Seth picked up his pot from the shelf. It was still in the wrong spot when he collected it, so he was somewhat optimistic that it hadn't been tampered with.

Not that it made much difference. Nothing had sprouted yet and it had been nearly a month. At least his wasn't the only one that hadn't had anything growing yet. There were still a handful of other stragglers, including the guy Seth had swapped positions with.

Class mostly went over nuances of the detect spell they'd learned the first week and what they could expect when casting it on different things. Then Professor Cicily explained how those nuances related to an analysis spell they'd be learning once everyone's plants sprouted.

Seth glanced over at Arnold. If Arnold successfully killed Seth's plant, the whole class would be held up and Seth could be blamed.

Selendrith's plant had sprouted. It already had several palm-shaped leaves tipped with black. It was one of the most robust in the class.

Seth suppressed a sigh. He might as well find out if the thing still lived. Detect Life generally required direct contact with what he was casting it on. He didn't want to dig up the pearly seed and risk it harm or Arnold discovering it, so he decided to just try to cast it through the pot.

Detect Life was similar in concept to Detect Mana, even though the structure was pretty different. Seth didn't want to use an unstructured variant, as that would involve his wayward talent and probably ruin the spell. His Breeze attempt to blow the rain away was a wet and painful failure.

At first, he closed his eyes. Then he decided to open them since he didn't need to listen. He wanted to see.

He imagined the pot and everything in it as the target of the spell. And it worked. He could very faintly sense the soil as alive, dead, and inert. He could sense the dead seed he'd been using as a decoy, and near the bottom was a tiny white star blazing with life. Not only could he feel its vibrancy, but he could ever so slightly see it too.

The spell ached. There was a rushing noise in his ears. He could only hold the spell for a couple of seconds before the aching became sharper. He cut off the spell well before it would have ended naturally.

Seth tried to keep his breathing even. He wondered if he'd made a noise because Selendrith was watching him closely. He needed a minute before he could try to cast the next spell.

When he didn't feel the ache anymore he cast Detect Mana. He kept his eyes open for this one too, and used only the structured version of the spell.

It, too, worked differently than before. Like before, he could sense the mana in the pot, denser than the mana around him and stronger than he expected it to be. But for the first time he could faintly see mana. He couldn't see it clearly. It was more like looking into water that light was reflecting on. He could just catch glimpses of what was beneath the surface.

He could vaguely see most mana as translucent. Seth recognized that as unaspected mana. There were other types around too, but he couldn't see them well enough to guess at. Except for one. He could sense, and somewhat see, death mana lingering in the pot like a faint white smoke.

It was concentrated near the pearly seed.

Seth cut that spell off quickly too, as the pain became sharper and more intense faster this time. He thought about what was going on with casting spells. It was like he was casting a higher tier spell with all the extra information he was getting. Maybe there was residual mana from the berry overcharging the spells?

That didn't explain why he could see the spells though. Always before the spell results were something he could sense, an awareness, not something he could see. He wondered if he'd still be able to see the spell results when the leftover mana was used up.

That could wait a bit. Right now he needed to figure out what to do about Arnold casting death spells at the seed. Not that the seed seemed to mind all that much. It was strong. It just wasn't sprouting.

"Hey," Seth said quietly to Selendrith, "I was thinking about using one of those berries to power a protective circle on my plant."

Selendrith followed Seth's glance to Arnold. "Not a fan of the free spells you're getting from the upperclassman?"

"Not when one of them is supposed to kill the plant."

"Then I'd say first make sure the plant isn't dead."

"It isn't, but there is a fair amount of death mana lingering in the pot."

Selendrith stared at him from the corner of her eye as she reached for one of the plant food decanters. "Detect Mana doesn't identify mana types with the structured spell."

"I cast the structured spell."

"I know. But you sensed death mana?"

Seth nodded. "I'd put other seeds in here as decoys. I think they caught the death spell instead of the seed I want to grow."

"How did you get mana aspects out of a structured spell?" Selendrith glanced from the decanter in her hand to her notebook and pen and then at Seth.

Seth didn't want to become a subject of study at the moment. "I have no idea. I can't cast it again now either. It's painful to do it."

"Huh." Selendrith finished measuring out a portion of brown liquid she then added to her pot. At least she didn't start quizzing him like a research project. "I wonder if that plant likes death magic. I can think of a formation we can do, but we'll need something to attach it to and a way to power it."

"Like attached to what? Stone, wood, something else? Would that make it easy for me to be able to cast on the plant?"

Stolen story; please report.

"Well, that depends on what you want it to do. Do you want the spell to be blocked or repelled?"

"Can a formation just hold the mana from the spells?"

Selendrith shook her head. "No. If that were possible, it'd be really easy to fill mana vaults."

"I think the seed needs more mana to sprout. Is there a way to do that?"

"Probably just putting berry slices in there with it would do that."

That was true. Those things were dense with mana. He didn't want to accidentally grow a mana berry bush, though. "You cut one of those open. Were there seeds in it?" Seth asked.

"There were." Selendrith followed Seth's gaze to the trays of plants and growing material. "I thought of that, but not here," she said. "I'd feel better–"

"Aw, look at that. Looking a little barren there, kid," Arnold said as he walked up behind Seth.

"It's fine," Seth said coolly. "Just a late bloomer."

"It's late all right. That was an interesting choice, Selendrith. Did you choose poison tip on purpose?" Arnold asked.

