If Cypher was tired after the twenty laps Jelroy had made him and Eiden run around the mansion, then he was completely exhausted as he laid down to sleep that night. The rest of the day had been mentally taxing. Hours had been spent pouring over scrolls and texts about the art of swordsmanship and combat.

Jelroy finished their day with a long-winded lecture and several of his own war stories. They were somewhat tame but each drove home an important lesson; Teamwork was imperative in a battle against a superior foe. Cypher had barely had the energy to drag himself back to his room, but despite this, he still made time to study the magickal sigil in the back of the stolen blue tome.

The only thing that had finally pulled him from his profound and painful trance was the sensation of his head clacking against the stone wall as he toppled over. His breaths were ragged, his eyes bloodshot and a fierce pounding filled his skull in time with his beating heart.

Cypher couldn’t imagine what it must have taken for the Conductors in the many stories he had read about to learn the scores of spells at their disposal. It was something that both awed and worried him. If he had to put this much effort into learning even one spell, how was it possible to learn more than a handful in a single lifetime? There had to be some kind of trick to it and Cypher would continue to try and figure that out over the coming days and weeks.

His efforts would pay off quickly. As Cypher continued to study the spell and etch the sigil into his mind he found that it became easier and easier to maintain his trance-like state. It was still extremely difficult, however, his headaches were becoming more and more manageable over time and he also found that he could sit through an entire session without passing out.

The small bit of progress made him optimistic for the future. That said, his training with Eiden and Jelroy only continued to ramp up in difficulty. His body ached each night when he returned to his room, but it was also starting to memorize the various motions and forms one would need to be called a warrior. His muscles were becoming more defined, his stamina grew in leaps and bounds and slowly but surely he was coming into his own.

Eiden, despite being older and receiving a more focused education, was somehow falling behind. It wasn’t something obvious that anyone could see. Especially Eiden himself. In terms of their testing, for both written and physical exams, Eiden was always the clear victor and held an impassable edge over Cypher. However if one looked closer as Cypher was beginning to, it was easy to see that the young heir to the Galvans was slower and less precise in his movements.

His attacks were sluggish and readable to Cypher’s young eyes. Still, this was not something that Cypher could capitalize on. He knew full well that slighting Eiden, even in the most trivial of ways could only lead to his own torment. So it was in this way that the gap between the two slowly continued to grow.

Eiden, however, was blind to this fact and boasted about his superiority at every possible opportunity. Cypher paid it no mind though and continued to diligently study and train himself to his limits. However, this quick and meaningful growth would hit a certain snag just after his seventh birthday.

Cypher had been focusing so hard on all of his training that he had neglected to realize just how long he had kept the spellbook. Learning this spell had become somewhat of an obsession for him. He wondered at it, mesmerized by the flowing intricate lines of the sigil in the back. It was as if some force compelled him to keep the book despite the great danger it posed for him if he was discovered with it.

Of course, there was more to offer in that book than simply the sigil. It was, after all, a book of knowledge, and Cypher did his best to try and understand everything it had to offer. However, eventually, he abandoned trying to understand the text that he could actually read. No matter how much time passed or how hard he tried, he simply could not understand what the author had been trying to convey. It spoke of theories he had no understanding of, laws he was unfamiliar with, and the few stories it did contain were seemingly unrelated.

Then the inevitable happened; The Galvans took notice of the missing tome. They scolded Eiden for misplacing it and it was clear that they hadn't suspected Cypher of taking it. Yet.

It was quite possible that they didn't even consider that a simple servant boy would dare to steal something so valuable from them. Given the torrid history of those who dared to steal from them, Galex likely didn’t even consider that someone in his employ had taken it. Still, Cypher knew that his time with the book was coming to a close. Eventually, they might discover that he had it, and he feared what punishment might await him.

A systematic sweep of the grounds turned up nothing. Guards and servants alike were tasked with keeping their eyes open for the missing tome. Even a reward was offered in the form of paid time off from their duties. After that, the room-to-room searches began. It wouldn’t take long for them to make their way to Cypher’s room and when they did they would undoubtedly find the book. Despite his best efforts to hide it away, a dedicated search of his quarters would ultimately lead to him being found out.

