Jack had been so preoccupied with Aster, that he only noticed what had been happening around him for a while when his eye caught a flash of movement. Virtus was on his feet with Casper in a choke hold. Irritation framed his features and his body was taut. He kept looking around and noticed Lillian was a bit off to the side, paying attention to both situations at the same time. She had her hands at her side in a claw gesture.

Both men noticed that the pair had come out of their trance and simultaneously began to extricate themselves, expressions sheepish. That lasted as long as it took them to bump elbows, then they expressed only a deep desire to rip into each other. For a moment it seemed that they would clash again but it passed and Virtus turned towards Jack, hand out. “Are you okay? You look pale.”

Jack waved away the hand and tried to stand up. “I will be fine. Most of my mana supply was used up, so I need to figure out how to replenish my reserves in the next hour.” He pondered on that for a second. “Do I even need to have any mana for classes today?”

Casper chirped up then. “All of your classes today are lectures and memorization. Actual magic won’t come for a few weeks, when all the freshmen have bonded their foundation sigil.” He hesitated before speaking again. “Actually, I meant to ask earlier but would you mind terribly if you watched over Aster during your classes today? I checked your syllabi and you share all of your morning classes today.”

Jack turned to see the small girl with piercing blue eyes once more. It seemed that she had gotten her bounces out and started to pay attention, though her wide smile was still infectious. He directed his next words to her alone. “I will be glad to help you today, Aster. Just don’t ask too many questions because this is my first day as well. Okay?”

She nodded at his words impatiently. Once he was done speaking, she impetuously asked. “You said that you had two gifts. What’s the other one?”

Oops, almost forgot the other surprise. I hope I still have enough mana to do this. Jack cupped his hands and focused on another spell he had learned, Mana Forging. It was a general skill that anyone with enough control over their power could replicate. To him, the mana was a part of his body. It moved at his mildest whim. He just needed to learn how to use it properly.

A small Flame appeared on his hand. He connected it with similar geometric shapes as his signature spell, only much simpler. This gave him the ability to lock the Fire into the desired shape without any further direction. With a grunt he focused on it and shaped it into what he desired. When that was done he opened his hands. Lying there was a ruby red flower.

Her eyes grew wide and a delighted smile appeared on her lips. “What is it?” She asked.

“This is a daisy. It is a flower from my home. Usually it is white or gold like your hair, but every once in a while you can find one that is the same color as your eyes. In an older tongue these were called Asters.” The flower disappeared with a flash. “Sorry, that was all the mana I had. I will need to get more before I can do that again.”

“That was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.” A breathy voice gasped from behind him. The voice was so close that he felt the exhale on the back of his neck. He squealed and turned quickly to see Lillian had been looking over his shoulder closely the whole time. Her face was a study in wonder, very similar to Aster’s. “I have never seen such a detailed piece of Mana Forging. You also made it almost instantly, do you not understand just how unusual that is?” Her eyes flashed in the reflection of the flaming Aster.

He scratched his head in embarrassment. “It only lasted a few seconds, and that took a large amount of my mana. It will be a long time till I can collect enough energy to create anything of worth. Let alone anything stable.”

Everyone was suddenly confused by his words. Silence filled the space between them. Did I say something wrong?

Virtus Managed to rally himself first. “Why do you not just cultivate more mana? We have the time if you eat fast.”

“Cultivate?” Jack was confused until he remembered his lecture from last night. This must be a term for their mana harvesting. He was a little offended at the thought of what they had asked of them but he tried to patiently explain. “Because that will poison me. Your techniques don’t differentiate or purify the mana absorbed. To be frank, it’s really gross when I come in contact with your mana.”

Casper and Virtus both had mixed expressions, whereas Lillian just looked mollified. Strange? That’s the third time she has displayed pride for a Magi’s weakness. A dark suspicion was forming in his mind.

“How do you get mana then?” Aster asked.

“Right now I just absorb Fire directly. I can absorb and refine a Magi’s mana, but it’s horrible.” He fought back a dry heave at just the memory. “Though I guess that I have no choice right now.”

He turned to Casper and held out his hand to grasp. “I need you to pump as much mana into me as you can.”

“Are you sure?” Casper replied.

“Yes”

The two men clasped hands. A light breeze wafted from Casper to Jack as he started the transfer. It was the most uncomfortable experience of his life. Casper had far more mana than he had been exposed to so far, and he was pumping it out as ordered sludge and all. It was so intense that every muscle in his body turned to jelly. It wasn’t long before he collapsed from the overwhelming sensation of undiluted filth.

After an undetermined time, the nausea started to fade and he could think again. “Uggh, that was horrible.”

The Virtus and Lillian were watching over the pair protectively and leaned in with steadying hands.. “Are you okay?” They both asked at the same time.

“I’ll be fine. After I finish refining Caspers mana, I will almost be up to where I was before.” Jack slowly stood up.

“That was far more mana than you absorbed yesterday. Why didn’t it fill you up to the limit?” Virtus asked.

“His mana was aligned towards a different element than me so the exchange rate is horrible. On top of that, his mana is several degrees purer than that idiot yesterday. After I refine it, more than half will be vented into the atmosphere.”

It took another few minutes for Casper to feel well enough to rise. During that he had sat in a meditative pose and… pulled the air in? That was the only explanation that came to mind. The experience showed Jack something that gave him an inkling of an idea.

“I will lead you and Aster to your first class. It is just this way.”

…

Cassius Pov

Deep in the academy, Cassius sat luxuriously upon an elaborate wicker chair. He had been eating inside of his private courtyard when a messenger had barged in unannounced. That was fine though. After the messenger had been appropriately the news they had brought made Cassius forget about them entirely.

Historically, whenever a Champion came to Terra Cognita Prime, the first thing they did was announce their cause and start flailing about. Sometimes they could be ‘convinced’ to abandon whatever stupid cause they served and instead, support the Empire.

So when Gaius’ summoning ritual had gone spectacularly wrong, spies and agents had been sent out to find this new interloper. Every resource had been tapped and favors had been called in. The results confounded those in power. There was no trace of him anywhere in the city.

The Emperor himself had gone over the diagram and confirmed that it had worked. So the search had been expanded. To think it would be that moron Pomp that would find him. Where was I? Ahh… Right the message.

Several weeks ago, the Aureus family had ‘arranged’ for the Arborius family to have an accident. Everything had been arranged perfectly. Only, they had used an incompetent proxy. The operation was so messy that the daughter had gotten away and hid in the orphan ward. It was so poorly executed that they had to make an example out of their agent's leader.

Now, dear little Aster was somehow enrolled in the academy, and what’s more, her companions were worrisome. Somehow, he needed to separate her from the Adjudicator and Laura’s flunkies. Who is her benefactor? Cassius snapped his fingers and his valet appeared. “Find out who enrolled dear Aster into the Academy!”

The valet bowed slightly in acknowledgment. “I will have an answer before the end of the school day.”

Cassius grinned darkly. “Be sure of that! If her benefactor is one of ours, then buy her. If not, then I think the little darling is going to have a terrible accident.”