Leaving Understudy, I had a few priorities. The first was to never be forced back. It was obvious I’d have to return for testing, and I’d always enjoy seeing the people who worked there, but I never wanted to live there again. The second was to explore. The castle, the city, the country, the continent, I wanted to see it all. My years of being confined to Understudy had begun to grate as I’d learned all the things the world had to offer. My final goal was to learn about, and cast, magic. Mana had always been a rather active part of my life, and somewhere along the way I’d become fascinated by its possibilities. This, compounded with whatever new compulsion I was feeling, made learning more about magic an obvious aspiration of mine.

The first, no matter what I’d felt, was out of my control. The second was possible, but complicated. I’d quickly discovered that while all the windows in my room were sealed shut; the vents could fit a person of my size. At the moment, I knew too little of the castle layout to risk any serious expeditions into them, especially with all the nearby rooms occupied. My section of the castle held ten bedrooms and six, all near my room, were in use at present, two of the maid staff residing along with the rest of us. That left the front door, which also wasn’t really an option since I couldn’t use it without Liza or a guard’s permission, not having been given a key. That effectively killed the plan I’d had of running around the castle hiding from guards as I eked out every secret the building had to offer, at least for the near future.

Instead, the majority of my trips out, such as classes, were scheduled, while the few that weren’t, were heavily monitored. That was why when the professor had announced the addition of a new class, involving magic, I was ecstatic.

I’d been out of Understudy for a month by this point and, while the setting was different, life had begun to feel as if nothing had changed. I’d finished reading two of my three magic related books and though the compulsion had faded at some point, I didn't feel like I’d actually learned anything. All this made the pointed eared professor’s new class seem like my first opportunity to study something new and achieve one of my goals.

“Ahh Ben you’re here, and the first one at that, I don’t believe that’s ever happened before.” The professor smiled.

“Actually, Professor,” I said, closing the door and leaving Taeho in the hallway, “I have a few questions before we start.”

“Why am I not surprised.” My teacher chuckled, then took a seat. “Ask away.”

“Ok so first one, what does – Wait, actually no. You said I was the first, who else is coming? I thought this was a solo class. Both Liza and Lisa should have formed their cores by now if they can do magic, Silus should be way ahead of whatever we're learning here, and Emelia should be too. Oh! And that’s my next question. What will we be learning? Is it actually magic, like spells because I don’t actually know any proper incantations, or just more studying oh and-” I continued to fire off a few more questions rapid fire before the professor put up a hand and to stop me.

“Whilst I could certainly do the yes, no, yes, yes, no routine, I doubt you even remember all the questions you asked me and in what order, so how about this. We will have the first lecture, you can see what questions get answered, then after class we’ll circle back to your remaining questions.”

“Circle back?” I asked, confused by the expression.

“A term with originates from flight magic, means to come back to or discuss later.” Mark waved his hand dismissively. “Do we have a deal?”

I nodded.

“Good, then move away from the door, your other classmate is here.”

I moved towards the seat, eyes on the entryway the whole time. It took about five seconds before my sister walked in.

“Mia, it’s good that you’re here, Ben was about to ask me an entire lecture’s worth of questions, so now we can get right into it.”

Emelia nodded to the professor and whispered me a quick hello, before sitting down. I, having forgotten to do so, quickly found a seat.

Standing, the professor walked over to the portable blackboard, speaking all the while.

“Ben had asked me who else was going to be in this class,” the elf began as he rolled the board to the center of the room. “He had ruled out the twins as they have already formed their cores; as well as your brother, as he's getting close to forming a core of his own. That leaves you Eme, while you are definitely ahead of Ben in terms of your awakening, your parents, and I, feel you could use a more specified foundation to help you in the future. Have you been doing your mana channel strengthening exercises?”

“Um yes professor, I try to cycle my mana at least once a day, but it’s hard finding the pathways that are connected because so many just end randomly.”

Mia was normally shy, but her current abilities seemed to have her discouraged. The blond-haired teacher nodded, seemingly trying to ease her worry.

“That is to be expected, your channels are very new, and your gates have yet to form. You still haven’t sensed an affinity, correct?”

Mia shook her head in the negative.

“I see well keep me informed. To answer-” The professor looked at me as I raised my hand, it was one of those withering stares, his blue eyes boring into mine, and I slowly retracted my arm.

