It was essentially orientation week at Killingworth and students were given free rein to acclimate to the school. The scheduled tour was a dull affair led by a third-year student. No one asked how that was possible when the school hadn’t had new students in five years. Our tired-looking guide had enough problems.
Tristan was a widely hated figure with a reputation for shady business practices. Zyaire disappeared after meditation class and hadn’t been seen since. Kaz was the center of attention, but no one came near him.
It was peaceful to a disturbing degree after how hectic his introduction to this world was. Fluffy was a transient part of his life, showing up even when he didn’t want a meal, but that was it.
Four days passed, and Kaz was no closer to finding an item with the essence of night. Essence was the condensed manifestation of an element. It was usually extracted from high-level mana stones by a volatile process. I.e they were hard to make and thus expensive. Zyaire and Tristan casually handed them over because a compatible manual was more valuable. They weren’t rare as his future dealings proved.
Kaz randomly selected ten people to further his experiments on the system and made several discoveries.
One: The manual must already have an 80% or higher compatibility rating before it can be tailored to an individual. That led to secondary discovery. If the system completed the manual and fixed the weaknesses, it increased the compatibility level thus allowing it to be tailored to an individual.
Two: Certain manuals could not be improved. The manual’s level wasn’t a factor, instead, the completeness and complexity of the principals inside were the largest factor.
Three: The more elements you were compatible with, the harder it was to increase the compatibility of a manual.
Four: The system had some sentience. Either that or it had a pre-programmed dislike for anything related to the Caster family. The system disparaged every manual bearing the Caster name and they couldn’t be altered in any way.
Five: Experience increased in increments of eight hundred. He didn't know what affected experience since everyone's level was zero. He knew mana correlated to experience, but it wasn’t the only factor.
Six: HP increased in increments of five hundred.
Seven: He didn’t know his stats. The system provided no additional information regarding Kaz.
Eight: And totally unrelated to the system, this world had a strong class system. He’d known that in theory, but he hadn't understood it. The majority of students were nobles or had a parent who was a noble. The second highest were students from merchant families. After them, came students who were sponsored by nobles. Lastly, were the outliers who came to Killingworth out of desperation.
Magic was an expensive field of study that naturally prevented a large part of the population from learning. And, in a bid for control, nobles exacerbated the situation by increasing exclusivity. To buy mana stones and other magical items you had to register at a guild, but to register you needed a recommendation from someone who was already a member, a guarantor who was a noble and there was a hefty membership fee.
Magic was a means of control. It was the equivalent of education on Earth–an uneducated population was easier to control. That wasn’t to say no one was educated. Most boys learned the basics of reading and writing to help them get jobs. It was the same here. Commoners with suitable talent had schools to help them get up to the third circle to help them find better employment, these children were mostly from middle-class families.
Funnily enough, because this world had magic, the basic education level of the people was rather high. More than seventy percent of the adult population could read and write and had the equivalent of what Kaz considered a high school education.
“Ahm,” a small voice said, interrupting his train of thought. “Amel said you could help me.” It was clear she wasn’t sure what he was helping with. “I’m Myra Beatrice Brie.”
It was an odd situation, despite being unable to speak about what he was doing, word got around that talking to Kaz before you started meditating was beneficial. There were more skeptics than believers but a large portion of people still sought him out despite the price. Kaz was already familiar with the routine and pulled out the orb he’d borrowed from Zyaire.
Kaz knew her. She was another celebrity in the school. Others thought she was funny, but Kaz thought she was a budding pyromaniac. Her go-to solution for a problem was fire.
“You’ve already paid.” He asked. He hadn’t intended to charge, but Tristan had taken over and Kaz was too lazy to argue. He handled everything on the backend, of course, Tristan took a commission.
The girl nodded, placing a receipt on the table.
Kaz smiled, this was where they usually backed out. “Show me your manual.”
Her eyes bulged. “Thats–” she stammered.
“The service is fully refundable if you don’t wish to proceed.” Kaz secretly thought the risk-takers would go further, not just because he was helping them improve their manuals but because it harked back to Thalia’s message from the first lesson. Pursuit, at least to him, involved taking chances.
Her hands clenched and unclenched before she lifted her chin, a determined look in her eyes. “Here.”
She practically tossed it at him, as though to get it over with before she changed her mind. Kaz had to scramble to take it and touch her hand. He scanned the manual before looking at the system screen.
Ding.
Name: Myra Beatrice Brie
Race: Half-Elf
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Level: 0
Class: Spiritualist
Experience: 1599/1600
Strength: 4
Agility: 19
Stamina: 5
Soul Force: 3560
Mana: 500
Perception: 10
HP: 2000/2000
Nature’s Blessing. 79% compatibility.
Weakness:
* Fragmented
* Incomplete
Would you like to complete Nature’s Blessing and make it more compatible with Myra Beatrice Brie:
Price: One spirit stone
Results: Complete manual. 96% compatibility.
Kaz barely managed to keep a straight face. She had the strongest soul force and HP of anyone he’d seen so far. He hadn’t known what soul force was before, but now he had an inkling. Myra was a half-elf who naturally had longer life spans than humans. So soul force might be a numerical representation of how long a person would live.
