After Saiph's freshman year ended, the now-11-year-old had another year of general studies ahead of him before he could move onto more specific professions.
Enzo, being a year older, was moving onto the Runecraft school. It turned out he was actually pretty good at it, which surprised Saiph slightly. Enzo never came off as the studious type and was already very skilled at fighting and Magic Theory, which correlated with his cultivation speed.
Did Saiph envy him? In a way, yes. It was only natural; Saiph was atrocious at fighting and average at most everything except the Spagyric side of Alchemy and Runecraft. His cultivation speed was above average for someone with his aptitude, though.
During his second year at the Academy, Saiph started researching the possibilities of recovering his lost arm with all of the newfound knowledge that was entering his brain. On top of going through the libraries around the world, Saiph was pretty confident that he had found all of the possibilities.
Firstly, he could try to get a Mage that has entered the Second Realm to cast a healing spell on him. However, the issue herein was that there was probably, in total, three or four Mages of that level here at the Academy: the three department heads and that headmaster, all of whom Saiph saw at the entrance ceremony.
Secondly, he could just wait until he reached the peak of the First Realm: Soul Foundation stage. He had apparently misheard the nurses beforehand and knew it as 'Soul Creation,' which wasn't even a thing. The issue with this would be that almost everyone was still a Rank One Mage -- a Magic Initiate -- when they graduated. Who knew how many years it would take to reach the level of some of the best teachers in the Academy?
Thirdly, and most realistically, he could attempt to brew a potion -- or gather the ingredients and have someone else do it for him -- that would surge enough healing power into him that he would be able to regrow the arm naturally after some time. He had already done enough research to figure out the ideal potion to brew, figuring that he would be able to recover the necessary ingredients the start of his 3rd year.
Fourthly, an Incantata of some sort, like a mechanical arm. This wasn't too preferable since Saiph was not skilled in that branch of Alchemy, it would probably be very expensive, and it wouldn't even be a permanent fix.
Lastly, there were some symbiotes that existed that would chomp onto the severed limb and connect their nerves to Saiph, syncing up into a natural prosthetic arm. Of course, Saiph was extremely hesitant about this for obvious reasons.
All of that was the culmination of a year's research. The second year ended without incident; the classes were simple enough and Saiph's social situation didn't improve, just relying on Velvet and Enzo to satiate his social deprivation.
Of course, Saiph wasn't a complete isolationist. A boy just approaching puberty had a few indecent thoughts; girls were cute, after all. He chatted with some of the people in his class when the time was available but generally just took to studying in his free time.
There were just too many benefits to it; he was working his way up towards the honor classes and stabilizing his foundation so he could have even more success on his ascent up the Tower.
On occasion, when he was hanging out with either Velvet or Enzo, they would offer to bring some of their other friends along. Saiph usually didn't decline and tried his best to get along well with everyone.
There was some tactical thought put into his efforts. Yes, it would be easy to just put his head down and sit on the sidelines of these conversations. However, 'social networking,' as his teacher had called it, had its advantages. Putting some effort to draw a favorable opinion towards himself now could lead to some opportunities that he wouldn't have had if he didn't.
Plus, although she was older than Saiph by two years, one of Velvet's friends was very pretty. She was the ideal fair princess of fantasies- blonde hair, blue-eyed beauty with big breasts for a 14-year-old.
Saiph rationalized these thoughts as her being his first 'crush,' as some of his classmates had phrased it. Elizabeth -- the girl's name -- was something of an enigma to poor Saiph. He really wanted to figure out what these strange thoughts were logically.
She was objectively gorgeous (in his opinion). That, he understood. She also had the aptitude to match or perhaps even exceed Velvet's, putting Liz into high-tier Lavender. So it wasn't hard to figure out why he admired and perhaps even adored her.
However… why was it that he had a hard time keeping eye contact with her for more than fleeting glances, his heart started beating a few times faster whenever he was talking to her, and his face went flush red every time he saw her?
It didn't make sense!
Saiph decided to confide in Enzo, who then agreed with Saiph's decision- it was a crush. Enzo, certainly being more in-tune with psychology and how people work, explained to Saiph how sometimes stuff like this just happens. Maybe it's the process of puberty that's influencing Saiph's thoughts.
Enzo went on to explain that he too has had a few crushes in his time, giving Saiph some girl advice in the process.
"Saiph, women are like watermelons- plump on the outside and red on the inside."
Saiph wasn't sure what to make of his friend's enlightenment but decided to agree with the assessment.
The two eventually decided that Liz most likely didn't like Saiph back and that Saiph probably shouldn't act on his urges.
Although young and naive, Saiph relatively easily sealed away his desire for Liz and kept on going through the year. Of course, seeing her would always make him feel a bit antsy but, not wanting to be a Creep, Saiph kept it all to himself and never confessed to Liz nor anyone else regarding the matter.
At the end of the second year, there was a general exam consisting of everything the students had learned the past two years. Their overall score only mattered regarding acceptance into the honor roll, not passing or moving on.
However, each section's score was directly reported to the department heads to see whether or not the students were worthy of moving onto their specialties.
Of course, Saiph was gunning for the Alchemy classes. Then, in a few more years, he would specialize further into Spagyric. He still tried his hardest if only for the honor roll possibility, as well as perhaps the slight chance that his lack of a right arm would get him neglected from joining the Alchemy classes.
There were other specialties that he was somewhat interested in- Magic Theory and Runecraft. As for Mineralogy, Saiph really didn't care.
After finals ended, Saiph was officially no longer a newbie stuck in general studies at the Academy. There wasn't much time before classes started back up again but Saiph had a plan in mind.
The day after the testing ended, Saiph visited the Head of Spagyric's office. He was let in without a reservation.
Entering the room, the first thing Saiph saw was a middle-aged man sitting behind a large, wooden desk with his hands placed upon it. The man had pale skin and hazelnut hair with white roots.
"Welcome," he said. "I am Alfair Goth, as you know. How may I help you?"
Saiph responded first with a clean bow, then, "Hello, Mr. Goth. I am Saiph Glendoveer, a now-3rd-year. I sought you out today to speak of some theoretical Spagyric, if you wouldn't mind."
"Of course, of course. I'd love to help as much as I can." Mr. Goth responded jovially, interest perked.
"Then," Saiph asked, "how would one fix a severed arm?"