.

Philip reached inside himself and felt his core. Its surface was rough and unpolished. It was hot and swollen, long past the time it needed to rest. But it cried out to him. It called for release, to have the pain leave him. Philip embraced the core, stroking it to calm it down but it continued to rage and cry.

In a flash Philip felt like his chest exploded. The core released something. It was a power, a thick string of mana. No, Philip couldn't call it a string, but a rope. It flew out of the core and wrapped itself around Philip, constricting him. Philip felt himself dip into what seemed to be an ooze and thrashed around.

The liquid seemed to squeeze around him, but soon he just felt himself floating in the nothingness. His chest was a volcano, feeling like the core became molton. Philip tried to reach it but his flesh was in the way. He clawed into his skin to try and dig it out except his hands hit something hard, like stone. He beat his chest but there was no give.

His mind finally started to wake up. He stopped trying to claw into the hard shield around his chest and just sat still. The burning remained, but it seemed distant. Philip moved his arms away from his chest, the ooze flowing around him. When he opened his eyes, he was surrounded by darkness. He could not tell what was around him, but he did see wisps of green mana flickering across his vision. He looked around but whatever he was in was… strange. It seemed so solid and yet it flowed around him with slight effort.

Soon he turned and felt something. A call for him in one direction.

With a grimace Philip pushed himself forward, swimming through the ooze. He pushed and pulled his way through, always having just enough grip on whatever it was for him to move forward. Minutes must have passed, perhaps a quarter of an hour. Maybe it was a half and hour. Philip was not sure, but the heat in his chest continued to beat at a steady rhythm.

Then he felt himself break through something. He grasped one last lip of the ooze and pushed only for an opening to open up before him. Philip gasped as air he did not realize he lacked was sucked into his lungs and he fell a few feet to the floor with a solid thud.

He gasped and panted, the heat of the molten core now no longer in the background but radiating at full capacity. Philip clutched his chest, but the hardness from earlier was still there. He peered down and noticed he was covered in rock. The green wisps which flickered across his eyes were a knotted rope of earth attuned mana hastily wrapped around him.

He reached into his core and pushed past the molten shell and into where the unpolished stone sat. His head felt like it burst into flame, his mind burning against the heat. Feeling dizzy, he pushed past the attack and looked inside. The thick rope had splintered out of his core, causing dozens of microfractures across its surface. Philip panicked and grabbed the mana and severed it from the core, throwing it away. The core shook as its exertion was released, then it calmed, and in the end it went silent.

Philip was forcefully launched out of his inner consciousness into the real world. The stone which surrounded him cracked and fell to the ground, no longer being held together.

The first thing which struck him was the silence. There was no shouting or curses being thrown at him. No heavy stomping as they rushed to attack. Philip gasped for breath waiting, but the nothing continued. He opened his eyes and saw darkness. He felt around himself, feeling loose rocks digging into his torn up back. He sat up, bits of rock sliding off and hit the ground with an echoing tink. He reached and touched a wall that was nearby. The stone was rough, parts of it sharp but not with an edge that could cut him. It felt unnatural, as if it was carved with unskilled hands.

Philip sighed. There was nobody around and no noise of anyone coming for him. He was either locked in some sort of prison or he got away.

Philip winced as he touched his chest. The place his core was, where he always felt a warm sense surrounding him, was cold. It felt hollow. Philip quickly sat in a meditative stance and tried to enter his core like he had done for most of his life but his mind was blocked.

Philip closed his eyes and took in a breath, then slowly released it into the empty room. He did it again, and again, and again. His heart slowed, he felt the adrenaline from his chance and whatever just happened fade away. His muscles screamed at him, his back felt wet, and his shoulder and jaw ached.

He opened his eyes and peered into the darkness. There was no light so he could not be sure if his vision had returned after his fall. The concussion must be serious so Philip will have to visit the Priestess sooner rather than later. He stood up and wobbled for just a moment, not due to an imbalance but mainly due to pain in his injured leg.

Overall things felt normal, if damaged. He could move and function close to normal. His previously delirious mind now was sharp and focused.

Philip took in one more breath and unsteadily moved to his feet. It would be pointless to sit here and wait. He placed his hand on the wall and started in one direction. He needed to figure out how big the room he was in was. But he did not run into the far wall and kept moving forward. Perhaps he was not in a room but instead was in a tunnel. That would be the optimal situation.

Tunnels lead somewhere, so no matter which way it went he would hopefully get out of the darkness. At least it was not a cell, so the chances of him being imprisoned are much less likely. The worry that the mob found him again resurfaced, but if they found him he would just lie down and surrender. He was far too injured to be able to escape anymore and, if he just gave in, perhaps they would not beat him up too much more.

The question now is what happened? If he got away then something must have happened. In retrospect, Philip knew he had already been captured. He must have been brought before Charles. But after he was struck Phillip couldn’t remember. His mind was delirious, but something had happened. Something to do with his core.

