"Advanced magic lessons?" Charles was surprised by his daughter's request. Lucina rarely sought out her father during the past year to the point the number of visits could be counted on one hand. When Henry reported Lucina wished to speak with him as soon as she returned from Wortrest, Charles was hit by a wave of emotions and immediately let her into his office.

"Yes, Count." Even if it was just for business, Charles wouldn't miss this chance to be with his daughter. "I would like to focus on magic and theology to further improve myself." Lucina never spoke like a normal six-year-old; her speech was too rigid and stifled.

"While Lucus has said you've been working through your studies at an accelerated pace, deeper lessons on magic are usually reserved for after you reach the age of ten at the earliest." Charles controlled his emotions and kept his expression in check. Lucina hated when he tried to dote on her and Charles didn't want her to cut off their conversation too early. "Your mother didn't start learning advanced theory until she was fifteen. Is there a reason you wish to start this soon?"

"Because I see no reason to wait," Lucina responded. "As Magister Lucus can tell you, I am more than caught up to my peers in all other subjects. My magic is also stronger than others, so I believe it would be a good idea to learn as much as I can as early as I can to better control myself." Lucina was not oblivious to the fearful whispers the servants hushed to one another that wove through their mansion. She placed a hand on her chest and looked her father in the eyes. "Please allow me to begin proper theology and magical theory studies, Count."

"…" Charles pursed his lips that he hid behind a hand he used to rub his chin. "Do the words of my vassals sway you so?" he asked. While he was willing to allow Lucina to advance in her studies at her own pace it had to be of her own will to do so. If she only wanted to learn because one of his vassals, like Baron York, had approached and threatened or coerced her into doing this then he wouldn't let it slide.

"No," Lucina answered, "I do not care about the words of your vassals." Charles hid a smile with his hand since he knew York would throw a fit if he heard Lucina's words. "I want to learn for my own reasons."

"Then, I will allow it." While he wanted to know what those reasons were, Charles now knew better than to pry into his daughter's mind; that was the quickest way to get shut out. He relaxed his posture and said, "I will tell Lucus to prepare the lessons. It may take some time for him to sort through the material and create a course plan, so for the time being, you can clear your schedule of lessons and enjoy some free time."

"Thank you for your generosity, Count," Lucina said and gave a respectful bow before leaving the office. Charles let out a long sigh once he was sure his daughter was gone and Henry put a freshly poured cup of tea on the desk.

"A blessing in disguise, my Lord," Henry said and returned to sorting through a stack of documents.

"Indeed, despite how it went." Charles still hoped for the day Lucina would speak comfortably to him. "Contact the Silk Sparrows and hire them to look into the vassal's recent movements."

"Do you not believe the Lady's words?" Henry asked. The Silk Sparrows was an intelligence guild with agents all across Urldrusk and were responsible for more than a few blown noble scandals. "She didn't seem to be lying that she wanted to do it for herself."

"Just in case," Charles replied and twirled his fountain pen between his fingers. "If I can't openly love my daughter, then I'll at least make sure nothing gets in her way from the shadows; especially not my own vassals."

"I will personally see to the request, my Lord," Henry gave a bow and left the office to head into town. Charles was left to his thoughts and he stared out the window that overlooked the backyard. Elizabeth was enjoying tea in the garden and he watched as her face lit up with joy when Lucina came out to join her. For a moment, Charles started to get up from his chair to go out and join them but he immediately stopped himself. His presence would only sour their smiles. So, with a heavy heart, he returned to his work.

***

"Greetings, Magister Lucus," I said and gave a respectful curtsy to Lucus when I entered the classroom in my family's mansion. It had been just over a week since I requested to start diving into magic and today was the first lesson.

