The ship rocked back and forth. Sometimes the constant movement made everyone felt drowsy, but today was still as difficult even for an apprentice like him. Dion faintly snored beside Vega like a log after being cut in half.
Vega normally practices and meditates. But tonight, after he let his mana wrap around his body, he felt a slight stomach pain that made him unable to concentrate.
Going the bathroom, he splashed a little cold water onto his face and looked stared at his reflection in the mirror. He changed a lot. His cheeks grew bigger and looked healthier compared to the first time he began his journey as an adept. Drying himself with a wave of his hand, he went back to the room, seeing the relaxing face of his friend.
Slowly, he sat on the soft bed and closed his eyes. Trying to relax, he concentrated on the wave crashing outside his room. Finally, after his thousand breaths, he succeeded in creating the mental image of his first sigil. The mana started to stir and gather.
The chaotic nature of mana slowly tamed and adapted itself into his own version, with a tinge of soft melody playing in the background. The first, the second, the third. Yet the sigils broke down, followed by a sharp pain. He winched and tried to concentrate again.
A relaxing tone came in the form of a hum filling the edges of the room. The wind stirred the candle, and it flickered, casting shadows over the bed. Dion definitely slept deeper, but not him. The sound magic affected the people around him but not himself. Luckily, humming was too similar to a simple meditation—focusing on one thing and one thing only. He gained his focus back. Slowly, the fourth sigil showed itself in his mind.
The night went by fast without his knowledge, and the morning came.
The sun shone through the window straight at the pillow right at Vega's eyes. He opened his eyes suddenly and instantly covered his eyes, squinting light bearing into his eyes. "This window," He grunted. "Why don't you guys ever have any curtain on your window?! Not here, not in the tower, not in your manor, everywhere, only transparent windows!"
Dion chuckled, "What curtain is anyway?"
"Just a simple cloth hung inside to keep the sunlight from reaching you." Privacy was really important in the city to keep people from peeking inside. Mostly, it was also a safety reason. Thieves, like himself, used the window to map the place they were robbing before making plans and then breaking in.
"We really need to visit where you're from. From your stories, this place sounds even better than the magical islands." Dion made his point by stretching his palm open, summoning a fireball hovering over his palm.
"I get your point. But no, it's not magical like here. They don't even have a crazy tower with that moving platform going to the top floor."
"Oh yeah, what else do you have there?"
"Nothing. It's all similar. Actually, the ship reminded me a lot of my time in the city. Guards were everywhere, and your freedom was limited. Ah, we also have steam engines around the street, like a carriage but without a man steering them. It brings you around to another city easier and faster, but flying is definitely better."
"Yes. Mernoralin created these boundaries between the islands and outerlands. We live inside the giant invisible barrier, and no one knows where the edges are. And you're saying we're technologically backward?"
"But you have this magic, and yet I heard good things about the capital. Oase del Mar is always depicted as the most advanced place compared to other islands. Talking about Mernoralin, why does my mentor always have a weird expression when she mentioned him?"
"Mernoralin was, is still pretty famous. Even some commoners who couldn't afford to study mana knew his name. But the real history, we don't know. We believe Mernoralin brought peace and is regarded as a hero by many of us. His theory limits the magic even though it makes adepts advance faster. All the nobles and even the commoners came from the same place on a little island south of here."
"Not really, no. What do you have there?"
"A lot of things. I'm going to bring you there sometimes. You have to see it yourself to see what it's like. But now, I'm hungry. I know you're hungry too. See, anytime I mention food, your stomach growl at me."
"Okay, okay." Vega blushed but stood up and pushed the wheelchair to the dining area.
After they had their nutritious breakfast, they went back inside the room and even skipped talking to the apprentices stopping them on the way back. Everything returned to normal in the room.
While Dion sat in a corner doing his meditation, Vega took out another book and started to read. The book was amazing. Even the beginning paragraphs were interesting. But then the book explained more and more about the history of the adepts.
His normally quiet house shook while he was increasingly invested in the book. Surprised, Vega opened it and saw the letters move.
"I'm here too, you know. I'm bored, and that book was interesting but wrong."
"What do you mean it's wrong?"
"I thought you didn't have any memory of your previous owner."
"I lied, okay. I still remember all their knowledge from the past, but it's not time for me to reveal it to you yet. You're not even at the minimum stage to learn even the simplest spell I have. But I don't want to be ignored. I'm bored here. You have no idea what it's like to be a book."
Vega pointed at Dion. What will happen if he kills me?"
"Then he owns me." Simple."
"You're crazy. "Now that you're open, what do you want to talk about?"
"Nothing. But next time, ask me a question, okay?"
"Okay--"
"What's going on here?" Dion was suddenly next to him, gawking at the dancing letters on the book. "You have a magical book; that's awesome!"
"Oh, hi. I thought you were still meditating. Here, Dion, book. Book, Dion."
"Hi, kid. I can fix that leg of yours. But we need Vega to master the water element more and wait until he's adept."
"Really!"
"Yes. But before that, I have to pretend to be a normal talking book. Okay, I'm already saying too much. Enjoy your day, boys. Don't forget to open me sometimes."
"Okay."
The book turned back into a normal book. Vega then closed the book and apologized to Dion.
"I should've told you about this earlier."
"That's okay. We all have our own secrets. Let's practice. You need to master the water, and I the fire."
Vega and Dion sat facing each other. They must keep their spells from reaching the wall in the small room. So when Vega blasted a torrent of water toward Dion, the noble needed to create a shield large enough to keep the water from reaching the wall.
But the water was more powerful, overcoming the shield and splashing into the wall. Dion chuckled and summoned a ball of fire that shot toward Vega really fast. Vega almost missed it, but water came toward the fire with a slight wave of his hand and doused it off.
After they practised their spells, Vega brought Dion to the hull of the ship.
They have been on the ship for two days, but most of the apprentices already got bored from being stuck in their room and spent their time playing Rodarkh. Most of them already knew each other and started whispering when Vega went out with Dion.
Vega didn't mind them and went to the edge of the deck and looked down, enjoying the slight breeze in the ocean. A waitress came toward them, offering a cold glass of mead that he accepted gladly. After tipping her with several bronze coins, Dion nudged him on the leg.
"She thinks you're cute."
"What? How?"
"She blushed looking at you."
"Stop it. I don't care about that. Look, there are a couple of birds there!"
"Yup. Hornbills. They're beautiful; look at the colors on their feathers. We're probably passing by the Eight Flame Island just over there."
Vega felt the name was slightly familiar and finally remembered, "The place where most of the elders from the Goldenheart family live."
"How do you know about them?"
"The other inner apprentices," Vega told Dion about Nora and Philip.
"Congratulations! "I didn't know that you won the competition."
Vega shook his head. Winning was a little far from what actually happened. He remembered that they had to kill the other apprentices during the coup. That was not his first time killing people, but the look of fresh blood still haunts him sometimes. He preferred to live without having to watch another creature or person die under his hands, but as an adept, that was impossible.
Akin to a jinx, another creature appeared on the edge of their vision. But more and more apprentices joined the fights and killed the creature fast. The boys flew back toward the ship and cheered.
All the other apprentices stopped their Rodharkh game and gawked at the high-level apprentices like they were someone famous. Vega and Dion would've joined, but they didn't have any magic items to fly and join the fight. Dion could use his sword, but that would count as suicide.
Their first thing to do when they arrived at the capital was to buy a flying boat or carpet to be known as the real high-level apprentices.
After the sun started to disappear around the horizon, Vega was back in the room, and he practiced his meditation again. Life on the boat was slow, but after his crazy week, he preferred to stay and enjoy life this way.