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“Mana is like a thread; mana control is similar to passing said thread through a needle and mana management like determining the amount of thread that the needle can take…”
Tobey turned his eyes to the side, Hayden sat beside him reading a page out of a large scroll and writing down on his notes while bearing the same smile.
Yeah, this is not working. Tobey closed his book and heaved a sigh.
“Hey,” Tobey called out to Hayden beside him, keeping his voice as low as he could. Hayden turned to Tobey, wide-eyed.
“What do you mean you can’t use magic?” Tobey stretched his finger, pointed at the table.
Hayden scoffed, “You don’t believe me?”
“No, I don’t understand,” Tobey withdrew his finger and leaned closer to him. “You’re an Arcstone, this is a magic school, how can you not use magic?”
“I born without the ability to use magic. Although I can sense mana around me, I can feel it. Like how you can feel the water around you if you were swimming.”
Tobey shook his head in disbelief, “How… How’s that even-”
“Possible?” Hayden sighed. “It’s an Arcstone tribe thing. Whenever twins are born, there’s usually a big distinguishment between the two. One might have the ability to use high levels of spirit magic, while the other might not. One could have incredible physicality, the other could have a body as weak as a newborn baby. I was born without the ability to use any magic whatsoever.”
“Is it a curse?”
“Normally, it should be. But as long the tribe have someone to inherit the Grand Mage title, the elders have ignored that possibility, leaving the weaker twin to their fate.” Hayden said.
Tobey stared at him with a lingering irritation. “And in your case, that will be your sister?”
“Yes. She can use magic unlike me.” Hayden sighed his response.
Tobey’s eyes darted left and right. He didn’t want to attract attention to his conversation. “To what extent?” He whispered.
Hayden raised a brow at Tobey in surprise. “There are normal students and there are proteges. My sister may still be a first-year like us, but the amount of mana she has would be far more than the Masters at this school. The more she learns here, the more obvious it’ll be that she’s ridiculously powerful and fit for the role of Grand Mage.”
“Is that why you’re always protecting her?”
Hayden’s face twitched slightly. “What?”
“I mean, I don’t know if other people see it, but I do. Spend ten years having someone guard you and it sort of becomes obvious to you when someone else is guarding another.” Tobey could remember the days he spent while Lex was still around.
Lex was always gentle. Always caring, but Lex was also borderline strict. He’d forced Tobey to learn some of the things his father had mentioned, but Lex mostly gave Tobey the tools he needed to survive in the streets of Vergho.
“Those with something to protect always have the same shine in their eyes,” Tobey said.
Hayden’s mouth gaped at Tobey’s words. In honesty, he was not expecting Tobey to come here after the last class. He was even more shocked when Tobey walked in to have a conversation with Master Krull. Kayla had basically told him to leave the class so as not to reveal the secret that he could not use magic. Few students knew this. Those in the Elementals class thought he was in the Spiriters class. Those in the Spiriters class thought he was in the Elementals class. No one bothered asking questions, not even his Cadre.
Hayden had thought he could seize advantage of the moment to draw in and know Tobey better, just like he had planned. For a moment, as Hayden stared into Tobey’s eyes, it felt like he was being absorbed by the shiny brown of his Iris. And suddenly Tobey did not appear hostile.
“She was always there…” Hayden muttered. “Sister was the only one who never hated me for who I was. Everyone else at home gave me the same look like I was an object of disgust meant to be thrown away. But not sister. She never once treated me like an equal, but at least she always called to me and treated me like I was human. She believed in me, and my strength.” Hayden clasped his hands together.
He could still feel it. The warmth of Kayla’s palm touching his after he had been mercilessly beaten by his trainers at home. He’d be covered in blood, some of which was his and some not his, but Kayla didn’t mind. She’d teleport them to the Orb void and keep him there, using her magic to heal him. In truth, there was nowhere safer than Kayla’s Orb void for Hayden.
Everything else had been beatings, discrimination, and blood. All from the people he called family.
Hayden. It is your duty to serve the family. Remove all other thoughts from your mind and become a vessel to be filled with our will. He could still remember the words of the Elder sounding into his ears as he cowered face down, not daring to look at the large figure who hovered above him like a pitch-black shadow.
