“Form up!” Clain stood on the field calling in the students who where shuffling out into rows. Once everyone was in order he continued. “Good work out there. The exercises you had done are good for now and next week we will be adding some multiple source countering and evasion. Good? Dismissed.”

The lessons ended nice and timely for the past month now and the students have warmed up to Clain for his less brutal approach as Yhala had them practically fighting her in turns or en mass as they tried to pierce through her barrier in their previous sessions. They did learn about quick casting as if they weren't on the offensive then the Magus would be the one attacking.

He was impressed with a few as they were able to group cast considerably quickly as others periodically bombarded the Magus like siege engines would a castle keep in the last class before he took over for Yhala.

“How were they?” Yhala asked as Clain was barely through doorway and was facing towards rows of meticulously laid out components, crystals, vials, and fine tools.

“They are steadily improving. I can even say that most of them would be a good match to the regular guards back in Rothram.” He replied as he thought back to the few exchanges he had with the training sessions he had been part of. “There's just a nagging feeling with how proficient these young one already are, it's like Trask itself is building an army.” Clain remarked more as voicing idle thoughts than anything else.

“So what if we are?” was the reply given.

Clain’s eyes snapped towards his mentor which was now lock with her ow gaze. Steady, serious, and studying eyes were what he was now contending with and they held their places for a good long minute before the words returned to his mouth.

“Against the kingdom?” were the only three words he was able to let out as a pressure of mana saturating the air was steadily building since the Magus last spoke. All he was able to muster as a defense was a layer barely extending an inch above his skin as mana was rushing through his veins and aura was the outer layer to ward against foreign mana.

It wasn't long, though it felt like an oppressive and isolating eternity that Clain fell to his knees. His layer of aura was being striped away by the now visibly purple pulsating wav tendrils of mana, even the magical tools in the room were coming active as the Magi’s living tattoo flared to life, while his was diminishing at an alarming rate.

A few minutes later, he was on the floor, clinging on to consciousness as his mana was now being pulled from his body by the Magus standing over him. Her tattoo seemed to be filling up as he was running on fumes. The last light he saw was that of a haze of lilacs, lavenders and purples as the darkness took him under.

The Magus stood over Clain and reached towards the tattoo, the one which she herself had given him, and form it part of it ‘peeled’ off forming a sphere roiling light enclosed by the same black from the living tattoo. Flowers bloomed on the area where the ball exited and the Magus gave it a light tap and her purple light painted the flowers of the tattoo.

“A month it took me.” Yhala mused to herself. “Someone is surely making arrangements in Rothram.” She voiced her thoughts in the secured space of her Research Room and all the while picking Clain up again with her levitation spell and bought him to the open portion of the room before the Onyx mannequin.

She set Clain down on a bed that stretched from below the jet black head and torso and the fissures running through the figure glowed a silver light. Yhala placed the orb into the top of the mannequin’s head and the living tattoo on Clain flared with the now purple touch from the Magus and an image was revealed floating over the unconscious assistant.

“The Adventurers Guild, the City Guard and even their respective training areas.” the Magus still recognized the two places in Royal capital city, Rothram which she had visited many times in the past. “If those had been infiltrated, then there should be many more.” she deduced and speculated as both these places held considerably military might in any and all cities, which was especially true in any capital.

She sifted through whatever information the extracted sphere was able to provide, which wasn't much more than just trace outlines over a map in and around Rothram. In the end, a web of faint lines running to and fro detailed the frequented places by Clain and the obvious areas where the power in the sphere was being cycled was revealed.

Only a day later was when he regained consciousness. It was already midday from the light that streamed in from a high window and was the last day of the week, which meant he was free for that day.

Exhausted mentally but felt fully capable, he sat up to find the Magus once again in the same corner, in the same chair though reading a different mystic tome since the last time he woke from being knocked out cold.

He brought back up his defenses but decided not to as he recalled the last time he attempted to fend off the Magus.

“Wise choice young man.” were the words Yhala greeted him before continuing.”There's a bit of bread, cheese and wine there, eat a little before we talk.” she said, never taking her eyes off the tome she was reading.

Clain simply complied and ate half the loaf and nibbled on some cheese while taking a few sips of wine in between. The bread was nolight yet filling, the cheese rich, and the wine was thin though sweet and balanced out the cheese while quenching his thirst. Once done sated, he opened his mouth to ask but once again shut it as he saw an image of human capital of Rothram projected in the space between him and the Magus.

The streets he knew so well, the paths he took through the city, the haunts and shops and stores he visited, saw or frequented were all there some parts in detail and some a little more vague. Then he realized, these were his own memories. All the routes he took, the sights he saw and the places he passed. And then a faint line was traced and two points became glowing beacons, the Adventurers Guild and the City Guard’s training field.

“Were you ever healed or revitalized by arcane techniques or martial skills in these areas?” was how she began and Clain simply nodded, a bit puzzled. “Have you seen this tool being used during such times?” same answer as he recognized the exact same radial-shaped, gold and bronze amulet barely the size of his palm but was distinctly mounted on a crystal orb held secure by a base of fluted silver and also lacking a certain prismatic center gem.

“The process by which the healer told you was that there would be a small bit of weakness you might feel as the spell/skill they were using would enhance recovery by using a little energy from the target.” the Magus getting the words exactly as he had heard from the different healers that were there whenever he accepted the free rejuvenation service.

“Let me show you what was happening when that process was being done.” Yhala waved her hand and the scene of the city before her changed to that of two silhouettes which seemed to contain solidified light of different colors. “Here is a healing spell.” one figure was a caster and their body showed a slight dimming from the top of their head as the a spell was affecting the other. The gash leaking light on the other figure was closed and mended as the color of the caster’s energy blended with the injured one and in time the changed into the natural color of the now healed figure.

