Today was a wonderful day. Melony got to enjoy a wonderful breakfast with her good friend Lily, which was doubly enjoyable as Lily seemed to have gotten over the stress from the day before during the riot. The entire thing was her fault but at least she wasn’t beating herself up over it. On the plus side, hopefully President Charles would verbally beat some sense into her to make sure Lily wouldn’t do something as reckless as this again.

Then she got a letter!

Melony never got letters. Her spellcasting abilities were, at best, subpar. She knew she was behind everyone else but no matter how much she studied the theory behind spellcasting she was unable to figure out the practical application of it. She even took up sewing and weaving to figure it out but no matter what she did nothing seemed to click. Because of her lack of ability she was often overlooked, at least until her last thesis on the quality and texture of mana. Now she was recognized within the scholarly circles of the University but, until today, she never got a letter.

And to meet with the Rupert Blackledge, a reputable historian and Count? To hear that he was reading her most recent Thesis and even offered to advise her? It was like a dream come true! Everything she worked for was slowly coming together and she was finally getting somewhere. Maybe not the the level that Lily had earned but she was finally making her name for herself to earn her a place in a reputable family during the Adoption Ceremony.

Her parents would be so proud! Melony wondered if her new family would let her bring her parents to live with her when she moves into whatever estate they have.

All in all this morning had been a wonderful morning filled with good news. Then she met Philip again.

A bloody, beaten down Philip who ran from her right when she saw him.

“Philip you get back here!” Melony screeched, the eyes of everyone on the street snapping to stare at the scene of Philip zipping into the dormitory.

“So that is the notorious Philip,” Blackledge mumbled thoughtfully.

“What did that sinking nitwit get himself into!” Melony growled, stomping her foot on the ground and glaring holes through the door. Blackledge flinched at her use of profanity but Melony didn’t care at the moment.

“He was the focus of the riot.”

“And he got hurt!” Melony complained.

Blackledge started to the door and gave a gesture for Melony to follow. Without delay she sprung forward until she was by the door, a shimmer around it the only evidence of a warding spell.

“I’m impressed he can still move after the chaos I witnessed. I would have bet he would have been a broken mess in Emily’s hands from the uncontrolled mob’s attitude.”

Blackledge paused at the door and pulled out some strings of mana and weaved them into a shimmering tapestry of mystery. Melony could barely tell where it began and ended, but once it finished it shone with an ethereal beauty that she was unable to put to words. Outside her mana-sight a floating shield depicting the family crest of the Blackledge Family hovered next to the teacher. It flew over and paused just in front of her face and mana strings burst from it and created a dome around her.

“I have granted you permission to enter the dormitory with me as your chaperone.” He opened the dormitory door and gestured for her to enter. “Now if you don’t mind lets go speak to this Philip friend of yours.”

Melony, not needing to be told twice, rushed inside. This was Philip’s dorm. The boy was always a hermit, so since most students could choose their own rooms he would have picked someplace far away from the others. Most students cared about comfort and ease of access, living close to family members and allies as close as possible to the front doors. So because of Philip’s tendencies to isolate himself he would most likely be top floor. Most of the rooms were unoccupied from the low birth rates between noble families of recent years so the best guess is a corner room or one near it.

Nodding in satisfaction of her deduction Melony set off to the top floor, Blackledge right behind her. When she reached the stairwell she heard footsteps echoing from up above, stomping like an owlbear on a wood-rotted floor. Melony smiled and pulled a string of air magic and blew herself up the flight of stairs with a strong gust of wind.

Blackledge took a step back at the burst of air which flung Melony up the stairs two floors at a time, but she didn’t care. If she didn’t reach Philip before he got to his room then she would waste more time figuring out his new hiding spot.

But no matter what she would find him. She always did.

“Stop running and get your flaming ass over here, Philip!” Melony shouted as she reached the top floor. As she slammed onto the platform she saw the shape of Philip in some sort of stained robe rush into a room. Strangely it was not the largest on the corner but only halfway down the corridor. Calculations were slightly off this time, it seems.

