"Alteration Magic?" Kayla asked.

Pale nodded. "Yes."

Kayla bit her lip. "...You're sure? Because that could be bad…"

"Professor Tomas already explained that part to me – how it could make me a target, I mean. But that being said, I think the benefits far outweigh the costs in this case."

"How so?"

"Think about it," Pale said as she took a seat on her bed. "This entire time, I've been considering how to get Dragonsteel from Nasir. But if I'm able to master Alteration Magic, I should be able to just make my own… or, even better, make the actual materials my ship is made out of. I have no idea how to actually do that yet; I suspect turning that quill into lead was a fluke more than anything, bolstered by Tomas' mana mixing with my own. But I fully intend to figure this out over time."

"There's another problem," Kayla pointed out. "If you intend to keep your affinity a secret… well, we're in a magic academy. I doubt you'll be able to keep it under wraps for very long, all things considered."

"Unfortunately," Pale replied with a small sigh. "Hopefully, the Luminarium is able to keep out anyone who'd be tempted to come after me. Otherwise, I'll just have to be extremely careful when I'm wandering around town with you or Valerie." Pale thought for a moment. "Maybe I should try to get Virux to let me carry my handgun around, at the very least. Think he'd let me have it back if I promised to keep it concealed?"

"I'm doubtful," Kayla replied, flipping through the pages of her book. "He seems pretty intent on not letting you walk around with anything too dangerous."

"Which is a problem, especially because we still have Sven to deal with." Pale let out a short exhale, then shook her head before standing up. "You know what? I could use something to blow off some steam. I'm going to the gym for a bit. And maybe I'll take Valerie's suggestion and try out that sauna afterwards."

Kayla nodded. "I'm going to keep studying for now. I'll catch up with you in a bit."

Pale's brow furrowed at that. Kayla had been a bit distant lately, likely owing to that bit of knowledge regarding how opposite elemental affinities interacted with each other.

And unfortunately, Pale wasn't sure how to react to that.

"Kayla," she said, getting her attention. "Is everything okay?'

"Yes," she assured her. "Everything is fine. Why do you ask?"

"Because the way you're acting, everything seems to not be fine. Was there anything that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Kayla hesitated for a moment. "Pale-"

"You can tell me anything, Kayla. We've fought alongside each other enough that there's nothing you could say to me that would drive me away."

Kayla bit her lip, then shook her head. "...Thanks, but honestly, it's nothing – just that thing I told you about, regarding mine and Valerie's affinities. I'll get over it in due time."

Pale stared at her for a moment. "If you're sure-"

"I'm sure. Go get your workout in, I'll be here when you get back."

Again, Pale just stared at her, but eventually gave her a small nod. "...Alright. I'll see you in a bit."

Kayla waved her off, and Pale stepped out of the room, heading for the gym, uncertainty in her mind the entire time.

XXX

The next few days passed by relatively slowly. Pale spent a lot of time in the library, trying to dig up any materials she could about her new affinity on her own. She hadn't approached Virux about it yet; for now, she wanted to keep the fact that she was an Alteration Mage on a need-to-know basis, and that meant keeping it held extremely close to her chest, just in case. For the moment, she was content to try researching on her own, if only to limit the number of people who knew.

Of course, that was easier said than done, given that she'd spent several days searching through the library, only to come up empty.

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Sure, she'd stumbled across some references to her affinity on her own, but nothing in-depth. Apparently, Professor Tomas had been telling the truth when he'd mentioned that Alteration Magic was somewhat rare and hard for other mages to understand, because the only things she'd found had been surface-level information, mostly things explaining how the affinity worked to other mages and why it was so difficult for them to practice Alteration Magic themselves.

Pale let out a frustrated sigh as she set aside yet another book, then brought a hand up to rub at her forehead. She'd been hoping to avoid reaching out to Virux this early, but apparently, it was going to be unavoidable.

"Guess it's time to swallow my pride…" she grumbled as she rose from her seat and made her way out of the library, heading for Virux's office.

Currently, it was late in the evening. Class was out of session for everyone, and so the halls were packed full of students. Pale stepped past them all without an acknowledgment, pausing only when she realized one of them had been Joel. Curiously, he'd been separated from his usual entourage and Sven, which was interesting to her, if only because she'd never seen him around campus without them.

Then again, she hadn't seen Joel at all since the incident at the border. Pale didn't know why that was, but it was certainly curious enough for her to give him a side-eyed look as she passed by him.

Joel seemed to realize she was staring at him as she walked past, but to her surprise, he didn't return her look, or provide his usual biting remarks. Instead, he grimaced, then looked away, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he did so.

Pale blinked, unsure of how to react to that. Instead, she continued on her way, heading for Virux's office. She got there within just a few more minutes, but to her surprise, the door was closed. Pale approached and was about to knock when she heard hushed voices from within the room. Curious, she held herself back, instead leaning in close and pressing her ear to the door for a closer listen.

"-Otrudians said that they consider it an act of aggression," she heard Professor Kara say.

"What?! They're the ones who attacked our students!" Virux replied.

"I know, I know. But that's what they're saying."

"And what do they want?"

"They're asking for reparations for the families of each person killed."

"And do you think the headmaster will give it to them?"