The only reason they had not already arrived at his room was due to the sheer size of the mansion and a few lucky Zightbeast attacks that had diverted the attention of the guards and kept them from finally arriving at his room. Determined, he doubled his efforts in trying to memorize the image as quickly as he could and took full advantage of the time he had left.

Unlike the other books and stories he had read, this single page proved much harder to memorize than any one of them had been. It was as if some force prevented it from being done, which left him confused and frustrated. Another week passed, and he was paranoid and on edge the entire time.

However, during that last stressful week of staring at that single page harder than he had before, even missing a few nights of sleep, something finally clicked inside his brain. It was as if a floodgate had opened inside his mind and a torrent of understanding flooded him.

As difficult as it had been, his hard work and focus had paid off. A single glowing rune was burned into his mind, and he could faintly see it whenever he closed his eyes and focused. He still didn't understand exactly how to use the spell. All he knew was that he could if he decided to, however, he didn't dare. There was nowhere in the mansion or on the grounds that he could go where he could attempt it and go unnoticed.

It was a common spell he thought, perhaps even a simple one. But according to the information the diagram had transferred into his mind, it had many applications. Cypher was pleased to finally master something that even Eiden couldn't, despite being taught by actual Conductors his father Galex had hired to tutor him.

Thankfully, his connection to the theft and his subsequent learning of the spell had gone completely unnoticed. With practically no time to spare he had managed to squirrel away the tome inside his tunic and hide it inside one of the carriages before anyone could find him with it, leaving the Galvans none the wiser.

In fact, they had searched his room while he was in the very act of hiding it inside the carriages he was tasked with cleaning. They had discovered his small hiding place on the floor of his room and questioned him about the remains of the wooden blade he kept there. But in the end, he was barely admonished at all. A broken wooden sword was hardly a concern when they had such a valuable artifact missing.

The missing tome was eventually found inside the carriage by Eiden himself as the family took an outing to a nearby lake, and even the young heir was convinced that he had simply left it behind without thinking. Certainly, it hadn’t been the first time something like this happened.

Things were truly falling into place for Cypher and he was able to finally relax and get some well-needed rest. His mind was weary from the constant strain of trying to memorize the sigil and now that the deed was done that burden had been lifted. As his mind recovered, another strange thing happened. After the glowing rune had been burned into his mind he noticed that his mental capabilities seemed to grow much faster than normal children his age.

It was as if a constant pressure in the center of his brain had begun accelerating the growth of his young mind. Because of that pressure, he was becoming more advanced than others his age; A fact that alienated him even further from the other children who lived in the manor. Where Eiden and his sisters only cared about playing and enjoying the benefits of being nobles, Cypher seemed driven to learn as much as possible.

As his mind continued to advance he grew uninterested in joining the others when they would play, opting to simply do his chores and escape to his room to read. As the years went by that separation only grew more profound. He continued to “borrow” books and kept expanding his knowledge. He read everything he could get his hands on, from survival guides to books on proper maintenance of weaponry and armor, history, mathematics, geography, astronomy, and even several books on herbalism and healing.

Although there was only so much one could learn on their own. He had no one to quiz him on the various topics he devoted himself to by candlelight in the late hours of the night. From those desperate acts of thievery, he realized that he had gained the means to better his lot in life, and perhaps strike out on his own one day.

He knew his dreams were lofty and not likely to come to fruition in full, yet anything was better than being a servant. Forced to work himself to the bone for spoiled nobles who had barely shown him an ounce of kindness in his entire life. Indeed, his self-taught education was almost as good as Eiden's in terms of how much he was learning.

Truly, the gap between Cypher and Eiden was growing and now, it would continue to do so at an accelerated rate. Cypher wasn’t sure what to make of this, but another little snag, just a few years later would solidify in his mind what a gap between him and Eiden truly meant.