"Good morning, Lady Lucina." Lucus was a tall man with a slender build. His ashy blonde hair was long and went down to his waist, and he wore his usual red and brown robes. And, as usual, his blue eyes had bags under them from a lack of sleep. It wasn't because he was being overworked, but rather Lucus just forgets to go to sleep and will oftentimes stay up multiple days in a row if something catches his fancy. Despite being perpetually tired, he always showed me basic courtesy which was why I enjoyed having him as my tutor. "I apologize for the delay, I had to dig up some old books and scrolls from the temple and get permission from Elder Arkin to bring them to the county." Lady Alm's worshipers held a temple in the neighboring town of Ertrum that was the center of the goddess' worship in the Holst duchy. Since Lucus was a member of Lady Alm's flock, he was able to get the material necessary to learn more about magic.

"It's alright, Magister." I was just glad I was able to improve myself to better help Olivia. Lucus, for his part, was also an excellent teacher as the lessons he prepared flowed smoothly and were easy to follow. Our lessons started with simple refreshers and the days quickly flew by with the first week ending in a quiz to test my fundamentals which Lucus said was vital to hammer in before moving on to more advanced topics.

"Please assign each god to their respectively bestowed magic," Lucus said as he wrote the names Alm and Sen on the chalkboard before handing me the piece of chalk. This was the final part of the quiz. "Also, explain the significance of the element in how it relates to the bestower."

"Yes, Magister." I approached the board and used a step stool to reach high enough to write. I started with Lady Alm and wrote the words Fire, and Earth. "The Hearth Mother offers us fire to warm and rest our weary bodies while in the company of family and friends, and to burn those who would threaten us. She offers us earth to sow seeds for food and grow trees to fuel the fires, and to crush those who break their oaths with the stones they set them in. Such is the Hearth Mother's love."

"Good," Lucus gave an approving nod and gestured toward Lord Sen on the board.

I moved the stool and wrote the words Water, and Wind before explaining, "The Storm Father offers water to nurture his sister's earth and sprout the seeds of life, and to flood and drown those who brave his waves without tribute. He offers wind to stoke his sister's fires to spread warmth to all, and to blow away the sails of those who pirate the faithful. Such is the Storm Father's fury."

"Very good. Now, what about these two?" Lucus took a new piece of chalk and wrote the words: Life, and Death. He also wrote Nuz and Muz to the right of Sen so that all of Lord Zulm's children were now listed. While life and death magic were touched upon, Lucus never went into any detail on them as they were for the advanced lessons. But listing them after writing Lord Nuz and Lady Muz…was a trick. I wrote Life under Alm, and Death under Sen. "Are you sure?" Lucus kept his tone neutral to not give away the answer as he questioned me, "Didn't you say Lord Sen was the one who brought water to nurture life?"

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"But you described life magic as warm," I answered and saw a glint of enthusiasm light up in Lucus' eyes. "Only Lady Alm is ever described as warm due to her offering of fire. She is also the patron of families which can only be created with life."

"I see." A smile crept across Lucus' face as he seemed to be enjoying my explanations. "So, why is Lord Sen the bestower of death if he, as you described, is helping his sister? Wouldn't Lord Nuz or Lady Muz be a better fit?"

"Because death helps to bind families in grief while making room for new growth."

"…Very good," Lucus sounded both pleased and intrigued. "I made sure to never mention who bestowed those magics, but you inferred from context clues and came to the correct conclusion. You must also have your brother's sharp mind."

"Thank you, Magister." In truth, this was actually all thanks to Olivia. Whenever she talks about strange things from her past life I often have to fish for context clues to grasp what she says while she explains them to me since not all of her explanations were helpful. Thanks to a year of being her friend, I was much quicker than I used to be.

"But, we're not done, yet." Lucus tapped his chalk against Nuz and Muz. "If they don't provide us with magic, then what do the twins of cultivation offer their faithful?"

"…The Bloodied Sister," I began and wrote the word Aura under Muz, "offers the ability to harness aura to fuel personal growth and to sate her endless lust for improvement of the body."

"And her twin brother?"

"The Enlightened Brother offers knowledge to all mankind." I wrote Knowledge under Nuz.