Clain pondered the process revealed to him. He had known this for a while from the reading he has done and the lessons he had taken on healing spells from the most basic to the advance, though he was only only able to use the least level of healing which was enough to seal small cuts, alleviate minor burns and at one time remove a sunburn as had personally found out.

“Common knowledge is that the there are three levels of healing spells, with the first being a minor/lesser healing with things like cuts and small burns, and scrapes bruises, the second is basic/middle healing as cuts that reach muscle and even bone could be sealed and made non life-threatening though only just so as it cannot restore lost mass and blood, advance/greater healing is the last level as it is able to reattach severed limbs, instantly mend broken bones after being properly set, and bring to peak condition a past injury so long as nothing is missing.” her brief explanation ended as such before she produce another pair of solid light figures.

“Restorative spells are another matter, similar yet different but taught together with healing, and only scholars give emphasis to that distinction. As the name implies, these spells are able to bring back the loss incurred from injury so from skin to cover a scrape, to the blood lost from a wound, to the splintering of bone from a crushing blow, and even the exceedingly rare and difficult regrowth of an organ or a limb, or the simply recovery of stamina without losing one's progress in training.” as she spoke the figures cycled the images she described. “All these spells are based on the need for both csster and target to expend some energy and on the target's end, to have digested/stored enough food or body mass for the lost amount to be recovered.” the Magus gave a summarized form of the passages Clain had read through in his studies back in the capital.

He marshalled the courage to ask, “What is this then Magus?”

“Good. Seems your senses have returned.” she remarked and was then pointing to the orb. “This is an anchor and syphon of sorts, an anchor for scrying and an energy syphon to be more precise. Did you not wonder that a healer using a restoration spell while on quest wouldn't feel as draining on your energy reserves as much as when you do in the guild or training field?”

Clain’s eyes shone as he had recalled memories of the various times he had been the recipient of such restorative spells and the odd restoration potion.

Yhala picked up on the change, "Why, is what you are thinking right now and I can only give you some conjectures which we have gleaned over the years.”

It was a quit a story and took up most of the rest of the day and ended just about the same time as the academy was welcoming back stay-in students and staff and those who lived outside to leave. Clain simply stuck to listening and asking for a clarification or answering the Magus’ queries until the whole tale reached to present day and he was excused for the night.

The tale was a long one as it consumed his thoughts for that walk home to the inn he stayed at, was given a meal, paid for it and took a bath before which had been drawn up to his room and lay on his bed.

There were three main wars in the past on the continent, as far as the Human Kingdom was concerned, and these were the ‘The Founding’, ‘The Defensive’ and ‘The Treaty’ respectively.

The first was the exodus from the old continent of Scouring Lands of Ohrvasht into Shaltra Expanse, where the human made their way from the coast, through the great plains and to where it is now in Rothram and the territories around it a little under three centuries ago. They had fought mainly the savage fauna which is rife on the continent to this day and a collection Feral Orcs, Goblins and Trolls in one part of the territory and Feral Beastkin tribes in another.

The second war was one akin to that of an arranged war as the some tribes under the collection of the Beatkin councils sought justice for the slaughter of these feral villages. Though unknown to the fledgeling human kingdom that these Feral villages were a sort of penal colony as the adults were beyond recovery from the savage state but not the offspring. There were chances that the bestial rage would subside around the coming of age at around fifteen years and this set off an idealised hunt for justice that a few tribes declared upon the humans. But then again this was another cover the later acceptance of the new nation as part of beastkin culture was to test the strength and mettle of their get and their neighbors by a test of might and skill.

The Defense became a much shorter war with clear conventions and a schedule. So skill fought cunning, pitting formations against one another, intellect and instinct clashing on open battle and quickly ending with little to no casualties at every encounter as a mass duel to first blood became the norm. It was a contest for survival in the eyes of the humans but to the beastkin it was to measure the worth of the people and future neighbor. Another was that it had become a kind of honing battle prowess and source of honour for the youths of the beastkin.

The fledgling kingdom barely won out against just the three tribes, namely the feline, canine and ursine. They held and were acknowledged as an entity though not as a ally but as a neutral party and trade partner.

The most recent war was the one named, The Treaty, which had ended a mere two decades since present day. It was a war which had forged a forced alliance between the kingdoms, nations and powers of the continent against a strange enemy which was simply named the “Corruption”. A most queer collection of Savages, Ferals, Mana-Twisted creatures. It was as though all the sentient races of the continent were turned into a state of utter violence and rage and where accompanied by animals turned monsters. It had come so suddenly but most recent consensus say that it was an occurrence which had begun 10 years before it ended. Small villages out in untamed frontier and some travelling bands of peoples were lost and were found weeks later attacking other settlements and became such that areas were depopulated and was said that the whole of the continent lost a tenth of all it's population across the continent.

All of these thoughts came to the front of Clain's mind as the statement the Magus gave him was that “The Corruption was just the beginning.”

Both the Magus and the Headmaster were witnesses to those two wars and held Trask through them. Now the group they had formed after the last war in anticipation of another one, he became part of. She had told him “You would now be an addition and an instrument to our order. The peoples of the different kingdoms may be a hardy bunch and here in Trask they are no different but they all lack a small ‘something,’ that is a catalyst, teachers to bring them the knowledge, skills and mindset to prepare them for an impending war and not of old conventions but that of against extinction.”

Clain mulled through the statements, barely finishing the meal Gar had served. Now he lay spread out in a tired and distraught state atop his bed. “Why me? How didn't I notice? To what end is this? Who were these conspirators?” Such questions cycled in his mind for the next sleepless couple of hours.

“We shall see who uses whom?” Was the question he had for himself as determination filled his mind and the first part of his personal layer of defensive spells had been placed around his subconscious.