[What do you mean Rose is going away?]

"She said they are sending her to Regarth early," Lily worriedly explained. "It's a boarding school, so students live there! Lady Desthu said it would be good for her to leave early and get settled, and that horrid woman claims she's worried about controlling Rose's temper!"

Arakil sighed bitterly. Why did dragons always have to be such moody creatures?

He understood that Lily desperately wanted to go with Rose to this school, and he also saw the benefits himself. Rose was an excellent guardian and would ensure Lily's safety, especially while she was still in her foundation stages.

Arakil also saw the benefit of Lily attending the school, as it would undoubtedly have greater resources than they could cobble together from a nearly retired alchemist and an orphanage.

Not to mention, he wanted to see what one of the "greatest magical learning institutes" had to offer. That way, he would have an idea of how much magic had either regressed or perhaps even progressed in unforeseen ways. Undoubtedly, there would be strange developments in this world, barren of ambient Mana.

"But now I've been put on a time limit…" Arakil sighed, the urgency of the situation weighing heavily on him. "Getting Lily into the school simultaneously with Rose is likely impossible. Even if we could grant her a Mana Core today, she wouldn't be able to grow it to a suitable level if Rose were the indication of the entry requirements."

"But… Without Rose's presence, our options will no doubt become more limited. Not only does she provide safety, but she also provides a means of leaving the confines of the orphanage. No doubt they might restrict her movements more substantially again, and I do not think we could involve the alchemist woman in our development." The potential consequences of Rose's absence hung heavily in the air.

"Arakil?" Lily asked, concern very much present in her voice. Arakil clicked his tongue in annoyance; he had evidently been talking to himself for too long and had left her waiting.

[Apologies. I was trying to determine how to speed up our time frame. Without Rose's help, I worry we might be greatly delayed.]

"Oh…" Lily replied. "I'm sorry… I just… I don't know what to do? I don't want to lose Rose. I want to go with her!"

[I understand completely. Although you must remember that even if you were both going to the same school, you'd still be separated by at least a year.]

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, apparently baffled.

[Unless schools have drastically changed since my time, aren't there age requirements? Rose is older than you, and thus, you'd be forced to reach the minimum age to get into the school.]

"Oh no…" Lily muttered. "I think you're right…"

Arakil sighed. Sometimes, it was so easy to overlook the obvious.

[I have no doubt we can prepare you to join her when you meet the age requirement. But even with a year to prepare you, not having her present is undoubtedly a detriment. Do you know when she departs?]

"I think she said just under two months…" Lily mumbled.

Arakil cursed to himself. That was hardly any time at all.

[I need to run some calculations… I promise I'll give you some form of answer in the morning.]

"Okay… Thanks, Arakil," Lily replied somberly.

He hated leaving the girl depressed, but unless he sat down and puzzled together what he could, they'd be getting nowhere. He didn't want to make a false promise on the spot just to cheer her up, so now he needed to buckle down.

"We need a ritual expediently created yet still precise enough to work. Rather than creating multiple pages and glyphs over time, we could create a ritual site on a large enough scale that it could brute force a solution. Especially if we set up sub rituals arrays to power it up, like before..."

He began to pull out multiple books at once, pulling fragments of information out of them one by one before planting them together into a compiled "book."

"We would need a large area, relatively flat… We could even transmute the area if required. I have the Mana to draw some inscriptions to turn the soil into stone, and I could even engrave the stone with another.

"A few inscriptions to create the entire ritual site. That would solve Lily's need to draw an overtly complex ritual for a one-time procedure. While I'm sure she'd love to learn the components, it just isn't feasible at her current level and time frame."

The more he postulated, the more he liked the idea. The biggest issue was that Rose and Lily would need to find a relatively unoccupied area that was safe from prying eyes. Especially if they can't do the ritual set up in one go. The locals finding a giant stone engraving might cause quite a stir.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"Then we just need fuel… Another Mana potion for the primary ritual site would be the best bet. Ideally, we would have one for the sub-rituals, too, but I won't bet on Lily procuring more than one in that time frame.

"We can use glyph ink or any form of liquified Fairymoss. As long as it contains raw Mana, it shouldn't matter too much… If my Mana reserves were greater, I could imbue ink or some other liquid for the endeavor, but I'll likely need every last drop to create the inscription scrolls to create our ritual site.

"I'll also need to start teaching Lily the proper meditation and breathing techniques. It's going to be a struggle since she will be doing most of it blind, using a resource her body literally does not have, but it should be enough. When the day comes, the ritual will do the heavy lifting, and if the instructions are at least understood, when the Mana enters her body, she will be able to do as told."

He continued to formulate, piecing together pieces of knowledge into his plan. Running the mental math in his head, he began estimating the chance of success and became more pleased with the odds.

