Patricia looks at the door, "Who's at the door?" "It's Miss Cassidy, Patricia." The young lady rushes at the door and opens it, revealing a woman with familiar straight green hair. "How are you doing?"
"I am fine, Miss Cassidy. May I ask why you thought of visiting me here?" Cassidy giggles, "I'm just here to ask you how have you been and talk about some things that are crucial for the meantime. Also, if I managed to catch up to Veronika, I would like to have a chat with her as well." Patricia bites her lip, "She might get angry to me that I have called your attention which is for her is an unnecessary move."
"Don't worry, I will say that I am the one who insisted to go here which is the truth anyway." The professor enters their room. "I am glad that the room is always clean." She said in awe as she inspects the surroundings. "She said to me that she will hate me if I leave it messy." Cassidy giggles, "Typical. I am happy that some things don't change, especially for her that goes under a lot of it. Her cleanliness remains. Don't you two talk when you are both here?"
"N-not really as far as what happened in the past couple of days, Miss Cassidy. Oftentimes, things will end up awkward and I just refuse to talk to her unless I needed to. She deliberately ignores me, and I feel she knows that I will shut up if she does it." Cassidy sighs, "Be a little more patient to her, Patricia. She has gone through a lot. Sometimes I just want to offer her a private mentorship, but I don't want to encourage hiding from the light she needed. I believe to myself that the only thing that could heal her is to show that there are people that won't betray her and always have ill intentions towards her. She doesn't need to push people away to protect herself. If not the pain of betrayal will kill her heart slowly, the torture of loneliness will. Even the most isolated man needs a companion."
Cassidy continues to look around the room until her eyes landed on the open notebook on Patricia's bed. She can't help but notice the name written on the flypaper of the notebook. Patricia took notice of it, "Ah, my sihsih sent me some of my mother's things." She approached the mess she has on her bed.
"I don't mind being rude and invading your privacy, but your mother's name seems to be Cexillia Johnstone, am I correct?" Patricia nods, "Why you asked, Miss Cassidy?" The professor looks at her, "No wonder everything about you seems familiar!"
"You know my mother, Miss Cassidy?" Cassidy giggles, "So well! You can tell I'm a fan of hers." She smiles, "She was my former mentor when she was given the opportunity to teach for a while in the academy. It was a rare opportunity since she only taught us for a year before she decided to leave. She was the second-in-command in the Anadiomeni Army, the very army where most Pristines that signed up to be legionnaires are sent. An army on which called upon when the soldiers of other nations can't hold a threat any longer. She was a known lady in her times, both when she was a student and a server of Thereal."
"She was a general… in an army. Is that how she died?" Cassidy's demeanor changed, she sighs, "Your mother was a great general, both her fierceness in battle and kindness to her troops is well-known. It's only a matter of time before we will be stripped of a great warrior and a leader."
"Could you tell me more about her?" Cassidy looks at her, "I only know much, Patricia. Besides, I believe that diary will tell you everything about her. It's a medium of her retelling her life even she's not with us. All I can say is that you have a great mother, Patricia. After all, Johnstones are very well-known in the academy for decades. Your mother just lived up to her name."
It puts a lot of pressure on Patricia all of the sudden. The professor noticed the change of mood on Patricia's face. "Don't worry, you don't need to 'live up' to their legacy. It's fine that you can't catch up with them. I am sure your sihsih won't be mad if you don't do excellently."
"I will still try to be the best, Miss Cassidy. Besides, I don't want to go home to my sihsih empty-handed. I know she's expecting me to do well with the packages that she sent to me." Cassidy smiles, "Whatever your decision is, I will support you, but you shouldn't be overworking yourself. Don't be pressured to do that, do it because you feel that it will bring happiness to you."
Patricia sighs, "Anyway, Miss Cassidy, what is the thing that you want to talk to me about?" Cassidy realizes they went off the rails, "Oh! I am sorry for the sudden detour of conversation. I was just surprised that my mentor's daughter is now my apprentice. How the turntables." She giggles, "I'm here to just ask how have you been and some further inspection to your core."
"Did the Singularity damage my magic core, Miss Cassidy?" The professor shakes her head, "The singularity doesn't harm anything. In fact, it's the embodiment of everything, so why would it damage the very thing it holds? The singularity knows your element, so you're not a threat to its existence. It's just… I need to observe how your core reacted when you interacted with the singularity. It's the other way around."
Cassidy helps her stand as they float in the air again. They folded their legs with one dangling in the air. Instead of making the hand gesture, Cassidy holds her hand. "Permit me to observe your core." Patricia nods as they both slowly close their eyes.
