Kevin found Samuel on the wing of his balcony, sipping tea, looking down. The two of them stood in the highest tower of Agnolia. From there, the horizon blended into different colors, each stretched to one side.
- Did you see this week's article? - Kevin asked, leaning on the iron bar.
- Only that a genius revealed himself in the Islet Caldera. It's common for people to get something right that way.
Samuel always prepared himself to receive any news, regardless of the outcome. Kevin thought this one would surprise him. A database communication was a revelation that he, being one of the Order's Common Arcanism experts, would have a certain respect for.
However, indifference was still at its core.
- This Professor has done something great, I admit," Samuel continued. - Only that such a project also has its problems. It must be created by a Great Magician or an Arcane.
- The Council of Twelve said they approve.
Samuel stared at Kevin strongly.
- Are you serious?
- Very serious. They said it might be a new milestone for being able to communicate on the battlefield. Not even the Clergy have one of these. If they can implement it, and they will, because they have been sent a booklet with ways to use the plant, we will have total control of the battlefield.
- Have they thought about the connection breakdowns?
- It's all on paper. Anything that you think can happen to go wrong, this Professor has analyzed and improved it. Sir Agnaldo said that even 'Physical Mana Connections' has been increased.
- This is a rare book. - Samuel knew of half of the books that were lost or extinct on the Hun continent. - And does anyone know what this person looks like yet?
- No. No one. - Kevin's frustration contaminated Samuel. - It has to be an old man, anyway, it has to be a person with very big experiences.
- I hope it is.
Samuel drank the rest of his tea and went into the bedroom. When Kevin followed him, he asked:
- And Archaboom, what happened?
- Losses.
- That I know, I want to know why. - Samuel sat down and stretched out a chair for his friend. - I know that battlefield better than most, but I have never seen us lose so much ground at once. The city of Aragun was taken by the Priests and we didn't even have the strength to recover.
- The order came from one of the Arche-Mages. - Kevin scratched his head. - He wanted to talk to him, but they wouldn't let him.
- The mana density in Aragun is higher than in many different places.
- The Priests have a very strong position there," said Kevin. - Do you think they have a plan behind it?
- I hope so, because that city is too close to the Magi base.
I
Thunder rumbled in the sky as the bright streaks came down against the hills of the Islet Caldera. Orion reflected from his balcony, watching his small crop of rice and wheat being protected from the powerful rain by the 'Elastic Barrier'.
The winds were also blowing trying to penetrate the invisible defense, activating a rune wide enough to cover his house. The purple symbols slowly rotated, suppressing the winds that hit him creating a serene wind within, letting the rice slowly vibrate.
- I thought it would fail, but it actually worked. - He picked up his notebook and put his hand on it. The symbol lit up faintly, reacting. - The Arcane Board my father gave me is actually working, even after all this time.
He sat down on the balcony floor and enlarged the runes on the board, expanding it in front of him. As the bearer of the Arcane Board was not Orion, but Oliver, it would work until the moment the latter had mana, regardless of the distance.
This was a creation that did not belong to Humans. It was the Dwarves, 500 years after the First Manic Revolution, who created this system so that notebooks would no longer be used.
The Humans took ownership, however, only a few of the first batch, coming from the memory times of Mana, still existed. And Oliver had passed them on to Orion before he began his work for one of the Elders at Vidian House.
- I got it from your grandfather when I was your age. My notes have been marked on it for years, but now, I can pass them on to my successor. - Oliver handed it over without much of a scene, wiping his nose, a little tearfully. - Keep it safe, son.
With Oliver going to his new job, the house was empty from Monday to Friday. Orion kept the house tidy, sitting half the day studying or sketching his new directions.
And because his father was not present, on that particular day he had visitors.
- It's cold here," Silena said, coming out of the house covered with a thick cloth. She paused looking at the boy fiddling with runes and symbols. After the first day of watching him mechanize the smallest details of a complex lightning attraction system, she was not frightened by the speed of his fingers moving the golden plane in the air.
Some people would even find it remarkable that someone could alter matrices, even though it was a giant taboo on the continent. And Orion didn't even care that much.
- What are you doing? - She took the seat next to him, trying to decipher the rune. - I don't remember ever seeing so many mana threads from a triangle in one system.
