I wasn't able to go to the library that night.
We were all so relieved Prof. Whitman didn't report Darius to the seniors, that Elliot decided to open another platter of food to welcome him to the dorms. Even Arman seemed to have known about the small celebration, for he sneaked back into our room about an hour later.
We spent the night trying to know each other better, or rather, with Elliot, Cat, and Arman telling Darius about themselves while we stuffed ourselves with Aunt May's freshly baked pastries.
It was well past eleven when Cat fell asleep and we called it a day. Darius shortly followed suit, and Arman finally decided to go back to his room.
I kept awake.
I rose up from bed when my companions were all snoring peacefully and quickly chanted an inaudible spell before taking my tome from its usual hiding place to look for useful spells that could help us protect Darius.
I have read my tome from cover to cover so many times that it was easy to look for what I was searching for.
"A spell to rewind, revert, and remake..."I mumbled to myself.
The 'rewind' spell that I used to heal Arman's wounds the other day, returns an object to it's former condition, but it could only rewind time on an object, 2 hours back at the most.
A better spell is the 'revert' spell, where you need to specify a certain point in time where you want to revert from. It works by enchanting an object from the start, while it is still at its prime, that way, you can 'revert' to that condition in case it gets broken.
It only works once, though, with a time limit of three years.
The last spell is the most advanced – The 'remake' spell.
This spell takes mass from other objects to replace a missing part on your target. I have grasped the basics of this spell that doesn't simply turn back time. I could actually replace a part by using other similar objects to make it whole again, like fixing a broken cup for example, by sacrificing another one.
It's an advanced spell for a 5 core magus, though, and currently, I only have three mana cores.
A mana core determines a magician's talent for magic.
In the Empire's standards, I would be at the level of an arch mage with my three mana cores.
A magician begins as a mage with 1 mana core. They level up as an arch mage when they obtain 3 to 4 cores. A magus would have 5 to 6 cores, a magister 7 to 8, while a grand magister or sage like Grand Magister Shalem, would have 9 to 10 cores.
There are some people blessed with a mana core since birth, particularly, those from a royal bloodline. They simply need to realize it is there and learn how to use it properly.
I, myself, found out I had two mana cores when I found my tome 5 years ago, and got my third core then I was 13.
Some people never find out, though. They live their entire lives as ordinary citizens, or are forced to manifest what little mana they have during the Celebration of the Purple Flame.
A late manifestation, though, usually means that they are not talented enough to become actual magicians.
It takes years of tough training and tremendous effort to create a mana core around a person's heart. There it would revolve endlessly, collecting mana from the surrounding needed for a person to perform magic. This is why the earlier you manifest, the better, and the more cores revolving around your heart, the more mana you can store to fuel your magic. It is probably the same reason why the Ivory Tower only prefer young magicians.
Currently, I am working on my 4th core and am confident that I can finally use the 'remake' spell when I do.
In theory, I would just need to conserve my magic for several weeks to gather enough mana to cast a level 5 spell. The problem is, I'm not sure if the 'remake' spell would work on a living organism. After all, most of the spells in my tome are used for surveillance, defense, and repair.
There are no spells here for healing.
I merely improvise.
"If I use this on a living organism, would I need another living organism to replace its missing parts?" I mumbled to myself. "Would I need a foot to replace a missing foot? An arm for a missing arm? Should it come from the same species? Or would an inferior organism suffice, like for example, a pig's arm in replace for a man's?"
"What are you reading?"
I almost yelped as I faced Darius who was standing right beside me, breaking my concentration. I sighed as I released my inaudible spell.
"Sorry... I didn't notice you there..." I told him as I closed my tome.
"Yes, you seemed pretty engrossed," he replied as he sat on his bed. "Is that a magic book?"
"Yes," I replied with a smile. "Did you wake up from the light on my table?"
"No... I just... had a bad dream," he said with a frown.
"Would you like to talk about it?" I asked.