“As I was about to say, to answer another one of your questions, Ben, your parts of the class will be more lecture focused. If either I or your parents deem you ready to work on the proper, standardized versions of first circle spells, we shall do so, lest you figure some way to burn the castle to ashes with the weakest spells possible.”

I groaned; the professor glared.

The rest of the class proceeded similarly, the professor answering all my questions, and many I hadn’t even considered.

“Alright, Ben, your time is up.” Our teacher announced at the two-hour mark.

I was surprised but supposed it made sense, Mia was ahead of me so her receiving extra, or altogether different, training made sense, though I may have thrown a tantrum or two in the privacy of my room after class.

I did my best to enjoy the new course. While it wasn’t what I initially wanted to learn, I knew the only way my parents would let me do actual magic, was if I did well here. That plus I found I understood the material I read in the books better as the professor covered some of the information I’d missed.

“Ok, as I said before, every fourth week there will be a test,” the professor called out as my portion of the class was ending. “Next week’s will be on atmospheric and epidermal mana along with its elemental bonding. The assessment won’t take the entire period, so next week we will be starting on awakenings and spell circles.”

I said my goodbyes to the pair remaining in the room, leaving Mia to her casting while trying not to mumble about the unfairness of life. Mia’s channels had become more defined, and it was looking like she was going to be an earth mage. It was both a type of magic neither of my parents had and a direct counter to Silus’s fire magic.

‘Their fights would be so cool.’ My grumbling redoubled.

Exiting the room, I found Yoojin standing, spear in hand.

“Lost the bet?” My raven-haired guard nodded.

The royal guard had a rule for each posting, at least when it came to the castle interior. At minimum one always had to have their weapon while the others could keep them in their storage implements, all of them having been provided at least a small one. The reasons were twofold. One was that pulling a weapon out was slower than if a person had it in hand. While small, in combat that change in time could be the difference between life and death, or so I’d be told.

“What was this time?”

She hesitated in answering, which made me ask my next question.

“Was it about me?” I asked, brushing my hair out of my face. It had been getting long lately, but my parents had allowed me to decide what I wanted to do with it, and I’d never had long hair.

Yoojin’s answer was lost to my ears as I saw my father walked pass two hallways over. It was odd for him to be in this part of the castle at this time of the day, so I was curious. A plan forming in my mind, I looked at my guard, while I hadn’t heard her answer, I knew her weakness.

“You know,” I said, tapping my chin as I’d seen my father do, “Uncle Winston was just talking about how out of hand some of the royal guards had been getting lately. Something about being powerful and young, I think it was. Anyway, he’s planning a boot camp.”

She grimaced instantly, familiar with the torture chamber disguised as a training exercise the newest Royal Knight Captain often organized. She had heard of it, all the guards had, if only to avoid being the ones picked to go.

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As I turned a corner away from my dorm and towards the path my father had taken, Yoojin looked at me.

“You know that isn’t the direction towards your room.” She said stopping.

I smiled, only slightly maliciously, “You know I could recommend you for the boot camp, might even help towards a promotion.”

Her lips in a fine line, she ground out, “While I am thankful for your generosity, Sir, I like it where I am currently.”

Seeing my opportunity, I quickly responded, continuing my walk all the while.

“Well, I like it more this way.” She stared at me before following.

“Ben, I swear if you try anything, I will drag you back immediately, I have authorization to harm you if it's for your own safety.”

It was my turn to grimace, remembering the last time that specific permission had been utilized. My obvious distress made Yoojin smile, but she didn’t object any further. Following at a slightly sped up pace as to not fall behind, we trailed my father and his guest for a few minutes. It didn’t take long for Yoojin to figure out what we were doing, but after I threatened to scream if she didn’t follow quietly, she’d stopped. We both knew disturbing my father when he was with a guest would have been a bad choice, but more so for her than me. The crease of her yellow eyes swore vengeance at a later date as we continued until reaching the door for the housing wing.

I’d only left this part of the compound once, while my etiquette classes had begun, my parents believed I still wasn’t ready to be seen by the public yet. Yoojin motioned for me to stop, and I pointed at a nearby window, the short royal guard rolled her eyes and told me she'd stay where she was while I went over. I did not understand her reasoning, but she was close enough I would be caught if I tried to run, so I supposed to her, it didn’t really matter.