She launched herself down the hallway with another burst of wind mana, a curse sounding somewhere down the stairwell.

She slid in front of the door and stood straight. Swifty she smoothed out her dress, put her hair back in place, then straightened her glasses before knocking politely.

“Let me in, you sinking, sorry idiot,” she cooed before placing her hand on the doorknob and pushing forward. It was locked. “That isn’t going to work on me, Philip.” Melony smiled and pulled out two strings of earth mana and rammed them into the door frame. The wooden structure bloated up like a pufferfish and splintered the door into debris.

Philip stood frozen in the back of the room, one leg half out a window. Before he could move Melony whipped a string of wind mana around the room like a whip and smacked him away and onto his bed. The strings of Earth mana disengaged from the door frame and stuck on both sides of the bed and pulled branches of the wood. The frame splintered and broke into pieces as it stretched the wood around Philip before he had a chance to catch his breath, pinning him down.

Melony whistled sweetly and cleared her throat, walking calmly into the room and took a seat in the one chair in the room. She turned it to face Philip who’s ashened white face.

“Now that we are both comfortable would you mind explaining to me what in the nine hell's happened to you?” She asked sweetly.

Philip opened and closed his mouth a number of times. It was almost cute how Melony could practically see his thought process. The first time was him wanting to deny anything happened, but that was obviously wrong due to the blood stains on the shirt. Melony finally got a good look at it and they were definitely not stains of filth but injuries.

The second movement of the mouth was an excuse, the easily dismissed one. Third time was a better excuse which probably used her or Lily as a scapegoat, but because it would obviously fail as Melony was the one he tried to use it on.

His predictability was charming, really.

“I fell down a ladder,” he finally managed to choke out.

Melony giggled when she saw his eyebrow twitch but he didn’t break his gaze from hers. He used a kernel of truth in that statement! That was progress at maturation which he had not shown before.

She used her branches to take a hold of Philip’s arms and rolled him over onto his stomach and examined his back, ignoring his complaints.

“The fell down part is probably the trustworthy aspect of your statement,” Melony began. “But I doubt it was a ladder unless you pulled one of the ladders off the library shelves and fell down at least one floor onto a bookshelf to get those cuts on your back. But the Library was closed yesterday due to the riot which, by the way, I found extremely disappointing.” She flipped him back over and pierced him with her gaze.

“I got away…” Philip dismissed, his face scrunching up like he ate a lemon.

“But you still got caught,” Melony rebuked. “When against overwhelming numbers you need to fight them with a funnel. Thin alleyways, underground tunnels, and other such things.”

“I couldn’t get into the tunnels! They were all blocked by Nosp’s men!”

“Excuses!” Melony criticized.

“Not exactly,” Blackledge announced from the shattered doorway. “Even if he did find his way into a tunnel or alley the numbers of the hunters far exceeded what he could handle. He would have collapsed in fatigue before they ran out of numbers.” His fingers brushed against the broken timber. “Subtle.” He chuckled.

“He still got injured,” Melony pouted.

“I also got away…” Philip added. “Mind letting me go now, Mel?”

“Whatever!” Melony scoffed as she waved her hands and the wooden branches cracked and fell apart across the bed.

“You escaped the rioters, yes, but not the University.” Blackledge stood beside the destroyed bed and offered Philip his hand. “Your impressive feat yesterday gained the attention of many, Philip no-name. Many now are expecting great things from you, including me. In fact, the Dean in his great wisdom has given me permission to tutor you for the remainder of your time here.”

“Do I get a say in the matter?” Philip asked.

“No.”

Philip eyed it suspiciously before taking it and being helped up. He winced, showing Melony that he still felt pain in his injuries meaning he didn’t have them treated yet.

“Wait?” Melony paused and looked between the two men. “Tutor? You are going to tutor Philip?”

“Indeed,” Blackledge smiled. He put his hand on Philip’s shoulder making the student flinch but Blacklege gave no indication of noticing. “It is my honor to see Mr. Philip here to grow and reach his full potential.”