He waited a moment before speaking. “Your manual is fragmented, incomplete, and has a seventy to eighty percent compatibility with you. For the price of a spirit stone I can complete the manual and the compatibility will increase to around ninety-five to a hundred percent.”
She plopped into the seat, her eyes impossibly wide. “Really?” She asked.
“Yes.” He was used to them backing out here. They were convinced he was a snake oil salesman. “It’ll take a few hours, but you can collect it by five this evening.” The process rarely took that long, but they were more likely to believe him if the process wasn’t instantaneous.
“Are you sure?” She asked.
He nodded. “Positive.”
“That.” She looked around, leaning closer to Kaz. “That’s my family manual,” she said. Her eyes pleaded for me to understand, but I didn’t understand the message.
Kaz tapped his finger on the table, maintaining eye contact. “I can’t read your mind.”
“I have a younger-” her words trailed off.
“Ahh,” Kaz said, leaning back in his chair. “How old?” he asked.
She bit her lip. “Thirteen.”
Kaz nodded. “Will she be attending Killingworth?” he asked.
Brie didn’t seem sure, nodding and shaking her head. “If I do well, she shouldn’t have to come here.” Brie graduated in three years, and her results could change her family's fate. If she did well her sister would be going to Mola.
“Then it doesn’t matter yet,” Kaz said. “The manual will be tailored to you. It might be unsuitable for your sister. In four years, when it’s time for her to start school we can revisit this conversation.”
That was Kaz’s biggest takeaway from this endeavor and why he didn’t stop even if it got annoying. He’d connected with people with power, influence, and money-sometimes all three. Despite paying, many of them still promised Kaz a favor in the future.
“She’s talented,” Bries said as if that explained everything. Her head was bowed and she picked at her nails. “It would look pretty if it burned,” she mumbled.
Kaz pretended he didn’t hear. “It’s not a matter of talent. It's a matter of fit. The shirt I’m wearing is several sizes too large for you but it fits me perfectly. Similarly, your sister might wear the same size clothes but the color and cut might be unflattering.” The poor girl just looked confused, as if the world would end if she had something better suited to her than her sister.
“Word of advice,” Kaz said, standing and packing his things, “focus on yourself. For these three years the further you progress the more control you have over your life.” Sadly, it wasn’t the first time he’d given this advice. Entrenched in the culture here was the belief that children were beholden to their parents and that said children had to repay their parents.
Her head whipped from side to side terrified someone might have heard. Big green eyes blinked owlishly at him. “I can’t.”
“Why not,” he asked, not planning to get involved further than this. “For three years you can’t leave this school and they can’t come here.” Kaz left her sitting there, a devastated look on her face. He sort of understood her obsession with fire. It boiled down to control.
Kaz headed to the market, his new routine to see if any of the students he’d asked had managed to find an object with the essence of night.
As Kaz stepped out of the building, he bumped into Zyaire.
Ding.
Name: Zyaire Solene Katz
Race: Human (Dragonewt bloodline-Probability of return to ancestry 16%)
Level: 1
Class: Light Mage
Experience: 3/4000
Strength: 6
Agility: 12
Stamina: 9
Soul Force: 900
Mana: 700
Perception: 12
HP: 1000/1500
“You sneaky bitch.” Kaz didn’t mean to say it. It popped out. He needed to work on not saying the first thing that came to mind when he was shocked or uncomfortable. Heck, he needed resocialization. Apparently, mostly talking to his family for years didn’t make him the best conversationalist.
Her face furrowed. “What did you say to me?”
“Sorry, I was shocked. You formed the first circle,” he said, holding up his hands in surrender.
“I knew you’d be able to tell. Usually, only those at a higher circle can tell, and I’m wearing this that should make it impossible for anybody who isn’t a grand-mage, but I just knew you’d be able to tell.”
“How?” he asked. Most of his classmates had started meditating, but he doubted any had formed a circle.
“You have to get help.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him back into the library. Kaz followed along, already taking out the magic privacy ball. They settled at what he was considering his table, surprised she knew it. “Forming the first circle is easy for those of us who can already manifest magic. The manual shows us a pattern to circulate our mana in, and then while circulating that pattern a mage with the same element guides the mana in our body to our heart.”
Kaz blinked, digesting that information. “That sounds.” He didn't know how to finish that sentence.
“Yeah, it’s usually done by a mage you trust or a mage under a ton of vows and contracts.”
“Who did it for you?” he asked.
Zyaire gave him a sheepish look, tucking her hair behind her ear. “My cousin is a master’s student here.”
Kaz sat back in his seat. He knew who others expected to ask–the Master of the Black Magic Tower, Henri Croy, had expressed an interest in him. Students widely gossiped that he was a shoo-in for an apprenticeship.
“Anyway,” she said, “here.”
Kaz held out his hand, taking a pitch-black stone that seemed to stain his hand black. “This is–”
“Yeah, I asked my cousin to get me one. Essence of night is hard to find, mainly because the mages who refine it keep it for themselves. You didn’t charge me anything for the manual so–”
“Thanks,” he said, closing his hand around it. Kaz wasted no time putting his manual and Brie's in.