"What happened, Uncle Ben?" asked Michael as they went out the dining hall. He couldn't think of any reason that Carson would want to meet him, especially after they just met him before lunch. His first thoughts were that Ben wanted to talk to him about something and has just used Carson as an effective excuse to get him away from Alex.
"I don't know as well. Carson called us both in. He told that he needed to talk about Alex and get you to his place," said Ben. "He already gave me the permit to enter."
"Isn't he out at the testing?"
"No, he left it about half-an-hour ago. He called someone else to replace him," said Ben. He took Michael to the sixth floor where there was door at the centre of the corridor with a pair of dryads carved on it. This was the way into the central area of the palace. Similar doors exist on all the four sides. Once Ben showed his signet ring a ray of light travelled into it from one of the eyes of the dryad and the door opened up.
There was a large hall behind the door. It was a large study hall used by the students who are at specialization level. It also had a bunch of crystal balls which were used to retrieve information placed in long shelves towards the east. These could be used by the students and professors to access information.
There were a few professors among them too. At the centre of the hall there were five long pipe like structures that extended from the ground to the top of the hall. These were the only ones that would allow a person to move through the various floors of the central part of the palace.
"Follow me," said Ben as he took him to one of the floors and used his ring to access the lift. It quickly took them to the twelfth floor in which them moved to Carson's office. It was more like a research lab filled with equipment than an office. Every inch of the walls were covered in array plates.
"Don't be surprised. He stopped taking classes. Most of the students down there don't even know him. He went completely into research a few years ago. He hardly ever comes out apart from testing students. That is one thing he takes very seriously," said Ben. "The only thing he has focused on that theory about stranger and stronger kind of magicians that would emerge soon due to changes in the mana of the world."
"The one in which he suggested that summoning should be prevented, and it will cause our realm to become a nightmarish existence. The one that cost him his job as headmaster?" asked Michael. These were secrets that were known only to noble families and were kept out of reach from many commoners as the implications of such thoughts and ideas if they reached everyone would be a disastrous.
"That's the one," said Ben nodding his head as he also looked around the room. He had come here once in the two years he had joined the academy, but he still felt it like it was his first time. The arrays and tools whose properties or uses, he couldn't determine. He felt like a commoner who came into a magician's lab the first time and it was the same now.
"So, you are here," came Carson's voice from behind a few shelves. They moved towards his sound quickly and found him beside a bunch of papers having the details of the students. "I am gathering evidence of my theory from the data of the students."
Ben and Michael looked at each other with a poker face not knowing what to say. It was considered taboo to even talk about it to those who didn't know of it and discussing it with the one who presented it was much off limits.
"Just kidding," said Carson as he looked at their expressions. "But I did notice something that I want to discuss with you two. It is about your boy Alex."
"Something wrong?" asked Michael as he heard his son's name.
"Not necessarily wrong, but it is special," said Carson as he pulled out the reports of the Alex's tests. "He is in great health and good physique as expected of a warlock family, but there are some discrepancies. Nothing in bloodwork or the usual stuff, it is his affinities to the kinds of magic that were a bit controversial."
"Affinities?" asked both Ben and Michael together in surprise as they looked at each other.
"What do you mean by affinity?"
"Yes, the tools were improved and adjusted a bit. The orb which usually measures the compatibility of the students' bodies to the transfer of mana also makes reading of their affinities. It allow us to better realize their potentials," explained Carson.
"I have been here for two years and teach specialization students. How come I didn't know this?" asked Ben.
"It has been in application for four years now. It is just provided to senior professors who council the students when they want to take more subjects or so as a guide. It is never used to restrict student's though. Only their strengths are shown in the report. We can never know if they can get far enough in other specializations if they have enough knowledge," said Carson.
"Okay," said Michael as he tried to understand. "What does it have to do with Alex?"
"Let me explain you the nature of this tests to better understand the problem. Affinity to something doesn't imply that a student would be bad at other things. It is just that he would better at these. Sometimes a student who doesn't have an affinity to an elemental magic like fire can be better at it than one who has. It just means that the student would be much more easily be able to perform the magic to which he has an affinity," said Carson. "You understand."
"Yes."
"Usually a student has only one affinity according to which we can suggest the student to choose their specialization. There are occasionally two or in some extreme cases three affinities, but these are expected for example there was one who had affinity to fire and lightning. The two are more or less similar in the way we apply them for most cases. You don't find one with fire and water. Those two are opposites and clash. It would be extremely hard to pursue specializing in those two fields. Some would consider it impossible," said Carson.
"But there are known situations in which an elemental magician had pursued specializing in them simultaneously. They are some of the most powerful ones to be known," said Ben.
"Yes, there are but they have taken a lot of time to achieve that and the case of fire and water is still fine. Your son has two rare ones and they clash with each other badly. They are soul and lightning," said Carson.
"You also check for dark magic like soul magic?" asked Ben.
"Soul magic isn't dark magic. It is just another branch of magic. Almost all seers could pursue soul magic and there are quite a few who do. It depends on the way they use it," said Carson signaling him to shut. "Don't have such kind of prejudices, Prof. Morrison. As a teacher you should condone such blather."
"Ok. So, that is what you called me about?" asked Michael. "Does he have a chance as a seer?"