“Then it really did work,” Melony breathed. She heard the rumors, but this proved that it was true. It worked! The plan worked! Lily’s cockeyed route caused a lot of damage but, despite the complications, the end goal had been reached.

“What worked?” Philip asked.

Blackledge raised an eyebrow as well at her comment but it didn’t matter. The plan worked! Philip got noticed and now has a tutor. Which means he has a higher chance of getting into a reputable noble house and be allowed to remain friends with them, removing the complication of social pressures from the equation.

That is if he is adopted into a family that is not enemies with the one who adopts her, but that is a situation to deal with in the future since it is out of her control.

“It doesn’t matter,” Melony dismissed. “I’m so happy for you, Philip! You finally have a tutor! And he is my advisor as well!”

“He’s what?” Philip looked between Melony and Blackledge like he just got bitten by a snake. Why wasn’t he happy with this? It did occur very suddenly and she did wreck his room to notify him, so those were two factors which has a good chance of souring the mood.

“I am her advisor for her most recent thesis about Cores and their cuts. In fact I was wondering if you’d join us to come to my office and use a Reader to--”

“How about no.” Philip shook Blackledges hand off his shoulder and a couple steps away. “If you are my tutor then you can teach me but I am not going to be used in any thesis or research. Sorry Mel.”

Melony shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t really need much information through the Reader anyway, her thesis mostly based around historical records. It would be nice to have modern readings to compare with old records but it wasn’t necessary.

“I don’t think you understa--”

“I think I know plenty, Professor,” Philip interrupted Blackledge. “Or would you prefer to be called Master now? Wait? You said you were a tutor and not a teacher, so I guess I don’t need to call you Master.”

“Disrespect is frowned upon, boy,” Blackledge growled.

“I’m sorry to be disrespectful,” Philip shrugged, and another wince. “I just got ambushed twice in two days, beat to an inch of my life, saved by some old woman on the peak, and I think I need a solid trip to the Priestess before I can care about anything you want to say.”

“Old woman on the Peak?” Blackledge muttered and scratched his chin. “So you did make it up there.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Care to explain how you went from Low City to the Peak without being noticed?”

“Not particularly.”

“How about we get a move to the Priestess,” Melony stepped between the two meatheads. Stubborn seems to be a good word for both of them, or is it prideful? Melony started to worry slightly for the health of their teacher/student relationship, but such a thing was also out of her control. Her priority now was to distract the two men and give them a common goal. Easiest way to get a man to follow what you want is to give them one or they’ll fight like dogs to see who is the alpha. Like children, but bigger.

“I’d like to change first, so if you two don’t mind I’d like some…” Philip glanced at the door. “Privacy.” he finished.

Blackledge let out a frustrated breath and started to the door. As he started under it he brushed his hand against the warped wood and gave Melony a questioning look.

“Weaving is not my forte,” she explained as she followed.

“As skilled as… how do you say it? An owlbear charging over rotting wood?” Philip called after.

Melony blushed and stormed through the door. “My skills are functional in what I need.”

“Allow me, then.” Blackledge pulled out more shimmering strands of mana and weaved a spell which was made of a dizzying amount of patterns and loops. The broken bed grew back together and the doorframe shrank down. The door’s splinters flew and formed the door before each crack glowed for a few moments and faded to leave it in a solid piece.

“Beautiful…” Melony sighed as the magic faded.

Blackledge chuckled as he closed the door and then stood at the opposite wall in the hallway. It did not take long until Philip opened the door and paused seeing them waiting. He was wearing a normal uniform, the gray slightly darker than on the previous old one.

“Are you ready?” Mel asked, her voice cheery as she lunged forward and grabbed Philip’s arm. She winced seeing him flinch at the pain but she was not going to let this idiot run away again.

“I guess I am,” He grumbled as she pulled his arm toward the stairway.

“NO!” Priestess Emily bellowed.

“A short rest and I’m sure I will be--” Philip tried to stand up but the Priestess shoved him back onto the examination table.

