- Well, how do you like the new opportunities? Munith asked, sitting down at the same table with his friend.
- There are no opportunities yet. Only the promise of new opportunities.
- Don't pick on the words. You can call it an ability if you want. Isn't that inspiring? You're in a society of special people now. Those who can create their own destiny.
This conversation had only now arisen because, though the dark and light mages were sure that they would become sorcerers, they were smart and restrained enough not to share the pelt of an unkilled bear. Uriel, on the other hand, was not at all sure that he would awaken abilities. Now the discussion made sense, even though graduation was five years away. Most of the excluded magicians left within the first six weeks. If you passed, you'd be a mage anyway. Even if you were expelled from high school, no one would take your abilities away. And they only expelled students for serious offenses, and none of the friends were criminals.
- I used to be able to control my own destiny. And magic... I still don't understand what you like more, owning and studying magic, or being a mage, as a member of a powerful community. Magic itself is interesting, of course, but it's probably no better than any other sciences. Of the difference is a long life, and a guarantee not to die on the sword of an idiot. When it comes to the magic community, you're the only one of us who'd be in favor. With my abilities, I'm in the midst of thousands of mages. You're aiming for the top.
- To draw such conclusions when neither of us knows a single spell is hasty. I may very well be untalented, and you may be a genius.
- Do you believe that yourself? - Uriel chuckled-you're not taking into account one simple thing. That thing is genes. I know you got an "A" in biology. I don't claim to know more than you do, but you don't look at things through the lens of biology. I do. And our behavior is obviously determined by our genes. I'm lazy, and you and William are industrious. That's all. I can make myself work so I don't starve to death. But I can't just work for the sake of ephemeral power or whatever. But you can. Of course, labor does not promise success. But success requires work. Especially success in magic.
- You're slandering yourself. You know perfectly well in high school biology and more. How can this be achieved without work?
- Perhaps it's not really a job, but more of a hobby. Personally, I'm not sure I'd be interested in the magic of life. It's not really my thing to heal people. I only came here for the prestige of the academy.
- Yeah. You have no ambition at all.
- What are your own interests? Your family is fine now. - The families of mages who entered the academy were provided with well-paid jobs, housing, and security if they needed it. No one wanted grief-stricken warlocks who wanted revenge on their families or, worse, the empire. - It was understandable that you would try to improve their situation even further, but that was not your main goal. You don't look like a scholar, pardon me. Are you going to fight, or have you thought of something else?
- First I would like to see other countries, other people. Even though my family doesn't need anything now, there are hundreds of thousands of people living in poverty. I would like to help them.
- This is certainly a laudable endeavor. But how can you help? If you personally try to solve everyone's problems, it won't change anything globally. Especially if that same peasants can easily help by conjuring up rain or fertilizing the land, but how are you going to help the townspeople? Just hand out money or something? It's another matter if you want to help the poor on a global scale. But wouldn't that lead to another peasant uprising like the one that happens all the time in Navabad?
- Why are you immediately calling me a revolutionary? It is possible to help in some institutional way. The same merchants, according to William, in the next fifty years will achieve their direct representation in the government. So we must not be confused and together: the magicians and the common people also make the authorities respect our interests.
- Merchants can and will achieve, but about mages I doubt. Of course it's outright nonsense that mages only have privileges equal to those of the nobility, although much more important to the country, but changes are very unlikely. Judging by the same lectures mages are individualists, and do not seek power over ordinary people. In such conditions, there will be no association of magicians, and without unification, we will not impose our will on anyone.
- Crassus en Janet alluded to something in his speech. That it would be a good idea to unite and get out from under the power of humans.
- I don't know. I thought about his speech, too. But here's the question: if we wrest our freedom from the hands of the Emperor, won't it fall back into someone else's hands? If we become independent, then in the case of the promised war with Sharot, they will have an advantage in magicians, since free magicians have no reason to fight. Consequently, they will win. And when they conquer us, I doubt that the Federation Council and their grand mage will tolerate our independence. On the other hand, suppose we become not only independent, but the sole rulers of Acad. Then Sharot, of course, would not fear us. But our own Council of Masters would have as much power over us, ordinary mages, as no one else has right now. Now the state and the council often vie for the favor of ordinary mages, though they are able to command them. Then there will be no rivalry, but only a supreme lord, the conditional Crassus en Janet.
- Maybe. Or maybe not. These events are too distant to try to guess them that way. I see you're interested in the history of magic. - It was a subject that described events that had happened to the magical community for thousands of years.
- There's a little bit. Speaking of studies. How did you actually get control of the aura? Did you use the path outlined by the teachers, or did you make something of your own?
- Mine. - The dark mage was a little embarrassed and looked away.
- Did you use some obscene method if you're embarrassed to talk?
- No. Don't be offended. I just didn't want to see you beat me to it. I was angry and suddenly able to resist the influence of the teacher's aura.
- That's funny. I wonder what the other eight thousand ways are. How did they have the imagination to come up with so many.
- How did you do yourself?
- I just imagined that I could already see magic and control it. And then it was off to a good start.
- I see. Isn't that William coming? - Munith's eyesight was bad. - Yeah, that's him. Wave to him. He's probably pissed off, too, since he finished right behind us.
- You're really giving me a hard time. I thought I'd be ahead for a while.
- Next time, ask ahead of time. Maybe we'll hold our horses so you don't feel so bad about it.