The cold hollowness became apparent again and Philip grimaced. It is strange how he preferred to feel the burning pain of mana fatigue. Whatever this is was worse than any exhaustion he caused himself in his studies.

He shook his head and focused. He had to find a way out of this tunnel. He felt the wall next to him and let it guide him. The texture of the rock was crude and rough. Philip stumbled over jagged edges and rivets on the floor as he moved down the black tunnel.

This place is either an ancient passage from when the University was first founded, or Philip stumbled upon part of the underground aspects of the nobility. Perhaps a rogue mage, or some smugglers who managed to make a secret place within the island.

Philip shrugged. So far he had no luck against the regular people of the island, perhaps he could find a home with the criminals. Seems that was now his lot in life, after all. Thank you, Lily.

He chuckled at his dark joke just as he started to hear rushing water. He slowed his pace and placed his steps carefully, making sure the ground was solid beneath his feet and he would not be sucked into an underground flow.

His caution was not needed, though. Soon he spotted a light in the distance, an opening in the tunnel. Philip quickened his pace and stopped as he entered a cistern.

The aqueducts which flowed across the island flowed into chambers like this one, where the water is gathered up and recycled. Philip was thankful his eyes were focused as he saw dozens of magic circles carved into the rocks. The water which flowed down a waterfall into the chamber moved onto different tracks, each one which ended in one of the circles where the water would just disappear, and any debris which was carried with the flow was dropped into a pit. Teleportation, Philip theorized. If he was a betting man it sends the water to a treatment plant where the water was purified and sent to flow down the aqueducts again for the island to use.

Philip debated for a moment to ride the water through one of the circles, but there would be people on the other side of the portal who would want to capture him. Not to mention the magic circle might be set up to only allow the liquid to reach the other side. So the possibility of all of his blood and fluids being transported, leaving his body behind, was far too dangerous to risk.

He shrugged and wandered the room until he arrived at what he was searching for. A rope hung down behind a pillar, leading up into a carved tunnel similar to the one he left. The bottom of the rope had two loops tied, one at the bottom and the other one about Philip’s shoulders height.

Giving the chamber one last look and not seeing any other exits, Philip shrugged and placed his foot in the bottom loop and took a hold of the top one. A small string of mana lit up between he two and the rope began to lift him up. Philip examined the string and smiled. It was a simple enchantment of air which was broken until the two loops were connected by a person.

The light faded as he left the cistern and he rose through the tunnel.

He had somehow escaped by moving through the ground. That was the most Philip was able to surmise. Whatever his core did was powerful, if unpredictable and dangerous. His core was now damaged and would need careful healing. He would also need to learn more about that rope like mana string. Nowhere in any of his studies did anything spell get that thick. Weaving strings were the furthest he ever saw other mages do.

He will have to look up Mel and ask her once he gets his name cleared.

Light appeared above him and he soon arrived outside again. The rope lifted him until he was just outside the hole and then it stopped. A large rock with a pulley hammered into it was what held the rope up, and a small magic circle was carved around it. Philip took a hold of a handle by the pulley and lifted himself out of the hole and onto the surface. A strong wind blew against him, but thankfully this was a natural one and not an attack.

He shivered as the wind ran across his back. It still felt wet, and Philip feared what he was covered in. A strong suspicion was his blood and a small hope was it was orange pulp. At least he smelled nice. A strong fragrance of oranges seemed to emanate off him, despite the hours of excursion and battle.

He surveyed his surroundings and noticed he was outside a complex on the Peak, right by the observatory. He had never been up here before. It was the highest part of the island and used solely for research purposes of a select few researchers.

Philip turned to head away from the building and find a way down without being seen, but the crunching of stone sounded behind him. He turned to see an old lady. Her gray hair was tied in a tight bun. Her face was wrinkled with age but her eyes were a piercing blue that held on to Philip like one of those bear traps. The woman seemed to emit an unnatural power, signifying her as one of the powerhouses who decided to make the University their home.

She slowly strode over to him, and despite Philip’s unease, he could not find the strength to run. It took near a minute before she stopped about twenty feet from him and called out. Her voice was strangely rough as if she rarely used it.

“What brings you to my home, Apprentice?”

Philip gulped. “I got a little lost and managed to stumble my way here.”

Her eyes squinted as she raised one of her eyebrows questioningly. Tense seconds passed before she let out a hoarse chuckle.

“Stumble my ass,” she croaked. “Follow me or I will call that incessant mob to pick you up and take you to that brat Charles.” She turned and started to make her way back to the Observatory.

“Thank you,” Philip muttered, unable to comprehend what was happening.

“No, thank you for the show, young man,” she chuckled. “An old lady like me doesn’t get to see a nearly nude young fellow much anymore.”

Philip blushed and gathered his tethered gray robe as close as he could against himself, then he followed her toward the building.