"Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Yes, it's fine. Sleep here", Cale said calmly.

Aaron and he were in his bedroom and had started a little discussion about who should sleep in the bed tonight. Cale insisted that the High-Magician should rest tonight and therefore gave him his room, which made Aaron uncomfortable.

"It's impossible to reason with you."

"Of course you can't, after all, I have the better arguments."

"I really feel better. I can..."

"Aaron", Cale interrupted him directly and gave him a serious look before patting the bed. "Let's leave the unnecessary discussions for today, please. I'm voluntarily giving you the room, so just accept it."

"Thank you", the High-Magician relented and lay down under the blanket, while Cale put on a satisfied smile. "Would I be allowed to ask you a question or two?"

"Of course", Cale replied politely, remaining seated on the edge of the bed while Aaron sat upright, leaning against the pillow.

"Your colleague Mamoru Meryl…"

"The name sounded familiar to you, didn't it?"

"Yes, even though I can't remember where I heard it."

"His father, Robert Meyrl, is - or rather was - the mayor of Groka."

"Ah", Aaron replied as he realized why the name sounded familiar.

"I had the same reaction", Cale replied with a short chuckle, before regaining his composure and looking Aaron straight in the eye. "Your second question will probably be how I can tell mana sources apart, am I right?"

"Exactly."

Silence fell as Cale tried to remember how he had learned it back then. Palaios had more or less taught it to him, but the other High-Magicians seemed to have learned it from Yusuf. But how should he even approach the subject? Feeling and distinguishing mana sources was just a feeling, like...

Cale paused abruptly when he found the perfect example. But this idea also carried a certain risk. Could he trust Aaron, or should he wait?

"Aaron, when you see a human, you can feel their mana source quite clearly, right?"

"I don't need to see them, but to answer your question: yes, I can sense other people's mana quite clearly."

"How is it among you High-Magicians? If I remember correctly, you can tell when a mage possesses Igrikum."

Aaron stared at him silently for a moment, as if he had never realized this fact before. He thought for a moment and then nodded in agreement, allowing Cale to continue.

"For me, it's similar to how you can distinguish between pure mana, holy mana, and Igrikum. Every person has their own unique mana signature that always feels different. What I have learned is simply the ability to distinguish between them."

"This is the first time in my life I've heard about that."

"It's not as difficult as it sounds. It took me less than half an hour to understand and apply the basic principle. It should be just as easy for you. Shall we give it a try?"

"Sure", Aaron replied somewhat hesitantly, watching as Cale sat up on the bed.

"All right, then please close your eyes and concentrate on my mana."

While Aaron did as he was told, Cale took two steps back and greatly reduced his mana output. At the same time, he made sure that his Igrikum was not noticeable to Aaron in any way and that only the passive barriers remained.

"You should only feel my pure magic mass right now, correct?"

"Correct. I didn't realize you had such good mana control."

"In that regard, I'm on the same level as a normal mage", Cale evaded the statement and quickly changed the subject. "Please just concentrate on my mana, I will slowly make it harder for you. Remember the feeling you get when you sense my mana."

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"The feeling?"

"Yes, the feeling. I know the explanation is a bit abstract, but that describes it best. Like a breeze carrying a scent that differs from carrier to carrier."

"I'll try", Aaron replied, and Cale concentrated on reducing his mana to a mere 2RM. When he reached that point and Aaron seemed to have no problems, he moved on to the next lesson.

"Good. I'm going to move now, concentrate on my mana source", Cale said and took a quiet step to the left.

But instead of continuing on, he separated his mana from his body like a small bubble and completely blocked his own mana output. He discreetly allowed the mana to continue moving toward the door, and Aaron did not seem to realize that it was not Cale who was moving.

Essentially, Cale did exactly what the creature called Pachendran would do. He separated his mana from his body and disappeared completely, before producing gas with his body and carrying it through the world with the help of his mana.

Cale used this logic as a basis for moving on to his final step. He concentrated on Chioni's mana and a moment later felt her mana spreading through his body. It was so small that even he had to actively concentrate to even notice it. Aaron didn't notice this strange mana at all, so he tapped a little more of the dragon's mana and released it outward.

Only after a minute did Aaron frown when he could sense another source of mana in the room. Cale, on the other hand, remained silent and waited for Aaron to speak. He gradually increased Chioni's mana so that Aaron's attention slowly shifted away from Cale's mana.