- It is to absorb the rays.
- Absorb?
- I want to test something. - One of his arms pointed forward. Silena followed the direction and saw a thin iron pipe in the middle of the plantation. - The mana of a passive magic has an obligation to always be used by the person who created or activated it, but this is a rule that one of the great Scholastics of today's world disagrees with.
- Who is this? - he asked, before blowing on his coffee mug.
- Reinaldo Bigger. His nickname is Square Head. - He laughed. - I want to test if the rays can be absorbed by a rune made exclusively for suction and use an element conversion attribute.
- And what element are you going to convert it to?
Orion pointed to his Arcane Board, in the middle of the Primary Circle a small symbol, with two opposite ends joining and rising. It was the Lumos rune.
- The Lumos Apprentices know that this is the essence of the whole School of Light. And one of the best known passives is 'Accelerated Growth'. - Orion changed the plan of the Arcane Board to a clean one, and let half of his notes fill it. - Reinaldo won the Arcanist of the Year award with this passive.
- And you want to win the award too?
- Win? - Orion looked at her sideways, laughing. - Of course not. It won't help me at all. I want to help him with his latest research, 'Terminal Cell Reactions.
Silena didn't cover much of the events on the Continent, so she hadn't read about the latest research. Orion explained part by part, anticipating that the body's cells die with time, that's why old people have wrinkles, and he wanted to somehow come close to making them more youthful.
- And why do you need the lightning? - A thunderclap sounded above them, ceasing their question for a while. - You don't just need to recreate the rune.
- I have no magic core to make it work. If I can recreate this passive magic, I will hit two rabbits at once.
Orion's greedy smile was frightening. Even for someone like her, present at several Elders' meetings, always together with heavily awarded Scholastics and having the largest library in the Boiler Room in her possession, she had never seen such a fanatical person.
The curve of mentality was different when approaching Orion Baker, and as frightening as his conception was, it was still strongly attractive.
She had gone there to visit him as a secret from Cairo Rent and the others, and it was already the third day she had been in the house. Orion had given her his room, lying in the living room reading and studying at the same time. Sleeping only a little.
That boy lived in a world she didn't dare enter.
- And I can help Germaco too.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
- The Germaco's? For what reason?
- The Bakers have a big problem with food, and when we don't get the year's crop, we always get one from the Germaco family. Even if it is small, they always send it at the end of the year. This year, their crops were burned down.
It was one of the important topics when you were at the last meetings at home.
- And what are you going to do?
- If I can hone a passive magic, I can speed up the growth of the crops depending on what it is, and for that, I will be able to keep my family. - Orion made one last adjustment to the mana threads, closing the second plane, opening a third. - And I need someone who believes in me.
- I have someone in mind, if you need me.
- And this can help you even more.
- But if you always need to use only the rays, how will the rune work when the day is sunny?
Orion's smile came with an imbued mystery.
- I know other ways.
- Other ways? - Silena was somewhat afraid to ask because the boy's mind was extremely skilled. - What kind of other ways?
- If I succeed with the lightning, I will only need to change the main structure of the Primary Circle, put one that represents Fire, or Water. I can reshape the elemental mana through passive magic. Since Reinaldo, no one has dared to practice Arcane Evolution, and I want to show that you can't measure the amount of creativity of a person just by laws.
- It will hurt the pride of several mages in the process.
- That's what I intend to do. But before that, I will help those who help my family.
II
On horseback, Silena trotted slowly along the muddy road outside the boundaries of the areas commanded by the noble families. There, the green grass blazed all around, culminating in trees and bushes away from the road, with birdsong flying overhead.
The direction it took was the gates of Germaco House, and when it came to a turnoff, it caught it. The day had not risen sunny, with the dark clouds overhead, the earth remaining astute, ready to dump more water.
If a storm raged, Silena would take longer. However, staying wet was impossible now. In her hand, a small piece of paper described a rune, which Orion had given her.
- If it rains, just activate it with your mana. It's a miniature 'Elastic Barrier'. - Orion looked a bit flustered. - I wanted to go, but I think you've made up your mind.
- I am. The Germaco's don't like the Vidian's, but Gomes is married to one of my aunts, and kind of has a certain affinity with me. And he works in the fields.