Darius kept silent.
"Would you like me to help you sleep?"
"Can you?" he replied.
"If you wish."
"Then I would prefer not to dream," he requested of me.
"Of course."
I started looking for the 'spell of dreamless sleep' I once tried to use upon myself to get rid of my nightmares.
"You seem really used to this?" Darius asked as I flipped through the tome's pages.
"And you don't seem surprised to see a fellow neophyte use magic?" I asked back.
"Oh, it's just that my younger brother back home awakened into magic last year, on the eve of his 12th birthday," he confided to me. "His bed actually caught on fire. We had to cover it up and say that he was playing with matches."
"I guess you can't really stop talent from manifesting," I found myself saying.
"Exactly. And the empire's absurd rule that bans minors from learning magic is just a way for them to lock them up in their Ivory Tower," Darius said with spite. "They just want a monopoly of power. After all, taking them in while they are still young makes manipulating them that much easier."
"What do you expect, magicians are a rare breed, after all," I told him. "But don't you think it's pointless to look for unmanifested students with talent in magic, only when they reach the 4th year?"
"For magic, yes, but it's the ideal age to train the Knights of the Purple Flame," Darius explained. "You see, there's an unwritten rule, that all magicians belong to the Ivory Tower, but those who manifest pass their adulthood immediately become the property of the empire. They are trained as magical knights. They would be good enough to learn simple spells and combat magic."
"Then, how do they pick out all the talented magicians before they reach the age of 18?" I wondered.
"It actually happens as soon as a child is born," Darius replied. "That's why they offer huge rewards to anyone who could point out or bring their own children with the slightest signs of magic talent to the empire's capital, regardless if they manifest or not. Even girls with a hint of holy power are taken in the same way, and are sent to the Holy Temple to be trained as priestesses."
"That's why you need to be extra cautious," he continued, "there are charms around the campus that can detect people with a mana core, and even professors who place hidden tasks in the curriculum to find students who have a talent for magic."
"What hidden tasks?" I asked anxiously.
"The professors take note of outstanding students who excel in subjects related to magic, like alchemy and herbology," Darius explained. "Sometimes they even use spells that only students with mana can see. They pull the students out as soon as they are found, and send them to the Ivory Tower."
This brought to mind Prof. Novil and his warning, as well as the possible consequences.
"I heard the emperor turns them to catamites?" I whispered low.
"Well, there's also that," Darius didn't deny it. "That's why my family and I did everything in our power to keep my brother's awakening a secret. There's a rumor though, that the emperor is too old to take in new concubines."
"And how's your brother now?"
"Still at home, satisfying his curiosity with a couple of magic books from our great grandfather's library. We had to let go of several servants to make sure only the loyal ones remain. You magicians can be very... destructive, after all. You can be very prone to accidents."
"Ah, I wish I could compare notes with him!" I said with a big smile.
"He would surely be glad to meet you too, some day, but not right now."
"Ah, yes, of course..."
I finally found the sleeping spell.
"It's a wonder though, why they didn't find you out," Darius added as I was about to read the spell. "Like I said, there are magus professors here who could tell a mage's capabilities simply by looking at them. From what I heard, it is quite easy for them to tell how many cores a magician has."
"Oh, I read about that as well," I told him, "that's why I used a spell of concealment from my tome. It keeps prying eyes from seeing your core, it even hides all trail of mana emitted from your body."
"That's quite a useful spell," Darius said with interest. "My brother could surely use something like that!"
"I can send him a copy of the spell if you wish."
"I would be most grateful if you could do so!"
"Then I shall write the spell down for you in a code that only your gifted brother would be able to decipher!" I replied. "Now, shall I send you to sleep?"
Darius smiled at me.
I was surprised to see that for a little while, the haunted look on his face seemed to have disappeared.
"Thank you," his smile faded away. "I'm sorry it's a bit late, but thank you for everything you have done for me..."
I smiled back at him.
"You are most welcome."