But… Arakil was never one to leave things to chance. He was a man of contingencies and backups. So he pulled out one last tome of knowledge. A last resort, something that no doubt Lily would hate and refuse. But… There was Rose.

"All the more reason that we must do it before she leaves. While Lily and I can enact it without her, I do not know if I can come up with a contingency without the help of the dragon girl."

Arakil sighed.

"The only issue is that I can't communicate with her, at least through my book. And there's no way Lily would tell Rose the idea. This means I'd need to create another scroll to be activated on the day, convey my message to Rose through illusory writing, and pray that I haven't misjudged how much she cares about Lily."

He began tapping his finger against his chin repeatedly as he thought.

"There will no doubt be consequences… Lily will feel betrayed, even if it's for her own good. Hopefully, she will see the bigger picture eventually… I will just have to ensure that once I regain her trust, I do not break it again…

"Or perhaps I'm being silly, and things will work on the first try without a hitch. My contingency will be a waste, and everything will go swimmingly."

He chuckled darkly.

"No… I do not trust my luck to be so accommodating. This sudden time limit is clearly proof enough. Which means a backup plan will need to be put in place. I'll have to lie and tell Lily it's an inscription to be torn during the ritual for its success. I guess it's a good thing I haven't taught her the illusion crest yet."

Although the plan was in place, Arakil spent some time looking for other refinements for the ritual. When he felt like he had hit his limit, he began plotting the preparations for the inscriptions he needed to draw.

He began with a relatively simple inscription to turn soil into stone in a specific area of effect. Once that was done, he started working on the inscription to engrave the stone into the ritual configuration. It was a complex formation as it needed to be open to sub-rituals' aid.

He began drafting a few designs for various sub-rituals when he felt confident in his research. He had to refine them as much as possible to work with a minuscule amount of resources. They would quite literally be throwing everything into this project, and they couldn't afford to fail.

"I do not know if I'll have enough Mana to create all of these… Creating the full ritual site may be a multi-day affair. Which means that its secrecy is of the utmost importance."

He sighed and tried to find any further refinements or cost-saving measures he could think of. Again, when he felt like he had exhausted all potential avenues, he finally moved on to the potentially last step.

Arakil finally began planning his message spell for Rose. It needed to be convincing enough for her to step in and take action, even if Lily resisted.

His biggest regret was that the message would need to be delivered at the start of the ritual, as there was no way he could get Lily to tear it during the procedure. She would need to focus entirely on meditation and breathing techniques.

"Which means that even if there's no need to intervene, the revelation of my betrayal is within the hands of Rose," Arakil muttered. "Truly unfortunate… I just have to hope that bridges can be mended. Or perhaps Rose will not reveal the deception and believe I truly had Lily's best intentions in mind."

He hated the deception. But he needed the safety net. While Lily's safety was unlikely to be compromised by the ritual failing, it would undoubtedly cripple her chances at a second chance of creating the Mana Core.

With his plans in motion, the only thing left he could do was triple-check his drafts while waiting for Lily to awaken.

***

Lily had a very unpleasant night of sleep. Things were finally going so well, and now Rose was suddenly leaving? What she couldn't understand was why Rose wasn't fighting it more. A worm of doubt crept into her mind.

Does she secretly want to go? Has she given up on me joining her?

"Good morning, Arakil…" Lily mumbled.

[Good morning, Lily. I have scoured my books and put together a solution that I trust will give us the best shot at success.]

"To get me Mana before Rose leaves, get her to stay, or let me follow her?" Lily asked.

[To grant you, Mana. I cannot control the whims of others, but time is of the essence, and with Mana, you can work on joining Rose at Regarth.]

"Really?" Lily asked, sounding somewhat doubtful.

[We will enact a ritual to grant you a Mana Core. It will sit opposite to your heart and grow along with you. While it will start small, it has nearly infinite potential, and you will be able to nurture it. With a year to catch up, you will be in the prime position to join that school!]

Even though it was through written text, Lily swore she could feel Arakil's confidence imbued within the ink itself. She nodded happily, her drooped ears regaining their usual perkiness.

She touched the right side of her chest as if imagining it. A Mana Core… Right here! I'd be able to cast spells! And I'll be able to grow it!

"That sounds amazing! So what do we need to do? How long will it take? Do we need more Mana potions? Glyph ink?" Lily questioned with unbridled curiosity.

[It should be doable within our time limit. I would say yes to all your listed resources, as any reserves would go a long way. We must construct a secluded ritual site where nobody can stumble upon and potentially sabotage it.

I will create inscriptions to lay the foundation and create the work, and then it will be up to you and Rose to finalize it and ultimately activate it.

Furthermore, you will need to learn meditation and breathing techniques, which will be crucial to forming the Mana Core. I won't mince words, but studying the method without any existing Mana will be difficult. I believe in you.]

Lily nodded. While she had no idea what breathing or meditation had to do with creating a Mana Core, she would surely give it all her effort and energy.