- Your aunt gave up her noble life to live in the country? - Orion didn't expect it. - I thought that families were forced to marry people of high social standing because of the expenses and also because of the agreements.
- Only for those born in the main cradle. My aunt was the fourth daughter, far from assuming part of the family's wealth and Gomes showed up when she needed him.
Gomes was one of the few men who clearly respected Vidian, but he never made a point of flattering Ernesto or anyone else. His pride as a Germaco prevented him.
When fields of wheat, barley and corn appeared behind a small hill, Silena knew she was close. The smell of burning also hung in the air. The year's crop was ruined, and half the people were simply hoping that the Germaco would give up the Annual Harvest Meeting.
They were proud people, more than they should have been, and rigid when it came to food. They owned two of the largest possessions in the Caldera. Farms and Irio Mountain, near the coast.
Both enough to give them the title of competing against the other families.
As they approached the haystack, Silena stopped her horse and slowly climbed down. The neighing of the horse drew the attention of some of the surrounding villagers. He tied the horse outside the outskirts of the houses so as not to get in trouble and approached one of the men.
- Good afternoon. I'm looking for Mr. Gomes.
- Señor Gomes? - The gentleman lifted his spine, stretching it forward and dropping the hay rake beside the cart. - I haven't heard an orifice like that since my father gave me possession of the farms. - She turned, wiping her forehead. - And who are you, miss?
Dirty from head to toe with mud, Gomes wore a gibbon made of dark wool and a straw hat as if to protect himself from the sun's rays, even though he didn't have one that day. The fat under his neck was not what Silena remembered.
The athletic man she had seen several times in the ballrooms dancing with her Aunt Adelaide was gone, or eaten by that papery man.
- Silena Vidian.
- Vidian. - Gomes sighed, shaking his head from side to side. - I think most of the people in that family are deaf. They think they can come here and offer me thousands of coins to take care of my plantation. "Oh, you're fat. You're this, you're that. - Gomes showed her his closed fist, irritated. - I want to see if they can compete with one of the best in Arcana.
- I'm not here to buy your land, Uncle. - Silena moved a little closer. - I'm Adelaide's niece. Silena, remember? The little girl who used to dance on your feet at dances?
Gomes blinked several times until he could absorb all the information and then let out a thin voice.
- Silena? My little girl. - He walked over to her and gave her a big hug. Silena answered without caring about the accumulated mud. - Oh, it's been so long since I've seen you. You're high, and I've heard a lot about you too. I thought you had married some big shot.
- I'm not the best choice when you taught me that men don't like people who think too much.
- Ra. - He pointed at her. - I see you still take my advice seriously. Come, let's go over to the house. Your aunt has been making food, lots of food. You can see that, right? - He looked at himself. - These clothes have been sewn more times in ten years than dogs have ever bred.
- I can believe it.
Gomes took her away and asked one of the boys to get his horse and take him inside.
- Why didn't you go inside on the spot? - Gomes asked in the middle of the ride. - Nobody here would do anything against you. You know that.
- If you didn't remember me, imagine them.
The man shook his head in rapid agreement.
- True. We still can't be too careful.
The houses were very close together, almost forming a side-by-side corridor. Most of the farmers lived close to each other because it was easier to communicate. Gomes was the furthest away because of the large amount of land it took up.
Silena observed the vastness that should be a mix of green and yellow, of rice and corn. The black and smoky countryside terrified her memories of when these lands were soft and lively.
- Whoever did this had not a shred of remorse," Gomes commented as he watched her stare. - We tried everything, but nothing worked.
- And how did the fire stop?
- On any given day, the flames went out and we couldn't catch anything. - Gomes paused and stared at the ground. - This was once land that fed the entire Caldera, little one. And as much as the people here see it, they can't do much.
- Was there punishment?
- Gabriel Germaco had an ounce of decency in believing that it was not us. But the blame always falls on the one who takes care of everything.
- And the protection spells?
- All destroyed.
That's what Orion told her before he left.
- On dry days, a wildfire even spreads, but look at the weather. The fire didn't go out even with the heaviest rain of the year. If you get there and the protective magic is broken, you must do two things.