Hayden chuckled, “She’ll become Grand Mage. And I will use my strength to protect her.”
“What strength?”
“Don’t get the wrong idea, Tobey. I may not use magic, but I could tell from the first day I landed in here, there’s no one as strong as I am in hand-to-hand combat among the students…Not even you, a Morpher.” Hayden grinned.
Tobey smiled back at him, “Then prepare yourself. I’m not just going to let you hover across me.”
“Fine by me,” Hayden replied, standing up and grabbing his books from the table. Hayden’s eyes found the silver bone held sword dangling off Tobey’s neck. “I’ll see you again, Tobey,” he said as he walked away.
Yes, Kayla has a scary amount of mana. I’m sure about it, she’s one of the strongest in this place. Hayden thought as he reached the door. He stretched his hand to the knob and turned it slowly. He could still feel it, a large amount of mana so thick it felt he could see the colour. Like deep red vines clawing away at him. Hayden smiled, But honestly, you’re scary too Tobey.
While sitting there in silence, Tobey felt a chill run down his spine. His hands could not stop shaking, his lips moved awkwardly till they stopped, forming a wide smile. Tobey could not handle his excitement.
He closed his books and walked briskly to the Librarian, not caring for those who looked at him.
“Can I keep this?” Tobey asked, raising the book to the air.
“You may borrow it and return it within a month if you wish although you should finish it early.”
“I will. I have someone I need to see now,” Tobey replied. Master Krull noticed the rapid tapping of Tobey’s feet on the wooden floor.
“In a hurry I see. Well then, till next time.”
“Goodbye Master,” Tobey gave a brief bow before leaving. He had to find Master Renbao.
***
The lights dimmed in the Library in the evening hours past 5 pm. Master Krull walked around rearranging the books on the shelves and checking if they were arranged accordingly. Catalogues were important here more so than any ordinary library.
And so, Master Krull worked till the late hours of 8 pm when he finally accepted that the place was as neat as he wanted. There was nothing he loved more than a clean and quiet Library. He then went on to read scrolls containing the Nation’s history. Students who had passed through the academy all acknowledged how much of a bookworm Master Krull was.
Five scrolls later, Master Krull turned to the clock which ticked above his head at his personal reading table. The clock read 11:30 pm.
“Dear me, I’ve done it again,” he said, referring to his bad habit of staying late almost every day at the Library.
He packed his bags and walked hurriedly, down the stairs and across the lobby towards the entrance, switching off the last few lights on the walls before he reached the door. He pulled his coat over himself as he swung the door open and closed it behind him. The recent winds meant that the cold was coming. And it was always unpredictable here.
“Looks like the boy came by today,” A shadow leaning against the wall by the door spoke to the Librarian.
Master Krull chuckled and without turning to look replied to the shadow with a smirk. “Indeed.”
“Well? First Impression?”
“He’s still young, but he has room to impress. If he can hone his mana and channel it right…” Master Krull stroked his beard. He knew this shadow and knew it well.
A calm breeze blew across the pause that followed between the two.
“We are proceeding to the next stage,” The shadow said.
Master Krull turned towards the shadow. The eerie figure leaned against the wall, having no definite shape, erected like a swirling pool of suffocating black mass.
“What stage? He has only just arrived.”
“We have no time.”
“My Lord, rushing him may bring about consequences. I thought this was meant to be a-”
“I did not ask for your opinion on that, Master Krull.”
Master Krull sighed and drew his coat closer to his body. “Well, is there anything I can do?”
“No extra instructions have come, for now, just continue with him as you would,” the shadow said as it slowly began to evanesce. “The forgotten do not forget, Master Krull.” It spoke.
Master Krull rose his hand and placed it on his left eye, his weary eyebrows brushing softly against the coarse skin of his palm. “The forgotten do not forget.
The shadow faded, leaving Master Krull to ponder on its words as he stared into the stars in the distance. The light was calm, emitting a soft glow on the surface below. Yet during this calm, Master Krull felt a strong rage rising within him gradually from his torso to his head. He squeezed his coat as a tear dropped down the left side of his face.
“The forgotten do not forget.”
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