"A rather tame thing compared to his sister, don't you think?" Lucus probed me for an answer.

"I don't," I replied as I stared at the chalkboard filled with the names of the gods. "Without knowledge, we wouldn't be any different from demons."

"True…" While the souls of the virtuous went to Sailest to reside with the gods, the souls of the unfaithful were sent to the five pits of Hell; there used to be seven but two pits overflowed and were lost to the sinners. In response to the sinners taking the two pits, the gods created demons to deter them from taking over the other five, and to keep their numbers thinned enough to not overflow. Demons came in various shapes and sizes but they all held an animal level of intelligence. While their main purpose was to thin out the sinners in the pits of Hell, their animal intelligence would cause them to occasionally wander and sometimes they would appear in our world and attack humanity which they saw the same as sinners. Since humanity was also a creation of the gods, we were granted knowledge by Nuz to set us apart from all other creations. "And, finally, the most known magic." Lucus refocused on the quiz and wrote down Zulm above the other gods and wrote Gravity below it. "The Violet King offers us gravity to keep us tethered to Pianeta, our planet." I still remember Olivia's bewildered face when she learned the name of our planet and how she called the author, I think she meant Lord Zulm, uncreative. "Thus is the Violet King's grace."

"…Is that all?"

"While it is a magic that can be used by all Magisters, yes, that is all." Lucus put down his chalk and folded his hands behind his back. "Since gravity magic can only lift things into the air or make them fall down it isn't as versatile as the magics of His children leading many Magisters to choose to specialize in the elements, life, or death magic instead."

"…I see." Only up and down? But I've thrown furniture across my bedroom with gravity magic before. Maybe Lucus would explain in a later lesson what I did that day, so I held my question to myself to not ruin the current lesson. "Do I have to specialize in one of the elements?"

"Not necessarily," Lucus admitted. Since he was more than pleased with my quiz results, it seemed like he was willing to spend the rest of the time we had today answering my questions. "While many find it easier to focus their efforts on mastering a single element they have an affinity with, that doesn't mean it's unheard of to try for more. Your mother uses both water and wind magic with relative ease thanks to her efforts, so you definitely have the potential in your blood to do at least that much." While he didn't believe it at first, Lucus was quick to change his tune about me when he learned I could use all four elemental magics at a basic level. "Since Lady Alm and Lord Sen have seemed to bless you, you could have the potential to master all the elemental magics."

"What about gravity magic?" My mother always complimented my skill with gravity magic so I wanted to play into my strengths, if possible.

"I wouldn't recommend it," Lucus said and gave me a pitiful smile. "Gravity magic isn't well known due to Lord Zulm not having any temples or direct worshipers to focus on it."

"Why doesn't he?"

"Because Lord Zulm does not wish it." Lucus went to his desk and opened an old-looking book. "Once, long ago during the kingdom's founding, a temple was erected to Lord Zulm just outside Gorinville, the capital city. The day after the temple's completion, the roof collapsed and crushed all the worshipers inside. The architect of the temple assured the first king of Urldrusk that his design was sound, and it was discovered upon the arrival of a Saint of Nuz that Lord Zulm himself had destroyed the temple." His fingers skimmed the pages as his eyes waxed over. "The Saint declared that Lord Zulm wished to only receive indirect prayers and that humanity should focus our efforts on his children. And, to this day, the ruins of the temple still rest untouched just outside the capital's walls."

"But we still hold Lord Zulm in reverence and his all-seeing eye is depicted in all his children's temples." Within every temple's main chamber of worship was a ceiling mosaic that depicted a massive eye surrounded by letters from an unspeakable language the artists said they received in their dreams.

"Indeed it is," Lucus chuckled as he closed the book and turned to me. "The Violet King is a rather mysterious one. He punishes us for worshiping him directly but demands his icon be present in all temples. He grants his gravity magic to all Magisters but keeps it intentionally vague and weak. Trying to understand the true meaning of Lord Zulm's actions is a fool's errand as he seems content with how things are."