Silena stared at her uncle.
- I want to help.
- Help? - Gomes shook his head. - Let's eat, that's what. A good lunch. Your aunt made a delicious stew and is waiting for us. I took care of that lamb for two years and made its legs fat. Tasty and in olive oil.
Gomes took her inside the stone house, where the woman in the kitchen screamed when she saw her. Her apron was dirty and a cloth on her head. Silena hadn't expected to see her aunt wearing such simple clothes even though she had lived there for years.
After all, she was a woman of nobility.
- Did your aunt leave the noble life to live in the country?
I understood why Orion was surprised. It was a really radical change.
- My little girl. - Adelaide ran over and hugged her tightly. Gomes went to the table and stole an apple. - You're so grown up, you don't even look like you were that little brat that used to run around and make your father laugh.
- Do I look more like a woman now, Auntie?
- More? You look great. I would marry any man in any family, but... - she paused, revealing a provocative look. - I know you have a suitor. That look in your eyes tells me everything.
Silena flinched instantly.
- No marriages.
- Who said no weddings, young lady? - Adelaide giggled and Gomes followed her. - Half of the people want to get involved in this ridiculous ceremony so they can dance for a living. Come on, if you get the chance, be with someone you like, not out of obligation.
- Like Adelaide did with me," Gomes replied. - We've been together for ten years. And look at me, I'm a happy man.
- And fat," his wife answered laughing. - And better than anyone I've ever met in my life. See, Silena? That's the kind of person you have to meet, someone who would give the world for the sake of his goals.
The apple was pointed at Silena. Gomes acted from one side to the other, like a knight.
- I dueled your aunt's father, and won the Swordsman of the Year title. Victorious, I asked for her hand and took her away from the life she hated most. - Gomes faced her in the end, taking a bite of her hand. - Fari...a tu...do again.
- This is how relationships should be, there are always other ways to love.
The memories of the two of them in her mind were completely different from the people ahead. Chatty, without an ounce of cordiality, seeming to be free. If Ernesto or Felipe saw them, they would think they looked like animals, as they had said on other occasions.
For Silena, it was a giant happiness to be able to observe that a simple life was no different from an ordinary one.
- We're having lamb for lunch, and you're going to tell me all about this boy you think about every day. - Adelaide ran to the wood stove, conjuring up a breath of air to inflate the fire. - Sit down, boy. How long are you going to stay up?
It was as if she were at home, sitting beside her father in the great library, reading the fantasies of the Magi around the world. Surrounded by this animosity, the subject of politics did not even present itself in her mind.
What she most wanted to do was to taste the stew set on the smooth stone table.
- The legs are mine. - Gomes pulled them both out, but Adelaide stared at him coldly. - Oh, of course. My little one, you are a guest. You can have one of the legs.
- You can eat, I like the loin better, Uncle.
Gomes laughed and pulled both of them to his plate.
- That girl is fantastic.
They ate. Silena heard about the best winters and summers the two of them had spent. She laughed with the stories about her uncle's horses, which were always an interesting topic. He was knowledgeable, and liked to assimilate everything he learned to work.
His aunt explained about how knitting helped remake her husband's clothes that always shrunk at the end of the year, and how having studied bees was perfect for them to get a tenement in the woods.
She laughed when the stories went to the nobler side of the Vidian, which Adelaide hated with all her might. And she was moved by the death of one of her children, little Gomes Junior, because of a lung deficiency.
In the end, the two were simple people, living in a simple place. Silena didn't have these stories with her, and she complained about this.
- It is not that you don't have funny stories. Your life is more serious than ours. - Gomes licked the last parts of the lamb's leg. - I read the newspaper these days. Your name is in it too. Silena Vidian, the next heir to the throne.
- And with a genius covering up her flaws. - Adelaide, excited, kept gesturing to her husband. - What's that name you said? It's powerful.
- The Professor. - Gomes imitated an explosion with his hand, near his mouth, laughing afterwards. - I saw his studies, I thought it was incredible that someone could come up with a system like that. What does this old man look like? Big, bearded, or just like me?
- Like you, Uncle?
- Yeah. Hairy and handsome.
Silena giggled.