“You will do nothing unless I tell you that you can do it. Do you understand me?”

Philip tried to stand again but was stopped. He growled as he sat back down onto the examination table. A breeze blew through the room from a cracked open window and gently caressed against his bare chest. His back was covered in a number of bandages but most of the shallow wounds had been healed by a healing tonic. It tasted like moldy socks but only the deepest of wounds remained, and even they were a lot shallower than they used to be.

His leg was also feeling a lot better, as well as his head. Apparently he suffered a severe concussion during the attacks which really messed him up. Emily had to use one of the rare divine spells on him to clear up any damage that occurred. He currently felt better than he had felt in a very long time, the wounds on his back excluded.

But his injuries were not the reason for his foul mood. No, the most annoying part was the diagnosis on why his core was feeling empty, which happened to be the topic of discussion. The worst thing was Mel sitting in the back and flinching every time he tried to move.

“You said it was mana fatigue, meaning I just exhausted my magic and it will come back in time.” He really hated the current trend of people trying to hold him down and push him around.

“You are correct but there is more I must check,” Emily sighed in exasperation. “Like did you crack the core? Is it just surface damage or did you do something else to it? How much magic did you pull out past your maximum? And I need you to stay here until I finish all the tests and you recover.”

“And how long would you estimate that would take?” Blackledge jumped in. Philip did not trust the sleazy looking man but he was thankful he was sticking up for him at the moment. His gut feeling told him to avoid him as much as possible, though, so while the man was earning good credit he still won’t be given any slack if he tried to push Philip around, Count status or not.

“If it is just normal mana fatigue, then he should be fine by the end of the week.” Emily explained. “But if he did something else then he might be magicless for longer. Worst case is I will have to operate on him and manually add in some alchemical repair oils to seal the cracks.”

“I’d prefer not to get cut open, if you don’t mind,” Philip injected.

“Then you better find a way to get out of this room and throw yourself over the ledge,” Emily snapped back. “As long as you are a student your health is my duty, and I won’t let you cripple yourself over some petty pride.”

Philip slumped onto the table. He was caught and was not about to be free for a while. But at least he will be able to be protected by the Priestess for the near future. Any hostility toward him should have faded down within a few days and he could walk around with just some more bad rumors going his way by then. Lily would have been seen working so the kidnapping lie would fade down into just another fun story. As for the injuries toward his pursuers, they would be considered scars of a great battle or something. Bragging rights to try and steal a few kisses from the unengaged ladies. Perhaps more.

“Lessons cannot be delayed, Emily.” Blackridge seemed to be pushing the topic. Did he really want Philip as a student that badly?

“Oh yes, bright idea!” Emily exclaimed as she spun around and put her hands on her hips, glaring up at Blackridge. “Lets teach magic to the boy who can’t even feel magic! A genius idea, Rupert. Why not bring in commoners as well and teach them a thing or two while you’re at it.”

Philip resisted snorting at the scene. She was almost comically short, her head no higher than Blackridges shoulders, yet at that moment she seemed to tower of the man. Blackridge snorted and turned away to head to the door.

“Fine,” he said with a weary groan. “But send me a health report so I can adjust the curriculum. I will be back later today with a Reader to read Philip.”

“Oh really? Should I send a report to Omar as well?” Emily sneered. “You two are plotting something again and I won’t stand for it.”

Philip’s eye twitched. There it was, the plan to use him as a pawn. He would have to find a way to avoid this teacher and keep studying to pass the tests… thank you Lily for the extremely annoying compilation. Philip glanced across the room and saw Mel watching him, smiling slightly. She already knew his plan to avoid Blackledge and is probably thinking of ways to counter. He didn’t know how, but she seemed to always know.

“I’ll explain everything later during dinner.”

“Oh! Finally decided to start courting me?” Emily turned away from him and moved to a nearby table. “I was worried that I would die a poor, lonely ol’ spinster. Lucky me that the great and renowned Rupert Blackledge finally decided to find a woman to settle down with.”