"No. Seer requires a little more. Your son has a chance to pursue something different which is considered a lost art. You see, lightning mages usually have strong body tempered by the energies of lighting combined with his bloodwork, he has a good chance to be a strong warlock. Lightning is also the bane of souls. It is often recommended to use lightning to get rid of renegade souls in other realms by travelers," said Carson.
"So, the conflict with each other and he has to choose one over the other," said Michael.
"Definitely lightning. There is no need to think about it," said Ben taking an authoritative stance. He already started thinking about other things like finding a lightning oriented bird to use blood essence and core to model Alex into a strong warlock of the family.
"I am not done yet. Basically, lightning is the bane of soul, but not the other way around. He can pursue both, but it won't hamper his affinity towards lightning magic. I am more concerned about the other thing. It is extremely rare but there have been records of magicians who managed to develop in both fields," said Carson. "Though it may take some special training from the start to not hamper the affinity he has toward soul magic. So, I wanted to talk to Michael about it."
"There could be," said Ben. "If someone managed to specialize in both fire and water. It is not an impossible thing to do similar stuff."
"It is much harder to be proficient at lightning and soul magics, one is elemental magic and the other is uncategorized. Not really the same thing," said Carson. "So, it will be a tougher training requiring him to spend more hours."
"You know the names of any lightning magicians who are also good at soul magic? I never heard of them," asked Ben. "I would like to consult the family before we make any decision."
"You probably heard. They are usually known as soul catcher," said Carson.
"Haha," said Ben. "You're kidding right? That's a myth."
"No. They exist and I have evidence," said Carson. "You have heard of my master, Clark Thompson. His master was one."
"I still better consult with the family," said Ben.
"Yes, I would also recommend that. That is the reason, I have called you. I wanted to know if there were any occurrences of similar talents among the Morrison family before. If there were any, it would be much helpful to Alex if their training methods and experiences are used," said Carson.
"And Michael. I wanted to know which meditation technique, your son had been using. If this effect has been due to any special method?" asked Carson.
"The standard Nature Nurture. I have been using the same and gave him the same method. He isn't good at meditating either. So, I doubt that it affected him," said Michael as he thought about it.
"So, you have asked about the experience of the family members. Do you have any way to actually help him pursue the path of this soul catcher?" asked Michael. "Your grandmaster left anything?"
"No. That is the main problem. I wanted to see the legacy of the soul catchers revived. They were stuff of nightmares to dark magicians, necromancers, wraiths and all manner of such creatures," said Carson.
"Anyway. He has an affinity for now. I would like to check it again later and we do have a couple of magicians who could train him personally and they agreed to alternate in training him," said Carson as he handed over a book called spirit hold to Michael.
"Let him train in this meditation method for an hour daily apart from the usual. We can see if he retains his capabilities. If he does have the same aptitude, we can continue after that," said Carson. "You can also try it out, but I don't think it will be much useful."
"I will do that," said Michael as he took the book. It was titled 'Soul mind'. He opened and went through it as he went out of the room with Ben.
"So, what do you suggest?" asked Michael. "I know he is a good man, but I kind of have the feeling that he wants to see the resurgence of soul catcher again and might not be entirely truthful to us."
"It is true that lightning is bane to most soul life forms like wraiths, but I also know that the inverse doesn't hold. Still, it is better we consult with Harvey once. He would know things and have access to information that we don't in the family vault," said Ben. "I will let you know by evening."
"I will do that," said Michael as he left to his own room. He had yet to feed Dominic and also needed to make some preparations for his classes.
At the same time, there was another person who came out from behind a shelf in Carson's room. "Are you sure of it?" asked the person.
"Yes, Falcone. He has the lost bloodline. Sooner or later, he will learn soul magic on his own. Even the tester had shown affinity to soul magic," said Carson.
"How come he has it when his father or mother don't?"
"I don't know, but his mother is an orphan. No one knew about her parents and it might have been repressed in her. You know that even the royals had once planned to kill my grandmaster and exist only due to his benevolence," said Carson.
"Let us keep the thing about your grandmaster a secret. No one needs to know and let them think that we are training him to be a normal soul catcher," said Falcone. "It is a surprise though. You have given up on his family decades ago and suddenly you decide to run the kid's bloodwork against your grandmaster's."
"Don't worry. I indeed gave up on it, but it had been only recently that we started to check the students' affinities and his were intriguing enough for an old man to try one last time," said Carson. "There won't be anyone suspecting the kid through my actions."
"Then, it must be fate indeed," said Falcone. "I will also guide him if he comes across any hurdles. I hope that the Nature Palace can find another guardian of his caliber."
"So, do I, but let us leave him to his own for a couple of years. With my grandmaster's meditation technique, he is bound to improve. There is a war coming and I hope we can put a proper fight," said Carson as Falcone moved towards the door to leave the room.
"You mean the one with the Void mansion or your crazy theory?" mocked Falcone.
"The Void mansion. We might not even be alive long enough to see the truth of my theory anyways," said Carson. "What about his younger brother, the baby?" asked Carson when Falcone was almost at the door.
"Little Dom. We will see to that when he comes of age. Till then, I would keep an eye out for his safety too," said Falcone.
"Good. The more, the better."