Making my way over to the opening, I climbed on a bench and peered out, the angle allowing me to see and hear both men easily.

“Eh, again I thank you for hosting Lily and myself, King Silverose.” The man’s voice wasn’t too deep, a contrast to his well-muscled frame, and he had a slight accent similar but different to Central Davion’s.

Hands shook as my father replied, a black ring on the man’s index finger glinting as they did so.

“I try to help when I can Duke Ebentrant, and this I could do, good luck with… everything, and I do hope you and your daughter will be able to make it back someday. Next time maybe you should see the north, I’m headed up there soon myself and I think you’d love it.”

Duke Ebentrant, I supposed, smiled, the action creasing his red eyes. Turning his large frame, the Duke opened the carriage door for his daughter, a girl about my age. She turned to bow to my father, black hair falling over her face as she did so. With no additional delay, the duo hopped entered their ride and the two bear-like beasts at its head began to pull the wagon. Making his way back into the residence, I saw my father had a somewhat somber look on his face. Completely ignoring it, I ran up to him. Pretty sure the guards would attack me before they realized who I was, I slowed in front of him rather than tackling him into a hug like I wanted.

“Hey Ben,” he laughed out before walking forward and picking me up. He looked around for a moment, eventually making eye contact with Yoojin, then nodded. “What are you doing out here?”

He began to walk as I answered, me still in his arms. “I saw you earlier, and I kinda forced Yoojin into following you.” My voice grew small towards the end, but he just laughed jovially.

Deciding to press my luck, I continued. “So, is it true you’re going up north soon?”

“Spying I see, you might have a future in the ministry of intelligence. Not exactly soon, but I am going in about four months,” he paused for a moment then asked, “Do you want to come?”

My eyes grew large as I processed the words he’d said. I’d figured it would be many more months, if not years, before I would get to explore the city, let alone leave it.

“Good, that looks like a yes. Your mother and I have something to talk to you about tonight, so we’ll pop by a bit after dinner.” Putting me down, he made one last statement before leaving.

“And no more coercing your guards, or else you might end up missing the trip.”

The rest of the day passed rather quickly.

I had lunch, then more classes. Sword training with Winston or his subordinates had supposedly begun a month ago but seeing as I hadn’t actually touched my practice sword since I’d gotten it, it was more just an exercise class. So it was fresh out of the shower and drying my hair, I found myself both exhilarated and terrified for the conversation with my parents. There was no reason for my father to suggest it, even as a joke, if they weren’t going to allow me to go along, but that didn’t stop the knots in my stomach from forming.

Dinner was a served in the dining room of my ward. I’d sometime eat with my siblings, Tabatha, or even my parents, but today wasn’t one of those days. I sat at the table along with, Taeho and Yoojin. Liza was absent, though that had become more and more frequent lately.

The meal went slow as I picked at my food, not having much of an appetite. With half my plate empty, I decided it was enough and went back to my room to wait.

Reaching under one of the cabinets in my closet, I pulled out, Your Core and More by Jeff Russo. It was one of the books I’d “borrowed” from the library, having forgotten to give it back amid all the chaos. After making sure my door was locked, I walked to my desk, sat down, opened the book, and picked up where I’d last left off. With the professor strengthening the foundation of my understanding of mana theory, I was hoping to use the books to get a bit ahead of what was permitted.

‘So you’ve formed your core now what? Well, your next step is to start preparing your core for future advancement. Besides Nova core, the stage you’re currently at, there are seven more potential advancements to make before you reached the fabled Gaia core. Now don’t worry too hard as you are centuries away from anything close to that, but it all starts with your first step. Each core stage is divided into three separate distinctions known as interstages. These divisions are light, balanced, and dense. Though not the complete definition, these titles refer to the amount of mana a person has gathered and refined in their core for that stage. Once at the peak of the dense stage a mage should have the foundation necessary to advance to the next core stage. Now the three most common methods of training for core advancement are known as the three R’s, Re-’

As I heard the key slide into the lock, I closed the book, gathering my notes and hiding everything in my desk drawer. I considered staying at my desk, but the lack of anything in front of me would look suspicious, so I walked to the couch as they entered the room.

“Ben!” My mother exclaimed as she walked towards me. After wrapping me in a tight embrace, my father following suit.