- He is gentle, strong and a little reserved. He always teaches me when I ask, but never forces me to understand what he thinks. - She looked down at her plate, stirring the broth. - He is an amazing person that I have been lucky to know and support.
Gomes and Adelaide looked at each other, surprised. They both nodded at the same time.
- And he is old?
- My age.
- Your age? - Gomes almost spit out the broth. - A twenty year old boy did that?
- Oh, he is eighteen.
Adelaide and Gomes could not hide their surprise. They were not laymen like half the inhabitants of the farms. They knew the basics of Arcanism and many of its proficiencies. Gomes was one of the few who helped in the construction of the defensive runes for the plantations.
To some, Silena would be lying.
- What does he want from you, dear? To help you so much, it must be something big.
- It's not big if you think that half of the things I've accomplished he gave me. But I'm here today because of him. I didn't remember that Uncle took care of the crops, but he offered to help me rebuild all the burned crops and build a different passive magic.
- At zero cost?
Silena hoped her uncles didn't understand. Orion had said that if her good intentions were not enough, then she could speak the truth.
- He is a Baker and said that every year, when things get tough in the hills, you send him some of your crops. He thanks you for this and wants to help.
- A ... Baker?
Gomes put his hand to his face, hiding his eyes. He shook his head a little, and then gave a loud laugh, startling both of them.
- Of course it would. Of course it would be him. Orion Baker, right? - He looked at Silena, still laughing. - A different boy, a little handsome, not like me, but intelligent.
- Ah, the boy in the letter," Adelaide agreed. - It's been a while since we've received anything from him.
Silena was immediately taken aback.
- Do you know Orion?
- Of course we do, miss. - Adelaide stood up and went to one of the cupboards on the wall, taking a small wooden box and putting it on the table. She opened the lid carefully and pulled out several envelopes, as small as the box. - He sent us a message every year thanking us for the food. He even said that one day, if he could, he would come here in person.
- He is the Professor. - Gomes took one of them, relieved. - I discussed many times with Mr. Gabriel to help them get through that difficult time. Many people had complications due to lack of food, and they were deprived of everything after their house lost credibility here in the Boilers.
Adelaide nodded in silence.
- Difficult year for many.
- But, the Bakers have always been full of pride. More than people, my little one. - Gomes handed her the letter. - They were great magicians of the past, they warred against the Clergy in the trenches, and gained renown. By the time they came to the Boilers, they were already titled superior to the Vidian. And when they lost this honor, the other families created a law that forbade all their future members to be Magi again.
- They can't use magic," Adelaide said. - Under no circumstances.
- Is that why they became Scholastics? - Silena had no idea that this was the real story. - And why did they lose their house name?
- There was a boy, a long time ago, who stole a book of Complete Magic from the Fire School. It was a very important treasure, it represented the House of Vidian. And this boy was Omar Baker.
- He ran away after that along with a Vidian boy and another Germaco boy. Nobody knows where they went. And if your friend wants to restore his family name, I think he is doing the right thing in helping you.
- The Boiler Room politics are very robust, small. - Gomes picked a banana from the pot in the middle of the table and began to peel it. - Good people are always left aside by greedy objectives.
- Is your friend ambitious, miss?
- Very. - Silena smiled without realizing it. - He wants to change a lot of things, starting here at the Boilers.
- So, take good care of him when you take the throne from Ernesto. - With one bite, Gomes plucked half of the fruit. - The Bakers are strong when they are together, but separated like today, they are ants without an owner. And if he wants to help us, I have to be honest and tell Mr. Gabriel.
- He already knew he would do this, so - she took a load from inside her cloak. - He asked me to give it to Gabriel as soon as possible.
- The boy is too astute.
- The mold of the passive magic has already been prepared, all that is missing is a confirmation from you.
- Good. - Gomes tucked the letter into his inside pocket and stood up. - I have to get a horse and go straight there. Mister Gabriel will be surprised when he hears about your friend.
- But, Uncle, don't say anything about his name or location.
- No need to worry, I know how to handle these things, my little one. - Gomes straightened his greasy collar, pulled back his hair, and stared at Adelaide. - How do I look, woman?
- Just as beautiful as I met you.
Gomes let out a laugh.
- Liar. I'm hotter than before.