- Oh, unlike you, I need a fair win.
- When have we ever won unfairly?
- Do you think learning how to control your aura just by getting mad because I beat you is fair?
- How is this way worse than the others?
William, meanwhile, approached the sorcerers. His aura, as well as Munith's, showed no traces of bad fusion with any type of mana - those threads. The aura itself looked as a lantern, so bright and luminous was it. If that light had the same effect as a normal light, it would have been impossible to look in its direction at all. William himself looked even more heroic in the light of his aura. He was broad-shouldered and well-built, as he had practiced fencing since childhood. His thick, black, wavy hair was loose and reached down to the middle of his back. His eyes were blue and always looked straight into the eyes of his interlocutor. His chin was always high and he was half a head taller than any student. Even if he were not a nobleman and a mage, he would still be desirable to any girl.
- What are the future great magicians talking about without me?
- Why are we the future great magicians?
- Isn't it obvious? Since I'm a future great wizard, how could I lose to those below me? I wouldn't. So don't let me down, and don't become pathetic mediocrities. the hero should not have weak friends.
- And, you mean you already know you're a hero? Don't be so shy, maybe you're already an emperor.
- First of all, of course I know I'm a hero. It would be ridiculous to be one and not know it. And second of all, of course I'm not laughing. How can a hero laugh with a pure heart, knowing that somewhere in the world a child has a tear rolling down his cheek!
- What child!?
- An unhappy child, destined by fate to be saved by me.
- It seems, Munith, that our friend, along with the control of the aura, has also received a schizophrenia.
- Hold him back, Uriel. I'll call the mental wizard.
- How can that wretched life-mage contain my power? - William's eyes showed how much fun he was having. It wasn't just his eyes, though. He is still not an actor, so even a smile now and then treacherously visited his lips. - I would fight the dark gods themselves if they would interfere with my righteous deeds!
- That's enough laughing. William, how did you get control of the aura? I'll tell you in advance that I used my imagination, and Munith was angry about my success.
- Oh, the answer is quite simple, my lean friend. I was inspired, I heard wonderful music, and then the sound of that string breaking. That inspiration is still with me. It generates such an intoxicating lightness of body that it cannot be compared to the best wines of Elverum.
- I didn't get the inspiration part, but if it felt like a bursting string, that's the standard way, isn't it? - Uriel glanced at the dark mage. – What did the teacher tell you?
- He marveled at how special I am. He said that only the greatest ancient mages, like Altair, were able to control the aura the way I did.
- Then I can see where you're in the mood for such jokes. If it's true, of course.
- Truly, I am offended by your distrust. Is it permissible for a nobleman to lie? Does a future great warlock need to lie? No.
- I told you, we got the humor and we laughed too. You can stop using such high-minded phrases.
- If you think this is a high style of speech, you've obviously never been to a formal reception. I spoke the way noble friends would talk to each other when no one could hear them. Well, never mind. Your aura suits you very well, Munith, by the way. It looks harmonious with your appearance and makes you look much more formidable.
- Thank you. Yours is pretty impressive, too.
- Will you stop praising each other? By the way, I just wanted to ask you, William, about auras. We can clearly see from the aura what type of mana a person has a tendency to. Why then was the ritual necessary for admission? The one with the lights.
- The point is that we see how the aura represents our relative affinity, while the ritual represents our absolute affinity. Take me: as you can see, the light mana takes up almost half of my aura, and all the other eight colors divide the remaining fifty percent roughly equally. This only tells me that I have more fusion with the energy of light than with all the others. But it could also be, for example, a mediocre fusion with the power of light with a disgusting fusion with the other energies, or as in my case, excellent with the light and good with all the others. So the ritual is necessary.
- Then there's another question. I didn't feel it when we were teleported to the academy. But I did feel a dome of silence spell being cast. Is it because I wasn't a mage before, or is it just that not all spells can be felt?
- More likely the second. I have no exact information on this, but the teleportation spell is one of the most complex and yet elaborate, as it is used and perfected by all mages. That's why it's quick enough to create and doesn't cause any sensations. But Crass en Janet probably feels something when he uses a personal portal. But will he tell anyone about it? If he does, he won't tell me.
- How do you even know so much about magic? We haven't been taught that yet. - Uriel had hesitated to ask the question until now. It had long been obvious that their friend was inexplicably more knowledgeable in the science of sorcery. Naturally he did not throw fireballs, but he knew the answers to almost every question the students had. Now William was in great spirits, and he could count on an honest answer.
- Didn't I tell you? - William looked at them, smiling. - The thing is, my grandfather is a magician. He only reached master level, but still, his stories about magic, which I often listened to as a child, are enough for me to answer your questions.
William was pleased with the surprise on the faces of his companions. The presence of magical abilities was not hereditary. What's more, no patterns were found among the people who received them. Magicians were born evenly among all races, classes, sexes, etc. The birth in a family of several mages, especially after only one generation, was a huge rarity. But one important thing is worth mentioning. Obviously, ordinary peasants and other laborers made up the majority of each country's population. And there were quite a few of them among the higher mages. What was the reason? The answer was simple: heredity and upbringing. Although everyone received the same knowledge in schools and academies, but everyone grew up in completely different families. So it turned out that among the archimages were merchants, nobles and only one commoner. Such injustice. Although the nobles, on the contrary, it seemed fair. Who was right and who was wrong, each mage decided for himself.