"You'll not regret your choice, Lith." Professor Marth patted his back, with a proud look on his face.

"Once you graduate, you'll discover that A ranked mages, like you and me, are treasured almost as rank S, if not more." He chuckled.

"What? Why?" Lith didn't know if to consider it a good or bad news.

"Because as you have seen, geniuses like Manohar aren't just brilliant. They are also wilful, fickle and unpredictable. We may not be as productive, but are much more level headed and easy to handle."

***

After the accident in the training hall, Professor Rudd had lost much of his nastiness. He now replied when someone asked him explanations, and whenever he saw Quylla or Lith, he would sigh deeply shaking his head.

In the following weeks, Lith put his heart and soul in Forgemastering, relentlessly pestering Professor Wanemyre with questions. He was researching both the runes that kept the boxes locked and a construct that was able to feel like a human.

The library helped him greatly on his first task. Even if the exact sequence of runes wasn't to be find anywhere, Lith was able to determine their power and purpose. He came to the conclusion that opening at least one of the boxes was feasible, if he had Wanemyre level of mastery and a proper research team.

Since that was impossible, he decided to take a roundabout route. Instead of attacking the lock from the outside, like a normal Forgemaster, he would destroy its pseudo core like only an Awakened one could.

The lock and the box had a pseudo core each, both held in place by the respective mana pathways their maker had surrounded them with, thanks to the rune patterns. The main difference between a pseudo core and a real mana core, was that the former had no way to replenish its energies without the mage that had imprinted it.

Hence, if somehow Lith managed to damage the pathways, the energy stored in the pseudo core was supposed to leak without triggering the explosion, and the lock spell would be undone.

Before doing this kind of experiments, Lith would always use his Hush spell and several barriers, to prevent a resulting explosion to destroy his room or be noticed from the outside.

After a month since the beginning of the second semester, Lith had already lost three boxes. All of them had exploded without leaving any trace behind, but he still considered it a success.

Neither he or his belongings had suffered any damage, and with each box the explosion was getting weaker. It was only a matter of time before Lith could find the right way to puncture the runic pathways without the pseudo core becoming instable.

- "Now I get why the vision wanted me to save Nok and get to meet Kalla. (AN: the small Byk and its mother.) With only the box from Rodimas, I would have never managed to open it.

I could either give it to the Marchioness or Linjos, leaving me empty handed, or try and fail on my own." He sighed.

"Well, for being self-taught you are doing great. Marth and Wanemyre always praise you for your talent and achievements. I think Wanemyre already considers you the best student of the fourth year."

"Yeah." He sighed again.

"Someone is bound to get angry at me, again. Not to mention that I am falling behind in dimensional magic. Without the all-nighters, even Yurial is slowly catching up with me, and I have yet to learn the Restoration spell, that Quylla already knows. I must work harder!"

"Maybe it's because Quylla has only one specialization, while Yurial just two, and they are hardworking too. You, instead, are such a slacker." Solus' voice was oozing sarcasm.

"Top of both your official specializations, learning other specializations on your own and converting them into true magic. All this while working on that lock, researching a body for me and refining your mana core during your spare time.

Which usually means when you are forced to use a bathroom or during theoretical lessons. You don't sleep from almost a month. Honestly, I'm amazed you achieved so much with only twenty-four hours a day.

Progress, not perfection. Remember? You need to slow down."

"Can't do. The second trimester's exam is nearing, and no one knows what's going to be about. Must make every second matter!" –

***

Since the explosion of Coirn Hatorne's Alchemic laboratory, the city of Kandria had quickly plunged into mass hysteria. Just a few days after the event, strange diseases and murders had started to happen all around the city, and with the passing of time, things had only got worse.

Healers from all the Marquisate and beyond had been called for help, but despite both the Crown and the Mage Association were sparing no expenses to get at the root of the problem, they were getting nowhere.

An information blackout had been enacted, to avoid the panic to spread outside the city borders. Those who knew about the phenomenon, talked about a mysterious plague haunting the province of Kandria, and were worried about it spreading.

The body count had already reached the hundreds, and with each passing day more and more cases arose, forcing the Crown to declare the status of quarantine two weeks after the start of the outbreak.

Whoever tried to get in or out the city would be executed on the spot, the whole region had been enveloped by an array that prevented flying spells and Warp Steps to work.

Sylpha, Queen of the Griffon Kingdom and supreme head of the Mage Association, was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She hadn't slept properly since the old nobles' rebellion had started, and now with the unsolved mystery of the plague, she felt she was losing her mind.

The Queen hadn't missed how the current predicament had occurred right after Arjîn went missing in action, the problem was determining how the two events were related. Knowing Arjîn's prowess, she suspected it was all the work of an Awakened one.

It was impossible for a member of the Corpse to be killed by conventional means during a simple recognition mission. Also, the fact that the best minds of the Kingdom were still clueless, was proof enough it wasn't something fake magic could achieve.

Her problem was that aside from the members of the Corpse, the Crown had no Awakened ones, and Lady Tyris refused to train more than seven at a time. The remaining six members were already engaged in life or death situations, otherwise she would have never recalled Arjîn so soon.

The rescue teams were still looking for him under the lab's debris, but so far nothing had come out. Out of desperation, she took out her communication amulet, trying to reach for Krishna Manohar, the god of healing.

He was the best healer of the Kingdom, and her last hope. Aside from a magical plague, it could have been the effect of an ancient artifact. Such powerful weapon, if it even existed, once found had to remain a secret, and that was the reason why she had kept him as a last resort.

That man was a loose cannon, discretion and reliability weren't his strong suits. The amulet gave no response, even after multiple attempts.

Having no time for his antics, Sylpha called Linjos, instead, demanding for Manohar's whereabouts and the reason of his unavailability.

"I would never dare to disobey a direct order of yours, you Majesty, but alas, your first request is beyond me. Even I do not know where he is. As for the second, I think you wouldn't believe me without hearing it from the horse's mouth."

The Headmaster took a piece of paper and placed it on the amulet's gem, allowing the Queen to read its content.

{Dear Linjos…} The name was followed by a doodle depicting a horse bearing a striking resemblance to the Headmaster, even wearing his clothes.

{…I'm on the verge of an incredible magical breakthrough. In can't risk my research to be ruined by the constant pestering of mediocre minds, so I'll be gone for a while.

K.M.}

"How dares he to disappear again? It's already the third time this year!" Sylpha punched her desk hard enough to break it in half.

"Send me your second best diagnostician. If he/she doesn't solve my problem, I'll have your head beside Manohar's in my trophy room!"

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