“No! Absolutely not!” Palag said.

The fury barely raised his tone, but from the view of a ten-year-old it was the same as if he were shouting. Despite himself, Dallion suppressed the urge to get into a fight.

“Why not? You told me that I was owed a favor.” He paused for a while. “Sir.”

“Mages can’t just boost the magic of others. If it were that simple, what would be the reason for having novices?”

Dallion felt like biting his tongue. It was no secret how the nobles got their levels. One in Dallion’s class had openly admitted it, and yet the pretense remained. Sadly, arguing about it went nowhere.

“Can’t I get another artifact, then?,” Dallion persisted. “You told me that those were common.”

“Aetherizers won’t boost your over five. And you were already given three.”

“Then tell me where they’re found and I’ll go get some myself.”

Had Dallion been in his normal form, this might have passed as a valid argument, one could even call it a negotiation. Said in the squeaky voice of a child it sounded more like he was having a tantrum. Even Dallion himself felt like sending him to his room.

Ask for a pass seal, Nil suggested.

How will that help?

Trust me on this. Just ask for one.

“What about a pass seal?” Dallion asked. “Can I get that, at least?”

The fury froze. For a fraction of a second, every muscle in his body stopped moving, as if he’d been asked to share his deepest, darkest secret.

“Who told you about that?” the instructor asked.

“Do I have to say?”

Palag said nothing. His features suddenly hardened, giving an air of authority. If Dallion had to guess, the mage had taken control of his apprentice through the symbiote echo right now.

“Getting the pass will use up your favor,” the fury said. “Are you sure you understand that?”

“I think it’ll be worth it, sir.” That was highly arguable. Dallion wasn’t even fully sure what he was asking. His faith was that Nil wouldn’t let him down. So far, the echo had helped him quite a number of times, not to mention his advice was, for the most part, valid. “The faster I can improve, the more I’ll be able to learn.”

“Speed is the quickest path to failure. You’ll have your pass.” The fury’s expression softened, marking the end of the echo’s influence. It was a somewhat disturbing notion, though not as disturbing as the fact that Dallion had become used to it.

“Sir?”

“Give me your hand.” The fury sighed.

The seal was a small but intricate combination of symbols, placed on top of Dallion’s novice seal. All attempts to memorize the symbols proved unsuccessful. The vast majority of the symbols were unfamiliar, and those that were, were applied too fast for Dallion to make out the final details.

“There you go.” The fury let go of Dallion’s hand. “You’re able to freely go about the Academy, though not outside.”

“Thanks.” Dallion looked at his hand. The overall seal had become a lot more intricate than before.

“Now, get lost.”

Dallion didn’t need to be told twice, rushing out of the apprentice’s room as fast as a thunder leopard. Being allowed freedom of movement filled him with a sense of achievement, but he still was unsure how that was going to help him with his immediate problem.

Get out of the building, Nil said. I’ll tell you where to go from there.

Are we going to steal something?

Yes, though in a good way. First, I’ll need you to go and get a new library.

Stepping out of the Learning Hall caused a bit of a scene. While changing shape meant nothing within the walls of the building, doing so on the outside was bound to attract attention. Everyone in the vicinity stared at Dallion. Waves of curiosity filled the entire area, though they were soon replaced by disinterest and disappointment.

What’s up with them? Dallion wondered.

They thought you were some high-level mage showing off some new spell, Nil explained. When they saw you weren’t, they lost interest.

Fun. So where do we go?

The light in the area was shining brighter than he remembered. The number of people, on the other hand, was a lot less than when he had first arrived. Directed by Nil, Dallion made his way along some of the smaller streets to a simple two-story building. The magic glowing above the entrance indicated that this was a second-hand shop. Looking through the window, it seemed rather specious, though completely deprived of people.

“I should have brought Ruby along,” Dallion thought as he opened the door and stepped in.

The inside of the store was at least a dozen times larger than the outside. Racks of clothes and artifacts filled the area, each with their prices written in glowing letters. Whoever owned the place had quite a good understanding of basic marketing, surrounding expensive items with cheap ones. As another good touch, the more expensive the item, the brighter its price glowered.

“What you want?” A dwarf stepped up to Dallion. From what he could tell, she was in her late teens and utterly unhappy with being here. Interestingly enough, Dallion could only detect the faintest amount of magic within her.

“Looking for something useful,” he replied with a smile, adding some joy to his words.

“Can you afford anything? We’re not a charity here.” Clearly, even music skills had their limits.

“I don’t know. Is there anything worth buying?”

“Why, you—”

“Thank you for welcoming the customer, Caire,” a stern voice said. Moments later, a bulky dwarf came from behind one of the racks. Unlike the younger one, magic filled his entire body, indicating that if not a mage, he was at least a high-ranking apprentice. “I’ll take it from ‘ere.”

The young dwarf rolled her eyes, then went off, vanishing in the vastness of the shop.