“Keep your delusions to yourself, woman,” Blackledge snarled. “I will explain why I decided to become Philip’s tutor.”

“And yet you can’t say it in front of the boy? How suspicious.” Emily giggled darkly. “Off you go then, you sneaky little man. Go play noble like a good chess piece.”

“One of these days, Emily--”

“Get out of my clinic, Rupert.”

Blackledge stormed out of the room and slammed the door. Emily turned to face Philip, her face dropped as she let out a deep sigh. She glanced between Philip and Mel and shook her head.

“I’m sorry you two had to see that.” She scribbled a few notes down on a sheet of paper on her desk before grabbing a tool and heading toward Philip’s bed. “We have a long history, and most of it has changed for the worse as of late.”

“Sounds like it,” Philip bluntly stated.

“I’m sure you have your reasons for being so antagonistic toward him,” Mel carefully added.

“That is a polite way to say I was being an absolute banshee,” Emily giggled. “But don’t you two worry about it. We fight but nothing really comes of it.”

“I happen to be the topic of your fight so I think I’ll keep worrying.” Philip crossed his arms and leaned against the wall at the far end of the examination table. He felt the scabs on his back strain slightly but they held strong. Perhaps Emily’s divine spell strengthened them?

“Philip, stop being so rude,” Mel scolded.

“No, he has a point,” Emily jumped in to defend Philip. “But you are just the most recent topic of discussion. Those two have tried these things before… but a Reader? I’m not sure their angle on this one.”

“Oh! I used it earlier today in Professor Blackledge’s office.” Melony seemed to hop in excitement. “It seems I am considered average on most magic! And I am very skilled in Runescript!”

Emily sighed and lifted the tool to Philip’s chest. A few weaves of water mana and air circled around it and knotted themselves at the ends, twisting into the tool and exiting right into Philip’s chest. It felt like liquid was being poured into him and expanding outward across his rib cage.

“Surface readings only,” Emily said. “They can say basic skills you have, and if you have many skills then there is a good chance you are extremely talented in that field, but it does not prove anything. That is why they were discontinued.”

“Then why does he want to use it with me?” Philip asked as he shivered from the foreign magic spreading through him. It was not intrusive so it wasn’t uncomfortable, but it still felt odd and he could not decide if he liked it or not.

“Probably a theory of some kind he wants to prove.” Emily waved her hand in dismissal. “And once he finds out you don’t have whatever special ability he thinks you have then you should be free of him for the most part.”

“Then I’ll be free of him being my tutor?” Philip perked up at the thought and he heard Mel exclaim in annoyance at him shirking his responsibilities, but it didn’t bother him.

“No, you’re going to have him as a tutor no matter what you want,” Emily clarified, dashing all Philip’s hopes of life returning to normal. “Rupert is often a prick, but I can promise you he is a man of his word. Even without whatever ability he thinks you have he will have you live up to your potential. I would bet Nosp a year’s salary on that.”

“Sinking damn it,” Philip cursed only to be smacked by Emily.

“Don’t you dare tempt fate, Philip,” She scolded. “Speaking of a sinking is bad luck, and luck is rare enough as it is. Don’t speak of it unless you wish it to happen to the islands.”

“Yes, Priestess,” Philip mindlessly replied. It was just like back in the orphanage. Don’t speak of a sinking or it will happen. Don’t talk about the burning or the world will be engulfed again. Don’t speak of the breaking or you’ll make the world shatter again. Just superstition and fear that the past will repeat.

Though, thinking of the histories, the world has had many apocalyptic events that has altered everything. Maybe there was some truth in the Priestess’ warnings, but the likelihood of such an event happening again was close to zero that Philip decided it wasn’t worth worrying about.

“Your core has no cracks or damages, but it seems extremely depleted of any magic. What did you do?”

Philip shrugged. “Honestly, not sure,” he admitted. “Whatever I did was during the worst of the concussion. All I can recall is my magic coming out like a tick rope and doing… stuff. Then I just woke up in a tunnel which led to the peak.”