"What about the wizard's tower?" I asked since I wanted to learn more about my most potent magic. I remember that Olivia had mentioned the tower from her visions so I talked about what she told me, "The tower is a place of academic study, so wouldn't joining them-"

"No!" Lucus slammed his hand on the desk and I jumped back in surprise. During all the time I'd known him, Lucus never raised his voice. But the look on his face was terrifying. "…I mean…" Catching himself, Lucus quickly controlled his expression and cleared his throat. "I apologize for my outburst, Lady Lucina." He gave a deep bow.

"I-It's alright, Magister." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "But, why are you so against the tower?"

"The wizard's tower…is a den of sinners," Lucus spat as he straightened himself upright. He refused to meet my gaze and looked disgustedly into the distance as he thought about the tower.

"Sinners?" I only knew what Olivia had told me, which admittedly wasn’t much, so I wanted to learn more. Lucus looked conflicted as he debated telling me more, but he eventually relented.

"I suppose this lesson will be advanced up a few months… Lady Lucina, do you know the difference between a Magister and a Wizard?"

"…No." I thought they were just two words that meant the same thing.

"A Magister defines someone who receives the blessing of a god, or multiple in your case, to use magic and weave spells. Magisters receive magic from one of the gods to cast spells with those of strong faiths often having more potent magic and more powerful spells. While this is not always the case, this is the norm. Wizards, on the other hand…" Lucus once more dreaded speaking about them but continued despite himself, "Wizards use magic without the blessing of a god."

"!?!" My eyes widened in shock. "B-But don't the gods grant us the ability to use magic to begin with?"

"Yes, which is why I called those who reside in the wizard's tower as sinners; they subverted the gods to steal magic." Lucus erased the chalkboard, picked up a piece of chalk, and drew an orb and staff with strange symbols hovering around them. "Just over three hundred years ago, a rock fell from the stars and into the eastern lands of Urldrusk. The heretic Yulsander found a massive boulder made of a strange crystal that, when refined into an orb or staff, could allow anyone to wield magic. This day marked the birth of the first wizards. The king at the time was trying to consolidate his power after a costly war in the south so he brought Yulsander's ilk onto his side by giving them royal positions and a tower where they would be safe from our temples. In exchange for all this, and as an additional way to keep his power, only wizards of the wizard's tower could join Urldrusk's military as magical troops, and all wizards are automatically conscripted into the king's army during war."

"So, if you're not a wizard you're not allowed to use magic in the army?"

"Correct, and all wizards are loyal to the crown which allowed the king to keep his magically inclined subjects in check. The tradition still lives to this day and the wizard's tower's influence continues to grow."

"Why haven't the gods done anything? Lord Zulm collapsed a temple on his followers, so why are sinners allowed to gain so much power?"

"Who knows?" Lucus gave a shrug and sighed. "Lord Zulm and the rest of the gods have, for the most part, let the wizards be; though they don't stop the temples from…taking action against the tower." While he didn't elaborate on what that meant, I could make a decent guess. "Joining the wizard's tower will gain you favor from the crown, but the temples will turn their backs on you along with anyone who holds faith in the gods. So, Lady Lucina, I can only ask of you to please refrain from associating with the tower." Lucus got down on one knee and bowed his head low. "Please. I will do all I can to sate your hunger for knowledge, all I ask in return is for you to not stray your soul from the gods."

"…I will heed your words, Magister." While the wizard's tower might hold answers for me, I didn't want to turn my back on the gods who were seemingly granting me their gifts so willingly. Also, my mother was a devout believer and had rooms across the estate dedicated to each of Zulm's children. I wouldn't do anything that would break her heart like that.

"Thank you, Lady Lucina." Lucus sounded relieved with my answer and I saw his shoulders relax from the tension he was holding in. Even without the wizard's tower, I would build my strength and knowledge of magic so that I could still be of use to Olivia.