“My apologies. She’s a good child, just at an age in which she’s annoyed at life. Anyway, I was told to expect you. Please, come follow me.” The dwarf rushed off through the labyrinth of racks and shelves.

“Told to expect me?” Dallion followed. “By who.”

“Our common friend is best left unnamed. Fortunes can rise and fall quickly, and it’s always a good idea to remain close with those on top.”

Don’t I know it?

The dwarf led Dallion to a small display case with various rings. All of them appeared simple—mere bands of silver without any decorations. For some reason, they reminded Dallion of the ring Adzorg had given him.

“Those were made by him, weren’t they?” he asked.

“All the valuable ones were taken by the Archmage, but some of the lesser trinkets found their way ‘ere.” The dwarf opened the case and took a ring. “This is for you.”

“For free?”

“No.” The dwarf laughed. “I’ll open a tab. Our friend said you’re good for it, so I’ll trust that you’ll settle your debts when you can.”

“Sounds fair. What’s the local currency? Gold? Platinum?”

“Gold can do, but I prefer aethercubes.”

Learning that gold was accepted as a currency was remarkably refreshing. For all their powers, it seemed that leveling up items wasn’t something that mages were particularly adept at, or even willing to do.

With a nod, Dallion took the rind and slid it onto his index finger. Venturing into its realm, he found that it was another library. The major difference was that all the scrolls and tomes were focused on magic and history.

I would suggest that you link it to your realm, Nil said. Would be easier for everyone.

Shouldn’t I check to make sure there isn’t anything lurking about?

You’ve grown quite a bit. Yes, by all means, do that, dear boy.

Dallion could feel the sense of pride emanating from Nil throughout his realm, and still, for some reason, he felt as if he’d just been tricked.

With the linking of the new ring, a second library emerged in Dallion’s domain. Thousands of new scrolls and tomes were added, including quite a few detailing part of the Academy’s history. It was at that point that Dallion understood the need for the seal pass.

It turned out that in addition to consuming magic from artifacts and living entities, mages could also increase their level by absorbing concentrations of magic called vortexes. The origin of the vortexes was still strongly debated among mage scholars, but there were little doubts regarding their nature: they appeared at random and had enough energy to create the equivalent of realms of their own. Only accessible by mages, they were something between an item realm and an awakening trial. If a mage were to defeat the guardian of the realm, the magic of the deal would be absorbed by the mage, increasing his magic trait. Matters were different when dealing with higher-level vortexes, but that was something Dallion didn’t have to worry about. For now, his only goal was to find the weakest of vortexes and increase his level. As to where one could find such, it appeared that vortexes were also connected to the amount of magic present in the real world. Places with high magic concentrations tended to attract vortexes on a regular basis, and one of the places with the highest concentrations of magic in the real world was nowhere else, but the Academy itself. All that Dallion had to do was to find these locations before any other mage and absorb them.

“It’s all quite simple,” Nil said, now free to talk about the matter freely since Dallion had become aware of the information. “There are hundreds of minor vortexes that appear here every month. The obvious ones are dealt with instantly, but those that are hidden in some corners of the area are left lingering for months.”

“Just like that?” Dallion found it hard to believe. “No one wants to increase their level?”

“The small ones aren’t worth it. Beyond a certain level, they stop having any effect. Maybe some low-level apprentice might go searching, but even they won’t bother.”

“How do I find them?”

“That’s a bit trickier. Normally you’ll learn a spell to locate them, but since you can’t craft spells yet, you’ll have to rely on artifacts.”

“You’re aware that I’m effectively broke. It’ll be a while since I can earn money as a hunter and—”

“You already have the artifact,” Nil interrupted. “All you need is your otherworlder sight and a kaleidervisto.”

“How would that work?”

“All this time and you still haven’t learned how to read properly,” Nil sighed. “Vortexes aren’t from this world. You’ll be able to see them easily.”

“Just like anyone else.” Dallion frowned. “With the amount of magic they have, they’ll shine like a beacon in the night.”

“Only those that are linked to the real world.”

Suddenly Dallion was at a lack of words. He was still thinking in terms of the physical world, forgetting that magic didn’t apply by standard rules. Magic vortexes could just as easily connect to realms as they did to the real world. If they connected to the realm of an area of item, they were likely to remain invisible, just like an echo within that realm would be. That was where the kaleidervisto came in, granting him the ability to see within the realm without entering it. As for the otherworldly shimmer, that was the way of distinguishing between a natural magic thread and a vortex.

“You’re sure there’s no rule against this?” Dallion asked.

“There’s nothing written down. Clearing vortexes has always followed the principle finders-keepers. The bigger ones require expeditions of multiple people, but that’s a whole other ball of wax. You already have everything it takes to increase your magic trait. All you need to do is get to it.”

“Why do I have the feeling it won’t be as easy as you make it out to be?”

“Was hunting easy? You still managed, though. It’ll be the same here, only different… very different.”