They appeared in the place where the core resides. They are surrounded by a sky blue tint and some wisps of white dotted around. In the middle, Patricia saw her core once more, seemingly remained unchanged since her last visit. This time, she appeared with her professor who was beside her.
"I am quite surprised that your core's aura is a sky blue tint, a symbol of calmness, but yet you seem uncontrolled with your emotions." Patricia looks at her, "Does it have a connection?" Cassidy giggles, "As I said, core and emotion connect to one another, as well as your conscience and will. The tint of your conscience reflects your attitude, but I guess it reflects your carefree attitude rather than your control within yourself. Even your mark on your arm reflects what kind of person you are. That's why it's mostly used in Astrology and other psychic things."
Cassidy looks around the place, inspecting it further. Patricia watches her approach the ball of wisp in the middle. "It seems perfectly fine. I see no sign of malignant infection to your core."
"Malignant infection? That sounds terrifying!" Cassidy looks at her, "Malignant infection is just an umbrella term for magic-related diseases such as corruption, erosion, and so on. Most of the infections that attack the core will spread throughout your body, thus the word malignant."
"But why would a thing like Singularity make me have those things? Corruption and erosion don't sound the thing they would do. As you said, it doesn't damage, right?" Cassidy sighs, "It's much more complicated than that." She rubs her chin, thinking. "Think of it like magnets, a subject is known to Arthiels. Singularity is a blob of a magic magnet. It creates itself by attracting magical energy into it. The roots of the Monadentro expand themselves to other continents because it is the will of the Singularity to take elemental energy within it."
"That sounds a bit like leeches rather than magnets, Miss Cassidy." The professor giggles, "The Singularity is not parasitic energy, but it does sound like it's one. Even it takes some elemental energy out of places, it has the purpose of keeping the elements intact and stable. It's also the very thing that separates the magic of Thereal from the magic of Earth. That's why things are happening because it has a problem."
"It's the polarity, isn't it?" Cassidy smiles, "You got an ear of an animal, a very keen observation." Patricia looks at her, "What's that exactly?" Cassidy sighs, "Polarity doesn't exist, well until now. It's a rather complicated topic as well. The existence of Singularity must be singular, as the name suggests. But in recent times, we are finding tracks of replication of Singularity that we think didn't come from the tree."
Cassidy looks back at the core of Patricia, "It will be a bit hard for you to understand the whole picture. Everything I will say will just contradict itself." She sighs, "I think it's best for these things to be out of your radius of knowledge. Even I, the guardian of the Monadentro, still lacks knowledge."
"Guardian of the Monadentro? That's why you seem important in that place. Everyone seems to need your help and when you touched the tree, you know yourself that it's unwell." Cassidy smiles, "Being the guardian of the Monadentro is no easy task nor its easy to be one in the first place. Anyway, I think your core is unaffected by the Singularity even with its first meeting with it, but I still forbid you from touching it again. That place is off-limits unless there are elders to look after you. Your unusual presence there will also lead you to be a suspect of the crime that we are investigating."
"I understand, Miss Cassidy. I am sorry again." The professor nods, "As long as you live up to your promise, you will be in a good condition. Again, tell me if you feel anything strange in the next few days. I will still keep my eye on you."
Patricia's eyes opened as she was welcomed by her room with her professor in front of her. They slowly descent to the ground. "I will be expecting you to report consistently to me. Please don't tell anyone anything that has happened in this room, especially those who you don't trust with such information. Everything I told you shall stay between us. If you want to tell your friends something, just tell them that something come to you that I am still investigating. Are we clear?"
Patricia nods, "Yes, Miss Cassidy, I won't let you down." Cassidy smiles, "I am glad that we understand each other clearly."
The door suddenly opens, revealing a black-haired young lady on the door. "Miss Cassidy? What are you doing here?" Their professor looks at her, "Oh, Veronika! I am glad you are home already, how was your bu—" Veronika cuts her off, "I am fine, Miss Cassidy. Did Patricia here call you to talk me out of things?"
Patricia looks at the professor, she called it. She knows that Veronika will say such things. "No, Veronika. I just visited her because I am worried if she's still okay. Sir Necal told me that she was discharged at the sick bay, so I went here to see if she's okay." Veronika nods, "Right, everyone has been talking about how she fainted in your class." She sets her things aside.
"Can I have a word with you, Veronika?" The young lady sighs, "Patricia really told you to talk to me, didn't she?" Cassidy shakes her head, "She didn't, it was just me who insisted. I have another problem to deal with you." Veronika looks at Patricia, but this time, she wasn't glaring as the latter expected. She just turned to her with her same old bored face and back to their professor. "Fine, I am not that sleepy yet. Do you need me to look out for her?"