“A tunnel that led to the peak?” Emily muttered. “And rope? May I ask for your core cut?”

“My what?” Core cut?

“I didn’t know mine until I saw it on the Reader,” Melony chimed in again. “A fascinating subject, and one needing a lot more--”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Melony, but I don’t wish to be distracted right now.” Emily gave Mel a soft smile. “Perhaps after I finish today's work before that ‘dinner’ of Rupert’s we can sit down and discuss it. I might know something interesting to add to your thesis since I often have to examine or heal cores.”

“Oh! I’d love that!” Melony was nearly hopping in her seat with excitement. Philip couldn’t help but smile but he frowned when he thought about it. What was a Cut?

“Have you gone to any meditative classes where an instructor has guided you through purifying your mana and core?” Emily continued.

Philip just shrugged and explained how he had never done an official class but had studied in private, or with help from Lily or Mel. Emily stood quietly for a few minutes before sighing and walking over to the table and writing a few more notes.

“I believe using Rupert’s Reader might be essential to know exactly what happened. But, if what I am guessing happened, you have a raw surge of magic which came through your strongest affinity element.”

“Strongest affinity?” Mel popped in. “So because he sunk into the ground you are guessing his strongest affinity is Earthy?”

“Precisely,” Emily confirmed. “Which is a lucky break you did not have fire or water or there may have been deaths and not just casualties. Then again we are lucky you just wanted to escape and not fight back or the same event might have happened but with earthen spikes. I don’t think you would have gotten off as easily if that did happen.”

“Then this Reader should help confirm things?” Philip asked.

“Yes,” Emily set her pen down and leaned forward in her seat. “On a surface level type of thing. It should be able to know what type of cut your core has, if any, and read the purity of your magic and affinities. But we can discern many extra things from it as well. Your magic, for instance, might give insight to the type of core you are naturally inclined to have.”

“So, if I am getting this right, it would inform me what type of mage I am naturally inclined to be? Like, hypothetically speaking, if it read my physical attributes it would suggest if I would fit better as a scout, knight, or archer?”

“Yes and no. It shows how your magic naturally runs. You might have very flexible magic which can be good for fast casters with the starburst cut, which is the most common type. Or you are a heavy caster where your spells are slow to build but they are extremely potent like that of a pear cut.”

Philip paused and thought about his core. His spells were always easy to cast since his strings of mana were so flexible. He might have a starburst cut going without realizing it. He glanced at Mel and saw her eyes glowing with anticipation to jump in and talk both their ears off.

“Okay, I get the idea. So what is happening? Am I free to go--”

“Don’t even try it,” Emily said flatly. “The plan now is we wait for Rupert to return with the Reader to figure out this mystery.” She stood up waved her hand. Air strings flew out of her fingers and hit the open windows, closing them. Then a few earth strings appeared and weaved into the air creating a shimmer around each window.

“Please follow me, Miss Melony.” Emily gathered her papers and tools and started toward the door. Melony looked between her and Philip but stood up and followed Emily. Philip joined them in heading for the door but once they were outside the door slammed shut. The same shimmer appeared across it like the windows. Philip took hold of the door handle and tried to open it but it didn’t budge.

“Excuse me?” he asked.

“You are not going anywhere until I deem you healthy enough to let out. Please sit back and relax until we return, it shouldn’t be more than a few hours. Bathroom is the other door in the room. Please have a good rest, and may Nuol bless you with wisdom.” The sound of steps echoed through the hallway, slowly getting quieter. “So, Melony. I would love to hear what you have in your thesis now.”

“Is Philip going to be okay?”

“He’ll be just fine as long as he doesn’t destroy my furniture.” Emily nearly shouted the last part to make sure Philip heard.

“Don’t you have other patients to check on?” Philip called back, his irritation echoing in his voice.

“You worry about yourself, young man,” was her reply before her and Mel started chatting enthusiastically about complicated issues outside Philip’s understanding. He sighed and moved to the seat Mel was using and sat down.

This is going to be a very boring few hours…