"That... is that... a second source of mana?"

Cale did not respond to the statement and instead watched with some amusement as Aaron struggled to focus on the mana.

"I mean, I can feel you on my right, but this mana... it feels a little like Igrikum, but it's not Igrikum. I know what you mean about it feeling different. At least, I think I do."

"At least you recognize that it's not the same mana", Cale said, causing Aaron to open his eyes in surprise. Irritated, he stared at Cale before turning to the door where Cale had positioned his own mana.

"By the beard of the Eldest, that's scary."

"Do you recognize that the mana is not mine?"

"I recognize a difference, but how can it not be yours?", Aaron replied in astonishment as Cale slowly approached him and sat down on the bed in front of him.

"That's one of those secrets I want to keep to myself. So I can't explain it to you, at least not at this point in time, I'm sorry", Cale replied, making his mana disappear before holding out his hands in front of Aaron. "I have one more task for you. Would you be so kind as to close your eyes again?"

With a cool, slightly suspicious look, Aaron stared at the blond-haired man for a moment before obeying the instruction and closing his eyes. What Cale did now was use Chioni's ability to gather different sources of mana within himself. He let Palaios, Velence, and Chioni's mana flow into his mana cycle with the intention that Aaron would not be able to figure out who the mana actually belonged to.

"Please focus on me and the mana again. Can you tell how many different sources of mana there are?"

"What's the point of being able to distinguish between sources of mana if you can change it at will?"

"Please leave me out of the equation, I'm a step above what a normal human being can achieve. But to get back to the question: it's incredibly helpful to know where certain people are at all times. Even in a crowd, I can always find the person I'm currently looking for."

Aaron did not comment on this statement, so Cale tried to distribute the dragons' mana evenly within himself while Aaron began to try to distinguish between them.

"Do you notice anything?"

"Admittedly, I notice that something is not quite right with the mana, but I can't tell how many there are", Aaron replied, opening his eyes. Cale, who was sitting unusually close to Aaron, slid back a bit in surprise without letting the mana disappear.

"Maybe it's easy for you to start with mana you already know. When you're back at the Magistrat, you can try your luck. You don't need me for that."

Cale discreetly made the dragons' mana disappear and his own appear, while Aaron's cold gaze was fixed on him. A question seemed to be burning in his mind, and only after a few seconds did he voice it aloud.

"How did you learn that?"

"From a friend... let's put it that way."

"A friend? One of the people you told me about?"

"No."

"May I know his name?", Aaron asked curiously, which made Cale hesitate.

He suspected that Aaron wanted to come to terms with his past in order to better understand who he was and what he was doing. The problem, however, was that Cale had no past, but Palaios did. If his name had ever been picked up and noted by humans, it would become a issue.

"It's better that you don't know him."

"I wouldn't bother him, I can assure you."

"You wouldn't be able to meet him, and you probably wouldn't want to if you knew who he was. Don't take this the wrong way, but there are some things I don't want to reveal."

"Forgive me if I've offended you."

"It's okay, you're just naturally curious, like me. I'm not mad at you for that", Cale replied calmly and stood up. He put a hand on Aaron's shoulder and smiled briefly. "Go to sleep now, see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Zod."

"You too", Cale replied with a friendly smile before getting up and leaving his bedroom.

As Cale closed the door, he realized how fast his heart was racing and how nervous he actually was. It was playing with fire to reveal so much about his abilities to Aaron, but on the other hand, Cale felt he owed it to him. He found it difficult to refuse the man who had paid for it with his life in his sixth life. But he wanted and needed to wait a little longer before he could tell Aaron everything. Only when he had secured a good position in the palace and promoted cooperation and security between the countries would Cale mention telling him everything.

On the other hand, this presented him with a big problem. Damian and he would have to lie to Aaron for quite some time, and the longer he waited, the more difficult it would become. He couldn't hide the fact that he was a magician forever, especially not from a man who was one of the most knowledgeable about magic and the Igrikum. Cale also feared that waiting too long would jeopardize his relationship with Aaron rather than strengthen it.

After all, he was deceiving Aaron about his true intentions even at this very moment, and that could be a breach of trust in the future that Aaron would not be able to overlook.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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