As we all sat on the couch my heart still hammered in my chest, but I found I was surprisingly content at that moment. We talked for a bit about generic topics, how my classes were, what my parents had been up to, and anything else that came to mind, until my mother approached what I considered the main topic.

“Your father told me he brought up the potential for you to go north in a few months. Though he wasn’t meant to mention it as he did,” she said somewhat annoyed, “We had already discussed it, and you shall be able to go contingent on you following the rules we set out.

My anxiety dissolving, I nodded eagerly.

“Yea, I’ll do it.”

“Woah slow down there, let us at least tell you what they are first,” my father quickly butt in. “Take a minute to breathe, you need to actually hear what we have to say and not just agree.”

Standing, my mother walked over to the cooler and put some water in a glass. After taking a sip, she made her way back to the couch opposite us and took a seat. Under all the excitement, I recognized the nice parent mean parent routine they often used, sobering up some of my giddiness. Doing my best to look unperturbed by the shift in behavior, I leaned back in my seat and waited.

After another sip of water, my mother began to speak.

“The first thing we wanted to discuss is when you’re going. As of now, you have two options, and they’re unlikely to change. Your first is to leave in about three months with Liza. She already has a reason for going and will be leaving a month before your father. This would mean you’d travel with her and meet with your father after a month. If you choose this option, you would be staying with Marquis Castor and his family. He and your father are good friends, and his family can be trusted. Just know, it won’t simply be a vacation. Storia is home to one of the best etiquette trainers in the country, an elven immigrant by the name of Selrith Baranoa. You would be required to take classes with her whilst waiting for your father. Once the month is over, you and Cale would travel further north for a week as he has business at the Davion-Scate border before you both return home. If the school seems well suited to you, you’ll be sent back there in spring before officially being debuted to the continent around your sixth birthday.”

Finishing the water, she continued.

“Your other option is to leave with your father; whilst he goes further north, you’d stay with the Castor’s to have etiquette lessons. The rest of the scenario would occur similarly to the first, barring your border trip.”

I moved to speak, but my mother stopped me with a raised hand, “You needn’t be hasty Ben your choices can be made at the end, there’s more you must hear first.”

“The first rule is regarding your status,'' my father said beside me. “While you are away, you will not tell anyone of your identity. If, for some reason, anyone asks who you are or why you’re staying at the Marquis’s estate, you may label yourself the son of some unlanded Baron, though you should never give a family name nor a title higher than that.”

“And the other rule,” my mother cut in, “is regarding the use of your magics. Though we’ve allowed for you to do so, it is not custom for someone your age to be studying magics to the degree you do.”

“Due to your love for it and high magical aptitude, we thought it'd be best for you to be allowed to learn. We talked to Mark recently and believe you may be ready for more advanced work in the near future.

“Like shaping exercises,” I asked my father.

“Yes, like shaping exercises,” he answered, chuckling.

“But that is all dependent on what decisions you make.”

As soon as I looked at her, my father started speaking again.

“While with less density than Vander, Storia still has plenty of ambient mana. This will be the first true test of your bracers, with no easy way back to safety. The tests say everything should be fine, but the only way we will be sure is once you’re there. We know how much you love magic and are happy to give you the training you need to be a great mage one day, but -”

“We need you to be responsible with what you’ve been taught. Because of this, you will need to promise not to use anything other than base first circle spells, or any other versions we have pre-approved. Liza will be there, but she has her own obligations. She can't watch over you at all times, and I know you’ll find some way to manipulate your guards or the Marquis’s staff, so this will be something we are trusting you to not abuse.”

I stared at them for a moment, my neck almost sore from all the swiveling, whether they knew I understood what they were doing, or not, I had to admire how well they had the routine down. I doubted they’d waste time spending time rehearsing it and wondered just how often they did this as the rulers of the nation.

Nodding, I took a moment then spoke, “I guess I’ll have to choose the first option for travel, and I agree to the rest.”

It was somewhat confusing, and the fact that I’d be stuck in etiquette training for the foreseeable future was annoying, but it was the most reasonable option for everyone.

“Good,” my mother said, her more aggressive persona dropping near instantly. “Now we had one more question. Do you want a brother or sister?”

Before I could think about what the question meant, as if his entire life had been for this moment, my father screamed out. “Your mother’s pregnant! You’re gonna have a younger sibling.”