"Of course not. I didn't know how similar its seeds were to jewel leaf. I'd prefer to assist with healing potions, not poisons."

"Poison tip is good for fighting infections and curing disease. Sometimes curing one thing means killing another," Arnold said, looking at Seth.

"Actually, Arnold, could I talk to you after class?" Seth asked.

"No. I'm busy." Arnold's response was instant.

"Me too. We both have the Menagerie after this. But we don't leave for at least a half hour after class."

Arnold's expression soured. He flipped his hand dismissively and turned away. "Fine. Catch me after class. I won't wait."

Near the end of class, Seth decided he wouldn't switch or conceal his plant. Arnold had been casting on it anyway and it didn't seem to be fazed by the death spells. Seth would rather not have classmates caught up as collateral damage. He'd get berry slices from Selendrith later to add to his pot. He might even just take the pot back to his room later so he didn't have to worry about a formation.

Despite having his area cleaned up and being ready to go, Seth still had to run after Arnold when Professor Cicily dismissed the class.

Arnold also sped up when Seth fell in step beside him. He headed for the elevating platforms.

Seth was surprised they were going up. Moments later, they were away from the other students and heading to the fourth floor.

"You said you had proof," Seth said.

"No. I didn't."

"What?" Seth was incredulous.

"I told you I had evidence. If I had proof, you both would be talking to the Palace, and I wouldn't be worrying over the safety of every other student in this school."

Seth scoffed. "You are not responsible for every student. How arrogant can you be?"

Arnold halted and faced Seth. "When it comes to you, yes, I am. I will not let you keep hurting people."

"I'm not hurting anyone." Seth managed to stop himself before saying that neither was Benjamin. "I thought about what you said. I want to know what the evidence is. Why are you so sure about Benjamin. Convince me."

"No. I don't have to convince you. I don't care what you think or believe. I want you gone."

"It sounds like you don't actually have any evidence. I talked to Benjamin, and he said your grudge was because your family was competing with him in the Vernar Below."

"And you believed that?"

"I don't know what to believe, Arnold. After what you said, I talked to Benjamin. And now I'm talking to you. I want the truth."

"You told him."

"Did you really expect me not to?"

Arnold started walking again.

"Well?" Seth asked after a moment.

"Well what? I told you I don't care what you believe." Arnold stopped outside an office.

"Fine. If you don't want to show me what evidence you have, then what do I need to look for to find it myself?"

"You want me to explain to you how your benefactor screwed up? So he can cover his tracks better? Fuck no."

"I want to do what's right, Arnold. Show me it was Benjamin, and I'll help you find proof." If Seth actually believed that evidence. He'd started this line of questioning impulsively. Seth believed Benjamin far more than he did Arnold.

Arnold had one hand on the door to an office, but didn't open the door. "Not for free. If you want to see something I have, you need to give me something you have. Why do you think it isn't your benefactor?"

Seth considered his options. You often needed to give some to get some. That was fair. "I found a piece of evidence that indicates a Lord Thurstan. I don't know who that is though. I don't think I've ever heard of or run into him before."

"Why him? And what is this evidence?"

"As I said, I don't know more about him, but his name came up connected to Blaise." That was true. His name was one of three removed from Selendrith's shop records.

"All right, fine. You gave me one thing, I'll give you one thing. Come on." The door unlocked with a touch and Arnold opened the door to Professor Marjorie's office.

"Wow," Seth couldn't help saying. The place was a mess.

Arnold sighed. "I don't know why she does this. I'll spend hours getting things organized and within an hour of her being in the office this happens." He picked the bag up from the center of the floor and scooped its contents back inside and hung it on a hook. Arnold then opened a filing cabinet and pulled out a folder.

"Some information we have on the people who lost their powers," he said and handed Seth the folder.

Blaise was right on top. There was a description of her power, some notations about how powerful it was, and her tree image. Except, it was the wrong image.

Seth flipped through the folder. His own tree image was in here.

"This is labeled wrong," Seth said.

"What are you talking about?"

"This isn't my image. Mine didn't look like this. Blaise's is wrong too."

"Those are copies taken the day the tests were done. They're right."

"No, they're not. I was there. Blaise's was denser on the edges than this one. Mine isn't right either. Blaise might still have her copy. You can double-check what I'm saying."

Arnold muttered some colorful words about anatomically impossible acts. "I knew she should have been replaced already. This has gone from a little disorganized to outright incompetent."

"If this is wrong, could you be wrong about Benjamin too?" Seth asked.

"No. That's different. I showed you this because I knew you had seen most of it already."

"Then how do I find out if Benjamin really is involved in this? What can I look for?" Seth asked.

"I would have said that we knew what was happening, just not how. I'm not sure of that anymore. If these are wrong then all of it is likely wrong. That's a ton of work to just go poof like that." Arnold stuffed the folder back where it came from and shut the drawer again. "There's a meeting tomorrow about all this. Explaining this screw up is going to suck."

"Could someone have come in here?" Seth asked.

Arnold shook his head. "This office is always locked. There are limited people with access." He picked up a sheaf of papers and flipped through it before tossing it dejectedly back on the table.

"A piece we're missing is how," Arnold finally said. "That's why we wanted the artifact you had. We don't know how he's doing what he's doing."

"They took Blaise away," Seth said. "Like out of the city, away. That means they have to bring their victims to a specific location. How can we find that out?"

"Good question."