"Honestly? I have no idea." Kara let out a tired sigh. "This entire saga has just been unbelievable to me. I mean, everything that went on that day… and then they have the nerve to act like we're the problem."

"It all goes back to that stupid feud from so long ago. Some people just can't let history go. I'm just sad it had to involve our students."

"I know." Kara let out another sigh. "Well, that's just what I know, anyway. I'm sure the headmaster will tell the rest of you personally when he gets the chance. He's very busy right now, as you can imagine."

"Yeah, I get it. Thanks for keeping us posted."

"No problem."

At that, Pale heard the two of them rise to their feet, and hurriedly pulled away from the door. She was just in time, as a few seconds later, it opened and Professor Kara came walking out. Her gaze met Pale's, and she blinked in surprise before giving her a warm smile.

"Hello, Pale," she said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, Professor," Pale replied. "Is Virux available?"

"He is. Why do you ask? Is there something you wanted to discuss?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"Ah, I see." Professor Kara's expression suddenly softened. "If this is about what you went through a few days ago-"

"It isn't," Pale assured her.

Kara paused for a moment, then shook her head. "...Well, if you ever want to discuss that with someone, my door's always open for it. Consider that a standing offer, too – it's the least I can do, given how many people you saved that day."

Pale's expression darkened. "I couldn't save them all."

"No, but you tried, and you managed to get a few of them back to us. And that's worth a lot to everyone." Kara reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "I meant what I said, too. If you need someone, I'm available."

Pale blinked in surprise, but shook her head. "Thanks, but I think I'll be okay for now."

"Sure," Kara replied. "But if that ever changes, I hope you won't hesitate to come see me."

With that, she let her hand fall off Pale's shoulder, then continued on her way. Pale watched her go for a moment before stepping into Virux's office. Virux greeted her with a small grin.

"Ah, I thought that was your voice out in the hallway," he said. "Come in, come in."

Pale obliged, stepping into his office and shutting the door behind her, then pulling up a chair to sit across from him. Virux's office was in disarray, as usual, but by this point, she was used to it, so it didn't surprise her in the slightest.

"So," Virux began, getting her attention. "What brings you here, Pale? Not that I'm unhappy to see you, just curious."

Pale sucked in a breath. "…I need a favor," she said. "This needs to be kept secret for now. I want as few people knowing about it as possible, at least until I literally cannot keep it a secret among the student body anymore."

Immediately, Virux's jovial expression fell, replaced with one of concern and determination. He gave her a slow nod. "Yes, of course. You have my word that everything here will remain between us. In fact, if you want to bind it in magic-"

"I appreciate the offer, but that won't be necessary; I suspect that the entire school will know about this in due time, so there's really no point. I just want to put that off for as long as possible, if that makes sense."

Again, he gave her a nod. "Very well. What seems to be the problem?"

"I'll just give it to you straight – I've discovered my affinity, thanks to Professor Tomas. I am an Alteration Mage."

Immediately, Virux's eyes went wide. "Truly? You're sure about that?"

"Positive," Pale answered, giving him a nod. "Upon unlocking my sjel, I loosed a small burst of magic and turned a quill on a nearby desk into lead. Professor Tomas confirmed it."

Virux brought a hand up to rub his chin in thought. "This… is somewhat unprecedented," he admitted. "I'm guessing Tomas told you how little we know about Alteration as a school of magic?"

Pale nodded. "He did. That's why I'm coming to you – I figure that if anyone would have any references about it, it'd be you."

"Well, you're not wrong. We have a few books in the library about it, but none are very in-depth. Truthfully, you'd probably be better off studying books on alchemy. As a school of magic, alchemy was never anything more than theoretical, but a lot of the theory can probably carry over to your affinity. Does that make sense?"

"I think so," Pale confirmed. "Just based on what I was reading, alchemy was the attempt of other mages to apply what Alteration Mages did without needing the affinity for it. Is that about right?"

"That's the short version, yes. Again, alchemy never really took off, but I'd be surprised if some of the theory behind it didn't apply to your affinity. Maybe not enough to be of large-scale practical use, but it could help you get started. Past that… I don't know, unfortunately."

"Still, that's a bigger help than you might think," Pale assured him. "I at least know where to begin now."

Virux gave her a thin smile. "Good. Was there anything else?"

"One more thing, yes. Given that I am an Alteration Mage, I don't think I'll need to tell you that my safety could be at-risk once word gets out about it. With that in mind, with your permission, I'd like to begin carrying one of my weapons around on my person – the small one of the bunch."

Again, Virux's grin faded. He brought a hand up to his chin again, and after a few seconds, looked back to her.

"...I'll tell you what," he said, "for now, let's avoid that. You're obviously trying to keep this a secret, so carrying around a weapon might make some of the others believe something is amiss. But once you can no longer conceal it, and word starts to spread, then I'll allow it, since as you said, you could be at risk. Is that agreeable?"

Pale gave him a nod. "It is. Thank you, Professor."

"Of course. Oh, and before you go – how is studying coming along?"

"Easily enough. Why do you ask?"

Virux's grin returned, though this time, it was with the barest hint of excitement.

"Because," he said, "it's almost time for everyone's first big examination."